I’ve played plenty of Civilization games in the past and I’ve always wondered; “What happens after you build a space ship and leave Earth?” I know that normally you win the game, but a part of me wondered if the civilization I raised made it to another planet or something. I’m sure that I’m not the only one that has wondered about this. It seems that the developers over at Firaxis have been wondering that as well. At PAX East this past weekend, the Civilization developers revealed the next entry to the series: Sid Meier’s Civilization Beyond Earth. Here is the trailer that was released, which also tells a bit of the motivations for leaving Earth:
In past Civ games, you started with a pre-set historical civilization. With Beyond Earth it seems that the developers are free from the chains of history and will let players set their own history. The game will also have the following features:
• Seed the Adventure: Establish your cultural identity by choosing one of eight different expedition sponsors, each with its own leader and unique gameplay benefits. Assemble your spacecraft, cargo & colonists through a series of choices that directly seed the starting conditions when arriving at the new planet.
• Colonize an Alien World: Explore the dangers and benefits of a new planet filled with dangerous terrain, mystical resources, and hostile life forms unlike those of Earth. Build outposts, unearth ancient alien relics, tame new forms of life, develop flourishing cities and establish trade routes to create prosperity for your people.
• Technology Web: To reflect progress forward into an uncertain future, technology advancement occurs through a series of nonlinear choices that affect the development of mankind. The technology web is organized around three broad themes, each with a distinct victory condition.
• Quest System: Quests are injected with fiction about the planet, and help to guide you through a series of side-missions that will aid in resource collection, unit upgrades, and advancement through the game.
• Orbital Layer: Build and deploy advanced military, economic and scientific units that provide strategic offensive, defensive and support capabilities from orbit.
• Unit Customization: Unlock different upgrades through the tech web and customize your units to reflect your play style.
• Multiplayer: Up to 8 players can compete for dominance of a new alien world.
• Mod support: Robust mod support allows you to customize and extend your game experience.
You will be able to lead your civilization into the cosmos this Fall 2014 for $49.99.
