ANCIENT EMPIRES SERIES #2
"Seeds of Greatness - The Early Empires" Scenario, v1.1 (5/00)

by Paul (Kull) Cullivan (pculliva@whc.net)

(This file reads easier if you select <Edit> , <Wordwrap>)

**** THE SCENARIO ****

Do you remember the early days of Civ II? No scenarios or special challenges, just starting with a single settler and clawing your way to world domination? But soon you learned all the tricks and needed new challenges to keep things interesting. This scenario recaptures that "Start from Scratch" thrill! The Tech Tree, Units, Wonders, and City Improvements are all new and historically appropriate to the world of the Ancient Near East. As a special bonus, each of the Seven Civilizations has it's own customized Event file, so no game will ever be the same!

This Ancient Empires scenario is set in the year 3500 BC. It is the dawn of history and seven ancient Near Eastern civilizations are ready to embark on the long road of Research, Building, and Conquest! How do you win? As in the real world, you must achieve the "Alexander Solution"! By the time of his death in 323 BC, this entire region had fallen to the Macedonian conqueror. The calendar moves in Ten-Year increments and you must complete your conquests by 0 AD. The shadows lengthen upon the sundial, so may the Gods be with you Illustrious One!

**** INSTALLATION ****

This scenario is playable with either the "Fantastic Worlds" (FW) or "Multiplayer Gold Edition" (MGE) versions of Civ II. 

Assuming you have installed FW or MGE, follow this simple procedure:
Make a new folder in the "scenario" folder (which is inside your civ2 folder).  Name the folder "AE-3500B". Put all the non-.wav files you downloaded in this folder. Create a subfolder within "AE-3500B" and call it "Sound". Place all .wav files in this folder, including the new volcano.wav, storm.wav, quake.wav, and ae-3500b.wav files. With the exception of those four, the sound files needed for "Seeds of Greatness" are identical to those included with "EotBA". That should reduce the download time for some of you. :-)


**** PLAYING THE SCENARIO ****

Seeds of Greatness contains SEVEN events files, one for each civilization. I cannot overemphasize the importance of playing the scenario while using the CORRECT events file! Happily, this is a very easy thing to do. Before you begin ANY new SoG scenario, find the file called "AE-3500B.bat" and double-click it. Follow the directions and select the civilization you plan to play. Once this is done, start Civ2 and begin the scenario. Saving your game embeds the correct events file, so you don't have to do this before launching a saved game.

Although you can play a scenario without using the correct events file, it will severely diminish your enjoyment. I don't recommend it.


**** THE PLAYERS ****
 
Six of these were a pretty easy call. The Ancient Near East at various times featured mighty empires from Hatti (Hittites), Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt, Persia and Greece. All correspond with real cultures, and each offers an interesting challenge. There were two basic choices for a seventh civilization: The Minoans (Crete) and a Levant civilization such as the Hebrews, Phoenicians, or Canaanites. I really liked the Levanters, but historically this region was never home to a major empire. They were always crushed between their more dominant neighbors. On the other hand, the Minoans did develop a large and intriguing civilization. They also offer a clear choice for anyone interested in a naval strategy. One big problem. The AI probably won't handle them appropriately. In no particular order, here are the contenders:

The Egyptians:
Historical Synopsis - Proud beneficiaries of the vast agricultural output of the Nile valley, and a culture bound by a rigid social structure and a scorn for outsiders.
This Scenario - There's an occasional nasty surprise, but this may be the "safest" civ to start with. Build up your Nile cities, but also try to stake a quick claim on the empty Levant. The Libyan Desert offers lots of goody huts.

The Hittites:
Historical Synopsis -  A powerful military empire, but primarily masters of diplomacy and the artful threat of force.
This Scenario - You can choose to expand East, West, or South but the "best" land lies in the river valleys to the east. Of course, that's where you'll also find the Assyrians and Babylonians. The Levant is empty and full of excellent terrain. But the Egyptians and Assyrians will be just as interested.

The Assyrians:
Historical Synopsis -  Uniquely poised at the center, torn between an aptitude for trade and a thirst to employ their devastating military prowess.
This Scenario - The Babylonians are just a short distance to the southeast, the Persians lie over the mountains to the east and the Hittites aren't too far away either. The good news is you're close to almost everyone. Which is also the bad news.

The Babylonians:
Historical Synopsis -  Inheritors of an ancient culture, fat and luxurious, a people fixated on law, commerce, wealth, and pleasure.
This Scenario - Desert to the south, Persian Gulf to the East, and Assyrians and Persians close at hand to the North and West. You have some wonderfully fertile grasslands, but not much in the way of shield resources. The Arabian Desert to the South is full of Goody Huts, and you are best positioned to exploit them.

