Pre-Release CIV VI Discussion

[Jowy]

I'm curious what their map-tile counts will look like. A lot of the stuff on their feature list describe using tiles for cities, tech, warfare, etc, but we all remember the traffic jams... if they took what was a hex in CIV V and made it 7 hexes in CIV VI, that might give them more space to work with...

Could that be the reason for the lighter seeming graphics? Big maps in Civ5 didn't run well at all.

[Sareln]

“You can’t just burn through the tech tree the same way in every game because the map is going to force you to think through things.”

That's worrisome, coming from the lead designer. Forcing people in a strategy/decision-based game seems a bit like an oxymoron.

The generous interpretation is "We have put extra effort into making sure that there is not one right strategy; more than ever, you'll have to adapt to the circumstances of your particular game situation, ensuring that the decisions players face are new each time."

The pessimistic interpretation is "We have made the differences in value due to circumstance super obvious so that even bad players will notice it. Experienced players might feel bludgeoned over the head with obvious 'choices', but new players will be challenged to follow their own path each game rather than following a single, prescribed strategy. Or at least it will feel like that - really it will be the path that we have chosen for them."

IMO this is something they could do well or poorly. It sounds poor so far (i.e. the situational bonuses sound too high) but I don't think we know enough yet. It might turn out to be just the kind of thing RB would appreciate.

Based on the quotes from the TIME article, it sounds like their mini-quest system for tech credits could go either way, either straightjacket, or a homogenizer (eg. if you get a massive tech credit on military for building military, then you're not going to truly beeline military techs while shorting military b/c you build the units to get credits to get to the tech itself).

And the second involves mini-quests

“In the past, pretty much all the Civilization games worked the same way with research,” says Beach. “You’d pick a node on the technology tree, your scientists would start making progress toward that turn after turn, then you’d have to wait for it to happen. It was a very passive activity. We wanted to make sure your progress in the tech tree was something you had more control over, something where you could push your progress if necessary.”

“So what we’ve done is, for pretty much every technology in the tech tree, we’ve associated a specific activity that’s sort of like a quest. And if you finish that activity, boom, we give you a big credit, about 50% of the science that you need to unlock that particular technology is granted to you.”

“So the tech tree is now set up so that it adjusts itself based on your play style. If you’re playing the game militaristically, all of a sudden the militaristic path through the tree is going to open up and be easy for you. If you’re playing the game building a navy, all of a sudden all of these maritime technologies are going to open up for you. It rewards you for being active in certain parts of the game.”

[BRickAstley]

Added links (on the 1st post) to the time article and the pcgamer interview, which I found more thorough reads than the RPS article I initially posted.

Those articles make me a lot more hopeful, since it seems they are attempting to avoid Civ V's One Right Choice issue.

[ipecac]

The price pre-DLC is already on the high end.

If it's true though that they aren't doing a CiV style cut out everything and then package it in expansions, this might not be bad.

We'll see.

Meanwhile, feel free to preorder at $60, or $80 if you want some DLC!

[Jowy]

If you want the best bang for your buck in gaming you:

1. Never pre-order.
2. Never buy a season pass / DLC unless it's exceptionally good (hint: it probably isn't)
3. Never buy a deluxe or collector's edition.
4. Buy 1-2 years after release or during a sale. It'll be 50-75% cheaper and just as good (often better due to patching)
5. Never ever pre-order.

[Brian Shanahan]

Do we need one of these threads?

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/05...i-details/

http://time.com/4324490/civilization-6-interview/

http://www.pcgamer.com/civilization-6-ev...d-to-know/

Sorry, not interested in playing Civ:Farmville.

[El Grillo]

"We have a special way of handling [Gandhi]. Initially he's going to seem very peaceful, but he'll have a dark side."

In the distant future, is this how our leaders will be remembered? :D

[Brian Shanahan]

Well the passion for the Civ concept is still alive based on how fast people are posting here. It is a question if we can ever get another Civ 3 / 4 type of game.

If sales of 6 are significantly worse than those of 5, expect a return to some of 4's mechanics. I honestly think that a lot of 5's success (especially as there has been no release of sales for either of 5's expansions) was an initial splurge based on hype and 4's reputation. With the Civ series I think the devs have gone down the Hollywood route, don't worry too much about the quality of the product, just hype it to the skies and the sales will frontload well enough that the anaemic tail won't matter a fuck.

[picklepikkl]

"We have a special way of handling [Gandhi]. Initially he's going to seem very peaceful, but he'll have a dark side."

In the distant future, is this how our leaders will be remembered? :D

I have to admit, I'm pretty amused at the memetic staying power of integer underflow bugs.

[GermanJoey]

“So what we’ve done is, for pretty much every technology in the tech tree, we’ve associated a specific activity that’s sort of like a quest. And if you finish that activity, boom, we give you a big credit, about 50% of the science that you need to unlock that particular technology is granted to you.”

sounds like these "mini quests" (their words) will overwhelm your actual output. =/