Humankind Game by Amplitude

[AntSou]

I saw on one of the tweets that you can harass sheep with the mouse cursor.

Can I push sheep off a cliff in this game?

Asking the real questions.
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Any news on how moddable the game will be? Don't want to read through the whole thread to find out.

 

[CivLuvah]

Any news on how moddable the game will be? Don't want to read through the whole thread to find out.

I hope so. I need more than 60 cultures in my game

 

[Zaarin]

Harappan is a Blank Slate: Pre-Indo-European and unrelated to any modern language, as far as I know.

Proto-Dravidian is a popular theory, just like Proto-Oto-Manguean for Olmec. I think the latter has more support, though, while the former has alternate theories competing with it.

(I have never played Birth of the Federation, I may be a little too young for that in my thirties... )

You're older than I am so you must have just missed out.

Any news on how moddable the game will be?

I'd expect it to be pretty moddable; Amplitude's previous games have been.

 

[SupremacyKing2]

I do hope that Humankind will have a real Earth map at some point either in the initial release or later in a mod from a fan if there is a map editor. I know doing a true location start would be impossible since you pick a culture after you start on the map but playing on a real Earth map is always fun. So I hope that will be an option at some point. And starting as a neolithic tribe on a real Earth map and then picking a culture would just be super cool.

 

[SupremacyKing2]

Here is the 10 minute gameplay demo without any commentary, just the game itself with the in-game sounds. And yes, the units do speak!

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

Proto-Dravidian is a popular theory, just like Proto-Oto-Manguean for Olmec. I think the latter has more support, though, while the former has alternate theories competing with it.

The latest theory on the Olmec that I've seen is that different 'Olmec' cities may have spoken different languages completely. On the one hand, this means there is more scope for finding something vaguely 'authentic' for any in-game language, on the other hand all the potential suspects are pretty obscure. There is a 1000-word Proto-Mixe/Zocque dictionary that has been compiled which might be a starting point, but that's the largest 'vocabulary' of near-Olmec that I know of.

 

[Elhoim]

@Catoninetales_Amplitude : Something I noticed is that when placing a city or quarter you don't get the sum of the yields like in EL. Can you ask for it to be added? It was EXTREMELY great not having to count tile yields.

 

[AntSou]

I love how clean the interface looks.

I think about 25%-33% of my enthusiasm for Crusader Kings III is down to the sleek UI as well
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The units speak English though... hmmm. Not sure what to think of that. Might be better if they don't speak at all.

 

[Siptah]

@Catoninetales_Amplitude : Something I noticed is that when placing a city or quarter you don't get the sum of the yields like in EL. Can you ask for it to be added? It was EXTREMELY great not having to count tile yields.

Seconded!

 

[Krajzen]

I do hope that Humankind will have a real Earth map at some point either in the initial release or later in a mod from a fan if there is a map editor. I know doing a true location start would be impossible since you pick a culture after you start on the map but playing on a real Earth map is always fun. So I hope that will be an option at some point. And starting as a neolithic tribe on a real Earth map and then picking a culture would just be super cool.

Well let me tell you, dividing real world on "territories" is quite fun endeavour. Also while doing this I like territorial divide of HK world more and more, its just such a nice balance and aestethics tool built into maps.

Of couse in HK classical TSL map doesn't work. But...
1) You make ten starting positions and give them to appropriate cultures:
Egypt (Egypt), Iraq (Babylon), Balkans (Mycenae), Tunisia (Phoenicia), Ethiopia (Nubia), Mexico (Olmec), China (Zhou), India (Harappa), Kazakhstan (Assyria, yeah I know), Italy (Hittites, yeah I know)
2) Use mod to "force" following civs to change cultures in Classical era IF ALIVE (may also give them chance to remain)
Mycenae -> Greece
Phoenicia -> Carthage
Hittites -> Rome (yeah I know)
Harappa -> Maurya
Olmec -> Maya
Babylon -> Persia
Nubia -> Axum
Assyria -> Huns (yeah I know)
Zhou -> force not to change cultures into anything except possibly Ming and modern China
3) Use mod to "force" following civs to change cultures IF ALIVE (may also give them chance to remain) in Medieval Era
Greeks -> Byzantium
Huns -> Mongols
Rome -> Franks
Persia -> Umayyads
Maya -> Aztec
Axum -> Ghana

