Rhye's and Fall of Civilization (RFC) is a mod designed to simulate the history of the Earth. It was created by Gabriele Trovato, known as "Rhye" on various forums.
A version of the scenario was included in Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword. It is the second most popular Civilization IV mod by number of downloads on CivFanatics.
The mod's popularity has spawned many mods of it, including Dawn of Civilization, The Greek World, The Sword of Islam, and Europe.
Overview
Rhye's and Fall of Civilization is an Earth map-based scenario that simulates the rise and fall of civilizations throughout the history of the Earth. It is the sequel to "Rhye's of Civilization" - one of the most popular modpacks ever created for Sid Meier's Civilization III.
- -Description from BtS game manual.
RFC is an Earth simulator that uses a variety of scripted events to mirror history. A player can start the game in 3000 BC or 600 AD. At the 3000 BC start, only four civilizations are playable: Babylon, Egypt, India, and China. More civilizations will spawn at historically accurate times. If a player starts as an ancient power, such as Rome, the game has new, modern civilizations spawn from their territory, including Spain, England, France, and Portugal.
Players can change history and play a nation to an end that did not occur in real life. For example, the British can win the American Revolution, China can be the first nation to discover the New World and colonize it, the Aztecs can stop Old World colonization, and the Vikings can get guns.
Stability
A major feature of RFC is the stability mechanic. Stability is determined by a player's economy, happiness, disease, culture, controlled territory, and other factors. If a player controls a historical territory, they will lose stability. If another player controls a player's "core territory," they will lose stability. If a player's empire becomes too unstable it will collapse, leaving the player with only a few cities left.
After Nationalism is discovered, if an empire is too unstable, an old civilization may respawn, like Greece spawning from Ottoman territory.
Plague
The plague spawns at historical times and if cities are too unhealthy. Units garrisoned in or near cities affected by the plague will start to die. A city afflicted with the plague will lose one population per turn. Towns will shrink back to cottage size. The more health a city has the sooner the plague will leave. Plagues will be permanently avoided if the player has researched Medicine.
Once an Old World civilization encounters the New World, they are given free units to represent the Conquistadors, and the plague will spread through native cities to represent smallpox.
Unique Powers and Historical Victories
Each civilization is given a Unique Power (similar to Unique Abilities in Civilization V) and a Unique Historical Victory.
Unique Powers give passive benefits to a civilization to reflect its history. For example, Russia is given "General Winter," which makes enemy units inside its borders take a small amount of damage per turn.
Unique Historical Victories are two historical achievements and one more the civilization attempted. For example, Rome's Historical Victory conditions are: have all owned cities be population five or greater and connected by roads and have a Barracks, Amphitheater, and Aqueduct, reach the maximum expansion of the Western Roman Empire by 450 AD, and never lose a city to barbarians by 1000 AD.
World Congresses
After three civilizations discover Nationalism, World Congresses will occur every 25 turns. Major nations participate and each of these nations get a chance to claim a city of their choice.
There are three options for each vote: Yes, No, Abstain. If enough major nations say yes to a player getting a city, it will flip to your control. If enough major nations say yes to a player giving up a city, the player will be presented two options: Give Up Control and Refuse Leaving the City. If a player refuses to leave, many civilizations will declare war on the player.