New game / mod patches recommended

[Ossric]

Hi all,

I used to play Civ 1,2 & 3 in my younger years. Enjoyed it immensely and always added a lot of modification files from civfanatics. I decided to give it another go & i'll pick up CIV6 at the store this evening.

As this is the vanilla version, what do you recommend it download from the go?
* should I start with installing the latest update patch ( & where do I find it?)
* which graphic or other mod files do you recommend I download from this forum

Many thanks
Ossric

 

[Browd]

Civ 6 requires Steam, so where ever you buy it you will get a Steam key. Enter that key in Steam and it will auto-install the game and all patches. As you shop around, you might want to be on the lookout for sales on bundles of the base game, plus the various DLCs and one or both of the expansions.

Steam Workshop is also the main source of mods, which will be auto-installed by Steam (many can also be downloaded and installed manually, but why bother?). Other posters can weigh in with their favorite mods (FWIW, I don't use any and enjoy the game just fine).

 

[V. Soma]

I suggest the official Gathering Storm expansion, and also to wait for the coming hotfix this week (supposedly).
As the AI is the weak point in Civ6, I suggest the Real Strategy mod to improve it.
I think Concise UI mod with its many sub-mod is also a need for better experience of the game.

I believe others will offer more mods...

 

[WillowBrook]

I'd recommend playing a game or two without mods, and then see what you'd like to tweak or add to.

There are a number of popular UI mods to help you see important things more easily and/or reduce clicks to do things. I'll let others chime in with their favorites. I like simplified gossip and another mod by the same author that put the notifications that show up between turns in a panel on the left side instead of in the middle of the screen covering up combat.

For maps, many people use YnAMP, which adds bigger maps and additional maps to play. Terra miriballis (sp?) adds additional natural wonders, tweaks existing ones sensibly, and increases how many show up on the map.

The steel and thunder mods add more units (one adds units for all civs, filling out some sparse unit lines; the other one adds an addition unique unit for each civ). CIVITAS has a resources mod that adds to the variety of possible resources. I'm looking forward to their city states mod (which adds a bunch of additional city states) being updated for gathering storm.

There are mods that adjust plenty of other things, too, not to mention new civs to play or play against.

But as I said above, try a few games without mods to get a feel for things, and then figure out what you want to change. Also, some of the mods (especially the UI mods) don't change the save, so you can enable and disable them (in game, under additional content) whenever you want to try them out.

 

[TheMarshmallowBear]

Totally recommend the Hidden Agenda mod by yours truly.... because it's really fun... :shiftyeyes:

 

[criZp]

what mods you want depends on what problems you have with the base game, so I think you can give the game a try first before considering the use of mods.

 

[CPWimmer]

I agree with @WillowBrook and @criZp, try the un-modded game first, and then look for solutions to the things you want fixed. I followed this path, and I now play with about a dozen mods, almost all of which are focused on UI tweaks.

I also agree that as soon as you can, get the Gathering Storm Expansion Pack DLC. This recently came out, and of course isn't going to be easy to find on sale. I would expect most of the active threads you will see on here will be focused around the current state of the game, instead of the 2 year old vanilla version (as we ARE fanatics).

But, as @Browd mentioned, mods are now managed within the Steam Workshop, and are very easy to add or drop from your version of the game.

My Current Mod List:

• Better Report Screen
• Extended Diplomacy Ribbon
• Map Tacks (now included in the base game)
• More Lenses
• Notification Log
• Production Queue (I still prefer this one to the one added into the base game)
• Real Great People
• Simplified Combat Reports
• Simplified Gossip
• Sukritact's Simple UI Adjustments
• Tactical Camera
• YNAMP

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

More Lenses, YnAMP, and Sukritact's Natural Wonders are the mods that I use religiously. I have a bunch of others that I use semi-regularly.

 

[Zyxpsilon]

I guess the best way to expose what Mods i "prefer" is to link my (most recent) Steam Collection...
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1669509252

 

[Aristos]

I agree with @WillowBrook and @criZp, try the un-modded game first, and then look for solutions to the things you want fixed. I followed this path, and I now play with about a dozen mods, almost all of which are focused on UI tweaks.

I also agree that as soon as you can, get the Gathering Storm Expansion Pack DLC. This recently came out, and of course isn't going to be easy to find on sale. I would expect most of the active threads you will see on here will be focused around the current state of the game, instead of the 2 year old vanilla version (as we ARE fanatics).

But, as @Browd mentioned, mods are now managed within the Steam Workshop, and are very easy to add or drop from your version of the game.

My Current Mod List:

• Better Report Screen
• Extended Diplomacy Ribbon
• Map Tacks (now included in the base game)
• More Lenses
• Notification Log
• Production Queue (I still prefer this one to the one added into the base game)
• Real Great People
• Simplified Combat Reports
• Simplified Gossip
• Sukritact's Simple UI Adjustments
• Tactical Camera
• YNAMP

Classy.

 

[Phoenix1595]

As others already stated, play unmodded first to get a handle on the game, especially if you haven’t played since Civ3. A lot of mechanics that carried over from Civ4 and 5 will be very new to you, and I found Civ6 to have a steeper learning curve than previous titles. I also agree that you should go full-hog and get the expansions, since they really revitalized the series for those of us who have been playing for awhile.

As for recommended mods, it depends on what you are looking for. For myself, I just like tools that help shine a spotlight on existing content, like Tactical Camera. 8 Ages of Pace was great for balancing marathon and epic games, if you prefer longer eras.

I also sorta use one cheat mod (I justify it by saying it speeds up the first ten or so turns, plus the AI also benefits) called Starting Scout, which lets you start with a scout on turn one. There are a few other mods that I use on occasion, and others that were made a bit redundant with recent updates and fixes.

Definitely start without mods, though. What is comfortable for one player may not be for another.

 

[Nerevatar]

Starting with unmodded first is the way to go. That way you learn what you want to tweak.

I'll do a shameless plug of my own mod which add inland flooding, so that it no longer only affect the coast. The coast is bad enough in civ6 as is, so making permanent flooding affect all civs equally is a step in the right direction. Another great benefit is that it change Climate Change from being pretty ignorable to something you really have to consider.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1690507099

 

[NukeAJS]

I'd definitely recommend concise UI. The vanilla UI is very irritating.

I'd also recommend CQUI, but it got outdated with the latest patch.

 

[ZimZum514]

Hi all,

I used to play Civ 1,2 & 3 in my younger years. Enjoyed it immensely and always added a lot of modification files from civfanatics. I decided to give it another go & i'll pick up CIV6 at the store this evening.

As this is the vanilla version, what do you recommend it download from the go?
* should I start with installing the latest update patch ( & where do I find it?)
* which graphic or other mod files do you recommend I download from this forum

Many thanks
Ossric

More lenses is my one MUST have mod, though I use a handful of others to cater to how I like to play. I do feel the expansions add a good deal of content to the game, so if you want to make the investment, I think they are well worth it.

EDIT: I forgot the most important part. Welcome back! The game has changed quite a bit since your last experience, but as someone who has played all of the editions, I enjoy VI more than the previous versions. It has its warts to be sure, but it feels more organic and less able to be preplanned strategy wise.