New DLC: Polynesia

I don't think they could rule the world, I don't think they have any wonders credited to them, and I don't think they advanced us in any way.
They were practically Neolithic.

I think one of the most impressive things about the Polynesian Civilization is that they accomplished all of their greatness in a vacuum. Most, if not all, other civilizations borrowed or stole some kind of technology from other cultures. For most of their time, the Polynesians discovered and developed the Pacific without the influence of anyone else.

Bravo!

I welcome their addition to the game.

Great job guys, keep the civs coming!
 
That's an excellent point as well.
 
Hey guys, glad to see all this discussion for the Polynesia DLC. I loved the addition of the civ itself - with Wayfinding and Maori warriors Polynesia can do some real damage on an archipelago map, finding natural wonders and spreading out early on. Also, building a "Great Wall of Moai" counteracts some of the negative aspects of expanding into unproductively tiled territory. That, and just just meeting Kamehameha and seeing his diplomacy backdrop while playing another civilization makes me want a Pina Colada.

That said, I hated Paradise Found. It was a fun mini-game, but it wasn't creative. At all. My favorite scenarios are the ones found in Civ II's Fantastic Worlds - Midgard, World of Jules Verne, X-Com. I'm a fan of creative scripting. Little things, like being able to see and attack Cook's ship, or receiving visual scripted bonuses for being the first to colonize the Kingdom of Hawaii, New Zealand, or Easter Island would have added some much-needed flavor. "Your voyage to the mysterious Easter Island has been woven into an epic song, greatly increasing your culture's Wayfinding tradition. +1 movement for all naval and embarked units."

Turns out I write for a blog and posted an entire review of it. Check it out below. But, more importantly, does anyone else feel like the Civ V scenarios released thusfar are a little bland as far as scripting even given their historical, less-fantastic-than-Midgard-or-Jules-Verne themes?

http://www.gamersguidetolife.com/2011/03/dlc-review-polynesia-civilization-and.html
 
Yeah, scripted events would be nice. I will say that nearly all of Civ 5's current scenarios are better than Civ 4 vanilla's scenarios....but you'd think Firaxis would have more scenario experience from their BtS days reflected in Civ 5. Some more creative juice is needed.
 
I played my first game as Polynesians. The free embark UA across oceans is really powerful.

They can add all the well known civs they want. Their are a lot of them in the world and for gameplay and originality it's nice.
 
Meh...

Perhaps they could come up with something for Arctic regions to compensate. Like seals for instance. They could add a little production to arctic cities and function more or less like atolls do.


EDIT: I would love to see an Inuit Civ. Add seals in for them. ^^

Yea, workers could construct "seal clubbing camps" (can't figure out how to insert the picture of the mallet in the text, as opposed to the title, but if I could it would be in here)
 
Does anyone know what happens if I capture a city with Moai statue tile improvements? Do they disappear? Do I get them but they do nothing? Would I get culture?
 
The Inuit didn't need technological inventions or the same human effort to live in Siberia and Alaska. They (likely) walked across a land bridge. They also don't have any of the monuments that compare to those on Easter Island or any of the complexities required to administer the Tongan empire. I also am pretty sure the geographic area occupied by Polynesia is greater and it's more difficult to travel from one place to the next.
 
the eskimos ruled the north-pole for centuries too:goodjob:
Who says the Inuit don't deserve there own civ?

The Inuit didn't need technological inventions or the same human effort to live in Siberia and Alaska. They (likely) walked across a land bridge. They also don't have any of the monuments that compare to those on Easter Island or any of the complexities required to administer the Tongan empire. I also am pretty sure the geographic area occupied by Polynesia is greater and it's more difficult to travel from one place to the next.

Thriving in the most frigid and inhospitable places on the planet should count as an achievement into its self. While it's true the Inuit didn't build any great national landmarks, this doesn't subtract the fact that there one of the oldest and largest(in area) cultural groups still around today.
 
Tower of text imminent...

