Entering the Post-Modern era?

[Acronym]

For the first time in a long time, I completed a game of Civ3 last night and brought my civ through to the modern era - radar artillery, aircraft carriers, and all.

It struck me, as I rained down ICBMs on the Ottoman continent, that there was a conspicuous absence of something that is quite a defining aspect of warfare today - drones.

This isn't a 'why doesn't Civ3 have this feature' question - I realise that gaming technology has come leaps and bounds since it came out, and of course Civ4 & 5 have a tonne more features than 3 did. It's more that it's the first time I've really noticed something in the real world that is too new to have made it into the game itself - the first time that I really feel like we are now living beyond the 'Modern Era'. One day, maybe not too soon, even the Modern Ear in Civ3 will feel as old as the ones that come before it.

Obviously things like smartphones have really taken off since then, but I'm not sure that would really make it into the game as a unit or as a technology. Drones, on the other hand, seemed a real omission, just because they'd make really interesting gameplay, regardless of all their ethical pitfalls.

Has anyone else noticed any other things that show the age of Civ3's content (*not* mechanics)?

 

[Jivilov]

OK, but how would drones be different from aircraft already in the game? You can do much the same thing with piloted aircraft (recon and bombing) while drones can't do air superiority, at least not yet.

 

[Lanzelot]

Globalization and off-shoring are not yet in the game: everything is still produced in your own cities...

 

[CommandoBob]

Has anyone else noticed any other things that show the age of Civ3's content (*not* mechanics)?

Umm...well...since you asked...

1. Facebook is not a Great Wonder.
2. Selfies do not increase happiness in a city.
3. The Small Wonder 'My Civ's Got Talent' cannot be built.

 

[Acronym]

OK, but how would drones be different from aircraft already in the game? You can do much the same thing with piloted aircraft (recon and bombing) while drones can't do air superiority, at least not yet.

Yeah - I guess this was more me marvelling at the inevitable pace of (real-world) history rather than wondering about how it could be implemented in the game (although - perhaps like an aircraft unit that could do 'surgical strikes', attacking without starting a way or causing war weariness, in the same way as the Privateer ship?).

I like Lanzelot's idea of globalisation - outsourcing producing everything to other countries. I really hope 'My Civ's Got Talent' does *not* become something significant enough to be immortalised in a historical-simulation game of the future!

 

[Buttercup]

Well... the game does already have The Internet, but it's a Great Wonder rather than a tech for some reason.

It's way to difficult to say at the moment what is and isn't important for a new era seeing as you need at least a good 50 years for a substantial view of important changes. Maybe post the topic again in 2050 and we can all have a good laugh at what was and wasn't an important change