Civilization 7 announced

[cartman]

Well, not officially yet, but 2K prematurely posted a banner on their website. Official announcement expected today.

IGN Error 403 - Unavailable (IFW-U02) (https://www.ign.com/articles/civilization-7-leaks-via-2k-games-website)

[albionmoonlight]

I never could get into 6.

People say that once you did, it was amazing. I just, for whatever reason, could not.

I'll try fresh with 7 when it comes out

[NobodyHere]

Oh happy days! I hope they bring back the Civ2 Advisor Council!

[Ksyrup]

I never could get into 6.

People say that once you did, it was amazing. I just, for whatever reason, could not.

I'll try fresh with 7 when it comes out

Same. Meanwhile, I'm still playing the crap out of the player-modded Colonization. Best/most addictive/longest replay value game I've ever played in my life.

[bhlloy]

It’s a funny one - I get an urge to play it once ever 9-12 months, restart a game a few times, play through to the end and then couldn’t consider starting a new one. Compared to the hours I put into early versions - some of it is age and free time related, but it’s definitely missing a certain something.

I fully expect 7 will come with 4 civs at launch, a medium size map and about 40% of the current features and the rest will be DLC.

[Thomkal]

Damn, you beat me to the punch Cartman! :)


429 Too Many Requests (https://gg.deals/gaming-news/civilization-7-leaks-on-2k-website-ahead-of-summer-game-fest-onl/)

[Passacaglia]

I feel like it's so rare that I play Civilization all the way through, starting with like Civ 3. But my kids love Civ 6, and all the different leaders get them interested in history (but maybe it's the other way around). So I'm excited for 7, but the kids have said they want to stick with 6. I think bhlloy is right, too, so it will be a while before 7 will have enough leaders to make it worthwhile for them anyway.

[MrBug708]

Same. Meanwhile, I'm still playing the crap out of the player-modded Colonization. Best/most addictive/longest replay value game I've ever played in my life.

Which one is that?

[Ksyrup]

We the People, which completely revolutionized (pun intended!) the crappy vanilla Civ IV reboot of the original Colonization which I played so little I acutally went back to play the 90s DOS version instead. And then a couple of mods popped up - RAR, now WTP - and turned it into an incredible game.

I will say, though, that in expanding it well beyond what anyone could have envisioned, the deepness does come with a lot of complexity. So much so that people have put together downloadable charts to help figure out how all of the resources/materials fit together and what is needed to build certain goods, units and ships.

Civ4Col - We The People | CivFanatics Forums (https://forums.civfanatics.com/forums/civ4col-we-the-people.591/)

[Edward64]

Great news!

I play Civ 6 on a regular basis. I do often stop before 1000-1400 AD because the end game is a slog but really enjoy the 1H.

Looking forward to buying it.

[Edward64]

More details in August. Supposedly, release is sometime in 2025.

I really hope they do beta testing like BG instead of Starfield.

[Thomkal]

Using the hype over Civ7 announcement, Steam has discounts on most(?) Civ games including 95% off Civ 6 for $3

[GoldenEagle]

Same. Meanwhile, I'm still playing the crap out of the player-modded Colonization. Best/most addictive/longest replay value game I've ever played in my life.

Which Civ do I need to play that? I may get it during the steam sale this week.

[Ksyrup]

Civ IV: Colonization.

[Edward64]

Excited. One of my earlier computer games. I’ve played every version (didn’t like the one with stacks of doom), still play Civ 6. Really looking forward to Civ 7.

The first Civilization 7 gameplay is being shown at this month's Gamescom Opening Night Live, Firaxis has revealed

The biggest con is end game is a slog (1800+) and I don’t have enough time to enjoy my modern weapons. So make it last longer but make it less of a slog.

[Thomkal]

gamescon had a trailer for Civ 7 today and a couple of weeks ago, Nookrium and others got to tour the studio and get about 3 hours of play:


- YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4q1Q1Qiv1Zo)

[Thomkal]

quill18 has also played Civ 7 and has videos up

[Edward64]

Watched several reviews, I like this one best. Lots of changes, a little nervous about some of the bigger ones but looking forward to Feb release date

- YouTube (https://youtu.be/LfD6INuWU9c?si=qoRAXYsSC8EeV94M)

[JonInMiddleGA]

The biggest con is end game is a slog (1800+) and I don’t have enough time to enjoy my modern weapons. So make it last longer but make it less of a slog.

Just seeing this post today, and it poked my "hmm ..." button a little.

So I'm wondering, I guess, "what does what you described look like exactly?"

I'm reading it as something along the lines of "more ... incremental"? So that you have more new shiny toys to play with more often?

Or is it "speed up some parts to the modern era faster? Making that modern era last longer?"

Not nitpicking you or anything at all, just trying to see if I understand what change(s) you're really wishing for.

[Coffee Warlord]

Humankind 2?

[Thomkal]

Humankind 2?


yeah I kinda had that thought too-like they were borrowing some stuff from Humankind

[Edward64]

Just seeing this post today, and it poked my "hmm ..." button a little.

So I'm wondering, I guess, "what does what you described look like exactly?"

I'm reading it as something along the lines of "more ... incremental"? So that you have more new shiny toys to play with more often?

Or is it "speed up some parts to the modern era faster? Making that modern era last longer?"

Not nitpicking you or anything at all, just trying to see if I understand what change(s) you're really wishing for.

