The Pursuit of Historical Accuracy and Immersion General Overview
Historical Timeline: Tech tree beginning in the Neolithic Era has been reorganized into a historical timeline to provide for more realistic progression through history. Each tech represents an Age instead of an individual technology. Note: Hovering over the tech bubble will tell you everything a tech reveals. I took the effort to fill in the help texts so that you don't have to refer to the pedia repeatedly.
Expanded Civilizations: Civilizations will be expanded upon with unique wonders as well as more units, buildings and improvements. These new changes are a reflection of every Civilization's historical experience. For this reason some Civilizations will be more difficult to play than others. I will be releasing Culture Packs over time.
Cultural World Wonders: World Wonders are now accessible through unique starting technologies. Every civilization receives one unique technology at the start of the game allowing them first access to the wonders they originally constructed in history. Other civilizations can gain possession of these world wonders through conquest, and conquest only.
National Industries: National Industries unlock trade routes. Trade routes are no longer unlocked by techs. It's important to get your industries up and running in the Ancient era otherwise you're at risk of falling behind.
Health and Pollution pseudo-yields have been added to many buildings. These yields utilize base game growth mechanics to keep things simple.
100+ newbuildings added to increase immersion.
Gamespeeds are roughly twice as long.
Saltpeter has been added as a strategic resource and required by mid game gunpowder units.
New Suburb improvement for the late game to add a sense of city sprawl.
Changes to resource requirements for many units. Some units require multiple resources.
Balance changes such as slowed city growth
Neolithic Era beginning at 10,000 BC
Late game green energy buildings increase the number of diplomats you have in the World Congress
More aggressive AI to keep you on your toes
Contractor units for the late game can build Tunnels through mountains (feedback is appreciated on this mod component. I'm not opposed to removing this if it breaks immersion in anyway)
Archers have been reduced to one range but can now move after combat. This was done to increase the sense of scale on the map.
Spearman, now the Phalanx, no longer have the advantage over mounted units. Historically, in Ancient times the spear was a defense against other melee opponents. The Pikeman is the first unit with the counter promotion. I'm still reviewing the historical accuracy of some of these changes.
Unit upgrade paths have been altered for immersion so that historically obsolete units can be upgraded ASAP.
Lumber Mills have been removed. Forests must be chopped. More realistic this way, IMO. Forests can be replanted later in the game.
I have more ideas I'm considering implementing over time
CivilizationCulture Packs will be released periodically that add more unique buildings, wonders, units and improvements
Core modpack has many quality of life mods with WHoward's DLL at it's center. This is required by the Historical Timeline Project component.
SpoilerHistorical Timeline Project. What's included :
Tech tree has been reorganized into a linear historical timeline. Techs represent Ages in history. Progression is much slower than the base game allowing for a greater sense of immersion. It is possible to have multiple wars in a single era. Much progress can be made in a single era building up infrastructure.
Every civilization receives one free unique tech. These techs are unlocked at game start and contain World Wonders. The purpose is to give every civilization access to the wonders they historically constructed. This also allows other civilizations to capture these wonders when cities are conquered. I could have made wonders unique buildings but then they wouldn't have been capturable.
World Wonders replace National Wonders for the original civilization that constructs them. They, in most cases, have the abilities of the National Wonders that they are substituting in addition to their own special abilities. This was done to prevent Civilizations with many wonders from being too OP.
Over 100+ new buildings have been added for immersion.
National Industries now unlock trade routes. National Industries are dependent upon local resources. Only one of each type of industry can be constructed in the empire.
Neolithic Wonders are shared by everyone. This is the only Wonder race that exists. Since it's not historically accurate to connect Neolithic monuments to major civilizations I decided to go this route. For example, Stonehenge can be built by everyone. England doesn't get first dibs. There are 11 Neolithic wonders at initial release. Neolithic wonders are placed on the timeline based on the technology the historical civilizations possessed at the time of construction and not when they were actually built.
Every civilization starts with a Refuge national wonder in place of the Palace. Some civilizations have unique Refuge replacements because there are a few pre-Neolithic monuments that exist in the world. For example Lascaux belongs to France. My logic for this is that France was founded with Lascaux already in it's territory. Since the game begins at 10,000 BC every Neolithic wonder that came after that historically can be constructed by anyone.
