Conquests Scenarios And Reviews Directory

Title: “The Rise & Fall of The Mughals ~ v2 ~ ”

Type: Historical; War, Trade, Religion, and 'East Meets West'.

Dates and Place: Starts on April 20th 1526, goes through to the 18th century. The stage is the Indian Subcontinent and its surrounding ocean, seas and islands.

Map: 100 x 100

Civs: 16 civs, in four culture groups, all playable.

Download Size: Main file pack - 46.24 MB. Optional soundtrack - 75.54MB (it's worth it ok!)

MP Version: to come at a later date

Synopsis:

The Battle of Panipat: Babur the Mughal has just defeated an army of 100,000 men and 1,000 elephants, fielded by the Lodi Sultans, a dynasty of Afghan Muslim rulers who have been ruling over much of the north of India. Against the odds, Babur’s paltry 12,000 routed the Lodi Sultan, with superior cavalry and cannon shot, and took Delhi! His descendants will encourage religious tolerance, art and culture, and will expand his fledgling empire by military means. In the south of India, a mighty Hindu Kingship is giving way to Persian and Shia influence. The Southern Deccan remains an obstacle and a prize. All this as new lightskinned traders start arriving...

Special Features:

- Every civ is playable, with Kings and at least one UU
- Lots of in-game art
- A wide range of units incl. two types of Holyman, serious artillery with early rockets, Warriors on Camels, Elephants, Horses and foot. Other mad mad units.
- Potential for big Naval Battles
- Lots of auto-producing improvements
- An in-depth Civilopedia
- Trade Mastery Victory (Spacerace with luxs), alongside Cultural, Domination, Conquest, VPs and Histograph.
- 9 City Elimination to truly test your nerve
- An immersive soundtrack
- A largely uncovered region of the world and history in Civ3 scenarios and mods

Thread here.

Updated...

Now if only we could get some more reviews....

Hm. I'd like to review “The Rise & Fall of The Mughals ~ v2 ~ ”, but I don't know if I've been to deeply involved in the revision to pass as tolerably impartial.

Just do it, but with that partial caveat. You'll know if you're commenting on your own input or not.

LouLong said:

Now if only we could get some more reviews....

Click to expand...

OK, I can take a hint too... I've been meaning to review this one for ages.

General information

Name: LOTR: War of the Ring
Creator: Quasidemo
Version: 0.92 (posted 13 March 2005)
Link: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=105011

Testing hardware

My trusty Fujitsu laptop, which provides the staunch service of keeping me with Civ III by the cunning expedient of being unable to run Civ IV. So if I can run it, you can too.

Preliminary points

Download time: Too quick for me to time it. Since there are no custom graphics, this would be practically instantaneous even if you have dial-up.

Start of game: Again, quick and simple. The map is small and there are only a few civs.

Time per turn: Same again. See above.

Bugs etc: As far as I can tell, there is none.

Main comments

This is probably my favourite scenario of all time, for so many reasons. It's almost perfectly conceived and executed. Despite being a fantasy scenario, it actually has no custom graphics at all, which sounds off-putting at first but works astonishingly well. In fact, the Firaxis units have been very well chosen to represent the various units and characters. The Tolkienesque atmosphere is generated mainly through Quasidemo's very clever use of text - most of the labels and suchlike have been rewritten (to make it clear that Stealth Bombers are Nazgul, Helicopters are Eagles, and suchlike). The writing is not only extensive but clear, elegant and often witty too. The pedia is extensive, useful, and interesting. Regular posters will know how much I approve of all this. Good writing enlivens any mod!

Apart from all this, the game is beautifully set up and balanced. The map is surprisingly small - another point that might put off the casual browser, but again it all adds to the gameplay. Each city and each battle is important. Moreover, even the Gondor player is not overwhelmed with a large empire to take stock of in the first turn. It takes time to move Frodo from the Shire to Gondor or Mordor, but not a ridiculous amount of time. In general, the map is very well made, the cities and units are carefully placed, and it plays like a dream. The balance between the different civs seems about right, too - play as Gondor and you'll probably find yourself fighting around Osgiliath and Minas Tirith while trying to find some way of getting Frodo through the mayhem without being caught. Just like in the book, in other words - although, importantly, this scenario in no way forces your hand, and you're free to try different strategies. Many a game with this scenario has resulted in fascinating new plotlines that Tolkien could have had great fun with...

In the scenario's thread, Quasidemo discusses some of the issues of how to implement features of the book (and films) and the difficulties of (a) which ones to put in and which to leave out, and (b) how to simulate those that make it in. As a rule, this scenario takes a "long view" of the War of the Ring. So some of the major characters feature, such as Gandalf and Denethor, but this isn't a role-playing game, and so (for example) most of the rest of the Fellowship aren't in there. The Balrog is there, but Shelob isn't. Much thought has gone into how to simulate the Roads of the Dead, the Eagles, and so on, and in my view (at least) the right tone is struck throughout and everything works far better than it has a right to.

