Praetyre's New Timelines, Dates and Eras Thread

Heres a post I made on eras/dates at an earlier point in another thread.
Link to relevant tech tree discussion thread.
Split ▬ year aproximations
• Previous scheme

  1. Paleolithic ( ← ) → 20 000
    • Prehistoric
  2. Mesolithic 20 000 → 10 000
    • Prehistoric
  3. Neolithic 10 000 → 4 000
    • Ancient
  4. Chalcolithic / Copper Age4000 → 1200
    • Ancient
  5. Iron Age1200 → 600 (BC)
    • Classical
  6. Classical Antiquity600 (BC) → 500 / 200
    • Classical
  7. Early Middle Ages / Late Antiquity500 → 900 | 200 → 800
    • Classical / Medieval
  8. (High) Middle Ages / Feudal Age900 → 1300 | 800 → 1350
    • Medieval
  9. Late Middle Ages / Renaissance1300 → 1500 | 1350 → 1600
    • Medieval / Renaissance
  10. Age of Discovery1500 / 1600 → 1740
    • Renaissance
  11. Imperial Age1740 → 1860
    • Renaissance / Industrial
  12. Industrial Age1860 → 1940
    • Industrial
  13. Atomic Age1940 → 1975
    • Industrial / Modern
  14. Digital Age1975 → 2010
    • Modern
  15. Automation Age 2010 → 2040
    • Modern / Transhuman
  16. Interplanetary Age / Space Age / Synthetics Age ▬ 2040 - 2080 (Synthetics might encompass bioengineering, nanomaterials, genetic manipulation and artificial intelligence)
    • Transhuman
  17. Interstellar Age 2080 → _____
    • Transhuman / Galactic
  18. Intergalactic Age
    • Galactic
  19. Something....
Color coded for pattern and readability.
 
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I'm starting to think I should put together a Google Spreadsheet comparing and compiling all the different era suggestions here. I've already got a Google Spreadsheet for my turn and era plans, but would rather keep it private at this time.

One striking difference in my and many others approaches is that many seem to want to split Transhuman into 2, 3, or even 4 eras/suberas, whereas I'm more focused on the 3000 BC-500 AD period. While Joe's point about few people even getting to the monster (and I agree it is a monster) that is Transhuman has some validity, it is (I hope) a temporary concern.

One other thing that should be kept in mind that Joe has indirectly touched upon (as well as Tbrd) is that eras aren't just a matter of dates; they factor into techs, unit upgrades, game pacing and even music. My goal is to have each era feel like a full game in and of itself (not saying it should necessarily last as long as one, of course, though that's an option I'd have for myself and anyone else interested).
 
Well, I myself am of the view that behavioral modernity may be synonymous with what under an Aristotelian metaphysics would be considered the creation (by God) of the immaterial, rational human soul, one which does not simply possess vegetative powers of nutrition, growth and reproduction, and animal powers of sentience, appetition and locomotion, but the specifically rational (and, per Aristotelian metaphysics and philosophy of mind vis a vis hylomorphic dualism, immaterial) powers of intellect (the grasping of abstract concepts and logical reasoning) and volition (free will).

Of course, just because evidence of behavioral modernity shows up around the start of the Upper Paleolithic, that doesn't necessarily mean it started there. For one thing, Neanderthals, who predate Homo sapiens sapiens by 50,000 years, show signs of having rational souls.

For another thing (and I'll admit I'm heading into quite speculative territory here), I consider it quite possible that Y-chromosomal Adam and Mitochondrial Eve are the same people as the Biblical Adam and Eve. There is a quite interesting series of posts by an Aristotelian-Thomistic/Neo-Scholastic philosopher whose blog I lurk regularly on regarding reconciling biological evidence of all current living human beings descending from a group of no fewer than a couple of thousand individuals. You can check these out if you want to here, here, here, and here.

The long of short of it is that Feser (the professor in question) and the authors he's quoting draw a distinction between being physically human and being a rational animal, and posits that during man's early history God specifically ensouled two human beings who went on (and/or their descendants went on) to interbreed with physically humans not possessing rational souls, with mixed offspring having souls, and non-rational souled humans eventually dying out.

Note that a committment to Aristotelianism does not entail any doctrine of original sin by itself; Feser is discussing it specifically from a Catholic perspective, though other Christians could also believe in said hypothesis, even and inclduin those Christians who aren't committed to any form of Aristotelianism).

