well its been an awfully long time but my computer died and I had to start again from scratch. I also got so frustrated with all the crashes caused by my silly work habits that I had to leave it for a while so I could come back with a clear head. anyway I have a working alpha now with pretty much the same content outlined in the original post. all the civs, map, timeline, corporations, religions, civics and techs are in. most of the art is placeholder. I've run it in autoplay from 300bc to 600ad with no crashes or python exceptions. I think it might be ready for balance testing soon. right now the seleucids own the earth every time, but I have only added tester barbs so far.