Humankind - Amplitude takes on Civ

[pindicator]

It seems like there are some balancing issues still

https://www.reddit.com/r/HumankindTheGam...urce=share

[Sullla]

I've been enjoying this game and I'm working on writing up a tutorial sample game to help introduce others to the gameplay. I only have the first part finished thus far but you can take a read here:

https://sullla.com/HK/HKT1.html

More to come over the next week or so!

[haphazard1]

Thanks for posting this, Sullla. Along with the first couple segments of your Turtle tribe game, it has helped me get an idea of what the game is like.

[Sullla]

Thanks, I know that the game has been out for a little while now but I value the opinion of folks here on these things and wanted to share my impressions for anyone curious. Speaking of which, here's Part Two of the same tutorial game:

https://sullla.com/HK/HKT2.html

[Amicalola]

Seems like an interesting game, it's on my radar now, and these are enjoyable reads. It is a little disconcerting how many times there seems to be One Right Choice in these first two parts (Egypt, Science bonus, etc), the balance is a bit of a turn-off from a purchase so far. The stress to snowball in the early turns also looks like a negative.

FInally the AIs changing and losing personality also doesn't seem super appealing. I guess so far I'm not sold on Humankind by these, even if they are interesting.

[VarisNox]

Nice write up so far Sullla!

I will say that while Egypt is very powerful, the majority of the ancient era cultures are solid in their own way and can still let you be very competitive. In multiplayer you often see a variety of them chosen for their unique unit alone, and the Harappans with rivers to get a huge population boost making them very strong as well.

The AI personalities themselves are mostly in the leader and not the culture - each one DOES have traits and bonuses that influences how they play and what cultures they pick. It's just much easier to lose them compared to other 4x games, since it's not tied together the same way Civ games or even Amplitudes other 4x games are.

Overall, I do really like the game. It's fun to play and multiplayer is pretty enjoyable...when it works. There's definitely some serious balancing issues that should be addressed, some stability things to make multiplayer consistent, and some adjustments I hope they make for a more cohesive experience.

If you're on the fence, I would probably wait until they patch it a bit. I've definitely enjoyed my time with it so far in singleplayer and multiplayer, and I'm hopeful they can build upon what they have. The game feels very fun despite its issues, and I enjoy it way more as a game than I did Civ5 and Civ6's debuts, but there ARE issues they seriously need to address.

[Sullla]

Yeah, I'm trying to highlight all of the main gameplay mechanics and point out what's good and bad about them. Humankind is far from perfect and it badly needs some more balancing and polishing work. Still, despite the serious flaws I'm finding it hard to go back to something like Civ6 now. All of the problems with balancing and the AI in Humankind are significantly worse in Civ6 and the city building is far superior in the new game. The AI in Humankind can actually fight somewhat competently and do things like research at better than 50 beakers/turn because it's not too dumb to build Campus districts. So yeah, this game has some real warts but I like it enough to keep exploring the gameplay and probably trying out some variants.

On that note, here's Part Three of the tutorial game: https://sullla.com/HK/HKT3.html

[haphazard1]

Thanks again for posting about this game, Sullla. It has been a very helpful look at the game for someone on the fence about purchasing it.

Seems like there are a lot of good things, but also some pretty serious balance issues and some unclear mechanics (like the way battle deployment works). Hopefully the more significant items will get some attention from the devs. Still, lack of balance does not mean a game can not be fun if other things are done well -- look at Psilons vs Mrrshan in MOO for balance issues. There also seems to be a lot of potential for variant play.

[Sullla]

Here's the last part of the tutorial game for Humankind. This is the roughest part from a balancing standpoint and the most in need of fixing in patches:

https://sullla.com/HK/HKT4.html

[haphazard1]

That ending...wow, some seriously broken balance there. It is good that the game makes it possible to wrap things up rapidly if you are substantially ahead of your rivals, avoiding a long and tedious mop up phase.

Hopefully the devs will improve the balance with future patches and updates, and not just cram more bells and whistles into the game via DLC. There are a lot of interesting ideas in the game, and if it can improve from the initial release state should be worth giving a try.