New DLC: Polynesia
- Thread starter Willowmound
- Start date
how are the celts, that spanned a number of civs from France to Ireland and Spain, any different than the polynesians?
west-centric much?
Valkrionn
The Hamster King
They aren't. Hell, most countries that claim a Celtic heritage are actually Germanic. They didn't treat the Celts too well...
NukeAJS
King
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2008
- Messages
- 850
Polynesia was probably added to the game because they are really unique. There's nothing even comparable to that part of the world at that point in time, ever.
Even though I can't imagine there were that are/were many Polynesians (or any oceanic people for the matter), their impact on American culture is really profound considering their small size. Just think of all the "Hawaiian" words in American English -- wiki stands out as do hula and luau. For the record, I'm not arguing that their influence on American culture makes them worthy of inclusion. Just that culturally powerful civs/people/whatever often leave their mark on others -- Hammurabi's code of laws anyone?
Anyways, I'm more concerned with the balance aspect. Their UA has two interpretations:
1. Units can enter water tiles and move across oceans/seas on turn one. The logistics work the same as any other civ that has researched up to astronomy -- meaning that the unit loses all movement points when it enters the water tile.
2. Units can enter water tiles and move immediately -- meaning that the unit does not lose all their MPs when they embark (and presumably disembark).
The first possibility could be incredibly powerful. Get the settler and warrior in the boat and find the new world (or settle one city in the old world and colonize the beans out of the new world). As others have mentioned, Terra would be unfair and pangea would -- well just don't pick it (sounds like the Ottomans).
The second possibility is cool, but not overpowered or lame (except, again, on pangea). It'd be especially cool on archipelago maps, or maps that have a Polynesian start-bias (start-bias would be must have coastal start, must have islands nearby). Yeah you could pop a lot of huts, but that's hardly a game changer. I'm more interested in the extra get-away movement points or, even better, launching a surprise attack from the ocean and getting to move one tile inland. This would make it so you could have two rows of units disembarking from the ocean, not just one -- meaning you could get your infantry off the coast and plant siege behind them in the same turn, instead of having to use two turns. I know this sounds insignificant, but after having played archepeligo maps, some invasions are near impossible without a massive fleet. This ability, if you can sneak it in right, would allow your army to establish a beachhead before the battle even starts instead of losing units due to an entrenched enemy and ships "snagging" your embarked armies.
Also, and I'm sure someone pointed this out, the statues are a tile improvement. I know this because of the art-style the icon uses at the leader-start page. The only other civ to have that style of art for one of their uniques is the Incan.
I'd be willing to bet it's +1 production to adjacent water (non-lake) tiles. So, the statues would be a trade-off. You get increased water tile production, but you have an "improved" tile that isn't improved at-all. On the combat-side, they provide a small combat boost (enough to negate being on a flat, non-marsh tile).
Even though I can't imagine there were that are/were many Polynesians (or any oceanic people for the matter), their impact on American culture is really profound considering their small size. Just think of all the "Hawaiian" words in American English -- wiki stands out as do hula and luau. For the record, I'm not arguing that their influence on American culture makes them worthy of inclusion. Just that culturally powerful civs/people/whatever often leave their mark on others -- Hammurabi's code of laws anyone?
Anyways, I'm more concerned with the balance aspect. Their UA has two interpretations:
1. Units can enter water tiles and move across oceans/seas on turn one. The logistics work the same as any other civ that has researched up to astronomy -- meaning that the unit loses all movement points when it enters the water tile.
2. Units can enter water tiles and move immediately -- meaning that the unit does not lose all their MPs when they embark (and presumably disembark).
The first possibility could be incredibly powerful. Get the settler and warrior in the boat and find the new world (or settle one city in the old world and colonize the beans out of the new world). As others have mentioned, Terra would be unfair and pangea would -- well just don't pick it (sounds like the Ottomans).
The second possibility is cool, but not overpowered or lame (except, again, on pangea). It'd be especially cool on archipelago maps, or maps that have a Polynesian start-bias (start-bias would be must have coastal start, must have islands nearby). Yeah you could pop a lot of huts, but that's hardly a game changer. I'm more interested in the extra get-away movement points or, even better, launching a surprise attack from the ocean and getting to move one tile inland. This would make it so you could have two rows of units disembarking from the ocean, not just one -- meaning you could get your infantry off the coast and plant siege behind them in the same turn, instead of having to use two turns. I know this sounds insignificant, but after having played archepeligo maps, some invasions are near impossible without a massive fleet. This ability, if you can sneak it in right, would allow your army to establish a beachhead before the battle even starts instead of losing units due to an entrenched enemy and ships "snagging" your embarked armies.
Also, and I'm sure someone pointed this out, the statues are a tile improvement. I know this because of the art-style the icon uses at the leader-start page. The only other civ to have that style of art for one of their uniques is the Incan.
