Something came to mind when listening to the *wonderful* menu music just released for Humankind, in that what will keep us in the menu to listen to it? Normally I spend time either setting up the map options, and picking my faction/civ. This game will be losing the latter.

What kinds of things can we forsee/propose being in the world setup or anything else before actually starting up a game? Is there anything here that can be leveraged given how Humankind is being setup?

Well, there's map settings like world size, age, sea level, etc. There's also how many players and either a normal difficulty level or a granular system for designing your own difficulty level (A.I gets bonus production but you get bonus food? Tactical A.I. is at the highest setting but everything else is below average?). You may also be able to set the frequency of random events or overall game speed.

As for new things that could be added to fit the new game . . . what if you could choose your start and end era? Like, you don't have to start in pre-history or end in the modern era, you could have the game end once at least half the players have gained 7 stars in the last era, and begin with either no bonuses from previous eras or you "draft" bonuses from earlier eras.

Oh, also, avatar customization. Especially if certain styles or looks are unlockable or even give some really minor bonuses. For instance, if you reuse an avatar from your last run through when you played as Babylon, Greece, Norse, etc. then you get a slight diplomatic boost with those cultures if someone else picks them, giving you incentive to change up your strategy.