About The Graphics of Civ VI

[plasmacannon]

Here are some words from the art director concerning the graphics: "We wanted to give a slightly more playful look to it," Busatti says of the changes from the more realistic Civilization V and the sci-fi Civilization: Beyond Earth. "We even took stuff from Civilization: Revolution" — the 2008 entry in the series designed for consoles — "but we didn't want to go that heavily stylized." The result is a world of bright colors and floppy-eared dogs, semi-realistic soldiers, and facsimiles of real-world buildings. "It has to be inviting — you're playing this game for 40 hours," Busatti says. "We had to make sure it wasn't drab, and that it was a lively world."

That says it all.
I don't want "a world of bright colors and floppy-eared dogs and semi-realistic soldiers".
I like varied shades of terrain, war dogs and realistic soldiers and other units. I want a man-o-war that looks like a man-o-war.
I want early attack subs, diesel attack subs, nuclear attack subs and nuclear ballistic missile subs.
The machine guns of Gatling, Vickers, WW2, to Modern Today have evolved and deserve to be represented.
If I wanted more Civ Revolution, I'll play it on the Playstayion3. I already bought it. I don't need a sequel for my computer.
I am so disappointed.
If Civ7 improves upon these childish graphics with real detail, then I will be really looking forward to that new version.

 

[Haig]

plasmacannon:
Civ 5 had more realistic graphics than Civ 4, but otherwise it was WAY more lifeless and static.
Gone were the animation of improvements and seeing all the built buildings on map.

Civ 6 brings us every building modeled, and finally improvements like mines, sawmills and watermills get animation on them! Trees are swaying in the wind and waves crashing on cliffs have never looked so sweet in the series.

Also one requested feature is now in the game: the light cycle of day and night. Just check the E3 video how cool the modern cities with lights look in nighttime, and how cool are the shadows getting longer at sunset as Pyramid is being built and waves getting purple color of dusk..

Also way more zoom in and out, another thing I missed in Civ 5.

And graphics aside, just compare the new mechanics and features of Civ 6 to Civ 5 launch. Which looks more complex and interesting?

Besides no civ game has such line of four different submarines so I dont know what that has to do with Civ 6 ?

There is a game series that puts most of the budget on realistic graphics in favor of strategy and that is Total War, I find those games pretty shallow..

If units like these prevent someone from playing I don't know what to say:

Spoiler :

 

[IdiotStyle]

I really don't mind the graphics. For me it's a secondary point for a game quality, and i really like have cell shaded graphics that arn't pixelated than realistic things that are.

The game looks nice to me and I don't mind them, i played strategic view on civ 5 for almost a year because it helped me understand and the pc run better too. If the graphics makes the game simpler to grab and run better on machines, i only see this as a good decision. Still hoping that the leader screens change tone along with the Night/Day cycle.

 

[plasmacannon]

plasmacannon:
Civ 5 had more realistic graphics than Civ 4, but otherwise it was WAY more lifeless and static.
Gone were the animation of improvements and seeing all the built buildings on map.

Civ 6 brings us every building modeled, and finally improvements like mines, sawmills and watermills get animation on them! Trees are swaying in the wind and waves crashing on cliffs have never looked so sweet in the series.

Also one requested feature is now in the game: the light cycle of day and night. Just check the E3 video how cool the modern cities with lights look in nighttime, and how cool are the shadows getting longer at sunset as Pyramid is being built and waves getting purple color of dusk..

Also way more zoom in and out, another thing I missed in Civ 5.

And graphics aside, just compare the new mechanics and features of Civ 6 to Civ 5 launch. Which looks more complex and interesting?

Besides no civ game has such line of four different submarines so I dont know what that has to do with Civ 6 ?

There is a game series that puts most of the budget on realistic graphics in favor of strategy and that is Total War, I find those games pretty shallow..

If units like these prevent someone from playing I don't know what to say:

Spoiler :

Oh, I'm not saying that Civ5 was the best at everything. I am not a fan of 1UPT and Carpets of Doom.

You are a long time poster on here, so you've probably visited varies mod threads.
I tend to use Civ4BTS with the Realism Invictus mod.
Their improvements like mines, sawmills and watermills already have animation. Trees do slightly sway and waves crash on the shore. Others mods do this as well.
The zoom on Civ4 with or without mods works well.
I have that line of four different submarines in the Civilization4 - Realism Invictus mod already.
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=411799
Why would I want to buy a less sophisticated childs game? I'm not 10 yrs old.

