Humankind Game by Amplitude

[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

US and China is the only ones that have obviously been shown. Sweden is not a sure pick, but one early video showed a city called Malmö and the screenshot show something that could be Ericsson Globen as their emblematic quarter and their EU have been hinted to be either the JAS39 Gripen or Visby Corvett, the second one would obviously tie them to the Norse civ, similar to how Franks and French both have a cavalry EU.

After that it get a bit more dark. Soviet/Russia may be one pick, however the industrial era have a culture called Russian, there have been similar with Persia and Persia but they have added dynastic names to separate them.

 

[Krajzen]

It seems these are the main guesses of contemporary cultures:

• Americans (USA)
• Australians
• Brazilians
• Chinese
• Indians
• Japanese
• Soviets
• Swedes
• Turks

The last culture the main guesses is an african or middle east culture, guesses have been Nigerians, Egyptians and Sauid arabians.

I'd rather say it would be America, Brazil, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Soviets, Sweden, Vietnam and Ethiopia.

South Korea, Vietnam and Ethiopia are all important players of the Cold War era, and devs seem to love putting "conflicted nations" in the game (it was even confirmed as one of reasons why Umayyads were chosen over Abbasids). Korea is also an economic miracle powerhouse since 80s, Ethiopia is emblematic for African history and politics, and Vietnam is a very rare example of a viable and proud modern candidate for a Militarist affinity. Who has a "nemesis factor" with USA and PRC.

Meanwhile devs don't seem to care about "let's represent every region in every era" OCD, and anyway (with all due respect) no singular Islamic country over last 100 years has been extremely, spectacularly, globally accomplished regarding Humankind's criteria of success. Although I do think that Turkey should get in at some later point. Preferably with an Aestethe affinity, as it is the last country on Earth you want to name "militarist" if you wanna avoid engaging in political controversy.

As for Sweden, personally I consider it a bad choice, as it would be amazing Industrial or especially Early Modern culture. While 20th century Europe could get Finland, Switzerland, Belgium or Czechoslovakia. Especially Finland seems a missed opportunity, as it would represent basically everything Sweden does but also with the added massive cool factor of Winter War (and nemesis factor vs Soviets) and without early modern era tradeoff.

 

[Jkchart]

I'd rather say it would be America, Brazil, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Soviets, Sweden, Vietnam and Ethiopia.

South Korea, Vietnam and Ethiopia are all important players of the Cold War era, and devs seem to love putting "conflicted nations" in the game (it was even confirmed as one of reasons why Umayyads were chosen over Abbasids). Korea is also an economic miracle powerhouse since 80s, Ethiopia is emblematic for African history and politics, and Vietnam is a very rare example of a viable and proud modern candidate for a Militarist affinity. Who has a "nemesis factor" with USA and PRC.

Meanwhile devs don't seem to care about "let's represent every region in every era" OCD, and anyway (with all due respect) no singular Islamic country over last 100 years has been extremely, spectacularly, globally accomplished regarding Humankind's criteria of success. Although I do think that Turkey should get in at some later point. Preferably with an Aestethe affinity, as it is the last country on Earth you want to name "militarist" if you wanna avoid engaging in political controversy.

As for Sweden, personally I consider it a bad choice, as it would be amazing Industrial or especially Early Modern culture. While 20th century Europe could get Finland, Switzerland, Belgium or Czechoslovakia. Especially Finland seems a missed opportunity, as it would represent basically everything Sweden does but also with the added massive cool factor of Winter War (and nemesis factor vs Soviets) and without early modern era tradeoff.

I can see most of these.

They would likely go with just a "Korean" culture for this era though. Vietnam, Ethiopia, and Japan are all good bets.

I pause on Brazil simply because they would be the only South American faction after they decided on cutting Incas for release and i think it could be released as part of a DLC pack down the line (probably a relatively high priority pack though). I can see them going either way, in or out.

I'm excited to see and just want more info already dangit!

 

[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

I'd rather say it would be America, Brazil, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Soviets, Sweden, Vietnam and Ethiopia.

South Korea, Vietnam and Ethiopia are all important players of the Cold War era, and devs seem to love putting "conflicted nations" in the game (it was even confirmed as one of reasons why Umayyads were chosen over Abbasids). Korea is also an economic miracle powerhouse since 80s, Ethiopia is emblematic for African history and politics, and Vietnam is a very rare example of a viable and proud modern candidate for a Militarist affinity. Who has a "nemesis factor" with USA and PRC.

