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Civilization VII

Started by Syt, June 07, 2024, 08:26:54 PM

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Syt

I saw I can get Civ6 on my phone via my Netflix subscription now. :lol:
I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.
—Stephen Jay Gould

Proud owner of 42 Zoupa Points.

garbon

Quote from: Crazy_Ivan80 on January 20, 2025, 02:07:11 PM
Quote from: Zanza on January 20, 2025, 01:35:48 PMI am bored and this looks like it might be fun. So I guess I will buy the founders edition for 129 Euro.  :hide:

I'll buy in a few years: platinum edition or some such at 5 euros


The future is now.
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

crazy canuck

Quote from: Crazy_Ivan80 on January 20, 2025, 02:07:11 PM
Quote from: Zanza on January 20, 2025, 01:35:48 PMI am bored and this looks like it might be fun. So I guess I will buy the founders edition for 129 Euro.  :hide:

I'll buy in a few years: platinum edition or some such at 5 euros


Josephus

watching a Quill18 game where Catherine the Great, in full Russian regalia, is leader of the Greek Civilization, is a bit jarring.  :D

Not sure if that's the way to go then, or the Humankind way of non-real characters.
Civis Romanus Sum<br /><br />"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world." Jack Layton 1950-2011

Syt

PC Gamer makes a low risk prediction: Civ VII will be divisive:

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/civ-7-reaction-expectations/

But then, most Civs from 4 onwards have been. :P

I might stay away from online opinions when I play it myself to not get mired in the "THEY RUINED IT FOREVER" and "CIV2 [or 3, or 4, or 5, or 6] WERE PINNACLE!" threads that will doubtlessly pop up everywhere :P
I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.
—Stephen Jay Gould

Proud owner of 42 Zoupa Points.

Tamas

Yeah that's probably a good idea :)

Syt

The general tenor among previewers seems to be that the changes are more drastic than with any other mainline release, so it might be worse. But I'm sure Firaxis is very much expecting same.

Then again, as a Paradox enjoyer, I'm used to having fun with games with vocal critics :D
I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.
—Stephen Jay Gould

Proud owner of 42 Zoupa Points.

Josephus

Civis Romanus Sum<br /><br />"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world." Jack Layton 1950-2011

Tamas

Quote from: Josephus on February 03, 2025, 09:41:00 AMIGN review. 7/10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B67vadCC1gg

Well that just removed almost all my desire to buy it on release day.

One thing I was already worried about is the bloody quests/missions and events about low level minutiae. Can we have just one strategy game without those, please?

Josephus

Quote from: Tamas on February 03, 2025, 11:42:43 AM
Quote from: Josephus on February 03, 2025, 09:41:00 AMIGN review. 7/10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B67vadCC1gg

Well that just removed almost all my desire to buy it on release day.

One thing I was already worried about is the bloody quests/missions and events about low level minutiae. Can we have just one strategy game without those, please?

It's been succesful for Paradox, so I guess other companies are doing it.
Civis Romanus Sum<br /><br />"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world." Jack Layton 1950-2011

Zanza

I bought it. Metacritic is 81% which is not exactly BG3, but still solid.

Solmyr

Got it too. Been watching Quill18's Rome playthrough and it looks interesting enough that I can see myself sinking some hours into it. I'm sure it will get better over time.

Zanza

I started playing it. I understand some of the criticism, the UX is poor and does not explain concepts well (needs Paradox' nested tool tips) and some features are not complete, e.g. map generation seems to be a joke.

I have not yet reached that age switch, which seems to be jarring.

But I do overall get the impression that I will enjoy this like its predecessors.

Syt

Just dropping in briefly to give my impressions. I did a tutorial game as Ibn-Battuta going Aksum => Abbasids => Mughals.

Overall, this clicks a lot more out of the box for me than Civ VI did. I like the overhauled district system. My main gripe with it is that it fills the map with A LOT of urban sprawl. Also, city graphics are quite busy and hard to read, i.e. what building is where. I wish the "sprawl" was smaller, with more space in between, and improvements stand out more. I'm not sure yet how I feel about the city/town dichotomy, and not sure I like all cities of an age (except capital) reverting to towns - it feels a bit annoying, but it also allows you a "re-do" if a city that was important before is now no longer as relevant.

