User Experience in Civilization VI
The Good
Trade Routes
When creating a trade route, you are given a
list of cities that your trade caravan can travel to, as well as the route that it will take to its destination . These paths are denoted by dashed line emanating
from your city. As the game progresses, the number of cities a trade caravan could
trade with becomes quite large and can easily clutter the screen.
However, if you click on a city from the menu on the left, all these dashed line paths become grey except the path to the city you selected, which becomes white. This is incredibly handy as trade caravans are often prime targets for barbarians and enemy Civilizations to attack so it is easy to see where the route they take towards their destination. Typically I always send my trade caravan to the city that will provide me the largest benefit, but if my trade caravan will pass near a barbarian encampment, or enemy Civilization I will reconsider sending my trade caravan to that city and send it on a safer route.
However, I do wish you were able to sort the possible trade routes by "highest yield", as in most cases you almost never want to send a trade route to a city with a lower yield. Allowing players to sort this by clicking on the drop down menu that appears after you click on "Show Routes", or perhaps have the menu automatically sort by highest yield, would save much time scrolling through and seeing all the possible options you have (later in the game this is a much bigger issue as there can be two dozen cities you could trade with).
However, if you click on a city from the menu on the left, all these dashed line paths become grey except the path to the city you selected, which becomes white. This is incredibly handy as trade caravans are often prime targets for barbarians and enemy Civilizations to attack so it is easy to see where the route they take towards their destination. Typically I always send my trade caravan to the city that will provide me the largest benefit, but if my trade caravan will pass near a barbarian encampment, or enemy Civilization I will reconsider sending my trade caravan to that city and send it on a safer route.
 |
| As you can see, my highlighted route is in white, and the other possible routes are grey. You can also see in the menu to the left, that the trade routes are sorted by what Civilization they belong to. |
However, I do wish you were able to sort the possible trade routes by "highest yield", as in most cases you almost never want to send a trade route to a city with a lower yield. Allowing players to sort this by clicking on the drop down menu that appears after you click on "Show Routes", or perhaps have the menu automatically sort by highest yield, would save much time scrolling through and seeing all the possible options you have (later in the game this is a much bigger issue as there can be two dozen cities you could trade with).
The Main UI Screen
The
main UI that the game presents you with is an excellent source of information
for players. There is a substantial amount info presented to the player at all
times, yet it is condensed enough to not distract or overwhelm the player.
The most important information has been placed in the top left of the screen allowing players to quickly see their “Yields per Turn”, how many trade routes are active, how close they are to receiving another “Envoy”, and how many strategic resources they currently have left. The most important information a player would be interested in is the largest object on the screen, the “World Tracker” menu, indicating what Technology or Civic is currently being researched. The World Tracker also provides the player with the number of turns left til completion, what can "boost" this research, if this research has been “Boosted”, as well as the items that will unlock from researching that Technology or Civic.
At the top right of the screen, the current year, turn number, and thankfully the current time are displayed. Underneath this is the list of discovered Civilizations in the game, as well as their current disposition towards us (denoted by a face with different colors). Being able to quickly see the overall feelings a Civ has with me is incredibly useful to keep in mind while making actions in the game. If I want to settle a new city, perhaps I should not settle close to a Civ that is already quite unhappy with me (denoted by a yellow frowny face, or red angry face) as it could trigger a declaration of war or other undesired consequences.
At the bottom left of the screen shows the mini-map, as well as filters I can activate, providing players with specific information regarding the map. Finally, at the bottom right is the “next action” button, the most important and most clicked button in the game. This icon changes with whatever the next action is. For example, if the next action is “Choose Production”, it will change to the symbol of a Gear. If it is “End Turn” the icon changes to an arrow pointing right, indicating that this will end the turn.
And of course, clicking on or hovering over these icons opens up a new window, or shows detailed information about whatever icon I selected (specifically why an AI Civ dislikes me, how much yield I am producing in all my cities, my progress towards a Culture victory, etc.).
All of this information has been presented in a concise and aesthetic manner allowing players to quickly gain information with a mere glance. So I say to whomever designed the main screen UI, Well done!
Exploring with Automated Units
A small touch that I absolutely love in the game is that when you have automated exploration with units, the units will "un-automate" when you enter within range of a barbarian, or an Ancient Ruin.
