Sid Meier’s Civilizationfranchise has been growing and expanding in several ways ever since the first game was released in 1991. WithCivilization 7coming in a few short months, it is interesting to compare some of the revealed gameplay mechanics to the familiar systems ofCivilization 6and earlier titles. While some ideas in the games have been done away with entirely, such as the throne rooms of the firstCivgames, many of the features have been tweaked and improved upon with each new entry in the series.
Civilization 7is alreadyexpected to have numerous changesfrom its predecessors, with the new concept of working through three ages being the largest difference to date. For the most part, however, much of the game is simply evolutions of ideas that were tried in the past and now are being brought back in new and improved versions. Of these,perhaps the most promising change is the idea of Independent Powers, which can completely revolutionize the way early game diplomacy and warfare is handled in those first few turns that a player takes in leading their people.
Civilization 7’s Independent Powers Could Be Great
Barbarian Clans And City-States Will Be Handled Very Different
Put simply, Independent Powers inCiv 7will take the Barbarian Clans and city-states ofCiv 6and give them more of a gray area for the good or bad mechanics.Rather than a player seeing a barbarian on the overworld and immediately attacking, they will see these Independent Powers and choose whether to try talking to them and making an alliance, or entering battle. It sounds as though trying the diplomatic approach on these encampments of Independent Powers may not always be successful, leading to some bloodshed even if the player was attempting to make an alliance.
Unless destroyed in battle, these Independent Powers will then eventually become a city-state. Similar to the mechanics inCiv 6, they will then declare a Suzerain relationship with an allied country and give unique bonuses to them.
Independent Powers Build On Civ 6’s Barbarian Clans
Civ 7 Gives Greater Weight To Strategy Regarding Early Neighbors
In a February 2021 update toCiv 6, the game introduced the Barbarian Clans game mode. Similar to the new Independent Powers idea, thisCiv 6mode opened the way for the Barbarian tribes to have some peaceful interactions with players, even allowing for attempts to civilize the Barbarians so that they could become city-states. Having the possibility of Barbarians as alliances rather than annoyances opened up new strategic possibilities for players, but many found it easier to just kill them all.
All 10 Civilization 7 Antiquity Age Civs Confirmed (So Far)
Civ 7 will have 3 Ages to play in, each with separate civilizations, maps, and more. Antiquity Age is the earliest, with 10 leaders to choose from.
Although a good concept at its core,Civ 6failed to incorporate the idea in a way that resonated with the majority of players, which led to fighting the Barbarians just as would have happened without the new mode. Many players were frustrated by how expensive and difficult it was to try to work with Barbarian Clans, while others were disappointed in how the Barbarians continued to kidnap settler units or attack troops, even after peaceful negotiations.
It is still yet to be seenwhetherCiv 7’s adjustmentswill solve all the problems that players had with the Barbarian Clan game mode ofCiv 6, butchanging the units to Independent Powers rather than calling them Barbarians at all seems to suggest that the feature has undergone many more transformationsin the underlying game mechanics.
Each Civilization Game Paves The Way For The Next
Systems That Weren’t Quite Right In One Game May Be Excellent In The Next
Each new game in theCivilizationfranchise has undergone a few major adjustmentsto some of the gameplay systems in the earlier titles.Civilization 6saw a massive improvement in the way that religion was handled in the game, having only been a DLC addition inCiv 5. It also introduced many important features surrounding the idea of climate change and related policies, as well as introducing the controversial aspect of Districts and Specialty Districts to the city planning aspect of the game.
Civilization 7is already making a massive change with the wayAges will alter the gameplayand allow leaders to grow and evolve their civilizations into different directions when an Age ends. Many changes, large and small, will take a period of adjustment for players who have put countless hours intoCiv 6or earlier games and may be expecting things to be more similar than they are.
Regardless, making Barbarian Clans into what sounds like a re-designed system of Independent Powers sounds very promising. If it works smoothly in practice, it has the potential of making the first few turns of a game much more interesting and full of new possibilities for alliances, or warfare, and offers a unique form of strategic planning forCivilization 7players.
