Boa's Mod Productions
Chieftain
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2020
- Messages
- 36
So as many of you have noticed, there's a lot of action towards Religion in the early game, but from the Renaissance era to the late game onward, it gets pretty bland and repetitive. The Government building for religion (Grand Master's Chapel) is literally a Tier 2 Building, unlike the Government Buildings for the other three victory types, Science, Domination or Culture. Trying to spread your religion in the late game would essentially just consist of building up Faith, and endlessly spamming Missionaries, Apostles, and other units. The person who does this effectively to make the most cities in a game the majority religion wins. But, as I searched up, the comments that this is repetitive and rather boring is common. I think it's safe to say a lot of people agree that religion needs to be developed more. I personally think even more so in the late game, as whether you like it or not, religion still plays a very significant role in the course of history our modern world makes right now. (Just take a look at the Middle East right now, for example)
So here, as a beginner modder (and someone who constantly looks up Civ stuff literally everyday) waiting to get a better laptop so I can properly test and make my mods and actually play the game itself, I will suggest my idea of a mod regarding religion in the late game. If no one gets to this first, I may eventually make this mod myself once I have gained the means to do so.
It's also worth noting that I got my ideas from a thread I found on Reddit when I had initially had started jotting down this idea, the person who posted it made some good points and ideas, so I will leave the link to it here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/civ/comments/88psiv/lategame_religion/
DISCLAIMER: Considering how talking about religion, faith, beliefs, and many aspects related to it can be quite sensitive (especially nowadays, just look at the toxic dump of comment sections filled with people attacking and insulting each other for what they believe in), I just want to let everyone know that I am not here to attack or ridicule another religion, or people's beliefs. I am simply here to suggest a new feature or mod that could make the function of religion in the game of Civilization VI more interesting and fun to play with. I will also do my best not to unintentionally speak ill of any religion or belief; all of this is said from a neutral stance.
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LATE GAME RELIGION MOD IDEAS (taken from my personal notes where I jot down mod ideas)
NEW RELIGIONS ADDED (Based on the time period they appeared)
Baha'i Faith (Bahá’u’lláh, 1863) - Considered by many (myself included) to be the most recent major religion, with about 5 million followers
Mormonism (Joseph Smith, 1830) - I don't really know Mormonism enough to know if it's a branch of Christianity, or a separate religion of its own derived from Christianity, but considering that this is a game where Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Protestantism, all normally considered part of Christianity, are pretty much separate religions in this game, well why not?
Scientology (L. Ron Hubbard, 1953) - Ok I don't know if this actually fits enough to be considered a religion in real life (I personally think it doesn't yet), but considering what I just said above, and the rather loose (as it looks to me) definition of religions and how they were implemented into the game, I think this should be an interesting addition
Caodaism (Ngô Văn Chiêu, 1921) - Didn't know this religion existed, but Lord of War N02 below suggested I add it. I looked into it, and because it still has more than 1 million followers today, and for the variety of late game religions' sake, I have decided to add it.
Cheondoism (Ch'oe Che-u, 1860) - Same reason as above, I initially didn't know about it either.
Rastafari (1930s) - Okay, I sort of knew this movement existed, but it's so far back in my mind that I forgot it existed... but when Lord of War N02 made the suggestion, I searched it up. Apparently, it's as much of a religion as Scientology is. So, why not add it? And add it I did.
Oriental Christianity - NOT A LATE GAME RELIGION. But I added this because with the impact it has had on the world & world history, it doesn't feel right to not have this in Civilization VI. Should this ever become a religion in the game, Menelik II of Ethiopia's preferred religion should be changed to this.
Jainism - NOT A LATE GAME RELIGION EITHER. Same reason as above. Interestingly, Chandragupta of the Mauryan Empire (yes the same person who is India's alternate leader in this game) converted to Jainism in his last days. Although given that the game seems to represent him at the height of his power, in his lifetime, his current preferred religion should be okay.
