Rhye's and Fall of Civilization: Difference between revisions

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{{primary sources|date=September 2016}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=AprilMay 20122023}}

{{Infobox video game

|title = Rhye's and Fall of Civilization

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'''''Rhye's and Fall of Civilization''''' ('''''RFC''''') is a "fan scenario"<ref name="2kbts">{{cite web |url=http://www.2kgames.com/civ4/beyondthesword/ |title=2K Games – ''Beyond the Sword'' |accessdate=30 May 2010}}</ref> ([[Mod (video gaming)|mod]]) for the [[2005 in video gaming|2005]] computer game ''[[Civilization IV|Sid Meier's Civilization IV]]''. It is an 'Earth simulator' that uses a variety of scripted events to mirror history much more closely than a typical game of ''Civilization''. The name of the scenario references its core feature—the dynamic "Rise and Fall" of civilizations through time—and its creator, Gabriele Trovato, known as "Rhye" in the forums community.

A version of the scenario was included in the second official [[expansion pack]], ''[[Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword]]''. It is the second most popular ''Civilization IV'' mod (after ''Fall from Heaven 2'') by number of downloads on Civilization Fanatics Center, a large ''Civilization'' fan website.<ref name="civfanaticsdownloads">{{cite web |url=http://forums.civfanatics.com/downloads.php |title=CivFanatics – Downloads Database |accessdate=30 May 2010}}</ref>

==Development==

''Rhye's and Fall of Civilization'' built upon Gabriele Trovato's earlier mods for [[Civilization II]] and [[Civilization III]], especially ''Rhye's of Civilization'' which also sought greater historical accuracy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rhye.civfanatics.net/pages/civ3-RoC-description.php |title=Rhye's of Civilization: the fastest loading mod |author=Gabriele Trovato |accessdate=30 May 2010}}</ref> The popularity of these prompted ''Civilization IV'' developers [[Firaxis Games|Firaxis]] to invite him to contribute content for inclusion in the game upon its release. The result was two maps ("Earth"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rhye.civfanatics.net/pages/civ4-Earth-description.php |title=Civilization IV Official Earth map |author=Gabriele Trovato |accessdate=30 May 2010}}</ref> and "Ice Age Earth")<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rhye.civfanatics.net/pages/civ4-Ice-Age-description.php |title=Civilization IV Official Ice Age Earth map |author=Gabriele Trovato |accessdate=30 May 2010}}</ref> and two historical scenarios ("Earth 1000 AD"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rhye.civfanatics.net/pages/civ4-Earth-1000AD-description.php |title=Civilization IV Official Earth 1000 AD scenario |author=Gabriele Trovato |accessdate=30 May 2010}}</ref> and "Greek World").<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rhye.civfanatics.net/pages/civ4-Greek-World-description.php |title=Civilization IV Official Greek World scenario |author=Gabriele Trovato |accessdate=30 May 2010}}</ref>

The first alpha version of ''Rhye's and Fall of Civilization'', then called "Rhye's Catapult", was released on 26 April 2006, featuring an elaborated Earth map and the "Rise and Fall" mechanism.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=6713382 |title=CivFanatics Center: ''Let's celebrate RFC, now two years old'' |date=14 April 2008 |accessdate=30 May 2010}}</ref> With the release of the first official ''Civilization IV'' expansion, ''[[Civilization IV: Warlords|Warlords]]'', the mod was [[fork (software development)|forked]] into two versions: one incorporating the new ''Warlords'' content and one that remained compatible with '[[Vanilla (software)|vanilla]]' ''Civilization IV''. A third fork was made with the release of the second expansion for the same reason. The ''Beyond the Sword'' version of ''Rhye's and Fall of Civilization'' was one of the three user-created scenarios that shipped with the official Firaxis expansion (along with ''Fall from Heaven'' and ''Road to War'').<ref name="2kbts"/> Development of all three forks continued concurrently, with new features being incorporated into all as far as possible. The final versions of all three were released on 2 June 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=366707 |title=CivFanatics Center: ''v1.987 – v1.487 – v1.187: THE FINAL PATCH'' |date=2 June 2010 |accessdate=3 June 2010}}</ref>

