The Dickinson College 1492 Historical Scenario mod for Civilization V, created by Patrick Schlee and Edwin Padilla and advised by Professor Ed Webb and Todd Bryant, aims to provide a historical environment representing Europe and the Americas with the greatest possible historical accuracy within the limits of the simulation.
Using built-in as well as customized variables and game logic, significant phenomena of the early modern era, including the late Renaissance, early Scientific Revolution, the Atlantic Slave Trade, the Reformation and are included. Playable civilizations include the Aztecs, the Quiche Maya, the Tarascans of Michoacan, the Incas, the Songhai, Morocco, Spain, Portugal, France, England, the Netherlands, Venice, and the Papal State. This map covers Western Europe, Mesoamerica, North and West Africa, and parts of the North and South Americas, with alterations for playability.
This scenario contains some educational aspects that may help promote discussion on the development of overseas empires, the conquest of indigenous American civilizations, the exploitation of indigenous peoples and the development of the Atlantic slave trade. While the moral and social implications meant to be invoked by this game may not interest some gamers, it allows this to mod to potentially be a productive tool for opening up dialogue among people who might not otherwise recognize the modern consequences of these events.
All civs included are playable, including the two new ones, and numerous city-states were created and added just for this. The map based on contemporary and more recent maps showing the geography, era-specific borders, resources and production locations. Resources, besides a few discrepancies noted in the readme, are balanced and located generally where they were during the time period. It’s also designed with certain historical events in mind, particularly wars in Italy, the slave trade, Portuguese invasions of Morocco, and constant competition between England, France, and Spain. Further details along with background research are available in the ReadMe file.
Mod Overview
– 13 Playable Civs: Songhai, Morocco, Spain, Portugal, England, Netherlands, France, Venice, Quiche Maya, Incans, Aztecs, and custom civs the Tarascan Empire and the Papal State.
– significantly larger but geographically accurate representation of the Americas for larger competition.
– Atlantic Slave Trade option: by getting Open Borders with an African civ or an alliance with an African city-state, players can activate a significant boost to their colonial productivity.
– Play from 1492 to 1715.
– Atlantic ocean adapted to make travel lengthy while maintaining playability.
– New policy trees for the era: Renaissance, Monarchy, Reformation and Counter-Reformation, all with notable bonuses.
– Civ-specific religions, including Catholicism, Islam, Cult of Tlaloc etc.
– Players may chose the Reformation or start the Counter-Reformation
– 26 new city states covering Italy, Africa, and the Americas
– 2 new playable civs and leaders: Pope Alexander VI de Borgia of the Papal State, and Cazonci Zuangua of the Tarascan Empire.
– New units/buildings for those new civs: Pirinda Guards, Frontier Walls, Swiss Guards, and Franciscan Monastery
Important Notes Before Playing
-This is a Huge map, with 13 civilizations and 26 city-states. We required a machine with 8 GB of RAM and an Intel i5 processor 2.0Ghz. It’s highly suggested that players start with quick combat and quick movement both on.
-Some players’ systems might not be able to take the map size. If the game will not start on load, lower the graphic settings. I suggest turning shadows and leader movies off first as they take up the most memory.
-To play the scenario as intended, make sure to use the 1492 map provided with the mod, and check “Load Scenario” when the map is chosen.
-Prince is the standard difficulty for this map, but we suggest playing on King or higher for experienced Civ V players.
-WARNING: Save the game immediately after starting then reload. This is part of a known bug in Civ V that effects gameplay after conquering a city. More details are available here, http://forums.2k.com/showthread.php?178936-No-option-to-puppet-cities-post-patch
Download
After downloading from CivFanatics or Steam, be sure the entire mod folder is in your \Documents\My Games\Sid Meier’s Civilization 5\MODS directory and you’ll need to copy the map from the map folder to \Documents\My Games\Sid Meier’s Civilization 5\Maps. You need to have both to play the full scenario.
CivFanatics
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=13652882
Steam
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=379961933
