Civ 6's Art Style - Do You Like It?

[ButtBillionaire]

When we were given the very first looks at screenshots from the game, I was sceptical like most other people, but I've come to prefer the visual distinctions that the new art style brought. Whenever I boot up Civ5, I find myself missing the greater visual diversity in buildings, improvements and units. In Civ5, everything looks too samey and gritty, every civilisation sharing one of only five sets of architecture with no unique palace, and all units looking pseudo-European regardless of who you're playing as. It's impossible to tell what buildings you've built in a city at a glance, too. It's clear that a lot of focus was put into the player being able to tell instantly what they (and others) have built, and that's a quality of life feature I very much appreciate.

It's not perfect, however. I agree that hills should be more distinct visually, and I think woods should be denser. I have mods which fulfill this installed, but it would've been nice if it was default. As for the leaders, I have no issues with them beyond wishing that they had more than just one animation for each "yes" or "no" reaction. I've discovered before that some leaders do in fact have more than one, but I assume they don't fire normally because this second set of animations wasn't finished before release.

 

[Duke William of Normandy]

@mdl5000 , @Mr. Salt Not sure if this is the issue you have with forests, but this mod improves vegetation (it's not the same already recommended by Duke of Normandy):
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2115981252&searchtext=vegetation

@Duke William of Normandy There's a version of this mod for Civ V Environment Skin here:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1975497559&searchtext=vegetation

There's this other mod also by JNR, but it seems to include a new terrain type (Tundra Floodplains), so I haven't used it yet:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2135724456&searchtext=vegetation

Well, what do you know? I use both of those mods, haha!

 

[AntSou]

Also:

"Multiple votes are allowed."

 

[Archon_Wing]

I actually don't really care either way.

The only thing that really bothers me is the late game stuff like tanks and missile cruisers looks kinda like toys.

 

[King Rad]

As a couple of others have said, I could care less about leader animations since I turn them off. As to the map, i initially wondered if I would like it as much as Civ V, which I though was beautiful, but even then, with the moving of districts to the map, I felt the color coordination was, if not absolutely essential, a great addition. And I still find it that way. It's easy to look at the map; and see which cities have which districts and/or where a good placement for your next district will be. I do wish hills were a little more prominent, but it's not too big a deal, since hovering over the area and clicking on it if necessary, will identify the terrain type and the production.

 

[pokiehl]

The one thing that makes the Civ 6 map feel a tad bland is the lack of distinct biomes (continent tile sets).

In Civ 5, terrain, forests, jungles, etc. for each continent looked different and it was wonderful. It made the world feel more alive. I wish so badly that they'd bring this back to Civ 6. Hopefully it'll come back in Civ 7 at least

 

[Elhoim]

In general, the game can look extremely well in the early eras, and the farms look amazing. The problem is that in later eras the districts don't blend, leave a lot of empty space between them, the horrible short railroads joining them, etc. It does have the potential to look great, though:

 

[kryat]

Things I think the art department did very well
Clear communicability
It is never ambiguous what district is on the map. for having many, many district types now, I have never struggled to tell what districts I have built at a glance, or what building have been built in those districts. (Or for that matter, whose empire belongs to who, and what is jungle be forest) This deserves more praise than it often gets. The only difficult read is the aforementioned hills, or if flood plains have been enhanced.

Monumental achievements
I really like the unpacking of wonders. Wonder construction feels like an epic undertaking and serves as a nice way of gauging another civ’s progress on their construction. This is a vastly improved system compared to the past when the colossus might peak out from a city. Now it stands towering over your harbor. I can’t sing praises of this enough.

Theme
The fog being a map was a stroke of inspiration. I love the globe and parchment theme.

Icons
All buildings, districts, techs, and civics are clear choices to build because they are simple. I wish they had color coded projects. Gray makes them feel unimportant. But overall, I think this was a win compared to the past, when some imagery could feel same-y (despite my profile icon being from V). The same goes for Civ-specific icons, or city states, or resources.

Leaders
Especially the recent creations. They strike a nice balance between animated (possessing life) and and realism. There’s also another win in that leaders are very easily distinguishable. Even leaders coming from the same region or era are easy to identify at a glance. I’m also guessing most people on this board can describe at least 3 things about any given leader without looking. That’s a huge victory in character design. None look forgettable.

Unit animations
I usually play with quick movement because I’m impatient. I had quick combat turned on for a while, but since have turned it off because the animations are just so good. They help bridge the board/video game divide. Special shoutouts to battleships, frigates, ironclads, machine guns, spearman, swordsmen, and warriors. Adjacently, I am impressed at the cultural uniqueness put into each unit, and especially the palaces.

Lighting and color palette
If you don’t play with the day/night cycle, you really should. The lights in Civ 6 glow with a light that just feels inviting. Dark/Golden ages also do a great job at giving your empire subtle dynamics. The grass, oceans, mountains, deserts, and forests feel vibrant compared to 5. The textures might have been better in 5, but the colors looked bland.

Things I think could be improved
-Denser forests, more units in corps/armies/fleets/armadas

-Ability to turn jersey mode off. Why do such a good job teaching everyone’s color combos only to throw a curveball when Rome and Sumeria are in the same game?

-More interesting leader backgrounds. I don’t mind that the backgrounds are flat, static images. But they could definitely use more color. I think I skip out of the leader screens quickly because it’s not an inviting space.

