I’m very interested in people’s thoughts about what civs should or shouldn’t be included in the game. I think it might be worth thinking ‘out of the box’: why pick and choose? Why not go for as many civs as possible? Instead of talking about Babylon and Sumeria or Britain and the Celts in isolation, why not make them parts of the same civilizations at different periods in history?
I would redefine the eras so that each civilisation has a chance to make itself distinct all the way throughout the game, rather than having one hey-day with only one set of advantages for the whole game (for example, the Greeks aren’t simply stuck with Alexander the Great, they can also include Mycenae, Byzantium and the Kingdom of Greece).
To account for the accelerating pace of development, earlier eras are spread of longer time periods. I realise (now that I’m typing this thing) that this will probably bear some similarity to the eras in “Rise of Nations”.
I've had a wee re-think about the civs I suggested, and have come up with a much more streamlined version:
Ancient (A) (corresponding to roughly 4000BC-1000BC)
Classical (C) (roughly 1000BC-500AD)
Mediaeval (M) (500AD-1500AD)
Global (G) (1500AD-1750AD)
Industrial (I) (1750AD-2000AD)
Modern (2000AD-[end game]; assume this is just a spin-off of the Industrial era).
I've since rejigged some of the civ suggestions based on the feedback on the thread.
I don’t include ‘Future Tech’ since Civilization games are historical.
Each civilization can have its own distinct flavour in each era. Matching particular countries to a particular time, or even to a precise geographical area isn’t always possible (for example, the ancient Celts once inhabited the whole of central Europe), so I have come up with my ‘best fits’. My information for this principally comes from the Times Atlas of World History (2000 edition). Any mistakes or controversial choices are entirely my own.
I would argue for some unique units to be given for particular governments or religions
(Communism: Red Army soldier, Fascism: National Guard or Stormtrooper, Democracy: resistance, Theocracy: zealot, Islam: Jihadi, Christianity: Crusader), and for more emphasis to be put on individual national polytheism in ancient and classical eras (the old pagan gods or religions of each country, in other words), since these were quite widespread before the Christianised Romans started suppressing them. Indeed, the Roman Republic had Civ 4’s ‘Free Religion’ until well into the 300s AD. Polytheism should really be one of the first religions encountered, almost at the start of the game.
Wonders would be more specific to each nation, with a few general wonders that anyone can build (great temples, schools, dams, bridges, canals, tunnels etc) and a few ‘race’ wonders (Space Race, Nukes, Exploration, Key Cultural, Economic, Production or Diplomatic discoveries).
Another thing I’d like to see is automatic unit upgrades with industrialisation, perhaps to ‘prototype units’ (say, from a sailing frigate to a Dreadnought prototype, rather than a full-blown Battleship unit, or one free biplane per city when flight is discovered; monoplanes and jets must be built separately).
Leaders would have to go as well (except for scenarios), replaced by diplomats or ambassadors (similar to the system used in “Shogun: Total War”, who would look and dress appropriately for their civ’s race, culture and development (maybe with clothes giving indications of wealth as well, or female ambassadors indicating emancipation?). I’ll admit that ever since I started playing Civ games (Civ 2) the idea of Cleopatra living for 6000 years drives me nuts... as does a mediaeval Abraham Lincoln, or a modern-day Genghis Khan:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/archive/index.php/t-191902.html
I will group each civilization with the most suitable ‘art set’ (for buildings etc.), and list the ‘flavours’ they can adopt in each era, along with any unique units or wonders that may be appropriate (limited to 4 in combined total, per country). Some may not belong geographically, but I’m really thinking of the art sets, here. Of course, certain nations may need to swap between different art sets throughout the game as well, but that’s more than I want to write about just now!
This is by no means a final, definitive suggestion of which wonders and units belong with each civ. What does everyone think?
(I'll post my Civ suggestions by group...)
(20/04/07: I've edited the original posts, so that the latest ideas are shown...)
I would redefine the eras so that each civilisation has a chance to make itself distinct all the way throughout the game, rather than having one hey-day with only one set of advantages for the whole game (for example, the Greeks aren’t simply stuck with Alexander the Great, they can also include Mycenae, Byzantium and the Kingdom of Greece).
To account for the accelerating pace of development, earlier eras are spread of longer time periods. I realise (now that I’m typing this thing) that this will probably bear some similarity to the eras in “Rise of Nations”.
I've had a wee re-think about the civs I suggested, and have come up with a much more streamlined version:
Ancient (A) (corresponding to roughly 4000BC-1000BC)
Classical (C) (roughly 1000BC-500AD)
Mediaeval (M) (500AD-1500AD)
Global (G) (1500AD-1750AD)
Industrial (I) (1750AD-2000AD)
Modern (2000AD-[end game]; assume this is just a spin-off of the Industrial era).
I've since rejigged some of the civ suggestions based on the feedback on the thread.
I don’t include ‘Future Tech’ since Civilization games are historical.
Each civilization can have its own distinct flavour in each era. Matching particular countries to a particular time, or even to a precise geographical area isn’t always possible (for example, the ancient Celts once inhabited the whole of central Europe), so I have come up with my ‘best fits’. My information for this principally comes from the Times Atlas of World History (2000 edition). Any mistakes or controversial choices are entirely my own.
I would argue for some unique units to be given for particular governments or religions
(Communism: Red Army soldier, Fascism: National Guard or Stormtrooper, Democracy: resistance, Theocracy: zealot, Islam: Jihadi, Christianity: Crusader), and for more emphasis to be put on individual national polytheism in ancient and classical eras (the old pagan gods or religions of each country, in other words), since these were quite widespread before the Christianised Romans started suppressing them. Indeed, the Roman Republic had Civ 4’s ‘Free Religion’ until well into the 300s AD. Polytheism should really be one of the first religions encountered, almost at the start of the game.
Wonders would be more specific to each nation, with a few general wonders that anyone can build (great temples, schools, dams, bridges, canals, tunnels etc) and a few ‘race’ wonders (Space Race, Nukes, Exploration, Key Cultural, Economic, Production or Diplomatic discoveries).
Another thing I’d like to see is automatic unit upgrades with industrialisation, perhaps to ‘prototype units’ (say, from a sailing frigate to a Dreadnought prototype, rather than a full-blown Battleship unit, or one free biplane per city when flight is discovered; monoplanes and jets must be built separately).
Leaders would have to go as well (except for scenarios), replaced by diplomats or ambassadors (similar to the system used in “Shogun: Total War”, who would look and dress appropriately for their civ’s race, culture and development (maybe with clothes giving indications of wealth as well, or female ambassadors indicating emancipation?). I’ll admit that ever since I started playing Civ games (Civ 2) the idea of Cleopatra living for 6000 years drives me nuts... as does a mediaeval Abraham Lincoln, or a modern-day Genghis Khan:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/archive/index.php/t-191902.html
I will group each civilization with the most suitable ‘art set’ (for buildings etc.), and list the ‘flavours’ they can adopt in each era, along with any unique units or wonders that may be appropriate (limited to 4 in combined total, per country). Some may not belong geographically, but I’m really thinking of the art sets, here. Of course, certain nations may need to swap between different art sets throughout the game as well, but that’s more than I want to write about just now!
This is by no means a final, definitive suggestion of which wonders and units belong with each civ. What does everyone think?
(I'll post my Civ suggestions by group...)
(20/04/07: I've edited the original posts, so that the latest ideas are shown...)
