Monday Link-A-Mania

Today's news digest! Civilization: Beyond Earth , X-Men: Days Of Future Past , Guardians Of The Galaxy , Transformers and more

• Sci-fi gamers rejoice: the mind that brought us Civilization is bringing us Beyond Earth . Sid Meier explores the future, off world. Here's the announcement trailer:

The time-destroying game Civilization is 24 years old this year, believe it or not. "The Civ team was excited about the opportunity to continue the story into the future, because it allows the team to break free of historical context," said Sid Meier, who is still director of creative development at Firaxis Games . "We've always let our fans create the history of mankind, and Civilization: Beyond Earth

• A new Guardians Of The Galaxy clip hit MTV last week, and here it is:

Director James Gunn told EW that his film is "definitely connected to Avengers 3" while star Zoe Saldana says that in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Guardians are like "the sex pistols."

• Mark and Brian Gunn, who wrote Journey 2: The Mysterious Island , are penning the script for Timecop - yep, a remake of the 1994 Jean-Claude Van Damme movie.

• Speaking at the recent Sci Fi Scarborough event, Red Dwarf ers Chris Barrie, Danny John-Jules and Robert Llewellyn revealed that Red Dwarf XI will air autumn 2015 on Dave. And according to the WhatCulture report , John-Jules further added that filming will begin this October.

• Gerard Butler will star in a new sci-fi thriller called Geostorm , playing a satellite designer who has to work with his estranged brother to save the world from a man-made storm. Story via ComingSoon.net .

• Also via ComingSoon.net, here are images of 13 Transformers from Age Of Extinction , as revealed by Hasbro. And don't forget the new teaser trailer .

• In case you missed it, the beautiful www.25moments.com hit this weekend, a look at events in history as seen through the eyes of the X-Men - it's all in aid of Days Of Future Past , of course. The opening battle was screening during the MTV Music Awards (not currently available to view in the UK).

• Aspiring writers remember: Darren Shan is judging a zombie writing competition !

• We know it's difficult to pick just ten, but here's your chance to shape the ultimate sci-fi and fantasy countdown ahead of SFX ‘s milestone issue 250. What are the greatest moments in sci-fi, fantasy and horror? Vote now .

• The Syfy channel has approved a 10-episode TV series based on James SA Corey's Expanse series of novels. The Expanse consists of three published novels to date ( Leviathan Wakes , Caliban's War and Abaddon's Gate ), with the fourth book, Cibola Burn , due in June. There are also several short stories and novellas available in the setting. Writers Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby ( Children of Men , Iron Man ) are attached. Game Of Thrones author George RR Martin described Leviathan Wakes as a "kickass space opera." Thanks to Adam Whitehead for drawing our attention to The Hollywood Reporter story .

Play Blackpool , the retro and alternative games event from Replay Events running 3 and 4 May, will be running a cosplay element again this year. Competitions will run on both days and there'll be a parade and prizes (including signed Doctor Who photos) thanks to partners Showmasters. It's at Norbreck Castle Exhibition Centre, Blackpool, and costumes can be on any theme from anime to sci-fi, gaming and beyond. Judges include cosplay favourites Naurarwen, EJ Sephirayne and Van Helen.

• And remember you can download the latest - and biggest - issue of Comic Review now . It has Daredevil on the cover. Our chums on Comic Heroes mag also produce this weekly iPad/iPhone mag and it's just 99p (or free if you already get Comic Heroes via Apple Newsstand ).