The Prince of Gaming, Suryavaraman II

[disturbed1]

Chapter 1, The Prince
Chapter 2, Island Paradise?
Chapter 3, or Hell on Earth?
Chapter 4, Mencius' Gift
Chapter 5, Target Acquired
Chapter 6, Universal Customs

Chapter 1, The Prince

I am Suryavaraman II, son of Suryavaraman I. I am from the Planet Yasodharapura. Gaming is the greatest pastime on my planet, and I am the Prince of gaming. For years I have searched for a game that could possibly stump me. I am the King of Strategy. Finally the game designers of Yasodharapura created the ultimate strategy game. They call it Civilization; a virtual reality game that pits you against a number of enemies in a quest to control the world. Just my kind of game.


I will naturally be playing on the Prince difficulty, seeing as I am the Prince of gaming. The designers have informed me that enabling advanced start would give the best strategic start, and Raging Barbarians (or barbs), Aggressive AI, and Random Personalities will create the best possible game for myself. It would sound pretty complex to anyone who isn’t the Prince of gaming.

So lets see what this game engine created for me…


I have a peninsula, an excellent strategic point in many aspects of history. This game already likes me.


I decided to name the capital city after my beloved planet, Yasodharapura, which has treated me very well in my life. I still have 801 Points to spend on my Advanced Start. I am thinking that I will purchase a settler, so I may examine the land to the north which appears to have flood plains, AND gold! Jackpot…

My final decisions for this opening round was to purchase a Settler, 2 Workers, 2 Population points in Yasodharapura, The Wheel and Fishing (for quicker access to the beautiful floodplains being cottaged), Mysticism (hopefully founding buddhism?), and a scout.

As much as I hate to leave 65 points unused, I will cripple myself that much, just to give the AI a small advantage. It won’t last long.


Music to my ears. I founded Suryava on that spot. What do you know!? 2 Flood plains right in the BFC that I couldn’t see before I settled it. I think I have this game won already.

The Random Number Generator in this game truly loves me. On the last turn of universal peace, a goodie hut popped me Animal Husbandry! They really must stop spoiling me. So, if my memory serves me correctly, I have already got Buddhism under my wing, because my turn ends before the AI. That is all the better for me. I believe I will call it a round at the end of this universal peace. I can promise that it will never revert to that status.

 

[disturbed1]

Chapter 2, Island Paradise?

3750 BC. My soothsayers mastered the practice of Meditation, and with it...



No Buddhism?!?!

How could I have been so blind as to not pay attention to updates? I must make sure I pay attention to those for future reference.

Hinduism founded too. I guess I will have to wait for a religion. But it appears I have time.



Yeah, I'm isolated. Finally a challenge! And half my island paradise is a desert! I'll get around it. With all my floodplains fueling my research, it can't be too bad. Looks like I won't need to be worrying about those Raging barbarians after all.

Being Isolated, I will have no way of keeping up with any tech trades going on throughout the rest of the world. I need a way to stay advanced. Enter Oracle. Priesthood is needed for that, so I will set my soothsayers to discover how to assign people to lead the church.



3300 BC. A giant Stone Monolith in constructed in the town square of Yasodharapura. The Engineer calls it a Stonehenge. Magic Occurs in Suryava, the Monument being constructed was finished overnight without anyone knowing how. Go figure?



We have become self-aware of our position on the planet. Its much larger than I had expected. Our little island home is but a small land mass on a giant planet. Ironically, it is in approximately the same location as Earth's Australia. Ahh, I remember my time on Earth. They greeted me as a King, they called themselves the Khmer people. I had fun piloting those jungle-living people for decades, It did get boring though, I decided to return to Yasodharapura.

I immediately start Yasodharapura on the Oracle, while researching Writing, so I can slingshot for Monarchy, or Code of Laws. Those oughta fuel my research and economy. This game isn't as bad as It seemed after finding i was isolated. Suryavara begins a settler, and my now 3 scouts are settled in strategic points to maximize fog-busting, and keep the barbarians at bay.

Time passes slowly now. Nobody to play with. I spend most of my time creating strategic maps of the land, considering locations for my cities. I must say, it is harder than I thought, building around that god-forsaken desert.



A cold morning in 3100 BC, I received terrible news of the fate of Scout Berhomet, the fog-buster of the eastern island. He was mauled by a bear, and managed to escape, but died several hours later in the heat of the desert. Such a sad fate for a man so great.



