Rate CIV 7 on release

[Graethyenne]

very off topic, but as someone who first started with civ 5 days after BNW, what was civ 5 like on release?

Essentially unplayable (for me) Despite hundreds (or more, I wasn't tracking back then) on Civ IV and SMAC I bought CiV and played double digit hours until the first expansion. Which helped, but it still needed Brave New World to hook me.

 

[NowhereMan80]

there is also a certain something missing... maybe they should not have put Sid's name on it

I totally agree; this game really shouldn't have even been considered Civ 7; should've been a reboot just called Civilization.

I gave it a try because Civ has been my favorite game throughout the years....and it just doesn't work for me. It feels like a very different game and just not one that I'm enjoying. It's been excessively over simplified and to me the soul of the game is completely gone with the Civ switching and Ages. I don't even really care what Civ I choose in this game and the Ages feel like 3 mini games rather than 1 whole game, not to mention how jarring it feels. This just feels like some really drastic changes to try and get the lower attention span audience engaged and I'm really just not a fan of much of any of it. The roguelike stuff feels gross. And none of this is even getting into the UI. To me if anything the UI is a microcosm of the gameplay itself. Over simplified and half baked.

This game feels like it could be Civ Rev 3 just as much or more than Civ 7. I'm not really sure how much more time I'll give it in the short term...I'll see how it develops with expansions but the core changes just aren't doing it for me. As for a score...I don't know. But it's no higher than a 6 and that feels generous.

 

[chrisgatt7]

6/10 Rating

I can’t say I have played every single CIV game, but I have played since number 4 and on. I have close to 15 thousand hours on CIV V & CIV VI combined. While I don’t agree with the changes to core gameplay, I can say the game has significant potential. This would be the case if I had solid trust in 2K and Firaxis which I don’t. The problem with the UI is extremely disastrous, Firaxis is NOT new to this 4x genera obviously neither is Ed Beach or the design team. All these factors combined make it extremely appalling the UI is so terrible. UI aside now, I think it’s a beautiful game. One of the most beautiful Civilization games I’ve ever seen. The gameplay is decent at launch, I DO NOT expect perfection in a game at launch. I’m trying to be very understanding about content and design but the leader choice in this game is horrible. The worst opening leader roster since I started with the franchise. Now I understand picking new leaders and characters from all different backgrounds of life, BUT the Leaders are weak, Ask the average person and maybe they know 4-6 of these leaders existed. I do really enjoy the game though; I just keep finding design changes that keep puzzling me. I think the removal of the Information Era was a huge step back, even if it’s presumed to be coming in DLC. Even more CRIMNAL to the whole franchise though is the REMOVAL of “Just One More Turn” at the end of the game. This error is why I hated Humankind. The Trade of Cities to end wars is also a horrible design choice. If only it was that simple the Russian/Ukraine war may have ended by now. The removal of Anti Air fire from both the ground unit and naval units is also a weird design choice. Like why? It was in the previous game and worked decently. Air Power must somehow be countered and balanced. The CIV switching I honestly don’t have a problem with. I find it very fun. The MAP designs are the worst I’ve seen since CIV 4. PLUS the maps keep getting smaller and smaller. With all that said I somewhat enjoy playing a new Civ game, this game has potential, BUT either Firaxis got to get their head out their ass or the mod community will need to save the day for the PC players. Hopefully we get both.

 

[Gen.Washington]

I’m never touching 6 again, uninstalled it actually. Loving 7 so far and hopefully we get good map generation and UI soon.

 

[tedhebert]

Voted 8... It is far from perfect, mainly because of the opaque info via UI, but I think it will become the best one so far once the kinks have been ironed out.

 

[Sekou]

7.

-Needs UI fixes.
-Needs more Ages to make the Crisis/switching mechanic more interesting/impactful. Right now it's just twice.
-Trade system needs a rework. It's of two minds right now. "Here's what cities you can trade with, but also here, go get the merchant there yourself" ??? Just auto make the connection, it seems to me.
-Combat seemed a bit bland and/or lacking heft. I'm not a Civ warmonger by trade but I will battle it out when called upon, but this seemed a bit underwhelming
-Special units didn't really payoff. Roman legion and commanders were ok but hoplites didn't feel anywhere near as impactful here as they did in 7 with effectively the same special ability. Admittedly, I might just need to play more civs to get a better feel and response
- not sure how to phrase this but we need a toggle to quick move units. The animations are cool and all but after a few hours, you can feel them slowing the play down.
-i do like all the narrative stuff. Felt like it was right out of my fave board game Scythe
-intrigued by the mementos system for leaders (or whatever it's called) Like the idea of leveling up Ben or Isabella or whomever. Gives added reason to replay a particular leader
-quite like the new diplomacy system. Much more engaging what with the Influence currency

Changes that I feel more personally and seeing changes made is probably just wishful thinking on my part:

1) strong dislike of leader diplomacy interaction vignettes. For me, this needs to return to first person. I'm doing the negotiating - not an on screen avatar
2) I really think they swung and missed on switching civs- it should be leaders that are switched. Just makes so much more sense thematically when considered in conjunction with the Crisis mechanic. Consider: "hard times have fallen on the Norman people. They are losing faith in their leaders. Voices are calling for a new leader to guide them out of this turbulent time" etc etc

All that being said, I quite enjoyed my first game (and win). I'm already thinking who I want to try next, with which civ, etc, etc. This is my initial critique and thoughts. I have no doubt that Firaxis will get things sorted going forward.

