For those of you who visit the CIV Gold Development Forum, you know that version 4.0 has been in development for some time and that the release thereof was slated for the first week of March.
Well, there is some good news and bad news. The bad news is that the release has been delayed a couple of weeks. But the good news is that an enhanced version of 4.0 is on the way, including over a dozen civs above and beyond what was originally planned for the release.
Q: So who's coming to the party?
A: A total of 43 new civs will be added to CIV Gold, doubling the current total. (That's a total of 86 new civs for the mathmatically challenged)
Q: Whoa! Who are they? Will I have heard of them? Are they significant?
A: Well, it depends on your historical expertise, I suppose. Significant? Absolutely. Several civs are pioneers of agriculture from the dawn of society. Others are modern powers. Many are empires that rose and fell, like those before them and those to follow.
Q: I see several "questionable" civs. Who are the Aniyonega and Dinnehih?
A: In order to cover the globe, some native peoples were grouped into populations representative of geography and influence. The Aniyonega include the Cherokee and Seminoles, while the Dinnehih include the Apache and Navajo. While it's true that many of these groups are more closely related to distant populations than they are to each other, their grouping represents a sort of "what if" scenario involving trade and cultural learnings.
Q: Aren't the Yangshao a culture of China? Isn't the Jomon considered a period of Japan?
A: The Yangshao culture is representative of the neolithic cultures that populated the Yellow River basin in China. They were among the first populations to develop agriculture. The Jomon is indeed identified as a period in Japanese history, but they too were a neolithic culture, far removed from the feudal Japan represented in Civ IV.
Q: With all these new civs, you still haven't included (insert civ here)!
A: I think it's fair to say that thousands of population groups - both modern and historical - remain unrepresented in CIV Gold. Do we add the Franks or Bretons or Confederate State of America? What about modern ethnic enclaves like Quebec or Basques or Chechnya? Or long-time contained populations like Luxembourg and Switzerland? Fully autonomous nations like Belarus and Chile didn't make the cut. Papua-New Guinea, alone, has over 850 indeginous population groups!
CIV Gold 4.0 is a sincere attempt at representing most of the globe in some capacity - by some associated,
at some point in time. It has evolved around several major concepts:
- adding civs from past editions (Portugal, Netherlands)
- adding civs popular among the fan base (Canada, Ireland)
- adding civs of historical significance (Maya, Nubia)
- adding civs with historical and modern influence (Sweden, Magyar)
- adding civs that represent the world's "overlooked" populations (Aborigines, Tupi)
- adding civs that enable CIV Gold to touch all four corners of the earth (Upaajut, Buryat)
Q: So is this the final version of the mod?
A: More or less. If the community demands, additions can still be made. But it would be interesting to see in which direction the franchise is heading, especially with regard to expansion packs.
Q: Great. But why tell us this now? Why not just release it and say: "here you go!"
A: Well, an increased project scope requires increased project resources. It's not uncommon on these boards for people to offer help but have no real knowledge of XML or python or graphics work. Luckily we don't need
those people as much as we need people who can type.
There is some tedious work involved and in order to meet deadlines, more hands are required. If you can help out - spare 20 or 30 minutes *total* - drop me a PM.
Well, there is some good news and bad news. The bad news is that the release has been delayed a couple of weeks. But the good news is that an enhanced version of 4.0 is on the way, including over a dozen civs above and beyond what was originally planned for the release.
Q: So who's coming to the party?
A: A total of 43 new civs will be added to CIV Gold, doubling the current total. (That's a total of 86 new civs for the mathmatically challenged)
Q: Whoa! Who are they? Will I have heard of them? Are they significant?
A: Well, it depends on your historical expertise, I suppose. Significant? Absolutely. Several civs are pioneers of agriculture from the dawn of society. Others are modern powers. Many are empires that rose and fell, like those before them and those to follow.
Q: I see several "questionable" civs. Who are the Aniyonega and Dinnehih?
A: In order to cover the globe, some native peoples were grouped into populations representative of geography and influence. The Aniyonega include the Cherokee and Seminoles, while the Dinnehih include the Apache and Navajo. While it's true that many of these groups are more closely related to distant populations than they are to each other, their grouping represents a sort of "what if" scenario involving trade and cultural learnings.
Q: Aren't the Yangshao a culture of China? Isn't the Jomon considered a period of Japan?
A: The Yangshao culture is representative of the neolithic cultures that populated the Yellow River basin in China. They were among the first populations to develop agriculture. The Jomon is indeed identified as a period in Japanese history, but they too were a neolithic culture, far removed from the feudal Japan represented in Civ IV.
Q: With all these new civs, you still haven't included (insert civ here)!
A: I think it's fair to say that thousands of population groups - both modern and historical - remain unrepresented in CIV Gold. Do we add the Franks or Bretons or Confederate State of America? What about modern ethnic enclaves like Quebec or Basques or Chechnya? Or long-time contained populations like Luxembourg and Switzerland? Fully autonomous nations like Belarus and Chile didn't make the cut. Papua-New Guinea, alone, has over 850 indeginous population groups!
CIV Gold 4.0 is a sincere attempt at representing most of the globe in some capacity - by some associated,
at some point in time. It has evolved around several major concepts:
- adding civs from past editions (Portugal, Netherlands)
- adding civs popular among the fan base (Canada, Ireland)
- adding civs of historical significance (Maya, Nubia)
- adding civs with historical and modern influence (Sweden, Magyar)
- adding civs that represent the world's "overlooked" populations (Aborigines, Tupi)
- adding civs that enable CIV Gold to touch all four corners of the earth (Upaajut, Buryat)
Q: So is this the final version of the mod?
A: More or less. If the community demands, additions can still be made. But it would be interesting to see in which direction the franchise is heading, especially with regard to expansion packs.
Q: Great. But why tell us this now? Why not just release it and say: "here you go!"
A: Well, an increased project scope requires increased project resources. It's not uncommon on these boards for people to offer help but have no real knowledge of XML or python or graphics work. Luckily we don't need
those people as much as we need people who can type.
There is some tedious work involved and in order to meet deadlines, more hands are required. If you can help out - spare 20 or 30 minutes *total* - drop me a PM.
