Every so many years, gamers from all around the world start preparing for the next chapter of their favourite game franchise. Once an announcement that the current version will no longer be receiving any updates, new material, etc, the game's community then all start to speculate over what's to be expected in the upcoming version of the title.
In the case of Sid Meier's "Civilization" series, this is all very common. Once we all know that there is a new version of the game on the horizon, we start to create our own "wishlist" of what we'd love to see in the next game. Although it's unsure (to me anyway) of how long the latest ("Civilization 6") has left until it's fully complete (in the past few months, new additions to the game appeared when we thought it was over), people have already started bringing forward their ideas of what they want in the inevitable "Civilization 7". Including myself. I haven't made my thoughts public until now, so without further delay, here is my wishlist for "Civilization 7".
Before I begin, I just want to state that some of the features I'll be listing are ones that have existed before but have since been removed from later titles. Of course, I'll be including new ideas as well. Let's do this.
1. Civil War
From Civ1 to Civ2 (maybe Civ3? I can't remember), there was a feature that allowed you to literally split your enemy's empire in 2. If you were successful in capturing the capital city of a large civilization, half of their cities would become a new faction of its own, while your enemy has half its empire and no capital city. This feature was quite fun, and it was disappointing the first time we discovered it had been removed in later games. It should make a comeback.
To make it more interesting though, the new faction could be an instant ally of whoever triggered the civil war. They should also be given a name associated with the original civilization as well. In older games, it seemed weird that (for example) the German empire was split in 2 with the other half becoming the Egyptians. That's ethnically inaccurate. In this case, perhaps it should be half the Germans becoming Prussian or Bavarian? Something to think about.
2. Workers Building Roads
I never really liked when Workers (or Builders in Civ6) lost the ability to build roads. These days, it's either up to Traders to do it or Military Engineers to build railroads (and Roman settlers by simply building a new city). Sometimes I like making roads where I want them to go. The way it is now can be rather messy (infrastructural OCD, much?). I'd like to see these units build roads again, pretty please.
3. Palace / Throne Room Improvements
I'm not the only one in the Civilization community to say this. We want the Palace improvement feature back. From Civ1 to Civ3, every so often we were able to do some renovation of our own palace. Mostly exterior, but Civ2 decided to take it indoors and improve your throne room instead. Whatever version we played, we loved and miss it.
4. Multimedia Cut Scenes
It's all very well that later versions have animations of a Wonder of the World being constructed, but in Civ2 we were greeted by some short video clips. These were always fun to watch. It would be nice to have something like this again.
Not only that, the empire's Advisors (The High Council) got their own videos in Civ2. In all other versions, they were just still images with text. The Advisor videos from Civ2 were very entertaining, from the gung ho attitude of the Military Advisor to the Elvis-impersonating Attitude Advisor. These were fun.
5. Superhighways
Once a city structure in Civ2, perhaps this could make a comeback as a Worker feature? Like a normal road, but better (increased movement points, etc). Available later in the game, maybe.
6. Leaders of Both Genders
Introduced in Civ2, we were given the option of playing as 1 of 2 leaders for each empire. Similar features have been done since, but there are still later versions that lack a second option (e.g. There is only 1 leader for the Aztecs in Civ6). I know it's probably hard to find a complete list of historic leaders for every empire, but it would be nice to have this if there is such a list.
7. SAM Battery
In some early versions, a SAM Battery is a building to add to a city's defense. These days, it's a mobile unit. While having a mobile version is very useful, particularly in the battlefield, it would be good to have stationery ones within cities as well as the other.
8. Civics (Improved)
Civics were introduced in Civ4 and I enjoyed this feature a lot. However, over time I think some of the civics haven't been very helpful. In my opinion, the Theocracy civic was a great feature in Civ4, but there's been nothing like it since. The Civ4 Theocracy civic barred any missionaries from spreading the beliefs of a religion that was not that civilization's state belief. This feature needs to make a comeback, because - let's be honest - when the AI uses missionaries or apostles, they become the most annoying units in the game. It's like a constant flood. In Civ6, I find most of my combat is of the religious kind and not the military. Bring back the Civ4 style Theocracy!
