|
Author |
File Description |
espartaco |
Posted on 11/28/02 @ 12:33 PM
File Details |
Age: |
Steel |
# of Episodes: |
1 |
# of Cities: |
1 |
Difficulty: |
Normal |
Custom Maps: |
Yes |
Minimap:
|
This is a custom Emperor campaign/map. You have to build a modern chinese city atop of a hill and close to the 'Hoyo de los Pajaros", build two monuments, and defend your city.
|
Author | Comments & Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
---|
xtof |
Posted on 12/20/02 @ 07:17 PM
Overall I give it a 4- with the possiblity to become a 4.
2) Balance: 3+
Everything in terms of industry and commerce, planning and building your housing blocks, and building the monuments is more than fine. You get to grow and to import what you need and to export what you need in cash. That part is well ballanced.
It is mainly the military aspect that didn't give me satisfaction (see below).
3) Creativity: 3-
Meaning: events (not creativity of map design).
There were some events, but not enough to make it really exciting. Example: I was going to get attacked in one year; I had no military thus far (that was exciting), so I prepared my defences. One year later I get the message that they are attacking my city; I scout the map and I see ... nothing. But perhaps I build walls on the place they would invade, I don't know if that can explain why. Or perhaps the army was that small that it was defeated in no time.
It is also not possible to attack other players. What is really creative according to me, is the map design... .
4) Map design: 4
The map is somehow based on a real existing place; or that is what the creator of the campaign made me believe. The map has everything to be realistic.
When looking at the map and knowing the goals to achieve I was thinking: 'The goals are obtainable, but how?'
It is a large map with obstructions:
- Such as the river that splits the map in two big areas and one smaller;
- And the depression in the very centre of the map (crater, probably caused by a meteorite).
- Other obstruction is the differences in levels of height, which are very realistic.
=> These obstructions make the game very interesting to play.
Another (personal) good thing is that Feng Shui is obtainable, that is very important as a part of the challenge to play.
1) Playability: 4
So, there is a lot of room, but with obstructions.
- One of the goals is to have a population of 10.000 people and at least 250 of them have to be in Humble Compound.
- Another goal is to build the Grand Pagoda and the Large Palace.
It is challenging to fit everything such as housing blocks, monuments, farms and industrial blocks into the map.
FOOD: Main issue remains (as often): how are we going to feed everyone (Mill(s)), what will we grow ourselves and what will we import? It is obvious we will need three to four markets and the question remains how we will connect them to the mill in terms of distant; taking into consideration the geographical limitations.
INDUSTRY: challenging because of the distances and availability (Example: Wood is needed to make steel and for the monuments. On the map there are two places to make steel. But wood is scarce (or difficult reachable) in some regions of the map - to make the monuments. There are with other words, interesting choices to be made.
The trade (food and industry) is - to me certainly in the beginning of the game (because after that the taxes should certainly do, but the food is still needed) - an interesting and important factor; there are choices to be made.
5) Story/Instructions: 3
In fact I should give it a two. But in my imagination, or interpretation; and as I already mentioned above: the map is based on 'a real location' and the goals are very clear. It does however not mention for instance whether it is going to be peaceful,... . He does mention that in the text in the download sector (defend your city), but I haven't encountered any real treath. I would add some more words to the in-game description to bring the player even more in the right mood, so that he knows what he can expect and what not.
I would also recommend to give more explenation in the download-sector, such as the goals to be completed.
Overall I can say I really enjoyed playing this map in trying to achieve the goals in the best possible manner. There is some room for improvement:
- the militaty aspect
- there are other events, but perhaps not enough
- perhaps it would be interesting to - but not really necessary- : (1) or be able to grow three types of food instead of four (but perhaps it would get to difficult in terms of supplying your people; (2) or be able to import one type of food less. That would make it even more challanging.
This is the first campaign I have played. I downloaded others, but I didn't play them because they didn't meet the possiblity to obtain Feng Shui. This one is has all it takes to keep you bussy for hours... . I hope I have convinced other people to play it and I hope they will enjoy it as well.
I will soon post my version of this campaign.
Xtof |
David420 |
Posted on 03/26/06 @ 08:54 AM
Playability: 5
(Insert Playability analysis here)
Balance: 5
(Insert Balance analysis here)
Creativity: 5
(Insert Creativity analysis here)
Map Design: 5
(Insert Map Design analysis here)
Story/Instructions: 5
(Insert Story/Instructions analysis here)
Additional Comments:
This is a great campaign. I truly enjoyed it. |
Gweilo2
Staff |
Posted on 03/26/06 @ 03:17 PM
Playability: 2
There is an inherent level of fun that comes from building a big city with two monuments, but (IMO) that in itself isn't enough to earn an average mark in this category. Playability is about the 'fun factor', and admittedly this is subjective among players, but there are some basic criteria that every campaign should meet. For example, Feng Shui is a huge component for many players of this game, because it sets Emperor apart from the other CB games. However, the lack of trees on the map limits the building options to maintain perfect Feng Shui. Players who guage their fun by achieving perfect Feng Shui may find playing the map frustrating. Also, the lack of scripted events and only one mission makes things somewhat boring. Since all rival cities are built as 'distant cities', they cannot be conquered and vassalized (and they cannot conquer you), which adds to the overall lackluster feeling.
Balance: 3
An adequate challenge is there, but it lies solely with achieving the population, treasury, and monument goals.
Creativity: 2
I was disappointed in the creativity level. The design decision to use 'distant cities' for all other rival cities on the empire map limits the interaction a player can have with them. All trade routes between these cities are shown as simple straight lines, without regard to trade route type (land or water) and terrain features (mountains, rivers). There are very few scripted events to pop up and challenge a player. A player can produce everything they need to meet the mission goals except silk and lacquerware, and those are easily traded from Chengdu (which starts the campaign as a trade partner). There is really no need to interact with any of the other cities, especially if elite housing is fully evolved and taxes are set at 'outrageous' to quickly meet the treasury goal.
Map Design: 3
The map is designed to represent an actual geographic location and receives points in that regard. However, it has other problems that deduct from it. First, there are some graphical errors at some of the elevation changes that were not corrected by the designer. Second, the map has copper deposits, but the designer did not allow mints and the campaign is set in the steel era, so the copper is worthless. Third, the map suffers from a lack of trees at its many elevation changes and rock formations, which cripples its flexibility for Feng Shui aspects.
Story/Instructions: 1
The campaign has no story, nor any instructions. It only gives a brief description of the geography represented by the map.
Additional Comments:
I found little 'fun factor' in playing this one. A campaign needs to have more than just a shopping list of mission goals. If all I wanted to do was that, I'd start an Open Play session. [Edited on 03/27/06 @ 08:47 AM]
|
HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
---|
3.6 | Breakdown |
---|
Playability | 3.7 | Balance | 3.7 | Creativity | 3.7 | Map Design | 4.0 | Story/Instructions | 3.0 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 2,264 |
Favorites: [] | 0 |
Size: | 188.67 KB |
Added: | 11/28/02 |
|