With the big 1.1.1 update, Civilization 7 is finally trying to assert itself against its own predecessors

Civ 7 is really struggling to keep its players. The next update is now here and we have the patch notes.

Although Civilization 7 is only a few weeks old, it is being outperformed by much older games. Even worse, by its own predecessors. At least on Steam, Civ 7 currently doesn’t even reach half the number of players that Civilization 6 welcomes every day, even Civilization 5 can often record more concurrent players.
This speaks to a divided community and a great deal of dissatisfaction, especially among long-time fans of the series. Firaxis is of course keen to change this and is currently busy releasing new patches. Update 1.1.1 was released on March 25 and brings with it some major changes.

The five most important changes

The update is really big and the team is introducing some new features that many fans have been asking for. The much-criticized UI is also said to have been optimized again with the new patch. Five innovations stand out in particular:

• Improved UI
  The much-criticized game interface has been further improved and contains more helpful information at a glance. Unit health bars are now easier to see and the tooltip for a district now shows how many specialists have been deployed there and how many more can be added. Attacks on districts now trigger a warning immediately and the progress bar for the era shows when the next stage of a crisis will be triggered. The new trade lens allows you to see which trading partners are available and immediately send an available trader.
• Fast Movement
  An option has been added that allows you to speed up the game a little. This turns off the movement animations of units so that the unit appears directly on the field you click on.
• Starting positions
  Outside of multiplayer, the starting position of your faction is now set more randomly by default and is not automatically perfect. This should make maps a little more unpredictable, as is the case in Civ 6, for example.
• Renaming
  You can finally rename cities and leaders with ease!
• New natural wonder
  You can now discover the world’s largest mountain on your worlds! The 8,848-meter-high Mount Everest gives you more happiness, influence, and culture when you settle.

In addition, the balance of the game has been significantly adjusted, especially in the modern era. The final era should no longer be over so quickly. To achieve this, eliminating a faction no longer advances the era in the modern era, and modern technology in both tech trees costs 25 percent more research and culture, respectively.

All the details about the adjusted values and more can be found in the complete patch notes on the next page.

For now, we have to wait and see if the changes in the patch are enough to lift the mood in the community. It will probably take a while before Civ 7 can really come into its own. But the team is committed to the project and many more patches are planned.

The next major update, 1.2.0, is already scheduled for April and will add a “only one more round” function after the end of the game. Patch 1.1.1 also brought the second part of the Nodes of the World DLC into play, adding Bulgaria and Nepal as new factions, as well as Simón Bolívar as a leader. The expansion costs 30 euros.

The Patch Notes

New Features

• Modern Age Pacing and Balance

  • We’ve made a series of changes to make the Modern Age last a bit longer, giving players more time to enjoy the unique gameplay in the age.
  • Eliminating a player no longer provides era progress in the Modern era, and the amount of era progress added from exploration has been halved, making Domination victories easier to achieve.
  • The cost of modern technologies and citizen rights has been increased by about 25% overall, with more emphasis on the costs of hubs in the trees.

• We have made a number of changes to the gameplay of Railroad Tycoon:

  • Factory costs increased from 600 to 1400.
  • Harbor costs increased from 550 to 1200.
  • Train Station costs increased from 650 to 1200.
  • Coal resources have been changed from providing a 100% production bonus for stations to providing a 10% production bonus for stations and ports (the existing 100% bonus was not working as intended).
  • Oil resources now also provide a 10% production bonus for factories.

• Your military advisor will now warn you if you don’t have enough commanders to keep all of your units when an era ends.
• Map generation has been improved and players can now choose from two starting position options (Standard and Balanced) in the advanced setup.

Leaders and civilians

Leaders

Ashoka, World Conqueror:

• Devaraja: Unique ability combat bonus changed from “+10 vs. walled districts during festivals” to “+5 vs. walled districts during festivals.”

Confucius:

• Playing as Confucius now properly unlocks the Qing in the Modern Era.

Lafayette:

• +1 combat strength per tradition deployed is no longer doubled in the Far Lands.
• “+2 culture and happiness per era in settlements, doubled in the remote lands” has been changed to “+1 culture and happiness per era in settlements, doubled in the remote lands”.

Civs

Buganda:

• Buganda’s Nyanza citizen now applies to full-hex buildings, such as Airfield.

