Islam is represented in Civ, sort of...

[Sava]

For the people that complain there are no Arab Civs...

Persia... while Ancient Persia was not Islamic, Iran held the title of Persia up until the early 20th Century.

Egypt... I know the game creators meant this to be Ancient Egypt, modern day Egyptians are Islamic.

If it makes you Muslims feel better, Israel wasn't in Civ 3 either .

[MrWhereItsAt]

I doubt either Microprose or Firaxis ever thought of marketing Civ to predominantly Islamic nations.

[Sava]

I don't think they did.

[ranskaldan]

They didn't think of marketing it to predominantly Aztec countries either.

In my opinion, the worthiness of Arabs to be in Civ is up there with the Romans, Greeks, Chinese, and Indians.

[dervish]

I think Persians were initially Zoroastrian ditheists (evolving into early monotheism) and fireworshippers (no offence meant, actually, some guys get pissed off at being called this way - I see nothing wrong with fire, I respect fire as well)
They actually gave birth to Judaism, Christianity and Islam to all major monotheistic beliefs. Think logically over this schematic - Polytheism, Ditheism, Monotheism, huh? And then somewhere in between these we have Atheism.
Ancient Egyptians were polytheists to be politically correct and pagans to be unpolitically non-correct.

[ranskaldan]

Which is why this thread is called
Islam is represented in Civ, sort of...

[dervish]

Yeah, right.
I am also a Muslim sort of

[ranskaldan]

well, whatever the reason is for the underrepresentation of Islam, i'm glad that it's being rectified with the inclusion of the Arabs and Turks in PtW.

That, together with Persians and Egyptians, makes the situation much better.

[dervish]

I recommended to introduce Ethnic Trees, which would include all nations. And speaking of Arabs and Jews - they might as well start the game as Afro-Asiatic barbarians (that covers whole Africa and Middleastern semito-hamites gradually evolving into modern national and whatver states).
Check out my other link.

http://civ3.1bigcommunity.com

Click Messages Tab - and there, in Civ4 Suggestions, look for "Name the game Civolution..." thread.

[ranskaldan]

Ethnic trees however would be pretty hard to simulate in a game.

[Imp. Montezuma]

Originally posted by dervish
... And then somewhere in between these we have Atheism...

Idea: Tech or Small Wonder 'Atheism' (prereq Communism and Scientific Method) makes obsolete in late Industral era Sistine Chapel, J.S. Bach's Cathedral.

[ranskaldan]

Not bad.
Maybe that could tie in with that Religion concept that should have been in Civ 3.

Then, with Atheism, libraries, like temples, would start creating happy faces....!

[Ribannah]

The tech you're looking for is probably Humanism.
(In my tree: from Theology / The Guild, and leading to Biology (with Arts), Empiricism (with Engineering) and Enlightenment (with Leadership).
Related wonder: Utopia (reduces production costs or faster workers? - because of the extra motivation for a better life on Earth).

[Imp. Montezuma]

Originally posted by Ribannah
The tech you're looking for is probably Humanism.
(In my tree: from Theology / The Guild, and leading to Biology (with Arts), Empiricism (with Engineering) and Enlightenment (with Leadership).
Related wonder: Utopia (reduces production costs or faster workers? - because of the extra motivation for a better life on Earth).

Well, Ribannah. If in late Medieval before Atheism, not makes obsolete religious Wonders.

[Fresno]

Originally posted by Ribannah
The tech you're looking for is probably Humanism.
(In my tree: from Theology / The Guild, and leading to Biology (with Arts), Empiricism (with Engineering) and Enlightenment (with Leadership).
Related wonder: Utopia (reduces production costs or faster workers? - because of the extra motivation for a better life on Earth).

Humanism should be in - but not lead immediately to Atheism. For example - Thomas More, writer of Utopia, was a strong catholic and has been canonized after his death. His friend Erasmus, the most important Dutch humanist, was catholic too. Besides, instead of bringing atheism, humanism brought the Reformation.

I think Atheism should come up later in the game - for example with Communism.