9. Hit Movies, Singles & Musicals
Also from Civ4 came the use of Hit Movies, Singles and Musicals as resources you could trade with other civilizations. I think it should make a comeback.
10. Inquisitors
Going back to the religious units here, in Civ5 the Inquisitor could actually REMOVE an opposing belief from a city. It doesn't seem to be like that in Civ6 (unless I'm doing it wrong?). Either way, the Civ5 version did it better and I would like the Civ7 equivalent to be just as powerful.
11. Districts
Introduced in Civ6, I was very excited about this feature when it was announced. In earlier games (Civ5 especially), a lot of the building placement on the map was at random, and kept changing every time the city got bigger. In a lot of cases, land-based structures found themselves being plopped into the sea or a lake nearby. Civ6 fixed this.
The reason I'm bringing this up is because some people - for reasons known to themselves - don't seem to like them. I don't know why. Districts are cool. Keep them!
12. Tunnels
Where the districts became useful, the same goes for tunnels. Don't ever abandon this feature! But if you want my input on them, I think they need to be available earlier in the game and not just a modern feature. Or at least make something similar to the Qhapaq Ñan (Incan worker improvement) for other civilizations after a certain point.
13. Palace Relocation
Civ6 can't do this and that needs to change with Civ7. Sometimes you might want to move your capital elsewhere at some point. No fun if the game won't let you. Sure, you can do it if you play as Carthage, but that's hardly fair. Let us use this feature again.
14. Scenario Building Makeover
This has been one of my most frustrating things in the series. I love to make scenarios based on historic events, as well as hypothetical ones. However, I've always had a love/hate relationship with how the series approaches this. Leaning more towards hate in the Civ6 WorldBuilder.
When I discovered you could make scenarios in Civ2, I was over the moon. I had a lot of fun in doing so. When Civ3 came out, I found the scenario-building feature to be a little hard for me to get my head around. I don't know what they did to it or why, but I never actually made a scenario for Civ3 (I did touch up some maps though). When WorldBuilder was introduced in Civ4, I actually found it hard at first to figure out how to make a scenario. I had to seek help online as it wasn't very clear in-game. However, once I got my head around it more, I found myself building scenarios a lot easier in Civ4. As for Civ5...well, it's OK, I guess. Knowing and remembering where to save the files is the hard part, I think. Also, as much as I like the WorldBuilder of Civ5 (SDK), it would probably be a lot easier if I could see what it would look like in the game WHILE EDITING, like the In Game Editor (IGE) mod for the Mac platform (which is easier to look at - however, very hard to figure out how to save as a scenario). I'm still trying with Civ5.
As for the Civ6 WorldBuilder, it may look promising at first, but whose idea was it to remove the ability to rename cities while editing??? I know you can do it while playing the game, but if you want an accurate scenario, you NEED to be able to rename the cities accordingly. The scenario builder for Civ7 needs to fix this.
15. Alphabetical Order
Since Civ5, I've had an issue with the order of the civilizations in the menu when starting a new game. Why are they all listed in alphabetical order by the names of the leaders instead of the empires? I don't know who else struggles with this, but for me personally, I find it harder to remember the names of the leaders for some civilizations than the names of the nations themselves. Please, in Civ7, go back to listing it as C for China INSTEAD OF Y for Yongle of China. I didn't even know who Yongle was, but I do know China. Please, keep it simple.
So, these are the main features I'd like to see in Civ7. But it doesn't end there. The following lists are to do with units, structures and Wonders of the World. Some old, some new.
A: Wonders / Projects
Darwin's Voyage - In Civ1, this gave you 2 new tech advances.
Hoover Dam / Three Gorges Dam - Provided power to every city on the continent it was built.
