August 2020 Developer Livestream Discussion

[Venceslau Pietro Pietra]

No one is considering that venice may replace muscat or brunei?

 

[UWHabs]

I'm not that excited about the Natural wonder picker or the Tech tree randomization (might be fun to try though) but the Amenity changes sounds like the kind of balance changes I want to see in these patches. We will see how it plays out of course but that sounds pretty exciting to me.

Nice to see that there are other balance changes coming. Certainly can't wait to see the full list of balance updates.

 

[Laurana Kanan]

Naturalist cost progression changed to be in line with Rock Bands.

 

[Lord Lakely]

The amenity changes are very welcome. Scotland looks very good now.

Do we know Venice's ability yet? That would help narrow down which civ is in the next update.

 

[cuso210]

Have they talked about science victory and the randomized tree? Will the Space Race projects tecs appear in order or they will be randomized as well?

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

No one is considering that venice may replace muscat or brunei?

In most instances, the new city-state has replaced one from the same region or nearby.

 

[I Feel Good About This]

So I guess the "standard" tech-boost great scientists could potentially be a lot more important now

 

[Laurana Kanan]

Patch dropping tomorrow at 12pm EST.

Other than the inadvertent Venice CS reveal, no news regarding Pack 3 DLC Civs next month.

 

[Piranga]

Have they talked about science victory and the randomized tree? Will the Space Race projects tecs appear in order or they will be randomized as well?

They will be randomized. Making science difficulty harder.

 

[bite]

Okay I have updated the Features Thread with everything in the live stream, please let me know if I missed anything.

 

[leandrombraz]

+5 faith for Grandmaster Chapel.

Actually I'm already building this one 100% of the times, unless I'm playing Hungary or Sumeria.

They always buff things that are already strong, while leaving the weak ones( e.g. Intelligence Agency which I build 0% of the times) unchanged.

Strong but situational. It's useless if you aren't being aggressive. If you aren't conquering nor pillaging, it does nothing for you. I don't think it needed a buff and I don't think +5 faith will make it any less situational, but it's a building that you only choose if you're playing a specific playstyle. Intelligence Agency can be good regardless of what you're doing and it's arguably the best choice if you aren't being aggressive and if you aren't playing Hungary or Sumeria. I'll be surprised if Intelligence Agency isn't the most picked tier 2 building.

I don't think being situational is a problem on itself, considering that aggressive isn't a niche playstyle, so the Chapel should be, in theory, almost as popular as playing aggressively is. If they're buffing it, I assume it isn't as popular as one would expect and their telemetry shows that people aren't building it.

Edit: Telemetry/popularity would also explain why other tiers didn't get a buff, assuming that's the case (it's possible that Anton forgot to mention other tiers). National History Museum, for example, is useless but people does build it while going for a cultural victory. If they made their decisions mainly based on how often this buildings are chosen by players, then buildings that are weak won't necessarily be buffed, since being weak doesn't make them unpopular.

 

[kryat]

I think the loss of a free amenity in new cities may be one of the most consequential changes in long time. The free pass on those first two people may not sound like a lot, but that ripples a lot over many cities. For 10 cities, it means you’ll need 3 more luxuries to support getting to pop 10 (going from needing 10 luxes to 13) Or build entertainment now. Also, expect a slight slowdown to your games if you’ve traditionally been generally efficient at luxury management. My cities usually sit at +3, but that only gives +5% now, instead of 10%.

 

[Wielki Hegemon]

It probably makes Venice as a Civ out. Portugal and The Byzantines are now top contenders for the European patch.

 

[bite]

I think the loss of a free amenity in new cities may be one of the most consequential changes in long time. The free pass on those first two people may not sound like a lot, but that ripples a lot over many cities. For 10 cities, it means you’ll need 3 more luxuries to support getting to pop 10 (going from needing 10 luxes to 13) Or build entertainment now. Also, expect a slight slowdown to your games if you’ve traditionally been generally efficient at luxury management. My cities usually sit at +3, but that only gives +5% now, instead of 10%.

Well given I never build a Entertainment district this is a good change

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

I think the loss of a free amenity in new cities may be one of the most consequential changes in long time. The free pass on those first two people may not sound like a lot, but that ripples a lot over many cities. For 10 cities, it means you’ll need 3 more luxuries to support getting to pop 10 (going from needing 10 luxes to 13) Or build entertainment now. Also, expect a slight slowdown to your games if you’ve traditionally been generally efficient at luxury management. My cities usually sit at +3, but that only gives +5% now, instead of 10%.

And Wide play got a little tougher. You're going to want to be very strict with population control now.

 

[Xandinho]

The change in amenities will make entertainment complexes and water parks more valuable, as well as the Colosseum that becomes one of the most "must-have" wonders in the game.

 

[SammyKhalifa]

I think the loss of a free amenity in new cities may be one of the most consequential changes in long time. The free pass on those first two people may not sound like a lot, but that ripples a lot over many cities. For 10 cities, it means you’ll need 3 more luxuries to support getting to pop 10 (going from needing 10 luxes to 13) Or build entertainment now. Also, expect a slight slowdown to your games if you’ve traditionally been generally efficient at luxury management. My cities usually sit at +3, but that only gives +5% now, instead of 10%.

indirect buff to maya?

 

[hhhhhh]

The amenity changes are very welcome. Scotland looks very good now.

Do we know Venice's ability yet? That would help narrow down which civ is in the next update.

Why is Scotland good? Now you need +5 amenity to be ecstatic.

 

[bite]

Also to note, that the fact that I was awake did not mean there was not secret reveal, this has bucked a two year trend

 

[Xandinho]

indirect buff to maya?

Well, it's a buff for Aztec, Brazil and Scotland too. As well as China and Egypt (which can obtain Colosseum more easily).