OF COURSE! how could I be so blind! Slavery! Man's best friend. With slavery I can finish work in cities early, by just risking the deaths of some citizens. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts! With slavery also comes the ability to chop down forests, creating much needed production in my cities. The Oracle can finish quicker with its help.



I didn't anticipate the uproar that would be caused by such a small change. People rioted in the streets, refusing to report to their local camps and mines.

This rioting only lasted 25 years, and by 2975 BC the order had been returned. Unfortunately, with the revolt, citizens did return to work, but they returned to the wrong jobs. It took me a good few days to get everyone reassigned to their proper jobs.

I think I deserve a break after that mishap.

 

[Vandal Warlord]

Interesting, I'll stay with this story. BTW, are you using any mods?

 

[disturbed1]

Only BUG, Sorry i haven't updated, I've been fighting off a bad cold. I'll see if I can put up the next part today or tomorrow, since its an extended weekend.

 

[mechaerik]

Yeah! 3day weekend! i'm following this as well. I also have a 3 day weekend.

 

[disturbed1]

Chapter 3, or Hell on Earth?

The loss of Scout Berhomet was regrettable, but more importantly, It left the entire eastern side of the island open to barbarian spawns, which we just can't allow. I quickly sent advisors to Johannes' and Adolphus' positions to tell them to move eastward.




Following the discovery of Agriculture (those really tall weeds outside of Suryava actually taste very good! who knew?) I faced a thought-provoking decision. Where should I point the scientists?

Mathematics opens up a wide range of technological advances, and my Unique Building, The Baray.
Code of Laws would help solve some money problems, which may be very low to begin with, and it will give a religion to help with future happiness problems.
Monarchy could also help greatly with Happiness.
Aesthetics would open up a slew of new wonders for the picking.
and Sailing and Metal Casting will put me on the right track to get off of this island.

In the end, I decided on Mathematics.



Math also leads into Construction, which gives me my unique unit, and since I have Elephants around Suryava, I will be able to utilize them, assuming that I find anyone to utilize them on...

2800 BC. A nice gem of news reached me today. Scout Adolphus killed the bear that brutally mauled Scout Berhomet. He was granted a small gift of gold for his family for his services to the nation.



Note to self: Behead Tacticus.

But hey, On the bright side:



Which lead to...



The GP points from the Oracle will not go to waste, since we now have a holy city! Suryava also completed the settler it was working on that turn, so our next city is on its way.

Unfortunately, I am not yet willing to free my slaves and put them in permanent class order, so the Caste System will have to wait.



Hariharalaya was founded south of Yasodharapura. It has become more apparent to me that this island i was given does not provide many good city locations. There is only 1 river that cuts through the middle of it, and there are very few hills that can be worked into mines, not to mention the giant desert that takes up half of the island... I'm gonna have a bit of trouble working through this one.

I'm not gonna waste those 25 years of disorder for nothing. I ordered Yasodharapura to whip out the Oracle, Suryava to whip out a settler, and now a Library in Yasodharapura.



1+1=2? OF COURSE! Wait, what? Ok, I suppose I have time to understand it later.

The ocean is a beautiful beast, that we must conquer if we ever hope to link up to other civilizations. Sailing will help harness those waves, and since Hariharalaya is a coastal city, we have a port to dock ships. Scientists are quickly sent to find a way to float giant wooden rafts, much larger than the ones we use on the Suryan River to transport gold between Yasodharapura, and Suryava, in the rough currents in the oceans.

Now seems as good a time as ever to retire to my quarters.

---

(I'm sorry, I didn't realize how incredibly boring it is to write a story where you are isolated, where there is no other civilizations to interact with. Maybe for the next part I could start to beeline Optics?)

 

[mechaerik]

I for one, find Survy's story-telling to be quite amusing. He sounds so pompous.

 

[disturbed1]

Yeah, he is after all the Prince of Gaming, that title definitely brings some ego with it. I finished playing the next chapter, but can't write it up right now. I have to head to work in a little while, So I will write it up tomorrow and hopefully post it then.

 

[mechaerik]

I'm wondering, how did you make those city site planners? I just drop down an ALT-S sign that says "Site", but seeing the Fat Cross quickly like that would be better.

 

[disturbed1]

Chapter 4, Mencius' Gift


Well it seems the outside world is busy at work discovering their crackpot theories about how there is an all-knowing man who resides in the sky, hidden behind a cloud who talks through burning bushes. We are however, quite content with our law of the land. People behave in a manner that their parents deem acceptable, and Filial Piety keeps our youth in line. We can do just fine by ourselves.

