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Campaigns » Shaolin Monastery - Singleplayer Campaign
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Shaolin Monastery - Singleplayer Campaign
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Author |
File Description |
Gweilo2 |
Posted on 01/27/04 @ 05:55 PM
File Details |
Age: |
Steel |
# of Episodes: |
3 |
# of Cities: |
1 |
Difficulty: |
Hard |
Custom Maps: |
Yes |
Minimap:
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During the 5th and 6th centuries CE, Buddhism spread rapidly throughout the Middle Kingdom. Thousands of temples, monuments, and religious sites were built during this time.
In 495 CE, Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty commissioned the building of a new Buddhist monastery at Mount Song. The woodlands surrounding the mountain were called 'Shaolin' by the locals, meaning 'young forest', and thus the monastery's name was born.
Many years later, a strange Buddhist master arrived at Shaolin. His name was Bodhidharma, and his impact on the monks (and Buddhism itself) was immense. He introduced radical new teachings, which included Chan (Zen) thought and a physical regimen program which evolved into a martial art. Bodhidharma's teachings were like pebbles dropped into a still pond, and the ripples are still felt by Buddhists today.
In this campaign you will assume the role of a young Buddhist administrator, sent by the emperor to establish the monastery. You will find that running a monastery is a different experience than running a city. Monks live a more humble life, and the evolution of their community is guided by their religious beliefs. A determined effort was made to incorporate this aspect into the campaign design.
A player will interact with 7 historically-accurate cities. Resources, commodities, and available structures follow the Emperor model for the Steel Age. Sabotage by spies is prohibited in this campaign, although spies can still be used for information gathering. This campaign features a new custom map of original design, and 'enormous' size. The map was modeled from an actual map of the Mount Song area.
For chronological continuity, this campaign should be played just after concluding the Jin-Wudi campaign, and before starting the Sui-Tang campaign 'A Time of Grandeur'. The historical timeline of 'Shaolin Monastery' falls between those two campaigns.
Five extra files are included in the download package. The first is a text file 'SM_Readme.txt', which contains installation instructions, historical background information, campaign design notes, and mission hints (warning: contains spoilers). The other four files are images called 'Shaolin_map.jpg', 'Bodhidharma1.jpg', 'Bodhidharma2.jpg', and 'Sun_Wu_Kong.gif'. These extra files are included solely for historical reference.
NOTE: This campaign places a heavy emphasis on trade, money management, and empire map diplomacy. A military dimension also exists. It is designed for experienced players with more than a casual knowledge of the game.
Missions Teasers: (note: all missions have a 'time limit' or 'survival' goal)
Mission 1 - 'A Monastery For Mount Song' - 31 years, from 495 CE to the end of 525 CE.
Mission 2 - 'A Master Brings Enlightenment' - 14 years, from 526 CE to the end of 539 CE.
Mission 3 - 'The Warrior Monks of Shaolin' - no time limit, survive 10 years, starts in 540 CE.
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Author | Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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Meghanajh |
Posted on 07/12/04 @ 04:31 AM
Some background - I've played all the City builders from Ceaser 3 onwards. I played Emperor on Hard right out of the box (I owe it all to Grumpus and Pecunia and these forums.) This is my first review - I loved this campaign so much I just had to share!
Playability: 5
Very challenging but also quite fair to the player. The chapters have quite a few tricks but the solutions are available if you think about it and plan well. It really emphasizes trade and manipulating your production and resouces to maximize profits. You will need to squeeze every dollar you can out of your trade partners and stay constantly ready to adjust if the market changes.
Balance: 5
Again, I thought the challenges were fair to the players The time constraints were quite sufficient. The military attacks were reasonable for your rate of progress. You need every advantage you can get to win - but the campaign gives you just enough if you capitalize on all of them.
Creativity: 5
Excellent interpretation of the theme - the rise of the Buddhist monasteries. Disallowing government taxation and the development of Shaolin warriors was handled in a believable manner. So was the importance of Tea and Boddhidharma. (Forgive me, please, if I misspelled that.) The Bhuddist gods are vital to success in this campaign and their special gifts and abilities were well integrated with the story line.
Map Design: 5
Clever and beautiful. The best I've ever seen.
Story/Instructions: 5
I wish I could give 10 here - the thoroughness and dedication that went into the readme is astonishing.
Additional Comments:
This campaign really seems like a labor of love on the part of its creator! I know I'm looking forward to trying your other mods. |
Centaurus |
Posted on 11/01/04 @ 08:27 AM
Playability: 5
Very user-friendly for the more experienced player. Those players with no more than a medium knowledge of the nuances of trade are likeley to struggle, even on 'Normal' difficulty, but as Gweilo2 says, the campaign has been designed for intermediate to advanced players. Don't want that to put off any less-experienced players though; after all, it'll teach you some great new tricks!
Balance: 5
Very fair, but with the absence of Tax Income you will really need to walk a fine line to be successful! Less experienced players may find themselves struggling so hard with one of the rquirements of the 3rd Mission that they could give up (I won't say which objective it is, because I don't want to spoil the fun!). Great job on balance...very challenging but fair.
