Yeah, the lenses are a useful touch and diplomacy is better altogether, other than that everything about the UI seems to be a step down. Even the minimap is pretty useless. Game itself seems to be very strong, especially compared to day 1 in previous releases. Districts aren't quite as complicated as I was anticipating, really just one more step to unlock same old buildings and some added land management. Though it does force you to focus more on those subset buildings per city, since the districts aren't a quick build.

Civic and government system is great and I'm really liking the boosters. Religion and combat are basically the same as 5.

Still despise the graphical style and game appears to run more sluggish than 5 despite looking inferior, imho.

I think that's a fair review. I would add I love the great people mechanic, deciding whether to pass on one and go for a different category with a different perk.

I got burned trying to go for a great engineer who would have allowed me to finish a wonder, missed the engineer by one turn and then missed finishing the wonder by one turn as well. Good times

Oh, I love the overhaul of the great person system as well.

Heck even creating roads, not as straightforward now, but it feels better to me.

Sounds like with casus belli and envoys, maybe Civ pulled a little bit from EU?

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/201...tion-6-review/

How does the battering ram work?

I'm also loving the game so far but I'm having issues with freezing and crashes. Like I'll start up the game and it'll just sit at the loading screen. Seems like a common problem after looking around.

I'm having a blast with my first play through. I LOVE the boosts you can get!

park it next to a city with walls and everyone that attacks the city uses it to destroy the walls. you only need 1 BR. this is the same with the siege tower. those 2 units dont directly attack a city but makes it easier for other units to attack it

And make sure it's linked to another unit because it's easily attacked on its own.

I'm already hooked. I bought it on Friday and it worked fantastic on my Surface Pro 4 (I was worried it wouldn't) - its on a really high resolution, but all the textures are low. I ended up playing until 4:30 in the morning. And then a few hours on Saturday. I wasn't entirely sure what I was doing at first with the civics tree and new tech tree (and what to do with city states), but I figured that playing a few games through would help.

I started with a random game, which gave me Rome on Prince level on a Continent map (medium size maybe?). First thing I noticed was that damn barbarians are annoying in this game (in a good way). I found out soon that I was next to China, who decided to randomly declare war on me. I was a bit like "OH CRAP" because I had kind of neglected my military. I had a few warriors and slingmen hanging out, but if China had troops on my borders ready to storm me, I'd be a goner. Thankfully they didn't and a few turns later I finished researching the tech that got me Rome's legions. Soon after I took one of their cities and decided to accept the peace terms. Only after that I realized, oh crap, the only iron on this side of the continent is next to China's remaining two cities. So, I kept making legions and battering rams, and after a few terms (and a denouncement by China), I declared war and took the two (Gandhi decided to denounce me for being a warmonger as a result though). Of course during that second Roman-Chinese war, the Chinese city I took in the first war devolved into rebellion (because of a -5 due to war weariness... oops, gotta look at amenities more) - but they spewed out knights... and legions are no match for knights. So... I kind of had to wait them out a bit until I had enough legions that I could surround them and take them out.

So... I'm really liking the game. I didn't play last night after watching Westworld because I knew I'd be up until like 2 and that's not good for work on Monday morning. But the game totally was enticing me. Like whispering in my ear - you can only play half an hour. It'll be already. Damn you Civ addition...

Huh... good to know. Maybe I'll do the tutorial and then go back to my game in progress.

Nice.. we are cool with the Romans so we have teamed up to rid our areas of the Barbarians, working out well so far. ;)

Only part way through my first attempt. Best friends with Gandhi and denounced by a country that I just met because I hadn't established a religion. Gandhi stepped up and denounced them immediately. Barbarians started as a pest but currently just a minor diversion.

I like the new city building options, just took a bit to get used to the new planning.

I have to say I'm not a huge fan of the hardcoded AI likes/dislikes, feels like a way to shoehorn in conflict. For example being bordered by the chinese, I have a lot of wonders so they are constantly denouncing me. It just feels lazy and arbitrary to me.

A civ should rival me because I have a ton of troops on their border, or have key resources they need, or because I'm powerful and might win the game. Not for some random reason like I don't have a powerful navy (shouldn't the Vikings be more likely to dislike me if I have a huge threatening navy rather than the other way around?)

But isn't that partially a way to distinguish Civs, which is something that fans have been asking about for a while? I remember since Civ2 all the jokes about Gandhi being distinctly anti-pacifist (if not THE warmonger) and how silly that was.

