Alternative campaigns - directory & drafting

[Fergei]

Apologies kaskavel, but I am so enthusiastic about your excellent initiative to suggest ways to play the game in slightly different ways that I think it merits a directory and an overarching thread to discuss possible new challenges in order to, as you say:

• Create fun, different, challenging and interesting games.
• Offer the game a flavor consistent with each civilization characteristics and history
• Support the civ’s traits and encourage game-play consistent with them.
• Allow players to lower the difficulty level of the game.

Civfanatics also has the excellent Game of the Month competition which is well worth checking out if you want a challenge that typically is without setting conditions/restrictions on how the player plays the game. https://forums.civfanatics.com/forums/civ3-game-of-the-month.49/

However, I think there is a real gap in the market with people looking to approach the game in a different way, perhaps in a way that presents a challenge that takes them out of their comfort zone through self imposed restrictions. I will update this post with any new alternative campaigns that are posted (ideally having been tested by a player first, as per your process kaskavel).

Directory of Alternative Campaigns (as at 18/12/2024)

Alternative campaign-the Mongols

Intro (same for all scenarios): This is one of a series of campaigns I have created in order to try to create more interesting games. They suggest a number of self restrictions the player has to follow, depending the civilization he is playing. The purpose of them is to Create fun, different...

forums.civfanatics.com

Alternative campaign-The Russians

Intro (same for all scenarios): This is one of a series of campaigns I have created in order to try to create more interesting games. They suggest a number of self restrictions the player has to follow, depending the civilization he is playing. The purpose of them is to Create fun, different...

forums.civfanatics.com

Alternative campaign-The English

The English-The empire where the sun never sets Intro (same for all scenarios): This is one of a series of campaigns I have created in order to try to create more interesting games. They suggest a number of self restrictions the player has to follow, depending the civilization he is playing...

forums.civfanatics.com

 

[Fergei]

So I have a list of situations I have been thinking about long ago and more recent ones following the inspiration of playing the Mongol Alternative Campaign. However, I often lack the historical knowledge to think of the most appropriate Civs. I intend to test each of the following before posting anything incase any of these turn out to be completely impractical or just too difficult. I also intend posting my 4000BC save incase anyone wants to repeat the exact same test (I appreciate this may not be possible if I modify the challenge a bit to improve it after my game). If anyone has any suggestions to make about appropriate Civs or different spins on my rough proposals below, I am all ears.

I would intend including a 'Quick Win Condition' for people who don't want to engage in a full length game (or if the full length game gets a bit tedious (e.g. going for an inevitable domination victory).


Challenge Focus: Coastal Conquest
Civ(s): Vikings
Challenge Details:
- you can only explore on land with a warrior unit, worker, or explorer (may necessitate hooking resources and luxuries outside of your empire's boundaries)
- all other land units (including settlers) can only move in the following ways:
o within your own empire’s boundaries
o transported by ship
o amphibious landing and then must stay within 3 squares of the coast or within 2 squares of a river
(note: this means there will often be cities owned by Civs you are at war with that you are not permitted to approach, so you will have to choose wisely who you fight to try and minimise the risk of culture flipping back to them, or you must raze)
- (possible option) no cathedrals, libraries or universities are permitted to be built. Inherited ones must be sold.
Map type: Continents, cold, any water, raging barbs OR Archipelago, 60% water, cold
Possible modifications required: consider introduction of explorer at map-making
Quick Win Conditions: conquer or raze at least a total of 3x AI controlled cities (using the restrictions set out above)
Full Win Conditions: standard victory conditions, excluding diplomatic victory (with the quick win conditions as a pre-requisite). For domination victory 20% of land and 20% of population is acceptable (given restrictions in moving inland, especially if there is a lack of rivers)
Difficulty Modifier: suggest playing at 1 level below your standard difficulty level

 

[Fergei]

Challenge Focus: The Sun Never Sets
Civ(s): England
Challenge Details:
- a sizeable proportion of your empire must be on the landmass other than the one you started on.
- you must span the globe with your empire and support and protect it through naval means.
- Victory must be achieved before the decline of the British Empire in modern times
- Luxury slider cannot go above 10% (you must acquire or trade for luxuries to top up your happiness, or use entertainers)
- You can’t just fill islands with outposts/sentries to block off the AI
Map type: Archipelago, 60% water, any earth conditions, raging barbs (quell the ‘natives’!)
Quick Win Conditions:
1) establish a city size 7 or above on a total of 4 major islands/continents (i.e. each qualifying land mass must have more than 4 tiles in size), including your own starting land mass, AND
2) at least one quarter of your cities must be based on landmasses that are not the one you started on.
AND
3) you have at least 15% of the total population and 15% of the total territory
Full Win Conditions: standard victory conditions before your Civ reaches the modern era (with the quick win conditions as a pre-requisite). Obviously excludes space race.
Difficulty Modifier: suggest playing at 1 level below your standard difficulty level

 

[Fergei]

