A look at the popular game franchise and my take on the next iteration of the series.

A look at the popular game franchise and my take on the next iteration of the series. Yesterday in my vision of what the future of the game Civilization could look like, I talked about changes to the ways that Civilizations work.  Dynamic Civilizations grow and expand utilizing a Civilization Level system that governs how the Civ is viewed and interacts with others. I detailed how more civilizations could be included and smaller Civs could be related and become bigger Civilizations. Finally, I mentioned a “Prehistory Mode” that would act as a prologue to the main campaign. Now, it is time to delve into my biggest change that could be the most controversial of all that I suggest.

LEADERS EVOLVED

No More Single Static Leaders

Yes, that you read that headline correctly. But what does that mean? It means that the leaders used to represent a civilization no longer exist. No more selecting the civilization by the omnipotent leader that carries them through all the ages. Diplomatic screens now have a shadowed leader in the background with a representative diplomat of the civilization in the foreground (who performs all of the animations of the deal and is dressed according to culture and era). All dealings are handled this way.

I know that the leaders have become the “main characters” of the franchise.  So, I expect a lot of backlash at this point. But I feel that too much emphasis has been placed on the leaders chosen to represent the civilizations in the game. With dynamically crafted civilizations, I just don’t think that one leader to rule them all per civilization will really fit and would rather be counterproductive to the ebb and flow of development. However, a new type of Leader could arise to fill in the purpose and retain that “character” of the game.

Great Leaders

Instead of having one overarching leader throughout the game, the civilization will be open to multiple leaders that last over a certain amount of time, the Great Leader. These leaders, like Heroes of Civilization VI, only last for a certain amount of time. During that time, they can lead armies for significant combat bonuses and/or station in cities for special bonuses or abilities. When these Leaders are active, a representation of that leader fills in the shadowed figure of the diplo screen. There would be a pool of leaders available for each civilization group (several civilizations closely related).

Great People

                On the subject of “Greats,” it might go without saying that since there are Great Leaders, that Great People exist in the game. Admittedly, I am on the fence about great works. I like the system, but I am not sure that it is necessary. In any case, I feel the general way that Great People are implemented is fine, however will probably have to be tweaked for the new systems put in place.

GRAPHICAL UPDATES

Smaller Hexes

While most of the graphical changes, such as art style, UI, and the like would mostly be something that is subjected to the actual development and has little to do with actual gameplay, one thing that I would adjust is the hexes. At least, I would change the size of them… make them about half the size that they are now. First, smaller hexes would make for more defined landforms and better-looking maps. But beyond that, it would open greater gameplay possibilities.

The smaller hexes would allow for varied terrain types, more resource locations and more rooms for districts and wonders. Some features, districts, wonders and buildings could be greater than one hex in size. New elements such as Mountain Passes could be introduced. City development would be more strategic as well. And because the hexes are smaller, units would have a greater base movement speed than previous games.

OTHER

Roads

                I liked having roads created by trade caravans in Civilization VI, but I did not like the manual aspect so much. One problem with the caravans is that they would always look for the fastest root, including waterways. This did would not build the land roads between cities. Instead, you would have to build a Military Engineer to manually construct the road, one piece at a time. To make matters worse, the ME’s had limited charges for road construction.

                This time around, I think the player should be able to select the route, either through a couple presented options or by “drawing” it out when sending the caravan.  Or have a construct road option where the player chooses the path of the road and pays an up front cost.

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OK, that was not so bad, was it? Well, I suppose I’ll find out soon. But wait, there is more! Tomorrow I’ll be digging into how units and cities will work. The day after tomorrow, I should be starting to wrap up, with concluding this feature by Wednesday. Until then, remember Trebuchets are coming…

Links

Sid Meier’s Civilization and the Future of the Franchise – Introduction

Sid Meier’s Civilization and the Future of the Franchise – Part 1

Sid Meier’s Civilization and the Future of the Franchise – Part 2

Sid Meier’s Civilization and the Future of the Franchise – Part 4

Sid Meier’s Civilization and the Future of the Franchise – Part 5

Sid Meier’s Civilization and the Future of the Franchise – Part 6