Technology: The Need of Constant Innovation

Throughout mankind's time on Earth, our species has possessed a flare for discovering new methods of continuing and improving life. This constant need to innovate has been seen with mankind's evolution of food gathering; from hunting-gathering to agriculture. These innovations may stem from individuals accidental or purposeful discoveries. It is a well reasoned fact that one of the first pieces of technology that mankind discovered was fire. Prior to the usage of fire, mankind consumed raw, unflavored and easily spoiled food. With this innovation, mankind had a new util, for cooking food, warding off animals, lighting the night, warmth, and other uses.

Thus, the need of technology is as prevalent and necessary as culture, and religion. Technology could be broken down to 3 branches: Civil, Religious, and Warfare. This is something that I have noticed from the technology in Civilization V, as these three branches are all part of the Technology tree. This applies to the World History in that the Civil branch of Technology includes the advances in banking, agriculture, construction, economics, etc. Then there is the 2nd branch, Religious. This one is simple to explain, with the advances in technology, so too does the conceptions of religion. Take for example the notion of a Heliocentric idea of the solar system being presented by the Greeks in the Classical era and being rediscovered in the Renaissance. Then there is the final branch, Warfare. This one is pretty cut and dry, no pun intended. In any regard, this is in relation to the advancements in stone, bronze, iron, steel and other ages that exceed these. These ages represent the innovations and the advancements that mankind has made in relation to competition.

It is no secret that the Native Americans had developed their society on a different path than that of the European and Asian cultures at the time. However, there is something unique that the Native Americans had managed to accomplish and that was in regards to the study of genetics, at least in regards to understanding the inbreeding was disastrous. This study was expanded to include research into agriculture, as the maize crop is a perfect example of this. In addition, there is also the variety of potato plants that existed in South America. 

Chief Pocatello and other Shoshone Tribesmen.

For the Shoshone, this is simple to break down. The Shoshone were arguably the best Native American horsemen of the Great Plains. Through their own adaptation to the newfound horses that the Spanish brought from Europe, the Shoshone way of life changed forever. They were the tribe that many of the Great Plains tribes sought for the horse trade, as they managed to accumulate many mustangs through either; stealing from settlers, raids, taming them, or raising them. The Shoshone were able to cover more ground with the innovation of horseback riding. Their role in history is known for this feat, in addition to the fact that Sacajawea belonged to this tribe. Sacajawea, the Native American guide to Lewis and Clark in the 18th century aided in the exploration of the American frontier that the Louisiana Purchase expanded.

Comanche Riders

There is no better example than that of the Comanche Rider unit that Civilization V introduces as a unique unit to the game. The Comanches were a sub tribe of the Shoshone that broke off into their own unique tribe in 1700. They are enshrined forever as the tribe that managed to wage a series of guerrilla strikes against the United States, the Mexican government and the Republic of Texas. In addition to this distinction, the United States utilized the complex language of the Comanche during the Second World War for the purpose of Code Talkers. 

This is an interesting development of the Shoshone. Perhaps the best unit that the Shoshone have for Civilization that emphasize this is the Pathfinder, the replacement of the traditional Scout unit. The Pathfinder serves as the unit that can do everything, through their ability to communicate effectively they may be able to choose one of the following whenever they come across a village; increase population, increase gold, gain a new technology, upgrade their tech, etc. This is a huge leap from the standard, randomized bonus a civilization gets from discovering a village. 

 The usage of technology through Civilization V displays that a population will successful growth provided technology is researched at an adequate speed. This is observed in World History through the innovations of Agriculture in the Americas, and in some instances the innovation of horseback riding. In the case of the Shoshone, their population was able to increase due to the ability to gather more food with the aid of the horse. This food was typically that of the American bison, deer, and other forms of game, as well as other gather-able foods. The Shoshone were better able to expand into the Great Plains and the American Southwest with the aid of the horse, and through that their numbers expanded. Ultimately however, they were brought to their knees by the United States, who had superior technology to them.

