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[CyclopsRock]

Some random Cocacola director who also happens to be the CEO of a major console game publisher probably goes to work everyday pondering how he can increase his companies ROI, EBT, IRR and all those other silly acronyms that enables a system where somebody who knows nothing about games to be the top executive of a company who's sole business is games. I doubt a single game developer does. They want to make good games, Mr. Cocacola and his CoD myopic fascination be damned. A game is a success when profits - expenses > 0.

I know this post is pretty old, but I wanted to share something interesting I learned a few weeks back. I was chatting to some Disney Animation guys and one of them mentioned that The Princess and the Frog made between 3% and 4% profit, but that this was considered bad because during its production, if they'd put the budget into a hedge fund or equity fund or whatever, they'd have made around 10% with actually less risk. So 10% profit is their threshold for 'success' and I imagine it's the same with games (and any project-based business) - if you're in the business of making games for money, you can have an alternative that's a) far easier and b) more profitable.

As for the 'Firaxis Care' stuff, I'm sure they do - but if they're going to take their publishers money to make a game, they need to produce the results that their publishers want. If they use their own cash, then they can set their own metrics for success. But you can't expect to use someone else's resources to make *your* game.

 

[Opiate]

A good comparison to explain the problem for those wanting this on console would probably be to look at the Wii.

Could you have ported many AAA PS3/360 games to Wii? Sure. It would take some reworking, but it was possible. Publishers simply concluded the audience for violent/M rated games wasn't on the Wii, however, so most M rated titles didn't make it over despite the large install base.

Similarly, I'm sure this Civilization could theoretically be ported to PS3/PS4/whatever. It would take some reworking, but it's possible. Publishers have clearly concluded, however, that the audience for complex strategy games just isn't on those consoles, so most complex strategy games don't make it over.

 

[LaunchpadMcQ]

How the hell did I miss this announcement?

Day 1 purchase for sure.

Now excuse me while I go put another 500 or so hours into V in anticipation.

 

[Dire]

A good comparison to explain the problem for those wanting this on console would probably be to look at the Wii.

Could you have ported many AAA PS3/360 games to Wii? Sure. It would take some reworking, but it was possible. Publishers simply concluded the audience for violent/M rated games wasn't on the Wii, however, so most M rated titles didn't make it over despite the large install base.

Similarly, I'm sure this Civilization could theoretically be ported to PS3/PS4/whatever. It would take some reworking, but it's possible. Publishers have clearly concluded, however, that the audience for complex strategy games just isn't on those consoles, so most complex strategy games don't make it over.

Self fulfilling prophecy.

Big game after big game continuing to fall well under expectations -while games like Minecraft 360 ends up on top of the consoles sales charters for 2 years and still going- really emphasizes how absurdly out of touch publishers are with console gamers in general. Once Watchdogs and Destiny also end up under delivering I imagine we'll start to segue out of this phase where every console game must be a real time third/first person shooter with a mid age (as in not old/not young) white male protagonist whose primary activity is killing hoards of other humanoids.

 

[SparkTR]

I'm liking the look of it, definitely more interesting than Civ V so far.

Self fulfilling prophecy.

Big game after big game continuing to fall well under expectations -while games like Minecraft 360 ends up on top of the consoles sales charters for 2 years and still going- really emphasizes how absurdly out of touch publishers are with console gamers in general. Once Watchdogs and Destiny also end up under delivering I imagine we'll start to segue out of this phase where every console game must be a real time third/first person shooter with a mid age (as in not old/not young) white male protagonist whose primary activity is killing hoards of other humanoids.

I imagine Civ Rev was the reason, a game tailored specifically for consoles, better than any port could have turned out, sold (likely) less than 1m on PS3/360 combined. That period scared publishers off console strategy titles, after they tried so hard to make them work there.

 

[alstein]

A good comparison to explain the problem for those wanting this on console would probably be to look at the Wii.

Could you have ported many AAA PS3/360 games to Wii? Sure. It would take some reworking, but it was possible. Publishers simply concluded the audience for violent/M rated games wasn't on the Wii, however, so most M rated titles didn't make it over despite the large install base.

