GOTM 45: Rome
The Greek island Crete hosted one of the earliest civilizations in Europe: the Minoan. Since then, numerous powers have ruled over the island. Several religions have flourished, mainly based on the religion of the ruling country. The Romans managed to conquer the island around 70 BC, but were later overthrown. Can you do better? The mission of this months game is to unite the people of the island under your rule. You play as Romans, and simply destroying everyone else is not an option. Instead, you will only succeed if you manage to convert all inhabitants to one specific religion of your own choice, and that all opponents in the game survive. The map roughly resembles Crete*.
The game requires HOF 1.74.004, which you can download here. Please note that this is a NEW VERSION of the HoF Mod.
Game settings:
Civilization: Rome (Leader: Julius Caesar; Traits: Expansive, Organized)
Rivals: 6 AIs
Difficulty: Noble
Map: Crete (custom made based on Pangaea, slightly less landmass than usual)
Mapsize: Standard
Climate: Rocky
Sea Level: High
Starting Era: Ancient
Speed: Normal
Options: Standard
Victory Conditions: Conquest disabled
Specific rules for this month:
The following conditions must be fulfilled to compete for the medals/awards:
- All civilizations (including the player) must have the same State Religion the turn the player wins
- No civilizations (including the player) must run Free Religion civic the turn the player wins
- All civilizations must survive (conquest is thus not allowed)
Julius Caesar:
Julius Caesar is Expansive and Organized ; starting with Mining and Fishing. The Expansive trait provides +3 health in cities, and 100% production bonus towards Granary and Harbour. Organized reduces Civic Upkeep with 50%, and you receive 100% production bonus for Lighthouse and Courthouse.
Unique unit: Praetorian (replaces swordsman)
The praetorian is stronger than the swordsman (strength 8 instead of 6), but does not have the +10% city attack bonus.
Starting screenshot
This is the start of the game (click for a bigger image):
Adventurer Class bonuses:
- Extra work boat: The ship carrying you to Crete survived the trip.
Challenger Class Equalizers:
- No warrior: The ship not only crashed on the rocks, but the warrior drowned as well.
To enter the Competition:
This competition will open on 1 August 2009. From that date, you'll be able to get your chosen starting save >>>here<<<.
Submit the save after your victory (or defeat) here, by 1 September 2009.
Software Versions
Windows: This game MUST be played in Civilization 4 (NOT Warlords or BTS), patched to version 1.74, and with the HOF mod version 1.74.004 installed. You can download the HOF mod here. Players using Windows Vista are encouraged to read the notes on Vista fixes here.
Macintosh: This game MUST be played in Civilization 4 (NOT Warlords), patched to version 1.74, and with the Mac HOF mod version 1.74.002 installed. You can download the HOF mod here.
While playing...
Remember - for your entry to be accepted, it MUST be your first attempt to play this game, and you MUST NOT replay any turns. If you make a mistake while playing, you have to live with it, learn from it, and carry on the game without replaying.
We will open 'spoiler' threads during the month for players to discuss what happens in their games. Do not discuss any details of the game outside those threads while it is in progress.
Please write here or send me a Private Message for any technical queries, eg. if you have trouble opening the game. Do NOT post in this thread once you have successfully opened the starting save.
* Never trust a map maker!
Note from author: If your game crashes, reload the latest autosave and repeat all moves exactly. Please PM me about the details of the crash. I appreciate any feedback regarding the map, either through PM or through the spoiler threads. Good luck with this game