3.6. Desert

Region:

This map replicates the deserts of the Sahara or Arabia and to some extent the Iranian plain.

A dry terrain map where it only rains in cloudbursts during the summertime and then only occasionally, or if locationally near the Nile delta very occasionally receive some light rains that blows in from the north during winter.
It may be wide open with sparse clumps of palms primarily clustered about infrequent oasis type small lakes, marshes, muddy watering holes, or ponds, or strung along infrequent watercourses or in the mouths of canyons.
Can have canyons and craggy rather barren ‘peaks’ spotted about.
Sandy terrain is a major characteristic with some areas of dunes being evident.
Desert is not well endowed with food or wood but is very well endowed with stone and ore.
If it is scripted to have lots of canyons and cliffs on it, it is a highly defensible map; if not it is more wide open to attack than any other but Steppe and a very open Savannah.
Desert may be either a land map or a water map with river crossing or seas adjacent to the land.

The map is characterised by being a jumbled maze of cliffs, canyons, rugged and barren mountains and passages going every which way.
It is probably the most defensible map in the regular game.
Civ Territories are divided proportionately to terrain on the map.

Each civ's starting Civ Centres and settlements are positioned near an oasis spotted about an otherwise bleak and sandy desert that is wide-open to assault and depredation.
Along with Steppe Anatolian Plateau, they are the 'fastest' maps in the regular game.
Civ Territories are divided proportionately to terrain on the map.

This map is a knock-off from the Oasis map in AoK.
Civ Territories are divided by terrain features, principally cliffs and rugged vegetationally denuded highlands with passages through them, arranged like the spokes of a wheel around a large desert oasis.
The map is fairly defensible and can be walled-in early on, though continued wood harvesting on a narrowed front may necessitate expanding them.
Starting territorial Civ Centres are toward the centre where the land is generally better endowed with resources requisite to development.
Settlements are 'outback' amongst somewhat rugged lands with the requisite resources to barely support each province-being quite short on wood and land capable of supporting farming.
Resource locations are imbalanced, with the balance of animal life and wood resource being weighted toward the central oasis while the balance of stone and ore resources are weighted to the outback provinces.

The visual aspect of this map is that of a river entering from the bottom southern end of the map flowing northward expanding from the wrist into 5 fingers of the hand, thus dividing the land area on the map into 6 approximately equal parts (for as many as 6 Civ Territories).
The end of the delta opens onto the Mediterranean Sea at the northern top edge of the map.
There is a shallows crossing the Nile at the 'wrist' and another between each land segment further 'downriver'
The map is reasonably defensible at crossings but also highly navigable and civ territories are subject to invasion across waterways.
Crocodiles can occasionally be a hazard to hominid units on this map at fresh water shallows crossings or immediately adjacent to river banks.
There are no marshlands in the delta so this map is highly amenable to farming.
Civ Territories divided amongst the 'fingers' of the map proportionately to the number of players.

Characterized as a water map only because the river is broad and in this case cannot be crossed by shallows, putting civs on either side of it at some disadvantage.
If co-located to side with enemies, the only allied help that can come would have to transport across the river
A good map for 3v3 teaming together or a good one for 1v1 initially defensive because of the breadth of the river.
The river as the staff of life enters the map from the south falling over an impassable cataract waterfall (the 1st Cataract) then flows on northward to approximately where it would begin dividing in the delta but in this case terminates at the edge of the map.
Crocodiles can occasionally be a hazard to hominid immediately adjacent to river banks.
As is the case for oases type maps, animal and wood bearing resources as well as farmable land are imbalanced toward the waterside, diminishing away from it while the converse is true for mineral resources.
Civ Territories are divided proportionately along either side of the river (this map won't play for 3-player).
Starting Civ Centres are most likely to fall closer to the river than away from it with settlements out somewhat beyond.