Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

If there is one game that inspires love and fear all at the same time for me, it is the Civilization series of games.  On the one hand, the gameplay and strategy form with a perfect synergy that drive you to finish a game once you start it.  That great blending of gameplay also inspires fear, as you end up watching the sun rise as you mutter the Civ mantra, “just one more turn” before collapsing into a puddle of your own drool.  I also felt a little bit of good luck as Civilization V was handed a Strategy Best of Show award from a media outlet as I was waiting for my appointment to start.  With all of that in play, I figured it was a good sign as to what I was getting prepared to see with Civ 5.

While the formula for Civilization V has not changed much from its predecessors, it is the subtle changes with the gameplay that make this new entry improved.  Our presentation by lead designer, Peter Murray talked about how the team had been working on this new Civ title for over two and a half years, looking at all the feedback from gamers on the last title in the series.  With that little monologue, we started our presentation for Civilization V.

Right off the bat, we got to see the new, improved visual quality of the engine.  The new engine was built from the ground up for Civ 5 and it shows so many new details to the world.  Now, you will have tile sets that represent Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas giving continents a unique feel rather than the same terrain everywhere.    Also, the switch to hexagon tiles was mentioned as a way to remove some of the issues that came up with certain terrain when meeting at corners would cause issues for the AI in the game.  The new engine offers the ability to zoom down to a minute level, seeing independent units on each hex.  A quick zoom out rolls the engine to a world map view, with stops anywhere in-between.

The goal with this Civilization was to remove some of the information overload that came with the previous titles.  The development team did not want to take away all the information but arrange it in a way that was easier to read and gather information on the status of your civilization.  There is a new notification system that sits on the right hand side of the screen that points out events occurring in your society, and I believe certain events from other civiliztions as well.  The advisor team has returned, giving you information from several classes of development.  Military, cultural, domestic and more are back to offer you help on what should be focused on based on your goals.

Combat has had huge changes this time around in Civilization V.  While some of the changes are rather jarring, most of them end up being for the best, including the new one unit per hex rule.  No longer can someone stack thirty units on one tile and end up running through a path towards a city.  You now have to plan more as battles are far more tactical in nature.  Things like high ground, choke poitns and more actually mean something in battle.  You can have the high ground overlooking a stream and know that you will have the advantage against troops heading in go fight you.  Likewise, you can also set up defenses above a narrow pass that will end up becoming an offensive nightmare for those that wish to invade.  The strategy for war is far deeper than it has ever been in a Civilization game.  However, I believe they also mentioned that the auto resolve combat is back as well, although I cannot confirm that from my notes.

City view has also been improved, with quick info glances on the right of the screen, with breakdowns for normal buildings and ffor wonders located in the city.  For those that hated having to figure out the best balance for their city production can now use quick configurations that will let you set things like science and it will configure your tile set production automatically.  For those that like to micro manage, you can still click on individual production centers to change them as you see fit, but the goal was to streamline city management with these changes.

Social Policies are new to Civilization V and they work like mini-tech trees, except that they guide you on the way to a social victory, which is now possible.  These social policies are easy to follow and can be selected to automate development in a society.  When you complete six of these social policies, you unlock the Utopia project which will allow your civilization to win the game in a peaceful manner.  On the flipside, you might see someone on their way to a victory like this, and yes, you still have the nuclear option to kill that progress very quickly.  It will kill your civil standing with the rest of the world’s civilization, and rules out any other type of victory except for war.

Dealing with other leaders in Civilization will now show those leaders fully animated and in scenes that are inspired by their historical standing.  When dealing with Queen Victoria, we saw her in her palace, and she acted very cordial.  With Napoleon, we saw him on a horse, out on the battlefield.  I believe it was Moctezuma who we saw in one of his Aztec temples, and he paced back and forth.  His scene was particularly notable, because the lighting effects were spectacular.

The community has not been overlooked either with Civilization V.  The game is well known for its modding and total conversions, and you will still be able to do all of that with this new release.  However, gone is the Google searching for good mods.  Civilization V will have a site where you can upload mods and total conversions, and users will be able to grab these and rate them accordingly.  This should limit exposure to poor mods and help the great ones stand out.  Civilization V will also be fully integrated with Steamworks, including achievements, a solid multiplayer backbone and Steamcloud support for your profiles and save games.

With our presentation wrapping up, I was hard pressed to find a bad thing with Civilization V.  The improvements are numerous, and each one seems to enhance the core game experience.  About the only bad thing that can be said is that we have to wait until September 21st, 2010 to actually play Civilization V.  Or maybe that is a good thing for my sleep cycle.