i actually don’t want to play a civ-building game to “retrace the steps of Ramses II” or become France or build the golden gate bridge i want to start with some random tribe and give them their OWN identity and make their OWN country and build their OWN unique little things!!!
every civ game that’s not outright sci-fi or fantasy seems to fumble this so hard. “We’re not like Civilization… you can be Phoenicians in one era AND Polynesians the next” please i’m so tired. so uninterested in paint-by-numbers history
it makes sense to do things this way both for gameplay and practical reasons. ease of implementation, ease of theming civ-based bonuses etc etc. and also i do not care for it. if i start a planet from scratch i do not wish to see Earth things
listen. i see you in the replies saying Spore and Dwarf Fortress. and the thing is yes but no. Spore as we fantasized about in 2006 matches this to some degree; Spore as it released absolutely does not. it falls victim to its own scope and most meaningful choices are limited to a handful of preset routes. it is an impressive game for the breadth of cosmetic customization it offers but compared to the initial draft it retains tragically little to no simulation elements. your tribesfolks do not diverge in beliefs or culture beyond the war/commerce/religion ternary; their history does not evolve beyond the extremely simplified trait system. as for Dwarf Fortress i love it very very much but most of the neat things it does with dynamic culture (spheres, deities etc) mechanically does not do very much and is mostly there for flavor. there are some really interesting systems with historical figures and different creeds of the same species having different body types and hairstyles, but at the end of the day all dwarves enjoy beer and living underground, all elves abhor wooden goods and so on. do you understand the ideal of organic cultural growth i long for here. people have also mentioned Crusader Kings 3 and i have not yet played it so i’m gonna be doing that next