New Q&A Round up!

[2K Elizabeth]

well, i'm sitting in the hotel next to firaxis right now, and i thought, what better a time than to ask for my next Q&A roundup?

any questions you have about Civilization Revolution, post them here.

NOTE: we won't be answering them here. i'll be collecting them and taking them to the team while i'm here over the next 2 days. they will be answered more in depth and then posted on the community site.

so ask away!

[Bulldog_PS3]

What kind of community features will there be ? Like I know leaderboards and stuff like that, will all that be in game or will there be an expanded community site on civilizationrevolution.com ? Games like Guitar Hero have a pretty cool community site where you can view all your stats and start clans and what not, just wondering if there is anything like that planned ?

The Civilopedia is always so amazing. I am wondering with the speed of the new game, how accessible is it during a match and how does that affect gameplay ? And actually for any Wonder cut scene or whatever, if you watch the whole thing does that count against you on the timer ?

What about ping times ? I hope there will be ping meters in the lobbies to see how good the connections are. But seriously like how bad will latency affect gameplay ?

For DLC, will you be able to download new stuff in game or go through the PSN store ?

Here's a few questions ... Hope they make sense. Also thanks in advance, you're awesome.

[Magwill]

What VoIP settings will there be? Can you adjust the volume, mute people etc. How does it work when playing in teams, do you have one button for all players and another one for just your team?

As for downloadable content we like to know more what type of downloads you are planning.

Will you be offering tutorials and help from experienced and skilled players from Firaxis/2k games/testers that can show you tips/strategies in the game that you might not know about? It would be a nice addition to the website.

How does the combat work in multiplayer? In podcast 2 someone says that you are somewhat forced to see the battle animations since you don't know what will happen until the end. So what happens in multiplayer? If you have to see the animations and have the ability to retreat, then other people attacking you will have to be queued or you can swap between battles. But I guess you have instant battles?

I'll post more if I think of anything :)

[Bulldog_PS3]

I am wondering what has been done to ensure fairness in the online multiplayer. Such as are there measures in place to prevent cheating, exploits, glitches, etc. ? How is the Ranking system structured ? Are there separate leaderboards for FFA, 1v1, and teams ?

[Man-Bear-Pig]

1) How does each city procude culture? How is culture used in the game?

2) Game of the Week sounds like a lot of fun, and I will make sure to take a look every week for the new scenario. Will everyone be playing the Game of the Week on the same difficulty level? Will everyone be able to make mid-game saves in Game of the Week, and reload if our units don't win key victories?

3) Are there any plans for DLC other than Game of the Week in the future? Could we see new technologies, buildings, units, and leaders in future DLC?

4) Previous Civilization series games included rudimentary Mod tools. Civilization IV allowed users to mod practically everything about the game, and other Civ games had at least a scenario editor. Will any consideration be made to include Mod tools for Civilization Revolution?

5) Infinite City Sprawl (ICS) and Stack of Doom (SoD) were two "exploit" strategies addressed in Civilization IV. ICS became unfeasible with new city maintenance rules, and SoD suffered from new seige unit rules. How does Civilization Revolution prohibit ICS and SoD exploits?

6) If I complain that the online lobby system in Civilization Revolution sucks, will you fix it for me?:p Will we be able to see a list of all games in progress? And sort the list and join games by difficulty, turns taken (game progress), number of players, mics in use, camera in use, ping, etc.? Will we be able to see and communicate with other players in the lobby?

7) Will there be Permenant Alliances in online multiplayer? How will diplomacy work in a 2 vs. 2 game?

8) What happened to city specialists? What will happen if there's more workers available than workable city tiles? Can we select any Engineers or Scientists or Tax Collectors or Elvises (I call him "Bubba") or anything like that?

9) I think I've seen or read that terrestrial features like great forests and great rivers can be custom named. Can we custom name our cities? How about custom names for our leaders and empire? Can we custom name each military unit we build?

