NeverMind
Proud to be Russian
The latest PC Gamer UK issue (August) has "a world exclusive" Civ6 preview. A good reading, but unfortunately it adds almost nothing to what we know so far.
Just Tokimune agenda
Full text ->
Just Tokimune agenda
Tokimune has the Bushido trait, meaning he likes civilisations with a strong military, but only if they also produce faith or culture.
Full text ->
Spoiler :
CIVILIZATION EVOLUTION
CIVILIZATION VI doesnt reinvent the wheel, but it has better ways of researching one.
By Phil Savage
Im in Los Angeles, an interesting choice of location for the first hands-on demo of Civilization VI . As I sit, putting the finishing touches to my empires first World Wonder, I flash back to the night before, buying a staledoughnut at a 7-Eleven after too many IPAs in a dive bar with a flashing neon sign. The dissonance is remarkable, and, I think, part of what makes the Civilization series so appealing. There is no cultural victory to be found in a 24-hour convenience store. In a Civilization game, you get a more high-minded, aspirational look at the world.
Civilization VI is no different. Even its announcement trailer paints an idealistic portrait of statecraft. We are the explorers, the inventors, the architects of change, intones Sean Bean over the rousing strings of John Murphys Sunshine soundtrack. The builders of a better tomorrow. Its a mantra that could just as readily apply to the development of Civ VI itself, and the ambitions of its lead designer, Ed Beach.
It was Beach and his team who, through the expansions Gods and Kings and Brave New World, elevated Civ V from a maligned sequel into arguably the best game of the series. Its a transformation Firaxis hopes Civilization VI wont need. With Civ V, fans were initially disappointed that major features present in Civ IV were missing. In contrast, Civ VI is taking everything currently in Civ V expansions included and building from there. On the one hand, that means Civ VI will be extremely familiar to those whove played the previous game. On the other, it means a suite of improvements and additions that, all being well, will make Civ VI a superior successor.
All of Civilization VIs major new features stem from a core philosophy. We noticed that there are certain key approaches that Civ V players all share, Beach tells me. Were sort of in a rut, where all the players are playing the same way. With Civ VI, Beach wants to prevent the community from establishing such immutable strategies. We want players to have to think on their feet more, he says. We want a situation where you have to react to what the game is presenting for you. What the map is giving you, your starting position, what it means to have certain leaders next to you.
ITS AN ARTISTS DREAM, TO NOT BE CONFINED TO ONE HEX
The district system is one example of this. Beach likens it to the way Civ V switched up the military game by allowing only one unit per tile, but applied here to city expansion. Where previously, buildings were crammed onto a citys central hex, now theyre organised into districts each on its own tile. You have a campus tile, says Beach, and thats where all your research is going on you have your library, university and research lab all in that tile.
It sounds like a small thing, but, as with most of Civ VIs key features, it creates interesting new decisions. Certain districts will gain bonuses based on their location. The campus district, for instance, grants extra research if placed next to a mountain. But so does the religious district. The player has this intricate layout puzzle, where they decide where districts go around their city, Beach says. That becomes a cool, fun way to develop your empire that has a layer of depth that we didnt have before.
Districts dont come into play much during my session. Their construction requiresresearch, and I only have 60 turns. But their presence is felt as I settle new cities. Its no longer a case of choosing an empty patch with lots of resources. Im trying to build near natural features of the map, securing specific tiles for their adjacency bonus. Had I more time, Id specialise founding a city on science or industry. However, this would also give my opponents a specific point of attack to cripple my research or military production.
In general, cities are broader and feel larger, and that has a pronounced effect on Civ VIs art style. We had to spread out the map a lot more, which is great, says Brian Busatti, art director. Thats an artists dream, to not be confined to one hex. The art style proved controversial upon Civ VIs announcement. It was bright, vibrant and exaggerated. Some fans complained that it looked like a freemium mobile game, and feared it would play that way as well. Its an argument that doesnt hold up: art style isnt an indicator of design depth, and the upside of Civ VIs aesthetic is that it naturally presents information that would otherwise be hidden in menus.