NEW GREAT PROPHETS
Classical Era
Parshvanatha - 23rd of 24 tirthankaras of Jainism, & the earliest recorded exponent of Karma philosophy. Seen as a propagator and reviver of Jainism. (Added for variety reasons)
Industrial Era
Bahá’u’lláh - Baha'i Founder
Choe Che-u - Founder of the Donghak movement which laid the foundations for Cheondoism
Joseph Smith - Mormon Founder
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad - Founder of the Ahmadiyya movement in Islam.
Son Byong-hi - Organized and modernized the Donghak movement into what is now Cheondoism
Modern Era
Leonard Howell - Leading figure in the early Rastafari movement
Marcus Garvey - Influenced the formation of Rastafari (despite not directly supporting its ideas)
Ngô Văn Chiêu - Caodaism Founder
Atomic Era
Billy Graham - Christian evangelist known for having preached to an estimated 2 billion people
L. Ron Hubbard - Scientology Founder
No new Great Prophets from the Information era onwards.
NEW WORSHIP BUILDINGS
House of Worship - +3 Faith, +1 Faith for each foreign religion with at least 1 Follower in this city.
CHANGES TO RELIGION FUNCTIONALITY
Evangelizing Belief
For development's sake, once you get the Theology civic, you get the Temple. Build the Temple, and now you have Apostles. With those Apostles you can maximize the beliefs of religion very early.
Except i think that's a bit too much to make possible and squeeze in one single era. Early Christianity for example, did not develop into the organized form of Christianity, with a Pope and appointed priests that we now know as Catholicism from the Year 1 to 100. So for this sake, I am suggesting to strech the development of religion throughout several eras with the following ideas:
- 1st Evangelize Belief can only be made in a Holy Site with a Worship Building already built.
Though it is worth noting that in this case, for this to happen, that means that when you found a religion, the current functions should be changed in that it becomes mandatory to select a Worship belief immediately, along with one other Belief from another category.
- 2nd Evangelize Belief & Launch Inquisition can only be made in a Holy Site with the Reformed Church civic.
I'm not exactly sure how to word this, but this is based on how in history, old beliefs start to be questioned, and then new beliefs or new interpretations of the old belief come and either replace, or get added into the old beliefs of the religion. Basically, development of religion, and how cultures under its influence change over time. Think about for example how differently Christianity and Islam were practiced 1000 years compared to now. That's what this is based off. (Plus that good ol Spanish inquisition did happen in the real life Renaissance era... a good example of people with old beliefs about the religion refusing to accept the new ideas, interpretations and ways people think about and practice religion, and being forced to adapt new ways to combat this new "heretical" (in their perspective) movement. Just the right timing for when people start questioning old practices and finding new ideas and practices. This should make an interesting game.)
Obsoleting Inquisitors
Inquisitors now have a much more limited timeframe, from having Reformed Church and being activated in a Launch Inquisition, and now become obsolete once the Mass Media civic is unlocked.
A little research will show you that Inquisitions were still around by the 1800s, but was already dying out. The last execution of the Spanish Inquisition happened in 1826, and the Spanish Inquisition itself finally became outlawed in 1834. A revolution abolished the Portuguese Inquisition in 1821. The Papal States also had an Inquisition of their own that somehow lasted up to today, although it appears to now to have been rebranded twice ever since, but I imagine the activity of their Inquisition today and how they carry them out largely doesn't compare to those from a few centuries ago.
Besides, who launches inquisitions in the 21st century? That would be super weird by today's standards, and also a human rights violation too. And if anything like the Spanish Inquisition happened, I'm pretty sure the rest of the world would hear about it instantly and intervene to stop such a thing, assuming of course it was as bloody and forceful as the Inquisitions of the Renaissance.
Religious Decay
Personally in my opinion, THE most interesting feature of this proposed feature/mod, as well as the most fitting feature for religion, especially in the late game, which is essentially our modern world. My favorite feature in this suggestion.
