Looking for critique on my Civ design. (Skies of Arcadia civs.)

Even if you haven't played the game, I'd like some feedback on these civilizations.

I enjoy designing civilizations around a fictional or real source, and I would like to improve at it.

I posted a thread like this some time back, but I've added a lot since it was on the first or second page.


For practice and the fun of it, I decided to design civilizations around the game Skies of Arcadia.

A satisfactory city list would be impossible without improvision, but I just enjoy creating mechanics.


Are these civilizations balanced in your opinion?

Would they offer a unique and entertaining experience, or are they too bland or too much like an existing civilization?

(I could maybe get away with posting one or two more civs, but I have run out of icons for one post.)


Ixa'Taka

UA: Blessing of the Green Moon- +1 from Shrines and Temples. Forests and Jungles give +1 in a Golden Age. +20% growth in a Golden Age.

UI: Treetop Village- Replaces the Trading Post. +1 and +1 . Must be built on Forest or Jungle tiles. Requires Trapping.

UU: Masked Guard- Moves faster through Forest and Jungle and starts with Drill 1 and the Medic promotion, unlike the Spearman which it replaces.


Glacia

UA: Masters of Ice- Granaries provide +1 for cities founded on Tundra and +2 for cities founded on snow. +2 from Snow tiles. Can construct Trading Posts and all Great Person improvements on Snow tiles and Mines on Snow hills.

UB: Frost Forge- Must have a Tundra, Snow, Ice, or Iron tile nearby. Grants +1 on Tundra and Iron tiles, +2 on Snow tiles, and +5 on Ice tiles. Replaces the Forge, but does not grant a 15% bonus to land unit production.

UU: Veltarn Automaton- Gains a +35% boost on Tundra and Ice tiles, unlike the Longswordsman which it replaces.


Valua

UA: City of Storms- Citadels in the Capital provide +4 after Writing is reasearched as well as an additional +2 when Education is researched, another +2 for researching Scientific Theory, and a final +2 for researching atomic theory. A Coliseum in the Capital provides +15 experience to military units trained in the city.

UB: Moonstone Quary- Replaces the Stoneworks. Requires an improved source of Stone or Gems nearby to be built. +1 and +1 . Grants +2 and +2 from sources of Stone and Gems.

UU: Armada Airship- Can move over land, but is vulnerable to the Interception* and Bonus vs Aircraft Promotions* while over land, unlike the Privateer which it replaces. *(As well as other attacks.)

Starts with Coastal Raider 2 and 3.

Limited to two moves a turn over land, but ignores terrain costs.


Soltis

UA: Enlightenment- +50% output during Golden Ages. 25% of excess is converted into , increasing to 50% after Education is researched.

UB: Silvite Temple- +2 , +1 Great Scientist , and 1 Great Scientist slot, unlike the Temple which it replaces.

UU: Silver Guardian- Replaces the Longswordsman. Gains +20% in Soltis lands, but loses 1 movement outside them.


Nasr

UA: Jewel of the Sands- Up to three internal trade routes to cities founded on Desert tiles do not count against your trade route limit. Merchant specialists grant +1 in addition to their usual benefits.

UB: Nasrad Port- +4 per outgoing and incoming international trade routes, unlike the Seaport which it replaces. The trade partner receives half the gold bonus.

UU: Nasr Airship- Can move over land, but is vulnerable to the Interception* and Bonus vs Aircraft Promotions* while over land, unlike the Privateer which it replaces. *(As well as other attacks.)

Starts with the Supply promotion.

Limited to two moves a turn over land, but ignores terrain costs.


Yafutoma

UA: Isolated Heritage- +3 and +4% Empire wide for each internal trade route.

UB: Waterfall Pond- Replaces the Garden. +2 and +2 . Also grants +2 from worked Lake tiles. City must be border a River, Lake, or the Coast.

UU: Tenkou Airship- Can move over land, but is vulnerable to the Interception* and Bonus vs Aircraft Promotions* while over land, unlike the Privateer which it replaces. *(As well as other attacks.)

Starts with Mobility 1 and 2.

Limited to two moves a turn over land before the Mobility bonuses, but ignores terrain costs.

Most of these civ's don't offer strategies or mechanics, just lots and lots of bonus yields layered on top of buildings or tiles. In that respect, it's difficult to balance them against anything since very few civ's do only that.

Having said, you should rein in most of these bonuses to +1 or +2. Percentage bonuses should usually be +10-15%, with 20-25% being exceptionally high.

Which numbers would you tone down, and what exactly do you mean by strategies or mechanics?

I'm an admiteddly passive player when I'm not playing Spain who enjoys terrain specific bonuses, so I'd like to understand your point of view.

Are there any civs in particular you would point to as having better established strategies or mechanics for me to look towards?


Particularly, what do you think of Valua?

They were my attempt at a focused warmonger without stepping on Assyria's toes, with from generating Great Generals.

I was out of my element designing them, so I'm particularly interested in feedback for them.

(Looking back, I weakened their UA in the early game a bit to keep them from getting an easy runaway.)

Galgus said:

Which numbers would you tone down, and what exactly do you mean by strategies or mechanics?

I'm an admiteddly passive player when I'm not playing Spain who enjoys terrain specific bonuses, so I'd like to understand your point of view.
Are there any civs in particular you would point to as having better established strategies or mechanics for me to look towards?

Particularly, what do you think of Valua?

Click to expand...

If you look at the civ's in my sig. They're not perfect. I revise them now and again, but they should communicate my thoughts on civ design.

But as for official civ's, compare Spain to the Incas, and see how each of their uniques combine to suggest very different strategies. Spain does a great job of providing a risk/reward proposition for broad expansion, while the Incas has you looking for a little hidey-hole in the hills to defend your small-but-tall empire. Look at how the Mongols don't get a single bonus yield, but what they do still comes together to provide a strong civ that can claim those well-heeled CS's as prizes with minimal effort.

For Valua, I'd say the Moonstone Quarry's bonuses for gems and stone should be +1, considering how early you can have it. A good analogue for that might be Poland's ducal stables. The airship sounds like a helicopter gunship prototype, so I'd look that unit up in the civopedia and take cues from it.

The UA is kind of close to Korea's, although probably weaker (then again, Koreas's is one of the more ridiculous, out-of-whack UA's around). I would tend to look at some other facet of their society that they're supposed to be good at see if you can't combine them together in a way that promotes each other.

I've always viewed Spain's mission as securing every Natural Wonder: I love the flavor of the UA and the Conquistador, but the Tercio is boring in gameplay terms despite looking great.

The Quarry's bonuses were high because I hate seeing a unique fall off late game, but I think I could tone it down.

Alternatively, it should be easy to replace it with another Unique Unit.

I may just go back to the drawing board with Valua and replace them later with a better defined representation.

I hadn't thought of the Helicopter Gunship for the Airships for some reason, but I'll take a look at how that would work.


Anyway, I'd like to know which of these civs, if any, look decent and and which ones don't contain enough of a defined strategy.

I'm willing to revise designs to be more interesting.