[Sid Meier] Civilization VI

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Thu Aug 25, 2016 9:46 am

I still have the Civ III commemorative stone that Sid signed for me; I believe it's the only piece of gaming tchochke that I still have. @ $90, I still have no doubt that I will bring the cost down to 1 cent per hour, except I don't need clutter that will just get quickly discarded anyway.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Fri Sep 23, 2016 11:57 am

You're about a month away from release and the official system specs have been provided:

Minimum
OS: Windows 7 64bit / 8.1 64bit / 10 64bit
PROCESSOR: Intel Core i3 2.5 Ghz or AMD Phenom II 2.6 Ghz or greater
MEMORY: 4 GB RAM
HARD DRIVE: 12 GB or more
DVD-ROM: Required for disc-based installation
VIDEO CARD: 1 GB DirectX 11 Video Card (AMD 5570 or nVidia 450)

Recommended
OS: Windows 7 64bit / 8.1 64bit / 10 64bit
PROCESSOR: Fourth generation Intel Core i5 2.5 Ghz or AMD FX8350 4.0 Ghz or greater
MEMORY: 8 GB RAM
HARD DRIVE: 12 GB or more
DVD-ROM: Required for disc-based installation
VIDEO CARD: 2 GB DirectX 11 Video Card (AMD 7970 or nVidia 770 or greater)

They seem pretty reasonable on the minimum, but historically haven't all the recent Civ games turned into animation/AI slogs for older machines the longer the game lasts?

dbemont · Post by **dbemont** » Fri Sep 23, 2016 8:16 pm

I found yesterday's Let's Play with Ed Beach interesting.
https://www.twitch.tv/firaxisgames/v/90778502

First a segment playing as Rome, that made the military AI opponent (Greece) look pretty weak.

Then a segment playing as Congo, with an AI opponent (the Sythians!) making a serious run at an early religious victory.

It might be a mistake to extrapolate too much from one viewing, but I'm going to make a guess that the military AI remains weak, but that they have made a serious effort to program the AI to go for other kinds of victories in a competent manner.

I'm also getting the sense that the game has become somewhat less friendly to would-be domination victors. As best as I can see, warmonger penalties will be rather stiff during the second half of the game, particularly if the goal of war is expansion. (Smacking down a rival for bombarding you with missionaries, and trying to reclaim conquered cities will not result in such penalties.) And it looked from this segment as though it is very tough to keep conquered cities happy while you are at war -- which presents a real problem to a civ seeking a domination victory. Of course, there may be ways that are not yet clear.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 2:54 pm

Here's a review on Ars after playing a pre-build for 15 hours. The reviewer really liked it.

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:08 pm

I just watched Quill18's latest with the almost-final build in the hopes it would get me as jacked as previews of earlier iterations did. The more I watched of it the more I wondered if I really need it as long as I still have IV and V.

This is the first time that I haven't been anxiously awaiting the release of a new Civ. These days I'm far more excited about 4X games that bring something fresh to the table like Endless Legends or even Oriental Empires.

I'll likely still get it at some point, but probably not at release unless there's a really good sale somewhere.

Butterknife · Post by **Butterknife** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 7:10 pm

Maybe I'm weak, but I went ahead and pre-ordered. It is Civ, and I've played every version since 2 and loved them all. My pre-ordering caution is thrown to the wind! May as well even take a day off of work to play -- for me it is time to be a kid again.

Exodor · Post by **Exodor** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 7:12 pm

dbemont wrote: I'm also getting the sense that the game has become somewhat less friendly to would-be domination victors.

Ugh, I hope not. I really enjoy old-style take over the world Civ gameplay. It could be difficult in Civ V but doable - I hope they didn't make it impossible in Civ VI.

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 9:27 pm

tgb wrote:I just watched Quill18's latest with the almost-final build in the hopes it would get me as jacked as previews of earlier iterations did. The more I watched of it the more I wondered if I really need it as long as I still have IV and V.

This is the first time that I haven't been anxiously awaiting the release of a new Civ. These days I'm far more excited about 4X games that bring something fresh to the table like Endless Legends or even Oriental Empires.

I'll likely still get it at some point, but probably not at release unless there's a really good sale somewhere.

REALLY?!?! Because every video I see I think about how they are shaking up some of the old stuff but keeping a lot of what I loved about Civ V. I keep getting more and more excited as I think about the game!

Also, the RPS preview really reinforced all of the things I was excited about in the new iteration:
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/0 ... ore-402095

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 10:20 pm

baelthazar wrote:
tgb wrote:I just watched Quill18's latest with the almost-final build in the hopes it would get me as jacked as previews of earlier iterations did. The more I watched of it the more I wondered if I really need it as long as I still have IV and V.