So you know about the Enlightenment civic, and how it cuts religious tourism in half right? Well, this new feature is vital that those seeking a Religious Victory, or are very dependent on religion in order to use their special abilities well, they should watch out for this function.
Because every civilization that researches the Enlightenment civic, starts getting small atheist pressure per turn that slowly removes the number of believers in your cities, and if this is neglected for too long, your cities will eventually lose their majority religion and, give some more time, become completely atheist.
Now how specifically does this work? I modeled it after patterns I have observed in the real world:
Religion decays at this speed at the following type of cities:
Ecstatic - Very fast decay
Happy - Fast decay
Content - Moderate decay
Displeased - Slow decay
Unhappy and lower - No decay
Additionally, changing your government to a Tier 2 or lower government can lessen the religious decay altogether, regardless of how happy or unhappy your cities are. The lower the tier, the slower the religious decay is.
This functionality is based off one pattern that I have observed being persistent in our reality: People in the more developed, peaceful, and safer countries with a higher quality of life (Switzerland, Canada, Japan for example) tend to be much less religious, while the developing countries with lower quality of life, rampant poverty and instability (Central African Republic, Afghanistan, Chad) tend to be much more religious. So, yes I did base the quality of life thing on the amenity bonuses, if that makes sense. I personally think it does, given how the amenity bonuses either boost or restrict your cities.
Just imagine playing as Byzantium, and taking over most of the world, only to realize your home cities are now atheist because you neglected to take care of religious decay in the later eras, and the fact that the Hippodrome, normally an unstoppable cavalry printer, is turned into a double edged weapon that could potentially remove your religion. (Unless you decided not to change your government to a Tier 3 or 4 governments)
Personally, I'd LOVE to see this function at work in an actual Civ 6 game, it should add some real spice to religion in the late game....
Tier 3 Government-Specific Religious Policy Cards
It boggles my mind that the developers did not take how countries & governments of the 20th century handled religions into account. (At least, that's how it appeared to me, if they were aware of it.) The Soviet Union, and other communist countries for example, were known for imposing state-sponsored atheism, which would've affected the daily lives of people, especially those that are really religious. To convey that into this mod is the reason I am adding religion-focused policy cards that can only, of course, be used if you are a specific Tier 3 Government:
State Atheism
Requires adopting the Communism government
Doubled atheist pressure in all your cities. Religious pressure does not spread from Theological Combat. May Condemn Heresy without being at war.
In God We Trust
Requires adopting the Democracy government
Your majority religion has doubled passive domestic religious pressure on your cities. Missionaries and Evangelists are 50% cheaper to purchase.
Third Denomination
Requires adopting the Fascism government
+4 Loyalty to all your cities with a Holy Site. +2 Combat Strength & +5 Religious Strength when fighting civilizations that follow other or no religions.
Now, the last mention: Given that the religious decay in the late game is likely going to be problematic and annoying, especially for happy civilizations, the last thing I have to suggest: A new religion unit, specifically for the late game era:
THE EVANGELIST UNIT
- Must be purchased in a Holy Site with a Worship building
- Requires the Radio Tech
- 110 Religious Strength
- Automatically exerts small religious pressure in a city it is in per turn when idle (Good for countering the religious decay)
- 3 charges
- Receives 1 promotion each time a charge is used.
- +10 Religious Strength when Mass Media, Computers, Telecommunications, and Social Media each have been unlocked. (These buffs, along with the fact it has the same base Strength as the Apostle, essentially obsoletes the Inquisitor even if you're playing as Spain, something I didn't notice until later on, but its a cool function. Besides, people would probably look down on a modern day country that tried to launch something like the Spanish Inquisition, such a country doing that would look backwards nowadays.)
I'm not sure if anyone has noticed, but as a Christian myself, I say this observation:
Although it is debatable if religion is on the decline nowadays, what preachers of their religions say, now have more range now, more than ever, thanks to how much technology has advanced, and how easy and quick it is to travel to places that once took entire years to reach. I am literally capable of listening to pastors from other countries and on the other side of the planet within the click of a button in my tablet, or computer. And in the same manner, it's probably easy to simply search up a session on Islam to learn about it.