I want the modern era last longer but streamlining some "stuff" to make it less tedious. I play King and with biggest/longest game.

Some examples ...

With Religion in late game, there are so many missionaries, apostles etc. running around trying to convert or reconvert cities. It's a major hassle fighting those heathens and also the secular wars.

With Space race, there is an inevitable rush to build spaceports/modules and defend what you have. I don't think there is enough time to enjoy my new shiny toys because a good chunk of my production is going towards winning the space race.

With Domination, the more you get, the more you have to manage, repair etc. Some cities you want to optimize for production, science, gold etc. You need to build railroads to connect cities. You need to keep them happy and not rebelling etc.

I'm not sure if its just me or my playstyle, but I don't use airpower as much as tanks, mech infantry etc. I think there is an imbalance there and think they should make air and naval power more relevant in late stages.

Just my 2 cents.

[Edward64]

An article that describes more eloquently my issue. Read article on what they are doing about it.

Firaxis' big swing with Civilization VII? Convincing players to actually finish their games (https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/firaxis-big-swing-with-civilization-vii-convincing-players-to-actually-finish-their-games)
"The number [of people who completed a game of Civ VI] was surprisingly, depressingly—whatever adjective you want to put in there—low. It was less than 50 percent. So, why is that happening?," he asks.

The short answer is 'pacing.' He says your average Civilization player might spend 15 to 20 hours completing a single game. As the hours pass and empires grow, the managerial elements become more pronounced, leaving players needing to complete a exponentially growing list of tasks just to get through a turn.

Beach claims players "hated" the pacing of Civilization VI. It's an admission that resulted in Firaxis conducting individual postmortems of each system to learn when they pushed "important, strategic decisions you don't have to make more than every five to 10 minutes," and when they demanded players make "tiresome 'click here, click here, click, here' decisions that just aren't very interesting."

[NobodyHere]

Looks like I may need to upgrade my intel gen 4 processor

Civ 7 specs (https://www.ign.com/articles/civilization-7-pc-specs-revealed-here-are-the-requirements-for-minimum-recommended-and-ultra-settings)

[Edward64]

Some initial playthrough thoughts.

Looking forward to it. I'll buy it in first month but plan to be patient with the inevitable patch 1-2 releases.

Some 20 hours in, I can say that Civilization 7's age transitions are the series' most radical and disruptive mechanic yet | PC Gamer (https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/some-20-hours-in-i-can-say-that-civilization-7s-age-transitions-are-the-series-most-radical-and-disruptive-mechanic-yet/)
Even in the midst of my Civ 7 review, I can say that the question of whether this is the best iteration yet will probably be redundant until all the expansions roll out and we see the full vision enacted. What I can say is that its biggest, boldest shake-up to the series formula gave me a frisson of excitement at a point in the game where things might have started stagnating in previous iterations. That, already, is a major milestone passed on Civ 7's legacy path.


Just a moment... (https://www.pcgamesn.com/civilization-vii/firaxis-greatest-4x-game)

For the moment however, having played it for several hours, it’s hard to imagine a strategy game that’s equally coherent and complete. The systemic changes may dissuade long-term series loyalists. The finer problems of balance and late-game pacing might only become apparent after launch. But taken in aggregate, it seems like Firaxis has successfully made a different, more in-depth, and evocative 4X game without compromising either Civilization’s identity or the game’s – and the studio’s – reputation for mechanical clarity.

[Thomkal]

Quill18 has some limited gameplay on his channel now. There are probably others if you look around?


- YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABGeC1oSQsw)

[Thomkal]

And Nookrium

[Passacaglia]

Is there a benefit to preordering?

[Thomkal]

Is there a benefit to preordering?


Depending on what edition you are preordering, you can get an extra leader and civ, early access and extra content packs and 6 DLC's that will be available before the end of the year I think. The Standard preorder only gets you the extra leader and civ, so I would say not much if you go that route:


Pre-Order Civilization VII | Sid Meiers Civilization (https://civilization.2k.com/civ-vii/buy/)

[Passacaglia]

Okay thanks! So you can only get those extra leaders and civs if you preorder? I feel like I'm just going to say "shut up and take my money" and get the highest package, since I assume I'll want all the DLC anyway.

[Ksyrup]

Considering getting this since the release lines up with vacation, and I'm looking for the best price on the Founders' Edition. Anyone know if some of the places offering it at a discount are reputable? I see a place called Instant Gaming has it for $95 when it lists for $130. Another place called CDKeys has it for $100. I'd be happy saving $30 but not sure if it's going to be vaporware coming from one of these places. Most of the reputable places have it for $125-130, so little to no discount.

Anyone have experience buying a discounted game from one of these sites?

[Thomkal]

Considering getting this since the release lines up with vacation, and I'm looking for the best price on the Founders' Edition. Anyone know if some of the places offering it at a discount are reputable? I see a place called Instant Gaming has it for $95 when it lists for $130. Another place called CDKeys has it for $100. I'd be happy saving $30 but not sure if it's going to be vaporware coming from one of these places. Most of the reputable places have it for $125-130, so little to no discount.

Anyone have experience buying a discounted game from one of these sites?


I think I might have ordered something once from Instant Gaming. Looking at Reddit, seems most people don't have a problem with them. Not sure about CDKeys.


This is a listing of the current prices for the Founders Edition-all should be reputable sites. Looks like Green Man Gaming and Fanatical have a code to get it a bit cheaper right now. Used both before with no problems.


