Oh and one more quick question: How do I stop civs from spawning so far from their true start location? I have them set to spawn cities immediately on their true start location and I've turned off the alternate start.

I think the game is trying to push civs away from each other, but that's the opposite of what I want. I loved how insane and chaotic Europe became in the Civ 5 version of this mod, because so many civs were fighting for territory. If nothing else, it's just weird for Rome to always spawn in Africa.

Which other mods are you using?

I am having a similar issue. For me, not only are North Africa and Arabia not deserts, but there are many other climate issues aswell. For example, New Zeeland's southern Island and Tasmania are both barren tundras; while Iberia and the Italian peninsula are both mostly deserts.