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Tinto Maps #20 - 27th of September 2024 - The Steppes

Hello, and welcome one more week to the weekly encounter for map lovers! This week it’s also directed at horse lovers because we will be looking at the Eurasian Steppes, plus the Urals! So let’s start with the maps without further ado.

Countries:
Countries.jpg

Colored Wastelands.jpg

A glorious, Golden Horde! It is at its power peak, under the reign of Uzbeg Khan, so it's a much more menacing presence for its neighbors. However, it has its some internal issues that need to be managed, as you’ll notice in some of the maps, and in the future when we talk about the content for Hordes. The Golden Horde also heads its own IO, the Tatar Yoke, as shown in a previous Tinto Maps:

Tatar Yoke.jpg

We have already corrected the Ruthenian countries that are under the Horde’s Yoke, although we still have to correct the Russian principalities, which will be done in the corresponding Tinto Maps review. We’re also aware that we need to improve a bit the coloring of the IO, to mark not only the Golden Horde as the overlord of these countries, but also that Muscovy holds the title of the Grand Principality of Vladimir, which makes it the ‘enforcer’ of the Yoke. These fixes are also planned to be done in a few weeks.

Societies of Pops:
Societies of Pops.jpg

Societies of Pops 2.jpg .jpg

A bit up to the north, we have some Societies of Pops! This means that the territory of Western Siberia won’t be empty land, but will be populated by these people, which can be interacted with.

BTW, I’m not showing this week a dynasty map because, well, only the Borgijin dynasty rules over the lands of the Golden Horde, of course!


Locations:
Locations.jpg

Locations Western Siberia.jpg

Locations 3.jpg

Locations 4.jpg

Locations 5.jpg

Tons of locations today… You might notice that the density location is in a progression from west to east, from the most densely settled areas to the less settled ones. You may also notice that we’ve followed a design of ‘settler corridors’ in Western Siberia, setting those parts of the land that were habitable, usually on river valleys.

Provinces:
Provinces.jpg

Provinces 2.jpg


Areas:
Areas.jpg


Terrain:
Climate.jpg

Topography.jpg

Vegetation.jpg

The terrain is interesting here, as there are two main ecological areas. The first is the Steppes, Flatlands with Sparse and Grasslands vegetation, with either Cold Arid or Continental climates. And then we have the Siberian Arctics Forests, which are completely different, of course. On a note, the Urals were set as Hills, as they’re a quite settleable area, but we’ll probably make a review with your feedback, and add some mountains there.

Development:
Development.jpg

The whole region is not very developed, you might notice the difference with India, from last week’s Tinto Maps.

Harbors:
Harbors.jpg

There are some harbors in the Steppe region… In the Black Sea and Caspian Sea, of course! As usual, we’re open to feedback on this matter.

Cultures:
Cultures.jpg

Plenty of cultures! One note: Although we planned to work on the religious and cultural minorities of the region during the summer, we ended up not having enough time to add them. So what we’ll be doing today is showing the rough outline of ‘cultural spheres’, and then we’ll add the minorities during the review of the region. In that sense, feedback is very well received.

With that said the only note that needs to be made in terms of the cultural design is that we divided the Tatar cultural group into some differentiated regional cultures, being Crimean, Mishary, Kazani, and Astrakhani. We’re also aware that some of the cultures, as Mari and Chuvash, might be a bit displaced, as noted in the Russian Tinto Maps, so we’ll review and correct that with your feedback.


Religions:
Religions.jpg

Regarding Religions, the matter is a bit worse, as the big Sunni blob is just because the main religion of the Golden Horde is Islam, after the conversion of Uzbeg Khan, but that’s obviously incorrect. Also, as we have been able to forecast development time on how Pagan divisions will be during this autumn, we will make a comprehensive review of the region as well, to get a good distribution of ‘Shamanist’ Paganism, Tengrism, and Sunni Islam.

Raw Materials:
Raw Materials.jpg

Raw Materials 2.jpg

Raw Materials 3.jpg

Regarding the raw materials, the Steppes have plenty of Livestock and Horses, quite logically, although there are regions with some other goods. And up to the north, the main materials are Lumber and Fur. Apart from that, I want to mention the mineral hub in the Ural Mountains, with plenty of Copper, Iron, Gold, Lead, and Coal. That makes it a very mid and late-game interesting spot, and playing as Muscovy/Russia, I’ll tell you that you definitely want to expand into that region, as it will fulfill some of your material needs by that time.