Basically, what I'm saying is that religion now has more range now more than ever in order to find places to manifest itself and grow (China reportedly has the fastest growing number of Christians, despite the government's attempts to suppress it, and there's been an interesting presence of Christians in South Korea of all places)
This is likely also thanks to the work of the evangelists. (The Christian evangelists from the Protestant and non-aligned branches have probably been the most prominent) I would argue that they are the main driving force towards spreading religion or faith nowadays, hence the choice of this unit for late game religion, which is also essential for stopping religious decay in-game.
Evangelist Promotions
The Evangelist takes up the mantle of the Apostle in the late game, taking half of the Apostle's original promotions, as well as some new ones filling the other half (Because the other half of the Apostle's promotions, such as Heathen Conversion and Indulgence Vendor, would be either impractical or just outright unethical in the modern setting)
Evangelist promotions inherited from the Apostle:
Chaplain - Apostle operates as a Medic, providing extra healing to units within 1 tile.
Debater - +20 Religious Combat Strength in Theological Combat
Orator - Can spread religion 2 extra times
Translator - Religious spread is triple strength in cities of other civilizations.
New Evangelist promotions:
(All based on how modern evangelists work nowadays)
Televangelist - Using a spread charge to a city also converts another random city somewhere else owned by a culturally dominated civilization if it has the Mass Media civic.
(SIMPLIFIED - If you use a charge in a civilization's city (City A), a second charge will also be released in a random city (City B) in the world, preferably the city of another civilization that is culturally dominated by the civilization that owns City A. "Cultural domination" means the civilization with City A has more total tourist output than the civilization with City B's total culture output.)
- (Based on those people that make religious/faith sermons via TV. Nowadays, its also on the computer and even the internet)
Door-to-door Preacher - Using a spread charge converts twice the number of followers than usual, and foreign religious pressure in adjacent cities are reduced.
(SIMPLIFIED - The charge used by the Evangelist unit converts twice the normal amount of people in a city per charge)
- (This one should be self-explanatory: If you live in a country that has Jehovah's Witnesses, I'm sure you've encountered one of those people who knocked on your door asking if you wanna hear about their religion/faith. I don't know if other religions do this by the way.)
Creationist - Gain Faith equal to the converted city’s total Science output, and +3 Faith per Artifact the city has when a Spread charge is used.
(SIMPLIFIED - Use a charge in a city with Artifacts in it, and each charge you use, you get extra 3 Faith for each Artifact that is in that city.)
- (Based on how there are people who try to relate scientific evidence and dug up artifacts to what their religion preaches.)
Crusades - Cities with a Trade Route where a charge is used also spreads to other cities where a Trade Route is running through the initial city.
(SIMPLIFIED - Similar to the Televangelist promotion, but instead of a random charge appearing in the random city of another civilization that is culturally dominated, charges are also released in cities that are connected to the Evangelist's city via Trade Routes)
- (Based on Billy Graham's "crusades", just search it up, he basically went on a preaching spree all over the world, just search it up, he even has the world record for having spoken to the most people at once. Not to be confused with the Crusader Belief that give +10 Combat Strength)
Creative Arts* - Gain Faith equal to the base amount of Tourism each Great Work in this city earns.
(SIMPLIFIED - Similar to the Creationist, but you get extra Faith equal to the base Tourism each Great Work in the city the charge is being used in)
(aka Creative Evangelism. I'm sure some of you might have at least heard of the movie "Passion of the Christ", and probably the "God's not Dead" trilogy too. That's essentially what creative evangelism is, trying to preach through movies, art, stories, etc.)
* - I originally named this "Creative" only, but changed it cause I felt it might be too vague
So this is interesting.... considering a great number of these evangelists and evangelizing techniques seem to come from the USA, it means the USA has essentially contributed towards the techniques of spreading religion/faith more than I had initially thought....
