Sid Meier’s Civilization VII is fast approaching and as the release cycle ramps up, more and more information is coming out. This past Sunday, September 1st, a developer livestream of a live panel was shown on the Sid Meier’s Civilization Youtube Channel and streamed on Twitch. The panel began by talking about the main change that is set to define Civ VII: Ages. Ages basically segment the game into three very long chapters, at least for now. The Age of Antiquity, the Age of Exploration, and the Modern Age are the three main ages of the game. In an earlier gameplay showcase, it was revealed that all three ages can be played separately or together across the campaign, with each age allowing players to switch their Civ.
Next after a short technical difficulty, the panel used Ludgate in London as an example of the ways history is built on top of itself in layers as the area transitions from the Roman, to the Medieval, and eventually the Modern age. The maps help showcase the ways that technologies, buildings, and gameplay can change across ages as time moves forward.
To illustrate an example the panel presented a hypothetical game as Hatshepsut, the Egyptian pharaoh. While choosing Egypt as your Civ to pair with her makes historical sense, adventurous players could choose Aksum, another North African trading power, or one of the other Antiquity Age Civs. Assuming Egypt was chosen, Songhai would be the natural historical option for the Exploration Age, but Mongolia could be an option if 3 horse resources were required, and other Exploration Age Civs could be unlocked through other means. Finally in the Modern Age, Buganda is the successor to Songhai, with other modern Civs requiring specific unlock requirements.
Shorter, historical-based examples followed for the other revealed leaders so far. Beginning with the “historical” Roman path, the Romans can become the Normans then the French Empire, with Augustus or Napoleon as the Civ’s leader. Also, Napoleon is relatively unique in that players can choose one of two personas, the Emperor or the Revolutionary, adding more unique features to this path. Ashoka the historical leader of India can lead Maurya India during Antiquity, Chola India in the Age of Exploration, and Mughal India in the Modern Age. This change was meant to “deblob” the megastructure of India employed by previous Civ games to explore more of the rich internal history of the subcontinent.
Next, the panel showcased how cities change across Civs, and how some things stay the same. Using a Roman city to a Norman city as an example, most of the everyday buildings update but Civ unique buildings or Wonders do not update. Also if the two unique buildings of a Civ are placed on the same time they become a quarter and that stands the test of time as well.
After a brief spotlight on the art style and inspirations behind it, questions from the community ended the panel. However, the biggest thing that was driving the comments was players upset with the game’s relationship with Denuvo, an anti-cheat technology that isn’t very beloved. That being said, the panel made sure to shout out the game’s modding community, so hopefully modding is still available for the player base.
Sid Meieir’s Civilization VII is out on February 11th, 2024 on Steam, the Epic Games Store, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox. Players can pre-order now.