Language/Multiple-languages/Culture/Video-Games-with-Real‐Life-Civilisations

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World games.jpg

Some video games feature various cultures of the world, and they are successful.

There are more and more scandals in the gaming industry, including integrating spyware in the game. Always keep your eyes open.

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3282544/security/gamers-is-red-shell-spyware-being-used-in-the-games-you-play.html

https://www.polygon.com/2018/6/20/17485762/red-shell-spyware-pc-games-controversy-steam

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/red-shell-spyware-controversy

You may have noticed that I prefer the British writing “civilisation”. This is because of typing convenience: if I type “civilization”, I must move my little finger from “z” to “a”; if I type “civilisation”, this can be avoided.

Sid Meier's Civilization

This franchise is an important example of 4X (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate) games.

You can choose a civilisation and develop it to compete with others. Each civilisation has its own leader with some unique features. There are barbarians, who will attack you; city states, which you can befriend or conquer.

It is turn-based. In each turn, you can order your units to do something, you can order your cities to construct a building or train a unit. You can also develop technologies, then unlock new features, step by step.

There are natural wonders which gives you bonus if you build a city near it. You can build world wonders, which can be built only once. If it is in progress when another player finished it, it will be cancelled automatically.

You need to pay attention to your coins, resources, and your people's happiness. Accumulated happiness will lead to a Golden Age, providing many bonuses. There are points of culture and religion. With cultural points, you can unlock policies, and when it comes to industrial era, you can choose an ideology. With religious points, you can found a Pantheon first, and later found a religion or enhance it through prophets, spread it through missionaries and protect it through inquisitors.

If you have accumulated enough great person points, then some great people will be born, including artists, musicians, writers, engineers, scientists. They can provide some cultural points or buildings. Great generals and great admirals will be generated through warfare, who are helpful strategically in a war.

There are more than one way to victory, so you don't need to fight a war to win if you like.

What's more, there is a Civilopedia, with introductions about those civilisations. You can spend hours on it if you like.

Note that the reviews of Civ VI are more negative than Civ V.

https://civilization.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilization_(series)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/8930/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/289070/

https://www.reddit.com/r/civ/

https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Civilization_Games_Wiki

https://www.moddb.com/games/civilization-v/mods/

There are 3 open-source or freeware games based on early games of this series:

http://www.freeciv.org/

http://www.freecol.org/

http://www.c-evo.org/

Europa Universalis

This grand strategy franchise is truly worldwide.

You can choose a nation and start the game. Each nation has its own modifier on six aspects.

Its religions are distinctive, while in Civ a religion is all build by the player and thus does not relate to the reality at all.

With extension packs, some nations have their distinctive ways of playing, which makes it more realistic.

It is very complicated to play the game. You need to spend hours, lose the game several times to get used to it. As a beginner, you'd better pick a European nation. Otherwise, you will probably be subdued by European colonisation.

Expansion packs are indispensable if you want to fully enjoy. The price of all DLC is more than 10-folds of the original game.

https://www.paradoxplaza.com/europa-universalis-iv/EUEU04GSK-MASTER.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_Universalis_IV

https://store.steampowered.com/app/236850/

https://www.reddit.com/r/eu4/

https://eu4.paradoxwikis.com/Europa_Universalis_4_Wiki

https://www.moddb.com/games/europa-universalis-iv/mods/

A similar franchises made by Paradox Interactive are Hearts of Iron (HoI4 is banned in PRC for whatever possible reasons), an unrealistic World War II game, though being unrealistic is not its purpose; Victoria, an early work about the beginning of the modern time.

Crusader Kings

Another game of Paradox Interactive.

It is based on medieval Europe, North Africa, Western and Central and South Asia. Comparing to EU, CK focuses on individuals, which means that you need to make decisions as a person instead of a god-like being.

Just like EU and HoI, DLC are required if you want to fully enjoy.

There is a mod Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which is a version of China. And there is a game Sengoku which can be considered as the prototype of CK2, a version of Japan.

https://www.paradoxplaza.com/crusader-kings-ii/CKCK02GSK-MASTER.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crusader_Kings_II

https://store.steampowered.com/app/203770/

https://www.reddit.com/r/CrusaderKings/

https://ck2.paradoxwikis.com/Crusader_Kings_II_Wiki

https://www.moddb.com/games/crusader-kings-ii/mods/

The Elder Scrolls

This franchise is so famous that any introduction here is redundant.

Some players have discussed how the cultures in game are based on those in reality. But it seems that people don't have enough knowledge about cultures around the world.

This is a valuable but not the only discussion; you can just skip those comments without any argument:

https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/User_blog:Kidtragic/Elder_Scrolls_Races_and_Cultures_Compared_to_Real_Life.

