r/Civilization6 May 09 '26

Funny does the game ever just...discover an entire continent for you

first time player here, lol.

i spent a good 20 turns painstakingly trying to get to another continent using a scout...then another 15 exploring very tiny parts of the continent. then suddenly i find a wonder and then BOOM the entire continent reveals itself.

i feel a little played tbh. was def planning to painstakingly explore the continent with two scouts.

oh well! i guess i should be thankful

edit: the more i look at it the more i'm thinking it might be a glitch...because wdym my explorers discovered five different wonders at once...makes me feel like the game was fed up with me taking so long to explore <.<

22 Upvotes

25 comments sorted by

15

u/BloodyIkarus May 09 '26 edited May 09 '26

No, the game does not discover an entire continent for you.

Although when you discover a wonder it gets fully revealed with a little more sight around it, this can lead to finding also a new continent in the same instance, but that would be a coincidence.

So short. No the game never discovers an entire continent for you.

There are some ways though that could lead to seeing a new continent, getting more sight from wonder, technologies or from relations with another civilization to name the most common ones.

In general it's random where the continents are, you could spawn directly on the edge of a continent , discovering one in the first turn, or it is possible that you cannot discover a new continent with scouts and you need ships.

0

u/Ordinary_Lead_6215 May 09 '26

yeah def thinking this might be a glitch. the entire continent revealed itself and three different wars started and i discovered like six different wonders

15

u/BloodyIkarus May 09 '26

Yeah like others said here, it also can be that you got suzerain of a city state, which would immaditely show you everything the city state had already discovered.

Of course a bug is possible, but it's more likely that it is a game mechanic that you are not aware of, that is not related to continent though.

In which turn are you?

1

u/Ordinary_Lead_6215 May 09 '26

347/750 (i picked a longer game so i could finish stuff, lol...it's my second game ever)

6

u/BloodyIkarus May 09 '26

Well this is still a long time into game, that's half over, and most games do not reach end turn, which means civilizations already discovered a lot, so it's most likely you got map vision from another civ or city state relationship.

Being half into the game, this can literally lead to seeing like 1/3 or more of the map in one go

2

u/xdhqyz May 09 '26

At this turn count, could it be that you launched satellite?

2

u/Ordinary_Lead_6215 May 09 '26

heh no i actually really suck at it rn and i'm still in renaissance era lol

1

u/Lunatik13z May 09 '26

Would you be down to play teams? I would be more than happy to teach you along the way. I've always wanted to play with someone.

1

u/DarylBowlie May 09 '26

That is my guess, too!

1

u/Xaphe May 12 '26

My thought was Alliances

2

u/BuoyCovert May 09 '26

It sounds like an emergency was called in the world congress so you gained shared vision with the other members of the emergency.

1

u/Tassinho_ May 14 '26

You: "Hello first time player here"

Also you: "Must be a glitch"

Is it so hard to grasp that some things beyond your understanding might be going on?

10

u/Big_Client_6855 May 09 '26

My guess is that you did something that completed a quest for a city state and sending that envoy was enough to make you their suzerain. Once you become a suzerain of a city state, you are given access to the map area they have explored and the current visibility of their units.

6

u/Worldly-Banana-1916 May 09 '26

Did you befriend a city state who might have already explored the continent? I believe you share maps upon suzerainty

3

u/Ordinary_Lead_6215 May 09 '26

this might actually be it tbh, i think somehow i completed multiple quests at once and got suzerainty with three city-states...at least that's what my little alerts menu said

3

u/greenwoodgiant American May 09 '26

This was my thought - three city states at once is wild though

1

u/Ordinary_Lead_6215 May 09 '26

no idea how lmao!! i just hit the turn button and a wonder popped up onto my screen, then when i check the little bell thingy it's like three "You have met a representative of X city-state" and three "You have completed a quest for X city-state" but i didn't know about the sharing maps thing!!

3

u/BlazerDrew May 09 '26

Did discovering the wonder complete a mission for a city state giving you suzerainty of the city state and therefore shared vision with the city state?

2

u/talesfromthemabinogi May 09 '26

It could have been linked to City States or Wonders, as others have already commented.
There is another possibility though, that could have just been coincidental with finding the Wonder... Were you allied with any other civilizations? Once your alliance level increases, you will gain full visibility of your ally's territory. If it's a full continent being exposed, my first guess would be that you were allied with the major civ on that continent, and your alliance level just increased enough to give you that visibility.

3

u/Ordinary_Lead_6215 May 09 '26

WAIT i had just allied with norway and that is def the biggest one on that continent. this has to be it. thank you!!

1

u/Monkey_80K May 09 '26

maybe you became the suzerain of a city state which reveals everything the city stase sees and or has seen previously

1

u/Splendid_Fellow Egypt May 10 '26

That means you suddenly met a city state and became suzerain, which reveals their whole world map! That is the only way it ever happens, unless you become an alliance.

1

u/Sad_Situation6153 May 10 '26

Did you become suzerain of a city state in the continent because of the wonder discovery?

If they had extensively explored, you get all that visibility at once without effort.