Civilization VI

Yeah. I really didn't like graphics shown in those first screenshots, I have to say that it does look better when zoomed out - and for one reason or another less saturated.
Also the fog of war effect looks cool.

Love the fog of war effect they're going for there.

The more I read about this the more I want it and this is not a good thing. I still haven't went back and played another game of Civ 5 after Brave New World.

Shadout wrote:

Yeah. I really didn't like graphics shown in those first screenshots, I have to say that it does look better when zoomed out - and for one reason or another less saturated.
Also the fog of war effect looks cool.

Sell-outs, all of you.

Seriously, take my money!

E3 demo. I like the look, but I want to know more details about gameplay.

Yeah, it's doing it for me. I'm looking forward to this now. Still, when they zoom in, the textures look a little blurry still. Hope they get a bit more detail added to them before release.

Anyone know if there's going to be a collector's edition?

Early thoughts on the video
- Yup, Ed beach is right, the parchment replacement for the Fog of War looks great.
- Not keen on the yellow and red explosions in the combat, alright if they were using muskets/firearms but silly and cartoonish for pikemen.
-Night time looks fantastic
- Loved the quote "too much automation is telling the player this isn't fun so we are going to do it for you....so why it is even in the game?"
- Hopefully the fact that Cleopatra had subtitles meant they kept leaders using their own language system from Civ V.
-Pity they didn't adopt the popular R.E.D modpack style from Civ V and Rescale/units formation so we could say goodbye to the tank the size of a skyscraper look.

but in general I'm in.
I couldn't find any bonus for pre ordering so I won't bother with that.
In honour of CiV VI i have uninstalled civ V from my PC (1st time since launch) to clear my palate of strategy games and get a real hunger on.

Brownypoints wrote:

- Not keen on the yellow and red explosions in the combat, alright if they were using muskets/firearms but silly and cartoonish for pikemen.

Agreed. The combat animations leave a lot to be desired and are rather disappointing, but in the grand scheme of things, it's not really a big deal. Hopefully I'll be able to ignore it after a couple hours of playing.

Other things certainly help offset the weird combat, such as the night view and the animations of wonder construction.

Interesting touch that the workers are "consumable" right? It seems that the process of upgrading the cities does not imply the use of workers, or I just misunderstand that part?

Brownypoints wrote:

- Loved the quote "too much automation is telling the player this isn't fun so we are going to do it for you....so why it is even in the game?"

Can't agree on that.
It can be fun for some and not for others - a way to make fairly micro heavy games more accessible.
It can be details that the computer can handle just fine on easier game modes, but which you want to control yourself on higher difficulties. Or just something you want to control yourself if you want to go all in on a specific strategy, beyond what is balanced or effective.
Like workers, citizens, building orders etc. have been open to automation to various degree through the series. But also something you (or at least I) end up controlling yourself from time to time. I mostly never set workers on automation, whereas citizens tend to be automated most of the time.

Likewise. I don't think I've ever set workers automatic - on the few times I've tried it they end up removing an improvement that I want a specific city to use with something that doesn't fit with my function of that city.

As far as the consumables in VI, I think they function much the same, except improvements (roads, etc) are instant-builds, but the worker has a limited number of uses (presumably increaseable through tech/wonders/something).

Let's be reasonable here. Who is going to follow Sean Bean's advice on how to build their civilization? The man can't stay alive for more than two hours at a time.

BTW, I really love the idea of districts. It's a brilliant bit of design, because it helps players develop their cities more effectively. It has always been the case that the best way to develop cities is by specializing them based on the surrounding resources and the needs of the citizens. It is all too tempting to build everything everywhere, but that is almost always less efficient. With districts, city specialization is explicit, since some buildings can only be built in specific districts. Those new restrictions should make it easier for players to plan their empires, since it forces them to think about what they are putting where. It's a great solution to the "tyranny of choice" that plagues players in earlier Civ games.

I like how when a calvary unit is killed, the horses get up and run away, despite it being realistically unlikely after being shot by a tank as seen in the video.

BadKen wrote:

Let's be reasonable here. Who is going to follow Sean Bean's advice on how to build their civilization? The man can't stay alive for more than two hours at a time.

BTW, I really love the idea of districts. It's a brilliant bit of design, because it helps players develop their cities more effectively. It has always been the case that the best way to develop cities is by specializing them based on the surrounding resources and the needs of the citizens. It is all too tempting to build everything everywhere, but that is almost always less efficient. With districts, city specialization is explicit, since some buildings can only be built in specific districts. Those new restrictions should make it easier for players to plan their empires, since it forces them to think about what they are putting where. It's a great solution to the "tyranny of choice" that plagues players in earlier Civ games.

I am super, super intrigued by the districting system. Should be a lot of fun to play around with.

I'm really looking forward to this. There are two more guaranteed purchases for me this year; Forza Horizon 3 on PC and this.

This has to be my most anticipated game for the rest of 2016. Please please please let this be as good as it sounds and not another Beyond Earth. Every system they've mentioned so far seems like a change for the better.

I actually liked Beyond Earth. I really liked how Rising Tide allowed me to colonise the oceans. Kinda sad that we won't have that in Civ VI.

Yeah. I don't get the hate for Beyond Earth. Some of the stuff in Civ VI is coming from there - especially the specialized tile output thingie things.

So it is really worth it to buy Rising Tide?
I've been interested, but now that Civ VI is so close, and the reception for BE still seemed lukewarm, I figured I should just skip it.

Still not feeling Civ VI. The policies system in the video looked quite bad.
Districting sounds nice.
Also confused, can you seriously see the shape of landmasses in the fog of war, before ever exploring it?

LarryC wrote:

Yeah. I don't get the hate for Beyond Earth. Some of the stuff in Civ VI is coming from there - especially the specialized tile output thingie things.

Somewhere I've got a post explaining why I didn't like Beyond Earth. I can't remember if it is here or Qt3. My memory is like a steel trap - rusted closed and not letting anything enter.

I *think* the map only shows the outline of land once you've already uncovered it, then it just acts as fog of war.

For me it was the tech tree that ruined BE. I never figured out what I was doing, and the game didn't help me. The rest of it was okay. It did feel a bit light though compared to CivV. My primary complaint was that I never felt any reason to play BE instead of CivV.

As for Civ6 I'm a bit worried about it having too many systems and being more heavy on micromanagement and complexity. I'm thinking about the dual research/culture trees and the seemingly massive amount of policy cards.

I'm looking forward to finding out though.

England was revealed today with Victoria as the leader. Red Coats, a boat, museums and a special harbour district.

I think Civ is one of the few games I buy full price out of the gate. No idea how i'll have time for this, but Sean Bean has convinced me of my potential greatness...

Oh, that is interesting, pre order bonus - Aztec civilisation.....which will automatically unlock for everyone else 90 days after release . I like that, usually i hate pre order bonuses, shaved off game assets that will be cost extra later. I hope other developers take notice of this.

I was going to pre-order anyway. I've got hundreds of hours with Civ 5 and beyond earth, so it's an easy decision for me. Plus, I like all that I've seen so far with VI.