0) DISCLAIMER
I only have vanilla Civ 6 so far; got it free on Epic Store and now I wait for a kick ass promotion so I can get a pack with everything for a nice price (my country is knees-deep in economic turmoil and won't get better any time soon, so I can't spend much in anything). Many times have I installed, tried it, gave it up, uninstalled in frustration and rushed back to Civ 5.
Then, after playing that jewel almost non stop since 2013 (08 years in a row, no game ever held me that long), at last I stopped playing Civ 5. It's been almost a year now. An suddenly I decided to try Civ 6 again, this time to end at least one game no matter what. So, as you see, I am kind of late to the party, but after finally having played a few games of Civ 6 to the end, and havong developed a taste for it, here it goes: my opinion about districts.
1) CAMPUS DISTRICT AND THEATER SQUARE
While their names sound good, the districts themselves make no sense to me.
In real life, I don't know any place/city (at least not here in Brazil) where libraries, universities and research labs are concentrated in a given region. I know it is common for libraries and labs to exist inside universities, but these are for the graduates and staff.
Libraries for the general public (which would represent the ancient ones) are always in the city centers. In the same manner, private research labs are almost always in tall buildings (belonging to pharmaceutical companies, for example)... which are in the city centers, too.
The same pattern - if I can call it that - applies to (amphi)theaters, museums, CINEMAS (where are they in Civ games?) and broadcast centers/radio stations. They are scattered all over the city. Most universities also contain some sort of amphitheater and museum, to make this in-game representation seem even more distorted.
And that's not even going into the fact that it is absurd for a city to not have a single building for culture and/or science if it doesn't have an entire district dedicated to these aspects. There is no city here in Brazil (that I know about) in which there ain't at least one small public school and a gathering square for the people to do something that reflects the local culture (which would be equivalent to the very greek amphitheater). Only the smallest, poorest towns, lack literaly ANY education whatsoever. I suppose not even that happens in the USA, in the EU and in Japan, to cite a few richer places.
All that said, I also feel, from a gameplay perspective, that city centers should have more options besides walls, a monument, a granary and maybe a water mill (not all cities are next to a river). Scientific and cultural buildings would be perfectly adequate options.
2) COMMERCIAL HUB AND HOLY SITE
Unlike the Campus and the Square, I can see some sense in the idea about this district, since there are many cities here in Brazil (and all over the worlds, I assume) in which many commercial activities are concentrated in specific places.
In most cases, it is a single street, like "the avenue where most car shops are placed" or "the four streets where the electronics shops are all near each other". Actual markets, banks and stock exchanges are not really grouped, unless we are talking about places like Wall Street in New York... but I get the point, it is a representation of commercial activity itself, where money flows.
From a gameplay perspective, I also like this district, but that's probably because the adjacencies for it (+2 from river, +2 from Harbor) are so good. Overall, it gets a pass with me, despite not having any kind of regional effect.
About the Holy Site... I think religion got significantly weaker in comparison to Civ 5, to the point I don't really care about it. And that's from someone who always race for a religion in Civ 5 (gotta love tithe + pagodas, if nothing else). Considering people coming from Civ 4 always accused Civ 5's religion is weak and whatnot, one can imagine how calamitous it is to commit 1 district slot in every city (assuming you really want/need the faith specific religious building you choose).
I know the district itself is probably representing Vatican, Mecca and/or some other religious centers (just like the CH probbly represents Wall Street, as I mentioned)... but in reality 99% of the cities in the world don't have religious buildings concentrated. I can guarantee you'll see churches and other temples scattered everywhere in brazillian cities.
That said, I don't bother with the fact that there is a Holy Site district. Maybe it should get a regional loyalty effect upon cities following the religion, for those who play with the expansions (I assume it was introduced with Rise and Fall). That surely would make sense and increase the value of having a religion and placing more Holy Sites.
PS: Just to be fair, I liked the Lavra when I played as Russia, because it gives a head start towards Great Writers, Artists and Musicians. Excelent for cultural victory. Also, since Russia has a tundra bias, the religion I crafted was a bit useful to get extra food.
3) INDUSTRIAL ZONE, HARBOR AND ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT
I mentioned the lack of regional effect in the CH above, because that is exactly what I love about the IZ and the ED. In fact, I think the adjacency bonuses it gets, and the +2 from Workshops, all of them should ALSO be regional. That's exactly how industrial zones work in real life: most factories and whatnot are concentrated outside city centers and provide jobs (production) not only for the city in which they are based, but for smaller cities in the region as well.
