CIV 7 DEV Exclusive Interview - CAN WE PET THE DOG?, Balancing, AI changes and the Paradox of Choice

Summary

In this interview with Ed Beach and Carl the Barbarian from Fraxis, insights are shared on the development of Civilization 7. They discuss the game's 333 rule, balancing AI, and the evolution of great people mechanics. The interview delves into the narrative system's integration, with over a thousand narrative events based on historical figures. Challenges in AI scaling, late-game pacing, and balancing the game's complexity are addressed. The developers also touch on the Civ unlock system, designed to mitigate the 'paradox of choice' for players. Lastly, they confirm that while the iconic dog from previous games may not be present, the Scout unit will receive special attention.

Takeaways

• 😀 The interview discusses the development of 'Civilization 7' with developers Ed Beach and Carl the Barbarian.
• 🐕 The iconic feature of petting the dog in the game is confirmed to continue, though specifics on how it will work with the new Scout unit are yet to be determined.
• 🔄 The '333 rule' for moving into new iterations is clarified as '30 30 30', indicating a focus on balance and pacing in the game's development.
• 🌟 The handling of Great People has evolved, now being unique to each civilization, allowing for more historical depth and narrative integration.
• 📚 Over a thousand narrative events are planned, based on historical figures and in-game occurrences, aiming to enrich the storytelling aspect of the game.
• 💬 The narrative system is built upon the previous gossip system, focusing on significant in-game events to drive stories and reduce overwhelming player notifications.
• 🤖 The AI development team has grown significantly, addressing challenges like unit positioning and balancing the game across different skill levels.
• 🏰 The removal of Builders and the introduction of Commanders simplify the game for AI, streamlining decision-making and combat strategies.
• 🔧 The game aims to alleviate late-game slog by introducing age transitions with 'rubber banding' mechanics and new mechanics in each age to reduce micromanagement.
• 🔄 The Civ unlock system helps mitigate the 'paradox of choice' by providing structured choices for players and AI when transitioning between ages.

Q & A

What is the '333 rule' mentioned in the interview regarding moving into a new iteration?

The '333 rule' is a guideline for game progression, although the exact numbers were not confirmed in the interview, it was suggested to be '30 30 30', which might refer to balancing different aspects of the game such as military, science, and culture.

How has the handling of great people changed from previous Civilization games to Civilization 7?

In Civilization 7, the handling of great people has become unique to each civilization, allowing for more historical depth and focus on individual great people and their contributions to their civilization.

What is the significance of narrative events in the game, and how many are there?

Narrative events add depth to the game by tying into the history of great people and in-game events. The exact number is not specified, but the team aimed for over a thousand, and they are based on historical events or loosely inspired by them.

How does the narrative system in Civilization 7 differ from the gossip system in Civilization 6?

The narrative system in Civilization 7 uses the same foundational code as the gossip system from Civilization 6 but has been adapted to create stories based on events happening in the game world, making it a richer and more engaging system.

What challenges does the larger AI team face in terms of scaling up the difficulty in Civilization 7?

The AI team faces challenges in ensuring that the AI scales appropriately with difficulty levels, without simply relying on multipliers or 'cheats'. They aim to make the AI more adaptive and challenging by integrating it with various aspects of gameplay.

How does the removal of Builders and the introduction of commanders simplify AI decision-making in Civilization 7?

Removing Builders reduces the complexity of AI decision-making by eliminating the need to manage their production and deployment constantly. Commanders, by having promotions that apply to all units, simplify unit management and positioning for the AI.

What measures are being taken to alleviate the late-game slog in Civilization 7?

To alleviate the late-game slog, Civilization 7 introduces rubber banding on age transitions, new mechanics in each age to reduce micromanagement, and the introduction of new Commander types that assist with military gameplay.

How does the Civ unlock system help mitigate the 'Paradox of Choice' for players in Civilization 7?

