If AoM2 was a thing which Civilisations should be in it?

Age of Mythology Discussion
41

My preference would be:

Greek
Norse
Egyptian
Atlantian (renamed as Titans)
Celtic
Slavic
Chinese (but majorly redone)
Shinto
Aztec (or maybe North American mythology)

Some of the earlier posts seemed to have issues with Atlantis being included and it being too much in the realm of fantasy. I agree with that as it currently stands, but I think it is more of a semantic issue. The Altantian gods or ‘titans’ were drawn from Greek mythology and since Greek mythology is quite wide in scope, I don’t have an issue with them being included. However, I think they should change their name to ‘titan’ gods.

I suggested in another forum (My ideas for AoM2 - #8 by ModalChannel370) that maybe the choice of minor gods for each could be increased from 2 to 3 with each new god having new units and god powers. As an example, if we take Thor, we could have the following:
Classical Age: Freyja | Forsetti | + Idun (goddess of rejuvenation)
Heroic Age: Skadi | Bragi | + Freyr (god of fertility)
Mythic: Baldr | Tyr | + Sif (Thor’s wife)

I think this could be a way of making the existing civs more interesting while still maintaining their existing features. I would love to hear if anyone has any thoughts on that.

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42

Which timeframe are we working with ?

43

Sorry, I don’t understand the question.

44

The original AoM has one Civilisation in the Bronze Age (Egypt), one in the Classic Age (Greek) and one in the Early Middle Ages (Norse).
Egypt has some classical elements to like the Lighthouse that was build during Greek occupation but also Chariots that were only used in Bronze Age.

I think for every civilisation the time period where there is little to now written history but a lot of myths is the most interesting.
So for North American Natives that could even be after they come in contact with things like Horses (So even after 1600 AD) while for other like Egypt or Mesopotamian Civilisations it’s 2000 BC.
It feels strange to see mythological elements in an environment where we have lot’s of written history of like Imperial Rome.

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45

in case of 5
Sumerian
Greek
Egyptian
Norse
Celtic

in case of 10
Punic
Slavic
Chinese
Roman
Maya

in case of 15
Turkic
Hindu
Shinto
Yoruba
Hittite

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46

I’d only want to see these: (each with 3 major gods, like AoM)
Greek (One is heavily Atlantean focused, with very unique minor gods)
Egypt
Norse
Chinese
Aztecs/Mayans (these are a MUST, their potential gods/units etc are so damn unique and interesting)
Babylonian||India

Anything more than that is bloated - I would like to see the 1 of the 3 major gods always be a bit of a curve ball within cultures however - like play quite differently.

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  1. Greeks
  2. Egyptians
  3. Norse

These three are the most non-debatable. Everyone wants them.

  1. China

Because the devs will want them

  1. Mayans

Everyone can have some Mesoamerica, as a treat.

  1. Inca

If there’s enough information available. Otherwise, something like the Mapuche or Tupi.

  1. Oceti Sakowin

Really, just call them the Seven Fires. This would be the Lakota, Eastern Dakota, and Western Dakota. Again, similar to what I want from in AoE4, it’d be super interesting to explore the revolution the horse had on the plains Native Americans in a game like this, and the stories within the culture is more than varied enough to give a hell of a pantheon to choose from.

  1. Haida-Tlingit

Ngl, this is just my own interests. The Pacific Northwest is interesting, and the Haida-Tlingit were incredibly bloodthirsty and absolutely chads. The average Haida man stood over 6 feet tall in the 1700’s due to their excellent diet and style of living, and they have canoes over 60 feet in length.

  1. Aboriginal Australians

I can’t deny that the Aboriginals would only really fit well in the Age franchise in the Age of Mythology series… and I also can’t deny that their incredibly well-maintained stories give them a larger lore/stories pool to create a civ out of than even the Greeks. Seriously, these people have some of the most well-maintained history on the planet. It’s entirely possible to use their stories to track the behavior of megafauna that went extinct over 10’000 years ago. Ten. Thousand. Years.

  1. India
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48

I’d say the three classical mythologies of Greek, Egyptian, and Norse tradition. The Atlanteans were an interesting choice, as they were a Greek offshoot, but justifiable given the legend’s renown and creative potential (which, in my opinion, was well-explored).
I do not know much about Chinese mythology, but I think it was also a good choice - so much history and tradition to explore. It’s too bad the conditions/budget for this expansion were poor, and it painfully showed. It could be redeemed in a continuation of the game.
A Mesopotamian culture would be necessary, as the earliest known empires and cultures were founded there. I’d choose the Assyrians, but the Babylonians are also worth considering.
It seems a Mesoamerican mythology is very popular among the community, and I’d support its inclusion. The Olmecs would offer a concordant timeline with the Mediterranean civilizations (complementary, but not essential in mythology), as would the later Maya, who roughly parallel the Norse and left much more evidence of their culture.
I do not have enough knowledge about African mythologies to choose one specifically, but I know there are plenty of cultures and traditions to choose from, so that would not be a problem. The Kingdom of Kush is well known, but I’m not sure of how distinct its mythology was compared to Egypt’s (not that similarity wouldn’t work - the Atlanteans are different enough from the Greeks).

