Civilization VI - Rise and Fall Expansion Coming February 8

[SniperHF]

I'm totally with Osprey on the loading times. When I first installed the game I actually just assumed I had some sort of system problem based on how long they were.

 

[Bjorn Le]

I don't really mind the load times because performance is so much better than Civ 5. I get very little slowdown late game with a mid range PC. I've come to expect strategy games to have long load times.

Also, I like Australia. New civilizations is really cool, and we'll obviously get some of the favourites not in the game yet at some point.

 

[Osprey]

I'm totally with Osprey on the loading times. When I first installed the game I actually just assumed I had some sort of system problem based on how long they were.

It was just awful in the beginning. I didn't time it, but it felt like the wait times were 5 minutes long. I could get up, go to the bathroom, grab some food, come back and see it still on the loading screen. One issue may've been the Windows Defender one that I mentioned last month (where, unless you set an exception for the game, Defender would slow down load times). I think that either Firaxis or Microsoft eventually fixed it so that stopped happening. Another possibility is that Firaxis simply improved load times in one of the patches. It still takes about 2.5 minutes, though. It feels a lot better than it was, but it's still a frustrating wait that discourages me from loading the game up. When I'm deciding what to play, the thought that I can be playing any of my other games in under a minute tends to be more tempting. I guess that I'm spoiled by the reduced loading times and near-instant gratification in most other games. I don't have as much patience with loading times as I used to.

 

[Jasper]

I don't really mind the load times because performance is so much better than Civ 5. I get very little slowdown late game with a mid range PC. I've come to expect strategy games to have long load times.

Also, I like Australia. New civilizations is really cool, and we'll obviously get some of the favourites not in the game yet at some point.

Yeah I haven't found it bad, at least not running on an SSD. It's at least as fast or faster than 5.

 

[Bjorn Le]

The scenario seems really interesting actually. I haven't played any yet, but I might start with the Australia one.

 

[Mount Suribachi]

The scenario seems really interesting actually. I haven't played any yet, but I might start with the Australia one.

Yeah, after bagging the faction earlier in the thread, I just watched a lets play of the scenario and it looks really interesting. To the point where I'm tempted to buy it.

 

[Mount Suribachi]

Oh, and random events are back! I know Civ powergamers hate them for ruining their perfectly ordered games, but I love them. I usually there's not enough of them, and they're not powerful enough.

 

[S E P H]

So I am in a dilemma...

I want to buy a Civilization game, but I don't know which one. I've never played a Civ game, but watched multiple playthroughs for both games. I see some pros and cons for both games and would like to get your guys' thoughts on them.

For Civilization V, the positive is the game is complete in terms of expansion packs and is just for fifteen bucks on Amazon. However, I highly disliked how easy it was to get an army and how happiness influenced too much of the gameplay.

For Civilization VI, the aesthetics of the game are clearly a huge upgrade on V. I love how there are twenty-four hour days and the game just looks beautiful and much more smooth. I also liked how they transformed the happiness, added the civ cards, and government boosts as well. It transforms the game from wanting to win by war (which is the most common one) to experiencing new ways like time, science, culture, religion, and diplomacy. I additionally liked the new tech tree upgrade boosts besides V. For example, you might want to win by culture, but as the game goes along, you could be boosting towards religion and start to focus on that. That unpredictability and change of strategy is wanting me to buy this over 5. However, reading from reports, majority of people say that the game is just too bare-bones at the moment and that this game will become great once expansion packs come out (packs you will probably have to pay additional money for, correct?). Heard that the AI also sucks, should this be fixed in the future?

Opinions?

 

[SniperHF]

So I am in a dilemma...

I can't speak much to 5, didn't play it much.

It transforms the game from wanting to win by war (which is the most common one) to experiencing new ways like time, science, culture, religion, and diplomacy.

In practice I don't think so. War is almost always easier and faster than the other options and the most optimal path. In part because the AI is dumb as a brick but also the others take longer. Also there is no diplomacy victory as of yet.

In my experience it's extremely difficult to even play for a religious victory on higher difficulties as getting a prophet is near impossible unless you are Arabia or happen to land on a natural wonder with faith. The whole Religious victory needs reworking IMO.


All of them are certainly viable on prince-ish but they still take too long. If you just play to do things how you want to like "I'm going to win cultural" instead of play the map then it's fine. But if you're playing the map the answer is always domination.

