Foundations of Empire

FOUNDATIONS OF EMPIRE
A Civilization IV Scenario – Designed by Gordon Farrell

The great empires of the West were built on more than just dreams. Systems of control and domination had to be developed before one ruler could sit on his or her throne and exercise what the Romans would come to call “impero” --- the ability to command, without question, every aspect of human life. Through trial and error and bold experimentation, from the warlord monarchies of the Mycenaeans, to the two kings of the Spartans, to the absolute power of the Pharoanic state and the empires of Pericles and Alexander, the road to total power was neither direct nor obvious. Innovation, ingenuity, and imagination all came to bear before human beings could rule over others absolutely and without question.

In “Foundations of Empire,” you will re-live the rise of authority from its earliest roots in oligarchies, citizen assemblies and democracies. You will transform it into the tools of sprawling realms by building senates, imperial courts, legislative councils and dungeons. Guide the great powers of the Eastern Mediterranean as they expand their realms and consolidate power by experimenting in a wide range of ancient forms of government. From 1500 BC to the dawn of the Romans in 200 BC, the Eastern Mediterranean was the cradle of imperial experimentation in the West. You will lead the Mycenaeans, the Aegyptians, the Phoenicians, the Minoans or the Trojans as they lay the foundations of absolute power as it is still practiced today.

FEATURES:
- Five playable civilizations: The Mycenaeans, the Aegyptians, the Phoenicians, the Minoans, and the Trojans.
- Revised tech tree with many new advances to research and implement, such as Imperial Roads, Dual Monarchy, and Maritime Trade.
- Numerous reskinned units including Spartan Hoplites, Indus War Elephants, and Companion Cavalry.
- Seven new religions, including Greek rationalist movements like Platonism and Socratic Method.
- Re-named civics that include Pharonic State, Spartan Agoge and Citizen Assembly.
- A new musical score from other, well-loved historical games, that can be downloaded separately.

IMPORTANT: PATCH 1.61 IS REQUIRED TO RUN THIS MOD.

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Download “Foundations of Empire” here and unzip:
http://www.3ddownloads.com/Strategy/Civilization%204/Mods/Foundations of Empire
2. When you unzip, you'll find a folder labeled "Foundations of Empire PACK." Open this folder to locate the WorldBuilder Save file and the mod folder labeled simply "Foundations of Empire."
3. Place the WorldBuilder Save file into your “Public Maps” folder.
4. Place the “Foundations of Empire” folder into your “Mods” folder
5. As an additional bonus, download the new soundtrack (150 MB) and unzip.
6. Place the “Sounds” folder into Mods/Foundations of Empire/Assets.
7. To play, select “Foundations of Empire” from the Single Player/Scenarios menu.

Here's a sample of the re-skinned units, from left to right:
- Indus War Elephant
- Macedonian Spear
- Penteconter
- Spartan Hoplite

Greetings!

This is my first mod for any of the Civilization games. Basically, it's designed for players who want to spend more time in the ancient world and still have a deep game experience.

I've been working on it for several months and it seems about 98% finished. The main thing I'm aware of lacking is that some of the Civilopedia entries are skimpy (especially the Civics.)

Still, there should be plenty here to enjoy!

In addition to dl'ing the scenario, you may want to get the optional soundtrack as well. It's 15 MB, but it's worth it, since you won't have to listen to inappropriate classical music or medieval religious music during the early period covered by the scenario.

Suggestions, comments, and notes on any bugs you find will be deeply appreciated. Thanks for downloading it and giving it a try. Enjoy!

Just downloaded it, but where is the file that should be placed to the public maps folder?

Sorry for the confusion! All necessary file are now included in the main download package, "Foundations of Empire."

Thanks for checking out my scenario.

Well this is surely a nice scenario, beutiful and nice map too.
I´m now playing as the Mycenaeans on Prince level and just discovered the complex mythology tech and founded the Cult of Zeus religion.
I think there are really too many goody huts villages, I´ve profited a lot from them: gold and technologies, and the next time I start a game I know where they are. The barbarian cities are all too easy to qonquer, I took out them with the first unit that encountared them(Phalanx).
Well thats the first thought otherwise this is my first game so we will see what comes up.
Where should the soundtrack file be placed(details please)?
Nice work!

Thanks for the comments, Bosh! I'm glad you're enjoying it! The "Sounds" folder should be placed into my mod folder. Just drop it into "Assets" and it should work fine. Hope you like the selections I made!