If you didn't know about European history so much, you might have wondered why sometimes there is a domineering empire in Western fictions. This is great and is an ability of appreciation.

The peak of this series is considered to be Oblivion and the runner-up Skyrim, if you attach more importance to the general performance over graphics.

https://elderscrolls.bethesda.net/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elder_Scrolls

https://store.steampowered.com/app/925100/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/306130/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/489830/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/22330/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/22320/

https://www.reddit.com/r/ElderScrolls/

https://www.reddit.com/r/skyrim/

https://www.reddit.com/r/oblivion/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Morrowind/

https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/The_Elder_Scrolls_Wiki

https://www.moddb.com/games/skyrim/mods/

https://www.moddb.com/games/oblivion/mods/

https://www.moddb.com/games/morrowind/mods/

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/

https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/

https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/

Assassin's Creed

This is an era-crossing action game franchise, with impressive adventure and bug fix patches.

Its Unity and Chronicles are heavily criticised. The receptions of the other are not even.

https://www.ubisoft.com/en-US/franchise/assassins-creed

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassin%27s_Creed

https://store.steampowered.com/search/?term=assassin%27s+creed

https://www.reddit.com/r/assassinscreed

https://assassinscreed.fandom.com/wiki/Assassin's_Creed_Wiki

https://www.moddb.com/games/assassins-creed/mods

https://www.nexusmods.com/assassinscreed

Tomb Raider

It is an action game series. Different historical sites to explore. Solving puzzles is its merit.

https://tombraider.square-enix-games.com/en-us

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_Raider

https://store.steampowered.com/search/?term=tomb+raider

https://www.reddit.com/r/TombRaider

https://tombraider.fandom.com/wiki/Tomb_Raider_Games

https://www.moddb.com/games/tomb-raider

Far Cry

It is FPS. Each of its work focuses on a specific region: 1 in Micronesia, 2 in Africa, 3 in Pacific, 4 in Himalayas, 5 in Montana. You can experience the cultures in these regions and enjoy killing fools.

FC3 is the peak of the series, and its system requirements are not too high.

https://far-cry.ubisoft.com/game/en-us/home

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_Cry

https://store.steampowered.com/app/552520/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/298110/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/220240/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/19900/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/13520/

https://www.reddit.com/r/farcry/

https://farcry.fandom.com/wiki/Far_Cry_Wiki

https://www.moddb.com/games/far-cry/mods/

https://www.nexusmods.com/farcry5

Age of Empires

It is one of the most successful multicultural RTS franchise.

The upcoming Age of Empires IV is holding players in suspense. After recent failures, Microsoft Studios should have learned about what to do.

https://www.ageofempires.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Empires

https://store.steampowered.com/app/105450/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/221380/

https://www.reddit.com/r/ageofempires/

https://www.reddit.com/r/aoe2/

https://www.reddit.com/r/aoe3/

https://www.reddit.com/r/aoe4/

https://ageofempires.fandom.com/wiki/Age_of_Empires_Series_Wiki

https://www.moddb.com/games/age-of-empires-iii/mods/

Total War

This is a RTT series. Each of its work focuses on an era: Rome, Medieval, 18th century, Sengoku, British Isles in 878 AD, Three Kingdoms, also Warhammer.

It is disappointing old players step by step. The feeling of grandness seems to be no more. Also, its newest work Three Kingdoms is historically inaccurate in an unbridled manner: even the “Scenarios” can be fictional.

https://www.totalwar.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_War_(series)

https://store.steampowered.com/search/?term=total+war

https://www.reddit.com/r/totalwar/

https://totalwar.fandom.com/wiki/Total_War_Wiki

https://www.moddb.com/games/empire-total-war/mods/

https://www.moddb.com/games/medieval-ii-total-war-kingdoms/mods/

Age of Civilizations

Some people may say that it's plagerising EU, HoI and CK because their contents are similar. But no one can monopolise a genre. Fortnite defended itself successfully, which is persuading.

Considering its price and system requirements, also its noteworthy number of supported languages, it is not a bad choice.

http://www.ageofcivilizationsgame.com/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/603850/

https://www.reddit.com/r/AgeOfCivilizations/

https://age-of-civilizations.fandom.com/wiki/Age_of_Civilizations_Wiki

0 A.D.

It is free and open-source.

It is an RTS about 13 ancient civilisations. More civilisations will be available in the future, said on the official website. There are mods of more civilisations already: Delenda Est, Millennium A.D., Terra Magna.

Although there is an “A.D.” in the name, the civilisations in the official version are “somewhere along the timeline of 500 B.C. to 1 B.C.”

https://play0ad.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/0_A.D._(video_game)

https://www.reddit.com/r/0ad/

https://0ad.fandom.com/wiki/0_A.D._Wiki

https://www.moddb.com/games/0-ad/mods/

-- AUTHOR --

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