Earth18Civ_FRv4.3

[Fluffy_Rabbit]

This is my take on the excellent Earth18Civ map by Rhye. It is designed to be played with the equally excellent K-Mod by Karadoc - however can be used with vanilla BtS equally well. The facts that the filename ends 4.3 indicates it has gone from 1.0, 1.1 ... to 4.3 - I have play-tested it thoroughly and finally I think it is a version I can share. Edit: please check out version 6.4 7.0 7.4 7.5 7.8, 7.9, 8.0, 8.5 8.8 - excellent map

My objectives were too achieve greater balance between the AI and to improve the naturalism of the map and game-play. For example, on standard Earth18Civ, a few things happened with reliable monotony (whether vanilla or K-Mod):

1. Aztecs would dominate North America;
2. Spain would essentially be a spectator, given that Madrid is non-coastal and not a great spot;
3. Inca would have three useless cities and achieve nothing;
4. China would eliminate Mongols, dominate Japan and be unstoppable in the late game;
5. Malinese pretty hopeless even in human hands;
6. Egypt expands all over Africa - quite unrealistic and also leads sometimes unstoppable late-game dominance;
7. England and Russia too strong;
8. Central/western Europe too crowded;
9. In K-mod but not so much vanilla, Persians and/or Arabs colonize Siberia;
10. In K-Mod or vanilla, India/China/Japan colonize Indonesia and Australia;
and probably a few other things I did not like

Two essential points: all play-testing has been at quick speed. On slower speeds civs may get quickly overrun by barbarians (a guess, have not tested that). Also, must be played with "no city razing" - many of the features of the map are quite meaningless if the player permits city-razing.
Edit: Gavagay tested on marathon speed and civs got wiped out by 2000 BC - quick speed is essential.

I have also play-tested with require complete kills, no vassals, and all victories except time and culture. However these are points of taste. Difficulty = Noble (which on K-Mod is pretty tough, if you are not used to that mod).

In summary, there are lots of barbs - units and cities. If you do not like barbs you will hate this map Also if you do not like quick speed you will probably also hate it. However these two factors make the game much more interesting, naturalistic and full of action from the beginning - and the promotions the major civs can achieve are quite amazing. It is rather like the original RFC without the stability maps, UHVs etc. I love the RFC variants however they do impose a limit on viable strategies - on this map there are many routes to victory.

I would recommend just to play it and see what happens, however if you want more info ...

Spoiler :

All comments below relate to what happens in hands of AI unless stated otherwise.

England: Aberdeen and Dublin are barb cities. England will eventually take Aberdeen. Iceland is thoroughly occupied - good luck trying to seize it AI does not settle Plymouth (3W of London) - however it is an excellent spot and human can flip Dublin by culture.
Edit v 6.4: Plymouth is now barb city which England captures. London is now 1N (north of river) with wheat moved 1S - fish added in North Sea. In recent game England captured Ai-Ais and got SAfrica, which I thought was pretty neat. Always a powerhouse in human hands.

France: no longer has to contend with Germans to immediate East. Barb city of Danawirki to NE is excellent spot, however has walls and culture and a berserker to defend it. France is still immensely powerful in human hands and can dominate with early culture - the AI less so - can be strong or weak per random factors.
Edit v 6.4: now captures barb city of Avignon immediately, again can be strong or weak per random factors (either France conquers Spain or vice versa). Like all euro civs, easy/potent in human hands.

Spain: now settles on coast 1NE from Madrid - excellent spot, equates to Pamplona though AI still calls it Madrid. Has two horses in BFC subject always to kulturkampf with Paris. Ilissipona (Lisbon) is barb city on Western coast. Generally Spanish AI captures it, though on one test they wiped out the Spanish.
Edit v 6.4: capital now 1E - Saragossa - seafood added, awesome spot.