Too Many Requests (https://gg.deals/pack/sid-meiers-civilization-vii-founders-edition/)

[Ksyrup]

Thanks. Might give it a shot. Surprisingly, my 2+ year old Legion is above or pretty close to the Recommended specs so I shouldn't have a problem running it.

[GrantDawg]

I have bought things from CDKeys in the past. I have used G2A a good bit recently, but they aren't offering any big discounts on Civ 7 right now. They are both supposed to be legit. They just take advantage of regional pricing and exchange rates to get deals, as well as buy in bulk when a game goes on a hot sale.

[SlyBelle1]

Considering getting this since the release lines up with vacation, and I'm looking for the best price on the Founders' Edition. Anyone know if some of the places offering it at a discount are reputable? I see a place called Instant Gaming has it for $95 when it lists for $130. Another place called CDKeys has it for $100. I'd be happy saving $30 but not sure if it's going to be vaporware coming from one of these places. Most of the reputable places have it for $125-130, so little to no discount.

Anyone have experience buying a discounted game from one of these sites?

Have used both places often and have never had an issue. Only thing you need to watch out for is the timing of their release for pre-orders. Sometimes they don't release the same time as other places, especially if some kind of pre release special. But otherwise, no issue for me.

[Passacaglia]

Is there a way you can buy the game such that you can install the same copy on two computers at the same time or am I living in 2005?

[SlyBelle1]

Is there a way you can buy the game such that you can install the same copy on two computers at the same time or am I living in 2005?

When you buy from steam and run on steam, you can play the game on any computer you have Steam installed as long as logged into purchase account. As for the save game data, if the game saves to the cloud, you can then even share that data

[Passacaglia]

When you buy from steam and run on steam, you can play the game on any computer you have Steam installed as long as logged into purchase account. As for the save game data, if the game saves to the cloud, you can then even share that data

Oh thanks! But is it possible for both computers to play in a multiplayer game?

[SlyBelle1]

You can’t login to both versions of the game at the same time

[NobodyHere]

Looks like reviews are trickling in. Metacritic has it at an 81 right now. I was hoping for a little bit better.

[bhlloy]

Oof. Those reviews from even the usually fluffy places sound like a game I don't really have much interest in playing, at least not at release.

[RainMaker]

Don't most Civ games suck at launch?

[Schmidty]

I am so skeptical about this one, but I've bought every version since 2, so I'm grabbing this. I haven't read this thread yet, but I'm trying to figure out the difference between the two premium packages. If it just pays for DLC that is scheduled to come out in the future, I'm passing on the premium.

I've been playing the shit out of 6 with all of the DLCs for the past month, and I'm loving it all over again. The difficulty with certain victories is too easy, but still fun. Like I said, I'm very skeptical of the different civs for 3 eras thing in 7 though.

[Edward64]

List of reviews here

Blocked (https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/1igppon/sid_meiers_civilization_vii_review_thread/)

[Coffee Warlord]

Forced Civ changes during the eras. I was hoping you could choose to stay with your nation, but nope.

This excerpt pretty much makes this a nope for me:


Another factor to consider is that each era transition is basically a soft reset for all players. Once the progress meter hits 100% due to turn advancements or Legacy milestones, all construction projects, wonders, and related missions end abruptly--for everyone. One moment, you might be actively participating and enjoying tasks like sending out treasure fleets or spreading your religion far and wide, and the next, those mechanics are gone for good. Even all your units, regardless of where they might be, are removed from the map, only for period-specific variants to spawn randomly across your empire at the start of the next age. The concept itself would be the equivalent of Mehmed the Conqueror arriving at the gates of Constantinople, only to get magically teleported to Edirne because the Aztecs discovered the last holy relic that they needed.


And no modern/information era. Game ends at like ww2 tech.

Was already not excited, now I'm less.

[Passacaglia]

I think I might have ordered something once from Instant Gaming. Looking at Reddit, seems most people don't have a problem with them. Not sure about CDKeys.


This is a listing of the current prices for the Founders Edition-all should be reputable sites. Looks like Green Man Gaming and Fanatical have a code to get it a bit cheaper right now. Used both before with no problems.


Too Many Requests (https://gg.deals/pack/sid-meiers-civilization-vii-founders-edition/)

Just pre-ordered founders edition for $93.23 on InstantGaming. Hopefully that works. :p

[Thomkal]

Just pre-ordered founders edition for $93.23 on InstantGaming. Hopefully that works. :p


Yay!

[Passacaglia]

So I've read a lot about how it's different, but is there like a regular manual that's available yet?

[RainMaker]

And no modern/information era. Game ends at like ww2 tech.

Was already not excited, now I'm less.

I wonder if they did this because they plan to release a DLC that focuses on it.

[bhlloy]

I thought the same and I don’t think there is too much to wonder about it. It’s an absolute given that’s what they intend to do IMO, and that’s just the state of the market today unfortunately.

[Coffee Warlord]

Oh yeah, I guarantee that's the plan.

[Passacaglia]

I don't understand this ages system fully (obviously) but I wonder if an expansion will create more ages. Three doesn't seem like enough.

[Edward64]

I don't understand this ages system fully (obviously) but I wonder if an expansion will create more ages. Three doesn't seem like enough.

An article I read said he thought 3 ages wasn't enough and that 4 may work.