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So, yeah that's essentially my suggestions for improving religion in the late game. I probably will turn this into a mod in the future once I actually have what I need to start testing my mods properly, if someone doesn't beat me to it. (Though if you actually plan to make an actual mod out of this based on the ideas I said before I can, please do keep me informed, I will be happy to help! Plus I would be excited about seeing how you'll handle an idea like this...) Please note that as this is a suggestion, none of what I said is final, and I may even revisit this thread to make some changes on what I said here.
So here, as a beginner modder (and someone who constantly looks up Civ stuff literally everyday) waiting to get a better laptop so I can properly test and make my mods and actually play the game itself, I will suggest my idea of a mod regarding religion in the late game. If no one gets to this first, I may eventually make this mod myself once I have gained the means to do so.
It's also worth noting that I got my ideas from a thread I found on Reddit when I had initially had started jotting down this idea, the person who posted it made some good points and ideas, so I will leave the link to it here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/civ/comments/88psiv/lategame_religion/
DISCLAIMER: Considering how talking about religion, faith, beliefs, and many aspects related to it can be quite sensitive (especially nowadays, just look at the toxic dump of comment sections filled with people attacking and insulting each other for what they believe in), I just want to let everyone know that I am not here to attack or ridicule another religion, or people's beliefs. I am simply here to suggest a new feature or mod that could make the function of religion in the game of Civilization VI more interesting and fun to play with. I will also do my best not to unintentionally speak ill of any religion or belief; all of this is said from a neutral stance.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LATE GAME RELIGION MOD IDEAS (taken from my personal notes where I jot down mod ideas)
NEW RELIGIONS ADDED (Based on the time period they appeared)
Baha'i Faith (Bahá’u’lláh, 1863) - Considered by many (myself included) to be the most recent major religion, with about 5 million followers
Mormonism (Joseph Smith, 1830) - I don't really know Mormonism enough to know if it's a branch of Christianity, or a separate religion of its own derived from Christianity, but considering that this is a game where Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Protestantism, all normally considered part of Christianity, are pretty much separate religions in this game, well why not?
Scientology (L. Ron Hubbard, 1953) - Ok I don't know if this actually fits enough to be considered a religion in real life (I personally think it doesn't yet), but considering what I just said above, and the rather loose (as it looks to me) definition of religions and how they were implemented into the game, I think this should be an interesting addition
Caodaism (Ngô Văn Chiêu, 1921) - Didn't know this religion existed, but Lord of War N02 below suggested I add it. I looked into it, and because it still has more than 1 million followers today, and for the variety of late game religions' sake, I have decided to add it.
Cheondoism (Ch'oe Che-u, 1860) - Same reason as above, I initially didn't know about it either.
Rastafari (1930s) - Okay, I sort of knew this movement existed, but it's so far back in my mind that I forgot it existed... but when Lord of War N02 made the suggestion, I searched it up. Apparently, it's as much of a religion as Scientology is. So, why not add it? And add it I did.
Oriental Christianity - NOT A LATE GAME RELIGION. But I added this because with the impact it has had on the world & world history, it doesn't feel right to not have this in Civilization VI. Should this ever become a religion in the game, Menelik II of Ethiopia's preferred religion should be changed to this.
Jainism - NOT A LATE GAME RELIGION EITHER. Same reason as above. Interestingly, Chandragupta of the Mauryan Empire (yes the same person who is India's alternate leader in this game) converted to Jainism in his last days. Although given that the game seems to represent him at the height of his power, in his lifetime, his current preferred religion should be okay.
NEW GREAT PROPHETS
Classical Era
Parshvanatha - 23rd of 24 tirthankaras of Jainism, & the earliest recorded exponent of Karma philosophy. Seen as a propagator and reviver of Jainism. (Added for variety reasons)
Industrial Era
Bahá’u’lláh - Baha'i Founder
Choe Che-u - Founder of the Donghak movement which laid the foundations for Cheondoism
Joseph Smith - Mormon Founder
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad - Founder of the Ahmadiyya movement in Islam.
