Slitherine

Well, I've been talking about doing this for a year and a half, and I actually did the initial layout work about 6 months ago, but with one thing and another, it's taken me this long to get anything to show.

I now have a rough pre-beta available of the first 4 scenarios. This is ONLY the first 4 scenarios of the new Rise of Carthage mod. Please do not try to start the 5th scenario, you'll find yourself in the Britannicus campaign, and all sorts of weird things can happen, mostly likely involving a crash to desktop.

Installation works just like the Britannicus mod. Download the zipfile, point the unzip operation at your Legion Arena directory. For me, this is -

C:\Program Files\BlackBean\LegionArena

Start up LA, choose the Carthage mod. When the game is finished loading, start a new campaign, set Difficulty to Hard, Choose the Celtic Campaign.

This mod does not require Cult of Mithras, but should work fine with it.

Be aware that the Squads.txt file has been edited significantly this time. Some of the unit attributes have changed. Anything with a different name has changed stats. Caveat emptor! This is an attempt to simulate an earlier world.

Now, here's what I need from each of you that chooses to participate - a reply in this thread, answering the following questions.

1. Did you have any trouble with installation?

2. Did the mod run OK for you? If not, what went wrong?

3. Do you have Cult of Mithras installed?

4. What did you think of the narrative style?

5. What did you think of the game balance? Too easy? Too hard?

6. From what you've seen so far, would you DL and try this mod when it's complete?

7. Other comments?

Download the pre-beta of the Rise of Carthage Mod >>>Here<<<

Notes

This is a PC demo, folks. If one of you brave MAC guys (Kongming?) wants to have a whack, go for it!

There is nothing earth-shaking here, folks. Like the Britannicus mod, the first 4 scenarios involve the time spent in transition between Tyre and their final settlement near Utica. Virgil tells us that they wandered for 7 years before arriving at their final home. Of course, Virgil is frequently full of you-know-what, but hey...ahem, anyhow, you won't see much of the new units for lack of denarii, but you can always sell a few of your starting units if you want to experiment.

Assuming this goes moderately well, there will be another, more complete beta in a few weeks time. I think I'm finally rolling on this thing!

Possum

I installed it tonight and played a little.

1. Did you have any trouble with installation?

Not really. I already had Britannicus installed and I found I had to place the "carthage" folder inside the "Mod" folder as a sibling of "Brit".

2. Did the mod run OK for you? If not, what went wrong?

It ran fine. It was a slight surprise that when LA first starts it opens an army window with some squads at about level 5 mostly, some of whom are injured and need to be healed! I assume this is an artifact of being in development. It's no problem, just unexpected. Once I followed your instructions it worked fine.

3. Do you have Cult of Mithras installed?

No. LA V1.0101 1249
Windows XP SP2 Home Edition.

4. What did you think of the narrative style?

I've only played the first two scenarios so far, so it's early days. In the first I got a little confused about who was doing what to whom, but once we got to the battle I just slaughtered everyone in front of me and figured it would work itself out later. On reflection, its getting late here, so I think if I re-read it tomorrow it won't be confusing at all.

5. What did you think of the game balance? Too easy? Too hard?

The first scenario was easy - which is good, it's depressing to get massacred straight out of the box. The second was a little harder but not challenging. Both seemed easier than Britannicus.

6. From what you've seen so far, would you DL and try this mod when it's complete?

Yes. The story line alone makes it worth a go.

7. Other comments?

I liked the name of the enemy leader in the 2nd scenario, "Pyg's Lackey". Perfect.

More when I've played the remaining scenarios.

Geoff.

but I am going to give Britannicus a go first, just to acclimatize to 'mod-ding'

1. Did you have any trouble with installation?

Only that after installation it seemed to start with the current saved game (probably scenario 5). However when I started a new campaign everything was ok.

2. Did the mod run OK for you? If not, what went wrong?

No problems at all.

3. Do you have Cult of Mithras installed?

Yes

4. What did you think of the narrative style?

Excellent - starts to get you involved in the campaign.

