Maybe it's just because I'm a trained linguist and all-around language nerd, but I've long fantasized about a Civ game that makes Language its own game concept, separate from but likely interacting in key ways with Culture. Maybe the player can watch his Civ's native tongue progress through Old, Middle, and Modern stages. Maybe each city develops its own dialect over time, and an important accomplishment may be the standardization of the national language via a Language Academy built in the Government Plaza (this idea in particular would work really well as part of the broader Centralization concept that I propose in another thread). Additionally, perhaps the propagation of the standard is done mainly through a Public School building. Meanwhile, the international prestige of your language can be enhanced mainly with Great Writers, Trade Routes, etc. For example, if your civilization attracts alot of trade, tourism,a and especially Great Works of Literature, you can watch as your language rises in status from National Language to Regional Lingua Franca and maybe even to Global Lingua Franca. Maybe a prestigious language gives you perks in diplomacy or cultural influence.
What do you think? Has anyone else pondered this possibility?
What do you think? Has anyone else pondered this possibility?
I'd be delighted to see this happen, though I might treat it as part of a broader Ethnicity mechanic.
). A lot of my inspiration here is Endless Space and its sequel, but I'd rather not take that inspiration too far and have specific ethnicities give specific bonuses (that works fine for aliens but risks running into stereotype territory or worse when applied to real life people groups). Still, even without Amplitude's specific population bonuses, it could lead to some really nuanced gameplay mechanics around diplomatic relations, immigration, minority populations, culture, and religion. Some civs could interact with these mechanics in really interesting ways, too.
