THOUGHTS OF MODDER

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DROUGHTS. STARVATION. CIVIL WAR.

THE CRYING GODS. AND EARTH QUAKES RISE.

TSUNAMIS COME. TO CLEAN THE SHORE.

TO CLEAN ALL THAT UNHOLY PARADIZE.

VASSALS REVOLT. AND CRIME AND BRAND.

THE BLEEDING GODS. MARAUDERS TAKE YOUR LIFE.

FIRE COMES. TO CLEAN THE LAND.

THE TEMPLES BURN. A BRAVE NEW WORLD.

TO DIE OR TO SURVIVE.

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LINK TO CRADLE OF BLOOD README

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A Guy called EZRhino pre-announced in September 2013

a Civ2 Test of Time Scenario called SEA KINGS.

On which he has been working, since -it seems- 2006.

Now, March 2014, no public and official Version available.

No more Interests in Waiting and Crying, beautiful Screenshots!

So, i took my old Ambition to create the Hittite vs Egypt

War of Muwatalli II vs Ramesses II, and my young Ambition

to create my whole World of the East Map - after having created

my whole World of the West Map for my ANCIENT STEEL Scenario.

Three Problems i saw in EZRhinos beautiful Creation:

1. He took the Arzawa, Hittites, Egyptians, Amurru, Achaeans,

Sea Peoples, Libyans. And Hittites and Egyptians for Play only.

To create a huge Fun/Game/Play, it is necessary to create

huge Power Blocs. The Libyans, or Ancient African Tribes,

seem to be not important, no known Towns, just raging Hordes.

Not playable. The Sea Peoples not for Play, but for Pirate Raids.

Perhaps interesting to play them, but quite, call it nervous.

The Mitanni, Assyrians, Babylonians, whole Mesopotamia (!) missing,

the Map ends there. No huge Towns in the East, no Map into that important

East of Cradle and coming Wars. I decided to NOT take Amurru, Sea Peoples,

Libyans, instead Mitanni, Assyrians, Babylonians, plus strong Barbarian Blocs.

Sea Peoples as raging Hordes, and playable all seven Empires.

2. He took all the known Towns of these Regions, to create a

loose strategic Playground, a huge wonderful Map, but too less Towns.

To create a huge Fun/Game/Play, it is necessary to create

huge Power Blocs. And where you cannot find historical Names/Towns,

that does NOT mean, there were none! And where you HAVE TO place

strategic Towns, for a compact Gameplay, there you perhaps should,

easy, invent some, by later Maps and, easy, invented Pre-Names.

An Example: Apasa, Capital of Arzawa, i will surely place: later Ephesos.

I will take later Maps, and place as many Towns as possible and compact

enough for a rough Gameplay, and call them by inventing their Pre-Names.

Yes, the "Climate Change", yes, destroyed and gone Towns, yes, younger

and totally new Foundations of Towns, blah blah blah, Right of the Artist.

3. He took anno 2009 the newest Civ2 Bronze Age Units Bunch,

which is unavailable for me, but which i -lucky- dont really need.

I dont like all these "historical accurate" Uniform Things, drawn

on a Wall: Here, an Assyrian Archer Noble, an Egyptian Chariot Noble.

Wearing the best Clothes and Weaponry a rich Man could ever get, drawn.

In the Ancient Times, there were no Uniforms, no Nations, in that Way we

know today. If you find an ancient Mykenaean Armor, Clothes or Weaponry.

That does not mean, all these all rich Mykenaeans, all buried in a

rich Mans Grave, wore all the same Armor, Clothes or Weaponry, like a poor

Soldier wore that famous Mykenaean Plate Armor, as if a poor -and stupid-

ancient Foot, would have worn a Plate Armor in Ground Battle, and not the

damned usual Things for damned usual Infantry Guys, as if an Assyrian Bowman

would have worn Satin with Gold Work in Battle. They wore all the same

poor Work Gear i bet. Fact is, we dont know exactly, when, which Tribes,

wore what. That changed, Year by Year, King by King, Region by Region,

Man by Man. A Grave, a Mosaic, a Picture, dont tells anything about a whole

ancient Region, Tribe or whatever, and nothing about the whole Cake.

