I don't know of a remaining issue of persistent map settings. Also the name of a game should be causally unrelated to the placement. I know #8148 which is related especially this link.

This map recreates historical Calabria — not the modern Italian region, but the ancient heel of the Italian peninsula, home to the Messapians and the Spartan colony of Taras (modern Taranto). Set between the Ionian and Adriatic seas, the terrain reflects the flat, sun-baked limestone plateau characteristic of the Salento, with open Mediterranean scrubland, scattered olive groves, and a coastline that made Taras one of the most prosperous trading ports of Magna Graecia. The map uses the Aegean biome, which fits the region's deep Greek cultural roots: by 400 BC, Calabria was thoroughly Hellenized, and Taras alone rivaled Athens in wealth and influence. To admins, please accept the new version of earth-maps mod. For players who want to play just now the new map, I append map files here (not the map preview) calabria.js calabria.json

I once tried to create vassals, but in a different way.  

The stone slabs look fine. They may blend better if they are closer to the sand color of the buildings and the ground.

@wowgetoffyourcellphone just a “differentiating” idea, maybe use that the Sacred Band was formed by homosexual couples? And those relationships were part of its strength. Either by producing them in pairs (but each independent) or, a bit more weird but similar to Rise of Nations, by making each unit actually a couple, with one HP bar.