Shoshone & the Boha

Every known society is known to practice one faith at one point in their history, for the Romans it was Paganism and later Christianity, for the British it is Protestantism, and so on. In the case of the Shoshone, there is a bit of a distinction, as they practiced a religion that would be different than the one that they would be forced to adopt in the late 19th century by the United States of America. This religion was known as Boha or Spiritual Power, and was practiced by the Shoshone prior to other religions taking its place. The idea behind Boha is that an individual would achieve a supernatural power through vision quests and dreams. The Shaman would serve as the supernatural leader and would utilize it to cure others and also lead ceremonies.

Eventually, the Shoshone would begin to practice two pan-Indian religions that existed in the Sun Dance and the Native American Church. The Sun Dance was a religion that was practiced with the emphasis on sacrifice for the community. This sacrifice was usually related to the physical and spiritual test that the dancers had to endure, and other displays of personal sacrifice for one's family and community. This religion is closely relate to the practice of passing down traditions from one generation to the next, be it smoking the sacred pipe or the retelling of ancient stories. However, during the 19th century, the United States had embarked on several crusades to "civilize" the natives and suppress their traditions.

The Native American Church serves as a hybrid of Native American religion and Christianity. Expanding on the continued push by Christian missionaries to convert the Native Americans to Christianity, the natives decided that they would practice both. The Christian Creed is reflected in the Native American Church, and at the same time the usage of peyote is also displayed. The religion is monotheistic with the chief deity being called the Great Spirit. The purpose of peyote is utilized in an effort to communicate with the Great Spirit and is seen as a sacred and holy sacrament. Interestingly, the religion also has a series of branches that differ a bit depending on the tribe that this church belongs to, but the usage of peyote and the understanding that there is a Great Spirit are universal.

Civilization V introduces religions into the game, but however it is missing a lot. This is a flaw that cannot be helped, as there are so many religions in the world that are known and unknown. However, it does do a splendid job in displaying that the religion does guide a people. This can be seen with the developments of a civilizations religion. In the real world, that is best observed in the Shoshone's adoption of the pan-Indian religions. Both of these religion expressed two sides of a coin; the Sun Dance represented the sacrifice that the tribesmen had to endure for their people and the Native American Church represented the attempted hybrid of traditional Native American beliefs and those of Christianity,

Despite these efforts however, they were repelled by the United States. The Sun Dance was banned during a period when the United States sought to "civilize" the natives. They achieved this by placing young members of a Native American tribe in boarding schools. There they would not be allowed to speak their native language, wear their traditional garb and essentially be stripped of their tribal identity. They were to become "Americanized" in that they would adopt white names and converse in English and refrain from their old traditions. In the case of the Native American Church, that's a bit of a different story, sort of. Since the usage of peyote is banned by both state or federal laws. However, there is a bypass because it is protected by the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978, and thus the religious usage of peyote is allowed.

Shoshone Warfare

With all the great and benevolent entities that exist in our world like; music, poems, books, commerce, and technological advancements there also exist an evil twin of sorts. This twin is in a sense the reason songs of combat are sung and written, victories are recorded, nations crumble economically, and technology may be malevolent. The cause of this is war. It is something that has been connected to the human race since ancient times, even prior to our of humble species. Competition exists in all forms, in every single organism in our world. The difference for humans is that we are able to utilize tools of bronze, iron, steel, gunpowder, and others for combat.

This ties into the idea that a civilization could go to war over a variety of things; population expansion, resources, cultural differences, religious differences, ideological differences, and many more. For early human beings and even human ancestors, there has always existed this competition for resources such as food, water, etc. this is something that Charles Darwin noted in his conclusion of animals. This notion has existed in the form of an evolutionary hierarchy for animals and in the case of Social Darwinism, humans. This notion that there is a hierarchy system in the development of mankind is something that has regrettably plagued the Native Americans, Africans, Asians, and other ethnic groups aside from Caucasian.

