acluewithout
Deity
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2017
- Messages
- 3,470
Saw this on Reddit / PaperRockShotgun.
I thought this was interesting:
“In Civilization VI, climate change has been written out entirely, even as we live through planet-wide ecological collapse in the real world. The novel inclusion of natural beauty (as ‘Appeal’) only gives modifiers to growth. Famine is a minor inconvenience in your grand plan, as it was to empire-builders in Ireland or India. While older Civilization games included climate change mechanics (Alpha Centauri even set psychic death worms on polluters) Civilization VI is reluctant to take a side on ‘controversial issues’.”
My thoughts:
- I wish Civ 6 did deal with climate change: first, I guess ‘natural’ climate change that happens from time to time (eg the little ice age) and man-made climate change.
- My thinking is that in Civ 6, as compared to other versions, you’re meant to play the map more. I think having a map which changes would actually lean into the ‘play the map’ aspect, and make the game more dynamic overall.
- I like the appeal system, but it doesn’t quite cover it. I think there needs to be something where grasslands change to plains and tundra and deserts expand, and perhaps some cities get hits to housing or amenities.
- I don’t think environmental change should be turned into random events. That would actually undercut the strategic aspects. So, when you place cities, the terrain should only change in ways you could potentially predict and plan for. eg if you place your city in a low land area, you’d know you were at risk of flooding.
- Here’s the catch. As much as I’d like some sort of climate mechanics, I don’t see how it would actually work in the current game. Civ has a sort of board game approach. I think that approach has made the game much better and I really wouldn’t want to lose it. For example, I think the boardgame approach makes the game easier to balance and actually makes the game feel more ‘realistic’, because it makes it easier to suspend disbelief on some mechanics.
tl;dr I’d like climate change in Civ, but can’t see it ever happening.
I thought this was interesting:
“In Civilization VI, climate change has been written out entirely, even as we live through planet-wide ecological collapse in the real world. The novel inclusion of natural beauty (as ‘Appeal’) only gives modifiers to growth. Famine is a minor inconvenience in your grand plan, as it was to empire-builders in Ireland or India. While older Civilization games included climate change mechanics (Alpha Centauri even set psychic death worms on polluters) Civilization VI is reluctant to take a side on ‘controversial issues’.”
My thoughts:
- I wish Civ 6 did deal with climate change: first, I guess ‘natural’ climate change that happens from time to time (eg the little ice age) and man-made climate change.
- My thinking is that in Civ 6, as compared to other versions, you’re meant to play the map more. I think having a map which changes would actually lean into the ‘play the map’ aspect, and make the game more dynamic overall.
- I like the appeal system, but it doesn’t quite cover it. I think there needs to be something where grasslands change to plains and tundra and deserts expand, and perhaps some cities get hits to housing or amenities.
- I don’t think environmental change should be turned into random events. That would actually undercut the strategic aspects. So, when you place cities, the terrain should only change in ways you could potentially predict and plan for. eg if you place your city in a low land area, you’d know you were at risk of flooding.
- Here’s the catch. As much as I’d like some sort of climate mechanics, I don’t see how it would actually work in the current game. Civ has a sort of board game approach. I think that approach has made the game much better and I really wouldn’t want to lose it. For example, I think the boardgame approach makes the game easier to balance and actually makes the game feel more ‘realistic’, because it makes it easier to suspend disbelief on some mechanics.
tl;dr I’d like climate change in Civ, but can’t see it ever happening.
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