Meanwhile, where unknown nations may be toying around with the ideas that we are being judged by some omnipotent being, we Khmer peoples were making tangible, concrete discoveries; like the ability to tame the waves..:



...The Ability to cast iron into useful tools and weapons..:



...And the ability to tell north from south!



Surely that must be worth more than your petty god(s) you unknown empires?

With these key developments in the ways of the ocean, we are just one step away from discovering the key to ocean-faring vessels.



In 2050 BC, the Long Awaited prophet of the Confucian Faith (no, not Confucius ironically), but Mencius, the second most well known confucian to walk the face of this earth! Mencius was born in Yasodharapura, and spread faith in Filial Piety across the empire for years, before he began his pilgrimage to the holy city of Suryava, where he and his troupe of followers would construct The pinnacle of Khmerinese architecture. The Kong Miao was more elegant, and more detailed than the crude circle of stones, in the town square of Yasodharapura, or the Marble plated Oracle building deep in hot hellscape that was east Yasodharapura.

I even took time out of my busy schedule to make the visit to this magnificent spectacle.



This gift from Mencius beckoned forth Confucian followers across the still expanding empires. Tithes brought in by the building funded the expansion of the empire to the eastern sea border.




These coastal cities immediately reaped benefits from a secret project that had been worked on for centuries under the cloak of darkness in Hariharalaya.



The Great Lighthouse stood erect in the shallows of Hariharalaya. It was a beautiful piece of architecture, rivaling the Kong Miao built far north in Suryava, in my opinion. Our future on the seas will be forever guided by the watchful eye of this lighthouse.

But the gaiety felt by my people was quickly turned to fear and sadness as one of the gold mines in Suryava collapsed on 200 miners during a sudden earth tremor.



Only 13 of those 200 men survived. There were many funerals that I had to attend that month.

Such a sad loss of Khmerinese life.

---

((The Dotmap in the screenshots is a part of the BUG mod))

 

[mechaerik]

I know its part of BUG, but how do you put it down on the map?

 

[ChrisFromLux]

I know its part of BUG, but how do you put it down on the map?

Alt + X

 

[mechaerik]

Thank you sir.

 

[disturbed1]

Yeah, Alt-X and Ctrl-X control the Dot maps. Good news! In the next update I finally reached Optics and made contact with the outside world.

 

[disturbed1]

Chapter 5, Target Acquired

The cities are getting bad. With no legal monies to purchase goods, reports of people being scammed out of their shiny rocks, and their seashells and their cacti needles (depending on what is available to them in their locations) have been swarming my palace in rapid numbers. Complain Complain Complain. That's all they do nowadays. Don't they understand the Mind of the genius at work?

To silence their cries, I quickly shifted from the path of the oceans to hire Publius Syrus, an great mind in Angkor Thom (though not quite as great as my own), to coin the first Khmerinese dollar.



It was very nice. A painting of myself was imprinted on every coin put into circulation. Publius Syrus was paid handsomely in this new currency of ours, and was allowed to retire to his home in Angkor Thom.

With that mishap out of the way, I can finally pursue my dream of conquering the seas. Machinery allowed for the mechanics to design the interior of the ship.



With all this going on, I hadn't forgotten about the dreadful accident in the Suryavan mines. Citizens from around the empire found their way to Suryava (whether by free will, or by force) to help rebuild the source of their many golden luxuries.



Good, let the river of gold flow back to the palace.

Now, I love a good crazy old man telling me about how he was spoken to through a burning bush just as much as the next guy, but I need brilliant minds to come to my palace that haven't been burning bush themselves. The excess population in Yasodharapura was sent to the local library to busy themselves with understanding and learning from the many books donated there in hopes of making their own discoveries, independent of government funding.



But that didn't stop the crazies. Not yet at least.

Followers of Mencius who had previously lived in tents on the outskirts of Suryava petitioned my Palace in 440 BC, demanding their own home on the northeastern part of the island. Hesitant as I was, I decided it was a good idea. This settlement would become part of the Khmerinese empire anyway, and it would bring in a valuable source of horses.

They named in Mencius in honor of their religious leader.



A quite peculiar young man appeared at the palace gates one day in 335 BC. He didn't want any money, and he wasn't looking for a job, which is basically all I get now. No. He brought me a document claiming that my empire has the most cultural influence in the entire world!



When I asked how he knew about the others, and that I am better than them, he simply shrugged and disappeared.

