I cannot say that I am thrilled to hear this, as I refuse to play the Aztecs for that reason.
However, I can always use those civilizations as my punching bags.
Unrelated Question on the Mod:
Given the time frame of 125,000 BC, are you going to allow for mammoth and mastodon units. I am not sure if horses large enough for riding were around as yet, although I think that there may have been giant camels in existence. I would have to do some checking. I do not think that the giant ground sloths were bright enough to use in any way.
Your question is all but telepathically good timing, as I am indeed currently wondering how-and-if to deal specifically with wild animals (probably as Barbarian units.)
Elephants were more ubiquitous in horses at this time (the horse evolved in North America, then migrated across the Siberian/Alaskan land bridge which existed during the last Ice Age.)
I have decided to play "fast and loose" with horses, especially given how cavalry units are critical to Civ3 in general, and am distributing them freely throughout the world, with the exceptions of marsupial and giant-flightless bird ruled South America and Australia.
Australia begins the game uninhabited, and the 3 South American Civs have non-strategic-resource depend
"terror bird" units - They were, actuality, probably extinct by the time of this mod, although some lingering doubts remain (and all this is part of why I put "Fantasia" in the mod's name.)
Along these lines: tom 2050 made a
"Teratorn Rider" unit. This extinct, giant condor:
"Discovered at Legion Park, Oregon. It [had] an estimated wingspan of over 4 meters (14 ft). The find dates to the late Pleistocene, between 11,000 and 12,000 years ago, in a strata which is filled with the bones of Mastodon, Sloth and Condors, bears, and evidence of human habitation."
Large enough to carry an unarmored person with the skills and size of a modern day jockey? Probably not, but there's that "Fantasia" bit again, and the idea of an aerial UU appearing very early in the game - and obsolete long before the arrival of airships on the scene, is quite tempting -
I'd really appreciate any feedback on this!
Insofar as wild animals are concerned, we (once again, thanks to tom2050) have smilodons, dire wolves, bears, and other "fantastical" beasts I'd happily press into play.
Nonetheless, I'm perplexed as to how to best utilize them to add enjoyment to a game. A smilodon killing off a player's first Settler would be no joy; also, at what point (i.e., Tech Level & Unit AF/DF) would/should make wild animals moot - And then what relevance would those left wandering around have?
- And thank you, as ever, for so much food for thought.
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