custom civ for a Leader

[emmeciv7]

In Civilization VII, why doesn't the antagonist Isabella start with Spain in the Ancient Era? Is there a way to make her start with Spain? Same for other leaders, for example Napoleon with France? Thank you.

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

In Civilization VII, why doesn't the antagonist Isabella start with Spain in the Ancient Era?

because Spain isn't an Antiquity Age civ?

 

[emmeciv7]

So there's no way to start a game like in Civ V and choose opponents who are associated with their original nations, like Benjamin Franklin with America.
Or is there a way for the opposing leaders to evolve into representing modern nations as the game progresses through later eras?

 

[Siptah]

I think there is a mod that allows all civs in all eras, but I don't know if it really works and what the caveats are, as I've never tried it.

But yes, your observation is correct. In the non-modded game, every leader has to start with an ancient era civ. If you look at the civs and their bonuses as currently designed, this makes sense: most have features that are tied to the specific era they are in. A Spain in antiquity wouldn't do much, as this civ requires the distant lands to fully work.

 

[emmeciv7]

Yes, that’s okay, but personally I think it would be appropriate if, at least in the modern era, civilizations evolved into the original nations historically associated with their leaders.
And if I understand correctly, this isn't possible in Civilization at the moment?

 

[Bonyduck Campersang]

Yes, that’s okay, but personally I think it would be appropriate if, at least in the modern era, civilizations evolved into the original nations historically associated with their leaders.
And if I understand correctly, this isn't possible in Civilization at the moment?

it's possible, but it's not a guarantee; leaders are biased towards choosing a civ that matches their nation historically or geographically, but they might end up choosing a different one due to other reasons

 

[Lord Lakely]

The leaders will nearly always choose a historical civ if they can. The only way this doesn't happen is if (1) you pick their associated Civ first (2) there are multiple leaders vying for the same Civ.

The thing is that most leaders have more than one 'historical choice'.

For instance, Augustus is not guaranteed to get Rome because Rome is the default Civ for basically every western leader, which means he'll often end up as Egypt, which is his other 'historical' civ.

Hatshepsut and Amina are the two leaders for Egypt and Askum. USUALLY it's hatty for egypt and mina for aksum, but sometimes it's the other way around (or one of them as Carthage).

Harriet Tubman and Benjamin Franklin both default to America in Modern, but if both are in the game, one of them will lead a different Civ. (Tubman normally takes Buganda and Franklin Great Britain in those cases)

But for the most part? yeah, Isabella will always pick Spain in Exploration, Ibn Battuta will always lead Abbasids, Himiko will always pick Meiji Japan, Tecumseh will always lead Shawnee, etc, as long as you didn't pick those Civs yourself.

 

[emmeciv7]

So at the beginning of the game, do I need to select a random civilization for each leader?

 

[Krikkit1]

So at the beginning of the game, do I need to select a random civilization for each leader?

You can select a specific one or a random one.

 

[emmeciv7]

You can select a specific one or a random one.

Yes, but it's not easy to understand which of the random civ options will actually give me the nations historically associated with the original leader in the Modern Era — it's a bit convoluted.

 

[Siptah]

If you want that, you can select leaders, and leave all civs random. Just make sure that you don’t select leaders that vie for the same modern age civ. For instance, avoid Napoléon and Lafayette in the same game. Or Friedrich and Charlemagne.

 

[Krikkit1]

Yes, but it's not easy to understand which of the random civ options will actually give me the nations historically associated with the original leader in the Modern Era — it's a bit convoluted.

The leader will unlock the civ and choose it if possible.

So if Isabella starts with Han, or Greece, or Aksum, or Maya, etc. She will choose Spain for Exploration unless a player before her does.

 

[Lord Lakely]

So at the beginning of the game, do I need to select a random civilization for each leader?

if you pick a Random civ in antiquity, it will always pick a historical civ associated with your leader.

So if you pick Catherine + Random, the random Civ will always be Greece or Rome.

Yes, but it's not easy to understand which of the random civ options will actually give me the nations historically associated with the original leader in the Modern Era — it's a bit convoluted.

Leaders always automatically unlock their historical, geographical and strategic choices and will pick one of them at random, prioritizing the historic choice if available.

there is bias. the sole exception to that is Napoleon who seemingly picks at random.