Texcoco

Texcoco is a grand strategy game in development by RoseRed. It is slated to release for Steam and the Nintendo Switch by the end of 2022. The title is a simulation over eight hundred years of Mesoamerican history until the arrival of the Spanish in the early sixteenth century. In Texcoco, the player takes control of a local culture near modern Mexico, such as the Aztec and Maya, and strives to build a lasting cultural imprint.

The developers intend to release at least three expansions following the release of Texcoco, with currently unannounced content. These will be titled Legacy of the Olmecs, Tales from Aztlán, and Altiplano.

Synopsis

Texcoco is largely inspired by the 4X titles developed by Paradox Interactive, especially inspired by Crusader Kings II and Europa Universalis IV. Due to this, the game functions quite similarly to those in regard to gameplay.

The title is an empire simulator in which the player takes control of a culture present in post-classical Mesoamerica. The entirety of the gameplay takes place on a map of Mesoamerica-- spanning roughly from the Río Grande to the northernmost border of Nicaragua. The whole map is divided into around two thousand provinces upon which any culture may settle. Though the general execution of the 4X genre implies military conquest, success is widely defined by the player in question. The goal for the player is simply to create a culture that has a long-lasting imprint on precolonial America. There are many ways in which this goal may be accomplished:

• Creating a powerful military and invading nearby cultures to create a sprawling empire.
• Investing in the arts and architecture to create such marvels from Chichén Itzá to the Huey Teocalli.
• Growing agriculture and harvesting resources, creating a trade kingdom upon which all other cultures are dependent.

Texcoco employs many characteristics of Paradox-style 4X games while expanding upon the groundwork they created. For instance, much of the gameplay revolves around allocating resources to build monuments and cities. Furthermore, the player may design their very own monuments in the style of Mesoamerican archaeological sites. The codex system allows the player to watch their history as it unfolds throughout the timeline of a campaign, create their own history, and choose from countless options in the instance of major events taking place. With the codices, the player also has the opportunity to custom-design their own historical works of art revolving around said events.

Although the player starts as a nomadic culture, in order to develop they will likely need to settle. Once settled, they will have the opportunity to take on the name of a more specific settlement in history. Once settling their first, central city, they will then have the opportunity to expand outward and to form an empire. There are four main types of governance accessible within the span of the campaign, being Nomadic, Altepetl (or city-state), Kingdom, and Empire.

Long Count Calendar

The gameplay of Texcoco runs based on the Long Count Calendar utilized by many Mesoamerican cultures, most notably the Maya cultures, during the pre-colonial eras. The game counts up every second with a single tick, which corresponds to one k'in. At the end of every uinal, all the yields controlled by a player are calculated and added to their respective treasury.

The Long Count Calendar is written as such: 13.0.6.8.15 (May 14, 2019 AD, the day on which this section was written). The calendar has been counting up from the date of a mythological creation story dating at 0.0.0.0.0 (August 11, 3114 BC). As such, the Long Count Calendar is always calculated in some reference to a prior date. The campaign of Texcoco begins at exactly 10.0.0.0.0 (March 13, 830 AD) and ends at exactly 12.0.0.0.0 (September 18, 1618).

• 13.0.6.8.14 - baktun, counts up every 144,000 days
• 13.0.6.8.14 - katun, counts up every 7,200 days
• 13.0.6.8.14 - tun, counts up every 360 days
• 13.0.6.8.14 - uinal, counts up every 20 days
• 13.0.6.8.14 - k'in, counts up every 1 day

Although the Long Count Calendar is based evenly in twenties, it will not quite count up each time the unit that sequentially precedes it reaches 20. For instance, 10.0.0.0.19 is followed by 10.0.0.1.0. However, 10.0.0.17.19 would be followed by 10.0.1.0.0. This is because tun counts up after every 360 days, which causes it to count up after uinal passes eighteen times. However, the rest of the sets count up after twenty of their following unit; 144,000 days marks one baktun and twenty katun.

Cultures

The player may choose to play as any of the following cultures from the start. However, every culture listed below will naturally spawn in a campaign regardless of if the player chooses to play as them. A second-level bullet below indicates a nation that may be formed by the culture in question.