I'd be willing to bet it's +1 production to adjacent water (non-lake) tiles. So, the statues would be a trade-off. You get increased water tile production, but you have an "improved" tile that isn't improved at-all. On the combat-side, they provide a small combat boost (enough to negate being on a flat, non-marsh tile).
Scaramanga
Brickhead
If they wanted a rival to England on the seas I don't see why they didn't go with the Dutch. But anyways, the more the merrier and it'll make for some interesting unique traits; I can't keep up with learning to play all these civs!
Save_Ferris
Admiring Myself
Or the Phonecians. And an England/Polynesia battle on an archipelago would be interesting.
Uniform Sierra
Warlord
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2010
- Messages
- 139
"We all know Western civilizations are the superior human race. Lets stop making these pathetic primitive civilizations as jokes." - Stupid people on this forum
I am looking forward to playing as something new for once. According to the article we'll have to pay for this one though. I hope this isn't true.
I am looking forward to playing as something new for once. According to the article we'll have to pay for this one though. I hope this isn't true.
Louis XXIV
Le Roi Soleil
Probably because that's not their motivation. Dutch would honestly come off as very similar if it was intended to just be a rival naval civ (it would be a European civ with its golden age in the Enlightenment/Imperial era). The way I see it, the best candidates for naval civs are:
Polynesians (which they picked)
Scandinavians
Carthage (or the Phoenicians, although they some times come off as a poor man's Greece)
Venice
I do think the Netherlands should be in the game, but not as simply a naval civ that mirrors England.
Uniform Sierra
Warlord
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2010
- Messages
- 139
So what's the Polynesians' UA, UU, and UB?
Louis XXIV
Le Roi Soleil
Unique Unit: Maori Warrior
Unique Improvement (like the Inca, not a building): Moai Statues
Unique Ability: Wayfinding (it appears to be early ocean travel, although some have interpreted it to mean ocean travel without movement loss, which I think is less likely).
Unique Improvement (like the Inca, not a building): Moai Statues
Unique Ability: Wayfinding (it appears to be early ocean travel, although some have interpreted it to mean ocean travel without movement loss, which I think is less likely).
gorillagogo
Chieftain
I haven't played Civ 5 in months but today as I was working on something else I received notice that Steam had downloaded something new. Out of curiosity I opened Civ 5 for the first time since mid December. Oh boy, I can purchase the new Polynesian civ for a game I stopped playing a long time ago and wish I never purchased. Great.
Louis XXIV
Le Roi Soleil
Actually, I believe the download was just the patch. I don't think you can buy Polynesia yet.
Thanks for sharing. It must be hard getting download notices for a game that you chose not to uninstall, and even harder to find out there are DLC addons upon further research.
Yzman
Deity
And to top off that, it forced you to come all the way here to post this letting us know right?
Courtesy of MouseyPounds, the descriptions of the DLC achievements:
Descriptions for the new achievements. Extracted from XML version of profile like previous lists.
It appears there are some new features in this scenario
Descriptions for the new achievements. Extracted from XML version of profile like previous lists.
- Law of the Splintered Paddle
-- Beat the game on any difficulty setting as Kamehameha. - Surviving the Marquesas
-- Win as Hiva - Bora! Bora! Bora!
-- Win as Tahiti - Head and Shoulders Above the Rest
-- Win as Samoa - Ngata Chance
-- Win as Tonga - Book 'em Danno!
-- Find Hawaii in a random map game - Heads Up!
-- Find Easter Island in a random map game - Do you have a little Captain in you?
-- Encounter Captain Cook - This isn't Kansas
-- Find Australia in a South Pacific map game - Searching for the Precious
-- Find New Zealand in a random map game
It appears there are some new features in this scenario
Yzman
Deity
Thanks for those!
Imaginative, the whole Pacific ocean to explore, an almost mythical foothold in Peru, the Mayan Codex where astronomical References lead directly to an ancestor Civ worthy of Seafaring conquest.
At the time Egypt was sculpting the Sphinx?
I'd say. Rivalry. Minimal.
Dream of history or trust the scholars.
Your choice.
But it's all in good fun for most of us.
Even the whole set of Icons is here!
Valkrionn
The Hamster King
I wouldn't call it mythical; We know for an absolute fact that there was SOME form of contact, given the ubiquitous presence of the Sweet Potato (a South American crop originating in the Andes) throughout much of Polynesia.
Now, this could be actual trade with the Inca... Or it could be some unlucky Incan fishermen who got washed out to see (rare event given the currents around SA) and then washed ashore on a settled island (extremely rare event, I should think
). Or expansion outwards from South America in parallel to that of the Polynesians... But there isn't any evidence for that that I'm aware of.
