In the screenshot thread, the discussion somehow landed on famous writings of history or fiction, and how a game of civ would read if it was summarized in their styles. I asked Chat GPT whether it could write an AAR of a civ 7 game in the style of Gibbons, giving it only three civs and three leaders as info.
Here's the result. Would it be interesting to read such summaries at the end of your games if they drew on the in-game events more closely and would be tailored to civ 7 systems? Or do you have other fun reports to share, giving the LLM more of different info and more interesting writing styles?
Absolutely — here is the beginning of a grand historical narrative, styled in the lofty, reflective prose of Edward Gibbon(The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire), yet grounded in the fictive chronicle of a Civilization VII game — a great After-Action Report (AAR) from a campaign of glory, folly, and shifting empires.
Though German by flesh, Friedrich adopted the vestiges of Roman authority with the arrogance of an emperor and the piety of a pilgrim. His legions marched not from Latium, but from a pristine spawn tile bordered by wheat and river, and blessed with +2 production from adjacent hills. From this providential geography, the empire expanded, its aqueducts constructed with Prussian efficiency, its districts zoned with mathematical precision. Rome, under Friedrich, was less the city of marble and more a machine of iron.
But this golden infancy was not to endure unchallenged.
How she came to preside over the observatories and cocoa plantations of that ancient people is a mystery best left to the cryptic algorithms of the game setup screen. Yet lead them she did, with a perfumed hand and a musket in the other.
Her civilization grew tall — cities nestled compactly about the capital of Mutal, each with Campus and Observatory built to exploit the Mayan bonuses. She spied upon the world with a grace inherited from Versailles and wielded her diplomatic visibility like a stiletto. Rome’s expansionism, which Friedrich declared an obligation to civilization, was to Catherine a threat to her symmetrical empire.
Thus, in the late Classical Era, amid the passing of great prophets and the construction of the Oracle, war erupted.
Barbarossa’s legions, emboldened by Oligarchy and adjacency bonuses, stormed into jungle terrain with swords in hand. Yet the Mayan cities, compact and well-defended, proved stubborn. Mutal, with its +10 defensive loyalty, held for many turns, and in that bitter campaign, the notion of a swift Roman conquest died.
Though her historical identity was born of chains and railroads, in this simulation she became a queen of trade and theology. Her caravans stretched from Lalibela to Rome, and her missionaries fanned out with alarming zeal. Her unique bonus — doubling religious pressure along trade routes — became a menace to both Friedrich’s Stoicism and Catherine’s rationalism.
By the Medieval Era, Aksum had become the world’s largest faith, and Tubman’s control of the World Congress was secured not by arms, but by the sanctity of the Sacred Path policy card.
Yet Aksum did not remain a peaceful theocracy. Upon researching Gunpowder and adopting theocracy, Tubman assembled a terrifying army of Janissaries (acquired by levying city-state troops), and declared a holy war on the now-weakened Rome. With the Holy City captured, and St. Peter’s relics paraded through Axumite streets, Friedrich was forced to make peace, his legions shattered by both faith and field cannon.
Tubman, now a Giga-Theocrat with three Holy Cities under her control, built the Statue of Liberty and earned enough Diplomatic Victory Points to alarm even the AI.
But Rome, once broken, discovered Uranium beneath the ruins of Ravenna. In an act of desperate ambition, Friedrich, embracing Fascism and launching the Manhattan Project, detonated his first bomb over Palenque. The world trembled.
Aksum condemned him. Maya retaliated with partisans. But the digital die was cast.
Friedrich’s Rome, irradiated and defiant, fell last — its history written not in Latin, but in ones and zeroes.
Here's the result. Would it be interesting to read such summaries at the end of your games if they drew on the in-game events more closely and would be tailored to civ 7 systems? Or do you have other fun reports to share, giving the LLM more of different info and more interesting writing styles?
Absolutely — here is the beginning of a grand historical narrative, styled in the lofty, reflective prose of Edward Gibbon(The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire), yet grounded in the fictive chronicle of a Civilization VII game — a great After-Action Report (AAR) from a campaign of glory, folly, and shifting empires.
The Rise and Vicissitudes of the Digital Empires: A Tale of Civilization VII
“History, it has been said, is little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind. Nowhere is this aphorism more accurately exemplified than in the annals of the artificial struggle here presented; where virtual ambition and algorithmic cunning conspire to imitate, with uncanny fidelity, the majestic chaos of real antiquity.”
