I *really* hope they get Civ 7 right.

[KingKickAss]

I loved Civ 6, but there are so many things about it that could be much better if a little more effort was put into it. A proper AI that actually knows how to play the game would be fantastic, but things like Congress, trading, loyalty, tech progression and all that stuff could be made so much better.

[grognardgary]

Originally posted by Ash Williams:

Whoa, you're talking better AI, game concepts and modding for a game that dropped a ball on correct or even present civilopedia info.
Let them start with that at least.

The more complex the game and the more ai controlled entities the poorer the ai will perform. use districts but let the first building of it's type determine where the district is located.

[Vaeringjar]

here's how to make the best civ game ever: fix the MAF error in Civ IV

[daniel1vicentevieira]

the improvements I would like to see: AI, trade routes, 'off-city' building options, congress starting and congress voting

1) AI: self-explanatory and common complaint, the AI simply doesn't know what it's doing. Probably because currently it is just a ♥♥♥♥-load of if-else rules rather than actual AI. It doesn't need to get so good it is near-impossible to beat it, but it should at least take decisions that make sense.

2) trade routes: I find it a bit of a pain that trade routes can't be reassigned at will and when they "expire" you need to manually reset them all the time. They shouldn't be units at all, a real life trade route isn't a single truck, its a flow of trucks over a path. Trade routes should be started or reassigned as a city project; this city project would build the road from origin to destination and set a "Trade Path" trait to all tiles it passes trough, with a constant animation of many caravans trodding this road. The bonuses would be the same, but would last (and constantly update) until changed by another project (rather than expiring). Plundering it would yield the equivalent of a few turns of that route for the plunderer, and suspend the route until it is restored or reassigned by a city project.

3) building bases away from cities should be an option, including off-shore bases. Building that city that won't have more than 2 or 3 buildable tiles only to get sea oil wouldn't be needed, just build a small base, much better. a base rather than a city might have an easier time handling loyalty. as well.

4) the congress start just doesn't make sense, it starts without every player having met each other, and they vote in the same "room" and keep not knowing each other. Civ5 was better at this, congress only started when 1 player met all others. It could be better though. At Medieval Era, when congress is about to start, it forms instead Regional Leagues (or whatever name fits). Each grouping of at least 3 players where all met each other form a League, the name being generated according to the most important player (silly example: if a Greek is the highest-score player, that could be the Delian League). Each league would act as an independent congress, its decisions applying only to the players on it. After each voting, the Leagues would be reassessed according to which players already met, until all meet all, when it becomes a single World Congress. There would also be, in the Trade panel, an option of presenting a player to another that it hasn't met.

5) the voting could use 2 rounds instead of 1. The first to decide on the topics to be voted, and another to actually vote. It would be realistic, topics don't just pop at random at UN, they are brought up by members. There should also have some condition where a voting results in no effect at all. Again, it would be realistic, it is possible for a real congress voting to just be dragged on and on to no result, or even somebody to actively press for nothing to change.

[daniel1vicentevieira]

a few more:

1) early-game war: historically the early eras were plagued by many wars, we are at relatively peaceful times. yet in the game war is particularly unyieldy in the early eras. there is just not enough time for it, there's so much that needs to be done asap that war is secondary unless you are playing one of the historical as-sho-les like Alexander. if the early eras just lasted a little longer, research took an equally longer time, but building times were a little shorter, it would already make early war more viable.

2) late wonders: well, there simply aren't many, are there? It isn't as if the XX-XXI centuries haven't built any. Empire States? Central Park? Burj Khalifa? And since the game goes into a hypothetical near future, there could be some hypothetical wonders as well; currently there's the Biosphere, there could be more. Super-skyscrappers, megatunnels, giant dams, a space elevator...

[KingKickAss]

I feel like all strategic resources should be shown on the map but not usable until the certain tech is unlocked. Because if you happen to not spawn on or settle near strategic resources that you can't see, you're almost helpless against someone who does.

