The strategy epic Civilization 6 (Steam) currently offers 50 different civilizations and 3 expansions. Countless DLCs have been released since 2016. New, exciting worlds can be created time and again. But MeinMMO author Schuhmann has none of that. He is obsessed with a save file.
My name is Schuhmann and I have a problem. It must have somehow sneaked in over the years. I can vaguely remember that I used to be able to play Civilization IV just like that, quite chaotically: Just log in, start a game on the huge world map and see what happens. Actually crazy.
I still remember, I played the Romans at some point and everything was still good back then. You settle down, build, explore, send scouts out into the world and are happy to find a resource near Rome: stones. And with those stones, you could build a special wonder: Stonehenge.
Once you’ve built it, a nice little cutscene plays and it feels good. This is how it all started, this is how they got me.
Somehow, I must have started back then a certain … well, I don’t want to call it compulsion, but I developed a liking. I’m into wonders.
The urge developed: I build all 54 wonders in Civilization 6
When you build such a wonder, there’s a great feeling of having accomplished something. A little intro film plays, you receive special bonuses and have something that other civilizations do not have.
At some point, I don’t know how it happened, the urge developed: I want to build every single wonder in Civilization VI. And if others build a wonder before me, then the game is simply not good anymore and I have to start over until all wonders belong to me.
Civilization 6 somehow wants that too: There is a strategy to maximize the benefits of wonders by aligning the state religion so that every wonder provides further bonuses to get even more advantages.
I believe there’s even a name for it: “Wonder Rush” or something.
The problem is: Civilization 6 is not designed to be played this way. In earlier games, it may have been possible, but in Civilization 6, it’s actually not feasible. Although the Chinese civilization is geared exactly towards this strategy because they can accelerate ancient and classical wonders with workers, too much must come together for the strategy to work.
Because if you want to build the 54 wonders in Civilization 6, you need a plan:
- You can’t just build the pyramids somewhere in a beautiful lake in southern France – you need desert.
- If you want to build Stonehenge, you need stones nearby.
- And if you want to erect that damn Mahabodhi Temple, which I keep forgetting, you need a regular temple and a forest next to it. So you really have to take into account when planning your cities that you build your temple complex next to a forest – and there is actually a time pressure because otherwise, the computer opponents will build the wonder right in front of you, and then your entire plan is ruined.
There are 54 wonders in Civ 6 – Who wants to build them all must plan early
Normally, you need to hit a jackpot in the strategy during the world roll and starting positions. You need many different cities:
- A city with stones, in the desert, but with floodplains for The Great Bath, the Pyramids
- A city in the desert, with mountains for a strange iron wonder
- A city by a sea where you can place the harbor for the 3 associated wonders
- A city with a forest, where you need to consider building the temple complex right next to the forest
- and many other prerequisites.
Since you can’t possibly build wonders and send settlers at the same time, you need to conquer the additional cities next to your starting city. For this, you use the so-called “3 Slinger” strategy.
Typically, you start to play and the first city looks quite good: There are stones for Stonehenge and floodplains, but then you won’t find any desert for the pyramids, and that’s it.
Two years ago, I found the perfect start – I curse that day
My problem is that I actually stumbled upon and saved a perfect start two years ago after numerous attempts.
It was on July 22, 2021 – I curse that day. Back then, I obviously managed to get everything perfect: With the “3 Slingshot tactic,” dominating 3 opposing civilizations, they must have been French, Spanish, and some Incas. The names of their cities remain even thousands of years after their destruction. I then built the first wonders in my starting city, Paris, and Madrid, and saved – after 133 turns.
All other attempts to start a new game fail because no start is as perfect as the one two years ago. Either there’s a lack of stone or desert or floodplains – something is always missing. I remember I completed that save file back then, dominating the entire world – built all the wonders. And it was good for a while, but then it fell into oblivion.
I didn’t play Civilization anymore – What was there left to achieve?
This save file has been sitting on my hard drive for two years.
But in the last few days, it hit me again, I felt like playing a strategy game, played this and that, and then Civilization came to mind again.
This time I wanted to play it completely differently: So many DLCs, so many possibilities, maybe try a different civilization, a whole different strategy. So I started playing chaotically, just going through the motions, and then came this message: “An unknown player has built Stonehenge” – and there it was again. The save file called me.
Then I spent countless hours and 3 attempts with my perfect start from 2021 again. Because even though it’s a perfect start, it must be played in a very specific way for all wonders to be in their intended places and built in the right order at the right time.
I know the cadence of the turns, how it continues after 133, by heart:
- I must send workers to Paris to build Stonehenge there – while in Madrid, the Oracle is being built
- It’s essential to wipe out barbarians – with the money from their camps, I can hire even more workers who will create even more wonders
- Once Stonehenge stands, I will found my religion, Buddhism, and start spreading it
- In the Inca city near a lake, first a camp is established, then a barrack, and finally the Statue of Zeus and the Terracotta Army
When I play that, I’m immediately back in, the processes have practically burned into my brain – but yesterday I noticed it again. You play for 2, 3 hours and then comes that hated sound: Another civilization has built a wonder that you overlooked. And it is of course that wonder for which you need to build a temple next to a forest. Who thinks of such things?
So: Back to turn 133 and plan again.
I know that I already completed the game perfectly, built all wonders at the right place and time. I can still remember the rough moves and know that I had already forgotten that damn temple back then. I know that the game is actually already won from turn 133 and it only becomes boring and tedious in the endgame – a problem that every single strategy game I love has.
But somehow I can only play Civilization 6 like this.
Maybe I just need to delete the save file before it ruins my life.
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