Fundemental Conditions of Human Existence

Humans in all places and times interact with the natural environment

See the ways in which the farms (green squares) alter the environment

          In my opinion Civilization V does and excellent job of showcasing this fundamental condition of human beings existence on this earth. Right from the start of the game you are plopped down on a map on a piece of land aka the natural environment. From the get go you start to interact with the natural environment by altering it all to often like humans do today. The first priority for a lot of civilizations in the game and in real life is to find a place to settle. In the game you do so by building your capital city.

                        Humans interact with the natural environment in others ways as well. In the game there are animals placed sporadically. With this animals you gain resources but you also interact with the natural environment by building stockades around the animals. By altering the natural migration of these animals (though they don't move in the game) is another way in which humans interact with the natural environment.

                        

Example of a mine in Civilization V

Using a settlement as the nucleus for interaction in real life and game play civilizations build out from it with roads, trading posts, and farms to produce food stuffs. One of the most substantial ways in which one can alter/interact with the natural environment in the game is by building mines, construction a lumber yard, cutting down a forest or clearing a marsh. Like in reality this leaves the land barren and somewhat not aesthetically pleasing but it is something the is needed for, though not necessarily in the extent in which is sometimes happens, for humans to exist.

Humans in all places and time interact with one another

Diplomacy in Civilization V

Nazi Diplomacy in Vichy

          In the game no matter what civilization you pick there will be interactions with other civilizations. From the start and into the modern era civilizations in the game with interact by open borders, creating peace treaties and research agreements.In the game in particular one is approached quite often with requests by other civilizations to open their borders or show the world that you have entered into an open peace treaty. City-States in the game want allies against civilizations that they don't get along with and vice versa.

War in Civilization V

        The choices that you make in the game and the way in which you go about interacting with others can severely alter the way in which you civilization exists. Deciding not to become allies with someone or opening borders or disagreeing on a political or religious ideology can spark conflicts and even world wars with devastating effects. In my fist Civilization V game in which I played under Ramses II my entire civilization was destroyed by the Iroquois because I had decided to declare war on them. I was not prepared for battle and didn't really think it through which in the end caused my destruction. In the game as in real life one has to be extremely cautious with the choices that they make.

World War II

Humans in all places and times develop and act upon ideas

               Civilization V displays this fundamental condition of human existence as well. Through the technology and social policies trees a player in the game is able to develop ideas and after a few turns are able to act upon these ideas.

                   Thinking on this fundamental element of human existence one can also apply it to the development of certain ideologies that can lead a civilization to act upon them by declaring war, creating new economic policies or having systems of government different from others. Deciding upon a certain victory in the game, I believe, follows this fundamental element. The choice that one makes in which way they are going to play the game showcases that different peoples and cultures develop differing ideas and carry them out. In the game and sadly in life war is one of the most common ways in which to achieve victory. Like in real life though their are other ideas and choice that people are afforded and all come with the opportunity to come out on top.

Overall Experience and Effectiveness of Civilization V

        Overall I enjoyed playing the game for class. I will admit that in the beginning I was really just clicking around and didn't think to critically about my game play. I didn't pay attention to the different bonuses that each civilization had. I am not much of a video gamer and to have to play a game not for fun was hard for me to do. I am not saying that this is not a good idea I just think students should go into it with an open mind and realize that even though it is technically and assignment it is a game and you should have fun with it. I began to like playing the game more after listening to other students experiences with the game especially those that had played the game before.

          I began to play the game in vastly different way then I did before. Instead of just clicking around I read to see what my new civilization Catherine the Great's added bonuses were. I still wanted to achieve a cultural victory so I began to build a LOT of wonders to bust my culture.  After altering my game play and paying more attention I was able to get farther then I had ever imagined I could before with Ramses II.