I'm sure V has similar problems, 4X AI only goes so far even when it's better than the 75 IQ VI AI.

Heard that the AI also sucks, should this be fixed in the future?

Opinions?

It's really bad. They rarely even stumble onto a win on Deity.

Also one thing that happens to me from time to time is a few AIs get eliminated by barbs allowing one or two of the others to go runaway.

 

[Belamorte]

So I am in a dilemma...

I want to buy a Civilization game, but I don't know which one. I've never played a Civ game, but watched multiple playthroughs for both games. I see some pros and cons for both games and would like to get your guys' thoughts on them.

For Civilization V, the positive is the game is complete in terms of expansion packs and is just for fifteen bucks on Amazon. However, I highly disliked how easy it was to get an army and how happiness influenced too much of the gameplay.

For Civilization VI, the aesthetics of the game are clearly a huge upgrade on V. I love how there are twenty-four hour days and the game just looks beautiful and much more smooth. I also liked how they transformed the happiness, added the civ cards, and government boosts as well. It transforms the game from wanting to win by war (which is the most common one) to experiencing new ways like time, science, culture, religion, and diplomacy. I additionally liked the new tech tree upgrade boosts besides V. For example, you might want to win by culture, but as the game goes along, you could be boosting towards religion and start to focus on that. That unpredictability and change of strategy is wanting me to buy this over 5. However, reading from reports, majority of people say that the game is just too bare-bones at the moment and that this game will become great once expansion packs come out (packs you will probably have to pay additional money for, correct?). Heard that the AI also sucks, should this be fixed in the future?

Opinions?

As it stand Civ V is the much more complete and, right now, better game. I suspect that over time Civ VI will be better but just like previous editions of Civ it takes 2 expansions to get there. If you have not played Civ V I would suggest playing it now and then pick up Civ VI after a GotY edition arrives. There are great mods for V and you will get your moneys worth. Civ VI is good, but a long way from great right now.

 

[Commander Clueless]

Civ V with the Brave New World is the best bet IMO.


Unfortunately, I believe you missed the Civ humble bundle.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Civ V complete will likely remain the best option until this gets at least one full expansion pack. That's typically how this series goes. A couple months after Civ V vanilla released people were just as down on that game as people are on Civ VI now, though I do think Civ VI vanilla is significantly better than Civ V vanilla was despite the massive AI issues...at least going between V & VI is significantly easier than going between IV & V were (once you go hex and non-stackable units you never go back).

That said I really have little interest in going back to Civ V now. As far as I'm concerned the AI is the only problem I have with this game. The religion aspect needs to be heavily re-worked, but I never go down that route anyway.

 

[S E P H]

Thanks everyone! Sounds that Civ V is the way to go. One more question, my brother is thinking of buying the game too. Is it a lot like Age of Empires where you can play not only people online, but play a private game with the mixture of humans and AI's?

Curious, Belamorte, you brought up mods. I know the game has mods for certain civilizations like Canada, but what other mods are there?

Civ V with the Brave New World is the best bet IMO.


Unfortunately, I believe you missed the Civ humble bundle.

What is the Civ humble bundle? Like I said, they have the complete addition on Amazon with what I hope are all the expansion packs for a good 15 bucks (there were like thirty or something so hoping that's all of them).

 

[Commander Clueless]

Thanks everyone! Sounds that Civ V is the way to go. One more question, my brother is thinking of buying the game too. Is it a lot like Age of Empires where you can play not only people online, but play a private game with the mixture of humans and AI's?

Curious, Belamorte, you brought up mods. I know the game has mods for certain civilizations like Canada, but what other mods are there?


What is the Civ humble bundle? Like I said, they have the complete addition on Amazon with what I hope are all the expansion packs for a good 15 bucks (there were like thirty or something so hoping that's all of them).

Oh the humble bundle (last month I think) had Civ V + expansions, Civ IV, Civ Beyond Earth & Rising Tide, and 25% off Civ VI for like $12-$15. I think? I don't remember.

Pretty sure it's irrelevant because I think it's ARMA now, so.....probably doesn't help you.

 

[Nizdizzle]

The Civ humble bundle is still on for another 24 hours.

