No More Distinct Modern Cities...

[Westwall]

If this is anything to go by, it looks like cities will no longer have varied modern architecture like in Civ 5.

Spoiler :

Which is kind of disappointing considering the attention they put towards making each civilization more unique beyond "Middle Eastern, Asian, Western and South American" architecture in the early- and mid-game.

I kind of liked the "glassy" designs of the Asian cities and the more pyramid look of the modern South American cities.

Oh well.

 

[Zaarin]

To be honest, I thought it looked sort of tacky in Civ5. In the real world, modern cities generally look distinct from each other but don't really look all that regionally distinct the way pre-modern cities did. Given the choice between distinctly colored modern cities or entirely unique pre-modern cities, I'll take the latter.

 

[Martin Alvito]

If we're talking about buildings that are not cultural landmarks, then in what the game calls the Modern Era we're basically talking about (from the exterior):

- Concrete and glass
- Glass, concrete and glass
- Glass, glass, concrete and glass

When you open the window in New York or Chicago and you know that you're in that city, it's specifically because of the landmarks that were built before Civ's Modern Era unless you happen to be looking at a building that's a worldwide unicorn.

 

[ehecatzin]

while modern skycrappers tend to look alike, I think they could incorporate diferent skycrappers for diferent civs.

like in:

Spoiler :

Spoiler :

 

[joncnunn]

The second spoiler button when "show" is clicked doesn't show anything. Bad link?

 

[ehecatzin]

Odd, I can see it, anyway, it's the Petronas towers. The point is just that even with modern architecture they could add diferent flavours and styles without being as obvious as the ones on civ5.

 

[m15a]

It shows up for me. I'd have mixed feelings about turning iconic unique real world buildings into the standard or reoccurring buildings in the city center. It would be pretty cool if you'd get those unique buildings popping up just once randomly in one of your cities, but that's a lot of work for one building you may or not notice popping up only in the late game.

I like how there's a mix of the generic modern buildings on the city center with the unique palace (and it looks like some ethnic variation outside the city center remains too, maybe)?

 

[AriochIV]

The game isn't finished and is still missing art assets. I wouldn't jump to conclusions about this just yet.

 

[Loaf Warden]

To be fair, one modern metropolis looks very like another, at least from that distance. I've been to Manhattan, and I've been to Shinjuku, and they resemble each other much more closely than either resembles a smaller town in their respective countries. The principle differences are that A) Shinjuku is cleaner, and B) the signs in Shinjuku are usually in Japanese, while the signs in Manhattan usually aren't.

On the ground, of course, looking at things from street level, there will always be giveaways as to what country you're in. And as you get away from the more skyscraper-y areas, the local architectural styles will become more prevalent. (Just as, in that screenshot, there are still some distinctly Chinese buildings; the palace is still Chinese, as are the buildings in whatever district that is to the southeast of the City Center.) But honestly, put the Petronas Towers in Chicago and the Sears Tower in Kuala Lumpur, and neither one will look out of place. (Okay, Taipei 101 would look a bit odd in Chicago. But Shanghai Tower wouldn't. Or at least, no odder than it already looks.)

So it would make sense to me if City Centers started to look more similar in the modern era, though, as Arioch rightly points out, there are still art assets missing. It could be that more distinctive styles are in the works, and just aren't in the builds we've been shown.

 

[Civciv5]

Why is the Big Ben taller than the Great Pyramids?!

 

[glaivemaster]

Why is the Big Ben taller than the Great Pyramids?!

Probably the same reason it's shorter than a guy on horseback

 

[joncnunn]

Odd, I can see it, anyway, it's the Petronas towers. The point is just that even with modern architecture they could add diferent flavours and styles without being as obvious as the ones on civ5.

Perhaps there's a paywall or registration wall as I can only see the first image?

 

[Colmar]

I was able to see the pic of the Petronas towers.


I like this change, if it is happening. Cities are more identifiable by street level, their wonders, their older architecture, and their natural geography. I was just in Rio de Janeiro; the city centre area is not markedly different from what I've seen in Toronto or Paris. In the case of those cities, it's Toronto's CN Tower and Lake Ontario. Paris' neoclassical architecture and many landmarks. Rio de Janeiro's beaches, fruit juice shops, and random boulder-y hills strewn about. When you're looking from afar, unless you can see CN Tower, Cristo Redentor, Eiffel Tower, etc. it's hard to identify anything that is unique to that city's modern architecture or appearance.

 

[darko82]

Yes, I hope modern cities will differ. They should. If not, I am dissapointed.

 

[TheMarshmallowBear]

I didn't mind it, it looked cool in Civ 3, and Civ 5 to some extent if I squinted hard enough.

Especially now that they're more defined like in Civ 3.

 

[meatpardle]

Major cities in the modern world are more generic and gentrified than ever before. Makes sense that late game improvements/developments don't vary much.

 

[darko82]

Major cities in the modern world are more generic and gentrified than ever before. Makes sense that late game improvements/developments don't vary much.

I don't think London looks like New York or something.

 

[meatpardle]

I don't think London looks like New York or something.

At first glance the only thing that identifies London from many other major Westernised cities (and in turn them from others) is it's historical buildings. Most modern developments could be built in any major city, there isn't anything about the gherkin or the shard that would make them look out of place if they were picked up and dropped into New York, Chicago, Tokyo or Paris. As was mentioned earlier in the thread, modern architecture tends to be concrete and glass, so it makes sense the depictions of modern cities in Civ6 don't differ as much as early game cities.

 

[Verified_Confection_Being]

Lots of the modern famous landmarks in cities these days on top of being similarly styled are often designed by foreign architects. It's not a surprise that things in Europe and America end up looking the same as Asia and Africa.

Saying that however, you could argue this is the result of an Amerixan cultural victory in the real world. Civ is about creating an alternate history, and I really like the flavour of futuristic interpretations of different styles of regional architecture.

But, this isn't game breaking, and after the first time I played through noticing them, I basically never noticed them again. There are more significant flavour things they could work on like unit styling that would be more eye catching I feel.

 

[darko82]

At first glance the only thing that identifies London from many other major Westernised cities (and in turn them from others) is it's historical buildings. Most modern developments could be built in any major city, there isn't anything about the gherkin or the shard that would make them look out of place if they were picked up and dropped into New York, Chicago, Tokyo or Paris. As was mentioned earlier in the thread, modern architecture tends to be concrete and glass, so it makes sense the depictions of modern cities in Civ6 don't differ as much as early game cities.

Yes, but not all modern cities have a "modern" architecture. London has no skyscrapers. What about African modern cities? What about cities within a particular country? Each city looks different. While Warsaw has some glass and concrete, other Polish cities look more historical in the modern era. I think it would be stupid to make all cities look the same in the modern era.

If they differ in previous eras, they should also differ in the modern era. Not only because it is more realistic, but also because it is more interesting. It gives more variety in the graphics, which is always nice.