Challenge Focus: Culture Flip Conquest
Civ(s): Babylon (Scientific + Religious)
Challenge Details: Make bold and speculative city placements close to neighbouring Civs and convince their people to overthrow their masters and pledge allegiance to your empire.
Map type: Pangea or Continents (any settings)
Quick Win Conditions: Flip a total of 3 cities from rivals (flipping back a city you lost does not count). (optional spoilers will be provided about possibly the most viable tactics to achieve this)
Full Win Conditions: standard victory conditions (with the quick win conditions as a pre-requisite)
Difficulty Modifier: suggest playing at 1 level below your standard difficulty level

 

[Fergei]

Challenge Focus: Blood Brothers
Civ(s): Options:
Portugal & Spain vs Inca & Aztec,
Ottoman & Arab vs Spain & England,
Rome & Byzantines vs Celts & Carthage,
England & America vs Russia & China
Challenge Details: (requires modification, needs research as not sure I can do this)
- start in a locked alliance with another Civ. There will be one rival locked alliance plus other AI Civs. You will not be at constant war with the rival locked alliance, the alliances will merely be rivals in an otherwise standard game.
- You may not have a military alliance or MPP with any other Civ, only your locked alliance.
Map type: any settings, but preferably at least 8x Civs to try and space out the locked alliances a little.
Possible modifications required: need to work out viability of locked alliances and upload .biq
Quick Win Conditions:
i) have your locked alliance achieve a total score of double your rival locked alliance’s total score
OR
ii) eliminate one of your AI rivals in the rival locked alliance
Full Win Conditions: standard victory conditions (quick win condition is not a pre-requisite)
Difficulty Modifier: suggest playing at your standard difficulty level

 

[Fergei]

Challenge Focus: Constant War
Civ(s): Hittites
Challenge Details:
- from the moment you meet the first rival Civ, you must immediately declare war. You must then be at war with at least 1x Civ at the conclusion each and every turn thereafter.
- where you are sharing your starting landmass, you must be at war with at least 1x Civ on that starting landmass
- you are limited to 3x military alliances per era, choose wisely!
Map type: Pangea or Continents (any settings), Archipelago (60% water)
Quick Win Conditions: Fully conquer any landmass that already had a minimum of 2x AI Civs on it.
Full Win Conditions: standard victory conditions (quick win condition is not a pre-requisite)
Difficulty Modifier: suggest playing at 2 levels below your standard difficulty level

 

[justanick]

Challenge Focus: The Sun Never Sets
Civ(s): England
[...]
Map type: Archipelago, 60% water

You donnot seem to like 80% water. Distributing a similar amount of land tiles over a greater map in total can be fun, too.

 

[Fergei]

You donnot seem to like 80% water. Distributing a similar amount of land tiles over a greater map in total can be fun, too.

This is true. I guess I'm thinking Archipelago 80% has very small landmasses and a good chance of a lack of fresh water. 80% water continents is fine but may not have enough distinct landmasses for this particular challenge. For the Viking one the tundra combined with 80% Arch would further reduce chances of irrigation. I also didn't want to dictate map sizes as different people like different lengths of games. Also, I just think 60% Arch is the best and most varied combination in the game by some distance. Anything can happen on such maps.

I'd be delighted if anyone could come up with a good 80% Archipelago challenge, but it might have to be limited to seafaring Civs due to the fresh water issue (I personally brought irrigation forward to engineering for this reason).

I might have a shot at an 80% arch max size map (360x360?) in my next game and see what it looks like.

 

[kaskavel]

For copyright purposes and in order to avoid any misunderstanding.
My English campaign is ready (but the article is not), I finally finished my test game yesterday (I have the save file one round before year 2050). It has a different logic, but It has similarities with your proposal, I am not going to make any changes I think. I have not used any of your ideas, I assure you, although I will steal your meme "the sun never sets". I had something like "From west indias to..." or "the most widespread empire the world has ever seen", but yours is better.
I had already started thinking about my Carthagenian campaign, the main concept being that only coastal cities are allowed. It is unavoidable I think that I will be influenced by your similar Viking proposals and I will credit you if that happens.

 

[Fergei]

Okay, I look forward to your England one! The fact you are at 2050 means it is already significantly different and lets face it there will be multiple different possible scenarios for different Civs. I won't bother testing that one at my end any time soon.

I will probably focus on my 'Blood Brothers' suggestion to test first as I have long been interested in fixed alliances (I believe in the Rise of Rome scenario but there were major issues with the unit balancing in that version). Then I will try your Russia one.

 

[kaskavel]

Apologies kaskavel, but I am so enthusiastic about your excellent initiative to suggest ways to play the game in slightly different ways that I think it merits a directory and an overarching thread to discuss possible new challenges in order to, as you say:

I thought I had thanked you for that, but I hadnt, sorry. Glad someone likes this effort I make, thank you very much!

 

[Fergei]

1st post updated to include link to English campaign.

