First Look: Kongo

[Manetheren]

Their UU sounds interesting, nice to have that movement bonus in woods/jungle, and the extra defense against ranged doesn't hurt either.

 

[GenyaArikado]

<snip>..Kongo?
Moderator Action: Please do not try to evade the auto censor.
Please read the forum rules: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=422889

Couldnt they show an actual civilization like Greece

 

[rastak]

He looks alot like Bunny Wailer.

 

[Acken]

Not sure where it stands in strength but it looks like an interesting civ to play

 

[fmm]

Something else cool:

I believe the Venetian Arsenal wonder is depicted here, but what's interesting is that it appears *on water*. So far the pictures we've seen of it depicted it on land. Maybe a change?

 

[ferretbacon]

You mean this? I don't think we've seen this before.

Spoiler :

Almost certainly. I found this image with a Google search:

 

[Siptah]

I really like this Civ. Interesting design and i like growth civs.

I wonder where all the faith comes from without holy sites. How could they win a religion victory, maybe capture someone elses holy city? I like that they have one less district to build!

relics, relics, relics. And artifacts (?). Maybe founder beliefs from other religions?

 

[IbnKhaldun]

A couple preliminary game design thoughts:

• Mvemba a Nzinga's leader ability actually prevents him from building holy sites. I dislike leaders having negative attributes or limitations. This seems like a lack of learning from the developers from the "dark age" / "golden age" revision in Civ IV. In a game wherein you have to adapt to geographic and competitive circumstance, simply removing "found a religion" from your toolbox seems like poor design. Plus, isn't the value of these bonus apostles cut in half by removing any incentive for proselytizing abroad?
• The shield bearer seems decent. While having abilities contingent upon a particular geography is not my favorite, freeing up resource requirements is always liberating. Plus, vision bonuses are dope.
• Kongo's unique district seems ... bland. Probably a decent and reliable district, but .... bland.
• Kongo's unique ability food, production, and gold bonus applies only to relics, artifacts, and great works of sculpture. I'm sure that there is a cultural historical reason for singling out "sculpture" here, but it feels arbitrary and narrow from a design perspective. Plus, I am dismayed to see even more fatuous partitions within the "great artist" and "great work" categories. Seems like an enormous increase in complexity - and, let's be honest, low-investment low-information clicking - for little emotional reward for the player.

 

[Siptah]

what happens when you build stonehenge as kongo? do you get that free great prophet and you are able to found a religion? Or is stonehenge unavailable for Afonso?
It's great artists that give great works of sculptures among other great works, right? That's a nice synergy. Kongo should be able to grab the first Great Artists and Great Merchants with their UA if they generate points from turn 1.
Also, imagine finding the relic goody hut with Kongo on turn 3...

 

[eso12por8]

Something else cool:

Spoiler :

I believe the Venetian Arsenal wonder is depicted here, but what's interesting is that it appears *on water*. So far the pictures we've seen of it depicted it on land. Maybe a change?

Also --- cliffside?

 

[Gintoki89]

I'm curious - the video said they get "extra" great artist and merchant points. I wonder if they just get +X points per turn from turn 1, or +X to the points generated by districts. If the former, sounds like they'll always blaze their way to the first ones of both of those uncontested.

 

[DWilson]

While it sounds very interesting to play as the Kongo, I'm hoping their bonuses turn out to be very powerful. Otherwise, the limitations built in seem quite contrary to the generally powerful design pattern, which seemingly could describe most of the introduced civs.

I would also, lastly, note that this is the second civ in a row which has bonuses that seem to conflict directly with the religious victory (though these seem more drastic than Gandhi's needing a follower or two of other religions in his cities).

 

[King Jason]

Religions can be founded on Stonehenge instead of holy sites.

 

[slikless]

Also --- cliffside?

As far as we know, cliffs only prevent (dis)embarking - nothing has been mentioned with regards to water tile improvements/districts. Might be a prerequisite for that particular wonder though.

 

[fmm]

Also --- cliffside?

Yeah, that does look visually kind of strange but should have no gameplay impact. Note that it is still built next to an Industrial Zone district in this picture, as it is required to per our latest info.

 

[BrokenBokken]

While it sounds very interesting to play as the Kongo, I'm hoping their bonuses turn out to be very powerful. Otherwise, the limitations built in seem quite contrary to the generally powerful design pattern, which seemingly could describe most of the introduced civs.

I would also, lastly, note that this is the second civ in a row which has bonuses that seem to conflict directly with the religious victory (though these seem more drastic than Gandhi's needing a follower or two of other religions in his cities).

Combine that with the fact they specifically said Kongo is good for any victory type... makes you wonder what we don't know about religious victories or if it was a misspeak.

 

[Siptah]

Combine that with the fact they specifically said Kongo is good for any victory type... makes you wonder what we don't know about religious victories or if it was a misspeak.

maybe conquering holy cities? But then you can just wait until one civ almost wins and capture their capital. a bit lame. They say any victory type, but afterwards they name all except religious victory.

Also: is it just me or is this one of the best animations we had? seems perfect.

 

[King Jason]

While it sounds very interesting to play as the Kongo, I'm hoping their bonuses turn out to be very powerful. Otherwise, the limitations built in seem quite contrary to the generally powerful design pattern, which seemingly could describe most of the introduced civs.

Their bonuses seem very powerful.

 

[Uberfrog]

Kongo looks like an interesting Civ, but I'm wondering how the UA will work. You do get founder beliefs from your adopted religion, but any belief that involves holy sites, shrines, or temples is wasted, no to mention you have zero access to worship buildings like Cathedral etc. Gonna be interesting to see how they aren't hampered by this.

 

[spfun]

Religions can be founded on Stonehenge instead of holy sites.

I don't know why people would want a religion as Kongo considering no holy sites and gaining someone else's founder belief for free. Its something you can avoid and concentrate on Kongo's strengths instead.