"MARS" Scenario - Updated ToT version of FW 'Mars Now!' Scenario by Kestrel

[Blake00]

Hi guys,

I really love the classic 'Mars Now!' scenario that came with Civilization 2 Fantastic Worlds and started wondering if there was an expanded/updated version for Civ2 Test of Time. Sure enough there was a really good sounding/looking one made by a user named Kestrel here:
https://web.archive.org/web/20080822143512/http://www.users.bigpond.com/kestrel18/Mars.htm

Sadly he didn't host the file himself and the Cradle of Civ Apolyton site is gone. The web archive backup sadly did not backup the download files:
https://web.archive.org/web/20080405024312/http://coc.apolyton.net:80/scenarios/mod-mars.shtml

I can see him discussing the mod with fans at Apolyton but sadly the scenario was not attached to any of the posts and he has not logged in there since 2003:
https://apolyton.net/forum/civiliza...i-and-civilization-ii/55734-mars-now-tot-mars

I've searched through the web archive backup of the standard Apolyton Civ2 scenarios section. I've searched through the Civ Fanatics Civ2 scenarios section and I've done a forum search here for anything containing Mars or Kestrel and have come up with nothing other than a few "oh I loved that scenario" conversations. I fear this great old Scenario may be lost forever. Does anyone here have a copy or know where I found still find a copy (keep in mind dead sites can be loaded into web archive so even long lost sites are worthwhile recommendations).

EDIT: @Kestrel18 has given me his own copy which is superior to all the others we found. You can download it HERE!

 

[Civinator]

Kestrel is also a member of CFC: Kestrel18 . His last activity at CFC was Mar 31, 2018. He posted a Civ 3 version of his famous Civ 2 ToT scenario 'Unitmania'. In that case may be it is a good idea to send him a pm or an email and if you do this, please add some kind greetings from me to him.

Edit: I have just seen in the Civ 2 scenario forum at CFC, Patine has posted this scenario. I think Kestrel would be o.k. with that.

 

[Broken_Erika]

On a somewhat related topic, here's a fully working capture of the Apolyton site from 2014, well before the upgrade broke all the download sections.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140903211545/http://apolyton.net/local_links.php

 

[Blake00]

Kestrel is also a member of CFC: Kestrel18 . His last activity at CFC was Mar 31, 2018. He posted a Civ 3 version of his famous Civ 2 ToT scenario 'Unitmania'. In that case may be it is a good idea to send him a pm or an email and if you do this, please add some kind greetings from me to him.

Edit: I have just seen in the Civ 2 scenario forum at CFC, Patine has posted this scenario. I think Kestrel would be o.k. with that.

Thankyou!!! I've sent him a PM. Hopefully he has email notifications turned on as march was still ages ago.

Yup a copy has been found and posted here!!
https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/fw-mge-mars-for-tot.625232/#post-15208795

Although I'm hitting a couple of bugs so now I'm wondering if Kestrel has a superior more intact copy. Eg there's no CITY.TXT names file resulting in the AI making blank cities. And the field scientists are supposed to treat all squares like roads but they appear to be treating them like railroads and have unlimited moves lol!!!

On a somewhat related topic, here's a fully working capture of the Apolyton site from 2014, well before the upgrade broke all the download sections.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140903211545/http://apolyton.net/local_links.php

Yeah I'm the one who's been posting the web archive download section links in some of the Apolyton forums to help people still trying to find stuff. Sadly this scenario wasn't in their regular Civ2 scenario download section.

 

[Civinator]

Very welcome Blake00. May be the CITY.TXT file of the old Civilization 2 Fantastic Worlds scenario can be used to close that gap?

 

[Blake00]

Very welcome Blake00. May be the CITY.TXT file of the old Civilization 2 Fantastic Worlds scenario can be used to close that gap?

I thought the same yesterday and had a look and there's a few race differences (eg Japanese replaced with custom faction) but with a few alterations I think I could get it working with it. Will pursue it if I don't hear from kestrel any time soon.

 

[Blake00]

SCORE!!! Twice in fact haha!

1. I found the CivFanatics copy of the entire Cradle of Civilization site (surprised no one mentioned this here haha) and sure enough there was the complete Mars Scenario!
http://sleague.civfanatics.com/COC/scenarios/mod-mars.shtml

2. On top of that Kestrel himself answered my PM and sent me his files although they were missing sounds.

Both these version are way more complete than the other copy Patine had (bigger briefing, more units, no missing CITY.txt etc) and I think Kestrels copy might even be newer so I'll merge the old sounds stuff into his version, re-pack it and then upload it here to the main CivFanatics downloads section!

 

[techumseh]

I had no idea that the Cradle of Civilization site was still up anywhere. I helped found it many years ago, along with Paul Cullivan (Seeds of Greatness, etc.), William Keenan (author of many seminal tips for ToT) and Mike Daumen, who made several excellent scenarios and has recently resurfaced as Committed Hero. Our goal was to popularize Test of Time as the best vehicle for scenario creation. At that time, almost all scenarios were created with MGE or older versions. In that we were ultimately successful, I think. Kestrel was the first to master multi-map scenarios for Test of Time and his work was an inspiration to those of us who saw the potential of the version. Thanks for the posts. It's a trip down memory lane for me.

 

[CurtSibling]

I had no idea that the Cradle of Civilization site was still up anywhere. I helped found it many years ago, along with Paul Cullivan (Seeds of Greatness, etc.), William Keenan (author of many seminal tips for ToT) and Mike Daumen, who made several excellent scenarios and has recently resurfaced as Committed Hero. Our goal was to popularize Test of Time as the best vehicle for scenario creation. At that time, almost all scenarios were created with MGE or older versions. In that we were ultimately successful, I think. Kestrel was the first to master multi-map scenarios for Test of Time and his work was an inspiration to those of us who saw the potential of the version. Thanks for the posts. It's a trip down memory lane for me.

This post makes me go misty-eyed with nostalgia for those far-off times...

 

[ElderDarkDragon]

This is sweet. Did you ever end up repacking it?

 

[Blake00]

Ooh yes thank you for reminding me @ElderDarkDragon . I did a check and it looks like the copy @Kestrel18 gave me recently is superior to even the cradle version. However like the others it required a lot of renaming of ToT sound and scifi unit animation files. So I've done all that and put it all together into one big complete scenario that doesn't require any more preparation work, I've then repacked it with 7zip. All you gotta do is unzip it into a ToT scenario folder and it's good to go.

Oh and in one of the versions included a cool html help page with all the unit pictures and details so I've included that too.

I had a big game a few months back and had a lot of fun. Encountered a few bugs but they were minor plus I suspect the ToTPP patch I have installed may have been the cause of some of them. Have done a tour video of it too but haven't uploaded it yet. Once it's up I'll do a proper download page here with info, HD pictures and the video.

 

[ElderDarkDragon]

Very awesome! I've always liked ToT for the multiple maps. Thank you for going to all the trouble to put this together (and to the original authors of course).