thecrazyscot
Spiffy
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2012
- Messages
- 2,667
Much virtual ink has been spilled about civ switching and whether it essentially erases the previous civ, and I thought it would be interesting to look at what civilization-specific legacy and flavor elements remain throughout the latter ages.
The following elements remain through age transitions:
With every age transition, your empire becomes more culturally diverse, but you always have the option to really lean in to your previous civ - will you hew more closely to your ancestral tradition or will you embrace your new culture? Maybe your new culture provides synergies which buff your existing empire, or maybe it offers new opportunities and directions.
When looking at all the ways in which your previous choices impact the next age, it seems to me that you are usually going to see threads of each culture running through the entirety of your games. Even if you're Buganda in the Modern Age, you'll see and utilize influences from your Antiquity and Exploration choices, giving your Modern Age a really unique flavor. This system is designed to celebrate cultural diversity, and at any point you can choose to utilize traditions that highlight and communicate crucial aspects of your previous civilizations. It's not a perfect system of course, but it seems to me a quite elegant way to honor and maintain continuity from previous civilization choices. The more I sit with it, the more I think it's really cool.
I think the faster you let go of sticking to "historical paths", the more fun you'll have.
Let's look at some examples.
Example 1: Egypt - Chola - America
Let's say you start as Egypt. You focus on building up cities around Navigable Rivers and try to grab all the wonders.
Next, you go Chola, for reasons. Your Navigable Rivers serve as perfect trade highways. You could keep all your policies as Egyptian Traditions, since you've already built all the infrastructure to benefit from it. Or you could slot in some synergistic policies - maybe you want all your Mortuary Temples to grant culture, so you go with Devakoshta. Or maybe you decide to embrace new opportunities. You slot Angadi and Marakkalam and new settlements spread along the coast. You build a cheap navy, and fill your cities with Anjuvannams.
Who knows what America has, but by the time you reach there you have an empire that shuns the interior but spreads wherever there is water. Maybe America gives you opportunities to fill in the unsettled interior, migrating from the coast to the dry, but resource-rich mountains and plains. Or maybe you double down on Navigable Rivers, and celebrate the Traditions of Akhet and Kemet in the White House.
Example 2: Maya - Abbasid - France
Your Mayan civilization starts in the tropics, building a happy empire focused on extracting science from the fertile rainforest.
The Abbasids rise to ascendancy. Do you focus on happiness? You could build Mosques in all your cities and keep Tzolk'in and Haab' slotted to supercharge your religious fervor. You transition to a tall empire fed by farming Towns, slotting Compendious Book and Sales and Trade to build huge cities with plenty of Specialists.
And then the French arrive. Who knows what benefits they will bring? But maybe you decide to utilize French military prowess to conquer your neighbors - you slot in Miracles of the Twins from your Mayan heritage to quickly finish off enemy forces, and you slot Sales and Trade to supercharge your large cities by slotting tons of resources into them, generating gold to purchase more military units. And all your investment into happiness infrastructure pays off as you are able to assimilate your new conquests quickly, despite your settlement limit.
The following elements remain through age transitions:
- Unique Traditions
- Unique Infrastructure (Improvements, Buildings, and Quarters)
- Wonders
- City Names
- Optionally, your Capital
With every age transition, your empire becomes more culturally diverse, but you always have the option to really lean in to your previous civ - will you hew more closely to your ancestral tradition or will you embrace your new culture? Maybe your new culture provides synergies which buff your existing empire, or maybe it offers new opportunities and directions.
When looking at all the ways in which your previous choices impact the next age, it seems to me that you are usually going to see threads of each culture running through the entirety of your games. Even if you're Buganda in the Modern Age, you'll see and utilize influences from your Antiquity and Exploration choices, giving your Modern Age a really unique flavor. This system is designed to celebrate cultural diversity, and at any point you can choose to utilize traditions that highlight and communicate crucial aspects of your previous civilizations. It's not a perfect system of course, but it seems to me a quite elegant way to honor and maintain continuity from previous civilization choices. The more I sit with it, the more I think it's really cool.
I think the faster you let go of sticking to "historical paths", the more fun you'll have.
Let's look at some examples.
Example 1: Egypt - Chola - America
Let's say you start as Egypt. You focus on building up cities around Navigable Rivers and try to grab all the wonders.
Next, you go Chola, for reasons. Your Navigable Rivers serve as perfect trade highways. You could keep all your policies as Egyptian Traditions, since you've already built all the infrastructure to benefit from it. Or you could slot in some synergistic policies - maybe you want all your Mortuary Temples to grant culture, so you go with Devakoshta. Or maybe you decide to embrace new opportunities. You slot Angadi and Marakkalam and new settlements spread along the coast. You build a cheap navy, and fill your cities with Anjuvannams.