So, i dont have the newest Civ2 Bronze Age Units Bunch, and

dont really need it, too much Cliche. I made my own poor Soldiers.

These Guys not on a Picture on a Wall, but dead. In a simple Dead Mans Gear.

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As if all these Roman Legions wore the same Armor ever.

I did my own whole World of the East Map including Babylon.

I did my own Armors, Clothes and Weapons.

I took another seven Empires, all playable.

I took all the Towns i could get and/or invent.

I cannot create a totally accurate Anatolian Bunch of Empires,

like Lukka, Arzawa, Hatti, Kaska. Thats just impossible.

The most Town Names i just cannot know, many Towns arent located.

I will place the Towns i know, and i cannot tolerate empty Scapes.

In my Opinion the whole Lands were colonized by Mankind, whole.

The huge later Greek, or later Roman Towns, called Municipium,

called found a Colony, were already there before. Just founded as an

advanced Trading and Military Base. But as a Barbarian Centre of

Goods and Trades already been there before, just enlarged, renamed.

Why to found a totally new Colony elsewhere instead of using existing Markets.

They came, to trade, later, to build up Harbours and Warehouses, Garrisons.

And later, they just enlarged and renamed the natural Centres of Trades.

And the Citizens of destroyed Centres, Empires, were "just" hiding.

Into another already existing Centre. You hide from Starvation, War,

Destruction, Death, and all the sweet little Lands are colonized already.

You are a poor, weak Stranger, and all these Lands are colonized already.

These Towns destroyed, these Centres destroyed, open up the Might to

another Town and Centre existing already. And you just join another Centre,

as Greek, as Roman, as Stranger, and another Chapter begins, within just

the same Book of different Civilizations, Empires, Languages, Names.

That all, was colonized already by whole Mankind, and just used

in the most simple Way of Might and Survive, in my Opinion, so,

all the huge famous Towns, were there already, and i can take them

most legitimately. These i know, out of any Maps, and these, i have

to place strategically, and call by known Names, any known Names.

Cause i want to create a powerful Fun/Game/Play of that Ancient Times.

Hm, perhaps not a Fun/Game in THAT Way, cause the Struggle of the

Hittites, Mycenaeans, Cretans, Assyrians, Babylonians, short, the whole

Struggle of Food and Revolts of the whole Ancient World during the

"Climate Change", Earthquakes, will be a tough Fight to survive as an Empire.

Reading, that near Antioch once were Elephants, Forests everywhere.

That all these Bronze Age Towns had two Thousand Years Time, to destroy all

these Forests for their Weaponry and Pottery, hunt down all Animals, see Egypt,

see the Elephants, silt up the Lands to Deserts, lower the Ground Water Level,

all that, a "Climate Change", Droughts, Starvation, Deserts, just man-made.

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7.4. NOW. Yesterday Map 1.0 done, began to place the Settlers, Egypt.

Achaeans. Arzawa. Today Arzawa done and Egypt Amurru. Mitanni.

Mitanni Amurru. Mitanni Caucasus. Assyrians. Assyrians Caucasus.

Now late Evening, wondering. A Gap between the 20 planned Towns

Babylon, to Assur. Elam out of Map. No no no. Babylon wont fit.

I have to be creative, no Gap, stretch it close, and Elam on the Map. Sry.

Tomorrow, Babylon and Elam will get, i am afraid, a little Changeling.

To a strategic Placement close and on Map. Then, yeah, the Hittites!

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10.4. NOW. Yesterday Settlers.SAV Basix* done. Had a little Relax-Off.

Read the old Apolyton Thread first Time completely, about EZRhinos

Sea Kings. Found his Giga Map and his E-Mail Adresse. Wrote one.

Finished up my so-called Settlers.SAV*, a most complete* Placement.SAV.

Original Thought: 1 CradleOfBlood.SCN, 1 Events.txt, no BATCH. Wanted to "give

a Rising", that means, all Empires CivCity reduce to 3 Towns plus Barbarians,

and rise from Heartlands to Empire. Doubt: The AI. My Midnights Solution:

7 different .SCNs, Human Player rises vs complete AI Empires plus Multiplayer.

