Alstein
2891
Unless one of those changes is functional AI, I see no reason to consider this.
Only Tom could convince me to buy this game right now.
KevinC
2892
Yep.5
I had hoped the same with Civ5, but it never happened. It took the modding community getting access to the full modding suite to fix that mess. Not to sound melodramatic or anything, but Firaxis just doesn’t care about AI and they feel that mods threaten DLC sales. So I think we’re going to have to wait for development to stop and the full modding tools to be released before it really gets addressed.
Not trying to be overly negative or anything, but I think that’s the unfortunate reality of the situation.
In defense of Firaxis, Paradox doesn’t care about AI either…they even said so
“Fans of Civilization know that each game plays out in its own way, with its own unique story. With Civilization VI: Rise and Fall, we are bringing that story into the spotlight by adding more ways to track the progress of a player’s civilization than ever before.”
ok, here is a glimmer of hope…they used the word STORY…i have always considered that strategy games should let me make my own STORY of my empire…not about winning or losing…can this possibly be the very first integration of strategy/story!!!
I can’t believe I’m writing this, but I’m pretty sure I will skip this expansion. This is a first for me. I’m not excited about new Civ content.
I think I’m done with this series.
End of an era for me.
I’ll probably skip the expansion, unless someone convincing says it’s worth a look. I just don’t like Civilization VI. But I imagine I’ll be back for Civilization VII, I think Firaxis still have good games in them, and the Civilization formula definitely has unexplored and interesting design space left.
robc04
2896
My head tells me you’re right and I should skip it, but my heart wants to cling to the Civilization series.
If you didn’t like your time with Civ 6, I’m not sure why anyone would want to throw good money after bad. I love Civ 6 and think the expansion will be excellent, but don’t most of us have backlogs of games we already convinced ourselves would be great? If in doubt, go play one of those and save your cash.
robc04
2898
The thing is I didn’t hate Civ VI. I didn’t hate V. I just liked pre 1UPT Civs better, but I’ve always looked forward to getting something new in the Civ family. I’ve been playing since the first and the series has always been special to me.
I am planning on playing Civ VI again to see what it’s like after the updates. I haven’t played in a while.
The deciding factor for me to pick this up at launch is if I’m busy with other early-2018 releases (I know there are a few, I just can’t think of them off the top of my head). If nothing else is coming out for a little while after 2/8/2018 I may well grab it just as an excuse to dive back in and see if my opinion has changed. I’ve barely played Civ VI, which is a shame.
Mark_L
2900
Don’t forget the Mark L corollary to the Chick Parabola: After any major patch that makes claims to improve the AI, gamers will gaslight themselves into thinking the AI has improved. This usually takes around 2 weeks of play to settle down.
I wouldn’t say I’m done, but I’ll need to hear really good things about any future installments before paying attention, let alone money and time.
The beginning of the end for me was the Colonization expansion for IV. I dearly loved the original Col, and the revisit was just… not right in so many ways. Played VI and enjoyed it well enough, but I’m not interested in returning to it. And I do wish I’d waited for a sale and a patch.
Lots of things to criticize about Civ VI and Firaxis. It boggles the mind that it took them more than a year to fix the UI representation of religious belief. And the military side of things is such that I can’t believe anyone would have the patience to play a “paint the map” style of game.
Still, more than any other recent game, this one continues to provide me with hundreds and hundreds of hours of fun. I go off and play something else for a few weeks, but before you know it, I am back to this. So I am sure i will be buying the expansion. The ages (dark/golden) and the loyalty aspects look the most promising. New civs are always fun, although truth be told, modders do at least as well with that. Not sure if more units will really make the game better, but it will be fun to see.
The AI? I can tell you for a fact that it will not be good. It can’t be, the game was not created as the sort of game where the AI can be competitive. Rather, it will remain basically what it is, a builder game where rival civs serve as speed bumps along the way. Rivals will force you to waste turns dealing with them, and their leaders will do things to aggravate you and thus make you care about beating them. And if you play at a high enough difficulty, don’t save scum, and go ahead with a weak starting location, you might even fall behind and feel pressed well into the mid-game. But once you have some experience playing, this is not going to be an AI that actually defeats you.
Miramon
2903
I guarantee, as a former AI developer and a former game designer (not at the same time) the game AI could be vastly superior to what it is now with a very modest conventional programming effort, without requiring any rocket science programming at all. For pity’s sake, they are still parading great generals on their own without stacking them, they run siege weapons right in front of enemy infantry, and they never focus multiple unit attacks on single targets except by accident. Even just requiring ranged weapons to all fire before melee attacks in an AI turn would be a step forward in reducing the counterattack damage incurred by melee units, but despite the trivial programming cost, it’s one they’re just not interested in implementing.
I forgive V its many flaws for the fact that I can have an enjoyable time doing my thing and winning on Emperor with an exceptional UI even if the AI is doing all the dumb shit it is so well-documented to do.
VI I just…I just can’t. It’s too broken. And I’m crippled by a UI that. Well. It’s not very well-designed. Sorry.
LordGek
2906
Weren’t they supposed to release some sort of modding SDK that let modders get deep into the AI code?
KevinC
2907
If it follows what they did with Civ5, those tools won’t be made available until they stop working on DLC / expansions. Which would be a damn shame, if so.
We’ll always have Civ IV.
-Tom
CraigM
2909