Rome: SIP, barb city of Panormus (Palermo) to South - flips culturally. Barb city of Boiiwarja (Bavaria), North of Alps and Danube - has walls and culture. In North Africa, barb cities of Kart-Hadasht (Carthage) and Lpcy-Leptis - resources added to make them good spots - generally Rome capture Kart-Hadasht, Lpcy can generate fascinating struggles between Greeks, Romans and Egyptians.
Edit v 6.4: NAfrican cities now have walls and culture - otherwise they flip to Rome very quickly and Rome overpowers Europe - reality is Rome had to conquer NAfrica - "Carthago delenda est"

Germans: one of the biggest changes in the game, the Germans start in Scandinavia sourrounded by barbs. The capital is Gothenland in Sweden - historians/ethnologists speculate that this is in fact the German Urheimat. Certainly the Germanic tribes did not "start" in Berlin. Has one unit in central Europe which immediately captures Koenigsberg - however AI barbs will recapture. Result is Germans will try to recapture it and begin their historic southerly migration. There are three barbs cities in Scandi - Alesund, Bodo and Oulu - so, just as in reality, it takes a while before the Germans and Russians get into endless wars Also central Europe remains barbarian for quite a while - the question is who dominates it?
Edit v 6.4: potent in human hands, Russians tend to dominate German (AI v AI over time).

Russians: still immensely powerful in human hands, not so much with AI-control. Tends to expand too early and lose cities to barbs. Most important change is settles 1S of normal tile - much better spot. Also gets a free worker (because otherwise too weak under AI).
Edit v 6.4: no changes.

Greece: Greece is very fun and playable and you will not need to make a settler for ages, if ever. Starts surrounded by barb cities - Zakros on Krete, Illyria to NW and Byzantion to N - reflects the fact the Greek ancient history is one of unification, not expansion through settlement. In AI hands the Greeks can be strong or weak, in human hands pretty strong. Zakros flips culturally in any event and becomes site of kulturkampf between Greek and Egypt - reflects ancient Minoan civilization as being having both Egyptian and Greek characteristics. Zakros is in reality a fascinating site in the far East of Krete with an enormous Minoan palace. Have added resources to make all cities viable - Zakros also gets marble in Anatolia which equates to the mainland site of Marmaris - how cool is that?!
Edit v 6.4: important changes to Eastern med geography make this civ even more interesting. Still variable with AI, powerhouse under human control.

Persia: quite a few changes, Persepolis is now 2W on the dye, which is also a hill as is the tile above. Reasons: umm, because that is where Persepolis was Also much better site, coastal and more defensive (on hill). Hills are important geographic change to represent reality that Persepolis (and most of central Persia/Iran) is a vast plateau.
For human there is a great spot in Afghanistan which catches cow, sheep and horses - equates to Lashkar Gar or Kandahar - good for wonders and kulturkampf with India. AI does not like that spot however :/ Very fun, playable and difficult civ, well worth a spin.
Edit v 6.4: sheep moved to east, AI does indeed settle Kandahar (best spot).

Arabia: Mecca unchanged, two barb cities to S and E (Al-Yaman and Masirah). Stoney beach for Al-Yaman (Yemen) boosts production, provided you capture it of course Masirah not productive - however awesome GP farm. Again in a perfect reflection of history, Arabs must first unify their peninsula before getting ambitious ... very fun, playable and strong in human hands, variable with AI but always interesting.
Edit v 6.4: copper added in desert (where there is in fact a copper-mine IRL) - also needed for balance. AI settles horrible spot of Mogadishu (though calls it Mecca because its capital has correct Arabic name of Makkah).

Egypt: still immensely strong in human hands, ticks along nicely with AI. Has lots of barbs to South and Mali is also much stronger - very fun and playable.
Edit v 6.4: copper added on coastal hill - per RFC - needed for balance - also starts with worker.

Mali: some important changes. Capital is Gossi - much better spot anyway, and with stone added on desert hill 2N. Captures Agadir immediately and gets iron - sea-food added for viability. However it is not all good news, Mansa is surrounded by barbs - units and cities. In AI hands Mali survives and eventually overcomes barbs and becomes a potent civ. In human hands, though I have not tested, I would guess very powerful civ - perhaps too easy.
Edit v 6.4: no changes.

India: not many changes, some barb lions added. Biggest novelty is ancient city of Amri (barbarian) to SW - represents ancient civs of the Indus Valley - good spot with added sea-food. Also keeps the Persians and Indians apart for a while longer than normal.
Edit v 6.4: no changes

China: China was one of the biggest motives and challenges in the map - how to stop it becoming overwhelmingly powerful? Significant barbs (units and cities) in SE Asia, Taiwan is also barbarian (city of Ketangalan-Taipei) with culture. Korea is represented by Wirye-Seong (another barb city). All the same, China still a potent civ and I suspect very potent in human hands. Also some important changes to . . .

