10 | June | 2024 | The Ancient Gaming Noob

It might not be unreasonable to ask if we really need a Civilization VII, but there it is, having been announced at Summer Games Fest. We’re getting Civ VII. Do we want lucky number 7?

Wishlist now, buy in 2025 or so…

And I don’t even mean that in some of the more obvious ways, like “do we need another 4x strategy title?” I mean, sure, my Steam library already has enough unplayed or underplayed titles in it, why would I add more?

But there is always room for another GOOD game in the world, and few titles have engendered as much support as the Civilization series. Just last year I went back to see if I could play all of the Civilization series variations. And I could. And you can to, if you have the patience.

Maybe what I mean is whether or not we really need another Civilization launch experience.

As a day one purchaser of Civilization versions II through V, I can attest that the experience became remarkably predictable.

The game will, of course, be extremely resource intensive. Traditionally a Civilization title will barely run on any but the most current hardware and won’t run at its full potential until we’re a few more processor generations down the road.

That will lead to turning down the graphical settings… and the graphics will always be completely overblown with tiny levels of detail that you will see once, then cease to notice or care about half a dozen games into your experience… and being unable to take on max opponent matches unless you are willing to patiently wait for the computer players to get on with it already.

Then there will be the bugs and crashes. Fortunately, we’re now in an era where patching is automated… though that has the perverse effect of many publishers just pushing whatever they have on launch day with an eye towards fixing things going forward. So the game crashing on day one is practically a hallowed tradition and one I expect will continue.

Same as it ever was

The fact that the plan is to ship on PlayStation, XBox, Switch, Windows, MacOS,and some flavor of Linux (probably the SteamOS version) doesn’t make me feel better about stability. I mean, one of the traditional broken aspects of a Civ launch is some portion of the multiplayer, and adding in the promise of full cross-platform play just multiplies the things that could go wrong along with the compromises that will need to be made.

As an aside, while I have played a number of titles that work well cross-platform, I have also had to endure my share of UI choices that are slow and awful on the PC, but which were put in place because of console requirements. I hope Sid doesn’t forget where most the units are going to sell.

And then there is the game itself, which has reached a state where it seems to require a couple of expansions before it really settles down to a solid representation of the vision the team had when they set out… or to be really enjoyable… though Civ VI just became more gummed down in minutiae for me. Will what we get in 2025… and you can bet it will be more like Holiday season 2025 than New Years Day 2025… be worth rushing out to grab?

Then what will the price point be? The new normal is $70, but there will no doubt be additional premium versions in the $100-$150 range that add additional civs and other digital items. And Sid might decide it is time to roll the dice with $80-$100 as an initial price for a series so well known.

In with that initial price, plus the day one DLC, plus the forthcoming paid expansions, there will no doubt be a game pass to buy as well.

As an MMORPG player, the who concept of the “game pass” still isn’t clear to me. It feels like a bet, like you pay up front with the promise you’ll get all the new content for the next year covered, but there is no guarantee as to what that content will be and so it could be “great, best purchase ever” or it might mark me as a huge sucker. And the industry hasn’t done much to reassure me on all of that.

Finally, we get to the big question, the giant freaking elephant in the room, the raison d’etre that must underlay this whole announcement… after six runs at the Civilization idea… or eight if you count Alpha Centauri (which you absolutely should) and Beyond Earth (which you can freely ignore in my book)… what is going to be new, different, or otherwise make what might be iteration 9 stand apart from its predecessors?

Well, Sid sure as hell isn’t saying. The line on the official site is:

The award-winning strategy game franchise returns with a revolutionary new chapter. Sid Meier’s Civilization VII empowers you to build the greatest empire the world has ever known!

And the teaser trailer does do much save imply that there will be the usual overwrought cut scenes that you’ll turn turn off after a couple of runs because they’ll become dull on repetition or crash your system… both options have precedent.

I have been turning those options off since the palace thingy in the original Civilization.

I mean, I like the idea of reworking the franchise, but “revolutionary new chapter” could mean many things. In my head I would like a reexamination of what may the early titles great and keeps them playable to this day in a way that might unencumber the state of play now exemplified in Civ VI.

But, with the state of tech right now, it might mean AI, blockchain, VR headsets, and an attempt to create a metaverse 4X title. Has anybody seen Marc Andreesen skulking around? That would surely be a bad sign. I don’t think Sid Meier would need to stoop to that level, but then again, I could say the same about some other industry luminaries who have sold out early and often in the last decade.

We can also add in the fact that Sid isn’t getting any younger. He’s Jerry Seinfeld’s age, and look how out of touch Jerry has become, an old man yelling at kids to get off his damn lawn. And while I can’t speak to Sid’s views on cancel culture and the ability of comedians to be offensive, it does feel like, at the historical rate of release for Civilization titles in the 21st century, he might not be around for a Civilization VIII.

As such, he may see this as his legacy project and be tempted to pour in everything he has ever dreamed about in the past. It is a temptation. I hope he can restrain himself and maybe channel a bit of the Steve Jobs “less is more” philosophy… though who am I kidding? What Civ title has ever showed such restraint in any quarter?

All of which is a whole lot of speculation because, aside from the teaser, we won’t get any REAL information about the game until they do a game play demo in August. So we’ll have to wait.

In the mean time, I went over to Steam and did as commanded. It is now on my wishlist. For all my gripes above, I want to see where this is going.

One last roll of the dice Sid, for you and me both. You might not have it in your to make another Civ title after this and, given the history of Alzheimer’s in my family, I might not have it in me to wait around and play another Civ title. At some point “one more turn” will become “one last turn” for the both of us, so make it good.