Culture Editor Features/Usage Discussion

In the culture editor you will be able to set up a faction's government, and cultures within a faction.

You will be able to control
-religion
-values
-problem-solving
-general acceptable/unacceptable behavior
-what tech objects are used
-what other resources are used
-clothing
-view of technology
-etc.

What we need to iron out
-how will it work
-how will it be accessed
-how to make it simple, easy, yet in-depth

I don't mean to sound harsh, Scio, but a lot of what you have there seems too broad or too minor. I mean, i really don't understand what 'Problem-Solving' is and how it would affect gameplay. If i rewrote the list, i'd have these things:

- Resources and Technology
- Government
- Power
- Society
- Economy
- Military
- Religion
- Welfare
- Entertainment
- Aesthetics
- Ethics

I hope everyone understands what those categories mean...

As for how it will work, i think that the best thing to do would be to have the bottom panel on the screen in Strategy Mode be a Nation Overview Panel, with the most important details from each category shown. Then, if the player clicks a button like 'Expand' or 'Open Nation Editor'*, the editor will open. I propose a panel for each point i suggested, which would take up the entirety of the editor space minus the tabs or buttons used to navigate. Further discussion on how things will work is definitely needed, but i think we should iron out what categories we want first, and then create threads for each individually. So... discuss.

*Yes, i am in favour of changing the name.

Sounds good Alaska, thanks for the additions.

Wrong button again, Scio?

US_of_Alaska wrote:

Wrong button again, Scio?

No, just repeating my self, somehow...

i understand problem solving

problem solving of a logic society: science
problem solving of a religious one: go to church and pray (0.00001% chance of working....)


if there is a battle one culture might go inventive what will go really well (or badly) and the other might go in a rigid tactic and possibly loose.....

eumesmo wrote:

i understand problem solving

problem solving of a logic society: science
problem solving of a religious one: go to church and pray (0.00001% chance of working....)


if there is a battle one culture might go inventive what will go really well (or badly) and the other might go in a rigid tactic and possibly loose.....

That would be handled in how much emphasis the nation puts on science, as opposed to all the other aspects of the nation. In this case, religion. Please note that it would be just as stupid doing things the totally-militaristic way or totally-economic way would be just as useless. Maybe the problem solving section should have a bunch of sliders, and change it to 'Emphasis' or 'Attitude'. Because frankly guys, it just seems like you're trying to give religion more negative bonuses than it needs.

US_of_Alaska wrote:

eumesmo wrote:

i understand problem solving

problem solving of a logic society: science
problem solving of a religious one: go to church and pray (0.00001% chance of working....)


if there is a battle one culture might go inventive what will go really well (or badly) and the other might go in a rigid tactic and possibly loose.....

That would be handled in how much emphasis the nation puts on science, as opposed to all the other aspects of the nation. In this case, religion. Please note that it would be just as stupid doing things the totally-militaristic way or totally-economic way would be just as useless. Maybe the problem solving section should have a bunch of sliders, and change it to 'Emphasis' or 'Attitude'. Because frankly guys, it just seems like you're trying to give religion more negative bonuses than it needs.

As much as many people don't like religion (i'm not a big fan myself) it does have many positive aspects. It encourages the development of communities, encourages order, and usually encourages values that are helpful towards society. Even if the ideas behind it are false, the religion itself can be very real and can be quite helpful, dependent upon the situation. On a side note, did you know that someone who goes to church every sunday statistically has an added .4 years of life expectancy? I attribute this mostly to the factor of the community developed, and the order encouraged.

~sciocont wrote:

As much as many people don't like religion (i'm not a big fan myself) it does have many positive aspects. It encourages the development of communities, encourages order, and usually encourages values that are helpful towards society. Even if the ideas behind it are false, the religion itself can be very real and can be quite helpful, dependent upon the situation. On a side note, did you know that someone who goes to church every sunday statistically has an added .4 years of life expectancy? I attribute this mostly to the factor of the community developed, and the order encouraged.

And you can't forget the happiness and dedication that religions give. A man is more likely to do incredibly risky things (sometimes straight-out suicidal) if he thinks it is what god wants. We need to show this somehow in the game. Maybe leaders that follow a certain type of religion or emphasis on that religion will give better bonuses.