Similarly, I'm sure this Civilization could theoretically be ported to PS3/PS4/whatever. It would take some reworking, but it's possible. Publishers have clearly concluded, however, that the audience for complex strategy games just isn't on those consoles, so most complex strategy games don't make it over.

That's the same self-fulfilling prophecy that says fighting games couldn't work on PC, yet sales of KOFXIII and Skullgirls say otherwise.

 

[Mrbob]

Would the game even function properly with a controller? I feel the experience would be awful with a controller.

Yes, it could work, but this isn't Civ Revolution. These maps are going to be big and there will be a lot of functions to do. I feel the more you expand, the harder it will be to control.

We'll see how Steam controller support goes. However, even this would be a big step up from a console controller because those track pads can act similar to a mouse.

I'm sure Firaxis could come up with some control scheme. But would it be fun?

 

[Haly]

Civ 5 became cumbersome on kb+m around the 1500's. I cannot imagine how much worse it would be on a controller. While it's perfectly possible to port Beyond Earth to a console, the experience would be so tedious that you would have to be a very dedicated 4x fan to want to play it.

 

[many places]

Only Civ game I have played is Revolution on x360 because it was free. This looks cool though and the outer space theme is really interesting.

 

[Dire]

...


I imagine Civ Rev was the reason, a game tailored specifically for consoles, better than any port could have turned out, sold (likely) less than 1m on PS3/360 combined. That period scared publishers off console strategy titles, after they tried so hard to make them work there.

I wouldn't equate RTS and other styles of strategy games which is what you're doing when you're claiming publishers tried to make strategy games work on consoles. They didn't. They threw out a handful of consolized RTS which ranged somewhere between incredibly dumbed down and straight up ports with terrible controls, and then moved on. Because publishers just know turn based games can't sell...

And on that note Firaxis is the only company that put out some major western strategy titles on the consoles. They're also one of the few entities that know exactly how well they did. All we know is that they saw fit to then release Civ Rev, a ton of DLC, XCOM, more DLC and then a major expansion to that as well. It looks like they think console strategy games do fine. It's just sad that they're the only company making them.

 

[LurkerPrime]

Xcom did okay. Turn based works fine. No reason this game couldn't be on ps4.

The size and scale of Civilization is immense compared to XCOM.

Civilization may seem to start small, but there is always a whole world being kept track of from turn 0. As the eras pass, it only becomes a more complicated game. Even when Civilization is designed from the beginning as a PC exclusive game, the modern eras of Civilization can be devastatingly slow because of the vast amount of details that the game has to keep track of, and this is doubly true for larger map sizes. Games of Civilization increase in scope and complexity almost exponentially.

XCOM, in contrast, is always sectioned off into two discrete systems: the battle map and the global strategic map. In XCOM, there is always a well-defined upper limit to what can occur in the game, the game has a limit to the complexity that can occur.

I don't really know how PS4's and PCs compare, but I'm afraid that there would be fundamental compromises that would make the experience worse for both types of players. Even something as simple as limiting map size or match customization would severely hinder what the game is all about. There is also a control/UI issue that could be problematic; to me, one of the best parts about Firaxis' games is their talent for presenting the game in a straightforward & easy-to-digest manner.

Really, Civ5's UI and control scheme revolutionized the genre and I would be disappointed to see them take it a step back for any reason.

 

[shinra-bansho]

I wouldn't equate RTS and other styles of strategy games which is what you're doing when you're claiming publishers tried to make strategy games work on consoles. They didn't. They threw out a handful of consolized RTS which ranged somewhere between incredibly dumbed down and straight up ports with terrible controls, and then moved on. Because publishers just know turn based games can't sell...

And on that note Firaxis is the only company that put out some major western strategy titles on the consoles. They're also one of the few entities that know exactly how well they did. All we know is that they saw fit to then release Civ Rev, a ton of DLC, XCOM, more DLC and then a major expansion to that as well. It looks like they think console strategy games do fine. It's just sad that they're the only company making them.

