Civilization: Mythologies

[cosmicmangobear]

So, this idea has been bounced around on some of the other threads and I thought it deserved its own. If there were to be another spinoff focused on the folklore of ancient civilizations - what would such a game look like? Which factions would you want to see?

Personally, there are a few civs with complex mythos and legendary heroes I would love to see included.

CIVS

EGYPTIAN
Leader: Narmer
LUA: First Pharaoh
UA: Book of the Dead
Patron Deities:
Ra
Thoth
Horus
Isis
Osiris
Maat

GREEK
Leader: Odysseus
LUA: Voyager
UA: Odyssey
Patron Deities:
Zeus
Poseidon
Hades
Ares
Athena
Hera

MAYAN
Leader: Hunahpu and Xbalanque
LUA: Hero Twins
UA: Popol Vuh
Patron Dieties:
Itzamnaaj
Ix Chel
Huracan
Chac Chel
Kinich Ahau
Kukulkan

JAPANESE
Leader: Himiko
LUA: Shamaness
UA: Kojiki
Patron Dieties:
Amaterasu
Hachiman
Susanoo
Inari
Omoikane
Ebisu

NORSE
Leader: Brunhild
LUA: Valkyrie
UA: Edda
Patron Dieties:
Odin
Thor
Loki
Frigg
Freyja
Hel

VEDIC
Leader: Arjuna
LUA: Expert Marksman
UA: Mahabharata
Patron Dieties:
Krishna
Vishnu
Shiva
Rama
Lakshmi
Brahma

VICTORIES

There are four major victory types in which to win the game:

DOMINATION

The classic victory type that everyone knows and loves - simply put: “be the last”.

SCIENTIFIC

This victory type involves being the first to complete the Great Library of Alexandria and entering the Age of Wisdom.

RELIGIOUS

This victory type requires installing one of your patron deities in each foreign capital.

HEROIC

This victory type means completing enough quests around the map that the “glory score” of your civ totally eclipsing your rivals.

I don’t have all the details yet, but suggestions are most welcome. I’m not too well versed on the mythology of some civilizations, but I’m hoping as a community we can create a foundation for which Firaxis will want to develop a full game eventually.

 

[Rup]

1:- This is a Civilization VI sub.
2:-Including Hindu deities is not a good idea as it is the 3rd most practiced religion in the world.Might as well include Jesus and Allah then.

 

[Morningcalm]

I think Age of Mythology could be a good guide insofar as monster/hero/god incorporation. I really liked choosing different minor gods with each playthrough of Age of Mythology, as each grants different bonuses (similar to the Age of Empires III politicians to choose from when "aging up").

Of course, even in a mythological game there would be room for regular soldiers like hoplites and Egyptian archers.

 

[awesome]

Some lesser known groups might be cool, like Colchis and Libu. Maybe like a game that focuses on the bronze and maybe iron age.

 

[Lazy sweeper]

Oh... this is interesting... how is it going to play out like cards swapping???
Or you had something else in mind??

There's already monos and Pantheistic in the main game, so philosophical, so no problem for me, but still it's a card swapping game where you can't swap cards with others, and they are all good, whereas the Ades gods are nowhere to be seen*. still cards...

*ok I saw them now
I'm not convinced about mixing good gods with nemesis gods can work out easily, especially Hindu, so I would choose whatever deity I want, being me maya, japanes, Maori, whatever, at this point...

 

[Lazy sweeper]

I think Age of Mythology could be a good guide insofar as monster/hero/god incorporation. I really liked choosing different minor gods with each playthrough of Age of Mythology, as each grants different bonuses (similar to the Age of Empires III politicians to choose from when "aging up").

Of course, even in a mythological game there would be room for regular soldiers like hoplites and Egyptian archers.

We have an Heroic Age now, maybe we could be able to build some sort of living god only in this age, just to unleash some total deluge for the world over....

Ok, I'm dreaming right now... that can't be that bad... but Imagine call Moses to your Army support and destroy The Egyptian Army crossing the Red sea....
Calling Seth and unleash a Mummy army armageddon all over the world.... I'm going pure evil now....
Total fun!
One could later use some Normal faith cards to counter this Heroic/Mythological age space trips to the deep of the ocean, but this is fun....

 

[SupremacyKing2]

I think a civ game like Age of Mythology would be fantastic actually. You could have mythological units like centaurs. Imagine sending your centaur unit to attack a city! Playing as greeks, you could get a Hercules Great Unit! When you reach a certain amount of faith, you could "buy" a god unit, like Isis or Zeus with unique abilities. I think it could be super cool, especially combined with the empire building of civ that we already love.

 

[God of Kings]

Even Age of Mythology has a Chinese faction (over a decade after adding the Atlantean faction).

It would be interesting to see Chinese deities.

Believe it or not, there's some video games that incorporate Hindu and Japanese pantheons (along with the usual Greek, Egyptian, and Norse pantheons), such as Puzzle & Dragons, despite Hinduism and Shintoism being widely practised religions to this day.

