Civilization VI

Good to know. I discovered there is a CIV VI demo on Steam.

chooka1 wrote:

Good to know. I discovered there is a CIV VI demo on Steam.

Civ 6 is quite accessible, but I would suggest turning "off" a few systems when you're just starting out. So basically ignore a few systems, don't enable any of the additional options, and choose a relatively straightforward Civ. China, Rome, or Kongo are good starter Civs.

If you go in expecting to learn new things every game, and that you won't be a master after your first, or fifth, or tenth game, i think it's fine to leave the options on default, and just play on lower difficulties while you get acclimated. When you think it's too easy, move the difficulty up a notch.

Civ 6 is the most accessible modern 4X game, without a doubt. Even in your early games, every time you play you'll get better, as you understand the systems. And you'll have fun running around exploring and trying to take out your opponents.

I think Civ 6 is plenty fine for an introduction. With the difficulty set low enough, you don't need to "get" every system in the game in order to play functionally and win.

Also, IMO, part of the fun of discovering Civilization is letting yourself get lost in it. You're always able to engage with the game at whatever your current level of understanding is. You may get prompts you don't understand, but there's pretty much always a "whatever, just go" button available to push.

I basically never play Civ to win. I play it to see how the world plays out. I find it a lot more accessible that way, especially for the occasional dabbler like myself.

Vargen wrote:

I basically never play Civ to win.

A witch! Get the kindling!

Anyone play this on the Xbox? Trying to decide between PC and Xbox (portability when I travel).
Wondering, in light of all the guidance above, almost better to go with the base game and not buy the complete package?

Civ 6 Platinum is only £12.57 currently on Steam...

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2...

While as a newcomer to the series, you wouldn't *need* the DLC... that's an insanely good price for the content you get..

I can't comment on the PC/Xbox... I can't imagine playing a Civ game on console though..

As mentioned above... start on lower difficulties. Even the easiest.. whatever suits. Get used to the mechanics of your own Civilization first and foremost, regardless of what the other Civs are doing. Disable victory conditions such as Religion, as that can sneak up on you if you are not aware/focussed on that mechanic.

Back in the early days of Civ 1 and 2, I used to just love the peaceful Civ-builder, no war, just science and building a lot of cities....

Then I got older, more world-wise, and turned into an outrageous warmonger from turn one.

Platinum, anthology? Pc is probably the way to go for this game.

Just different levels of DLC bundling.

Platinum has the main DLC (Rise and Fall, Gathering Storm) and a bunch of additional (but entirely optional) Civilizations.

Anthology is essentially the same, but with even more extra Civilizations - it includes the New Frontier Pass.

If unsure about Civ, I wouldn't bother with the Anthology, but the Platinum edition would be worth it for the 'main' DLC. If somehow you got totally hooked and it became your GOTY, then you can always pick up the Frontier Pass later.

The main DLC add game mechanics to flesh things out throughout the game. Civilizations just add.... well, a different Civ to play as/against.

It's double the price from Platinum to Anthology.. but £4 different between base game and both main DLC..

Thank you. I appreciate the explanation.

Vargen wrote:

I basically never play Civ to win.

That is like the computer AIs then!

Unfortunately.

Y
Turns out I picked up civ vi as a free game on epic. A good way to start.

That is definitely the best way to give it a try, then!

Nice find.

I'm wondering if anyone has been playing with the in-game mods, like Barbarian Clans and Secret Societies. I haven't tried them, but they look very cool!

Natus wrote:

I'm wondering if anyone has been playing with the in-game mods, like Barbarian Clans and Secret Societies. I haven't tried them, but they look very cool!

Not a big fan of Barbarian Clans, but Secret Societies are great. The zombie apocalypse mod is very overpowered. Tried a bunch of times but got my brains eaten every time.

Playing a bunch of Old World has gotten me back into this as well. I haven't tried any of the new modes yet though. Maybe next game...

Natus wrote:

I'm wondering if anyone has been playing with the in-game mods, like Barbarian Clans and Secret Societies. I haven't tried them, but they look very cool!

I generally play with Clans and Secret Societies.

Barbarian Clans: you get 10XP for clearing a camp, which is a bit of incentive rather than only getting 1XP after a unit's first promotion. Also, if left alone, Clans eventually become City-States, which can mean there are a ton of City-States by endgame, but I find that better than endlessly spawning barbarian units, especially when other civs don't look after their own backyard properly.

Secret Societies give a bit of extra flavour with era buffs, buildings, units and diplomacy.