While most entertainment options in a given city are NOT concentrated in specific streets/districts like the comercial and industrial enterprises are, the fact that Entertaiment Districts have regional effects give it a huge gameplay pass, in my opinion. And that comes from someone who had a hard time to understand how this works, because I was so used to the happiness system of Civ 5. I suffered a lot with lack of amenities in my first games... let it rest, I should open a whole topic to rant about luxuries in this game.
Now, finally, let me opinate about Harbors: I love them, but they absolutely should have +2 adjacency from Industrial Zones, AND VICE VERSA, because in cities that have both, they're usually close and interact very well (which in game would be represented by the significant increase in productivity and money flow).
In fact, everytime a Harbor is built with no adjacent city center and/or sea resource, I kitten dies somewhere and that is so, so SAD!
4) FINAL THOUGHTS (So far...)
a) As I said, I only have vanilla so far; for this reason, I can't coment on newer districts I only heard about, like Government Plaza, except to say that, in principle, the idea of this district is very good: Brasilia-DF, with its "Square of the Three Powers", and Salvador-BA, with its "Centro Administrativo da Bahia", are solid examples, here in Brazil, of cities that have this district. Here, both of them concentrate the heads of the Executive, Legislative, Judiciary, plus the Previdência (Social Security) and Ministério Público (Attorney's Office), among other government related institutions.
b) Industrial Zones should definitely get adjacency bonuses from Lumber Mills and that is a no-brainer, imo. Sure, mods can solve this and maybe there is one already... but this is the kinda stuff that should have been in the game itself from day one.
In fact, thinking about it, maybe the IZ should also get adjancency bonuses from plantations... I 've read that Rise of Fall brought a Corporations option (or was it an isolated feature?), that let's you turn luxiries into "industries".
If the plantations are not perfect to give adjacency bonuses to IZ, I guess these "industries" surely would be.
c) I've read about a governor that creates "fisheries" in the expansion... are they an improvement? If so, these surely give adjacency bonuses to Harbors, right? If not, they definitely should!
To all those who take the time to read, and maybe interact with this topic, I leave my thanks!
I only have vanilla Civ 6 so far; got it free on Epic Store and now I wait for a kick ass promotion so I can get a pack with everything for a nice price (my country is knees-deep in economic turmoil and won't get better any time soon, so I can't spend much in anything). Many times have I installed, tried it, gave it up, uninstalled in frustration and rushed back to Civ 5.
Then, after playing that jewel almost non stop since 2013 (08 years in a row, no game ever held me that long), at last I stopped playing Civ 5. It's been almost a year now. An suddenly I decided to try Civ 6 again, this time to end at least one game no matter what. So, as you see, I am kind of late to the party, but after finally having played a few games of Civ 6 to the end, and havong developed a taste for it, here it goes: my opinion about districts.
1) CAMPUS DISTRICT AND THEATER SQUARE
While their names sound good, the districts themselves make no sense to me.
In real life, I don't know any place/city (at least not here in Brazil) where libraries, universities and research labs are concentrated in a given region. I know it is common for libraries and labs to exist inside universities, but these are for the graduates and staff.
Libraries for the general public (which would represent the ancient ones) are always in the city centers. In the same manner, private research labs are almost always in tall buildings (belonging to pharmaceutical companies, for example)... which are in the city centers, too.
The same pattern - if I can call it that - applies to (amphi)theaters, museums, CINEMAS (where are they in Civ games?) and broadcast centers/radio stations. They are scattered all over the city. Most universities also contain some sort of amphitheater and museum, to make this in-game representation seem even more distorted.
And that's not even going into the fact that it is absurd for a city to not have a single building for culture and/or science if it doesn't have an entire district dedicated to these aspects. There is no city here in Brazil (that I know about) in which there ain't at least one small public school and a gathering square for the people to do something that reflects the local culture (which would be equivalent to the very greek amphitheater). Only the smallest, poorest towns, lack literaly ANY education whatsoever. I suppose not even that happens in the USA, in the EU and in Japan, to cite a few richer places.
All that said, I also feel, from a gameplay perspective, that city centers should have more options besides walls, a monument, a granary and maybe a water mill (not all cities are next to a river). Scientific and cultural buildings would be perfectly adequate options.
