I liked 2, 3, 4, 5, & 6 and will probably like 7. Also, finishing games isn’t that hard, as long as you’re on a difficulty level you can handle.
It’s not that it’s hard, it’s that it’s not engaging or fun. The early/mid game is where most of the action happens and the end game is when you spend 40+ turns rolling enemy cities with your tank armies.
Interested to see how they implement this. I’ve always thought that the first 150 turns of Civ are a ton of fun, but eventually it turns into a slog. I’ve always wished there were more automation options in the late game, and faster processing of enemy turns.
Being able to form armies that move as one is already a great improvement that could reduce a lot of managing late game. Same with reinforcements which will find their way to the front alone in Civ VII.
Honestly, I wouldn’t mind if they made a version that just stays in one age indefinitely and lets you explore it in an open world sort of way?
Like take Minecraft. I played that for years without even knowing there is an end game, and it came as something of a shock when someone told me. You can finish Minecraft?!?
But then I was like meh, leave me alone. I’m trying to build Noah’s Ark with a functioning village on top and a crystal waterfall down to the animal sanctuary below. And I still haven’t completed the Mars colony. Wonder how the pandas are doing over there?
In the gameplay showcase, they said “every age can be played on its own, or woven together into a full campaign”. So I expect you will be able to set up a game with one age and no turn limit. If not, that will be the very first mod.
It’s 2024… Please fix the AI…
Biggest weakness in every civ game is the shitty AI that requires massive cheating, and terrible diplomacy (constantly making ridiculous demands, then getting mad and denouncing you if you dont hand over the goods)
Seriously. I remember first getting into Deity and realizing it’s basically just exploiting intimate knowledge of how the AI works. The actual max difficulty is Prince, where the AI doesn’t get bonuses, and it’s so terrible at actually pursuing an agenda it’s not very challenging.
I am a bit hopeful that VII’s decoupling leaders and civs will force the AI to be a bit more generally good. At least make it so you don’t know exactly what sort of tactics to use from the first turn you meet it.