         I would have to say the Civilization V effectively portrays the nature of historical change in the best way a video game can. Of course they are aspects that are overly generalized or just left out but that is understandable. Civilization V allows people to have fun with history and see what the world would have been like if things hadn't played out like they did in history books. It can also be looked at as a way for people to look critically at their own history and personal identities and think about the choice they would make if they were in charge. All in all I like the game and think its a great way for students to get involved in historical change on a more personal level.

Differing Degrees of Spiritual Life and Moral Codes

                                                    Religion and Morality in Civilization V

                     

Religion in Gods and Kings

  As many of you all know I had the basic package of the game. With that being said I did not get to experience any religious aspects to my game play. Watching fellow students presentations who had the Gods and Kings or Brave New World expansion package I was able to gain insight into the added religious and spiritual elements that were added to the game. You could convert people in tiles near yours, influence others through your religious beliefs etc.However, picking a religion in the game is somewhat arbitrary like other aspects. As in real life when you choose a religion in the game you make it your own. No matter what religion you pick the game will still allow you to build wonders and other structures from different religions and it doesn't alter the things you can make or the social categories that you have.

              All religion is predicated on faith, which like science, production, and gold, you'll earn over time by building items and structures that increase it over time. Early in a game, you'll have the option to choose a "pantheon," a culture-specific religion that allows you one statistical benefit. This could be something as simple as more gold attained from spaces that generate faith, or more rapid border expansion via the "religious settlements" option. Once your pantheon is founded and your civilization begins to grow, you'll eventually spawn a great prophet, a unit that can be used multiple ways down the road, but initially will be consumed to create your religion.(http://www.giantbomb.com/reviews/sid-meiers-civilization-v-gods-kings-review/1900-501/)

Social Policies Trees

                       Moral Codes on the other hand were evident in all the editions of Civilization V. The social policies tree with the different branches of tradition, liberty, honor, piety, patronage, order, aristocracy, rationalism and commerce. I believe each one of these branches especially honor, tradition, rationalism and piety showcase moral codes that are represented in real life. All of these different branches affect how the game plays out and what a civilization deems as most important will have an effect on their culture and their relation with other civilizations.

                   Piety in particular, though I didn't see it in my game play, allows for some additions to the game through religion. Each respective branch in the piety tree represents organized religions, mandate of heaven, theocracy, religious tolerance, and reformation. Rationalism allows for free thought, secularism, humanism, and sovereignty. 

         

Technology and the Environment

                 Technologies in Civilization V are obtained through different researches which like all aspects of the game take turns to complete. With Ramses II and Catherine the Great the Civilization V thus far is using the same technology tree. Technologies, like in history, are ways that empires can advance themselves and rise above others. The quicker a branch of the technology tree is completed the better. Each technology that is unlocked provides for a civilization new buildings, units or other advancements. Like in history technology is an evolutionary process and not all things come at once in the game. As noted many times throughout the semester there are different eras in Civilization V each encompassing their own respective technology.

                   The Ancient Era provides the civilization with agriculture, animal husbandry, archery, bronze working, calendar, masonry, mining, pottery, sailing, the wheel, trapping and writing.

                  The Classical Era provides construction, horseback riding, iron working, mathematics, optics and philosophy.

   

                   The Medieval Era provides chivalry, civil service, compass, currency, education, engineering, machinery, metal casting, physics, steel, and theology.

                  The next era, The Renaissance Era was the last era that I achieved with Ramses II. The Renaissance Era provides acoustics, archaeology, astronomy, banking, chemistry, economics, fertilizer, gunpowder, metallurgy, military science, navigation, printing press, rifling and scientific theory. I was in the process of researching archaeology, which didn't really do me any good in the game but its what I plan to do as a career, when I was destroyed.

                  I did not make it to the next era in the game which is the Industrial Era. The Industrial Era provides biology, combustion, dynamite, electricity, flight, radio, railroad, refrigeration, replaceable parts, steam power and the telegraph.

                 The Modern Era provides advanced ballistics, atomic theory, computers, electronics, globalization, lasers, mass media, nuclear fusion, penicillin, plastics, radar, robotics, rocketry, satellites, and stealth.