Crossroads of the World DLC*]

• Carthage’s Numidian Cavalry now only receives a +1 combat strength bonus per unique city resource used in the capital.

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Crossroads of the World DLC*] Great Britain:

• The “No Eternal Allies” tradition has been changed from “+5% gold in cities, but -5% gold in the capital for each alliance” to “+10% food and gold in cities, but -5% gold in the capital for each alliance.”

Majapahit:

• Subak tradition changed from “+1 culture and production on naval terrain” to “+1 culture and production on naval terrain in cities”.
• Gamelan achievement changed from “+4 culture in neighborhoods” to “+2 culture in neighborhoods”.
• Nusantara civic changed from “Receive Culture Building +1 Culture neighborhood with Coast” to “Receive Culture Building +1 Satisfaction neighborhood with Coast”.

Maya:

• Uwaybil K’uh Quarter production changed from +15% to +5% of the researched technology.
• K’uh Nah changed from +4 science to +3 science.
• Mundo Perdido wonder unlocked earlier in the civilization tree, starting in calendar round.

Meiji Japan:

• The Goishhin special ability now correctly applies the science bonus when overbuilding.
• The Kōkūtai tradition now applies correctly to all aircraft units.

Mississippian:

• The Mississippian Tradition, Shell-Tempered Pottery, now applies outside of the Ancient era.

Mongolia:

• Baghatur tradition changed from “+5 combat strength for cavalry units” to “+3 combat strength for cavalry units”.

Rome:

• Legion unit changed from “+2 combat strength for each tradition in the government” to “+1 combat strength for each tradition in the government”.
• Latinitas tradition changed from “+10% food, gold, and culture in cities with specialization” to “+5% food, gold, and culture in cities without a focus on growing the city”.

Russia:

• The general Moroz tradition has been changed from “+5 combat strength for units in the Tundra” to “+3 combat strength for units in the Tundra”.

Songhai:

• Hi-Koi citizens no longer provide a bonus for units not on a navigable river.

Gameplay

AI

• Improved AI scouting and settlement behavior.
• AI commanders now correctly receive bonus XP based on difficulty:

  • Scribe: -20%
  • Governor: 0%
  • Viceroy: 40%
  • Sovereign: 60%
  • Immortal: 80%
  • Deity: 100%

• AI now makes better decisions about promoting commanders and prioritizes bonuses like increased combat strength.

Economy

• Cities with a trade outpost focus now provide a range of +5 to all other settlements, not just themselves. Developer’s Note: This change makes it easier to build roads to connect your cities with your trader-owning cities if you have a few trade outposts.
• Sawmills now properly grant production to warehouses.
• Food vendors no longer grant food bonuses for mines and loggers
• Fixed a reported issue where ironworks were not granting production bonuses for mines and loggers. Added a +1 production bonus for mountains.
• Repairs can no longer be purchased without sufficient gold.
• Players now receive the correct discounted prices when purchasing buildings that have been discounted.
• No purchases can be made in a city with unrest.
• Fixed an issue where the fish resource would reduce the amount of food needed for a settlement’s next growth event to a negative value.
• The production queue will update properly when multiple wonders are queued and another civilization finishes a wonder first.
• Walls granted by the Byrsa Wonder now properly grant on all eligible tiles.

Diplomacy

• The Sabotage Space Program Espionage action now completes as intended.

Crises

• The Revolution Crisis now applies the correct amount of Discontent after players elect a new revolutionary government.

Military

• The scorched earth policy has been changed from “+5 combat strength for all units when attacking” to “+3 combat strength for all units when attacking”.
• Purabhettarah units now correctly receive +5 combat strength against fortified districts.
• Scout units no longer gain the +1 vision bonus after being unboxed by a commander with the initiative promotion.

Natural Wonder

• Torres del Paine has been changed from “Units moving adjacent to Torres Del Paine ignore rough terrain” to “+1 Food and Production on Tundra terrain in this settlement”.
• The spawn rate of Valley of Flowers has been increased.

Independent Powers

• Naval units can no longer disperse independent villages while a unit is defending the village.
• Unique improvements for trading posts and cloisters now stack correctly when multiple ones are built in the same city.

Civilopedia

• Added and updated multiple entries.

Fixed Issues:

• Fixed an issue that could occur when creating a new game if you went to the main menu too quickly.