Markets:
Markets.jpg

Markets! Big region, with lots of markets, although you may noticed that we changed the coloring of the locations that have 0% market access, which is the case in several areas. In any case, the market centers are Kaffa, Astrakhan, Saray-Jük, Kunya Urgench, Samarkand, Almaty, and Chimgi Tura. BTW, these names are much easier to notice in the game’s UI, as they’re beside the market centers:

Markets 2.jpg


Population:
Population.jpg

This week we’re showing only the country population mapmode, as there are some location numbers here and there which are failing, due to the already known issue with our pop editor (and which are on the way to be fixed). In any case, the whole population of the region is around 6.5-7M, of which around 6.3M are part of the Golden Horde. As I said, it’s a menacing country…

And that’s all for today! This is going to be my last Tinto Maps in a while, as I’ll be on vacation for 3 weeks during October (you might have noticed that I didn’t have any during summer), so one of the Content Designers in the team, @Roger Corominas , will step in and be in charge of the next 4 Tinto Maps. It’s in good hands, as Roger is an Experienced CD, who has been working and focused on Project Caesar for more than 3 years, at this point (this is why you might not know him from EU4, as other CDs in our team). In any case, he will be starting with the regions of Xinjiang, mostly ruled by the Chagatai Khanate, and Tibet.

I’ll keep reading and answering you during next week, and then I’ll be back in a month from now. See you!
 
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To fix two Chernihiv\Chernigov problem, I propose using the Russian Empire's administrative divisions for Chernigov and Poltava gubernia. As you can see Ukraine and Podillia already more or less follow those borders

View attachment 1195637View attachment 1195638

Going larger with that idea, the same can be done with other regions

View attachment 1195642
I think it is important to keep the borders of Don Host Oblast as it was, and not splitting it into two as it's done right now.

But on the other side, we have this map where the merge of regions Crimea and Yedisan is highly strange
View attachment 1195644
Here I think it is better to go with Golden Horde Ulus divisions

View attachment 1195645
View attachment 1195646

Ulus Burundai and Ulus Mautsi

So at the end something like this
View attachment 1195657
This way they need to redraw all the provinces too to match this division. It makes no sense.

Instead, areas can be perfectly drawn on the basis of Ukrainian historic areas with current provinces they already created with really a couple of minor changes.

And I also understand areas as historic regions, like Normandy, Northumbria, Toscana, Galicia or Pomerania. If we have Volhynia, Podolia, Halych, then it is consistent to have Severia, Zaporizhia, Pereyaslav land etc. Areas should not really be based on some weird administrative borders of some empire in the very late game.
 
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Considering that Xinjiang is an anachronistic exonym, I don't see how any of these choices would be any worse. However, if there is no endonym for the entire region, then maybe it doesn't make sense to consider it a single region/area/unit at all.

They are all anachronistic exonyms, and also local endonyms, depending on whatever timeframe you're looking at. Before the Chinese there were Dzungars, before the Dzungars, there were Oirats and Qara Del and Chagatai and various other flavors of Mongol, before them the Khitans, before them the Gokturks, before them the Rouran, Xianbei, Xiongnu, Yuezhi, and I think you get the picture by now.

Xinjiang is as good a name as any, and better than most. It also has the benefit of being quite precisely defined cartographically (unlike say Turkestan).
 
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Ural as Hills makes sence. :)
I remember flying over it... its basically a bunch of higher hills with snow on the top.
Super smooth.
Idk if there is also rocky bits. The part i saw was just very hilly land.
 