[Magwill]

1. When playing ranked matches in mode 2 vs 2, can you select your ally from your friends list or is everything random?

2. Can you play unranked matches?

3. How do you plan a 2 man team where only one guy has a microphone can communicate with each other?

[Sigmakan]

Will there be patches in the future? If so, will they be free?

Will there be a cost for DLC? If so, any idea on the price range?

When will wallpapers be uploaded to the site? My Civ4 Great Pyramids needs to be retired.

Will you be releasing a Civ Rev theme for the PS3? That would be really cool.

Will it be possible to take in-game screenshots via PS3?

Will there be offline multiplayer?

Will we be able to make our own scenarios? User made content is one of the things that keeps Civ games so appealing for so long.

[Man-Bear-Pig]

10) Care to elaborate on how military units rank up to veteran and elite status? Is it an experience point system similar to Civ IV? Can a unit continue to rank up and gain more upgrades beyond elite status? Can a unit have more than one upgrade? Are upgrades limited to elite units only?

11) How does an army work? When a veteran unit joins with two rookie units to form an army, is the entire army considered veteran or does only part of the army get the veteran bonus? When a veteran army wins a battle and ranks up to elite, does each unit select an upgrade (adding three upgrades at once)? Can an army revert to its component units?

12) If I don't have a microphone, how do I communicate in-game with other players in online matches? Is there a text message function? If I'm using a PS3, can I connect and use a USB keyboard to type text messages?

13) Are these really "Frequently Asked Questions"?

14) What are the tile specific resources? Are they necessary for building some types of units (e.g. cannot build gunpowder units without sulfur)? Do they add to culture points or happiness points? Can they be traded with other civilizations?

15) Can obsolete units on the map be upgraded to modern units? Or will a Warrior unit exist throughout the ages until it's defeated in battle? Will we have an option to disband units?

16) Those battle animations are so cool - a very welcomed new feature to the Civilization series. What does it mean when a unit is knocked down from three visible soldiers to one? Is that like the unit's hit points? Are attack and defense values affected by the number of soldiers present on-screen?

17) Other than devoting research to discover new technologies, are there other ways they can be acquired? Can technologies be traded between civilizations through diplomacy? Can the technologies be stolen using espionage units? Can the technologies be stolen when a rival city is captured?

18) Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri Revolution?

19) How are great people produced? Can we choose what kind of great person is discovered?

20) What are my chances of playing against Sid Meier online? What are my chances of winning?

[Magwill]

Sigmakans question about offline multiplayer is answered and the answer is no so lets not use up a slot on the questions with that one :P

[Bulldog_PS3]

Will the DS version be able to play online over the internet using wi-fi or only to play with other local DS's ?

Any possibility of playing a LAN game with a DS and PS3 ? :D

Also, with all the big name titles coming out like MGS4 and GTAIV and GT: Prologue, are you guys going to aggressively market this game to ensure that there is a solid player base, so that like a month down the road there's not like only 10 people online playing ?

Will the servers be world wide ? Or, continent specific ?

About unlockables. Will there be unlockable civs or leaders ? Or possibly player titles that appear next to your name in an online lobby ? Just hoping it's not all dancing bears. :rolleyes:

Will "Game of the Week" be available day 1 ?

[Man-Bear-Pig]

21) Could you elaborate how simultaneous turns work in online multiplayer? Is it total chaos, or is there some order? When player one engages player two in a battle, will both players controls switch to the battle? Will non-involved players spectate said battle? How does diplomacy work online? Is diplomacy a phase of each turn segregated from unit movement and battle phases?

22) How do Wonders of the World work? Are they different from previous Civilization games?

23) Is there an Ancient or Medieval era espionage unit? Anything like the Diplomat unit from early Civilization games?

24) Can Spy units steal gold from other Civilizations? Does stealing gold transfer to your treasury, or does it simply deplete your rival's treasury?

25) Are there any unlockables such as secret units or leaders in the game?

26) Do you need my help to beta test the PS3 version? How about a public server stress test?:o

27) Civilization always had great music! Will we recognize the majority of tunes on Civilization Revolution from previous games? Is it an entirely new soundtrack? Can the players use Custom Soundtracks from music files stored on their PS3 or XBOX360 hard drives?

