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Civilization VI Trailer Demonstrates Unstacked Cities

Ch-ch-changes

So you've read all four thousand of Adam's Civilization VI [official site] words, his overview and his hands-on preview, but that's only, what, four pictures' worth? I'm not sure how well the idiom applies to video frames - though of course none deny its power and universal truth - but surely two minutes of video at 30 frames per second holds at least a little descriptive power. Here, check out this new trailer explaining how Civilization VI has unstacked cities, sending them sprawling into outlying districts:

To recap: Civilization's cities have historically occupied only a single tile, cramming buildings and upgrades in there, but Civ 6 will unbundle these out to themed districts each in their own tile. Certain upgrades can only be built in certain terrain types or near certain districts, and districts can give bonuses to those around them - theater districts are boosted by being adjacent to a Wonder, for example. It'll deepen players' connection to the geography of their empires and encourage them to be a little more flexible with tech tree plans, Firaxis say. How does it pan out? Our Adam said:

"I haven't played anywhere near enough to know how well the cities will work out over an entire playthrough (or a hundred), but there's a definite sense of creating something distinct rather than simply filling an empty vessel. Each city is an element necessary for your particular civ at this particular point in this particular situation. Whether you’ll be able to satisfactorily or successfully respec them as the times require isn’t yet clear, but it's an enticing possibility."

Civilization VI is due on October 21st.

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About the Author
Alice O'Connor avatar

Alice O'Connor

Associate Editor

Alice has been playing video games since SkiFree and writing about them since 2009, with nine years at RPS. She enjoys immersive sims, roguelikelikes, chunky revolvers, weird little spooky indies, mods, walking simulators, and finding joy in details. Alice lives, swims, and cycles in Scotland.

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