Health is a pseudo-yield that is increased by many buildings. The game mechanic that the Aqueduct possesses in the base game (carrying food over after a city grows to next population) is what I utilized and renamed Health. 1 Health equals 1% Food carried over.
Pollution is a negative growth modifier that is attached to some buildings. 1 Pollution equals -1% Growth modifier.
City growth is slowed substantially. This was done for historical accuracy and game balance. But don't be fooled. Population growth explodes once you get into the Late Modern Era. I tried my best to match population in the demographics screen to real world populations at certain points in history. It does get a little out of hand in the late game, at the moment. Balancing has been a process.
City States spawn at 4000 BC. City States felt out of place in the Neolithic Era. So I incorporated Historical Spawn Dates by Gedemon into this component. All major civilizations spawn at 10,000 BC.
Social Policies are unlocked at the beginning of the Ancient Era. Culture is still accumulated in the Neolithic. For this reason a couple of Social Polices are usually available for unlock at era change.
Religion has been balanced so that Beliefs are typically unlocked around the middle of the Ancient Era.
The AI is now more aggressive. I did this because I like to be kept on my toes. It's more interesting and fun when the AI spontaneously declares war when I least expect it.
Eras are as follows: Neolithic, Ancient, Medieval, Early Modern, Industrial, Late Modern, Contemporary, Future
Yes there is a Future Era. It's a work in progress. Some buildings have been added.
Clean energy buildings like the Wind Farm and Solar Plant provide an additional delegate for the World Congress. I wanted to represent their global importance in some way, since we don't have natural disasters or a global warming mechanism to work with.
Saltpeter is a new strategic resource. Required by mid game gunpowder units.
Copper is now a bonus resource. Alabaster was added to replace Copper as a luxury.
Many units require multiple strategic resources. For example the Tank requires Iron and Oil.
Suburbs are a new late game improvement. They receive bonus yields when they are adjacent to a city and a Culture yield when they are adjacent to each other. Their yields increase with each era after the Industrial Era. City growth gets a bit out of hand in the late game so don't be afraid to replace your Farms with Suburbs. The AI does build them, in case you're wondering.
Workers now upgrade to Contractors in the Industrial Era. The Core Patch includes a mod that allows workers to build Tunnels. This mod also makes it so that Workers can traverse mountains. I felt this was a bit much for the early game. Creating this new unit is my fix. Besides Tunnels, Contractors can build Suburbs and Railroads, Plant Forests and build any other modern improvement I decide to include. Workers cannot build these improvements and must be upgraded. And yes the AI upgrades them in case you're wondering.
Caravans can upgrade to Cargo Ships. At the moment units cannot be deleted. I was experiencing an issue where the AI was disbanding all of their units at the start of the game. I plan on fixing this in time.
Many balancing changes. Terrain yields have been adjusted to work with the pace of the game. Other tweaks to Barbarian spawning, etc.
New Saltpeter strategic resource required by gunpowder units
Copper is now a bonus resource
Alabaster replaces Copper as a luxury
New Paddy Field improvement to improve Rice
Civ Culture Packs
My plan is to add Civilization Culture packs going forward. I started this with Mesopotamia. So basically I will be working forward through history. My goal is to include major civilizations that are missing from the base game as well as some modern civilizations such as Italy to spread the uniques out a bit. This way Rome isn't building Uffizi for instance. If there is a particular civilization or leader that you think should be included let me know. I'm considering all options. Most of my research comes from Wikipedia. If there are any important uniques that you think I should add, let me know. I'm always on the look out for more content.
SpoilerMesopotamia Culture Pack :
So this is my first Civ overhaul pack. Includes changes for Akkad, Assyria, Babylon and Sumer. Unique building yields are in addition to the abilities of the buildings they replace. As you can see Akkad doesn't have much. There doesn't seem to be much detailed information on their military and most of what they acquired was through conquering.
Akkad
Added to Trait: Cannot build Settlers. Must conquer to expand.
Buildings
Stele of Sargon. Replaces the Victory Stele. +20 XP for all units trained in the city
Ziggurat. Replaces the Temple. +15% Production when building ranged units. Shared with Sumer and Babylon
Units
Can build the Siraku (Composite Bowman). Shared with Babylon.