The Civ unlock system provides structure by limiting the choices available to players based on their current civilization, leader, or in-game events, making the decision-making process less overwhelming and more immersive.

What is the process for balancing the game with the introduction of many new Civs and age transitions in Civilization 7?

Balancing the game has become more complex with the introduction of many new Civs and age transitions. The development team focuses on balancing within each age and relies on community feedback post-launch to address any unbalanced combinations.

Can players still pet the dog in Civilization 7, and what other animals might be introduced?

Petting the dog is a feature that the developers are aware of and value. While they haven't figured out how to pet multiple animals for launch, they acknowledge its importance and plan to address it post-launch.

Outlines

00:00

🎮 Interview Insights on Civilization 7

The paragraph introduces an interview with Ed Beach and Carl the Barbarian from the Fraxis development team, focusing on Civilization 7. The interviewer aims to cover a range of topics, including AI balancing and the return of a beloved feature: the ability to pet the dog. The conversation is structured with a mix of easy and tough questions, starting with the lighter topics before delving into more complex issues. The discussion touches on the '333 rule' for new iterations of the game and the changes that the developers would have liked to see from previous versions.

05:02

📚 Evolution of Great People and Narrative Events

This segment delves into the evolution of the 'Great People' mechanic in Civilization 7, with a shift from a global competition to a civilization-specific system, allowing for more historical depth. The narrative team has crafted over a thousand narrative events, drawing loosely from historical contexts and tying them to in-game actions. The foundation of this system is an adaptation of the Civ6 gossip system, repurposed to trigger stories based on game events. The development process involved iterating on the system to add depth and flavor, balancing rewards, and fine-tuning the narrative events' rarity and triggers.

10:03

🤖 Enhancing AI Strategy and Decision-Making

The discussion moves to the challenges of enhancing AI strategy in Civilization 7, with the AI team's size significantly increased to address various aspects of the game. The team focuses on improving AI performance across difficulties, not just through simple multipliers but by making the AI smarter in decision-making. The introduction of commanders and the removal of builders and settlers simplify the AI's tasks, allowing it to focus on more strategic actions. The conversation also hints at the complexities introduced by the Legacy path system and the need for the AI to adapt to new gameplay elements.

15:05

🌐 Addressing Late-Game Slump and Overbuilding

The paragraph addresses the common issue of the late-game slog in strategy games, where the pace slows down significantly. The developers discuss the introduction of rubber-banding mechanics upon age transitions to keep the game competitive. They also talk about the 'overbuilding' mechanic, where older buildings lose effectiveness as the game progresses, encouraging players to replace them with newer structures. The aim is to reduce micromanagement and keep the game engaging by introducing new mechanics and commanders in each age that assist with military gameplay.

20:06

🔄 Balancing Civ Progression and Player Choice

The final paragraph discusses the challenges of balancing the progression of civilizations and managing player choice. The developers introduce a 'Civil unlock system' to guide player choices and reduce the overwhelming number of combinations. They acknowledge the increased complexity of balancing due to the decoupling of civilizations and leaders, and the introduction of age transitions. The conversation concludes with the developers expressing excitement about the community's exploration of the game's vast combination space and their anticipation of post-launch balancing and feedback.

🐕 The Future of Petting Dogs in Civ 7

In a lighter note, the last part of the interview humorously addresses the question of whether the dog-petting feature will return in Civilization 7. While the feature is recognized as beloved, the developers hint that with the introduction of a unique scout unit without a dog, they are considering how to expand the feature to include other animals, acknowledging the importance of such a feature to the game's community.

Keywords

💡Civilization 7

Civilization 7 refers to the seventh installment in the popular strategy game series 'Civilization,' developed by Firaxis Games. The game is known for its complex gameplay involving the building and management of a civilization from ancient times to the modern era. In the script, the interview is centered around the development and features of this upcoming game, making it the central theme of the video.

