Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose & Bharat — Civilization VII Mod

▶ Play it on the Steam Workshop

Adds Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, hero of India's independence struggle, as a playable leader, together with the Modern-Age civilization Bharat. Data-only plus UI scripting — no core game files are replaced.

Framing. Bose is portrayed solely through the Indian independence struggle — the Indian National Army / Azad Hind Fauj, the Azad Hind government, "Give me blood, and I shall give you freedom," and Dilli Chalo. There are no Axis-alliance references, mechanics, or iconography anywhere in the mod. The leader art is an original painted tribute portrait, not a photograph.

Status: complete and tested in-game (leader, civ, units, quarter, civics tree, art, player colours, localisation). Balance is tuned to base-game comparators but will evolve with playtesting.

What it adds

Leader — Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose (Militaristic + Diplomatic)

• Azad Hind Fauj (leader ability): +3 Combat Strength for units in friendly territory; +3 Happiness in settlements you did not found; +2 Culture per conquered settlement; +1 Combat Strength for all units while at war; +1 Influence per turn, increasing each Age.
• Purna Swaraj (agenda): favours civilizations that rule only what they founded; disfavours those who hold many conquered settlements.
• Historical civ path highlighted: Maurya → Chola → Bharat.

Civilization — Bharat (Modern Age)

• Mother Industries (civ ability): +5 Production in settlements with a Factory; +3 War Support in wars you did not start; +1 Culture in all settlements.
• Unique units: Azad Hind Fauj (infantry), Rani of Jhansi Regiment (ranged), Azad Hind Nau Sena (naval), Bahadur Group (reconnaissance).
• Unique quarter: National Planning Commission (Yojana Bhavan + Vaidyashala).
• Civics tree: Swadeshi · Purna Swaraj · Forward Bloc · Azad Hind · National Planning, each unlocking a tradition.
• Iconography: 24-spoke Ashoka Chakra civ emblem, INA Springing Tiger unit flag, Sarnath Lion Capital, saffron/navy player colours.

Install (local)

Symlink or copy this folder into the Mods directory, then enable it under Additional Content in game:

ln -s ~/dev/civ7-netaji-mod \
  "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Civilization VII/Mods/civ7-netaji-mod"

Windows: Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization VII\Mods\. Fully restart the game after adding or changing the mod (manifests are read at startup).

Layout

netaji-bose.modinfo   Manifest — game + shell action groups, ImportFiles
config/               Setup-screen registration (leader, civ, unlocks, traditions)
data/                 Gameplay: leader, civ ability, units, quarter, civics, colours, icons
text/en_us/           English localisation (LeaderText.xml, BharatText.xml)
ui/                   UI scripts — 2D leader portrait, icon/asset seams
art/                  Raw PNGs (emblem, icons, unit flags, portraits, loading, banner)
audio/                Tribute voice + theme tracks (Workshop-page media)
DESIGN.md             Design and roadmap

Notes on the 2D leader

Civilization VII has no pipeline for custom rigged/animated 3D leaders. Netaji therefore appears as a hand-framed 2D painted portrait, composited over the UI on the diplomacy, leader-select, loading, pause, and setup screens via the mod's UI scripts. This is the same approach used by other 2D-leader mods.

Credits & licensing

• Code / data / scripts: MIT (see LICENSE).
• Art: original AI-assisted illustrations generated and composited for this mod; the Ashoka Chakra is drawn to the constitutional 24-spoke geometry. The Sarnath Lion Capital appears as ancient sculpture only, never as the State Emblem lockup.
• Audio: a tribute rendition — synthesised voice and an original "in-the-spirit" march, never presented as Bose's authentic recordings.
• Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is a revered historical figure; this mod is an admiring tribute made in good faith.

Intended for the Steam Workshop. Note: Civ VII has no in-game publish button; confirm the current upload method (Firaxis/2K modding SDK, mod.io, or SteamCMD) from the official Civ VII mods documentation.