 

[SeidoN]

The Civ humble bundle is still on for another 24 hours.

pretty incredible deal. and Beyond Earth really isnt that bad once Rising Tide was added. its still meh but not as bad as vanilla

 

[Commander Clueless]

The Civ humble bundle is still on for another 24 hours.

I was wrong!


This is the answer IMO.


Which Civ should I buy? ALL OF THEM

 

[Belamorte]

Thanks everyone! Sounds that Civ V is the way to go. One more question, my brother is thinking of buying the game too. Is it a lot like Age of Empires where you can play not only people online, but play a private game with the mixture of humans and AI's?

Curious, Belamorte, you brought up mods. I know the game has mods for certain civilizations like Canada, but what other mods are there?


What is the Civ humble bundle? Like I said, they have the complete addition on Amazon with what I hope are all the expansion packs for a good 15 bucks (there were like thirty or something so hoping that's all of them).

There are probably thousands of mods. Things like UI improvements, different civs (like you mentioned), things like fantasy settings, maps, units, wonders etc... just look in the Steam Workshop to see all the many different ones.


Yes you can play an online game with your brother and have AI controlled civs as long as you both have the game and same version.

 

[S E P H]

Yeah I just bought all of them.

What an amazing deal and you can choose where your money goes. I decided to do twenty extra dollars just for charity besides what I paid which was more than the fifteen.

There are probably thousands of mods. Things like UI improvements, different civs (like you mentioned), things like fantasy settings, maps, units, wonders etc... just look in the Steam Workshop to see all the many different ones.


Yes you can play an online game with your brother and have AI controlled civs as long as you both have the game and same version.

Thanks a bunch! Could you get virus' in the Steam Workshop or are majority of them okay?

 

[Belamorte]

Yeah I just bought all of them.

What an amazing deal and you can choose where your money goes. I decided to do twenty extra dollars just for charity besides what I paid which was more than the fifteen.


Thanks a bunch! Could you get virus' in the Steam Workshop or are majority of them okay?

They are all fine there are no viruses. Steam Workshop is totally safe. Just d/l whatever ones you want and they will install to your mods folder. When you start a new game choose 'mods' (or something I dont remember) and it will ask you which, out of those you downloaded, which ones you want to use. Only issue is some are not compatible with others so if the game crashes you will need to figure out which one is causing it. Best idea is to just do a few at a time. Similar to Skyrim or any other workshop game.

 

[RandV]

Yeah I just bought all of them.

What an amazing deal and you can choose where your money goes. I decided to do twenty extra dollars just for charity besides what I paid which was more than the fifteen.


Thanks a bunch! Could you get virus' in the Steam Workshop or are majority of them okay?

I don't think you can get a virus? There are a few nuisances to work through though.

- if you start downloading and enabling a whole bunch of mods, you could end up with one that causes the game to crash either immediately or at some point randomly in the game. When heavily modded it can be a pain in the ass figuring out mod is breaking your game.
- The Steam workshop only works with up to 50 subscribed mods. Steam doesn't stop you from adding more and at a glance everything appears okay, but in the actual game if you are over 50 subscribed workshop mods Steam will randomly delete downloaded mods from your Civ V folder without telling you.
- This can also caused saved games to break because a modded saved game expects to have the exact same mods enabled to run. Enable a new mod or take one away and the save won't load.

The 50 mod limit isn't the end of the world, as most mods will have a direct download link so if you add it manual to your Civ V mods folder you don't have to subscribe and it doesn't count against the limit.

Another tip for Civ V, you don't need to use mods to alter the game itself. All the game parameters are stored in editable XML files. So if you're annoyed with say the base happiness level for the difficulty you're playing on, you can just find the difficulty.xml file, open it in a text editor, find the correct element and change the number.

One of my longstanding pet peeves with the Civ series is how the difficulty settings work, raising the difficulty doesn't only give the AI more bonuses, but it also applies extra handicaps to the human player. I often have to fine tune the difficulty a little to find a comfortable setting to play at.

