Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth preorder bonuses takes inspiration from the cosmos

Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth is now up for preordering on Steam, and as you might expect that means preorder bonuses. And the Exoplanets Map pack is actually kind of cool: It's a collection of six custom maps inspired by real-world exoplanets.

Obviously some liberties have been taken, but a quick trip to Wikipedia (a couple of others, here and here ) confirms that the six planets in the pack do have a real-world basis. But we're not here to talk about the scientific accuracy of videogame DLC, we're here to talk about a preorder bonus. So here's what you get:

  • Kepler 186f: This lush forest planet is one of the oldest known Earth-like planets.
  • Rigil Khantoris Bb: Orbiting the closest star to the solar system, the historical records of this arid continental planet's settlement are well-preserved.
  • Tau Ceti d: This planet of seas and archipelagos features a booming biodiversity and a wealth of resources.
  • Mu Arae f: Tidally locked in orbit around a weak star, the southern hemisphere of this planet is a blistering desert where the sun never sets, while the northern hemisphere is perpetually in frozen darkness.
  • 82 Eridani e: An alien world of scarce water and wracked by tectonic forces.
  • Eta Vulpeculae b: A mysterious new discovery with unknown terrain.

"Specialized scripts produce randomized geographic layouts each time a new game begins, allowing for even more replayability on new alien worlds," according to the content pack description on Steam .

Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth launches on October 24.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.