Teotihuacan - Antiquity Era Civ Concept

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Nov 17, 2024
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Too busy with essays right now to flesh this out, for now I'm getting the rough idea down on paper so I don't forget it.

I feel like someone else has definitely also come up with a Teotihuacan concept before, so hopefully I'm not accidentally plagiarising too much!

Ability - Tollan
The multiethnicity of Teotihuacan is one of the most interesting aspects of it imo. I'd like that be one of the main features of a Teotihuacan civ.
It likely being a single city-state would also be nice to incorporate, although we already have Carthage as a single-city civ (and Rome to a lesser extent) so I'd want to do something sufficiently different.
The design also resembles the Maya design in civ 6. I think that was cool and would like to see something similar again in civ 7.
Furthermore, the Pyramid of the Sun wonder ought to be thematically fitting for Teotihuacan.

What I'm imagining right now is an ability that encourages you to build a huge, sprawling city comprised out of multiple bordering settlements. Tollan works as an ability name both due to the Teotihuacan association and it works metaphorically:
Cities within 5 tiles of the Capital have unique projects called 'Establish [Civ] Neighborhood Centre'. How long this takes to run depends on your relationship with the civ, with an exponential increase for negative relations. Only one can be run per civ, but they allow you to build the unique improvement or unique buildings/quarter of that civ in the neighborhood. Bonus resources can't go in neighborhoods, instead resources slotted into the Capital will also apply to all neighborhoods.

Civic Tree Advancements
As is usually the case, the civic tree would have more upgrades to this system. To keep the megacity layout useful in later eras, it'd be important to have traditions that benefit it, eg perhaps:
- Increased yields for each unique quarter in a settlement.
- City halls gain yields for each other city hall within a certain radius
- Buildings gain an adjacency for districts in other cities
etc etc

Unique Quarter
The Miccaotli (Avenue of the Dead) makes most sense as the unique quarter. Pyramid of the Sun is already taken as a wonder, but the Pyramid of the Moon and Temple of the Feathered Serpent are still up for grabs, though I'd need to go looking for translations for those.
It would probably be best to be only buildable in the Capital, so some UQ ability that incorporates the fact it'd be positioned relatively centrally to the megacity makes sense.

Alternatively, a unique quarter could effectively be a neighbourhood centre itself and be buildable in each neighborhood, but two buildable UQs in one settlement might be odd.

Unique Units
For these, I'd need to do some research! I'm thinking Cultural/Economic for Teotihuacan, so perhaps some unique trader unit? A military unit might be tricky to find.
 
I've always thought that an Atlatlist unit could serve as a generalist unit for Mesoamerican civilizations, given how widespread it was throughout the region. Teotihuacan likely used them in its military activities. As for the civilian unit, I suggested the Obsidian Merchant in my Teotihuacan design. After all, obsidian trade was truly a remarkable aspect of Teotihuacan and other Mesoamerican civilizations.
 
I've always thought that an Atlatlist unit could serve as a generalist unit for Mesoamerican civilizations, given how widespread it was throughout the region. Teotihuacan likely used them in its military activities. As for the civilian unit, I suggested the Obsidian Merchant in my Teotihuacan design. After all, obsidian trade was truly a remarkable aspect of Teotihuacan and other Mesoamerican civilizations.
Suspected you might've been the one who'd already done a Teotihuacan design before haha. Atlatlists work, although I'd be tempted to try n find something more unique as yeah it's very Mesoamerica-generalist. Obsidian Merchant makes a lot of sense, maybe I'll do something similar.
 
TEOTIHUACAN - ANTIQUITY ERA CIV
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Teotihuacan was a cultural epicentre in ancient Mesoamerica. As its influence and fine obsidian tools spread from Teotihuacan across central America, migrants travelled in the opposite direction, transforming Teotihuacan into an enormous multicultural city, one of the largest in the world at the time. Drought and civil strife caused its eventual decline, but the ruins of city continued to inspire later cultures such as the Mexica of the Aztec Triple Alliance.
Feathered serpent would make a great icon if it wasn't already being used by the Maya. So I'm using a Maya cattail reed glyph instead.

Unique Ability
Tollan: Cities within 4 tiles of the capital gain a unique project called 'Establish Neighborhood'. Can only be run once in a city and once per encountered civ. Cost scales with relationship, Neighborhoods gain access to the civ's unique infrastructure. Bonus resources cannot be slotted into Neighborhoods, instead bonus resources in the Capital will apply to all Neighborhoods. -20% to all yields in settlements more than 4 tiles away from the capital.
Teotihuacan was a 'place of reeds' (puh to the Maya). Tollan may refer simply to any large settlement rather than specifically being a name for Teotihuacan, but the metaphorical association of a bundle of reeds/gathering of people remains appropritate. Cost is cheaper the better the relationship, becomes crazy expensive if it's really bad. Each project has the symbol of the civ. Neighborhoods will have their respective civ's symbol on the banner. Second part of ability exists to encourage 'specialising' your neighborhoods with city resources like silk and jade.


Attributes
• Diplomatic
• Economic


Civic Trees
Tzacualli
Tier 1: +1 Specialist limit. Unlocks the Ithualli building and 'Great Goddess' tradition.
Tradition - Great Goddess: Cities gain +5% food per city within 6 tiles.
Tier 2: +20% production towards unique infrastructure. Unlocks the Tzacualli Metztli building.

Name refers to first phase of Teotihuacan's settlement.

Tetitla
Tier 1: +10% to the highest yield in a Neighborhood, out of gold, culture or science. Unlocks 'Old God' tradition.
Tradition - Old God: Upgrading towns to cities is 50% cheaper.
Name refers to wealthy compound.