And so on with further eras.
Now we feel almost at home, don't we? The only thing missing is some mods which also add more "slots" and more cultures (additional starting positions in Americas, Europe and Africa would be really needed)

If the game had just a few modding capabilities, then its format wouldnt't be an obstacle but a promise for TSL maps...

Generally wonders could be achieved if the game allowed modding "lock the certain culture so AI only follows it with culture X, Y, or remains the same"

 

[SupremacyKing2]

Well let me tell you, dividing real world on "territories" is quite fun endeavour. Also while doing this I like territorial divide of HK world more and more, its just such a nice balance and aestethics tool built into maps.

Of couse in HK classical TSL map doesn't work. But...
1) You make ten starting positions:
Egypt (Egypt), Iraq (Babylon), Balkans (Mycenae), Tunisia (Phoenicia), Ethiopia (Nubia), Mexico (Olmec), China (Zhou), India (Harappa), Kazakhstan (Assyria, yeah I know), Italy (Hittites, yeah I know)
2) Use mod to "force" following civs to change cultures in Classical era IF ALIVE (may also give them chance to remain)
Mycenae -> Greece
Phoenicia -> Carthage
Hittites -> Rome (yeah I know)
Harappa -> Maurya
Olmec -> Maya
Babylon -> Persia
Nubia -> Axum
Assyria -> Huns (yeah I know)
Zhou -> force not to change cultures into anything except possibly Ming and modern China
3) Use mod to "force" following civs to change cultures IF ALIVE (may also give them chance to remain) in Medieval Era
Greeks -> Byzantium
Huns -> Mongols
Rome -> Franks
Persia -> Umayyads
Maya -> Aztec
Axum -> Ghana

And so on with further eras.
Now we feel almost at home, don't we? The only thing missing is some mods which also add more "slots" and more cultures (additional starting positions in Americas, Europe and Africa would be really needed)

If the game had just a few modding capabilities, then its format wouldnt't be an obstacle but a promise for TSL maps...

That would be fantastic. I would LOVE that!

 

[Siptah]

Found this screenshot of the civics screen in another video. I like that you can immediately see which direction you have chosen in earlier civics. Furthermore, it's interesting to see that this player has unlocked far more civics than he has civic points available, yet he seems to have 'skipped' some that are not unlocked yet.

Spoiler :

 

[Siptah]

@Catoninetales_Amplitude first, congratulations on the summer press tour for Humankind. It seemed to be a huge success and everybody was enthusiastic about the game.
All the previous mentioned that fame system and that you win if you have the most fame after 300 turns. I hope that the turn number is customizable and you can also choose to play just 100 turns or whatever. How about having an option to set the finish line in fame instead of turns? The first player to 2000 fame wins, for example. Or the first player to reach 400 fame and a 30% fame lead wins?

 

[CivLuvah]

Found this screenshot of the civics screen in another video. I like that you can immediately see which direction you have chosen in earlier civics. Furthermore, it's interesting to see that this player has unlocked far more civics than he has civic points available, yet he seems to have 'skipped' some that are not unlocked yet.

Spoiler :

View attachment 560433

Wait... classical?

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

Found this screenshot of the civics screen in another video. I like that you can immediately see which direction you have chosen in earlier civics. Furthermore, it's interesting to see that this player has unlocked far more civics than he has civic points available, yet he seems to have 'skipped' some that are not unlocked yet.

