Blackbird_SR-71
Spying from 85,000 ft
what will civics do?
what is your idea on this new aspect? do you think it will be a good addition or not?
what is your idea on this new aspect? do you think it will be a good addition or not?
Civics
- Thread starter Blackbird_SR-71
- Start date
dh_epic
Cold War Veteran
It's not particularly compelling to me by name... and truthfully, there are other suggestions that are on this board that weren't in that presentation which seem more interesting to me. But after a lot of discussion, there were two basic ideas that made Civics interesting. Both involve revamping the way government is accomplished.
(1) Sliders and Settings (A la Alpha Centauri's "Social Engineering")
You set, for example, how legalistic your society is. You set how regulated the economy it is, and how you regulate it. You set how secular your society is. These variables add up to nuances between governments. Each setting has benefits and penalties, but they also add a sense of immersion. If you had 5 variables with 5 settings, that would make for 3000 possible government types -- but the user isn't overwhelmed with a drop down list of government types.
(2) A Social Road-Map (a la the "Circle of Politics")
This idea involves pulling all the "social techs" (from Nationalism and Monotheism, to the Corporation and Environmentalism) from the regular Tech Tree.
The normal scientific tech tree still moves forward, like a race through the various technologies. You embrace every technology -- why wouldn't you?
But the "social tech tree" (the civics roadmap) lets you twist and turn in different directions. You might discover different social concepts, but might not actually follow that path, instead pushing away from it. For example, you discover feudalism, but decide that it's a bad idea, and dodge it until something better comes along.
For example, you are a monarchy, push further to the left, and embrace parliament, and you keep pushing until you reach democracy.
Or you push further to the right from Monarchy end end up embracing censorship and secret police, until you eventually become an Absolutist state.
Or you discover polytheism, but decide not to embrace it. Instead, you hold out until you discover monotheism, which you pursue heavily. And when secularism finally comes along, you walk right passed it towards Theocracy.
Basically, "civics" is the way that you push your *society* in various directions -- as progressive or "backwards" as you want to. The tech tree is what advances your civilization towards modernity, but this social road map requires you to make mutually exclusive choices, like you're navigating a maze.
(1) Sliders and Settings (A la Alpha Centauri's "Social Engineering")
You set, for example, how legalistic your society is. You set how regulated the economy it is, and how you regulate it. You set how secular your society is. These variables add up to nuances between governments. Each setting has benefits and penalties, but they also add a sense of immersion. If you had 5 variables with 5 settings, that would make for 3000 possible government types -- but the user isn't overwhelmed with a drop down list of government types.
(2) A Social Road-Map (a la the "Circle of Politics")
This idea involves pulling all the "social techs" (from Nationalism and Monotheism, to the Corporation and Environmentalism) from the regular Tech Tree.
The normal scientific tech tree still moves forward, like a race through the various technologies. You embrace every technology -- why wouldn't you?
But the "social tech tree" (the civics roadmap) lets you twist and turn in different directions. You might discover different social concepts, but might not actually follow that path, instead pushing away from it. For example, you discover feudalism, but decide that it's a bad idea, and dodge it until something better comes along.
For example, you are a monarchy, push further to the left, and embrace parliament, and you keep pushing until you reach democracy.
Or you push further to the right from Monarchy end end up embracing censorship and secret police, until you eventually become an Absolutist state.
Or you discover polytheism, but decide not to embrace it. Instead, you hold out until you discover monotheism, which you pursue heavily. And when secularism finally comes along, you walk right passed it towards Theocracy.
Basically, "civics" is the way that you push your *society* in various directions -- as progressive or "backwards" as you want to. The tech tree is what advances your civilization towards modernity, but this social road map requires you to make mutually exclusive choices, like you're navigating a maze.
Similar threads