Negatives: not many, really. The lack of custom graphics will annoy some, though for others it's part of the attraction (especially if your Internet connection is slow). There's no tech tree - or rather, there is, but it's the standard Epic one, and you're not expected to advance in it at all. That seems a bit of a shame, although there's plenty of other things to be paying attention to during the game, so you don't really miss it.

Verdict

All in all, an absolute tour-de-force of what you can do with imagination and careful planning alone. You don't need snazzy units and glitzy LHs to make a good scenario, although I like them as much as anyone. This scenario is about pure gameplay, and it's a real blast to play. I suspect that even those few souls on these fora who don't know about Tolkien would enjoy this one.

9/10 - if you haven't played it, give it a whirl!

Here's another one.

General information

Name: The Rise and Fall of the Mughals 2
Creator: Rambuchan (based upon earlier scenarios by him and Luddi VII)
Version: 1, though it's sort of 2 really (posted 7 April 2005)
Link: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=166297

Testing hardware

I don't know its specifications, but it's no better than what you've got.

Preliminary points

Download time: Not bad. It's 46 Meg, give or take. The soundtrack is another 75, but it's optional.

Start of game: Fairly quick (once you've got past the interminable "Civ X is building Wonder Y" messages that so many mods have!).

Time per turn: Didn't time it, but no particular problems here.

Bugs etc: Nothing serious that I've spotted. I noticed the odd transparency issue with LHs and perhaps the occasional dot of pink in some of the tech icons etc, but nothing more.

Main comments

This scenario is one of the outstanding ones, for a number of reasons. First, it looks very pretty indeed as soon as you start playing: well-chosen terrain graphics are included, which do enhance the subcontinental feel. In general, the unit graphics are also fine. There's a good selection of them, too, with lots of flavour units and the like. And of course, Rambuchan's dedication to authentic art means the scenario is crammed with period paintings and other images to rack up the atmos: LHs are stills of the genuine people, while tech icons, Wonder splashes, and so on are similarly authentic. All very nicely done (although some of the art looks like it got a tad distorted when being resized to Civ specs).

The good visuals are backed up by some great writing, too. The pedia isn't quite complete but it's closer to complete than most mods. All the material is well worth reading, too, partly because Rambuchan has sprinkled it with gameplay tips, and partly because much of it is witty and light-hearted in a way that contrasts nicely with the historical earnestness of the piece. I'm not sure why a man of his intellect and learning has such an obsession with dusky dancing maidens - actually, maybe I can see the attraction myself.

Aside from all this, the game itself is nicely balanced and set up. The map is roughly medium-sized, with most civs beginning with about half a dozen cities, or so (depending on strength). Your first turn will require a fair bit of examination of the situation, including your troop strengths and who should be the first to suffer your wrath, but not too much of this is required before sending the elephants to war. There's a wide array of civs on offer, varying nicely in difficulty from the powerful Mughals themselves down to the lowly Sri Lankans. Moreover, they all have their own styles of play and specialised units (in addition to well-balanced UUs), which adds greatly to the replay value. It's one thing to play as the East India Company, another to play as Bengal, and quite another to take the reins of the Malacca Pirates.

The tech tree covers one era and offers many goodies to research - no space-filler techs here. My gripe about the tech tree, though, is that the techs aren't very well placed on the science screen, resulting in needless overlapping. Not that this affects gameplay, of course, but still. Unit progressions all make sense. The many improvements and Wonders all add to the Indian feel - especially the Wonders, with their very evocative descriptions.

There's also the excellent Jewel in the Crown victory route, which replaces the standard Spaceship and requires you to control lots of luxuries - through trade or conquest, naturally. Elements like this ensure that the whole scenario hangs together very nicely and provides what you could call a fully immersive experience - the different parts all complement each other.

I almost forgot the music, too - drawn from the creator's seemingly unending supply of Indian dance beats and Buddhist rave rhythms, it's very atmospheric and far more original than the George Harrison-style sitar you might have expected. The music download is optional (and considerably larger than the scenario download itself) but it's well worth getting it.

Downside? Hard to think of anything, really. I don't like the plague ("Delhi Belly"!) but maybe that's just me. It would be nice to have some custom diplomacy text to ladle on the period detail, but you can't have everything (and it's a nightmare to do, too). All those civs and characters take some getting used to if you're not familiar with this period, but that's a positive thing too, of course. Some of the civs are virtually impossible to win with (the Malacca Pirates aren't going to win), so you may wonder what the point is of having them; but again this is a sort of side effect of having so many civs with such a wide range of strengths. No matter how good you get at this scenario, it's still going to hold a challenge for you (quite apart from the different difficulty settings).

