Humankind Game by Amplitude

[Nerevatar]

Just tagging @Catoninetales_Amplitude so he can find the new sub forum and dont have to spend time looking around

 

[Catoninetales_Amplitude]

I had no problem finding the thread. My bookmark just redirects here automatically.
And honestly, a subforum is already more than we expected. We would have been content with the thread being renamed and moved, so please be polite about the placement of the subforum.

Have you guys considered making maps on the Kavrayskiy or Robinson projection? Just tossing the idea around, I think it's probably too late for changes now, but could be something to research in the future... I don't know if it's feasible, but it sure would look great!

Frankly, as far as I can tell the specifics of map projection rarely enter the discussion when designing and developing the map generator, as we are not projecting a real globe. It may become relevant for any map scripts based on the real world (be that all of earth or some specific sup-part.) But as Gedemon pointed out, map projections with bent edges may not be the most useful for that, either. If we have to take into account bent edges of the map because we want to achieve a good compromise of maintaining distances, areas, and angles, it might be time to stop and reconsider if we should just move to a globe entirely.

 

[Elhoim]

How does it work for world wrap with these projections ?

I think what would matter more is the continent shape, closer to reality, it could be made a square by cutting and adding some water.

But in any case, I prefer maps with slighter deformations to fit the gameplay better (like enlarged europe).

 

[VermelhoRed]

it might be time to stop and reconsider if we should just move to a globe entirely.

I fully support legit global maps if they're feasible

 

[Lord Xavius]

Do we know yet whether or not the x2 Aesthete, Merchant, Warmonger / x1 Agrarian, Builder, Expansionist, Scientist type distribution will continue with the other ages?

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

Do we know yet whether or not the x2 Aesthete, Merchant, Warmonger / x1 Agrarian, Builder, Expansionist, Scientist type distribution will continue with the other ages?

I expect we will find out Tuesday.

 

[Siptah]

Since the unique quarter of the Zhou is now known, we can identify this screenshot as a Zhou city. Nice city center...

Spoiler :

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

Since the unique quarter of the Zhou is now known, we can identify this screenshot as a Zhou city. Nice city center...

Spoiler :

View attachment 546136

I'm still curious about that monster pagoda in the background.

 

[Siptah]

I'm still curious about that monster pagoda in the background.

Hm... we saw lighthouses on coastal tiles in other screenshots. Maybe it is just like that?

 

[Nerevatar]

please be polite about the placement of the subforum.

Didnt mean to come off snarky about the subforum, sorry. Im just happy about the interaction and wanted to give you as easy a time as possible in return.

Back on topic: isnt that big structure the main building atop the terracotta army?

 

[Siptah]

Didnt mean to come off snarky about the subforum, sorry. Im just happy about the interaction and wanted to give you as easy a time as possible in return.

Back on topic: isnt that big structure the main building atop the terracotta army?

I think it is just the city center of a Zhou city. The city center has to be in inside these walls and the other salient building is the confucian school emblematic quarter.

 

[Lord Xavius]

This is the first result I get when Googling for "Zhou dynasty palace":

So it checks out.

 

[Eddie Verdde]

Those would be much better than the extremely overrated Mercator projection. Practically every single modern cartographer is tired of the Mercator projection (the traditional one with Ellesmere Island in northern Nunavut larger than Australia and Greenland being larger than South America).

That's why I mentioned the (irrealistic) excess of tundra in civ maps, a couple of pages back.

This is how a map should look to keep the actual proportions of area from the equator to the poles:

https://geoawesomeness.com/after-this-video-youll-never-trust-a-map-again/

But then there's the wrapping problems as somenone mentioned, so I guess we better get used to Mercator's projections.

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

Since the unique quarter of the Zhou is now known, we can identify this screenshot as a Zhou city. Nice city center...

Spoiler :

View attachment 546136

Look closely at the city walls: while they are still 'curtain' walls (European style) instead of the correct Rammed Earth, the towers on the walls have a Chinese-style superstructure and roof.
So, assuming everybody gets to build city walls in Classical/Medieval Eras, does that mean that even 'ordinary' city structures are graphically specific to regions or Factions?
Wow.