-World congress UI. It’s a first draft that no one improved on. Here is a place where 5 clearly felt better and more inviting.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

-Ability to turn jersey mode off. Why do such a good job teaching everyone’s color combos only to throw a curveball when Rome and Sumeria are in the same game?

I wasn't sure if that was an art issue or not, but I would love if there is an option to turn the jersey mode off because I would never personally use it.
The most immersion breaking thing about this game is sometimes seeing neon green and orange Sweden.

 

[Duke William of Normandy]

Monumental achievements
I really like the unpacking of wonders. Wonder construction feels like an epic undertaking and serves as a nice way of gauging another civ’s progress on their construction. This is a vastly improved system compared to the past when the colossus might peak out from a city. Now it stands towering over your harbor. I can’t sing praises of this enough.

Ah, yes. Anyone else remembers when Seahenge would be a thing? You build Stonehenge in a City, and suddenly, it would appear in the middle of an ocean?

 

[Mr. Salt]

I wasn't sure if that was an art issue or not, but I would love if there is an option to turn the jersey mode off because I would never personally use it.
The most immersion breaking thing about this game is sometimes seeing neon green and orange Sweden.

The most jarring one has got to be the Mountain Dew lime green and black combo that they assign civs sometimes when there are no more available jersey colors.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

The most jarring one has got to be the Mountain Dew lime green and black combo that they assign civs sometimes when there are no more available jersey colors.

There were so many civs that used shades of blue, white, and yellow in that particular game which is why Sweden turned out that way.
I haven't come across that one yet.

 

[Duke William of Normandy]

Theme
The fog being a map was a stroke of inspiration. I love the globe and parchment theme.

Leaders
Especially the recent creations. They strike a nice balance between animated (possessing life) and and realism. There’s also another win in that leaders are very easily distinguishable. Even leaders coming from the same region or era are easy to identify at a glance. I’m also guessing most people on this board can describe at least 3 things about any given leader without looking. That’s a huge victory in character design. None look forgettable.

My father played Civ 5 before, so I've played Civ 5 before. The fog of war there is just not my cup of tea. It's basically clouds. And that's it. Nothing interesting there. :| So I agree with you about the map.

And about the leaders, you are absolutely right. I can name three distinct things about each and every leader in Civ 6, as well as their lines. They all have the biggest personalities, I can't help but like all of them. Some players would disagree, but it's just my opinion.

 

[LoneRebel]

As a longtime player of Civ V, I preferred Civ V's art style at first, but VI's art style has grown on me.

This is also true of gameplay in general - I can no longer return to Civ V, even though I have many achievements left to get there.

 

[criZp]

Clear communicability
It is never ambiguous what district is on the map. for having many, many district types now, I have never struggled to tell what districts I have built at a glance, or what building have been built in those districts. (Or for that matter, whose empire belongs to who, and what is jungle be forest) This deserves more praise than it often gets. The only difficult read is the aforementioned hills, or if flood plains have been enhanced.

It does show what has been built very well, but I don't understand why people say this as a positive point. I don't get what you are supposed to do with that information. "Ok, this city has a campus and a holy site." So what?

 

[kryat]

It does show what has been built very well, but I don't understand why people say this as a positive point. I don't get what you are supposed to do with that information. "Ok, this city has a campus and a holy site." So what?

When you’re building, it (mostly) doesn’t matter much because you know from what’s in the list. More importantly, readability is important for invading and repairing. It’s easy to know what to pillage and what has been pillaged without digging through lists.

 

[Futumch]

I was bit unsure of the leader models in the beginning, but I think they grow on you after a while. They're quite characterful and the little nuances in the animations and poses is quite well done. The best example is probably Hojo's hands. Once he starts fiddling with his sword, you know he's getting rattled.
I like the terrain and really think the mountains were well done.

I'd like to see a third player colour though. Not a third set of colours, but an actual set of three colours to represent a civ (for example Hungary could have red, green and white. America could have red, white and blue). This could be represented by an outline around unit icons, city name plates and leader icon globe thingies.

 

[Vandlys]

I was bit unsure of the leader models in the beginning, but I think they grow on you after a while. They're quite characterful and the little nuances in the animations and poses is quite well done. The best example is probably Hojo's hands. Once he starts fiddling with his sword, you know he's getting rattled.
I like the terrain and really think the mountains were well done.

I'd like to see a third player colour though. Not a third set of colours, but an actual set of three colours to represent a civ (for example Hungary could have red, green and white. America could have red, white and blue). This could be represented by an outline around unit icons, city name plates and leader icon globe thingies.

What about red white and blue for Great Britain, France, The Netherlands, etc?

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

I was bit unsure of the leader models in the beginning, but I think they grow on you after a while. They're quite characterful and the little nuances in the animations and poses is quite well done. The best example is probably Hojo's hands. Once he starts fiddling with his sword, you know he's getting rattled.

Not going to lie I feel uneasy when Hojo smiles for some reason. Other than the way he smiles everything else about him is perfect.
I know it's probably not historically accurate but Phillip II being so overdramatic is great and the same with Kupe as being some of my favorite animated leaders in the game.

What about red white and blue for Great Britain, France, The Netherlands, etc?

The Netherlands will always have orange.

 

[8housesofelixir]

Speaking of which I sometimes wonder why China-Qin is a dark green - IRL Qin ordered his empire's "national color" to be black for auspicious indications (black is the color of water in early Chinese epistemology, and Qin was said to have the virtue of water).

Because when speaking of "Chinese Empire" people will immediately thought of "jade"? I do agree that having a major civ colored in black is very odd.