I played 6 for over 2200 hours, Firaxis. That's the time to beat with this new installment
(Tbf, I prolly played 2 MPGE for a truly obscene amount of hours)

 

[rhaak]

The biggest problem for me is the lack of info in the civilopedia. A lot of the prerequisites of buildings and units are not shown.

 

[AriochIV]

very off topic, but as someone who first started with civ 5 days after BNW, what was civ 5 like on release?

The chief issues that I recall were:

• There were severe performance problems, especially on older machines. I recall it taking like 5-10 minutes to load a game.
• The game past the midgame felt unfinished; late game systems (like air units) seemed like afterthoughts that weren't fully implemented and in some cases just didn't work.
• The tactical AI couldn't really handle 1UPT and the strategic AI seemed schizophrenic, not helped by diplomacy being a black box (relationship status and modifiers weren't displayed).

I don't think I was able to actually finish a game until the first major patch, which was several months after release.

 

[Nikolai II]

A good eight for me!

 

[King Flevance]

The biggest problem for me is the lack of info in the civilopedia. A lot of the prerequisites of buildings and units are not shown.

The civilopedia needs a lot of work. It is very hard to find specific info in there. The civilopedia should be fully ironed out on release if you are going to redesign so much in a series title.

 

[King Flevance]

• The tactical AI couldn't really handle 1UPT and the strategic AI seemed schizophrenic, not helped by diplomacy being a black box (relationship status and modifiers weren't displayed).

The relationship status and modifiers can be found by clicking on a leaders portrait at the top, then on the left side of the screen is a white circle with a number in it. This is the relationship status. Clicking on it will list the individual modifiers.

 

[Vincent_lacruz]

2nd game base difficulty. Good base, but needs some polish, especially on the UI:
- When buying something, the list is not refreshed until you close/reopen the city window. Especially bothersome when you buy repairs after a disaster...
- Civpedia needs to be updated and sometime fixed (for french version, for example, the caracter œ is considered different from oe, wich is kind of akward when looking for info...)
- The AI do no seem to look for the ruins/goodly hut, especially during exploration age when lots of them appear on the distant lands
- Considering diplomacy, it is really difficult to get back up when they don't accept your propositions (mostly open border since it is the only one), and every rejection tanks the favorability further...
- For alliances, being forced into the war is not a good idea... It should be a diplomatic action (ask you ally to oin his war), and limits the actual nice interractions you could have by staying neutral (sending help, support, etc...).
- We need access to a trade windows without having a trader available (to see wether the trader is actually usefull...)


But all in all I feel like this version is rather promising. The legacy paths are not easy, you really need to actively look for them, and even though maximizing two of the per age is doable, doing them all is rather difficult (which is a good thing). No longer are you supprised by you cultural victory because you built wonders and early books like in civ6^^.

 

[TheGrayFox]

very off topic, but as someone who first started with civ 5 days after BNW, what was civ 5 like on release?

Broken and unbalanced

The AI literally had no idea how no idea how to use 1upt at launch and you could conquer the entire world with a single horseman.

 

[AriochIV]

The relationship status and modifiers can be found by clicking on a leaders portrait at the top, then on the left side of the screen is a white circle with a number in it. This is the relationship status. Clicking on it will list the individual modifiers.

I was answering a question about the problems Civilization V had on release.

 

[depner72]

I do not want to have to learn a new game. I wanted a game that builds on the best (districts, Eurekas and civics) and eliminates the worst of VI (silly bonuses for AI, micro-managing). This game does the opposite and fundamentally changes the philosophy of the game. It will confuse first time players and anger veterans.

 

[Nikolai II]

I do not want to have to learn a new game. I wanted a game that builds on the best (districts, Eurekas and civics) and eliminates the worst of VI (silly bonuses for AI, micro-managing). This game does the opposite and fundamentally changes the philosophy of the game. It will confuse first time players and anger veterans.

Not really. We are a lot of veterans who wanted a breath of fresh air. No need for a new game if it's almost the same.

 

[Noble Zarkon]

I wanted a game that builds on the best (districts, Eurekas and civics) and eliminates the worst of VI (silly bonuses for AI, micro-managing).

I think that's exactly what the game delivers for me!

 

[depner72]

Not really. We are a lot of veterans who wanted a breath of fresh air. No need for a new game if it's almost the same.

This is not a breath of fresh air. This is a storm that destroys everything. May be I was fooling myself into believing that I would still be able to recognize Civ as Civ, but this game actually complicates the experience with unnecessary and overwhelming mechanics, which are unjustified and worse poorly explained.

 

[depner72]

I think that's exactly what the game delivers for me!

Where are the Eurekas? The distinct, diverse and readily identifiable districts? Why do we need artificial crises? Forced breaks that destroy a lot of what you build up? Complicated victory conditions? Additional choices that neither existed before nor were necessary? But this is on me. I failed to appreciate how revolutionary in the wrong way this game is.

 

[marius_kaparius]

Where are the Eurekas? The distinct, diverse and readily identifiable districts? Why do we need artificial crises? Forced breaks that destroy a lot of what you build up? Complicated victory conditions? Additional choices that neither existed before nor were necessary? But this is on me. I failed to appreciate how revolutionary in the wrong way this game is.

I’m happy that both Eurekas and districts in their Civ 6 form are gone.

Add to that golden age point and all the other checklisting features. I can follow my strategy without detouring to do optimization tricks.