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PCGamer: "Civilization 7 senior historian prays it'll be a 'gateway drug' into textbooks", and physical PCGamer article

the biggest issue(but not the only one) with the paradox model is tying new features into a dlc, and not base game. The more this happens, the higher the chance of weird compatibility issues between people who have one and not another dlc.They even sold some features in several dlcs at one point for EU4 to try and deal with this.

Adding features to the base game or a rare expansion is a better way to go in the long term.

Personally i would prefer they continue what they did in Civ 5/6. Smaller DLCs with a few civs, and a major expansion every 1-2 years. This doesnt preclude them from updating/overhauling existing features that need it between expansions.
I expect it to be the same. DLCs included in the initial packs are pure content ones (at least based on their announcement) and with their timeframe up to Sep, 2025, I expect an expansion to come in around 1 year after the game release, as before.
 
the biggest issue(but not the only one) with the paradox model is tying new features into a dlc, and not base game. The more this happens, the higher the chance of weird compatibility issues between people who have one and not another dlc.They even sold some features in several dlcs at one point for EU4 to try and deal with this.

Adding features to the base game or a rare expansion is a better way to go in the long term.

Personally i would prefer they continue what they did in Civ 5/6. Smaller DLCs with a few civs, and a major expansion every 1-2 years. This doesnt preclude them from updating/overhauling existing features that need it between expansions.

The problem with the micro-packs (like we had for the NFP in 6), is that it makes it really hard to truly tie those concepts together. Like, I'm still slightly sad that preserves are basically completely separate from every other part of the game, and the only times I build them are basically because I'm bored. Even the Diplo Quarter came in one of those packs, and while it "feels" more connected because it's a must-build in every game, it still rarely interacts with other parts of the system. Never mind the various game modes, other than a couple small places, it's not like any civs really interact with those modes individually at all.

When features are released together, they should be able to integrate better into the whole system. At least for major features. Although even minor features would benefit from more integration too.
 
What about game modes, as for the New Frontier Pass ?
I wouldn't mind a new way of handling expansions, closer to the end of Civ VI cycle.

Have mini optional DLC packs of civs and leaders trickle out, then in the parts of the cycle where we would typically see a full expansion, drop a free update that reworks old mechanics & introduces new ones, to all players, then at the same time drop a larger than normal DLC pack with all the civs and leaders that would best take advantage of the new systems.

I really liked the later half of VI's release where everyone who bought the previous expansions, got all the new game modes civs leaders/personas for free.

If they could find a way to keep that up it would be nice, for the first 18 months all the Deluxe and Founders buyers get some of the newer mini DLCs free, then the people that buy the "Expansion" passes get that and then the in between stuff and so on.
Most of us spent quite a lot and some of us multiple times, I feel we got a lot of great value at the last year or so at no additional cost.

As for the core topic, for me I always loved diving into the Civlopedia and just forgetting the game for an hour, linking from one thing to the next it certainly helped spur my curiosity towards history beyond "Grade School Textbook"
 
The problem with the micro-packs (like we had for the NFP in 6), is that it makes it really hard to truly tie those concepts together. Like, I'm still slightly sad that preserves are basically completely separate from every other part of the game, and the only times I build them are basically because I'm bored. Even the Diplo Quarter came in one of those packs, and while it "feels" more connected because it's a must-build in every game, it still rarely interacts with other parts of the system. Never mind the various game modes, other than a couple small places, it's not like any civs really interact with those modes individually at all.

When features are released together, they should be able to integrate better into the whole system. At least for major features. Although even minor features would benefit from more integration too.

I agree - the New Frontier Pass was welcome content at the time, but a terrible way of adding content to the game. Everything seemed to be designed completely separately with no overall focus.

If Firaxis is doing away with the full expansion pack model, that’s fine, but game mechanics need to be updated holistically. I think the only alternative will be to add features to the base game, and only have the more modular content like civs and leaders in DLC.
 
I remember a family member telling me I let my kids play too much on the computer. My then 7-year-old answered a random foreign history question during a discussion we were having. Of course, they asked him how he knew that - and the answer was Civilization!! He is now a history major. :woohoo:
 
After Civ V was released my thirst for history grew a lot, also from CivFanatics here I have learnd lots of interesting and surprising lessons.
 
The EU4 PDX model is outdated though. CK3‘s take seems to be preferable: all mechanics are free in patches, but the flavor and most content is DLC. Which is also great for modders.
this is what i’d imagine would work more in favor of civ 7. mechanic compatibility was an issue in civ 6 too.
 