Son Byong-hi - Organized and modernized the Donghak movement into what is now Cheondoism
Modern Era
Leonard Howell - Leading figure in the early Rastafari movement
Marcus Garvey - Influenced the formation of Rastafari (despite not directly supporting its ideas)
Ngô Văn Chiêu - Caodaism Founder
Atomic Era
Billy Graham - Christian evangelist known for having preached to an estimated 2 billion people
L. Ron Hubbard - Scientology Founder
No new Great Prophets from the Information era onwards.
NEW WORSHIP BUILDINGS
House of Worship - +3 Faith, +1 Faith for each foreign religion with at least 1 Follower in this city.
CHANGES TO RELIGION FUNCTIONALITY
Evangelizing Belief
For development's sake, once you get the Theology civic, you get the Temple. Build the Temple, and now you have Apostles. With those Apostles you can maximize the beliefs of religion very early.
Except i think that's a bit too much to make possible and squeeze in one single era. Early Christianity for example, did not develop into the organized form of Christianity, with a Pope and appointed priests that we now know as Catholicism from the Year 1 to 100. So for this sake, I am suggesting to strech the development of religion throughout several eras with the following ideas:
- 1st Evangelize Belief can only be made in a Holy Site with a Worship Building already built.
Though it is worth noting that in this case, for this to happen, that means that when you found a religion, the current functions should be changed in that it becomes mandatory to select a Worship belief immediately, along with one other Belief from another category.
- 2nd Evangelize Belief & Launch Inquisition can only be made in a Holy Site with the Reformed Church civic.
I'm not exactly sure how to word this, but this is based on how in history, old beliefs start to be questioned, and then new beliefs or new interpretations of the old belief come and either replace, or get added into the old beliefs of the religion. Basically, development of religion, and how cultures under its influence change over time. Think about for example how differently Christianity and Islam were practiced 1000 years compared to now. That's what this is based off. (Plus that good ol Spanish inquisition did happen in the real life Renaissance era... a good example of people with old beliefs about the religion refusing to accept the new ideas, interpretations and ways people think about and practice religion, and being forced to adapt new ways to combat this new "heretical" (in their perspective) movement. Just the right timing for when people start questioning old practices and finding new ideas and practices. This should make an interesting game.)
Obsoleting Inquisitors
Inquisitors now have a much more limited timeframe, from having Reformed Church and being activated in a Launch Inquisition, and now become obsolete once the Mass Media civic is unlocked.
A little research will show you that Inquisitions were still around by the 1800s, but was already dying out. The last execution of the Spanish Inquisition happened in 1826, and the Spanish Inquisition itself finally became outlawed in 1834. A revolution abolished the Portuguese Inquisition in 1821. The Papal States also had an Inquisition of their own that somehow lasted up to today, although it appears to now to have been rebranded twice ever since, but I imagine the activity of their Inquisition today and how they carry them out largely doesn't compare to those from a few centuries ago.
Besides, who launches inquisitions in the 21st century? That would be super weird by today's standards, and also a human rights violation too. And if anything like the Spanish Inquisition happened, I'm pretty sure the rest of the world would hear about it instantly and intervene to stop such a thing, assuming of course it was as bloody and forceful as the Inquisitions of the Renaissance.
Religious Decay
Personally in my opinion, THE most interesting feature of this proposed feature/mod, as well as the most fitting feature for religion, especially in the late game, which is essentially our modern world. My favorite feature in this suggestion.
So you know about the Enlightenment civic, and how it cuts religious tourism in half right? Well, this new feature is vital that those seeking a Religious Victory, or are very dependent on religion in order to use their special abilities well, they should watch out for this function.
Because every civilization that researches the Enlightenment civic, starts getting small atheist pressure per turn that slowly removes the number of believers in your cities, and if this is neglected for too long, your cities will eventually lose their majority religion and, give some more time, become completely atheist.