Why do you keep referring to Firaxis as if they're independent and not a subsidiary of one of those loathsome big publishers (Take-Two Interactive)...

 

[SparkTR]

I wouldn't equate RTS and other styles of strategy games which is what you're doing when you're claiming publishers tried to make strategy games work on consoles. They didn't. They threw out a handful of consolized RTS which ranged somewhere between incredibly dumbed down and straight up ports with terrible controls, and then moved on. Because publishers just know turn based games can't sell...

And on that note Firaxis is the only company that put out some major western strategy titles on the consoles. They're also one of the few entities that know exactly how well they did. All we know is that they saw fit to then release Civ Rev, a ton of DLC, XCOM, more DLC and then a major expansion to that as well. It looks like they think console strategy games do fine. It's just sad that they're the only company making them.

True, just offering a potential explanation why they ditched console Civ games after Revolution. Like it said it doesn't look like it sold over a million (not counting the DS and iOS version), and from a franchise that usually pushed 3-6m units I can understand why they'd be skeptical of further console Civ games. They talk more about it here, in regards to ports.

And they're one of the few companies that experimented with these kinds of strategy titles on consoles because they're one of the only big publishers still making strategy games, period. The best recent strategy stuff on PC has come from the bottom-up, smaller companies who focus on the PC audience. Those guys don't have the capital, connections or pipeline to focus elsewhere like a bigger publishers does. And despite this (and their inside sales statistics), Take Two still doesn't do it for newer Civ games, which isn't encouraging for the smaller guys.

 

[Durante]

Really, Civ5's UI and control scheme revolutionized the genre and I would be disappointed to see them take it a step back for any reason.

I never really noticed it explicitly, but that's true. Most of the new turn based games of this type seem heavily influenced by Civ V, UI wise. That's a very good thing of course.

 

[Sibylus]

Console Civ would work fine I feel with some adjustments: a simplified hud, and a snappable version of Civ V's task tree. Maybe something quirky like snapping the cursor to tiles while a button is held down.

 

[twobear]

Booooooooooooooooooo

The drama and liveliness was kind of in Alpha Centauri, with Planet and the native lifeforms, tho.

 

[Two Words]

Ugh, I know I should not buy this game during the Fall semester....but I'm going to.

 

[UnluckyKate]

So excited for a scifi Civ, not at all convinced by the art direction so far. Civ 5 looks really clean and soft on the eyes. This looks like bad amateur scifi mod so far. Really not digging colors. Hope they clean it up.

 

[Pooya]

It looks way blurrier than Civ5, not a fan of visuals. all the shots so far are too green/blue too. Maybe they should show some different terrain type next time.

 

[Dolor]

Didn't expect to come here seeing port begging for this game. I understand the desire but the gamepad controls would have to be crippled beyond enjoyability. It will be interesting to see if the steam controller makes this work though. I am guessing it does.

 

[LurkerPrime]

So excited for a scifi Civ, not at all convinced by the art direction so far. Civ 5 looks really clean and soft on the eyes. This looks like bad amateur scifi mod so far. Really not digging colors. Hope they clean it up.

I actually think it looks great. It is another life-sustaining planet, instead of something more unusual and exotic, so the dominant natural colours suit it just fine. It is also very functional, with the resources and units contrasting sharply against the blue/green environment. Of course, they'll probably have the strategic view again - an unexpectedly handy feature when I need a precise rundown of the facts in my game.

With that said, I don't think I've seen CivBE in motion yet.


*Sigh* I guess I'll have to pre-order it now so I can confirm my thoughts. Forced right into it, I was.

 

[Tommyhawk]

There is a new video with some actual gameplay:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uex9KqITM2Q&channel=XenoAnno

 

[itxaka]

quests? Umm.


Non linear tech tree sounds great.

 

[Falk]

I never really noticed it explicitly, but that's true. Most of the new turn based games of this type seem heavily influenced by Civ V, UI wise. That's a very good thing of course.

Haven't even brought up Endless Space yet, either.

 

[saunderez]

Console Civ would work fine I feel with some adjustments: a simplified hud, and a snappable version of Civ V's task tree. Maybe something quirky like snapping the cursor to tiles while a button is held down.

