dagriggstar
King
More a discussion point than a suggestion, interested in peoples thoughts on how many unique bonuses each faction should get. For instance in VI we have the civ ability, leader ability, unique infrastructure (improvement/building/district) and unique unit (some have multiple).
I find having a civ ability and leader ability a bit cluttered. Like technically random leaders for each civ should work, but then you look at something like Kupe leading the Malinese (Start in Ocean without sailing or shipbuilding somehow).
I would go
Leader Ability
Unique Great People (To replace having civ abilities. This allows you to for instance adapt England to an inland start. It also means you don't roll say Russia as an opponent and just never great any great people as a result).
Unique Unit (I only want one though, it should feel like a big opportunity)
Unique Infrastructure
A starting technology (To vary starts more between each civ)
I think that's enough uniqueness while also not being so much as to scare away new players. In particular the great person thing, like if you hit a new player with say 6 bonuses (Sumeria for instance) at the game start they spend like 15 minutes just reading. You have one ability to start the game (the leader ability), to sort of define your playthrough, then as your knowledge of the game increases you add more abilities as you go. You also avoid "cool I'm France, I get to play through two eras of being generic before my earliest unique comes up".
I find having a civ ability and leader ability a bit cluttered. Like technically random leaders for each civ should work, but then you look at something like Kupe leading the Malinese (Start in Ocean without sailing or shipbuilding somehow).
I would go
Leader Ability
Unique Great People (To replace having civ abilities. This allows you to for instance adapt England to an inland start. It also means you don't roll say Russia as an opponent and just never great any great people as a result).
Unique Unit (I only want one though, it should feel like a big opportunity)
Unique Infrastructure
A starting technology (To vary starts more between each civ)
I think that's enough uniqueness while also not being so much as to scare away new players. In particular the great person thing, like if you hit a new player with say 6 bonuses (Sumeria for instance) at the game start they spend like 15 minutes just reading. You have one ability to start the game (the leader ability), to sort of define your playthrough, then as your knowledge of the game increases you add more abilities as you go. You also avoid "cool I'm France, I get to play through two eras of being generic before my earliest unique comes up".