Rising Sun

[Pawel]

Rising Sun version 1.39

The latest version can be found here.


General Description:

This scenario is primarily intended to be played as Japan, even though many nations are playable, and serveral (e.g. the Americans and Germans) have many units. All the 41 extra unit animations from Medieval Japan and World War II provided with PTW (but not included in the standard game) are used in the scenario. Another 40 units by various authors are included in optional enhancement packs to give the scenario additional flavor (see below). Two new governments, constitutional monarchy and fascism have also been added. The latter correctly reflects the poor usage of the German industrial capacity during WWII, while allowing a large army.

Few major changes have been made to the original Firaxis unit stats, and this extended unit set can be used in any game without affecting the balance. The Japanese units are, however, designed to mesh in a more dynamic way. Instead of just having new units replacing old ones, they often represent different capabilities, creating more variety in the force composition. Since I am not very familiar with the details of the historic performance of various medieval Japanese units, some may require re-naming for flavor. The ratings of most WWII units, on the other hand, should be rather accurate, but reflect the performance of a particular type of formation (e.g. a Soviet army or a German corps) rather than just specific hardware. The new modern unit mix has been optimized with respect to the required resources, so that some useful type can be built even if not all resources are available to a particular civilization.

Note: If you want to use the new units in your own scenario, open it in the editor and import the rules (at least unit, tech, and government) from Rising Sun.bix. (The rules can be edited later if you want to change the stats.) You can then either move the contents of Rising Sun\Art and Rising Sun\Text to the corresponding PTW (or scenario) directories, or just add this scenario to the search path in the .bix file. For those unfamiliar with the editor, a "mod only" file for play on random maps is included in version 1.35 and later.


Historic Background:

This Scenario adopts a novel approach to history. In reality civilization rise and fall, but in civ they tend to do either one or the other. The scenario is thus nominally set to begin in 200 BC, but actually contains several time lines.

It represents Japan before the dawn of written history, China after 221 BC, as well as Rome, Carthage, and Germany (including Gaul) before 146 BC. Ptolemean Egypt and Greece also fit well into this picture. Persia reflects the times of Cyrus (539 BC) or the later Sassanides rather than the divided Seleukids, but the interpretation can be left to the user.

The placement of the other civilizations is largely unhistoric, either fitting many epochs (e.g. India) or aiming at achieving a certain position at a later stage of the game. Priority has been given to civilizations with special units. A major flaw with games starting early is often that America is empty, and whoever happens to get there first wins effortlessly, or if someone is already in place they have a huge advantage. Such an approach never recreates the course of history, and I therefore decided against it. One thing to keep in mind is that Japan will not come into contact with most of these civilizations until a later date, making the initial conditions less important from the player's point of view. Oh yes, and the Canaries are just for a Spanish friend...

In a scenario spanning a long period, city names pose a problem. It may be tempting to choose those from the beginning of the scenario time line, but these tend to quickly lose their relevance. The city names used here not era specific, and their exact location is adapted to the map conditions. Since a large portion of the map will be filled in randomly by the AI, a purist approach would fail anyway.

Technology is rather primitive. In part this is in order to limit the speed of expansion that could occur with so many civilizations in immediate contact. They catch up quickly, however.


Credits:

Inspiration:
Plexus' Japan 1583 scenario

Map:
Kal-el's 140x140 Earth with Resources v1.0x

Units:
41 extra units by Firaxis
40 units described below and in the unit file.

Misc:
Alternative Fortresses by aaglo
Fascism icons by Kal-El
New Barbarian Camps by m_m_x (in aaglo's file)
New Ruins and Goody Huts by m_m_x
Population with Tiny Mood Badges by EvanCiv
Terrain by Snoopy or Warpstorm
QueueMod by Mercade (building part only)
Tidier Railroads by Soufie77
Lots of anonymous civilopedia icons

Alternative Graphics:
Starting with version 1.04 there are three graphic options using mods already provided with PTW. The three are Snoopy's Terrain 4.1, Snoopy's Terrain X (a compilation), and Warpstorm's Watercolor Terrain. This is the only difference between the three .bix files, which are provided just for convenience.


Future Development:

Anyone is free to use or modify this scenario, in part or in whole, in any way they want as long as this does not infringe upon the copyright of Firaxis (or any other relevant parties). Any improved versions by others would be most welcome.


Installation instructions:

As always, unzip all files to the PTW Scenario directory. If you have an earlier version installed, remove or overwrite it.

The scenario no longer requires any unit animations that are not supplied by Firaxis as part of PTW. In the Rising Sun\Art\Units directory there is a zipped file with substitute unit animation. If you decide not to download all the enhancement packs - unzip it without overwriting any files. Since several of the units below for various reasons do not work out-of-the-box, it is highly recommended that you get the tested packages rather than trying to download them separately.

It is recommended that the PTW 1.21f patch is used with this scenario. If you use a non-English language version, or experience any version related problems, remove the files Civilopedia.txt and script.txt from the Rising Sun/Text directory.


