05-08-2003 23:18									#1
	Civilizations in an Age of Discovery scenario? Suffering from ads?

Erm, since the first post died, I'll try to answer with the question in the title.
Edit : I am not the athor of the thread.

If I understand "age of discovery" correctly, it is about the end of the middle ages, when Europe begun its march forwards, with fast scientific research, seafaring exploration, and beginnings of the colonization.

Since this period is strongly about Europe discovering the world, two focalizations are possible.

- The whole world.
- Europe + the Atlantic.

The whole world would make more sense, since it became discovered by Europe at this time. However, it wouldn't be practical for a game like Civ3: Europe has several rivaling powers, and it would be badly cramped if this scenario occured on a world map.
Besides, much territory in Eurasia would be not settled yet (most notably in Siberia), and such a scenario will begin with a race to settle in Siberia, because of the AI's behaviour.

I'd rather have a smaller scope, which would be centred on Europe and the Atlantic. Indeed, except exploration and the settling of a few commercial routes, the discovery of Asia and the Pacific didn't bring much to Europe at that time. Diplomatic relations with the Indians, the Chinese or the Japanese were few (if any). European military operations in the Indian Ocean were nearly nonexistant.
OTOH, the Atlantic Ocean and both of its shores were the real playground for Europe.
The Spanish conquests of south America, the colonial rivalry on the Americas, and more specifically (at that time) in the Carribean, the beginnings of triangular trade were all elements done on the Atlantic Ocean.

So, I think the scenario should either begin by the end of the Hundreds Year Wars, by the time Gutenberg discovered Printing Press, or by the time Colombus discovered America.
The map wouls be a map of western Europe + The Atlantic, + The Americas (as west as Chile's coast). Of course, everything that fits into this East-West interval (this means about half of Africa) should be in. It'll allow the player to have a real and interesting intra-European policy.

It would feature the West European powers for sure: British, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Dutch have to be in. I also think the Germans, Scandinavians, "Italians" and Turks should be in. Depending if the map spans far enough East, the Russians and Poles could be in as well.
Arabs should be in North Africa, and still hold southern Spain (Granada) if the scenario starts before 1492.

As for American Civilizations: Aztecs, Incas and Iroquois are a no brainer. I think the Americas could also have a few other native Civs, to make indian Diplomacy an option for the European powers. A Civ rivaling the Aztecs, and a Civ at war with the Iroquois should be thrown in.

About African Civs, I think that the Songhay should be in, since they weren't yet subjugated. They would rely on piles of gold, which should be considered either as a resource or as a luxury in this scenario (it was most definitel a tradable good at that time). If the map spans East enough, Ethiopia may also be brought in.

OTOH, I think African jungles should have either a primitive Civ (I can't think of a name) on them, or some beefed up (and plentiful) Barbarians using spearmen and archers.

I think that's all. That's 20 Civs already, which is not bad