Apolyton Civ2 Page Scenario League Page Fictional Scenario Reviews
Author: St. Leo (Leons Petrazickis)  [Fiction]  Reviewer: Cam Hills Roman legionnaires and cavalry combat a well-equipped town uprising.   Download from The Civ2 Ziggurat

SYNOPSIS: The City of Inventarium has taken up arms against the Romans. The player takes on the role of Maximus Gloriosus to quell the civil unrest provoked by the insurgents. This scenario boasts some great artwork — the terrain has largely come from another game's graphics (Caesar III) while the units are largely from the work of Civ2 graphics 'artist' Erwin. Despite this extensive 'borrowing' of images, the effect is good and the game plays quite well as a short-term, one-on-one, simple mini-scenario.

 

COMMENCEMENT: Despite no opening title graphic, the introductory text provides a more than adequate explanation of the job at hand. A 'read me' file is included in the zipped package, however doesn't go into much detail beyond providing unit statistics and the author's contact details. In fairness to Erwin (units), Harlan Thompson (people), Alex the Magnificent (some terrain?), and the graphic artists at Sierra — perhaps some acknowledgement for the graphics would be appropriate. MAP: A smallish map (landmass of 35 x 45) is adequate for the job at hand — a little puzzling that the land is perfectly square, with a 'frame' of ocean around it, however this scenario is fictional and 'city based', so this oddity is nothing to be too unduly concerned about. The land is dominated by various buildings, from tents to palaces, and each of the three tribes (Romans, Rebels, and the bipartisan Merchants) have 'ownership' of their own section of the city. The city streets are accessible, as units have the 'ignore zones of control' flag, so units may pass by enemy dwellings, or if they choose, attack them (a useful approach to getting veteran status). Furthermore, not only is the map relatively small, but the author has increased the movement rate along roads from three to four, and included some railway-equivalent squares ('plaza'). As such, transferring troops from one side of the city to the other may be done in comparatively few turns, which helps game play significantly. GAME OBJECTIVE AND DURATION: A simple game objective, the Romans (player) must take the Rebel Camp, while the Rebels (A.I.) must take the Roman Fort. Ultimately achieving victory can be pretty 'touch and go' as the Rebels' leader (Julius Commonus) has pretty tough defence statistics. Even with your own 'super unit' (Maximus Gloriosus) at veteran status, a bit of luck is needed in getting quite a few 'hits in' in order to get Julius' health bar down towards the red. A siege of follow up attacks is needed to take out the other Rebel Defenders, who are no 'lightweights' either. You are however also up against the clock to some extent, as the rebellion must be extinguished within 64 turns. This is not an unreasonable time limit, but the player should be mindful of it nonetheless. FINANCES: No problems were experienced with finances, with a Theocracy (Fundamentalist) government able to create a net surplus of about 15 gold per turn, there is ample capacity to rush-build Elite Cavalry every few turns. Also, there are two fruitless city improvements (Temple, and Temple Complex) which can be sold off in the first few turns to build up a reserve of gold. This is one small technical hitch in the author has not given the Romans the 'Ceremonial Burial' and 'Monotheism' technologies required for these improvements to work. '+3 Tithes' is enjoyed from a Colosseum. BALANCE: The game is very defence-oriented, and strategically the player might be well served by rounding up troops and locating them in the occupied fortress to the south of the 'Market' city. The rebels pass by there en masse, and it's comparatively straightforward to attack them as they pass while remaining very secure. Once the initial rebel onslaught has occurred (after about the first twenty or so turns), the player can head to the north-east and begin the campaign to capture the 'Rebel Camp'. Several units are in all likelihood needed to capture the end fortress square (location 42,10) leading to the camp, but if this is achieved, the square provides an important strategic launching point for the final assault. As noted earlier, taking the 'Rebel Camp' requires both a lot of units and a bit of luck, as there are several units with rugged defence stats, not the least of these being the Rebel leader himself. GOVERNMENT: Government switching is not an option, however being confined to Theocracy (Fundamentalism) is fine for the purpose. This scenario is not concentrated on city management and technical research, but on achieving a short-term militaristic victory.

 

COMMENT: Overall in terms of 'general care' the scenario is not elaborate, but fine. As earlier mentioned, there is one problem with the allocation of technologies to activate two of the 'happy' city improvements, while as will be noted later, the graphics for the fortress terrain feature made units' health-bar status difficult to identify. On the other hand, the game balance is by-and-large good, the use of terrain graphics is effective, and the support text files work well. REFERENCE: The pedia.txt file is included, which allows for easy and effective reference of the Civilopedia menu. Several city improvements have been renamed. A readme.txt file is also included, albeit erring on the brief side. Small additions could have been made to enrich the plot, provide strategic suggestions, or noting the game duration (which is not established anywhere else other than by prising open the Cheat menu). As mentioned previously, the lack of credits for 'borrowed' artwork are an omission of significance, while the 'readme' could also be used to promote the author's other scenarios or web site. SUPPORT FILES: Small alterations to the game.txt have been made to support the theme, and these have been done well, and provide good 'customised' support. For instance, when a unit attempts an attack with less than one movement point, the player is provided with the following options; "The gods are on our side! We cannot bear losing respect!" or "Maybe we can achieve our victory by defence" for 'continue the assault' and 'do not attack' respectively. THEME: Generally the plot is pretty well embraced in light of the short-term nature of the game. It is not an intricate story however, and there remains plenty of opportunity to add some 'zest' to the scenario; the arrival of troops from neighbouring camps, the search for a traitor who escaped from the Roman fort, reward for reclaiming stolen treasure, etc. are hypothetical examples that could lend a little further involvement to the game somehow. As a fictional scenario, the opportunity to flesh out an imaginative theme is apparent, however in this case the plot is established from the outset with no development beyond.

 

GENERAL: As before, much of the graphical work is 'borrowed' but the overall effect is terrific, while the events file is very brief, and arguably under-utilised. The city-based scenario is not a new idea, however the concept of a short street battle in an ancient city is (if I'm not mistaken). UNITS: By and large the balance between the units is pretty good. There is significant diversity between the few choices available to the player, with some good ideas with units such as 'Scouts'. The artwork from Erwin is top-notch, and contributes greatly to the playing experience. ICONS: As noted earlier, the focus of the scenario is hardly on city development or management, nor for that matter on technological pursuit, so a wide and diverse range of icons is not particularly important to the game as they're hardly seen. The author has included some customised artwork (City Walls, Trade Centre?) as well as used some icons 'borrowed' from other Microprose scenarios. OTHER GRAPHICS: The highlight of the game is the 'city feel' achieved by the customisation of graphics from Caesar III to the Civilization II genre. The impression of tiled rooftops, city squares, and park lands is one that is visually impressive and lends tremendously to the game feel of the ancient Roman city. As earlier mentioned, the graphic for the fortress terrain improvement is very dominant, and conceals the health bar of units, which can from time to time lead to very injured units inadvertently being ordered to attack healthy opponents. EVENTS: An events file is included, but is very short. In effect it prevents negotiations between tribes and highlights by text the game's end when one of the two opposing base camps are captured. As mentioned earlier, this scenario is not designed to be 'bigger than Ben Hur', but there remains the opportunity to add some spice in terms of plot development to boost some plot richness or lend a strategic twist to the game. TECHNOLOGY: The game is effectively devoid of technological impact. A great technology tree from the "End of the Bronze Age" scenario has been adopted for this game, although technology played no role other than to customise the tribes' build lists and unit options.