Civilization VI

[Lucidor]

So - like polished Civ5 or much better? I didn't care that much for the very mechanical city state mechanics - i.e. the give us money or fulfill stupid missions and we'll be your friend mechanic.

[Alcibiades]

So - like polished Civ5 or much better? I didn't care that much for the very mechanical city state mechanics - i.e. the give us money or fulfill stupid missions and we'll be your friend mechanic.

That plays a very big and recurring role. 

[Martinus]

Won my first game as Greece on Prince - Cultural victory.

I really love how you can change Civics at will now (you just have to pay gold if you want to do it other than every time you research a new Cultural civic). This way you can really pivot depending on circumstances rather than knowing from turn one you have to, say, buy stuff in the Aesthetics tree if you want to pursue cultural victory, like it was in CiV.

[Martinus]

So - like polished Civ5 or much better? I didn't care that much for the very mechanical city state mechanics - i.e. the give us money or fulfill stupid missions and we'll be your friend mechanic.

That plays a very big and recurring role.

Well, yes and no. You no longer send gold to city states, you have a completely separate mechanics called envoys, which you accumulate at a given rate, based on your government and civics.

In a sense this makes it much less anxiety-inducing, since you only worry about them when you get an envoy (and given that the city states list tells you exactly how many envoys you need to reach the next level of relationship there is also none of the CiV angst where you would send a city state some gold but it would turn out to be insufficient to boost the relationship).

The quests are still there, but they are less important, since each quest only gives you the equivalent of one envoy.

The city states are also much more worthy of pursuing, as each gives you a unique bonus, which can be quite handy, if you become its suzerain.

And given that there is no diplomatic victory, you can ignore this mechanic entirely if you wish. In fact some leaders (especially Frederick and Pericles) like you a lot if you leave the city states to them.

[Josquius]

Do the city states behave any more like states?
Always seemed off that they wouldn't think for themselves, it was always just which civ gives the most money or wins quests. No consideration of - OK, we have this big aggressive power on our doorstep, we either need to be their friend or have their enemy watching our back

[Solmyr]

Restarted a few times, but then got this cool start as Russia, giving it a go:



I am basically situated on a mountainous "plateau" (several mountain ranges interspersed with hills, with several rivers starting in the area). To the south is a snowy wasteland, to the east are the English grasslands, to the north the rivers run towards a large rainforest where the Spanish, Chinese, and (formerly) Scythians live, with some mountains and hills north of that that are home to the Indians. To the west is another area of plains beyond which lies the ocean.

In this game, I learned that it's now important to build up an early military. The AI *will* declare war on you because it costs nothing in the Ancient Era; not to mention the barbarians who will fuck you up. And cities are very weak until you research and build ancient walls, a warrior or two and some archers can take them out. I did just that to the Scythians in this game (because regardless of her holier-than-though attitude, Tomyris is an asshole). Next I am planning to colonize the river valleys between the Russian Plateau and the Scythian Jungle.

[Tamas]

The game is awesome for a number of reasons, but wanting is really bugging me... It's 1010 and I am researching Industrialization. And I am not even the first, one of the AI's reached the Industrial Era at the end of the 800s. On King difficulty...

I know this is very abstract and largely meaningless in civ games, but also being entirely flavor means it's (as in, arranging how "real" years go by with the turns) supposed to be easy to tweak to  make sense.

I hope it is not a sign they did not have time to balance the game for the different rules and values they shipped it with.

[Lucidor]

So - like polished Civ5 or much better? I didn't care that much for the very mechanical city state mechanics - i.e. the give us money or fulfill stupid missions and we'll be your friend mechanic.

That plays a very big and recurring role.

Well, yes and no. You no longer send gold to city states, you have a completely separate mechanics called envoys, which you accumulate at a given rate, based on your government and civics.

In a sense this makes it much less anxiety-inducing, since you only worry about them when you get an envoy (and given that the city states list tells you exactly how many envoys you need to reach the next level of relationship there is also none of the CiV angst where you would send a city state some gold but it would turn out to be insufficient to boost the relationship).

The quests are still there, but they are less important, since each quest only gives you the equivalent of one envoy.