I tend to leave zombies switched off. The extra defensive features like traps and barricades can be interesting -- eg it makes other Civs tougher to invade when they build them. But the constant resurrection of zombies can be a killer, especially in early game as you can feel like you're always under attack. If you fend off an early barbarian raid or civ attack on one of your cities, there's a zombie spawn point there for the rest of the game.

I play with barbarian clans and tech shuffle. Both of those make the game more interesting and also force me to deviate from my normal path.

I tried the mod with monopolies but the AI doesn't seem to be able to play it. So I was the only one getting the bonii. That made the game too easy.

I haven't bothered with any of the other mods for the same reason.

Sorbicol wrote:

At the 52 second mark I see units that are clearly Sectoids and Men in Black-type type units. Did they release some sort of "Civ's endgame is XCOM" feature and nobody told me?

Moggy wrote:
Natus wrote:

I'm wondering if anyone has been playing with the in-game mods, like Barbarian Clans and Secret Societies. I haven't tried them, but they look very cool!

Not a big fan of Barbarian Clans, but Secret Societies are great. The zombie apocalypse mod is very overpowered. Tried a bunch of times but got my brains eaten every time.

Just took a spin with Secret Societies and was able to build the

Spoiler:

vampire units and the vampire castles.

Yum! And only a bit ahistorical!

Natus wrote:

Just took a spin with Secret Societies and was able to build the

Spoiler:

vampire units and the vampire castles.

Yum! And only a bit ahistorical! ;)

Spoiler:

At first I thought they were rediculously overpowered. Units that reappear once killed? But they're not that powerful individually. It does make taking a Civ's capital that has them more of a grind, but still doable.

Vargen wrote:

At the 52 second mark I see units that are clearly Sectoids and Men in Black-type type units. Did they release some sort of "Civ's endgame is XCOM" feature and nobody told me?

Fairly sure they did this at the end of Civ V? You could build XCOM units as well?

Sorbicol wrote:
Vargen wrote:

At the 52 second mark I see units that are clearly Sectoids and Men in Black-type type units. Did they release some sort of "Civ's endgame is XCOM" feature and nobody told me?

Fairly sure they did this at the end of Civ V? You could build XCOM units as well?

The only really futuristic units I've been able to build are Giant Death Robots. And whooo boy is the endgame of the game a slog when you run out of techs and civics and you're just waiting for someone to claim victory.

So I won a rare game today (as Nubia), and I'm curious: do you veteran Civ players specialize your endgame victory path right out of the gate, or do you react more to the game-state and go from there? I ask because I was doing well, but as we got into the Industrial Era I noticed that I was way behind in all the victory conditions. I eked out a Science victory, but any human player would have beat me soundly. Obviously, some Civs lend themselves to certain types of victory conditions, but some are more adaptable.

I choose a Civ and a victory condition from the start. Kind of similar to how you play an RPG and choose from the start you will play a two hander /archer/mage/etc.

Natus wrote:

So I won a rare game today (as Nubia), and I'm curious: do you veteran Civ players specialize your endgame victory path right out of the gate, or do you react more to the game-state and go from there? I ask because I was doing well, but as we got into the Industrial Era I noticed that I was way behind in all the victory conditions. I eked out a Science victory, but any human player would have beat me soundly. Obviously, some Civs lend themselves to certain types of victory conditions, but some are more adaptable.

With the way the leader's abilities are designed, on anything but the easiest difficulties, you kinda have to have a victory condition in mind when you pick your Civ.

That said, there's often a secondary condition that can become a Plan B that appears depending on how the map has played out. Deciding early to found a religion opens up religious victories (obvs), but later you can get buildings/govt types that can let you use large faith stockpiles to buy armies for a domination victory, or buy great people & rock bands for a tourism/culture victory. On the flip side, sometimes it's a lot easier to send a bunch of Apostles around the map to convert cities for a religious victory than it is to drag your army through hotly-contested territory or wait for those space projects to build.

As with all previous versions of Civs though, generally science is king and staying ahead of the curve will help you with everything else. Combine this with a good economy, and then a few conditions open up: you can upgrade units to supercharge your army, make trade deals for diplomatic favour, or kickstart a cultural boom. I kinda wish they had an economic victory condition, but given how easy it is to make gold once you focus a few cities on it, it would probably be OP.

I usually start with a Random Civ, so I dont know what I'm aiming for until I find that out. That'll dictate how I initially start to craft my civilization, before I ultimately can't put up with the other Civs constant moaning any longer, so I wipe out the entire world, again.