Creativity: 5
Excellent. What more can I say? This scenario is a great example of what can be produced using the Editor if you put a bit of creative thought into it. Wonderful job!
Map Design: 5
Great scope for city-planning and building and a beautifully laid out map. I particularly loved the harbour area!
Story/Instructions: 5
This bit is great. Hints as to the challenges that will be faced in each mission are given too, so take particular note!
Additional Comments:
This was the first custom campaign I've downloaded for Emperor and if any of the others come close to it, then I'll be well happy! I shall certainly make sure that I download all of your other campaigns, Gweilo2. Thanks for putting in the time and the effort and producing such a great playing experience. You should consider taking this up as a career if you haven't already.
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dragoneyz2 |
Posted on 08/22/08 @ 05:03 AM
Playability: 1
there is no way to get spices
Balance: 2
way too many trees to clear for any play
Creativity: 1
there isn't enough housing evolution allowed, there are many trading glitches which inhibits smooth play
Map Design: 1
too many hidden roadways, it's more of a maze than a map. way too many trees.
Story/Instructions: 4
well written story, however this is the best part of the campaign.
Additional Comments: I was really excited about this campaign until i encountered the trade glitches and map hassles. it needs a bit of fine tuning.
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SeaWorld |
Posted on 05/16/11 @ 08:45 AM
Playability: 4
Very peaceful... and AMPLE time. the time aspect actually got quiet long at times.
As the readme note states "love the pause key", well in this mission you'll love the speed option. after initial set up of city run at 100% speed. Gifting heroes every 3 months and empty your stores once a year through gifts to the other cities.
Balance: 3
A little too peaceful for my personal play style. I prefer a little bit more combat.
Far too much focus on cash flow through the time periods, pushing to get the max profit out of each stage and then stagnating in mission 3 until the 10 year time period is up before cash starts to flow again.
Creativity: 4
My compliments. Clever Sun Wu Kong trick for mission 3. Return to Wu Mountain.
Map Design: 5
Spoiler: look at the water table to know where to place your initial housing block.
Very clever with regard to fitting in the massive monuments.
Story/Instructions: 5
Historically stunning. first class absorption of the player. You can truely adopt the mission and purpose of the mission.
Additional Comments:
Thank you team for a classic mission.
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tennyson98 |
Posted on 03/11/14 @ 11:50 AM
This is a very interesting map. I felt the Heroes didnt need to be so long. The trading is right on the edge of making enough money. On the second mission other cities kept asking for Tea and it kept getting higher and higher then it just stopped. I really ramped up tea production to keep up with demand and it just stopped. Having a Palace would have been a real nice addition with a tax office, this would have helped when trading stopped for while.
I really liked all the hills with the trees everywhere.
All in all I really liked this map. I would give it an overall rating of 4.5/5.
This is a must download and play.
To the creator, the time you took to have other cities change there trading demand was really nice. Added a different challenge |
marconi |
Posted on 01/08/15 @ 10:35 AM
Playability: 5
No glitches.
Balance: 3
Unlike other campaigns by Gwellio, where all the aims kind of 'tied together' towards the end of each level, in this one I found myself completing all but one of the sucess conditions pretty easily and then having to stick around either for homage months or just to fill up the treasury. It would also have been good to have more requests by other cities that weren't resolvable by Boddiharma to add a bit more challenge.
Creativity: 5
A novel storyline that's far more imaginative and immersive than in the original game.
Map Design: 5
Fantastic map design that has enough flexibility to allow lots of replaying and is just visually stunning.
Story/Instructions: 5
Well researched, well written and adds to the overall experience rather than just being an extra screen to click through.
Additional Comments:
A bit more leisurely than other Gwellio campaigns. I would rate it as 'normal' rather than 'hard'. |
zhoudynasty |
Posted on 11/04/20 @ 03:37 AM
Playability: 5
Balance: 5
Creativity: 5
Map Design: 5
Story/Instructions: 5
Additional Comments:
Intense military action in Mission 3, with the aid of Hero, managed to outfight Xiong Nu.
Just that there's no more Bodhidharma to bail you for the Tea when there isn't enough going around. :D
Nevertheless, pretty much enjoyed all 3 Missions.
It's also nice that there's no scripted event that stop you from winning Mission 3 after the timeline.
Although Xiongnu tried to invade me after they asked for the 15k, I bribed Xiongnu, gave them Spices and made them my ally so that they wont bother me anymore in order to reach that 150k. |
vivizco |
Posted on 01/02/23 @ 12:41 PM
Playability: 4
(Insert Playability analysis here)
Balance: 3
(Insert Balance analysis here)
Creativity: 4
(Insert Creativity analysis here)
Map Design: 4
(Insert Map Design analysis here)
Story/Instructions: 4
(Insert Story/Instructions analysis here)
Additional Comments:
Map is far too big compared to what you need and some quest are far too long (gathering money) |
HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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4.3 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 4.3 | Balance | 3.9 | Creativity | 4.1 | Map Design | 4.4 | Story/Instructions | 4.6 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 7,126 |
Favorites: [] | 0 |
Size: | 475.46 KB |
Added: | 01/27/04 |
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