Who knows what America has, but by the time you reach there you have an empire that shuns the interior but spreads wherever there is water. Maybe America gives you opportunities to fill in the unsettled interior, migrating from the coast to the dry, but resource-rich mountains and plains. Or maybe you double down on Navigable Rivers, and celebrate the Traditions of Akhet and Kemet in the White House.
| ANTIQUITY - EGYPT | EXPLORATION - CHOLA | MODERN - AMERICA |
|---|---|---|
| Unique Ability - Gifts of Osiris: Increased Production on Navigable Rivers. | Unique Ability - Samayam: Gain an additional Trade Route from Trade Agreements. | ??? |
| Tradition - Akhet: Increased Food on Navigable Rivers. | Tradition - Devakoshta: Gold Buildings receive increased Culture. | ??? |
| Tradition - Riches of the Duat: Increased Production towards Wonders. | Tradition - Marakkalam: Unit Maintenance cost reduced for Naval Units. | ??? |
| Tradition - Kemet: Increased Culture on Navigable Rivers. | Tradition - Angadi: Settlements other than your Capital receive increased Gold if they have a Water Building. | ??? |
| Necropolis: Unique Quarter. Gain Gold every time a Wonder is completed in this City. | Five Hundred Lords: Unique Quarter. Increased Land Trade Route Range and Water Trade Route Range. | ??? |
| Mastaba: Unique Building. Culture base. Gold adjacency for Desert tiles. | Manigramam: Unique Building. Happiness base. Happiness adjacency for Trade Buildings. Gold adjacency for Quarters. | ??? |
| Mortuary Temple: Unique Building. Gold base. Happiness adjacency for Navigable Rivers. | Anjuvannam: Unique Building. Gold Base. Gold Adjacency for Coast and Navigable Rivers. Increased Production towards Naval Units. Must be placed adjacent to a Coast tile. | ??? |
| Wonder - Pyramids: Increased Gold and Production on Minor and Navigable River tiles in this City. Must be placed on a Desert adjacent to a Navigable River tile. | Wonder - Brihadeeswarar Temple: Adds Happiness. All Buildings with an active adjacency receive a Happiness adjacency with Navigable Rivers. Must be built on a Minor River or adjacent to a Navigable River. | ??? |
Example 2: Maya - Abbasid - France
Your Mayan civilization starts in the tropics, building a happy empire focused on extracting science from the fertile rainforest.
The Abbasids rise to ascendancy. Do you focus on happiness? You could build Mosques in all your cities and keep Tzolk'in and Haab' slotted to supercharge your religious fervor. You transition to a tall empire fed by farming Towns, slotting Compendious Book and Sales and Trade to build huge cities with plenty of Specialists.
And then the French arrive. Who knows what benefits they will bring? But maybe you decide to utilize French military prowess to conquer your neighbors - you slot in Miracles of the Twins from your Mayan heritage to quickly finish off enemy forces, and you slot Sales and Trade to supercharge your large cities by slotting tons of resources into them, generating gold to purchase more military units. And all your investment into happiness infrastructure pays off as you are able to assimilate your new conquests quickly, despite your settlement limit.
| ANTIQUITY - MAYA | EXPLORATION - ABBASID | MODERN - FRANCE |
|---|---|---|
| Unique Ability - Skies of Itzamna: The Palace gains Science for adjacent Vegetated tiles. | Unique Ability - Medina: Receive Gold for each Rural Population of the City when you create a Specialist. Effect scales with Game Speed. | ??? |
| Tradition - Pet Kot: Increased Science on Vegetated tiles in Cities. | Tradition - City of Peace: All Buildings receive a Science adjacency with the Town Hall and Palace. | ??? |
| Tradition - Miracles of the Twins: Units gain Poison, granting a combat bonus against wounded Units. | Tradition - Sales and Trade: Increased Science and Gold for each Resource assigned to Cities with a set number of Urban Population. | ??? |
| Tradition - Tzolk'in: Happiness buildings gain Science. | Tradition - Compendious Book: Increased Science in Towns. | ??? |
| Tradition - Haab': Happiness buildings gain Culture. | ??? | |
| Uwaybil K'uh: Unique Quarter. Every time you research a Technology, this City gains Production equal to a small percentage of its cost. | Ulema: Unique Quarter. Adds Science to all Specialists in this city. | ??? |
| Jalaw: Unique Building. Happiness base. Culture adjacency for Quarters. | Madrasa: Unique Building. Science Base. Science adjacency for Quarters and Science Buildings. | ??? |
| K'uh Nah: Unique Building. Science base. Science adjacency for Vegetated tiles. | Mosque: Unique Building. Happiness base. Happiness Adjacency for Culture Buildings and Culture Adjacency for Happiness Buildings. Unlocks the ability to found a Religion. | ??? |
| Wonder - Mundo Perdido: Increased Happiness and Science on Tropical tiles in this City. Must be placed on a Tropical tile. | Wonder - House of Wisdom: Adds Science. Gain a set number of Relics. Increased Science on Great Works. Has a set number of Great Works slots. Must be built adjacent to an Urban tile. | ??? |
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