Mongolia: capital relocated 2E 1N to south bank of Lake Baigal - much better spot. Two sweet barb cities to NE and NW (Ilyu-Ene and Buryat-Angara) which Mongol AI eventually captures. Makes for excellent balance - Mongols do not get wiped out, nor are they too strong. Again probably very strong and very fun in human hands though I have not play-tested.

Edit for China and Mongolia v 6.4: Mongols get slightly better resources and I think one extra barb in SE Asia. Stops China wiping out its neighbours and winning game, still strong though. In recent game as Greece I had opportunity to kill Chinese SoD on its way to Africa or Spain, which I did - otherwise would have been pretty strong.

Japan: have added river to represent separate islands, also permits Aumon (on silver) to be a bit more productive late-game with levee. Spot on gold in far south (Kagoshima) now has fish. More sea-food in N to make northern coast more attractive (though I do not bother settling it, AI does and gets a decent city). Important change is Ryuku-Okinawa is barb city (one one-tile island to S) with culture - more sea-food makes Okinawa and Taipei perfectly viable though one tile apart. Fascinating historic fact: Japan did not annex Okinawa/Ryukyu islands until 1609 - too cool Human player should build city on gold when culture permits and try some kulturkampf - too strong to take militarily until mid to late game.
Japan still awesomely strong and fun in human hands, ticks along nicely under AI control and sometimes occupies/settles Manchuria - which is also historic and leads to some exciting stuff with the Mongols and Chinese.
A note to humans about oil: on the vanilla map one has to settle Borneo and wait for plastics to get the oil in Brunei (fwiw I prefer the spot on the river - Kuching). However there is also offshore oil in Alaska - added in case Japan gets into trouble with Chinese or Indian expansion and needs oil to survive.
Good luck occupying Indonesia, Papua and Australia - barb heaven/hell! You will need modern units to stand a chance (pretty realistic though). However Philippines remain a sweet and unoccupied spot - when I settle it I call it Masbate which is geographically justified and a name of northern (though I think Chinese) origin.
Edit v 6.4: Japanese always too weak under AI - given whole extra settler - settles Aumon quickly (though calls it Osaka) - much better under AI, settles islands to South better, though does not dominate Mongols or Chinese.

America: a big challenge was to achieve balance between America and Aztecs, which I think has been finally achieved (after only 30+ previous attempts!). Surrounded by barbs (cities mainly, not units so much) which eventually America captures to become a decent civ. Barbs also keep Monty away for longer. Some minor terrain changes make the land a bit more productive. Have not play-tested - would guess very fun, playable and strong in human hands.
Edit v 6.4: no changes

Aztecs: very few changes, just added barbs to prevent Monty becoming too strong too quickly and wiping out the Americans. In several play-tests, AI North America has proven to be exceptionally balanced well into the game. Have not play-tested - again would guess very fun etc.
Edit v 6.4: no changes

Inca: some huge changes here, though AI Inca remains something of a spectator though in much better shape. Capital is Chincha 2W of original Cuzco - much better spot and have added fish as well. Barb city of Copiapo to South - fish added, copper unchanged. Immediately AI captures Cueva-Yaviza, north of Andes (now modern Panama but not Panama City). After a time also captures Cayambe Coca to South, which is in fact an important ancient site (now interior of Ecuador) and an awesome spot - much better than the coastal town the Inca normally settle. Galapagos islands are now an awesome spot for Moai Statues - however AI has not colonized it yet :/
However it not all a free ride - rest of SAmercia has three barb cities and units - AI struggles and often loses it first settlement (Aragua/Caracas/Venezuela), though I suspect very potent in human hands (since Inca is potent on the vanilla map anyway, with correct treatment).
Edit v 6.4: have added some quechas in the Amazonian interior to deal with barbs and give Inca some XP. Still a spectator in AI hands, can be fairly strong (as AI) with luck.