Even when youre walking by another city, or youre invading, you dont have to mouse over anything, says Dennis Shirk, senior producer. It doesnt matter if youre zoomed out, you recognise exactly whats on the map, where it is, and what its primary function is.
This clarity is a direct result of the broader cities. Civ IV had all the different types of buildings, but being confined to one hex got very noisy, says Busatti. You couldnt look at a city and immediately call out what buildings a person had. By spreading out the districts now, you can do that very easily. When you have a holy site, you can look at it and see the temple and cathedral. You can look at the science district, and know how far along a person is because of the library or university.
Buildings and soldiers are large and exaggerated, but also detailed and distinctive. People zoom in to check out details, says Busatti, but as you get further with the game you want to see as much of the map as possible. Everything is readable from that distance, and also lets you better see combat. The stylisation lets us be a little bit more playful with the animations. They can be more exaggerated, more heroic. Theyre more entertaining, but also faster and more readable.
Exploration is a major theme of Civilization VI, both in its design and its look. The fog-of-war is no longer a mass of clouds, but instead a blank map parchment. Lose sight of a previously uncovered region, and the map view returns but this time filled in with the geographic features and resources that youve found. We talked a lot about an Age of Exploration theme, and thats been really important because were using the elements of mapmaking and exploration, says Busatti. Thats been the cornerstone of our UI, and its been very effective as a theme.
As a bonus, it looks nice, and conveys information in a more interesting way than simply greying out the area. Its a lot more fun to look at, and everything in there is visible from the line work, says Busatti. If you look at the detail in the plains, it has that wispy diagonal grass. You can see the dune texture in the sand. And its just tones and outlines used to pull that off.
Just as buildings and units are exaggerated, so are their rulers. In Civilization VI, leaders are expressive caricatures their attitudes revealed through animation and expression. Diplomacy is a big thing that Ed wanted to focus on, says Busatti, and we wanted the look of the game to support that. Youre going to interact a lot more with these leaders, theres a lot more personality, and we wanted to get the leaders as close to the camera as possible. We spent a lot of time on the facial animations. Their reactions and emotions are a lot more visible than they have been in the past.
Civ VIs leaders are more transparent than in previous games. In my session, I meet Cleopatra, Roosevelt and Tokimune. Each has a central, immutable belief that defines whether or not were going to get along. Tokimune has the Bushido trait, meaning he likes civilisations with a strong military, but only if they also produce faith or culture.
These traits are revealed immediately, but, in keeping with the goal of wanting players to think on their feet, each leader also has a second, randomly generated trait. As you go through the game, you can discover what they are by spying on them or trying to learn more secrets about them, says Beach. Once youve learnt that about other leaders, you can fully unlock the diplomatic landscape.
Learning a leaders secret motivation requires espionage, which as with religion, CivVs other major expansion feature will be an integral part of Civilization VI on release. During play, I see the beginnings of the espionage system in the form of rumours. These trigger randomly, and provide me with broad bits of intel about other civilisations. Despite the name, rumours will always be accurate. But by investing in proper espionage, the information becomes more detailed and useful. By setting up a trade route with another civilisation, Im able to generate more specific rumours eventually learning that Roosevelt and Cleopatra arent getting along. Im close to both, and so such information could prove crucial.
YOURE GOING TO HAVE INQUISITIONS INQUISITORS AND APOSTLES
Many of Civilization VIs big additions and improvements are to high level systems. It means that, while the course of a campaign should feel different to Civ V, the moment-to-moment experience is broadly the same. I scout out bits of the map, looking for ruins, bandit camps and city states. I queue up research, I construct basic buildings. I make first contact with other civilisations, and declare war on Roosevelt to see what happens. I decide where my second city should go, and harvest new resources. I lose all my armies thanks to Roosevelts superior technology. I click the button in the bottom right corner of the screen that guides me through the process: choose research, choose production, a unit needs orders, next turn. The world progresses, and I do it all again.
