Their units and city graphics and, chiefly, the symbol on their banner will tell you what civ they are, but the game definitely doesn't shove it in your face.
So how does civ switching feel, and how do you approach it?
- Thread starter Krajzen
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They redesigned the game to remove ahistorical oddities like Washington being founded in 4000 BCE as if Ben Franklin founding Rome isn't even weirder.
MrRadar
Deity
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It feels like you’re playing 3 quite distinct games within one playthrough. The disconnection between transitions is much more felt than in Humankind when selecting a new culture to progress, as in Civ7 you just start a completely new chapter. To give an analogy, I’d say in Humankind one game still feels like it happens within one day, you just go from early hours of dawn into the morning, then late morning, midday, afternoon, evening, late evening and night as the finish. Civ7 feels like it happens in three consecutive days, clearly separated by two nights, where you go to sleep and wake up to face a very new day.
I like it a lot. It's actually a big plus to me.
Like most people here, I am struggling to notice which Civ my opponents are, but that's because I'm overloaded with information and don't really understand what I'm doing - a combination of Civ's complexity and the UI issues.
I'm also terrible at adjacency and deciding what to build, but I know from playing 1000 hours each in Civ 4 and 6, that the deeper knowledge will come with experience.
Like most people here, I am struggling to notice which Civ my opponents are, but that's because I'm overloaded with information and don't really understand what I'm doing - a combination of Civ's complexity and the UI issues.
I'm also terrible at adjacency and deciding what to build, but I know from playing 1000 hours each in Civ 4 and 6, that the deeper knowledge will come with experience.
I see this as a big issue for a game called Civilization. Why oh why should the actual civilizations that we are playing as or against not be front and center in a game called Civilization. It boggles my mind.
That seems like a deliberate misreading to match your own ideas of how the game is. Or just pedantry. There wasn't enough Doom in Doom, not enough Wonders in Age of Wonders!
I think you should take the time to read all 4 sentences.
BD123
Chieftain
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The Civ switching is a bit cleaner than I imagined it would be. I feel the most jarring times are at the civ/leader selection when I have to deliberately think "okay, I'm going to be Isabella of the Maya." But in-game that discrepancy takes a back seat and the civ I choose feels adequately immersive due to unique great people, unique civics, etc. As for the AI, I don't take too much notice of their particular civ since the focus is more on the leader themselves.
Some of the restrictions and unlocks are a bit odd though. Rome unlocks France, but Greece doesn't?
My biggest complaint would be the age transitions themselves hard-resetting everything. There should be at least some residual crisis-effects as your new civilization emerges from the chaos and formalizes itself I feel like.
Some of the restrictions and unlocks are a bit odd though. Rome unlocks France, but Greece doesn't?
My biggest complaint would be the age transitions themselves hard-resetting everything. There should be at least some residual crisis-effects as your new civilization emerges from the chaos and formalizes itself I feel like.
Your other sentences in your post that I omitted were
and
Setting aside your laughable straw-men about Doom and AoW - I still think the point is valid. The game has been called Civilization for a reason, and I think I know why they changed the tagline for the game from "Build a civilization to stand the test of time." to "Build something you believe in."
I prefer the earlier, more direct tagline. We shall see if the pivot to changing civs throughout the game works.
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shmily_dana
Warlord
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I think it is a good solution for playing a modern leader that typically does not have a unique unit or building in the early ages. I like that there is a connection between the changes. At this point, I don't know if I would take advantage of the option to stay as one civilization thru the whole game.
The former tagline was "build an empire to stand the test of time". I agree that it's a bit sad that civs take a backseat, but they have been doing that in civ 5 and 6 as well. I don't see much change in emphasis. I was also always aware which civs my opponents were, but it just isn't that important gameplay-wise outside of war. But again, this was the same in the previous games, maybe even in all of them.
Josephias
Emperor
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Maybe we have been confusing for such a long time civilizations with nations/empires. A civilization is much more than a banner or a coat of arms: is the cities, infraestructure,... and that is still, evident, right in the middle of the game. Now, it evolves in order to continue being relevant and getting their specifics trough all the game. I just did my first switch and my economic-focused Missisipian civilization become Majapahit thanks to their focus on maritime trade routes. They continue being the traders of old with new perks (I'm calling them the Majassipithians, btw).
If any, I agree the moment at the selection screen is a bit non-climatic. On the other hand, I had all but two civs unlocked - as others said, it's not as difficult even if not looking for it, and it's great because you feel to have "natural" reasons to become a lot of civs in the next age and not forced trough a path.
And the change of music and building architectures when starting the new age also shows a bit of lack of continuum (actually it really reflects the "400 years later..." gap quite well, but for me it says as well: ok, it is time to stop for now: I will continue, but this is a new game indeed... based on my old game, yes, but in the other hand, new).
You guys are probably correct, and the civ switching mechanic is not detrimental to the game. I hope the game is very successful - I dont want Firaxis to fail. They are one of the few big developers left in gaming that I rely to provide good, quality games.
queenpea
Emperor
Right, an ahistorical American Empire in 4000 BCE somehow is easier (for me) to wrap my head around than the current game.