And last but not least ...
BARBARIANS! )
Cities: clockwise-ish from Greenland:
Nuuk in Greenland: now an excellent spot with fish, whale, aluminium and copper (or iron, cannot quite remember). A most worthy object of expansion!
Akureyn, Iceland: pretty heavily defended, unchanged geography/resources.
Alesund and Bodo, Norway: sweet spots though near to new/old German capital of Gothenland.
Oulu, northern Finland: very good spot, some resources added. Again between Germans and Russians so one of them will get it. Play-tested as Russians and opened borders to western civs - one of them (prob France or Spain) may get ambitious and start capturing these cities.
Khanty-Mansi, Narym: awesome spots in Siberia, pretty tough nuts to crack
Buryat-Angara, Ilyu-Ene: again good spots in Siberia, NW and NE of Mongolia.
Sakhalin: semi-decent spot, coastal, good in late game, sea-food and mineral added for viability.
Kamchatka: spot in far south in grotty Kamchatka Peninsula. Just added for fun and flavour.
Alasxsaq: crazy native spelling of Alaska Added for flavour, land-locked so pretty inaccessible. Starts with worker other side of mountains to improve - however AI does not take the hint
Dakota, Bodewadmi, Yelamu: very decent spots in NAmerica equating to Dakota (you guessed!), Milwaukee and San Francisco. America eventually conquers first two, latter slows down Monty a bit (balance).
Abaetetuba, Jaboticatubas, Charrua: again very decent spots in SAmerica equating to modern Belem, Belo Horizonte and Buenos Aires. Belo Horizonte is one of the most awesome spots in the entire game though AI *never ever* settles it, preferring the coast.
Mongbwalu, Ai-Ais and eThekwini: central and southern Africa. All excellent/awesome spots - eThekwini equates to modern Durban and is one of the best spots in the game. Ai-Ais (southern Namibia on border with SAfrica) is good anyway and now has some sea-food. Mongbwalu is awesome spot when full developed (presently still wholly undeveloped in north of DRC).
Danawirki, Boiiwarja, Koenigsberg, Tallinn, Lepel: all good spots in northern/central/eastern Europe equating to southern Denmark, Bavaria, Kaliningrad, Estonia and Belorus.
Illyria, Byzantion, Sinuwa, Harranu, Urusalim: eastern/southeastern Europe and Middle East: Illyria is modern Albania, Byzantion is Istanbul/Konstantinoupolis, Harranu is an ancient site on west bank of Euphrates now in southern Turkey, Urusalim is Jerusalem.
Al-Yaman, Masirah: Arabian Peninsula - Yemen and Oman. Neat point: main industry of Masirah is fishing per wikipedia
And actually probably about five or six others - I do not want to give all the secrets away
Edit v 6.4: main change is Avignon, which quickly goes French anyway. Lots of tweaks, mainly to nerf the barbs a little.

Anyway I have put a lot of thought into this map and I hope that some of you at least will gain as much pleasure from it as I do

Note: latest version is 7.8 below - more tweaks and even better balance
Play as Custom Scenario: tick "No City Razing" and "No Barbarians" and "Quick Speed" - these are essential settings, other settings as you wish - you can always raze cities which culture-flip and you do not want any more barbarians than there are already

Changes from 6.4 to 7.4 are minor balancing tweaks and some improvement to the geography - Scandinavia and Australia are more realistic.

Changes from 7.4 to 7.5 - very minor geographic tweaks - two adjustments to:- Egyptian geography; and course of the Danube - more realism.

Changes to 7.8 - again very minor tweaks. Barb city Narym renamed Yenisei since I had gotten my Siberian geography slightly wrong.

Changes to 7.9 - minor changes to Aztecs and English to nerf barbs a little

Changes to 8.0 - minor geographic changes: Canada and Siberia more realistic (more ice), added tile for Vladivostok north of Korea/east of Manchuria, added tile to Nova Scotia (was too small), removed tile from Sakhalin (was too big), added wine in Eastern Europe (Vinogradov), moved Kamchatka (barb city) 1N to present spot of Petropavlosk and added sea-food, added river between Newfoundland and Canadian mainland to represent island, added sea-food in gulf of Mexico to make Florida viable, slight alteration to coastline between Alaska and Vancouver (removed ugly hill and Mountain which are not geographically justified and invariably do not figure in game-play).

Versions 8.1 to 8.4 not uploaded.