💡Ed Beach

Ed Beach is a notable figure in the gaming industry, particularly known for his work as a lead designer on the Civilization series. In the script, he is one of the interviewees, providing insights into the development of Civilization 7. His role and contributions are significant to the discussion about the game's design and gameplay mechanics.

💡Carl the Barbarian

Carl the Barbarian is another developer at Firaxis Games, mentioned in the script as participating in the interview. Although the name suggests a playful or nickname, it indicates the presence of another key developer involved in the game's creation. His input, along with Ed Beach's, provides a comprehensive view of the development process for Civilization 7.

💡AI Balancing

AI balancing refers to the process of adjusting the artificial intelligence in games to provide a fair and challenging experience for players. In the context of the script, the developers discuss the challenges and improvements made in balancing the AI for Civilization 7, ensuring that the game remains engaging and adaptive to various player strategies.

💡333 Rule

The '333 Rule' mentioned in the script is a design principle or a guideline used by the developers to ensure that certain game mechanics, such as movement or resource allocation, are balanced and intuitive. It's an example of the kind of strategic thinking that goes into the game's design to create a coherent and enjoyable player experience.

💡Great People

Great People are a game mechanic in the Civilization series where historical figures provide unique abilities or boosts to the civilization. The script discusses changes to this system in Civilization 7, indicating that each civilization will have unique Great People, adding depth to the game's historical simulation and strategic options.

💡Narrative Events

Narrative events are story-driven occurrences in the game that are designed to enrich the gameplay with historical context and character. The script mentions the creation of over a thousand narrative events based on the history of Great People, aiming to provide a more immersive and personalized experience for players in Civilization 7.

💡Legacy Paths

Legacy Paths in the script refer to a new game mechanic in Civilization 7 that outlines various objectives or strategies for players to follow throughout the ages. These paths are designed to guide players and provide bonuses, adding a layer of strategic depth and historical progression to the game.

💡Rubber Banding

Rubber banding in the context of the script is a game design technique used to keep the game competitive by adjusting the performance or abilities of players who are lagging behind. It is mentioned as a mechanism that occurs during age transitions in Civilization 7 to keep the game challenging and dynamic.

💡Paradox of Choice

The 'Paradox of Choice' is a psychological phenomenon where having too many options can lead to decision paralysis or reduced satisfaction. In the script, it is discussed as a challenge in game design, particularly with the introduction of many choices for civilization progression in Civilization 7. The developers aim to mitigate this by structuring choices to enhance the player experience.

Highlights

Interview with Ed Beach and Carl the Barbarian from Fraxis about Civilization 7.

Discussion on balancing AI in Civilization 7.

Inquiry about the return of the 'can we pet the dog' feature.

Explanation of the '333 rule' for moving into new iterations of the game.

Reflection on changes from previous Civilization games and their impact on Civilization 7.

Details on the unique handling of great people in each civilization.

Narrative system's integration with great people's stories.

Ambitious target of over a thousand narrative events in the game.

Narrative events based on historical events and in-game actions.

Challenges in creating a foundation for narrative events and iterating on them.

Adaptation of the Civ6 gossip system for the narrative system in Civ7.

AI team's expanded size and its impact on game difficulty scaling.

Simplification of gameplay elements like removal of Builders to aid AI decision-making.

Introduction of Legacy bonuses and their complexity for AI.

Strategies to alleviate the late-game slog in Civilization 7.

Rubber banding mechanics to keep the game competitive in later ages.

New Commander types in each age to assist with military gameplay.

Addressing the 'Paradox of Choice' with the Civilization unlock system.

Balancing challenges with the introduction of Civ transitions and multiple Civs.

Community anticipation for discovering new combinations and strategies.

Confirmation that the dog from previous games will be missed but new features are being considered.