As of May 2010 there are two 'variants' of ''Rhye's and Fall of Civilization'', which alter the core gameplay in some way. The first, ''RFC MP'', was released on 21 October 2007 and enables multiplayer games of ''Rhye's and Fall of Civilization'' over the internet, [[LAN]] or locally in [[Hotseat (multiplayer mode)|hotseat mode]]. In order to make this possible, several gameplay features had to be disabled.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rhye.civfanatics.net/pages/civ4-RFCMP-description.php |title=RFC MP |author=Gabriele Trovato |accessdate=30 May 2010}}</ref> The second variant, ''RFC RAND'', was released on 28 July 2008. It is similar to regular ''Rhye's and Fall of Civilization'' but is played on a randomised map of various sizes, climates and "Earth likeness". Other parameters are also randomised, such as which civilizations will appear in the game and when and where they will "spawn". The variant is intended to provide "something halfway between RFC and standard Civ", but the reaction to it has been mixed.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rhye.civfanatics.net/pages/civ4-RFCRAND-description.php |title=RFC RAND |author=Gabriele Trovato |accessdate=30 May 2010}}</ref>

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The game spawns plagues randomly through the world around certain dates; for example, a plague will generally begin in the 14th–15th century to simulate the Black Death. Plague spreads from country to country, entering cities. A city afflicted with plague will lose one population point per turn, as well as a hefty unhealthiness penalty. Units garrisoned in or close to plague-affected cities will take damage until they die or the plague ends. The more health bonuses that a civilization has, the faster the plague ends. Plagues can be permanently avoided by a nation once the technology "Medicine" is researched.

''Rhye's and Fall of Civilization'' is also designed to simulate the drastic impact that the arrival of Europeans had in the [[New World]]. Upon sailing any unit from Europe to the Americas, the player is instantly granted several military units to simulate the exploits of the Spanish conquistadors. This also spawns a plague exclusively amongst the Amerindian civilizations to simulate smallpox. Unless they are destroyed by the conquistadors, Mesoamerican civilizations such as the [[Aztecs]] and the [[Maya peoples|Mayans]] typically become vassals to colonial powers, including Spain, France, England, and [[Portugal]]. English expansion in North America usually comes to an end when the territory changes to that of the [[United States|America]] in 1776 AD although it is possible to maintain a presence in Canada.

Besides the typical victory conditions in the game, every civilization has another victory option – Uniqueunique Historicalhistorical Victoriesvictories. These usually include three historical achievements that the nation managed or attempted. For example, Rome's Uniqueunique Historicalhistorical Victoryvictory is to have a barracks, amphitheatre and aqueduct in 5 cities by 200 AD, emulate (at least) the reaches of the [[Western Roman Empire]] by 450 AD, and never lose any city to barbarians by 1000 AD. Upon completing two Uniqueunique Historicalhistorical Victoriesvictories, a Triumphal Arch is built in the capital which increases military unit production, and a new golden age starts.

Once three civilizations discover the "Nationalism" technology, World Congresses will occur once every 25 turns. Major nations are invited to participate. Each civilization has the opportunity to choose from a list of cities which they would like to occupy; the others then vote yes, no or abstain. For the city to change control, there must simply be more "yes" than "no" votes, and the change takes place instantaneously. If a city controlled by a human is voted to be handed over, the player can either comply or refuse the decision; refusing may mean war with nations who voted "yes." World Congresses end once the United Nations has been built.

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In ''Rhye's and Fall of Civilization'', not every civilization starts at the same time. In the 3000 BC starting scenario, only Egypt, Babylon, China, and India are initially present; in the 600 AD start, only China, Japan, the Vikings, and Arabia (along with the unplayable Byzantine Empire) are initially present. Other nations such as Spain and Turkey appear later in the game (at 720 AD and 1280 AD respectively). If a player chooses to be one of the civilizations that are not in the game at the start, then the game will play the initial nations automatically until the player's chosen nation would appear.

Until the research of Nationalism, civilizations are able to hire mercenary units, and also lend out their own units. In order to hire a mercenary unit, a lump sum of gold is required to be paid, and youthe player must also pay a maintenance cost for the unit, as for other military units. Typically, the more experienced a unit is, the more gold it costs to hire, and hiring out a more experienced unit also increases gold received. Mercenary units have a civilization's name (or a barbarian city's name) attached as a prefix e.g. Thracian Crossbowmancrossbowman or Egyptian Swordsmanswordsman. A unit being hired out can be recalled at any time, arriving in the civilization's capital three turns after it is recalled.

Two large and many small changes were made to the [[technology tree]]. The relationships between Civil Service, Constitution, Military Tradition, and Nationalism were completely rearranged so that Music and Military Tradition were no longer "dead end" technologies and Civil Service was now an optional prerequisite, rather than an absolute one, for many later-era technologies. The relationships between Gunpowder, Chemistry, and Military Science were also rearranged so that Military Science was no longer a "dead-end" technology. Numerous buildings, units, civics, religions, etc. had their prerequisites altered, and some became obsolete with different technologies as well; Monuments, for example, became obsolete with Calendar instead of Astronomy.