The city states are also much more worthy of pursuing, as each gives you a unique bonus, which can be quite handy, if you become its suzerain.

And given that there is no diplomatic victory, you can ignore this mechanic entirely if you wish. In fact some leaders (especially Frederick and Pericles) like you a lot if you leave the city states to them.

That sounds pretty good, then. Graphics look nice too. This or Endless Space 2?

[Josephus]

I restarted after Spain kicked my ass. Now playing France!

I just found the Philosopher's Stone relic. Which is only fair given that Catherine di Medici was the patron of Nostradamus.

Does the US version call it the Sorcerer's Stone?

[Martinus]

The game is awesome for a number of reasons, but wanting is really bugging me... It's 1010 and I am researching Industrialization. And I am not even the first, one of the AI's reached the Industrial Era at the end of the 800s. On King difficulty...

I know this is very abstract and largely meaningless in civ games, but also being entirely flavor means it's (as in, arranging how "real" years go by with the turns) supposed to be easy to tweak to  make sense.

I hope it is not a sign they did not have time to balance the game for the different rules and values they shipped it with.

I think this comes from people prioritizing science above all else. In my games on Prince I am roughly where I should be - but I develop equally in culture and science.

[Martinus]

My favourite game so far: winning cultural victory as Russia.

I built a number of wonders, including the Bolshoi Theatre and Hermitage, and stuffed them with great works of art, including Tchaikovsky, Pushkin and few others.

Then I sent my Cossacks to conquer people who had higher culture.

Profit. 

Russia, with its mix of religion, great people and expansionism, as portrayed in Civ 6, is growing to be my favourite civ. 

[Solmyr]

The game is awesome for a number of reasons, but wanting is really bugging me... It's 1010 and I am researching Industrialization. And I am not even the first, one of the AI's reached the Industrial Era at the end of the 800s. On King difficulty...

I know this is very abstract and largely meaningless in civ games, but also being entirely flavor means it's (as in, arranging how "real" years go by with the turns) supposed to be easy to tweak to  make sense.

I hope it is not a sign they did not have time to balance the game for the different rules and values they shipped it with.

There's been a number of posts on /r/civ as well that research seems to be a bit too fast right now, especially if you get all the boosts. You sometimes don't have time to build a unit before it becomes obsolete. This however should be easily tweaked with increasing research costs, without affecting other mechanics much.

[Richard Hakluyt]

So - like polished Civ5 or much better? I didn't care that much for the very mechanical city state mechanics - i.e. the give us money or fulfill stupid missions and we'll be your friend mechanic.

That plays a very big and recurring role.

Well, yes and no. You no longer send gold to city states, you have a completely separate mechanics called envoys, which you accumulate at a given rate, based on your government and civics.

In a sense this makes it much less anxiety-inducing, since you only worry about them when you get an envoy (and given that the city states list tells you exactly how many envoys you need to reach the next level of relationship there is also none of the CiV angst where you would send a city state some gold but it would turn out to be insufficient to boost the relationship).

The quests are still there, but they are less important, since each quest only gives you the equivalent of one envoy.

The city states are also much more worthy of pursuing, as each gives you a unique bonus, which can be quite handy, if you become its suzerain.

And given that there is no diplomatic victory, you can ignore this mechanic entirely if you wish. In fact some leaders (especially Frederick and Pericles) like you a lot if you leave the city states to them.

That sounds pretty good, then. Graphics look nice too. This or Endless Space 2?

I have both.

Endless Space 2 looks good but is nowhere near completion............only the first three eras and medium galaxy and only 3 opponents etc etc

Conversely civ6 is finished (bar some tweaking), I recommend civ6 and leaving ES2 for a few months.

[Eddie Teach]

Russia, with its mix of religion, great people and expansionism, as portrayed in Civ 6, is growing to be my favourite civ. 

Well, that's natural. Everyone loves their own civ best.

[Syt]

Stumbling through my first campaign as Gorgo (random pick).

Hoplites are surprisingly weak against Brussels' warriors and Spearmen. I also picked up Hannibal Barca as General, but was surprised he didn't buff my units. Turns out Hoplites are Ancient, not Classical Era, and he only buffs Classical and Medieval.