Plus some other civ balancing tweaks and biome improvements

Image credit: Firaxis

This month’s Civ 7 update, 1.3.1, will rock up today, December 9th. Following on from the beefy 1.3.0 update, which added in a bunch of new navally-themed bits and revamped battling at sea, this update’s comparatively compact, but still packs a new map type and some civ balancing tweaks which are well worth being aware of if you’re gonna be Civving over the holidays.

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As outlined by Firaxis QA lead Shaun Wilson in the developer update video above, the update introduces the Shattered Seas map, a setup aimed at ensuring you run into plenty of naval action. Basically, it takes a typical Pangea map and splits the central landmass up into a bunch of sizable islands separated by narrow watery dividers.

"Every player gets their own distinct defensible land mass, but all land masses are connected primarily by extensive stretches of shallow coastal waters," Wilson explained. "Distant lands islands will still spawn separated by deep oceans, just like a typical Pangea map." It looks like a good fit for folks keen to do some island-hopping or aim to set up a port fortress to defend, but I imagine it’ll have to prove it’s different enough to the base game’s archipelago maps to become the go-to for watery warfare. Alongside deploying the new map, Firaxis have updated all mini-maps to highlight coastal tiles.

World generation’s also undergone some tweakage. "We’ve increased the size variance of biomes and the reliance on rainfall," Wilson said. "Rivers and rain shadows near mountains now have a much stronger influence on the surrounding terrain. This means biomes will be less striped along lines of latitude. Instead, you’ll experience patchier, more realistic, and ultimately more interesting global patterns for you to navigate and explore."

Finally, the civ balancing tweaks this time around are led by a nerf of Egypt, with the likes of yields from minor rivers being pegged back. Rome, meanwhile, has had its Auxilia and Cursus Honorum tradition revamped so there’s an incentive to keep them active outside of periods when you’re training up lots of troops. Russia’s serfdom civic has also been tweaked, now helping increase wonder building speed by 10%.

This update also brings with it the second part of the Tides of Power DLC, which includes 16th century Moroccan privateer Sayyida al Hurra as a leader, plus Ottoman and Icelandic civs. The full DLC, including the bit with Blackbeard that arrived with last month’s update, is currently claimable for free until January 5th. Meanwhile, bigger changes like the ability to play as one civ for the whole game are still in the works.