Heya folks! Matt Owens here, a design lead at Firaxis Games, back at it after more than a minute with another Dev Diary. Over a year ago now (wow, time flies), I yapped about the fresh, new Legends and Mementos systems. It has been a blast seeing everyone find their favorites there, discussing and uncovering some powerful combinations that left us saying “wow!” and “oh!” But today’s focus is on a very different topic – a much-requested feature set coming very soon, that will give players the option to start and stay as any civilization from any Age, throughout as many Ages as you like.

We call them Time-Tested civilizations. Want to embody the cry of “Roma Invicta” by taking Rome from game start to the Modern Age? Now you can. Want to give America a little extra time to figure itself out, beginning all the way back in Antiquity? Nothing’s stopping you. Do you just frickin’ love mountains, and want to jump in as Inca from Antiquity to Exploration, but then finish out Modern with Nepal? Peak.

It’s a big change-up from how things worked at launch, so we wanted to take a little time to talk through not only the what but also the why of how we got here. Plus, dive into how all of you helped us get to the very best version of it through all your feedback and participation in things like the Firaxis Feature Workshop.

Let’s go!

Criticisms & The Why

Civilization VII set out to explore the whole of human history in a different way than Civ games of the past, holding a message deep at its core – that “history is built in layers”. It's the concept of empires not necessarily rising and falling, but of a people and their polity transforming to meet the demands of a new Age, inspired by the shape of our own world’s ebb and flow through the eons. This layered concept unlocked new mechanical possibilities for our players, like the ability to customize bonuses by mixing and matching your leader's capabilities with three unique civs', all of which operated at similarly exciting levels of power and provided ways to pivot to new playstyles in the middle of campaigns, increasing flexibility in how you could pursue victory.

But as we watched launch day and the days after slowly unfold, it became clear that while it worked for some, it hadn’t hit the mark for everyone. There was some piece of authenticity, of Civ, that felt missing for a percentage of fans. So we spent a good long while analyzing and taking to heart all of the critiques we received, eventually boiling it down to a few basics:

1. The core tradition of Civ, for the entirety of its 30+ years of existence, has centered exclusively on playing as a single civilization from beginning to end. To upend that essential piece so suddenly, without even the option to continue telling that same meta-historical tale, felt like too far a break.
2. The critical fantasy of Civ is one that empowers through agency. Less of a sim and more of a sandbox, taking the Mayans to the moon, or engaging in nuclear armageddon as Gandhi are these incredibly cathartic, supremely Civ-ish experiences, because you could choose to engage in these reality-defiant histories. By removing a key part of that agency, the ability to produce that familiar fantasy felt missing.
3. The consistency of play and historicity wasn’t always there, as we asked players to go from leading those once moon-bound Mayans to… the Incans? To… Mexico? Some “historical” pathways felt more than a little off, and not all had a great way to feel “complete." Couple that with the mechanical mental load of learning new identities and capabilities not just for your new civ but new competing civs on each Age Transition, and it began to feel like an overburdening that broke many out of the strategic flow state that Civ is known for.

On top of all that, our reflections made us realize that even the core message of “history is built in layers," wasn’t necessarily being delivered as effectively as we knew it could be. Your transitions felt less like layering and more like replacements; there was too much being lost and not enough memory of who you were in what you’d become. We knew we needed to make a change that addressed the heart of those common criticisms but also enhanced (rather than diminished) the central vision that Ed Beach, Creative Director on Civilization, had laid out for Civ VII and that all of us still believed in.

Easy, right? Normal Tuesday stuff.

But with a clarity of focus on how and why we wanted to grow, plus a few keen solutions already in mind, we set to work. Fast-forward a few months, and here it is: The Test of Time update, an expansion-sized amount of stuff that we feel really excited to deliver to every Civ VII owner for free. 

And while it shouldn’t be long before everyone has their hands on it for a fresh (or first-time!) playthrough, let’s get into a bit more detail about a few of the new mechanics at its core.

The "Time-Tested" Mechanics

At their most basic level, the Time-Tested mechanics are pretty easy to describe! Every  civ can start and continue through any Age of the game. Cool!

But what’s that mean one level further down?

Each civ will still have an Apex Age, like Spain in the Exploration Age, where they stand at the height of their power with Unique Infrastructure, Unique Units, etc. as per usual. So when a civ is in that Apex Age, it will essentially play just as it did before. Anyone who was a fan of that original experience can still voluntarily transition to an Apex Age civ at each opportunity without missing a beat. But, critically, you can now choose to start or continue on as a civ into a Time-Tested Age.

Say you finish a round in Antiquity as Rome at its Apex, and you want to keep the good times rolling into Exploration. Just click “Continue with your currently selected civilization” and… that’s about it! You key into the next Age and continue to fight for the glory of your empire, with no break in identity and a clear continuation of your current capabilities.

While we tried to make it appear as seamless as possible, there’s a lot happening under the hood to make Rome still feel like Rome even into its Time-Tested Ages. Ensuring we didn’t lose civs' critical essences was one of our highest priorities, all while figuring out how to realistically tackle the daunting task of setting all our civs up to withstand that test of time.

But through some iterations, and a lot of great testing and feedback from places like the Firaxis Feature Workshop, it feels like we’ve struck a decent balance.

So what exactly makes up a Time-Tested civ? It’s probably easiest to grok by breaking it down into a civ’s main pieces: Your Unique Ability stays at the heart of what defines your Empire throughout the entire campaign, but it does sometimes change and scale in power throughout the Ages. America, for instance, starts in Antiquity by gaining 50 Gold every time they improve a Resource, then 100 Gold in Exploration, then finally 150 in Modern. The goal here is to keep things feeling balanced, and like your civ is really growing into the height of its abilities over time, while maintaining familiarity with the core of what your civ is about.