In Civilization games, it is often necessary to automate exploration with your units as you start having a multitude of actions to complete that are "more interesting" than just running around the world with a Scout. However, in previous games, automating units meant that units would often run into areas with many barbarians or acquire Ancient Ruins without letting the player know what was obtained.
However in Civilization 6, units now alert you if you are within range of a barbarian or an Ancient Ruin, letting the player adjust their movement accordingly, or get the satisfaction of uncovering the benefits from an Ancient Ruin.
District System
While many have expressed their discontent with the system, I honestly really like it as it adds another layer of complexity and reduces the possibility of "Wonder spamming" in cities.
With this District system, only certain buildings can be built in certain districts. For example, a Library can only be built in a Campus, and a Market can only be built in a Commercial Hub. Additionally, wonders can only be built on certain kinds of terrain. For example, the Pyramids can only be built on Floodplains or Desert tiles, and the Colosseum can only be built on Flat terrain and adjacent to an Entertainment District. Due to this, the number of Wonders a city can build is solely based on the amount of terrain and kind of terrain a city encompasses.
Not only that, Districts and wonders can gain adjacency bonuses (an increase in production yields) depending on if a District, City Center, Wonder, or terrain it is adjacent to. Examining the nearby terrain and adjusting your research priorities to take full advantage of the possible adjacency bonuses is necessary to produce the highest yields possible in your Civilization.
While cities can often look "spread out" as Districts are not required to be adjacent to City Centers, the inclusion of this system adds a much needed layer of complexity to the game, something that the Civilization series desperately needed in the wake of other successful 4X titles such as Endless Legend.
Map Pins
While this may not seem like the "biggest" addition to the Civilization series, it does add a much appreciated feature that helps with future planning. Being able to "pin" a tile aids the player's ability to plan out ahead of where certain wonders or districts will be placed. This is especially helpful over the course of several play sessions.
Often times Civilization games can take hours to complete, and perfectly remembering whatever plan I had for the course of the game can get forgotten. But thanks to the inclusion of pins, I can nail down the location of a future Commercial Hub that allows for the most adjacency bonuses.
The Eureka System
With the "Eureka" System, each technology or civic can be "boosted" (reducing research time) by performing certain "actions" in the game. These "actions" range from "Kill a barbarian with a Slinger", "Have an enemy Civ declare war on you", or "Discover another continent". While a few of these are out of the player's control, many of which can be actively pursued, creating tasks or "quests" a player can accomplish during the course of their game, adding complexity to the game.
Often times when I am playing Civilization with friends, their biggest complaint during gameplay is that it becomes "too boring, since they are not "actively" doing things in the game. However, with the "Eureka" system, and other changes in Civilization 6, my friends are more engaged in the game (and we have finished many more games in Civ 6 than in Civ 5).
The most important information has been placed in the top left of the screen allowing players to quickly see their “Yields per Turn”, how many trade routes are active, how close they are to receiving another “Envoy”, and how many strategic resources they currently have left. The most important information a player would be interested in is the largest object on the screen, the “World Tracker” menu, indicating what Technology or Civic is currently being researched. The World Tracker also provides the player with the number of turns left til completion, what can "boost" this research, if this research has been “Boosted”, as well as the items that will unlock from researching that Technology or Civic.
At the top right of the screen, the current year, turn number, and thankfully the current time are displayed. Underneath this is the list of discovered Civilizations in the game, as well as their current disposition towards us (denoted by a face with different colors). Being able to quickly see the overall feelings a Civ has with me is incredibly useful to keep in mind while making actions in the game. If I want to settle a new city, perhaps I should not settle close to a Civ that is already quite unhappy with me (denoted by a yellow frowny face, or red angry face) as it could trigger a declaration of war or other undesired consequences.
 |
| The main UI screen. |
At the bottom left of the screen shows the mini-map, as well as filters I can activate, providing players with specific information regarding the map. Finally, at the bottom right is the “next action” button, the most important and most clicked button in the game. This icon changes with whatever the next action is. For example, if the next action is “Choose Production”, it will change to the symbol of a Gear. If it is “End Turn” the icon changes to an arrow pointing right, indicating that this will end the turn.
