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Author |
File Description |
DrAkula |
Posted on 02/25/03 @ 02:18 PM
File Details |
Age: |
Steel |
# of Episodes: |
1 |
# of Cities: |
1 |
Difficulty: |
Normal |
Custom Maps: |
Yes |
Minimap:
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Start without hemp and paper is not easy. But how time goes by, things are changing for the better. |
Author | Comments & Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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Beijing Tag |
Posted on 03/07/06 @ 11:10 AM
Playability: 4
A fun medium length single mission campaign. One of those island type maps but with enough sizable islands that you can replay and change things around, you are not limited to only one solution. Challenging for the Feng Shui afficianados.
Balance: 4
No military requirement but a fair sprinkling of mission goals - common & elite housing populations, hero attendance, monument, yearly profitability and multiple ally goals. Neatly packaged in a limited (but not too limited) terrain space.
Creativity: 4
The lack of hemp/paper in the opening years is a nice touch and requires that the player is patient. You need to balance out construction with income as you will have no tax base for the first six years. Multiple mission goals means the player needs to be flexible in approach.
Map Design: 4
Some island designs frustrate players in that the design only allows for one solution. There is enough land space here to vary your build within limits. Perfect Harmony achievable.
Story/Instructions: 3
Adequate to the task.
Additional Comments:
Overall, an enjoyable little campaign. If you've just completed one of those multi-mission, multi-session monster campaigns then you might want to have a go at this to recharge your batteries. Kudos to the designer.
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Gweilo2
Staff |
Posted on 03/17/07 @ 09:23 PM
Playability: 3
This campaign delivers a solid, and fun, gaming experience. It is a short campaign of only one mission, but the map is challenging for the goals specified. The biggest issue I had with this campaign's playability was the lack of hemp. The design prohibits a player from growing hemp, and then having to wait over 7 game-years before another city will sell it is just too long. I found myself toying with the idea of just quitting. However, I stuck with it and am glad I did, because the rest of the campaign was fine.
Balance: 4
There is a solid challenge for advanced players, especially at the 'very hard' difficulty. At that setting, you start out with only $8K in the treasury and taxation is an expensive option (since you must import paper if you want to tax). The alternative is very careful spending and low-cost commodity exporting to keep your head above water until you can make an ally for a bail-out loan, or until hemp becomes available as an import. I found Shen Nong very useful to meet the many food requests. I enjoyed the micromanaging for the first few years, but it eventually did become a bit tedious (if only hemp had become available about 3 years sooner, the balance would have been perfect). The tigers on the island with the copper and iron deposits is another fun challenge to overcome.
Creativity: 3
Creativity suffered a bit because this is a one-mission campaign. The lack of any storyline also hurt the rating. However, there were plenty of nicely-balanced scripting events and their pace was steady. The map itself was also very well-crafted. Overall, the creativity was adequate.
Map Design: 5
In my opinion, this campaign delivers an 'islands'-themed map as it really SHOULD be designed...one that is actually playable! Not only does this map support a variety of solutions to winning, but it also provides the capability to achieve perfect Feng Shui in these variations. Kudos to the designer for a job well done. The empire map was also good, the cities had a nice assortment of commodities to balance them out (none too good, none too bad) and their climates were set properly to reflect their geographic location in China. Perhaps a little more imagination could have been put into the design of the land trade routes (most of them
were simple straight lines between cities).
Story/Instructions: 1
There is no storyline whatsover, just a single sentence to warn the player that it will take some time for hemp to be available. The two victory screens are completely blank. I found this to be the single biggest disappointment of the campaign. With all the loving care the designer put into this map, I don't understand why at least a bare-bones storyline couldn't have been written. I guess the 'Treasure on the Hill' will remain a mystery.
Additional Comments:
I do recommend playing this campaign to test your skill at building a city on islands. I found it interesting. Just try to stay patient during the years before hemp is available. |
HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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3.5 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 3.5 | Balance | 4.0 | Creativity | 3.5 | Map Design | 4.5 | Story/Instructions | 2.0 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 2,420 |
Favorites: [] | 0 |
Size: | 107.17 KB |
Added: | 02/25/03 |
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