Pro Tip. If you find yourself unable to create a new game recently, apparently Windows AV programs have screwed up Civ. Add the Civ6 folder to your exclusion list in Security Essentials/Defender, and it'll work.

I don't disagree, just think the execution is dumb. If Harald Hardrada actually spent the first 200 turns raiding any unprotected coastal cities, that would be a fun way to distinguish the Civ, make the game more challenging and provide some tenuous historical accuracy.

As it is he pings me every 20 turns to tell me I don't have enough ships and that he doesn't want to be my friend. What's the point? Doesn't change the way I play the game in the slightest. I'm not going to build a ton of ships just so one Civ likes me a little more. I'm certainly not going to stay away from building wonders so China likes me or rush to get a settler on another continent so England likes me a little more. It just feels like a pointless mechanic that actually limits diplomacy.

Can anyone say if the Digital Deluxe version is worth the extra money?

We won't really know until we find out what the pieces of DLC are. It will be a discount on getting the new pieces right away (I expect maybe two or three new civs and alternate leaders for several of the ones we do have now), but if you're the sort that can wait for sales I'm sure the new content will be cheaper 6 or 9 months out.

I'll just put this here: The Aztecs' ability to rush districts is amazing. Spaceports in 5 turns amazing.

The "crash to desktop when capturing a city" feature sucks.

11pm last night - "I'll just play for an hour and then go to sleep at a decent time"

1:45am - "Oh crap. Not again."

I'm having a blast in my first game, but my lack of knowledge of how districts worked and spending some time just cranking out legions to conquer China has significantly put me far back in the science race. Though now I'm focusing on the religious war, which is going ok I guess. I'm still trying to figure it out... my apostles have fought Scythia's Hindu apostles a few times, while we try to bend some city states (and now Indian cities) to our wills.

I don't know if this has something to do with my play style (marathon, big maps, multiple continents, sometimes I'm on my own continent, almost exclusively peaceful unless I need something on AI land,) but a frequent annoyance from Civ5 still exists for me:

1. Weaker Civ that is not on my continent declares war on me.
2. It never sends any troops to engage mine.
3. 20-30 or so turns later, they offer peace for a trivial amount (like maybe 5 gold + 1 gold per turn for 30 turns).
4. Rinse. Repeat.

Done this cycle at least 3-4 times with both Roosevelt and Saladin in my current game. Maybe as many as 7 or 8 times. It's not a huge deal, but kinda weird that the AI basically gifts me 35 gold every so often.

I don't get something that ridiculous, but I'll get a significantly weaker civ declaring against me, attacking with 3-4 units that I wipe out quickly, then asking for peace and offering something like one of their cities.

Okay, another cool event. The Arabian empire kept giving me compliments; oddly enough I was a little concerned because no deals or anything could ever happen between me and them so I was suspicious.

At the same time the city state next to me we building up a massive military and that was getting me a little nervous. I did have a good relationship and trade routes with that city-state.

Then the Arabian empire declared a surprise war on me and many boats showed up on my shores. I scrambled to get my military over defense. At the same time the city state released all holy hell on them. Now two other civilizations have declared war on them and they have limped away without causing any noticeable damage on me as they have more important issues (I am across a sea from them and they have civs right next door to them who declared war).

Very glad to see that happen as I wasn't focusing nearly enough on military (as it seemed I was in good relations with everyone).

Good little article here. I didn't realize that multiple cities can use the same district if it's positioned correctly. Definitely an advantage that I haven't been using in my planning.

Tips For Playing Civilization VI

Yeah, they did a poor job in informing us how to the play the game. I miss the days of 100 page manuals.

+1

I'm enjoying it but I really don't have a strategy but seem to be doing ok on Prince. I was Gilgamesh and was next to Japan. It seemed like I had an advantage so I went to war and wiped them out with relative ease. Almost everyone else hates me, but I am showing as in the science lead, so I'll progressing until I feel like another war. Brazil is probably my next target but they are somewhat protected by a jungle.

Greece's Hoplites are pretty strong in the early game. Wipe people out before they get started.

Has the first patch come out yet? I always wait for that first patch before buying.

Edit: I'm an idiot.

Apparently a patch came out a few days ago? Though apparently it was some minor soundtrack thing? I have no idea.

I know an update downloaded for me a few days ago, but I have no idea what it did.

Has anybody heard of the term or name "Suzerain" before this game?

I sure as crap hadn't.

I remember it from a class about the Ottoman Empire, but had forgotten all about it until I saw it in the game.

