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Although covered in a later section, the land terrain has undergone a visual makeover, with the green-olive tones seen in scenarios such as the 'Master of Magic' game on Fantastic Worlds. The player should be careful to check the terrain with the cursor before settling down, as the unyielding desert terrain is a little difficult to distinguish visually from grassland and to a lesser extent plains. GAME OBJECTIVE: The game objective is clear - contact other nations and destroy a key (undisclosed) city. FINANCES: Although trade (that is trade routes) is not factored into this scenario, the availability of both harbours and trade-boosting city improvements means that funds soon become ample - a few nearby seaside cities, some roads, and plundering a few enemy settlements all make the financial plight pretty straight forward. BALANCE: Game balance, and the level of activity beyond floating around the world during the mid-game, may be seen to be somewhat problematic. Enemies with few exceptions appear to be fairly weak, and the AI tribes do not in practice enter into either diplomatic negotiations or an aggressive campaign against the Caroglanders. There is a considerable amount of time spent exploring the continents' shorelines with the numerous scoutships, and churning out military bases (barracks), defensive units, and 'peasants'. Perhaps a few more 'quests' or interesting features could help break up this mid-game plateau a little. GOVERNMENT: Government switching is not permitted, and the Caroglanders player is stuck in Monarchy. All other tribes are likewise in Monarchy or Despotism with the exception of two - the New Commonwealth in Democracy, while the Russians are in Fundamentalism. Given the size of the world, corruption in Monarchy can erode the effectiveness of luxuries in distant cities that in turn can cause a few happiness difficulties, but generally Monarchy is sufficient for the game, and the 'martial law' effect is enough to keep things on an even keel. GAME DURATION: The 500-turn clock is clearly a deliberately open-ended one. There is a case for limiting the game to a shorter duration, to put the player under an increased sense of pressure to achieve the game objectives promptly, but the author has chosen not to insert this 'optional extra'. |
An important example of this is the option to construct Marines vs. Shock Troops - the former has 'alpine' abilities, while the latter is a tougher unit with 2-move capability. In light of the problems with the 'pedia, this is one aspect that could have been addressed in the 'readme'. A 'read me' file is included that covers many of the basics. The author outlines personal views on the contest parameters, the installation instructions including sound files, the plot essentials, narrative on the units available at the start of the scenario, and other general views and observations regarding the scenario's structure. In short, it's a good overview, and on top of everything, the administrators of the contest are also thanked! One matter that perhaps could have been included would have been the recommended difficulty level - particularly in light of the lack of 'happy wonders'.
Perhaps of special note are the interesting names chosen for 'city.txt' - that have a distinctly Scandinavian feel to them. Lots of acutes, graves, umlauts, and so on. Full credit to the author for the creative effort here. THEME: The theme has been well handled, and its impact is heeded in all practical modifications that have been made to the game. The events file, although very brief, does work effectively in providing a sensible progression of improved military units as the scenario proceeds. Perhaps there was more opportunity to build on this further. As earlier indicated, the mid-game does go through a bit of a lull, and the events file could be the key to creating a few interesting sideline activities for the player while the pursuit of uncovering new lands continues independently. |
This artwork is largely - but by no means exclusively - sourced from other scenarios, most notably the units from a couple of the scenarios on the 'Fantastic Worlds' add-on CD-ROM. The overall effect of these modifications, in combination with more striking changes to the look of terrain, is a successful one. UNITS: As already mentioned, the scenario unit graphics have been drawn to a large extent from some of the MicroProse scenarios, many of them receiving a 'make over'. Not a problem in most cases, but some units do suffer from partial or (in the case of the gunship unit) complete shield concealment. ICONS: While a lot of the Icons used are either from the default game or other scenarios, there are several original contributions that should be applauded. Interestingly, there have been a host of original icons for World Wonders that do not ever factor in the scenario itself. Perhaps there was the opportunity to be more adventurous by making alterations to the civilization advance graphics in some manner, although the retention of the default range is technically fine. The cursor graphic and the text box backgrounds have been modified to good effect also. These can sometimes be 'overdone' and can look distressingly gaudy, or in its worst form become visual obstacles to the game. In this instance the changes are accomplished and subtle. OTHER GRAPHICS: The terrain visuals have undergone a significant overhaul, with a range of new looks. As mentioned earlier, a new form of mining allows ocean squares to be converted over with a settler-style naval unit. This is a most innovative feature, although disappointingly there does not seem to be any bonus from the mined square. Note also that newly-founded cities commence with the 'Construction S' unit as the default option, even if the required technology was not provided. This is a result of this unit appearing in the default 'settler' spot, and another unit may be more appropriate. The changes to the 'cities.gif' file provides tribes with a range of city design pictorials. These have been successfully customised by tribe, (for instance the Asian cities exhibiting an oriental city design). No 'title.gif' graphic was included, although the opening text window did include a unit pictorial. EVENTS: A short events file is included, and while technically flawless, and the events themselves executed well, it would appear that there is ample opportunity to strengthen this aspect of the scenario further. The game is potentially well set up to replicate many of the aspects of 'The World of Jules Verne' FW scenario, which too is a 'search-and-destroy' founded game. A few more triggers to encourage greater exploration and interaction with the tribes would be of benefit. Clearly on the basis of the existing events, the author has the skill to develop a good events file, and it would seem that this particular part of the game could be extended beyond its existing set-up. SOUNDS: A number of *.wav files are included that provide a wide number of differing gun, artillery, and missile-type sounds. TECHNOLOGY: A new, short technology tree has been built. The technology paradigm is so oppressive that realistically all technology advances stem from events - which in itself is fine, although does beg the question as to why more could not be done here. The decision to offer advances though a turn-based trigger system does regulate the flow of the game to some extent. The decision to include city advances such as 'observatories' (libraries) is a little fruitless in light of the essential inability to generate advances through research, but of no great concern. |
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FINAL NOTES: Generally this is a very enjoyable scenario to play. There have been plenty of good elements injected to support the plot, and while much of the graphical work has been 'borrowed' from other games, the overall effect is good. Technically one of the big strengths is the decision to allow ocean squares to be mined and provide a sea-based settler unit. The events file is short, but effective. Commendable as a stand-alone scenario, it would appear that there is scope to take this one step further in terms of enriching the complexity of the plot through quest-oriented events, and giving a little more character to the AI tribes. Congratulations to the author for entering a sound and competitive scenario into the SDC#2 - and best of luck! |
MAP: The map has been provided as part
of the contest. The Caroglanders begin in an island belt in the
mid-Atlantic with three very well developed (although not terribly
well protected) cities. Importantly they have a flotilla of scout
ships and peasants (settler-style units) which allows them to
quickly set up new cities in either the Americas or Europe. Following
a little exploration, they will come across other tribes dispersed
reasonably evenly around the world.
SUPPORT
FILES: The
'labels.txt' and 'game.txt' are significant inclusions, which
allow for various modifications including the transformation
of the calendar to better suit the theme of the scenario.