Currently: “Revolutionary" Napoleon Bonaparte is speaking to me in heavily accented Corsican French while leading the Mongolian Empire in 1500 and begging me, Hatshepsut of Buganda (?) for help in a war he is losing against Tecumseh of Mexico.
And yes, Benjamin Franklin founding the American Empire in 4000 BCE is probably just as strange as Benjamin Franklin founding Han China in the same year.
There are arguments supporting the current system, but increased historical accuracy just isn't one you can make.
KingLouisIV
Chieftain
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Agreed here. I thought the civ switch would be jarring, but it seems well-managed—nice mix of organic and challenges from gameplay.
Everything else about the age transition is very… harsh? You’re really very aware that it isn’t an organic transition—lots of choosing, thinking, etc., followed by “wait now I have new units and those cities disappeared and and and”. Suspect this will ebb with some combination of experience and UX tweaking, but it’s weird.
(And I say that last part as someone who really liked Golden Ages mode in Civ 6.)
Sagax
Emperor
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It feels about as I expected. I'm enjoying the gameplay loop of playing your civ to the fullest in each age and then assessing which of the unlocks best capitalizes on your state by the end. I think this will be my preferred approach long-term: not have a specific three-civ path in mind, but rather adapt to the hand you're dealt. I won't cover age transitions and pacing, as I feel like this is a separate issue, irrespective of how civ-switching feels to play.
That said, it does feel jarring when you take an extreme pivot (say, Ming > Buganda) and your city names and architectural styles are turned upside down, instead of being more organic. City naming will alleviate that, but as I mentioned before, I wish they allow civ name customization as well. What they did with Rock Bands and corporation goods could work here.
That said, it does feel jarring when you take an extreme pivot (say, Ming > Buganda) and your city names and architectural styles are turned upside down, instead of being more organic. City naming will alleviate that, but as I mentioned before, I wish they allow civ name customization as well. What they did with Rock Bands and corporation goods could work here.
I'm not. Only indication I've noticed that my neighbor Xerxes was Russia in the Modern was that I saw a St. Petersburg pop up. Okay....
As for OP: I'm just kinda going with "where do I want to be in the Modern Age?" So, first game I wanted to be America, so choose Ben and just kinda wing it.
It's good. Bit confusing at the start but I and maybe all of players will adapt it much later. Hope that there will be more civs in the future to add the immersion.
Only loud minority who hate this system and the people who love this system must ignore their hearsays. They should stick on previous games until the test of the time.
Only loud minority who hate this system and the people who love this system must ignore their hearsays. They should stick on previous games until the test of the time.
Plymouth
Chieftain
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- Dec 29, 2017
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Other than how few civs there are per Age at this point, it's not necessarily bad for any gameplay reason, I just don't... like it? At all. FWIW I've been turned off by the concept since they initially revealed it, so my feelings here aren't purely experiential
It just absolutely doesn't "feel like Civ" to me (whatever that means). Instead of feeling like I'm playing as a people or civilization, it feels like I'm playing as a Monopoly token — you know, a hat, iron, thimble, &c. — dressed up like a historical/semi-legendary figure. My neighbour to the west isn't Greece, it'sa wheelbarrow Isabella I. I'm Japan — I mean, Himiko... leading, uh...? Does it matter?
I think I'll come to tolerate it, and that there's some potential for it to become a lot better with DLC and mods (there are so damn few civilizations as it stands); having 3-Age non-insane historical paths for more civs would make me feel a lot better. (And I don't mean 3 completely unrelated civs that happen to be within the continent of Africa, like actual historical paths). But IDK if I'll ever like it. It's just probably not for me
Lest I come off excessively negative, the upside is really just that there are so many more uniques. While personally that doesn't begin to outweigh my negative feelings (and I'm not at all convinced that you couldn't have something comparable without civ-switching), it does make me feel a lil less disappointed lol
It just absolutely doesn't "feel like Civ" to me (whatever that means). Instead of feeling like I'm playing as a people or civilization, it feels like I'm playing as a Monopoly token — you know, a hat, iron, thimble, &c. — dressed up like a historical/semi-legendary figure. My neighbour to the west isn't Greece, it's
I think I'll come to tolerate it, and that there's some potential for it to become a lot better with DLC and mods (there are so damn few civilizations as it stands); having 3-Age non-insane historical paths for more civs would make me feel a lot better. (And I don't mean 3 completely unrelated civs that happen to be within the continent of Africa, like actual historical paths). But IDK if I'll ever like it. It's just probably not for me
Lest I come off excessively negative, the upside is really just that there are so many more uniques. While personally that doesn't begin to outweigh my negative feelings (and I'm not at all convinced that you couldn't have something comparable without civ-switching), it does make me feel a lil less disappointed lol
Devilbound
Chieftain
Not a bad idea just bad execution. Just like with ages.
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