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Greetings from Kazakhstan! I am a local to the area (Northern Kazakhstan here!) I would like to help you guys with some clarifications. You don't have to listen to me but i still want to contribute.
Societies of Pops:
View attachment 1193514
View attachment 1194158
A bit up to the north, we have some Societies of Pops! This means that the territory of Western Siberia won’t be empty land, but will be populated by these people, which can be interacted with.
Bashkortostan is the compound name of Bashkort (ethnic name) and stan suffix meaning land. so no Bashkortostani people but Bashkort people. Thank you for not naming them Bashkir since this is a russian exonym. Belogorian is a russian name, I guess those people named themselves some other name.
Locations:
View attachment 1194075
View attachment 1194076

Tons of locations today… You might notice that the density location is in a progression from west to east, from the most densely settled areas to the less settled ones. You may also notice that we’ve followed a design of ‘settler corridors’ in Western Siberia, setting those parts of the land that were habitable, usually on river valleys.
Mangystau (that southeastern desert region on eastern coast of Caspian) has some out of time locations. Beket ata lived in the 18th century, Masat ata (my wife's ancestor haha) lived in late 14-th century. Siberia tenteksor (lake that is a huge puddle) may be named Amankaragay. The location has a lot of woods as the one nearby in Konildi, might have lumber. Lebyazhye is a russian translation of the local name Aqquly (Plenty of Swans). Zhelezin not far north may be named Ertis. Idk That's a Russian name and they weren't there for the whole span of EU4.

Beloretsk location in south Urals is a russian translation of Bashkort name Aqidel which means white river in both languages. Best make it Beloretsk for slavic cultures but Akidel otherwise. Kaslinski north of Chelyaba should be Kasli which is the name of the town in both Russian and local Bashkort language.
Kamyshnoe near Omsk better be named Isilkul which is the local name, and Kamyshnoe just means reed.
Bozok Astana location nearby is weird. Astana is the word invented in 1990s and Bozok is an archeological site. Please name it Akmola which is the historical name of the land (plus White Grave sounds epic). Nearby Gidrowzel literally means Hydro Knot from russian, probable referencing a dam there. Better name it Arshaly after the local area. Stanitsa Kokchetavskaia is the initial russian name for Kokshetau when they settled the area, and it is a corruption of Kazakh name for the area, Kokshetau. Rename it Kokshetau, and the other Kokshetau neigboring from the south might be renamed Bulandy, to avoid confusion. Staroye might be named Akzhar or Taiynsha, while keeping Staroye for slavic specific name, same with Presnovka which could be renamed to Karakamys or Uak.
I see Imeni Voroshilova east of Karkaraly which is a terrible out of place and out of time name, "named after Voroshilov" a soviet comissar, native name for that area might be Kaynar or Karaolen after the only towns that are left there still inhabited (this sacred area was part of Semipalatinsk nuclear testing site)
In the east, there is a place named Shemonaivskoe (this name never existed) west of Oskemen. The name is Russian, from Shemonaikha town. Kazakhs named it Karagaily after the abundant pine woods there. Also the Altai area (Oskemen and east) is rich in metals and minerals, and even the mountain range is named Kendi Altai (Ore Altai). Zyryan there is a russian name, locals probably named it Altay or something like that, it has Buqtyrma river, idk im not local to Altai.
Please make Turgay a wetland location since it really is but northern Kazakhstan, Kulykol and Zharkol among others (i guess) nearby are not wetlands, these are just grasslands with tons of lakes).
Historically Turgay (Kazakh name Torgay) river from that location flowed to Aral sea until 17th century, with occasional floods reaching it until the 19th century. google books has a link but somehow i cant post it
These lands were inhabited with Alim tribe. Barely inhabited due to famines and collectivisation but people there still exist now. I mean you made road between Caspian and Aral into a province, this might be as well. If you add it, please make northern tip of Aral sea a salt producing location, as 99% of Kazakh salt is from there. See Kulagin near Ural river above Caspian sea? Kulagin is a russian surname. Yo im not trying to cancel all russian names but Turkic nomads certainly were not calling their area like that. Kalmyk above that location is weird too. I am very interested about that S'ezzhaya name above Ural, probably a typo.
Sea of Azov is named after Azov in the Don river mouth right under Tana. There's a typo that says Azok instead.
Kulykol there in northern Kazakhstan is a name no one knows (even me next door from it). Ok for location (Should name it Zhappas or Apan) but if you guys are naming a whole area please name it Esil after the main river in the region.
Areas: View attachment 1194083

