History VII: Blood Alone Moves the Wheels of History

The simulator is working pretty well, so I took a few moments to make a nice historical snapshot. This image represents the growth of settlements over 2700 years. It's rotated so that north is to the left, to get a good view of the central continent.

There is a large band of civilization right in the middle. This represents the Cfb Koppen climate, so a European-type climate, where the jungles of the equator give way to lighter forest.

After 2700 years, the oldest empires are:

• Delig, est. 1, population: 1,303,170. The capital city is Hvatfar (pop. 2,103). The largest city, however, is Jakom (pop. 28,001). They produce mostly agricultural products but have access to iron and copper ores and coal. Delig is a small halfling kingdom, with only 8 cities. Deligfar itself, the founding city, stood until 1030, when it fell to disaster (disease or natural disasters).
• Tilaj, est. 1, population: 2,128,289. A dwarf kingdom, Tilaj is much bigger than Delig, with 31 cities (but hence a lower density). The capital city is Nzuavjuab (pop. 3,229). The largest city is Limai (pop. 13,839). Tilaj mines silver, iron, and copper. Tilajp lasted until 1701, quite a run.

I haven't run the full trade network yet, so I'm not sure if this will change, but notice that neither of these empires have access to gold or steel (which requires manganese and nickel). This will severely limit the trade abilities of these ancient peoples.

The largest empire is:

• Popach, est. 3, population (human): 11,064,595. The capital is Tepwyð (pop. 151 - really??). The largest city is Dwrzwie (pop. 20,806). Comprises 176 cities. Again, no gold! Perhaps I should place a very high emphasis on gold during city placement.

The largest city is:

• Ldwia, est. 2058, population (human): 69,402. Part of the Umidyl hegemony. Ldwia is due for a crash - they are far above their carrying capacity.

All told, there are 716,318,766 persons accounted for. That's a lot, especially for the short amount of time, but remember that I've got 5 races, not just one.

I like the war simulation so far, but the transition matrix does not account for empire minded cultures. The chance of a Cyrus the Great arising (20 year campaign) or an Alexander the Great sweeping across the world, moving so fast he appears to be flying, is very low. And perhaps it should be. But we have many examples of this type of thing in our own world, so I would imagine it could happen more often here. Perhaps there might be a special mechanic where a great leader arises and pushes the boundaries of the empire without suing for peace.

I'd also like to incorporate more bloodless politics (two kingdoms joining in a confederation or an empire) or more bloody politics (secession or balkanization). All things in time.