Prepare To Contract A Case Of “Just One More Turn”-itis With Civilization VI
In an extremely exciting bit of news, Sid Meier and his team have announced the latest entry in the Civilization series, with Civilization VI. Don the mantle of one of many history’s greatest leader, as you carve your own path from the beginning of time, all the way into the future. This is a series that should require no introduction, but for those who aren’t familiar with it, prepare for many a sleepless night to begin being experienced. Civilization is notorious for it’s addictive gameplay, and its a common case where people like to eke out “just one more turn” in order to see if they end up wiping out a rival civilization, or securing a key Wonder or Technology for themselves. Before you know it, 8 PM turns to 2 AM, and you’re having an absolute blast. The series isn’t proposing any massive changes, and that’s reassuring, due to the mixed bag of reception that Beyond Earth had received. It’s exciting to see them returning to what works best, and while there will be no huge innovations, there will still be enhancements to the gameplay that will make it feel like the next step in the series. Lead Producer Dennis Shirk summarized their plans for design as “It’ll be like a warm blanket.”
Naturally, Firaxis is keeping mum on the other proposed changes to Civilization VI, but there were a few key details they were able to bring up. Cities are getting a massive overhaul, and now will be spanning multiple tiles versus a single, cramped one. Placement is going to matter more than ever,  as you’ll have to create and manage Districts within your city, each dedicated to various outputs of a city. Production, Research, Finances, Military Power and Culture will all have their own depth, and it sounds like the locations that we place cities are also going to factor into how we research technologies. It’s a very interesting change to the way the game will be played, and Firaxis is quite keen on making location an important factor in Civilization VI.
Another giant change to the formula is what’s being touted as “dynamic diplomacy”. Similar to how Gandhi gained a penchant for nukes, AI will feel more organic in the game. The motivations of your competition will change wildly over the course of the game, trying to adapt to what works best to help work around (or conquer) others. Andrew Garrett, Lead AI Designer has also noted that “Each leader has a historical agenda that’s associated with them, that reflects in some way who they were in history,” which should prove to be quite intriguing from a gameplay standpoint. Each AI’s behaviour will influence what they aim to develop, and we’d wholly expect the wonder-crazed Ramses to become even more fond of them, and taking major offense at you building ones before he would.
Now begins the long, long wait for this title to actually release, but rest assured, Firaxis is aiming to make Civilization VI a big title, especially due to Beyond Earth. More information will be coming in the following months, so stay tuned to COG Connected for all the meaty details!
Source: Press Release