Sigh...I gave a very lengthy response, but then the server crashed. Here, let me sum it all up for you:

I do not want complete historical accuracy. Not giving it a set date gives me more freedom with the individual powers. I did not want it to be too crowded, so I used the powers I chose. I will edit the areas surrounding Poland and Novgorod/Scandinavia. If Rome were to fall, the Crusades would end, thus, any Turk conquering Rome would be able to pretty much be able to prevent further assaults on the Holy Lands.

In my opinion, you, Airborne, are far too caught up in making the game perfectly suit a time period or a region that you forget that there are many limitations in making a game. I don't care that you don't like my variants, so please limit your complaints that are targeted towards my historical accuracy, as I much prefer gameplay to be fun than to line up exactly with history. There is a place for such things, but it is very difficult to achieve in a Diplomacy game. It is just a game after all, and the goal should be enjoying the game as opposed to making it suit your wishes.

If you do send me that draft, it will be useful and appreciated, but I try not to copy the works of others unless it is a direct variation from such. Thank you for your comments, however.

Hmm, I see a major roblem with Hungary.
To begin with: the first Habsburg ruler (I think Albert, the 1st) of the Hungarian Kingdom was way after the Crusades. THe ruler was a king from the founder Árpád dinasty in the whol period (from the conquest of Jerusalem to the fall of Akkon) That means: Vienna is not Hungarian, Hungary is not Habsburg at all (the first appearence of them is 1278, when Rudolf defeats Ottokar, KIng of Bohemia - with a Hungarian army).
Historically I could suggest the following SCs: Buda (not Budapest till 1867) in the centre, Transsylvania (to the east) and Croatia (the Hungarian kings conquered that territory in the end of the 11th century, and they were Croatian kings as well). A 4th center could be in the South, could be called Vajdaság.

AS for historical accuracy: I see your point in not making the game exactly punctual, but having Hungary as Habsburg is such a big flaw, which sould be abadonded by any means. Viena should be either a neutral SC, or an independent power with a second SC somewhere.

That still doesn't deal with the issue of Poland/HRE/Hasburgs and Spain/France touching Home SCs, Novogorod unable to compete with Denmark, the text problems, etc.
But let's go around the board too
England is pretty much set no one can really challenge him for Ireland or Scotland and Iceland can be easily picked up. 3 Easy neutrals by him, and then his neighbors Denmark is a Baltic power and is surrounded and has to deal with the awkward issue of Hamburg. France in the South is no better put at start, in conflict with Spain. Thus England can become a powerhouse and ally with his enemy, enemy and have complete mastery of the seas in the North
(Ireland touching the MAO and take out Iceland SC?)
-Egypt can’t expand West. It take three turns to take Tripoli and by then Two Sicilies would of grabbed it so his only tactic available at start is this; attack the Turks. It’s impossible for the Turks to stop Egypt from taking Jerusalem but then it’s a hard slog for Egypt to gain another SC similar to Italy in Standard. Finally…Suez Canal?
(Take out Qattara and Suez Canal?)
Byzantine is near hopeless, the Hasburgs can block him out of Serbia, his Constantinople SC touches Armenia putting him at conflict with the Turks and the Turks has easy neutrals to grab. In a fight between them, things look pretty bad for the Greeks. Bulgaria is also in danger, let's say for whatever reason Con stays in Con (i.e. bounce in Smy). Now if Austria orders Vie-Bud and Poland Jazdów-Ukraine. Either of them can block him out of Bulgaria. Same with Turks and Smyrna. The situation is so dire right out of the gate.
Two Sicilies also has an excellent position, three neat and tidy SCs. Tripoli is a lock, Sardinia and Tunisia can be obtained. Their only threat is the HRE, which isn’t well placed to stop the fall of Rome. From there Two Sicilies can pretty much dominate the Central Med and expand practically anywhere with weak neighbors and easy neutrals. As long as HRE doesn’t come for revenge. Two Sicilies can make fleets, fleets, and more fleets.
(Reduce to two SCs? Make a buffer province between Rome and Two Sicilies?)
Austria is similar to standard in grave danger of being ganged on upon but having neutrals all around. Austria and HRE has some pretty good sync here. Boh, Tyr, and Ven DMZ, kill Poland. The only problem is that Two Sicilies menaces Trieste and would be angered by fleet building for obvious reasons. Army heavy they are still a good mid game power and has a shot at winning.
Denmark as I have stated will have to argue with HRE about Hamburg but Denmark has Oslo and Sweden in the bag. Unfortunately, Novgorod will slowly come knocking and England will too which is a far more dangerous threat. Denmark can either struggle and be slowly choked to death or grow at a moderate pace and be a good mid game power.
HRE is going to have headaches, both Frankfurt and Milan are locks with Hamburg and Marseilles very possible but HRE is going to lose Rome unfortunate but with some diplomacy HRE can convince that his destiny lies at sea (not too hard with Spain and the Byzantines weak; Sic-ION, ION-Gre in the first year?) Poland is an annoying neighbor, France and HRE can get along but even if they do combine; they can’t match English naval strength. So in a Northern triple HRE and France would ally with England over each other making it a lopsided triangle.
France can really damage Spain early on Rennes or Paris can grab Tournai(?) and still have a unit extra to head South, the problem with Spain is Seville is poor help for Aragon which if Bordeaux is an army has to go 50-50 Navarre or hold. Good position but a bit iffy mid to late game with HRE, Two Sicilies and England as neighbors.
The Moors locks Timbuktu, has a reasonable corner position but France and Two Sicilies can become a threat.
Spain has three neutrals but there is the Aragon/Bordeaux issue and the Moors to the South. What makes France and Spain uncomfortable allies is similar to Austria and Turkey in standard. Sure Spain can help France but then France will have a big Spain on her backdoor that will cut any growth into the Med for France.
Poland the question is this; is it going to be Ber-Kal with Vie supporting or vice versa?
Novgorod has a very good corner position but will have to argue with Denmark with Helsinki and Luzki (Malmo?) only kept away by the Gulf of Bothina. The problem I see in Novgorod position is that it will be hard to get into competitive size meaning size where a solo can be reached and elimination unlikely. I see Moscow and perhaps the Crimea and Prussia but then a slug fest for growth after that.