Download:

Rising Sun: scenario (version 1.39)

Rising Sun: list of changes

Rising Sun: unit properties (version 1.39)


Enhancement Packs:

Rising Sun: basic art and unit pack (versions 1.37 and later)
Art: se credits above
Canoe by Dark Sheer
Modern Infantry by Balou, Polaris, and dannyevilcat
Parachutiste by Balou (civ colored beret by Nemesis Rex)

Rising Sun: Japanese unit pack (version 1.2 and later)
G3M Nell by aaglo
Imperial Marines by TVA22
Junk by TVA22 and pdescobar
KhaGo by Kinboat
M113 by ripptide
NVA Infantry by Sween32
Samurai by jimmyh
Type 90 Tank by Boulboulgadol
Viet Cong by Sween32

Rising Sun: modern unit pack (version 1.36 and later)
Mi-24 Hind by Wyrmshadow
Leopard 1 by Hunter
Marder by utahjazz7
Searcher 2 by Boulboulgadol
Severodvinsk by Akula
T-62 H1 by Hunter

Rising Sun: air unit pack (version 1.39 and later)
C-17 Globemaster III by Wyrmshadow
F-22 Raptor by BeBro
Jet Fighter (cleaned up attack flic) by Civfan01 (a.k.a. CivGeneral)
MiG-15 by BeBro
Rafale by BeBro
Tornado by BeBro
Viggen by BeBro

Rising Sun: unit pack update (version 1.36 and later)
Chin Swordsman by Kinboat
Foot Guard by BAP
Galleass by Colonel Kraken
Horse Artillery by BAP
Peltast by Kryten

Rising Sun: Balou's units (version 1.37 and later)
Peacekeeper by Balou (dark helmet by dog)
Spetsnaz by Balou and Steph

Rising Sun: flavor unit pack (version 1.2 and later)
B-29 by aaglo
Chin Spearman by Kinboat
Dhow by embryodead
He-111 by aaglo
Longboat by Kal-El
Settler Wagon by Kryten
Ship of the Line by Colonel Kraken

Rising Sun: additional asian ships (version 1.2 and later)
Baode Luan by aaglo
Singapore Tongkang by embryodead


Recommended unit:
Imperial Legionary by BeBro

Note: This unit would only replace the standard Firaxis animation, and is thus not included in the packs above. It should be installed either in the Rising Sun or the CIV3PTW\Art\Units directory (not the default Civ3 Art\Units).

 

[FANTA]

Sound Good
I download it now!

 

[Pawel]

Thank you! I look forward to hearing some comments!

 

[Plexus]

Looks nice, I'm happy to have inspired someone...

Although, the placement of somethings are bothering:
*The Aztec Cities are far too south, should be north of Mayan camp
*You placed Kyushu on Shikoku (nickpick, I know )

 

[Pawel]

Originally posted by Plexus
Looks nice, I'm happy to have inspired someone...

Although, the placement of somethings are bothering:
*The Aztec Cities are far too south, should be north of Mayan camp
*You placed Kyushu on Shikoku (nickpick, I know )

Thanks for the comments! If you are happy, then I am happy.

Regarding the Aztecs, however, this strange feature was a deliberate choice. If you look at the city names, you can see that they actually represent Aztecs as well as Incas (even though both these cultures appeared rather late on the South/Central American stage).
The placement of the Iroquois is equally "wrong", and they should also be interpreted in a wider sense. My vision for America was to have at least four or five civs there, all sufficiently strong to balance each other and survive long enough affect the Japanese.
If I split the Aztecs up, there would be a greater risk of the AI expanding north, making both them and the Spanish too powerful too soon. Still, I may be wrong. It could be worth playtesting. Despite these flaws, I also have the feeling that names like the Aztecs and Iroquois have a greater emotional appeal than the, perhas in this context, more accurate North and South/Central American cultures.

But I will change Kyushu to Shikoku as soon as I get back home!

 

[stalin006]

great JOB, keep it up.

 

[Pawel]

Thanks! I think that I have fixed most bugs now, but despite my original plan not to have more than nine extra units, I will probably not be able to resist including aaglo's new G3M bomber in the next version. Then I hope for some feedback on the scenario itself in order to make it more enjoyable. It would be interesting to know what the AI does under various circumstances. Maybe someone could even post screenshots?

 

[NewDestroyer]

i would love to see a screenshot of the mod in action

 

[Pawel]

OK, here is a small map from the editor showing the initial borders (in version 1.03).

 

[Pawel]

And here is your first task. Clear out a barbarian camp to let your settlers cross into the mainland.

Click here for a higher quality image.

 

[NewDestroyer]

looks like japan is gunna lack shields or heavy production due to so little land squares. Invading China is critical to get good production in the future.