Volume I: The Reign of Friedrich, Imperator of the New Rome
In the fourteenth cycle of the Digital Aeon, the console was loaded, and the world, as if from the command of the demiurge himself, was conjured ex nihilo — a randomized terraqueous globe, fertile and cruel. Upon its eastern peninsula rose the banners of Rome, but not under the customary visage of Augustus or Trajan. Instead, the eagles rallied behind an unlikely prince: Friedrich Barbarossa, transported by some cruel twist of metahistorical fate from his medieval throne into the seat of the Caesars.Though German by flesh, Friedrich adopted the vestiges of Roman authority with the arrogance of an emperor and the piety of a pilgrim. His legions marched not from Latium, but from a pristine spawn tile bordered by wheat and river, and blessed with +2 production from adjacent hills. From this providential geography, the empire expanded, its aqueducts constructed with Prussian efficiency, its districts zoned with mathematical precision. Rome, under Friedrich, was less the city of marble and more a machine of iron.
But this golden infancy was not to endure unchallenged.
Volume II: The Dagger of the West – Catherine of the Maya
To the western reaches of the world-map, amidst the jungled terrain and sacred cenotes, arose a Mayan Confederation, but under the stewardship not of Pakal nor Lady Six Sky — but of Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia and Enlightened Despot of Yucatán.How she came to preside over the observatories and cocoa plantations of that ancient people is a mystery best left to the cryptic algorithms of the game setup screen. Yet lead them she did, with a perfumed hand and a musket in the other.
Her civilization grew tall — cities nestled compactly about the capital of Mutal, each with Campus and Observatory built to exploit the Mayan bonuses. She spied upon the world with a grace inherited from Versailles and wielded her diplomatic visibility like a stiletto. Rome’s expansionism, which Friedrich declared an obligation to civilization, was to Catherine a threat to her symmetrical empire.
Thus, in the late Classical Era, amid the passing of great prophets and the construction of the Oracle, war erupted.
Barbarossa’s legions, emboldened by Oligarchy and adjacency bonuses, stormed into jungle terrain with swords in hand. Yet the Mayan cities, compact and well-defended, proved stubborn. Mutal, with its +10 defensive loyalty, held for many turns, and in that bitter campaign, the notion of a swift Roman conquest died.
Volume III: The Gospel and the Gun — Harriet Tubman of Aksum
Beyond the southern continent, cloaked in desert and incense, flourished the kingdom of Aksum, led by none other than Harriet Tubman, the Liberator of Men, now styled the Shepherdess of Civilization.Though her historical identity was born of chains and railroads, in this simulation she became a queen of trade and theology. Her caravans stretched from Lalibela to Rome, and her missionaries fanned out with alarming zeal. Her unique bonus — doubling religious pressure along trade routes — became a menace to both Friedrich’s Stoicism and Catherine’s rationalism.
By the Medieval Era, Aksum had become the world’s largest faith, and Tubman’s control of the World Congress was secured not by arms, but by the sanctity of the Sacred Path policy card.
Yet Aksum did not remain a peaceful theocracy. Upon researching Gunpowder and adopting theocracy, Tubman assembled a terrifying army of Janissaries (acquired by levying city-state troops), and declared a holy war on the now-weakened Rome. With the Holy City captured, and St. Peter’s relics paraded through Axumite streets, Friedrich was forced to make peace, his legions shattered by both faith and field cannon.
Volume IV: The Age of Carbon and Iron
In the Industrial Era, the world reconfigured. Rome became a shadow of its former glory, now a loyal suzerain of Lisbon, shipping its meager wares. Catherine had pivoted to a Culture Victory, having constructed Broadway and recruited every Great Artist that had not been assassinated by spies.Tubman, now a Giga-Theocrat with three Holy Cities under her control, built the Statue of Liberty and earned enough Diplomatic Victory Points to alarm even the AI.
But Rome, once broken, discovered Uranium beneath the ruins of Ravenna. In an act of desperate ambition, Friedrich, embracing Fascism and launching the Manhattan Project, detonated his first bomb over Palenque. The world trembled.
Aksum condemned him. Maya retaliated with partisans. But the digital die was cast.
Volume V: The Inevitable End
The final turns were marked not by glory but by attrition. Catherine, ever the aesthete, won a Cultural Victory on Turn 348, her tourists overwhelming even the sacred cities of Tubman.Friedrich’s Rome, irradiated and defiant, fell last — its history written not in Latin, but in ones and zeroes.
“Thus ended the seventh iteration of the civilizations of man. In the eternal cycle of simulated empires, what is destroyed may rise again, and what is triumphant today may be tomorrow’s relic. Yet though the engine shuts down and the save file is deleted, their memory — for a moment — endures.”