Study The Past - a series retrospective

[Eagle Pursuit]

The time between civ 4 and civ 5 was also a little longer. It seems they are stretching it out.

 

[The_J]

Probably another week or so, because then it's only 2 more weeks until the Civ7 showcase, and they might be able to squeeze some of that into a potential Civ7 video for Twitter too.

 

[Gori the Grey]

I'll give us new fodder for discussion until the next one comes out:

The whole point of the features showcased in the videos is that Civ VII will not have any of them.

"Hey, that's what we did well in previous games. You think we're going to copy all of that?"

So what does Civ VII look like if it has none of the features showcased in the videos?

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1818689910792241410

Civ 6 video

 

[Navelgazer]

So, going by tea leaves until we know more, looks like Districts and Religious Victory are probably going to continue in Civ 7, possibly World Congress, Environmental Effects, and Game Modes as well.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

I'm trying to think of things the video missed. It's pretty comprehensive this time. All I can think of so far is the Agenda-based AI personalities

 

[Xandinho]

They did not mention Great People and City-States having unique abilities, which was some of the coolest Civ6 things. Also, no mention for leader ability as well.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

Come to think of it, they didn't mention city-states for Civ 5 either. What's going on there?

 

[vorlon_mi]

Agree -- neither city-states nor GP were mentioned in the Civ5 video. Probably being reinvented

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

I'm not that moved by great persons not being mentioned. They were mentioned in previous videos, and the Civ 6 version of the GP system is only an improvement over previous versions. It doesn't necessarily need acknowledgment. But city-states not being mentioned in either case of being created or improved is

 

[_hero_]

892 million games started, 1.2 billion hours played, 1.38 trillion turns taken. Clearly, there are many true civ fanatics out there.

So the average game only lasts 1.5 hours, I'm guessing because of many quick restarts. Over 1000 turns per hour seems crazy to me though.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

892 million games started, 1.2 billion hours played, 1.38 trillion turns taken. Clearly, there are many true civ fanatics out there.

So the average game only lasts 1.5 hours, I'm guessing because of many quick restarts. Over 1000 turns per hour seems crazy to me though.

Imagine how much faster it would run if it wasn't sending this data back to 2K.

 

[Civinator]

In my eyes it is highly questionable, if the creation of "minor technology trees" is really an improvment in the civ series. Sid Meier worked very hard to streamline the gaming in Civilization and to take out those additional tech trees, but since Civ 4 more and more of these "additional technology trees" are added to the game and rise the micromanagement and confusion in the interface.

If one has no better idea, it seems to be a proper methode in the development of the newer versions of the civ series, to split up working concepts in Civilization and to create more and more of those "additional technology trees" and to sell them as an improvement of the series, that Sid Meier tried to cut out.

Here is a part of the troy goodfellow interview with Sid Meier in Civ Chronicles:

 

[Trav'ling Canuck]

I'm trying to think of things the video missed. It's pretty comprehensive this time. All I can think of so far is the Agenda-based AI personalities

They definitely hit the big two (districts and civics tree). Here are the things I identified that were new to Civ 6 that weren't mentioned, but I thought might be (although I didn't expect all of them to be mentioned, the videos aren't long enough for that):

• Day-night cycle. This is the one that surprised me most, as I was sure they'd highlight graphical advancements of some sort, and I thought this (or Wonder completion animations) was the most likely.
• Eurkeas / Inspirations.
• Leader agendas.
• Time line / historic moments. I thought this one would warrant a mention, too. Certainly ahead of religious victory.
• Emergencies.
• National parks.
• Engineering projects (Canals, Tunnels).

Of what they mentioned, the only thing that surprised me was the Religious Victory. They haven't talked about any prior victory type being added, so I was surprised to see this one called out.

The emphasis on the expansions/DLC content didn't particularly surprised me, I wondered whether they might do this as a form of marketing for what is (for the time being) the most recent Civ product available for sale. I view the mechanics flagged for expansions as mostly a sales pitch for those expansions.

 

[pokiehl]

So the prevailing theory is that things they’re highlighting are going to be changed in Civ 7? Or that things they’re leaving out will be changed?

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

So the prevailing theory is that things they’re highlighting are going to be changed in Civ 7? Or that things they’re leaving out will be changed?

Mostly, we're just having fun with theories because there's nothing else to do.

One line of thinking is that the things they are highlighting will be retained and/or changed and the things omitted will be dropped.

 

[Trav'ling Canuck]

Mostly, we're just having fun with theories because there's nothing else to do.

One line of thinking is that the things they are highlighting will be retained and/or changed and the things omitted will be dropped.

So the prevailing theory is that things they’re highlighting are going to be changed in Civ 7? Or that things they’re leaving out will be changed?

One possibility is that at least some of the things that have been highlighted were highlighted because that mechanic is going to receive a significant overhaul in Civ 7; i.e. they're reviewing not just the history and evolution of the series, generally, but also setting up some topics that will be part of the marketing pitch for Civ 7. For example, the high council revolutionizing diplomacy in Civ 2 was an odd choice unless the council and/or diplomacy are going to feature prominently in "what's new for Civ 7".

Another possibility is that the mechanics that are mentioned will appear in Civ 7, either in a similar form as in Civ 6 or slightly modified, and that it's the things that weren't mentioned that may be the subject of the most significant changes. For example, happiness / amenities were never mentioned, possibly because something new is coming to replace them.

A third possibility is that the series is simply to remind the buying public of Civ's long history and drum up interest in Civ 7, and that the specific mechanics mentioned were chosen randomly or at least without any consideration of what's new in Civ 7.

Mostly it's just fun to look back at past games in the series, review what was new and revolutionary about them, and then compare that to what got highlighted in the series. The more recent offerings more-or-less align to what I suspect most people would have picked, but some of the earlier game retrospectives had some headscratchers.

 

[Hellenism Salesman]

Still shocked they didn’t highlight the importance of the Leader/Civ split in VI.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

Still shocked they didn’t highlight the importance of the Leader/Civ split in VI.

Considering some remarks Ed made after NFP, I suspect they may be walking that back. He apparently didn't care for having the complex suites of bonuses that they had in Civ 6.

 

[InsidiousMage]

Considering some remarks Ed made after NFP, I suspect they may be walking that back. He apparently didn't care for having the complex suites of bonuses that they had in Civ 6.

If I remember correctly, he was talking about stuff like England's Workshop of the World ability from Gathering Storm. There was way too much text with way too much going on. You can still have separate leader and civ abilities while still keeping them simple. I think the leader/civ ability split is probably going to stick around because it gives them a lot of flexibility and feel like multiple leaders per civ was actually popular, but that's just a guess on my part.