For this instance there is no better reason for why some nations are xenophobic of others. In all honesty, if one civilization is sandwiched between two military powers then it's a safe bet that defense is on their mind. In my current game there are six civilizations including my own and they are: Rome, Indonesia, Japan, Morocco, and Persia. Four of these civilizations have a very massive track record of warfare. Sad to say that I am sandwiched between two of these, Roman and Indonesia. However, despite the neighbors and the potential hostilities that may arise, there is a sliver of hope. This bit of hope is that the world is not yet engulfed by other civilizations influence, and there remains a plethora of land to be settled for the Shoshone.

Interestingly I am not landlocked, nor am a civilization that relies on warfare. Being landlocked is something that many countries fear, in that it limits their potential to expand. I am referring to an expansion in resources, borders, land, and other entities that could lead to the development of civilizations. Being landlocked implies that a nation is surrounded by other nations, and has no potential of evading that fate unless through diplomatic unification or warfare. Take for instance the nation of Switzerland or Luxembourg, both of them are minuscule nations when compared to Germany or France, and they are surrounded by other European neighbors.

As previously stated, warfare could be traced back to any number of events or circumstances and among them are politics and power. A civilization has the desire to expand its borders at some point in time, and typically it will achieve this goal in some manner of way. In the case of many monarchies in World History, they have achieved this through either political marriages, treaties, or simply purchasing land from the other. They have also sough out the usage of the sword or firearm to speed up this process of border/territory expansion.

In addition, power is something that is intertwined with the notion of warfare. many civilizations have utilized warfare to make their power credible to the world. An ancient example would be the early city-state of Rome challenging the massive naval power of Carthage, and winning the war against them. Although, a later example would be the tragic decision of the continued American involvement in French-Indochina (Vietnam), and the devastating defeat that the U.S. had been dealt. Some rulers believed that the only way to constantly grow ones nation was through the act of warfare, and it existed through Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and other world leaders.

As you can see from Gajah's pose, he means business. War may be declared for any reason. In Gajah's case, it could be contributed to the amount of luxury resources that I have in my possession. Or it could also be because I was located outside of his peninsula and he sought expansion out of said region. It is unknown, as a civilization could make open warfare on a whim. There are certain steps to war however, which include but are not limited to: denouncing a leader, moving troops near another civilizations borders, espionage, and religious conflicts of interest.  Now, onward towards what the field of battle looks like from the Shoshone's perspective.

Now, from this perspective, the war doesn't seem that tragic. It's just a few units just engaging in mere skirmishes. However, that is because of the era of which this is taking place in. In addition, it could also be because a civilization is merely hiding their units in their own zone of sight. This is a common tactic to lure in opponents. Take another glance at Gajah's forces and note what he currently has: Three Kris Swordsman and one Pike-man unit. Despite the fact that this is a mere artificial intelligence replica of Gajah, he still uses unique tactics. Now we will fast forward seventy years in the game to 210 BC and see what has occurred.

It should be no surprise that Gajah has amassed such a massive army for his attempted conquest of my lands. This is a typical strategy for all warlike civilizations; mass produce your unique unit, throw in some archers and catapults and you are guaranteed a victory. Unless your facing off with the Shoshone, then that's a different story. In this case, while the Kris swordsman of Indonesia is a very powerful unit, it has a disadvantage in the Shoshone homeland. This is due to the defensive bonus that the Shoshone have. 

Returning to the subject of the era that the war is taking place, it is important to note that it is in 210 B.C.. The reason that this is so important is because of the fact that neither he nor I have that much advanced technology to have a truly superior advantage. However, while military technology is equal in regards to research, Gajah has more units than I. This is due to his civilizations concept of warfare for advancing their people. Like other civilizations, the Indonesians' were conquerors and very powerful ones at that. Whereas the Shoshone prefer defense as opposed to offense. That is the way of war for my people, the best of offense is a fantastic defense.