Assyria
Buildings
Bet Mardeti: Replaces Caravansary. +5% increase in Culture and Science in the City. Reduces enemy spy stealing rate by 10%
Fortress of Sargon: Replaces the Palace. All newly-trained non-air Units in this City receive the Siege Promotion and +10 XP for all units
Saknu's Court: Replaces the Victory Stele. Provides a free Settler and two free Sa Qurubte as well as a free Governor's Court for the City
Royal Canal: Replaces the Irrigation Canal. Increases Happiness and Culture. Shared with Babylon.
Wonders
Library of Ashurbanipal: Replaces the Academy. +1 Science from Writer Specialists in every city.
Units
Maru Damqu (Heavy Chariot): Replaces the Heavy Infantry. Stronger than Skirmishers but slower. Designed to smash through enemy defenders and pave the way for armies. The Heavy Chariots force defenders to retreat if they inflict more damage than they receive. A defender who cannot retreat takes extra damage.
Sa Pethalli (Horseman): Replaces the Skirmisher. Sa Pethalli heal an additional 25 damage when it kills a unit and increase the likelihood of spawning a Great General. Weaker than the Heavy Chariots but faster and more mobile.
Sa Qurubte (Spearman): Replaces the Phalanx. Stronger than the Phalanx that it replaces.
Nas Kababi (Composite Bowman): Replaces the Bowman. The Kababi is much stronger than the bowman when defending against melee attacks. Starts with both the Cover I and Cover II promotions making this a very powerful defensive unit.
Improvements
Lamassu: +2 Culture and +2 Faith. Special thanks to @ghost toast for this.
Babylon
Buildings
Processional Street: Replaces the Arena. Increases Happiness, Faith and Culture
Puhru: Replaces the Governor's Court. Increases Happiness and Culture
Royal Canal: Replaces the Irrigation Canal. Increases Happiness and Culture. Shared with Assyria.
Ziggurat. Replaces the Temple. +15% Production when building ranged units. Shared with Sumer and Akkad
Wonders
Code of Hammurabi: Replaces the Chancery. Reduces enemy Spy stealing rate by 20% empire wide.
Etemenanki: Replaces the Grand Temple. Provides a free Ziggurat and free Great Prophet to the City in which it is built.
Hanging Gardens: Replaces the Royal Monument. +25% Great People generation in the City
Ishtar Gate: Replaces the War Memorial. Defensive Buildings in all Cities are 25% more effective.
Sumer
Buildings
Stele of the Vultures: Replaces the Barracks. Increases Culture
Ziggurat. Replaces the Temple. +15% Production when building ranged units. Shared with Akkad and Babylon
White Temple of Anu: Replaces the Palace. In addition to the yields provided by the Palace, the White Temple yields +1 Culture for each River tile.
Wonders
Royal Cemetery at Ur: Replaces the Great Tomb. Increases Faith and Culture. 3 Great Works of Art slots.
Ziggurat of Ur: Replaces the Grand Temple. +1 Faith to every improved source of Cattle and Sheep near the city
Units
Can build the Onager Wagon (Chariot Archer replacement). Shared with Akkad.
City graphics and the Saltpeter resource sometimes disappear. I haven't found the cause of this. Reloading the game sometimes fixes this issue but not always. This is strictly cosmetic and doesn't interfere with gameplay.
Experienced a CTD when the AI captured a city that was being razed. I was able to go back a few turns and prevent it from happening again.
Railroads appear in city centers right from the game start. I believe this is a side effect of the Tunnel mod. If this becomes too immersion breaking I might have to remove this component. The city graphics do expand over them at a certain point so that they are not visible.
Culture adjacency bonus for Suburbs is not working
Not really a problem but the yields that buildings acquire after researching techs, do not show up attached to the buildings in the city view or mouse overs. The yields are applied to the city totals directly. I have confirmed this. Example: The Pottery receives +1 Production after Early Bronze Age is researched. The yield is applied to the city total directly and not the building itself.
The text for the social policy branches isn't correct. Should be fixed next update.
SpoilerAbout Me and this Project :
This is a passion project of mine that has gone back to about 2012. My inspiration for this project was initially inspired by the awesome projects that had been created for Civ IV such as Rise of Mankind. The historical inaccuracies of Civ V were the catalyst that motivated me to learn how to mod. Learning to mod was an uphill battle. I did a lot of rage quitting before something finally clicked in my brain. For anyone who is learning, the best approach is to download someone else's mod and begin experimenting by making minor tweaks. Starting from scratch just leads to a lot of frustration. Anyway my ambition was part of my problem. I was already thinking big in the beginning. Not a good way to start. So after forging ahead I ended up with my first big project, Saga of Man. It's available on Steam. I never updated it unfortunately. It could use a few tweaks. Managing such a large project was a bit much for me at the time because of, you know, life.