I don't know if warfare should be such a big deal for culture picks, and keep in mind we should see them as cultures not as nations. Koreans probably make more sense than South Koreans as a culture. Turks probably have good merit since they avoided the faith of colonizations or being split like many others of the time and they also have ties to past cultures like ottomans. Ethiopians seems like a good pick for contemporary. I think both Turks and Ethiopians are likely. Koreans feels like a good pick, they have direct connections to past cultures and is a good example of strong development during the Contemporary era, atleast South Korea is, but North Korea should not be forgotten either assuming a Korean culture.

As for Sweden, personally I consider it a bad choice, as it would be amazing Industrial or especially Early Modern culture. While 20th century Europe could get Finland, Switzerland, Belgium or Czechoslovakia. Especially Finland seems a missed opportunity, as it would represent basically everything Sweden does but also with the added massive cool factor of Winter War (and nemesis factor vs Soviets) and without early modern era tradeoff.

I would not discount contemporary Sweden, it is the place of nobel prize, have several unique military units, wikipedia supposedly said it was amongst the 5 strongest nations during cold war but how it got that idea I do not know. Economically and social it have been amongst the most successful in the world. I'm not sure you can get everything Sweden is with one of the suggested countries, in the end they are different. Also Sweden do have a direct connection to the norse culture while I'm not sure the same can be said about all the suggested cultures to replace Sweden. Given we do not know how dlcs and new cultures will work, I don't think we can say that contemporary Swedish mean no early modern Swedish if they wanted a such culture they will make it.

It may help to try to guess the affinities of the cultures:

• Americans = Aesthete
• Australians = Merchant
• Brazilians = Aesthete
• Chinese = Builder
• Ethiopians = Builder
  
• Koreans = Scientist
  
• Indians = Agriculture
• Japanese = Aesthete
• Soviets = Builder
• Swedes = Merchant
• Turks = Aesthete
• Vietnamese = Militarist

Too many Aesthetes and builders while no expansionist.

 

[Atlas627]

I think Contemporary is the era we will see no Scientist affinities, since a large part of their bonus is being able to research one era ahead (which doesn't exist).

Americans - Expansionist (plenty can be Aesthete, but only a few cultures could be Expansionist for the last era, which I expect will have gameplay focused on endgame conflict)
Arabians - Mercantile (OPEC)
Australians - Agrarian (Outback Stations)
Brazilians - Aesthete (Carnival)
Chinese - Builder (sheer industrial power)
Ethiopians - I have no idea
Japanese - Expansionist (combining WWII era with economic power for afterward)
Koreans - Mercantile (Asian Tiger)
Soviets - Militarist (someone needs to be)
Vietnamese - Militarist (again, someone needs to be)


Arguments could easily be made for all of these cultures being all the affinities, but I think having a balance among the affinities is the factor that will assign the affinities. That is also I think what will decide who even gets in in the first place.

The Americans are an obvious choice, and both them and the Chinese we've seen pictures of. The other Chinese cultures were named after their dynasties, so maybe this would be called Modern Chinese instead of just Chinese, but I think it will just be Chinese.

The Arabians are a solid choice to represent the Muslim world through this period, participating in many conflicts, a player in the world economy, and playing off both the US and USSR in the Cold War.

The Australian continent hasn't had any representation, there aren't many good options to be Agrarian except them, and there really isn't any other era to put them in.

The Brazilians are a solid choice to represent the Latin world through this period, participating in many conflicts and a more recent player in the world economy.

Ethiopians I think are in because they bothered naming the earlier culture Aksumites, and they didn't reveal Ethiopia for the previous era.

Japanese I think are in because they bothered naming the earlier culture Edo Japanese (which means this might be Modern Japanese), and they have been an important player in the world economy as well as WWII which I think is included in this Era.

Koreans I think are in because they bothered naming the earlier culture Joseon, and the Asian Tiger phenomenon needs representation.

Soviets are in because duh.

The Vietnamese I am least confident about on this list. I find the arguments about having adversarial relationships persuasive, and also the arguments about a Militarist affinity, which I think the final age will want multiple of.

 

[grug]

They have said there may be some surprises with the choices they make this era, so while I expect the rivalry thing they have going to be the Cold War, I think it would be really interesting if it was decolonization instead. It could totally change which cultures they pick. US and USSR would still be in, but it could change some of the other choices.