Transcripts

oh hello there b here I had the

opportunity to interview some of the

devs at fraxis and ask them some

questions in regards to civilization 7

now I was joined by both Ed Beach and

Carl the Barbarian a little bit ago and

asked some very very important questions

such as balancing the AI in c 7 and

obviously the most important question of

them all can we still pet the dog now I

only had a limited amount of time to ask

a lot of questions so I tried to get as

many out that I thought were important

as possible but obviously there are

still some to be asked and hopefully

will be answered in the next Dev streams

regardless I hope you all enjoy all

right and here's the

interview all right well good morning to

both of you uh thanks for joining me for

asking some questions on on C7 and and

your thoughts and everything on it yeah

uh we've got I've got I split it into

two two parts I've got tougher questions

and some easier questions so what do you

guys want to what do you guys want to

start with today whatever you know makes

for you sure whatever makes sense okay

well we'll start with some I'll give

I'll give a a one easy question and then

we'll jump right into the hard questions

that way you know we can we can ease

into

it um I guess the the the first easy

question that I have in regards to C7 is

uh you know you guys talk up a lot about

the the 333 rule when uh when moving

into new uh is it 333 or is it 33 33 33

rule what probably 30 30 30 30 yeah when

you're moving into a new uh iteration of

the fan tries was there anything in

particular particular in c 7 that you

would have loved to either see from

previous games uh that may have been

removed uh or anything that pain pains

you to be removed it doesn't necessarily

have to be s seven like maybe there was

something from 5 to six or so on and so

forth sure um I know one thing for me

was um was the way that we do great

people um as a as a Content designer

great people are such an amazing content

lever there's so many abilities for C

and leaders and civ6 to interact with

that system and so many great abilities

on the great people and so having that

as a global thing to tie into was a lot

of fun um that said I love the way that

we're handling great people this time

where it's Unique to each civilization

we're able to get a lot more history for

that Civ in there as a result we're able

to focus on um on those individual great

people and and what makes them special

and how those people make that

Civilization special um so I think we've

gained a lot but at the same time I I

felt that loss yeah and I think one

thing you'll place you'll see the

specific ties to those specific people

is with some of the stories coming out

of our narrative system absolutely so

the narrative team has actually gone

through and looked at every single great

person whether it's you know Greek

philosophers or something else and tried

to come up with something cool from the

you know the story of their life um to

put in the game so that's amazing that

we get to add that but I kind of like

that Global competition for them as well

yeah I can imagine that especially you

know the uh just seeing you know you

have like 50 great points per turn for

for one and then everyone only has like

two to three and then of course there

also the inevitable you know getting

sniped when you want Einstein right that

feeling is always the worst very similar

to the the Wonder race in that regard

yeah exactly that actually kind of turns

into have another question here in

regarding to to narrative events um and

I I mentioned uh on the scale of when it

comes to narrative events you know we

saw some of them on the live stream that

were particular to Augustus and as you

said uh just now that you went through

like a of the great people and created

narrative events based off of their

history um this is going to be you may

not know the answer to this but do you

happen to know off of the top of your

head how many narrative events are in

the game um and uh to to go off of that

as well how hard was it to come up with

the foundation of these events you know

the payoffs and the trade-offs and you

know you said they're also based off of

historical events or at least Loosely

based off of the events surrounding

those people so I can't give you an

exact number I did know an exact number

at one point but then it was like it

grew it grew but then we're also like

these aren't working so well so we're

going to cut a few here and um we're

sort of in bug fixing on the project

right now and if there's some that just

really are not working out a few of them

are going to cut for those reasons but

we targeted well over a thousand oh yeah

it was very

ambitious um and the narrative team was

looking at all the different parts of

the game so like how many are going to

be tied to each leader how many going to

be tied to each Civ how many going to be

tied to those special unique civilians

or great people how many are generic

yeah and then yeah um what's really cool

about the narrative system that hasn't

gone out in any of our correspondents so

far is it's got a really weird

Foundation it actually takes the same

code that we used for the civ6 gossip