2) COMMERCIAL HUB AND HOLY SITE
Unlike the Campus and the Square, I can see some sense in the idea about this district, since there are many cities here in Brazil (and all over the worlds, I assume) in which many commercial activities are concentrated in specific places.
In most cases, it is a single street, like "the avenue where most car shops are placed" or "the four streets where the electronics shops are all near each other". Actual markets, banks and stock exchanges are not really grouped, unless we are talking about places like Wall Street in New York... but I get the point, it is a representation of commercial activity itself, where money flows.
From a gameplay perspective, I also like this district, but that's probably because the adjacencies for it (+2 from river, +2 from Harbor) are so good. Overall, it gets a pass with me, despite not having any kind of regional effect.
About the Holy Site... I think religion got significantly weaker in comparison to Civ 5, to the point I don't really care about it. And that's from someone who always race for a religion in Civ 5 (gotta love tithe + pagodas, if nothing else). Considering people coming from Civ 4 always accused Civ 5's religion is weak and whatnot, one can imagine how calamitous it is to commit 1 district slot in every city (assuming you really want/need the faith specific religious building you choose).
I know the district itself is probably representing Vatican, Mecca and/or some other religious centers (just like the CH probbly represents Wall Street, as I mentioned)... but in reality 99% of the cities in the world don't have religious buildings concentrated. I can guarantee you'll see churches and other temples scattered everywhere in brazillian cities.
That said, I don't bother with the fact that there is a Holy Site district. Maybe it should get a regional loyalty effect upon cities following the religion, for those who play with the expansions (I assume it was introduced with Rise and Fall). That surely would make sense and increase the value of having a religion and placing more Holy Sites.
PS: Just to be fair, I liked the Lavra when I played as Russia, because it gives a head start towards Great Writers, Artists and Musicians. Excelent for cultural victory. Also, since Russia has a tundra bias, the religion I crafted was a bit useful to get extra food.
3) INDUSTRIAL ZONE, HARBOR AND ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT
I mentioned the lack of regional effect in the CH above, because that is exactly what I love about the IZ and the ED. In fact, I think the adjacency bonuses it gets, and the +2 from Workshops, all of them should ALSO be regional. That's exactly how industrial zones work in real life: most factories and whatnot are concentrated outside city centers and provide jobs (production) not only for the city in which they are based, but for smaller cities in the region as well.
While most entertainment options in a given city are NOT concentrated in specific streets/districts like the comercial and industrial enterprises are, the fact that Entertaiment Districts have regional effects give it a huge gameplay pass, in my opinion. And that comes from someone who had a hard time to understand how this works, because I was so used to the happiness system of Civ 5. I suffered a lot with lack of amenities in my first games... let it rest, I should open a whole topic to rant about luxuries in this game.
Now, finally, let me opinate about Harbors: I love them, but they absolutely should have +2 adjacency from Industrial Zones, AND VICE VERSA, because in cities that have both, they're usually close and interact very well (which in game would be represented by the significant increase in productivity and money flow).
In fact, everytime a Harbor is built with no adjacent city center and/or sea resource, I kitten dies somewhere and that is so, so SAD!
4) FINAL THOUGHTS (So far...)
a) As I said, I only have vanilla so far; for this reason, I can't coment on newer districts I only heard about, like Government Plaza, except to say that, in principle, the idea of this district is very good: Brasilia-DF, with its "Square of the Three Powers", and Salvador-BA, with its "Centro Administrativo da Bahia", are solid examples, here in Brazil, of cities that have this district. Here, both of them concentrate the heads of the Executive, Legislative, Judiciary, plus the Previdência (Social Security) and Ministério Público (Attorney's Office), among other government related institutions.
b) Industrial Zones should definitely get adjacency bonuses from Lumber Mills and that is a no-brainer, imo. Sure, mods can solve this and maybe there is one already... but this is the kinda stuff that should have been in the game itself from day one.
In fact, thinking about it, maybe the IZ should also get adjancency bonuses from plantations... I 've read that Rise of Fall brought a Corporations option (or was it an isolated feature?), that let's you turn luxiries into "industries".
If the plantations are not perfect to give adjacency bonuses to IZ, I guess these "industries" surely would be.
c) I've read about a governor that creates "fisheries" in the expansion... are they an improvement? If so, these surely give adjacency bonuses to Harbors, right? If not, they definitely should!
To all those who take the time to read, and maybe interact with this topic, I leave my thanks!