Religion in Civilization: Pantheons

Religion, like culture is intertwined in the civilizations of the world. Just as the civilizations of the world differ in culture, so too do they differ in their religious practices. There may be two, three or multiple deities in a civilizations pantheon of gods. However, there may also be just one that is worshiped and the prophet may be worshiped as well. There are several religious practices that employ shrines, temples, sites, etc. Structures like these and more exist in the game. Take for example the wonder Stonehenge, which allows the player to gain +8 faith per turn. The starting religious building for all civilizations is the Shrine, which comes with researching the Pottery technology.

In the world of Civilization V, one is able to take the first step towards founding a religion when they have accumulated enough Faith. As stated, faith is gained on a point system, and can be gained by religious buildings. In addition, it could be attained by becoming Friendly or an Ally to a Religious City-State. The amount of Faith needed to found a pantheon is about 150, and once gained it is subtracted from your total amount of Faith. In any event, by gaining enough Faith a civilization is able to chose a Pantheon from a list of possible choices. This pantheon also depends who gained the ability to access it first, as it works on a first come first served basis.

Anyhow, for the Shoshone I chose the Goddess of the Hunt, which increases the food yield from Camps by +1. This serves as a link to the Shoshone, in that their territory ranged into the Great Plains, and that meant that they established camps to hunt the massive animal. In addition, they also were a Native American society that specialized in the way of horseback riding. That, and given the geography of my current map, there are at least three tiles dedicated to Deer,. By implementing this Pantheon, I'd be able to reap additional food from these Camps.

I decided to chose the Goddess of the Hunt Pantheon for my civilization.

Later in the game, if a civilization manages to amass about 600 Faith, they qualify for a Great Prophet. This unique unit allows the civilization to found their unique Religion, complete with a variety of different policies. For instance, the civilization could chose to worship a variety of different pantheons like the Faith Healer variant and move onto evolve the faith into a religion like Eastern Orthodox. There is a plethora of choices for the leader to choice from and like the various beliefs that are around the globe, they are everywhere on the globe.

It's interesting to note that while this pantheon is in place, it can be spread throughout the globe through several methods. The most prevalent method is trading, as through the exchange of goods with other civilizations there are also plenty of opportunities to spread your beliefs to others. This concept is one of the reasons that the Silk Road was a sort of hub of religions, as there were many variants of religion on the path to the Middle East, China, Europe and the Sub-Saharan worlds. So, with that knowledge in mind, it is important to understand that this is one of the best ways of exporting a religion without the use of Missionaries, Inquisitors, Great Prophet, or etc.

This is what the menu to select a religion will look like once the player has achieved the required 600 faith for a Great Prophet. If you'll notice, the initial pantheon belief is still there, with an additional four tenants. Think of this as an evolution of sorts for religion. In this instance, the Founder Belief represents the initial traditions of a religion. On the right of this photo are several options for the founder's civilization. They could choice any one of these and that would become their founder belief. Then there is the Follower Beliefs, and these bolster the cities, city-states, or civilizations who follow that particular religion.

All of this is very much what a religion appears to be like. In a traditional religion there is evidence of benefits from founding a religion for the founders, and then there are benefits from exporting that religion to the other parts of the globe. This is in a sense, religion broken down. This is excellent to reflect on, mainly in regards to why Zoroastrianism and Manicheanism failed in the Silk Road, despite being hybrids born on the Silk Road. It's a fascinating thing to observe in all honesty.

Reflecting on the similarities between this and World History,

Trading: The Variety of Possibilties

Civilizations have managed to accumulate their wealth based on two factors, the first is through warfare and the second is through trade. The topic of warfare will be discussed at a later time, trading will be explained in this blog. In Civilization V the player is able to begin their quest to establish trading relations with any civilization after they have unlocked the Animal Husbandry technology. When unlocked, the game screen will display the limit to how many trade routes the player may establish. Some civilizations may be able to establish more trade routes, while others aren't so fortunate. However, the starting limit to the amount of trade routes is 1.

By researching Animal Husbandry, a civilization is able to gain the information and the ability to create a Caravan unit. this particular unit serves as a commercial link from one civilization to another. This exchange could include a set amount of Technology, Gold, and Faith. Once constructed, the Caravan will link with a nearby city and make the transition to trade with it. There is a limit to the range of the Caravan unit, and that is 30 tiles from the starting city to the other city. Also, it cannot cross Lakes, Coasts, or Lakes.