[grognardgary]

Originally posted by KingKickAss:

I feel like all strategic resources should be shown on the map but not usable until the certain tech is unlocked. Because if you happen to not spawn on or settle near strategic resources that you can't see, you're almost helpless against someone who does.

Agreed Nothing like being 100 or turns into the game and suddenly discovering that you not have no iron withe shouting distance of one of you cities but that there isn't any on your side of the continent.

[grognardgary]

Originally posted by daniel1vicentevieira:

the improvements I would like to see: AI, trade routes, 'off-city' building options, congress starting and congress voting

1) AI: self-explanatory and common complaint, the AI simply doesn't know what it's doing. Probably because currently it is just a ♥♥♥♥-load of if-else rules rather than actual AI. It doesn't need to get so good it is near-impossible to beat it, but it should at least take decisions that make sense.

2) trade routes: I find it a bit of a pain that trade routes can't be reassigned at will and when they "expire" you need to manually reset them all the time. They shouldn't be units at all, a real life trade route isn't a single truck, its a flow of trucks over a path. Trade routes should be started or reassigned as a city project; this city project would build the road from origin to destination and set a "Trade Path" trait to all tiles it passes trough, with a constant animation of many caravans trodding this road. The bonuses would be the same, but would last (and constantly update) until changed by another project (rather than expiring). Plundering it would yield the equivalent of a few turns of that route for the plunderer, and suspend the route until it is restored or reassigned by a city project.

3) building bases away from cities should be an option, including off-shore bases. Building that city that won't have more than 2 or 3 buildable tiles only to get sea oil wouldn't be needed, just build a small base, much better. a base rather than a city might have an easier time handling loyalty. as well.

4) the congress start just doesn't make sense, it starts without every player having met each other, and they vote in the same "room" and keep not knowing each other. Civ5 was better at this, congress only started when 1 player met all others. It could be better though. At Medieval Era, when congress is about to start, it forms instead Regional Leagues (or whatever name fits). Each grouping of at least 3 players where all met each other form a League, the name being generated according to the most important player (silly example: if a Greek is the highest-score player, that could be the Delian League). Each league would act as an independent congress, its decisions applying only to the players on it. After each voting, the Leagues would be reassessed according to which players already met, until all meet all, when it becomes a single World Congress. There would also be, in the Trade panel, an option of presenting a player to another that it hasn't met.

5) the voting could use 2 rounds instead of 1. The first to decide on the topics to be voted, and another to actually vote. It would be realistic, topics don't just pop at random at UN, they are brought up by members. There should also have some condition where a voting results in no effect at all. Again, it would be realistic, it is possible for a real congress voting to just be dragged on and on to no result, or even somebody to actively press for nothing to change.

Currently that is all an ai is and all they've ever been is a set of algorithms.

[Hamish]

In all honesty, I am glad I finally tried Gathering storms, I like it so much better than Rise and Fall. The added stuff outweighs my annoyance of gathering dark. The AI will always be stupid... as artificial intelligence only exists in movies...

[grognardgary]

Originally posted by Hamish:

In all honesty, I am glad I finally tried Gathering storms, I like it so much better than Rise and Fall. The added stuff outweighs my annoyance of gathering dark. The AI will always be stupid... as artificial intelligence only exists in movies...

Precisely.

[The Bored Chairman]

After how disgraceful the New Frontier Pass was in terms of quality and bugs, as well as the introduction of a terrible launcher that nobody wanted and is recommended BY THE CUSTOMER SERVICE THEMSELVES TO BYPASS (there's a ringing endorsement for your company, when your own employees think your product is functionally worthless), I won't hold my breath.

Civ V Brave Now World was fantastic and I enjoyed Beyond Earth, even if it wasn't perfect.

But Civ VI was a mess. Not in terms of content, but in terms of management. Its current state is unacceptable for a title like this.

I bet more quality control would be given to games if people could get refunds after a buggy patch. After all, it's no longer the product we paid for, why should they get to keep the money?