A new Civilization game is in development and XCOM designer leaves Firaxis

Interesting! I hope they produce a Alpha Centari 2. Keep the gameplay, update some graphics, print money. I will be watching to see what Solomon does.

Interesting! I hope they produce a Alpha Centari 2. Keep the gameplay, update some graphics, print money. I will be watching to see what Solomon does.

I'd be happy if they updated the controls a bit too. Like, zoom the map with mousewheel and stuff.

Exciting news, even though Civ 6 is still pretty fresh (I mean, they are still dropping new content right now). For all that 2K is a typical AAA studio, Firaxis has managed to avoid the worst and make some pretty damn good games (when the 2K launcher lets you play them). Wonder what they will come up with - lots of space for cool changes.

And then I wonder about Linux support. Civ 6 released not just for Mac and Linux but Switch and Android, so it seems their strategy does involve ports... but are they still going to partner with Aspyr? And if so, will Aspyr still do Linux - they seem to be moving away from it (probably with reason)? Or maybe this new focus on multiple platforms was enough for them to move in-house development to multi-platform going forward (unlikely, but we can hope...)? It's not a huge worry as proton/wine is getting better and better, and in particular can be more convenient/stable/timely than a 3rd party port... I definitely see they at least getting it steam deck certified, but then for games developed after the deck launched could this be enough to convince studios to put a little effort into native?

Interesting! I hope they produce a Alpha Centari 2. Keep the gameplay, update some graphics, print money. I will be watching to see what Solomon does.

I'd be happy if they updated the controls a bit too. Like, zoom the map with mousewheel and stuff.

Yeah with old strategy games the UI is often the big issue. Going back often has me thinking "how the fuck did I bear this back then", and for people that never played those games the learning curve can be too much.

Civ 6 runs substantially better under Proton anyway, so a native port of the next Civ game really won't be missed.

Having played nearly every Civilization (I only skipped V), I start to get a bit tired of the formula. I had high hopes for Civilization: Beyond Earth, with its non-linear tech-web, but it turned out you couldn't really research into drastically different directions. You had to pick all the techs at the center first, at which point the game was practically over.

The main game by now is really held back by the 4000 years of history it has to adhere to. It doesn't allow for a lot of change. Maybe if it would start in the present and extend into the far future, that would be fresh. Civilization: Call to Power (which wasn't even part of the franchise) at least expanded the late-game into the future with features like orbital cities, etc., and I think that could be taken much further. Pair it with diverging tech routes for a bit more asymmetry between the nations and you'd have one happy customer :-).


Last edited by kaiman on 18 February 2023 at 9:43 am UTC

Interesting! I hope they produce a Alpha Centari 2. Keep the gameplay, update some graphics, print money. I will be watching to see what Solomon does.

I always figured this was Beyond Earth... at least the premise is similar. I should actually play the two and compare.

To be honest, I am not even sure what kind of changes to the game would warrant a new game at this time. Civ VI isn't perfect, and a handful of things were done better by previous editions, but other than that, I'd have considered Civ VI the "finished" Civ. With the only exception that I am not a fan of Civ VI overly cartoonish looks. Maybe they will change that, there is always hope.

Interesting! I hope they produce a Alpha Centari 2. Keep the gameplay, update some graphics, print money. I will be watching to see what Solomon does.

I always figured this was Beyond Earth... at least the premise is similar. I should actually play the two and compare.

I mean yeah, in theory.

And BE has some things that ought to be interesting, about the tech setup with the web shape, and like event-ish quest-ish things and stuff happening, and like the three sociopolitical tendencies of, what was it, it was like Purity which is about staying all old-Earth and there's one where you're all master-of-tech and go cyborg and stuff and there's the environmental one where you master biotech and mess with genetics and hybridize with the planet's life.

But somehow it all doesn't resonate much. One thing that doesn't help is you can actually master all three tendencies at once, and aside from a few extras you mostly do that just by acquiring tech, so if you get advanced enough (which why wouldn't you?) you'll just maximize them all. So you never really choose a social direction or pick a set of benefits or anything, you're just grabbing it all so it just turns into a side benefit of research. And the tech web turns out not to be interesting. I guess because the technologies are drastically graded in cost it mostly works out to being a wide-ish tech tree that's been splayed around to look like a circle; you start at the cheap ones and work your way up to the expensive ones, it's just early cheap tech is at the middle not the bottom, and late expensive stuff is at the outside not the top. It's not a bad tech tree, and there's nothing wrong with the web shape, but it doesn't really add anything. I also don't really like the factions and their specials all that much in Civ:BE. And personally, I miss the less science-fictiony but more real political/economic choices for your society that you get in Alpha Centauri. I guess I also miss vehicle design; in Civ: BE you get a few generic types which get better as your tendency-thingies advance, and a fair number of weird advanced units linked to specific technologies that require strategic resources so you can only have a few of them. The weird advanced units can be pretty cool, but I do kind of miss being able to say "I'm putting this kind of weapon on this kind of chassis and giving it this and this special abilities". Civ: BE does have something like the Civ 5 style civics thing, which is kind of nice.

Civ: BE isn't a bad game. I've played it through a few times. But somehow it feels like it's less than the sum of its parts, and for me doesn't really make a worthy successor to Alpha C. They got too cute and lost the heart, or something. And I've seen a lot of people express roughly this opinion.


Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 18 February 2023 at 6:41 pm UTC

To be honest, I am not even sure what kind of changes to the game would warrant a new game at this time. Civ VI isn't perfect, and a handful of things were done better by previous editions, but other than that, I'd have considered Civ VI the "finished" Civ. With the only exception that I am not a fan of Civ VI overly cartoonish looks. Maybe they will change that, there is always hope.

I find myself going back and playing Civ V as much as Civ VI. There's something about the district schtick I'm not always in the mood for. But between the two of them, yeah, I'm not sure where I'd take it after that.


Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 18 February 2023 at 6:43 pm UTC

I’ve lost interest in Civ games long ago. Civ4 i think ? I play a huge amount of Civ1+2 back in time too... I’d much prefer a new IP, based on no licencing at all, a fully new universe.

As for the Firaxis XCOM games, i don’t care, i consider OpenXCOM (+mods like XFiles) and Xenonauts (+ mods like XDivision) vastely superior, complex and entertaining. Just the "Time Units" vs "move and shot" kills me in so many "modern games".

I really hope they make it so the PC version has controller support. With Civ 6 I'm stuck between Steam Deck which runs well but controls awfully and the Switch version which controls nicely but drops to 20 fps when there's even a slightly developed city on screen.

I really hope they make it so the PC version has controller support. With Civ 6 I'm stuck between Steam Deck which runs well but controls awfully and the Switch version which controls nicely but drops to 20 fps when there's even a slightly developed city on screen.

Huh. But aren't Steam Deck controls pretty customizable? Couldn't you, like, rejig the controls to suit you?

Huh. But aren't Steam Deck controls pretty customizable? Couldn't you, like, rejig the controls to suit you?

Steam input on it's own can only emulate a mouse and keyboard which is better then nothing but it's nowhere near proper controller support. For example to pan the camera on steam deck i have to bind a stick or trackpad to keyboard keys but keys aren't analogue so you get a janky, 8-way-only, no control over speed, input. If Civ 6 had Steam Input API support this might not be an issue since you could have more analogue inputs then just the mouse. Plus the console versions of Civ had button bindings that let you quickly jump to parts of menus easily which can't be done on PC cause you're expected to just use a mouse. But controlling a mouse focused interface on steam deck is a horrible experience.

It just comes down to ergonomics, I'm playing on a handheld because i care about comfort, it would be great if the controls reflected that too.

I’ve lost interest in Civ games long ago. Civ4 i think ? I play a huge amount of Civ1+2 back in time too... I’d much prefer a new IP, based on no licencing at all, a fully new universe.

As for the Firaxis XCOM games, i don’t care, i consider OpenXCOM (+mods like XFiles) and Xenonauts (+ mods like XDivision) vastely superior, complex and entertaining. Just the "Time Units" vs "move and shot" kills me in so many "modern games".

My favorite Civ game is still the second one, along with adding the Test of Time and other stuff, I just prefer it for some reason over the cartoonish graphics of the newer ones.

Does this make Civilization one of the longest running games franchise?

Elite predated Civilization by a few years, but Elite Dangerous bears little resemblance to the original Elite, whereas Civilization is technically the same game.

Does this make Civilization one of the longest running games franchise?

Elite predated Civilization by a few years, but Elite Dangerous bears little resemblance to the original Elite, whereas Civilization is technically the same game.

I wouldn't say that. Elite Dangerous is pretty much the same with a new engine attached. You still fly around and can gather stuff to sell at stations, etc. Guess it all depends on how you play it.
Civilization has quite a few changes, but it seems every iteration loses something that the previous had for new features...

Does this make Civilization one of the longest running games franchise?

Elite predated Civilization by a few years, but Elite Dangerous bears little resemblance to the original Elite, whereas Civilization is technically the same game.

Wikipedia got a list of the longest-running video game franchises, because of course it does!

Both Civ and Elite are on it, but maybe not where you expected them to be:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest-running_video_game_franchises

Does this make Civilization one of the longest running games franchise?

Elite predated Civilization by a few years, but Elite Dangerous bears little resemblance to the original Elite, whereas Civilization is technically the same game.

Wikipedia got a list of the longest-running video game franchises, because of course it does!

Both Civ and Elite are on it, but maybe not where you expected them to be:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest-running_video_game_franchises

Whoa. Not even close, huh.

Does this make Civilization one of the longest running games franchise?

Elite predated Civilization by a few years, but Elite Dangerous bears little resemblance to the original Elite, whereas Civilization is technically the same game.

Wikipedia got a list of the longest-running video game franchises, because of course it does!

Both Civ and Elite are on it, but maybe not where you expected them to be:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest-running_video_game_franchises

Looking at Oregon Trail... hiw does that qualify? Seems they mostly just kept remaking / porting it. The 10 year gap seems to be ignored a few times just to make sure it got number one. Then again, I just died of dysentery.

Wikipedia got a list of the longest-running video game franchises, because of course it does!

Both Civ and Elite are on it, but maybe not where you expected them to be:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest-running_video_game_franchises

Whoa. Not even close, huh.

Looking at Oregon Trail... hiw does that qualify? Seems they mostly just kept remaking / porting it. The 10 year gap seems to be ignored a few times just to make sure it got number one. Then again, I just died of dysentery.

I spy Bomberman at number 7 there, so all is well.