I'll give it a chance. The problem with Civ 6 is that you played 1 leader, 1 Civ and after a while (for me it was Modern Age) it got boring/mechanical (and this is why majority of Civ players don't complete a game). The ages forces a soft restart of stuff and theoretically, keeps it new & interesting.

[Passacaglia]

Same here. I've bought every civ and played them a good amount, so why stop now. Plus this is the first new one since my kids started playing, and it'll be fun to get into it with them. There's something about every new version I don't like, so to me, no reason to be skeptical since it's kind of part of the deal.

[Ben E Lou]

I feel like Civ2 was the last version that was "one more turn" at the time of release. I bought 3-6 pretty much at release time. Holding off for this one.
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[Edward64]

The only one I did not play a lot of was the one with "stacks of doom". Enjoyed all the other releases.

[albionmoonlight]

I feel like Civ2 was the last version that was "one more turn" at the time of release. I bought 3-6 pretty much at release time. Holding off for this one.
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When I think back to my favorite runs of Civ, I tend to go remember some of my Civ 2 games

[Thomkal]

Looks like the Embargo is over for Civ 7 coverage-so you should be able to get a good look at the game now on Twitch or You Tube

[Passacaglia]

Looks like the Embargo is over for Civ 7 coverage-so you should be able to get a good look at the game now on Twitch or You Tube

So Potato McWhiskey has two reviews up for it -- one calling it a mess, and another calling it a masterpiece. WTF?

[JonInMiddleGA]

So Potato McWhiskey has two reviews up for it -- one calling it a mess, and another calling it a masterpiece. WTF?

Heeeeeey Spuddies ...

[RainMaker]

So Potato McWhiskey has two reviews up for it -- one calling it a mess, and another calling it a masterpiece. WTF?

Well that's not helping. I'm still buying because it's Civilization and I'll get my money's worth regardless.

[Passacaglia]

A lot of complaints about the UI. That sounds familiar...

[bhlloy]

Sigh.. his positive review just made me buy the Deluxe edition. I'm a sucker. I can live with learning the UI and waiting until there's a mod or they improve it in a DLC.

[RainMaker]

A lot of complaints about the UI. That sounds familiar...

There always is and there is always a mod to fix it down the road. That is the least of my worries.

[GrantDawg]

If you got early access, people are saying the game is active on Steam.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

[henry296]

Just pre-ordered founders edition for $93.23 on InstantGaming. Hopefully that works. :p

Ordered from there and got new PC today. Hoping that maybe the code comes in before midnight.

[SirFozzie]

CIV's out.

[Coffee Warlord]

Getting trashed on steam reviews.

[Edward64]

Uh oh, hate to hear that

[bhlloy]

I've been playing for most of the evening. Just happened to be online around 7ET and noticed I could install it.

First impressions, UI is definitely very bad and a huge step backwards. There are things that don't really make much sense and are not well explained (for example I could attack an independent at the start of the game to make them friendly, then suddenly I couldn't attack any more but they were still sending hostiles my way and had to use influence to make them friendly at that point - no idea the different mechanic at play there). Another example - building certain things on the same tile is a huge game mechanic especially for some civs, but when you are building the second one there's no way to figure out what the first one is other than a tiny icon you just have to know - you have to click out and hover over the tile to realize what the first was. Very frustrating and such a huge step back from the last few iterations.

I just did my first era transition from ancient to exploration and for such a huge new critical part of gameplay it's really not explained what will happen or is happening at all. A plague just popped out of nowhere with new civic slots and I guess that was the timer countdown for the era transition, but the game didn't actually tell me that I don't think. And default difficulty seems to be way too easy at least for the first age - I'm miles ahead of the CPU on legacies which I was not expecting for a game with so many new mechanics where I don't really know what I'm doing or a run where I didn't really put too much thought into how I wanted to play other than build what seemed to make sense.

With that being said, definitely feels like it has more potential than any Civ game ever at launch. It's not polished and it definitely needs way more content which we'll all pay through the nose for, but a lot of the mechanics are different in a good way and I think eventually will lead to far more varied and nuanced gameplay. And it's still Civ, no way it's a mostly negative game but I suspect many people have been waiting to give it that review ever since they learned some of the mechanics (as I figured I would before watching some of the YouTube's the last couple of days).

[Schmidty]

After reading all of this, I'm going to hold off and just play Civ 6, CK3, and try Stellaris again. Maybe in a year Civ 7 will be playable and I can get it on sale.

[NobodyHere]

Getting trashed on steam reviews.

Cuz it's bad? Or cuz of review bombing for one reason another?

[Edward64]

... and try Stellaris again.

Was a huge Stellaris fan. There's been so many DLCs and changes that I'm intimidated about re-learning it all over again.

Let me know how difficult it was for you to restart.

[GrantDawg]

I watch some videos and some of the changes do seem interesting. I think it will be a wait for a huge sale for me, but I will eventually get it. The problem I see is that I think at even 50% off it might be to expensive for what I would get out of it.

[Coffee Warlord]

Cuz it's bad? Or cuz of review bombing for one reason another?

Not getting review bombed, from the looks of it. People are trashing:

- Overwhelmingly, the UI
- The lack of customization (map sizes, no changing victory conditions, etc).
- The nation switching mechanics, which is what I thought would be hammered, is mentioned, but not to the extent I expected.

