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Better Songhai

This mod aims to make Songhai strong without making it overpowered.

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LIST OF CHANGES

Bias: added river bias.

Ability: now units pay just 1 movement point to enter any tile adjacent to a river.

Mud Pyramid Mosque: now replaces shrine instead of temple, provides +1 faith and +2 culture and costs no maintenance.

Mandekalu Cavalry: production cost reduced from 110 to 100.

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The reason I made these changes is that Songhai's abilities seem poorly synergized. For example, its units receive bonuses on the sea and when crossing rivers, but the civilization itself doesn't start near the sea or a river. Its unique building, while not bad, is objectively worse than the Mayan unique building. The Mandekalu are cheaper than Knights, but the discount of only 10 production is almost negligible.

Now, Songhai starts near a river and can immediately move faster along it, allowing for better scouting. It also gains an early cultural building, which enables them to adopt Honor without any issues and is generally quite effective for playing wide. Additionally, the ability to ignore terrain near rivers should be very useful for cavalry rushes with Songhai's unique unit.

Moreover, this mod introduces additional strategic nuance. You should probably think twice before settling near a river if your neighbor is Songhai. If you're playing as Songhai yourself, you have the option to strategically place your cities on the same rivers as your opponents to launch an attack. Overall, this should make Songhai gameplay more fun and unique.

Feel free to comment and let me know if these balance changes worked out for you!