It's apparent the extent of "civilization" for most, if not all Polynesian societies, has been obfuscated by Western colonization in the region. No doubt, the masses of Polynesian naysayers can't be blamed for not hearing about the true history of these Polynesian civilizations in Western schools. Here's some enlightenment from the perspective that I do have knowledge of...

Kānaka Maoli (aka Hawaiians) are thought to be one of the more scientifically & politically advanced Polynesian civilizations. A number of science programs studying sustainable technologies in various universities today are studying water engineering theories perfected by Kānaka Maoli in their aquaculture practices nearly 500 years before Europe's agricultural revolution.

Archibald Menzies, a naturalist serving with Captain George Vancouver wrote about a Hawai'i in 1794,

"Even the shelving cliffs of rocks were planted with esculent roots, banked in and watered by aqueducts from the rivulet with as much art as if their level had been taken by the most ingenious engineer. We could not indeed but admire the laudable ingenuity of these people in cultivating their soil with so much economy. The indefatigable labor in making these little fields in so rugged a situation, the care and industry with which they were transplanted, watered and kept in order, surpassed anything we had seen ever before. It showed in a conspicuous manner the ingenuity of the inhabitants in modifying their husbandry to different situations of soil and exposure, and it was with no small degree of pleasure we here beheld their labor rewarded with productive crops."

Both Captain Cook and Vancouver were amazed by the advancement of Hawaiian societies as they made note in their own respective journals. Captain Cook made mention of the Hawaiian's military might, the ferocity of their warriors who even the Zulu paled in comparison to; averaging heights near 7 ft. -- and of course, Captain Cook was killed by these same warriors.

Ruling Chiefs of Hawai'i by Samuel Kamakau is a primary source for Hawaiian warfare and politics of antiquity. Within this source, the warrior legends of Hawai'i are brought to life, standing in prestige with China's romance of the Three Kingdoms. We hear about Hawai'i's Niuhi warriors (tiger shark warriors); battlemasters who in order to prove their fearlessness and prowess, had to swim out to sea, kill a tiger shark with a dagger, drag the shark to shore, and eat its eye pulled from the carcass. We hear about the 'Ehu clan and its bone-crushers -- giant men with red hair, who snapped other men in half with their brute strength. We also hear about the Kīpu'up'u warriors, named after the stabbing rain of their homelands -- so named because they would rain spears down onto their opponents in battle, which would literally block out the sun.

In 1843, the Hawaiian Kingdom was internationally recognized as a sovereign Nation-State by England, France, and the United States by way of treaty -- and soon after, over 50 other nations. Hawaiians are the only Polynesian society to have ever achieved such a political status and, despite common belief, still maintains that status as its sovereignty was never relinquished through treaty or by conquest (Hawai'i was a neutral Nation-State). Today, this status is being reviewed in the U.N. Security council and in the courts of Washington D.C. in regard to the de-occupation of Hawai'i by the United States and its future independence.

It was during the Hawaiian Kingdom era that Hawai'i's 'Iolani Palace and the surrounding city had electricity installed long before the White House. The Hawaiian people and subsequently, the Hawaiian Nation, was regarded as the most literate country in the world. There was absolutely no homelessness, free medical, and free education as the Hawaiian Nation's constitutions ensured the well-fare of the people.

Just saying... :D
 
This may just be me but I hear constantly from ppl that civ is a building game before a war game, does still being around or being an expansive empire at some point mean they are only allowed in civ? I don't think so. The whole point is to take a group of ppl or culture and mold them into a strong civ. it doesn't matter what they did or accomplished in real life, it is about building them and creating their destiny in the game.
 
The Dresden Codex proved that some tribes were the immediate ancestors of Mayans through generations worth of successive coastal encounters with the Polynesians.
But not only this, where's that mask... ... ..

Okay, have a quick look. (Yep, i've used a cyan version In Z-Advisors!)
There's an inscription in an EXTREMELY rare but similar medallion made of Jade stone that leads directly to both their early language and Venus trajectory.
That's not the stuff of Smithsonian, University, Museums or Indiana Jones stories.
It's beyond public Knowledge.... but now it is! ;)
I know of only four other people on Earth which are aware of that artifact. There may be more of us.