[Ben E Lou]

Yeah at this point the issue for me isn't so much money as it is the amount of time invested. Once I buy it, there's no doubt that even if I play just one game on the biggest map my PC can take and hate it, it'll be on a per-hour basis wayyyyyy cheaper than any other non-gaming form of entertainment in which I indulge. The question is if those hours spent will be actually be entertaining, or just a frustrating waste. The reviews have definitely solidified my decision to wait.
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[cuervo72]

Yeah, Schmidty is probably right. Redacted.

[bhlloy]

My take on the switching Civ's things is it could be a cool idea once there are more Civs/Leaders and maybe some more mechanics., but for now it's a bit underbaked and honestly from what I can see overhyped.

I mean if I choose a leader with obvious synergies, and then I'm given a choice of 2 Civs to continue playing (plus some random unlocks that probably don't make a ton of sense and are a bit random whether I can even reach them) and one of them aligns perfect with my gameplay and the way I've played the first act, it's hardly gamebreaking what I'm going to do. Now if there are 10 options and there are 4 that are all good choices with subtle differences, it's a whole different ballgame.

[Schmidty]

Was a huge Stellaris fan. There's been so many DLCs and changes that I'm intimidated about re-learning it all over again.

Let me know how difficult it was for you to restart.

I just bought the season pass last week because I didn't want to pay for all of the DLC at once. My first impression is that I'm completely overwhelmed. I'm used to CK, so I thought I'd pick it up pretty quickly, but I don't really even know where to start. I remember playing CK2 years ago and starting in Ireland to ease my way in, but there doesn't seem to be an equivalent in Stellaris. I think I need to go look at the Stellaris thread here on FOFC. Hopefully I'll get an idea on what to do there.

[Schmidty]

Give it to that whizbang coder of Musk's. He could recode it in a weekend, make it great!

For the love of all that is good and holy, please no politics in fun, interesting threads. You guys always have those trash Trump threads bumped. Keep the political garbage there. Damn.

[Edward64]

I just bought the season pass last week because I didn't want to pay for all of the DLC at once. My first impression is that I'm completely overwhelmed. I'm used to CK, so I thought I'd pick it up pretty quickly, but I don't really even know where to start. I remember playing CK2 years ago and starting in Ireland to ease my way in, but there doesn't seem to be an equivalent in Stellaris. I think I need to go look at the Stellaris thread here on FOFC. Hopefully I'll get an idea on what to do there.

I did some posting in that thread but it’s been a while. Better to find some recent YT tutorials

[BishopMVP]

I just bought the season pass last week because I didn't want to pay for all of the DLC at once. My first impression is that I'm completely overwhelmed. I'm used to CK, so I thought I'd pick it up pretty quickly, but I don't really even know where to start. I remember playing CK2 years ago and starting in Ireland to ease my way in, but there doesn't seem to be an equivalent in Stellaris. I think I need to go look at the Stellaris thread here on FOFC. Hopefully I'll get an idea on what to do there.
I actually got back into it recently, found ratcheting down the number of other civs for the map size fit what I wanted. Let me focus on the exploration part and internal development of my civ before hitting the part where diplomacy matters much more. On the crowded maps I always felt it was a mad rush to claim as many habitable planets as you could before empire borders are locked in, and then a lot of what you have to do is dependent on the type of neighbors you drew.

[Passacaglia]

Ordered from there and got new PC today. Hoping that maybe the code comes in before midnight.

Nice! Mine wasn't there on instant gaming at 10PM Central when I went to bed, but was there this morning. Birthday coming in 18 days, will probably get a new laptop then, unless somehow my old laptop doesn't take forever between turns.

I've usually been a "wait until it's cheap" buyer for Civ, but since I got the kids into Civ 6, it seemed more exciting to get it at release with them. I downloaded it this morning, and they all wanted to play right away, but we're going to wait until their school is done. Okay, I made them wait, but we spent some time looking at this guide https://civbuilds.replit.app/ and planning out the first game we'd play together.

I work from home, and I'm going to hold off playing until they get back, which works out, since I'm pretty busy today anyway. But it's tough knowing it's sitting there installed and unplayed. :p

[Edward64]

Been reading more reviews and watched some YT stuff. I can see how the UI and lack of readily available info will be a turnoff for me. For you guys that have it already, let us know how much it bugs you.

Got mine ordered, so I'll play it some. I am interested to see how well it plays on my laptop 780m and (old) desktop 1650.

[Passacaglia]

It's funny -- I read stuff on reddit that was mostly slamming it all day, and when I finally got to play it for an hour with the kids, they were jumping up and down and excited by every little thing that seemed different. We (mostly they) decided to play as Ibn Battuta, leading Rome, and to go for a cultural victory -- they didn't even read anything to be sure a cultural victory still exists. It took them a while to figure out how to build a settler, but after a while they were talking about where to put their second city, so I guess they figured it out. In about 30 turns, they had met 3 other civs, and an "independent village" who they said was hostile to them. It seemed a little more RP focused the way things happen to you rather than you playing the game, which I think got them more immersed.

[Edward64]

Great to see you spending time gaming with them, how old are they?

One of my best memories in gaming was playing Sid Meier's Pirates with my son. Started off with him looking over my shoulder as I played it. Eventually, he was old enough to play it himself but he would ask me to help with the "dancing". And then, he played it solo it until was no longer challenging.

[Passacaglia]

14, 12, and 12, all boys. I got them playing Civ 6 back in 2020, and I think that's probably what has made into history so much, though I guess it's a chicken and egg thing. Never got them into FOF though, since they don't like football even a little.

