Having played Civilization since it first came out and now having played the Lucy Opendev made available over Christmas I feel there is a Golden Opportunity to make this game better again than Civilization.

Whilst playing Civilization I love that I can pick a specific Civ and play them from start to finish with their unique buildings, unique units and individual civ traits. That same option is available here but with the option to become a new and different culture as you progress through the ages.

So, where's the golden opportunity I hear you say!?

Well, allow me to answer.

I would like the ability to create my own civilization and culture. Not necessarily based on any historical culture but picking certain aspects from a number of cultures and combining them in a different way.

Allow me to explain more.

From the neolithic you have collected resources, grown your tribe, gathered knowledge and maybe even claimed a territory or two. Upon building your first city you then start to pick the aspects of your culture based on the experiences you went through in the neolithic wandering.

For example your tribespeople may have wandered along a coastline for a while and claimed a territory with a coast. If your city is built on a coastal tile you may have an option to pick a trait such as natural sailors, or innate shipwrights (as your technology allows) This may give you an increase in movement or a reduction in the cost of building ships. This could lead to a later improved trait (again based on technology) Lord of the Seas, this would give bonuses to building harbours and ships, an increase in the resources drawn from the sea, better combat skills and increased movement for ships.

The same tribe may also have had to fight other tribes prior to the founding of their first city. This could allow them to pick a militaristic trait, of which there are a number of options available, for example, Natural Soldiers, your land units all gain +1 strength when attacking, Guardians of the Tribe/People, all land units gain +1 combat strength when defending, Disciplined Soldiers your land units gain a 10% damage reduction when fighting enemy units (Not animals) to reflect courage.

If the first city is founded inland, or far from the coast, you may get the option to take a trait like Gifted Stoneworkers, or Natural Farmers giving an increase in the productivity or food growth for your people.

Allowing players to tailor their Civilization based on the environments and experiences they encounterd as they wandered around is a far more satisfying experience to me than plonking a city on the coast and saying....I'll be the Phoenicians or Carthaginians this time around. There are so many different combinations of things you could give players access to as the progress through the ages. They could focus on one of the traits they picked at the start and improve it every time they advance to a new age. Alternatively the player could say, I want to have a little bit of everything and see what happens.

Free form world domination with a Civilization of your own making with a name the player chooses themselves can be far more satisfying than playing as Rome and conquering the world with your Legions (although that is still fun).

I'm an ideas man, so many ideas in my head I don't always have time to write them down.

Is it possible, is it impossible, is it practical or impractical. You'll never know until you put the idea out there.

What do YOU think?

I think it's a great idea and possible. I also don't think that's what Humankind is going to be, as it's releasing about four months from now and they'd have to rip out the core mechanics of the game and start over again to do this. The boat has passed for Humankind to implement this basically. That said I do really hope someone else tries it.

Alice99 wrote:

I think it's a great idea and possible. I also don't think that's what Humankind is going to be, as it's releasing about four months from now and they'd have to rip out the core mechanics of the game and start over again to do this. The boat has passed for Humankind to implement this basically. That said I do really hope someone else tries it.

Thanks for the response Alice99