Will do a whole complete Empires Completes.SCN. Whole Empires plus Barbarians.

Will use CivCity to reduce for all 7 playable Empires the chosen one down to

3 Towns. Will use CivCity to reduce all 7 pEs to Heartlands only Heartlands.SCN.

3 Difficulty Levels. Multiplayer. 9 .SCNs. BATCH. README plus this split Thoughts.

*To place all Settlers means, to put all Informations about all necessary Towns

together and place the planned Amount for all seven Empires strategically and in a

balanced Grid of Landscapes plus Terrain Modify. Then Values, Diplomacy, Tax, Tec,

Terrain, Basix as complete Settlers.SAV finish Zero. Today Morning EZRhinos Answer.

Now i will proof my Settlers.SAV a last Time, and then do by Chronology all

seven Empires while modifying my City.txt by Settlers Activity Chronology the

"Snap Foundations" while Grid Proof, and create by CivCity Barbarian Towns

my Completes.SCN and out of that CivCity reducing to the other 8 .SCNs.

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16.4. NOW. It is hard. You want to play a special "Vision" of that Kind you

want to play, and have to work it out, Week by Week, Month by Month. Damned!

Now over 3 Weeks Modding... and after a little E-Mail Talk with EZRhino, he

convinced me to delete* the Babylonians, he, and the Fact, Barbarians wont work.

A Modder with enough creative Focus, Time, Energy, Experience, Grace.

Could do anything with ToT. I am that Modder, but reduce Patience after 3 Weeks.

Decided to delete* the Babylonians, to create the Free Peoples instead, to create

a living Background World with Free Towns, Free Peoples, Raging Hordes, Life.

Decided to NOT do 9 .SCNs, thats perhaps too much Work, but mainly too unfair.

Two .SCNs left: COMPLETE.SCN, begins 1500 BC complete Empires, HEARTLAND.SCN,

begins 1600 BC Heartlands only. And one single Events.txt, one single, smooth,

fair, balanced Way of playing that Scenario. Thats much more fair and better.

The Rules.txt is quite nice now, Tec Tree and Unit Values quite beautiful.

The Events.txt got its raw Structures and Balances. I have to finish up both

.SCNs to finally being able to finish up my Events.txt. Then Testgame perhaps.

Damned. More than 4 Weeks or til 23.4. i cannot give. Whether done or not.

*I have many Free Towns, and i did NOT delete Babylonian Towns, but the

Babylonians as playable Empire. So, by the newest Civ2 Bronze Age Units Bunch,

new Assyrian Soldiers, new Free Peoples Soldiers, and for the 6 empty Babylonian

Slots another Plague, Drought, a once non-working Outtake-Idea, now working best.

And some Heroes. The Free Peoples are not for Play, they could be played, but

they are the Faction of Raging Hordes. And the newest Civ2 Bronze Age Units Bunch,

well, some nice Soldiers in, but especially the Hittites... somewhat ugly!

I dont just take Units, i create them by my own, a most satisfying Fun, worthy.

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18.4. NOW. Wow. My 1.0 Complete.SAV is done. All Town Sizes, Improvements,

Troopers, Farmlands, Manufactures, Fortifications and Fortresses done.

Now the Events.txt finish, while the Complete.SAV perhaps some other Placements

and Stuff, then after done Events.txt and Complete.SAV, Heartland.SAV, Testgame.

20.4. NOW. The Events.txt is a bit tricky. I thought to create a Kind of Evolution

of Civ2 Test of Time usual Scenarios, while it showed, that to create Earthquakes,

Pestilence, then later Droughts, one of my first Ideas now working and done for a

deleted Babylonian Slot, turns every usual Rule of that Game obsolete by Catastrophe.

Usually, you just conquer or not, a little Starvation sometimes, a little Civil War.

Now you struggle as a conquering and being conquered Empire, and nothing is for sure.

