I usually upload these on the AoE2 subreddit, but someone over there recommended me to upload it here as well. All civ icons in courtesy of this incredible post. With that said:
Firstly, let me answer the burning question: Why “?” instead of numbers? Well because I’ve realised that these numbers are pretty redundant when it comes to civ concepts, as they aren’t well tested due to the limited knowledge I have on modding and the limitations of the scenario editor. So instead, I think it’ll much more beneficial to focus on the text rather than just the numbers.
Now let’s begin the concepts, starting with the Somalians:
Civ bonus
Next up, the Kanembu, and before anyone comes up with the cannibal allegations, the food bonuses are supposed to represent their lucrative slave trading, apologies for any confusion:
Civ bonus
Next up, the Songhai:
Civ bonus
Possible campaigns for each civ:
- Somalians: The Ethiopian-Adal war.
- Kanembu: The rise of Mai Idris Alooma
- Songhai: Sonni Ali’s conquest of the former Mali empire.
With that, hope you guys enjoy this DLC concept, and next up, I’m also gonna be doing some concepts for Sub-Saharan African civs.
12 Likes
You should’ve leaned into that, unless it’s not historically accurate. I designed a Melanesians civ that has a specific cannibalism bonus, because the people of Fiji were notorious cannibals. I know that that kind of thing is messed up for a lot of people, but to me, it’s history, and it’s different.
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You should’ve leaned into that, unless it’s not historically accurate. I designed a Melanesians civ that has a specific cannibalism bonus, because the people of Fiji were notorious cannibals. I know that that kind of thing is messed up for a lot of people, but to me, it’s history, and it’s different.
The Kanembu weren’t cannibals, but rather notorious slave traders. My original idea was to give them a bonus that let them get 1 free villager for every 2 villagers they killed, but I realised just giving them food gives them more flexiblity.
Such a DLC could have 5 civs:
- Kanem-Bornu
- Mamluks
- Moroccans
- Somalians
- Songhai
These civs would have in common that they are Muslim. DLC could to be called Sultans of Deserts.
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@MUTYLATOR5553 Aren’t Berbers the same things as Moroccans?
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Songhai more than almost any civ on earth feels like it could be thr one civ without chemistry since the big way their empire fell, unlike the Americas… is gunpowder
Songhai seem quite underpowered since they have practically no early game eco bonus, also their camels are quite bad honestly even if they move fast. I imagine Somalians will be a bit weak too since their eco bonus kicks in very late. Kanembu may be okay. Also, I would just make Kanembu camel and scout line ignore all armour, its not that big of a deal
For Songhai, I suggest Askia the Great since his achievements are way more recorded and he fought various enemies such as the Malians, Fulani, Tuaregs, Hausa, Mossi, Kanembu etc.
Well, there you go then. The cannibalism angle should definitely be avoided if it’s not accurate. For civs like the Melanesians, though, it makes sense.
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Disagree on that angle. I think all civs should have chemistry.
I don’t think we’ve seen a 5 civ DLC in AoEII:DE, and I don’t think we ever will.
I’m really sorry. These civs were stronger on my initial drafts. But I slowly nerfed them with further feedback on my reddit posts.
How did you make that tech tree image
There are two ways. You could either manually edit them like I did, or use this website: Civilization Builder.
I recommend using civbuilder since it’s simpler.
Also you can even be justified in giving Songhai or Kanembu a fishing bonus since Lake Chad is replete with fish
Could we get another African DLC please devs? Come on, there’s plenty options to pick from as this thread shows.
3 Likes
Just one?! You could do 3 and still maybe be… half done if you’re wasteful in your naming conventions
Even though it would be awesome to have a DLC with so many civs, it’s more likely we’ll get several smaller DLCs instead, possibly based on a particular part of the continent, like an East African DLC with the Nubian, Somali and the Swahili or maybe West African one with the Songhai, Kanembu or Hausa.
One of the reasons is so we don’t have another campaign like Pachacuti, where you only play as the Inca against the Inca.
Gold from loot coincides with Vikings and now reworked Persians.
