Civilization VI is coming

[TheVampire100]

Somehow this flew around my head somehow, didn't get that there was a new Civilization in development. Looks like you can pre-order it already on steam for the price of 60$. A total "bargain".

[Mánagarmr]

Preordering games sight unseen is a GREAT idea!

[Castruccio]

Is it just me or do the graphics look like a mobile game.

[TheVampire100]

They seem to have chosen a "cell-shading" style (is this the correct term) of graphics. In other words: Comic/cartoon graphics.
You aren't even that wrong with your assumption. they had the same style already on the DS version of Civ4.
Also, 80 with Season pass. So 60 for a game that isn't released plus 20 for content that isn't even in development.
You have to love the new way how computer entertainment works.

[x4000]

It's not just cel shading -- it's actually using lower-polygon meshes, and they have a super high saturation on their models, etc.  I don't think it looks like a mobile game, but they definitely do seem to be having a "casual folks welcome, this is not scary!" vibe to it.  With SBR we had to be really careful about the color grading that our artists were putting into things to make sure we could have vibrance without it seeming cartoony -- ultimately we wound up going with a tiny bit of blue hue to most of it that gives it a slightly cold look.  A lot of historical games go with a slightly red hue that gives them a warmer, "old" look.  Sometimes with a whole lot of desaturation.

Anyway, I guarantee that just changing the saturation around would make it look far more "serious."  That said... fundamentally they are going with an art style that is built around low polygon counts.  It may even be vertex-color-based rather than texture-based; I can't tell.  That's "texture baking," if so, and it can look quite cool.

[Wingflier]

Maybe I'm just being the pessimist here, but at what point in a series can each new sequel be suspect as a money-grab where after countless iterations, no new ground is being tread? The CoD and Battlefield series is certainly way past that point. Heroes of Might and Magic hit its golden age at the 3rd game. The SSBM games seem to be getting progressively worse. Any kind of Madden/Fifa/Sportsgame series ever made. Need for Speed. Pokemon. Grand Theft Auto?

In fact I can't think of any game whose quality has increased after the 4th or 5th iteration.

[x4000]

It's hard to say.  I feel like GTA5 is the gold standard in that series, though.  It looks like Civ 6 aims to bring some legitimately new things, though.  Beyond Earth looked... not like that.  Various Mario and Zelda titles have been fantastic after dozens of games.  Link Between Worlds and Super Mario 3D World are frickin awesome.  Mario Kart 8 is the best of the bunch.  On the other hand that does ignore a lot of titles that are just awful in those series.  Spirit Tracks??  That was novel, but not in a good way.  Etc.

[chemical_art]

I know I will get it, but as a rule I do not do the whole preseason pass route unless I am in it for the multiplayer.

For single player games, especially strategy games where the risk for bugs is so high, I prefer to let other brave patient souls have their turn first.

I do enjoy how the slightly different mechanics between each one allows different mods to develop. I could spend another 200 hours on IV simply due to its mods. V I enjoyed as well for different reasons.

[x4000]

I gave BE a pass and won't be surprised if I skip this one, too.  We shall see.

[Wingflier]

Various Mario and Zelda titles have been fantastic after dozens of games.

I should have brought up Mario. Many of the "sequels" of the game were sequels in name only, as they belonged to an entirely new genre and platform. Let's be honest, what does "Mario Kart" have to do with the original Mario except being used as a selling point?  Even having said that, the most recent Mario games (Super Mario Wii and Super Mario Maker) have been a return to the roots. All Super Mario Maker literally is doing giving people the ability to make (and play community-created) levels for the original Mario games, which could already be done, but in a much more complicated (and potentially illegal) manner.

The Zelda franchise is more or less the same. I mean you could technically call Starward Rogue, The Last Federation, and SBR part of the "AI War" series, because it's all from the same universe; but I don't think that would very honest of you.

I meant sequels in a more literal sense, though you brought up some great examples.

[Aklyon]

Spirit Tracks?? That was novel, but not in a good way.

I liked it, though it could be better, certainly.