Overall, I’d choose the Greeks, Egyptians, Norse, Atlanteans, Chinese and Maya (popular). This could be followed with a Mesopotamian and then an African civilization.

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49

Celtic or Wiccan mythology would be really interesting. It doesn’t have many written sources unfortunately though, so a lot of the evidence is just archaeology.

For me I’d say:
Norse
Greek
Egyptian
Celtic or Wiccan
Japanese

50

In a future AOMDE I would add the Hindu. For AOM2 I’d rather have new cultures, so I’d change Greeks for Romans and Chinese for Japanese, maybe I’d also change the Atlanteans for Mayan and keep the Norse and Egyptians the same.

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51

Would be nice if these are included in standard games such as minor Civs in AoE3 . It would represent the influence of indeginous religions .

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  • Greek :mountain: :zap:
  • Egypt :scorpion: :snake:
  • Norse :bear: :snowflake:
  • Chinese :dragon_face: :yin_yang:
  • Maya :skull: :parrot:
  • Inca :yellow_circle: :llama:

A thought about Mayan and Inca favor system
:skull: :parrot: Maya; Melee warriors units got a %chance to capture a very low HP enemy in the last hit that you have to send to the Temple to “trade” for a good amount of favor, otherwise, asign a Priest to the temple to slowly generate favor
:yellow_circle: :llama: Inca; Can build their blacksmiths on top of the goldmines to slowly harvest it (also produce favor slowly), and got more favor with the chicha offerings done in the kanchas (cost food)

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How I would choose civilisations:

  1. The civilisations have to have a complex mythology that we know of
  2. The civilisations should not have a well written historical record form the time period
  3. There is no limitation of time period
  4. A wide range of different civilisations should be in the game

That rules out:

Atlantians

  1. not a civilisation
  2. are not mythological (they were invented by Plato to be an example for a point he wanted to make and likely not based on any mythos)

Romans

Their early Mythology was not what people would expect because they only later copied the Greeks.
But at the time they copied the Greeks they are well documented so not every mysterious.

Hellenistic Greeks

Similar reason. well documented history. Basically everything after Herodotus can be considered written history in the Greek world.

Civilisations that I would choose

I split it up after continents. One for each of the following regions (9 overall). Sometimes multiple options because it’s very hard to choose.
Pleas no 50% European ratio like in AoE2/3/4.

North America

This is the hardest to pick from because West, Central and Eastern are very different.
Also the question is how much European influence they should already have. Should they have horses or even gun powder?
The ones AoE3 choose seem the most fitting.

Lakota (Seven Fires)

Before gunpowder and maybe even before horses.
Not sure if they should be portrait as nomadic because they weren’t before they got horses.

Haudenosaunee

With neither horses nor gun powder. I think they would be more like a classical civilisation.

Central America

Olmecs are not an option because we only know very little about their religion and we have no idea about their language.
I think the Maya would be a better choice than the Aztecs but the Aztecs might be more popular

Maya

Here it’s quit easy. I don’t think they need an explanation.

Aztecs

Not too different from the Mayans but maybe more popular. Many Mexicans still identify with the Aztecs today.

South America

Quechua

Most noticeably known for the Inca Empire. Easy choice.

Europe

Here we have 3 interesting choices.

Germanic

Represented by the Norse in AoM. Easy choice and very popular mythology.

Celtic

Celts are a good alternative to Norse. They could probably cover a larger timeframe and a more diverse culture.
From the early Bronze Age until the Arthurian legend.
Sadly their mythology is not as known as the Germanic one because of early Christianisation.

Slavic

It took the AoE franchise way to long to give Eastern Europeans good representation.
Thanks to games/series like The Witcher Eastern European mythology is much more popular now. Maybe they could even turn Witchers into Heroes in AoM2, I mean their job is it to hunt mythological creatures. But that might be too much fantasy.

Mediterranean

Greek

Just too popular to not include it.
Please more Mycenaean looking this time. It is strange to see the army of Alexander siege Troy.
I think Total War Troy is a nice example of how they could look like before the last age (Iron) Upgrades.

Middle Eastern

Here it’s a hard choice. Egyptian or Mesopotamian.
Both very rich cultures that developed over millennia. But they were both very different.

