Giant Earth Map - Version 4

Fixed some 'floodplain issues'. There should be no tiles starting with more than 4 breads in this version. Nothing else has changed.

Version 4.1 included some improvements over version 4.0. There are two major improvements:

1) To have better game-play balance, I have added floodplains and resources to some of the civilizations starting locations. These civs include: Maya, Aztec, Inca, Arabia, Mongol, Ethiopia, Persia and India. (See the attached xls for more details).
2) I have added many islands to the map, which were initially too small (<1000km2) to be represented. However, a lot of small islands have important meanings in human history. I decided to include them in this revision. These islands include: Malta, Ionian Islands, Hong Kong, Outer Hebrides, Zanzibar, Iwo Jima, Midway, Netherland Antilles, Cayman Islands, etc. (See the attached map for more details).

Version 4.0 is developed based on v2.2, the 'perfect version', instead of v3.1, the compressed version. This is due to the fact that in the latest patch of Civ4 BTS, the crash to desktop problem is said to be fixed and hence there is now good reason to reuse the bigger but less distorted map instead.

Besides updating the map for BTS starting with 36 civs, v4 also enhances the map in many ways. There were previously some areas on the map which I felt wasn't drawn as good as it could be. These include France, Spain, Romania, Poland, Morocco, USA East coast, Brazilian south east coast and indo-china peninsula. There are many changes in resource placement (For details of these changes, please refer to the change log of v4.) Another major change is the removal of all the floodplains on grasslands or plains. The map should now be as plain as it could be without any differences to the normal maps.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=184684

The first version of the Giant Earth Map took me on average two hours per day for half a year to develop it. Without using any map generators, I first drawn layout of the continents to the ratio that I felt most balanced. This gives me the flexibility to upscale the size of any interested region on the map. Then I adjusted/fine tuned the map, for every tile, so that the map looks realistic even in the local scale – something which usually cannot be achieved by map generators. It took me about 3 months to have a map ready for me to fill in resources.

Another great feature of GEM is that it references real statistic of resources for resource placements. This allowed the map to be less 'biased' towards any regions. However, the time needed to search for the correct statistic for each resource, scale the source into the number of icons on the map, correctly draw the border on the tiff map and lastly placing the sources on the civ map with the correct amount and correct locations was unexpectedly long. It took me another 3 months, almost the same amount of time for drawing the entire map.

After the first version, I received much feedback from this forum and have updated the GEM accordingly. The map you now downloading have been commented, reviewed, tested and balanced. I hope you will enjoy it.

America
Arabia
Aztec
Babylon
Hungary
Carthage
Australia
China
Yue
Egypt
England
Ethiopia
France
Germany
Greece
Poland
Inca
India
Mughal
Japan
Khmer
Korea
Mali
Maya
Mongolia
Native America
Netherlands
Turks
Persia
Brazil
Rome
Russia
Spain
Israel
Scandinavia
Zululand

Version 4.2 Change log
1) Modified the landscape of Canada, USA and Australia. (See the attached map for more details).
2) Minor changes in resource placement. (See the attached xls for more details).
3) Bundled with the 1500AD scenario on GEM.


Version 4.1.1 Change log
Fixed some 'floodplain issues'. There should be no tiles starting with more than 4 breads in this version. Nothing else has changed.


Version 4.1 Change log
1) Floodplains and resources were added to some of the civilizations starting locations. These civs include: Maya, Aztec, Inca, Arabia, Mongol, Ethiopia, Persia and India. (See the attached xls for more details).
2) Many new islands are added to the map. These islands include: Malta, Ionian Islands, Hong Kong, Outer Hebrides, Zanzibar, Iwo Jima, Midway, Netherland Antilles, Cayman Islands, etc. (See the attached map for more details)


Version 4.0 Change log
1) Developed base on v2.2.
2) Used the new CvGameCoreDLL.dll for 40 Civ BTS developed by Mikel Olson in the civ fanatics’ forum.
3) Resource changes – refer to the excel file.
4) Modified Southern French coast by shifting Spain one tile south west. Spain and morocco are modified because of this change.
5) Eastern Europe is modified. Slightly increased the size of Romania and Hungary and decreased the size of Germany and Poland.
6) Increased the size of East Coast USA.
7) Increased the size of Indochina Peninsula.
8) Removed all floodplains on grasslands and plains. Floodplains can now exist on desert tiles.
9) Using the new civs and new leaders in BTS, 36 civs are placed on the map. China and India both have an extra civ to fill in the area.
10) All civs started with Noble difficulties.