Chichimeca           Chichimeca Jonaz           Cora                Nayarit           Huichol                Tatei Kié                Tuapuri                Wautüa           Mayo           Otomi                Xaltocán           Pame           Tepehuán                Odam                Ódami      Cholula      Huastec           Teayo      Matlatzinco           Calixtlahuaca           Teotenango      Maya           Calakmul           Caracol           Chetumal           Chichen Itzá           Coba           Copán                Kaan Kingdom           Ek Balam           Maní                Tutul Xiu           Mayapán           Palenque           Q'umarkaj                K'iche'           Sotuta           Tikal           Tulum           Uxmal           Yaxuná      Mixtec           Tilantongo                Mixtec Kingdom           Tututepec                Mixtec Kingdom      Nahua           Acolhua           Azcapotzalco                Tepanec Empire           Mexica                Tenochtitlán                     Aztec Empire                Tlatelolco           Nicarao           Pipil           Ocotelolco                Tlaxcala           Tepeticpac                Tlaxcala           Texcoco                Aztec Empire           Tizatlan                Tlaxcala           Tlacopán                Aztec Empire           Tula                Toltec Empire           Xochimilco      Purépecha           Tzintzuntzan                Tarascan Empire      Totonac           Cempoala                Totonacapán           El Tajín                Totonacapán           Papantla                Totonacapán           Quiahuitzlán                Tlaxcala      Zapotec           Monte Albán           Mitla                Zapotec Kingdom      Can be formed by any culture:           Teotihuacán

Major Events

• Classical Maya Collapse: The Classical Maya collapse will certainly occur at some point during the campaign, though Maya nations may evade it through varying measures. There are various different ways that the Classical Maya Collapse can occur due to the speculative nature of its historical discourse, but it has a +5% chance to occur for every tun after 10.10.0.0.0. All scenarios can force Maya cultures to move their civilization elsewhere if they do not manage to evade it, and Maya cultures can band together to evacuate elsewhere, and gain -100% settlement speed in the Maya Highlands for one katun. Possible scenarios:
  • Foreign Invasion: All players will gain a significant military bonus when fighting against Maya cultures in the Maya Lowlands region.
  • Trade Collapse: All traders from the Maya culture gain +50 attrition per province traversed in the Maya Lowlands region and treasury resets to zero.
  • Megadrought: All provinces in the Maya Lowlands region suffer from a drought for one katun.
• Calendar Round: A calendar round occurs when the solar and ceremonial calendars match up, every 18,980 k'in. Different cultures have different ways to celebrate such an occasion. Most cultures will celebrate with a sacrificial festival which will yield both negative and positive effects.
• Tenochtitlán Forms: If the player is not playing as the Mexica culture, then Tenochtitlán will have an increased +10% chance to form from a nomadic Mexica player for every tun after 10.18.15.0.0. They prefer to settle around Lake Texcoco, but if that area is taken, they will choose elsewhere. Tenochtitlán will have a chance to form Aztec Empire if they have a successful military campaign.
• The Spanish Arrive!: The Spanish will begin to arrive in Mesoamerica near the end of the campaign. The Spanish will never arrive on any date prior to 11.15.0.0.0, and after that date there is an increased +5% chance of spawning for every passing tun. Their spawn location will be on a random coast, but their arrival will be announced in advance so that the player has time to prepare.
  • Europeans Arrive!: With the Legacy of the Olmecs expansion pack, other invaders than the Spanish may arrive so as to keep late-game campaigns novel. However, the Spanish remain the most likely foe to arrive. Each of the possible foes that may arrive in Mesoamerica have their own unique consequences, strengths, and weaknesses.
  • Inca Invasion: With the Tales from Aztlán expansion pack, there is an added chance that neither the Spanish nor other Europeans arrive, and instead the Inca begin military campaigns in Mesoamerica, starting from the south.
    • 38.4% chance that The Spanish Arrive! event occurs
    • 20% chance that the Inca Invasion event occurs
    • 16% chance that The Portuguese Arrive! event occurs
    • 12% chance that The English Arrive! event occurs
    • 8% chance that The French Arrive! event occurs
    • 4% chance that The Dutch Arrive! event occurs
    • 1.6% chance that The Danish Arrive! event occurs

Expansions

Legacy of the Olmecs | Tales from Aztlán | Altiplano