Spoiler :

View attachment 560433

In Amplitude's previous game Endless Legend the Tech 'Tree' was more of a 'Bush', and there was no progression within an Era - you simply had to research X number of Techs, and could research them in any order within the Era, but not touch the next Era's Techs until you progressed to that Era
Humankind seems to be adopting something like this method for 'Civics' in that there is no obvious 'progression' from one Civic to the next. This makes the potential variety within a Faction of Civic and Social 'Policies' even more enormous than I first thought: the same Faction could have a wildly variable Culture and Society as defined by your Civic choices,, and some of those choices will effect Production, Gold, and Units - and keep on affecting them even after you change Factions in the next Era.

Now I wonder how many Later choices will act to 'Reverse' earlier Choices. That is, once started down the path of being Anarcho-Fascists, how easy is it to Change Course in the later Eras with later Civic choices? And how many, if any, later choices are absolutely Precluded by your earlier choices?

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

Starting a potential new discussion . . .

First, let me remind everyone that today, 22 June, is Multiple Historical Anniversaries:

1. It is the anniversary of Napoleon's Invasion of Russia in 1812
2. It is the anniversary of Hitler's Invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941
3. It is the anniversary of the Red Army's Bagratian offensive in 1944 that obliterated the German Army Group Center.

In short, it is the worst possible day to be a soldier in Eastern Europe!

But, it also brings up an interesting point about what we know about Humankind's Combat System in relation to the system used in Civ VI.

In Humankind each tile can contain an army of 4 or more units (based on their previous Endless Legend game, I suspect that later in the game the original 4-unit "regiment' we have seen can hold 6, 8 or more units). That 'Army' can fight a 3-phase battle in a single game turn, so can presumably largely conclude a battle in that time.
In Civ VI, one tile contains one unit, and to completely defeat an enemy unit/tile can take several turns.

Which means, in Civ VI none of those historical invasions/battles can be represented in time and space. Even on Huge maps, the entire Russian border will only hold 12 - 20 units, and defeating any percentage of them would take, in game scale, Years, not weeks. World War Two or the Napoleonic Wars cannot be refought in Civ VI.

In Humankind, that same border at the same scale could be 12 - 20 tiles each with an average of 5 + units, or easily over 100 units in all. AND the initial battles with those units could mostly be concluded in a single turn. Not saying you can advance half-way across Russia in a single year/turn as Napoleon or the Wehrmacht did, but the sheer scale of those actions, with millions of men fighting in a single game-turn equivalent, can be shown in Humankind.

Now I wonder if the folks at Amplitude planned to get closer to Historical Battle/War scales, or it is a serendepitic consequence arising from their use of the Endless Legend combat system in a Historical 4X context?

 

[CivLuvah]

That 'Army' can fight a 3-phase battle in a single game turn, so can presumably largely conclude a battle in that time.

I thought, based on GamerZakh's video on combat, it's three turns equals three rounds. Or am I hearing it wrong?

 

[Elhoim]

I thought, based on GamerZakh's video on combat, it's three turns equals three rounds. Or am I hearing it wrong?

Pretty sure you are hearing it wrong, or he explained it wrong. In every other video/preview, it's three rounds inside a single turn, like in EL.

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

Pretty sure you are hearing it wrong, or he explained it wrong. In every other video/preview, it's three rounds inside a single turn, like in EL.

Exactly: 3 'rounds' of combat in a single turn, and a 'deployment' phase at the beginning where you tweak where your units are after the 'battlefield' spreads out from the map. I'm not sure how much movement you can actually do in that deployment: from the screenshots I saw it looks very limited, and the battlefields aren't that big, at least in the early game and especially if, say, you were fielding an all-cavalry maneuver army of Huns or Goths. I would suspect that the battlefields will get larger as the possible number of units in a 'regiment' get larger.

 

[AntSou]

Combat was the thing I enjoyed the least in Endless Legend.

Yet if you had described the system to me prior to playing the game (give your units orders and they'll attempt to follow them), I'd be excited to try it out.

So I liked the idea in principle but not in practice.

I'm hoping I won't feel the same in regards to Humankind's combat.
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Has anyone here gotten access to the beta yet? How is it?