This is the technology that begins the path to commerce in Civilization V.

Instead, the Cargo Ship serves as the link for Coastal Cities. The player can unlock this unit by successfully unlocking the Sailing Technology. In addition, the player may gain an additional trade route that they may establish. With certain technologies, a civilization may be able to gain additional trade routes to their commercial empire. Also, certain Wonders like the Colossus and Petra serve as World Wonders that can be constructed and increase the limit of trade routes for that civilization.

As previously mentioned, there is a limit to the range of trade routes both on land and sea. As previously mentioned, Land Trade Routes are limited to 30 tiles, but Naval Trade Routes are limited to 20 tiles. However, both may be expanded with further advancement in technology. In the case of Land Trade Routes, there is the creation of a Caravansary which extends the range to 15 tiles (pre-Combustion) and 30 tiles after researching Combustion. The Caravansary may be built after researching the Commerce Technology. In addition, it allows the Caravans owner to reap an additional +2 Gold.

As for Naval Trade Routes, there are a bit more solution to adding more range. The three pieces to expanding Naval Trade Routes are the Compass Technology, the Harbor building, and the Refrigeration Technology. All of these will equate to an increase in range of about 60 tiles. Keep in mind that these routes are very vulnerable, as even in today's society there are pillagers of the sea. However, the same could be said for Land Trade Routes. In addition, both may be canceled if the other party has/is declared/targeted for war.

The amount of Gold that is gained is dependent on the amount of resources that one possesses. In addition, the amount of infrastructure that is built in the city plays a pivotal role in the amount of Gold gained. In a nutshell, the more diverse your resources, the income of the two cities and any special buildings they may have. For more in depth look into the variety of factors that play into the role of trading and what determines Gold, Science, Faith, etc. please consult this informational guide (http://www.carlsguides.com/strategy/civilization5/empire/traderoutes.php).

All of this relates to the fact that trading does build a Civilization. In this instance, it is the Shoshone tribe of North America. Through the initial Turquoise Route that connected the Native Americans of both North and Central America, many goods were traded with one another. The Shoshone would trade for natural goods that were found in their region with those found further south. It is believed that through these interactions that the Shoshone people had managed to obtain mustangs from the Spanish.

The various goods that they traded were animal hides such as foxes, bison, wolf, or eagle. In addition they also created their own clothes which consisted of leather jerkins, moccasins, headdresses, breeches, etc. They also managed to harvest the variety of different dyes in their geographic area, such as cacti for a green dye. They also managed to add even more diversity for the wide range of colored beads that they used to decorate their clothing.

Whenever the Americans would arrive to establish the Santa Fe Trail in the early 19th century, both the Shoshone and Mexicans would be there. The Shoshone for their part would serve as guides for the Americans, and would scout out the land in an effort to expand trading relations with the United States. Through their actions, the trade of buffalo hides and the latter expansion of the railway system would continue into the 19th century and would expand their humble trading. The American settlers would bring weaponry, manufactured goods, and many more wondrous pieces of technology.

A pair of Shoshone Moccasins. One of the signature articles of clothing for Native American tribes.

Trade is what essentially expands the technology, ideas, thought, beliefs and culture to another civilization. In World History this could be dated back to the Silk Road and the cultural, technological and religious impacts it had. Throughout history it has played a role, from early Han Dynasty, to Kublai Khan's China it has played a significant role. All major civilization in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East have attempted to govern the vast expanse of this epic trade route. All have succeeded, for a period of time, only for a new civilization to take up the reins of the old. It's as if there is a passing of the torch to acquiring the Silk Road, ad no one civilization has held it forever. Such is trade, in that it comes and goes with the times.