                The Future Era provides future technology, nanotechnology, nuclear fusion and particle physics.


Civilization V like with many of the other themes we have covered in class lacks the cultural background for these technologies. It does however showcase some of the tools used for instance hoes and rakes in agriculture and catapults. Like real life Civilization V does not miraculously give away technologies the people in the  game must earn it be it through turns in the game or actual innovation. The order of said technologies given in the game might not run in concurrence with actual life but it does provide the gamer with some relation to history.

Artistic Endeavors

                  Artistic Endeavors such as art, music literature, theater and architecture play a large role in a civilization. Art can be used to display great victories in battle, record the building of a momentous palace, display the fashions of the day and much more. In my readings for class on November 12th, 2013 I read about the Japanese culture. Art for the Japanese, like in many other cultures, was used to display the peoples different myths and origin stories. Such as the Japanese Buddhist monks pilgrimage across the vast ocean riding upon a dragon. Visual expression of oral traditions is a value that artistic endeavors possess.


As mentioned previously artistic endeavors can be used to display important times/periods during a cultures history. For instance with the Japanese culture the use of the "Red Seal" ships. By 1952 the shogun Hideyoski licensed foreign traders ventures by Japanese ships, under the "Red Seal" This type of trade was abolished in the 1630s. This picture and others like it symbolize an important period in Japanese trade.




Art can show  cultural immersion and assimilation as well. The process of exchange of ideas and their influence on cultures across the world can be seen and heard through artistic means. Take for instance this image at the right. This image depicts global exchange of ideas in the 18th century. This piece of artwork depicts how three different cultures, Chinese, Japanese, and Dutch view each other and how they felt about the others technology. Spatial relation is used to show societal relationships. The Japanese man on the right is closest to the Dutch man while the Chinese man is more distant and closed off. The fact that the Dutch man's anatomy books is open showcases a respect and admiration for the Dutch cultures prowess in that field.


On page 800 in the text book there is a print that is part of the "Famous Places on Tokaido: A Record of the Process of Reform." that depicts the Tokyo-Yokohama railway line built in 1872. Artistic Endeavors can also be a remembrance of famous places that are in Japan and the important historical factors that played a part. In 1868 the Meiji Restoration opened Japan to foreign trade and ideas and by 1872 the railway depicted in the print was built with the help of foreign engineers something that would not have been possible without the Meiji Restoration.

Culture can be spread through artistic endeavors as well. Take for instance the image at the left. This image depicts a western woman in a traditional Japanese Kimono. The fashion for Japanese art and taste in the late nineteenth century West extended to women's clothing. Paintings of Westerners in Japanese kimonos like this image on left and on page 840 in the text books demonstrate the fashionable appeal of Japan. Iconic images are typically found in the background of these paintings including Mount Fuji in the text book image.






Artistic endeavors can harm a civilization too. Controversial artwork can hinder a country acceptance and images such as the swastika and the dioramas that we read about for class can reveal a part of a civilizations past that they don't want people to know about or wish would be forgotten. Art in its purest form makes people think more deeply then they sometimes would like to really see the world for what it is.

In the prompt for this blog post we are asked to answer "What role does, "culture", broadly defined, play in the game?" I would have to say that culture does have a large role in the game but that it is somewhat hidden. If you have not learned about these cultures in class and the history behind the way they built their civilization I would feel that you might be lost in the game at times. The back and forth between trusting and not trusting a certain civilization could have a lot to do with how that civilization acted historically. I did not know much about Japanese history but learned in class by Tiffany telling that the female Japanese leader should not be trusted. Historically she was a ruthless ruler and this is helpful to know in the game in which she displays that she is ruthless.

It's the Final Countdown

I felt it necessary to put it on here that my Civilization V game in which I was playing as Ramses II is over. My capital city was taken over by the Iroquois. I am continuing my game play though with Catherine of Russia. I decided to change up my game play and pick a drastically different civilization and one in which a woman leads. I will be making blog posts in regards to both Ramses II and Catherine for the remainder of the class.