 

[Zaarin]

This or something focusing on Neolithic/Chalcolithic/Bronze Age is probably the best choice for a spinoff. I've thought about such a spinoff before.

1:- This is a Civilization VI sub.
2:-Including Hindu deities is not a good idea as it is the 3rd most practiced religion in the world.Might as well include Jesus and Allah then.

Hindus don't have a prohibition against depicting their deities, unlike Jews, Muslims, and some Christians, so it's quite different IMO.

 

[God of Kings]

For more modern civs, national personifications (that are in the public domain of course) could be leaders as well.

America: Uncle Sam
England: John Bull
France: Marianne

... and many more

Some of the units could be based on national folklore that are in the public domain.

For example, Canada can have levitating canoes and the United States can have a giant lumberjack by the name of Paul Bunyan.

 

[ShadowWarrior]

There has to be a Atlantis civilization and Lemuria civilization. And if we are going to get New Age-ish, maybe even some kind of high tech aliens from antiquity can be thrown into the mix. After all, among us New Agers, we do believe that many great ancient civilizations had extraterrestrial origins.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

Civs that must be included and some creatures they can have:
Greeks (Amazons and Centaurs)
Egyptians (Priests of Anubis and Sphinxes)
Norse (Dwarves and Vargyr Wolves)
Chinese (Chinese Dragons and Lion Dogs)
Celts (Druids)
Japanese (Kitsune)
Indians (Naga snake and Ganesha)
Aztecs/ Olmecs/ Maya ( Jaguar/ Eagles?)
Haida/ Sioux/ Iroquois (Thunderbird)
Inca
Some African Civ

 

[Morningcalm]

Egyptian, Celtic, Greek and Norse mythology are musts, and other interesting possibilities include Chinese mythology (used in Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom, which Ed Beach produced back in the day), Persian/Sumerian mythology, Maori/other Pacific mythology, and Aztec/Mayan mythology.

Hindu mythology has been used in games like Smite as well (where each player plays a god from world mythology to beat others in combat). So I don't think using Hindu mythology will be a problem.

I guess some of the biggest questions in a Civ game based on mythology would include questions on how the tech tree would work, and how god powers would be incorporated (even if not as flashy as Thoth's Meteor or Hel's Nidogg from Age of Mythology). And would mythical units be unlocked with techs, or god worship? How important would a potential faith/divine favor resource be for use in purchasing Heroes or mythological monsters? Would there be quest-based RPG/random event systems?

 

[Equilin]

I think using minor civ instead of the whole mythology would allow much more civs (under the same gods) to be added. For example we can have one from Ramayana and one from Mahabharata, both using the same set of Hindu gods.

 

[God of Kings]

I guess some of the biggest questions in a Civ game based on mythology would include questions on how the tech tree would work, and how god powers would be incorporated (even if not as flashy as Thoth's Meteor or Hel's Nidogg from Age of Mythology). And would mythical units be unlocked with techs, or god worship? How important would a potential faith/divine favor resource be for use in purchasing Heroes or mythological monsters? Would there be quest-based RPG/random event systems?

How about Titans from AoM: The Titans?

They would be excellent for finishing up domination victories.

 

[Buthera]

Age of Mythology is quite possibly my favourite game of all time so I'd love this so much.

I think it would be really cool if the gods themselves could be civ leaders, working under a base for their particular culture (yes, I'm thinking AOM). Imagine running into Zeus, Shiva or Osiris! And heroes could be a variation on great people, with far more unique and individual appearances and abilities. This way we can enjoy the Civness of the Mayans recruiting Bellerophon or the Norse conquering a city with Lord Rama. Minor gods could function similarly to city states and could help evolve a very personal pantheon depending on the playstyle.

 

[cosmicmangobear]

For more modern civs, national personifications (that are in the public domain of course) could be leaders as well.

Now THAT would be interesting. In addition to Uncle Sam and Paul Bunyon maybe throw in Columbia, John Henry, Molly Pitcher, Lady Liberty… we got ourselves a pantheon. Although that’s all but guaranteed to ruffle a few feathers when put up next to ancient cultures with millennia of folklore.

Some African Civ

Yoruba, please! I want to see some Orisha. West Africa has SUCH a rich and underrated mythological history. And on that subject maybe some Haitian Voudou featuring Papa Legba et. al.

 

[Siptah]

@cosmicmangobear I don't think that Narmer belongs in this list as he is a historic pharaoh and not a legendary or mythological one. Also, I wouldn't call him the first pharaoh, as there is Dynasty 0 before him. I'd just go with Horus the elder.

This or something focusing on Neolithic/Chalcolithic/Bronze Age is probably the best choice for a spinoff. I've thought about such a spinoff before.

After seeing gameplay of At The Gates lately, I wish this would have been civ VI's spinoff, actually.

 

[awesome]

I'd probably throw in some magical abilities, just for fun, too