[GS] June 2019 Patch Details

[Zakkage]

The real patch is the friends we made along the way.

I would say... Pat(c)h before destination.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

The patch was inside our hearts all along.

 

[Duuk]

There's no patches like home.

 

[seapeadee]

Patch coming soon...so the clowns say

 

[Ziad]

I hate this thread. It gives me a false sense of hope literally every time I come to the forums and read the title before realizing it's just an old one.

 

[oakdragon]

If you come to a fork in the patch, take it.

 

[PhilBowles]

that's very unlikely.

What makes you say that? I haven't followed the full thread so don't know what evidence there is that the patch as shown was final or close to it, but every time they described an expansion feature as a 'first pass' it meant it was a feature they were still working on that wasn't in its final release form, not that it was something they were throwing out there in anticipation of having to change it later. The same interpretation here seems reasonable.

We've also had no announcement yet of either the surprise or the teased early game changes, which suggests the patch may be further in the future than many assumed.

 

[bite]

We've also had no announcement yet of either the surprise or the teased early game changes, which suggests the patch may be further in the future than many assumed.

From the way they were discussed these were likely features for the future and not for the current patch, also they would likely have not had a livestream if the patch was not coming out reasonably soon

 

[tekjunkie28]

Something was just updated on SteamDB. 3 Mins ago but I have no clue. Was not a depot.

EDIT" general steam maintenance, please disregard

 

[Kevdood83]

Do they usually do Tuesdays or Thursdays historically?

I saw someone post above that the last patch release day was a Tuesday (which is why I was hoping today was the day). So, is Thursday the next likely day, if it ends up being this week?

 

[Gedemon]

What makes you say that? I haven't followed the full thread so don't know what evidence there is that the patch as shown was final or close to it, but every time they described an expansion feature as a 'first pass' it meant it was a feature they were still working on that wasn't in its final release form, not that it was something they were throwing out there in anticipation of having to change it later. The same interpretation here seems reasonable.

We've also had no announcement yet of either the surprise or the teased early game changes, which suggests the patch may be further in the future than many assumed.

Previous patches releases and steamDB updates for reference.

This is a free patch not an expansion they need to sell by building a hype for some months with streams every weeks, for an expansion "first pass" has the meaning you give it here, ie not finished, still works to do before release.

But for a patch context, a video means patch in the following days, not weeks, and "first pass" means another pass will follow in another patch.

 

[tekjunkie28]

Do they usually do Tuesdays or Thursdays historically?

I saw someone post above that the last patch release day was a Tuesday (which is why I was hoping today was the day). So, is Thursday the next likely day, if it ends up being this week?

They release it whenever its ready really. Generally mondays and Fridays are not done for reasons... Friday mainly bc just in case something major did go wrong but hotfixes from Firaxis have been slow to come by even then. Industry wide middle of the week has always been the time generally.

 

[Phoenix1595]

They release it whenever its ready really. Generally mondays and Fridays are not done for reasons... Friday mainly bc just in case something major did go wrong but hotfixes from Firaxis have been slow to come by even then. Industry wide middle of the week has always been the time generally.

Firaxis in particular likes Tuesdays and Thursdays, and droptimes are generally between 11am-2pm, Eastern time. As OP above says, the industry likes these times because it gives them a buffer of time within general US business hours to address any hiccup that might arise.

Wednesdays are not entirely out of the question, but generally FXS seems to like Thursdays a bit better, if we did not get it today.

 

[acluewithout]

For what it’s worth, there is some research that suggests Tuesday morning is best time for releasing news / updates / posts from a social media perspective - ie most clicks, eyeballs etc.

I wish FXS would be a little more specific about when the patch comes out, but perhaps they just can’t be for some reason which is fine. It’ll be ready when it’s ready.

It’s a bit tense waiting for this patch. I think it’s because, at least for me, this is a bit make or break. GS really moved the needle in terms of content and design - Civ VI is back to being a game I want to play - but the balance was still so off that it was a very frustrating game to play. This last big patch might really address the various balance issues and I can finally just drop loads of time onto the game.

