What NEW CULTURES will make it into AGE OF MYTHOLOGY: RETOLD?

Hi, Im one of the devs for the Aztec fan mod (Return of the Gods). It would definitely be a dream come true if they do Aztecs and take inspiration from RotG.

A way to implement Hindu religion in the game is to use Vedic Hinduism which is older and VERY different from today's Hindusim which really should be common sense because you can't have such an old religion without it changing a lot.

You know, when thinking what culture that would be possible for this game, I completely forgot about the Romans. Also, yeah, Hindu myth is cool, but would be extremely hard to add without offending anyone. Also, out of all of the civ to add, I am the most excited for Sumerians as I just think the Epic of Gilgamesh is cool, as well as funny.

When you brought up Tlaloc I thought of this line from AOE2: "These warriors shall recieve the blessing of the rain god and fight with the skill of ten normal men!"

Zoroastrian Persia also feels like a prime candidate. Would be the best way we could get Jinn into the game.

An Age of Mythology video! Sweet!

Funny, I've seen fanmade Roman and Celt tech trees floating around. And then there's the mod that adds the Aztecs to the OG game. First time I've seen Japanese or Sumerians considered though

Aztec or Mayans will be added. But I fear they will add it as Mesoamerican to include Olmecs, Tlaxcala and other cultures in the region.

I'll Write my thoughts here as I watch this video. - First of all, it's great to see AoM content here. Couldn't be happier. - Re:Gaels/Celts. One big thing about the core 3 groups is that they cover "popular" myth groups rather easily. Egyptians are basically Brandon Frasier's Mummy, the Greeks are Jason and the Argonauts, and the Norse are well, Vikings, Wagnerian in all their horned/winged helmet glory. All 3 are also very visually and thematically distinct. Greeks have the Gray hills and lush Mediterranean grass, with their Marble columns and red shingle roofs, Egyptians have their Sandy dunes and their rocky cliffs, with buildings of Sandstone decorated with colorful artwork. The Norse have their green pines and endless snow, and their buildings of Cobble and Wood. This brings me to the idea of new Civs. While many are vaguely similar with "celts/gaels" and can grasp druids, I think they aren't as catchy in terms of their pop culture and common knowledge. Everybody knows Thor, Valkyries, Mummies, Pyramids, Cyclops, Hoplites. What's the last big franchise or media piece that featured Gaelic myth? Think of the normies, not mythpilled nerds like us. Also, how would you visually distinguish the Celts from the Norse? I know irl the two are fundamentally different groups, but the do overlap in terms of "Burly Barbarians from the woods who live in wood and thatch huts and have wings/horns on their helmets." I know it's a reduction of the gaels, the distinction here is not as strong as the base game civs. - Roooomeeee. I wouldn't mind, had Atlanteans not exist already. Having a third grecko-roman civ is perhaps a bit much. Their biggest issue wouldn't be their mechanics, as actually I think they would be very distinct mechanically just lookin at their history, but as you said, their lack of distinct myth units and flavor is what would hurt them most. I actually agree with your points that they overlap too much with the Atlanteans. - My Suggestions for Rome would be to have Consuls as fighting heroes, who'd be randomly named after famous Roman war leaders. You can have two at a time and they support your army much like the praetor. To buff them, however, and to showcase a real part of Roman religion that is thematically, mythically, and historically appropriate, I'd suggest the Augur as the second hero. Romans were very superstitious and the outcome of many a battle were decided to them ahead of time. Augury was a vital part of their culture and I think it'd be great to showcase it. I am clueless as to how, especially without stepping on the toes of either the priest or the oracle. - Sumer! Or Babylonians. Or Assyria. Or Persia. Or the Levant. Basically, any Fertile crescent group to complete the glaring hole. I think they will make them a more general and choose one of the main local pantheon (Babylonian is an option too) but otherwise use myth units and human units from various other fertile crescent cultures. This wouldn't be that much of an issue IMHO as the huge overlap between the various cultures exists IRL as well. How many biblical demons are Babylonian? How much did Persian Zoroastrianism affect the Jewish fate? I think the overlap is justifiable and fine, especially seeing how the Norse, Egyptians and Atlanteans already do it to one extent or another. - I do not think they would be that similar to Egyptians. A proper fertile crescent civ, with a bronze age feel would be much more distinct. Firstly, Ziggurats are cool. You can make them visually distinct from the Egyptian stuff by using darker brick and later transitioning to the colored bricks you see in Babylon. I think you can actually lean into a bit into them being similar to the Egyptians and make that an advantage rather than a disadvantage by contrasting them. God-Kings who serve as combat buffers rather than economic buffs, grain-counting scribes who oversee your economy instead of priests, etc. Also give them Heavy Melee-Chariots to contrast Egypt's Chariot Archers. Compare and Contrast, basically. -Oh, ok, Glad to see we're actually basically on the same page here re: God Kings, Chariots, and Temple Bureaucracies. - Ah, yes, Riyujin. God of Psychotropic Fish and Cyberpunk. Wait, no. - Hindu Can def. Work, easily. Perhaps lean more into Vedic roots rather than modern hinduism. That way you can avoid stepping on toes? I'm unfamiliar tho. Polynesians and Yaruba would work, but I'm afraid they don't have the Mass appeal needed for a game like this sadly. Same with Slavs, plus you'd be stepping visually and gameplay wise on many Norse elements, and from a Slavic perspective I am afraid perhaps too much Slavic myth has been reduced to fairy tales in the post-Christian world? Think Koshei, Baba-Yaga, Russalkas, etc. So both too similar to Norse, and a bit too hard to take seriously if done in-correctly. - And yes, I Agree the next civ is probably Aztecs. But if not them, probably Babylonians/Summerians. Because imho they are the 2nd most recognizable mythology choice by proximity to Egyptian and Greek stuff, and also irl to the Bible and Demonology and horror (Apzu, Tiamat, Dagon, etc.). They have the most pop-culture presence on this list other than Aztecs and Japanese. - Final notes: I think there could be genuinely a case be made for "pairings" of civs. Take civs that are thematically, geographically, and gameplay-wise similar or otherwise overlap, and pair them with each other. Greeks and Romans, Aztecs and Atlanteans (only because Atlanteas have some meso-vibes, really), Norse and Celts or Slavs, Egyptians and Sumerians, Japanese and Chinese. This allows you to not have to reinvent the wheel each time, re-use some assets and frameworks between civs, and make sure a choice feels thematically correct. This is a great way to justify adding many civs, while still keeping some semblance of uniqueness. 10 civs, some which overlap is fine. Makes each civ less unique, but they crossed that line with Atlanteans. -So TL;DR I think actually there is a case to add all of the civs in this list . Greeks, Egyptians, Norse, Atlanteans and Chinese and then having the Romans, Sumerians/Babylonians, Gaels/Slavs, Aztecs and Japanese. Great video, as always.

