Roleplaying Civs and the Policy Tree

[Becephalus]

I thought would share one thing I do to make the game more enjoyable for myself and a bit more difficult.

Rather than choose policies trees based on game situation, or some set "build" I limit myself to policies trees that I feel are appropriate for each civilization based on my fairly broad but not infinite historical knowledge (I always play as random). I made a little sheet and tried to distribute the policies trees evenly among the civs.

Every civ is assigned 5 policy trees:
2 of TRA/LIB/HON
PIE OR RAT
PAT OR COM
1 of FRE/AUT/ORD

Also following these rules I tried to have as many different combinations as possible to keep games different. Anyway here is my cheat sheet if anyone else is interested in this kind of thing. It has definitely added enjoyment to the game for me personally.

UPDATED CHART


EDIT: 15 AUG UPDATED THE SHEET WITH NEW CIVS
EDIT2: 21 JUN UPDATED SHEET WITH NEW CIVS

 

[truenarnian]

I was thinking about starting a thread like this the other day.

For me, the enjoyment of the game doesn't come from difficulty of game setting (although I recently moved from Prince to King, never win on King, and am enjoying it immensely because I feel like the hard-pressed underdog all the time). Rather, I enjoy playing the nations as they were historically.

To that end, I tend to settle in terrain consistent with the country's geography. I rename cities to be more consistent with geography (e.g. if I am England, and I start in an area with jungle, then I rename London to Kingston). I prioritize certain resources on the map (e.g. Mongolia and horses). I choose policies based on what the civ tended to do historically. I automatically hold a grudge against nations that historically I've been at odds with, and try and befriend the same way.

Once in a while I create my own sub-civ. My favorite was choosing America (I wanted the blue-white colour scheme), renamed the civ British Columbia, all the cities were named after BC cities, and I only settles hills, mountains, forests, and coasts areas (with one slightly arid area getting named Kamloops .

Lately I don't even care about winning. I just like taking my civ along its recreated journey.

There are so many ways to play civ...I never get tired of it.

 

[Putmalk]

Why is USA Piety instead of Rationalism?

 

[Babri]

I try to roleplay too. As Arabia I try to go for Piety & Commerce. As Mongolia I get Honour first etc.

 

[Babri]

Why is USA Piety instead of Rationalism?

This + Spain. Spain should be in piety. They are famous for their inquisition & all that stuff. And Autocracy would suit Aztecs better as they were a warrior nation.

 

[Becephalus]

Why is USA Piety instead of Rationalism?

Well that is a tough one. I was really up in the air about that. I would say because of its comparison to its sister countries (Europe and the British Dominions).

Compared to those peers it is surprisingly conservative and religious. At the same time it is also one of the great homes of science in the world, so I was really torn!

I broke the tie as PIE because Greece was the other LIB/HON/FRE civ and I felt that Greece was more deserving of RAT than the US. I guess from my perspective the US still seems like a very religious country given its circumstances.

 

[seasnake]

I think you have an interesting list. Definitely think Siam should have Patronage (benevolent rule of vassals is the logic behind their UA) and Spain should be Pious. USA as Piety is a fine choice in my opinion, it makes sense historically.

You also forgot India. I assume you don't have Polynesia or Denmark because they are DLCs, but I'd make an India if I were you!

 

[Becephalus]

This + Spain. Spain should be in piety. They are famous for their inquisition & all that stuff. And Autocracy would suit Aztecs better as they were a warrior nation.

Good ideas, I made Spain PIE, and switched Egypt to RAT, and made Arabia ORD and Aztec AUT

I think you have an interesting list. Definitely think Siam should have Patronage (benevolent rule of vassals is the logic behind their UA) and Spain should be Pious. USA as Piety is a fine choice in my opinion, it makes sense historically.

You also forgot India. I assume you don't have Polynesia or Denmark because they are DLCs, but I'd make an India if I were you!

Good idea with Siam!