Magellan's Expedition - Was very useful by adding an extra movement point for all of your ships.
SETI - Could make a comeback as a project (like International Space Station), or just contribute towards your space-related improvements?
Women's Suffrage - Could increase happiness in your cities. Happy wife, happy life?
Cure for Cancer - More likely to come back as a project of some kind. Could increase happiness and growth, maybe?
West Point - Could grant units extra XP when built in the same city?
Mount Rushmore - Perhaps it could increase tourism?
Borobudur - Granted you missionaries upon its construction.
Great Mosque of Djenne - Maybe increase the abilities of religious units built in the same city?
Himeji Castle - Could be a defensive bonus.
Porcelain Tower - Generate a Great Scientist.
Red Fort - Defense increase.
Sistine Chapel - Tourism & faith increase?
Uffizi - Tourism increase, Great Artist, etc?
Brandenburg Gate - Great General and extra unit XP from that city?
Louvre - Art and tourism.
Neuschwanstein - Tourism.
Prora - Tourism and happiness.
Pentagon - Unit XP.
CN Tower - Tourism.
Hubble Space Telescope - Great Scientist and science increase, space-related buildings cheaper.
Circus Maximus - Tourism, happiness.
Leaning Tower of Pisa - Tourism.
[NEW IDEAS]
Auckland Sky Tower (NZ) - Tourism.
Öresund Bridge (Denmark/Sweden) - An underground and underwater tunnel that can cross from one landmass to another. Much like the Golden Gate Bridge in Civ6, but you only see the entrances/exits.
The Beehive (NZ) - If not a Wonder, perhaps if the Palace feature returns, they could all be of a design unique to the civilization you're playing as?
Ryugyong Hotel (N. Korea) - Tourism or housing, maybe?
Marina Bay Sands (Singapore) - Tourism.
Trevi Fountain (Rome) - Tourism.
Cappadocia Cave Houses (Turkey) - Tourism or housing?
Ice Hotel (Sweden) - Tourism, only built on snow tiles (obviously).
Hadrian's Wall (UK) - Defense, similar to Great Wall but on a smaller scale.
La Sagrada Familia (Barcelona) - Faith increase.
Temple Mount (Jerusalem) - Faith.
Burj Khalifa (Dubai) - Tourism and housing.
[RELIGIOUS]
In Civ4, the religion feature of the game was introduced. Along with the missionaries, etc, came buildings associated with specific beliefs. I think they should make a comeback. They were:
Solomon's Temple (Jerusalem) for Judaism.
Church of the Nativity (Bethlehem) for Christianity.
Mahabodhi (Patna) for Buddhism.
Kong Miao (Qufu) for Confucianism.
Kashi Vishwanath (Varnasi) for Hinduism.
Masjid Al-Haram (Mecca) for Islam.
Dai Miao (Mount Tai) for Taoism.
Perhaps with this in mind, certain Wonders that are religious in nature could be reserved only for civilizations that follow a specific belief? For example, followers of Christianity could build the Sistine Chapel.
Also, maybe the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem could be an added building to the game.
B: Natural Wonders
Barringer Crater - Science and tourism.
Krakatoa - Science.
Old Faithful - Science, tourism.
Rock of Gibraltar - Tourism.
Cerro de Potosi - Gold increase.
Mount Kailash - Faith.
Mount Sinai - Faith.
Sri Pada - Faith.
Lake Victoria - Tourism.
[NEW IDEAS]
Lake Hillier (a.k.a. Pink Lake, Australia) - Tourism, science.
Grand Canyon (USA) - Tourism.
Iguazu Falls (Argentina) - Tourism.
Mount Roraima (Venezuela) - Tourism, science.
Niagara Falls (Canada/USA) - Tourism.
Yellowstone Park (USA) - Tourism, science.
Yosemite Park (USA) - Tourism.
Angel Falls (Venezuela) - Tourism.
Mariana Trench - Science.
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