Why can't CivIV be more ethnic?

[Ceritoglu]

I think it essentially boils down to what you want from a game. There are 4 main aspects to a game. They are:

1) Gameplay
2) Aesthetics
3) Euphonics
4) Operation

The last is whether it works without problems, and is fundamentally important - since failure in this category will nullify the value of the other components. After Operation (whether it works or not), Gameplay is crucial. You could create the most beautiful, elegant and realistic game in the world, but if it lacks playability, it won't function as a game.

Of course I would love ethnocentric trends (in units, cities, etc.), but a challenging game which maintains my attention is much more important. Core elements of gameplay come much higher on the list than this, and I would prefer an AI capable of beating me tactically in war than what is (frankly) something of an afterthought.

 

[NYHunter]

To tell the truth I only care that the African civ units have dark skin. All they have to do is take each unit and make the skin dark. To me it doesn't seem difficult especially since they were able to spend such a good amount time making flags for each civ.

 

[alms66]

Well, if Firaxis is so hard-up for cheap labor...

they do realize they have dozens of ready and able volunteers who would work for free, right here, don't they

 

[mrt144]

Well, if Firaxis is so hard-up for cheap labor...

they do realize they have dozens of ready and able volunteers who would work for free, right here, don't they

quality control and compensation. even if its under the pretense of free labor, someasshat may want compensation at a later date. printing contracts, having your lawyers on retainer go after these type of cases, its a crapshoot.

 

[sourboy]

In civilizationIV, the Asian, African and American units look almost like the European or Mediterranean. For instance, why can the Chinese civilisation make a European knight? In the ethnical mods, they have made very many unique units to the civilisations. Why not make some kind of "ethnic art definition tag" for every unit?

I agree man. I'm pissed there is no editor in Civ4, because I had this same complaint in Civ3, and thus modded my game to be very ethnic. I had 5 groups: Euro, Asian, African, Amerindian, and MidEastern. Each had ethnic cities, and shared starting units based on (well they called in culturally linked in civ3). Then as time moved on, I had them slowly alter into the same units in the modern age, except for some -- like zulu's had dark skinned units.

It felt a whole lot better, and it honestly wasn't that many more units. Btw, all those units came from scenarios or custom forums here.

 

[Saim]

I agree man. I'm pissed there is no editor in Civ4, because I had this same complaint in Civ3, and thus modded my game to be very ethnic. I had 5 groups: Euro, Asian, African, Amerindian, and MidEastern. Each had ethnic cities, and shared starting units based on (well they called in culturally linked in civ3). Then as time moved on, I had them slowly alter into the same units in the modern age, except for some -- like zulu's had dark skinned units.

It felt a whole lot better, and it honestly wasn't that many more units. Btw, all those units came from scenarios or custom forums here.

What about Aztec/Inca/Maya? And there aren't currently any 'Amerindian' civs in the game.

 

[T.rex]

I think ethnic units are generally a good idea. It would be interesting to see a Viking spearmen for example, look like a Viking spearmen, not a Greek one. I'm all for it ethnic units, however, the amount of work for Firaxis to complete this would jack up the price of the game considerably for the consumer - if in fact they would bother to do it all all. There all certain "economic realities" here. So as I mentioned earlier, its really up to dedicated modders to fill the gap as it were. They should receive our thanks for their efforts.

 

[Shiggs713]

Well I do agree with this to a certain degree. It is actually quite easy to change the color of a unit to look more ethnic. What I want to know is why I keep hearing these things about Fireaxis not having enough time to do simple things like this. It would probably take 1 person less than 1 day to convert all of the units, and maybe 1 more day to do the cities.

I have been working on some small private mods, and public (see WW2 1939 in mods section),and most small things like this dont really take very long (although putting it all together in code can).

I thought that most of the cities were ethnic now on warlords, but maybe Im wrong. America uses european styles, there is a new style South American, which aztec and inca use, and an Asian, and middle eastern one.

 

[Diamondeye]

I have played and will always play CIV because of its addictive play and challenging AI. Graphics are nice but they take a back seat to balanced gameplay.


As far as graphics go, my units could be stick figures and I would still play CIV4 more than any other game

exactly. I can still find myself playing CivI sometimes, even though the graphics are obsolete. I really like the graphics of cIV, and truly, I don't care about the malinese or egyptian armies being white-skinned. Mention one thing of the gameplay you would remove to obtain this little nifty graphic.
I can't.

 

[Mad Hab]

In civilizationIV, the Asian, African and American units look almost like the European or Mediterranean. For instance, why can the Chinese civilisation make a European knight? In the ethnical mods, they have made very many unique units to the civilisations. Why not make some kind of "ethnic art definition tag" for every unit?

I completely agree. 'European' is the standart for all troops, and that (in the 'politically correct' 21th century) isn't acceptable anymore. They could easily create at least 3 or 4 skin tones/hairs combos and apply them to the models and the figureheads... And if that's too hard, at least the settlers and workers (and maybe specialists) should be done, if only to remind you that you are not controlling a Zulu or Korean nation made of white guys...

Cheers,

Mad Hab

 

[Newbunkle]

If you all look at the units, for example, the settler. Their clothes have a coloured trim which matches your civilization colour. Code is already in place to swap colours out, so making the skin tone dependant on the civilization wouldn't be a huge stretch.

As for the cities, Beyond the Sword will add Amerindian civilization(s), so its possible cultural styles for the South American civs will be packaged with those.

 

[Shiggs713]

Um.... the cities already have ethnic properties as I stated above. At least for Warlords. If you want to look it up yourself to see, go to CIV4CivilizationInfos.xml and open it. (notepad works)

The possible city types include:

European: for most european civs, and america.
<ArtStyleType>ARTSTYLE_EUROPEAN</ArtStyleType>

Asian: for all asian civs
<ArtStyleType>ARTSTYLE_ASIAN</ArtStyleType>

Middle Eastern: For middle eastern and african civs
<ArtStyleType>ARTSTYLE_MIDDLE_EAST</ArtStyleType>

South American: for Inca, and Aztec
<ArtStyleType>ARTSTYLE_SOUTH_AMERICA</ArtStyleType>

Greco Roman: for Greece, Rome, and Carthage
<ArtStyleType>ARTSTYLE_GRECO_ROMAN</ArtStyleType>

I believe thats it. Although you can add your own.............

 

[Khan Quest]

It&#8217;s not the cities or the units I would like to see changed. Different color markings are good enough for me; it prevents confusion of what is what.
I would like to see diverse land improvements. Add the "ART_STYLE" to workshops, villages, watermills (Euro. paddle wheels are vertical, Asian Horizontal, etc.) etc. Have different farm graphics (Euro. looks like heads of cabbage, Amer. looks like squash, Afr. looks like sorghum, etc.).

 

[Shiggs713]

what I would really like to see is not "Art Tags" on resources, but more ethnic resources. Just like you said, have cabbage in Europe among other things, like wheat, potatoes, and others. Have corn, squash, and more in America ect. Maybe double or triple the current amount of resources, but at the same time, you would only see ALL of the resources on a huge earth or random map. A more specialized scenario (i.e. Europe) should not have corn or squash for example.