As players of Civilization 6 have definitely noticed, the Maya and Gran Columbia Pack added a few new features including 4 unique disasters. These have been a new obstacle for every player to face with their introduction in Civilization 6. However, there are many disasters from the real world that have yet to rear their ugly heads.
What are disasters in Civ 6?
As mentioned before, disasters are a feature that was not available in previous titles. Making their debut in the Civilization 6: Gathering Storm dlc, 5 different types of disaster were introduced. These disasters included 4 different sub-types of storms, floods, droughts, volcanic eruptions, and one man-made disaster titled nuclear disaster. The Civilization 6: Maya and Gran Columbia Pack dlc added forest fires, meteor showers, solar flares, and comet strikes to the roster of disasters that may befall the player.
Disasters are a mechanic that can be increased or reduced in its intensity before each game of Civilization 6. Should players decide to include disasters in their campaign, they may be rewarded or punished for doing so at the game's discretion. Whenever a disaster strikes, the game decides how terrible the damage is, but also how great the increase in tile yields are in Civilization 6. Disasters are capable of destroying tile improvements and killing units, but they can also fertilize the area affected and increase their production outputs.
For example: If a Civilization 6 player settles their cities near a volcano, they should expect the volcano to erupt at any time during the game. When it does erupt, adjacent tiles will be damaged and they may lose some of their city's population. However, the volcanic eruption also imbues the adjacent tiles with volcanic soil which improves resource yield with every subsequent eruption. These tiles can even produce science and culture points for their city which is an improvement that other disasters cannot create.
There are some disasters that do not produce any positive results such as the new solar flares and comet strikes. Like all other disasters in Civ 6 besides nuclear and volcanic eruption, these disasters are affected by climate change. More specifically, they will only appear once climate change is in its late stages and if the player activated the apocalypse feature before starting. The levels of climate change have a direct and proportional impact on how frequently natural disasters occur.
Some players are probably wondering, "What about x, y, or z disasters?" The answer isn't always that simple. The disasters players are thinking about may not have been included to keep the new mechanic simplified. This way the roster is kept thin to decrease the number of factors that the players have to take into account when assessing risks. When campaigning in Civilization 6, competing against opponents is usually a challenge in and of itself, but disasters make things more complicated. The developers obviously had their reasons for including the disasters that they did. That being said, there are a few more disasters that should be added to increase game depth.
Earthquakes
The first disaster type that should be implemented in the very next Civilization 6 dlc is earthquakes. Volcanic eruptions are already a feature of the game and can be triggered by earthquakes just like the real world. This disaster type could be implemented as a way to introduce new mountain ranges mid-game or even a new tectonic plate game feature. This sort of feature may even lead to the production of new volcanoes. Earthquakes will obviously ruin certain improvements when they occur, but they could also enrich affected areas with fault lines that increase science productivity.
Tsunamis
Tsunamis should be the next logical step after the inclusion of earthquakes. Hurricanes are already a feature of the game that impedes the growth of coastal cities, but there needs to be a more extreme example of a disaster near water in Civilization 6. Tsunamis would occur after an earthquake hits in a body of water causing flooding to coastal tiles much like a river does. These tiles may even be subject to permanent submersion in the areas that would be underwater in late-stage climate change. Tsunami floods should enrich tiles like river floods do and submerged tiles should also yield science bonuses to compensate for land lost.
Oil Spills
Oil is one of the most important mid-to-late-game strategic resources in Civilization 6 and can be harvested by land pumps and oil rigs at sea. Oil spills would be a logical disaster that stems from the combination of cultivating a tiles oil resource and another natural disaster. If added, oil spills would be a great addition to the minuscule man-made disaster category featured in Civilization 6. The consequences of a slow cleanup could mean the destruction nearby fishery improvements or removal of the fish resources altogether, and the rewards for a fast cleanup could reward the player with some diplomacy points.
Plagues
Plagues or pandemics should be another disaster worth adding. This feature would have to be part of a larger expansion to Civilization 6 because it would have to reintroduce improvements, like hospitals, that don't exist. These disasters wouldn't affect tile output or improvements like farms, but would instead tax the population of cities directly. Consequences of plagues should include the halt of trade routes to and from the affected city and a decrease in population. Having a plague should also boost certain technologies that would bring a player's civ closer to preventing future plagues.
Space Project Disasters
In Civ 6, the science victory is often impeded by enemy spies and can be practically halted altogether by the new solar flare disaster. However, once a space project is finished, there is nothing that can be done to undo it. There should be a new type of disaster that affects these specifically. Space project disasters could include satellites being damaged by space debris or even crashing to earth causing damage to tiles. Spaceports would have newfound purpose for maintaining existing space projects to protect them from disaster and could also be used for projects that prevent preexisting disasters like solar flares and comet strikes.
Alien Invasions
In the interest of creating something experimental to add to the game, alien invasions should be an addition to the apocalypse mode disasters. It would be a shame if there weren't more disasters included in the apocalypse game mode and the ones that do exist are already space themed. Alien invasions should function like high level barbarian invasions that can only occur if one or more players are competing in the science victory. Like other opponents in Civilization 6, the aliens will try to conquer the affected players capital and must be repelled. Once defeated, the player should be rewarded with boosts in technologies, giant death robots, or shorter build times for certain space projects.
No doubt there are many opportunities for the developers of Civilization 6 to improve and build upon the disaster system, and perhaps players will get a new set of disasters sooner than they expected. The next Civ 6 expansion release is set for July 2020.
Civilization 6Â is available for iOS, Linux, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One
