Author: thecrazyscot
I thought it might be nice to have a discussion thread for the Ages mechanic as a whole. This mechanic looks to be so foundational to the game that it’s worth trying to grasp it in totality.
I’ve tried to be as factual as possible, so my own comments are presented in italics.
There are three ages:
- Antiquity Age
- Exploration Age
- Modern Age
Unique Ages
Each age is unique:
- Civilizations: Civilizations are Age-exclusive, and come equipped with Unique Abilities, Units, Civics, and Buildings and/or Improvements.
- Resources: Each Age contains a set of obtainable Resources on the map that were available during that time period. Some Resources span multiple Ages, while others are exclusive to an individual Age.
- Civics and Technologies: Ages determine which Civics and Technologies can be researched.
Sample tech tree from Antiquity:
- Buildings and Units: Available types of Units, Buildings, and Wonders are determined by the Age.
- Independent Powers: Independent Powers are minor factions on the map that can be interacted with.
- Game Systems: Certain game systems are only available during each Age, ensuring every Age feels unique and exciting to engage with.
- Playable Map Area: Ages determine the overall size and scope of the playable map, expanding as the player transitions into new Ages.
It is interesting that certain game systems are locked to certain ages. We are used to seeing game systems unlock as the game progresses, but could we also see game systems expire and no longer be available in the Modern Age, for example?
Age Crises
Each age culminates in a Crisis once enough age progress has been achieved.
A short overview of an example crisis is in this video by Praveus.
- Negative effects built up (increased army maintenance, reduced influence, etc)
- Culminated in a massive barbarian horde assault
The crisis seems to revolve around gaining mandatory “Crisis Policy Slots”, and you have to choose from various maladies to fill those slots for the duration of the crisis. When the crisis culminates, there is some “existential threat”.
Age Transition
Ages progress when each civilization takes certain actions.
Age Progression is tracked over the course of a Civilization VII campaign, where things like taking a turn, eliminating rival civs, and other gameplay actions add a certain amount of progress to the Age Progression meter. When the meter is filled, the Age concludes and all players will enter an Age Transition.
This mechanic will “pull” all civs into a new age together regardless of performance during the current age.
EDIT: Does each player have their own meter? This tooltip is ambiguously worded. However, the official text above does specify that all players enter the Age Transition together, so there does seem to be a global trigger.
The age transition is supposed to be a “big moment”:
When one Age ends and you begin an Age Transition, it’s an incredibly exciting moment.
What happens and what will you do?
- Game map expands: this includes new Independent Powers, new Resources, and new Discoveries.
- It also seems some Resources will “expire”, while others will be available for the full game.
- Some building yields (base and adjacency) and effects expire.
- Do the buildings get removed? Unclear. Do you build over them?
- There is some interaction here with Buildings that have the Persistent and/or the Ageless keywords, which seems to indicate that some buildings will not be effected by Age Transitions.
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- Golden Age buildings maintain their yields and bonuses.
- Choose a new civilization
During an Age Transition, there are a few factors that determine which new civilization you choose to play as. This includes any historical connections between your previous and future civ, your choice of leader, and even certain gameplay decisions that you made in the past Age. Across your game, you might want to stay as true to history as possible, only selecting civs that have historical ties to each other, or you might switch to civs that fit your strategic needs.
- Choose Legacy bonuses to carry forward from your previous civilization
An implication here is that each civilization or leader “may” have unique Legacy bonuses that you can select from. There are also Legacy Paths which unlock additional points to spend so you can unlock more Legacy bonuses. It looks like each Age may have different Legacy Paths for unlocking those points.
Legacy Paths have milestones that can potentially unlock Golden Ages in the next Age. See this sequence:
Age…Victory?
There is very little information that I’ve seen on this, but the Age Progress screen has a Victory tab, with each of the Legacy Paths represented.
Does each Age have its own “Victory” conditions? What does victory in an Age mean?