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Unlike my previous preview, for the most part I’ll try to stay as concise and to the point as much as possible here. After all, the game’s release is just hours away and the excitement is growing with each passing one! The purpose of this article is to include information which likely has not been covered before, however you’ll find that there are areas which you are still familiar with!
Map Sizes & Allowed Civilizations
There are no longer limitations on the amount of Civilizations you can include on a certain map size. You may include as many as you like, even on the duel map size (map sizes are Duel, Tiny, Small, Standard, Large, Huge and of course, Random!). For example, if you have all 18 Civilizations on Duel or Tiny, that would, for the most part, mean City-States as well as many wars targeted at gaining land. Doing this makes the game extremely competitive!
Difficulty Levels
There are nine difficulty levels in all. There is even a level below chieftain and it is appropriately named “Settler.” The remaining are Chieftain, Warlord, Noble, Prince, Monarch, Emperor, Immortal, and Deity. Note that even though on higher difficulty levels the AI has certain production bonuses, it is blind this time around. This means that it does not know where every resource, etc is on the terrain. Basically what you see, it sees also.
Scores & Hall of Fame
Not just statistics, Civ4’s hall of fame screen even stores every single game replay that you have ever played (under your profile, you are also able to create profiles in the game). This means that you can view every single detail of games you’ve played even months after the game had been finished! As expected, it displays to you information such as Difficulty Level, Game Speed, Victory Achieved, Starting Era, World Size, Finish Date, and of course, score itself.
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| Score Breakdown |
Speaking of score, while in-game, just hover your mouse over your name on the right-hand side of the screen and you will see a very, very nice score breakdown (if you happen to hover it over another leader’s, it will just display that leader’s attitude points toward you. Just as detailed is the in-game events and combat logs (you’ll love them both) which displays numerous events during the game. Just click on an event and it will take you to the tile where it happened (such as the birth of a Great Person).
Diplomacy
Just as you can broker peace between two other Civilizations, a Ceasefire between you and the Civilization you are at war can occur as well. If this happens while you are at war with someone else, peace is automatically restored and all units are withdrawn back to their own Civilization. War can be declared anytime after this happens.
UN Resolution Details
Some of these we already know, but I think that we should go over all of them so they are understood.
- Single Currency – Adopting this resolution successfully increases trade and commerce. Every city in the world will receive an extra trade route.
- Free Trade – Free Trade removes all trading restrictions in the world between all Civilizations. It basically functions as if all Civilizations have open borders – No matter what their real diplomatic relationship may be.
- Nuclear Non-Proliferation – As Thunderfall’s article has mentioned already, adopting this means that no nukes may be built, however existing nuclear weapons are not destroyed. Note that if this resolution passes before any nuke is built in the world, it means that the game itself will proceed without nukes appearing. This may be a benefit to you if you’re playing against aggressive Civilizations.
- Universal Suffrage – All Civilization’s civics are changed to Universal Suffrage (+1 Hammer from Town; Can spend gold to finish production) no matter if they have the required technology for that specific Civic (this counts for all UN Resolutions relating to Civics).
- Free Speech – All Civilizations adopt the Free Speech Civic (100% culture in all cities; +2 gold from Town).
- Emancipation – All Civilizations switch to the Emancipation Civic ((100% Growth for Cottage, Hamlet, Village; Unhappiness for civs without that civic).
- Environmentalism – All Civilizations adopt the Environmentalism Civic ((+6 health in all cities; +1 happiness from jungle, forest)
- And finally, Free Religion – All Civilizations Adopt this Civic (No non-state religion spread; +1 happiness per non-state religion in a city, +10% science in all cities)
Spies
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| Clicking an entry in the Event Log will take you to the tile where the event happened. |
For starters, the Spy unit has a movement of 2, and costs 80 Hammers. Before its construction can begin, the player must have the following: Communism and the Scotland Yard National Wonder, meaning every Civilization may build its own (500 Hammers; +1 Great People Points; More likely to generate a Great Scientist).
At any one time, you are allowed to have a maximum of four Spies! These units are invisible to every other Civilization (like Submarines) which means that they will not cause war even if crossing through Closed Borders. These units cannot be attacked or interacted with, however they can be exposed by rival Spies (you are able to expose enemy Spies as well). Other abilities of the Spy unit include:
- Investigate City – This is rather basic. It allows you to have a peek inside an enemy city and see all its properties (what it is producing, Culture amount, what unit it has, etc, etc).
