The developer of Civilization 7 has explained why it strongly recommends even veteran Civ players stick with the tutorial for their first full campaign.
In a post on Steam, Ed Beach, creative director at Firaxis Games, offered his tips for your first game of Civilization 7.
“Civilization 7 is a big game, with many new systems and mechanics that differentiate it from earlier games in our series,” he began. “There's a lot to learn, so we felt that it was important that we provide some suggestions to ensure everyone has a successful first experience.”
This is a reference to Civilization 7’s Ages system, which is a drastic change for the long-running strategy series. A full campaign in Civilization 7 is one that goes through all three Ages: Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern. Once the Age is completed, all players (and any AI opponents) experience an Age Transition simultaneously. During an Age Transition, three things happen: you select a new civilization from the new Age to represent your empire, you choose which Legacies you want to retain in the new Age, and the game world evolves. The Civilization games have never had such a system.
Beach then explained why Firaxis chose Small as the default map size for Civilization 7.
“We know that many veteran Civ players love to play on the largest map size and see the maximum number of empires battle it out,” he said. “However, there's a very deliberate reason that we chose Small as the default map size. With three other empires on your home continent, and a few more to discover later in the game, Small Maps make for a very comfortable experience while you are learning the ins and outs of Civ 7.
“We especially recommend this map size as you get your feet wet with our new Diplomacy system. Tracking your relationship and ongoing diplomatic activities with a manageable number of opponents makes it way easier to get the hang of how you want to spend and manage your Diplomatic Influence.
“We also recommend sticking with Continents Plus
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