system oh where all those different

messages about what's going on in the

game were sort of overwhelming the user

and we're like I'm not sure that's

really working in our favor it's a

little bit too much signal and not

enough noise to our players but we found

that the system that was underlying that

that was looking for things happening

out in the game world and um recording

those was a great foundation for the

narrative system because we could write

stories that are based on like how many

times has this River flooded or what

happens when this river floods and this

is the leader of your civilization and

you know you're playing as so and so we

it's it's got a real really interesting

set of combination of requirements from

the events that have happened out in the

world that trigger each of the stories

and so that makes it a very um Rich

system some of the uh narrative events

are very hard to trigger and they only

happen in a very particular instance but

that's very cool that the system can

recognize that that has just happened in

your game World um so that's that's one

of the things I really like about that

system yeah and in terms of your your

part of the question about the

foundation for it and then and iterating

on it uh we we went through a lot of

different different sort of variations

on the system first as it was getting up

and running and we had you know sort of

test stories and then proceeding from

there trying to add more depth more

flavor um and then balancing the rewards

out um you know that that was a very

long process that went through a lot of

different changes and um some of the

stories are very easy to trigger and

we'll see them come up more often and

and those we've hit a lot and some of

them are like you said um you know how

how many times a floods is like a much

more Niche case and there are some that

have more Niche um trigger conditions

that don't come up as often and so those

those are much more rare stories to see

and trying to fine-tune that has

definitely been a process oh I can

imagine so that's that's really

interesting that you're talking about

the the using the gossip system and how

it could be overwhelming because I just

remember you know the only times I

really used it was a really good example

was during my all wonders videos when I

was playing as China and trying to build

every single wonder on deity and uh

and the only time I used it was really

being you know someone has started

working on a wonder and I was like oh

that's actually really useful to know

and because otherwise I would just you

know click click click click click click

click C click click trying to get

through it all as fast as

possible I expect to see a a similar

video from you with ha at Egypt yeah

that's it's on it's on my list it's on

my list of things I want to

do um I guess I can start to get some of

the the harder questions here and I

guess it works a little bit here is um I

know when it came to single player Ai

and I know you guys have been asked

multiple questions about this quite a

bit um I know that you mentioned you

know the AI team itself has I don't know

if it was doubled in size I'm not sure

the exact quote but it was you know

substantially larger than it has ever

been um I think one of the single

biggest you know single player I don't

know if you want to call them complaints

in d8 AI is uh how the AI actually works

um how the larger how has do you think

the larger scale of the AI team you know

helped in making sure that when you jump

up the difficulties it's not necessar

about just giving the AI uh I guess not

necessarily cheats but just multipliers

so that way you know they they keep up

with you for the rest of the game

instead of keeping the same just AI as

it was on prints before um is the

smaller changes you know like getting

rid of Builders and settlers does that

help so that way the AI doesn't

necessarily have to escort them and when

it comes to decision- making or uh also

on the other side of it when you're

adding things like Legacy bonuses you

know going through the each of the age

does that end up making it more

complicated for thee because they have

more things to choose from now um what

what can you extrapolate on that a

little bit for so I'll start out with uh

the answer there um and it's really hard

for us to measure the exact size of

our because what I really like about

what we're doing now is we have

designers from all the different areas

of the game whether it's economics

military whatever we have sort of this

cross-disciplinary AI team um that meets

twice a month and we um come up with

House of game playing right now right

where's the AI doing well where is the

AI weak right now we come up with sort

of a a punch list of things that we want

to see addressed in the AI as quickly as

we can hopefully before the next meeting

sometimes it takes a little bit longer

to get get it there um but we've had

sort of a across the design team Focus

okay on AI being just a really important

part of De delivering a quality

experience with the game um and I feel

like you I started my very first job on

Ed fraxis was su5 AI lead yeah so I have

a

tremendous uh kind of respect for how