But. I don’t know. From what we’ve seen, I think this patch might get us pretty close, but I think it might still fall a bit short. I think the changes to the IZ are too muddled and not strong enough, and there’s a lot of stuff they didn’t say they were buffing which I’m not confident will get tweaked (Coastal Cities, Colonial Cities). The other changes do look very very good though - pantheons, tier 3 buildings, walls / rams - but yeah. Are we there yet?

Are other games this frustrating? I’m not having a go at FXS at all. I think they’re doing a great job. But the development cycle on this game is killing me.

Hmm. You know. I was looking at D&D 5e. Pen and Paper roleplaying game. This last edition has really nailed the mechanics for this game. It’s a real distillation if everything good about D&D and all the stuff that works. It’s excellent - easy to pick up, lots of depth, brilliant support. Thing is. That’s just paper and dice. Not computer code. And DnD has been around since, what, the 1970s??

Maybe good games just take a long time to get right.

...

...on the other hand... Even if this Patch doesn’t quite get is there, we are getting very close on balance. It really feels like if there are some needed changes FXS just won’t make for whatever reason, then these could be done fairly easily.

You know what would be really cool? If FXS occasionally released their own mods that tweaked some mechanics as a bit of an experiment. Then they could get feedback on the suggested changes.

I mean, imagine if FXS has put out the IZ and Lumbermill changes as a mod a few months ago and said “hey guys. We’re thinking of tweaking IZs and production, what do you think of these ideas?”. If they’d done that, it might have flushed out people’s thoughts on Lumbermills &rivers and IZs & Harbours.

 

[Rajendran_P]

It’s ridiculous that the Developers has been ‘advertising’ the patch release 4 weeks ago and last week gave a detailed advertisement and have yet to release the patch. Why so much hype for the release of a patch.

 

[Gedemon]

It’s ridiculous that the Developers has been ‘advertising’ the patch release 4 weeks ago and last week gave a detailed advertisement and have yet to release the patch. Why so much hype for the release of a patch.

Because one of the biggest complain against Firaxis was the lack of communication and how they were only doing so when they had something to sell?

That change in their relation with us is welcome.

 

[local_hero]

For what it’s worth, there is some research that suggests Tuesday morning is best time for releasing news / updates / posts from a social media perspective - ie most clicks, eyeballs etc.

I wish FXS would be a little more specific about when the patch comes out, but perhaps they just can’t be for some reason which is fine. It’ll be ready when it’s ready.

It’s a bit tense waiting for this patch. I think it’s because, at least for me, this is a bit make or break. GS really moved the needle in terms of content and design - Civ VI is back to being a game I want to play - but the balance was still so off that it was a very frustrating game to play. This last big patch might really address the various balance issues and I can finally just drop loads of time onto the game.

But. I don’t know. From what we’ve seen, I think this patch might get us pretty close, but I think it might still fall a bit short. I think the changes to the IZ are too muddled and not strong enough, and there’s a lot of stuff they didn’t say they were buffing which I’m not confident will get tweaked (Coastal Cities, Colonial Cities). The other changes do look very very good though - pantheons, tier 3 buildings, walls / rams - but yeah. Are we there yet?

Are other games this frustrating? I’m not having a go at FXS at all. I think they’re doing a great job. But the development cycle on this game is killing me.

Hmm. You know. I was looking at D&D 5e. Pen and Paper roleplaying game. This last edition has really nailed the mechanics for this game. It’s a real distillation if everything good about D&D and all the stuff that works. It’s excellent - easy to pick up, lots of depth, brilliant support. Thing is. That’s just paper and dice. Not computer code. And DnD has been around since, what, the 1970s??

Maybe good games just take a long time to get right.

...

...on the other hand... Even if this Patch doesn’t quite get is there, we are getting very close on balance. It really feels like if there are some needed changes FXS just won’t make for whatever reason, then these could be done fairly easily.

You know what would be really cool? If FXS occasionally released their own mods that tweaked some mechanics as a bit of an experiment. Then they could get feedback on the suggested changes.

I mean, imagine if FXS has put out the IZ and Lumbermill changes as a mod a few months ago and said “hey guys. We’re thinking of tweaking IZs and production, what do you think of these ideas?”. If they’d done that, it might have flushed out people’s thoughts on Lumbermills &rivers and IZs & Harbours.