The Civ6 zoom is fine.
The Wonders outside the city is fine, except I don't know that I would want to lose access to dozens of tiles to construct the Great Wall.
The fairly plain tile colors bore me. I could go put in the Civ Revolution CD into the Playstation3 if I wanted to see a plain color palette from 8 years ago.
The eureka moments make sense and archeologists sound interesting.
So, Civ6 does have it's pluses. It's definitely not all bad.

I just sense that I will be disappointed in the lack of units, if is too much like Civ Revolution. I read another post where they devs did borrow ideas from Civ Rev and I don't want something that simplistic.

 

[Quarz]

If units like these prevent someone from playing I don't know what to say:

Spoiler :

Those units are really fine to me as well; but if it comes to machines, ships, and those sort of things, then Civ6 units become "to cartoony" for my personal taste. The english sea dog for example reminds me of a LEGO toy not of a old sailing ship.

But i dont want to complain, just trying to figure out, why people think its to playful, to cartoony.

 

[Plus Ultra]

Those units are really fine to me as well; but if it comes to machines, ships, and those sort of things, then Civ6 units become "to cartoony" for my personal taste. The english sea dog for example reminds me of a LEGO toy not of a old sailing ship.

But i dont want to complain, just trying to figure out, why people think its to playful, to cartoony.

Modern ships look amazing to me. Granted, I have no military knowledge, so they might not be very accurate.

Source: Units section of Arioch's Civ VI Analyst webpage

 

[Kirejara]

I like the graphics of Civ6 so far.

Also it seems to be much more clearly represented then the two previous games.

I really do not understand how one can favour the graphics of Civ4 and Civ5 over Civ6 (or in case of Civ4, even Civ3 looks way better).

Especially Civ4 was very crude and unclear.

While Civ5 looks better (at least on screenshots ) it is even more unclear for me.

I have never played Civ5 since I was even on screenshots unable to tell what happens.

And I have aborted each and every Civ4 game very early in the ancient age simply because I found it hard to get information out of that mess (plus the ugly graphics and some of the changes in game play to earlier Civs).

I am partly colourblind, so that I may see graphics in an other way then most.

Because of that I still play Civ3 and hope for a playable Civ6.

 

[Ikael]

I do get the critics, but I think that a big part of the graphic's hate is unwarranted. Yes, tiles have a far more cartoony style, but they are also more crisp, clear, and easily indentifiable. And the leaders have far more personality than any other Civ iteration, their animations are incredible. I really believe that the terrain graphics will gain a lot when we see it in action with all the day / night cycles and the units and resources interacting with the player's actions.

 

[Quarz]

Modern ships look amazing to me. Granted, I have no military knowledge, so they might not be very accurate.

Maybe it's wrong to make it such generalized statement, like I did. But still - there are a plenty of ugly/toy looking units around (in my eyes), and all of those are machines or ships. Here are 4 of them: the both on left are the most ugly to me, the right ones are more gamey/cartoonish.

Again: I dont tell I wont buy or not play the game, it just feels a bit odd to me. Given there are well made units (even units of the same category) in the same game, it feels even more odd to me.

 

[Civbra]

ok! at the beginning I was a little concerned about the art style, but now, it clearly the dev team has done a great job on that!
Some people are saying that is too childish, to cartoonish, others are complaining about the pegi, come on guys, with the complexity that Civ games have - being voted best strategy game for so many years - this is matter of taste and not what really is!
Say that the buildings, improvements, city center and the wonders are not so much better now, and the art style it is ruining the game, you're going nuts!
Besides, There is an article that explained why they would took this direction!

 

[evanaurora]

I'm probably not saying anything that hasn't been said before, but I think the graphics are wonderful- lend themselves to variety and interesting detail, have a distinctive style, are clear and precise. I adore Civ 5 more than other games in the franchise- in general I tend to feel the games improve with every installment, though I never played 1- but as someone who still plays 5 regularly, its graphics are starting to look a little shabby, as happens naturally with "realistic" games. That's not to say there isn't a lot of beautiful things in that game- there are, and again, I still play it a lot! it's just that games with a distinct art style, love it or hate it, tend to age better. So I'm extra happy with this creative decision, for sure.

 

[Plus Ultra]

(...) But still - there are a plenty of ugly/toy looking units around (in my eyes), and all of those are machines or ships. Here are 4 of them: the both on left are the most ugly to me, the right ones are more gamey/cartoonish.

