SCENARIO: The Years of Rice and Salt

[ixnay]

After reading this book, I just had to make a scenario from it. Here's the readme file:

Overview:

Based on the novel of the same name by Kim Stanley Robinson (©2002, Bantam books). The black plague has swept through Europe, killing 99% of the population. Without European influence, the stage is set for China and Islam to rise up and become major world powers. This scenario uses Marla Singer's World Map. Scenario created by Kyle Stadler (ixnay37).

Civilizations:

There are 10 civilizations to choose from. The default is Dar al-Islam. To change which civilization you wish to play, open the .bic file in civ3edit, and check a different player as "Human Player" under Player Properties.

Dar al-Islam
Leader: Sultan Mawji Darya
Capital: Mecca
Expansionist, Religious

The Muslims control a large section of land, including most of the Middle East and the northern coast of Africa. They have begun repopulating Europe and have several trading posts along the eastern coast of Africa. Their tech level is in the mid-middle ages. Playing as Dar al-Islam, your best bet would be to expand into Europe and Africa, and eventually into America.

China
Leader: Emperor Zhu Isao
Capital: Beijing
Militaristic, Scientific

The Chinese have a large population and are surrounded by plenty of open land to colonize. Admiral Kheim has a Galleon that, while it could be used to attack Nippon, is able to reach America. They are in the mid-middle ages. Playing as China, your best bet would be to go on the offensive as soon as possible and expand quickly.

India
Leader: Kerala Nadir Shah
Capital: Delhi
Scientific, Commercial

The Indians have a large population but not as much territory as the Chinese. Their military is not as powerful as their neighbors, but they do have superior research compared to everyone else. Playing as India, your best bet would be to maintain a tech lead and use that to defend against invaders and eventually go on the offensive.

Mughals
Leader: Khan Abdul Aziz
Capital: Samarqand
Militaristic, Industrious

The Mughals are strategically located on the silk road that connects China to Dar al-Islam. Be careful of attacks from these civilizations; however, India has a weak military and is an inviting target... They are in the early middle ages.

Golden Horde
Leader: Khan Temur
Capital: Astrakhan
Militaristic, Religious

The Golden Horde is composed of the remnants of the Mongol empire in Eastern Europe. Eastern Europe and Siberia are both ripe for settling. They are in the early middle ages.

Ottoman Empire
Leader: Sultan Caliph Selim
Capital: Constantinople
Industrious, Scientific

The Ottomans are small, but well defended. Located between the Golden Horde, Dar al-Islam, and the Mughals, they have little room to expand. They are in the early middle ages. The Balkans lie empty and are probably the best place to grow into while you build up.

Nippon
Leader: Shogun Tokugawa
Capital: Edo
Industrious, Commercial

The Nipponese are somewhat protected by the islands that they inhabit, but must watch out for Chinese expansion. They are in the late ancient era. Your best bet for survival is probably to expand north of China.

Hodenosaunee
Leader: Chief Daganoweda
Capital: Hodenosaunee
Religious, Commercial

The Hodenosaunee are a confederation of Native American tribes in North America. They cannot build settlers, but start with four of them. Expand wisely, and watch out for the imperialistic Chinese and Muslims.

Aztecs
Leader: Chief Montezuma
Capital: Tenochtitlan
Religious, Militaristic

The Aztecs represent Central and South American Native Americans, and are weak and technologically inferior, but very wealthy. They cannot build settlers. They are a very inviting target for everyone else.

Native Africans
Leader: Chief Shaka
Capital: Zimbabwe
Militaristic

Though the Africans control a very large amount of land, it is composed of several seperate tribes that are technologically inferior. They cannot build settlers. Their greatest threat is the Muslims, but if they can unify they might stand a chance of survival.


So, enjoy this scenario. If you find any problems, inaccuracies, or gameplay issues, post them here.

[ixnay]

*bump*

Waiting for this to be moved...

[Gramphos]

Moving of a file might take up to a week. Then you can start bumping.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

Is this version 1.21 or 1.29?

[ixnay]

1.29

[Juliennew]

According to the readme, the scenario sounds very good. I will give you some feedback.

[civman2000]

This looks like an excellent (albeit slow on Marla's map) scenario. One question that might be a dumb one: Does this use the whole mod that comes with Marla's map or just the map itself?

[ixnay]

I didn't change any of the units, governments, or improvements (except for renaming a few things) from what was originally included with the map.

[Switch]

Hey ixnay, I love the scenario.

But, with PtW, I just couldn't help but modify the scenario to work with the new civs (so the Ottomans were Ottoman, not Greek, Dar al-Islam uses Arabia, and Golden Horde uses Mongols). It also uses the new units and such. I kept all of your custom names, and the gameplay is identical (except with the new units to give a LITTLE difference).

The point of all this is, would you have any problem if I posted the PtW version of TYoRaS? I take no credit, except for doing the mindless job of modifying it for PtW.

And though I usually reserve this for Firaxis, your scenario is just, well......

EDIT:
Just for clarification, I used the default PtW rules, but with your setting for the civs, who gets units, rename of Magellan's Vooyage, and I deleted all of the useless units and civs (like Rome, Greece, etc; F-15, Man-O-War, etc; Princess, Regicide units).

[ixnay]

Excellent! I have absolutely no problems with you posting the modified scenario at all.

[Switch]

Great! Here it is:
(updated to v1.01 after 324 downloads)
(link removed after 9 downloads. You can get it from here.)

[godinex]

MMM... it sound like a great succes. Thanx.

[sabrewolf]

sounds VERY interesting!

but what's the sence playing as aztecs, native africans or hodenosaunee if there's no possibility to build settlers? 4 cities on a huge map is nothing and impossible to win. even aeson (our god... we're ) couldn't do this

couldn't they get a special settler which takes more population (e.g. 3) and costs more (e.g. 40-50 shields). that would definetly slow down the expansion? they could be called "tribal settlers" or something like that... ?!?

[rev.jackass]

Beautiful work! I love the book, and now I love the scenario. Great job.

[iamjason]

Wow--I just read this book a few months ago and was thinking about doing a Civ Scenario for it, but I'm glad someone beat me to it. One question--why the Aztecs and not Inka? As far as I remember the book left out the Aztecs alltogether. But the last world map showed most of South America under the control of the Inka.

Also, I understand your idea with the Hodenosaunee not building settlers, but since they eventually kick out the Chinese and Dar al-Islam and control North America, that might be short-sighted for a long-term game. Maybe give them a settler unit that requires advance tech, or one that requires Democracy for their government? That way they won't be able to exapnd until later in the game.

Also, if you consider adding new units, I'd love to see those huge guns the Muslims had that fired shells through the upper atmosphere. I can't image they were mobile in any way, so you could make them immobile like planes but give them a huge bombard range.

Also, the Travancore (Indians) had hot air baloons they used to attack the Muslims and Ottomans. I could go on.... that was a really great book.