Its a proven approach to guiding a player through a 4X strategy game, but even here some important things have changed. A worker is no longer a single, everlasting unit that slowly upgrades your empire. Now, when you tell a worker to harvest a resource, the improvement will instantly appear. Doing so also uses a charge, and after three improvements, that unit is spent. The trick is to carefully plan out what to improve and when.
Research is another big change. Once again, theres a tech tree, and progression across it unlocks units, buildings and improvements. In Civilization VI, however, research has an active element. Each technology has a corresponding action that, if you complete, will speed its completion. If you want to push masonry or construction because you want to build walls, you better go out and establish a quarry, says Beach. Thats going to teach your citizens the skills they need to become good at masonry.
I decide to prioritise naval technology a mistake, given how few of my rivals turn out to be near water and earn research bonuses for creating fishing boats and using them to harvest resources. Had I not started on a coast, such boosts would be unavailable. Players are going to have to think through: look at this start position, this is a great one for me to push on horseback riding and develop a very mobile military, says Beach. As with randomised leader traits and district adjacency bonuses, active research is designed to force improvisation in each campaign.
Roosevelts research advantage puts me on the back foot for my remaining turns. Its a longstanding problem for Civilization players, and not just reckless ones who make bad decisions. If you were a builder, you were at the mercy of your neighbours, says Shirk. If you were playing for the culture victory and you had a science-happy militarist beside you, you were not going to keep up.
A new culture system is designed to balance things out. In addition to choosing research, players also progress along a civics tree using culture to unlock bonuses in the form of cards that can be applied to your government. Crucially, each tree is designed to counter the other. Civics also acts as an alternate path through the eras.
Players who focus on culture will not only earn better cards, but also new government types. The more advanced the government, the more cards can be active at any one time. Youre not going to be able to keep up with other people in terms of getting tanks first, says Shirk, but because youve got this humongous range of possible policies to put into your amazing, wide-slotted government, youre going to cut your unit maintenance in half. Youre going to be able to produce humans faster, youre going to be able to do all these things to counter that militaristic push.
Faith also has a military application. Religion works much as in Gods and Kings, but with added options. For example, being able to purchase theatre districts, or commercial hubs with faith alone, says Shirk. Youre going to have religious combat now. Youre going to have inquisitions inquisitors and apostles. Theres a whole different level if you want to play that aggressive religion game.
The last Civ game, Beyond Earth, came under fire for being too similar to Civilization V. While Civilization VI is no revolution for the series, its a much greater evolution, both conceptually and technically. Its a fuller game, and features a new engine. That allows for a number of improvements, including better mod support. While it was possible to mod Civ V, the tools and implementation were awkward and restrictive. Civilization VIhas been written from the ground up with modification in mind, and so it should be easier to tinker with every aspect of its design. With any luck, it will be as customisable as XCOM 2.
I can see the sense in many of Civ VIs tweaks. Almost every major system is expanding or changing in a way that sounds sensible. If the new features deliver on what Beach and his team are promising, theres a chance for Civ VI to be the best in the series. At the same time, my 60 turns arent dramatically different from the first 60 turns of any of my Civ V campaigns. I appreciated the differences on an intellectual level more than an emotional one. Thats all right, I think. Civ is rarely about the first 60 turns. Its a series about subtlety and iteration, not hype and instant gratification. Put simply, if Civilization VI was a city, it wouldnt be LA.
THATS ENTERTAINMENT
Districts are recognisable, even without buildings. You can see the entertainment districts tents, and so you at least understand what it is, Busatti says.
TALL ORDER
One of the big challenges with Civ is the procedural maps, says Busatti. We couldnt do a long mountain range in Civ V. It was impossible to get it looking natural.
ON THE FARM
Im very proud of the farm system, says Busatti. The farms look amazing next to each other. They pile up really well and interact well with the districts around them.
