Civilization 5 Will be getting a brand new expansion this summer, entitled Brave New World, which seeks to revamp many aspects of the game.
This expansion will add nine new civilizations to the game, though the only new civ mentioned was the Polish. But what is even more exciting than the new playable civilizations is the way Aspyr Media will change the cultural aspects of the game. The Autocracy, Freedom, and Order social policy trees have been promoted to the main ideologies of the game, which can be picked late in the game. These lead to new pathways for you nation and new policies that boost the country.
Cultural victories will become less passive, as now you can use your Great Artists to create special Great Works that can be put into your cities, boosting their culture and bringing in new tourism points. Players can also find Great Works via archaeology. Finding artifacts from historic military values also raises the cultural values of your cities. Doing both of these can lead to your country dominating the culture war and winning the game.
Brave New World is setting up changes to the way players trade amongst themselves. Now International Trade Routes develop between cities, and new cargo boat and caravan units will automatically trade between civilizations. This generates gold and resources for both civilizations, but these units can be attacked by warring civilizations.
The diplomacy aspect of the game has also been changed. now the World Congress can be formed once every culture has meet each other and has discovered the printing press. This acts like the UN in the late game, but does not give the player the option for a diplomatic victory. Instead, players receive delegates and vote on policies such as trade embargoes. Players can try to shift votes towards them through deals and bribery.
In addition to all these gameplay changes, Brave New World features two new scenarios. One is set during the American Civil war, and the other is the colonization of Africa. However, further details about the scenarios are scarce at this point. Civilization fans will have to wait until the summer to try out these new gameplay options and civilizations.