City Names evolving through Ages

[mistral_]

One complaint I read about Humankind when it was released was that we would keep the city names from our first age (Memphis and Thebes as Egypt, for example), which would affect our ability to immerse ourselves into the next cultures we would play. Of course, the game had other issues, but this one is fixable for Civilization VII.

Firaxis devs could you please, in addition to the optional Capital swap (the only city name change possible, which happens during the Age transition), give us the opportunity to swap the names of some of our Settlements from our old culture to our new one.
When we upgrade Towns to Cities, through a toggle in the Towns menu, as an event, or for all the Towns that aren't glorious enough to become Cities after an Age transition, I’m sure you can find a smart way to implement this.
It would make sense historically, as many place names evolved throughout history (I’m thinking of Lutetia becoming Paris, Tomis becoming Constanța, Constantinople becoming Istanbul but the number of places changing names when under a new dominant culture is countless).

On the same topic I would love to see the old names displayed in the UI but I know the UI is kept as light as possible for controlers. As much as I would love to see the old names kept and translated into the new culture’s language, it never really happened in previous games and I have little hope but It can't hurt to ask. Btw thanks to the modding community for addressing these issues in the past, like with the excellent Rosetta on civ 6!

 

[Zaarin]

I wouldn't expect this from Firaxis, but I know SeelingCat is planning to make Rosetta for Civ7.

 

[Uberfrog]

I like this idea in principle, albeit a tricky one to reflect what has actually happened in-game: what is the Inca name of Hawai’i?

I’d settle for just letting us rename our cities and towns at will.

 

[Zaarin]

I like this idea in principle, albeit a tricky one to reflect what has actually happened in-game: what is the Inca name of Hawai’i?

I’d settle for just letting us rename our cities and towns at will.

Yes, this is why it's probably better as a mod than as something official. A modder can speculate that the Quechua form would be Hawayiy (just my guess from looking at the phonology of Cuzco Quechua), but Firaxis would probably be more constrained.

 

[mistral_]

I wouldn't expect this from Firaxis, but I know SeelingCat is planning to make Rosetta for Civ7.

That's great news !

 

[Zaarin]

Yes, I consider it indispensable for Civ6 and even more for Civ7.

 

[mistral_]

I like this idea in principle, albeit a tricky one to reflect what has actually happened in-game: what is the Inca name of Hawai’i?

I’d settle for just letting us rename our cities and towns at will.

Renaming is fun for content creators and in multiplayer but I don't know a lot of players who goes through the process of renaming cities with historical name for immersion.

Maybe a Town get upgraded for the first time into a City and the name changes to reflect the importance of this place for the new culture, when during the last Age it was barely recognized like civilization by the elites.
It doesn't have to get translated, if this town never had significant importance to the old empires it can simply be replaced. I would love that every setttlements, city or town would be translated but I agree this is more of a mod thing.

 

[Zaarin]

Renaming is fun for content creators and in multiplayer but I don't know a lot of players who goes through the process of renaming cities with historical name for immersion.

Before Rosetta, I did. I also played as Persia once and renamed all my cities Assyrian names. So I do think some single-player players like me would appreciate having renaming back.

 

[mistral_]

Before Rosetta, I did. I also played as Persia once and renamed all my cities Assyrian names. So I do think some single-player players like me would appreciate having renaming back.

Alright I respect this kind of dedication

 

[V. Soma]

If I were FXS, I would do this:

At the start of a new Age, every settlement I already have on the map would come up with a pop-up option
asking me if I want to change the settlement’s name to one of the new civ I play. Player can accept it or not.

The offered city name would be:

1.

The one that is IRL historically the same as the old one was, AND is in the now played civ’s city list.

2.

A city from the list of the now played civ.
Offered name ideally should reflect the state of the settlement:
cities should be offered important city names,
towns should be of lesser ones…

 

[Krikkit1]

Renaming is fun for content creators and in multiplayer but I don't know a lot of players who goes through the process of renaming cities with historical name for immersion.

Maybe a Town get upgraded for the first time into a City and the name changes to reflect the importance of this place for the new culture, when during the last Age it was barely recognized like civilization by the elites.
It doesn't have to get translated, if this town never had significant importance to the old empires it can simply be replaced. I would love that every setttlements, city or town would be translated but I agree this is more of a mod thing.

I would definitely like to see a Narrative event every time you upgraded a Town with a name that was Not on your current City List (either because you conquered it from someone else or founded it in another Age)
That would either
Keep the name of the Town (small lump sum happiness to your next Celebration)
or
Change the name of the Town (small lump sum culture to a random one of your unique Civics... if they are all done then to a Random Civic you haven't researched yet.