|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Unfortunately, like most ‘bloodlust’ games, the continual churning out of units and wiping out poorly defended ‘mushroom’ villages does take its toll in terms of ‘excitement’, in that once a position of dominance is obtained and military momentum is well underway, the game does start to drag. FAULTS: Small points. Despite the author’s note in the ‘read me’ file noting "when you develop Democracy and Communism you will able to switch to those government", this was not the case. The only way the reviewer could get out of the form of government was to cause a scandal in the Senate under Democracy — after a period of Anarchy, all forms of government became available. Not even having a city in revolt for multiple turns under a Democracy allowed this option. Spaceship components were still presented as obtainable options in the help files, even though The Apollo Program was not obtainable. This small point could have been tidied up by having "no" for the spaceship parts’ prerequisites in rules.txt. The pedia.txt file was not included (although game.txt was), which would have provided information on the new units while playing the game under the ‘Fantastic Worlds’ version, although the necessary details on the units are included in the ‘read me’ file. It appears from rules.txt that the game was developed with the ‘Conflicts in Civilizations’ version of the game. APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGIES: There did not seem to be any inappropriate availability of technological advances as they were largely those of the Modern Era from the standard game. As noted in the introduction, some user defined technologies were included; ‘American Support’, ‘Soviet Support’, and ‘Israeli Advanced Weaponry’, all extending potent new units. This was a good way of involving the ‘Cold War’ adversaries without having to create them as tribes. A purist may have some problems with the early availability of some units such as the MiG-21 (first constructed globally in 1959) and the Merkava Tank (late 1970’s), however credit to the author for identifying these units as appropriate to this conflict nonetheless. Given that the ‘Conflicts in Civilizations’ version of the game seems to have been used, should the events.txt file been included, a ‘givetechnology’ triggered by a turn could not have been written to accommodate this timing. To illustrate, on turn 133 (year 1959) the necessary technology to produce the MiG-21 could not have been provided anyway given that the ‘givetechnology’ command is confined to the ‘Fantastic Worlds’ version. BALANCE: Generally the game was very well balanced between the tribes, although Egypt tended to have a better starting spot despite difficult terrain and the Monarchy government. The most apparent conundrum is the level of difficulty. The author suggests; "Although the default difficulty of this scenario is chieftain, you will enjoy the game better if you play it at tougher level" — and this is certainly true. An experienced player can undertake the scenario with considerable confidence at King level, however there are so few options regarding controlling citizen discontent, that playing at the harder levels pose real problems. The default ‘riot factor’ of 14 has been retained, there is only one ‘happy Wonder’ (Shakespeare’s Theatre), and although synagogues and mosques are able to be built, their maintenance can become a severe economic burden. The advanced units are particularly potent, and arguably a little too strong. A force of a dozen Merkava Tanks, each with 4 moves per turn, 14 attack, 8 defence, 4 hit points, and a firepower of 4, can pretty well wipe out anything. |
Beyond the lack of ‘seafaring opportunity’, the game’s landform is further constrained by vast deserts, then vast plains, then a band of hills. While legitimate, there could be the opportunity to add some variance with either increased irregularity of existing terrain, or the creation of other terrain forms such as ‘arid land’ (by replacing ‘tundra’ or ‘jungle’ for instance). This is one of those points where the author must juggle ‘accuracy’ with ‘playability’. The inclusion of the Engineer unit in the game can help the player better adapt to difficult terrain through speedy irrigation, double-irrigated farmland, or ‘terraformed’ land. The map appears to be as accurate as could be hoped, and certainly large enough to enjoy meaningful expansion. The author has sensibly created cities called ‘Egypt’, ‘Lebanon’, and ‘Syria’ as a deliberate move to encapsulate the smaller cities of each of those tribes that exist beyond the game map’s limits. DOCUMENTATION: The game contains a brief ‘read me’ file. It is often a point of some debate as to how extensive such files need to be. It does however cover important points such as the statistics of new units (as elsewhere noted, not in the pedia.txt file), the World Wonders, and very brief strategy suggestions. Credits for units or graphics are not included. With the exception of the ability to move into Democracy or Communism from other forms of government (see ‘Faults’), this short file is adequate for the task. TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES: As previously noted, the technology tree is largely founded on the standard game’s Modern Era technologies, with three user defined options added. There is some opportunity to be a little more adventurous here, by adding all sorts of new technologies. DETAILS: Everything points towards a scenario that has taken into account history with a degree of care. A city.txt file with an extensive list of names is included, which will prevent Boston from being founded in the middle of the Gaza Strip! As previously mentioned, the game.txt file has been included, but not pedia.txt, which will lead to players using ‘Fantastic Worlds’ from being unable to use the Civlopedia effectively (as before, the ‘read me’ file addresses this problem). |
ICONS: There are only three new city improvement icons, the synagogue, the mosque, and the Wailing Wall (WoW). The first two are not particularly artistic, while the last may have been ‘borrowed’ from elsewhere. Otherwise it’s the standard game’s. UNITS: There are new units added to the game, but from an artistic perspective, they are by and large of normal standard for scenario designs. The ‘Armor’ unit has been reversed and colored gray to form an alternative tank. The ‘Bomber’ has been shrunk in size to become a reconnaissance plane. The ‘Marine’ and ‘Fanatics’ units have received some touching up to create minor new looks (the Marine Settler). There are a few good unit designs, such as the MiG-21. CITIES: There have been changes to the flag designs, which enhance the theme of the scenario, and clearly the author understands where on the flag to place the pixel which determines the tribe color. No other changes to the city designs have been made. All tribes use the ‘modern’ city style. TERRAIN, PEOPLE: Terrain and People graphics files are not included, and as such the standard game’s are used instead. OPENING GRAPHIC: No opening or title graphic is included. |
|
CONCLUDING REMARKS: This is a high quality scenario in most respects, but it is a let down in a few areas. Is it worth downloading? Definitely a good and uncomplicated conflict well worth checking out. What are its strengths? It demonstrates the hallmarks of good design in several areas:
There are areas where some improvements could be made:
|
HTML Design by Blackclove and Monk