As for the Muslim powers:
-Egypt was much more powerful than any other Muslim state then, save the Umayyads in Al-Andalus. They should have 3 SC.

-Medina was, while very important for the Muslims as a holy place, not a city to supply an army at all.

-There shouldn't be a Seljuc Empire in the game, their hands were preoccupied in their eastern territories (as Runciman has written, there was a kind of feudal anarchy there).

-Cyprus could be an SC as well, they palyed a major role in that time.

-Schwicz was not important that time. They had nothing save mountains.

-Berlin hadn't exsited that time (according to the Wikipedia) as such. Danzig could be an SC instead of that, and if it'S not a home sc of the Holy Roman, thats far better, because Poland could conquer it.

-Crimea should be renamed Cherson: it was a city of wast importance that time.

I mean no offence by bringing all this up, I hope, that this could help you somehow. I'd really like to play a Crusades variant, If you need any help, I'd gladly help you.

http://www.diplom.org/Online/variants/1900-GG.pdf
Here is an example of historical accuracy and gameplay working hand and hand.

King, why don't you take the "Known World 901" map, and reshape it? Its much better for that intervallum than the Classic map. Of ourse, you must change a lot there as well, but its better to start with, I think.

GOOD LORD!
Airborne...that was a lot of reading...(only got about half way through).

But I have several things to say!

1. I forgot to mention that you are completely crazy for even mentioning the text problems...Why the hell would I make everything perfect when the map isn't even ready to start the editing process?

2. I care not for the territory names, tell me which ones you would prefer over any others, and I will change them.

3. I am still not sure if you all read the information concerning the map below the map. There are neutral armies to prevent English and Spanish dominion from the first turn. You also forget that initial unit placement has a huge impact on the game. Ex. England: F York (East Coast), A London
England can only get one supply center its first year.

4. I have edited the map, so tell me all of your new complaints...

I didn't have the patience to read the text under the map, or all the text here, but I will say that with the exception of the text problems(already addressed I see) I don't see much wrong here, but I do have a couple questions: will it be build anywhere(may have been addressed but not sure) and/or custom start builds? anyways, I can assure you when you finish it, I would love to be among one of the first too play it :D looks like a fun, chaotic map.

I didn't. For example I stated that there is problems that arises if say French A Bordeaux exists there is a 50/50 Nav or Aragon that Spain. I didn't go too deep into that because I didn't know the at start units to say clearly what. Second you didn't mark off armed neutrals, do they all have standing units

I did, in fact, list neutral units...

It's in the last line before it says 'build anywhere.'