 

[Fergei]

Challenge Focus: Blood Brothers
Civ(s): Options:
Portugal & Spain vs Inca & Aztec,
Ottoman & Arab vs Spain & England,
Rome & Byzantines vs Celts & Carthage,
England & America vs Russia & China
Challenge Details: (requires modification, needs research as not sure I can do this)
- start in a locked alliance with another Civ. There will be one rival locked alliance plus other AI Civs. You will not be at constant war with the rival locked alliance, the alliances will merely be rivals in an otherwise standard game.
- You may not have a military alliance or MPP with any other Civ, only your locked alliance.
Map type: any settings, but preferably at least 8x Civs to try and space out the locked alliances a little.
Possible modifications required: need to work out viability of locked alliances and upload .biq
Quick Win Conditions:
i) have your locked alliance achieve a total score of double your rival locked alliance’s total score
OR
ii) eliminate one of your AI rivals in the rival locked alliance
Full Win Conditions: standard victory conditions (quick win condition is not a pre-requisite)
Difficulty Modifier: suggest playing at your standard difficulty level

I tested 'Blood Brothers' and I am really happy with this simple change. A locked alliance is easy to do in the editor and creates quite distinct situations you don't get in a free for all. Your partner is probably stronger than you but you are very nervous about what they do. In my instance my partner was powerful, alone on an island. But two of my neighbours settled on his landmass. If my partner (the Inca) should attack one of them then I would face 99% of our mutual foes units, so I was tying myself in knots about what my priorities should be.

Unfortunately, the game is best if the rival locked alliances avoid a 2vs1 on the same land mass and it can take 15mins to work out if that situation has arisen. My intention was that the locked alliances would slowly dominate the world, eating up lone AI Civs, before a mighty showdown between your locked alliances and the AI locked alliance. In reality, only 1 of the 4 Civs in the locked alliance got in the top 4 out of 14 Civs. It wasn't me and as I was 1vs2 on my starting landmass it ended in disaster. But a totally unpredictable disaster. On average I think it should work out as I planned, but I may end up quitting if I see a 2vs1 on a starting landmass. I will definitely play it again in future. I think for me it'll be a regular variation on the game.

I don't know how to load up a mini video of the retirement map like some people can, but if you want to see a somewhat bizarre world map unfold, load the attached and retire.

 

[kaskavel]

This one is interesting. How does the locked alliance work? Like an permanent inescapable MPP?

 

[Fergei]

This one is interesting. How does the locked alliance work? Like an permanent inescapable MPP?

Yes, plus immediate peace and war by the other member. Unlike MPP it doesn't need an attack on one of your units on your territory to trigger war. Also, MPP partners do not make seperate peaces with the enemy.

In my game, lone AI Carthage got the Statue of Zeus and declared war in the ancient era on both locked alliances in the game plus 1 other AI (so 5x Civs). Hannibal had no allies and still claimed about 6 cities before everyone made peace. So a locked alliance setup can be quite unpredictable and does not guarantee success for an alliance.

 

[Fergei]

I'll correct myself. In the first game my above post was accurate. In this latest one the peace is immediate and automatic for both of those in the locked alliance, but the war declaration appears to be like a conventional MPP (i.e. it requires a member of a MPP to be attacked in their own territory in order to instigate the terms of the locked alliance). I am somewhat confused as I was certain it was auto-war in my first game!

 

[Fergei]

It turns out a locked alliance setting is most fun locking yourself in with a lunatic with high aggression. Montezuma is an imbecile hell bent on the destruction of his empire and my Incans. 5x Civs are at war with his Indian neighbours in a great dogpile and Montezuma makes peace. Then when India has made peace with everyone else and has regrouped, Montezuma then decides he cannot tolerate Ghandi after all, declares war and with my increased naval capacity settings I get ten elephants landing next to one of my cities in the space of a few turns!

Montezuma definitely the most consistently inept AI in my games. I cannot remember him really ever being a contender in the industrial era.

 

[Fergei]

Fresh from my disappointment at being unable to make barbarians construct forts, I'm thinking of a way to play that has forts (and Zone of Control) as a key requirement as they are a part of the game I completely ignore. Maybe the Chinese making a real 'Great Wall' of sorts or similar. Or the Koreans to make specialised use of their UU by basing them in the forts?

Maybe each (land) boundary city must have a fort on either side of it (and a total of two between neighbouring boundary cities). Apparently the AI is a bit rubbish at dealing with forts though and will keep whacking against them even if they can push on to attack a city. In short, I am struggling to a way to make this a fun challenge. But I'll give something a go and see how it plays out.

 

[Lanzelot]

Would it be a good idea to move all the "Alternative campaign" threads into the Stories forum or even the Succession Game forum, perhaps even in their own subforum?

 

[Fergei]

I will defer to you as a moderator and kaskavel as the originator of the alternative campaign ideas, but there are only a couple of us playing these and discussing possible challenges. I'm not sure there is sufficient demand for another sub-forum?