Downgrade
While Civilization VI mixed-up quite a bit about the mechanics of the series, one of the more contentious changes among fans dealt with the visuals. Some people were turned off by the cartoonish look of the game and longed to have something similar to its immediate predecessor, Civilization V. While I had no problem with the art style, even I have to admit that the more realistic tone of V almost fits Civilization better.
Thankfully, we can now have the best of both worlds. A new mod, called “Environment Skin: Sid Meier’s Civilization V,” swaps all of the environment textures to a style reminiscent of Civilization V. Created by Brian Busatti, art director for the series, the mod came about as a challenge from his fellow devs. “I was challenged by the team to create an expansive mod using Mod Buddy,” reads the description on the Steam workshop, “and this was the end result. It’s an example of how much you can change the visuals and I hope it provides inspiration to try your own modifications.”
The mod works with all versions of Civilization VI, regardless if you have one expansion, both, or none. It should also seamlessly work with any save games you have, being a texture swap instead of a gameplay tweak. You’ll just need to add it to your Steam queue and enable it in-game from the mod menu. I may give this a go since I have been dying for a Civ fix lately.
Environment Skin: Sid Meier’s Civilization V [Steam Workshop]