Sid Meier’s Civilization VII has some flaws at release, but are they a detriment to the game overall? My thoughts…

From the beginning

I first started playing the Civilization franchise years ago. When I first tried the original, I was intrigued but turned off when I created my first knight and the next turn, I see a Chinese Bomber flying by. That, of course, was likely due to my own newness to the series and not fully understanding the mechanics. A while later, my first computer that I purchased came with Civilization II pre-installed (and the game disc along with it). That is when I was won over.

Since then, I have played every iteration of the franchise. Each time was met with new hurdles… changes to the formula of the previous iterations. But, as a whole, the feeling remained the same. The change to Civilization V was the worst for me. There were some changes that I wasn’t keen on (one unit per tile was slightly immersion breaking as now my archers fired their arrows hundreds of miles across the map). But other aspects appealed to me (the addition of City-States and many others).

Despite the changes to each game in the franchise, I adapted and became enamored with the new version, especially after an expansion or two, some bug fixes, and just getting used to the gameplay. That brings me to Sid Meier’s Civilization VII. I have finally spent some time with the game and, now after completing my first victory, I feel I can share some thoughts on how this game

How I felt Starting the Game…

Unfortunately, I did not get an advanced key to play ahead of release. I was skeptical about some of the changes, but I was intrigued enough. And watching others play through the first couple of ages got me psyched to get my hands on the game… enough to upgrade my preorder to the deluxe edition. So, on February 6^th, I downloaded and played it for the first time. I did not have a lot of time to put into it. I had to work that night (I had scheduled myself a mini-vacation according to the release date on February 11^th) so I only had a little time wet my beak. I quickly found myself in over my head.

The next chance I got to play, I restarted. I created a map, but did not like my placement, so I reloaded (using a saved configuration) only to find that I was on the same map. I restarted again, manually entering different seeds for both game and map. I played a bit and found myself getting stomped again by the Independent Powers. Finally, I started again on my next attempt (entering the seed “777777777” for both game and map. (By the way, I was using Continents Plus, and Standard Map.)

This time, I faired much better. The bottom line was that I was adapting to the new gameplay… plus I was a little tired and under the weather, so my decisions may not have been the best when I played previously. I went through and finished the Antiquity Age (playing as Augustus Rome). I did not complete any legacy paths, but I made it through. I chose Spain for Exploration and powered through that, as well. I was able to achieve a Golden Age in both Economy and Culture as I went into the Modern Age.

As I played through, I found that the early stages of each age were a little underwhelming. Perhaps it was because I was still learning the game. But after setting up my new empire and choosing my benefits from my previous age, I found myself clicking “next” a lot. But as each Age unfurled and I dove into the systems, I started feeling the thrill. I was looking for the next milestone and committing myself to completing as many as I could.

As for the various systems, I overall enjoyed it. In Exploration, I really enjoyed the Treasure Fleet mechanic. However, that was slightly hindered by the “Distant Land” continents already being populated by Civilizations. I would like an option where it is only IP’s in the distant lands. I found that it was hard to establish a presence with no (or little) open land available. If not for the islands in between on Continents Plus, I would not have been able to achieve the Golden Age for Economics. Also, though I achieved it, my cities still reverted to towns. I realized that the Legacy option was grayed out when setting up my new empire, though I thought it was because that was automatic.

Perhaps my least favorite mechanic was the Religion system. My towns kept getting to converted to other religions, I could not convert Athens because it was the holy city for another religion, and I just gave up on it about halfway through the age. The whole religion aspect just felt… empty. And for the crises, well, I may be playing my next few games with that option turned off. I was fortunate that my first two crises were mild. In Antiquity, I had the Barbarian Incursion… which had little effect on me. Besides a couple of encampments nearby, I quickly crushed them and moved on. For Exploration, I got the religious crisis, which, as I said, I had already given up on, so I just chose Tolerance and moved on. If anything, to me, crises were more of a distraction than anything. Maybe after I have played a few games, I will turn them back on just to shake things up.

Notable UI issues

Well, there are a few glaring issues with the game upon release. I have been fortunate not to have encountered any devastating bugs, maybe just a few minor ones here or there that did not hinder gameplay. My biggest problem, like many, is with the User Interface. There are many problems here and there that need to be addressed ASAP. Some aspects like renaming cities is a big one. I would be happy if I could just rename my captured cities or previous age cities to names from my new Civilization (if I so choose).