Verdict

A really lavish scenario that takes a relatively under-used area and period (in Civ) and wrings it dry for all it's worth. This is one of those scenarios that are a real education to play. For some, of course, that may be a bit off-putting (since many people like to stick to what's familiar), but it's worth taking the plunge. It's also a real advance on its two predecessors, so whether you played those or missed out, it's well worth giving this one a go.

8/10 - Ernie and Bert were right. Learning is fun!

Hey! Thanks a lot for the review Plotinus. Very kind of you to take the trouble to do such an indepth and honest account. I'm glad to read that any negatives (aside from 'Delhi Belly', sorry!) were already on my list of things for v3. It's just I don't know how to fix those things myself, yet. And you've captured much of what I've intended with this scen, especially my love of Bert and Ernie

Thanks ! Updated !

We'll, seeing that Plot's written up one, I suppose I don't have an excuse for putting off writing that review of Mughals any longer. Anyway, I'm having a cold today, and it's not like I'm getting anything productive done.

Disclaimer

I've been involved in the revision as graphics a guy, technical advisor, and playtester. Thus, my comments may be regarded as less than perfectly unbiased.

General information

Name: The Rise and Fall of the Mughals 2
Creator: Rambuchan (based upon earlier scenarios by him and Luddi VII)
Version: 1, though it's sort of 2 really (posted 7 April 2005)
Link: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=166297

Testing hardware

An AMD Athlon 64 3200+ PC with 1GiB RAM with an NVIDA GeForce 6600 GT graphics card.

Prolegomena

I didn't time the download, but the ~160MiB this takes uncluding the optional music should make it a quick one on my 10/10 connection.

The scenario loads quite fast, and turn times are usually no issue. You will want to hit the caps lock key, however, since the AI is wont to march around large stacks of units.

No gameplay bugs that I'm aware of, but some graphical glitches, most annoying perhaps ships facing in wrong directions when firing, and a perplexing set of extraneous options in popups.

Main comments

The first thing to note is that this scenario is in many ways three in one; a relatively standard empire-building exercise if you chose to play as one of the Indian or Persian powers, and something rather different if you chose to play as one of the European trading companies. You can also play as one of the minor civs (Malaccans, Ceylonese, etc), in which case the game will be a balancing act to expand quick enough to catch up on your rivals, but not so quick as to cause overextension. The scenario utilizes nine city elimination, which severely punishes any attempt to hold on to more than what you can defend.

The European trading companies are perhaps the most interesting; starting with relatively little on the board, but possessing superior units to the Asiatic civs and a reach allowing them to land in force anywhere along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Bengal. Unfortunately, the AI does generally not play them well.

Graphically, the scen is a feast, with plenty of authentic local art thrown in. The twilit terrain graphics may seem very dark at first, but you get used to it, and they're certainly pretty enough. The unit graphics are of medium to high quality, with one or two exceptions, and if some don't fit perfectly, it's because unit makers sadly have not blessed us with a superabundance of of South Asian units. Many graphics have been switched compared to the earlier version, but a few less-than-perfect fits remain.

I heartily recommend downloading the soundtrack. It's the only thing since the early days of Vanilla that's got me turn the CivIII music back on for any extended period of time.

The unit lines make a somewhat chaotic impression, and unless you're strapped for resources, you are likely to build only a few of the units available to you at any given time. A couple of rather useless units have been lost since the previous version (Warrior, Infantry).

Unit balance is quite good, or rather would be, if the AI weren't so prone to be screwed by competent human use of artillery. This is of course chiefly a failing of the game engine, but Rambuchan's decision to allow lethal land bombardment on the Rocket Wala - an artillery unit with high bombard strength and good range - makes the problem worse than it would have to be.

One aspect of the unit lines that may be somewhat confusing is that a good many foot units have a movement value of two.

The tech tree is rather short, but otherwise fine. If you play as one of the major players, you'll get thru it quickly and end up swimming in cash, so if you fancy a longer challenge you may want to head into the editor and yank up tech costs.

The victory conditions you're likely to go for is VPs, cultural, and the "Jewel in the Crown", a modifed spaceship requiring control over various important commodities like cotton and opium. The last is most appropriate for the European trading companies, who are well placed to make "surgical" strikes to gain control of key resources, whereas the larger Indian powers, particularly the Mughals are best posed for the former two. That said, an experienced player should have no trouble raking in a VP win as one of the trading companies, on the middle difficulty levels at least.

The 'pedia is close to complete, and written in Rambuchan's inimitable, amusing and simultaneously educational style. My only objection here is that for some units and buildings, the text for a vanilla unit or improvement remains under the "Description" tab, which can be confusing.

Verdict

The final arbiter whether a civ scenario is a good one is whether it instills the one-more-turn syndrome, and this one certainly does. Some minor failings have been listed above, but it remains one of the most mesmerizig scenarios that have been made for CivIII.