Terrain:
View attachment 1194084
View attachment 1194085
View attachment 1194086
The terrain is interesting here, as there are two main ecological areas. The first is the Steppes, Flatlands with Sparse and Grasslands vegetation, with either Cold Arid or Continental climates. And then we have the Siberian Arctics Forests, which are completely different, of course. On a note, the Urals were set as Hills, as they’re a quite settleable area, but we’ll probably make a review with your feedback, and add some mountains there.
Northern Kazakhstan is true grasslands and not sparse at all. In fact, vegetation decreases as you go down to south. There are woody areas like Amankaragay in the northwest Kazakhstan (I'm from there), you named it Siberia tenteksor, which is weird since Tenteksor lake is just a puddle. For better understanding, go to google and figure what the northern half of Kazakhstan looks like. Just a sea of grass and no sparse vegetation, it starts from the northern shore of Caspian and down there south. Around that latitude climate becomes exceptionally dry, receiving less than 200 mm of rainfall. Small section of western shore of Caspian should also be sparse, where now Kalmykia is located. I was lowkey kinda insulted by this and went away to have a cigarette watching my little brother disappear in 1 meter tall grass on the edge of the woods.
Shilik, Sutkent and other places further from mountains in the southern Kazakhstan must be sparse, not grasslands.
I hope Akkol and Kokshetau locations north of Astana (rename!) are hills + woods as they are in reality. Mountain province in central Kazakhstan is weird since they are mostly hills on an elevated terrain, no higher than 1565 meters but ok keep it for diversity i guess.
Topography.png

1727764352717.png

Vegetation.png

1727764435294.png

Harbors:
View attachment 1194088
There are some harbors in the Steppe region… In the Black Sea and Caspian Sea, of course! As usual, we’re open to feedback on this matter.
That harbor in the west part of Caspian is on uninhabited land, sandy marshy shore, which is not suitable for ships. City of Aktau on the opposite side of Caspian is suited well for a harbor, as well as town of Kuryk (ok for harbor) nearby that are home to Kazakhstan's only two ports.
Cultures:
View attachment 1194089
Plenty of cultures! One note: Although we planned to work on the religious and cultural minorities of the region during the summer, we ended up not having enough time to add them. So what we’ll be doing today is showing the rough outline of ‘cultural spheres’, and then we’ll add the minorities during the review of the region. In that sense, feedback is very well received.
With that said the only note that needs to be made in terms of the cultural design is that we divided the Tatar cultural group into some differentiated regional cultures, being Crimean, Mishary, Kazani, and Astrakhani. We’re also aware that some of the cultures, as Mari and Chuvash, might be a bit displaced, as noted in the Russian Tinto Maps, so we’ll review and correct that with your feedback.
I don't know about Kyrgyz culture in southeast and east Kazakhstan. There are no Kyrgyz people now. I mean Kyrgyz are our twin nations, we are extremely similar but they have already migrated to highlands of Tian Shan at that point. I'm not a nationalist, we Kazakhs didn't differentiate from Uzbeks at the time of 1337 start date. I guess that culture south of Uzbeks in Central Asia is either Sart (Turkic-speaking people of Iranic origin) or Tajik. Chelkan people lived further east beyond Irtysh river and were probably of ancient Yenisean heritage. Khakas people lived further east from Shor people. Nogai people have spread a bit further east as well, Kazakh Junior Juz tribal union is descended from them and didnt move a lot after, but Mangystau is probably inhabited by mixed Nogai-Turkmen population at the time. Amudaria delta is probably not Nogai at this time.
I guess, Yerle Qaliq means Siberian Tatars. Mishar is the correct word, not Mishary which is a russian plural of Mishar.
Raw Materials:
View attachment 1194093
View attachment 1194094
View attachment 1194095
Regarding the raw materials, the Steppes have plenty of Livestock and Horses, quite logically, although there are regions with some other goods. And up to the north, the main materials are Lumber and Fur. Apart from that, I want to mention the mineral hub in the Ural Mountains, with plenty of Copper, Iron, Gold, Lead, and Coal. That makes it a very mid and late-game interesting spot, and playing as Muscovy/Russia, I’ll tell you that you definitely want to expand into that region, as it will fulfill some of your material needs by that time.
Northern shore of Balkhash lake is very dry, receiving less than 250mm of rainfall, with no permanent rivers, so it is no wheat land. But it has a lot of copper! Particularly Sayak, Mukur (that is wrong Mukur, right Mukur is in the west, it is Balkash), And nothern Kazakhstan, despite having no copper, has iron and grows a lot of wheat so could you guys please change it. Also, there is no wild game in Mangystau, the land is very barren.
Thank you guys for the great work, I am very excited about project caesar (eu5)
I hope this was not TLDR and I was not annoying. I hope to contribute
If you guys implement this, I will order surstroming and eat it on camera you have my word
 
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Maybe Altishahr, then? Still 18th century, but at least it describes the place and isn't just the name of who ruled it.

