More granular difficulty options
There are two more things of note that Firaxis has added to the advanced settings during game setup. First, you can fine-tune the difficulty settings by picking a different difficulty level for each aspect of the game. For example, you can set combat strength for AI players to Viceroy difficulty, while using the Happiness rules for Settler.
There has already been some confusion about this feature, though, as it’s hard to find. It was promised in the patch notes, then players took to Reddit and YouTube to complain that it’s not actually present in the patch. It is, but you have to set the top-level difficulty to the newly available “custom” value before you can see these options.
Samuel Axon
This kind of ultra-granular difficulty tweaking is becoming more common in games, and we love to see it.
Samuel Axon
Samuel Axon
This is the newly redesigned loading screen.
Samuel Axon
This kind of ultra-granular difficulty tweaking is becoming more common in games, and we love to see it.
Samuel Axon
This is the newly redesigned loading screen.
Samuel Axon
The last game setup addition is the option to change how friendly or hostile independent powers tend to be, which is welcome for players who prefer building to fighting, especially in the Antiquity Age.
Mod support and other gameplay changes
The Civilization VII community has already been modding, but that required the old-school approach of mucking around in files and folders. Now, Firaxis has introduced official mod support, including distribution via Steam Workshop, documentation, and some example mods made by the dev team.
There’s also a new loading screen with more detailed information and more interactive elements, which Firaxis says is a hint at other major UI overhauls to come. That said, players have already complained that it doesn’t look very nice because the 2D leader assets that appear on it have been scaled awkwardly and look fuzzy.
The remaining changes are largely balance and systems-related. Trade convoys can now travel over land, which means treasure ships will no longer get stuck in lakes, and there are broader strategic options for tackling the economic path in the Exploration Age. There has been a significant effort to overhaul town focuses, including the addition of a couple new ones, and the much-anticipated nerf of the Hub Town focus; it now provides +1 influence per connected town instead of two, though that may still not be quite enough to make the Hub Town, well, not overpowered.
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