However, in keeping with the times, these same trade routes are deemed less important with new forms of technology. In Civilization V there is more profit to be had when a civilization establishes a naval trade route, than a land based one. This is a reflection of the gradual shift from the Silk Road's usage in the Han Dynasty, Islamic Empire, and finally the Mongolian Empire. It wasn't until new forms of naval technology emerged and completely replaced the need for a long distance trade route, when a naval one could travel in less time.

Social Policies

Due to the Shoshone's ability to grow there civilization and expand at a rapid pace, it only makes sense to focus on the culture of the civilization. That is why in my prior post, the building I was constructing was a Monument, a building that costs 1 Gold per turn, and boosts my civilizations culture output by 2 per turn. However, due to it being early game from the Ancient Era, it will take about 30 turns to construct this building. Though, if able to and if I have the needed population in my city, I could focus my citizens to work on generating production for this building.

With this boost, my civilization should be able to attain more Social Policies. Many of you are probably wondering what "Social Policies" are, well they are the paths that a civilization takes that determines their future. For instance, upon achieving 75 culture points, the player is able to select between three initial Social Policy trees. These trees serve as a guideline for one's civilization. They are; Liberty, Honor, and Tradition. Each one holds a significance in its own unique way. For example, Liberty is best for large civilizations that desire rapid growth, while in contrast Tradition is best for small civilizations. Then there is Honor, which is the policy that deals with improving ones military in a variety of ways.

This is the desired policy route my civilization will strive for now. 

This is the start of my policy route. Keep in mind this is 795 years, or simply 52 turns in that I'm able to achieve this.

In the case of the Shoshone, I chose to diversify my civilization. By that, I chose to implement both Tradition and Honor into my Social Policies. The reason I chose Tradition is so that I gain more benefits to my Capital and generate more defense, no maintenance for my soldiers, and in the future a free culture building for my first 4 cities. Now, in regards to Honor, I chose it so that I could generate a massive amount of culture and develop my military. You see, with Honor I'm able to generate culture for every slain Barbarian unit killed. (Barbarians are neither a city-state or another civilization, but their own entity and exist in all eras until each "encampment" is destroyed.) So, with that I believe that by developing my Capital and my military I would be better equipped in dealing with any unforeseen hostilities.

In the world, both of Civilization and historic it is better to be well equipped for a battle. There are a variety of civilizations in the game whose sole desire is to conquer the vast lands of other civilizations. So, it is better to be well equipped and fend them off, than be caught with one's pants down. That is my reasoning for choosing Honor, as for Tradition there is another significance there. Though the Shoshone do have the name, "The Great Expanse" they didn't rapidly create their cities, nor did they expand everywhere in the nation. Unlike the Aztec, Maya, Iroquois, Sioux or Cheyenne they were rather contempt to their lands. They seldom sought expansion, and instead they sought to better their lands and safeguard their lands.

Social Policies play a pivotal role in the development of a civilization, both in Civilization V and the real world. Social policies exist as a form of stepping stone for a civilization to jump through, as it progresses onto the next step. Once a civilization has fully unlocked a policy, it moves onto the next one. Some focus on one sole policy, others focus on multiple policies. Whatever a civilization may be, it all stems from their decisions regarding social policies. Will the civilization have the best military without investing in Honor? Possibly, but think about this: those that invest in Honor are better able to maintain and upgrade a military. 

Babylon and the other City-States focused on their own spheres of influence, and so they focused on the Tradition aspect of Social Policies. The same could not be said for the people of Persia, as they focused on Liberty, in that they sought a massive and widespread expansion of the Middle East. When observing the Romans, they too sought expansion of their borders and to due so they built up their military, where the Honor policy would have played a role. In a nutshell, whatever the goals of every civilization, it can be attained through investing in the Social Polices given. For my final example, take the triple play that the Muslims played in the 11th Century with the usage of Liberty, Honor, and Piety. These three combined created the Islamic world, in that their borders expanded due to their superior military and their faith.  