I think you could also mention the Carthage/Fenician civ. I think they would be a cool add on, maybe not top3 but close enough. If we look how devs originally thought is that they want as diverse and distinguish from other civs as possible so the Celts, Romans and even Japanese could be more further project Anyway, for me the top3 (aside of Chineese) would be: 1. Aztecs, 2. Sumerians 3. Hindu but i also love the idea of Slavs, Japanese and Celts.

Really well made video yet again. I would love to see either Sumerians or Aztecs in the game, really appealing.

I'm surprised you only put slavs in an honorable mention considering that The Witcher games have widespread popularity and attractiveness considering their basis in slavic mythology. Adding to that, it's a no brainer to add the faction that contains stuff like Werewolves and Vampires.

Subscribed hoping to see more AoM content. Great video.

My top 3 would be Aztecs, Japanese and ESPECIALLY Indian. I feel like I should do a proper response video on AoM because it is THE GAME of my childhood but I have my hands full with other projects. Anyway, I actually feel like in order to modernize AoM it'd mean amplifying the one thing that we all play on but don't really care about too much, the map itself. This is not just about getting new maps, but new terrain on those maps such as Swamps that slow units moving across them, Oasis which spawn lions, regrowing forest patches (trees can regrow) and Black Soil (that increases the yield of farms built on them while also refunding the cost to build on them). I'd also like to see a change to how temples and favor work. First, Temples can now only be built on derelict Temples (like TCs and settlements) and each provide a trickle of favor, giving every faction reliable favor generation. Secondly, Myth Units no longer cost Population. This increases the number of objectives you need to build out on the map while also creating another dimension to specifically late game play, that of trying to increase your Myth Unit count over your opponents and allows you to have an even bigger army than ever before.

Thanks for the upload. You're one of the few RTS youtubers whose opinions I respect

If we were to get a RobbyLAVA breakdown of any of these proposed civs/cultures, I'd definitely want to see the Gaels first and foremost. Not because I think they're the most likely inclusion (they're definitely behind Japanese and Aztecs), but because I'm an Eireboo and would want to see how your ideas/conceptions of Irish myth compare to my own.

Watching this I definitely think you should do more AoM content--not just because I wanna see it, but because it feels like its more asymmetrical style is a great fit for the kinds of builds you already tend to come up with.

If they do Romans I hope they start in the kingdom era with hoplites, move to the republic and use Maniples and then at the end use Marian Legionnaries

Hi Robby! Nice to see you on the AoM topic. For your civilizations I would say - Gaels => 100% agree... if you take the whole Celts. AoM is designed around big civilization blocks so the Celts would have more sense than just a fraction of them. - Romans => No way. I really don't want to see them in the game. For me they have nothing to do here. - Sumerians => A great choice. I would like to see them alongside with the Mesopotamians (all the Semites living in Mesopotamia). - The Japanese are an obvious choice. That doesn't mean that it's a bad idea. One day or another, they will be in the game. - Of course the Aztecs. I guess that they will be the next to be added. And for the sacrifices, your idea is good but what if you could sacrifice an enemy unit who would bring more favors to you. I don't know, 1 of your villagers gives you 1 favor and an enemy villagers gives you 2. Such a system should be added.

You underestimate how many Witcher fans would love to see all these usual foes as a playable units instead