 

[SeidoN]

Thanks a bunch! Could you get virus' in the Steam Workshop or are majority of them okay?

steam mods go through the same checks that the games on their store do. the chances of getting a virus from a mod is the same as getting one from buying a game. which is virtually zero

 

[Big McLargehuge]

T-minus 7 hours until Rise and Fall goes live

 

[Bjorn Le]

T-minus 7 hours until Rise and Fall goes live

It's so expensive. I paid over $100 for the edition that came with the DLC pass and instead of making an expansion to put in it, they crammed a bunch of single Civilization packs into it, most of which were more of the same. I wish they did what Paradox did with the Hearts of Iron IV DLC pass (which I unfortunately skipped instead) and add another expansion to the pass because they thought they weren't giving enough value with the two they already had. And the game wasn't $80+ on launch either.

Sigh. I'll wait till the summer and hope the expansion goes on sale.

 

[Osprey]

I agree. I'm surprised that it's been 16 months since release and Civilization VI is still $60... and the expansion is $30. It should be about $60 for the two of them combined, IMO. A buyer shouldn't ever have to pay more than the original price to get all content. If $60 gets you the base game on release day, it should get you the base game + the 1st expansion a year later and the base game + the 1st and 2nd expansions two years later (and the base game should drop in price to, say, $30, for those who want a bargain and can live without the expansions). That would be fair, IMO, and would bring more people into the game. Good luck doing that when buyers know that they need to spend $90 (or more, later) to get all content. It seems like Firaxis is more keen on milking their die hard fans than growing the customer base.

Anyways, to save people some time and searching, and since I hadn't heard anything, myself, here's the description of Rise and Fall:

Civilization VI is a game about building an empire to stand the test of time, and the Rise and Fall expansion brings new choices, strategies, and challenges for players as they guide a civilization through the ages. Can you inspire the Loyalty of people around the world, or will you lose cities to your rivals? Will you establish a Golden Age for your civilization, or be mired in a Dark Age? In Civilization VI: Rise and Fall, you truly become a leader for the ages.

Successful leadership of a civilization can send it into a prosperous Golden Age, but falling behind can usher in a Dark Age. Respond well to the challenges of a Dark Age, and your civilization can rise again into renewal with a Heroic Age.

Encourage the Loyalty of your citizens to keep your borders intact, or inspire Loyalty among other civilizations to expand your empire. World borders continually shift and change as Free Cities emerge from empires, and neighbors compete for the Loyalty of cities across the map.

With the new the Governor system, players are able to further customize and specialize their cities, as well as react to the new challenges of Dark Ages and Loyalty. Each of the seven unique governors has its own promotion tree, and lends itself to different playstyles and strategies.

In addition to these new systems, Civilization VI: Rise and Fall introduces eight new civilizations and nine new leaders. Eight new world wonders can be constructed, as well as a variety of new units, districts, buildings, and improvements. There are more ways than ever before to build, conquer, and inspire.

• GREAT AGES
  As your civilization ebbs and flows, and you reach milestone Historic Moments, you will move towards Dark Ages or Golden Ages, each providing specific challenges or bonuses based on your actions in game. Rise triumphantly from a Dark Age, and your next Golden Age will be even stronger – a Heroic Age.
• LOYALTY
  Cities now have individual Loyalty to your leadership – let it fall too low, and face the consequences of low yields, revolts, and the potential to lose your city if it declares its own independence. But one civilization’s loss can be your gain as you inspire Loyalty among cities throughout the map and further expand your borders.
• GOVERNORS
  Recruit, appoint, and upgrade powerful characters with unique specialization bonuses and promotion trees to customize your cities, and reinforce Loyalty
• ENHANCED ALLIANCES
  An enhanced alliances system allows players to form different types of alliances and build bonuses over time
• EMERGENCIES
  When a civilization grows too powerful, other civilizations can join a pact against the threatening civilization, and earn rewards, or penalties, when the Emergency ends.
• TIMELINE
  Review your civilization’s history at any time with the new Timeline feature, a visual journey through the Historic Moments that you encountered on your path to victory.
• NEW LEADERS AND CIVS
  Nine new leaders and eight new civilizations are introduced. Each brings unique bonuses and gameplay, as well as a total of eight unique units, two unique buildings, four unique improvements, and two unique districts.
• NEW GLOBAL CONTENT
  Eight new world wonders, seven natural wonders, four new units, two new improvements, two new districts, fourteen new buildings, and three new resources have been added.
• IMPROVED GAMEPLAY SYSTEMS
  The Government system has been enhanced with new Policies, including Dark Age Policies, new hidden leader Agendas, new Casus Belli, and additional improvements to existing systems.