The Persians:
Historical Synopsis -  Smooth, organized, master administrators, builders of the "Royal Road" and ultimately the creators of a vast and dominant empire.
This Scenario - Like the Hittites, most of your land is plains, hills, and mountains. But at least they have rivers. The best land lies to the south and west, but the Babylonians and Assyrians already occupy it. Also, the Persians are the only civ that does NOT get new technologies from Goody Huts! Some interesting choices lie before you.

The Greeks:
Historical Synopsis -  A society in progression from the violent sackers of Troy to the progenitors of Western Philosophy and Democracy.
This Scenario - Geographically you are in good shape. A nice mix of terrain, distant neighbors, and excellent defensive possibilities. But you must get involved in the goody hut hunt as soon as possible. Historically the Greeks were confined to the Aegean Sea area until Alexander. I wouldn't wait that long.

The Minoans:
Historical Synopsis -  A maritime people and an enigma to this day. Were they artistic and peaceful nature lovers or dark, cannibalistic overlords of the Aegean?
This Scenario - An island starting position keeps the violent neighbors at bay, but increases your vulnerability to Barbarian sea borne invasion. You are also a long way off from the goody huts, so it's a priority to ship off exploration parties as soon as possible. A real challenge.


**** GAME PLAY ****

This can be a very challenging scenario, especially if you play at Deity with Barbarians set to Raging Hordes (recommended). You effectively start off in the Stone Age, so it will take a while to establish a solid base. Explore as much as possible, and take advantage of those goody huts. It doesn't hurt to pick up an ally or two, either.

Barbarians - In the early stages of the game, you must be wary of the Barbarians! The sea borne assaults are particularly deadly, and once the huts start disgorging 8 Barbarians at a time, it can really mess up your plans. So make sure your defense is solid, and keep a "fast reaction" chariot force handy to deal with those spontaneous uprisings. Likewise, keep some attack galleys in port to take out the barbarians BEFORE they land! As was true in Ancient times, the barbarians in this scenario can put you in a world of hurt if you're not prepared. Please don't use the "re-start solution" to deal with them, as it will degrade the challenge. To really ratchet up the difficulty level, Barbarians cities and units CANNOT be bribed!

Other Civs - Palace Guards make it almost impossible to conquer an enemy capital early in the game. This was deliberate, since the scenario is more interesting if all the civs can hang around for 1000 years or so. You MUST establish contact with as many civs as possible, because trading advances is imperative. Early warfare is pretty slow and inconclusive, but once the road networks are established and the chariots arrive, look out!

Wonders - Every Wonder is included in SoG (consult the Civilopedia for details), and none of them expire except a few pieces of powerless eye-candy. This does change their relative values vs. regular Civ2, so consider that. It's also not possible (IMHO) to get them all, so choose wisely. As a general rule, the Wonders are only available from "civilian" advances. But if you bypass the military ones, you could get steamrollered! Verily, it's "Hobson's Choice". A few hints. If you play as the Minoans, the Lighthouse is very useful. Happiness wonders are important for every Civ, especially when playing at Deity. The Persians in particular could really use the Great Library. Archimedes' Workshop (Leonardo) is truly a two-edge sword. Your units lose veteran status with every upgrade (and the transformation of Chariot IVs to Phalanx I is a particularly bitter pill!), but on the other hand you definitely don't want a large enemy to get it!

Towns - Rather than a world filled with Barbarian cities, instead you'll find plenty of lightly defended "towns" to add to your empire. They offer a nice economic boost to nearby cities and sometimes a travel bonus for units that pass through them. 


**** OBJECTIVES ****

	There are 7 total objectives in the game, comprising each civilization's capital city. You need all 7 to achieve a decisive victory. A marginal victory is 5 objectives. A marginal defeat is less than 3 objectives, and 1 is a decisive defeat. Here are the cities that are considered objectives:

HITTITES     - Hattusas
BABYLONIANS  - Ur
ASSYRIANS    - Nineveh
EGYPTIANS    - Memphis
MINOANS      - Knossos
GREEKS       - Mycenae
PERSIANS     - Ecbatana


**** CHANGES FROM "END OF THE BRONZE AGE" (EotBA) ****

UNITS:

1) Warriors - These are now "Barbarian Only" units. Killing them is worth your while. :-) They have been replaced by....

2) Skirmishers - The new starting infantry unit. It has better attack and movement than the old warrior, but the "all terrain" movement capability it used to have has been eliminated.

3) Royal Envoys - The price has dropped from 100 shields to 50. They were just too darn expensive!

