Not played for years: Civ 6 or 5?

[BeardedWonder]

Despite buying both 5 and 6 not really played either much, poor AI and a disillusionment with the direction this franchise seems to be heading in put me off.

Looking to play a peaceful builder game so what would suit me best civ 5 or 6 and with which mods? I'm leaning towards Civ 5 + vox populi but due to RL i'm not clued up about what's going on in the civ world.

AI which at least give the appearance of a challenge would be nice...

I've got both expansions for Civ 5, not bought rise and fall (seems overpriced for what it is) but could be persuaded to.

 

[Haig]

I have played both a LOT and I find Civ 6 much more satisfying.

The districts system and wonder placing makes building cities more fun plus there is no stupid system like in Civ 5 that stops you making large empires.

Also Civ 6 has more details like war weariness, casus belli, tile appeal etc so I cant go back to 5.

AI is about the same (mediocre) in both. Civ 6 uses land forces better and Civ 5 air and navy.

Besides Civ 6 is still being developed so we will get more features.

 

[BeardedWonder]

I have played both a LOT and I find Civ 6 much more satisfying.

The districts system and wonder placing makes building cities more fun plus there is no stupid system like in Civ 5 that stops you making large empires.

Also Civ 6 has more details like war weariness, casus belli, tile appeal etc so I cant go back to 5.

AI is about the same (mediocre) in both. Civ 6 uses land forces better and Civ 5 air and navy.

Besides Civ 6 is still being developed so we will get more features.

Any good mods that improve core features? Is R&F worth it?

 

[Trav'ling Canuck]

For me, Civ 5 is the more polished product right now. More challenging AI and a more satisfying game experience, especially through the mid- and end-game, which remain challenging and interesting in Civ 5 due to the World Congress and an AI that's dangerous in late game warfare as it uses (and defends against) airforce with good effect. I haven't played Vox Populi, just the core Civ 5 (plus both expansions). One big issue with Civ 5 is that the last balance pass left a 4 city "empire" as the most efficient peaceful play style, although you'll want to grow those to be really, really big cities. You can play with more cities, but if you're not going for domination, extra cities may not speed up your victory.

The best addition to Civ 6 is the district system, which makes city placement and development more interesting. Civ 6 is much easier to win than Civ 5. The AI is dangerous only in the very early game. After that, it'll pretty much leave you alone, and if it does try to do anything to you, with a bit of experience you'll likely find you can defend yourself against it without really trying. Civ 6 does encourage growing as large an empire as possible, but conversely growing large cities isn't really efficient. With the base game, anything bigger than 4 Population is inefficient; the R&F expansion bumps that up to 10 Population. Civ 6 has a lot of potential, and I`m hoping another expansion will help it realize that potential. For me, personally, I don`t find it much of a game right now in terms of worrying about how or whether you`ll win, it`s more like an empire building simulation a la Sim City. Which in itself can be fun, if you enjoy that.

 

[Boyan_Sun]

If you like peaceful builder game, then both 5 & 6 are OK. There are more elements in Civ6, makes a lot of combos (slightly breaking the balance). Many strange ways to play, with intermittent and explosive development, lead to some impressive results, such as landing on Mars before Christ, or an OCC victory before modern era. Comparatively speaking, the development of Civ5 is more orderly and less explosive, but it's much easier and better to build a proud super city (super cities in Civ6 are a huge drag on your civilization).

 

[Leathaface]

I've played both Civ V and Civ VI a lot and I prefer VI by a good bit. Districts, loyalty flipping, happiness confined to each city plus the policy card system giving you flexibility in decisions. Whereas in V you have the crippling global happiness system, only able to build 4-5 cities without big science penalties plus Traditional > Rationalism being the best route you go every time.

 

[BeardedWonder]

Curiosity got the better of me and bought R&F. Initial impressions are AI is very passive, spawned next to mongolia who despite my lack of army have made no effort to attack despite randomly warning me. Also feels like playing a jigsaw, the various eurekas and bonuses mean placing all the right bits in the right slots at the right time...

I've played both Civ V and Civ VI a lot and I prefer VI by a good bit. Districts, loyalty flipping, happiness confined to each city plus the policy card system giving you flexibility in decisions. Whereas in V you have the crippling global happiness system, only able to build 4-5 cities without big science penalties plus Traditional > Rationalism being the best route you go every time.

I like playing tall so if 4/5 cities is the optimum I should give Civ V a go as well...

Too little time, too much civ!

 

[Mozzington]

Cider or beer mate?

 

[liv]

5 sounds like the game for you. Building tall is the superior strategy there

 

[Cedbird77]

Despite buying both 5 and 6 not really played either much, poor AI and a disillusionment with the direction this franchise seems to be heading in put me off.