It's a bit of a tense wait for me too. I've played the game a lot, the balance hasn't really discouraged me. But I'm really looking forward to playing Victoria again, hasn't done so for a very long time. And I even like Georgia (and think they are quite decent since GS)! The lost movement upon upgrade has been my make or break, not the design changes. So glad it is finally getting "fixed"!

 

[Gedemon]

With mod-breaking bugs not fixable from the mod's side since February, critically lowered stability on larger maps, and still no words on when the Gameplay side of the game will be more open to modding, believe me, I'd love to be only "tense" when waiting for a new patch, especially when the next one is in an unforeseeable future.

 

[acluewithout]

It's a bit of a tense wait for me too. I've played the game a lot, the balance hasn't really discouraged me. But I'm really looking forward to playing Victoria again, hasn't done so for a very long time. And I even like Georgia (and think they are quite decent since GS)! The lost movement upon upgrade has been my make or break, not the design changes. So glad it is finally getting "fixed"!

Carrying over bonuses is a big deal for me. Yeah, it fixes a niggle about the RND. But that’s not the really big deal.

First, maybe it’s just psychological for me, but it means the Sea Dog makes sense. You can capture ships, and while the captured vessels don’t get +1 movement, they will when you combine them into fleets. Very cool.

Second, and more importantly, it means Encampments and their buildings, and hard building late game units, can actually make strategic sense.

Third, not such a big thing, but it also makes settling near a couple of Natural Wonders a bit more meaningful.

The other big change for me has been grievances effecting loyalty in captured cities (from previous patches). It’s not a perfect system, but it really fills a gap. To some extent, Captured Cities now just aren’t automatically loyal for ever.

I’m also very excited about the changes to walls and rams. The first time I upgrade a Ram to a Seige tower is going to be very, very fun.

And yeah. Excited about Vicky.

Sadly, I think the changes to IZs and Lumbermills are going to really cheese me off - mostly because they had the right idea (buff IZs, buff Lumbermills, slightly nerf Mines), but it feels like they’ve made a hash of it (sorry FXS).

With mod-breaking bugs not fixable from the mod's side since February, critically lowered stability on larger maps, and still no words on when the Gameplay side of the game will be more open to modding, believe me, I'd love to be only "tense" when waiting for a new patch, especially when the next one is in an unforeseeable future.

The problems with modding really stresses me out. I’ve been trying to get into modding, including mucking around with lua. I haven’t bounced off it which I thought I might, which is good, but I’m reluctant to go to far when there seems to be issues. My guess is these issues won’t effect me because I’m not going to do anything that complex - but I’d be happier knowing that I won’t unexpectedly come across fundamental issues I can’t get over because it’s not my lack of skill but instead core issues with the game.

 

[local_hero]

Carrying over bonuses is a big deal for me. Yeah, it fixes a niggle about the RND. But that’s not the really big deal.

First, maybe it’s just psychological for me, but it means the Sea Dog makes sense. You can capture ships, and while the captured vessels don’t get +1 movement, they will when you combine them into fleets. Very cool.

Second, and more importantly, it means Encampments and their buildings, and hard building late game units, can actually make strategic sense.

Third, not such a big thing, but it also makes settling near a couple of Natural Wonders a bit more meaningful.

The other big change for me has been grievances effecting loyalty in captured cities (from previous patches). It’s not a perfect system, but it really fills a gap. To some extent, Captured Cities now just aren’t automatically loyal for ever.

I’m also very excited about the changes to walls and rams. The first time I upgrade a Ram to a Seige tower is going to be very, very fun.

And yeah. Excited about Vicky.

Sadly, I think the changes to IZs and Lumbermills are going to really cheese me off - mostly because they had the right idea (buff IZs, buff Lumbermills, slightly nerf Mines), but it feels like they’ve made a hash of it (sorry FXS).

I'm really curious about how the IZ changes will play out but I think I understand your reservations/skepticism. I think/hope minor cities will benefit and you won't be as discouraged to settle a new city/colony on coast with few/no hills. Buy an IZ next to horses and plants some forests and you'll have decent production. Perhaps you can add an aqueduct or dam. Send a military engineer along if you are England. Yeah, really want the patch to try it.