For example, you could have a Eruopean stlye 'theme' of units, which would affect mostly the appearence of the units, and to a limited extent, the type of units available.

Also, you'd get a Arabic, Asian, African, Indian, Native American(North and South too?), Steppes( Mongols and perhaps Chinese) and a few barbarian 'themes'.

These themes would be VERY different in appearance at the start of the game, 'Europeans' fighting 'Native American' would look really interesting....

As the game progresses, more technological units would begin to converge onto a single, Utility oriented look. No bones and feathers for decoration, just combat fatigues...
By the Genetic age (sorry a CTP reference....) teh units would be more or less identical, although perhaps with different colored camoflage for desert cultures and Northern cultures....

The appearence of theses 'themes' shopuld be based on historical things as much as possible.

e.g. Europeans would look like, say, Celtic warriors, Pikemen, Muscateers etc.
Not much of a difference in the Renaisence units onwards for the European theme, although the early units would be quite different, with there defensive units looking like more Norhtern European rather than (Greek/Phonecian) Phalanxes. Their offensive infantry would be knights on foot, not Samurai.

For more unusual 'themes', and those which were dissolved into the Western European forms in OUR history, some imagination would be needed. For example the Native American warriors and cavalry would be historical, but what would a Native American Muscateer look like, if they had invented gunpowder themselves, and not been conquered???? Pretty cool I'd say, getting practical and uniformed, but still decorated with feathers and fetishes (as in spirit items, not kinky leather boots, although that would make a good 'modded' theme all by itself ....)

Anyway that's more or less it, although....

Which theme each civ prouduces would be dependant on:
a) the Civ name
b) Lattitude of Civ's origin, so you wouldn't get African style units attacking you from the poles... This might imply some lattitude based restriction on a Civ's starting locations....

I personally think the idea would make for a more colourful game .. but to be honest .. give me a better AI, maps that can be as large as I want, diplomacy with real function and effect .. and let chaps like yourself spend the time building the scenario's which fire your imaginations...

Thats what CIV should be all about, letting each one of us focus on the aspects of the game we most enjoy .. and letting us mod stuff we don't like too much.

I'm not sure that teh technologies need to be differetn for each Civ, it's just that Iron Working would give you the option yo build 'Advanced Ancient Infantry' which would be a legion, or heavy infantry, or warriors dressed in Aligator Skins depending on which Civ you were..... All these units would be the same unit, just with a different name and appearence.

1. You are spending a lot of effort on "chrome" that adds no functionality to the game

2. You make the game more confusing ("What the heck is that three-eyed bird unit?")

quote: Originally posted by airdrik on 02-22-2001 12:09 PM No, no, no, Biddles, you have it all wrong. Your civ would have a trimeme that looks like a viking longboat, and over there the Romans have a trimeme that has a different shapped hull and different designes on it's sail. Also your standard infantry looks like the civ 2 barbarian while their standard infantry looks like the civ 2 legion. Both units have the exact same atributes, just different pics. I like it it gives other ways to distinguish between civs, as well as allows you to have japanese samuri rather than japanese european knights.

Sorry, I didn't explain myself well. What I was meaning was when that funny looking boat comes up to you, you'd be sitting there goign "Well is it a trireme or a longboat". You don't know which it is (it might have trireme stats but might look like a long boat, or a junk or something and you don't know what it does). (This doesn't mean I'm against the idea)