[Misery]

Various Mario and Zelda titles have been fantastic after dozens of games.

I should have brought up Mario. Many of the "sequels" of the game were sequels in name only, as they belonged to an entirely new genre and platform. Let's be honest, what does "Mario Kart" have to do with the original Mario except being used as a selling point?  Even having said that, the most recent Mario games (Super Mario Wii and Super Mario Maker) have been a return to the roots. All Super Mario Maker literally is doing giving people the ability to make (and play community-created) levels for the original Mario games, which could already be done, but in a much more complicated (and potentially illegal) manner.

The Zelda franchise is more or less the same. I mean you could technically call Starward Rogue, The Last Federation, and SBR part of the "AI War" series, because it's all from the same universe; but I don't think that would very honest of you.

I meant sequels in a more literal sense, though you brought up some great examples.

I think he brought up Mario Kart because it's the 8th game in the Mario Kart series, not because of the main Mario series.


Besides, honestly, I think people worry WAY too much about having every game do something "new".  That, when you really think about it, is a tough order to manage even in games that aren't really part of a series.  Even with something like Starward there's nothing truly "new" about the formula it's using or the gameplay.   Instead, we just tried to make it GOOD instead of hyper-unique. 

And I think that's the most important thing.  And really, I think it's possible to get TOO unique.  I mean, like, Mario games;  when I buy a Mario platformer, I expect it to play like a damn Mario platformer.  Something like Mario Galaxy ended up just irritating me, adding unnecessary motion controls to the mix (enough to kill most games for me) and doing some irritating things with the level design (that whole planet idea got on my nerves fast).  First Mario platformer that I've ever NOT liked.  I know the game did well and lots of people do like it, but it still fits as an example for me.  It was them trying to fix something that didn't need fixing.

Or, worse, there's the new Star Fox... I'm not even going to talk too much about that, but that was another "do something new even though they didn't have to" situation that blew the whole game to hell.

I'd really rather that devs go with something that works and will be fun, well-balanced, and full of quality, rather than worry about being "new" just for the sake of being new.

[Wingflier]

I think he brought up Mario Kart because it's the 8th game in the Mario Kart series, not because of the main Mario series.

I agreed with his point about Mario Kart 8 potentially being the best of the series. Though personally I thought it still had a lot of problems. For example, I liked how they attempted to do light and heavy characters where the heavy character were faster overall but with bad maneuverability and the light characters having high acceleration and great handling. However, the balance was way off. On most tracks the heavy characters' top speed was vastly superior to whatever acceleration and handling bonuses the light characters had, and with the new "drift" mechanic they added which gives you a giant boost after a successful drift, bad handling was hardly a worry for experienced players anyway. Add this to the fact that heavy characters literally knocked light characters out of the way and off the track weight their superior weight, and there was just no reason to play the lighter characters ever. All the customization the game afforded you in terms of the Karts, tires, and accessories you could choose easily covered the weaknesses the heavy characters had, while maintaining all the bonuses.

I mean I know it's a casual party game, but it's not like it took a rocket scientist to figure this stuff out. My sister is a terrible gamer and she figured out that the light characters aren't worth using almost instantly.

ANYWAY, what I meant is that you can't call Mario Kart part of the "Mario" series. It has nothing to do with Mario except that it uses some of the same lore. He had made the point that Zelda and Mario have a long series of games that are just as successful/good as the original, and my point was that many of these games are a completely different genre and platform. They are sequels in name only, if at all. I used Mario Kart because it has about as much in common with the original Mario as Starward Rogue does with AI War.

[Coppermantis]

If this turns out to be a significant improvement over V then I might get it, but it's not high on my priority list. Civ V is suiting me just fine still.

As for the art style, I kind of like it. Cartoony, yeah, but not poor quality and it is visually attractive. One thing that was pointed out to me is that buildings seem to be color-coded - you have a purple amphitheatre for culture, a blue university for science, an orange lumber mill for production, and yellow farms and trading posts for gold. Presumably. Could do a lot for readability and make it easier to learn for new players.

[Cyborg]

It looks like a mobile game.