But how to destroy Improvements? That your Towns go down. To ChangeMoney, so that

huge Buildings will be destroyed. Now Earthquakes, Pestilence, Droughts, Starvation

and Civil War a bit more heavy it seems. Plus Raging Hordes by Events.txt, War vs

Vassals and Enemies, and to lose Money while a Rebellion or a brutal Strike vs Empire.

The Hittites had to struggle in their Succession Conflicts, many, brutal, bloody,

stupid. Then the Outer Enemies came. I tried to give every Empire a Struggle and a

lose Money while their Outer Enemies try to crush the Lands, per RandomTurn. Problem:

RandomTurn seems buggy. Even just some of them seem not to appear strictly. Some do,

some not. Then to turn my RandomTurns to Turns, just too much Space gone by Repeating

my "Inner vs Outer Struggles". RandomTurns to TurnIntervals would cause, that i have

to reduce my already existing ones. Now the Point is, that my Struggles wont appear

per RandomTurn, sporadic, but every, XX TurnIntervals perhaps in two Bunches. That,

the Player can expect that it will happen. Just like Earthquakes, Pestilence, sad, but

a Kind of fair, and the Cause is simple: RandomTurn dont works. So struggle, but expect.

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29.4. NOW. Had no damned Fun to do quite anything! Kicked myself

through, pafff! Wanted to do it 23.3. til 23.4., then March/April,

it seems like annoying me in May still. Events.txt Coordinates for

City Takens left, plus Heartland.SCN left, then 1.0 would be done. Grarrr!

30.4. 17:13. NOW. Pafff! Yesterday and today, Coordinates for City

Takens, 14:00 - now, Heartland.SCN. A 77,9 kb Events.txt and both

.SCNs are DONE 1.0, now an E-Mail to EZRhino, Testgames next Month,

1.2 next Month, Events.txt full, .SCNs Final Check, DONE!!!

1.5. NOW. Pafff! A 83,6 kb EventsComplete is done, both .SCNs some

other Fortresses, Heartland.SCN i forgot some Fortresses. Now, left

is to change the Events Placement EventsComplete to EventsHeartland.

Then 5 damned hard Weeks gone, and a most amazing Game, hopefully, done!

2.5. NOW. Pafff! Some Events Tweaks done, forgot some Lines, had to

delete just some Text Stuff out of Events to fit into the Heap Limit.

Dont have Time and Interest anymore to work on. Thats a 1.0, and without

Testplayers, it will stay a 1.0, but tweak what you want, enough there.

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3.5. NOW. My first real Testgame, after 1.5. 1 Turn > other Events Placement,

after 2.5. 3 Turn > some forgotten Lines in, today, nearly 20 Turns yeah.

The Towns are such heavy to conquer, the AI will NEVER succeed in Heartland.SCN.

Even i, playing the Hittites finally after 5 Weeks hard Work!!! Failed.

But Fortresses, Fortresses Heavy, Guards, Nobles, Defenders, all that was

created to defend vs Composite Bows, Heavy Infantry, Heavy Chariots, Veterans!

Secret Note: You HAVE TO "sharpen" your Troopers vs Fortresses, you will get

Talents and Reinforcements, THEN attack Towns by Bowman and Chariot Veterans!

I want to play the Heartland.SCN and slowly grow as an Empire, heavy fighting,

heavy struggling, and the AI could NEVER AFFORD that! The AI Empires will stay

Heartlands, so the only Way to create an Enemy is, to sharpen the Game itself by

Free Peoples, Events, so that the Game itself offers a hard Fight for 6 Heartlands.

Well. I remember my first done Scenario - Alexander the Great. And i still have it.

And my famous Testgame. Cute but interesting! I remember, how hard it was to produce

here and there Troopers, to plan an Invasion. To plan an Attack, not to just conquer,

is my Vision. You should NOT just conquer with a poor Bunch of Men, you should plan.

The important Towns will get Resisters, and MUCH Resisters to conquer the Town back.

You will need Veteran Troopers, Attackers, and Defenders, strategic Placement, a Plan.

Not just to conquer, but to defend vs Resisters, vs that new Province of your Empire.

A most hated Thing in Civ2 ToT ever was for me, that there is no Reaction like a

dead Thing. And yes i know, it is, in Fact, a dead Thing, a Computer and a Game!