[SirFozzie]

The view I'm getting on other boards is the game is addicting, but the UI will hold it back until fixed.

(ie, you'll keep playing but complain the whole time about the UI)

[Edward64]

Don't know about their beta process but you'd think Firaxis got the UI feedback from playtesting? Shouldn't they have known this would not sit well with their veteran players?

From Firaxis. Looks like they got the UI message loud & clear. I have no doubt they'll get it fixed, kudos for their quick response.

A Message from Firaxis Games | Civilization VII (https://civilization.2k.com/civ-vii/news/message-from-firaxis-games/)
In response to your feedback, we’ve identified three key areas that we’re prioritizing work against as quickly as possible. We will share a development roadmap as soon as we can, but our focus is on the following:
1) Prioritizing UI Improvements: Our top priority is improving the UI. We need some time to digest all of your feedback, but some areas that we're already looking into include making UI interactions more intuitive, improving map readability, fixing areas of polish like formatting, and more. We're committed to getting this right, and will share more details as soon as we can.
2) Implementing Community-Requested Features: Several key features that we've seen you ask for will be included in upcoming patches as free updates
3) Rolling Out Quality-of-Life Updates in Patch 1.1.0 (Deploying in March):

[Edward64]

14, 12, and 12, all boys. I got them playing Civ 6 back in 2020, and I think that's probably what has made into history so much, though I guess it's a chicken and egg thing. Never got them into FOF though, since they don't like football even a little.

Nice, you guys are building up some memories that they'll remember for the rest of their lives.

Unfortunately, son never got into Civ or 4x games. After Pirates, he went on to RPG games like Fallout, CoD, Assassins series.

Take it FWIW. Son lives in a different state for work. One big regret is not playing multi-player with him so we can continue playing together, like on Fallout 76. So, if you get a chance, start doing that now so in the future you 4 will be able to connect even if you are spread out.

[Ksyrup]

I've done just enough to download and install the game late last night. Might try to fire it up this weekend. If not, perhaps on vacation next week.

[Bobble]

Don't know about their beta process but you'd think Firaxis got the UI feedback from playtesting? Shouldn't they have known this would not sit well with their veteran players?


I've done some beta testing for OOTP. Beta testing is an interesting process that, I've found, is a lot more difficult than you'd think. How much do you complain about features that you know aren't done yet? Once Edward64 makes a post about "The UI stinks", is it enough to +1 that? Should I make another post next week or something? The coders will say that they're working on it and they are, but do they grok the scale of changes I'm talking about? Can those changes be done at this point? Are the other testers in agreement? Peanutbutter over all that the fact that I've been playing the game with this way for a while now and you naturally get used to how it works because you're looking at a million other issues as well.

I wonder if it would help to request a periodic "fake Yelp review" from your testers. Give us your 1-5 ratings on gameplay, UI, immersion, etc. It would probably still be tough to get a fresh eyes viewpoint.

[Schmidty]

I've done just enough to download and install the game late last night. Might try to fire it up this weekend. If not, perhaps on vacation next week.

I find myself doing things like that more often the older I get. Just 10 years ago, I never had that kind of restraint. I've just seen so many games released at this point in life, I don't get quite as excited anymore. I think after the insane hype of TCY coming out like 23 years ago, everything has gone downhill in that department.

[Ksyrup]

Yep. Priorities have definitely changed. And I also find myself generally not able to devote as much time and concentration to these types of games as I once did.

I've lost a bit of patience for the deep-dives I used to give games, especially since I don't have the time to keep going daily. It's hard to devote a ton of time for a couple of days, then put the game down for a week or two, and get back into where I left off with the same level of immersion I used to have when I was playing day after day.

[GrantDawg]

That's definitely been a problem with me. I can generally only put real time into a game on the weekends, and that is not a guarantee every weekend. Add that to the fact that I have a much harder time immediately recalling information that used to come easy in my youth, games just don't grab me the same way. BG3 was that last one that I played through and would steal time whenever I could to play. Since I have finished that, there has been nothing that has kept my interest for long. College Football 25 should have, but I only ended up playing that for a couple of weeks.

[SirFozzie]

Just a headsup, if you use stuff to enhance singleplayer games (like WeMod or CheatEngine), Civ will instantly crash and take you to a "fair play" screen on 2K sports site if it detects it.

It's happened to me on other 2K games (NBA), and I know one person who returned the game not knowing about this because they used WeMod for other games.

[HerRealName]

After a decent round of golf, I'm free the rest of the weekend and getting an itchy 'Add to Cart' finger.

[Thomkal]

Scratch that itch!

[HerRealName]

Scratch that itch!

You're such a bad influence :)

My first impressions are more positive than I expected. There are new mechanics to learn but I think I'll be playing more than VI.

[Edward64]

I've been wanting to get into AR/VR and this is good news for that.

It says Spring 2025. I'd hate it if this distracted from stabilizing the core game and getting the patches done.

IGN Error 403 - Unavailable (IFW-U02) (https://www.ign.com/articles/firaxis-makes-surprise-sid-meiers-civilization-7-vr-announcement)
Firaxis has announced a virtual reality version of the recently released Civilization 7.

Sid Meier's Civilization 7 - VR is the long-running strategy franchise’s first foray into VR, and launches spring 2025 exclusively on Meta Quest 3 and 3S.