hard the AI problem is yeah um the worst

problem that I ever had on AI was trying

to get a full Army of units to the

Target okay so

specifically um your question about the

the commanders help things out um

absolutely they do just because that

problem has gotten easier and that that

was pretty much about as tricky a

problem as we had in AI development for

Civ 5 and Civ 6 um but I think your

question about Legacy path is a good one

as well because um we now have if you

look at Legacy pathes sort of like

objectives or ways to get towards

victories

um we have four of those in each age

Three Ages that's 12 different sort of

Pathways to Victory or Pathways towards

strong progress in the game that the AI

has to be aware of um so we've been

trying to make those Legacy paths line

up with just what's a really good way to

play the game in as strong a fashion as

possible so like building wonders is

usually a pretty good thing to do in the

game or putting down a lot of

settlements is a really good thing in

the game and so you see that those are

some of the Legacy paths right away in

Antiquity just to get the a off AI off

to a good start but also to help them

progress down the Legacy paths some of

the Legacy paths get a little bit I

wouldn't say weirder but maybe more

specific as we get into the other ages

and we haven't talked about them yet and

so it it has taken a little bit of our

time to um make sure that the AI knows

how to play those other Legacy paths

well as you know in addition yeah and

you asked about um the you know the

simplification of some of our things

like the removal of Builders um and and

you mentioned commanders touched on on

commander and AI use there I think that

those are all really good examples of

ways that the changes in the the core

gameplay for civ7 has also made it

easier for the AI yeah um there's a

constant debate in the community about

when to build a builder how many

Builders to build I mean the answer is

really like all of them right all them

all constant and how do you how do you

balance that against your need to build

units you're need to build wonders um it

is just an an item that is constantly

sinking your um your production cues and

by removing that that's one less thing

for them to have to worry about right

now they are able to better uh analyze

whether it should be time to build a

Wonder build a building build a settler

build a military unit because that need

for the constant flow of Builders is is

no longer there um and the same is true

for not just moving units across a land

mass to a target with with commanders

but also handling them in battle yeah um

you know positioning of units is

important and that gets infinitely more

complex when those units have promotions

themselves and positioning that one unit

that has four or five promotions in the

right spot so it's it's in a a good

place to fight but also not at risk of

dying and being lost and all those

promotions going away that was very

tricky now with the commander having the

promotions and giving them to all the

other units makes it much easier for the

AI to handle uh where to put units and

how to use those units because all of

those units are benefiting from the

promotions that the commander has yeah

that makes sense and especially

considering how you know in previous

iterations a lot of the times AI will

just flood their units into your your

cities with kind of no Care on on

regards of where it's at they're just

going to run them into your cities over

and over again and when you only have to

worry about a commander for example

having the XP and being the one that you

need to carefully position I mean you

still have to position the units you

know when you're sieging and trying to

figure it out but with when they really

only have to worry about the commander

it kind of makes it a little bit easier

on that aspect too that makes a lot of

sense um another another another

question too that is maybe not

necessarily harder to answer but Civ

isn't the only strategy game that you

know has this problem you guys have

talked about it quite a bit is uh the

slog that comes with the late game uh

and your attempts to fitting uh fix it

at least or at least alleviate that that

SLO a little bit splitting of the Three

Ages you know the the rubber band

mechanic that uh that comes up when

you're switching over to the new era you

know as well as just changing how things

are micromanaged as we mentioned uh to

hopefully alleviate this grind is there

anything that you can extrapolate more

on you know especially as you're moving

into the final era you know you haven't

talked about it yet at this point but um

that maybe will help alleviate or at

least uh yeah just help alleviate a

little bit more without going too much

into modern era that you guys haven't

talked about yet sure yeah um so we we

as you mentioned we do have some rubber

banding that happens on the age

transition we do bring yields back

closer together a little bit but you

keep everything that you had so when

you're moving into a new age you might

have uh yields reduced somehow um we've

not gotten in all the details about how

that is working but you if you were in a

