Firaxis Games Announces Civilization V Release: September 21th 2010

Firaxis Games, makers of the Civilization series of turn based strategy video games for the PC, has announced Sid Meier's Civilization V will be released on September 21st, 2010 (September 24th world wide).

Most notable in their newest edition perhaps are the graphics. According to one source, both resolution and detail have been dramatically improved leading to immersive, realistic worlds.

More notable game improvements include the following:

• Self Organizing Units: each unit type now occupies its own square. Units also positive themselves according to type, with archers and artillery in back, calvary and infantry in front.
• Self Defending Cities: cities can now defend themselves, without having units stationed inside, against small attacks by enemy forces.
• Non Player Civilizations: There are now small city-states which act as their own entities in the game. These can be conquered, destroyed, and partnered or traded with.
• New Grid Design: The map is now divided by hexagonal tiles (rather than 8 sided octagons). Preview players report more intuitive, 'fluid' unit movement as the result.

While not on par with the newest cutting edge games, Civilization 5 certainly requires more from your computer than previous versions. Thus if you have a barely adequate machine for your current version of Civilization, upgrading would greatly enhance game enjoyment.

Basic System Requirements for Civilization V:

• Operating System: Windows® XP SP3/ Windows® Vista SP2/ Windows® 7
• Processor: Dual Core CPU
• RAM Memory: 2GB RAM
• Hard Disk Space: 8 GB Free
• DVD-ROM Drive: For DVD-based Installation
• Video: 256 MB ATI HD2600 XT or better, 256 MB nVidia 7900 GS or better, or Core i3 or better integrated graphics
• Sound: DirectX 9.0c-compatible sound card
• DirectX®: Version 9.0c

Recommended System Requirements for Civilization V:

• Operating System: Windows® Vista SP2/ Windows® 7
• Processor: 1.8 GHz Quad Core CPU
• Memory: 4 GB RAM
• Hard Disk Space: 8 GB Free
• DVD-ROM Drive: For DVD-based Installation
• Video: 512 MB ATI 4800 series or better, 512 MB nVidia 9800 series or better
• Sound: DirectX 9.0c-compatible sound card
• DirectX®: DirectX® version 11

And in case you were wondering - yes, higher computer specs will make a noticeable difference. However, the biggest difference in system performance will come from your RAM and video card - as long as you have a dual core Athlon or Pentium class processor running at more than 2 gigahertz.