My intention in mentioning this is not to proselytize, but to mention that I would have a particular view of my own (though I am obviously far from the only person to have held it) regarding man's origins and the Paleolithic, and that extending the start date far deeper into man's prehistory than it is now would raise these special issues.

I realise others may not share my views and that the goal here is not necessarily a representation of man's prehistory in accordance with my views, but as you mentioned yours I felt it was only fair for me to add my two cents (one which, despite our disagreements in other areas, I think Joe might echo).
Your sources, the Bible, and Sumerian (which I tend to ascribe more importance to) all agree that our 'creator(s)' 'made' Humanity at about this same juncture in time. I follow the Sumerian tale of it, as science and religion all echo agreements with that core telling, which is some of th earliest written words we have found and been able to decipher in the world... aka, closest to the events. The genetic evidence strongly corresponds to the Sumerian tale and Genesis is almost delivered word for word from that same written root. In otherwords, Genesis is just an evolved retelling of the original Sumerian tale of the creation of man and leaves out some interesting and illuminating details.

The Sumerian King's lists and historical datings also draws a connection to about 200k BC so they tell the story as if that is about the time man was created and science correlates by finding evidence of the emergence of homo sapiens to be about that time as well. If Neanderthal predates humanity by 50k years, then it would correlate with the Sumerians stating that we were designed as a hybrid between a native species (perhaps Neanderthal) and the 'gods'. I'm pretty strongly of the belief that this is true because I feel this is where the evidence is strongest. I find it interesting that you have proposed a whole new outlook that again correlates to this one and provides yet more evidence of this being likely.

About souls and so on I'm more animistic in belief... I feel all things have life and consciousness to some extent and that something only exists because it believes itself to, including matter at the most basic levels. Animals are not 'below' people - they have souls just as we do. I believe it is a Human need to establish hierarchies that justify our dominance over other life forms to assuage our sense of guilt for how we often treat our animal brethren. I believe that all beings are, at the spiritual core, the same creator living out another unique existence in his own creation. A pretty good reason to be good to one another right there.

I'm not sure why you think 200,000 BC would make more sense for a nomadic start than 50,000 BC.
More that it would be more interesting to make a more dynamic map and changing terrains taking place in the first 'era' that would be best expressed with the passage of longer periods per turn. We also start with a tech tree that includes behavioral modernizing steps and developments that took place long long before 50k BC so it really would be a little more accurate, even if it still doesn't really go back far enough for some of these techs.

Well, as someone committed to a dualist philosophy of mind, I don't think "hard" AI by purely material (physical) means is metaphysically possible. Though the concept of some Catholic equivalent of the Jewish golem whereby a priest ensouls a machine is quite an interesting one. I realise, of course, that may not make for as entertaining a fiction (similar to how I think civics shouldn't be realistic in their effects else you get imbalance and RL arguments). For the same reasons, I think many (though not all) aspects of the transhumanist programme (brain uploading, for example) are similarly dead ends.

Leaving that aside, though, my changes to the Transhuman Era are mostly cosmetic and aesthetical; I see transhumanism as but one of many paths humanity can take in the next couple centuries, and from the point of view of creating interesting fiction, I think that works too.
There are numerous interpretations of methods of Transhumanism application. It's not all cybertronic. The concept of Transhumanism is simply, at its root, that we are entering into a period of technological superiority that is leading to our ability to consciously determine how we evolve from here. It can be through interconnection with computers and chips and digitalization of our thoughts and so on but it can also be genetic manipulation guiding ourselves into incredible degrees of advancement. One way or another, it is unavoidable that within the next 10 generations, if science and development is allowed to progress at the pace it wishes to, we will become something we can hardly imagine between now and then. And there will be incredible social quandries to tackle along the way.

At some point, we'll HAVE to find the definition of a soul, if there IS one to be found. The concepts of digitizing our minds, cloning, all these things will force the hard to determine truth of the matter emerge to science finally. There is yet the potential that we may discover that a soul is merely an idea we've been holding onto to give ourselves a more infinite sense of meaning to our existence but the reality is that we are nothing more than an electrical process in action. Then again, I believe in some of the latest scientific theories that memories are not stored physically in the brain but in an electromagnetic field that surrounds us and connects to the fields of other lifeforms and is part of a larger interconnected field itself. AKA, our memories are infinitely recorded beyond ourselves and our brains are just transistors that link us to who we believe we are. So there is a soul, kinda, but its part of a larger body of souls and separation is an illusion that life affords us as we experience it.
 
This is for Civ IV Beyond the Sword (BtS). Civ IV Complete has BtS and is very reasonable in price.