Publisher 2K Games said Sid Meier's Civilization 7 - VR is developed by PlaySide Studios, which worked on VR games The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners and Meta Horizon Worlds.
In addition to single-player, Civilization 7 - VR can compete to rule the world in online multiplayer matches with up to three other Meta Quest 3 and 3S players.

[Thomkal]

You're such a bad influence :)

My first impressions are more positive than I expected. There are new mechanics to learn but I think I'll be playing more than VI.


You're welcome and I'm glad you have a good first impression

[Schmidty]

I was bored at work tonight and buckled. I bought the Deluxe.

My first impressions after about 2 hours of play? It feels slow, ponderous, and much different than any other Civs that I've played over the years. Having said that, I'm also having fun with it. There are so many new things to learn and mess around with and as slow and clunky as seems, it still has me wanting to go one more turn. It's going to take a long time to get my money's worth, but I can see that happening down the road, especially after all of the ui patching and such.

[Edward64]

Thanks for your take

(and reminding me to download now)

[Passacaglia]

Nice, you guys are building up some memories that they'll remember for the rest of their lives.

Unfortunately, son never got into Civ or 4x games. After Pirates, he went on to RPG games like Fallout, CoD, Assassins series.

Take it FWIW. Son lives in a different state for work. One big regret is not playing multi-player with him so we can continue playing together, like on Fallout 76. So, if you get a chance, start doing that now so in the future you 4 will be able to connect even if you are spread out.

Totally. I'm imagining that when they move out, games like this will be the only way I'll have significant contact with them. I've actually barely played myself, but it's been fun to hear them say stuff like "we *need* to be friends with Harriet Tubman!" or arguing about what to build.

I'm thinking of trying to get started on that and setting up multiplayer games here at home. We have my current laptop, a switch, a PS5, then the new laptop soon. I think mentally I don't view them enough as independent entities yet to get a copy of the game for each of them, though. Maybe when the price goes down.

[Edward64]

Patch 1.0.1 is out.

IGN Error 403 - Unavailable (IFW-U02) (https://www.ign.com/articles/civilization-7-patch-101-addresses-some-of-the-negative-feedback-from-advanced-access)

[Schmidty]

It feels like as the 3rd age ends, it’s a cluster fuck of clicking on the right thing hoping for the right result. I don’t like to just quit, but I’m coming close.

[bhlloy]

It feels like as the 3rd age ends, it’s a cluster fuck of clicking on the right thing hoping for the right result. I don’t like to just quit, but I’m coming close.

I couldn't make it through a game for a similar reason, I'm going to put it on the shelf until they make more quality of life and depth changes I think. I can see what they were going for and I think there's potential for the changes to really work, but IMO it's not there yet.

[Edward64]

Civ 7 updates roadmap.

Mar 4
Mar 25
April

"Additional UI Updates & Polish" highlighted on all 3

Update Check-In: Feb 27, 2025 | Civ VII (https://civilization.2k.com/civ-vii/news/civ-vii-update-check-in-feb-27/)

[Passacaglia]

I'm happy to see hotseat, even if it's in beyond, I'm just glad it's on a list.

[RainMaker]

It feels like as the 3rd age ends, it’s a cluster fuck of clicking on the right thing hoping for the right result. I don’t like to just quit, but I’m coming close.

I'm in the same boat. Just not really doing much for me. Maybe with some updates and a DLC it'll be better but I can't get into it.

One thing I do like is how each Civ has its own civics tree to work from too. Always felt like the Civs were too close in previous versions and this helps differentiate them a bit more.

[Edward64]

Mar 4 patch is out.

For those playing, let us know how well it addressed the UI (and bug) stuff ... essentially, has it made a good/significant improvement on gameplay for you?

I've been reading solid patch but UI still needs work.

[Schmidty]

I’m about to start a new game to see if the patch is noticeable. Having read the patch notes, I’m not really confident that I’m going to notice anything unless I play toward the areas the patch addresses. It doesn’t seem like it strengthens the overall game, but we’ll see.

[HerRealName]

I had a few hours to play today and spent 10 minutes on Civ 7 and went back to Old World. I do think it will be good eventually but I'm not getting that 'one more turn' feeling on this one.

[Edward64]

I only played it a little at the beginning but knew I'd need to give the patches time to work things out. I've been checking out the forum to see what others have been saying.

One post highlighted that Steam recent reviews is actually "mostly negative (1,252)".

Anyone here still playing Civ 7? Is it a solid game now with all the patches? If not, I'll keep playing Civ 6 for now.

[SirFozzie]

I'm having fun. There are currently some bah-roken combos (watch Ursa Ryan's youtube series that highlights some of the more broken ones). but it's goodf for a game a day for me

edit to note: I'm using a set of mods including an AI mod, another that also unlocks larger map sizes and True start options ( I don't use the True start) and changes the UI a bit (I think that modder has already been hired by Firaxis.)

[Passacaglia]

A game a day?

[Flasch186]

Foz can you highlight those mods for me as to what they are?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SirFozzie]

A game a day?


Remember, I'm disabled/retired.. so I can sit and play through for 4-5 hours at a time (taking breaks for pain management etcetera)

(you can get the CivMods program from CivFanatics and these are the programs that I use)

City Hall
Resource Re-Sorts
RHQ Intelligent AI Mod
Enhanced Town Focus Info
Leonardfactory's Policy Yield Previews
TCS Improved Plot Tooltip
YNAMP (Larger Map, Continents ++ (Beta)
Sukritact's Simple UI Adjustments

Note: Sukiritact is the modder that Firaxis has hired.