So fast forward to about a few years ago my interest in Civ V was rekindled. Mainly because I finally decided Civ VI wasn't really for me anymore. Civ V does some things better such as diplomacy and the World Congress. Don't get me wrong, I love Civ VI, I just haven't been satisfied with it from a modding perspective. Civ V is more like a blank canvas that gives me the flexibility to do things I want to do to improve historical accuracy. Civ IV is great for that too but to be honest I'm a sucker for the visuals in Civ V. Anyway I decided to start from scratch on my Saga of Man project. My perspective on gameplay and history had changed a bit. For this reason I've done quite a bit of experimentation over the last few years with some ideas that have been festering in my brain. I have actually scrapped this project a few times over the last few years and started over. Finally this summer (2024) I completed something that I've been satisfied with. I also decided to rename this project and put Saga of Man to bed. Mainly because I think of this more as a history project than a fancy mod. I decided not to over complicate this project and keep things simple. My goal is to focus on my ideas and mold this as close to my vision as possible. I'm not sure this will ever be complete. I'm just happy to finally have something I can share and update for years to come. Feedback is great to have. Let me know what you think.
SpoilerHistorical Accuracy :
Rise and Fall
I thought I'd take a moment a ramble on about historical accuracy. The Civ series will never be historically accurate no matter what anybody tells you. No civilization has existed from the Bronze Age to the Modern Age. If you want historical accuracy the closest mod for that is Rhyes and Fall. Civilizations have historically risen at a certain point in history and eventually fallen. Mods that simulate specific time periods as scenarios are probably more historically accurate too. I have looked at this from every angle. Should I create generic Neolithic tribes and acquire cultures along the way? Or should I work backwards from modern nations and connect everything that was a part of a nation's history. This gets messy no matter how I approach it and this is the problem the developers are faced with in Civ VII. I can imagine it's probably insulting to conquered peoples when your only upgrade choice is the civilization that conquered you. The logic is so circular that when I think this through I end up back at square one.
Expanded Civs
So the approach that I keep landing on is to flesh out each civilization as much as possible. Add everything that makes them unique and important. I get that this is not a balanced approach. But history isn't balance. Rather I look at each civilization as a different challenge from a gameplay perspective. The Greeks will be OP and smaller civs like the Zulu will be more difficult to play as. I'm not going to force everyone on an equal footing. Some civilizations will share uniques because of cultural overlaps and that's ok. I have considered letting some civilizations compete for some wonders, like the Mesopotamian civs. But for now I've decided to let the original builders have first access. I made it so that wonders can be captured which is probably the best approach for historical accuracy.
Historical Timeline
I love tech trees, especially massive ones. So why a timeline you might be wondering. Well I did this for a couple of reasons. First off, I wanted to simulate a more historical progression. Give every civilization access to everything in an incremental way. Technology is implied by the things that are unlocked in each age. So far I like how this has turned out. The problem with tech trees is that I have a tendency to choose the same path every play though except on those rare occasions when I attempt a different victory condition.
Secondly, this project is actually an extension of a small hobby of mine. Ever since I started modding in 2012 I began assembling a historical timeline that I keep on my phone (my girlfriend thinks I'm a nerd). I've continuously updated it whenever I learn something new. So what you see in the game is a reflection of that little project.
Other Details
I've been taking a close look at warfare. Every civilization has done things a bit differently throughout history. Immersion is important to me. I don't want to see Ancient units wandering around in the Early Modern period. So I've changed some of the upgrade paths to prevent that. I'm also taking a close look at some of the units that are too historically Eurocentric, like the Longswordsman and Knight. My goal is to have these only available to European nations and make sure everyone else has something unique. I may even make the Swordsman the base unit until the Musketman is available. This is still in the works. I may also add ethnic units. I began doing this on a previous project. It's time consuming and it also adds a lot of art assets to the game which can potentially make the mod unstable. Something else I've experimented with is merging units together to form armies. The problem with this is it gets tricky in regards to the game mechanics to make everything work like they're supposed to. But because of the scale of the game I find that armies look a lot better than individual units jockeying for position. So hopefully I can work this out.
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