Altishahr is a perfectly appropriate name, except that it only describes the southern part of Xinjiang along the Tarim Basin.

There's no name which describes the whole region except, well, Xinjiang. Because before the Qing named it that, nobody viewed both areas as a single polity.
 
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Historically Turgay (Kazakh name Torgay) river from that location flowed to Aral sea until 17th century, with occasional floods reaching it until the 19th century. google books has a link but somehow i cant post it
Can you post the name of the book at least? I'm working on a proposal for the whole Aral Sea area. I already have a location going north along what I think is the old riverbed there, drawn based on a journal article which also mentioned the river and satellite and elevation maps, but more information is always good. And maybe it'll have something I can use for a name, because I'm at a loss right now.

As a local do you have any thoughts on names for locations in the area? This is what I have currently on the north Aral part of the in-progress proposal, but the names are basically guesses based on modern references or natural features and I have no clue if any of them are actually old enough or appropriate. Aral(sk) and Akespe were chosen just because the archaeological sites that are the basis for this were "near" them. Barsuki because I had no clue whatsoever and that location skims the edge of the Greater Barsuki desert. And one is obviously still completely unnamed.

IN-PROGRESS WORK - NOT FINAL FEEDBACK FOR DEVS
1727771911282.png
 
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Can you post the name of the book at least? I'm working on a proposal for the whole Aral Sea area. I already have a location going north along what I think is the old riverbed there, drawn based on a journal article which also mentioned the river and satellite and elevation maps, but more information is always good. And maybe it'll have something I can use for a name, because I'm at a loss right now.

As a local do you have any thoughts on names for locations in the area? This is what I have currently on the north Aral part of the in-progress proposal, but the names are basically guesses based on modern references or natural features and I have no clue if any of them are actually old enough or appropriate. Aral(sk) and Akespe were chosen just because the archaeological sites that are the basis for this were "near" them. Barsuki because I had no clue whatsoever and that location skims the edge of the Greater Barsuki desert. And one is obviously still completely unnamed.

IN-PROGRESS WORK - NOT FINAL FEEDBACK FOR DEVS
View attachment 1196051
I'm not a local, but Aralsk is a Russian name of the city. In Kazakh it's just Aral and Wikipedia says that before there was a Kazakh village called Alty-Quduq (or Alty-Kuduk, I don't know the correct transliteration, means 'Six Wells').
Barsuki is also a Russian name, in Kazakh it's Borsyq (Borsyk?).

But of course, a correction from a Kazakh guy will be the best.
 
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This way they need to redraw all the provinces too to match this division. It makes no sense.

Instead, areas can be perfectly drawn on the basis of Ukrainian historic areas with current provinces they already created with really a couple of minor changes.

And I also understand areas as historic regions, like Normandy, Northumbria, Toscana, Galicia or Pomerania. If we have Volhynia, Podolia, Halych, then it is consistent to have Severia, Zaporizhia, Pereyaslav land etc. Areas should not really be based on some weird administrative borders of some empire in the very late game.
some of the historical regions are related in some ways to the gubernias, for example, Sloboda Ukraine and Kharkiv gubernia
1727778802654.png
1727779033770.png
 
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I'm not a local, but Aralsk is a Russian name of the city. In Kazakh it's just Aral and Wikipedia says that before there was a Kazakh village called Alty-Quduq (or Alty-Kuduk, I don't know the correct transliteration, means 'Six Wells').
Barsuki is also a Russian name, in Kazakh it's Borsyq (Borsyk?).

But of course, a correction from a Kazakh guy will be the best.
Yeah I saw the Alty-Kuduk name but Wiki still said 19th century for that and I don't know how old Aral is as a name for the area, so my hope is that someone either knows an earlier name or at least knows whether Aral only came with the Russians or has a longer history itself.

I saw both versions of the name of the desert but didn't know which one was which language, thanks. Still not sure a desert is the best name for the location but I don't have any other ideas.
 