lead in science you're still going to be

in a lead in in exploration right um and

you are starting at the beginning of a

new tech tree at the beginning of a new

Civic tree everyone's going from the

same point so that's that's helping

right there and then everyone's picking

from Legacy paths um you get the rewards

that you had for for the legacies that

you pursued from the previous age and

those are giving you all different kinds

of bonuses but those are based on your

um your progress in that age so if you

hit a bunch of Legacy paths and have a

bunch of points you'll have more things

to spend on that'll give you more

bonuses going into the new age uh versus

somebody who maybe didn't hit as many of

those things will have fewer points to

spend uh at the same time we have new

mechanics in each age that do help with

the uh alleviating the the grinding and

the micromanagement um so as an example

one thing that we have not officially

revealed yet but we I'll mention now is

that we do have a new Commander type in

each age um we're not going into the

specifics on them but there is a new one

in each age that will help with the

military gameplay as you progress

forward

cool okay that's add to that um and I

think the other thing to keep in mind is

we have talked a little bit about how

overbuilding Works how the the fact that

um each tile on the map each of your

Urban tiles has slots for two buildings

but that the buildings the previous age

drop off in power as you get into the

new age and you want to replace them in

those good adjacency bonus slots with

buildings from The New Age they're

getting full power of the uh you know

latest and greatest sort of yeah

advances in what buildings are able to

give you with the jcy bonuses for the

new age so you're ending up sort of um

creating a new layer on top of your city

of additional buildings right and the

other ones just sort of go away but you

don't mind that because they weren't

doing a whole lot for you in this age

anyways and so we're just reducing the

number of things that you're uh

concerned with the map you don't have to

worry about that granery that you built

at the beginning of time uh getting

knocked out by a flood and you have to

repair it or something like that because

you know there there are new buildings

that that are keeping your focus cool

that's good that's good to hear that uh

um another one here too is sorry I've

got some who told you these were some

tougher questions I guess um at least

for me uh one of the main concerns that

I have especially as the genre of of the

Forex genre is starting to expand more

um is there is you know quite a bit of

content and uh and so many choices that

are given to a player that often

especially with with newer games the

Paradox of choice tends to come around

uh where you're getting so much choice

that you become paralyzed in what to

choose and you don't know you know who

to choose and you kind of just click

wherever you want to go um has this been

I'm sure it was thought about at some

point as you expanding into okay we're

going to be able to switch cves

throughout the eras um and do you think

there in what ways do you think that you

guys at foris were able to at least um

mitigate this issue of being paralyzed

of I don't know who to choose because

there's so many different cves to to

choose from into coming into the next

age um absolutely it did and um you can

imagine we've talked a lot about our Civ

unlock system where based on um either

What leader you've chosen or what

civilization you've chosen or what's

happened in your gaml that helps

determine which Civ choices are

available to you in the next age well we

didn't have that at the beginning of

development okay so beginning of

development it was very free form and we

were trying to figure out how this was

going to work but that meant that when

you got to an age transition you had a

lot of choices and the combinatorics of

just sort of who you were choosing and

who your opponents were choosing uh we

saw right away that that was

overwhelming and confusing and I mean it

it unlocks thousands and thousands of

possible paths through the game but is

that a good thing or is that a bad thing

right um

so

um we poked at that we had feedback on

that and we pretty um um quickly came to

the realization that some kind of

structure there was going to be helpful

both in terms of immersion in terms of

who I am in terms of History um how is

this going to work so it feels more like

you know you're starting as one people

and just following their evolution

through history so we added the Civil

unlock system

started constraining the choices that

way and everything felt a lot better

yeah um so you know I think that's

absolutely a case where too much Choice

um not only personally in terms of where

you were going but when the AI has all

those choices too it's all wandering all

over the place um it it just led to a

little too much um confusion in terms of

what's happening in this game world and

some bringing some structure to it

really helped yep yeah I could see that

I could see see that definitely helping

uh quite a bit because as you said you

know at some point even with if you even

