Rhye's and Fall of Civilization

Rhye's and Fall of Civilization is a user written module expansion to the computer game Civilization IV. The expansion is built into the main module "Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword" and is the only "user mod" recognized by the software producers as an official expansion to Civilization IV.

Setting
Rhye's and Fall of Civilization is set on the planet Earth and is designed to mirror historical Earth as closely as possible. A player can start the game in either 3000 BC or 600 AD. If starting as an ancient power, such as the Roman Empire, the game is designed to simulate the historical collapse of these empires into newer states. For instance, Rome breaks apart in the 400 ADs into France, Germany, Spain and an independent Italian kingdom. The British Empire of the Middle Ages, if expanding in North America, will have most of this territory become the United States of America in 1776 AD.

World History
Players can also "change history" and play a nation to an end that did not occur in the real world. Germany, for instance, is capable of winning World War II and controlling most of Europe. The United States and Russia may also engage in World War III. Middle Eastern nations, such as Persia and Egypt become very aggressive in the 20th century and attack and start wars for little reason. A fanatical middle eastern nation with nuclear weapons is also a very real possibility.

Country stability
One of the main features of Rhye's and Fall of Civilization is the game's ability to monitor the stability of national governments, taking into account war, disease, corruption, invasion, and other factors which might influence the fall of a nation. If a "major power" in the the game (playable nation) becomes extremely unstable, the territory held by the nation will break apart into several independent nations. These smaller countries take the place of the barbarian nations, although do not normally attack major nations unless attacked first.

The New World
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 for Europe to America, the player is instantly granted a settler, worker, and several military units. American civilizations, such as the Aztecs and the Mayans, typically immediately become vassals to such historic colonial empires as Spain and Portugal. British expansion in North America usually comes to an end when the territory changes to that of America in 1776 AD although it is possible for Britain to maintain a presence in Canada.

Africa can also be explored but without instant free units. The African continent contains such major nations as Egypt, Ethiopia and the Mali Empire. The "deeper" into Africa a player explores encounters small tribal villages inhabited by native units which act the same as barbarians.