My guesses for a Cold War focus would be:

- Brazil (Mct)
- Canada (Aes)
- India (Agr)
- Japan (Sci)
- Korea (Mlt)
- PRC (Bld)
- South Africa (Aes)
- Sweden (Sci)
- USA (Mct)
- USSR (Mlt)

But my guesses for a decolonization focus would be more like:

- Brazil (Mct)
- India (Agr)
- Indonesia (Aes)
- Japan (Exp)
- Nigeria (Aes)
- PRC (Bld)
- Sweden (Sci)
- USA (Mct)
- USSR (Bld)
- Vietnam (Mlt)

I don't at all expect that to be the case, particularly expansionist Japan, but it would be an interesting take on what to include in the telling of the history of the past century.

 

[CivLuvah]

*Ring of PA system*

Hype train for Humankind leaves station in... 24 hours

 

[Gwydden]

I guess I should lay down my guesses, before the train departs... Americans, Chinese, Soviets, and Swedes are practically confirmed, which leaves six for speculation:

• Japanese: I'll be surprised if they gave the Early Modern Japanese culture such an awkward name for no reason.
• Vietnamese: One of the few where "Militarist" might be taken as a compliment. Also our third Southeast Asian culture!
• Koreans: Similar but somewhat less suspicious than Japan, the Early Modern version is called Joseon.

I am less certain about the next three:

• Brazilians: No South American faction yet and this seems the most likely option for Latin America.
• Australians: No culture representing Oceania yet and quite popular in Civ, I believe.
  
• Ethiopians: Nice continuity with Aksum and I don't think they'll skip Africa a second time.

Jkchart makes a good point about Brazil. Weirdly, I could see them going for Cuba as it better fits the apparent Cold War theme. Australia has the weakest ties to it, so maybe we could see a Muslim country instead—perhaps Iran? And since Ethiopia is such a good fit for a future Industrial civ (though you could say something similar of the Swedes) I could envision a different African country like Nigeria instead. Call these backup guesses!

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

Well, time to throw another set of Scientific Wld-A** Guesses into the Pot . . .

Given that the last Era covers such a wide set of circumstances and events (basically, World War One to the present day) I think they could go two ways with a resulting slightly different set of Factions and Attributes.

IF they want to refight World War Two (and before you start arguing, remember that Wold War Two is the single most popular subject in military history: when I worked at a Barnes & Noble bookstore, the section containing books on WWII was as large as all the other military history sections put together), then in addition to the 'confirmed' Americans, Soviets, and Chinese they would need Japan, Germany, and a representative of the British Empire. I suggest that that last could be Australia or Canada, both of which provided substantial forces to the European theater of the war.

I think the largest obstacle to such a formula is having a second Germany in two Eras, when the second one would inevitably be associated with the most inept regime in German history. IMHO, scratch WWII as a basis for the last Era.

IF on the other hand, they concentrate on the post-WWII Cold War, then Americans, Soviets, Chinese and Swedes make more sense. Sweden, in fact, innovated a lot of military hardware in that period: the first swept-wing jet fighter in Europe (even before the MiG-15), the S-Tank, arctic warfare vehicles, and an automatic-loading burst-firing 155mm self-propelled artillery piece that would make one Heck of a dangerous Emblematic Unit.

That formulation would also make including Vietnam and Australia and a modern India good bets. For the middle east, I don't think Saudi Arabia is likely given that all of its modern influence is due to it sitting on a sea of Oil, but the big and influential (both militarily and culturally) powers there are Egypt and Turkey.

In South/Central America Cuba is an intriguing possibility, but also to consider is that the three largest and militarily significant states in the area are Argentina, Brazil and Chile, and only one of them has appeared in any historical game 4X lately.

So, my bets would be:
America
China
Russia/Soviet Union
Sweden
Vietnam
Australia
Egypt
India
Cuba
Brazil (but wouldn't be at all surprised to see Argentina or Chle instead, or een Peru as a 'modern' Inca inclusion!)

 

[mitsho]

Sigh, i promised myself not to guess anymore, but here we go:

Americans
Brazilians
Chinese
Ethiopians
Indians
Japanese
Koreans
Soviets
Swedes
Wildcard.