- Destroy Production – If you order your Spy to destroy the production of whatever a city is producing (and if successful), half of whatever is being produced is destroyed (therefore slowing down dramatically production of, say, a Great Wonder). However, if the Spy fails, it is killed.
- Sabotage Improvement – If a Spy is ordered to do so, and if successful, a terrain improvement will be destroyed (such as a valuable Oil Well). If unsuccessful, the Spy will be destroyed.
- Steal Plans – First of all, the Spy has a much better chance of having success at this if the action is taking place in a City which contains either a Palace (therefore the capitol of that Civilization), a Forbidden Palace, or the Versailles Great Wonder (Requires Divine Right; Reduces Maintenance in nearby cities; City in which it is built in is more likely to generate a Great Merchant; Doubled Production speed with the Marble resource).
Like in Civilization III, attempting these actions will cost you gold. Success depends on the amount of units the other Civilization has in the area of where the action is taking place. Nearby enemy spies also decrease the amount of success your Spy unit has.
What I am about to say doesn’t directly fit under Espionage, but it does have to do of what you do know about rival Civilizations. Your foreign advisor does include information of what resources and technologies the AI has (as well as relations, current ongoing deals, etc). On top of that, it tells you weather or not the AI is willing to trade these.
Unique Unit Statistics
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| All 18 unique units in Civilization IV are labelled in this screenshot! |
Before I mention the specific details, it should also be known that Unique Units can also be gifted to other Civilizations.
American Navy SEAL (Gunpowder Unit. Replaces Standard Marine):
24 Strength, 1 Movement, 160 Hammers
This unit requires Industrialism & Rifling.
The unit’s special Abilities are: 1-2 First-Strikes; +50% Attack vs. Machine Gun; +50% Attack vs. Artillery; Starts out with Amphibious & March Promotions. Also note that this unit is not upgradeable to any other unit.
Arabian Camel Archer (Mounted Unit. Replaces the Standard Knight):
10 Strength, 2 Movement, 90 Hammers
This unit’s required technologies are Guilds, Horseback Riding, and Archery.
The Camel Archer’s unique abilities are as follows: Immune to first strikes; Doesn’t receive defensive bonuses; Can withdraw from combat (25% chance). The unit can later be promoted to the Cavalry.
Aztec Jaguar (Melee Unit. Replaces the Standard Swordsmen):
5 Strength, 1 Movement, 40 Hammers
The Jaguar requires Iron Working. The following are its special abilities: +10% City Attack; +25 Jungle Defense. This unit is upgradeable to the Maceman later on.
Chinese Cho-Ku-Nu (Archery Unit. Replaces the Standard Crossbowman):
6 Strength, 1 Movement, 60 Hammers
Machinery, Archery, and the Iron resource are required to construct the Cho-Ku-Nu. The Cho-Ku-Nu’s special abilities include all of the following: 2 First Strikes; Causes Collateral Damage; +50% vs. Melee Units. The unit may be upgraded later on to either the Rifleman, or Grenadier.
Egyptian War Chariot (Mounted Unit. Replaces the Standard Chariot):
5 Strength, 2 Movement, 25 Hammers
Before construction on the War Chariot can proceed, it requires The Wheel and Horses. The following are all of its unique abilities as the Egyptian Unique Unit: Immune to First Strikes; Doesn’t Receive Defensive Bonuses; May Withdraw from combat if losing (20% chance). Since this unit may be constructed early, it also may be upgraded later on either to the Horse Archer or Knight.
English Redcoat (Gunpowder Unit. Replaces the Standard Rifleman):
16 Strength, 1 Movement, 110 Hammers
The Redcoat only requires the Rifling Technology to begin construction. All of the following are the unit’s special abilities: +25% vs. Mounted Units; +25% vs. Gunpowder Units. The unit is also upgradeable to the Infantry which is available later on in the game.
French Musketeer (Gunpowder Unit. Replaces the Standard Musketman):
9 Strength, 2 Movement, 80 Hammers
This unit requires the Gunpowder Technology. The special abilities of the unit are simply that it has a movement of two instead of one (don’t underestimate this!). It can later be upgraded to the Rifleman.
German Panzer (Armored Unit. Replaces the Standard Tank):
28 Strength, 2 Movement, 120 Shields
Industrialism, Rifling, and the Oil resource are required for the tank’s construction. Here are the unique abilities of the Panzer: Doesn’t receive defensive bonuses; +50% vs. Armored Units; Starts out with Blitz promotion. The Modern Armor replaces the Panzer later on when available.