if you only have like a small amount of

Cs and leaders at some point the

combinations just start to become too

endless and so that's adding structure

definitely will help with that um and I

guess piggybacking on top of that choice

aspect is uh is is balancing um you know

that's it's really hard as it is

initially I mean I know Carl's talked

with us about you know you only have a

finite amount of time in development

when you're balancing and then literally

within the first hour of release you're

getting millions and millions of hours

played and you're getting all this

additional you know testing that you

never got to do uh during the

development team now with the

introduction of you know so many cves

and the abilities of switching into the

new age um you know how difficult was

the balance process obviously it's

probably not even finished yet but how

you know how difficult was it maybe

compared to previous iterations uh and

you know what was the process of this

was it just kind of similar to how it

was in the past or did you have to take

a new approach because you're you're

switching to the age

transitions uh it was incredibly more

difficult um

so looking at the past um you know we

we've had very targeted things that

we're able to test when you're playing

as uh gorgo gree that's the only thing

you have to worry about you're not

you're not adding any different

combinations there um you have then

paricles grease but that's one switch

it's not every every leader and now that

we are decoupling C and leaders and you

can play as any leader with any Civ and

we have the opportunity of cves going

into uh different Civ paths as you

progress through a campaign um that has

has made it indescribably more complex

yeah um so uh we you know we're doing as

much as we can to balance the game and

to to make it as good as we possibly can

but frankly the game will be unbalanced

in certain ways at launch and we're

excited actually to see the different

crazy things that the community is going

to do with all of these different

combinations and go oh if I take this

leader and this Civ and then that

transitions into this Civ and I get to

add those abilities together uh seeing

the different things that that the

community is going to find that it we

didn't think of or didn't see ourselves

I think is going to be a lot of fun um

but it is definitely been a big big big

challenge I think the one thing that's

is easier there is at least one thing

that's easier is the fact that in the

past it was very hard to balance a early

game Civ against a late game

versus the middle game cives everyone

had their sort of um moment in the sun

where they you know had all their

bonuses working and their unique unit

came online and so you knew that this

you know Sumeria was just going to be

great right out of the gate right and

how to balance a early game c Maria

against somebody like a Canada or Sweden

who has all their bonuses late in the

game that was just challenging a very

weird problem to try to Grapple with and

now where all the civs are coming online

at the same time

for a particular age um so we balance

them against each other and that's a

limited set compared to the 50 60s we

had to balance last time as well so

there are some ways that the balance

problem is easier uh it's just that the

stacking and layering of the different

things yes um leads to a huge you know

space for players to explore and for us

to try to figure out whether or not

we're letting things get out of hand in

one particular pathway where you stack

like all the science bonuses together

yeah that makes sense I mean especially

now that you mentioned with it when it

comes to you know late game versus early

game it's how are you going to like

that's so difficult to balance thinking

about you know how you're going to

balance monam Musa versus you know Alex

for example in civ6 the the there's a

vast difference there between the two

that's understandable um how much time

do we have here sorry sounds like

production one minute left one minute

left okay I'll so with the last one

there I have I have a I have a really

easy question then for you um first of

all can we the dog and uh second not if

not

when so the Scout has gotten a lot of

attention from our team and if you look

at what we're doing with with units and

buildings whatever we're doing a lot

of I think if you look at the um uh

video from um uh the Nintendo Direct

event where we revealed um some some new

content uh the Scout in there is a very

unique Scout that doesn't even have a

dog I saw that yeah so um petting the

dog we know that's a big feature but

we're gonna actually have to figure out

how to pet multiple animals okay not um

something that we're all squared up for

for launch but we'll figure that problem

out that's very important questions to

answer

so all right well I guess that'll go

ahead and do that for me here uh thank

you so much for joining me uh and

answering these questions I know some of

them were a little more difficult than

others but I appreciate all the feedback

and Candor that you guys uh guys gave

for those thanks for having us postas oh

no problem thank you guys thank you