Civilization VI announced

[DarthStarkiller]

I knew it! I imagine that the generic ones in the screenshots are models that haven't been finished yet.

 

[Cyphose]

I find it hard to believe that they'd showcase unfinished models. Granted, we're still half a year away from release, so they can make any number of changes, but the screenshots probably showcase the most finished details so that they're not too misleading.

 

[Firebug]

It appears that the only culturally diverse thing about those Egyptian swordsman is that they are black. Meanwhile, the archers are in egyptian helmets. Either that or Egypt gets an archer UU.

 

[DarthStarkiller]

Look up early Civ V screenshots, there's a lot of clearly unfinished stuff.

 

[Firebug]

Yeah, a lot can change in a few months.

 

[Cyphose]

It appears that the only culturally diverse thing about those Egyptian swordsman is that they are black. Meanwhile, the archers are in egyptian helmets. Either that or Egypt gets an archer UU.

I'd be inclined to agree (though archers of antiquity probably didn't have a massive amount of defining characteristics from culture to culture), but the screenshots of the Japanese Samurai and what I can only assume are their form of Pikemen (which look like Ashigaru) give some hints into some actual cultural diversity and what their "NEW AND INNOVATIVE" system might be capable of.

Look up early Civ V screenshots, there's a lot of clearly unfinished stuff.

There are some early Civ5 screenshots here, and they honestly look pretty close to what we ended up getting. There were definitely some changes in the final product, but for the most part they appear to be minor ones. In the case of Civ5, at least, early screenshots seemed pretty indicative of how the game ended up looking, especially with regards to unit models.

 

[DarthStarkiller]

Still, it takes a lot of time to design and model so many units. And there's a considerable amount of unfinished stuff in the CiV image: borders were static, rivers were flat, there were no animations for deer and only a single horse model, jungles were plain green, farms and pastures looked completely different, beaches were less detailed and some other stuff.

 

[Firebug]

I suck at youtube embedded onto forums. click this.

 

[janboruta]

This hybrid Civ4/Civ5 look is what they had in 2008. I wouldn't count on such drastic changes in five months.

The notion about "easily changed" ethnic units sounds nice. If they provide the tools, that is. I'll have to learn how 3D otherwise to bolster the paltry modeller ranks, which is ultimately a good thing. The problem lies in my inertia and slow learning.

Same goes for World Wonders that now take up an entire hex. Means that either there's way less Wonders in the game (otherwise they'd clog up the board), or have to be more spaced out and therefore more civs have a chance to build them. But because they have "intricate building processes" and "are lit up at night", it means that without a skilled modeller we'll end up having fewer custom wonders for a longer while. Unless they can just be hidden behind an icon in the city view, that is.

 

[Cyphose]

I completely agree that there is room for improvement (and there no doubt will be some), but a lot of the changes we see between the early Civ5 screenshots and the game we play are minor in scope. Also, as you may have noted, a lot of the changes you named weren't changes to units, but rather terrain/improvements/resources.

But this is probably just the pessimist in me talking with regards to the new graphics in general. I'm not the biggest fan, and though I do appreciate that there is quite a bit more detail elsewhere, the overall style (while not a dealbreaker) will take some getting used to.

 

[DarthStarkiller]

My point is, they've showed unfinished stuff in tge past, so it's possible that the generic unit models are placeholders for unfished unique ones.
That said, I wonder if there'll be a unit creator where you can mix different parts and create your own custom models easily.

 

[Firebug]

I'm imagining that while some of the World Wonders will require tiles, some won't. Simply because of their size. Pyramids, Hanging Gardens, Forbidden Palace, Great Lighthouse are all quite large, so they would take a whole tile. Smaller stuff like Notre Dame, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Sistine Chapel and Big Ben will probably be similiar or the same as a building in a district.

and please, this time, make Petra built into the side of a mountain. Civ6's Petra was just a random rock, it had no depth to it.

 

[janboruta]

But this is probably just the pessimist in me talking with regards to the new graphics in general. I'm not the biggest fan, and though I do appreciate that there is quite a bit more detail elsewhere, the overall style (while not a dealbreaker) will take some getting used to.

My thoughts exactly. I'm somewhat optimistcally resigned over that art style direction. I'll get used to it - it's still a goddamn Civ game - and in the worst case we'll reskin it, remodel the units, do new stuff. It'll take some learning and training on my part, but it's doable.

Firaxis better notice it

 

[COF]

I'm imagining that while some of the World Wonders will require tiles, some won't. Simply because of their size. Pyramids, Hanging Gardens, Forbidden Palace, Great Lighthouse are all quite large, so they would take a whole tile. Smaller stuff like Notre Dame, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Sistine Chapel and Big Ben will probably be similiar or the same as a building in a district.

and please, this time, make Petra built into the side of a mountain. Civ6's Petra was just a random rock, it had no depth to it.

While we are at wonders. Can the model/icon for the Kremlin not be St.Basil's Cathedral this time?

 

[Firebug]

Haha, that'd be great.

One more note, there's reason to suspect that Wonder cinematics will return, as mentioned in that interview. So another challenge to wonder modding.

 

[DarthStarkiller]

Actually, the wonder videos are not pre-made, they're rendered after you finish it and show the surroundings in which the wonder was built. That said, the problem of needing to model multiple stages of construction remain.

 

[janboruta]

I think the best way will be to do wonders and buildings in Sketchup - those are very simple shapes after all, and texturing does the rest of the job. I'll still need to learn how to use that program, but it's the easiest one to grasp of them all.

That is, if Sketchup files can be exported elsewhere and imported to the game.

 

[ldvhl]

I think the best way will be to do wonders and buildings in Sketchup - those are very simple shapes after all, and texturing does the rest of the job. I'll still need to learn how to use that program, but it's the easiest one to grasp of them all.

That is, if Sketchup files can be exported elsewhere and imported to the game.

I was thinking the same thing. Fortunately there are a lot of tutorials out there for SketchUp already.

 

[Firebug]

But there are also models of famous things already on sketchup that you could use and credit for. It's all free for use.

Whenever i used sketchup, i would change the perspective after what seemed like a perfect cube and it ended up being at a giant slanted angle.

 

[JFD]

Day and night? Awesome! Now give me weather