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Caveman2Cosmos is a full conversion mod for Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Beyond The Sword. I could start by saying that the mod's primary gimmick is vastly extending the time period of your illustrious world(s)-spanning empire, having you start from the very beginnings of prehistory all the way to full exploration of the Great Beyond, and that would in fact be accurate. Simply leaving it at that though wouldn't even scratch the coat of paint covering this towering behemoth of a megastructure that is Caveman2Cosmos. You can look at the main CivFanatics thread here for a slightly larger taste of the insanity.

I'm just gonna say it up front: We're in for a long, long ride and I'd be lying through my teeth if I told you I could guarantee this LP will ever be close to finishing. But I suppose chaos, uncertainty, and a paralyzing fear of what could possibly be next is appropriate for this particular mod, so let's cut to the chase and get the introductory fake Q&A out of the way.

Wait, what?

Yeah, exactly. So to be more serious for a chance, C2C is a frankenstein's monster of a mod that's been in continuing development more or less for over a decade at least, being touched and handed off to countless individuals I couldn't even begin to credit if I tried. It began as an offshoot of the original Rise of Mankind mod and from there integrated features from a decade's worth of mods from all sorts of sources into its own designed systems to create what can only be described as a beautiful mess. I wish I could be more thorough on just what C2C truly is or what kind of design philosophy governs it or in what specific ways it differs from good old BTS but honestly I'm not even sure the current devs can answer that question with any certainty.

Not that I think it's bad. It's ambitious if nothing else and the extent to which the devs, past and present, have squeezed blood out of the foundation stone of Civ 4 is impressive, if not a bit disconcerting. It's oddly addictive once you get into it and the sheer amount of stuff that's going on throughout the course of the game is downright awe-inspiring if you back up and take a look at the big picture. I wouldn't call it good or bad really, it's just a thing to be experienced, and what you get out of it is all that matters.

Or I could just be grandstanding subconsciously and just want to see this glorious trainwreck in motion once again.

Okay uh, I think I get it. Wait, this isn't gonna be some narrative mumbo jumbo, is it?

Nah, this is not a Paradox LP, don't worry. I love those things but this LP is gonna be focused strictly on the game because I value my sanity and find comfort in numbers and algorithms without trying to make narrative sense out of them. Of course you readers are free to spin those creative wheels all you like if you wish.

So you're an expert on this game right? You know exactly what you're doing?

Hahaha oh goodness no.

This won't be a blind LP but my last playthrough of this game was a while ago and a lot of things have changed since then. I don't even know where to start trying to figure out what's different or how some of the retooled systems work, so I'm content to just stumble through what I know and hopefully figure out what I don't know along the way. And also hope I don't die in the process. I will be doing a concurrent "test game" on another map to make sure I at least kind of have a plan that isn't just clicking buildings and techs at random but that's about it.

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This will be a screenshot LP and I'm hoping to update at least once a week. Updates will be a mix between progression in the current game and detailed posts about the inner workings of individual gameplay systems, as trying to do both at once in the same post will get messy very very fast. I know I'm making it sound overwhelming, and in many ways it is, but in the end it's still Civ 4 and its core gameplay loop remains as familiar as always, so it shouldn't be too hard to pick things up. Aurora 4X this is not, don't worry.

Speaking of, I'm not going to waste time explaining how Civ 4 works, I have enough to deal with as it is. So if you're unfamiliar with the game this mod is built on, check out Chucat's (abandoned?) LP of the game here. With that out of the way, let's begin.