Trakoria Scenario 10th Anniversary!

[Baldyr]

Oh My God... Has it really been 10 years since I created this scenario? Well, it still stands as the one hobby project I have actually seen to the very end and completed, or sort off anyway. The fact is that I made this scenario twice, scrapping the my first (fully playable) attempt in order to incorporate an enhanced map and some additional features of Civ2. As a result I was pretty fed-up with it all when I finally released version 2.0, so there never was any further updates and the promised Online Manual was never fully realized.

Now, ten years later, I Googled my name and found the Scenario League here on Apolyton. About a year ago someone actually posted my scenario here and that person had some pretty nice things to say about it too! So I installed MGE and downloaded my scenario. To my amazement it still feels fresh and actually does what it originally was supposed to. Sure, I haven't forgotten about what I wasn't satisfied with and what I wasn't able to accomplish within the Civ2 framework, but it still was an enjoyable play.

You can find the SL entry here:

http://sleague.apolyton.net/index.php?title=Trakoria

Please do try it out if you haven't yet (and if you have, please do re-visit it) and post your comments here. If there is enough interest I might just finish the Scenario Manual – ten years in the making – and even post an updated version of the scenario itself!

[Arthedain]

Välkommen Baldyr! I will try it out if I get the time, TBH I've never played it yet, but I've heard great things about it.

[techumseh]

I played your scenario way back in the day, and enjoyed it very much. I raided it for units and sounds for my scenario "Prince of Darkness".

[curtsibling]

One of the great classics - And one of the first I really played with serious intent on winning!

10 years...Holy Toledo! It's been that long?

[Baldyr]

techumseh: Yeah, really? Do you have a link to your scenario or could you please attach the unit.gif file so that I can see what units you picked?

curtsibling: Winning the Trakoria scenario? Do you mean by total domination, by any chance? Did you succeed in that?

Unfortunately there really aren't any clear victory conditions in the scenario, since I never got the wonders-as-objectives option to function with FW (or something in that effect, I forget). I guess I should calculate what sort of score would be a "historical" victory for the Clavians, and what would constitute a "minor" and a "major" victory.

Personally I play the scenario in order to re-create history (according to the source book the scenario is based upon), but it kinda sucks that the scenario simply ends when your at the peak of your power... There also should be a sequel, which would tell the tale of the Trakorian Empire (disgruntled Clavian colonists who decide to make it on their own, and end up dominating the Trakorian isles and beyond as the Clavian house of cards inevitably collapses).

Well, a man can dream, can't he?

[Arthedain]

Originally posted by curtsibling
10 years...Holy Toledo! It's been that long?

We're getting old..

[Baldyr]

Originally posted by Arthedain

We're getting old..

Tell me about it... really hasn't aged all that well either. (I was kinda shocked when I revisited the game recently. It used to be my favorite game of all time. Now it just seems dated.) Hopefully my scenario has fared better than the game itself.

[techumseh]

Here you go: http://csc.apolyton.net/scenarios/prince.shtml

[curtsibling]

I reckon CIV2 might have aged, and I would love to have
more features, but I still play all the time, because none
of the generation of strategy titles has the genius
simplicity or uncluttered game-play of this classic...

I'll be with this one for another 10 years, methinks!

[Exile]

Civ2 allows someone who is interested in obscure confilicts, wars, campaigns, periods, etc to model them, to turn them into a functional game.

The process of tweaking, of getting the numbers correct so that the game more closely mimics history is both a challenge and informative. Getting an historical scenario right often invovles research into the periods. Designing compels one to learn.

What other game out there has that ability? I couldn't care less about moving thingamajigs. Who cares how pretty it is if it's boring? If it's the same old solution?

From a creative point of view, there is nothing out there that compares. To this very day. It's not MY fault if the game design people have, like just about everything else, aspired toward the condition of muzak.

[Baldyr]

Yeah, you gang are of course absolutely right about the greatness of . It's too bad I gave up on modding the game - it was one of my primary hobbies back in the day.

I too am interested in making historical scenarios, even if my own scenario is about fictional history. It is none-the-less a historical scenario, as it is firmly based on Clavian history.

The Role-playing adventures that comprise the source material for the scenario take place centuries after the Clavians have left the stage. That's why I would rather have made a scenario about the Trakorian Empire instead, but proved to be simply too limited for that task. (There are some pretty wild goings-on in Trakorian history. I do think could do it justice though, but that would amount to some serious 3D modelling and programming. I simply don't have the money to pay for these services...)

[curtsibling]

Originally posted by Exile
Civ2 allows someone who is interested in obscure confilicts, wars, campaigns, periods, etc to model them, to turn them into a functional game.

The process of tweaking, of getting the numbers correct so that the game more closely mimics history is both a challenge and informative. Getting an historical scenario right often invovles research into the periods. Designing compels one to learn.

What other game out there has that ability? I couldn't care less about moving thingamajigs. Who cares how pretty it is if it's boring? If it's the same old solution?

From a creative point of view, there is nothing out there that compares. To this very day. It's not MY fault if the game design people have, like just about everything else, aspired toward the condition of muzak.

I agree with every word!

Bravo!

[Elensar]

One minor(?) flaw that I can think of...

Science research (and happiness) are a little too hard to obtain. How much of this is intentional and how much is not?

For instance, with 16 science beakers produced (Tyranny: 70% to science) a turn, things take 29 turns to research.

Only started (bO 208), but it feels like this is set up for a loooong period before discoveries.

Some other stuff that could be changed, too, but that's one thing I want to ask about. Is it meant to be like this?

[Baldyr]

Thanks for you feedback. It has been ten long years since I released the scenario, but I will do my best to recollect what's what.

Firstly, if you are playing with Tyranny you're probably playing as the Kargomitians or the Trinsmyrans. These are basically non-civilized peoples, so they shouldn't advance much in the first place. (Most Civs lack a capital to start with, so all research will be hampered until the Palace/Seat of Honor is built! Some Civs don't even get to build that, if I recollect correctly.)

Secondly, it's not really a scenario about scientific discovery to start with, so I've been more concerned about keeping things from not becoming too advanced. (Since it's a fun element of the Civ experience I opted for NOT having most technologies discovered from the get-go. Hence you have to discover some pretty basic stuff during the game, hopefully adding to the over-all experience.)

If you play the protagonist Civ, the Clavians, you should be able to discover most techs available to that Civ before the scenario ends. (Not all techs are available to all Civs, or should not be, at least.) There is however an element of making priorities, for example between military, expansion and over-all development.

Scientific advances aren't all that important in the first place to this scenario. It's more of a feature that allows you to choose new abilities, units and such for you Civ, depending on you over-all strategy. You might do well without many of the avenues of research, like advanced warfare, magical advances, or what have you.

The happiness question is a matter of taste, I suppose. I might have thought the scenario was too easy without more or less requiring a Temple in every city. Good call or bad, it's up to you gang!

I hope this answered you question.

What Civ are you currently playing, by the way? (I could shed some additional light on your situation, since you probably aren't familiar with the source material.)

[Dr Kellogg]

Oh. I didn't know that scenario. I'll try it asap, Baldyr.

Civ2 hasn't changed the past 10 years - ok - but the community wasn't inactive. Far from it! Game mechanics have been revealed, interesting things have been discovered, tools have been designed, great graphics have been drawn and so many fantastics and creative ideas have been gathered.

Exile, I agree with every single word!