The Kingmaker
Alexander
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2004
- Messages
- 1,971
Ages ago, out of curiosity, I wanted to tally up how many civilizations had ever been included in a Civ game. I counted the HRE and Germany as one, as well as the various incarnations of the Native Americans. I also included the Songhai and Siamese, which are likely to be featured in Civ5. What I found was that there is a total of just 36 civs that have ever been included in Civ.
Then the thought came to me: are there any other civs worthy to be included in a game? Each new Civ game has added new civilizations to the mix; how many other viable options are there? I set myself a goal to flesh the list out to 50, a nice, round, complete-feeling number. This task proved surprisingly hard. After adding in a few easy picks, the last several slots took quite a while to fill. Even then I remain somewhat unsatisfied.
My criteria were as follows:
1. Did the Civ in question make major contributions to human society (cultural, religious, architectural, military, etc.)?
2. Was the Civ in question independent for at least part of its history? Are they different enough from previously included Civs?
3. Can a definitive leader, city list and unique unit be chosen for the Civ?
4. As a tie-breaker to weed out possible candidates, I also made the following considerations: How famous is the Civ in the western world? Would western Civ-gamers want to play this civ? Is the civ from an as yet unrepresented region? What would it add to the game?
Here is my list, with a few comments. I consider it unfinished, as I remain unsatisfied with its content. What do you like or dislike about it? What would you change? Who else should be represented?
The List:
37. Hebrews (Solomon) - not yet included for modern political reasons, tenable if only the ancient civ is represented
38. Moors (al-Mansur) - had a golden age of Islamic architecture and science in medieval al-Andalus (Spain), could be considered too similar to Arabs
39. Phoenicians (Pygmalion) - great explorers and merchants utilized by the entire western world in their day, but similar to Carthage as its founders
40. Assyrians (Ashurbanipal) - deadly conquerors and skilled artisans, not yet included because of similarity to other Mesopotamians
41. Kuhorsehockyes/Nubians (Taharqa) - influential African nation, but possibly too intertwined with Egyptian history
42. Srivijaya/Malaysians (Samaratunga) - an unrepresented region with great achievements, but painfully obscure to westerners
43. Tibetans (Songtsän Gampo) - an important Asian civ, but politically charged in modern times
44. Vietnamese (Lý Công Uẩn) - details are often obscure to the west, not as major as some of their neighbors
45. Polynesians (Kamehameha) - very familiar and as yet unrepresented, but not especially major in terms of global significance
46. Minoans (Satur) - major ancient sea empire, probably the inspiration for Atlantis, but not much information yet available on all their accomplishments
47. Chola/Tamil (Rajendra) - important SE Asian empire, but unfamiliar to westerners and possibly considered too similar to India
48. Gran Colombians/Latin Americans (Simon Bolivar) - from a significant and underrepresented region, but it is an amalgam civ, which I usually like to avoid
49. Kushans (Kanishka) - powerful central Asian empire, but very obscure
50. Polish (Jan Sobieski) - Europe is already heavily represented but what can I say? Poland could not be escaped in the end
Honorable Mention: Olmecs - we just don't have enough info to do them yet, not so much as a leader name
Then the thought came to me: are there any other civs worthy to be included in a game? Each new Civ game has added new civilizations to the mix; how many other viable options are there? I set myself a goal to flesh the list out to 50, a nice, round, complete-feeling number. This task proved surprisingly hard. After adding in a few easy picks, the last several slots took quite a while to fill. Even then I remain somewhat unsatisfied.
My criteria were as follows:
1. Did the Civ in question make major contributions to human society (cultural, religious, architectural, military, etc.)?
2. Was the Civ in question independent for at least part of its history? Are they different enough from previously included Civs?
3. Can a definitive leader, city list and unique unit be chosen for the Civ?
4. As a tie-breaker to weed out possible candidates, I also made the following considerations: How famous is the Civ in the western world? Would western Civ-gamers want to play this civ? Is the civ from an as yet unrepresented region? What would it add to the game?
Here is my list, with a few comments. I consider it unfinished, as I remain unsatisfied with its content. What do you like or dislike about it? What would you change? Who else should be represented?
The List:
37. Hebrews (Solomon) - not yet included for modern political reasons, tenable if only the ancient civ is represented
38. Moors (al-Mansur) - had a golden age of Islamic architecture and science in medieval al-Andalus (Spain), could be considered too similar to Arabs
39. Phoenicians (Pygmalion) - great explorers and merchants utilized by the entire western world in their day, but similar to Carthage as its founders
40. Assyrians (Ashurbanipal) - deadly conquerors and skilled artisans, not yet included because of similarity to other Mesopotamians
41. Kuhorsehockyes/Nubians (Taharqa) - influential African nation, but possibly too intertwined with Egyptian history
42. Srivijaya/Malaysians (Samaratunga) - an unrepresented region with great achievements, but painfully obscure to westerners
43. Tibetans (Songtsän Gampo) - an important Asian civ, but politically charged in modern times
44. Vietnamese (Lý Công Uẩn) - details are often obscure to the west, not as major as some of their neighbors
45. Polynesians (Kamehameha) - very familiar and as yet unrepresented, but not especially major in terms of global significance
46. Minoans (Satur) - major ancient sea empire, probably the inspiration for Atlantis, but not much information yet available on all their accomplishments
47. Chola/Tamil (Rajendra) - important SE Asian empire, but unfamiliar to westerners and possibly considered too similar to India
48. Gran Colombians/Latin Americans (Simon Bolivar) - from a significant and underrepresented region, but it is an amalgam civ, which I usually like to avoid
49. Kushans (Kanishka) - powerful central Asian empire, but very obscure
50. Polish (Jan Sobieski) - Europe is already heavily represented but what can I say? Poland could not be escaped in the end
Honorable Mention: Olmecs - we just don't have enough info to do them yet, not so much as a leader name