Age switch mechanics are interesting, but it still feels like a jarring cut. I mean, at the end of each age you would be researching "future" techs if you run out of tech tree (which grants some bonus to the following age).

Speaking of tech trees - the tech tree per age seems a bit short and linear. Masteries (which grant additional buffs/wonders) add some spice, but I hope it will get expanded. Especially the Modern Age tech tree which ends ca. end of WW2 (the final science achievements are launching a satellite and a manned space mission). But no computers, no internet, no fighter jets, no nuclear power, no mechanized infantry .... I hope that this will be added either as part of Modern Age or as a new age.

I do like the addition of civ-specific short civic trees. Overall, the civs are more fleshed out. Each civ has its special units and buildings (some have to be unlocked by tech or civics). Though I hope there's more civs added soon (I think a couple are coming in March). Generally, the civ-progression is fine. There's some "logical" progressions of who you can select for next era depending on your current Civ and/or leader (e.g. Spain => Mexico, Ming => Qing, Frederick the Great gets to select Prussia in modern age), though you can unlock additional options through gameplay, e.g. if you're settling three cities on Tundra in exploration age, you can pick Russia in Modern Age. Also, soldiers and units for civs are fairly well distinguished from each other. E.g. my Mughal tank (T-34 model) soldiers had Indian uniforms, while Qing tanks (Pz-IV model) had Chinese army uniforms.

Age specific mechanics are ok but feel too similar per age. Each age you want "great works" for cultural milestones. In Ancient Age you collect codices, in exploration age you collect relics (through religious gameplay), in modern age you collect archaeological artifacts (through researching/excavating historical sites).

Religion only is a major component during Exploration Age. It works pretty much like previously - found religion, select tenets, spread belief. In Modern Age, the mechanic is disabled. Instead it focuses on ideology (Democracy, Fascism, Communism). Diplomacy in general feels better, but could do with some improvements. You gain influence to suggest cooperations with other nations, or to do hostile stuff (stealing research points, sabotaging happiness ... ). It feels a bit less random or weird than Civ6 at launch. I feel it's still a bit undercooked, though, lacking some more options.

Trade is a bit OP, maybe? It gives you full access to the target city's special goods. Assigning goods to cities to give them the relevant bonuses is fine, I guess.

Biggest gripe is the UI. I feel it needs more data easily accessible. It took me a while to realize that to see a city's info you have to click the city, then click the "show more" button in the build menu to see what buildings you have in the city, how the yields are calculated etc. The game could use a few more charts or info pop ups or map lenses. I miss the labels for mountain ranges, oceans, rivers ... And as said, it looks very pretty when you zoom in, but it's also crowded. It took me quite some time to realize that I hadn't connected my capital to the other cities for much of the game, only noticing when I had railroads in all towns but still couldn't build factories. Due to the urban sprawl this was pretty invisible (and before/after connecting I didn't see a different on map).

Wars are ok. I'm fine with the Commander system (Commander can merge units into him for fast transport, then disembark units for combat onto the map and giving bonuses). Keeps the map cleaner between wars, and makes movement of units a bit easier. (Not sure why they decided to hide the upgrade/sleep/alert buttons under a second, fold out menu).

Finally, the leveling up of leaders is a bit silly. Each leader can be leveled to 10, and it will unlock more specifics for their playstyle. Ibn-Battuta, after playing through a campaign (and the tutorial) is now level 4. Additionally, you get "mementos" which you can add to your leader at the start of a game for additional bonuses. I guess it incentivizes playing with various leaders etc., but also annoying that you have those buffs locked behind a progression system (and I assume this will be either tuned or abandoned at some point). :P

Overall, I like this better than Civ 6 for now, but there's also lots to do still (like fast army animations, or better UI scaling between "blocks a lot of screen real estate" and "miniscule" on my screen).
I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.
—Stephen Jay Gould

Proud owner of 42 Zoupa Points.

Solmyr

I pretty much agree with Syt's post above. I am: enjoying the game. :)