Úmarth
Megalomaniac
How about to add some variation to spawn dates you could make them random within certain criteria.
What gave me this idea was the way Rhye described the map as being random, but then certain conditions are laid on top of that randomness. So, for example, the European civs could spawn randomly within say 400 years after Rome first goes into "Unstable", Mongolia could spawn when China collapses (since they conquered the Southern Song, Jin and Xi Xia rather than a united Dynasty), or Arabia could spawn whenever someone is close to researching Divine Right.
I realise this wouldn't apply to some civs, and that you'd have to be careful not to imbalance the game because of techs, but what does everyone think? Perhaps if Rhye doesn't include it it's something that would make a feasible modcomp.
What gave me this idea was the way Rhye described the map as being random, but then certain conditions are laid on top of that randomness. So, for example, the European civs could spawn randomly within say 400 years after Rome first goes into "Unstable", Mongolia could spawn when China collapses (since they conquered the Southern Song, Jin and Xi Xia rather than a united Dynasty), or Arabia could spawn whenever someone is close to researching Divine Right.
I realise this wouldn't apply to some civs, and that you'd have to be careful not to imbalance the game because of techs, but what does everyone think? Perhaps if Rhye doesn't include it it's something that would make a feasible modcomp.