Civilization IV Screenshots, Religion Info

Geez, I don't see what the big deal is about the graphics. Have you guys ever played Civ games before? When in the hell would you ever need to zoom all the way in like that? I need to have at least 3-4 cities on my screen at all times to be efficient at all. From the videos I've seen, you still have the option to play the game in isometric mode, and even in old-school Civ bird's eye view.

I mean, I can understand the need for realism in games like Battlefield 2 and the like, but Civilization is like a board game. You just do not need fully 3d-rendered graphics. And if you do, you certainly don't need good textures. This is one game where graphics definitely do not have anything to do with gameplay. Hell, I think Civ 2 is a better game than Civ 3. The only thing I care about for new versions is new features and better netcode.

looks pretty good! can't wait.

It's like millions of hours of my life suddenly cried out, and were queued to be comsumed.

Ok I'll set up us the joke:

*phone rings*

Hello?

The religions should be a really nice addition. Interesting that they've chosen Taoism and Confucianism though along with Buddhism and Hinduism. Confucianism isn't really a "religion" per se imo and it overrepresents the eastern religions, specifically China and India (two religions each) whereas the west only has the 3 religions. Now obvious some HAVE to be in there.. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism are givens. The other 3 though, Judaism, Taoism and Confucianism though important historically, aren't really as important in the same sense (though confucianism is of vast importance in terms of chinese political and cultural development, it's more akin to western thought/philosophy as founded by the greeks rather than a religion). And they don't adequately represent the religions especially of the ancient civilizations. I mean, what religion will the Aztecs follow? Christianity? Well, historically not until very late in the game (post-1600 or later) if at all. Are there pantheistic/old-school proto-religions represented for the ancient civs until they develop the newer religions?

Would have been nice to see Zoroastrianism in the game actually, possibly replacing Confucianism or Taoism. I mean, Zoroastrianism clashed with Judaism, Hinduism and Christianity for a long time with the rise and fall of Persia. It's also still present, though very much muted (hardly a force anymore, but is taoism a force? Not really). Maybe also the Greek/Roman Pantheonic religion, as they guided much of the world for over a thousand years and were actively spread by their respective peoples with great monuments built in their honour.

Compare:
Before:
http://www.shacknews.com/screens.x/civilization4/Civilization+IV/1/072205/Civ4ScreenShot0013.jpg

After:
http://www.shacknews.com/screens.x/ageofempires3/Age+of+Empires+III/1/thumbs/010405_aoe3_10.jpg

I thought EE2 looked pretty bad....but jebus. I don't want to shame my video card by playing this game :(

AoE3 is looking incredibly awesome by comparison.

Heh, it's like someone has been reading Asimov's Foundation. (or not, but those who have read it, doesn't it remind you of that?)

it looks like empire earth one.

by that, i mean it looks like shit.

Im guessing a lot of the people complaining about graphics have never played civ? Yeah this looks pretty bad graphically but they have to fit an entire world of these cities and units onto the screen. To do them in highdetail would prob make the minimum spec far higher than either hl2's or Doom3's and the hardcore graphics market is not who civ games cater for anyway so they would lose a lot of sales.

I want this game so bad...but they really could have gone a bit more detailed with the buildings/environment. :/

Civ was never about the graphics. you guys are some picky motherfuckers

Does anyone else still think Civ2 was the best of them? =/
I spent so many, probably hundreds, of hours playing Civ2, but when it comes to Civ3.. eh.. I could never really get into it. I still occasionally pull open some Civ2 while flying in WoW :).

Any screenshots with modern era buildings?

and then you can create the mormon class which rides bicycles to a neighboring city and goes door to door spreading love. This can decrease productivity of the city by up to 5%. These units however only last two years before they return home and marry five women, therefore increasing the number of farms you need.

This game looks really, really fucking ugly :/

Boooo, 3d is crap, bring back the 2d.

http://www.shacknews.com/screens.x/civilization4/Civilization+IV/1/072205/Civ4ScreenShot0005.jpg

FUCK YEAH! Castle defended by giant WW 2 soldiers and shit...also Gandolf

Looks absolutely horrible. Should have stuck to the isometric view. 3d doesn't add much for this kind of strategy game.

when's it due for release?!!?!?!

I'm all for gameplay > graphics, but I just plain don't like the look of this.

They should have stuck with high detail 2D graphics :(

I really wish Big Huge Games would make a turn based game. Without Brian Reynolds, I consider the Civilization games to be over.

While I think adding 3D was a good idea... these look horrid. Make the city structures and wonders respectivly scalable to eachother.

I thought the screenshots looked pretty awful, but I guess people probably won't usually play that far zoomed in. I liked the sound of the religion stuff though.

Time to hire new artistic talent... I'm sure the gameplay will be addictive

what is the ETA on civ4?