5. What did you think of the game balance? Too easy? Too hard?

I managed to succeed in all 4 scenarios but they were mostly "close run things". So I think you have got it just about right (we all want to win - but not too easily!)

6. From what you've seen so far, would you DL and try this mod when it's complete?

Of course! 100% certainty!

7. Other comments?

a. I like the restricted Fame which prevents you from repairing every unit before the next battle. This gives each battle more "depth" in that you need to conserve your forces as much as possible.
b. I have set up a number of scenarios myself and I appreciate the amount of time, effort and thought that needs to be put into the modding process. Congratulations Possum, your efforts are much appreciated.
c. You have whetted my appetite for another stab at your Britannicus mod! More thanks due

Antipasta-

Thank you very, very much for your kind words. Feedback like this, and Geoff's above, provides more encouragement and inspiration than I can possibly express.

In a way, though, reading your post gave me a moment of intense angst. Oh, not for anything you'd written, but over my own situation. You see, this is what I love to do. Game design in general, (and scenario design in particular), is something I find immensely gratifying, and really more enjoyable than any job I've ever had. And I like to think I have some small talent or vocation for such work.

But I haven't got a snowball's chance in hell of ever getting a chance to do this for a living.

Anyhow, whining aside, I've almost got the next 4 scenarios ready!

I finally finished the third and fourth installments of The Rise of Carthage tonight. Apologies for dropping in and out like this - real life gets in the way.

Anyway, I have a couple more comments. As with Britannicus I find that I can't delete saved games. It isn't really a problem because I can overwrite them, but it might be worth mentioning that in the documentation.

Scenario 3, Pirates, is noticeably harder than the first two, which surprised me given that the pirates don't seem all that intimidating when you first look at them. Then Sicilia was a challenge too. I seemed to end up with my militia fighting their general and then my (painfully slow) heavy infantry "rushing" to reach the scene before the militia routed. I wasn't really in danger of outright defeat, but I did have to re-fight both to avoid blowing all my fame healing my losses. Nice balance.

It was only after I had upgraded my troops and saved the game state that I remembered that there isn't anything after Sicilia - boo!

Please ignore my previous remarks about following the storyline. It is perfectly clear when I'm properly awake.

Thanks for your efforts on this. Much appreciated.

Gwinn, thanks for your feedback!

I'm glad to hear that the first 4 scenarios gave you a bit of a challenge. I am working by scenario group. Those first four scenarios represent the first scenario group, entitled "The Wandering Years", which encompasses the time after the proto-Carthaginians left Tyre, and before they settled at their eventual home in North Africa, near Utica.

In fact, my rough outline for the first three scenario groups looks like this -

I. The Wandering Years - (821-814 BC) - Total Denarii 255 - last number is scenario number

1. Pyg's Ambush 10 32
2. Second Ambush 15 37
3. Pirates 5 38
4. Sicilia 225 39


II. Colonisation - (810-700 BC) - Total Den. 800

1. Utica 125 40
2. Utica Again 200 41
3. Pirate Raid 150 42
4. Numidians 325 45


III. A Young Nation -(699-500 BC) Total Den. 800

1. Greeks of Mazara 150 44
2. Cornwall 100 46
3. Cornwall, pt II 300 47
4. Numidians Again 250 48


The first column of numbers represents the denarii reward, and the second column is the scenario number. I have adopted intact the scenario structure of the stock Celtic campaign, as far as total number of scenarios and scenarios per group, etc. Yes, I could change all that, the SDK explains how, but also reccommends against it

And yes, those two entries in the third scenario group do indeed say Cornwall. While many know of Hanno the Navigator, who in the 6th century BC sailed out through the Pillars of Hercules and explored the western coast of Africa, fewer have heard of his contemporary Himilco, also called The Navigator. Pliny mentions Himilco as also exiting the Med via the Straits (doh, it's not like the Med exactly has a profusion of possible exits), but heading north and west. Himilco apparently explored at least the southern reaches of the British Isles, and began the Carthaginian tin-mining operations in Cornwall.

As with all Carthaginian history, hard evidence is scarce and sketchy, but the Awesome Possum has never been afraid to exercise a little poetic license where necessary