Society and It's Categories

Ancient Egyptian Workers

             Society and categories comes out first thing in the game when you decide what "type" or category of citizens to produce. Categories of people include; workers, crossbowmen, pikemen, settlers, musketman, longswordsman and scouts. All of these categories have their own role to play within society. For instance workers can't fight an enemy, attack an invading army, or settle a city but they can plow a field or clear a marsh.

            Each of the classes of citizens can be distinguished by what they wear as well. Workers for instance wear a simple white tunic with a rope belt. Warriors on the other hand are clad in battle attire with helmets, chest-plates, dark pants? and shoes.

Egyptian Warriors

       
   My Civilization V game for the most part seems to only exhibit horizontal organization. I have not noticed any vertical organization, perhaps that is because I didn't get the package with the religious aspects added?

             In my Civilization V game I am playing as Ramses II and have seen no recollection of women actually being a part of the game play. I have only seen one woman and she is in the pop up window screen and acts as a diplomat. Race/ethnicity is prevalent when coming into contact with rival civilizations but within my own from what I can see of my characters the are all Caucasian. The game is this aspect does not accurately
represent Egyptian society. There are for instance for captive slaves, or indentured servants.

Egyptian Social Classes

Follow up on Economics and Networks Exchange with a dusting of Politics and Power

Temple of Abu Simbel

                       I felt that I should comment a bit further on the topic of Economics and Networks of Exchange before I moved onto the issue of Politics and Power. In Civilization V I had discovered that luxury goods play a large role for the Egyptian Empire. Like in our readings the Egyptian Empire controlled a large number of Asian Luxury goods including spices, porcelain, and dyes. Thus far in the game I have made my citizens and other city-states happy by connecting them with luxury resources like cinnamon, cotton, and various dyes. I find that my citizens get very well temperamental when it comes to what they want. It can be hard to find these resources for my people. The most recent luxury good that my citizens want are whales????? What okay I will work on that people. I have not to my knowledge participated in any caravans but I have set up a number of trading posts which has opened up my trading to various other civilizations playing the game. I am yet to fully understand the overreaching consequences of the trading posts but I look forward to seeing what they bring to the game.
     

Now onto Politics and Power!!!!!

Hieroglyphics of the Battle of Kadesh 

                    Politics play a large role in the Civilization V game. You can’t turn a corner in a game without running into a rival civilization. Walls spring up everywhere, including in my own civilization.

                     Diplomacy has been a key player in my civilization since the start of the game. It started out as being able to pass through others lands peacefully and then evolved into trade alliances with the Iroquois and Ottoman Empires. The more tiles that I started to buy the more I angered my diplomatic friends. The Ottoman Empire in particular accused me of being greedy and that my greedy ways would hurt me in the future and then a few hours later they are congratulating me on a new acquisition. Like power and politics in today’s day and age it is extremely confusing in the game.

Papyrus of the Battle of Kadesh

                     In the game you have to be careful to amass your power in ways that will not anger allies yet at the same time allow you to make the most out of the resources you have at hand. I try to amass power through creating trading posts, being allies with a variety of people, and making my people happier than other civilizations (something at which I am currently failing at). Power struggles are represented in the game in skirmished with other civilizations, fortifications of cities, and controlling and creating the bigger and best things. Creating wonders is one of the fastest ways to gain political prowess. I think I have only created two wonders which could be a reason why I am dead last in a lot of the standings.

Ramses II charging Nubians

                     Last night in fact the Iroquois and Ottoman Empires waged war upon my civilization and I lost a large number of my units. I can see how being a part of my own world war hurt my resources, decimated my people and created unrest just like it did in the parties involved in WWI, WWII, Vietnam and other wars of today’s age. The Civilization V game represents human history power struggles in good way in my mind. It does however make it seem somewhat skewed because it puts civilizations that would have not been around at the same time at war with each other but I think that is just an aspect of the game to make it intriguing to games at large. 

