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Entries Tagged as 'Feature:Nations'

The Chinese National Character

December 18th, 2010 · 12 Comments · Feature:Nations, History

What this is about, including full list. Chinese Civilization is one of those rare cultures that is simply too big for a rule set to capture well. I wrote about this problem earlier this year in my look at Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom. That game tried to embody all five thousand years of […]

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The Babylonian National Character

November 25th, 2010 · 12 Comments · Feature:Nations, History

What this is about, including full list. Few ancient civilizations are as famous as Babylon for doing so little. OK, that’s an oversimplification, but that’s really the problem with writing about Babylon as a faction in strategy games. Who are they, really? The Hammurabic Code is certainly important for understanding the evolution of law and […]

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The Aztec National Character

November 14th, 2010 · 16 Comments · Feature:Nations, History

What this is about. If the Aztec had faded into history like the Maya did, they would probably not be the popular draw that they are for strategy game designers. If they have to pick one pre-Columbian civilization, it will always be the Aztecs even if the Maya had better science and writing, the Inca […]

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The American National Character

November 8th, 2010 · 19 Comments · Design, Feature:Nations, History

What this is about. There is always a group of people who resist the idea of putting “Americans” in a game as a race/nation/faction. Though you can certainly argue that there is a unique American history that predates independence by a good century, the United States of America is a relatively young nation whose imprint […]

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National Characters

November 5th, 2010 · 31 Comments · Design, Feature:Nations, History

If this blog has a recurring motif, it is how history and strategy games are uneasy partners. Despite our tendency to look to the past for analogies and lessons, history is a mess that refuses to conform to rule sets and is constantly under reinterpretation and understanding. Even if “making history come alive” is a […]

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