 

[Pawel]

Well, this is only northern Japan. But you are right, some (or lots of) expansion inland is probably needed. There are also many nice Pacific islands available, but they too have the problem of having much surrounding water. Taking China immediately may be tough, however. On the other hand, it is supposed to be. Maybe Korea is a better start for the conquest minded?

 

[Pawel]

Here is an image of southern Japan taken from the editor. Once all the hills and mountains are have mines, I think production may not be a big problem.

 

[underzog]

I have now tested a couple of games with this scenario. I have seen versions 1.01-1.05 (this last version should be up soon, or so claimed Pawel).
Comments: It is hard at the beginning, china pushing up and japan having only a few towns in the continent which are totally surrounded by mountains (so they develop very slowly). One has to be agresive very early and it is not easy as everyone gets science at the speed of light. A boat at the beginning would help a lot. This would also allow expanding to the islands in the south. It takes ages before you get map making which means that your best towns are producing units, etc.. which you cannot use when they are most needed. Germany was doing quite good in my games and both egypt and romans became powerful soon.

In version 1.05, the story changed completely. The changes implemented forced China to expand south so that they took the islands and india expanded more towards China. This gives you certain time to build a couple more cities in the continent though I still fell that a boat at the beginning is needed. The koreans and mongols are there to be crashed but cannot do it too fast as Egypt seems piss off for no reason and they will turn everyone againts you.

The scenario is very challenging and the units are cool. The ninja can be of great use early in the game to slow down the chinese.
I am doing badly in all my games (but that is typical for me), but I am hopping to get to a modern time and begin the pacific war .

 

[Pawel]

Thanks for the comments! It is very nice to have some feedback on the scenario! Since I know how things are set up, the value of my own tests is rather limited. The reason no civ starts with writing (or map making) is to slow down the intercontinental expansion, and to force the Japanse to get a foothold on the Asian mainland. Version 1.05 does, however, have some other measures taken to slow down expansion and to accelerate technology. In theory Japan should be among the first to get map making, but goodie huts can change this picture. Adding a single boat at the very beginning is an option, but let me first try to change the starting techs so that Japan gets writing and thereby a head start on map making. The immediate contact with the Koreans should help in getting some additional techs quickly by trade, before they meet others. But don't trade writing, which also allows trading contacts with other civs, thus adding to worldwide tech proliferation! I think that the game is rather fast paced, and technology will move forward very quickly in any case. My idea was that the game should be challenging, but not too difficult, so if this does not solve the expansion problem I will add a boat in the next version.

I am most curious with regard to the developments in Africa. The original concept of having Rome, Carthage and Egypt to race for nortern africa seemed to fail, since the Romans were more interested in Europe, while the Carthagians were cornered and too cautious. By shifting ownership of some cities I hoped to alleviate these problems, but in the end maybe the only solution is the introduction of the French on the west coast of Africa. In version 1.05 they are in, but not on the mainland as I feel that this would require some more testing.

 

[Pawel]

I just posted version 1.05. It is slightly updated compared to the one underzog tested, incorporating several features mentioned in the previous post. It also partly adresses Plexus' worries about the placement of the Aztecs and Mayans.

 

[Pawel]

The recently posted version 1.09 has several important updates, such as two new governments and a Modern Infantry unit in order to make sure that no civ lacking the proper resources in the modern era has to rely on Guerillas as their only means of defense.

Another important change is that mechanized units no longer can be airlifted, giving another important role for light infantry. A favorite tactic of mine was to build an airbase (or take a distant city, possibly rushing an airport), and then fly in a huge army.
Recent experience in Iraq has shown that even the United States has trouble flying in even a single heavy division. Since its Army, i.e. not counting the Marine Corps, National Guards, and reserves, consists of only ten divisions, one may argue that this is still a significant fraction. As late as WWII, however, no capacity to transport tanks by air existed at all, and during the Cold War the front line Soviet strength (not counting reserve formations) was around 175 divisions, a number too large to even dream of airlifting! The need for naval transport can thus no longer be neglected.

 

[Pawel]

In order to meet underzog's request for a boat at the beginning of the scenario I have in version 1.1 included Fishing Craft, available to all civs. These non-combat vessels can transport a foot unit. The trick is that while the default settler is not a foot unit, the Asian Settler now is. Hopefully this will give more options at the beginning of the scenario without unbalancing it.

 

[Pawel]

Version 1.2 has now been released.

 

[underzog]

I have played a bit the latest version and I have a few pictures from it. I have zip them all in a file but it is to big to added on the forum. I will add only one now. It is so that you can see the early evolution of the main civilizations. Specially the canary islands . (I know you cannot see it in this picture but soon you will .... ja ja ja)

If anyone wants more pictures , just send a request throught the forum.

I love the idea with the cannoe since it allows you to move units without too much advantage over the others ... and watch out with the barbarian boats !!!.

I liked better the capital on the top city of the main japanese island. I still think that the first expansion has to be towards the continent (rather than down into the islands) and this would help a lot since the corruption is so high at the moment.

Keep it up

Underzog