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some of the historical regions are related in some ways to the gubernias, for example, Sloboda Ukraine and Kharkiv guberniaView attachment 1196080View attachment 1196081
Partially yes, especially in the northern parts, but I don't like the southern parts at all this way because I'm convinced that Zaporozhia (Cossack Steppe) should be a separate area in the game.
And my main concern was that you tried to make too exact gubernian borders so all the provinces are cut and need to be recomposed. And the existing provinces are already quite good to represent the historic areas.
 
Hello, and welcome one more week to the weekly encounter for map lovers! This week it’s also directed at horse lovers because we will be looking at the Eurasian Steppes, plus the Urals! So let’s start with the maps without further ado.

Countries:
View attachment 1193513
View attachment 1194073
A glorious, Golden Horde! It is at its power peak, under the reign of Uzbeg Khan, so it's a much more menacing presence for its neighbors. However, it has its some internal issues that need to be managed, as you’ll notice in some of the maps, and in the future when we talk about the content for Hordes. The Golden Horde also heads its own IO, the Tatar Yoke, as shown in a previous Tinto Maps:

View attachment 1194074
We have already corrected the Ruthenian countries that are under the Horde’s Yoke, although we still have to correct the Russian principalities, which will be done in the corresponding Tinto Maps review. We’re also aware that we need to improve a bit the coloring of the IO, to mark not only the Golden Horde as the overlord of these countries, but also that Muscovy holds the title of the Grand Principality of Vladimir, which makes it the ‘enforcer’ of the Yoke. These fixes are also planned to be done in a few weeks.

Societies of Pops:
View attachment 1193514
View attachment 1194158
A bit up to the north, we have some Societies of Pops! This means that the territory of Western Siberia won’t be empty land, but will be populated by these people, which can be interacted with.

BTW, I’m not showing this week a dynasty map because, well, only the Borgijin dynasty rules over the lands of the Golden Horde, of course!


Locations:
View attachment 1194075
View attachment 1194076

Tons of locations today… You might notice that the density location is in a progression from west to east, from the most densely settled areas to the less settled ones. You may also notice that we’ve followed a design of ‘settler corridors’ in Western Siberia, setting those parts of the land that were habitable, usually on river valleys.

Provinces:
View attachment 1194081
View attachment 1194082

Areas:
View attachment 1194083

Terrain:
View attachment 1194084
View attachment 1194085
View attachment 1194086
The terrain is interesting here, as there are two main ecological areas. The first is the Steppes, Flatlands with Sparse and Grasslands vegetation, with either Cold Arid or Continental climates. And then we have the Siberian Arctics Forests, which are completely different, of course. On a note, the Urals were set as Hills, as they’re a quite settleable area, but we’ll probably make a review with your feedback, and add some mountains there.

Development:
View attachment 1194087
The whole region is not very developed, you might notice the difference with India, from last week’s Tinto Maps.

Harbors:
View attachment 1194088
There are some harbors in the Steppe region… In the Black Sea and Caspian Sea, of course! As usual, we’re open to feedback on this matter.

Cultures:
View attachment 1194089
Plenty of cultures! One note: Although we planned to work on the religious and cultural minorities of the region during the summer, we ended up not having enough time to add them. So what we’ll be doing today is showing the rough outline of ‘cultural spheres’, and then we’ll add the minorities during the review of the region. In that sense, feedback is very well received.

With that said the only note that needs to be made in terms of the cultural design is that we divided the Tatar cultural group into some differentiated regional cultures, being Crimean, Mishary, Kazani, and Astrakhani. We’re also aware that some of the cultures, as Mari and Chuvash, might be a bit displaced, as noted in the Russian Tinto Maps, so we’ll review and correct that with your feedback.


Religions:
View attachment 1194092
Regarding Religions, the matter is a bit worse, as the big Sunni blob is just because the main religion of the Golden Horde is Islam, after the conversion of Uzbeg Khan, but that’s obviously incorrect. Also, as we have been able to forecast development time on how Pagan divisions will be during this autumn, we will make a comprehensive review of the region as well, to get a good distribution of ‘Shamanist’ Paganism, Tengrism, and Sunni Islam.