Valveloi Agusto, The prominent Khmerinese Seaman stormed through the doors as Gibbon disappeared. He looked tired and sore, but sported an incredible smile!

"MY LORD!" he yelled at me. "My lord, We've done it! We discovered the proper construction techniques to sail the oceans!"



I was speechless, it was finally time to meet my neighbors.

The Old trireme in Hariharalaya was quickly upgraded into the K.M.F Valveloi Alpha, and set sail for the east.



Now only time will tell who is out there in this world. Gibbon said that there are 6 other empires, at least to his knowledge that exist beyond this island, and I intend to meet them very soon.

Valveloi Agusto mailed me every day he was sailing. Ocean. Ocean. Ocean. He would never give anything more. As I began to lose hope, my daily letter arrived in the palace, stamped with an odd white color, very different from the usual blue. Its simply stated 2 words: Guess What...



The English, Masters of the many gods. Further inspection showed that their capital...



Was sorely defended. I called in my minister of war (which, up until was a very useless position.)

I issued my commands. "Set course... for London."

 

[disturbed1]

Chapter 6, Universal Customs

..."Sire," said Durisk, the minister of war, "These ships aren't meant to house troops. They are purely for exploratory means."

...

"They aren't strong enough to hold an army."

"OH! Well get to work on making ships to hold an army!"

"Um, okay. Now, second problem: Our isolation has made you forget your duties to produce an army. As supreme despot, you have the complete control over the army, and supplying them with weapons."

I had heard enough for the night. Durisk was sent away, so I may contemplate the problems at hand. He was right, I hadn't developed a thorough army, and I had no means to sail said non-existent army across the sea.

The Khmerinese people were shocked to discover the complex system of departments put in place, literally over night in the capital city of Yasodharapura. At the head of the development, in a gold plated throne, sat the self-proclaimed king, myself!



I called upon the Servant of Victoria, now living in Mencius. "Tell your queen, I wish to open diplomatic relations with her." The obese queen had something I wanted. The Alphabet. Applying meanings to symbols is something that would come in quite useful, Only not in the way meanings are applied to symbols in math (which I have since given up trying to figure out).



I looked her straight in the eye. "We want the Alphabet."
"We reject your meaningless threats!"

I was taken aback. This concept of Trade confuses and infuriates me. Even more so than the concept of mathematics. How am I to get the upper hand, if she constantly wants to have fair trades?!

In the end, I cracked. We needed the Alphabet, and she had it.



I'm not sure i like this concept of equal trading. I can't seem to get the upper hand.

Any fears I may have had about the bad location of my empire was squashed when Admiral Valveloi Agusto sent a letter with a detailed map of the coast of england.



Clearly their many gods didn't have the power to give them decent land. Its almost as though its not worth invading...

Nah.



In news of the homeland, Our cultural reach continues to extend with the founding of Typhon Bay, on the northern most point of the island, which will be very powerful upon the completion of the Maoi statues that came with the discovery of Construction (Which also opened up the power to build our super war elephants in preparation for the English Invasion)





Buddhism... A missed faith in the homeland. Now they are mocking me with the construction of a trans-empirical authority over all Buddhists. I have yet to even discover who these mysterious buddhists are...



Oh...

Pacal is a very generous man. He taught me the art of getting the upper hand in modern trade, maybe without even noticing...



It turns out that Pacal wasn't isolated, like myself and the obese queen were.




I like this Caesar man, he is a violent one, but respectable. I do hope that we will become close friends, while he watches as I maim and beat down the neighbors he has lived with for thousands of years. He is also very generous with his technology:





The last of which confused me. He explained that open borders meant that we would both be able to mutually explore eachother's territory, without fear of war declaration. I was puzzled. My caravel has been exploring empires territories for years now without even the consideration of war. I politely declined the last one, seeing as it would be completely useless at this time.

Returning my thoughts to the homeland, Hariharalaya, and its team of aquatic engineers have once again impressed me.



The Great Copper Man, a famous story told to me by my father had been reproduced by these engineers. Fishermen throughout the empire began to tell stories of how their fish had been blessed with a power from the great Copper Man, allowing them to sell their fish at higher prices.

To my pleasant surprise, the Obese Queen was willing to look past the faux pass i committed during our last encounter, and offer me a decent trade.



If I can't create a fleet of ships capable of conquering her land yet, I might as well take advantage of her advancements, no?

A major leap was taken in 310 AD by our best researchers. They discovered more complex designs for machines, that would be capable of keeping a ship big enough to carry an army together.



The over seas conquests are just one small step away...