We don't mod CiV nor Civ VI.

JosEPh

Okay, thank you for the reply. Though I won't be able to enjoy this mod, it sounds like a very neat idea. Anyway, fare thee well.
 
I have made a small update to my Empire Earth-esque/thematic division. 1850-1925 now goes:
High Industrial Period-1850
Late Industrial Period (new)-1900
Age of Diesel-1925.

As I feel that such a change is warranted in technological, thematic and gameplay terms.

I would also like to note that should C2C begin in 200,000 BC, I can see a thematic and technological case for splitting Prehistoric/Paleolithic into Middle and Upper Paleolithic, the latter coming in at 50,000 BC. Of course, I realize that a split for Prehistoric is not on the cards at the moment (and even if it was, there are much higher priorities) but I'd like to at least note that, if only for future.

I have also just today decided to come up with a spreadsheet outlining a rough sketch of my ideas of military "tiers" (levels at which most units should, as a general rule, receive an upgrade), which is not necessarily coterminous with era (either current-C2C or any proposed revision, be it from me or others). I figured Thunderbrd would be especially interested in this.

This actually ties in somewhat with my era project, not just because some of the tiers conceptualized are based in those eras but wanting to give each tier of unit its own appropriate and lasting place was one of the motivations for me coming up with this era project in the first place.

Here is the link.
 
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I have also just today decided to come up with a spreadsheet outlining a rough sketch of my ideas of military "tiers" (levels at which most units should, as a general rule, receive an upgrade), which is not necessarily coterminous with era (either current-C2C or any proposed revision, be it from me or others). I figured Thunderbrd would be especially interested in this.
If you do this in the manner in which I like to have it done, this could be EXTREMELY beneficial to me. It will at least serve as some points to reflect on, yes. Have you looked at the naval or ongoing unit charts in my sig line? (I just noticed the other day that the expanding unit review which I have on my excel sheet has not been updated to the public spreadsheet in a long time but at least the format of how I go about charting is shown there.)

FYI, C2C is now operating on a 200k BC start as standard.

EDIT: having taken a look at the chart, it is more basic than I had thought you'd meant, but it does help to collect one's thoughts on progression and I can see some use for that.
 
Well... as I said, I'm trying to get all units charted according to the method shown in the C2C Expanding Unit Review link in my signature line.
 
I think I have come up with something that will work for animist and early non-theist religions based on my evolving religions and comments by others on the prehistoric and ancient eras that will also work well with Nomadic Start ( even the one Thunderbrd is suggesting that I totally disagree with :lol::mischief:). I hope to have it in a form to explain it soon. I am mostly posting here so I can find this thread again.

I agree in principle with your Sevo Faces of God idea for the shamanistic and polytheistic religions and maybe for the later non-theist religions though not the modern non-theist or Secular religion.

I am being a bit broad/loose in my definition of non-theist at the moment as it includes and religion where either there is no connection between the living and the divine except through dead ancestors and religions which emphasize that what you do in life is more important that worship through prayer or construction of buildings for prayer.
 
I think I have come up with something that will work for animist and early non-theist religions based on my evolving religions and comments by others on the prehistoric and ancient eras that will also work well with Nomadic Start ( even the one Thunderbrd is suggesting that I totally disagree with :lol::mischief:). I hope to have it in a form to explain it soon. I am mostly posting here so I can find this thread again.

I agree in principle with your Sevo Faces of God idea for the shamanistic and polytheistic religions and maybe for the later non-theist religions though not the modern non-theist or Secular religion.

I am being a bit broad/loose in my definition of non-theist at the moment as it includes and religion where either there is no connection between the living and the divine except through dead ancestors and religions which emphasize that what you do in life is more important that worship through prayer or construction of buildings for prayer.
Cool... looking forward to hearing more!
 
I have just written a 10 page document on how I want Animism religions to work in my mod with another 5 pages on how to get it to work in C2C with Nomadic Start. Here is the summary.

For game play there is only one Animism Religion, i.e. only one entry on the Religion table. However the actual different expression of it will bone be through Culture like buildings/improvements which add to the flavour.
  • every nation gets Animism when they study a tech. This should be at about 100,000 BC. When I play that is about when I get Oral Tradition (but I sort of bee line for Tracking first). This seems like a good spot anyway.
The normal religion Buildings are replaced with plot improvements and some small buildings or tribal promotions that will lead into.
  • The Shrine is replaced by a National Wonder Improvement (Holy Shrine/Site). One per nation. Capturing another either destroys it or has it fade over time.