Your Unique Units, however, like in most iterations of Civ, do become obsolete and no longer trainable, owing to the march of time. So while Roman Legions may still dominate the early Antiquity Age, a Time-Tested Rome in Exploration is smart enough to modernize by trading in their gladii and scuta for pike and shot. Importantly though, you’ll have an opportunity to recapture the spirit of the Legion even for your modernized troops, by grabbing things like the “Limitanei” Tradition, which can reapply a very similar Combat Strength bonus back to your Infantry Units when active, regardless of the Age.

Rome’s knowledge of their Unique Infrastructure, though, continues to stand as a monument to Roman culture – the Forum and its constituent buildings will stay buildable into future Ages at full effect, so long as you persist as Rome. Early-Age Unique Infrastructure may struggle to compete with the high yields of some later-Age buildings, but more than a few civs pack powerful Quarters or Improvements that will always be tempting to keep up. 

However, it's important to note here that Unique Infrastructure knowledge can only be carried forward. America won’t be able to construct its modern Steel Mills in ancient times, for instance, while others are still hammering out bronze. But they will have access to a few extra tools, like Syncretism, to make up for that delay. We’ll cover that further down.

Many of those tools come from the Unique Civics Tree that every Time-Tested civ will have access to in the Ages outside of its Apex. Evaluating this specific problem started out as a tall order. In theory, counting base-game and DLC civs, we needed over 100 new Unique Civic Trees to ensure coverage across the complete game. So we decided to approach it systemically, finding a way that didn’t balloon the size of a civ unrealistically, while still giving each its own unique feel. Ultimately, that meant constructing each tree out of a few bespoke parts plus a few common-but-personalized ones:

• One Civic on the tree is truly unique, crafted specifically for that civ in that Time-Tested Age, which provides Traditions and other effects reinforcing the civ’s identity in a way appropriate for the Age.
• One Civic is based on the civ’s Attributes. These are shared for all Time-Tested civs in that Age for a given Attribute set. For example, America and Inca are both Economic and Expansionist civilizations, and so receive a Civic in Antiquity that boosts both Economic and Expansionist play – though it’s still properly named “American Foundation” or “Incan Foundation,” respectively.
• And finally, a brand-new kind of Civic enables a system called Syncretism.

Syncretism & Affirmation

Syncretism is one of the tools unique to Time-Tested civs that gives them a strategic flexibility and power, representing the adaptability of a civ willing to learn from the powerhouses of a new time period in order to maintain their dominance. The way it works is pretty straightforward – research the Syncretism Civic as described above, and you’ll be prompted with a brand-new screen.

There, you have three distinct options:

1. Adopt another civ’s Unique Infrastructure.
2. Adopt another civ’s Unique Military Unit.
3. Forgo both of those options and instead focus inward on an Affirmation, gaining a powerful new Tradition and slot to go with it.

Say I’m the Inca in early Antiquity, and I’ve just been beset on all sides by wars that look a little dicey. I might beeline to Syncretism and pick the Mississippian’s Burning Arrows unit to give myself the defensive edge. Or, maybe I want to supercharge my Science and Production for the long term, and instead adopt the Mayan’s Unique Infrastructure to raise up my own version of the Uwaybil K'uh. Or, I could stay committed to the true-blue Incan way of life and unlock the Huaca Tradition, making my Mountain-adjacent Settlement Population boom via the Affirmation option.

Importantly, I can pick one and only one of the three options, once per Time-Tested Age. The flexibility here is the power behind Syncretism. Adapting to the situation at hand with a piece of a kit rather than a complete package, plus finding powerful synergies with your existing empire’s strengths, is what puts you on more even footing against Apex Age civs wielding their full might.

With this sub-feature, we had a few different goals in mind:

• We wanted to give Time-Tested civs some unique gameplay outside of their Apex Age, so they could feel powerful in a different way. The concept of adaptability in the moment seemed right thematically for a civ weathering new Ages, and mechanically it creates a wide new space to find novel and interesting combinations.
• We also wanted to honor the idea of “history in layers.” Now players can maintain their core identity by staying as one civ throughout all Ages, while still optionally layering in the impressive pieces of other civs in a meaningful way. This helps build a tapestry that better fits the image of what they believe their empire should look like while withstanding the Test of Time. Again, the power of choice here is as important as ever.

We realized just how important that choice was through our testing in the Firaxis Feature Workshop. Originally, Syncretism was purely a choice amongst pieces of other civs. But from all the feedback and playtesting, we knew the addition of Affirmations as a clear “let me stay completely locked in” option was one of the final missing pieces. Syncretism in particular was a really fun one to introduce and evolve in collaboration with the community, and I’m personally excited to continue that work once it’s out in everyone’s hands!

Conclusion & Looking Forward

And that’s the wide-lens capture of Time-Tested civs. There’s a lot of detail to discover here, especially now that every single one of the 40+ civilizations in-game will be able to have their own complete playthroughs, from turn one to victory – and maybe just One More Turn beyond.

We’ve already got some nifty ideas in the pipe for where we might take things next, but I think just about everyone here on the Civ team is looking forward to what players have to say about the 1.4.0 release happening shortly.

So let us know! Once you’ve got a favorite Time-Tested civ or cool Syncretism combination, we’d love to hear more about it.

Civilization is a game that means a lot, to us and to so many other people. We can’t wait to keep building it with all of you!