A research-related Q for the developers

[Ineti]

If any of the developers are willing or able to respond, here's a question for you that struck me last night.

Were you already familiar with ancient Egypt and its history before getting into the nuts and bolts development of the game, or were you a neophyte at the setting and learned as you went?

I ask mostly out of curiosity. I'm developing a paper-based RPG on ancient Egypt, and I can't imagine working on it without some background on and/or appreciation for the setting.

[Pecunia]

I'm not a developer, but ok ;)
Considering most of them come from Impressions, and most of the Impressions people here have worked on Pharaoh too, I'd say they were already more than familiar with ancient Egypt before starting with CotN :)

[Ineti]

I'm not a developer, but ok ;)
Considering most of them come from Impressions, and most of the Impressions people here have worked on Pharaoh too, I'd say they were already more than familiar with ancient Egypt before starting with CotN :)

Sure, but the question can apply to that as well. Pre-Pharaoh, was the interest there beforehand, or did the interest develop due to working on the game?

[Ken Parker]

I was always casually interested in the ancient world, especially the Roman Empire. I had a couple of introductory ancient history classes in college. The thing that fascinated me about Egypt, apart from mummies and tombs and their apparent fascination with death, is ironically the same thing that makes Egypt seem boring to many people: its sameness over tremendous stretches of time. The continuity of Egyptian culture, art, clothing, architecture, technology and everything else across the centuries, generation after generation, seems completely alien in the context of our rapidly-changing contemporary world. So I brought a previous interest, albeit a mild one, to the citybuilding games, and I count myself very fortunate to have a job that combines my love of games with my interest in history.

[Eddy]

I'm not a developer obviously, but I agree with the sentiment about Egypt's stability. It is simply amazing to me that the Passion Ceremony at Abydos was celebrated for three thousand years. The temples that are thousands of years old and still standing is awe-inspiring. What really impresses me though is how much of an impact Egypt had on later civilzations, including our own.

Even the Christian religion has roots in Egypt with the legend of Osirus being reborn.

I wonder how the ancient Egyptians would feel knowing that I wear some of their holy symbols as jewelry today five thousand years later.

[Keith]

I wonder how the ancient Egyptians would feel knowing that I wear some of their holy symbols as jewelry today five thousand years later.
They'd probably feed you to the crocodiles for heresy. :D
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Keith Heitmann
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[Elvenwarrior2001]

No no! Steve Irwin would stop them! He wouldn't want them to eat something that is "potential dangerous." And humans are dangerous. ;) Plus...it might give him indigestion.

Elven

[Rachelc258]

<<Even the Christian religion has roots in Egypt with the legend of Osirus being reborn..>

Off topic, but you have to be a little cautious making statements like that, since there seem to be certain themes that are not uncommon around the world.

[Elvenwarrior2001]

A very good point.

Elven