4) Caravans - Movement points increased from 2 to 3. This should help facilitate trade. Killing enemy caravans can provide a surprise bonus.

5) Great Leaders - The most important rulers of each civilization are included in the scenario. Each will appear via the Events file at the correct moment in history.

6) Palace Guard - Similar to the Guard units in EotBA. There is one in each Capital City and a few are used to simulate the VERY tough defense of certain independent city-states (like Troy).

7) Sea Peoples and Heavy Cavalry have switched locations in the bitmap file to prevent historical barbarian oddities.

8) Natural Disasters - There's a couple new units that occasionally make life very unpleasant for your city dwellers.

WONDERS:

There have been several changes from EotBA. It seemed appropriate that an Ancient Empires scenario should feature the "Seven Ancient Wonders of the World", and now they're all here! Special Thanks to Tecumseh who provided new artwork for the Seven Wonders:

1) Pyramids          - New Art    (Civ2=Pyramids)
2) Hanging Gardens   - New Art    (Civ2=Hanging Gardens)
3) Lighthouse        - New Art    (Civ2=Lighthouse; EotBA=The Odyssey)
4) Temple of Artemis - New Wonder (Civ2=JS Bach's Cathedral; EotBA=Valley of the Kings)
5) Colossus          - New Art    (Civ2=Eiffel Tower)
6) Mausoleum         - New Wonder (Civ2=Manhattan Project (Powerless Eye-candy only!; EotBA=Labyrinth) 
7) Statue of Zeus    - New Wonder (Civ2=United Nations (Powerless Eye-candy only!)

8) Ishtar Gate       - New Wonder (Civ2=Great Wall (Not one of the "Original Seven"; EotBA=Cyclopean Walls)

CITY IMPROVEMENTS:

"Countermining" has been replaced by "Building Inspectors". There are also new "Temple" and "Sewer System" graphics.

TECH TREE: 

A nice Tech Tree has been included in the download file (SoG Tech Tree.pdf). I recommend that you print it out and keep it handy, as it will definitely assist you during the game! Another file called "AE-3500B-Techs.rtf" connects Advances with City Improvements & Wonders. The Tech Tree has undergone several changes since EotBA, most of which were implemented to improve gameplay. The most important are:

1) City Walls are now available with the discovery of "Organized Warfare".

2) "Ceremonial Burial" (and the Temple improvement) is available sooner since one of the pre-reqs has changed from "Alphabet" to "Pictographs".

3) "The Wheel" (and thus chariots) now requires "Horse Training" as a pre-req. (Duh!)

4) "Single-Rider Reins" now requires "Iron Weapons" as a pre-req instead of "Ranged Fire Tactics". This prevents Light Cavalry from appearing too early in the game.

PEOPLE GRAPHIC:

A more "Persian-looking" group has replaced the clean-shaven Sea Peoples.

EVENTS FILES:

Several of the events from EotBA have been retained, but the vast majority are new.

TERRAIN:

You'll find a few surprises here. There is a new kind of "Copper" terrain that is very desirable. The "Wild Boar" has replaced the oversized "Forest Pheasant" (thanks for the graphic, William Keenan!) And now there are "towns", simulating lots of little city-states. But they aren't cities!


**** ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ****

For more information on the "Ancient Empires" concept, please refer to the "Readme1.txt" file that accompanies "End of the Bronze Age".


**** THANKS ****

	I borrowed units, ideas, and concepts quite liberally from many other scenarios in the course of developing "Ancient Empires". If your work is included here and you'd like to receive credit, send me an email and I'll gladly include you. Thanks to Jesus Balsinde, Allard Hofelt, and Pablo Farias for the many fine period-specific graphics they have created. Utilizing their work (and that of others) makes scenario creation much more realistic and a lot less tedious. As always, my inspiration has been Harlan Thompson. His scenarios were the first to raise the bar for everyone and always left me striving to add that one final touch of realism.

Special Thanks to:

Gothmog - He provided the information and tools necessary to fix the vexing "City Style" and "Leader Title" problems.

Allard - Showed how to make the Barbarians a Democracy (and thus Bribe-proof).

Captain Nemo - The new "Red Front v1.4" contains a great Batch file that fully automates the file copy process. I modified it to achieve the same result with my Seven Event files.

Tecumseh - The Graphics Interface is the work of Tecumseh, who first created it for EotBA. It's entirely his concept and artwork, and together they significantly enhance the Ancient Empires experience. He also produced the new Title screen and the eight new Wonder graphics.


**** MEMORIUM ****

In memory of my lovely daughter, Kelli Cullivan (3/14/97 - 3/25/00). She taught lessons of love and courage that touched everyone who knew her.
http://members.aol.com/kellidolly/ 