(I'd go with Turkey, but I believe they will opt for Canada/Australia/Czechoslovakia/Romania as one more "European" nation. Historiographically, I'd go with Yugoslavia or South Africa. But both of those have problems and I'd rather have the latter in my dreamed up "Near Future Era expansion pack DLC". I do hope they will eventually end up at 15 or 20 cultures per era, so there's plenty of space later on. Edit: There‘s also Vietnam, Nigeria, Pakistan or an Arab state - just so I have noted down every possibility for my wildcard )

 

[KrikkitTwo]

I’d say for the 6 guesses

Japan
India *
South Africa *
Brazil *
Korea/Vietnam **
Arabia/Iran/Iraq */ Afghanistan**

*regional power balancing Cold War powers
**actual cold war “War” takes place here

 

[CivLuvah]

The culture reveals this time are in a video format.
https://twitter.com/humankindgame/status/1382000713757290497?s=19

Now how am I going to add this to my Imgur album?

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

Hummmm. 'Expansionist' makes sense only if you consider it to mean Expansion of Influence rather than Conquest. For all that the declared American Cold War diplomatic posture was "containment of Communism" that included aggressive military action against Vietnam and Korea, an abortive military intervention against Cuba, and 'proxy' military and financial support all over the world against Them Commies.

It looks like the Lightning means the F-35. On the one hand, American Air Power has been the basis for a lot of American intervention since 1941, on the other hand, the F-35 is turning out to be a Turkey and a Hangar Queen: massively over any rational budget cost and almost impossible to keep in the air: it may turn out to be the Edsel of the Sky for the USAF.

 

[Atlas627]

The culture reveals this time are in a video format.
https://twitter.com/humankindgame/status/1382000713757290497?s=19

Now how am I going to add this to my Imgur album?

Just add a specific frame. 17s is a good one.

 

[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

Hummmm. 'Expansionist' makes sense only if you consider it to mean Expansion of Influence rather than Conquest.

I tought they would be given Aesthete for that reason but expansionist do make sense, especially, more so since in the game you don't really play as a country but as some sort of larger entity which also help explain how these massive culture changes can happen in each era. If we see the territories as something an area a specific culture or cultures dominate, I could see how americans could be seen as expansionist.

I also think based on Lucy open dev that the expansionist ability did not work very well since the scope of using that ability was very limited, you needed to have open borders but at the same time not be at war with the target.

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

I also think based on Lucy open dev that the expansionist ability did not work very well since the scope of using that ability was very limited, you needed to have open borders but at the same time not be at war with the target.

- And based on that, I bet we may see a modification of the Expansionist ability in the next (week's!) Open Dev to test something that has more scope.

And of course, Open Borders and Not At War pretty nearly defines America's preferred relationship with most of the world during the Cold War . . .

 

[CivLuvah]

Just add a specific frame. 17s is a good one.

I'll try to find a way.

 

[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

I think the idea to be able to take control over a territory without war is a bit extreme, I'm not sure how you can balance that, if an expansionist enter your territory you would likely go to war with them. Getting expansionist era stars was very hard, I managed to get all possible era stars in a single game during Lucy open dev and getting the early modern expansionist stars required basically total control over the map. On other hand what would be a good ability for expansionist could world, also I did not use the expansionist ability a single time.

I feel both the fame stars part and the ability part of expansionist affinity needs a rework from the open dev.

 

[Jkchart]

It looks like the Lightning means the F-35. On the one hand, American Air Power has been the basis for a lot of American intervention since 1941, on the other hand, the F-35 is turning out to be a Turkey and a Hangar Queen: massively over any rational budget cost and almost impossible to keep in the air: it may turn out to be the Edsel of the Sky for the USAF.

True but in Humankind it doesn't have to sit in the hanger i think the F-15 would have been a better choice but it's nice to see them at least try to be different

EDIT: It's apparently projected to be in operation until 2070 or later based on a quick search, so maybe they wanted something future-adjacent on purpose?

 

[KrikkitTwo]

I think the idea to be able to take control over a territory without war is a bit extreme, I'm not sure how you can balance that, if an expansionist enter your territory you would likely go to war with them. Getting expansionist era stars was very hard, I managed to get all possible era stars in a single game during Lucy open dev and getting the early modern expansionist stars required basically total control over the map. On other hand what would be a good ability for expansionist could world, also I did not use the expansionist ability a single time.

I feel both the fame stars part and the ability part of expansionist affinity needs a rework from the open dev.

Possibly being able to place outposts in other civ's territories without claiming them. (but still extracting some benefit) [if the civ doesn't like it can declare war on you and trash the outpost]
That would fit since England, Germany, Japan, Canada, Arabia, etc. host plenty of US military bases without being the 51st-101st states.