And of course, clicking on or hovering over these icons opens up a new window, or shows detailed information about whatever icon I selected (specifically why an AI Civ dislikes me, how much yield I am producing in all my cities, my progress towards a Culture victory, etc.).
All of this information has been presented in a concise and aesthetic manner allowing players to quickly gain information with a mere glance. So I say to whomever designed the main screen UI, Well done!
Exploring with Automated Units
A small touch that I absolutely love in the game is that when you have automated exploration with units, the units will "un-automate" when you enter within range of a barbarian, or an Ancient Ruin.
In Civilization games, it is often necessary to automate exploration with your units as you start having a multitude of actions to complete that are "more interesting" than just running around the world with a Scout. However, in previous games, automating units meant that units would often run into areas with many barbarians or acquire Ancient Ruins without letting the player know what was obtained.
However in Civilization 6, units now alert you if you are within range of a barbarian or an Ancient Ruin, letting the player adjust their movement accordingly, or get the satisfaction of uncovering the benefits from an Ancient Ruin.
District System
While many have expressed their discontent with the system, I honestly really like it as it adds another layer of complexity and reduces the possibility of "Wonder spamming" in cities.
With this District system, only certain buildings can be built in certain districts. For example, a Library can only be built in a Campus, and a Market can only be built in a Commercial Hub. Additionally, wonders can only be built on certain kinds of terrain. For example, the Pyramids can only be built on Floodplains or Desert tiles, and the Colosseum can only be built on Flat terrain and adjacent to an Entertainment District. Due to this, the number of Wonders a city can build is solely based on the amount of terrain and kind of terrain a city encompasses.
 |
| The adjacency bonuses I would get for placing a Commercial Hub around the city of Uruk. +5 Gold is actually pretty insane so thats definitely going there despite the Bananas already being improved. |
Not only that, Districts and wonders can gain adjacency bonuses (an increase in production yields) depending on if a District, City Center, Wonder, or terrain it is adjacent to. Examining the nearby terrain and adjusting your research priorities to take full advantage of the possible adjacency bonuses is necessary to produce the highest yields possible in your Civilization.
While cities can often look "spread out" as Districts are not required to be adjacent to City Centers, the inclusion of this system adds a much needed layer of complexity to the game, something that the Civilization series desperately needed in the wake of other successful 4X titles such as Endless Legend.
Map Pins
While this may not seem like the "biggest" addition to the Civilization series, it does add a much appreciated feature that helps with future planning. Being able to "pin" a tile aids the player's ability to plan out ahead of where certain wonders or districts will be placed. This is especially helpful over the course of several play sessions.
 |
| The blue circles with the arrow are the pins that I have placed on the map. There are a total 14 different symbols you can pick from. If you click on a pin from the pin menu (at the bottom left of the screen) it will jump to that pin's location. Pretty nifty! |
Often times Civilization games can take hours to complete, and perfectly remembering whatever plan I had for the course of the game can get forgotten. But thanks to the inclusion of pins, I can nail down the location of a future Commercial Hub that allows for the most adjacency bonuses.
The Eureka System
With the "Eureka" System, each technology or civic can be "boosted" (reducing research time) by performing certain "actions" in the game. These "actions" range from "Kill a barbarian with a Slinger", "Have an enemy Civ declare war on you", or "Discover another continent". While a few of these are out of the player's control, many of which can be actively pursued, creating tasks or "quests" a player can accomplish during the course of their game, adding complexity to the game.
Often times when I am playing Civilization with friends, their biggest complaint during gameplay is that it becomes "too boring, since they are not "actively" doing things in the game. However, with the "Eureka" system, and other changes in Civilization 6, my friends are more engaged in the game (and we have finished many more games in Civ 6 than in Civ 5).
The Bad
Auto-Switching Units
After
finishing actions for a unit, the game automatically pans over and selects “the
next closest unit” to be given orders. While this isn’t necessarily a bad
thing, it does cause players (including me) much frustration. This is
especially frustrating during multiplayer games with the “simultaneous turns”
setting activated (which is what everyone online plays as Hybrid takes much too long).
