“Getting your mark on the map” has always been a thriving feeling for humans and even though not everyone gets to put his mark on current events, every human plays a part in history, it’s just coded in our DNA to explore, expand, exploit and even exterminate in certain situations. Yes, I’m talking about the 4X genre and with Humankind, the developers take it a step up! Let’s talk!
Amplitude has already made its name by making the “4X genre” popular like Endless Legend, Endless Space and Dungeon of the Endless. All of these games have been received very well and although this might not look on the surface, according to the developers a lot of these games were projects to actually learn new skills and harness new techniques that would build-up to this moment. The developers were eager to tell that their new project is called “Humankind” and that this dream project was one of the main reasons “Amplitude” has been founded. Humankind will put the developers’ skills to the ultimate test as the project concept is one of the most challenging concepts they’ve ever had.
Humankind’s key design element is “combining cultures over different era’s” to create unique civilizations that hone their forefather’s cultures and traditions that’ll help the civilization move forward and distinguish itself from other civilizations. The game’s concept is simple but intriguing… You start off as Nomads and by the end of an era, you will have to choose one of the 10 different cultures that are specific for that certain era. Once you’ve chosen a culture, you will progress through the second era and at the end of that second period, you will have to choose another culture that’s specific for that second era. Now here is where the magic starts to happen, your previous progress with that first chosen culture will carry on into the second culture. In other words, your civilization evolves but still benefits from your previous culture. At the end of the Sixth era, you will have a unique civilization that has been built upon cultures and cultures. This opens up a lot of replayability, as you will never have the exact same “unique civilization” at the end of the 6th era.
It’s all about leaving your mark on history as a player. With every deed, battle, diplomacy, … you gain fame and fame is important to win the game. If certain victory conditions have been filled in, you’ll win the game. Become supremacy that will be remembered for generations! Just like the previous games, the game focuses on exploits, exploring, expanding and exterminating. These are actually the representation of the player’s choice in this sandbox type of game. As a player, you choose how to gain fame and win the game. You’ll have to go through 6 different era’s and each era offers 10 different cultures. All of these cultures have different stats and units. It’s up to the player to create the combination that suits his/ her playstyle best.
Just like other 4X genre games, you will have to build settlements and try to expand your territory to gain resources. Building a settlement is important, you’ll have to build it on a productive tile and see that the settlements can benefit from the terrain defensively. If you build your settlement on a higher altitude, your units will gain some advantage over the enemy. After building your settlements, it’s time to form a defensive perimeter of outposts and send out a scouting party. Claiming terrain and battle enemies over territory will be your next focus. Something new in Humankind is the fact that these battles happen realtime. Once a battle’s started though, you won’t be able to interfere with the outcome of the battle however you will be able to send out reinforcements to keep the battle going. Also managing your daily business while a battle is going, will also be something fairly new to the game.
The game’s still in pre-alpha and we will probably get a lot more information about the game in the near future. Even though the game already looked quite polished, the developers said that we can expect a lot more key elements that’ll create a lot more depth in the game. For example, there will be trade routes, diplomacy, relationship handling, … All of these elements will need micromanaging if you want to be successful. The game’s expected to be released on the PC and MAC in 2020. There will also be a multiplayer mode where you can play the sandbox game with 7 other players. The multiplayer mode will have an option to set some ground rules for your tabletop experience with your friends.
Stay tuned at our website to get the latest info on Humankind!
