Suggested Guidelines for new civilizations

[circeus]

These are generic suggestions I post for discussion. In the end they are nothing but personnal opinions but I do believe they can be helpful in making choices when building a new civ.

Leader

• Leaders should not be only military leaders. They should be political leaders to an extent.
• The classical/cliché/best/expected/whatever term you prefer representation of the leader should run in the Middle (for ancient civs) or Industrial ages (For more modern ones), NOT in the Modern era.
• In other words, a leader should be historical, not modern, unless the mod/scen calls for something else.
• A leader should be iconic, or at least self-explanatory for those having a minimal historical knowledge of the concerned civ.
• Esthetically-wise, battered versions should be tattered too: look at Battered Abu Bakr!
• Ideally, leaders are important unifiers that lead the civ during their Golden Age (the definition of the civ's Golden age may vary depending on the mod maker).

City

• City lists should include as many names as possible as to avoid "new" duplicates. 40-50 is a minimum
• Choice of capital may be tricky when it has changed several times or does not conform to historic accuracy (foundation dates). You decide in the end, but in doubts, don't hesitate to offer multiple lists.
• City lists should avoid duplicating those from other civs. This might prove difficult when adding civs in crowded areas such as the mediterranea. You can always replace a civ form the same are for simplicity.

Unique Unit

• A UU is iconic of the civ, at least for the concerned period.
• A good UU was present during the civ's Golden Age and played an important role (the definition of the civ's Golden age may vary depending on the mod maker)
• A good UU is worth building, either because it does things better, with less costs, easilier or does more things. The player should yearn to use it.
• Try to be original. Warriors, Archers, Knights and Swordsmen have been so frequently replaced it's almost boring. Look out for interesting alternative.

Other considerations

• While the Military leaders list is a goood way to reuse unselected Civ leaders, it should be reserved for ACTUAL military leaders, who shouldn't be that hard to find!

Now step back and give me your best shoots!

 

[Plotinus]

[*]The classical/cliché/best/expected/whatever term you prefer representation of the leader should run in the Middle (for ancient civs) or Industrial ages (For more modern ones), NOT in the Modern era.
[*]In other words, a leader should be historical, not modern, unless the mod/scen calls for something else.

Why? If I've added the Irish civ, why shouldn't I have Bertie Ahern running it, if I so choose? And if I've added the Hebrews, why shouldn't I have King David? This emphasis on medieval/industrial age leaders seems just arbitrary to me.

[*]Try to be original. Warriors, Archers, Knights and Swordsmen have been so frequently replaced it's almost boring. Look out for interesting alternative.

That's true, although a bit harsh - surely the Babylonians are the only civ with an Archer replacement? We certainly suffer from too many Knight replacements, though. The Koreans and especially the Byzantines offer interesting alternatives in the main game, as do the English (after C3C).

 

[circeus]

Why? If I've added the Irish civ, why shouldn't I have Bertie Ahern running it, if I so choose? And if I've added the Hebrews, why shouldn't I have King David? This emphasis on medieval/industrial age leaders seems just arbitrary to me.

King David would end up with it's best head in the Middle ages, like the other ancient leaders. It might be arbitrary, but it's in the civIII spirit, for all the leaders follow that pattern. As a general rule, Civ leaders are great unifiers and frequently appear quite early in their civs' history.

Off course, the mod maker has the last word, but I do believe modern leader would be odd compared to the other civ: Churchill isn't the english leader, and neither is De Gaulle the french one.

While I am not familiar with Irish history (looking it up right now on Wikipedia), I'd suggest one of the early High Kings of Ireland as the leaderhead. Maybe Brian Boru or Maelsechlainn?

That's true, although a bit harsh - surely the Babylonians are the only civ with an Archer replacement? We certainly suffer from too many Knight replacements, though. The Koreans and especially the Byzantines offer interesting alternatives in the main game, as do the English (after C3C).

Actually, the Aztec Jaguar Warrior and the Inca Javelin Thrower are two other Archer replacements. There are also 3 for Spearmen, but then I haven't seen too much new civ with spearmen replacements.

Maybe the rule should be appended "do not add a NEW unit replacement to those already overcharged, in last resort, you can always replace a civ that has the same UU slot."

 

[smaknis1]

Hey, while all this does make perfect sense to me and would certainly be considered when creating my civ, I have no idea how. Could either of you guys post some sort of tutorial because i just want to be able to kick some ass with the mikmaq. It would be greatly apreciated.

- The Smaknis