Macenstein

Posted by Lab Rat

Well, that’s it. Civilization IV for Mac is scheduled to ship Monday according to Aspyr, and I will likely be scheduled for divorce by Friday. But it will be worth it! (isn’t it always?)

From Aspyr’s Press Release:

Aspyr Media, Inc. today announced the Mac version of 2K Games’ popular simulation game, Civilization IV, has been declared Gold Master and is scheduled to begin shipping Monday, June 26th. The title was developed for the Mac by Aspyr Studios, Aspyr’s internal development team, under license from 2K Games.

Sid Meier’s Civilization IV comes-to-life like never before in a beautifully detailed, living 3D world that expands the gameplay experience. This latest installment takes the franchise to new heights with the addition of new ways to play and win, new tools to manage and expand your civilization, all-new easy to use mod capabilities and various multiplayer modes and options.

Key Features:

Faster-Paced Fun – Gameplay has been streamlined for a tighter, faster, and more compelling experience.

Greater Accessibility and Ease of Play – An easy-to-use interface will be immediately familiar to RTS and action game players, and newcomers to the series will be able to jump in and play.

Tech Tree – Flexible Tech tree allows players more strategic choices for developing their civilizations along unique paths.

Grow Bigger Empires – More Civilizations, Units, and Improvements to enhance and grow your empire.

Multiplayer – LAN, Internet, and Play-By-Email offer players all-new strategies and ways to play when competing or cooperating with live opponents.

Team Play – Whether playing multiplayer or single player, team play offers a new way of setting locked alliances that result in shared wonder effects, visibility, unit trading, and shared territory that delivers a plethora of new strategic and tactical options.

Beautiful 3D world – Sid Meier’s Civilization IV comes to life with a beautiful 3D world, dozens of fully animated units (including culturally unique units), and totally customizable armies. Cities and wonders will appear on the map. Wonder movies are back!

Mods and Community Tools – Designed from the ground up for modability, the game contains a powerful map editor with XML and Python support.

Choose Your Leader – Most Civilizations now have two leaders from which to choose, with each Leader having traits that provide various bonuses to the player.

Civics – With the discovery of new techs, civic options can become available. Freedom of speech or slavery? Hereditary rule or open elections? This creates endless government choices and possibilities!

Religion – Now there are seven religions in the game that are unlocked through researching. When unlocked, the religion spreads through a player’s empire allowing them to use the religion to help manage happiness, gain gold and create Great Prophets.

Great People – As the player uses specialists they gain Great People points in the city that is utilizing the specialists. Great People include the Artist, Tycoon, Prophet, Engineer, & Scientist. They can be used to get free techs, start Golden Ages, or join a city to increase its output.

Promotions – Each unit has a promotion path that emphasizes specific unit traits. Promotions include bonuses to Attack/Defend on specific terrains/features, movement bonuses, sight/visibility bonuses, and increased withdrawal chances.

In-Game Cinematics – Sid Meier’s Civilization IV has over 40 in-game cinematics.

Sid Meier’s Civilization IV is rated “E10+” for “Everyone 10 and older” by the ESRB and is available for the Mac at $49.99 at www.aspyr.com. For more information, fans can visit Aspyr’s site, http://www.aspyr.com/games.php/mac/civ4/, or 2K Games’ official Web site, http://www.CivIV.com.