Now how specifically does this work? I modeled it after patterns I have observed in the real world:
Religion decays at this speed at the following type of cities:
Ecstatic - Very fast decay
Happy - Fast decay
Content - Moderate decay
Displeased - Slow decay
Unhappy and lower - No decay
Additionally, changing your government to a Tier 2 or lower government can lessen the religious decay altogether, regardless of how happy or unhappy your cities are. The lower the tier, the slower the religious decay is.
This functionality is based off one pattern that I have observed being persistent in our reality: People in the more developed, peaceful, and safer countries with a higher quality of life (Switzerland, Canada, Japan for example) tend to be much less religious, while the developing countries with lower quality of life, rampant poverty and instability (Central African Republic, Afghanistan, Chad) tend to be much more religious. So, yes I did base the quality of life thing on the amenity bonuses, if that makes sense. I personally think it does, given how the amenity bonuses either boost or restrict your cities.
Just imagine playing as Byzantium, and taking over most of the world, only to realize your home cities are now atheist because you neglected to take care of religious decay in the later eras, and the fact that the Hippodrome, normally an unstoppable cavalry printer, is turned into a double edged weapon that could potentially remove your religion. (Unless you decided not to change your government to a Tier 3 or 4 governments)
Personally, I'd LOVE to see this function at work in an actual Civ 6 game, it should add some real spice to religion in the late game....
Tier 3 Government-Specific Religious Policy Cards
It boggles my mind that the developers did not take how countries & governments of the 20th century handled religions into account. (At least, that's how it appeared to me, if they were aware of it.) The Soviet Union, and other communist countries for example, were known for imposing state-sponsored atheism, which would've affected the daily lives of people, especially those that are really religious. To convey that into this mod is the reason I am adding religion-focused policy cards that can only, of course, be used if you are a specific Tier 3 Government:
State Atheism
Requires adopting the Communism government
Doubled atheist pressure in all your cities. Religious pressure does not spread from Theological Combat. May Condemn Heresy without being at war.
In God We Trust
Requires adopting the Democracy government
Your majority religion has doubled passive domestic religious pressure on your cities. Missionaries and Evangelists are 50% cheaper to purchase.
Third Denomination
Requires adopting the Fascism government
+4 Loyalty to all your cities with a Holy Site. +2 Combat Strength & +5 Religious Strength when fighting civilizations that follow other or no religions.
Now, the last mention: Given that the religious decay in the late game is likely going to be problematic and annoying, especially for happy civilizations, the last thing I have to suggest: A new religion unit, specifically for the late game era:
THE EVANGELIST UNIT
- Must be purchased in a Holy Site with a Worship building
- Requires the Radio Tech
- 110 Religious Strength
- Automatically exerts small religious pressure in a city it is in per turn when idle (Good for countering the religious decay)
- 3 charges
- Receives 1 promotion each time a charge is used.
- +10 Religious Strength when Mass Media, Computers, Telecommunications, and Social Media each have been unlocked. (These buffs, along with the fact it has the same base Strength as the Apostle, essentially obsoletes the Inquisitor even if you're playing as Spain, something I didn't notice until later on, but its a cool function. Besides, people would probably look down on a modern day country that tried to launch something like the Spanish Inquisition, such a country doing that would look backwards nowadays.)
I'm not sure if anyone has noticed, but as a Christian myself, I say this observation:
Although it is debatable if religion is on the decline nowadays, what preachers of their religions say, now have more range now, more than ever, thanks to how much technology has advanced, and how easy and quick it is to travel to places that once took entire years to reach. I am literally capable of listening to pastors from other countries and on the other side of the planet within the click of a button in my tablet, or computer. And in the same manner, it's probably easy to simply search up a session on Islam to learn about it.
Basically, what I'm saying is that religion now has more range now more than ever in order to find places to manifest itself and grow (China reportedly has the fastest growing number of Christians, despite the government's attempts to suppress it, and there's been an interesting presence of Christians in South Korea of all places)
This is likely also thanks to the work of the evangelists. (The Christian evangelists from the Protestant and non-aligned branches have probably been the most prominent) I would argue that they are the main driving force towards spreading religion or faith nowadays, hence the choice of this unit for late game religion, which is also essential for stopping religious decay in-game.