Changes to 8.5 - geographic refinements: two extra tiles in SW Africa to permit Cape Town to be built and because it is more geographically accurate, moved crab off Brazil 1N so within BFC of Jaboticatubas, added gold to Mongbwalu, added fish to Djibouti, divided Falklands into two islands (with river) and changed terrain to tundra with sheep added to Western tile, added Atlantic fish to Florida (comp still does not settle), tip of South America now tundra, River Nile graphics fixed, Lake Lagoda now two tiles (was one) to represent biggest lake in Europe, added two Lakes and one oasis to Namibia and Botswana to represent Etosha Pan, Okarango Delta and Ntwetwe Pan, in Eastern Siberia course of river Aldan changed and more ice added (realism), also deer added on river Lena to see if comp settles Yakhutsk, generally Eastern Siberia and Amur Oblast much less hospitable (in reality these areas have tiny populations), on silk route horses moved 1S to stop Russians settling useless town to catch them, various ruins added for flavour (all good spots). Balance: two barb workers added to Scandinavia to help Germans.

Changes to 8.8 - just geographic refinements: Tanzania gets two extra tiles - original very unrealistic in that Tanzania/Kenya almost not there; island between Mozambique and Madagascar to represent Comoros/Mayotte/Glorioso islands; big change to China - original map gets Chinese coast very wrong and places Beijing much too far west - Chinese now starts with Tianjin (important coastal city close to Beijing, tile could also be called Beijing) which is where it should be, roughly North of Hong Kong; marine resource placed in Gulf of Mexico so Aztecs do not nerf sites for two other cities (so AI always goes coastal in what is now Texas). Balance remains incredibly good (using K-Mod 4.1) with different civs leading the board in every game - enormous fun with a wealth of strategic possibilities

version 4.3 removed after 22 views
version 6.4 removed after 2 views
version 7.0 removed after 9 views
version 7.4 removed after 11 views
version 7.5 removed after 6 views
version 7.8 removed after 144 views
version 7.9 removed after 8 views
version 8.0 removed after 6 views
versions 8.1 to 8.4 not uploaded, latest version is 8.5
version 8.5 removed after 10 views
latest version is 8.8 - 47 views!

 

[Sun_Ce]

Playing right now, so far so good as England.

 

[Fluffy_Rabbit]

Hey Sun-Ce, thank you for playing my map Are you using K-Mod or vanilla? Either way, love to hear your feedback as and when

 

[Sun_Ce]

Playing the vanilla version. Love having all these barbs, makes the game play a little tougher.

Nice work, haven't seen all the map yet, just started a game.

 

[Fluffy_Rabbit]

Thanks for the comment Sun_Ce What difficulty/settings are you using?

 

[Gavagay]

Tried it with K-Mod. Immortal level, Marathon speed, Elizabeth. Got Persia and Egypt destroyed by 2000 BC, stopped playing after that.
(Pretty sure, that Marathon speed should be blamed for that.)

 

[Fluffy_Rabbit]

Thanks for playing Gavagay , yes the map/scenario is designed for quick speed, anything else and civs will get wiped out by barbs

 

[Fluffy_Rabbit]

Just played a couple of games using the latest K-Mod 1.38, Prince difficulty. First as Chinese, had to resign - hopelessly behind through having to defend against Mongols - big army, no tech.

Second as English, strongish game though France dominated Europe and built a space-ship. However a couple of very neat points: Russia and Germany shared a religion so Russia expanded East - at end of game was almost exactly what Russia is today. Spain colonized Madeira and Islas Canarias and then South America (yes I know Madeira and Brazil are/were Portuguese) - actually was pretty realistic though a century or two later than real history, and rebuilt its Palace in Brazil (the awesome spot of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais - also incredible spot IRL) even though European capital unscathed. AI does not move its palace often, I thought it was notable.

As England there was no where left to colonize except Australia, which I did

 

[Fluffy_Rabbit]

cmon! 30+ downloads could i get some comments please

 

[Sun_Ce]

Playing Prince level, default speed. Playing as Frederick(German), 1 hell of a starting spot. Was surprised a couple of times by the barb paratroopers. Definitely nice change of pace. Hope you make a few more maps like this.

Keep up the good work.

