Too many choices

Loving FFH, but don't play but a few hours a week. Modmods look even more interesting. But too many choices! FF, Rise from Erebus, Orbis, Wild Mana (which I tried) . . . How do they compare? Anybody want to give a two sentence summary of each of the major modmods? I've read the (long) list of individual changes, but what does each one feel like to play? Anyone want to take a stab at this?

you may find some clues here:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=334376
and especially post #28 in that thread
(( http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=8438683&postcount=28 ))

Orbis seems more balanced and the civs seem more unique.

LENA is a mod of Orbis, I reccomend it, but it isn't patched for the latest version.

RiFE, well, urm,
ANIMALS! The early game is wild, there are loads of new animals!
The White Hand, a religion for Illians.
There is Evil-Neutral-Good as usual, but then there is Chaotic-Neutral-Lawful, a new alignment system!
Loads of new leaders, better Malakim (Land automatically turns to desert)
Better Illian (Land automatically turns to snow/ice)
Better Lizards (Land automatically turns to deep jungles)

RiFE is all about new features, I reccomend it.

Loads of new leaders, better Malakim (Land automatically turns to desert)
Better Illian (Land automatically turns to snow/ice)
Better Lizards (Land automatically turns to deep jungles)

Click to expand...

Actually it's called a climate system. There's a new parameter for each tile called "climate" (boreal, freezing etc.), and it may change because of surroundings, a religion and a controlling race.