Greek Phalanx (Melee Unit. Replaces the Standard Spearman):
5 Strength, 1 Movement, 35 Hammers
The unit requires the Hunting technology, and the Copper and Iron resources. The Phalanx’s special abilities are as follows: +25% Hill Defense; +100% vs. Mounted Units. The Phalanx may be upgraded to the Pikeman.
Incan Quechua (Melee Unit. Replaces the Standard Warrior):
2 Strength, 1 Movement, 10 Hammers.
This unit does not require anything at all to be built – No Technologies, and no resources. The Quechua’s Special abilities are: +25% City Defense; +100% vs. Archery Units. There are three upgradeable choices later on that this unit can be upgraded to. The Axeman, Maceman, or Spearman.
Indian Fast Worker (Domestic/Non-combat Unit. Replaces the Standard Worker):
0 Strength, 3 Movement, 60 Hammers
The unit does not require any technologies or resources for its construction. The special ability of this unit is that it is fast (at 3 moves per turn). A note for Workers in general: Basically, AI improvements play a huge role in their automation. Partially, it is also because of more specific terrain improvements (meaning that if you don’t have Iron connected to your trade network, the worker will build a Mine, not a Windmill on the only unconnected Iron resource inside your boundaries).
Japanese Samurai (Melee Unit. Replaces the Standard Maceman):
8 Strength, 1 Move, 46 Hammers
The Samurai requires Civil Service, Machinery, and the Iron Resource. It’s special abilities are: 2 First Strikes; +50% vs. Melee Units. The unit may is may be upgraded to the Rifleman or Grenadier depending on your choice.
Malinese Skirmisher (Archery Unit. Replaces the Standard Archer):
4 Strength, 1 Movement, 25 Hammers
The Malinese Skirmisher requires Archery only. Also, it’s special abilities are as follows: 1-2 First Strikes; +50% City Defense; +25% Hill Defense. This Unique Unit is Upgradeable to the Longbowman or Crossbowman.
Mongolian Keshik (Mounted Unit. Replaces the Standard Horse Archer):
6 Strength, 2 Movement, 50 Hammers
The Keshik requires Horseback Riding, Archery and Horses for a resource. The unique abilities of this unique unit are: 1 First Strike; Doesn’t receive defensive bonuses; Ignores Terrain Movement Costs; +50% Attack vs. Catapult. This unit is upgraded to Cavalry later on.
Persian Immortal (Mounted Unit. Replaces the Standard Chariot):
4 Strength, 2 Movement, 25 Hammers
The Immortal requires the Wheel Technology as well as a Horse Resource. The following are its unique abilities: Can withdraw from combat (30% Chance); +50% vs. Archery Units. The Immortal may be upgraded to either the Horse Archer or Knight.
Roman Praetorian (Melee Unit. Replaces the Standard Swordsman):
8 Strength, 1 Movement, 40 Hammers
Iron Working as well as the Iron resource are needed in order to construct the Praetorian. The Praetorian is unique because it is two strengths more powerful than the unit it replaces (the Swordsman), but yet, its cost is the same. This unit will later upgrade to the Maceman Melee Unit.
Russian Cossack (Mounted Unit. Replaces the Standard Cavalry):
18 Strength, 2 Movement, 120 Hammers
The Cossack requires Military Tradition, Gunpowder, Horseback Riding, and a Horse resource. It’s special abilities: Doesn’t receive defensive bonuses; Can withdraw from combat (30% Chance); +50% vs. Cannon; +50% vs. Mounted Units. This unit upgrades to the Gunship.
Spanish Conquistador (Mounted Unit. Replaces the Standard Knight):
10 Strength; 2 Movement; 90 Hammers
This unit requires Guilds, Horseback Riding as well as the Iron and Horse Resources. Finally, the special abilities of the Conquistador are: Immune to First Strikes; +50% vs. Melee Units. The Conquistador upgrades to Cavalry.
The following are all of the available Unit Categories: Archery, Armored, Gunpowder, Helicopter, Melee, Mounted, Naval, Recon, Siege. Air units are in none of these categories. They are special types of units. We just call them “Air Units.”
The above are basically aspects which I felt needed to be uncovered because they do make a difference in the game (and they are considerable features, after all). With this, we conclude our pre-release Civilization IV Hands-On coverage. Of course, Civ4 is literally hours away, and just as we have given you coverage up until now, we will continue doing so after the game has been released.
Check back often with us, and happy Civing!