During simultaneous turns in multiplayer, each player takes their turn at the same time as every other player. This style of turns combined with the game automatically switching to “the next closest unit” can cause major issues and frustration during combat with other players as it often comes down to who was the fastest person at attacking, or moving their units.
For example, if I wanted to move two Pikemen in front of my Catapult to protect it from a Knight who is in range of attack, I should move the first Pikemen in front of it, however, instead of selecting the next Pikemen, the game now automatically selects the Catapult, the closest unit in range of my last moved unit. I now have to pan back to the second Pikemen, select the unit, and then move it to the desired position. The time it takes for me to do so could result in not being able to defend the Catapult from attack in time, and having it be severely damaged, or destroyed by my opponent.
While this can be incredibly frustrating for experienced players, especially in a multiplayer game, this does not always cause problems for all players. For example, this problem would probably not cause as much frustration for inexperienced players playing a single player game against AI opponents where you have as much time as you need to take your actions. The inclusion of a setting to disable this under the Gameplay tab would be a very much appreciated fix.
During simultaneous turns in multiplayer, each player takes their turn at the same time as every other player. This style of turns combined with the game automatically switching to “the next closest unit” can cause major issues and frustration during combat with other players as it often comes down to who was the fastest person at attacking, or moving their units.
For example, if I wanted to move two Pikemen in front of my Catapult to protect it from a Knight who is in range of attack, I should move the first Pikemen in front of it, however, instead of selecting the next Pikemen, the game now automatically selects the Catapult, the closest unit in range of my last moved unit. I now have to pan back to the second Pikemen, select the unit, and then move it to the desired position. The time it takes for me to do so could result in not being able to defend the Catapult from attack in time, and having it be severely damaged, or destroyed by my opponent.
While this can be incredibly frustrating for experienced players, especially in a multiplayer game, this does not always cause problems for all players. For example, this problem would probably not cause as much frustration for inexperienced players playing a single player game against AI opponents where you have as much time as you need to take your actions. The inclusion of a setting to disable this under the Gameplay tab would be a very much appreciated fix.
"Regional Effect" Buildings
There
are certain buildings, and wonders that have “regional effects” that can provide
bonuses to other cities if their City Center is within a certain tile range of
that building or wonder. The problem with these
types of buildings is that there is no way to see the possible range that these
buildings will provide to other City Centers other than turning on the “Show
Hex Grid” option and manually counting the tiles to see if a City Center would
get the bonus.
A good example showing this problem is when creating the Colosseum wonder. This wonder provides a Culture and Amenity Bonus to all City Centers within a 6 tile radius of the Colosseum. Often times there are multiple locations that the Colosseum can be placed upon the map and it would be extremely beneficial to see the highlighted radius that the Colosseum will provide bonuses to.
The inclusion of this feature would enhance players' ability to find optimal locations for regional effect buildings.
Unclear Unit Commands
When giving commands to units, a small bar above the unit appears showing several options, two of which are "Alert" and "Fortify". As you can see by their icons in the picture below, these are very similar in their design with the only difference is that there is a crosshair on the "Alert" icon.
While it is not terribly difficult to distinguish these two options as separate actions, it is however not clear what the difference between these actions are.
Unlike almost every aspect of the game, these unit commands do not have a tooltip that appears when you hover over the icons. The only way to discover what these actions do is to search the Civilopedia or the Civilization Wiki online.
As "Fortifying" a unit does not "wake up" when near an enemy unit, that unit can often times get surrounded, or even damaged by enemy units without the player realizing that enemies were near, or attacking their unit.
This begs the question, why do two very similar actions not have a tooltip explaining what these actions do? Why are their symbols so similar? Why not use something like a "spyglass" icon for the "Alert" action? Why does "Alert" even exists, why not include the"wake up" function in "Fortify"? Why am I not notified when my units are under attack while they are "Fortified"?
This can be quite discouraging and confusing towards new or inexperienced players who do not yet have a firm understanding of how to play the game.
Poor AI Functionality and Poor Diplomacy
While the agenda mechanic is definitely something very interesting that adds complexity to the game, the AI Civ's behavior is often unreasonable and acts "childish".