Looking to play a peaceful builder game so what would suit me best civ 5 or 6 and with which mods? I'm leaning towards Civ 5 + vox populi but due to RL i'm not clued up about what's going on in the civ world.

AI which at least give the appearance of a challenge would be nice...

I've got both expansions for Civ 5, not bought rise and fall (seems overpriced for what it is) but could be persuaded to.

Civ 5 is a beauty! It have me challenges 35% of the time on Emperor. I liked the leaders and Civs more on Civ 5. It is a complete game of course.

6 is a beauty as well. The leaders are not as interesting. Maybe it is the presentation of the game. Not as Cinematic as 5.

But the game is very fun as well.

Lots of ways to play peaceful on both imo

 

[orasis]

Civilization 6 is the superior game. Just add AI+ and "Real Tech Tree" mod and you'll have a better time of it. I do not know if they fixed it or not, but, in vanilla... as soon as the AI got to Pikemen they would not upgrade anything for a ridiculously long time.

Although I like 5, it's too formulaic... tradition, rationalism, NC... same thing over and over again.

 

[Icicle]

You can get Civ 5 for a song and with the vox populi mod it is definitely the more polished and challenging gaming experience. By the time you're done with that Civ 6 will probably have another expansion and hopefully be on the same level.

 

[Sedwick]

My move would be to go with 6, if you're serious about spending time with the franchise again. I'm coming from the perspective of having only about 2 hours of playing time a week, so I may as well keep up and play the latest stuff.

The [Civ 6] AI is dangerous only in the very early game. After that, it'll pretty much leave you alone, and if it does try to do anything to you, with a bit of experience you'll likely find you can defend yourself against it without really trying.

That's fairly accurate. Catherine di Franci DoWed me twice in the first three eras but hasn't since, probably has something to do with each war ending with me taking one of her cities. I just converted her holy city (with one apostle action) on the sunset of the Modern Era and the most she's done is declare a religious emergency. I've got some upgrade-ready troops near the border just in case...

 

[klail]

I much prefer Civ 6 to Civ 5. The AI definitely needs improvement but I play with a lot of mods that add challenge. You can also do multiplayer if the AI isn't fun.

 

[John.B.C]

Despite buying both 5 and 6 not really played either much, poor AI and a disillusionment with the direction this franchise seems to be heading in put me off.

Looking to play a peaceful builder game so what would suit me best civ 5 or 6 and with which mods? I'm leaning towards Civ 5 + vox populi but due to RL i'm not clued up about what's going on in the civ world.

AI which at least give the appearance of a challenge would be nice...

I've got both expansions for Civ 5, not bought rise and fall (seems overpriced for what it is) but could be persuaded to.

I have a problem: I don't see how I ever can play another game after Civ5+Vox populi. It's so polished, so balanced that I fail to see how any future civ game can come close to challange it. I hope so, but I'm very sceptical. I have played civilization 6 and unfortunately the experience was horrible, mostly due to the poor performing AI. I thus uninstalled it.

Now if you're going to play "peaceful" builder games you might be in for a bad experience in the begining. Many vox populi players experience the AI as being very agressive (which is quite true). But when you become better at diplomacy, thus nuturing your relationships you can have a some what peaceful game - but - you can't just dig your head down in the sand, obliviously doing your own little thing without paying attention, you must keep an eye on your relations with other AI's and what's happening in the world.

 

[Aristos]

Honestly?

Four.

Or, maybe, just maybe, Vox Populi.

 

[Leathaface]

Honestly?

Four.

Or, maybe, just maybe, Vox Populi.

If OP has never played IV and doesn't want to play VI yet, i'd recommend IV for sure. A lot over V.

 

[John.B.C]

If OP has never played IV and doesn't want to play VI yet, i'd recommend IV for sure. A lot over V.

You seem to recommend civ 6 out of ignorance. Have you played Civ 5 + vox populi? I can understand that you'd recommend civ 6 "a lot" over vanilla civ 5, but over civ 5 + vox populi, is just madness (you could even go with civ 5 + community patch only - though I don't think vanilla mechanics are very balanced). But of course, if you don't like a polished balanced game (where the AI acctually knows how to play the game) then I can understand your point of view. But then everybody doesn't like vox populi either for what ever reason.

 

[klail]

I much prefer Civ 6 R&F (plus a lot of mods) over Civ 5. But if I was forced to go back to Civ 5 I would definitely play with Vox Populi. That is a great mod. I hope we someday get the equivalent for Civ 6.

 

[Icicle]

If OP has never played IV and doesn't want to play VI yet, i'd recommend IV for sure. A lot over V.

You seem to recommend civ 6 out of ignorance. .

Speaking of ignorance, IV means 4.