 

[Fluffy_Rabbit]

Sun_Ce, you must be a good player to be trying it on normal speed and Prince - pure masochism. I never got barb paratroopers in any of my games. Could you post a save/screenie? - would love to see such madness.

Germany is a lot better than it looks - starts with 3 berserkers - subdues Scandinavia and emerges with 3CR Berserkers Also tends to flip Tallinn culturally.

Thank you very much for the comment. How did your English game go?

 

[strijder20]

Do the Chinese and Aztec have adequate defence to keep out the crazy barb units (Holkans and Ellies) out? I can't see it from the pictures.

 

[Fluffy_Rabbit]

@strijder20, depends very much on which speed game is played - on quick speed, yes, the major civs can stop the barbs - on other speeds (for which the map is not designed), the barbs do wipe out civs. The point of the barbs is two-fold: realism - in that various areas of the planet were populated at 4000 BC (albeit not by many people); to introduce some balance.

For example, I have played quite a few games (using K-Mod, Noble difficulty and quick speed) where Aztec and America have been as little as 2 or 3 points apart all the way up to the modern era - normally Aztecs wipe out the Americans. Also, in normal map, China often runs away with the game - the barbs in SE Asia slow China down a bit, though China remains a a potent civ.

There are quite of lot of barb in Southern Africa as well - again, Malinese and Egyptians survive on quick speed, without the barbs Egypt normally just settles the entire continent except West Africa and can be a runaway late game.

I understand the criticism that not every one likes quick speed, and I am working an a version which will work with normal speed. My own gaming background is RTS rather than TBS, so I find anything other than quick just incredibly slow - however I appreciate there are different tastes out there.

Also I have not tested with unmodded BtS, though it appears Sun_Ce has played a few unmodded games and seems to like it

 

[Bob1475]

Played a few games without Kmod at Noble just to get a feel. Obviously I need to change because I can't get close even at Noble. I am generally a builder but I guess I need to adjust. Very interesting and different.

Do I try and kill the barbs or wipeout the competition?

 

[Fluffy_Rabbit]

Thank you for playing Bob As for major-civ war or going for barbs, it really depends on your Civ. The Germans, English and Malinese have no choice but to deal with the barbs first.

Other civs eg Japan have no immediate contact. I prefer taking out some barbs first. You should like the map since major civ warfare can wait a lot longer than on the normal map.

 

[Bob1475]

Doing better now. Came in fourth. But still at Noble! Played Egypt and took most of Africa but was behind on tech and Russians were launching tactical nukes elsewhere. Will try China next.

 

[Fluffy_Rabbit]

It is meant to be a tough map - I have won on K-mod Noble a few times but mostly losses. Have played a few K-Mod Prince - very tough indeed, no wins I think. gl with your Chinese game, they are still strong - though less strong than on the standard map - Mongols and Japanese are in better shape.

 

[Funky]

I've always liked earth maps and this looks very interesting and pretty balanced (as far as that is possible for an earth map). I like the many barb cities for immersion's sake (having cities at their geograhically correct places, and a world that was indeed full of people in 4000BC, albeit without any major civilizations yet), as well as for the tension it creates in the early game.

I haven't actually played yet, but skimming over the map there were a few things that caught my eye. The Inca have no way into the rest of South America, which is probably good, as it would be overpowered; having access only to their little niche however makes it hard for them to do anything. They have 2 quechas outside of their realm next to a city they can capture, but as a size 1 city it gets destroyed.
The Arabs seem weak; I don't see how they can get more than three cities, and even that is tough since the northeastern barb city will probably be captured by the Persians.
Having Germany in Scandinavia is good to clean Europe up, but won't they get overrun by those axemen starting right next to them on higher difficulties? I don't recall how long it takes for the barbs to attack on Immortal or Diety.

Finally, it's good to hear you are working on a version for normal speed. It would be great if that version was also playable for epic and/or marathon speed, while keeping most of the barbarian tension.

 

[Fluffy_Rabbit]

This is just a quick reply - I have said in above posts city razing must be turned off - essential point of the scenario - one point is that Inca gets a city from which it can populate South America.
Oh yeah, I should add Germany does just fine, starting with 3 berserkers.

 

[Fluffy_Rabbit]

I would love some more feedback please - 73 views/downloads of most recent version !!!!