BITTERFROST III - DARKEST AEON...Playtest!

[curtsibling]

Feel free to plunder them at will - (Pun intended)

[techumseh]

Fabulous! And yes I will. (plunder them)

[Patine]

I've tried several turns and so far (though it's still early) I'm impressed by what I find! Have you thought of putting the Bitterfrost saga in novel form and publishing it. It may not unseat LotR as the Fantasy Classic, but, dependng on your writing style, may give the Wheel of Time or Sword of Truth a run for their money.

[curtsibling]

That is fine praise, and thanks, Patine!

I am designing a series of comic/graphic novels based in the
world where Bitterfrost happens, or one very similar to it.

I'll post up some pages from it soon, if you want to see them?

[Patine]

That'd be great, Curt! Thanks! Are they only sold in the UK in hardcopy?

[curtsibling]

The comics are not published yet. I am hoping to submit
some samples to Vertigo or Image comics in the new year.

[Harry Tuttle]

Originally posted by curtsibling
The comics are not published yet. I am hoping to submit
some samples to Vertigo or Image comics in the new year.

Very cool Curt. Good luck!

[Sarsstock]

I personally love the pirates fortress'esque city style the best there Curt! Very nice indeed .

And I'll most definatly be keeping an eye out for this Bitterfrost or Bitterfrost like graphic novels at the comicon in the future. Are you developing the works on your own or are there any co-writers or artists involved?

[curtsibling]

Cheers, dude!

It is a solo work just now, but I am serious about getting out
there and published by the big guns, that is why I have made
main story idea copyrighted...!

[Uncle Dead Bird]

I played this scenario over the last few days, and it's definitely the joint!

I've been playing as the Stavark. All was going well, I garrisoned with Runeguards, was exploring with Huntsmen, and was getting my Workers working, when, several turns into the game, the map game alive with Harpies, Wolfriders, and Undead Legions. I just love that Harpy laugh when they attack.

The Brotherhood asked for an audience to announce a tech (the no scribes thingy) but were otherwise unresponsive. Is this normal?

But all in all, looks spectacular. I think I should be getting at least one hero soon - I have several Wonders in the works currently, but don't have enough to rush build them, though Caravans are helping.

I'll have more when I've played more.

UDB

[curtsibling]

Excellent stuff, UDB!

The Brotherhood are villains, and will not enter diplomacy.
When dealing with them, let the steel do the talking!

Tell me how you get on with the heroes, when you get a chance.

[curtsibling]

Just noticed the news item by Tech!

Thanks, dude!

[curtsibling]

UPDATE:

I have been working on little cosmetic details, like new icons.
Also, the readme file is underway, as are some new improvement bmps.

I plan to get the final version of this one out for mid-december...

...Just in time for Gift-mas!

[AGRICOLA]

Okay, here is an interim report on Bitterfrost II. I'm playing the Khaarov Empire; the level is Deity.

The scen has reached a major watershed in 88spring (Turn 264). Except for a few Einsteins putting the finishing touches on the Tarred Hull tech, research has finally been turned off and Taxes/Luxuries set to 70/30. The migraine caused by ongoing problems with funding and happiness has miraculously disappeared as most cities are celebrating 'We really, really love our Boss' and there is a net positive cash flow of 850 gold per turn.

So far, all trade routes are with the barb city of Rotten Hall. I never realize that barb cities never change the 3 commodities that they demand, no matter how many freights carrying demanded items are delivered. That is definitely a good thing. A steady stream of freights carrying Armour to Rotten Hall has played the major role in keeping the empire solvent. I confess that, shamelessly, I rehome all such high value freights to Port Wavebone for maximum bonus.

Overall unit balance seems good, with the defence having a slight but definite advantage over offence. Falconers (A/D=5/5, Mv=6, all terrain, ignore ZOC) and similar units possessed by other civs have are the key units. In defence, a vet Falconer, fortified behind City Walls will easily turn back any events-generated, random attackers and will dependably kill an attacking Battlelord (A/D=10/6) or Thrower (A/D=8/2, ignore City Walls) . In addition, they are the only unit worth a damn for doing recce. They are useful for attacking cities at the start of the scen, before the opposition gets its own A/D=5/5 units. After that, slow-moving but powerful Mortars (A/D=9/2, ignore City Walls) are the only way to go.

