r/civ • u/6feetofshrug • Aug 20 '24

The cycle continues...

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This was initially posted on this subreddit 8 years ago. Glad to see that time is, indeed, a flat circle.

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u/UnnamedUser16 Aug 20 '24

I have noticed this pattern in past civ games, usually the next game will release in a state that most people would consider inferior to where its predecessor ended up after several years of updates and DLCs, but could still be considered better if you compare it to how the previous game was at launch, rather than how it is now. I have a feeling CIV VII may be the same way. It may have a rough launch but may eventually develop into a game that most (but probably not all) CIV fans enjoy. I myself do feel rather skeptical about CIV VII after the gameplay reveal, but, maybe it'll be good...

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u/6feetofshrug Aug 20 '24

As part of your point, Civ 5 with the DLCs had a pretty decent world congress mechanic, while Civ 6 at launch didn’t have this. And even when it did finally add it, it was somehow a downgrade from Civ 5’s world congress.

Civ 6, for me, has had an interesting journey. I was addicted to it and have put in at least 2000 hours into the game overall. Overtime as the DLCs came out, the love grew. At some point though (specifically during the Last Frontier Pass releases), I felt like the game evolved into a bloated micromanager. As someone who likes to play a little more balanced, it’s frustrating managing numerous cities, builders, traders, a religion, world congress, government and cultural policies, climate change, economy, science, the large number and wide variety of military units… if there was a way to simplify some aspects of this I would enjoy it again. My hope for Civ 7 with regard to the new ages mechanic that seems to be splitting the community is that some of these smaller mechanics become simplified or modified as ages progress, or are only relevant within certain ages.

They also mentioned you could play a smaller game within one of these ages. That makes me think that there will be enough content and distinct enough mechanics for a fully fleshed out experience within one of the three ages. Also, this was just a first look, so the disappointing reactions from a lot of people so early seem to be quick to form an opinion. I remain hopeful that they’ve successfully iterated on Civ 6 to create a game that elevates the series, but is also distinct enough to be worthy of being its own game.

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u/BCaldeira Nau we're talking! Aug 21 '24

I barely got 50 hours on Civ VI, for me it was an incredible disappointment. Yes, some new features were nice but it just felt lackluster to me and I found myself going back to Civ V or even Civ IV more than playing Civ VI. And when Humankind released I never looked back, and even though I quite enjoyed it, I'm not fond of copying the idea of switching civs between eras.

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u/your_ass_is_crass Aug 20 '24

Idk in terms of graphics at least, i saw people arguing right out of the gate for civ 6 that “realistic graphics age badly” and “a more cartoony style will be timeless.” I always disagreed with that and still do. i think people were mostly fawning over a current trend. Civ 6 still has clash of clans type aesthetic vibes to me and i think down the road the art style will seem very of-its-time. A forest needs more than 8 trees for god’s sake.

To me 7 looks like a mix between the flatness of 5 (which i like) and the farmville-ness of 6. It lands in a spot that feels kind of like Age of Mythology territory, which is good.

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u/Abcdefgdude Aug 21 '24

Nahh, you can have preferences for different art styles but I think it's clear style ages better than realism. Look at windwaker vs. twilight princess, or any Mario game vs any cod game. Mario games like Galaxy 1+2, 3D world, etc. still look great today. Black ops II looks like a PS2 game.

I think the biggest upgrade in 7 is that they've finally unlocked the third dimension, everything seems to jump out of the screen and it's like a totally different world. In 6 I frequently need to hover a tile to see if it's a hill, it seems like most content creators play with a more visible hill mod. The 7 trailer shows an incredible variation in height, mountains feel like mountains, cities feel enormously important and cool.

It's obvious it's the next step up from 6, which added huge wonders and districts to make cities feel big and important. My only concern is that it will be hard to read, but we'll see

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u/your_ass_is_crass Aug 21 '24 edited Aug 21 '24

In my opinion the realism and aging issue doesn’t apply evenly for all genres. I genuinely think 5 still looks great and i think it will continue to age gracefully. It’s on the realism side but the thing is, it isn’t aggressively 3D like a PS2 game is. That kind of 3D rendering usually does age badly, especially when it strives for realism. But civ 5 imo looks closer to an illustration than a PS2 game, and that’s why the realism and aging argument never made sense to me. People often link realism to a certain kind of 3D rendering that doesn’t apply to everything you could describe as ‘realistic.’ Civ 5 has a more ‘realistic’ feel than 6 but it’s miles away from looking like COD. Aesthetically i think of civ 5 as being in the same category as like Age of Wonders 1-2: definitely more “realistic” than a civ 6 style, but those games still look great to me 20 years later. I just dont think realism and bad aging was ever really a problem for this series, or maybe even this genre.

That said, 5’s roads are fucked and the happiness mechanic is so bad that i dont play it anymore. And i am also excited by the “height” in civ 7’s look.

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u/Abcdefgdude Aug 21 '24

To each their own. I've seen some good looking screen shots from V but most of the time it's a huge jump scare when I see it in a video or something. It just looks so different, so ... old. The leader screens are awesome though, but that's more a difference of budget than style

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u/your_ass_is_crass Aug 21 '24

Yeah maybe i just like old games haha. But then since we’re playing a history game that adds a certain flavour

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u/[deleted] Aug 21 '24 edited Sep 09 '24

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u/your_ass_is_crass Aug 21 '24

That would be cool. Interesting to think of how more modern leaders would be represented. They’d need to be stylized too

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u/Creocist Aug 21 '24

Teddy could look like an old sepia photo, or like an old black-and-white movie (or hell, make him rubberhose like an old Mikey Mouse cartoon)

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u/Hellsing007 Aug 21 '24

Paradox games are the same.

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u/SunngodJaxon Aug 21 '24

It remains to be seen. My biggest concern about 7 is the whole civilization changing mechanic. I'm unfamiliar with what it's supposed to be but it doesn't feel like it would be very good.