That could be fun, although I admit I prefer to solo Civ games. I've only done a couple multiplayer games of Civ 5.
No, I used to play Master of Orion 2 multiplayer back in the day and you could finish a game in a few hours.
It depends on the play method. I know SMAC had the option of play-by-email where a file would be saved that you'd then email to the next person. I've been on several forums where files would be swapped between players in a forum. In this case though, assuming they keep the option, the file could simply be uploaded to dropbox. Would take months, yes, but I think where the suspense comes in . I like the aspect of not knowing what's going on until it's your next turn.
I did Play by Email. A couple months weren't unrealistic based on the style we played, but it wasn't that bad (it wasn't time-intensive overall). And it's always possible to play ways that play faster.
If I remember correctly, Sid Meier and the Civ II team had left Microprose long before to found Firaxis and create Alpha Centauri, and Microprose released Test of Time to compete with it. Call to Power was released that year as well. What a crazy time that was in the history of the Civilization series. Three games released by three separate companies, all claiming to be the successor to Civ II, and all trying to incorporate sci-fi into the Civ formula. Alpha Centauri was the only one to succeed critically, and Firaxis ended up with the licence, thankfully. They might be able to manage some sort of save-importer feature like Paradox have for Crusader Kings II --> Europa Universalis IV. But they'd probably have to release a specific scenario for Civ V to make it work considering Beyond Earth only has 8 civilisations while Civ V has 43.
It sounds cool. I'm playing Alpha Centauri now (via GOG) and it's striking how atmospheric and compelling a game it still is today. Be neat to see what they can do with this concept in "Next-Gen" gaming. A little amusement: longtime Civ just-one-more-turners should recognize a fellow-sufferer in the author of this strip.
Gandhi truly is the most vile opponent in any Civ game. This has been true all the way back to the original. I dunno why Sid Meier hates Gandhi so much.
The first game was a programming error. Upon some point (building the UN perhaps), a Civ's aggression decreases by 1 or 2. Gandhi's aggression, however, was already at 1 or 0. Since the game didn't have negative numbers, his aggression flipped over to 10. And, since this is right at the end of the game, he suddenly became the most aggressive civ in the game right as he got nuclear weapons. Therefore, Gandhi was the most likely to nuke you. Since then, they've kept it as an inside joke.
Yeah, it's kind of been a joke for Civ for a while now: http://www.funnyjunk.com/funny_pictures/1322491/Civilization/
I used to think India had such a high nuke rating because India has nukes in real life. I've even thought they should replace Mahatma Gandhi with Indira Gandhi. But, in reality, Gandhi is just too much of a tradition to replace (it's why Shaka of the Zulu always comes back) and his nuke rating is to uphold this tradition.
I agree that Indira Gandhi should replace the other Gandhi. She is the one who started India's nuclear program. Considering the direction India had headed in recent years, Indira Gandhi would be a better choice.
Just three more weeks to go! The release date is October 24th and the game will retail for $50. Here's a 10 minute official trailer for the game. [yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_jp88pnNzE[/yt]
Reddit has an AMA October 21st at 1PM EST with two of the designers of the game. Should be interesting.