HIGH NOON
Weve got a really nice setting for each time of day, says Busatti. Noon is what youre looking at now, and we have a sunset and a nighttime.
CRATER LAKE
Natural wonders are modelled on specific locations, and include ocean wonders. Were not just having a large forest like we did in Civ V, Busatti says.
CIVILIZATION VI doesnt reinvent the wheel, but it has better ways of researching one.
By Phil Savage
Im in Los Angeles, an interesting choice of location for the first hands-on demo of Civilization VI . As I sit, putting the finishing touches to my empires first World Wonder, I flash back to the night before, buying a staledoughnut at a 7-Eleven after too many IPAs in a dive bar with a flashing neon sign. The dissonance is remarkable, and, I think, part of what makes the Civilization series so appealing. There is no cultural victory to be found in a 24-hour convenience store. In a Civilization game, you get a more high-minded, aspirational look at the world.
Civilization VI is no different. Even its announcement trailer paints an idealistic portrait of statecraft. We are the explorers, the inventors, the architects of change, intones Sean Bean over the rousing strings of John Murphys Sunshine soundtrack. The builders of a better tomorrow. Its a mantra that could just as readily apply to the development of Civ VI itself, and the ambitions of its lead designer, Ed Beach.
It was Beach and his team who, through the expansions Gods and Kings and Brave New World, elevated Civ V from a maligned sequel into arguably the best game of the series. Its a transformation Firaxis hopes Civilization VI wont need. With Civ V, fans were initially disappointed that major features present in Civ IV were missing. In contrast, Civ VI is taking everything currently in Civ V expansions included and building from there. On the one hand, that means Civ VI will be extremely familiar to those whove played the previous game. On the other, it means a suite of improvements and additions that, all being well, will make Civ VI a superior successor.
All of Civilization VIs major new features stem from a core philosophy. We noticed that there are certain key approaches that Civ V players all share, Beach tells me. Were sort of in a rut, where all the players are playing the same way. With Civ VI, Beach wants to prevent the community from establishing such immutable strategies. We want players to have to think on their feet more, he says. We want a situation where you have to react to what the game is presenting for you. What the map is giving you, your starting position, what it means to have certain leaders next to you.
ITS AN ARTISTS DREAM, TO NOT BE CONFINED TO ONE HEX
The district system is one example of this. Beach likens it to the way Civ V switched up the military game by allowing only one unit per tile, but applied here to city expansion. Where previously, buildings were crammed onto a citys central hex, now theyre organised into districts each on its own tile. You have a campus tile, says Beach, and thats where all your research is going on you have your library, university and research lab all in that tile.
It sounds like a small thing, but, as with most of Civ VIs key features, it creates interesting new decisions. Certain districts will gain bonuses based on their location. The campus district, for instance, grants extra research if placed next to a mountain. But so does the religious district. The player has this intricate layout puzzle, where they decide where districts go around their city, Beach says. That becomes a cool, fun way to develop your empire that has a layer of depth that we didnt have before.
Districts dont come into play much during my session. Their construction requiresresearch, and I only have 60 turns. But their presence is felt as I settle new cities. Its no longer a case of choosing an empty patch with lots of resources. Im trying to build near natural features of the map, securing specific tiles for their adjacency bonus. Had I more time, Id specialise founding a city on science or industry. However, this would also give my opponents a specific point of attack to cripple my research or military production.
In general, cities are broader and feel larger, and that has a pronounced effect on Civ VIs art style. We had to spread out the map a lot more, which is great, says Brian Busatti, art director. Thats an artists dream, to not be confined to one hex. The art style proved controversial upon Civ VIs announcement. It was bright, vibrant and exaggerated. Some fans complained that it looked like a freemium mobile game, and feared it would play that way as well. Its an argument that doesnt hold up: art style isnt an indicator of design depth, and the upside of Civ VIs aesthetic is that it naturally presents information that would otherwise be hidden in menus.
Even when youre walking by another city, or youre invading, you dont have to mouse over anything, says Dennis Shirk, senior producer. It doesnt matter if youre zoomed out, you recognise exactly whats on the map, where it is, and what its primary function is.