Each Civ has their own unique "Agenda", or plan they carry out every game, as well as a "Hidden Agenda" that the player must discover through espionage and diplomacy. These "Hidden Agendas" often include things like "City-State Ally" (Likes Civs that aren't competing for the same City-State allegiance), "Wonder Obsessed" (LIkes Civs not competiing for wonders, and builds wonders whenever possible), and "Darwinist" (Likes Civs that are at war).
The cool thing about these Agendas is that often times, it is impossible to make all Civs like you as many Agendas conflict with one another, so you must choose which Civs you want to befriend and which ones to remain antagonistic with.
Players who "fulfill" the requirements to these Agendas will inherently make the AI Civ like them better, not fulfilling them will increase their disdain towards the player. Additionally, AI Civs will periodically send you messages on your "progress" to adhering to these Agendas (see picture below).
For example, Harald Hardrada (of Norway) has the Agenda "Last Viking King", which involves him wanting to build a strong navy, liking other Civs with a large navy, and disliking Civs with a weak navy.
The problem with this is, if you are a landlocked Civ with no access to the ocean, Harald will naturally always dislike you, making it necessary for you to do as much as you can to "stay on his good side" if you would like to trade with him or not get invaded by Berserkers.
Another extremely aggravating aspect about the Agenda system is that Mvemba a Nzinga's (of Kongo) unique Agenda is "Enthusiastic Disciple" which involves him wanting as many different Religions in his empire, liking those who spread their religion to him, and disliking those who do not.
The worst part about Mvemba's Agenda is that often times I will get a message from him saying "I am disappointed in you for not spreading your religion to me" LITERALLY one turn after I found a Religion. I'm like, DUDE, CHILL OUT, YOU ARE LITERALLY A CONTINENT AWAY.
Another fun aspect of the AI is that despite you doing everything to keep other AI Civs happy, the moment you "fall below" the threshold of whatever Agenda you had previously fulfilled, the Civ will freak out and start disliking you despite "everything you had done for them". But they will still send you unreasonable trade requests and get upset when you refuse it.
Due to their unpredictable and unreasonable nature, many players (including myself) ignore the diplomacy aspects of the game and only trade when they are in dire need of a luxury resource.
While I realize that this is not a simple fix, I believe that a more consistent, and reasonable AI would make this the game a less frustrating, and more enjoyable experience.
Gossip Pop-ups
Another feature that was added in Civilization 6 was the "Gossip" system, in which players periodically receive popup messages about what's going on in the world at the beginning of each turn. While this is a pretty cool feature that lets you hear about "Who finished a Wonder", or that "Greece has declared war on an unknown Civilization", these messages can often be redundant or pointless.
I do not need to know that "Japan has declared war on Egypt" when I am the one who is playing Egypt.
Auto-Selected Turn Limit
When playing Civilization 6, the game has several default settings, one of which is a "Turn Limit". When the game has reached the maximum turn limit, the game ends and whoever has the highest score is deemed the winner.
The problem with having this as a default setting is that often times Civilization games can take much longer than the maximum 330 turns (especially with certain mods or settings enabled). I don't know how many games I've played where I was having a great time and realized my game had a turn limit on and I was nearly 300 turns in with no end in sight.
Non-Pivoting Units
Something that has always slightly frustrated me in Civilization 5 and 6 is that there is no easy way to "pivot" the direction a unit is facing. This is a problem as when you are in combat, units can receive attack modifiers depending on the position they are attacking from.
For example, if you are trying to create a wall of Spearmen facing different directions prevent a flanking attack from enemy Swordsmen, you have to manually move your units onto the tile you wish to place that unit from the direction that you wish them to face (it's kind of complicated to explain in text).
It would be really helpful if there was an action you could take with your units to pivot them in any direction you wish, as in large scale combat, you want to position your units effectively in order to do the most damage as possible.
Lack of Notifications for Cities that are not Growing or Producing Industry
While I was playing Civilization 6 in preparation for this article, I noticed that one of my newly settled cities was actually not growing or producing Industry at all. I had not realized that my city was essentially doing nothing as I had nine other cities and a war to attend to. When I finally scrolled by to see how it was doing, I noticed that it was still stuck at 1 Population and 40 turns until the Monument would be completed.
I was surprised by this as I had not received any notification saying that my city wasn't producing Industry or Food. I had assumed that if this was an issue, I would have received one like the ones you receive when a city is no longer growing or has run out of amenities.
