14 DAY TRIAL // The development team working on Civilization: Beyond Earth at Firaxis says that one of the elements of the franchise that the new title will focus on is the early game, which has been traditionally ignored by the turn-based strategy series.
David McDonough, one of the co-lead designers working on the experience, tells GamesRadar that “When you land, you have a very interesting problem. You have advanced technology at your disposal, but no way to implement it.”
He adds, “We today take for granted how easy it is to get steel from city A and coal from city B and turn it into something in city C. On a new planet, on turn one, you don’t have any of that. You have a lot of technology, but none of the machinery to implement it.”
In classic Civilization, gamers tended to develop a set of moves for the early game that guaranteed a good outcome, as long as they had access to good land on which to settle their first city.
In Beyond Earth, players will have a lot more choices to make before they actually reach the new planet they are aiming to colonize, choosing the leader of their faction, the type of spaceship that they are willing to use and the goods that will fill its cargo hold.
Based on the decisions made, the first few turns can be very different, and players will have to then decide how to best use their resources in order to create a solid industrial base and put their civilization in a good position.
Civilization: Beyond Earth uses the classic mechanics of the turn-based strategy genre, but Firaxis also aims to introduce a number of new ideas and challenge players.
The studio explains that only one military unit will be able to occupy one hex at a time, but it is adding a number of new layers to the game in order to increase the number of tactical options in combat.
The approach to how technology works has been changed significantly, with the player now dealing with a web rather than a simple tree.
This means that gamers will have to make choices about the direction in which to expand their knowledge and will grow closer to an Affinity based on the tech they gain access to.
Civilization: Beyond Earth will be launched only on the PC and will be offered on October 24.