Sid Meier’s Civilization VII has received another big update, as the rather divisive 4X strategy game wrangles with a mostly negative user review consensus on Steam.

The latest Civ 7 update adds large and huge maps, each with a default of 10 players in single player and eight (including AI) in multiplayer. Developers Firaxis are working on supporting 12 players for Huge maps, but need more time to ensure that this doesn’t scuttle game stability and performance. As it is, they caution that “bigger maps have bigger hardware demands” and that you might see “slower turn times or performance drops, especially on lower end hardware.”

Those system-cloggingly vast new generated continents are but the visible face of an even Huger substructure, for the new update also introduces Steam Workshop support for modders, an expanded set of Advanced Game Options, and a barrage of new town specialisations, city-state bonuses, beliefs, balance changes and UI improvements.

There is an absolute abyss of a changelog post over here, encompassing bullet point features, screenshot slideshows and snippets of developer commentary. I am going to process it the same way I process the temperature difference while swimming in the North Sea. Which is to say, I am going to run into it shrieking like a parrot and flailing my arms until I have magically purged myself of all feelings of sensory overload. Sorry, neighbours! Let’s start with those new Advanced Game options. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

– Enable or disable specific Legacy Paths per Age (or turn them all off entirely) – Disable Score Victory (unlimited turns in final Age) – Enable or disable specific Crises – Custom AI Difficulty Options (adjust each AI bonus independently) – Bypass Civ Unlocks on Age Transition (you’ll be able to pick ANY civ from the next Age during an Age transition, no matter what you’ve unlocked through your gameplay decisions) – Adjust Independent Power Hostility (all hostile, random, or all friendly)

Kicking and sputtering amid the ashen, unforgiving surf of this unfairly voluminous patch, I grab onto a piece of driftwood labelled “New Bonuses for Religion, City-States, and Towns”. Firaxis are adding two new Pantheons to the Antiquity age, and are giving players more reason to religiously convert their own settlements by adding new beliefs and updating some existing ones that give bonuses for spreading your Religion within your own empire. Expect “bigger and bolder” changes to Religion in future.

As for Towns, they’re updating Town Focus bonuses and especially Urban Centres, which now have access to certain buildings like libraries that were otherwise only available in cities. Fort Towns can now purchase several walls in order to properly choke those chokepoints. There’s a new Focus in the shape of the Resort Town, where relaxing scenery bequeaths more gold and happiness on rural tiles and increased yields for Natural Wonders. The game’s very popular Hub Towns have been nerfed a bit, down from +2 influence to +1 influence, so that other types of town have a chance to shine.

Releasing my hold on the driftwood, I valiantly attempt some front crawl and am promptly entangled in a thick, weedy web of modding. The new Steam Workshop support accompanies an “initial version” of Civilization 7’s modding SDK. “While this initial version of the SDK won’t feature art tools, it will include a mod uploader and the (glorious) return of FireTuner,” the devs comment. There are guides and documentation within the tools for people who know nothing of such matters, and Firaxis have also put together three example mods on Steam Workshop.

The update notes offer a brief reprieve in the shape of a more cursory section on the new loading screen, before swamping the unwary reader in the full bulletpoint changelog, which spans bugfixes and tweaks to leaders, the controls, Civilopedia presentation, the UI and more.

I’m not going to summarise that last part because it’s 4000 words long. These waters are too Huge for me. I can feel my legs giving out. But by all means have a dive and see if there’s any sunken gold to be found. I’m not sure any of it will be enough to salve the current fan blowback, much of which is directed at fundamentals such as the new Age system, but I’m interested to hear thoughts from the comments.