(WIP) Age of Heroes 3

[Big Bopper]

I have been working on an updated version of my "Age of Heroes" scenario off and on ever since the lockdowns. I'm not sure when/if I'll ever finish the scenario, but I am very close to getting a working version of it done. The scope of the scenario is mainly the same as the previous version, but with many new assets and game mechanics that will make regions of the map much more unique.

The Map
I made a new map that was based on Paradox's "Imperator Rome", which aided in the placement of terrain and resources that will make the map less bland than the previous map. I expanded the map to include eastern Elam (Anshan) and south to include the entire Red Sea. Once finished I will have multiple cropped versions of the map. Mountains are impassable by most units, only workers and javelin men (militia) will be allowed to enter. Euphrates, Tigris and Nile Rivers are now navigable.

Units
The units have been redone as well in order to get the player and AI to build militaries with a mix of units. Archer units have been given a weak attack value, but now have access to the bombard ability. Chariots can only be upgraded from a horse unit that spawns from a stables building, so they cannot be spammed. Spearmen, Axemen and Swordsmen each have stronger version that requires Tin and gives +1 HP. Javelinmen are weak units, that can be drafted.

Resources
I've added many more resources, almost 50 in total. The Strategic Resources are split to two categories, regular (7) for units and generic buildings and strategic luxuries (8) that each have two buildings attached to it.

Improvements/Wonders
Each of the 5 Culture group has 4 unique improvements and 3 unique wonders. I've added several Waystation Wonders (Airports) that allows trade for Tin, Gems, etc. to be traded from cities on the edge of the map to represent trade between Mesopotamia and Central Asia. Instead of only using Greek gods for the spaceship victory, each culture group has its own unique 10 gods.

Governments
There are 9 governments in addition to despotism. Each civ starts off in despotism and can research 3 other governments. (ie. Egypt - Divine Kingship, Oligarchy, Hierocracy or Achaea - Warrior Caste, Sacral Kingship, Thalassocracy

Tech Tree
The Tech Tree has been expanded into 3 eras (up from 2)

 

[register]

Great news! I can’t wait to try it.

Since you made the civilization in the valleys of the Euphrates and Tigris, I don’t know if you’ve seen it, but in the meantime I also created a few more Akkadian units which you might like.

Resource icon R

Akkad Unit Pack

Apr 8, 2021

Units of Akkad

• register
• akkad ancient era mesopotamia units
• Civ3 - Ancient Units

Because you’re building a mod set in the Bronze Age, I wanted to share an idea I had when I was making my own mod from that period, I ended up abandoning it, but this was before Flintlock appeared on the forum. The idea concerns the Sea Peoples invasion.

I wanted to implement it in such a way that two civs would be locked at war, for example, the Tjeker and Egypt. The Tjeker would represent an invading force and would function as a wandering horde. My plan was to start them far away from Egypt, somewhere in Arabia, and give them many infantry units and one special chariot with a unique ability that lets it act as a land carrier. Inside this chariot, I’d place one Settler unit with an “immobile” special ability.

This Settler type, as well as that special chariot, wouldn’t be available for construction once they captured any city(ai do not use land carriers). So the Tjeker would exist as a nomadic horde as long as that chariot carrying the Settler survived or until they captured their first city, at which point they’d transition to standard civilization rules and gameplay. My only concern is how to stop the settler from building a city somewhere along the way.

I’m not sure if you’ve ever thought about something like this, but maybe you’ll find the concept interesting.

 

[KingArthur]

This is already looking very polished. Love the look of those 'rivers' on the map which will make for some interesting gameplay.

 

[Big Bopper]

Since you made the civilization in the valleys of the Euphrates and Tigris, I don’t know if you’ve seen it, but in the meantime I also created a few more Akkadian units which you might like

When I started back up earlier this year, the Akkadian units were some of the first additions.

This Settler type, as well as that special chariot, wouldn’t be available for construction once they captured any city(ai do not use land carriers). So the Tjeker would exist as a nomadic horde as long as that chariot carrying the Settler survived or until they captured their first city, at which point they’d transition to standard civilization rules and gameplay. My only concern is how to stop the settler from building a city somewhere along the way.

I’m not sure if you’ve ever thought about something like this, but maybe you’ll find the concept interesting.

Not the way I'm implementing the Sea Peoples, but it is a good idea. A way this could have been done on the map I'm using is to place the settler on a strip of mountain tiles that leads to the playable area. Most of the Deserts tiles in the Sahara and Arabian Peninsula are coastal tiles that are blocked off by Desert Hills to playable civs. This way the settler has access to a settleable city spot and won't disband and won't be able to settle until a fixed number of turns.


In the scenario the Seapeoples are located in Lycia, which is not accessible to most land units (blocked off by Mountain tiles). Preplaced wonders are set up in these cities that become active once the Seapeoples discovers a tech with a special strategic resource. The wonders auto-produce strong units that have the enslave ability to create other strong units.

Love the look of those 'rivers' on the map which will make for some interesting gameplay.

The rivers are going to make many more civs like Assyria and Khana much more enjoyable to play.

 

[register]

A way this could have been done on the map I'm using is to place the settler on a strip of mountain tiles that leads to the playable area. Most of the Deserts tiles in the Sahara and Arabian Peninsula are coastal tiles that are blocked off by Desert Hills to playable civs. This way the settler has access to a settleable city spot and won't disband and won't be able to settle until a fixed number of turns.

I was thinking along similar lines, but the downside of that method is you can’t eliminate the civilization that’s locked in a war with another, so the resulting social unrest would persist for the whole game.

Another option I thought of is giving the Lukka civilization a victory point somewhere in Egypt and not locking them into the war. I haven’t tested how victory points actually work in practice, though, so I don’t know if that would be effective.

The rivers already looking very good. How large your map is, I wonder?

 

[Big Bopper]

The Seapeoples are set up with Hidden Nationality units, so there is no need to have locked wars. As of now they also represent the Phrygians, Thracians and Dorians. My intention is to have them destroy the Greek and Anatolian civs first and then make their way to the Levant and Egypt. I'm contemplating for them being in a locked alliance with the Tjehenu (Libyan tribes), which might cause them to declare war on Egypt instead of continuing eastward into Mesopotamia.

The map is huge 256 x over 260. I'm going to crop the map into several, so if you play as a Greek civ you don't need to have Nubia, Elam, etc. I then can replace those civs with closer more relevant civs like the Thessalians (Phthia/Aeolia) and Hapallans.

 

[register]

Ok, great. Personally, I like cropped maps because they make the gameplay shorter, but I also wouldn’t mind playing on the full 256 x 260 map just to see the entire mod and play through it, as long as it’s not too much extra work for you.