28) How many units must be moved to warrant an expansion and/or sequel to Civilization Revolution? (oh snap! Bear-Pig so did not just go there)

29) I heard the voiceovers for the leaders are in a giberish called Firaxlish. Does Sid Meier or Barry Caudill make any vocal guest apperances?

30) How do air units work? Are the air unit rules identical to those in Civ IV? Do they have the same rules as ground units or naval units? Can air units capture cities?

kitchen sink) If there was one haiku poem that best describes the Civilization Revolution Experience, how does it go? What's the worst CivRev haiku poem? Limerick?

32) How do roads work? How are they built if there's no Worker units? Do road offer the same movement rules as those in Civ IV? Can they be pillaged or destroyed?

33) Can we use image files or movie files saved on console hard drives to replace the in-game leaderhead images?

[pmw1718]

34. Can you join or create a multiplayer game that is random? Like everyone joins and when the game starts people are giving a random civilization. The people joining such a game would know they could end up being any civilization and so would be people that are comfortable with any of the choices, so hopefully nobody would quit.

35. Any info on the achievements? How often will Sid being playing so people can get that achievement?


36. When will yall post your gamertags? :D

37. What are all of the different Multiplayer game types?

[Sigmakan]

To make up for my other question:

When Playstation Home is released will there Civ Rev trophies and such that can be obtained?

EDIT:
Another question:
Will there be offical support for SG(successive games)? This is where a group of players take turns playing the same game. Its been very popular in the past with previous Civ versions, but I fear with the lack of custom game options that it might not be as appealing this time around. It would be really neat if 2K hosted weekly/monthly SGs. Will it even be possible to transfer saves to other people?

If an SG element isn't already implemented I hope that 2K/Firaxis can find a way to incorporate it. It would be an AMAZING addition to the multiplayer aspect of Civ games.

[hoopsdowntown12]

Sorry, first post. Didn't see this asked anywhere. From what I've collected on the forums, it seems as if a lot of the depth has been removed from the game. I am considering buying the game, but I'm starting to wonder if Civ 4 would be a better choice. I am guessing it will still be a good game, but when it comes down to it, does this game play like most of the other Civ games? Thank you and sorry if this type of thing has been answered already.

[Sigmakan]

Any word when we'll get feedback for these questions? Thanks!

[JeffinIllinois]

First Post, I have been playing Civ since the first game, when I was a kid, I've bought them all. I'll surely buy this one. I have some questions. 1. Will I be able to edit map size? I always played with a huge map on Civ 4, hopefully the map can be made larger than I've seen in the stage demo video, I like to have room to grow my Civ without constantly having to fight off rival civs. 2. Will there be a map editor? Can I create my own world map? 3. Will I be able to choose the number of A.I. Civs I'm going against in single player? 4. Will there be options on the type of world when starting a game, like Arid, Wet, Flat, Moutainous, Small, Huge? Well thanks, I can't wait for the game to come out on XBOX 360.

[treyson007]

Do u think there will be local multiplayer? that would be realy cool.

If u need help with beta testing with the 360 i can help.

will there be multiplayer achievments?

[2K Elizabeth]

Do u think there will be local multiplayer? that would be realy cool.

you can play on a LAN, with multiple 360s/PS3s in the same room, but there is no hot seat.

same with the DS: if you all are in the same room with DS and carts, you can play locally!

[Shannara]

Will u have the world builder u had
in civ 4?;)

[JeffinIllinois]

There are alot of qusetions here on this FAQ that haven't been answered. I hope this is not because we are not going to like the answers. Again, will we be able to edit map size? Anyway, the game looks awesome.

[2K Elizabeth]

There are alot of qusetions here on this FAQ that haven't been answered. I hope this is not because we are not going to like the answers. Again, will we be able to edit map size? Anyway, the game looks awesome.

questions won't be answered here. i'm actually closing the thread now, so i can go through it tomorrow and gather up all the questions and send them off for answers!

you'll see more Q&As on the community site in the coming weeks.