Goodness Gracious! Now let me go to bed...

here's a quite accurate map about Hungary that time:
http://www.tatárjárás.hu/index.fcgi?portalid=1&item=&nyelv=hu&menuparam3=2&type=3
Erdély is Transsilvania.

Now, isn't Hungary hopeless in your map? I mean Byzantium will conquer all the neutrals around and can easily destroy Hungary in the 2nd year. I suggest to make a buffer between Greece and Serbia, and Bulgaria and Buda, furthermore give a 3rd SC in Transsilvania.

When I say that armed neutrals are marked on the map I mean they are greyed out or marked in Yellow (Viking Diplomacy)

I found a Crusades variant, it'S pretty good:
http://www.dipwiki.com/index.php?title=Crusades

Would it be possible to have a historically accurate version for those who want a challenge, and a more balanced version? I think in this case it may be nearly impossible to have anything close to both.

I also seem to remember a more localized Crusaders variant being developed at ConquestofNations.com. It's probably still there, despite all the crickets chirping, or on some other site.

O by the way, King Atom, I'm really looking forward to this variant, the Middle Earth one, and the WW2 one. Keep up the good work.

The Hapsburgs were not important yet at the time of the Crusades. HRE was controlled by the Luxemburgs. Hungary was ruled by the Valois-Anjou French by the Renaissance. I'm unsure about the Crusades, but the cadet branch of the French Valois Dynasty ruled Naples, Hungary and Poland eventually.

So no Lithuania or Teutonic Knights?

@Gopher
You are mistaken about Hungary. It was ruled by the founder Árpád dinasty till 1301. THe Anjous ruled from 1311 to 1382 (only 2 kings, but the among the best kings of Hungary). Poland was ruled by the Piast family, the last Piast was succesed by Louis the Great (or the Magyar as the Polish call him), the second Anjou King of Hungary. His daughter Hedvig (Jadviga) was married to Wladislaw, Prince of Lithuania, thus they formed the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

As for the HRE, the first Luxembourg Emperor was crwoned in 1312.

@adalephat....note the reference to the Renaissance. I was not mistaken. Hungary was not ruled by the Hapsburgs nor was the HRE. Unless you are saying that the Naples Anjou were not Valois, I'm unsure as to what your correction is. I am familiar with the formation of the Commonwealth. I have suggested several times on this forum that we really NEED a variant based on The Deluge.

I do seem to have conflated in my mind the Luxenbourgs and Hohenstaufen into a single dynasty. But my point was simply that the Hapsburgs ruled neither HRE nor Hungary at the time of the Crusades.

sure, you are right, I stated this as well :D
As for the Hungarian Anjous (who were a branch of the Naples Anjous) no, they were Capets I think, the founder of the family was a son of Saint Louis of France. The Valois one was Henry the III of France, who was a King of Poland before being French king.

The Capets, Valois and Bourbons are all the same family. Louis XVI was tried under than name Louis Capet. Wikipedia says Valois-Anjou began with Louis I of Naples second son of John II, who lost the battle of Poiters to The Black Prince.

I have posted another edit to my map. I would prefer that you read the rules specified beneath it before complaining about it. I would like to start hearing more critiques based on aspects of gameplay rather than historical accuracy, as I have made it as historically accurate as its going to get.

My one comment is with regards to the Umayyad Caliphate or whatever we are to call the Morocco-Seville power. How does it take a garrisoned SC? I presume that Fez is a fleet so how can Toledo or Timbuktu be threatened?

Unless both units are armies and there is a land bridge across Gibraltar, I think there will be problems.

My mistake! I forgot to mention the land bridge in the rules. I shall go change that right away.

Nice variant. I like the dual use of neutrals and the allotment of territories with two coasts. Egypt and England look to have big advantages with corner positions, three units to start, and plenty of neutrals vs. countries like Poland, Hungary, and Persia. I like the idea of alternate victory conditions a lot, but I think Egypt and Byzantium have huge advantages in securing Rome and Jerusalem. You've also got three purple-colored countries in the south two green-colored countries in the north. I'd think about substituting a red for one of the purple countries, a white for the other, and a dark blue for one of the green countries. Great map. I will look forward to playing this variant once it is up on vDip.

Great map, but please rename Kosice to Kassa.

Alright then, anyone else have something to say before I start to finalize it?

I still feel, that Hungary is too vulnerable. She can't stand a chnace against a HRE-Byzantine alliance. I think a buffer should be between Buda and Bavaria, and same is true for the Balkans around Serbia. Or she should start with 3 SCs.