Evangelist Promotions
The Evangelist takes up the mantle of the Apostle in the late game, taking half of the Apostle's original promotions, as well as some new ones filling the other half (Because the other half of the Apostle's promotions, such as Heathen Conversion and Indulgence Vendor, would be either impractical or just outright unethical in the modern setting)
Evangelist promotions inherited from the Apostle:
Chaplain - Apostle operates as a Medic, providing extra healing to units within 1 tile.
Debater - +20 Religious Combat Strength in Theological Combat
Orator - Can spread religion 2 extra times
Translator - Religious spread is triple strength in cities of other civilizations.
New Evangelist promotions:
(All based on how modern evangelists work nowadays)
Televangelist - Using a spread charge to a city also converts another random city somewhere else owned by a culturally dominated civilization if it has the Mass Media civic.
(SIMPLIFIED - If you use a charge in a civilization's city (City A), a second charge will also be released in a random city (City B) in the world, preferably the city of another civilization that is culturally dominated by the civilization that owns City A. "Cultural domination" means the civilization with City A has more total tourist output than the civilization with City B's total culture output.)
- (Based on those people that make religious/faith sermons via TV. Nowadays, its also on the computer and even the internet)
Door-to-door Preacher - Using a spread charge converts twice the number of followers than usual, and foreign religious pressure in adjacent cities are reduced.
(SIMPLIFIED - The charge used by the Evangelist unit converts twice the normal amount of people in a city per charge)
- (This one should be self-explanatory: If you live in a country that has Jehovah's Witnesses, I'm sure you've encountered one of those people who knocked on your door asking if you wanna hear about their religion/faith. I don't know if other religions do this by the way.)
Creationist - Gain Faith equal to the converted city’s total Science output, and +3 Faith per Artifact the city has when a Spread charge is used.
(SIMPLIFIED - Use a charge in a city with Artifacts in it, and each charge you use, you get extra 3 Faith for each Artifact that is in that city.)
- (Based on how there are people who try to relate scientific evidence and dug up artifacts to what their religion preaches.)
Crusades - Cities with a Trade Route where a charge is used also spreads to other cities where a Trade Route is running through the initial city.
(SIMPLIFIED - Similar to the Televangelist promotion, but instead of a random charge appearing in the random city of another civilization that is culturally dominated, charges are also released in cities that are connected to the Evangelist's city via Trade Routes)
- (Based on Billy Graham's "crusades", just search it up, he basically went on a preaching spree all over the world, just search it up, he even has the world record for having spoken to the most people at once. Not to be confused with the Crusader Belief that give +10 Combat Strength)
Creative Arts* - Gain Faith equal to the base amount of Tourism each Great Work in this city earns.
(SIMPLIFIED - Similar to the Creationist, but you get extra Faith equal to the base Tourism each Great Work in the city the charge is being used in)
(aka Creative Evangelism. I'm sure some of you might have at least heard of the movie "Passion of the Christ", and probably the "God's not Dead" trilogy too. That's essentially what creative evangelism is, trying to preach through movies, art, stories, etc.)
* - I originally named this "Creative" only, but changed it cause I felt it might be too vague
So this is interesting.... considering a great number of these evangelists and evangelizing techniques seem to come from the USA, it means the USA has essentially contributed towards the techniques of spreading religion/faith more than I had initially thought....
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So, yeah that's essentially my suggestions for improving religion in the late game. I probably will turn this into a mod in the future once I actually have what I need to start testing my mods properly, if someone doesn't beat me to it. (Though if you actually plan to make an actual mod out of this based on the ideas I said before I can, please do keep me informed, I will be happy to help! Plus I would be excited about seeing how you'll handle an idea like this...) Please note that as this is a suggestion, none of what I said is final, and I may even revisit this thread to make some changes on what I said here.
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Hope it becomes a mod soon.