Following is a list of UI issues that I have encountered and feel need to be addressed.

• No option to restart a map (or regenerate the seeds) – while you can save your startup configuration, it saves the seed, too, and you have to manually enter a different number for the Game and Map seeds.
• No Unit list (that I have found) – No way to pull up a list of your units and select them or view where they are located.
• Need a lens filter when in city view to highlight different buildings, etc. – While the cities and maps look more organic, it can be difficult for planning or overbuilding to see what buildings are where. A lens in City View could help by toggling different things like science or culture that would highlight the buildings in those colors. This should also be activated when you select a building to build.
• The Civilopedia needs a massive overhaul – There are many elements missing in the Civilopedia. It lacks connections like related information for each entry. Only a few elements have sidebar lists like stats or related elements (required techs, etc.).
• Showing finished production – It is frustrating when I go into the production queue, and I can’t remember what I had just built in that city. This is especially the case after I have built a few cities and settlements. It would be nice to have a “Production Completed” box indicating what just finished being built.
• Descriptions of various settings – This is especially in the main menu; I could use some better explainers for various settings. What is the difference between Continents and Continents Plus… or Fractal for that matter. I shouldn’t have to go to an outside source to find out. How do Game Seed and Map Seed differ? A popup box would be sufficient to answer these questions while you’re setting up the game.
• Trade Route Display – A page or popup would be handy for showing trade routes. Maybe it could be a tab within the resource screen. Whatever the case, it would be nice to know how many trade routes I have, where they are going to/from, whether they were initiated by me or somebody else, and what they provide both factions. This was in Civ VI, there is no reason it couldn’t be in Civ VII.
• More Lenses would be helpful – Along with lenses in the city-screen, more lenses for various aspects would be nice in the general map beyond just “continents” and “settler.”
• Indication of what settlement a tile belongs to – One thing I found is it can be confusing seeing which settlement a tile belongs to in the main map view. The tile information should provide what settlement that tile belongs to (if any).
• A Game Stats Screen – With all of the mechanics that focus on the number of “this” you have or the number of “that” you completed, it would be nice to have a stats screen that gives this information. I love game statistics and, even if just for my own curiosity, I would love a screen to see where I stand with various statistics.

Modding Concerns

One frustration that I have is with the map-generation. Beyond the common complaint of “blocky terrain,” I am often dissatisfied with the starting placement of my civilization. Since Civilization III, I have loved playing around with the map editor/creator. I question, with the new mechanics, if it would even be possible with Civilization VII? At the base, there would have to be some rules to follow, it seems, to create a working map for the game. There should be checks within the creator (whether internal or external). But, nonetheless, there are other factors that could play a role? What about Civilization placement/limit? How will Independent Powers work? Also, are they linked (by culture) or just random? If you place a specific IP in the Antiquity era, will it be replaced with a similar culture IP, or just some random one from anywhere in the world? For that matter, would scenarios even be possible in Civilization VII… official or modded?

And adding in elements is questionable. It seems that there are a lot of factors that can limit what is added. Each Civilization has their unique buildings, quarters, improvements, and tied Wonder. How would those be added for modded civilizations? Does the modder have to create all those elements as well, down to the models? Even IP’s seem to have limitations. I have not dove as deep into the IP system, but from what I have experienced so far, it seems each one has their own unit or improvement that they offer as a suzerain reward option.

And leaders… will we be able to add leaders? It seems like it would be difficult to add just a static leader. Will they offer a selection of generic leaders that fit different cultures, genders, and age styles? If so, can they be customized and tweaked to get close to how you want them to look to represent a particular figure?

These are just some of the questions that come to mind when I think about modding.

A Flawed Victory

I have enjoyed my little time with the game so far. As I have become more familiar with the new mechanics, I found myself feeling a little bit at home. There are some other issues, and I am not completely sold on the changes in core gameplay. But I can see it developing into a great entry into the franchise if certain hurdles are able to be overcome. Overall, if I were to give it a grade, I would say C+… maybe a B-. The new mechanics, while intriguing, take a bit of getting used to, and I am still uncertain of their direction. I would like to see more “civilization stacks” and variety of culture in each Age to make me satisfied with that mechanic, but it is not as bad as I had feared upon initially hearing about it. And if modding in new elements and creating maps is implemented without needing a master’s in computer science degree, then I can see my grade rising to an A over time.