Religion

Well people could go for the Imperial Truth and spread it via space mari…ups wrong era

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It sounds like it might be easier to just leave it as part of the game and not have it be a switchable component. It would be in the game whether players want it or not, it would just be up to them how important religion would be to their people.

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I agree on this count, for what it’s worth!

Why not have the religion appear by herself? I don’t know about AI coding but as every citizen have a set of skill why don’t you make a “religiosity” skill?

So, for example, the hunter that is religious will pray/sacrifice to the Deer god to have a good hunt while the uninterested ones simply don’t care, then, as generations pass-by (and the skill is inherited by their siblings), the religion can evolve or disappear depending on how many people in the settlement have the religiosity skill.

It can lead to interesting settings, for example you build up a megalith site for onoring the ancestors, then a disease come by and wipe out 90% of your tribe, the survivors aren’t so interested in religious matters (as by the skill) and the site will be abandoned to itself.

What do you think?

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I had not seen this discussed, though it may already have been.

Burials were an extremely important component of culture, often diagnostic of the culture and a wealth of information about the people for archaeologists. Religion or not, will there be burials? You could have primary burials, secondary burials, or even cremation. You could even let the player choose their own desire technique. Remember, Mass Graves for the enemies, they don’t get proper burials.

Often, burial practices are gender-specific, such as males facing One direction while females facing the other. Many cultures also practiced burial within their houses under their floors. It would be fun to see little skulls appear four skull worshipping cultures, that’s more of an Anatolian thing.

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Will we see wedding and funeral ceremonies

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If it hasn’t been suggested, religion should offer a morale boost in battle if your tribe has a fervent belief in your tribe’s religion. Religion is a powerful source of energy and stability for those who rely on it to keep themselves going.

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I would agree. I dislike playing religion part of Civ 6 and want nothing to do with it. A true opt out (unlike Civ 6) of religion would be appreciated. One last point that for as a Christian this issue really gets to be contentious.

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It would be interesting to see that you have the option for religion to be part of your game as religions have formed key points of many cultures and how they developed. Additionally for those who may be of the current major faiths it could be an option to start forming the basis of your religion or just indeed opt out of it. However, I’d personally like to see this feature or something similar in the game as historically it is incredibly integral to many cultures developing.

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I’m not sure I really understand the meaning of this – sorry for that.
Do you mean it would be possible to exchange one religion against another, or just you could decide either to have religion in you game or not at all?

In my opinion, any try to represent established religion in those eras would feel like it’s a fraud.

To sum up what’s been said earlier by others, and what’s common sense (just for the sake of it, no pedantry here!):

  • those people were polytheistic: a hunter could worship more naturally a hunter god(ess)/spirit, but whenever her wife/wives was/were pregnant I’m sure this hunter would also pray any fertily god(ess)/spirit that he thinks could help, and even the wind god(ess)/spirit when this would be necessary, or the agriculture god(ess)/spirit in case of famine, or the war god(ess)/spirit in case some neighbors bad guys want to come in his village.
  • the gods are evidently an important element of the societies of the time: they were the easier explanation for a whole lot of unexplained phenomena;
  • worshiping a god(ess)/spirit doesn’t mean there is necessarily a “religion”, with a dogma, established rituals, etc. Speaking more “clinically” (as we say in French, but maybe “scientifically” would be clearer), religion should essentially be a thing that would allow a common ground for the various citizens in the town, so permitting either to strengthen an established society or offer new grounds at some risk.

This being said, I think that religion/spirituality in the game should be made a bit like what’s been said about technology: by smooth progress, when being confronted a set of decisions: do you want your dead ones to be buried or burned? If buried, do you want the graves to be common or individuals? If buried, do you want them to be buried instantly, or exposed for time before a proper burial ritual?

Then you would have the choice either to define you very own religion (such choice favoring e.g. the war god, for warmongers, or the agriculture god, etc.) or to keep along the lines of what your citizens think is the most appropriate, given they could get new ideas fro neighboring tribes (“hey, those people make a grave for their dead chiefs! Those guys are real strange… But maybe they’re right, that’s could be a good idea for our chiefs!”)

By making such choices it could leave apart the religion trouble aside for some players like @halonot, which could just click the choice that the citizens think the most appropriate – then discover progressively what are the results; whilst for other players more interested in religion it could be a real choice, like for example the possibility to create a form of monotheism, which may also create social tensions inside the tribes if this is against the will of most citizens, so with political and social consequences.

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A lot of ideas are starting to balloon this game, will you have time to do this in depth religion system?

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Especially in Europe and how civilzation was birthed by Christianity and Christ. Very historic.