This is the first time that I haven't been anxiously awaiting the release of a new Civ. These days I'm far more excited about 4X games that bring something fresh to the table like Endless Legends or even Oriental Empires.

I'll likely still get it at some point, but probably not at release unless there's a really good sale somewhere.
REALLY?!?! Because every video I see I think about how they are shaking up some of the old stuff but keeping a lot of what I loved about Civ V. I keep getting more and more excited as I think about the game!

Also, the RPS preview really reinforced all of the things I was excited about in the new iteration:
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/0 ... ore-402095

Right now there are so many 4X games, historical and otherwise, that I'm kind of burned out on the genre, and really want to see something shake it up. Oriental Empires does that to a small extent, but I would really like to see Firaxis get out of their comfort zone a bit more.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 10:21 pm

Sounds great to me...but I'm still going to wait for the first patch, because I always do.

Lee · Post by **Lee** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 11:12 pm

Count me in as one of the people really excited for this game. Watched a bunch of videos on it today and while it seems very similar to V, I think it shook things up enough to make it interesting. Of course it comes out the same day I am closing on a condo, so I might be waiting on that first patch before I can play as well.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Fri Sep 30, 2016 11:11 am

I'm really excited for it as well. I'm done with all other TBS's though, they simply take too long to develop for me. I've noticed that I really don't enjoy them anymore. Civ is different as there's a lot going on every turn and it's such a complete game. The others seem to be stuck on doing a few good things well, but it takes forever to get there and I'm way bored long before that.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Fri Sep 30, 2016 1:24 pm

Kraken wrote:Sounds great to me...but I'm still going to wait for the first patch, because I always do.

I still remember when SMAC came out and a lot of people were bitching because the first patch came out on release day.

dbemont · Post by **dbemont** » Sat Oct 01, 2016 10:30 am

Exodor wrote:
dbemont wrote: I'm also getting the sense that the game has become somewhat less friendly to would-be domination victors.
Ugh, I hope not. I really enjoy old-style take over the world Civ gameplay. It could be difficult in Civ V but doable - I hope they didn't make it impossible in Civ VI.

I don't think it will be impossible. But I think the difficulties will come from the kinds of things that the United States would experience if they decided to expand militarily. The battle for any given city being a whole lot easier than the internal problems, the problems with other powers, the long term resistance in conquered cities, etc.

And while you are dealing with those sorts of issues, the clock will be ticking, because these other civs have interesting advantages, many of which make a non-domination type of victory very possible. I think the theme of Civ VI is going to be that it is dangerous to focus on one thing, to the exclusion of all else.

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Sat Oct 01, 2016 11:46 am

From what I have gathered, the sort of territorial conquest game is more attainable in the early stages, before war types and penalties appear. This seems realistic to me, as world domination by force in the modern age is, in reality, a bit of a stretch.

Lee · Post by **Lee** » Sat Oct 01, 2016 4:23 pm

From watching Quill18 play into the modern era (1100 AD), a domination victory isn't difficult at all. Watching him on Prince, he is blowing away all the AI and he still doesn't know how everything works. The game is certainly more complicated than before, with a lot of little details and systems to learn, but the base game still looks to be quite easy to learn if you are used to Civ V. The AI just isn't that good at the game. There is three weeks until release, so hopefully a lot of tweaking will take place in the next month, but for those worried about domination victories, it doesn't seem to be an issue unless the AI gets a lot better between now and release. And since Civ Vs AI was never that great, I don't think there is much chance of that.

Malacheye · Post by **Malacheye** » Mon Oct 03, 2016 3:02 pm

I have been watching anything I can get my hands on for the past 3 months regarding this game and I am very excited about the new changes.

For those of you who are unsure about first iteratios of new civ games and their playability without expansions or patches, I just watched a review by totalbiscuit, where he breaks down the significant changes over previous civ versions based on a demo version released about 4 days ago to a certain few. Well worth watching!

Greenman gaming is still having a 22% off sale. I have bought it.

Torfish · Post by **Torfish** » Mon Oct 03, 2016 5:05 pm

Really looking forward to Civ VI. Civ V is in my top 3 favorite games. It hits many of my sweet spots that I love about gaming... deep rewarding game play, tons of options and strategies, each game is different per civ and settings, slow game pace, multiplayer option, mods, and expansion updates from the developer that adds meat to the overall game. I've put in over 1100 hours and that is a lot with my small window of gaming time.

