Fire and Roses

[Stefan Härtel]

This is the most definate thread ... Here's a shot of the map. The white guys are the Ghaznavids, the green ones are the Abbasid Arabs, the blue ones are the Seldjuks (although they will stand for the Karakhanids when the time comes), the yellow are the Samanids, the cyan are the Bujids, the orange are the Ghurids, the purple are the Indians:

[Prometeus]

Great...

[Prometeus]

No cities in Rajastan, Stefan?

[Stefan Härtel]

No.. the Indian cities are mostly for commerce, except for those in and around the Ganges territory, which are meant to be conquered by the human players.
Now, here's a new screenshot. I think no explanation is necessary...

[Prometeus]

Afghanistan looks great, Stefan. Keep on that way goin' better!!! Hope you changed terrain resources...

[Shaka Naldur]

looks great

Stefan,

why do you love middle-east history so much??

[Hobbes]

Stefy, love the cities man!
I'm a huge fan of good art work.

[klesh]

Looks great! Here's some weed!

Stefan,

What are those mini-hut thingys in the hills and mountains. At first I thought of mines, but then I se there is a mined wine resource next to Herat, so maybe it isn't mining.

Also, you might want to give this a look-see. I see that you have the grassland terrain along ther rivers in this picture. Is that the case with the majority of the map? I used this here little graphic I altered from the swamp reeds from RedFront. I happen to use it as the grassland 'shield' and I think it makes a subtle, yet excellent addition to the grassland terrain. This may work even better if your grasslands are only for riverbeds, thus giving a riverweeds kind of vibe. Check it out!

-FMK.

[klesh]

So much weed, I forgot to attatch...heh

lol.

whoops.



-FMK.

[Stefan Härtel]

Afghanistan looks great, Stefan. Keep on that way goin' better!!! Hope you changed terrain resources...

Don't worry, this is only the very first version. There will be new terrain graphics within a matter of time

why do you love middle-east history so much??

Very good question... it's just an area that fascinates me very much... I've never been able to give a reasonable answer to this I must admit. Neither do I have any relations (OK, I lived in Karachi for a while, but I was very small back then) nor is there any great cause...

Stefy, love the cities man!
I'm a huge fan of good art work.

Thank you very much! I'm working on a third style for the mountain civs right now, so chances are good that at least parts of Afghanistan won't look the same in the end.

What are those mini-hut thingys in the hills and mountains. At first I thought of mines, but then I se there is a
mined wine resource next to Herat, so maybe it isn't mining.

Railroads. Large urban areas (Baghdad, Shiraz, Samarqand etc.) have suburb-styled railroads around them (a concept I borrowed from RF and SF). There are some small snowy villages in the mountains. These too, are railroads, but the single style. They are there for asthetic purpose only, with hardly a connection to the outside world, and in strategic views, are to be ignored.

Also, you might want to give this a look-see. I see that you have the grassland terrain along ther rivers in this
picture. Is that the case with the majority of the map? I used this here little graphic I altered from the swamp
reeds from RedFront. I happen to use it as the grassland 'shield' and I think it makes a subtle, yet excellent
addition to the grassland terrain. This may work even better if your grasslands are only for riverbeds, thus giving a
riverweeds kind of vibe. Check it out!

There's more grassland on the map outside of the rivers. I took Mercator's map with barely any changes (there's a new dasht terrain, a couple of changes here and there, and Basra and the southern Indus are connected to the ocean). I will consider what you said. Thank you
Here's a further screenshot, and to close with, a bit of historical trivia.
The Ghurid civ (in northeastern Afghanistan) in this scenario is unislamic, the only ones apart from the Hindus. They were fiercely resisting the muslimic force, and if you payed attention to recent reports on Afghanistan (dunno what's it like in your country, in Germany there were overwhelming reports) you might understand why they could indeed resist for more than 300 years.
Later, they did get Islamic, and became an important opposition to Ghaznavids and Seldjuks.
Their greatest leader then had the name similar to the one of a famous character
of 1001 nights... anybody have an idea what it could be?

[Prometeus]

It seems to be a great scen, Stefan - as always .

No Idea about the Ghurid leader, sorry. Check out your PM.

[WarVoid]

Ali Baba? Aladdin? You realize there are hundreds of stories and names in 1001 Arabian Nights?

Anyhoo, in ancient times Kabul was spelled as Qabul with a "Q". And Bamyan should be spelled Bamiyan.

Sorry, just a note from your local Arab. Can't wait to play this scenario!

[Jimmywax]

The only name I can think of that hasn't been mentioned is Saladin. I am thinking he was a turk though, so that can't be right.

[Stefan Härtel]

Thanks for the notes on the city names, WarVoid. I'll change that right away
I've started work on the events file. If anyone has some suggestions, please post them here.
The Ghurid (which is rather Afghani-native than Arab) name is Ala ad-Din. I truly was a bit surprised when I read that.
BTW, WarVoid, can you give me a suggestion on pronouncing the name Sindbad? I read it as "Ssindibad" somewhere, but I don't know if this is reliable...

[Stefan Härtel]

Two new screenshots

Screenshot #1, meant to introduce the new city style.