            Politics and power are play one of the biggest roles in the game in my opinion. Of course the other themes are influential in power and politics as well. If a civilization does not have resources that others want, doesn't have a larger number of cities that are producing exponentially then the power that they hold is minimal. Economic, military, and cultural prowess all aide in making a civilization politically powerful.

This video gives some history on the Battle of Kadesh. 

I like these one's better but for some reason it would not show up when I tried to add the link to the video uploader. These videos use video technology to showcase this decisive battle in Egyptian history.Watch all three for a complete idea. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnQ_J29wegU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK-R5Nz7o5k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz3DoCjmBMw

Moving On Up to Victory!!

 Exchange and Trade in the Era of Ramses II

The civilization I decided to use for the rest of the semester is that of Ramses II. I chose this civilization for the fact that I have always had a deep interest in Egyptian culture and want to see how the Civilization 5 game manipulates history. I picked this civilization as well because I have always thought that it was one of the most advanced and cunning societies. I wish I would have been able to get the version of the game that inserted religion so I could have seen how that affected the game alas I was no able too. I hope that the more life progresses in the game some of the belief systems will peak through.  I enjoy the aspect of getting to live out my days as an Egyptian citizen, something I would love to have experienced. Where’s a time machine when you need one?! The victory approach that I am going to try and achieve would be the cultural victory. For the longest time I thought one of the ways to win was amazing the most land so I purchased a lot of tiles, turns out this isn’t true but hey I have a lot of land to use so that’s a plus.

In the game civilizations prosper by advancing up the technology tree and gaining culture. They prosper when the citizens are happy and well fed as well. They suffer economically when they are not producing any products that other civilizations want or need. I have experienced that barter plays a large role to make your allies happy. I have had to give up 250 gold coins multiple times to other civilization in a trade negotiation for peace and ability to cross through their lands. I have also gifted my units to city states. In order to stay in a city states good graces you can also connect them to a resource through trade, something I haven’t been able to do yet. You prosper more economically depending on the resources that you find, produce, and steal as well.

There isn’t any local exchange as far as I have seen in the game thus far. There is some regional exchange however. You can connect cities to cities and the produce created in both helps them. Exchange progress quicker with the advent of roads because the traders can move with more ease. Trade post can also be built, caution though is that is takes away food but does add gold.

As technology advances the ease of production and trade gets more efficient. The more advancements that are made the more wealth that can be brought into the society. Networks-economic, trade, and otherwise play a large role in the Civilization 5 game. Without these means of interaction the game would be null in void. Exchange of material and cultural goods is the bones of this game. The deeper one gets into the more you begin to realize that cultural difference and exchanges of different ideologies and acceptance are a big part.

There are not however any presence of pastoralists exchanging animals for grains from herders. All of the trade is city to city or city to city-state. As mentioned previously ecological disasters such as hurricanes, droughts, and earthquakes are not present so they don’t effect trade and exchange. I have also noted that they aren’t any raiders or burglars that try and steal goods for exchange.

Expanding on Population

                              After the class discussion about population in the game and after some feedback from Dr. Hosselkus I decided to post some more of my thoughts on population and the Civilization 5 game. I didn't really think about the aspects of population trends that the game did not have that we had discussed.
                           While looking at my notes I realized that some aspects of population growth like environmental phenomenon such as droughts are not present in the game. I know we discussed in class that they weren't any hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes or the like. I realized as well that they aren't any weather phenomenons present in the game that would have an effect on population. There is no rain, snow, sleet or hail even. The fog that surrounds unexplored territory and the ever present sun, at least in my civilization, is the only weather.
                            While looking back on my game play I also realized that there isn't any designation in ages of the people in the game or gender for that matter. The only females that I have in my civilization show up when the advice is given about cultural matters. I am assuming this is different for other civilizations or in later ages because I know one student is focusing on female dominated civilizations or ones with females in charge. There aren't any children in the game either. The game lacks the process of birth and doesn't showcase the belief systems such as infanticide.

