I'm currently developing/experimenting with a game that plays a little bit like Civilization(im definitely not claiming its as good or that things will work out eventually). I'm currently trying to create an exciting early game to drag players in, so I would love to hear from you what aspects of Civilization's early game you liked or didn't like. Or what features you would like to see in a game like that.

Currently I have:

- The player can immediately expand at the start of the game.(immediate strategic choice and more things to do)

- The player can tweak aspects of his government(immediate strategic choice)

- The player can improve generals and gain something by beating neutral armies.(giving the player a chance to improve something is fun)

- The player can/has to start producing goods and start trading.(Trade and the power to control trade is supposed to be a core feature)

So what would your perfect early-game, in a game like this, look like?

Irrelevant.

We are talking here about turn based strategies, it's not like fans of this ganre are into fast paced gameplay Otherwise they would play RTSes instead. Plus, you can simply click the EndTurn a few times if you find it slow at the beginning, no problem at all.

I'm a hardcore turn based strategies player, and I would say this does not bother me at all. Actually, I would prefer a slower start, since I have a lot of "other problems" at that stage and I don't need "additional entertainment".

Ignore early game, concentrate on the mid and late game. That's the sign of a good turn based strategy. If you do it then there is a fair chance I would buy your game

Thanks for your comment. I personally think that the early game is incredibly important to hook players so they will actually give my game a chance. I'm a hardcore strategy player myself, yet I've stopped playing many games at early stages because it just couldn't interest me. I personally believe that small things like being able to improve your general(people like progress) is important.

I'm actually focusing a lot on having a very satisfying late-game. I'm trying to design a game system where power fluctuates so things remain interesting, instead of big nations constantly getting bigger.

The "early game" of Civilization is really about learning about your position as best as possible. Every discovery you make whether it's a resource, terrain feature, or where your neighbors are gets you brain thinking about what position you want to get yourself in. The rewards of finding this out early are weighed against the vulnerable position you put yourself in by producing and sending units out to explore and stake claims. Each advantage you acquire, each choice you make early on has an impact on what the borders will look like when it's much more difficult to expand and what you will ultimately need to do in the late game. I think giving this sense to the player is important as well as establishing that you can have an entertaining experience in the late game even if you don't end up on the top militarily early on.

You could build mines in "remote" locations to supply your cities early on while later on, when you the player has more resources, he can build cities near those resources and remove the mines, it'd mean he'd still have to fight over/claim the resources early on and later on, but seperate those two choices(which resources to go for) so a new player will not have to make choices early on that might cost him his/her late-game, while still allowing for choices that affect the outcome.

combined with some fortress/defenses buildings(near such resources) early game may still have a significant(but not over-significant) effect on late-game.

This gives (new) players something to do from turn 1.

@luckless: nice idea, it would reflect a much more tribal-game, including that cities are not taken with population in it(i assume) so only living-space(including structures as cities) but a conquerer still needing to make proper use of it(as history showed, this is something not all tribes could do well)

The "early game" of Civilization is really about learning about your position as best as possible. Every discovery you make whether it's a resource, terrain feature, or where your neighbors are gets you brain thinking about what position you want to get yourself in. The rewards of finding this out early are weighed against the vulnerable position you put yourself in by producing and sending units out to explore and stake claims. Each advantage you acquire, each choice you make early on has an impact on what the borders will look like when it's much more difficult to expand and what you will ultimately need to do in the late game. I think giving this sense to the player is important as well as establishing that you can have an entertaining experience in the late game even if you don't end up on the top militarily early on.

...

It is already in my game design to have a meaningful early game. But even when you make important decisions, the early game will always be a part of the game where there is very little to do. Civilization fixes this by having exploration, barbarians and ruins to keep you entertained. So i'm exploring some options to have some fun aspects added to the early game. I think both hardcore and casual gamers would enjoy this.

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You could build mines in "remote" locations to supply your cities early on while later on, when you the player has more resources, he can build cities near those resources and remove the mines, it'd mean he'd still have to fight over/claim the resources early on and later on, but seperate those two choices(which resources to go for) so a new player will not have to make choices early on that might cost him his/her late-game, while still allowing for choices that affect the outcome.

I actually quite like the idea of being able to claim territory, without the being-able-to-mine part. This would surely create tension from the beginning of the game and cause some small early game skirmishes.

Early civ is exploration, claiming good land and planning for mid-game (where to expand, who to defend against). This is great fun and often very important. You can add fluff like ruins that give bonuses when explored if you want. But adding too much stuff early on will feel artificial and remove the feeling that your empire actually grows (you SHOULD have more stuff to manage later on, it's an empire-building game).

That you do "less per turn" in the beginning isnt a big problem as you just press "next turn" quicker (single player turn-based). As stated:)