What about game modes, as for the New Frontier Pass ?
It happened at the games life, which limited some of its issues. Had they continued with more expansions or another pass, it would of been a lot more painful to make it all work
The EU4 PDX model is outdated though. CK3‘s take seems to be preferable: all mechanics are free in patches, but the flavor and most content is DLC. Which is also great for modders.
Agreed. Content packs when done well are a great boon to the game and modding community. idk how doable they are for civ.
I expect it to be the same. DLCs included in the initial packs are pure content ones (at least based on their announcement) and with their timeframe up to Sep, 2025, I expect an expansion to come in around 1 year after the game release, as before.
If i had to guess, the first expansion if they continue to do them, wont come out until fall or summer of next year at the earliest. I would expect 3-4 DLCs including the ones they already announced. before that. Of course, they could do more smaller or few larger DLCs that could throw that number off.
The problem with the micro-packs (like we had for the NFP in 6), is that it makes it really hard to truly tie those concepts together. Like, I'm still slightly sad that preserves are basically completely separate from every other part of the game, and the only times I build them are basically because I'm bored. Even the Diplo Quarter came in one of those packs, and while it "feels" more connected because it's a must-build in every game, it still rarely interacts with other parts of the system. Never mind the various game modes, other than a couple small places, it's not like any civs really interact with those modes individually at all.

When features are released together, they should be able to integrate better into the whole system. At least for major features. Although even minor features would benefit from more integration too.
Agreed. I wish they did a better job tying the various stuff together. There are a few changes i wish they did that would of made some of the modes way more enjoyable. They did some work to make Civs work better with them, but it wasnt too much. Some of the modes were a big hit with me, while others were not. I did mod a few of them to make them more enjoyable.

I guess we will see if their DLCs are mainly CIvs/leaders with little to no new features, or if they are closer to the NFP with random stuff tossed in.
 
Agreed. Content packs when done well are a great boon to the game and modding community. idk how doable they are for civ.
What do you mean? Right to Rule and Crossroads of the World are both content packs. Every Civ DLC except expansions is a content pack.
 
What do you mean? Right to Rule and Crossroads of the World are both content packs. Every Civ DLC except expansions is a content pack.
Content packs in CK3(the way i view them) are different from adding new Civs/leaders. They add things like new events, mechanics, etc to people who are involved in spain or persia as an example. They add flavor to the entire region or group. It would like be adding interactions with colonizers in Civ 7 or adding new content to religion as an example.

Maybe i didnt use or clarify the terminology in my head.
 
Content packs in CK3(the way i view them) are different from adding new Civs/leaders. They add things like new events, mechanics, etc to people who are involved in spain or persia as an example. They add flavor to the entire region or group. It would like be adding interactions with colonizers in Civ 7 or adding new content to religion as an example.

Maybe i didnt use or clarify the terminology in my head.
I guess I got confused because the post you agreed with said "mechanics" are added for free in CK3 while flavor stuff, events, etc. come in content packs. But you are saying these DLCs DO add mechanics. In that case yeah, Civ hasn't ever really added mechanics via non-expansion DLCs.
 
What do you mean? Right to Rule and Crossroads of the World are both content packs. Every Civ DLC except expansions is a content pack.
To add to what @King of Prussia said:
CK3 released a DLC called "Fate of Iberia." In the accompanying patch, they added a mechanic that allows to have any region of the map caught in a "struggle," i.e., the countries of that region have special mechanics to compete in a struggle that can be resolved by a win of one side or a compromise. You can also interfere from the outside etc. But without the DLC the game has no such struggle on the map - there is no actual trigger and only the "vanilla" struggle events in the base game. Yet, modders can make full use of it - they can make a hypothetical investiture struggle in central europe with all the bells and whistles the mechanic offers without the DLC. What the DLC does is put a struggle on the map in Iberia from the start of the game and adds tons of Iberian flavored events that can appear in it. A later DLC added among other things a struggle in Persia and related flavor and events. Because the struggle mechanic is part of the base game, you don't need Fate of Iberia to enjoy the struggle in Persia.
This works similarly even in larger expansions: the accompanying patch adds things like your character being able to physically travel on the map. But without DLC and mods, the base game uses this only for few tasks (going for a hunt or on pilgrimage). Otherwise, if you travel around the map, there isn't much going to happen.The DLC then adds expeditions, tournaments, visiting others or famous landmarks etc.

So, the content comes with the DLC, the mechanic is in the base game. But any later DLC or mod can fully interact with the mechanics, regardless of the player's activated DLCs. To me, this is currently the best DLC model.

In civ terms, this would have meant that any civ introduced after a certain patch could potentially interact with the mechanics of that patch in forms of bonuses or uniques. Especially in case of civ 7 with its potentially 100 civs that have so many bonuses, traditions, and legacy paths, this seems a great opportunity to do it similarly. Otherwise, all civs released in packs aside from big expansions (if these still exist) will have traditions and bonuses that would likely mostly rely on the base mechanics only. And that would really be a shame.
 
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That is a great DLC model for a game like CK3 or other paradox games, not sure how it would work with civ. For an event base game like ck, where you have lots of narratives things, that work well. Civ doesn't have that many of these. And some reactions to the narrative events, seems like players aren't even much fond of specific things like that.

I guess one thing could be like, adding a new age in a patch with only generic options/bonus for civs but the expansion adding civs legacies, etc... not sure anything that would work well though.
 
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