On the Civ VII preview, impressions and future plans

[Rhye]

Well, we saw the preview. Each one of us probably has a different opinion, but I found it really exciting. What were your impressions?

That said, plans for Rhye's and Fall for the time being are carried on unchanged.
I will release a new version as soon as I get rid of an error that I'm struggling to fix. Apologies for this delay. All of you requesting to be added will be included, of course.

Eventually, some of the work done on this version will be possible to be ported into 7. Starting with the world map, for example. I hope that some code will be recyclable.
But before we get a stable and moddable version of 7, it will take much longer than next February. That's at least, my prediction.

 

[MAHRana]

Generally good - in keeping with retaining a third of the game, updating another third and changing the last third. The mechanic of different civs for different ages felt reactionary to Humankind (not sure if that's actually the case) but in respect to the modding i feel like it could give a lot more flexibility hardcoded into the game. Update graphics always exciting to see haha, and navigable rivers of course.

 

[Mezzy]

I got really excited for Civ7, and even more excited to hear that you'll consider porting the mod to Civ7

 

[PiR]

But before we get a stable and moddable version of 7, it will take much longer than next February. That's at least, my prediction.

Fully agree.
Let's wait to see their model.
Moreover, any patch could break so many features you could develop. Let's see.

 

[Skojardu]

The 3 ages were an ugly surprise because I viewed it as copying Humankind. I hope that the center age (discovery) is MUCH longer than ancient and modern, and that Firaxis is tipping their hat to you, Rhye.

 

[vonJahgmann]

Well, we saw the preview. Each one of us probably has a different opinion, but I found it really exciting. What were your impressions?

Mixed emotions... but them, that's how I felt about the leap from III to IV, IV to V and V to VI. Why should the VI to VII leap be any different? Hopefully I come to love and enjoy VII as much as its predecessors.

P.S. For the first 3 Civs (plus CtP and RoN), I was waaaay younger and just excited to get a new Civ or something Civ-like to spend endless hours playing.

 

[Rhye]

The 3 ages were an ugly surprise because I viewed it as copying Humankind. I hope that the center age (discovery) is MUCH longer than ancient and modern, and that Firaxis is tipping their hat to you, Rhye.

I am pleased by these ages for a couple of reasons.

The first one is that they are 3 and not 4 or 5. As they were parted, there is a balanced emphasis, without a disproportion of relatively modern stuff ("recentism")
The second one is that, if I heard correctly, there will be a kind of reset of the map. I guess some sort of cleaning. Firaxis (finally) understood that too many objects in the game make it sluggish.

 

[Logoncal]

My criticism is that.... why would you take ideas from something that failed?? That boggled me

 

[Rhye]

civ3 and civ5 also had ages. It all depends on how it's implemented.

 

[Skojardu]

I saw someone on YouTube rage at the diplomacy interface where you can see yourself. I agree with their gripe. I have to say my favorite looking Civ game is Civ V. It has a cleaned up aesthetic compared to the visual muddiness of Civ VI, and meeting other leaders with them looking straight at you (especially Montezuma) is a cool way to BE your nation's leader instead of play them like a marionette (as shown in VII). I usually prioritize gameplay over graphics in my criticism (heck, I like Vlada Chvatli's Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization board game better than vanilla Civ games), but the diplomacy screen in VII rings hollow.

 

[Logoncal]

I'm curious to know how you will implement Rhyes and Fall on a game with a civ switch mechanic.

 

[Mezzy]

I'm curious to know how you will implement Rhyes and Fall on a game with a civ switch mechanic.

Perhaps new historical victories for each age/civ. So you'll have to get them all in the span of one age to win?

 

[Rhye]

we have to see how it actually works. I hope it will be possible to mod it to link to geography

 

[PiR]

Maybe multiple maps can be made. Antiquity should be focused on your own region/continent. There's not much meaning in Romans meeting Chinese, although it's fun and I like to do it. But you can have the whole world for the age of discovery.

 

[Skojardu]

I like the idea of being able to win in one age, but if you (and all AIs) fail you can try to win another with a new nation in the next, or if you all continue to fail you can try all the other win conditions including Science, Religion, Culture, Domination, and (if they implement it), Diplomacy

 

[Rhye]

I am honestly concerned by the weird civ choices. I am seeing unknown civs, obscure leaders, a double Napoleon, a wasted opportunity of evolving England -> Britain as they added the Normans instead, and much more.

 

[PiR]

I hope the snow ball effect can be countered by the reset in each age.
So that even if you were first, you have to work hard to get a good place again.
But not as extreme as when your empire crumbles from stability because then you loose all your investment.

 

[Skojardu]

Well, they say that preceding all age changes, you have a Crisis. Even mighty Rome had the Crisis of the Third Century, and the US had the Civil War. Maybe the crises are commensurate with how powerful you are?

 

[PiR]

Sure, as it should be to recalibrate forces, otherwise there would be the snowball effect.
Just would be nice not to loose your investment each time, many players would ragequit