==Reception==

The inclusion of fan scenarios in ''Beyond the Sword'' was well received by critics. ''Rhye's and Fall of Civilization'' was singled out for praise by several reviewers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rhye.civfanatics.net/pages/civ4-RFC-press-coverage.php |title=Rhye's and Fall of Civilization Press Coverage |author=Gabriele Trovato |accessdate=30 May 2010}}</ref> Tom Chick of [[Yahoo|Yahoo! Games]] called it "one of the most exciting and robust mods you'll ever see for a game",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://videogames.yahoo.com/pc/sid-meiers-civilization-iv-beyond-the-sword/review-523931-2 |title=Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword |author=Tom Chick |date=23 July 2007 |publisher=Yahoo! Games |accessdate=30 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100110092830/http://videogames.yahoo.com/pc/sid-meiers-civilization-iv-beyond-the-sword/review-523931-2 |archivedate=10 January 2010 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> while [[GameSpot]]'s Andrew Park said it "provided a fresh new coat of paint to the core Civilization gameplay".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/civilizationivbeyondthesword/review.html |title=Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword Review |author=Andrew Park |date=26 July 2007 |publisher=GameSpot |accessdate=30 May 2010}}</ref> A review of ''[[Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword]]'' also praised Rhye's and Fall for being superior to the official Firaxis game mods.<ref>Buxton, Chris [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=169292 PC Review: Civilization IV Beyond the Sword Review], Computer and Video Games</ref>

{{External links|section|date=July 2016}}

The inclusion of fan scenarios in ''Beyond the Sword'' was well received by critics. ''Rhye's and Fall of Civilization'' was singled out for praise by several reviewers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rhye.civfanatics.net/pages/civ4-RFC-press-coverage.php |title=Rhye's and Fall of Civilization Press Coverage |author=Gabriele Trovato |accessdate=30 May 2010}}</ref> Tom Chick of [[Yahoo|Yahoo! Games]] called it "one of the most exciting and robust mods you'll ever see for a game",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://videogames.yahoo.com/pc/sid-meiers-civilization-iv-beyond-the-sword/review-523931-2 |title=Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword |author=Tom Chick |date=23 July 2007 |publisher=Yahoo! Games |accessdate=30 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100110092830/http://videogames.yahoo.com/pc/sid-meiers-civilization-iv-beyond-the-sword/review-523931-2 |archivedate=10 January 2010 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> while [[GameSpot]]'s Andrew Park said it "provided a fresh new coat of paint to the core Civilization gameplay".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/civilizationivbeyondthesword/review.html |title=Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword Review |author=Andrew Park |date=26 July 2007 |publisher=GameSpot |accessdate=30 May 2010}}</ref> A review of ''[[Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword]]'' also praised Rhye's and Fall for being superior to the official Firaxis game mods.<ref>Buxton, Chris [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=169292 PC Review: Civilization IV Beyond the Sword Review], Computer and Video Games</ref>

Due to the mod's high popularity, ''Rhye's and Fall of Civilization'' has had a number of fan-created mods that make changes to the mod itself. ("modmods") These serve a variety of functions, from lengthening the number of turns, to totally converting the mod, with entirely new units, buildings, civilizations, and tech tree.

Two particularly prominent modmods are ''[http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=400112 Civilizations in Abundance]'' which increases the number of playable civilizations by adding every playable nation that was in the original ''[[Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword]]'' game; and ''[http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?f=452 Dawn of Civilization]'' which balances the game and adds some extra content to help guide the game world along a more plausible path. The latter modmod has been continually developed further, with the latest version DoC v.1.16 released in 2019.

[[File:Tamerlane's Central Asia in SoI.png|thumb|The Sword of Islam is a total conversion modmod of RFC, set in the Medieval Middle East and Central Asia]]

In addition, there have been a number of total conversions of RFC that apply the RFC mechanics to a smaller region. So far, there are 3 major regional RFC modmods in a fairly complete stage: ''[http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?f=386 Rhye's and Fall of Europe]'', focusing on [[Medieval Europe|medieval]] and [[Early modern Europe|early modern]] Europe, ''[http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?f=204 The Sword of Islam]'', focusing on the medieval Middle East, and "[http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=352988 Rhye's and Fall of Asia]". A number of others are in developmental or alpha stage, such as "[http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=422360 Rhye's and Fall of Mesoamerica and the Andes]", "[http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=438908 Rhye's and Fall of Britannia]", "[http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=442641 Rhye's and Fall of South and Southeast Asia]", "[http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=420155 Rhye's and Fall of Africa]", "[http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=495540 Rhye's and Fall Germania]" and "[http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=448413 Rhye's and Fall Classical World]".

More mods can be found at the [http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?f=204 RFC subforum] on the CivFanatics Forums.

==References==

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==

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