One of the most awesome aspects of this game, in my opinion, is how it is capable of immersing the player in a sense of realism using a relatively "simple", and yet, complex and complete display. I believe this is possible due to a set of details on which the game is built: how conflicts are calculated, troop movement, and builds functions, also some details of the graphics/art, etc. It does make us feel like we were commanding a war.
The game sounds
One major aspect of the game that contributes to this immersion is the incredible set of sounds, which are mostly sounds of war, war music, troops, and ships movements, etc. Why not also include sounds that demonstrate prosperity, especially in economically well-developed regions that are far away from war?
For instance, there is this game that I'm playing Spain, and I'm at war in Africa. Mainland Spain is pretty peaceful and prosperous. There exist a lot of urban centers with industries, infrastructure, facilities, cities with high morale that never faced war directly. Wouldnt it be cool if when I move the camera of the game to that region it could be possible to listen to industries sounds, ports, sounds of people socializing in a square, or even the Capitol ambiance? everything in a mix that demonstrates the contrast between the regions directly affected by war (in this example, the front in Africa, where there is a lot of chaos) and the ones that are away from it.
Look, I understand that this is a game about war. Thus, some of you may be already thinking "this would ruin a bit the experience, this is just unnecessary stuff and this is a war game!".
But hold on for a second: I think that this contrast between tranquility and chaos, would enhance the sense of realism, and concomitantly would highlight the destructive aspect of war. In other words, I believe this contrast would only increment this war atmosphere. Because the sounds contained in well-developed regions that are "away from war" wouldn't exactly be "sounds of peace". More likely, they would be realistic sounds of a region that is developing itself and contains civilians working, talking in the public square, and having a life, even though in war.
In this way, the game experience would be also more relaxing, immersing, and fascinating than it already is! So I think that if the game team were able to implement this smoothly, it would be a great addition to the game.
I apologize if this has been already suggested before.