Exclusion of Features from Previous Games
While this isn't necessarily a usability or design issue in the game. I believe the exclusion of some of the more complex and interesting features in "Vanilla" Civilization games is a misstep.
The biggest "missing feature" from Civilization 6 was the exclusion of large scale world politics systems, like the World Congress/United Nations (Civilization 4 and 5), or Corporations (Civilization 4: Beyond the Sword), included in the base game.
This can be aggravating for die-hard Civilization players like myself as it feels like with each successive release, there are less features in the new game than there were in the last expansion of the previous game.
While I realize the developers need content for later expansions and they can only put so much content in before they need to ship the game, it often feels like they are purposefully omitting content from the game in order to charge players later.
Final Thoughts
While there are many issues still left to be ironed out in Civilization 6, I believe that the game is a step in the right direction that adds much needed complexity to the series, presents information in a simple manner that provides players with the tools necessary to efficiently play the game.
Let's hope that the upcoming expansion, Rise and Fall can address these issues!
A good example showing this problem is when creating the Colosseum wonder. This wonder provides a Culture and Amenity Bonus to all City Centers within a 6 tile radius of the Colosseum. Often times there are multiple locations that the Colosseum can be placed upon the map and it would be extremely beneficial to see the highlighted radius that the Colosseum will provide bonuses to.
The inclusion of this feature would enhance players' ability to find optimal locations for regional effect buildings.
Unclear Unit Commands
When giving commands to units, a small bar above the unit appears showing several options, two of which are "Alert" and "Fortify". As you can see by their icons in the picture below, these are very similar in their design with the only difference is that there is a crosshair on the "Alert" icon.
While it is not terribly difficult to distinguish these two options as separate actions, it is however not clear what the difference between these actions are.
Unlike almost every aspect of the game, these unit commands do not have a tooltip that appears when you hover over the icons. The only way to discover what these actions do is to search the Civilopedia or the Civilization Wiki online.
 |
| As you can see, I am hovering over Shield icon, but all it says is that it is "Fortify". I had previously fortified this unit, and when I scrolled back to take this picture, I noticed that my War-Cart had taken damage and I wasn't even notified of it! |
As "Fortifying" a unit does not "wake up" when near an enemy unit, that unit can often times get surrounded, or even damaged by enemy units without the player realizing that enemies were near, or attacking their unit.
This begs the question, why do two very similar actions not have a tooltip explaining what these actions do? Why are their symbols so similar? Why not use something like a "spyglass" icon for the "Alert" action? Why does "Alert" even exists, why not include the"wake up" function in "Fortify"? Why am I not notified when my units are under attack while they are "Fortified"?
This can be quite discouraging and confusing towards new or inexperienced players who do not yet have a firm understanding of how to play the game.
Poor AI Functionality and Poor Diplomacy
While the agenda mechanic is definitely something very interesting that adds complexity to the game, the AI Civ's behavior is often unreasonable and acts "childish".
Each Civ has their own unique "Agenda", or plan they carry out every game, as well as a "Hidden Agenda" that the player must discover through espionage and diplomacy. These "Hidden Agendas" often include things like "City-State Ally" (Likes Civs that aren't competing for the same City-State allegiance), "Wonder Obsessed" (LIkes Civs not competiing for wonders, and builds wonders whenever possible), and "Darwinist" (Likes Civs that are at war).
The cool thing about these Agendas is that often times, it is impossible to make all Civs like you as many Agendas conflict with one another, so you must choose which Civs you want to befriend and which ones to remain antagonistic with.
 |
| Sorry Saladin, I will do better next time... |
For example, Harald Hardrada (of Norway) has the Agenda "Last Viking King", which involves him wanting to build a strong navy, liking other Civs with a large navy, and disliking Civs with a weak navy.
The problem with this is, if you are a landlocked Civ with no access to the ocean, Harald will naturally always dislike you, making it necessary for you to do as much as you can to "stay on his good side" if you would like to trade with him or not get invaded by Berserkers.
Another extremely aggravating aspect about the Agenda system is that Mvemba a Nzinga's (of Kongo) unique Agenda is "Enthusiastic Disciple" which involves him wanting as many different Religions in his empire, liking those who spread their religion to him, and disliking those who do not.