Sorry to bump the thread, but what's that whole conversation about?

It's hard to tell what's a joke and what's an actual piece of disscuion.

Oh great. It saves images in tga and has music in ogg. :rolleyes:

Are they trying to make the files unusable?

I think so.

The day a game has all of it's assets as AA3/mp3s, OBJs, and Pngs will be a great day indeed.
 
Tower of text imminent...

It's apparent the extent of "civilization" for most, if not all Polynesian societies, has been obfuscated by Western colonization in the region. No doubt, the masses of Polynesian naysayers can't be blamed for not hearing about the true history of these Polynesian civilizations in Western schools. Here's some enlightenment from the perspective that I do have knowledge of...

Kānaka Maoli (aka Hawaiians) are thought to be one of the more scientifically & politically advanced Polynesian civilizations. A number of science programs studying sustainable technologies in various universities today are studying water engineering theories perfected by Kānaka Maoli in their aquaculture practices nearly 500 years before Europe's agricultural revolution.

Archibald Menzies, a naturalist serving with Captain George Vancouver wrote about a Hawai'i in 1794,

"Even the shelving cliffs of rocks were planted with esculent roots, banked in and watered by aqueducts from the rivulet with as much art as if their level had been taken by the most ingenious engineer. We could not indeed but admire the laudable ingenuity of these people in cultivating their soil with so much economy. The indefatigable labor in making these little fields in so rugged a situation, the care and industry with which they were transplanted, watered and kept in order, surpassed anything we had seen ever before. It showed in a conspicuous manner the ingenuity of the inhabitants in modifying their husbandry to different situations of soil and exposure, and it was with no small degree of pleasure we here beheld their labor rewarded with productive crops."

Both Captain Cook and Vancouver were amazed by the advancement of Hawaiian societies as they made note in their own respective journals. Captain Cook made mention of the Hawaiian's military might, the ferocity of their warriors who even the Zulu paled in comparison to; averaging heights near 7 ft. -- and of course, Captain Cook was killed by these same warriors.

Ruling Chiefs of Hawai'i by Samuel Kamakau is a primary source for Hawaiian warfare and politics of antiquity. Within this source, the warrior legends of Hawai'i are brought to life, standing in prestige with China's romance of the Three Kingdoms. We hear about Hawai'i's Niuhi warriors (tiger shark warriors); battlemasters who in order to prove their fearlessness and prowess, had to swim out to sea, kill a tiger shark with a dagger, drag the shark to shore, and eat its eye pulled from the carcass. We hear about the 'Ehu clan and its bone-crushers -- giant men with red hair, who snapped other men in half with their brute strength. We also hear about the Kīpu'up'u warriors, named after the stabbing rain of their homelands -- so named because they would rain spears down onto their opponents in battle, which would literally block out the sun.

In 1843, the Hawaiian Kingdom was internationally recognized as a sovereign Nation-State by England, France, and the United States by way of treaty -- and soon after, over 50 other nations. Hawaiians are the only Polynesian society to have ever achieved such a political status and, despite common belief, still maintains that status as its sovereignty was never relinquished through treaty or by conquest (Hawai'i was a neutral Nation-State). Today, this status is being reviewed in the U.N. Security council and in the courts of Washington D.C. in regard to the de-occupation of Hawai'i by the United States and its future independence.

It was during the Hawaiian Kingdom era that Hawai'i's 'Iolani Palace and the surrounding city had electricity installed long before the White House. The Hawaiian people and subsequently, the Hawaiian Nation, was regarded as the most literate country in the world. There was absolutely no homelessness, free medical, and free education as the Hawaiian Nation's constitutions ensured the well-fare of the people.

Just saying... :D

All of which would seem to justify Hawaii as a civilization in the game - the point with "Polynesia" isn't that component societies may not warrant civ status, it's that "Polynesia" is not a single, coherent civ, in the same way the Celts aren't. Many people would undoubtedly argue that the Scots or Irish were independent civilizations, but not the conglomerate "Celts".
 
Top Bottom