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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Civilization V | 5/6 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilization_V | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T13:02:58.664389+00:00 | kb-cron |
== Development == Firaxis began work on Civilization V sometime in 2007. Initially, the team working on the game consisted of seven artists led by Jon Shafer; this team gradually grew to 56 members. For initial tests of gameplay ideas, the team used the Civilization IV game engine (Gamebryo), while a new graphics engine was built from the ground up; this new engine, called LORE, came online only 18 months prior to the game's release. Teams working on different aspects of the game were located close to each other, which enabled the developers to solve some of the issues they were facing quickly. According to producer Dennis Shirk, the move to one unit per tile had a great impact on the game's core systems. This forced the developers to create an entirely new AI system and caused the game's later eras to lose emphasis. The increased emphasis of the game's new features also meant that the developers had to trim some of the systems that existed in previous Civilization games. The developers also lost critical team members and lacked members working on the multiplayer aspects. After approximately 3 years and 3 months of development, the game was finally released in North America on September 21, 2010, and internationally on September 24.
=== LORE === LORE (Low Overhead Rendering Engine) is the name of the graphics engine used by Civilization V (and its successor Civilization: Beyond Earth). There was a presentation of LORE at the GDC2011. While Direct3D 11 was still in alpha stage, Firaxis decided to design the rendering engine natively for the Direct3D 11 architecture, and then map backwards to Direct3D 9. A major addition to the Direct3D 11 API was Tessellation and Civilization V contains one of the most complex terrain systems ever made. The rendering engine uses the GPU to ray-trace and anti-alias shadows. The native ports to Mac OS X (November 23, 2010) and Linux (June 10, 2014) use an OpenGL rendering path.
=== Patches === As of November 21, 2012, the Windows and Mac OS X versions of Civilization V have had regular patches since being released, which included major gameplay alterations, numerous crash fixes, and other changes. Patch support for Mac OS X has often been delayed, with some patches being released more than a month after their Windows counterparts. Using released source code the game's community continues the support for the game from where Firaxis left it with a community patch called Vox Populi.
== Release == 2K Games released Civilization V and its demo on September 21, 2010, It is distributed through retail and the Steam content delivery system. The Mac OS X version was released on November 23, 2010, and the Linux/SteamOS version was released on June 10, 2014. In conjunction with its release, the State of Maryland, where Meier and Firaxis are based, named September 21, 2010, as "Sid Meier's Civilization V Day", in part due to Meier's success and for him "continuing a tradition of developing the talent and creativity of future generations". A special edition of Civilization V was also set for worldwide release on the same day as the standard edition. The package consists of a 176-page artbook, a "behind-the-scenes" DVD at Firaxis, two-CD game soundtrack selections, and five metal figurines of in-game units, as well as the game itself. A Game of the Year edition was released on September 27, 2011. It includes all four of the "Cradle of Civilization" map packs, as well as some of the new civilizations (Babylon, Spain, Inca, and Polynesia), their respective scenarios, and the official digital soundtrack. However, the "Explorer's Map Pack", "Civilization and Scenario Pack: Denmark - The Vikings", "Civilization and Scenario Pack - Korea" and "Wonders of the Ancient World Scenario Pack" are not included. A Gold edition was released on February 12, 2013. It includes all "Cradle of Civilization" map packs, the "Explorer's Map Pack", the "Wonders of the Ancient World Scenario Pack", all the DLC civilizations and the Gods & Kings expansion pack. A Complete edition was released on February 4, 2014. It includes both expansions and all the DLC packs.