This clarity is a direct result of the broader cities. Civ IV had all the different types of buildings, but being confined to one hex got very noisy, says Busatti. You couldnt look at a city and immediately call out what buildings a person had. By spreading out the districts now, you can do that very easily. When you have a holy site, you can look at it and see the temple and cathedral. You can look at the science district, and know how far along a person is because of the library or university.
Buildings and soldiers are large and exaggerated, but also detailed and distinctive. People zoom in to check out details, says Busatti, but as you get further with the game you want to see as much of the map as possible. Everything is readable from that distance, and also lets you better see combat. The stylisation lets us be a little bit more playful with the animations. They can be more exaggerated, more heroic. Theyre more entertaining, but also faster and more readable.
Exploration is a major theme of Civilization VI, both in its design and its look. The fog-of-war is no longer a mass of clouds, but instead a blank map parchment. Lose sight of a previously uncovered region, and the map view returns but this time filled in with the geographic features and resources that youve found. We talked a lot about an Age of Exploration theme, and thats been really important because were using the elements of mapmaking and exploration, says Busatti. Thats been the cornerstone of our UI, and its been very effective as a theme.
As a bonus, it looks nice, and conveys information in a more interesting way than simply greying out the area. Its a lot more fun to look at, and everything in there is visible from the line work, says Busatti. If you look at the detail in the plains, it has that wispy diagonal grass. You can see the dune texture in the sand. And its just tones and outlines used to pull that off.
Just as buildings and units are exaggerated, so are their rulers. In Civilization VI, leaders are expressive caricatures their attitudes revealed through animation and expression. Diplomacy is a big thing that Ed wanted to focus on, says Busatti, and we wanted the look of the game to support that. Youre going to interact a lot more with these leaders, theres a lot more personality, and we wanted to get the leaders as close to the camera as possible. We spent a lot of time on the facial animations. Their reactions and emotions are a lot more visible than they have been in the past.
Civ VIs leaders are more transparent than in previous games. In my session, I meet Cleopatra, Roosevelt and Tokimune. Each has a central, immutable belief that defines whether or not were going to get along. Tokimune has the Bushido trait, meaning he likes civilisations with a strong military, but only if they also produce faith or culture.
These traits are revealed immediately, but, in keeping with the goal of wanting players to think on their feet, each leader also has a second, randomly generated trait. As you go through the game, you can discover what they are by spying on them or trying to learn more secrets about them, says Beach. Once youve learnt that about other leaders, you can fully unlock the diplomatic landscape.
Learning a leaders secret motivation requires espionage, which as with religion, CivVs other major expansion feature will be an integral part of Civilization VI on release. During play, I see the beginnings of the espionage system in the form of rumours. These trigger randomly, and provide me with broad bits of intel about other civilisations. Despite the name, rumours will always be accurate. But by investing in proper espionage, the information becomes more detailed and useful. By setting up a trade route with another civilisation, Im able to generate more specific rumours eventually learning that Roosevelt and Cleopatra arent getting along. Im close to both, and so such information could prove crucial.
YOURE GOING TO HAVE INQUISITIONS INQUISITORS AND APOSTLES
Many of Civilization VIs big additions and improvements are to high level systems. It means that, while the course of a campaign should feel different to Civ V, the moment-to-moment experience is broadly the same. I scout out bits of the map, looking for ruins, bandit camps and city states. I queue up research, I construct basic buildings. I make first contact with other civilisations, and declare war on Roosevelt to see what happens. I decide where my second city should go, and harvest new resources. I lose all my armies thanks to Roosevelts superior technology. I click the button in the bottom right corner of the screen that guides me through the process: choose research, choose production, a unit needs orders, next turn. The world progresses, and I do it all again.
