That’s why I spend most of the trip to Firaxis’ Maryland studio wondering what the convincing change to the formula will be. How much of Civ’s structural integrity is purpose-built to support linear progression through history? Civ V’s shift to hexes and abandonment of unit stacking changed a great deal in the turn-by-turn experience, but Beyond Earth needs to alter the superstructure of the long-term experience if it is to be something other than Civ in space.
#4k civilization beyond earth backgrounds series#
The majority of my doubts sprang from one simple fact – Civ is a series about exploring what is already known and Beyond Earth will be transposing that framework onto a story of the unknown. Beyond Earth will be a different game and that should give hope that it’ll be something entirely new rather than a faucet piped into the murky reservoirs of nostalgia. Alpha Centauri’s back, went the whisper, ALPHA CENTAURI IS BACK AT LAST.Īs more information trickled out, it became clear that sci-fi Civ does not automatically equate to an updated Alpha Centauri. The older parts of the internet spluttered with excitement.
The announcement flared up in my inbox like a supernova. First, there’s the small matter of Beyond Earth. Civilization has been a constant in my gaming life, just as it has been the thread running through the house that Sid built, and I’ll be speaking to employees who remember the early days, tracing the history of the studio and the series at its heart. I’m heading to Firaxis to learn what makes the company tick. Will Ferrell’s sketch-stitched man-child routine is just the right level of background noise – it shouldn’t escape onto a bigger screen down on the ground but the occasional chuckle distracts from the storm brewing just beyond the wingtip. In the case of TransAtlantic trips in particular, it also means sitting for hours on a plane with a mind returning to the same questions again and again. That means creaking eyelids on the early morning train to the airport, the resigned anticipation of jetlag and remembering to pack an extra pair of pants. One of the many problems associated with preview trips is that they often take place in a faraway land. I say that as someone who likes Civ V, particularly now that it has expanded so impressively. Please don’t be a Civ V reskin, please don’t be a Civ V reskin. Is it a sci-fi spin-off or a fully fledged sequel? How precisely is it related to the series and to the much-loved Alpha Centauri? Later this week, I'll share conversations with the development team and more thoughts on the history of the series, but first of all, here are some impressions of the game itself. We mainly focused on the series of games rather than humanity's works as a whole, so as to stay on topic, and I spent part of the day playing Beyond Earth. Last week, I visited Firaxis to talk about the studio's history and the ongoing evolution of Civilization.
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