The worst part about Mvemba's Agenda is that often times I will get a message from him saying "I am disappointed in you for not spreading your religion to me" LITERALLY one turn after I found a Religion. I'm like, DUDE, CHILL OUT, YOU ARE LITERALLY A CONTINENT AWAY.
Another fun aspect of the AI is that despite you doing everything to keep other AI Civs happy, the moment you "fall below" the threshold of whatever Agenda you had previously fulfilled, the Civ will freak out and start disliking you despite "everything you had done for them". But they will still send you unreasonable trade requests and get upset when you refuse it.
 |
| Why on Earth would I ever accept this trade... I wish he would accept a trade for his Gems though but he dislikes me so much that he'd rather not gain a benefit at all (thats what whe call a low welfare trade off ratio folks!). |
Due to their unpredictable and unreasonable nature, many players (including myself) ignore the diplomacy aspects of the game and only trade when they are in dire need of a luxury resource.
While I realize that this is not a simple fix, I believe that a more consistent, and reasonable AI would make this the game a less frustrating, and more enjoyable experience.
Gossip Pop-ups
Another feature that was added in Civilization 6 was the "Gossip" system, in which players periodically receive popup messages about what's going on in the world at the beginning of each turn. While this is a pretty cool feature that lets you hear about "Who finished a Wonder", or that "Greece has declared war on an unknown Civilization", these messages can often be redundant or pointless.
I do not need to know that "Japan has declared war on Egypt" when I am the one who is playing Egypt.
Auto-Selected Turn Limit
When playing Civilization 6, the game has several default settings, one of which is a "Turn Limit". When the game has reached the maximum turn limit, the game ends and whoever has the highest score is deemed the winner.
The problem with having this as a default setting is that often times Civilization games can take much longer than the maximum 330 turns (especially with certain mods or settings enabled). I don't know how many games I've played where I was having a great time and realized my game had a turn limit on and I was nearly 300 turns in with no end in sight.
Non-Pivoting Units
Something that has always slightly frustrated me in Civilization 5 and 6 is that there is no easy way to "pivot" the direction a unit is facing. This is a problem as when you are in combat, units can receive attack modifiers depending on the position they are attacking from.
For example, if you are trying to create a wall of Spearmen facing different directions prevent a flanking attack from enemy Swordsmen, you have to manually move your units onto the tile you wish to place that unit from the direction that you wish them to face (it's kind of complicated to explain in text).
It would be really helpful if there was an action you could take with your units to pivot them in any direction you wish, as in large scale combat, you want to position your units effectively in order to do the most damage as possible.
Lack of Notifications for Cities that are not Growing or Producing Industry
While I was playing Civilization 6 in preparation for this article, I noticed that one of my newly settled cities was actually not growing or producing Industry at all. I had not realized that my city was essentially doing nothing as I had nine other cities and a war to attend to. When I finally scrolled by to see how it was doing, I noticed that it was still stuck at 1 Population and 40 turns until the Monument would be completed.
I was surprised by this as I had not received any notification saying that my city wasn't producing Industry or Food. I had assumed that if this was an issue, I would have received one like the ones you receive when a city is no longer growing or has run out of amenities.
Exclusion of Features from Previous Games
While this isn't necessarily a usability or design issue in the game. I believe the exclusion of some of the more complex and interesting features in "Vanilla" Civilization games is a misstep.
The biggest "missing feature" from Civilization 6 was the exclusion of large scale world politics systems, like the World Congress/United Nations (Civilization 4 and 5), or Corporations (Civilization 4: Beyond the Sword), included in the base game.
This can be aggravating for die-hard Civilization players like myself as it feels like with each successive release, there are less features in the new game than there were in the last expansion of the previous game.
While I realize the developers need content for later expansions and they can only put so much content in before they need to ship the game, it often feels like they are purposefully omitting content from the game in order to charge players later.
Final Thoughts
While there are many issues still left to be ironed out in Civilization 6, I believe that the game is a step in the right direction that adds much needed complexity to the series, presents information in a simple manner that provides players with the tools necessary to efficiently play the game.
Let's hope that the upcoming expansion, Rise and Fall can address these issues!
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