Civ7 dev interview

[UncivilizedGuy]

Ara's maps support up to 36 players at release. Fans of multiplayer may want to look into it

 

[Zaarin]

Ara's maps support up to 36 players at release. Fans of multiplayer may want to look into it

We have a subforum for discussing Ara. Please take Ara discussion there. Thanks.

 

[j51]

This seems like a big misunderstanding over what belongs to “design,” what belongs to “product,” and what belongs to “business.” This is like an argument at my work! But I don’t work at Firaxis or 2K so I have no idea how they divide responsibilities there.

 

[Kwami]

This seems like a big misunderstanding over what belongs to “design,” what belongs to “product,” and what belongs to “business.” This is like an argument at my work! But I don’t work at Firaxis or 2K so I have no idea how they divide responsibilities there.

I think that some people are picking apart words to create an alternate reality that they want to exist instead of just accepting the one we have.

The fact is that Ed specifically said that the player count and map size limitations are in place because they want everyone to have the same experience at launch and because of limitations arising from console hardware (i.e. Switch). It's all well and good to say that the game wasn't designed to have these limitations, but it doesn't matter. We'll all have to deal with these limitations for a time because of console support.

Vague promises to eventually increase player count and map size aren't worth much.

 

[Mr Jon of Cheam]

The fact is that Ed specifically said that the player count and map size limitations are in place because they want everyone to have the same experience at launch and because of limitations arising from console hardware (i.e. Switch).

Agree.

It's all well and good to say that the game wasn't designed to have these limitations, but it doesn't matter.

Disagree.

That's it.

 

[Zaarin]

Vague promises to eventually increase player count and map size aren't worth much.

They're worth as much as you put stock in the developers' ability and intention to fulfill them after release. This isn't the first time a requested feature has been absent on launch and added later.

 

[pokiehl]

They're worth as much as you put stock in the developers' ability and intention to fulfill them after release. This isn't the first time a requested feature has been absent on launch and added later.

I think there's good reason to put a lot of stock in what they say. Firaxis is fairly tight-lipped and the developers are basically always careful to never make promises they can't keep. And there are a number of examples of promises they've made that came to fruition in relation to fan feedback.

For instance, when jerseys were first introduced in Civ 6, the player actually had no control over them and couldn't pick them. We asked for this customization to be added, they said they'd do it, and sure enough it happened.

 

[Gedemon]

[...] to create an alternate reality that they want to exist instead of just accepting the one we have.

Thanks, that must be the most flattering description of modding I've ever read !

 

[TheGrayFox]

Thanks, that must be the most flattering description of modding I've ever read !

I just hope for all our sakes that your assumptions are correct and Civ VII's modding capabilities and tools are just as robust as previous entries and such limitations are not hardcoded. The fact tha Ed Beach didn't simply say "oh yeah but don't worry PC fans, you can easily play multiplayer mods that will allow larger map sizes and player counts" leaves me a bit worried in that regard

also @ombak, i respect that you took the time to respond, when I get a bit more free time I'll try to PM a proper response. I figure there's no need to continue cluttering this topic with a discussion thatt is lagely about semantics at this point

 

[pokiehl]

The fact tha Ed Beach didn't simply say "oh yeah but don't worry PC fans, you can easily play multiplayer mods that will allow larger map sizes and player counts" leaves me a bit worried in that regard

Then the story could become “The devs are lazy and expect modders to do their work.”

Mod users are a small minority of players. I’m glad they presented this as something they themselves will address.

 

[Kwami]

They're worth as much as you put stock in the developers' ability and intention to fulfill them after release. This isn't the first time a requested feature has been absent on launch and added later.

It's not always up to the developers and what they want, though. Perhaps the console versions outsell the PC version and 2K doesn't want Firaxis wasting time on PC-only features like larger map sizes. Who knows?

In any case, we don't have any sort of timeline. "Later" could be 2 years from now or something.

 

[TheGrayFox]

Then the story could become “The devs are lazy and expect modders to do their work.”

Mod users are a small minority of players. I’m glad they presented this as something they themselves will address.

I think that only becomes the story if Firaxis expresses absolutely no intent to fix the problem themselves

if they said "hey guys, sorry we had to make some concessions, we're going to work on increasing limits within a few months but hey don't worry in the mean time there will be easy solutions for these limitations using the modding tools we discussed earlier" I think we would be having a different conversation.

 

[The_goggles_do_nothing]

It's interesting to me how aware the dev teams seems to be of what questions the online community has about the game. It seemed like every question they were asked was something they had addressed. Even for things they would be not included in the game at release they have made measured decisions about.

 

[The_goggles_do_nothing]

"hey guys, sorry we had to make some concessions, we're going to work on increasing limits within a few months but hey don't worry in the mean time there will be easy solutions for these limitations using the modding tools we discussed earlier"

That's what I heard reading between the lines.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

I think there's good reason to put a lot of stock in what they say. Firaxis is fairly tight-lipped and the developers are basically always careful to never make promises they can't keep. And there are a number of examples of promises they've made that came to fruition in relation to fan feedback.

For instance, when jerseys were first introduced in Civ 6, the player actually had no control over them and couldn't pick them. We asked for this customization to be added, they said they'd do it, and sure enough it happened.

Additionally, they struggled for over a year to fulfill the promise of cross-platform multiplayer in Civ 6. They could have backed away from it, but they didn't.

 

[Civinator]

This isn't the first time a requested feature has been absent on launch and added later.

Yes, but fact is that this feature seems to be absent on launch - and the rest is only hope.

 

[Fummy]

It's interesting to me how aware the dev teams seems to be of what questions the online community has about the game.

Almost like the questions were pre-arranged so they had a response to them...

 

[chaosprophet]

I haven't seen people here talking about this (probably because it is obvious for most) but on the new commander type per age:

Most likely a naval commander for exploration and air commander for modern. As far as we saw of upgrades for army commander, doesn't seems like they have specific naval bonuses so a naval commander seems very likely to me. Air commander also seems a natural option, depending on how air combat works on this game. If it is pretty much like land units but with a different type of movement, then it would be unlikely. But considering their whole adding new mechanics for each age, I think there is a good chance air combat will be considerably different and important, and which may result in the addition of an air commander unit.

 

[Trav'ling Canuck]

I haven't seen people here talking about this (probably because it is obvious for most) but on the new commander type per age:

Most likely a naval commander for exploration and air commander for modern. As far as we saw of upgrades for army commander, doesn't seems like they have specific naval bonuses so a naval commander seems very likely to me. Air commander also seems a natural option, depending on how air combat works on this game. If it is pretty much like land units but with a different type of movement, then it would be unlikely. But considering their whole adding new mechanics for each age, I think there is a good chance air combat will be considerably different and important, and which may result in the addition of an air commander unit.

Epic Mughal versus Bugunda air combat incoming!

 

[Gedemon]

I haven't seen people here talking about this (probably because it is obvious for most) but on the new commander type per age:

Most likely a naval commander for exploration and air commander for modern. As far as we saw of upgrades for army commander, doesn't seems like they have specific naval bonuses so a naval commander seems very likely to me. Air commander also seems a natural option, depending on how air combat works on this game. If it is pretty much like land units but with a different type of movement, then it would be unlikely. But considering their whole adding new mechanics for each age, I think there is a good chance air combat will be considerably different and important, and which may result in the addition of an air commander unit.

One of the possible upside of the ages system IMO is that they must have worked more on the modern age, and we may expect an AI able to use air combat at launch.