Author's
Description:
'Surfing between Skylla and Charybdis' Lite Version
This mission tries to model the rise, prime and (prevented:) fall of a city and can be played in various different ways: comfortable without major military activity until all completion criteria except the time limit are met or comfortable with decent military activity 'til the victory screen
or more challenge oriented as speed, beautification & survival contest (see challenge section at the end).
It is actually a saved game, which was run for some months to get it to the scarcely modified starting conditions and it is meant to be an interesting organisation task: tenacity and skills at city building are necessary to overcome the unusual land conditions (have a look at the surflite.gif) in this mission to establish and maintain big amounts of trade along the River Nile. It also involves multitasking in a supervisory sense (doing or controlling two or more tasks that aren't initally related so that they meet at the right time). Finish the monuments swift to gain unrestricted access over weapons & chariots soothingly long before the enemy really begins to attack. Challenging, but not exceedingly difficult - which should be adjusted by the whole range of difficulty levels from the Menu toolbar.
Remarks, suggestions & requests for HELP: jflaemig@t-online.de
surflite.zip: (surflite.sav, surflite.txt, surflite.gif) /* the mission files
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Mission created with Cleopatra add-on (won't work with Pharaoh only).
StartingConditions (at time of save):
Starting date 1200 BC (nearly end of 19th dynasty)
Rank Mayor
Population 210
Funds 21000 Db (less than it seems:)
Pharaohs gift 3000 Db
Interest rate 15%
CompletionConditions:
Culture 80
Prosperity 80
Kingdom 80
Monument 40
Population 6000
Housing 5 Palatial Estates
Survival years 36
Monuments:
Small Pyramid
Medium Pyramid
Sun Temple
Burial Goods:
Papyrus 50
Luxury goods 50
Linen 100
Sandstone 100
Granite 200
Local:
City Shaat
Enemy Hyksos
Gods all local
(TempleComplex may be built to any)
Buildings all except water lift,
serious restrictions on gold mine &
weapon smith, chariot maker &
city wall, tower, gatehouse
Climate dry
Flood weak, early June lasting 3 months
Resources:
Figs
Chickpeas
Fish
Game meat
Clay
Reeds
Wood
Copper
Gold
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'Surfing between Skylla and Charybdis' - storyline
"We know well, that none of your nameless family has ever been in royal services. But nevertheless architects are scarce in these days and we honour the straightforwardness shown by your grandfather, who put all tolerable of his paltry earnings in the education of your father, whose career ended still as helper of the respected scribe of this tiny village near Qasr Ibrim two years ago by an unlucky accident ...
Don't be astonished, we have to know all of you and we do know all of you - especially how you constructed the remarkable mausoleum for that avaricious merchant of sandstone, Sebekhotep, down in Naq el-Oqba, a really amazing monument. Senenmut, first architect of Pharaoh and teacher of the royal childs, promotes your path and thinks you are capable to handle this honourable task and unbelievable chance for you and your ancestors: You shall refound the city of Shaat [* see also remark at the bottom] with some buildings for our holy Pharaoh. You know his lovely countenance from the countless statues and reliefs, but wouldn't belief, that he behaves sometimes like an excessive maniac - then all counts only in big numbers, especially when it comes to his hobby, all kind of monuments, lots of monuments ... Despite of his youthly age he has already impatiently appointed the plots for a couple of pyramids - you will build two of them, which may even hold the mortal remains of him and his wifes in their glorious afterlife. The provided region is really nice, fertile and rich, but unfortunately bare of any kind of stone worth mentioning: the limestone is too fragile, the sandstone hasn't the right colour, granite is hardly available ... So in short: all stone for the pyramids and the sun temple must be imported. And the number of stone additionally needed for the sarkophags, statues and other burial provisions is considerable too: 100 sandstone & 200 granite. As our God-like Pharaoh isn't particularly interested in where the stone and all the other things come from, but only in the lavish monuments & festivals he envisions all over the country in his worshiped name, he may also request sand stone, granite, marple, debens, beer, linen, jewels and debens already in his days among us lowly people. Surely he will request copper, wood, fish, game meat and debens for his mighty armies, which protect you too. Have I mentioned ... , ahem, I have certainly, well, of course there are also some real enemies in this region: The hyenas."
With a big grin the vizier stood up and began to wash his hands.
"Well, to tell you the whole story: Some rumors say, that this region has been the last resort of Seth and his wife Nephthys after her deceit of Osiris in the form of Isis fathering Anubis, Opener of the ways, and Seths murder of his own brother Osiris, now Lord of the underworld and the death, and the revenge of Osiris' son, Horus, born by Isis, Lord of the heavens, by defeating his evil uncle and casting him out ..."
[more details of the glorious & eventful history of our worshipped Gods snipped]
"Ok, so what? My opinion in this matter is, that all what has been spotted were a few bedouins wandering through the endless western desert ...
Police forces have taken quarters near an old temple of hermits to reconnoitre the facts - oh well, I think, they deserve this nice holy days. Strong military forces stationed near Kerma secure the vicinity, so the greatest enemies will be probably for a long time the hyenas. Concentrate on the monuments, defences can wait - they have importance in any case only in this world! To be clear: You are not given the privilege to build your own weapon smiths or chariot makers before the pyramids (including the burial goods) and the sun temple dedicated to Ra are finished. Of course, should your deeds find the favour of Pharaoh and he rewards you with weapons or chariots, you may levy the appropriate troops.
We also expect, that you invest in peacetimes the city treasures surmounting 21000Db in beautifications of the city, to praise Pharaoh and the Gods, instead of building towers, gatehouses or manned city walls. Until any egyptian city falls, you may build only a simple (ie. thin and unconvoluted) city wall, no gatehouses, and no towers on the mainlands. On the other hand, should the tides of time bring us the wind of war, turmoil, and our holy cities falling in the hand of enemies, we need a strong citadel here in upper egypt to secure Ma'at between Pharaoh, Earth, the Heavens and the Gods. So plan ahead for this worst case in your city layout.
Take the hundreds of good people provided for this important task by Pharaoh and travel to the mentioned temple - if you hurry, you can reach it in less more than a month. Talk to the hermits for inspiration about the Gods wishes where to begin, but also keep in mind the goal to build an enlightened city of great prosperity and charm in which all Gods are known. Pharaoh will be pleased to hear, that you successfully laid foundation for a new, strong city soon.
We wish you all the fortune you need, so serve Pharaoh well, build a thriving, beautiful and mighty city, loved by the Gods, and you might even become royal governor in 3 dozen floods. You may go now."
[* remark]
Shaat has been in the focus of our glorious history nearly 30 dozen floods ago, even before Thutmose the Great. Quotation from the papyrus of the commander of that time:
"In the Egyptian outpost at Shaat you will face a fierce band of Hyksos who have found refuge in the Kushite city of Kerma. Pharaoh has chosen you as the most capable of defeating these rogue invaders - a task which must be completed before Shaat can hope to prosper. Your best hope of defeating the fearsome Hyksos is to make good use of the mighty chariot. After rebuffing years of attacks from the Hyksos, respond to Kerma's request for troops to stamp out the Hyksos' threat once and for all.
The people who are brave enough to live in Shaat should be rewarded for enduring attack after attack. Conditions in the city should be posh enough to result in one Palatial Estate. You also need to build a large obelisk to remind citizens of Egypt's glory and to declare Egypt's dominance to the Hyksos."
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