Playing one last Civ V game now before VI comes out. Aztecs on a large North America map, emperor difficulty, standard time, and shooting for a domination win.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Mon Oct 03, 2016 7:33 pm

I'm very curious to see how it plays for those few of us who preferred IV over V. From what I've read so far, it's deeper/richer (complex?) than V, so I am optimistic.

jztemple2 · Post by **jztemple2** » Mon Oct 03, 2016 7:49 pm

"for those few of us who preferred IV over V"

Me too. I'll be holding off for awhile at least. Maybe there will be a demo?

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Mon Oct 03, 2016 7:50 pm

Doubt there'll be a demo since there's so much video out there and they didn't do a demo for the last one.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Oct 03, 2016 8:07 pm

I seem to remember at some point with Civ 5 they were doing "Free to Play" weekends on STEAM. The internet tells me that might have started ~2 years after it was released though. Beyond Earth was released in October of 2014 and the internet is saying a free to play weekend occurred in January of 2015, so maybe the same plan for Civ 6? I'm guessing it will depend on how well the game sells.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Mon Oct 03, 2016 10:58 pm

Carpet_pissr wrote:I'm very curious to see how it plays for those few of us who preferred IV over V. From what I've read so far, it's deeper/richer (complex?) than V, so I am optimistic.

I liked many aspects of 4 better than 5, but when I went back to play a game of 4 for old times sake, I could not stomach Stack of Doom combat. There's no going backward for me.

I agree that the buzz for 6 sounds really great.

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Mon Oct 03, 2016 11:12 pm

Kraken wrote:
Carpet_pissr wrote:I'm very curious to see how it plays for those few of us who preferred IV over V. From what I've read so far, it's deeper/richer (complex?) than V, so I am optimistic.
I liked many aspects of 4 better than 5, but when I went back to play a game of 4 for old times sake, I could not stomach Stack of Doom combat. There's no going backward for me.

I agree that the buzz for 6 sounds really great.

Same for me. I also found IV a little hard to look at, even though I'm no graphic whore. I ended up reinstalling V, and despite my best efforts, am starting to get a little jazzed about the new one.

Greybriar · Post by **Greybriar** » Tue Oct 04, 2016 11:34 pm

tgb wrote:....despite my best efforts, am starting to get a little jazzed about the new one.

I find it very hard not to "get a little jazzed" about an upcoming Civilization release. I have purchased every Civilization game in the series.

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Wed Oct 05, 2016 12:57 am

Greybriar wrote:
tgb wrote:....despite my best efforts, am starting to get a little jazzed about the new one.
I find it very hard not to "get a little jazzed" about an upcoming Civilization release. I have purchased every Civilization game in the series.

So have I, but as I've said before, I'm a little burnt out on the 4X genre. It's only after watching Totalbiscuit's video and seeing how much really is new that I became interested.

Jag · Post by **Jag** » Wed Oct 05, 2016 1:27 pm

tgb wrote:
Greybriar wrote:
tgb wrote:....despite my best efforts, am starting to get a little jazzed about the new one.
I find it very hard not to "get a little jazzed" about an upcoming Civilization release. I have purchased every Civilization game in the series.
So have I, but as I've said before, I'm a little burnt out on the 4X genre. It's only after watching Totalbiscuit's video and seeing how much really is new that I became interested.

Interesting. I am also burnt out on 4x. Not sure why, used to be one of my favorites, but I just don't have the patience I used too. Maybe more games are accessible than in the past when I only had a few to chose from or maybe I just don't have the will to invest the time.

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Wed Oct 05, 2016 2:27 pm

Jag wrote:
tgb wrote:
Greybriar wrote:
tgb wrote:....despite my best efforts, am starting to get a little jazzed about the new one.
I find it very hard not to "get a little jazzed" about an upcoming Civilization release. I have purchased every Civilization game in the series.
So have I, but as I've said before, I'm a little burnt out on the 4X genre. It's only after watching Totalbiscuit's video and seeing how much really is new that I became interested.
Interesting. I am also burnt out on 4x. Not sure why, used to be one of my favorites, but I just don't have the patience I used too. Maybe more games are accessible than in the past when I only had a few to chose from or maybe I just don't have the will to invest the time.

In my case it's a matter of too little innovation - most 4X titles just leave me with a "been there, done that" feeling, which is why I maintain that for all it's failings, MOO 3 is a more interesting game than the MOO that was just released, and why Endless Legends was my GOTY for 2014.