I think the devs will filter and choose what is best for the game. After all they are game designers with experience. Most of the ideas in this forum won’t be in the game (in the intial release) but I think it is interesting for them to have a large pool of iconcept and ideas. So don’t worry :wink:

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I meant more in the case of those religions that came before Christianity that helped form cultures before the AD especially if this is going by truly ancient standards. For example those peoples that would develop and become the Saxons, Geats, Ebdanians, Venedians and other such people who have long cultures where religion plays a part of their figure

Christianity should be left out of this if we are talking about the neolithic.

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In most city-building games, like Pharaoh, Caesar III, Zeus: Master of Olympus, Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom, Children of the Nile, Tropico, Anno, and Banished, religions is simply a need, like other needs. If citizens aren’t getting this need satisfied, they will be less happy, and maybe even less productive. I feel that would be a good way to go. An Age of Mythology or Populous style of divine intervention, with holy powers and mythological events, seems, to me, to be more a different kind of game. Or, to stick to a positive note of adding even more to our dear developers yokes: why not have a future switch between more realistic, and more… mythological, fantasy options? I know that works in Crusader Kings II, where you actually can allow extremely rare events like hearing the voice of God, or turning into a werewolf at the full moon…
But for now, let’s keep to a more realistic, and mild form of religiosity, where religion in more something that makes citizens happy, calm, or brave, rather than work magic for them.

I especially agree to what @Elfryc said, that “any try to represent established religion in those eras would feel like it’s a fraud.”. For, as @halonot rightly wrote: “this issue really gets to be contentious”. And I’m sure that’s true for more than just Christians or Jews or Muslims or others. We know however that practically speaking every human culture, of possibly tens of thousands that we know of, had a religiosity or spirituality of some form. It should be included, if only as an aesthetic touch. But how?

@lotus253 points out the importance of burials and the after-life, and @Johnnybegoodnot points out the power of religion to boost morale in the face of dangers. How about some form of tribal culture and spirituality just grows forth through events like those, connected to the lives of the villagers? Living by the sea they make the villagers feel connected to the sea, and fear its perils? Repeated battles and danger might breed contempt for them, and create a warrior-code or mythology among themselves? We know that oral history often gives way to mythology, just like both Genesis and Gilgamesh speak of a great flood that truly did occur (more than once) in Mesopotamia, or how the Iliad led archaeologists to find ancient Troy, so “heavy with death and with woe to the banded sons of Achaia!”. Event by event, organically and gradually, a sort of system would appear, with a set of gods or forces or powers or spirits, and necessary rites, festivals, and of course, buildings to go with it. And maybe laws?

In the end, to be honest, I say it doesn’t really matter why and for whom a temple is built, if for Ishtar, Ptah, Ares, Wotan or Mercurius… as long as the player gets to build it :wink:

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I mean to switch off the whole religion system. With that I don’t wanted to mean a religion like today we understand it, as you said, that has no sense in Neolithic times, but we have to give a name to the system. Call it belief if you prefer. Lately (in next expansions) it will be formal religions anyway.

Christianity or any other actual religion is not going to be present in Neolithic times, but a speculation of some spiritual, shamanistic cosmology.

The switch off button, if any, will be there only to please people who feel bad to play a game managing other beliefs different than their own (even if I personally don’t get the problem, it is not like they are going to praise the game gods themselves).

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You always write a entire novel for your arguments.
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I like that

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I agree with Grigor’s statement “In the end, to be honest, I say it doesn’t really matter why and for whom a temple is built, if for Ishtar, Ptah, Ares, Wotan or Mercurius… as long as the player gets to build it.

If we have to practice another religion that is the problem.

As for AC’s statement, "I mean to switch off the whole religion system. With that I don’t wanted to mean a religion like today we understand it, as you said, that has no sense in Neolithic times, but we have to give a name to the system. Call it belief if you prefer. Lately (in next expansions) it will be formal religions anyway.

Christianity or any other actual religion is not going to be present in Neolithic times, but a speculation of some spiritual, shamanistic cosmology.

The switch off button, if any, will be there only to please people who feel bad to play a game managing other beliefs different than their own (even if I personally don’t get the problem, it is not like they are going to praise the game gods themselves)."

The problem that I referred to in Civ 6 there was a never ending religion war even if Religion was turned off. That part of the game I did not enjoy. As for AC, “Ancient Cities,” I did not know how you are going to do religion and am waiting to find out how complex or how involved it would be. I would not nor ever want my beliefs to interfere with the game. If it goes towards cannibalism or human sarcifice then I will opt out playing the game.

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Well you could build a religion with similar moral foundations, but yeah christianity wouldnt have existed in this time.

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