El Dorado

Why do Mayans have this tech?
It was a fabled gold City of Spaniards which they believed to be somewhere in Colombia.
And why does it affect Eagle Warriors instead of gold or city?

I don’t know if the question is rethorical, but in case it isn’t: God knows what was the thought process of the original devs in naming this “thing”. There’s nothing real or relevant about this name or the way the tech is implemented for the Mayans.

Given how it is implemented perhaps something alluding to the cotton armor the Maya used would be better. I’m only familiar with the Nahuatl and Purepecha term for the armor though.

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@AllegedSpy95956
Long time, no siege.

The only fitting Mayan term I’m aware of is Xkapupul, which is a Mayanized form of Ichcahuipilli that was probably introduced early on by Nahuas.

In my opinion, it should be called Cotton Armor instead, which fits historically, and makes far more sense in terms of effect.

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Yeah the renaming makes sense.
I would actually make the tech +20 HP to all infantry and remove halb for mayans.

El dorado could be an interesting tech for Incas, something that gives them more Gold or reduces Gold cost of their army. And the andean slings tech could just become a civ (or team) bonus.

Incas are very dependent on gold and have no bonus to it so far. A tech like this would imo ideally fit the civ concept with it’s “Gold Counter Units”. Especially as it comes with a tradeoff like investing ressources in castle age for the long-term benefit.

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Here’s the explanation from The Conquerors’ manual:

War is often the most cruel and terrifying when markedly different cultures collide. The native populations of South and Central America were shaken by the Conquistadors wearing armor, wielding steel weapons, employing war dogs, and using firearms. The blood sacrifices, rituals, and fanaticism of the Americans unsettled the Spanish, in turn. The Mayans proved very tough opponents when whipped into battle frenzy in defense of their hidden wealth.

So presumably the extra hit points are supposed to represent the Eagle Warriors’ “battle frenzy” – they’re probably almost as furious as Celtic siege weapons!

I assume it’s a genuine question prompted by @BidGorgon527960 watching the most recent Spirit of the Law video.

I know the “reason” given in the manual. I was rather criticizing why they chose such name given that it’s a fabrication, sorry if I was vague. I was also confused given that SotL released that video, but I didn’t know if this was genuine confusion or if it was just a way to open conversation about the tech.

No need to apologise. I agree that the name and “reason” given are pretty silly. If there is any reasoning, it seems to be: the Mayans had hidden wealth, and El Dorado also had hidden wealth. It makes about as much sense as giving Britons a tech called “Atlantis”.

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You know, someone did mentioned about linking this tech to Well of Eternal Youth, not sure why it’s become El dorado.

Pretty much. 11 (20 chars)

That’s even weirder. 11

Sandy Petersen stuff, probably.

Yes. Or the native term that means the same thing, since Aztec and Maya Castle Age UTs are both words in their respective languages.

No point in reusing the name anywhere unless they add a Muisca civ, which had the closest thing to the real “El Dorado.”

I would like to see a muisca civ.
I think I already posted one such idea in one of the threads we had about new american civs.
But I can’t remember totally. I think it had to do something with wood but different than the paper money.

The picture you showed though is this the ritual where they sink some golden ships on a sea? I think this turned out to be invetned after the el dorado legend came to that region. I’m not entirely sure cause I only saw a very short documentary about that.
Fact is, nobody really nows where the legend actually came from. And most likely the spanish conquistadores just told a legend to cover that they actually just took gold from the natives they probably even killed before.
And a legend of a “City of Gold” makes a nice story.

Close. The image shown is a golden raft showing the Zipa (~Chief/King) of the Muiscas in a ritual in which he would be covered in gold dust, and then go to the middle of a sacred lake to wash and throw gold, emeralds, and other valuables into the lake. (Incidentally, this may partially explain why “El Dorado” was chosen for the Mayas, as they were also known to throw treasures into the cenotes, and this could be part of the “hidden wealth” referred to, although obviously the OG devs were rather mixed-up about this and almost certainly conflated the two cultures).

I don’t think so. The ceremony was first described in detail in 1638, but it’s first attested in 1535, (before the Spanish came to Muisca territory) when tales of the Zipa’s ritual first reached the Spanish. The earliest Spanish records and usage of “El Dorado” referred to “The Golden Man,” or “Golden King” (“El Indio [sic] Dorado” in the 1635 record.), whereas you don’t hear legends of “La Ciudad Dorada.” The confusion came later as the original story of “El Dorado” was conflated with legends of the Seven Cities of Cibola (totally unrelated myth, partly based on Aztec legends), as well as the typical exaggerations and embellishments that accompanied the Spanish gold-fever during that time period.

Yeah, but it’s kind of silly. The legend of a wealthy king covered in gold who would throw treasure into a lake is also a nice story while also being much more grounded in reality.

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