Raw Materials:
View attachment 1194093
View attachment 1194094
View attachment 1194095
Regarding the raw materials, the Steppes have plenty of Livestock and Horses, quite logically, although there are regions with some other goods. And up to the north, the main materials are Lumber and Fur. Apart from that, I want to mention the mineral hub in the Ural Mountains, with plenty of Copper, Iron, Gold, Lead, and Coal. That makes it a very mid and late-game interesting spot, and playing as Muscovy/Russia, I’ll tell you that you definitely want to expand into that region, as it will fulfill some of your material needs by that time.

Markets:
View attachment 1194096
Markets! Big region, with lots of markets, although you may noticed that we changed the coloring of the locations that have 0% market access, which is the case in several areas. In any case, the market centers are Kaffa, Astrakhan, Saray-Jük, Kunya Urgench, Samarkand, Almaty, and Chimgi Tura. BTW, these names are much easier to notice in the game’s UI, as they’re beside the market centers:

View attachment 1194101

Population:
View attachment 1194103
This week we’re showing only the country population mapmode, as there are some location numbers here and there which are failing, due to the already known issue with our pop editor (and which are on the way to be fixed). In any case, the whole population of the region is around 6.5-7M, of which around 6.3M are part of the Golden Horde. As I said, it’s a menacing country…

And that’s all for today! This is going to be my last Tinto Maps in a while, as I’ll be on vacation for 3 weeks during October (you might have noticed that I didn’t have any during summer), so one of the Content Designers in the team, @Roger Corominas , will step in and be in charge of the next 4 Tinto Maps. It’s in good hands, as Roger is an Experienced CD, who has been working and focused on Project Caesar for more than 3 years, at this point (this is why you might not know him from EU4, as other CDs in our team). In any case, he will be starting with the regions of Xinjiang, mostly ruled by the Chagatai Khanate, and Tibet.

I’ll keep reading and answering you during next week, and then I’ll be back in a month from now. See you!

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What happened here?
 
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I'm not a local, but Aralsk is a Russian name of the city. In Kazakh it's just Aral and Wikipedia says that before there was a Kazakh village called Alty-Quduq (or Alty-Kuduk, I don't know the correct transliteration, means 'Six Wells').
Barsuki is also a Russian name, in Kazakh it's Borsyq (Borsyk?).

But of course, a correction from a Kazakh guy will be the best.
Yeah exactly
 
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Can you post the name of the book at least? I'm working on a proposal for the whole Aral Sea area. I already have a location going north along what I think is the old riverbed there, drawn based on a journal article which also mentioned the river and satellite and elevation maps, but more information is always good. And maybe it'll have something I can use for a name, because I'm at a loss right now.

As a local do you have any thoughts on names for locations in the area? This is what I have currently on the north Aral part of the in-progress proposal, but the names are basically guesses based on modern references or natural features and I have no clue if any of them are actually old enough or appropriate. Aral(sk) and Akespe were chosen just because the archaeological sites that are the basis for this were "near" them. Barsuki because I had no clue whatsoever and that location skims the edge of the Greater Barsuki desert. And one is obviously still completely unnamed.

IN-PROGRESS WORK - NOT FINAL FEEDBACK FOR DEVS
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this site mentions it https:// sreda. uz /rubriki/voda/o-kanale-evraziya-i-vysyxanii-arala/
Google books here https:// books. google. ru /books?id=Wr9YAAAAMAAJ&hl=ru
in geological site https:// books. google. ru/ books?hl=ru&id=4RcJAAAAIAAJ&dq=%D0%A2%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B3%D0%B0%D0%B9&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=%D0%A2%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B3%D0%B0%D0%B9
I guess this is the main source https:// books. google. ru/books?id=_qPMQzRp6CIC&pg=PA56&dq=%D0%A2%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B3%D0%B0%D0%B9&hl=ru&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjt5p61xJHPAhVBliwKHZ17DqAQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
Overall sources are scarce for this, google shows them a lot, but they are mostly the same text on different webpages
I had to divide them with spaces to get around antispam filter
Borsyq (russian name Barsuki) refers to Borsyqqum desert (literally - Badger Sands)
Akespe is great name, named for the local village in the area (White Quicksand)
Aralsk is Aral in Kazakh, means an island
I would name the location north of that Sazdy, which means full of clay, after the local village. The land is inhabited by Shomekei tribe if that helps.
Cheers
 
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