I don’t think that was ever possible. The best movement I ever got out of modern armor was 4 on flat land, if it was an army.
So yes, terrain still effects movement, and while similar to earlier versions, there are some changes.
I’m not sure I like that Civ has been Sim-ified.
Mountains are now impassable to everybody (well, every unit I’ve gotten to, but I haven’t gotten much past tanks).
Haven’t established for sure if you can kill with bombardment, but you never could, in Civ 3, have done what you describe. The most an enemy unit could have moved in your territory is 3 spaces without attacking, 2 with a single attack.
With regards to the Intel chipset issue, I agree it sucks, but unfortunately that’s not even an issue unique to Civ 4. MANY games don’t run, or run poorly, on Intel integrated graphics. Integrated graphics, simply put, suck; they’re el-cheapo solutions designed mainly for running word processors and the other accoutrements of a workplace desktop. You can’t blame Firaxis for not supporting “Cards” that aren’t supported by the industry in general. For a hobbyist or a serious gamer, forget it.
That’s why I won’t buy from Dell anymore; all their reasonably priced systems come with integrated graphics.
Yeah I realize that you couldn’t move 4 squares in one turn but the problem was that the units get a big defensive bonus for mountains. If you have a mech infantry with your tanks its going to cost me a whole lot to stop your attack.
I also know that you could never kill by bombarding but that was one of the features I never liked. If I am pounding you with artillery you should die doggon it.
Intel makes a number of different types of products. “Intel 4 processor” would be a Pentium 4 CPU, which is the heart of the computer. “Intel 8” would be something in the Intel graphics chip line, which only handles the graphics. Graphics capability boils down to a lot of complex and specialized math equations, and unless you are willing to spend the money on a higher end graphics card (currently the field is dominated by nVidia and ATI) your computer won’t have the ability to handle all those equations fast enough, or at all, and graphical weirdness ensues.
That said, you don’t have to plunk down $500 on a top-of-the-line card unless you want to play games like Half-Life 2 at the highest settings. You can get decent cards for $100-$200 that will handle a majority of games, although in some cases at reduced graphic settings.
Here’s the thing: Game companies have to decide on a base level of hardware requirements that they feel allows people to play the game the way it was intended. It is sometimes possible to reliably squeeze better performance out of older hardware, but this takes more time and money. Console game makers have an easier time of this because they don’t also have to contend with a bunch of different hardware configurations, but even there it’s not a trivial task.
With these people you mention, note that only some of them can get the game to work. For example, maybe one person with Intel 9 graphics also has a beefy CPU and a lot of memory, which help offset the lower capabilities of the graphics chip. Another person with the same graphics chip may have a worse computer overall, and can’t play the game. There are far too many combinations of hardware for game companies to say things like, “Well, if you have w, x, y, and z you can play, but not if you have v, x, y, and z; however, v+1, x+1, y, and z will generally be adequate, unless you also have u, which negates the benefit of v+1 and x+1.”
You might argue that Firaxis should have developed the game with lower graphics output overall, so that more people could play it. It’s possible to develop a game with a broad range of graphics settings, but that also costs more time and money. There are a certain number of people who won’t by a game if it doesn’t have good enough graphics. So the question is, will Firaxis make more money by appealing to people who want better graphics (and who probably also have more money to spend), or would they have done better by ensuring that more people could play?
Certainly I don’t know enough about the business to say how large the segment is that I belong to. I do know the game industry isn’t catering to the likes of me anymore. Where are the Leisure Suit Larry’s, the Toonstruck’s, the Zork’s, the Sorcerers Get All the Girls?
I had no problem playing the latest Wizardry, or Might and Magic. I just don’t understand why they want to limit their audience to such a small sliver of people of those who would buy the game if they could only play it on a standard computer. Well, whatever.
Those games came out in 2001 and 2002, respectively. That’s an eternity when it comes to PC gaming.
That’s only if you define “standard computer” as “cheap computer,” or “office computer.” And I don’t know that the number of people who would buy the game but can’t run it is quite as high as you make it out to be. In addition to the gamers who have installed their own cards, virtually every PC maker offers more expensive systems with better graphical capabilities.
Really, Civ 4’s system requirements are pretty modest compared to most other games being released these days. I have no trouble running it with my three-plus-year old GeForce3 Ti200. It’s hard to fault Firaxis for not catering to integrated graphics chips that are still stuck in the stone age.
I just joined the “has it” club, thanks to my local EB. Thoughts tomorrow before football, probably 
You all probbaly know this, but just in case:the walk-through posted earler: http://www.kalikokottage.com/civ3/sullla/civ4intro.html has had new entries (I’m guessing the single player w-t will be updated until the game is won)
Brian
Thank you for your reply Sturmhauke. I was very appreciative that you wrote that.
Another question to anyone: If Intel 8xxx doesn’t support Civ4, how come when I go into the worldbuilder and tell it I want a game that shows all terrain from the beginning, it works (low graphics)? What is the culprit? Why can it show the terrain all together, but not one by one? Is it fog of war? What’s going on?
I’m actually looking for a technical answer to that, but layman version.
thanks,
/S
You’re welcome. That’ll be $20 for services rendered. 
That I don’t know. You could try looking around on apolyton.net and civfanatics.net, a lot of modders hang out there and figure out details like that so they can tweak the game.
Got my copy yesterday with the Tech Tree poster in French, but it worked on my Intel graphics setup; guess I can put off buying that real video card a little bit longer. The movies don’t usually play right, but nothing that affects gameplay. I’m quite happy with the new game! I’m really liking the new additions to the game, perhaps too much. I already have a mild case of One-More-Turn Syndrome. I meant to stop playing at midnight last night, finally stopped about 2am. We’ll see how the disease progresses.
Oh lord. Seven hours of playing last night, and now NaNoWriMo today. Fortunately I have two computers set up side by side upstairs, so I can play one turn, write 100 words, play one turn, write 100 words…
That’ll work, right? …right?
(Philosophical = crazy amount of Great Leaders. I mean crazy.)
I should get my copy today.
Actually I should say it should be delievered today while I’m asleep. No doubt I’m going to wake up with the box in front of my door. I’ll probably get to install it just in time to head to work.
Damnit.
<hijack>
Haha. Bad addictions. I’m AlexyAnna at nano’s website, and Zahri at fmwriters.com. Come find me 
And give me your name, so I can add you and see your word count and prod you with my pencil…
</>
/S
lno here, there, and everywhere. I’m already 282 words in!
279 words of the title, 1 word for “by”, and 2 words for my name. That’s legit, right?
Finally got my Civ IV (and City of Villains) last night. Got CoV from EBGames and found Civ Iv in the Best Buy across the street. Neither had both.
I’ve had it now for a weekend, and I gotta say, it’s absolutely great. They’ve really made it easier to jump in to, quicker to play, and yet retaining all the functionality and strategy of the earlier ones.
The only thing it doesn’t have that I’m seriously disappointed in is the leader portraits from Civ 3 - the ones that changed with each epoch. Civ IV portraits are rendered and effusive, but you don’t get to see Montezuma in a bowler. Ah, well.
I miss seeing Joan d’Arc in her ARMEE shirt.
::wolf whistle::
That is one thing I’m wondering if it’s balanced they way the meant. I havn’t played a Philosophical civ yet, but the amount of great people some other civs are getting is insane. The book says +100% rate, which I assumed meant twice as many as others. But I am kicking ass getting, 80% of all world wonders which with the extra GPpoints should keep me competitive, but certain other civs are getting 5-10 times the number of GP I’m getting.
I do love that you can take off time limit victory in the Custom games. No more sudden endings before you can crush the foe.