This reminds me of a question I've had for a wile. Now are Indonesia and Malaysia interchangeable and could be depicted as one civilization in a mod per say, or should they be separate? I suppose it could go either way.
Could go either way, depending on the period you're representing and how you define what a civilization is. Up until the Majapahit empire I'd say Srivijaya and Java were definitely separate civs, but from then on there's significant blending of territory, culture and politics, and a single civ makes more sense. I've gone with a single Indonesian civ in my mod, but now that Bakuel's made all these wonderful units I'm sorely tempted to split it into two.
There is a difference between Malaysia and Indonesia and, while related, they should not be used interchangeably. I would strongly advice against it. The difference between these two can be compared to the difference between Britain and England.
The name Indonesia is similar to the name British or Britain. It can refer to the modern nation of the United Kingdom, but it can also just refer to the island of Britain in general and includes both Scotland, Wales, and England. Indonesia is similar, it can refer to either the modern nation or just to the islands and the people in it. The Indonesia archipelago is the home to Javanese, Malay, Bugis, Balinese, and thousands of other ethnic groups. The modern nation of Indonesia has a strong multi-ethnic character, probably one of, if not, the most diverse nation in the world.
The name Malaysia, on the other hand, is like naming a civ England. It has a strong ethnic flavor. Malaysia is a modern nation which is primarily composed of Malay people (plus Chinese and Indian minorities). Just like you probably would want to avoid having very Scottish leaders in your English civ (like William Wallace), you would not want to have Javanese or Bugis leaders and units in your Malaysia civ. While the South-East Asia archipelago was once called the Malay Archipelago, this name has fallen out of favor because of it's inaccuracy. I would avoid calling a pan-south east asian archipelago civ Malaysia. Most Javanese, Balinese and so on do not like being referred to as Malays. It's like calling a French person English or calling a Korean person Chinese. They are certainly related historically, with centuries of culture exchange, but they still have distinct cultures identities.
TL;DR version: Malaysia is a name that has a strong ethnic flavor, a Malaysia civ would be primarily about Malay people. Indonesia is more generic. It is both the name of a modern multi-ethnic nation and a generic name for the South-East Asian archipelago.
I'll be using selections from that set for Burma. Inaccurate, but looks great. Will you be making Mon/Burmese/Thai units as part of this project?
I will be making Burmese, Thai and Khmer units. The Burmese pack will probably include a few Mon units like the Java pack includes a few Balinese units. But the Mon won't be getting their own pack.
Wow, never dared to hope seeing you return to Civ4 modding, this is great news. I'm also very excited that you have decided to focus on Asia because that's exactly where I feel my mod is lacking in the respect of accurate representation. Looking forward to include your art.
Thanks! Glad you'll be including the units in your mod!