UI

Notifications

• Added new “District Under Attack” alert.
• Players are now properly notified when an under-siege Commander is attacked.
• Alerts now play their animations at the start of a new round.
• The speed at which notifications are displayed during gameplay has been increased.
• Additional alerts/advisor notifications have been added to help with the production of treasure fleets. New alerts will appear if you lack shipbuilding technology or a fishing wharf.

Text Changes

• Fixed various reported text and formatting issues.
• Fixed several instances of missing text.

Alignment and Spacing

• Improved the alignment and layout of tutorial pop-ups.
• Improved the alignment of the Resume and Restart buttons on the Pause menu.
• Text at the commander level is now centered when a two-digit promotion level is reached during gameplay.
• The spacing between the unit icon and the flag, as well as the number indicating a commander’s level, has been improved.
• The “Exit” button in the main menu no longer overlaps the images in the carousel.

Tooltips

• Added specialist information to tooltips.
• Added a neutral relationship icon and improved the readability of relationship tooltips.
• Resource type is now displayed with icons and tooltips on both the map and the resource screen.

Controller-specific

• The Espionage Report popup will now display properly when attempting to open it via controller during gameplay.
• Controllers now react properly after opening the progress menu in the “Select Civilization” menu.
• The trade lens will now switch back to “none” when the user closes the trade lens during gameplay and is using a controller.
• The controller will no longer lose focus on the “City-State Bonus” menu while a unit is selected.
• Players using a controller can now properly select government options when entering the Select Government screen from the round progress screen, even if a unit is selected.

General

• Settlement and commander names can now be customized.
• Added a trade lens that displays trade route information without having to select a merchant unit.
• Merchants can now be sent directly to settlements from the trade route window.
• The unit action bar is expanded by default to show all available unit actions.
• Unit and district health bars and unit flags have improved visibility.
• Crisis indicators have been added to the Age Progression UI to show Activation/Boost Points.
• The ‘Growth Until Next Turn’ UI will no longer appear when a city has a Focus (and will thus not grow).
• Enhanced and reorganized the Pause Menu to better display all options.
• Fixed a reported issue where the Production window would not update properly when purchasing in a settlement.
• Updated the description of the Change Capital Legacy card to more accurately reflect its functionality.
• The Government Selection screen now displays correctly on ultrawide monitors.
• Unit portraits display correctly when the Diplomacy menu is opened and closed.
• Population yields will now update correctly in the Building Placement menu, instead of displaying the yields of the previously selected population center.
• The Army Commander’s progress bar now updates correctly in the Unit panel when earning experience points.
• The Wondrous Banner now displays properly.
• The Privacy Policy page now displays properly.
• The Economic Advisor’s portrait now displays properly in the Ancient era.
• The “Learn more” prompt now functions correctly when attempting to select it for non-owned civilizations.
• Fixed a reported issue where buildings, wonders, and improvements would not show up in the production menu, preventing the player from placing anything other than units in their settlements.
• The City Unrest slider can no longer become negative.
• Several fixes for UI and HUD elements not displaying as intended.
• Added unique icons for various Great Works.
• War Weariness value will no longer be incorrectly attributed to another leader during an initial encounter.
• Fixed a reported issue where the Unit Panel could become missing if the player repeatedly selected and closed the Unit Panel.
• Fixed a reported issue where the X key could lose functionality when transitioning to the next era.
• Theocratic citizenship now appears correctly in the Choose Citizenship list after the player has founded a religion.
• The Input Symbol now displays properly during the Legacy Progress tutorial.
• Fixed an issue where the remaining turns displayed in the City in Turmoil menu did not match the actual number of remaining turns.
• The Civilopedia entry for Prussia’s unique infrastructure, the “Staatseisenbahn”, now displays properly.
• Updated the Xerxes banner art.
• Added more historically accurate icons for Hans Shi Dafu and Ming’s Mandarin.
• The “Commander Promotion” menu now displays correctly in windowed mode.

