The Indians

Since it's been a few hours since our post and what PF2K said earlier on the discord seems to have gone unnoticed, I put a very brief summary together for you all to bring you all up to speed on the Indians. This is all true, no April Fools Day involved:

Indians​

Civilization Overview:
The Indians introduce a new mechanic unique to their civilization where in a quest or match, the player chooses several different Techs to research at the exclusion of researching other possible Techs. In this way, the player can modify the civ’s specialties on a quest-to-quest or match-to-match basis. We have not decided how many Techs this will involve (perhaps one in Age 2, Age 3, and Age 4, or perhaps more). We presently do not expect players to choose between mutually exclusive Units or Buildings. We do not have a name or this feature yet but have been calling it Choose-a-Tech in conversations. We also do not have any other details hashed out, such as whether these Techs will be located in a specific building or spread across the Tech Tree, etc.

Civilization Setting:
The Mauryan Empire (and late Nanda Empire) -- roughly 350 BCE to 150 BCE and would include the time of Alexander the Great, even though that was a few years before the Mauryan Empire). The Mauryan Empire was the first empire to unify almost all of India and represents ancient India at its height.


Civilization Motif:
Customization. (For context, the Motif of the Persians is Versatility and the Motif of the Romans is Quality over Quantity)

Strengths:
Midgame power spike (late Age 2/Age 3) (as opposed to early game (Celts/Norse) and late game (Egyptians, Babylonians, Romans)

Customizable Tech Tree

Other strengths are to be determined, possibly leaning more defensive/economic.


Weaknesses:
Specifics are to be determined, but obviously they are weaker where they are not strong.

Key Units:
Elephants, both military and economic
Maceman (with use of the Club gear class)
Others are to be determined

Possible Quest Givers:
Chandragupta Maurya
Ashoka
Chanakya


Main City:
Pataliputra

Other Details:
1. The Indians are to be a pro civ starting in Level 20. Possibly released with a booster pack (like the Fertile Crescent and Northern Invasion), but presently we are looking only at releasing the civ itself (like the Persians). Of course we would later follow it up with quest packs, etc.

2. We intend to begin development in earnest in Summer, 2021, though some of our team are already working away (such as 3d models, 2d art, historic research regarding possible Units, Buildings, Techs, and beginning study of Sanskrit for writing the Unit vocals.

3. We consider any headway made in the next few months to be a head start and likely wont begin tracking progress and so forth until mid-summer. It is very important for us to give the team several months off. Things are going well, so we would rather brace against burn out than push anyone now.


How can you help?
We are bottlenecked with 3d Modeling and Animation. Other than that, our fuel is the community and the team spirit, so enjoy the ride and feel free to ask questions. I am sure there will be lots of strong feelings and ideas about Units, Buildings, etc. Of course its fun to throw those around, and we look forward to explaining our choices later.


What civ is 9th?
Making civs is an incredible effort on our personal lives. If you all want to be a part of the process, please try to understand our perspective. We really don’t know what will happen next. Presently, we are taking things one civ at a time and may be done making new civs after this (but certainly not done developing content around here).

 

Blender

 

In AoEO's loose version of history, we have the flexibility of having quest givers that didnt perfectly overlap.