[NFP] Maya First Look

As a huge fan of Maya studies I'm not disappointed! Definitely more interesting than civ5's version.
I don't know if it's been pointed out before but the red and white featured in the Observatory graphics are representative of what we believe were common colors for building stucco in the Classical period.
While it's true that the Maya lowlands of Yucatan are very flat, the Maya highlands of Guatemala and Mexico are quite quite rugged and many Pre-Classic sites are located there. Perhaps the lack of mountain adjacency for Observatories is meant for balance rather than theme.
Wak Chanil Ahau's design is great I love the abundance of jade, especially her jade belt reminiscent of Pre-Classic carvings. Her headdress also clearly conveys maize in its design, extremely important for a Maya ruler. Her blue bracers also remind me of Lady Xoc's bracers from Yaxhilan Lintel 24, though I didn't notice any tongue scars on Lady Six Sky's civ6 model that she would most likely have had. I just wish she was holding a Double Serpent Bar or some Eccentric Flint, some real items of authority!

My only complaint is they continue to use the improper adjective "Mayan" but that has stuck around so long I bet it's not going anywhere

 

You can generally build an aqueduct even if you settle next to fresh water.

 

Did not know this! Very nice attention to detail in the game

 

besides, you will build aqueducts and dames anyway to get Industrial zone buffs. if you are planning to go a science victory.

 

I love Six Sky's appearance. It's really evocative of her stele.

The civ's abilities are certainly unique. They match my playstyle well, but even so they'll take some adjusting to.

Brown eyes tend to look greyish-hazel in Civ6 for some reason.

Chandy already has that agenda.

 

It's weird. There are actually two cities named Mutal. Dos Pilas (which is where Lady Six Sky is from), and Tikal, as you've mentioned. Tikal is sometimes referred to as Yax Mutal ("First Mutal") to differentiate.

 

Do you suppose her agenda is going to be extreme hate for forward settlers?

 

I like the synergetic design of combining being encouraged to settle within six tiles of the capital, but also not being dependent on water sources. This does allow to maximize the amount of cities that fall under the six tile radius.

 

After years being conditioned to settle on rivers, it will be really hard to learn to avoid them.

 

They sound right up my ally.

I'm guessing they'll be similar to Australia in that they actually end up teching faster than Korea but a lot of players won't admit it because "OMG +4 right away".

That archer UU sounds awesome.

Maya should never, ever, ever settle tundra or desert (outside of maybe one tile for pyramids). Not that any civ really wants to, but it's even more pronounced here.

 

The Maya look extremely generic - pretty much a toned down version of Nubia with a production and gold boost and archer unique - and I'm not sure why they're conceived as a highly centralised empire when they were largely defined by a collection of competing city states. I'm also not sure what the housing change is based on (other than a mechanical need to loosen links to rivers in case there aren't enough within 6 tiles of the capital): one of the better-known Mayan ruins is Tulum, on the Yucatan coast, and most major Mayan cities were built near rivers (just like those of everyone else).

Since the main adjacency bonus for observatories comes from an improvement linked to plantations - and being able to place farms rather than a district to get a +1 bonus isn't that useful most of the time since you usually want districts in clusters that give one another adjacency bonuses - I suspect the science boost is a lot weaker than it looks.

 

If yes, then I am her spirit animal.

 

Which doesn't surprise me, remember the expansion leaders resembling previous leaders in their models? For example, Seondeok probably being a reworked Gitarja model.

 

Looks like I was right that they would continue the trend of more asymmetric Civ's similar to what they did with the Gathering Storm civ's. In this case the focus of the design is to encourage a Tall play-style, specifically one that mainly supports A Science victory.
I'm not surprised to see that we didn't get a city-state related bonus, since all of the suggestions that I've seen here would be way too niche, or just not fun.
Overall I like the design, but ultimately it doesn't change the fundamental issue that Infinite City Sprawl is still a preferable strategy, so even with her Malus to far away cities they would still be worth having. Because of this the Mayans will probably be somewhat of a weak Civ, unless if they've balanced the game to make Tall more viable, or are planning a game mode which will make Tall much more viable.
It will be fun to try the Mayans out of course, and play as a builder limiting myself to only making cities within 6 tiles of the capital.

 

It might be a good strategy to start with a builder, since your capital will run out of housing pretty fast in early games. When I settle far from rivers, having a builder early is always crucial to get that city going.

 

I think Tamar is suspected of having a reused model as well.

 

Funny thing that she is a classical Maya but the civ got a logo reminiscent of Chichen Itza? ah well, they are trying to cover everything I guess

Yup got a lot of Amanitore from her, probably a similar situation to Seondeok when she was first annanounced...hopefully they are still polishing her up.

Nah the palace in civ6 is just a mishmash of many styles..not one in particular, which tbh I do find a bit dissapointing.

I guess that's were having extra housing from farms could help a lot with the city positioning, of course staying within aqueduct range should be a factor.

 

Usually, you settle on luxuries. This time with the Maya you must think twice about it

 

The animations at 1:05 and 1:45 in the Mayan first look video look exactly like Amanitore's.

I don't mean to be a snob but I'm honestly surprised someone couldn't notice it.

 

Yep. Build farms. Grow Gold. Buy defensive units.