9/10

CAMELOT!
Type: An historical, mythological scenario set in medieval England.
Period: 5000 BC to 520 AD.
Map: 80 x 160, 12 civilizations, all playable.
D/L: game, 120+ megs; music folder, 90+ megs.
MP: No (would this be desirable?).
Synopsis: This is a scenario that captures the look, feel and adventure of the Arthurian Legends.
It incorporates the historical aspects of Arthur’s time, such as the departure of the Roman legions and the influx of the barbarian Saxons, with the mythological, such as the Knights of the Round Table and the search for the Holy Grail. You begin in the ancient era with one settler and develop your civ just like the standard game.
Features:
- A Reverse Capture the Flag game in which the goal is to find the Holy Grail and return it to your capital city, thus bringing you victory and ensuring the survival of enlightened civilization.
- A killer music folder.
- Cool tech graphics & wonder splashes.
- A tech tree that really captures the transition from tribal civs to Romanized civs to medieval civs.
- All civs, flics, units changed; many buildings, wonders & techs too.
- Constructed much like a mod; several sub-scenarios could be constructed from CAMELOT! to develop different aspects of the Arthurian Legends, such as the Battle of Badon Hill, the arrival of Lancelot du Lac from France, the struggle between Arthur and Mordred.
URL: scenario, http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=170763

Give it a try! It’s a period piece that I really think will challenge & entertain.
Here is a link to an excellent review by Rambuchan:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=4089604&postcount=48

Thanks guys. Updated ! (including links in both ancient and medieval for Camelot!).

Some more reviews for different scenarios and/or from different reviewers would also be most welcome !

Hey,

I've got a question, though I don't know where to ask so I'm asking here cause this is where it originated. I downloaded one of the scenarios of this thread fine, but when I downloaded it it asked for the Conquests Scenario folder, and without it it won't play. So what is this Conquests Scenario folder? And if it doesn't come with the regular CIV III how do you get it so I can play some of these scenarios?

Welcome to CFC. But really you ought to pose a question like this on the thread of the scenario in question, not in this library thread.

If you've only got the original Civ III, you can't play any scenario that requires Conquests. Conquests is the expansion pack to Civ III. Most recent (and most good) mods and scenarios require it, because it offers much better modding possibilities.

The Battle for the Human Body (Civ3 Conquest & PTW)

Type: A Biological scenario based on the Human Body and how they deal with a major infection

Map: 50 x 120, 2 civs both are playable.

Download Size: Rather small, about 5 MB's.

MP Version: None have been made, but it might be possible...

OK, What's It About? This scenario is about germs invading the Human Body. As the Body you can mobilize and defend your internal organs (cities) and as the Germs you're trying to kill your host (City Elimination is in effect, the limit 8). There are some new units, but since there aren't any real Organ-y units out there, I used blobby units to represent germs (The Unclean, Ogre-Bull, etc.) and sharp, metallic units to represent the body (Tanks, Guns, etc.)

Synopsis: "Somebody didn't wash their hands! Now the viruses and bacteria are planning a war to end all wars in the human body. Play as the Cells and defend your very existence, or play as the germs and take your host. The choice is yours..."

Special Features: New units, custom graphics, new Civilopedia entries, new leaderhead for the germs, and an intricate system of organs (Cities) and organ improvements (Improvements and Wonders).

Go ahead and play it. I had fun making it, and I have fun playing it.
Here's the link:

Play it!

New Conquest - Conquistadors (Mexico, Peru and the Search for Eldorado)

For awhile now I had been looking for a good Mesoamerican scenario. One night I stumbled onto this game.

The point of the game is that you are a vassal of Emperor Charles V. You need to take command of Cortes and Pizzaro and destroy the Incans, Aztecs, and a few others.

However, El Dorado has also been added into this game. After you conquer the the Aztecs, Incans, Tlaxcala, and Totonacs. You need to hunt down and conquer El Dorado to win. El Dorado is never set in one place, it's position may be in Brazil, the Pacific, or even the Falkan Islands!

The Good: As Spain you start with Quetzalcoatl. Yeah, that's right, Quetzalcoatl. He can be used to bomb Tenochtitlan (I love this little feature).
The native forces are also represented by Multi-Units to show how many people the Conquistadors had to fight.

Also this game does have a civilopedia.

The Bad: Conquering Tenochtitlan or possibly El Dorado is very, very hard because of their population size, and their production time, even though you do have 3 armies.

I'd give it a 8/10.

Get it here.

That's nice of Lord Malbeth and Plotinus to write some reviews... unfortunately some of the scenarios you reviewed were not listed by their authors !

Lord Malbeth I will also add your scenario. Sorry about the delay but as you might have noticed I have been away for a while.

On a side note, should I take it personnally none has ever reviewed one of my scenarios ?

No, you shouldn't.