Also I apologize to India for forgetting it!

 

[seasnake]

Yeah, for Denmark I think I'd have Honor, Liberty, Commerce, Rationalism, and Autocracy

For Polynesia: Tradition, Liberty, Commerce, Piety, Freedom

 

[Keejus]

Denmark would almost definitely be tradition/honor/commerce/rationalism and either freedom or order. Half of each would be most appropriate, but I'm sure that applies to a lot of countries.

Why is Spain in autocracy? I guess I'm not a buff on their history, but it seems odd to me

EDIT: Didn't even see you up there. No offense intended!

 

[chazzycat]

I support your call on USA being pious. We do have the highest percentage of creationists of any industrialized nation, after all. Not that it was the founding father's intent...maybe they underestimated the hapiness issues in the post-expansion phase

 

[Becephalus]

Why is Spain in autocracy? I guess I'm not a buff on their history, but it seems odd to me

EDIT: Didn't even see you up there. No offense intended!

Spain had a fascist government from 39-75. There was a bloody civil war prior to it. Also if medieval Spain had to be FRE, AUT, or ORD, it would definitely have been AUT. Also Updated the chart to reflect some of the above suggested changes.

 

[bryanw1995]

Why is USA Piety instead of Rationalism?

Because our politics have lots of religious nutters and our education sucks.

Spain had a fascist government from 39-75. There was a bloody civil war prior to it. Also if medieval Spain had to be FRE, AUT, or ORD, it would definitely have been AUT. Also Updated the chart to reflect some of the above suggested changes.

I agree here, spain is probably the best candidate for autocracy in "western" civilization. Maybe not so much since '75, but certainly historically autocracy/piety are a nearly perfect fit for them.

 

[BenAxiom]

Because...our education sucks.

This is a common misconception. It's helpful to look at data on how learning is measured on international tests--but that's a whole different topic. Given that religion has always played a prominent role in America, I think the PIE choice is right for them.

 

[seasnake]

This is a common misconception. It's helpful to look at data on how learning is measured on international tests--but that's a whole different topic. Given that religion has always played a prominent role in America, I think the PIE choice is right for them.

It's true, we here in the United States churns out a pretty decent clip of smart people.

"Yes there are problems, there will always be problems, especially in the current economic situation. A lack of higher education, about which I hear so much, is one of them. And it will be resolved, as will all others, in my next mandate."

(Massive Kudos to whoever recognizes this quote).

 

[Becephalus]

No idea, but I will guess Idiocracy?

 

[shihuacao]

China is more likely Tradition, Honor, Patronage, Rationalism and Order

 

[seasnake]

No idea, but I will guess Idiocracy?

No, it's a city-builder game called Tropico 3. El President can give campaign speeches on various topics, and you can have him address the island's poor education system as something he intends to work on in an effort to sway votes.

 

[spider1]

Interesting. You have Babylon taking Liberty, Honor, Com, Rationalism, and Autocracy. I like playing them a lot on continents maps, and AFTER the latest patch, I've been going full tree with Liberty, Freedom, Rationalism, and bits an pieces of Tradition, Honor, and Commercialism.

 

[Strategist83]

Wouldn't Rome be Commerce rather than Patronage? I'm not too buff on their history but former civ games cast them as a financial/aggressive civ.

*nods at the roleplaying* I roleplay as well. Not really meaningful to be going all seriouz against the poor AI. Also, most civs traits lend themselves well to playing them out the same way as their IRL counterparts - China is great with communism due to their super library and Germany makes for an excellent nazi tyranny on a mad world conquest with the Landsknecht spam and Panzers. This is one of the areas where I think Civ5 really succeeds; those unique abilities really give each civ so much personality.

On that note, it is quite ironical that Germany is cast as an obvious autocrat civ, isn't it? They've done their very best to put WW2 behind them, but as far as Civ history goes, Germany = nazis. Just look at their updated unique ability!