My population estimates for Oros, Far Cry Primal
Ok this is gonna be long lol. Im fascinated w prehistory and I love this game (mostly the artistic side of it lol) and I wanted to calculate how many people would be taking part in the war between cultures we see in the game.
First of all, im gonna throw population density out the window since we don't know how big Oros actually is and any guess would be completely blind. So we have these 3 very different Mesolithic cultures living in this valley, but can they sustain this kind of prehistoric war as it's shown in the game? Well, if we're talking about tribes, there's no way. Prehistoric tribes in that time would've been around 50-100 individuals (the Izila would prolly be more tho, since they have agriculture), so no way we're talking about tribes here. What these people actually are (or I think at least lol) are cultures, so different tribes with ethnic/genetic/religious/historical background in common, you know, variety in people not just a couple families. This would allow Oros to have more people, so the conflict would be semi-realistic, while still being historically accurate with the numbers and populations.
My guess is that the Wenja would probably be around 500-600 people. It's said they're all migrating from another place, so this is no small expedition. Also, this number would explain how we constantly find small hunting/gathering parties all around the map that ask for help, and how they haven't gone extinct yet, but are still greatly endangered. Also take into account that our village can house up to 300 people by the end of the game.
The Udam I imagine would be fewer. I think that in the past, when all of Oros was glacial, they would've been all over the place with a much higher population. Now though, they mostly occupy the north and are actively going extinct, so that's no longer the case. I'd put their numbers around 300-500 people. And yeah, I know they have a ton of outposts, but I think it's because of their aggressiveness and warrior-ish lifestyle that they occupy way more territory than what they'd actually need. I also like it bc it fits with the decadent conqueror nature of the Udam.
Finally, the Izila are a curious case. They're the most technologically advanced culture, more into the Neolithic than the Udam and Wenja. Their architecture, weapons, armor and decorations are way more advanced, which would make you think they're way more numerous than the others, but I don't think that's the case. The Izila are said to be kind of new to Oros, but already a huge threat to the other cultures, so what I actually think is happening is that the Izila are just a splinter group from a larger culture and this group came to Oros while the rest stayed in Mesopotamia or wherever. This actually seems more likely because, first, they wouldn't need to use slavery if they already had all the people their tech level would suggest, and second, if all of them had come, they would've obliterated the other cultures outright. So I think there are actually about 600-800 Izila. More than Udam and Wenja, because they also need tailors and farmers and all that stuff.
The numbers I just gave are what I think a semi-realistic population would look like, but the war in Oros is so devastating it'd probably all be over in just a couple days, so here are some other estimates, less realistic for the time period, but more realistic for a sustainable war. The Udam would need like 10-20 men per outpost (same goes for the Izila) + hunter/gatherer parties + all the small villages where they fish and hunt and stuff + the main city/village (where Ull and Batari live). So let's say 15x8 (average 15 people per outpost, 8 outposts) + 50 (warriors in the capital) + 40 (warrior parties scattered across Oros, 10 groups w/ 4 soldiers each). This would give the Udam about 200 active warriors deployed at once. But of course that's not their whole military capacity; the available warriors realistically would only be about a third of the actual soldier count, so that'd make them about 600 total warriors. But then there are also kids, elders, sick people, injured people, so not everyone would be a warrior. Let's say that, given they're a prehistoric society that doesn't practice agriculture, and probably a good chunk of the hunting/gathering falls on the soldiers, warriors make up about a third of the actual Udam population. That'd make the Udam in Oros something like 2,000 people.
With the Izila it's kind of the same, but they also have tailors, farmers... you know, all the hustle that comes with the Neolithic, so I'm guessing they'd be about 3,000 people. And the Wenja are fewer and being hunted down, but still persistent around the map, so maybe 1,500-ish.
So those are the numbers everyone. I actually prefer the first estimates because they are more realistic but ofc its a game and it designed around gameplay not realism. the first estimate would put the population of Oros around 1600 people and the second around 6500.
Well, that was it lol. I doubt anyone will actually care about this, but anyway, I find this type of exercise really interesting. Also, please Ubisoft, bring us Far Cry Primal 2! (Actually, don't, it'd be better if another studio made the game lol)