One of the most popular strategy game series is receiving a new installment later this year, with Firaxis Games announcing Sid Meier's Civilization VI today, complete with juicy details on what the game will bring.
Perhaps the biggest change from Civilization V to VI is what Firaxis calls 'unstacking the cities'. Rather than having every single element of a city in the one tile, new elements that you build will be spread out across the landscape, which creates more varied environments and more interesting ways to play.
With the unstacking of cities, it will become important to manage the land at your disposal, and take advantage of geographical elements. For example, placing a scientific campus near a rainforest might give bonuses that wouldn't be available if it was placed deeper into a city.
Civilization VI will see the tech tree tied more closely to the map and in-game situations: if you don't have access to a quarry, you might find it hard to research masonry; or if you haven't found the ocean, it might be impossible to undertake naval research. This differs from previous Civilizations where gamers could choose basically any tech to research at any point.
Firaxis will also be improving the AI in Civilization VI to make different civilizations and leaders feel more varied, and diplomacy will also be overhauled in a way that hasn't been detailed just yet.
Civilization VI will launch on October 21 for Windows, with version for OS X and Linux coming in the future.