    The Holy Shrine has many benefits but if you loose it your nation falls into anarchy with extra affects on units.

    Animist Builders, Fanatical Defenders and Story Tellers are created here. Defenders are similar to the Tribal Guardian.

    Yes it is sort of a city but with no population like a fortification. It can only build units.

  • lesser holy sites (plot improvement) replace the temples and monasteries. These are built by the Animist Builders.

  • tribal buildings/promotions are built only by the Animist holy units (Builders and Story Tellers)

  • Animist Oracle and Burial Grounds are national wonder improvements. They requires a number of Builders or Story Tellers to build.
The plot improvements provide a huge "national cohesion" boost which is why loosing them can be very bad.
 
Where can I find your mod?
You can't. It is mostly a conversion of a Civ III mod which is 80% converted. It still needs religion added and my take on Nomadic Start which requires a rewrite of the Main Interface python. I have only just started on the religion evolution system and designed what I want out of Nomadic Start.
 
Well, for the last month or two I've been considering posting some further developments here, but held back for a reason I can't quite place. I figured it's better now than never, so here goes;

I think that a paradigm shift in how eras are structured could be beneficial to C2C, both in terms of opportunity costs saved and synergy with the gameplay itself. I would like to propose that, at least as an experiment, eras are based not on in-game date (which really only makes sense from a Europe/Near East centric Earth map whose point of divergence from our history is around 3000 BC) but on overall time played.

I don't mean to suggest there should be any change in how eras advance (other than supporting gateway techs, partly for flavor and partly to help synchronize factors relevant to the advancing of the ages), like a clock or whatever, but rather that development be centered around ensuring the game speeds ensure a roughly equal period of time spent in each era, with each gamespeed correlating to a different preference (modeled on a high end machine, which I figure might be recommended for playing C2C anyway). For example, Eternity could be 50 hours per era, Eons 30, Snail 15, Marathon 10, Epic 5, and Normal 2 and a half.

I also have ideas for both how the eras for Vanilla C2C should be, how they should be structured and what they should be like. My aim is to represent a universal human history and distinct flavor and gameplay for each era, at longer speeds each era should feel like a full game in its own right. Here is my current thinking;

Paleolithic Era: Nomadic start, focus is almost entirely on raw survival rather than cultural or technological development. Progress slowly accretes in the form of :gp:, who provide the social capital for your hunter-gatherer band to develop itself. Around the middle of this era, you'll get the ability to build a cultural heritage up for yourself, which will begin by choosing a regional base culture that you will carry from that point on, as well as being able to get Myth buildings and start your own religion by shifting from Pre-Animism to Animism. In some ways, this stage of the game (especially the first third) will resemble an endurance test, inasmuch as you are trying to keep your Band of Homo sapiens sapiens (why was the second sapiens removed, anyhow?) alive and ultimately find yourself a good place to settle for the Neolithic.

Historically, I would consider the Australian Aborigines and Khoisan Bushmen of Southwestern Africa to be somewhere within this level, though feel free to correct me if you think this sweeping and half-educated guess is accurate (as with all my others, for that matter).

If you want to give names to the different substages, I'd go with Middle Paleolithic Era for the first third, Exodus Era for the second and Upper Paleolithic Era for the third.

Neolithic Era: This will closely resemble what Prehistoric is now, settlement (unless you go the nomadic route, which would be a matter for further discussion elsewhere) around fertile areas where you can farm and engage in animal husbandry. In the first half of this era, you will be wanting to transition from egalitarian hunter-gatherer bands to tribal chiefdom status, which will enable you (along with sedentary lifestyles) to grow beyond the minimum population. Warfare with other players begins in this era. In the latter half of this era, you can set up city-states and work copper; the first true wonders (other than maybe Çatalhöyük
and Göbekli Tepe) such as Stonehenge are now possible, and your culture can start developing its own distinct religion (such as Hinduism or Tengriism), complete with priests and priest-kings (as well as numerous other forms of advanced social stratification).

Historically, I would place the Native Americans and Polynesians (including Rapa Nui, Papuans and Māori) around this level, with more advanced nations of the former being in the latter half (Mississippi culture and Iroquois, for example). I would also place non-Minoan Europe during the Ancient Near Eastern Bronze Age in the latter half of the Neolithic Era.

You could call the second half of the Neolithic Chalcolithic or Copper Age, if you like.