Being the history nerd/teacher that I am, of course I had heard of it. Ever use it in a sentence? Probably not. :)

I wonder what would equate to this is currently? Kurdistan?

I know it was used in the Gamecube/Wii Fire Emblem games.

Some of the Steam achievements look quite difficult.

Pizza Party
Activate Leonardo da Vinci in New York with Great Works from Michelangelo and Donatello -- and a sewer -- all in that city

I finished my first game on Prince and rolled to an easy domination victory. If I was more aggressive, i probably could've won much sooner. At this point, there is a lot of work required. I seem to recall usually playing prince or just one level higher. I'm not an expert by any means.

1. The AI did not expand enough. They had plenty of space for more cities and did not which lead to them falling behind on the tech tree.

2. The AI was well behind on its units. Either the lack of technology from number one or not upgrade. I was late game with infantry and a couple of tanks and the last Civ left had mostly warriors and one random ironclad. The highest level, I think I faced was crossbowman.

I like the new concepts and will try higher levels, but it is still very rough around the edges.

My first victory on Prince was very similar. I expanded in a hurry. Around turn 400, I had the most advanced units in the game and was facing units a couple of eras before mine. I was pursuing a Science victory, but ended up with a Culture victory due to all the Great Artists/Writers/etc. I was pumping out late in the game. I also hit Future Tech around turn 380 or so. I researched a ton of Future Techs while I didn't finish out the Civic stuff until turn 440 or so.

I had fun, but you're correct that it definitely needs some fine tuning.

Civ VI has already surpassed 1M units sold. That's the second 1M seller for Firaxis this year (XCOM2).

I haven't noticed this, but I've had a few nearby civs declare war and scare me (I tend to concentrate on expansion & building up my cities early, and thus are often slacking in terms of units & firepower, whilst ahead in science and production), then just not show up for long enough I can ramp up a competent military. It's like the AI is sufficiently aggressive when it comes to declaring war, then just shows no urgency once involved in one.

The AI also.seems woefully unable to handle ranged units. Give me like 3 Crossbowmen, particularly if they're defending a city of mine, and I can take on 15 horsemen or Roman Legions, with the added bonus I'm basically farming XP & can eventually get to the "fire 2x in one turn" upgrade, which was a gamebreaker in two of my early play throughs.
No (real) patch yet, but I've found it very enjoyable. Building up cities is much more unique with the terrain factors, and the city population constraints + potential bonuses for nearby cities really encourage a tight empire that grows outward instead of massive sprawl. Interactions with city states is much improved & varied (& can really affect your early gameplay - I ran into 3 militaristic city states who gave my capital +2 production when building units on one map, and you best believe I started churning out some units & blitzing the neighbors.) There are also some very nice mid game bonuses for being a Suzerain. Even the wonders seem more useful now, though again the AI needs to be much more aggressive about building cities near them & taking advantage of those sweet tile bonuses.

End game still looks weak to me, but I rarely even played those out back in Civ II days - outside of scenarios by "1900"ish it always seems obvious who is going to win, and the fun for me has always been in growing the Civ & exploring anyways. Overall, if you want to wait for a sale, go for it, but if you're a Civ fan there's enough new stuff here and the mechanics are tight enough you will definitely get a few fun playthroughs in before feeling like you need a patch imo.

Was less than thrilled to have a Civ twice ask me to join a war with them, to which I agreed to build up our relations, the end result was them hating and immediately denouncing me the next turn for being a war monger. Even though the 2 wars I was in were at their behest.

There is definitely some odd behavior in the game. They definitely don't seem to expand fast enough, at least on continents. I had a harder time on pangea at a lower difficult because they seemed to expand more, but its only a sample size of one.

Dumb question: has anyone here played above Prince level?

I'm steam rolling through Prince now, which I couldn't do as easily on V. I'm upping difficulty next game.

What I wish is that I could help out my city-states with some tech or something once I am suzerain of them. I finished my first game and they were still running around with about 50 warriors.

I think that the other civs have a somewhat similar issue. There's definitely some fine tuning that needs to be done.

Same as Jeff - I haven't yet as I worked to understand districts etc, but will be making the move up in my next game. Is the AI notably more aggressive at those levels?

I don't know, but I recall reading somewhere that it might be. I'm playing a Prince game now and doing well, although the effin' Japanese are apostle-spamming me to no end. (I got a continent with just me and some city states. Japan is on the next next continent over.)