CIVILIZATIONS START BIAS - From the XML.
Howdie All
Thought people might be interested in the START BIAS for each CIV.
Essentially there are 5 classes of START BIAS.
1. None
2. Ocean
3. River
4. Terrain Type
5. NOT Terrain Type
The start bias is purely to enhance or allow for a given civs UA,UU or UB to flourish ASAP. I have placed next to each civ my reasoning for why the bias was chosen. Please note this is just my interpretation not something in the code.
1. NO START BIAS
Babylon (DLC)
China
France
Germany
Greece
Japan
Persia
Rome
2. OCEAN START BIAS (ie Coastal)
England [UA "Sun Never Sets"].
Ottoman [UA "Barbary Corsairs"].
Polynesian (DLC) [UA "Wayfinding"].
Spain (DLC) [UA "Seven Cities of Gold", UU "Conquistadors"].
Denamrk (DLC) [UA "Viking Rage", UU "Beserker"]
3. RIVER START BIAS
America [UA "Manifest Destiny"].
4. TERRAIN TYPE START BIAS
TUNDRA - Russia [UA - "Siberian Riches"].
DESERT - Arabia [UA - "Trade Caravans"].
PLAINS - Mongol (DLC) [UA "Mongol Terror", UU "Khan", UU "Keshik"].
GRASSLAND - India [UA "Population Growth"].
FOREST - Iroquois [UA "The Great WArpath", UU "Mohawk Warrior", UB "Longhouse"].
JUNGLE - Aztec [UU "Jaguar", UB "Floating Gardens"].
HILLS - Inca (DLC) [UA "The Great Andean Road", UI "Terrace Farm"].
5. NOT TERRAIN TYPE
FOREST - Egypt [UU "War Chariot"].
FOREST - Siam [?]
JUNGLE - Egypt [UU "War Chariot"].
TUNDRA - Songhai [UA "River Warlord"].
Some of my reasoning may require a little more clarification.
MONGOL/EGYPT - Essentially not impeding there ability for warfare with hampering terrain.
AMERICA - Rivers mean more tiles worth buying early on in the game and alos genrerally less hills close by allowing for the sight bonus to take effect.
SPAIN - Ocean access allows spain to start searching for water based NW and other continents (NW and Conquistador warfare) as early as possible.
SONGHAI - Avoiding tundra means placing the Songhai more towards the centre of the world and therefore increasing their exposure to more civilizations/barbarians, ie more targets for pillaging.
INDIA - Grassland leads to a large food output which allows India to push its population to the full heights its UA allows.
SIAM - NOT SURE about this one. Maybe its to try and give them gold producing terrain for the UA ?
RUSSIA/ARABIA - Increase the likelihood of having strategic resources, linked to their UA, near their capital.
AZTEC - Allow for a haven for Jaguars and give the Aztecs Scientific potential (Jungle + Floating Gardens + Extra Culture), in addittion to their exiting Cultural and Martial expertise.
OK hope this helps people a little.
Apologies for typos, I will fix them up later.
Let me know if you have any differing interpretations on the reasoning behind the bias'.
PS These values come from the following Civ V files; please note that the values in question are right at the bottom of each of these files (the last entries).