Civilization VII has received its first big post-launch update, now live on all platforms. The new entry to the much-loved 4X strategy game series launched in a rather rough state, to the point that developer Firaxis had to disable cross-play as priority went to making hotfixes on PC first.
With Update 1.1.0, the console versions of the game will now get all the previously released fixes, as well as new improvements. And cross-play between PC and consoles are enabled again.
The patch notes for Update 1.1.0 is long, so here are some of the big noteworthy notes from the patch notes:
- Modern Era Cultural Legacy Path rework
- more costly Explorer Units
- less Exploration Age artifacts
- can study Natural Wonders to discover Artifacts (tech research required)
- theoretically infinite supply of artifacts via repeatingly complete Future Civic at the cost of Age progression
- improved AI (no more wild Explorer stacks by AI civs)
- Civ ability changes to America, Buganda, Meiji Japan, Siam
- Naval Units can disperse Independent Powers
- Memento (earned unlocks that can be equipped for buffs) rebalanced to not overshadow civ/leader abilities, but also does something to be worth picking
- City States won’t disappear on Age Transition. They will instead become Friendly Independent Powers and starts with more units on new Age
- Completing Final Milestone of a Legacy Path won’t add Age Progress in Modern Age, so you can actually complete the associated project to complete the Victory
- New free content: Bermuda Triangle Natural Wonder
- Console-specific (includes hotfixes prior to Update 1.1.0):
- Civilopedia search results now accessible via controller
- In-game clock now displays local time instead of GMT
- Typos and loading screen text issues corrected
We’ve tested the update on PS5, and have some good albeit minor improvements to the UI being made for folks playing on controller. This includes the following changes:
- Much clearer cursor (hovers just above the tile, with a moving pattern to highlight the cursor)
- Cursor deselects units after movement even if there are still movement points available, which avoids the issue of unintentional movement
- Minor improvements to Diplomacy screen (red texts letting you know why options are greyed out, unavailable options greyed out better)
- Minor improvements to City Resources screen (red texts letting you know why resources can’t be slotted in)
- Production Queue: unlocked buildings are now shown in Purchase tab even if there’s not enough Gold to purchased (it’s now greyed out with a red text to explain why, instead of being entirely hidden)
- Button prompt to check tooltips on new Tech/Civic unlock
- There are now audio cues for button presses, confirms and notifications
- Cumulative bar chart displaying total Legacy Path points at End-of-Age result screen displays properly
Some of these are much-needed fixes. It’s still early days of developer Firaxis’ commitment to improve the UI so these are just minor changes so far. That City Resources screen is still a nightmare to navigate with a controller.
The new game update drops alongside the first wave of DLCs, the first half of the Crossroads of the World Collection. These are technically three different DLCs: one new leader and two new civs.
Civ VII New DLC Drop: Crossroads Of The World (Wave 1) New Leader and Civs
New leader Ada Lovelace ushers in a new wave of English representation in Civilization that isn’t part of the royal family. The OG programmer (see that punched card poking over the book she’s holding) is expectedly scientifically inclined, with her unique ability being mastery research.
Completing a Civic (culture tree) Mastery research will earn you an increased Science output per Age (resets on new Age start). While researching Technology (science tech tree) Mastery earns you Culture equal to a percentage of total Science per turn.
The description opts out of putting numbers in, likely to future-proof in case the ability gets buffed/nerfed in the future.
As for the two new civs: there new civ Great Britain who comes to stage in the Modern Age. Their unique ability is that buildings cost cheaper to build or buy, but converting towns into cities cost more.
The other DLC civ is Carthage, available in the early Antiquity Age. Their unique ability is also city-based like Great Britain. But rather than having it costs more to convert towns into cities, you simply can’t. You can only have one city. And if you make a Merchant or Colonist (that still can found towns), you get an extra copy.
Close enough, welcome back Civ V Venice and your one-city challenge.
And lastly, the DLC pack containing four Natural Wonders (Machapuchare, Mount Fuji, Vihren, and Vinicunca) is also available. All of these are available ala carte, or part of the Crossworlds Of The World Collection bundle, included in the more expensive versions of Civ VII.
As expected, the rather too-soon DLC drop left some bad taste in player’s mouths, with the DLC bundle on Steam having a Mostly Negative rating. Players complained through reviews that the pack being overpriced, and it has the impression that these contents are removed from the base game to be sold for extra, given the one-month gap between the game launch and the DLC drop.
The whole bundle also costs RM124: more than half the price of the base game at RM239 in Malaysia. Buying the Deluxe Edition which includes the bundle is actually cheaper.
Given the state of the game right now, it’s understandable, even recommendable, to sit out for a bit and wait for the eventual sale. But for those already invested in Civ VII, at least the game we’re playing is getting better, and the new leaders and civs set to arrive in this Collection sounds like a hoot to play judging by the first wave we’re getting.
Civilization VII is out now on PS5, PC (Steam, Epic Games Store), Xbox Series X|S and Switch. Check out our review of the game here.