The scenario has played very well. There have been no problems with events delivering Generals, Heroes and nicely cryptic but informative messages when appropriate.

The scen did start out as an extremely slow-moving game but the action picked up after turn 175. Fortunately, with so few units to move, the first 175 turns were quick. The following is a brief synopsis:

Turn 1 - 100
- captured the 6 barb cities closest to the 4 Khaarov ones.
- explored the island, including the territory of the Shuuk lizards.
- gained one General
- Cities = 10

Turn 101 - 135
- [horror] barb Harpies captured 3 Shuuk villages [/horror]
- [sob] with much regret [/sob] had to capture the remaining Shuuk villages in order to get at the 3 barb ones; the Hanging Gardens just happened to be in one of the villages
- the lizards didn't seem to mind . . . a couple of their workers subsequently built roads and founded cities for their new, benevolent masters
- the Pyramids wonder was completed during T135
- got another General; Leopold the Hero signed up
- Cities = 18

Turn 136 - 175
- nothing exciting happened
- a few cities were founded; a rudimentary road network was set up; freights were delivered to Rotten Hall; the sun rose and set
- the tech for Falconers was finally discovered on T168, setting off a mad program to IRB these desperately needed units
- the Great Wall was finished on T159 and Adam Smith started turning a muchly needed profit during T171
- a third General appeared; a second Hero, Detramet, signed his 'X' with a flourish
- Cities = 22

Turn 176 - 207
- the new Falconers grabbed 1 Brigand and 5 barb cities and recced Daargan territory as far north as the barbs at Charnel Lake
- 30 Falconers, masquerading as traders, were infiltrated into the vicinity of the main Daargan cities
- SETI was built on T194, improving the research rate from 10 to 7 turns per tech
- Cities = 28

Turn 208 - 223
- the initial attack captured 7 major Daargan cities; the remaining 23 as well as Charnel Lake were captured over the following 14 turns
- an executive decision was made to raze the northernmost 10 Daargan cities: none was large, none was near mountains which could be mined, and the resources needed to develop them were better used elsewhere.
- Michaelangelo's Chapel was completed on T217
- Magi Philosophy was stolen from the Daargan; Daargan Battle Lore was discovered on T222; and the great Sun Tzu's Military Academy was completed a turn later. . . . man, have we got us vet ground units!
- Cities = 62

Turn 224 - 255
- a desultory war began with the Stavark and gradually all 10 of their coastal cities were captured, thereby eliminating their nuisance fleet of war junks.
- Pagan Runes were stolen from the Stavark
- Nedling Fleetos and Pirate Bargain were stolen from the Nedlings and research of Chain Gangs begun
- a slaving expedition to capture Nedling Workers explored part of their empire and knocked off 15 of the beggars; the additional 15 NONE Workers was most welcome
- a couple of Heroes, Havik and Zexxa, saw which way the wind was blowing and signed on; that makes 5 of the egocentric, mercenary beggars
- Cities = 64

Turn 256 - 264
- the war with the Stavark got serious and 3 of their interior cities were captured
- discovery of the Chain Gangs tech led to a break in unit production as most cities hustled to build Slave Mines (Power Plants); a somewhat unsavoury improvement but one that is an irresistible bargain at 60 shields
- the more productive cities also shelled out 160 shields for Doctors' Guilds (Manufacturing Plants)
- the slaving expedition managed to escape from the crossfire between the Undead and the Nedlings, limp north to an uninhabited island, repair severe damage and then sail west on a voyage of discovery
- a second, short-range, slaving expedition captured 9 Nedlings before returning home………if one is going to be in the slave business one might as well put some effort into it
- part of the Skeer realm was recced
- the Song of the Runes and Grand Mastery techs were discovered; however, as these techs are to be granted much later by events (I peeked in order to see what I should do with these normally not researchable techs), no attempt was made to build the Oracle and Manhattan Project wonders
- another threadbare Hero with holes in his socks, Goldfist, wandered by and made his X
- Cities = 67


Okay, so much for the fun, now for the nitpicking.

