Xianbei was a big ethnic, had many branches still existing in Tang(as Tuyuhun), Song(as some Mongolian tribes).
Khitan’s history was quite short compared to civs I picked, but they could still be picked to replace Xianbei.
Tibetans shouldn’t be counted as Chinese civs, nor they were related to other existing civs, I suggest they appear with Nepal and Kashmir in a Himalaya pack.
I think one of the 5 civ will be classical civ. The full tech tree civ that doesn’t have any gunpowder seems highly suspicious.
No need to doubt now.
Viking Split. Are Norway, Sweden, Denmark really that different from each other?
No, aside from Norway being obviously superior. (I’m kidding.)
I suppose the Danes could be a separate civ representing the post-Viking medieval kingdom, but they don’t seem like a priority to me.
And sweden could be a gunpowder civilization
It always depends on which point in history you take. Until the 9th century no, they are essentially the same peoples.
I highly doubt it, it is too far in the timeline.
Another African civ, I could see happening. Even if I don’t have the brain power to figure out what it would be.
But another Americas civ? That feels like a tough one. Who could it be? Admittedly, I don’t know much about meso-American history, but the big meso-American empires were the Aztecs, Mayans and Incas. Closest I can think of to something matching those scales is the Olmecs, but the Olmecs are way too early for AoE2.
I’d love to hear what people think could work for another meso-American civ.
Purepechas and Chimus are quite obvious, Zapotecs and Mixtecs follow closely behind, and there are quite a few other options, some of which have already been mentioned in this thread so it feels weird seeing someone join the conversation now and ask this question xD
Tlaxcaltecas (unique gunpowder/cavalry natives) and Chimus (Pachacuti is too monotonous) are the first options, as they already appear in campaigns, and they like adding diversity and enemies of classic campaigns. If the DLC is larger, then the Purepachas and Zapotecs seems more likely as extra ones.
People like thinking in current day countries too much.
China and India are completely fine to be just one country because they are one today, but every state on the Balkans needs their own civ.
The most important part of a civ is design potential and Americans offer more eagle civs
Africa also offers “Eagle” civs because there are many cultures that didn’t have horses at all.
Now the Eagle Warrior armour class has been changed to “Shock Infantry” which is shared by other units like the new Fire Lance that is also a regional unit.
With 5 new Chinese civs getting a replacement unit for Mangonel line, knight line, Cannon Galleon, and a new unit line (Fire Lancer), I think every region except Europe has a lot of potential. Even Europe has good potential as long as you can replace CA with mounted Xbow, Paladin with a regional flavour like Savar, Hussar with Cossack.
The real question is from a financial and unnecessary effort standpoint were all these extraneous changes needed?
I dunno I might be one of the most OG civ crafters ever so my mindset is do more with less aka limited engine potential so maybe Im wrong or too much an old timer in my thinking but you could have continued with the roster we had after elephant units and wed be good
i love you for reposting that. I’m so happy i’m not the only one who wants the mayan siege towers xD
Which is actually a problem, and developers will probably have to come up with another regional unit and a few other adjustments. If I can give a comprehensive answer, the problem is always how to differentiate the tech tree. Let’s do structure by structure, so it’s easier to understand.
Barracks. Aztecs have no Halberdier, Mayas have no Champion. So when they made the Incas, they did the only possible thing: they gave them both the Halberdier and the Champion. Luckily, Gambeson is here today to differentiate them a little more.
Archery Range. Aztecs have no Thumb Rings & Ring Archer Armor, Mayas full. So here too they made the right choice, giving a UU to the Incas to differentiate them from Mayas. Therein lies the difference.
Siege Workshop. Aztecs have no Heavy Scorpion. Mayas no Siege Onager. And here unfortunately the developers have a rather lazy thing, for the Incas they copied that of the Mayas and gave Siege Engineers.
Monastery. Aztecs full. Mayans no Redemption & Illumination. Incas no Atonement & Fervor. This is perhaps the easiest thing to differentiate.
So thinking about it for a moment, how do you differentiate the fourth civ? Do you try to make one without Arbalest or without Elite Skirmisher? With another unique infantry unit trainable in the Barracks? By the way, for general consistency of the game, every meso civilisation must have a bonus in skirms and eagles full upgraded + bonus.
I personally would like that a meso civ (if they add several new meso) has a weaker eagle line, lacking squires or an imp upgrade. Like Celts or byzantines paladins, I think it’s cool they have access to this regional unit for “historical” reasons (I think for celts it’s the auld alliance). By the imperial age they are mostly a dead weight in the tech tree, but from time to time they can be used as a surprise.
Although having neither cavalry nor good eagles may be too weak.
With the next patch we are getting closer and closer to the fact that every civilisation with a regional unit has a bonus with it. With the fact that the Chinese no longer have Camels and that they are now a regional unit, I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up fixing that in the future.
Because even Dravidians who do not have Elite Battle Elephant still have some bonus (imo, they should have Elite Battle Elephant )
My idea for a future American DLC is to separate the Central and South American civs using regional units. The Incas, Chimu, and Muisca would have Chasqui as an Eagle replacement as well as shared Slingers. The Incas would also have a new unique building, the Tambo, which would heal surrounding units and could even train Chasqui.
In contrast, the Purepechas and whoever else gets added from Central or North America would have Eagles, and would be far more reminiscent of traditional Meso civs.
My idea for an Iroquois civ gives them Eagles which are cheaper and faster to create from unique techs, but they lack Elite.