[Passacaglia]

I didn't know that. Even so, how many hours does it take you to finish a game?

[RainMaker]

How's the end game in 7? That's what always drags me down with other versions.

[SirFozzie]

I didn't know that. Even so, how many hours does it take you to finish a game?

4-6 hours, but that's because I tend to play "SimCiv" early on (especially as the AI likes to start declaring wars on you early in exploration age, using the AI mod), and the Modern Age goes by quick because it's just a matter of seizing the victory condition that you want to go for, I've won several games on the default difficulty and one of two at Viceroy difficulty (Benjamin Franklin was so far ahead in science and culture, I called it a lot)

[SirFozzie]

How's the end game in 7? That's what always drags me down with other versions.

dola: The age reset mechanic helps, but if you get way out in front, it's obvious how the game will end.

edit: Maybe tomorrow I'll do a twitch stream or something for folks to hang out at?

[Edward64]

dola: The age reset mechanic helps, but if you get way out in front, it's obvious how the game will end.


Thanks for your feedback.

The reset of the ages was the biggest issue I read from those that didn't like Civ 7. All that work, and not enough "transferred" over to next age. Do you like this feature or preferred the old way.

[SirFozzie]

It's... a mixed bag. I get why it's there, and it does affect your decisions in the latter stages of an age. Since many buildings lose most of their potency in the switch between ages (they lose all adjacency bonuses in the next stage, so you have a reason to "overbuild" in the next stage, it becomes a decision of what to prioritize.

For example, take the Arena. it's a late stage-1 (Antiquity) Happiness building, but since it's fairly deep down the technology tree, by the time you unlock it, you end up only using it where absolutely necessary (let's say you have a city that's going into riots and destroying things (one of the late stage 1 crisises deals pretty harsh happiness penalties, and cities at negative happiness start rioting, destroying one improvement EVERY TURN (and if you don't fix it in 9 turns, will revolt and go over to another civ).. you end up only building them when absolutely necessary.

The age mechanic is probably needed just to provide things to build in every age.. since by the end of the exploration age you're ruynning out of places to build.

I do like that it allows somewhat of a course change if you find you're behind.. for example in the Benjamin Franklin game I mentioned above, I realized pretty much midway through the first age that Benjamin Franklin was a superpowerhouse, so I switched my Ashoka-World Renouncer (gets extra food from extra happiness) builld from Greece in the antiquity age (which gets bonuses to influence and work with city states) to Bulgaria (a more war focused build that gets bonuses to pillaging, where it's kinda like the Mongol Horde, all your towns get bonuses of food etcetera when you pillage an enemy tile. It allowed me to get back int he game somewhat, but Franklin went on a rampage in the distant lands, and was still out of reach ny the the end of an age.

[Edward64]

FWIW

Some stats on Civ 7, Civ 6 and Civ 5 at a-point-in-time.

Civilization 7 just hit a Mostly Negative rating on Steam | Windows Central (https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/civilization-vii-steam-rating-mostly-negative)
SteamDB has stats on PC player count, and while it's but a small part of the overall player base, I don't doubt that the drop-off is seen on other platforms.

At the time of writing, Civ 7 has 6,368 players in-game on PC, with an 8,679 player peak in the last 24 hours. That's a big drop compared to the 84,558 PC player peak seen at launch.

To put that into perspective, Civilization 6 currently has 32,046 PC players in-game right now. Civilization 5, which launched 15 years ago, currently has 12,429 players on PC.

[frnk55]

FWIW

Some stats on Civ 7, Civ 6 and Civ 5 at a-point-in-time.

Civilization 7 just hit a Mostly Negative rating on Steam | Windows Central (https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/civilization-vii-steam-rating-mostly-negative)
Kind of sad. For me Civ 5 is the best.

[Edward64]

Kind of sad. For me Civ 5 is the best.

It's been a while, don't remember Civ 5 much but am, for the most part, happy with Civ 6. So, in no hurry to play Civ 7.

I'll probably wait until the DLC for the "era after the modern times". Have to believe that it'll have more tweaks to the era transition process and mostly functionally complete.

[Edward64]

New Civ 7 update today. Update notes below

Update Check-In: June 10, 2025 | Civ VII (https://civilization.2k.com/civ-vii/news/civ-vii-update-check-in-jun-10/)


The most important part to me is below. Glad to see they are taking the age transitions seriously.

... we also hear that some of these features haven’t landed quite as we'd hoped in their current implementation. Specifically, here are a few recurring themes we’ve seen in player feedback:


Age Transitions can feel abrupt
Game replayability needs more depth
There's room for improving the player's sense of empire identity and continuity throughout a multi-Age campaign

These are significant areas of the game that are incredibly important to get right, but are more complex to solve. Addressing this feedback in a satisfying way will take time, over the course of several updates. That said, you’ll start to see some smaller changes in July focused on end of Age countdowns and improvements to Age Transitions. For the longer-term and broader changes, we’ll share more detailed plans here when we’re ready. We’re invested in making these changes and empowering you to enjoy what sets Civ VII apart.

[Thomkal]

Should be a new update out this week(?) that gives you the option of staying with the same civ for the whole game, you know like a regular game of Civ?