Think like:
State Religion: Builder Religion. + 25% Tech Object Construction Rate
Nation Leader: John of the Builder Church + 10 % Tech Object Construction Rate
Religion Emphasis: 60% = + 60% Tech Object Construction Rate

I took what you guys wrote, and reordered the list into categories with sublists. I think this would simplify a culture editor to have something akin to this format.

Government
-Foreign Policy
-Economic Policy
-Domestic Policy
-Corruption?

Society
-Religion
-Social Programs
-Aesthetics (art and music?)
-Ethics

Economy
-Education
-Technology
-Resources
-Media

El_Noumo wrote:

I took what you guys wrote, and reordered the list into categories with sublists. I think this would simplify a culture editor to have something akin to this format.

Government
-Foreign Policy
-Economic Policy
-Domestic Policy
-Corruption?

Society
-Religion
-Social Programs
-Aesthetics (art and music?)
-Ethics

Economy
-Education
-Technology
-Resources
-Media

I like these, mostly. However, i must say that there needs to be a section of Government that deals with the share of power. Who leads the country, who is on the Legislation Committee, and how much say the people have in it all. See the Government thread for more info.

agreed. however, it is usually easier to start with something simple and then add complexity rather than go the other way.

El_Noumo wrote:

Government
-Foreign Policy
-Economic Policy
-Domestic Policy
-Corruption?

Society
-Religion
-Social Programs
-Aesthetics (art and music?)
-Ethics

Economy
-Education
-Technology
-Resources
-Media

Where would clothing go under? Social Programs seem like they would be something the government makes, and for government, you forgot the very important part of how government is chosen.

Clothing is a tech.

~sciocont wrote:

Clothing is a tech.

But couldn't the styles of the clothing go under culture? Different cultures have different styles.

till clothing is researched they basically walk around naked or with minimal things like tattoos and piercings (note that some tribes dont know the concept of cloth but yet use those things)

DragonEye4 wrote:

~sciocont wrote:

Clothing is a tech.

But couldn't the styles of the clothing go under culture? Different cultures have different styles.

Yes, the distribution and usage of technologies will be handled by the Culture Editor.

~sciocont wrote:

DragonEye4 wrote:

~sciocont wrote:

Clothing is a tech.

But couldn't the styles of the clothing go under culture? Different cultures have different styles.

Yes, the distribution and usage of technologies will be handled by the Culture Editor.

I was wondering, how would we handle clothes? I mean, clothes are a tech. How would we define where/how an organism wears the clothes?

InvaderZim wrote:

~sciocont wrote:

DragonEye4 wrote:

~sciocont wrote:

Clothing is a tech.

But couldn't the styles of the clothing go under culture? Different cultures have different styles.

Yes, the distribution and usage of technologies will be handled by the Culture Editor.

I was wondering, how would we handle clothes? I mean, clothes are a tech. How would we define where/how an organism wears the clothes?

When you create them around your creature's manikin, wherever they touch that is where their position will be defined.

Would we have to rely on the player not to make clothes that are impossible to put on unless they are stitched up around their body?

The Uteen wrote:

Would we have to rely on the player not to make clothes that are impossible to put on unless they are stitched up around their body?

Mmm, that is a good point... Maybe we should have something in Test Mode tho equip and un-equip Tech Objects.

Sounds quite tricky to program... Trying to take a shirt off or something if you don't know how to is hard, but making a program that tries to do that would take along time to program, and even then, you'd have bugs the size of houses.

The Uteen wrote:

Sounds quite tricky to program... Trying to take a shirt off or something if you don't know how to is hard, but making a program that tries to do that would take along time to program, and even then, you'd have bugs the size of houses.

Yes, but until someone comes up with something better it'll have to do. So hurry up and come up with something better, everyone!

US_of_Alaska wrote:

The Uteen wrote:

Sounds quite tricky to program... Trying to take a shirt off or something if you don't know how to is hard, but making a program that tries to do that would take along time to program, and even then, you'd have bugs the size of houses.

Yes, but until someone comes up with something better it'll have to do. So hurry up and come up with something better, everyone!

We could just, you know, not care.