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

Somebody queue up Boys II Men because we are now at the End of the Road. (If you like that song, your welcome for that little worm in your ear. If you do not like that song, I am sorry) Anyway, the final stretch has arrived as I conclude this multiple part feature on a potential Civilization VII. So, sit back, strap in, and prepare yourself as we bring this juggernaut of a feature in for a landing.

NEEDS WORK

            The following sections are mostly quick snippets on some of the other systems familiar throughout the series.

Tech/Civic Divide

To be honest, I am torn on the division of Technologies and Civic. I feel that having separate trees makes sense, however, I often found myself outpacing tech with culture by a long shot in Civ VI. This made for an uneven game, in my opinion. This is another aspect that would have to be tweaked and balanced during development. Perhaps one way is to attach Civics to the Civilization Level. Tech would still be per era and civics unlock after certain conditions are met (technologies discovered, era reached, particular units built, etc.).

Something that I would possibly remove would be inspirations and eurekas. While they were an interesting experiment, I felt that they tended to muddle advancement Maybe, instead, adopting certain civics would allow a boost to progress on certain technologies. For example, adopting civics related to the sea would boost sea faring technologies. Likewise, adopting education related civics would boost science focused technologies.

World Congress

The World Congress is a feature of Civilization VI that I was not very fond of. I like the idea of a World Congress, however the implementation in Civilization VI was not that great, in my opinion. I preferred the World Congress that was in Civilization V. I liked being able to offer my own propositions and voting on them. Perhaps carrying over diplomatic favor from VI to use for votes with the two highest can propose topics to vote on. And no more of this either/or propositions. Either the proposition is agreed upon or it is not.

Victories

In any iteration of Civilization, it was always a thrill to send off a rocket into deep space and achieve ultimate victory. Or to lead your armies across the globe and bring every other civilization to your heel. Whatever the flavor of victory, the endgame can be a thrill when achieved. Multiple victory conditions helped to open up the paths for whatever the players preference and flavor was. However, it played into the race for victory that would lead to a runaway contender by mid game. The only caveat was that you sometimes had to look out for the sneak victory under a different condition.

I am not opposed to bringing multiple victory conditions back. That is part of the flavor of the series. And you could always continue playing in a post-victory sandbox world. However, for me, the key is the ability to change course during the gameplay. Ultimately, the major point in this blog feature is for a game that is not focused on a race to victory, but a journey of wonder stretching the span of civilization.

Disasters

            Disasters were an interesting inclusion in Civilization VI and did add an element that could change things up through the course of a game. I would like to see them return in the next iteration. They would be perfectly mixed with the random event feature mentioned previously. Perhaps some disasters like storms would be less graphical and prolonged like they are in Civilization VI, simply a message detailing the event and the aftermath and a one turn graphical representation. But others, like volcanoes, would be more “in-your-face” as they are in VI.

Multiplayer

            Finally, I come to multiplayer. Honestly, much of this was written with the single player campaign in mind. I rarely play multiplayer as those turn out to be even more poignant victory races than the single player. However, I feel that the bulk (if not all) of the features described over the last few days will transfer well into the multiplayer arena.

CONCLUSION

            This is just an overview of the changes that I see would make for a new and intriguing direction for Civilization VII. Whether Firaxis already has it well in development or maybe just getting to scratching some notes on post-its and placing them on a wall, I have no idea. Perhaps they are working on a spin-off before moving on like they did with Civilization IV (Colonization) and Civilization V (Beyond Earth). If that is the case, hopefully it is Fantasy Civilization.

That said, this is just my take on what would make the game more interesting and drive me to play more through the end. Many other alterations could be implemented or would have to be tweaked; however, those would be more mechanical (such as unit strength, etc.) and is far beyond the point of this writing and would take it from a concept to a design document.

            I hope that you have enjoyed my vision of what would be an enjoyable game of Civilization. Let me know what you think, whether you agree or hate the ideas.  Just remember, let’s remain civilized, lest I be forced to Denounce you. In any case, have fun taking One More Turn.

            Well, that about wraps it up. Thank you for joining me as I explored my thoughts and feeling on my personal vision of Civilization VII (or beyond). Please, feel free to comment below your thoughts. I would love to hear more from others. What would YOU like to see? Do you agree with my ideas? Some of them? None of them? Let me know.

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 3

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

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