Version 3.1 Change log
1) Moved the entire Americas back down 3 tiles.
2) Shorten Argentina and Chile by about 2 tiles.
3) Reshaped eastern coastline of South America.
4) Reshaped western coastline of Africa.
5) Moved Iceland 1 tile back up.
6) Moved Cape Verde closer to Africa by 1 tile.
7) Added Azores back on the map.


Version 3.0 Change log
This version cut down the map size to 200x80. It includes the following:
1) Moved Iceland 1 tiles down
2) Moved New Zealand 2 tiles up
3) The entire Americas 3 tiles up
4) Chopped out about 7 tiles from the Arctic Circle and 3 tiles from the Southern Ocean.
5) Chopped out 5 columns in the Pacific, about where Alaska is.
6) Chopped out 5 columns in the Atlantic.
7) Some changes in the landscape of north eastern Brazilian coast.
8) Some changes in the landscape of Alaska coast.
9) Some changes in the landscape of the north eastern Canadian coast.


Version 2.2 Change log
1) Redraw the Oceans. I have to admit that the secret pathways in the middle of the oceans isn't as fun/useful as I was intending. Since it is also unrealistic, so I decided to remove them. Instead, I have increased the width of the coast, minimum of 2 tiles away from the land - decreasing the chance of sea routes being blocked by enemy coastal city's influence.
2) Added a few more islands in the south pacific and Caribbean. Especially south pacific islands, including Tonga and Niue which are required for my 1200AD scenario.
3) Added some resources (1 fish, 1 crab, 1 clam, 1 banana and 1 whale together with the existing 1 sugar, 1 gold and 1 marble) around those islands giving a bit of possibility for the Tongan Empire to grow (although still little in comparison.)
4) Added text labels for all the islands on the map. I got frustrated when I was modifying the pacific islands and keep mixing up with which island is which. So I decided to add in labels which I think will help everyone else too.


Version 2.1 Change log
Used the new CvGameCoreDLL.dll which is compatible with warlord v2.08 from Rhye's Earth24 mod.


Version 2.0 Change log
Bug fixes:
1) Fixed Egyptian starting difficulty: Prince -> Noble
2) Repainted Northern China of the Border map and recounted the number of tiles in the affected regions. The map wasn't drawn properly in this region.

Terrain Changes:
1) Made some minor changes for the flood plain distribution in Europe - to balance the European civs.
2) Deleted some jungles which have domesticated animals on it.
3) Made some terrain changes in France, Spain and Italy, after revising reference [1] and post 116.
4) Made flood plain changes in various places.
5) Changed some plains to glasslands.
6) Made terrain and flood plain changes in China (Near Ningxia).
7) Reviewed and reallocated forest and jungle distributions based on [20].
8) Reviewed and reallocated terrain type based on [21].
9) Converted a large area of tundra land in Russia to Glassland, where many Russian populations are located.
10) Converted some area of tundra land to iceland in Alaska, USA and Yukon, Canada.
11) Arctic pass is now Closed. Well, it was not realistic although it would be fun to have.

Resource changes:
1) Added 1 oil in Athabasca, Southwest Canada [18].
2) Changed marble distribution in Turkey (and dye as a result of that) based on post 109.
3) Removed 1 extra pig near Berlin (it shouldn't be there).
4) Replaced 2 gold in Japan with 2 silver, again! Somehow this did not get done previously.
5) Reallocated a wheat and a sheep in Egypt, giving Egyptian a better start.
6) Reallocated a sheep and a horse in China (Near Ningxia and Shaanxi).
7) Reviewed and reallocated resources based on [19].
8) Redo Banana, Corn, Rice, Wheat, Silk, Wine, sugar and Whale distribution with each icon on the map represents higher amount. This reduced the total number of resources to an average of about 40 each.
9) Reduced the incense in south east asia a total of 2.
10) Removed the fish in Ukraine.
11) Capped fish in Japan, from 9 to 7.
12) Capped fish in Korea, from 3 to 2.
13) Capped fish in China, from 11 to 9.
14) Capped fish in Peru, from 8 to 7.
15) Capped fish in Chile, from 6 to 4.
16) Removed the Crab in Ireland. Was for gameplay balance.
17) Added a dye in Tunisia for gameplay balance.
18) Added a gold in Switzerland for gameplay balance.
19) Added a cow in Egypt for gameplay balance.
20) Added an incense in Tunisia [22].
21) Added an ivory in Sudan [22].
22) Added 3 incense in Somalia [22].
23) Added 1 spices in Yemen [22].
24) Added 2 Furs in Argentina [22].
25) Added a copper each in Egypt and Iraq.
26) Added a silver in England.