Its a proven approach to guiding a player through a 4X strategy game, but even here some important things have changed. A worker is no longer a single, everlasting unit that slowly upgrades your empire. Now, when you tell a worker to harvest a resource, the improvement will instantly appear. Doing so also uses a charge, and after three improvements, that unit is spent. The trick is to carefully plan out what to improve and when.
Research is another big change. Once again, theres a tech tree, and progression across it unlocks units, buildings and improvements. In Civilization VI, however, research has an active element. Each technology has a corresponding action that, if you complete, will speed its completion. If you want to push masonry or construction because you want to build walls, you better go out and establish a quarry, says Beach. Thats going to teach your citizens the skills they need to become good at masonry.
I decide to prioritise naval technology a mistake, given how few of my rivals turn out to be near water and earn research bonuses for creating fishing boats and using them to harvest resources. Had I not started on a coast, such boosts would be unavailable. Players are going to have to think through: look at this start position, this is a great one for me to push on horseback riding and develop a very mobile military, says Beach. As with randomised leader traits and district adjacency bonuses, active research is designed to force improvisation in each campaign.
Roosevelts research advantage puts me on the back foot for my remaining turns. Its a longstanding problem for Civilization players, and not just reckless ones who make bad decisions. If you were a builder, you were at the mercy of your neighbours, says Shirk. If you were playing for the culture victory and you had a science-happy militarist beside you, you were not going to keep up.
A new culture system is designed to balance things out. In addition to choosing research, players also progress along a civics tree using culture to unlock bonuses in the form of cards that can be applied to your government. Crucially, each tree is designed to counter the other. Civics also acts as an alternate path through the eras.
Players who focus on culture will not only earn better cards, but also new government types. The more advanced the government, the more cards can be active at any one time. Youre not going to be able to keep up with other people in terms of getting tanks first, says Shirk, but because youve got this humongous range of possible policies to put into your amazing, wide-slotted government, youre going to cut your unit maintenance in half. Youre going to be able to produce humans faster, youre going to be able to do all these things to counter that militaristic push.
Faith also has a military application. Religion works much as in Gods and Kings, but with added options. For example, being able to purchase theatre districts, or commercial hubs with faith alone, says Shirk. Youre going to have religious combat now. Youre going to have inquisitions inquisitors and apostles. Theres a whole different level if you want to play that aggressive religion game.
The last Civ game, Beyond Earth, came under fire for being too similar to Civilization V. While Civilization VI is no revolution for the series, its a much greater evolution, both conceptually and technically. Its a fuller game, and features a new engine. That allows for a number of improvements, including better mod support. While it was possible to mod Civ V, the tools and implementation were awkward and restrictive. Civilization VIhas been written from the ground up with modification in mind, and so it should be easier to tinker with every aspect of its design. With any luck, it will be as customisable as XCOM 2.
I can see the sense in many of Civ VIs tweaks. Almost every major system is expanding or changing in a way that sounds sensible. If the new features deliver on what Beach and his team are promising, theres a chance for Civ VI to be the best in the series. At the same time, my 60 turns arent dramatically different from the first 60 turns of any of my Civ V campaigns. I appreciated the differences on an intellectual level more than an emotional one. Thats all right, I think. Civ is rarely about the first 60 turns. Its a series about subtlety and iteration, not hype and instant gratification. Put simply, if Civilization VI was a city, it wouldnt be LA.
THATS ENTERTAINMENT
Districts are recognisable, even without buildings. You can see the entertainment districts tents, and so you at least understand what it is, Busatti says.
TALL ORDER
One of the big challenges with Civ is the procedural maps, says Busatti. We couldnt do a long mountain range in Civ V. It was impossible to get it looking natural.
ON THE FARM
Im very proud of the farm system, says Busatti. The farms look amazing next to each other. They pile up really well and interact well with the districts around them.
HIGH NOON
Weve got a really nice setting for each time of day, says Busatti. Noon is what youre looking at now, and we have a sunset and a nighttime.
CRATER LAKE
Natural wonders are modelled on specific locations, and include ocean wonders. Were not just having a large forest like we did in Civ V, Busatti says.