Teopancazco
Tier 1: Trade agreements are cheaper to initiate and grant a larger relationship increase. Increased trade route range per Neighborhood. Unlocks the 'Storm God' tradition.
Tradition - Storm God: +1 war support per trade route lost when a war is declared.
Name refers to neighborhood which had significant power over trade.

Tlailotlacan
Tier 1: When you form an alliance for the first time, gain a Toltec in each foreign city. Unlocks the 'Feathered Serpent' tradition.
Tradition - Feathered Serpent: +1 influence to specialists on unique quarters.
Name refers to neighborhood with a large Zapotec population from Oaxaca.

Teohuacan
Tier 1: +1 Specialist limit. Unlocks the Pyramid of the Sun wonder.
Name refers to possible actual name of the city.

Tzacualli branches into Tetitla, Teopancazco and Tlailotlacan, which all recombine into Teohuacan. All are relatively cheap and allow you to get the Pyramid of the Sun sooner, but not significantly sooner than via the tech tree.


Unique Infrastructure
Miccaotli: Unique Quarter. +3 resource slots. +1 influence in this settlement for every bonus resource assigned to it. Settlements within 6 tiles gain +2 resource slots.
Tzacualli Metztli: Unique Building. Influence base. Happiness adjaceny for quarters. Can only be built in the Capital.
Ithualli: Unique Building. Gold base. Gold adjacency for rivers. Can only be built in the Capital.

Miccaotli = Avenue of the Dead. Tzacualli Metztli = Pyramid of the Moon. Ithualli = Courtyard, in reference to the one containing the Temple of the Feathered Serpent. UQ has Pyramid of the moon at the NE side and avenue running diagonally from it, courtyards to either side, doing its best to look big while constrained to one tile

Unique Military Unit
Tezcacuitlapilli: Unique Infantry Unit. Upon being attacked, gains the Obsidian Mirror ability, granting significantly increased damage attacking the unit that last attacked it.
Tezcacuitlapilli is the later Mexica name - which most things here are lol - for a small mirror. Strongly linked to warfare, it was worn on the backs of warriors, something the later Toltecs also did. Source: Barnes, T.D. (2024) ‘Blood, obsidian, and the Teotihuacan cult of the mirror’, Ancient Mesoamerica, 35(2), pp. 451–471.


Unique Civilian Unit
Toltec: Unique Migrant Unit. Gain a Toltec whenever a trade route is established. Can only be activated as a specialist.
Wikipedia: "However, the Nahuatl word "Toltec" generally means "craftsman of the highest level" and may not always refer to the Toltec civilization centered at Tula, Hidalgo."


Associated Wonder
Pyramid of the Sun: +3 Culture. +2 Culture on each Quarter in this Settlement.
Naturally.

Starting Biases:
Plains
Navigable River
 
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Unsure whether 4 or 5 tiles for the ability is better - I've changed it to 4 as I think it'd result in a more cohesive megacity in Antiquity and make space more competitive. A 5-tile radius could still allow the capital to have the same amount of space as normal, although perhaps in actual gameplay four tiles would be too limiting with mountains, lakes, rivers, resources or coast interfering. I believe the minimum settlement radius is 3 tiles, so you'd have to be lucky to fit six settlements around the capital - but that's quite ambitious for Antiquity anyway.

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Incidentally, turns out I've accidentally designed a civ that Xerxes (Achaemenid) would be perfect for playing with lmao:
Increased Trade Route limit with all other leaders. Creating a Trade Route or Road with a Merchant provides Culture and Gold per Age. Increased Culture and Gold per Age on Unique Buildings and Unique Improvements.
 
Got a bit of time to kill without access to anything else I could do, so thought I'd also design a Spearthrower Owl/Jatz'om Kuy leader, which is a bit tricky considering we know pretty little about him (including what he looked like) and his conquest-based nature initially seemed at odds with the more defensive design I gave Teotihuacan, but I think I came up with something that complements it well.

JATZ'OM KUY

Unique Ability
Kalomte': When capturing foreign settlements, gain the option to convert the settlement into a suzerained city-state with a unique selection of bonuses. All units gain increased combat strength the closer they are to the capital or a suzerained city-state.
Bonuses can only be chosen once (per era) and are:
- Fire is Born: Creates a militaristic city-state. Cost of levying units is reduced by 10% per suzerained city-state.
- Talud-Tablero: Creates a cultural city-state. +1 culture per age to unique infrastructure per suzerained city-state.
- Conjuring the Holy One: Creates a scientific city-state. +1 science per age to unique infrastructure per suzerained city-state.
- Tikal Dynasty: Creates an economic city-state. Trade routes can be established from suzerained city-states.
- Curl Snout: Creates a random city-state. Grants a random bonus. (Selectable multiple times, only available if an existing IP has been dispersed and 'freed up' a bonus).


Attributes
• Diplomatic
• Militaristic


Agenda
Spearthrower Owl: Increase Relationship by a Large Amount for the leader with the most settlements and city-states. Decrease Relationship by a Small Amount for the leader with the fewest settlements and city-states.

Starting Biases:
• None
 
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For what it's worth I like the idea and I like the smaller distance between settlements. It would really show the spawl better and lead to more important decisions. You would have to be very careful which settlement takes which tiles.
Ty and yeah I think I've settled on smaller distance definitely being better - it'd also provide an interesting tradeoff between a more powerful antiquity vs more limited later era settlements
These ideas are really cool.
Thanks :)
 
The leader is so unique, I love it. When you say "to unique infrastructure" what does that mean?
Unique buildings and unique improvements; hawilts, k'uh nahs, entrepots, etc
 
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