I see Ancient Cities as more of an immersion into an historical experience than a race-to-the-end kind of game. I created a YouTube series of Banished with the Colonial Charter mod and got 100 episodes out of it. I’d like to be able to do the same with Ancient Cities. That being said, while a game pace of one year per one year of aging would enhance immersion, it would also limit appeal as only a few would have the patience to continue playing or watching. As well, offsetting that with too fast-paced of a year breaks the immersion we are hoping the game will create.
I think the best way to satisfy most would be an option to choose how many years the population ages per game year, say a range of 1 to 5 years per cycle. This way a year (4-season cycle) can still be long enough to satisfy, but the player can choose how much age progression occurs based on their patience level and attention span.
Adding to this, I’d like to see this type of setting replace the concept of “speeding up the game.” Rather than hit 10-speed and little tribals start running around the scene like they’ve all had too much sugar, how about a constant game speed altered by choosing (in the Options menu) the number of years each cycle will represent? This way the game will always be played as it was intended, with all the animations looking realistic, yet the generations can go by at the pace the player is comfortable.
Any thoughts?