 

[FinalDoomsday]

More graphical diversity between civs cities and units the better I personally find it a much better allocation of resources than animated 3d leaders.

Can we really expect each civ to have its own city centre graphics? And I wonder how many generic building styles there will be with the sprawl. As some one who doesn't like playing civs in civ 6 that don't have their own unique palace this is exciting indeed!

 

[Matthias Corvinus]

More graphical diversity between civs cities and units the better I personally find it a much better allocation of resources than animated 3d leaders.

Can we really expect each civ to have its own city centre graphics? And I wonder how many generic building styles there will be with the sprawl. As some one who doesn't like playing civs in civ 6 that don't have their own unique palace this is exciting indeed!

Perhaps Amplitude has been working on this project for much longer than previously thought, Firaxis hasn’t been working nearly as hard as they used to, or it is a combination of both. You may be correct with your assumption, but I am just trying to get my own hopes up after the severe content drought from Firaxis.

 

[AntSou]

That's why I mentioned the (irrealistic) excess of tundra in civ maps, a couple of pages back.

This is how a map should look to keep the actual proportions of area from the equator to the poles:

https://geoawesomeness.com/after-this-video-youll-never-trust-a-map-again/

But then there's the wrapping problems as somenone mentioned, so I guess we better get used to Mercator's projections.

But none of that matters unless one is using a real map of earth. True Start Location would make no sense in Humankind. It might actually feel a bit silly imo.

Since one relies on map generation to create a fantasy land, projections do not matter.

Besides, not everyone will agree less tundra is better. I like diminishing returns applied to expansion, and having to fight for the most fertile lands. Making everything fertile is no fun.

And then of course there's the issue of playability. The map you provided is terrible, regardless of how realistic. Something like 3/4 of all the civs would be squashed in the first top third of the map, which is why nobody uses that in Civ.

 

[Eddie Verdde]

But none of that matters unless one is using a real map of earth. True Start Location would make no sense in Humankind. It might actually feel a bit silly imo.

Since one relies on map generation to create a fantasy land, projections do not matter.

Besides, not everyone will agree less tundra is better. I like diminishing returns applied to expansion, and having to fight for the most fertile lands. Making everything fertile is no fun.

And then of course there's the issue of playability. The map you provided is terrible, regardless of how realistic. Something like 3/4 of all the civs would be squashed in the first top third of the map, which is why nobody uses that in Civ.

I showed the map to demonstrate that, in Civ, maps have an excess of tundra and polar ice-caps when you play in a Earth-like world, that's all.
I never assumed that everyone prefers less tundra. But if someone wants to play in a barren world to increase competition for the fertile lands, there are dozens of possible combinations in the advanced setup to get such a map. Whereas if someone wants to play in a Earth-like map with Earth-like climate (e.g. Terra, not the actual Earth with Europe, Asia, etc.) there's no way to set the tundra and ice-caps to realistic areas, so the result is a map with about 1/3 of land where nothing happens. In adition, reducing the area of tundra doesn't necessariy imply that everything else would be fertile - there would still be mountains, deserts and jungles.

Using a non-Mercator map, most civs would be squashed in the first top third of the map, as you say, only if you're assuming a True-Earth Map and True Starting Locations. But that's not the reason why such a map never made it into Civ. The reason is just technical, and has to do with the problem of projecting a spherical, continual surface into a 2D area that can be "wrapped". And using this exact map and packing most of the civs into a limited, fertile land, while most part of the planet would be ocean and inhospitable jungle and desert, would create a scenario where the civs would actively compete for the best regions, which, I believe, is exactly what you like.

Anyway, we are talking about civ - we don't know how the game mechanics of Humankind will be affected by the map. So, we'll just have to wait and see,

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

What's nice about having it's own sub forum is we can now make threads about each culture as they are announced.

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

What's nice about having it's own sub forum is we can now make threads about each culture as they are announced.

- And a host of other, still open questions, like Religion and how they handle it, Social/Civic Policies, Diplomacy, Wonders, Combat, 'Avatars', etc., etc.