Scenario Review Scenario Title: Ice-Age Author: Kestrel Reviewers: Blackclove & Julia Sasson Fantasy scenario about high-tech civilizations during the ice age. Download Ice-Age.zip

Overall Rating 12/30 SYNOPSIS: A good first attempt at a scenario by Kestrel, this scenario is kind of a cross between an alternate history and a fantasy world.  Its premise is that high-tech civilizations appeared during the ice age.  They were able to come into contact with one another because the ice sheets essentially eliminated the oceans.  In general, the scenario is not really bad so much as a clear novice scenario.  Things don't make a lot of sense and there are no events until VERY late in the game.  With considerable effort this scenario could be interesting to play.  Suggestions follow.

 

Playability Rating 4 / 10 COMMENTS:  The scenario is playable but very slow-paced.  Because of the high defensive value of terrains and the relatively minor effects of technology on warfare, defense is heavily favored.  Even with a large army of catapults you are unlikely to destroy a city with city walls, even if it is very primitive. We would suggest increasing the attack value of units or reducing the defensive value of the terrains to make things more realistic. Additionally, making higher-technology units have better firepower or higher combat statistics would make technology more of a factor.  Another defense-oriented change is the reduction of the road movement factor from x3 to x2. This makes faster units less deadly in civilized areas.  It also forces you to build a few more wimpy defensive units to make sure each city is defended, as you can't move troops from one city to another as fast in civilized areas as you usually can.   One of the first units you get is the "berserker" which is a 4/2/1 land unit.  For whatever reason, it is extremely tough and beats just about anything else you can build for a LONG time.

 

Level of General Care 4 / 10 COMMENTS: The tech tree is a modified version of the default tree.  It is nice to see some important new technologies making an appearance here (like the printing press and the much-neglected telephone). The inclusion of modern infantry is also nice, with the art coming from the New Civr Modpack.  In general the tech tree works pretty well, and we noticed no major bugs.  You usually have a few choices between different techs, which is good.  The map is fine, although not terribly exciting.  There are no real oceans  (in keeping with the premise) and a lot of ice.  There are no changes whatsoever to the wonders or improvements, which we  found disappointing.  The readme is short and covers the units and premise.  It would have been  nice to get more information about the setting in text format (e.g., the  civilizations involved) and the terrains, but this isn't essential.  For some reason, "frost giants" are included as one of the civilizations.  This seems strange or silly to me, given that there is no comment on it in  the readme.  There is also a strange size 6 barbarian city that pumps out berserkers  every turn.  Why?  Minor technical problem -- the author has zipped the file including  high-level directories, so it creates half a dozen extra layers of folders  when unzipped.  There are also two .scn files included without explanation.

 

Art and Originality 4 / 10 COMMENTS: We don't think any of the artwork is new, but it is acceptable.  Some more varied ice age terrains would have been nice.  As it is, the terrain looks relatively dull.  Perhaps prowling sabre-tooth tigers and such could make an appearance?  Liked the penguins.  The idea is interesting but should be developed more fully to make the scenario really exciting.  The best bet would be to add something to the events file to spice up the action.  We won't spoil the surprise by telling you what the one kind of event that happens is, but suffice to say it is  too little too late in our view.

 

NOTES: None

 

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