In relation to the concepts of World History, the two Social Policies known as Piety and Honor are closely related to the themes of Society and Its Categories, Spiritual Life and Moral Codes, and Politics and Power. They are all related in that they deal with the development of a civilization as a whole. The example I mentioned earlier involving the Islamic World is by far the one that fits this bill. It should be noted that societies advance from their categories through the constant development of their civilizations culture. In order for a society to alter its categories, it must continue its growth through the next series of stages.

In regards to what a society may choose to set for its civilizations course, that depends on the a variety of factors. More than likely, one would not see the build up of a societies military if they were far away from any nearby threats or possessed a natural barrier between themselves. This could be one of the reasons that the United States didn't develop its military into that of the professional European armies that dotted the globe in the 18th and 19th entities. The same could be said for the figurative "buffer zones" that the Christian kingdoms established in an effort to contain the spread of Islam. This of course is in regards to the development of a societies course. 

Its interesting to observe the initial three policies that a civilization may choose from the start. In a way, I suppose that the Liberty is to represent a Classical Republic, Tradition and Oligarchy and finally Honor is a representation of an Early Autocracy. These three are things that could be early representations of the types of societies that eventually developed. Though it is worth mentioning that Liberty is tied into with the Enlightenment, but its roots could be stretched all the way to ancient Greeks and their concepts. However, with the diversity of the Greek City-States, they also dabbled into the concepts of Tradition and Honor. These exist in the City-States such as Athens for Tradition and Sparta for Honor. 

The Start of the Great Expanse

So, I began my journey through time with the unique perspective of the Shoshone people. Beginning in the years 4,000 B.C., my civilization has just established its first city due to the Settler unit I had started with. You'll notice that the amount of land I now possess is exceedingly higher than other civilizations, and that's  due to the unique trait of the Shoshone, dubbed "The Great Expanse". With this trait, my capital city of Moson Kahni and the other cities I may found will possess a vast amount of territory that is unrivaled in the game.  This fits very well with the tradition of the Shoshone people, as their civilization was geared towards the amount of land to best suit their hunter way of life.

In addition to the starting Settler unit, I also start with my unique unit, the Pathfinder. This particular unit replaces the traditional Scout unit that every civilization starts off with. Unlike the standard Scout, the Pathfinder has a higher amount of strength, rivaling that of a Warrior. Also, if my Pathfinder were to come across the remnants of fallen civilizations, or "Ancient Ruins" I can select the bonus I could get for them. These bonuses include; discovering a new technology, recruiting the lost civilization into your civilization, trading with the Lost Civilization, gaining some culture from their ways of life, looking at their maps, observing their faith, etc. Thus, the Pathfinder is an exceptionally superior unit early game, because it can move as fast as a Scout and hit as hard as a Warrior.

The Shoshone's vast amount of starting land, and the various tiles that are under my grasp in 4,000 B.C. 

So, when my capital was founded, I noted that the amount of territory that I controlled was vast. I had the ability to improve a variety of tiles that possessed lush grasslands. In addition, I had two tiles that possessed cattle as a resource for a higher yield of food production. There were at least four tiles that possessed forests, three of the four held a luxury resource that would improve the happiness of my civilization, truffles and dyes. While the truffles weren't a part of the Shoshone people's way of life, the dyes did in some manner of way. This would lead to a variety of different colored beads, jerkins, moccasins, face paint, etc.

You see, these resources would help later in the game to provide a counter-balance to the amount of citizens I have in my civilization. When I founded my city, I had one citizen in my population and so my "Overall Happiness" was at a +5. However, as the game progresses, I need to increase the amount of people I have in my civilization. The reason behind this concept of having more people, is because like the actual civilizations, I need people to work the many tiles I have. Every luxury resource I possess increases the happiness +4, and for every citizen I have, my "Overall Happiness" reduces.

Now, you'll notice on the screenshot of my beginning displays a lot of variables in the top left portion of the screen. These ever changing variables include; Technology that is being researched, the amount of science and gold I gain per turn, my existing trade routes (as of now, I have none), my Overall Happiness counter, my Golden Age tracker (I'll explain that in a moment), my culture, tourism, and faith I gain per turn. All of these play a role in shaping my civilization through their unique ways, In order to have a functioning civilization, one must have funds, culture, science, faith, trade, etc.

