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For many of the tribes, the government form (Monarchy) is inadequate to deal with the pending economic disasters, in that several nations face a cash flow deficit, even on maximum taxes, with a moderate bank balance from the outset. Whichever tribe picks up The East India Co. (Adam Smith) is certainly in a far better position to influence the game. For some nations a first priority in order to rectify this poor state of affairs involves changing the building schedule away from military units and instead creating trading units, and selling off city improvements.
On the matter of city placement, there are quite a few cities established on highly defensive terrain with city walls housing several veteran defensive units. Toulouse, Florence and Venice for instance are located on hills with city walls, secured by a more than ample defence force. From a gameplay perspective, this is arguably out of balance (clearly favouring the defending tribe) given the calibre of offensive units available to take cities. Crowding the enemy's city radius squares, sending the city into revolt, and then going in with a diplomat is a strategy that better serves the player trying to take these hard-to-seize objectives. I'm not sure, given the militaristic nature of the scenario, if this is the way the author would have intended that several cities should be taken. The most apparent problem of all is the sheer size of some Empires. The Ottomans for instance begin with forty cities, which one could be considered excessive for the majority of players, who may become quickly frustrated with the huge managerial task at hand. STARTING LEVEL: The default level is Prince. Commencing a game at the tougher levels presents problems from a 'happiness' perspective, however given the sizeable job ahead of the player, any benefit such as an easy starting level has got to be a bonus. FAULTS: No technical faults were recognised, although it should be stated that there is some time is spent passively watching the numerous different A.I.s' tribes' battles progress (due to the 'reveal map' command). Some tribe colour problems were apparent (see 'Artwork'). |
Some cities contain pre-built Wonders, which include some new ones. It's unfortunate for the English that they are stuck in Monarchy, as London boasts the superb Wonder combo of Shakespeare's Theatre and King Richard's Crusade - most apt for waging war under a Democracy or Republic. Thankfully the pedia.txt is included in the zipped package, which makes reference to new units and Wonders far easier for those playing with the F.W. version. CONCERNS: The 'level of care' assessment does not escape unblemished however; There is no cities.txt, meaning that most tribes that found new cities receive nameless ones. Even the Russians, French, and English run the risk of duplicating city names due to this omission. The pedia.txt needs a quick update. To illustrate; a new Wonder "Vatican" has been included, however referring to the Civlopedia will set out "When the Eiffel Tower is first built…", where clearly 'Vatican' should replace 'Eiffel Tower'. There is no readme.txt. This would have been most beneficial from a gameplay perspective (e.g. examining the differences between the tribes, new Wonders, new units, etc.) as well as addressing other issues (e.g. extending credit to the designers of the many graphics 'borrowed' from other scenarios, possible strategy, historical commentary). Providing London with Shakespeare's Theatre negates the need to maintain a Temple and Cathedral. The first thing a player therefore should do is sell off these unnecessary improvements. Technology advancement generally plays no part in the game (due to the high technology paradigm and Monarchy governments). There are some technologies that are provided to some tribes and not to others, which are easily tradable. This is probably not intended, as 'European Wonders' is one of those technologies which may be picked up by the Ottoman Empire and used to build select Wonders in non-European locales. The 'total war' option was not toggled, making spaceship parts seemingly available on the list of options of items for future construction (a very small point, admittedly). The issue (again) of impending financial difficulties for several nations may not have been an intention of the author. Conversely, by placing extra stresses on the bank balance may prompt the A.I. tribes to more seriously consider conquest as a means of raising revenue. |
On the 'plus' side, there appears to have been inclusion of a few new unit and icon graphics, ranging from passable to commendable standard. CULTURAL: The author's efforts to separate units and city improvements pertinent to the respective European and Middle-Eastern tribes is very well done. This is not confined to military units alone, but also 'specialist' units such as the European Peasant vs. the Arabian Settler and the European Trader vs. the Arabian Caravan. Several Wonders have been added, and placed in appropriate cities. Inappropriate Wonders (such as The Manhattan Project) have correctly been completely omitted. EVENTS: An events.txt file is included, however is underdeveloped. This mechanism allows the author to better guide the progression of the scenario beyond the starting point, while also extending the chance to reinforce the theme. Thankfully the setting is already well considered in terms of historical accuracy, however events such as the creation of personality units such as "Prince Eugine" (Habsburg) or "William III of Orange" (English), or other commentary on happenings of the time could reinforce the theme. MISC. GRAPHICS: There is a starting graphic, which helps set the tone for the scenario. Some special resources have been substituted with some of the not-utilised alternatives from 'terrain.gif', namely; elk, bears, and fish. The last of these needs a quick fix, as both ocean special resources are identified as 'fish', although the marlin-looking resource has identical statistics to the standard 'whales' resource. The colour allotment to tribes may lead to a little confusion in two ways: Firstly, the Ottoman Empire is coloured dark green, which makes their cities hard to place against the similarly toned green used in the map thumbnail. The other minor point is that the icon used to show city size was coloured identically for both the English and Russian tribes (pale grey). When referring to the foreign minister's popup window, one could be forgiven for making an error in identifying these two due to their intricate flags designs, the same coloured city size icons, and identical city style designs. The flags themselves appear to be taken from 'allflags.gif'. |
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CONCLUDING REMARKS: The scenario is a big assignment to complete, with a massive amount of cities to seize in 282 long turns. For many, the task may be too unwieldy to persist with. Strangely, the scenario has no 'story line' to speak of, and all tribes commence in a state of peace. Many simply go to war because the game does not tolerate universal peace for terribly long, however a little historical reasoning to explain why conflicts were initiated would have lent some sense to the game. The game mission is simply to take as many 'objective' cities as possible. There is no apparent protagonist role in the game, although reputations between the tribes do vary. Elements in the scenario point to considered historical accuracy (e.g. the establishment of the East India Co., the opportunity for the Russian to expand Westwards), however the game needs strengthening in the area of 'playability'. A clearer delineation at the outset between the nations in terms of strengths and weaknesses may have been helpful. There are some good elements in the game: While most of the graphical work has been sourced from elsewhere, at least it makes a pleasant enough change from the default units and artwork. There also appears to be a few new graphics included, which is to be applauded. The pedia.txt file makes reference work considerably easier, while the map (despite some obvious cluttering) has been meticulously prepared. As previously noted, the separation of Eastern and Western cultures is well done. This scenario would benefit by halving the number of cities, fixing up the financial problems, including far more comprehensive events file to liven the game up, and creating a rationale for the European conflicts that arise soon enough. More original artwork, and a greater focus on the trade and technology dimensions would further contribute to the game's enjoyment. |
The
map is cluttered, with severe overlap of city radii in many cases.
This problem is exacerbated by unsuitable surrounding terrain.
A case in point; several cities located in the Swiss Alps fight
over who will be the 'lucky one' to get the last mountain square.
The
appropriate historical leaders' names have been accommodated
for each tribe. The default / standard game's tribe selected
in each case as the basis of the scenario tribe allows the most
appropriate leaders' graphics to appear when diplomacy negotiations
take place. Likewise, tribe flags have been substituted for ones
suited to the historical setting.