Unique Start

[UniqueStart]

I would like to see the differences in the Civ cultures make an impact from turn 1. Why not start with a variety of units to get off to a faster and more fun start, some units reflecting the strategy of your civ. In addition to a Settler, start with 3 pioneers who can either be used as 1) population to work a tile or 2) to create an outpost when you want to quickly claim territory for a future city location and/or use as a trading post to expand a trade route. Outposts could later upgrade to a genuine city by spending gold or culture. Start off with some gold and have some options on how to spend it. Maybe pay some barbarian tribes for peace or to provide protection against enemy barbarians. Why not also start with a few trade units and/or a worker? The trade unit could start off as a a raft or canoe for trading up and down rivers, so simple it shouldn't require any technology. Some trade units could also have culture specific abilities and have some self defense like Arab camel caravans, which could use an oasis to double their trading distance and evade capture unless flanked by cavalry. Give the option of telling the trade unit to head for shelter in a city or outpost when a possible threat is near. You wouldn't get many coins from capturing the land trade unit. There would be a little gold stashed in the outpost, but it should have ranged attack to start off with.

Why not also just start off with something like a pantheon belief that applies from turn 1? Mongolians might as well automatically get culture from pastures. The Dutch should get culture from marsh and river tiles, Brazil needs automatic culture from jungles and nice beaches, etc. Maybe all these changes wouldn't be consistent with starting in 10,000 BC but adjusting the start date would be fine with me if it prevents the early game from being slow and grueling and too much favoring early conquest by civs that happen to have the earliest special units.

Items should be more useful and appear early in the game. In Civ V, items like a necklace might be uncovered by an archaeologist and get stuffed in a museum. Why not instead generate your own items and get more use out of them? Having mined silver, gold and gems or pearls in your territory along with having a sufficiently developed city should result in the periodic creation of a jewelry item. Dyes and wool could result in a tapestry while silk and dyes could result in a robe or dress. Manufactured items could generate happiness, culture and loyalty or be traded to barbarians to maintain peace/mercenary status or given to city states to satisfy a quest. In Civ V specialists are for GP generation, but its kind of weird specialists are not used for manufacturing because how are you getting happiness out of raw materials like cotton or furs if they are not being turned into clothes? In Civ VI there is an industrial zone, but it doesn't actually manufacture anything, its just producing production. Using production to produce more production is kind of boring to me. I would think that a strategy game that gives you resources would care about developing a strategy based on your resources. Even in ancient times there was specialization for producing things like pottery, ivory objects, fur coats, etc. So the option of manufacturing items should appear from turn 1 and might as well also be influenced by the culture you select and resources you claim early with your pioneer outposts.

So, while Civ 6 has some cool ideas, I think its overall feel is to be grueling and slow (the graphics don't work for me either). I would like to see the next version of Civ be more fun and also a better strategy game by giving me the options from turn 1 to develop my strategy and have civ specific bonuses from turn 1. Who wants a slow and grueling slog to get production to get more production for more production and a civ that might end up being a dud after hours trying to get its bonuses?

 

[Sostratus]

1. Why not start with a variety of units to get off to a faster and more fun start, some units reflecting the strategy of your civ. In addition to a Settler, start with 3 pioneers who can either be used as 1) population to work a tile or 2) to create an outpost when you want to quickly claim territory for a future city location and/or use as a trading post to expand a trade route. Outposts could later upgrade to a genuine city by spending gold or culture.

This concept for starts is exactly present in Civ: Beyond Earth. (So is outposts turning into cities later.) You had a fair bit of customisation over your start. Unfortunately, while it made perfect sense for a game about taking a spaceship to settle a distant world, it doesn't fit as easily into the main civ series narrative. Civ:BE was also a commercial flop, though mostly (IMO) because of a lack of compelling 'story' (main civ games get all of human history for free, a future setting has a big canvas to fill in) and not mechanics- it was essentially civ5 BNW at the core.

Civ4 had an advanced start mechanic where you were given a "budget" based on how late in the game you were starting where you could spend in various ways, like plop cities or units or improvements. Sort of a "fast forward through the beginning" type of deal. An alternative spin on our current later-era-start system!

 

[Naokaukodem]

I would like to see the differences in the Civ cultures make an impact from turn 1. Why not start with a variety of units to get off to a faster and more fun start, some units reflecting the strategy of your civ. In addition to a Settler, start with 3 pioneers who can either be used as 1) population to work a tile or 2) to create an outpost when you want to quickly claim territory for a future city location and/or use as a trading post to expand a trade route. Outposts could later upgrade to a genuine city by spending gold or culture. Start off with some gold and have some options on how to spend it. Maybe pay some barbarian tribes for peace or to provide protection against enemy barbarians. Why not also start with a few trade units and/or a worker? The trade unit could start off as a a raft or canoe for trading up and down rivers, so simple it shouldn't require any technology. Some trade units could also have culture specific abilities and have some self defense like Arab camel caravans, which could use an oasis to double their trading distance and evade capture unless flanked by cavalry. Give the option of telling the trade unit to head for shelter in a city or outpost when a possible threat is near. You wouldn't get many coins from capturing the land trade unit. There would be a little gold stashed in the outpost, but it should have ranged attack to start off with.

Why not also just start off with something like a pantheon belief that applies from turn 1? Mongolians might as well automatically get culture from pastures. The Dutch should get culture from marsh and river tiles, Brazil needs automatic culture from jungles and nice beaches, etc. Maybe all these changes wouldn't be consistent with starting in 10,000 BC but adjusting the start date would be fine with me if it prevents the early game from being slow and grueling and too much favoring early conquest by civs that happen to have the earliest special units.

Items should be more useful and appear early in the game. In Civ V, items like a necklace might be uncovered by an archaeologist and get stuffed in a museum. Why not instead generate your own items and get more use out of them? Having mined silver, gold and gems or pearls in your territory along with having a sufficiently developed city should result in the periodic creation of a jewelry item. Dyes and wool could result in a tapestry while silk and dyes could result in a robe or dress. Manufactured items could generate happiness, culture and loyalty or be traded to barbarians to maintain peace/mercenary status or given to city states to satisfy a quest. In Civ V specialists are for GP generation, but its kind of weird specialists are not used for manufacturing because how are you getting happiness out of raw materials like cotton or furs if they are not being turned into clothes? In Civ VI there is an industrial zone, but it doesn't actually manufacture anything, its just producing production. Using production to produce more production is kind of boring to me. I would think that a strategy game that gives you resources would care about developing a strategy based on your resources. Even in ancient times there was specialization for producing things like pottery, ivory objects, fur coats, etc. So the option of manufacturing items should appear from turn 1 and might as well also be influenced by the culture you select and resources you claim early with your pioneer outposts.

So, while Civ 6 has some cool ideas, I think its overall feel is to be grueling and slow (the graphics don't work for me either). I would like to see the next version of Civ be more fun and also a better strategy game by giving me the options from turn 1 to develop my strategy and have civ specific bonuses from turn 1. Who wants a slow and grueling slog to get production to get more production for more production and a civ that might end up being a dud after hours trying to get its bonuses?

I like your ideas quite much, they feel attractive. Plus it would make multiplayer (a lot) less dull. I tried Civ5 multiplayer, and even watched it, but it was just a pain. Civ4 was more fun in multiplayer, that's for sure, it could take you in states of high nervosity.