Civilization 7 is in development

[MJW (ya that one)]

I played a few games of Age of Wonders 4, but it got repetitive quite quick. Ironic given that the main selling point was the massive customization...

AoW 4 is basically AoW3 with a new coat of paint and the BS removed. Healing past what you started with (by adding the temporary hp mechanic), stack-splitting the AI (by adding sieges and allowing armies to reenforce beyond one hex + capping the number of armies on each side to three), XP grinding, making so your leader doesn't have to give up his turn to spellcast--so you are not at a disadvantage by having him in battle and removing the ability of necroing Units you didn't control--so you cannot get tier 4 unit on turn 5.     

So if you were bored with AoW3 AoW4 won't help much, even though it is a better game.

I've played both... empasis on played there. (as I recall we even did a succession game together right MJW?) I personally wasn't even that bothered by such "bs", I tend not to care in a mostly Single Player game, just that basically every game comes down to "unlock tier 4-->spam tier 4-->win" no matter what flavour you picked for your wizard/faction. Just not enough actual mechanical difference, everything is the same with some slight tweaks to stats.

Yes, we did do succession game here. It was fun.

The BS is easy to not do expect stack-splitting (because you have to go out of your way for everything else). So, I agree with you that it doesn't make much of a difference.

AoW3/4 AI is passive so you are going to pull away and kill everything easy if you defer the conflict. In AoW3 you could attack earlier due to no siege mechanic. But if you try to rush in AoW4 your stack is going to get swarmed because you get stuck outside the city. So you have to go with the Build up-->kill everything easy gameplan. The "kill everything" part usually happens @ tier 3 for me though...

[MJW (ya that one)]

LOL no one has posted here for over two weeks...

   

Anyway, CIV5 has Steam rating of 95% while this game is 48%, with recent reviews being 42%. Most players are casuals and so have very low standards, but Firaxis/2K went too far. I think taking away your stuff and horrible UI sunk this game. CIV5 was able to get away because causals are weak and cannot notice its flaws. I still dislike Trip more because 1UPT will stick around forever, while Civ7 will just forgotten. Even Firaxis will get let off the hook as they can just blame the game being rushed due to GTA6 being delayed.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

I play about one game a month, still. Each time I tinker with settings - a new leader, try to choose all-new civs, and mess about with age lengths, game length, etc. So far my favorite way to play ahs been with extended age lengths & marathon speed - the slowest possible game. That gives plenty of time in each era to play with the units and feel the map, so each era feels like its own small game. Then I take a break at transition and come back in a few days & treat it like a new mini-game built upon the last. That eases the annoyance of transition somewhat, and I've taken to ignoring the legacy paths and just playing normally. I don't need the points since the AI sucks anyway, so I can do what I want.

Still not a GREAT game by any means, but I am still having fun. Just gotta, er, work for it?

[luddite]

That's cool that you've found a way to enjoy it. I uh... still haven't bought it... but from gameplay videos, It seems like one of the big issues is the huge jump between ages? I guess extended age lenghts + marathon speed would help that. But hopefully the DLC will add some more ages in between ancient and exploration. That seems like way, way too big of a jump, and I think almost everyone agrees.

(of course my own preference would be to get rid of the age transition all together, but I'm sure they won't go back on that)

[Sullla]

I finished typing up the report for my first solo game on Deity difficulty in Civ7. Did the most recent patch improve the gameplay? You can judge for yourself:

https://www.sullla.com/Civ7/AOW-1.html

[Japper007]

I did the same Maurya into Majapahit thing, with Jose Rizal (even more happiness, larger bonuses from events and longer celebrations). That excess happy into science policy on Maurya is close to OP. The entire run was almost entirely spent in celebration. And literally was in the Modern Era as Mexico. If Maya wasn't as ridiculous, Maurya would be much higher rated.

I hate the change to spawn distance. Sure it technically makes the game harder, but it makes the early game entirely one note. Eventually you just start prepping every game for the inevitable rush, and you also end up ahead as a player from fighting back. Civ 6 was much the same on release, it's like they didn't learn anything from that entire dev cycle, wtf was Ed doing?

[haphazard1]

Thanks for the write up, Sulla. Seeing the AIs get obliterated on deity is just sad. So many odd design decisions in Civ 7, with the overall result being a pile of busted parts that don't really work well together. Even the good bits get overwhelmed by the era transitions and legacy stuff.

[yuris125]

Lol, the Shift+Enter thing (force end turn to build nothing and accumulate production for a few turns) has been around since Civ6, has been addressed in Civ6 balance mods, but hasn't been fixed in Civ7??

[LKendter]

I finished typing up the report for my first solo game on Deity difficulty in Civ7. Did the most recent patch improve the gameplay? You can judge for yourself:

https://www.sullla.com/Civ7/AOW-1.html

Thanks for the review. Sounds like they are trying to patch some of the worst of the UI issues. However, it doesn't sound like an answer to the split ages is coming

[TheArchduke]

I wait if the expansion salvages this.

I doubt it.