1. Is tech stealing allowed? I operate on the principle that, if it isn't specifically forbidden, it's permitted. Can it lead to major problems with wonders being built prematurely?
2. A spell check of events will reveal a few minor errors.
3. The Daargan had 2 cities called Barrowmere, one at the start and one they founded.
4. The info windows for Knights/Warriors and War Mastery techs show unit icons but do not identify the units.
5. Does the Mad Galloper tech serve a purpose?
6. The Brigands civ is referred to as the Brotherhood in the scen file . . . . a bit confusing.
7. There is a great need for a Readme that will give some guidance to players as to which techs and wonders are particularly significant. The instructions might well be quite cryptic. Some word on the complex geography of the world and the areas occupied by the various civs would be welcome. Maybe there should be something to the effect that players are well advised to keep a few notes on the information in the popups.


This is long but fascinating scen, with beautifully crafted graphics and intricate events. It is well worth playing and I intend to finish it. The attached save shows the current situation.

[curtsibling]

AGRICOLA!

Many thanks for such an in-depth and excellent review/test of BFIII!
I am so delighted that your find it fun enough to keep you going for
many turns. And you seem to be putting the famed AGRICOLA playing
skills to good use! The merchant rationale you are employing is
well in tune with the Khaarov civ.

And do not worry about the tech stealing. I might restrict some
of them from theft, but if you have stolen a foreign tech, and
have also got a foreign city of that civ, then I can make it a
house rule to use the foreign civ's city to house the wonder.

(But you know about house rules - )

Originally posted by AGRICOLA
1. Is tech stealing allowed? I operate on the principle that, if it isn't specifically forbidden, it's permitted. Can it lead to major problems with wonders being built prematurely?

As said above, it should not cause any trouble. To the victor the spoils!

Originally posted by AGRICOLA
2. A spell check of events will reveal a few minor errors.

Still to run through with a spell checker. That is the result of 4AM scen-making sessions!

Originally posted by AGRICOLA
3. The Daargan had 2 cities called Barrowmere, one at the start and one they founded.

Well-spotted! I'll eliminate the duplicate from the City.txt -

Originally posted by AGRICOLA
4. The info windows for Knights/Warriors and War Mastery techs show unit icons but do not identify the units.

I have noticed this oddness in the new Dictator VI too. I think it might have something to do with either the pedia or the units being in the 'extra-units' section.

Originally posted by AGRICOLA
5. Does the Mad Galloper tech serve a purpose?

Aha! It is intended to be the preq tech for the Nedling Charger unit. The charger was using the 'Armoured Mounts' tech. I have fixed that now.

Originally posted by AGRICOLA
6. The Brigands civ is referred to as the Brotherhood in the scen file . . . . a bit confusing.

The Brotherhood is the proper name - I'll make that fix to the naming convention.

Originally posted by AGRICOLA
7. There is a great need for a Readme that will give some guidance to players as to which techs and wonders are particularly significant. The instructions might well be quite cryptic. Some word on the complex geography of the world and the areas occupied by the various civs would be welcome. Maybe there should be something to the effect that players are well advised to keep a few notes on the information in the popups.

Worry not! There will be a readme made for sure, and it will include all data required on the civs, techs, units, realms and babes with body-hugging armour.

Originally posted by AGRICOLA
This is long but fascinating scen, with beautifully crafted graphics and intricate events. It is well worth playing and I intend to finish it. The attached save shows the current situation.

Your kinds words are humbling, coming from such a scenario veteran!

I'll take a gander at your save and see how things have panned out. And I look forward to hearing of the later adventures!

PS
Have you noticed if the light blue civ (brotherhood) is acting passively?