My remastered Empire of Thessalonike scenario for MGE

[Varwnos]

This is my scenario, of Bestonet spanish civ2 site fame, for civ2 mge. It is about the states in the balkans and anatolia in 1204.
Playable nations are:

-Despotate of Epirus (Empire of Thessalonike)
-Empire of Nicaea
-Latin Empire of Constantinople
-Minor latin kingdoms
-Serbia
-Bulgaria
-Veneto

You are strongly urged to play as the Empire of Thessalonike, since most events are for it. However the Empire of Nicaea and Bulgaria are fun as well

Oh, and please report how you liked the game!

Dl it Here

[Rand al'Thor]

Ok, i just got into it. Just some remarks from first impression:
- A wonderful setting in a period in time most unknown to me, which makes it especially interesting for me.
- IIRC civ2 always chooses the .bmp graphic files, but units.bmp is oversized so it gives an error in the beginning, i deleted it to use the units.gif instead. Could've also resized the .bmp with paint but the units looked better to me in the .gif anyway (and are the ones in your screenshot above).
- By looking at your screenshot i'm not sure which graphic files are intended for use. The cities seem to be those in cities.bmp, but units are from units.gif as i said before. Terrain is also .gif, right? So i had to delete some .bmp first.

I'll report more if i manage to find some time to play deeper into it.

[Varwnos]

Looking forward to your comments about gameplay

Just a note: if you play as the Empire of Thessalonike, you should definately first use at least one of the catapults, and some accompanying troops, to conquer the two minor latin cities to the north/west. At turn 18 you get the powerfull unit Theodoros, who you should guard with defensive units and not lose it, because without it liberation of Thessalonike will be nearly impossible

[Gelion]

Just ran a quick game as Thessaloniki. Here’s my report (mostly bugs or related items)

Graphics
The scenario looks pretty good, I especially love the new city icons. Units looks great (some more great than others), but IMHO the terrain doesn’t match joyfulness of the units and cities. Either you make the entire scenario as bright and colourful as Imperium Romanium or bleaker and more “realistic” as the terrain already is. However this is purely subjective...

Graphics Minor
Phoideratoi shield is a bit off. Bulgarian Horsemen probably too.
Graphics error message at the load of scenario is pretty annoying. You should delete one “cities” file.
I love how a Castle blends in into a Fortress.

Aesthetics
You probably assign units, terrain squares and wonders that still need to be finished with a small first letter. I assume so at least
I just seen a Barbarian psil. Horseman.... and a serbian pikeman in Argostolion and Methone.
Messages. I love them! Every turn there’s something new and informative. You have no idea if the events are scripted or triggered by conquests (as you don’t see the entire map). Thumbs up!
My people look Musim....
Buying sound – priceless! Revolt – as well.
Minor Latin Kingdoms leader just told me that his words are backed with nuclear weapons!!!

Mechanics
I`’ve just been able to get Serbian Armies and Slav Auxiliaries from Serbia. Was I supposed to?
There are two railroad squares near Thessalonike, very handy

[Varwnos]

Thank you for the report

The railway squares (i think) exist in Constantinople as well. They are meant to portray significance of the city, and a bonus of movement through the roads there.

There are still a few bugs, that is true (i made use of one to have Constantinople units attack Constantinople units, in Thessalonike, and have an event for lombardian civil war there, which existed)

I am mostly keen on reading about your thoughts about gameplay. A good strategy is to attack Constantinople and minor latin kingdoms, signing peace treaties with the rest. Then expand against the barbarian cities as well, untill you are strong enough to unite the Byzantine lands

[Gelion]

I meant to do a little review of the scenario, it was not meant to be extensive

What I have done (after cheating with the map of course ) is to go after the small latin Kingdom next to me (amphibious assault and a long march with ballistas). 3 ballistas and cavalry were used to take care of barbarian cities. Theodoros was very helpful in taking Kerkyra and Thessalonike. Right now I overextended myself a little, but I should be pushing forward towards Byzantium.

[curtsibling]

Looking splendid, Varwnos! I'll have to give this a shot!

[Varwnos]

Thank you too, Curt

There are a few known problems, but the gameplay in my view is optimised. One known bug which you should not exploit is that Serbia seems to always grant 200 gold if you request it. They have so much gold because they always fight barbarians in the early part of the game, and each one killed gives 100 gold. Later on in the game they wont have so much cash, but early on you should avoid asking for money