Civ starting locations/bonus:
1) Korean starting location changed to 1 tile south west, where Kaesong should actually be.
2) Egyptian, Persian, Indian and Chinese now start with an extra worker instead of a warrior.
3) India is now located in the Ganges plain instead of Indus plain. This should allow the Turks to take away some of the fertile land in india.
3) Handicap setting:
Egypt - Noble
India - Prince
China - Prince
Greece - Warlord
Roman - Noble
Persia - Prince
Japan - Warlord
Germany - Noble
Mongol - Noble
France - Noble
Arabia - Noble
Spain - Noble
England - Warlord
Russia - Prince
Mali - Prince
Inca - Prince
Aztec - Noble
America - Noble
Carthage - Noble
Korea - Noble
Turk - Prince
Scandinavia - Warlord
Zulu - Noble
Thai - Prince
4) Leader changed:
English - now use Victoria
Russia - now use Catherine
America - now use Washington


Version 1.15 Change log
Bug fixes:
1) Fixed city names for Thai.

Terrain changes:
Reallocated some terrains in Turkey based on post 74.

Resource changes:
1) Added a copper in Cyprus [14].
2) Used a new Stat for Stone allocations [15].
3) Used a new Stat for Marble allocations [16].
4) Reallocated some resources in Turkey based on post 74.
5) Added a horse in Morocco and 2 wines in Algeria.
6) Added 2 horses in Sudan.
7) Added a wine in Syria.


Version 1.14 Change log
General:
1) This map is now a mod. But the only thing changed is the city name list.
2) Each civ starts with one extra unit, either a warrior, a scour or a galley.

Terrain changes:
1) Lower the mountains in Northern Germany - it was a bit too exaggerated.
2) Added some ice in the arctic area, but the arctic pass still remains.
3) Added some more forest in Europe and deleted some forest in northern Scotland.
4) Added some more flood plain and oasis in many places, including Britain, Spain, Mongolia, Arabia, Algeria, Ukraine, Baltic, Mexico - they needed some help.
5) Removed some flood plain in West coast of Africa, Northern India and Northern China - they were too fertile.
6) Changed the jungle and flood plain distribution near Thailand.
7) Changed the jungle, forest and floodplain distribution in Brazil and Argentina. Added a river near Sao Paulo.

Resource changes:
1) Added 1 sheep in the Andes and 1 in Mexico, near Incan starting location [9][11].
2) Deleted all cows in North America, as the native American domesticated animals only populated in Middle and South America. Now there are only sheeps in the Americas.
2) Replaced two gold in Japan with two silver, as it should be in the first place.
3) Replaced one iron in Britain with one coal, as it should be in the first place.
4) Added some villages to the map.
6) Added a clam in Baikal Lake.
7) Added a horse to Britain.
8) Deleted a pig in Canada. I don't why it was there.
9) Added a copper and an iron in Italy [10]. Removed the horse and capped the number of stones to 8.
10) Added an iron in Rio Tinto, Spain [10]. Removed 2 stones in Former Yogoslavia (the 2 extra stones originally were overflown from Italy)
12) Capped Copper mine in Chile to 10. Removed all copper in Argentina and Bolivia (these were overflown from Chile).
13) Capped Iron in Western Australia to 5 (was 9).
14) Capped Wheat in France to 5 (was 7).
15) Capped Stone in Turkey to 8 (was 10).
16) Capped Rice in China (reduced by 4), Clam (reduced by 4), Crab (reduced by 2).
17) Capped Rice in India (reduced by 4), wheat (reduced by 2).
18) Capped Fish in Peru to 8 (was 10).
19) Capped Corn in USA (reduced by 5).
20) Capped Rice in Indochina (reduced by 3).
21) Removed Fish in Bangladesh (was for game play balance).
22) Removed Fish in Sri lanka (was for game play balance).
23) Removed Fish and Crab in India (was for game play balance).
24) Removed Fish and Crab in Australia and New Zealand (was for game play balance).
25) Removed Fish in Poland (was for game play balance).
26) Removed Fish in Portugal (was for game play balance).
27) Reallocated resources in France, based on suggestions from post 66.
28) Reallocated resources in New Zealand, based on suggestions from post 68.
29) Reallocated resources in Argentina, based on suggestions from post 70.
30) Added Whales in South Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand and Quebec [13].
31) Reallocated resources in Thailand.