Spoiler :

(...)

I agree those models are not the best out there. As Arioch pointed out, we are seeing some graphical glitches (see the 2 reversed masts in the first picture) and unfinished models for some units.

In any case, let's wait and see, even a "toy-like" unit can look amazing if well animated.

 

[Quarz]

In any case, let's wait and see, even a "toy-like" unit can look amazing if well animated.

Yes, lets wait and see, I guess complaing would not change anything. Btw. hopefuly my former posts didn't read to harsh.

 

[rastak]

I was pretty skeptical but some of the models are really nice. Get rid of the exploding units and I'll be happy.

 

[thejayq]

I was pretty skeptical but some of the models are really nice. Get rid of the exploding units and I'll be happy.

Yes or at least when units are fighting that have no exploding material whatsoever.

 

[Kirejara]

Here are 4 of them: the both on left are the most ugly to me, the right ones are more gamey/cartoonish.

Spoiler :

While the first one (Frigate/Galleon) has an obvious graphic bug (doubled masts in opposite directions), the third one (Carrack/Nao) matches very closely the Mataró-Ship, that is according to experts more or less at scale. The reconstruction of it and other early carracks in Björn Landström´s book "Das Schiff" ("Skepped") look very similar.

The galleys (four) do not look so bad too, except for a very low number of oars.

But the brigg (two) looks totally out of its proportions. Hopefully she is still in developement.

 

[Tomorrow's Dawn]

I think the art style and direction for Civ 6 is moving along in a great direction.

Visually, Civ 5 was what people in VizDev might call "too busy".
There are too many things on the screen competing for an observer's attention.
Empires never looked worse on the minimap in that game either compared to Civ 3 or 4 where contiguous borders gave your empire an appearance of actually being... contigious.

Civ 6 in comparison has actual readable graphics, which is pretty important in any strategy game.
The fact that tiles now get a changed state again (originally from Civ 4) if they are being worked compounds on top of that as well.

Animation wise, Civ 6 is on the right track.
Civ 5's mannequin leaders moved very slightly and appeared stiff, which was terrible for immersion coupled with their nebulous denouncements and play-to-win attitudes.
Civ 4 having things like Pacal and his tantrums or Catherine slapping the player in the face really gave the game some character and it's looking like Civ 6 is back on the right side of the train tracks in that regard.

From a visual clarity standpoint, Civ 6 is looking to be on its A-Game.
Stylistically, to each to their own. But I'm loving how much fun it's having with itself.

 

[erikvv]

When i first saw it I though these graphics were temporary fill-ins. It looks like a game with polygon count from circa 2005.

Civ 3 was the only game which felt "finished" graphics-wise, taking into account the era in which it was made.

Civ 1 and 2 - look like I made them in mspaint in a day.
Civ 4 - basically copied Civ 3 while making everything slightly worse. This is were we started messing up the roads.
Civ 5: the general direction was good but the result was unfinished. Some adjacent tiles had glitches from day 1 which are STILL there. Rivers are badly integrated with the rest. Roads are now horrible. I don't like that all the forests and mountains are the same on one continent.



I can appreciate going a bit more in the cartoony direction from Civ 5 but the detail needs to be improved drastically (compare it with Anno 2205 for example). Also don't let the leaders and units look like Japanse anime.

If the currrent graphics are actually the final product to me this is the 3rd game in a row which has worse graphics than its predecessor. (this is not even counting all the expansions where things could have been improved).

 

[Acken]

The level of details and animation seems to be at its highest in the series so I'm okay with it.

 

[Deggial]

Maybe another - and very personal (as I guess nobody else is interested in this aspect) point of view:

Didn't Ed Beach answered quite evasive when asked about the support of VR in Civ6? Didn't he say something about "Civ6 beeing a modern game and VR is a thing, now." or something alike? Not confirming anything in saying so - but neither denying?

Well, this is personal, as I happen to own an Oculus Rift and I definitely would love to play Civilization wearing it... hoovering like a god over my little empire, pushing my troops around with a nonchalant movement of my hands, seeing everything dwell and grow...

And as the current HMD generation's resolution isn't comparable to what monitors can deliver by any stretch, a reduced graphic with less details might be quite usefull.
So, if this would be indeed the case, I would happily withdraw everything I might have objected against the graphic style in the past and wellcome it as a necessary compromise for total immersion.