Pfft. Here's my two cents on predetermined civ advantages:
The civilizational flavour should come from the tech, not the other way round.
Otherwise, you have this backwards-ass intelligent design nonsense. The Egyptians weren't good at building because of some inherent racial advantage, it was because they developed the Mathematics and Slavery techs to overcome their geographical circumstances. The English didn't have a great navy because they had some kind of proto-understanding of shipcraft, it was because they were based on an island and had to develop technologies to support that lifestyle.
After the first couple of rounds, look at your tech tree, and declare yourself to be a certain civilization that matches that configuration.
The civilizational flavour should come from the tech, not the other way round.
Otherwise, you have this backwards-ass intelligent design nonsense. The Egyptians weren't good at building because of some inherent racial advantage, it was because they developed the Mathematics and Slavery techs to overcome their geographical circumstances. The English didn't have a great navy because they had some kind of proto-understanding of shipcraft, it was because they were based on an island and had to develop technologies to support that lifestyle.
After the first couple of rounds, look at your tech tree, and declare yourself to be a certain civilization that matches that configuration.