The Events.txt makes it possible, to give that Game a Kind of Reaction, of Living Counter

Strikes, of Resistance, Rebellion, Power against you. You have to produce your Army,

train your Army to Veterans, conquer and defend, and a Failure, and it will punish you!

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The Invention of the Unit Drought, Desert Terrain and the Pestilence

Skull ontop, Submarine Dis/Advantage, to be a Towns Death of Food...

i cut it out again, and gave that Slot to my deepest Wish: Another

Chariot! The Chariot Hero, arriving at the Beginning of the Iron Age.

4.5. NOW. Another Testgame Begin. Caused by some Unit Slot Changes.

Need to change my Events another Time. It is quite awesome, how the

Warfare works, in my Game! You try to "sharpen" your beloved Troopers

of Bowmen and Chariots, by attacking Fortresses and becoming Veterans.

Then you try to conquer smaller Towns, while your Armies grow. Exciting.

Nothing is "just conquer yeah the great Alexander and no Resistance"!

Just like i thought. Some Guys called me "Over-Average Player". Could be.

I am a Civ2 ToT Modder, and have to know some Stuff and Mechanisms.

Now, the Point is. The Free Peoples had 35 Towns. Now i gave them up to 60

in Complete.SCN, and 95 in Heartland.SCN. Now they are the strongest

Power in the whole Game, and the first Time i have the Feeling of a truely

Living Game, and of the Game i ever wanted to play. A damned hard Fight!

I want to play Heartland.SCN vs the whole Game and Events. Struggling.

Fighting. Bleeding. I am not a fearing Child anymore thinking "Help!

I have lost a Town! I lose! Help!". If you cannot lose a Town and fight

back, dont play that Game, cause it is created to fight back itself!

I would be bored to NOT lose a single Town, cause i call it Cradle of Blood.

I want the Heartland.SCN to be the most heavy Game, and for me, the Hittites,

growing and conquering vs a permanent most heavy Threat in all Directions.

Today, 22:36, 4.5., i have the Feeling of a Success, that could be truely my Vision

of a Bronze Age Hittite vs Egypt Civ2 ToT Scenario, called Cradle of Blood!

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6.5. Played yesterday and today the first Time Kulls End of the Bronze Age.

A good Game from 1999! Now played a new very short Cradle of Blood Testgame.

Playing and working out the 1.2 Version of my Scenario! The Reason for me to

do it quite... heavily, is, that it might become a very good Scenario.

7.5. When i compare, Kulls very awesome End of the Bronze Age MGE Scenario...

and i play with the Thought to... modify it up to an 80 Unit ToT Scenario...

he had more Sieges, more Chariots, more colourful different Types, my Art of

Army Development is a Kind of... inflexible, just a hard Core and some brave

Special Forces around, just the hard Core of 48! Infantry Men, 3 x Defenders

and 3 x Offenders for every of the 8 Parties. I wanted to give every Party

another... strictly another Taste of Culture. And a very hard Core of its Army.

Infantry seems... weaker, than for Example Bowmen or Chariots! And yes, it is.

Chariots are a bit faster, and much more heavy in Strike and Retreat. Bowmen,

well, ignore Town Walls and are a most heavy Offense Weapon. Why build Infantry?

Why 48! Infantry Men. Cause, every of the 8 Parties should own an own Taste of

Culture of Army and People, and the Infantry IS the most important Weapon!

Much much cheaper than Chariots! More effective than Bowmen in Offense/Defense.

Cheap Allrounders, also hitting and killing, also marching on, the Mass of the

Heart of an Army, well trained, well equipped, a MOST EXCELLENT Weapon!

If you reached to build up the next heavier Infantry Types plus Veterans, DAMNED!

Hm. The Failures of Kull were, the damned weak and senseless Chariots I-III, and

having not included good Archers! A last Word: Learn to LOVE your Infantry! There

will come many Threats, many Strikes vs you, you could anticipate Direction and Time.

Place your Infantry Veterans well, and your Special Forces Bowmen/Chariots behind!

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LINK TO CRADLE OF BLOOD README

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