Ancient Era: This would encompass the last 20-30% of what is now Ancient and all of Classical (as well as a few Medieval techs, like Theology and Christianity), and would begin with the invention of writing and bronze (or, under some circumstances, iron) metallurgy. The city-state patriarchs and priest-kings of the latter Neolithic can now set themselves up as kings and even emperors, often with a divine flavour to their mandate and heritage. Gameplay here would most closely resemble vanilla Classical, or to take a different game, Age of Empires.

Mesopotamia, Egypt (be it Protodynastic or Ptolemaic), India from the Indus Valley Civilization until the fall of the Gupta Empire, China from the Xia to the Han dynasties, the Minoan civilization (this, Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley civilization arguably stretch back at least to the latter half of the Neolithic in some form), Greece, Rome, the Mesoamerican civilizations (Olmec, Maya, Aztec, Zapotec and so on) and the Inca would be examples of civilizations at this level.

Past this, eras mostly sync up with current C2C;
Postclassical Era: This is the term used by professional historians to refer to the Middle Ages in a way that also encompasses the rest of the Old World, and as far as techs are concerned is virtually identical to current Medieval. I've long thought of Feudalism as a de facto gateway tech for Medieval, even in vanilla, though I don't object to it being seperate from Medieval Lifestyle (especially when one considers not all Postclassical civiizations have been feudal).

Historical examples would include not only Medieval Europe but the Medieval Middle East (especially after Muhammad and during the Islamic Golden Age), China from the fall of the Han Dynasty up to the Ming dynasty's economic boon due to European trade in the 16th century and Japan from the Kamakura period up until the Azuchi-Momoyama period.


Early Modern Era: Basically identical to Renaissance. At this point, numerous things happen. For one, it becomes a lot easier to conceptualize of technological advancement in terms of literal technology changing society. For two, it becomes a lot easier to map techs to actual points in history. For three, two is because this is when Europe really shot out ahead of the rest of the pack, and thus we only have one model to go on.

Anyway, I see this era as beginning with two key inventions; mainstream usage of firearms, and the printing press. And, of course, crossing the ocean is now a real possibility for any but the foolhardy or Polynesian, bringing new resources (and new civilizations) to the fore for maps that follow that sort of division.

Late Modern Era: My term of choice for Industrial, though Industrial is a good general name even for totally alien worlds; my main reason for going with this is consistency with the broader set of names and because arguably everything past this point is Industrial.

I see this era as beginning with the ideas of revolution and grand war, and in our history beginning with the French and American revolutions and the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, which would subsequently lead to the hundred year period of peace and prosperity as Europe vowed to never again repeat the Great War.

Towards the second third of this era, open field warfare finally dies with the invention of the machine gun, and warfare thus becomes recognizably modern, with riflemen making up the bulk of combatants from this point onward. The last third of this era and first half of the next roughly corresponds to a World War I level of technology (in both Civ's sense of the word and the real world sense).

At the moment, I'm debating how the 20th century should be laid out. At its most split, it would go WWI->WWII->Cold War->Information Era. If WWI and WWII were merged, I'd suggest calling them the Early Contemporary Era and calling the Cold War and Information Era the Middle Contemporary Era and Late Contemporary Era respectively. I'm pretty sure of my timespans, though; 1900-1925 for WWI (historically the death of Queen Victoria+dawn of 20th century and Edwardian era), 1925-1950 for WWII (beginning of Roaring Twenties), 1950-1990 for Cold War (end of World War II, beginning of Cold War, death of Stalin, foundation of United Nations) and 1990 to sometime in the 21st century for Information.

Past the end of the Information Era, I defer to pepper2000, though I will note I have a rather dark cyberpunk-corporatist view of the latter half of the 21st century and the 22nd. Near and Far Future is mainly split by the fact that Near mostly is confined to Earth.
 
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I certainly don't blame you for continuing to ponder on this subject and I can't find any great fault with your proposal, but I am so over trying to rework eras. Like forever over it.

So if you're talking about a modmod, knock yourself out. But if you're suggesting for the core, I don't think I'm alone in saying, with this version's efforts already put in, we're done with major fundamental era reconsiderations.
 
Fair enough, I haven't been keeping up with this mod's development as much as I used to and thus missed a lot of what you're mentioning.

I guess I could start with a simple renaming modmod, but I'm not sure how much needs to be changed to make that happen. I might also kill two birds with one stone and put in my initial steps for my upcoming music modmod while editing Civ4EraInfos.xml (on my modmod, that is, I won't be touching the SVN).
 
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