The problem is getting people to buy it. I don't think Civ Rev did so well so it's probably the only console Civ we'll ever get.

 

[UnluckyKate]

quests? Umm.


Non linear tech tree sounds great.

It looks oddly similar to Endless Space, and that is good news :

 

[Tommyhawk]

It looks oddly similar to Endless Space, and that is good news :

That was also my exact thought when I saw the tech tree. ^^

 

[Sevenfold]

Is there a thread I'm missing for this game? This one's pretty dead.

 

[Rentahamster]

Is there a thread I'm missing for this game? This one's pretty dead.

We recently had a thread about a new gameplay trailer here:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=132527744

Do a search in gaming, titles only, display threads for "civilization" and you should find the other threads that have popped up with new news.

 

[Sevenfold]

Cheers.

 

[Bregor]

Intro Cinematic was just posted:

http://youtu.be/yEl9kI2Aluw

 

[bjaelke]

24th is just around the corner. Anyone planning on doing the OT (no mention of it in the volunteer thread)?

 

[d1rtn4p]

Really curious to see how this turns out. Being a Civ fan that's played the series since it first started, CIV 5 was easily the roughest title in the series on release. After two expansions, I think it got a little better...Hoping Firaxis can nail it with this.

 

[renegade_dewitt]

Intro Cinematic was just posted:

http://youtu.be/yEl9kI2Aluw

Just awesome cinematography like always by Firaxis!

 

[Slacker]

Pre-loading available on Steam now. Supposed launch is midnight eastern on Thursday night/Friday morning. Can anyone confirm?

 

[rBose]

 

[Brick]

I thought I could be strong and hold off on pre-ordering this.

I thought wrong.

C'mon, Friday!

Edit: Posted in the wrong thread, but it applies to the same game, so here it stays!

 

[KnightHart]

Does anyone know when reviews will start going up? I hope they at least go up on midnight so I can read some and watch a few videos before I buy the game. This happened to me with Wolfenstein NO, where I waited out for reviews, and bought the game on GMG half an hour after midnight

 

[neoanarch]

Does anyone know when reviews will start going up? I hope they at least go up on midnight so I can read some and watch a few videos before I buy the game. This happened to me with Wolfenstein NO, where I waited out for reviews, and bought the game on GMG half an hour after midnight

Maddjinn has a couple of full playthroughs up on his YouTube. If you want to check them out.

 

[Rentahamster]

Maddjinn spread has a couple of full playthroughs up on his YouTube. If you want to check them out.

Dang, I really want to watch them, but I don't want to spoil the experience for myself. He's a really good player, and I'd rather figure out good strategies for myself rather than watch him do it.

 

[Breziron]

 

 

[Pinktaco]

Wait.. this releases in a day?! What the hell.. I though I would have to wait an eternity, which I suppose isn't entirely untrue. God damn exam

 

[flashburn2012]

Should we be able to use VPN to unlock it early?

 

[eznark]

How large is the download and does it unlock at midnight?

 

[flashburn2012]

It's 5.7GB. Look at the chart above to see when it unlocks in your region.

 

[UnluckyKate]

I pre ordered this ages ago on GMG. They have the map pack now as pre order bonus but I don't have the code for that in the mail they sent today with the key.

Guess I bought at better price before they ran the pre order promo

 

[Slacker]

How large is the download and does it unlock at midnight?

I can't tell by looking at my system now that it's done for some reason, but I believe it was around 5 GB. Unlocks midnight eastern Thursday night/Friday morning.

 

[Dylan]

So without an OT prior to release date where do we go to talk to each other about how excited we are to play this game? This old announcement thread?

Just giving my honest feedback about the change to GAF (no clue where to put this). It's kind of disappointing that there is nowhere to discuss imminently released games! The OT's where a source of a lot of fun anticipatory discussion.

 

[bjaelke]

It's only a 2.7GB download. 5.7 is the install size.

 

[Lashley]

Forgot all about this!

Cheapest place to preorder? Any bonuses?