Mesopotamian

Sumerians, Akkadians (later Babylonians and Assyrians) shared a common mythology despite being so different.
Most people should have hear of Gilgamesh the oldest surviving epic we know of.
Their unique feature would be to have a king as a hero.

Egyptians

They were already in AoM. It would be the return of a classic.
Hopefully less based on bible movies this time.

South Asia

Hindi

One of the most complex and rich mythologies.
Maybe if we go back in time enough we could make a combined civilisation for Iranian and Indian people. Early Rigvedan mythology is very close to early Zoroastrian.
But they should probably not sacrifice cows like they used to because that would be kinda insulting for modern Hindus.

East Asian

Japan, Korea or the Vietnamese are interesting but I think no one can beat China in importance.

China

Better than in AoM please.
Also no gun powder! Keep it to the time before the first Emperor.
Give them normal crossbows!

Oceania

Polynesian

The Polynesian people have an interesting and complex mythology.
Maybe focus on Maori or Hawaiian mythology.
Maori would work better on none water maps.

I made a concept for “minor civilisations” in AoM here:
My ideas for AoM2
Shrines that are basically like native settlements in AoE3 but they work like choosing a minor god in AoM (without the Age up) giving you access to god powers, technologies and mythological units.

Those shrines can also give you gods that are part of the pantheon of the religion of major civilisations but didn’t make it into the list of choosable gods on age up. Like gods that had regional importance but not as much on a larger scale.
That is needed because you’d want to have maps that take place in the homelands of some of the civilisations like in Greece for example. It would be strange to find shrines for foreign gods there.

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54

Why not ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Tbh that should’nt really be on any game except AoE3

56

Slight correction: the Oceti Sakowin - the Seven Fires - is the full name of the confederacy, while the Lakota are just one nation within the confederacy. If it makes more sense, the Lakota are only one fire of the Seven referred to within the name. The other six are the Eastern and Western Dakota.

And I think they’d be far more interesting if the Seven Fires were portrayed as a mix between pre-horse days and post-horse days, showing a nation going from agrarian to nomadic, and getting stronger for it.

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57

AoM is about Mythology not History.
AoM should take the chance an explore areas and time periods that a historic game can’t explore.
It allows it to write it’s own story without conflicting with historic records.
I think it would be strange to have Julius Caesar next to mythological creatures.

I know. It’s more like an “or”. Either represent only them or the whole group.
I read your posts and didn’t want to repeat everything.

A civilisation turning nomadic would be an interesting concept.
Usually you’d expect the opposite.
And I think horses should be limited to the later ages anyway and also most civilisation should be mainly infantry based. AoE4 is already about knights and archers.

It’s a common misconception to thing that nomadic people are less developed than agrarian cultures.
All big nomadic civilisations were agrarian at first.

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58

AoM 2 is done for if the developers start merging the mythologies together.
DON’T!

59

Polynesians have a very rich culture and history, but they often fly under the radar. If they were represented in a mainstream game like this that’d be great.

Kupe the Navigator would make a great hero. Of course, Kupe most likely did not exist. But that’s the fun of Age of Mythology. We don’t have to stick to just what happened and what didn’t. I think that’s the charm of AoM.

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60

The main problem with Polynesians is their diversity.
I don’t think you should throw Maori, Hawaiians, Rapa Nui (Easter Island) or the indigenous people of Taiwan into one pile.
That would be similar to saying, Hindu, Greek, Germanic, Slavic and Celtic people are the same.
If we knew enough about their early common mythology we could make a civilisation out of it but we don’t.
Most scientists agree that Celts and Italians have the same origins but we don’t know enough about those origins to make a united civilisation out of it.

One way of combining civilisations would be to make the minor gods you choose like a tree of cultures.
So you start as generic but than get more and more specific while you age up like how the cultures developed over time.

But it’s sometimes hard to draw lines because civilisations liked to copy some or many elements from others.
Best known example are the Romans, they copied a lot from the Greeks but also from others. Isis was very popular all through the Roman Empire, they even had an Isis temple in what later become London.

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61

My choices are the original big three:
Greek
Norse
Egyptian.

Then followed by:
Chinese
Aztec
Slavic
Japanese

My guess is that Slavic and Japanese will be the most popular picks out of the new civilizations.
Slavic with their vampires, werewolves, ghouls, etc… And the Japanese creatures are abundant.

I would love to include a Mesopotamian mythology but my knowledge is severely lacking here. But whatever mythology that is the most unique looking and offers many different looking creatures would be my pick.

Examples: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c7/b1/43/c7b1435efe3e0aa499bafb093e56ceff.png
https://i.pinimg.com/474x/18/fd/52/18fd52d991e7ecc0821c72eaad8cca1f.jpg