Next big Civilization 7 Updates are set up to make some important changes to improve your decision-making potential. Firaxis’ latest outing struggles under the weight of expectations, with mixed receptions to its age system and various other complaints about menus and UI. However, developers are working to fix and improve according to community feedback, and their latest overhaul focuses on some of the most important moments in the campaign. In the new developer blog, Civ 7 lead producer Tom Shaw talks about changes to the work in patch 1.2.5.
Shaw mentions three important decision points 7 that are most important to civilization. Having enough information at your fingertips to make an educated choice is what ticks the best 4X games, and Shaw admits that Civ 7 is lacking in this regard. As a result, he says, “it’s very easy to fall into the paralysis of analysis, or worse still indifferent.”
“Our goal is to feel constantly informed and empowered at these moments,” Shaw continues. The first of the cards is a security production menu that doesn’t provide the current harvest data well. In other words, “I am not actually acting as a provocateur without being alone.” This will encourage players to choose the largest number when many factors are being played that allow players to change the output of a tile.
With the new update, the menu now displays base yields along with potential bonuses, including the number of existing improvements that benefit from a particular warehouse effect, as well as the number of existing improvements that the building in question is currently available for settlement. “We made a mistake on the side of simple, clear calculations that we believe will be useful to the widest audience,” Shaw says.
Speaking of others, Firaxis has overhauled buildings, improvements and incredible tooltips “to improve clarity and readability.” You can see the following before and after comparisons: Personally, I’m already a huge fan of bullet lists and tags along the top, and I can easily track what the objects I inspect do.
“Another opportunity we’ve identified is the inconsistent visibility of yield losses, such as those caused by maintenance and overbuilding,” Shaw said. To fix this, yield losses are clearly shown in all appropriate contexts. These menu changes are pretty big, so if you prefer this new product you can go back to the old style format via the Settings menu.
Next, we’ll start over to the screen you’ll see when selecting the layout of the building. This has always been one of my favorite “moments” in games like civilization, hovering over each hexadecimal to weigh the balance of potential payments. The show agrees: “If you’re someone who likes to optimize all of these choices, this is incredibly satisfying. What’s satisfying?
This will give you a clearer yield metric, with green numbers displayed on tiles with the highest net or primary yield. The left panel changes dynamically when hovering over an active hexagon, with an arrow that shows exactly where the adjacency bonus is coming from. If you want to know more, there is an extended, back and forth option, as shown below.
“We still don’t tell you exactly where you’re going to put your building,” Shaw says. “That decision, and all the clever plans behind it, belong to you. But with these UI enhancements, we hope it feels like a guess and it feels like it’s what it should be: a strategic, informed choice that will fulfill your strengths.”
The last item on today’s list is Growth Events. What is your current situation, improvement, or what is better for the expert? Of course, the answer depends on a lot. “So we upgraded how decisions are presented that will help you make more informed choices without having to guess.” At the basic level, this overhaul is similar to the overhaul of the new building layout screen above, including detailed front and rear toggles.
Firaxis has a more clear layout of the benefits of each improvement and expert, and if you dig deeper, you’ll get a better breakdown of adjacency bonuses, maintenance costs and tile types. For experts in particular, urban tiles present more explicitly the current and maximum capacity, “make it easier to see if you’re underutilized or already filled.”
The show says that all the changes described here will “appear soon in update 1.2.5”, but there is no exact date yet. “But we’re not finished yet. In this area, there’s more to do to push these experiences even further. In addition to the ongoing iterations here, our team is improving the presentation and ease of use of the settlement banner, improving overbuilding experiences, an all-new commerce hub.”
Ready to launch a new campaign? We have an overview of the leaders of Civilization 7 and what each has to offer. If you want to start for the first time, here are the recommended Civilization 7 settings for optimizing and framed performance:
Are these adjustments a step in the right direction and is that enough to get you on board? Come to PCGamesn Community Discord Server and tell us how you feel about Civ 7.
