E3 2002Civilization III: Play the World impressions

Infogrames gave us a tour today of Civilization III: Play the World, its upcoming expansion pack for the popular turn-based strategy game Civilization III. The expansion is being developed by Firaxis, the game studio headed by Sid Meier, and it will add a number of new features to the game, including new single-player elements, new scenario editor features, and several multiplayer modes.

The expansion will add eight new civilizations to the game, along with their respective leaders and unique units. Infogrames' Jeff Morris showed off the Mongols, a new race led by Genghis Khan, and their unique keshik unit, an elite mounted warrior that carries lots of weapons and equipment. Morris then showed off the Spanish, led by Queen Isabella, and the unique conquistador unit, a mounted warrior that uses firearms, lances, and a large war dog companion to defeat enemies.

Morris also demonstrated some of the new structures featured in the expansion. The new outpost structure can be built outside of city boundaries in order to dispel the fog of war for a certain distance that varies according to the surrounding terrain and elevation of the outpost. The new airfield structure expands air operations beyond what is possible through cities alone, and the new radar tower adds a combat bonus to units within range.

The expansion will also include stacked unit movement for both land- and sea-based units, making it easier for players to keep units with different movement speeds together during journeys across the map. It will also add a new auto-bombard command that lets players order units to repeatedly bombard a specific target and an improved cycle feature that gives players more options when searching for units or cities. For instance, players can cycle through specific types of units, or easily find the cities that are currently in civil disorder.

In addition to the new civilizations and gameplay features, Play the World will include new unit sets for use in the editor. The new sets include a medieval Japan set and a World War II set, and they will feature 17 units each. The developer is considering additional sets, such as a dinosaur-themed set. The expansion will also have new winter and European terrain sets. To make it easier for players to create fair maps, the editor will include a balanced start option that makes sure all sides have equal access to resources.

To support the game's mod community, Play the World will add a modification manager to Civilization III that lets players easily add and remove custom content. The manager will have a preview mode that lets players see exactly what effects a mod will have before they use it.

For the multiplayer mode, the developers wanted to support the players who enjoyed the Civilization games' previous multiplayer modes and the marathon gaming sessions that often resulted. To this end, Play the World's multiplayer component includes turn-based, simultaneous, play-by-e-mail, and hotseat modes. To also appeal to Civilization players unwilling to take part in extended multiplayer matches, Firaxis is adding a new "turnless" multiplayer mode, along with short game types such as regicide, elimination, and capture the flag. The turnless mode results in a much faster game by eliminating the AI phase and setting a very short time limit on turns, which can dynamically extend itself as the game's complexity increases with additional cities and units. According to Morris, the turnless mode gets as close to a real-time system as a turn-based game can get.

Civilization III: Play the World is scheduled for release in October. We'll post more information about the expansion as it becomes available.