Well this scenario is a winner, I really enjoy it. I guess you need those goody huts after all, it didn´t take long for the other civs to catch up when I was ahead some techs. When I started to sail with my main force against Minos of Crete for a supprise attack barbarians started to appear frequently from all directions pillaging and attacking my weakest cities, so I had to turn around with half of my army and the attack against Crete turned out to a disaster(haha).
That music soundtrack, when should it start playing? because I have not heard any new track yet, at least from the beginning nothing that I have noticed.

When I start the mod all goes OK but when I try to start a game the optional civ's are the standard civs (Americans, Spain, etc), and not the modded ones...

Bosh : I'm really glad you're enjoying it! With regard to music, as the basic game is configured music doesn't start until you enter the Classical Age. In FOE, it's called "The Early Helladic" era. You'll get the standard ancient music at that point. When you enter the next age, which I call "High Archaic" or something like that, you'll start getting the new music (instead of medieval religious music).

Connery: It sounds like you put the WB Save file in the right place. Now put the "Foundations of Empire" folder into Civ4/Mods.

Gordon Farrell said:

Connery: It sounds like you put the WB Save file in the right place. Now put the "Foundations of Empire" folder into Civ4/Mods.

Click to expand...

I did it. I just updated to 1.61 (I thought that was the problem) but the difference is that now I have all the default Civ4 civ's but not the custom civs you made. I've tried loading the mod from the Advanced tab and also starting the mod directly by the .wbs file but the same thing happens.

Then I found out the problem :
When the .zip file is decompressed the structure is Foundations of Empire/Foundations of Empire/Assets and Civ4 wasn't able to read the custom files/civ's because of that (the structure can only have one directory before the Assets folder) so I fixed that and it's working

Great job by the way.

Connery - Yeah, I finally realized that myself. If you unzip it to a folder with the same name as the zip file, you end up with a folder inside a folder that has the same name! Ergh -- I gotta figure out how to fix that ---

Anyway, I'm glad you like what you see, now that you've got it running!! Let me know if you have any suggestions! (PS - What civ are you playing?)

Well, I have a couple suggestions :

- Different Leader Heads (replacing the leader heads wwould make the setting more immersive, perhaps with images of statues or modern day representations like the folks of "The Ancient Mediterranean" mod did)
- A religion specific to the Phoenician League (perhaps the Cult of Baal or the Cult of Astarte.)
- New icons for the different religions
- "Pharoanic State" should be spelled "Pharaonic State"

and that's it, at least for now.
I'm currently on 1455 BC, improving my cities and trying/preparing to expand to the far western side.

Cheers

Thanks for the suggestions! I'd been going round and round about the spelling for the adjectival form of Pharaoh, I think in the end you're right. Also, a cult of Baal or Astarte is such a natural I'm appalled I didn't think of it! But I take it you're unhappy with my religion icons?

Not unhappy, I just think they could be better (or look better) along with the leader heads. Perhaps on a coming update?

This is an absolutely excellent scenario, it is great, yet simple. I just started a game as Troy and I'm slightly appalled by the fact that they get one city when everyone else gets many but their are like 8 or 9 fish around Troy and the nearby barbarian cities are easy to capture. I found a mistake (I think): Troy starts out with a Chariot, but their unique unit is the War Chariot. Shouldn't that starting unit be the War Chariot? Otherwise it's a great game, and a very nice map.

Head Serf - I'm glad you're finding it fun! That's a good note on the War Chariot. Thanks! It now goes on my official do-list for v1.01!

Connery - I dunno about changing leaderheads. I can do 2D heads. But I don't mind the vanilla ones, either, since they're pretty much appropriate to each of the civs...

Gordon Farrell said:

Connery - I dunno about changing leaderheads. I can do 2D heads. But I don't mind the vanilla ones, either, since they're pretty much appropriate to each of the civs...

Click to expand...

It's just my opinion.

I'm off to more bug hunting, later i'll post some more.

Looks good. i think i will download it!

let civ4files.com know about it and they will give you a second download mirror (i cant guarantee it though)

where you build it up, i tear it down
check out my mod too

Hey G, I just dl'd your mod. Looks awesome, I 'll check it out! Btw, I love your screenshots!! can you give me the code so I can link my screenshots here?

Thanks!!