Jag · Post by **Jag** » Wed Oct 05, 2016 2:34 pm

tgb wrote:
Jag wrote:
tgb wrote:
Greybriar wrote:
tgb wrote:....despite my best efforts, am starting to get a little jazzed about the new one.
I find it very hard not to "get a little jazzed" about an upcoming Civilization release. I have purchased every Civilization game in the series.
So have I, but as I've said before, I'm a little burnt out on the 4X genre. It's only after watching Totalbiscuit's video and seeing how much really is new that I became interested.
Interesting. I am also burnt out on 4x. Not sure why, used to be one of my favorites, but I just don't have the patience I used too. Maybe more games are accessible than in the past when I only had a few to chose from or maybe I just don't have the will to invest the time.
In my case it's a matter of too little innovation - most 4X titles just leave me with a "been there, done that" feeling, which is why I maintain that for all it's failings, MOO 3 is a more interesting game than the MOO that was just released, and why Endless Legends was my GOTY for 2014.

Even as much as I enjoyed EL, I only played one big game of it (plus tutorial). It took some time to understand some of the more unique mechanics and I didn't feel like changing any of the factions would change gameplay enough.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Wed Oct 05, 2016 7:02 pm

Me as well. I'm done with turn based outside of Civ. They've been my most purchased and least played in the last three years. No more.

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Thu Oct 06, 2016 12:51 am

Greybriar wrote:
tgb wrote:....despite my best efforts, am starting to get a little jazzed about the new one.
I find it very hard not to "get a little jazzed" about an upcoming Civilization release. I have purchased every Civilization game in the series.

I can't say that... because my dad bought me the first two (since I was just a kid). The manual for Civ 1 was a thing of beauty. Thick, exhaustive, it was as long a a novel!

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Thu Oct 06, 2016 1:51 am

baelthazar wrote:
Greybriar wrote:
tgb wrote:....despite my best efforts, am starting to get a little jazzed about the new one.
I find it very hard not to "get a little jazzed" about an upcoming Civilization release. I have purchased every Civilization game in the series.
I can't say that... because my dad bought me the first two (since I was just a kid). The manual for Civ 1 was a thing of beauty. Thick, exhaustive, it was as long a a novel!

I bought my first computer with a hard drive (a 386, baby) so I could play Civ 1 when there was no way I could run it on the 5.25" floppies that a friend made for my Tandy. I bought a Pentium so that I could play Civ 2 or 3 -- I forget which one compelled that upgrade. Keeping up with Civ has cost me a lot of money. Fortunately, it looks like my 7-year-old machine is going to run Civ 6.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Thu Oct 06, 2016 4:06 pm

tgb wrote: It's only after watching Totalbiscuit's video and seeing how much really is new that I became interested.

Which one, specifically? He has several for Civ 6.

Tks

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Thu Oct 06, 2016 4:43 pm

Carpet_pissr wrote:
tgb wrote: It's only after watching Totalbiscuit's video and seeing how much really is new that I became interested.
Which one, specifically? He has several for Civ 6.

Tks

I forget what he called it. It's not so much a game play video as him talking about the changes to the formula. It ran about half an hour or so. If you go to his channel it should be right there.

Malacheye · Post by **Malacheye** » Thu Oct 06, 2016 10:45 pm

its called "My initial thoughts on civ 6", its about 25 min long and comes after he has played the full game demo on prince level as England.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Fri Oct 07, 2016 6:08 am

Got it. Thanks guys. He's a pretty entertaining 'watch'.

Will check out some of his other videos when I have some time.

Frnk55 · Post by **Frnk55** » Sat Oct 08, 2016 8:20 am

Districts seem really cool but man, it seems complicated. Now I'll be staring at the screen wondering what to do with the city

but that's not a bad thing! I'm done watching peoples thoughts about this game. Makes the wait much harder.

Greybriar · Post by **Greybriar** » Sat Oct 08, 2016 10:46 am

Malacheye wrote:its called "My initial thoughts on civ 6", its about 25 min long and comes after he has played the full game demo on prince level as England.

To make it easy, here's the link.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Sat Oct 08, 2016 10:52 am

So psyched that he specifically said it's more complex, i.e. richer, which is exactly what I wanted to hear, and makes me almost dare to hope it's a mix of the best of both Civ IV and V (richness/depth of IV with the improved combat and hexes of V). Woot!

Malacheye · Post by **Malacheye** » Sat Oct 08, 2016 1:27 pm

I am also very itchy right now...is there a way to get a hold of one of the current builds totalbiscuit and other utube/twitch streamers have to hold me over? Marbozir has about 30hrs as Greece, Quill had a 20 part Rome game and Drew Durnil has three lets play games going at the same time (America and Germany and Japan).

Im tired of waiting!!!

Its like waiting for the Cuban Missile Crisis (13 days)...