The Arabs are an unused civilization included in the Civilization II game files. They are led by Saladin (with no given female counterpart), following an Aggressive, Civilized personality. Like the Inca, it is unclear if they were originally intended as a playable faction, or are supplied as bonus content for third-party modding.
Overview[]
Color[]
The Arabs are coded as a cyan civilization, acting fourth in turn order. Their default definition is intended to replace the Americans, Chinese, or Persians.
Leaders[]
The Arabs only feature a male leader, Saladin (1137–1193), the Kurdish sultan of Ayyubid Egypt and Syria who crippled the Kingdom of Jerusalem and led the Muslim resistance to the Third Crusade.
Titles[]
Arab leaders feature two unique government titles: a 
Monarch is a "Sultan" (male) or "Sultana" (female), and a 
Fundamentalist is an "Ayatollah".[note 1]
Personality[]
The Arab AI is Aggressive and Civilized: it will act belligerently in diplomacy, balancing territorial expansion and city development, while prioritizing civic advances for research.
Cities[]
Arab city names are included in City.txt, drawing from territories of the Umayyad Caliphate.
Scenarios[]
The Arabs feature in several scenarios introduced in Conflicts in Civilization:
- The Rise of Rome does not feature the Arabs directly, although barbarian uprisings in the southeastern map can be interpreted as Arab raids.
- Jihad: The Rise of Islam depicts the rise of Muslim civilization through the Rashidun, Umayyad, and Abbasid caliphates.[note 2]
- The Crusades features the Fatimid Caliphate under al-Mustali as a playable faction, situated in Egypt and Libya; in Cross and Crescent, the Arabs represent the Umayyads under Walid I.
- The Mongol Horde features the Abbasids (as the Egyptians) under al-Nasir.
- Gulf War features several modern Arab states, including Iraq (under Saddam Hussein), Egypt (under Hosni Mubarak), and the "Arab Alliance" (under Hafez al-Assad) encompassing Syria, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates. Lebanon (Beirut) is a Barbarian city.
Modding[]
The Arabs are defined at Line 23 of the @LEADERS section of Rules.txt. Entries beyond Line 21 are not read by the game, meaning the Arabs must be substituted for an existing civilization in order to use; by default they are coded to replace a cyan civ. The third parameter identifying leader gender in scenarios is missing, and must be added manually. There are no Arab leader portraits in mk.dll, nor a discrete herald; the game will read the files associated with the original civilization.
Footnotes[]
- ↑ The title ayatollah is traditionally associated with Imāmiyya Shi'ism and is not commonly used outside of Iran; a more general title would be caliph (for a spiritual–political leader) or imam (analogous to the default "High Priest").
- ↑ The scenario names Mohammed as the Muslim leader, despite being set immediately after his death.
References[]
- "Sid Meier's Civilization II (Windows, Mac OS Classic)". The Cutting Room Floor. 6 October 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
See also[]
- Arab in other games
| Civilizations in Civilization II [edit] | ||
|---|---|---|
| White | ||
| Green | ||
| Blue | ||
| Yellow | ||
| Cyan | ||
| Orange | ||
| Purple | ||
| Red | ||
| Unused |
| |
| Related pages | ||