                           Urban plagues are not evident either. Cholera, dysentery, typhus and the like aren't seen.The only way you can know if a civilization is unhappy is with a small little red angry face . It's not this animated but you get the gist.

               There is also no evidence of people migrating internal or externally in the Civilization 5 game. The only movement of people completely is when I have gifted certain city states one of my units.  In some ways I guess that could count at emigration but forced.

              In Civilization 5 there are also medical related structures and facilities but for their actual purpose in real world treatment, such as diseases or for the hurt soldier, they are not used as such. They simply add to happiness or increase food.

                           

Patterns of Population Civilization 5 Style

                          Population plays a very large role in Civilization 5. I recently just experienced one of my cities starving. I tried to figure out how to provide more food for my people in that city but all I could find was that a worker will eat excess food. I am unsure of how to actually get food for my people. The population's of my cities tend to grow a great deal at the beginning after I first construct them. The more and more cities I have created the harder I find it to control the population. I haven't yet grasped how to manage them all, what type of people do what, and how many cities are too many?
                             I have found only a few ways to control population in the games 1) by gifting a unit to a city state and 2) I don't know if this is necessarily my own control, but citizens can be killed/stolen by enemies 3) and if they don't get enough food they can die. The game also allows the gamer to control population by letting you figure out what type of citizen you want to produce.
                             In the game one can see the stages of population that we learned about in class as well. Throughout a number of turns a civilization passes through a variety of eras/ages. Thus far in my game I haven't been able to get out of the Ancient Era. I perhaps need to concentrate on improving my technology or something. With each passing turn decades pass as well and new ideas/technologies/ and improvements are created/available which is not unlike actual patterns of population.
                            In regards to cities I have noticed that the game follows the trends that we have talked about in class. When I have a settler and click on found a city I find that locations where the game suggest I build a city are near a body of water, fertile areas that are conducive to growth and prosperity. Conflicts are an issue in the game as well. I have experienced being allies with cities states, losing those allies, trespassing in city states and trying to make amends with two different other civilizations while making them both happy. Governmental policies are starting to play a bigger role the longer I play. I have been helping myself create good relations with other civilizations by returning their captured units instead of keeping them for myself. I guess I will see how that strategy works for me in the end? Being the good guy doesn't always pay off.

World Civ Exploration Day 1 (September 4th 2013)

             I started exploring the World Civilization Game today. I followed the syllabus and went to the Civilopedia and read through several of the prompts explaining how different parts of the game worked. As I worked through them I began to realize that I needed to actually play the game to get a better understanding of how it worked. I am a learn from trial and error person especially when it comes to gaming.
            I decided to not start up an actual game. I did this when I first downloaded the game and well lets be honest my civilization was conquered because I didn't know what the heck I was doing. For this go round I decided maybe a tutorial would be helpful. I started out with the movement and exploration tutorial in which I was in the civilization of Alexander the Great and I was tasked with finding seven ruins. I worked through my turns slowly but surely and found all the ruins. Running through this tutorial showed me about the fog and helped me navigate my units more easily.
             The second tutorial I went through was the founding cities with the Egyptian Civilization. I enjoyed the added complexity of this tutorial in which I got to find areas that were more suitable for a city to be located and I got some exposure to what units could research and why each research such as mining, coal, animal husbandry etc...was useful and what could be gained from it.
              I started on the third tutorial which involved connecting civilizations together and creating farms,mines and making improvements. This civilization was the one with Caesar. It started out pretty good at first but I became confused on how to make "improvements" I got my people started on the farms right away and a few of the mines but I was stuck on how to improve anything so I decided to stop for the night and take a break and try again at that tutorial later.
          I am beginning to understand what research is needed when and when a city is founded what needs to be done. I am thinking that I am going to go with a more advanced Civilization because when I did my first trial run I chose the Iroquois civilization and couldn't really do too much.