Narrative

• The following events can now be triggered:

  • Legacy of the Ancients
  • Disease in the Air
  • The Scholar’s Song
  • Central Autocracy
  • Training Day

• Children of the Sky: Changed the text of the graduation request to occur in “Schoolhouse” instead of “School.”
• Lessons of the Land: The event now begins correctly when Catherine played as Greece in the Ancient era.
• Enduring Love:The Reward tooltip now displays properly when hovering over the radio button.
• The Army’s Soul:The first option of the event can now be completed when playing as Spain.
• The Sting of Iron: Reward tooltips now display properly when hovering over the radio buttons.
• Besiege and Conquer: The first option’s reward tooltip now displays the correct reward information.
• A Fair for the Masses: Removed redundant luck icon from the first option.
• Opening Night: Chariots now receive the combat buff after selecting the “Stage a Battle” event option.
• The Shifting Sea: The event now only triggers when a unit dies in a storm on a desert tile.
• Neither Friend Nor Foe: The event now triggers properly when relations with another civilization rise to neutral.
• Military Report: The production bonus reward is now granted only to howitzer units instead of all units.
• Curse of the Tanks:AT Guns now properly receive the Combat Strength Bonus reward for the second option.
• Nature of Nature: The event now triggers properly after building a Museum and an Opera House.
• One World Together: The event now awards the correct amount of yield.
• I Like Dogs / I Like Pigs / I Like Cows: Events can no longer trigger simultaneously.
• Will of Ares: Event rewards are granted properly.
• The Rain Comes: Event rewards are granted properly.
• Updated the text for the cost of discovery events to indicate the percentage of the cost.
• Corrected historical inaccuracies in the Hermitage entry in the Civilopedia.
• Clarified the text for steps 1 and 2 of the Enlightenment Legacy path.

Miscellaneous

• The “Next” button now loads manual saves that are newer than the last autosave.
• Improved crane animations on harbors and quarries.
• Added more detail to the Vegetated Tundra tiles.
• Fixed an issue with the player moving the camera with a controller and keyboard at the same time.
• Terrain jump performance fixes on AMD GPUs.
• Screen mode should now update properly when players switch from windowed to fullscreen or vice versa using Alt+Enter or the F11 key.
• Fixed a reported issue where players could join a multiplayer game during the countdown when using an join code.
• Fixed a reported issue where game settings would sometimes not save and options would not reset when Discard Changes is selected.

Console

MacOS

• Unit routes can now be quickly placed using the right-click functions.

Linux, MacOS

• Cursor issues on MacOS and Linux fixed.

Steam, Steam Deck

• Fixed multiple UI input flows and prompts when using a controller.

Crossroads of the World Collection* – DLC 4-6

Leaders

Crossroads of the World DLC*] New leader addedSimón Bolívar
When the Napoleonic Wars weakened Spain’s presence in the Americas, Simón Bolívar, ‘El Libertador’, led the forces to liberate the region. With persistence and charisma, he led his armies to victory and the people to independence. The instability of the newly won freedom proved difficult to overcome. As the first president and later dictator of Gran Colombia, he was unable to fully realize his goals. Nevertheless, Bolivar remains an enduring example of South America’s resistance.

Traits

Civilizations

Crossroads of the World DLC*] Added the Exploration Age new civilizationBulgaria
In the seventh century, the Bulgars crossed the Danube and made the Balkans their own. Their warriors used the mountains to their advantage, and skillfully scattered larger armies through guile and subterfuge. The First Bulgarian Empire was built on conquest, expansion, and the growth of trade. The Second saw a flourishing of art, literature, and architecture, along with spirituality and monastic traditions. It all came crashing down when the Ottomans invaded.

• Attributes:Militaristic, expansionistic
• Krum Dynasty Unique Ability:Gains food equal to a percentage of HP or income generated from all cities when pillaging improvements.
• Unique Civilian unit: Tarkhan (Unique Commander unit)
• Unique Military unit: Bolyar (Unique Cavalry unit)
• Related Wonder: Rila Monastery

Crossroads of the World DLC*] New Modern civilization addedNepal
Located high in the Himalayas and encompassing both Buddhist highland and Hindu lowland populations, Nepal has held onto its sovereignty despite its precarious location. In the 19th Century, Nepal was ruled by an autocratic group of families and guarded by fierce Gurkha warriors. After a deal with the British, they retained some degree of independence in the Crown of the World.

• Attributes: Diplomatic, Cultural
• Unique ability – Roof of the World: All of the encampment buildings apply to mountain tiles, but they cost more food and happiness.
• Unique civilian unit: Sherpa (unique scout unit)
• Unique military unit: Gurkha (Unique infantry unit)
• Associated wonder: Boudhanath