Starting location changes:
1) Moved Arabian to Jordan.
2) Renamed Viking to Scandinavian and moved it to Stockholm.
3) Moved Persian a few tiles closer to the mesopotamia, where Susa should be located.
4) Moved Aztec to Mexican Eastern Coast, where Olmec used to locate.
5) Moved Incan to Lima.
6) Moved Russian to Kiev.
7) Moved Turks to Tashkent.
8) Providing two versions of Giant Earth Map:
i) A Thai version (My personal preference), which replace Celts with Thai and located it in the ancient capital of Siam, Sukhothai;
ii) A Celt version, This is for those who like the original favor. But I feel it is a little too crowded and out of balance.

Bug fixes:
1) Max number of turn was 460. This line is deleted.

v1.0
[1] Collins, Complete World Altas, 2005.
[2] The Jacaranda Atlas 4th Ed., 1992.
[3] Australian Geographic, Antique Globe.
[3] FAOSTAT (FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS), http://faostat.fao.org.
[4] BGS (British Geology Survey), World Mineral Production 2000-2004, 2006, http://www.bgs.ac.uk.
[5] World Biomes, http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/world_biomes.htm.
[6] Elephant Care International, http://www.elephantcare.org/stats.htm.
[7] Rhye, Earth map, 24 civs [for Warlords]. http://forums.civfanatics.com/downlo...do=file&id=175
[8] BP, Statistical Review of World Energy, http://www.bp.com/statisticalreview

A special thanks to Kswoll for his MapEditor. Without it, I can't possibily do cut and paste sooo many times to get the right scale I want for building this map. http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=144414

v1.14
[9] WHAT'S AN ALPACA? http://www.belleauwood.com/What.htm
[10] Copper From the Bronze Age to the Fall of Rome http://www.unr.edu/sb204/geology/rome.html
[11] Llama http://www.wildanimalsonline.com/mammals/llama.php
[12] Perseid New Civilization: Thailand - Version 1.1. Used for Thai city names and other civ texts http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=155837
[13] Whaling History. http://www.whales.org.au/history/index.html

Wikipedia was used for miscellaneous purposes that are sometimes not recorded.

v1.15
[14] Cyprus-Island of Copper. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cyco/hd_cyco.htm
[15] Marble and More, World Stone Industry: Leading Quarrying Productions. http://www.marbleandmore.com/econ/quarrypro.asp
[16] StoneWorld, Year End Statistic (2005 Year-End Statistics). http://www.stoneworld.com/SW/Protect...5yearstats.pdf
[17] University College London (2003), Horses in Ancient Egypt. http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/fo...ion/horse.html

Wikipedia was used for miscellaneous purposes that are sometimes not recorded.

v2.0
[18] Wikipedia, Athabasca Oil Sands, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athabasca_Oil_Sands
[19] USGS, International Minerals Statistics and Information, http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/
[20] UNEP-WCMC, Global Distribution of Original and Remaining Forests, http://www.unep-wcmc.org/forest/original.htm
[21] USGS, Global Land Cover Characteristics Data Base Version 2.0, http://edcsns17.cr.usgs.gov/glcc/globe_int.html
[22] DK, Atlas of World History, 1999.
[23] Hamed A. Ead, Ancient Egyptian Science, http://www.touregypt.net/science.htm.
[24] Early iron in China, Korea, and Japan, http://www.staff.hum.ku.dk/dbwagner/.../KoreanFe.html

Thank goes to the test play team: Lord Oden, DodgyDave, alaskanfred and Marmoteo

v4.0
[25] The economist intelligence unit and the cartographic department of the Clarendon Press, Oxford Economic Atlas of the World, 3rd ed., 1965.