The Concept of World History

When many people go through life learning about the variety of civilizations that have been founded and have collapsed or adapted overtime, many famous civilizations come to mind. For instance, nearly everyone at one point or another has heard mention of the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians of the Classical Era. Others have probably heard of the Ancient World civilizations such as the Babylonians, Assyrians, or possibly even the Scythians. Of course, there are other time frames to which a civilization has made its debut, such as the Medieval Era when the Holy Roman Empire, Ottoman Empire, and Mongol Empire began to arise. So to is the founding of a civilization in the Industrial Era with the United States of America. In today's Modern Era, there are many civilizations attempting to forge their own path, and guide their people on a road that they believe is correct.

However, what about the other civilizations that garner no real notability? For most people who have heard of past civilizations their knowledge is limited to what they may have heard or lightly read in their past. Though it is those civilizations that may be an enigma that are often the most remarkable. Take the Anasazi of the Southwestern United States, or the Inca of Peru, or even the remarkable Songhai of Western Africa: All of these civilizations share a uniqueness that is common with all of the civilizations in history. So why is it these civilizations are not discussed? Is it because of the old quote by Winston Churchill that states, "History is written by the victors"? I believe that may be a part of it, but I believe that the unspoken and lesser known civilizations play a larger role than many historians give them credit.

Many civilizations forge their own unique approach to their equally unique areas. Some of these civilizations stick to the traditional methods of hunter-gatherers, some are contempt with simply creating one city-state, others are more open to expansion. What truly makes a civilization, in my own opinion is not so much the city, but the concept of a large group of people working in conjunction with others. The reason I apply this concept is because some civilizations only formed cities later in their history. One key example would be the Mongolians, who were nomads on the Steppes of Mongolia near present-day China. Though they were nomads, they were still a unique civilization in that they had no cities to call their own in regards to actually settling them initially.

(Above) Shoshone Hunters Return by William Ahrendt

So, I will begin by explaining a civilization that has captured my interest and that would be the Shoshone of the Western Plains of the United States of America. This particular tribe is notable for being located in the present-day state of Nevada and their shift in culture. Prior to the Spanish exploration in the New World, the Shoshone were nomadic and hunted on foot (this was because horses had been hunted to extinction during the Paleolithic Era). However, when the Spanish arrived they brought with them horses, and so began a transition of the Shoshone people's way of life. After the introduction of horses, the hunters began to utilize the hardy animal for hunting, warfare, carrying goods such as food, clothing, pelts and so forth. This drastically changed the culture of the Shoshone for the better, as they became better hunters of their native game of American Bison, deer, foxes, and other game.

However, while directly obtaining the horses that were either escaped, stolen or captured from a war band, the Shoshone indirectly came into contact with the various diseases that plagued the Europeans. These diseases, such as smallpox, measles, and others resulted in an epidemic in the Shoshone and other Native American tribes. Though their tribe survived, the people of the Shoshone were fewer in number due to the deaths of their tribesmen. It wouldn't be long until other entities would arrive to combat the Shoshone tribe, however in the form of the Independent Nation of Texas, the United States and the Mexican government. All of these civilizations would interact with the Shoshone, either through trading of goods and services for weapons and horses, or through war for American/European valuables.

Today, I'd like to announce that I'll be exploring the development of the Shoshone civilization through Sid Meyer's Civilization V for PC. Through this turn-based strategy game, I will explore the unique traits that separate the Shoshone from other civilizations in the game, such as the Maya, Inca, Americas, British, Zulu, and so on. I believe that the best way to experiment with this civilization is through adjusting the game settings to the third hardest difficulty, Emperor and seven for the amount of rival civilizations. In addition, the game will be set to "marathon" which is the lengthiest setting for any game of Civilization. By setting this stage, I hope to gather more knowledge on the Shoshone, and their approach to warfare, culture, economics, religion and other traits that make up a civilization.