2025 updates:

* We no longer gimp the Arabian Merchant:

--- Assets/XML/Units/CIV4UnitInfos.xml.orig	2025-06-22 13:34:26.698952600 -0600
+++ Assets/XML/Units/CIV4UnitInfos.xml	2025-06-22 13:35:20.209884100 -0600
@@ -14645,7 +14645,7 @@
 			<iDiscoverMultiplier>0</iDiscoverMultiplier>
 			<iBaseHurry>0</iBaseHurry>
 			<iHurryMultiplier>0</iHurryMultiplier>
-			<iBaseTrade>40</iBaseTrade>
+			<iBaseTrade>200</iBaseTrade>
 			<iTradeMultiplier>10</iTradeMultiplier>
 			<iGreatWorkCulture>0</iGreatWorkCulture>
 			<TerrainImpassables/>

This restores the original 2007 value for the Arabian Merchant (MERCHANT), so
that we do not have any economic crisis to stop war mongering, as per the
original version of this mod.

* The EZRLakhmidCaulixtla map is a revision to ArabianCaulixtla where the 
  Lakhmid player has a really huge resource bonus.  Suitable for a higher 
  difficulty game, or for a really easy game.  Also, a challenge for someone
  not playing the Lakhmids.  This is a bigger bonus for the Lakhmid play
  than the EZLakhmidCaulixtla map.

* The Sandypelago map script has been added. Great for making large land
  maps.

* The ArabianCaulixtlaFullWorld map has been added.  This is the uncropped
  ArabianCaulixtla map with a full 144x96 world.  The main reason to crop
  the map was to minimize the end turn slowdown issues; here in 2025 with
  4 gigahertz processors, this is no longer the issue it was back in 2012.


2022 updates:

* ArabianTotestra.py script added.  This allows one to play Perfect World
  maps which are suitable for Arabian games.
* The EZLakhmidCaulixtla map is a revision to ArabianCaulixtla where the 
  Lakhmid player has a huge resource bonus.  Suitable for a higher 
  difficulty game, or for a really easy game.  Also, a challenge for someone
  not playing the Lakhmids.
* Bug fix: The underground canals tech now works as intended.  There was
  a bug that farms without irrigation didn’t increase food production;
  this has been fixed as per what appears to be Gordon’s original
  intention making this technology.  

The fix for the underground canal bug causes another bug: The AI no longer
builds farms.  Either play at a harder difficulty, or copy
CIV4ImprovementInfos.xml.orig over CIV4ImprovementInfos.xml to restore
AIs making farms (but with underground canals being broken).

2021 updates: 

Amira maps added.  

Revision 2 of Arabian Caulixtla map added.

Clean up: Remove "Copy of" files:

rm './Assets/Art/Interface/screens/loading/Copy of loadingscreenbgwarlords.dds'
rm './Assets/Art/Structures/Buildings/Cartheginian Cothon/Copy of Cothon.dds'
rm './Assets/Art/Structures/Buildings/Military_Encampment/Copy of Military_Encampment.dds'
rm './Assets/Art/Structures/Buildings/Shayks_Tent/Copy of Yurt_Ger.dds'
rm './Assets/Art/Structures/Buildings/Tribal_Tent/Copy of Yert_256x128.dds'
rm './Assets/Python/Copy of CvEventManager.py'
rm './Assets/res/Fonts/Ok working/Copy of GameFont.tga'
rm './Assets/res/Fonts/Ok working/Copy of GameFont_75.tga'
rm './Assets/XML/Art/Copy of CIV4ArtDefines_Building.xml'
rm './Assets/XML/Terrain/Copy of CIV4ImprovementInfos.xml'
rm './Assets/XML/Text/Text/Copy of CIV4DiplomacyText.xml'
rm './Assets/XML/Units/Copy of CIV4UnitInfos.xml'
rm './Assets/XML/Terrain/Copy (2) of CIV4BonusInfos.xml'
rm './Assets/XML/Terrain/Copy (2) of CIV4ImprovementInfos.xml'

Bugfix: CIV4SpecialistInfos.xml file added; Merchant specialists no 
longer generate Arabian Merchants, since we can just buy them.  Instead,
they slightly help generate Ancient Artists, and generate more money to 
better help in the midgame economic crush.

The game is too heavily weighted to making ancient prophets.  That in
mind: Stonehenge/Sacred Dolmen now generates engineers, not prophets.
Oracle/Soothsayer now generates scientists, not prophets.  
Angkor Wat/Rock Monument generates artists, not prophets.

Arabian Merchant nerf: In the 2017/2018 version of this, in
CIV4UnitInfos.xml, the iBaseTrade for Arabian Merchants was 20, 10% of
the 200 it has in the original 2007 version of the game.  This is the
amount of gold an Arabian Merchant gives us when it completes its
mission.  I have increased this to 40, so that they can help a little
more during the midgame economic crush; 200 is overpowered (OP), but 20
was a little too much of a nerf.

Random maps: Only include one map script; have extra scripts in 
other archive.

--

2018 update: Huge random maps will now, by default, only support nine
players (since the game only has nine active tribes)

---

2017 update: I have changed the Arabian Merchant nerf.

The old nerf only allowed three merchants for the entire game.  
However, this made the later midgame a bit cash starved for the 
winning player; playtesting at Noble difficulty had me winning 
but unable to have enough cash to stop a strike (even if I gave
up research).  So, instead, the merchant now only gives out 10% 
of the cash he gave out before (60 instead of 600 gold pieces 
in a marathon speed game), keeping him less powerful while 
allowing him to be used for economic relief in the cash starved 
later midgame. 

---

2012-2013 notes:

   I have some files that fix bugs in Legends of Ancient Arabia (LoAA), an
   old Warlords mod for Civilization 4.

   The file LoAA-patch9.zip fixes these issues:

     * Random map players are fixed. With the file, all nine tribes
       playable by the human are available in random maps, with the same
       tech tree that the scenario has.

     * Workers can now build windmills

     * Random map generators will now add LoAA-specific resources to maps

     * Four random map generators, all PerfectWorld variants (SandBar,
       SandBarMoreIslands, TotestraDry, and Totestra) added.

     * New map for LoAA; game now has two scenarios.  Also included are
       spoilers for this new map.

     * The "Arabian Merchant" unit is too powerful to be built an
       unlimited number of times (it allows you to have a "great merchant"
       every two or three turns). The unit can now only be built three
       times. Note: While the player can request another Arabian Merchant
       to be built after the third one, subsequent units are built then
       immediately removed from play (with an event log message). While this 
       is a little clunky, it's done this way to minimize the performance hit. 

   For people who want the old behavior of unlimited Arabian merchants:
   Remove the Assets/Python/CvEventManager.py file before applying the 
   patch.

   To use:

     * Make a backup of the Ancient Arabia directory tree

     * Extract the files here in the "Warlords/Mods/" folder, where the
       Ancient Arabia directory is located. Make sure to overwrite ("Copy
       and replace") files in the "Ancient Arabia" directory.

   This will overwrite files to fix some bugs in LoAA. Note that
   LoAA-patch9 is a patch against the 2007 release of LoAA (there is no
   need to apply patch1, patch2, patch3, patch4, etc. first). After
   applying this patch, if a given random map has more than nine players,
   some tribes will be played more than once; best to keep the number of
   players to nine or less.

- Sam Trenholme July 24, 2012
