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Blood for the blood gods! - A campaign about Mesoamerica
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Author |
File Description |
Gumble |
Posted on 11/17/10 @ 08:40 PM
File Details |
Number of Scenarios: |
3 |
Difficulty: |
Hard |
'Blood for the blood gods!' (Version 1.1)
By Timothy McKenzie
Winning entry to the Obscure Historical Civilization Design Competition.
This is a campaign on cultures of Mesoamerica. This version covers the civilizations of the Olmecs, Teotihuacan, Toltecs, and Mayans of Central America. All information is provided in the 'read me' file included in the download. To play simply download the file, extract it, and follow the instructions in the 'read me'.
Thank you for downloading this campaign, I hope you have as much fun playing the campaign as I have had making it, and learn a little about the fascinating cultures of Mesoamerica.
There will be updated versions which will include bug fixes and brand new scenarios which will be added to the campaign. For more information follow this link to find out more about these updates:
http://aoe.heavengames.com/cgi-bin/forums/display.cgi?action=ct&f=4,6101,0,all
Current Version: v1.1
features:
*Campaign notes errors fixed and clarified
*Changed Music folder content
*Made 'Name Changes' notes easier for quick refererence
*Fixed difficulty Balance for all 3 scenarios
"Ancestor Bloodrites":
-Weakened several players to achieve balance
-Changed placement and number of rafts
-Removed Olmec Priest
-Made Olmecs a little easier
-Clarify Instructions
"Monuments Built by Blood"
-Stopped players from building towers everywhere
"Born in Blood, fallen in Blood"
-Scenario Instruction error fixed
Thank you Jesus for this talent and passion you have given me, praise your name. |
Author | Comments & Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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Fisk (id: Fruktfisk)
Staff |
Posted on 11/20/10 @ 07:15 AM
Playability: 4.6
The Gumball Campaign is clearly superior to the other contest entries, (No offense to the losers) well, except for mine of course. It is in all an excellent campaign, but yet not perfect. (Once again, judging contest entries) There were a few things about the Gumble campaign that annoyed me. In many parts of the campaign space is very limited, both for building and walking, especially the second scenario which has a lot of AI units running around, limiting building space to a minimum. There was also the final scenario, where I found the escape in the start almost impossible, I ended up getting killed by those towers at the exit like 20 times! This really pissed me off, one time I was so close to getting away when I got stuck to the damn tree at the exit!
Balanze: 4.9
One of the things about the Gumble Campaign that really impressed me was the Balance, though the unit selections are very limited (I can list all land units here: Villagers, Clubmen, Axemen, Short swords, Slingers, Bowmen, Impies, Priests) the campaign Balance is still great. At some points however it could annoy me. Oracles (Priests) are clearly the most dangerous units in this campaign, and the effect of them is quite random. The numbers of them often balance the randomness out, but I can't help but go "What the Fruk!?" every time I lose a unit to a direct conversion, with no real time to act.
Creativity: 5
Yes it's a real 5 there! This campaign truly deserves it. The campaign contains a whole variety of different objectives, unique puzzles and imaginative gameplay. The map design of the different scenarios is also one of the more creative I've encountered. The campaign is also the only one to showcase it's own unique design trick, The foam that can be found in a few locations is a nice addition. At some points I think the realism suffers from this, but that's a later matter. Five is for epicness, very nice work Gumble
Map Dezign: 4.8
The map design is incredible, the Jungles of Central America is no easy environment to catch, but I believe that Gumble has done a fairly efficient job. The terrain features are very innovative, at some points they lack realism however that isn't much of a concern as it is simply beautiful. However I can at some points feel like the jungle is a bit dull. There are also a few overlappings that look stupid (trees on walls mostly) and thoguh having bridges passable by ships and land units is nice, having the ship sail over the bridge sort of wrecks the feeling a bit.
Story/Instructionz: 4.5
The story of the Gumble Campaign is extremely well written, it has great historical accuracy and is often written in a nice prophecy-like perspective. It is almost free of spelling and Grammar errors. O top of that it comes with incredible bitmaps, nice use of the mapdefault features and the nice blending of the faces of different cultures stone heads. They come with an incredible reflection of the real Yucatan peninsula. Then why is this the lowest score in the Gumble campaign? The instructions were not clear enough! This is judged as an 1998 campaign, without the .dll as an additional features, and without using the .dll files I would never know what to do, you want me to build 5 Chipotles and kill the Ayatollah? Honestly these Aztec name changes were hard to keep track of even with the .dlls, this would actually drag down the score quite a lot, but I feel like the bitmaps make up for it.
Final Score: 4.8
An incredible campaign by Gumble, this is actually a true masterpiece. It comes with an enhanced language(/x).dll and also a new sound folder this is a very nice addition, but I personally wish that Gumble would've spent more time working on the actual campaign. I loved playing through this, and I hope the rest of you take your time to do so too.
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Granite_Rocks (id: S_Bishop) |
Posted on 11/20/10 @ 05:25 PM
Great campaign! I've been playing the first level, and there's a lot of neat things in it. A lot of neat history.
Hey, I haven't updated my campaign yet for reviewing. I've been going through and its amazing the things that I find that need a quick change (probably because I never play-tested most the levels, lol). But anyhow, I'll update it soon. But then I don't know how long it will take for it to get posted. |
adrianus |
Posted on 12/14/10 @ 08:34 AM
This is a phantastic designed campaign. All done with the old editor ? Unbelievable ! Should I download ? Definitely ! |
Granite_Rocks (id: S_Bishop) |
Posted on 01/05/11 @ 03:53 PM
Gumble, were you still planning on reviewing my campaign "The Ages of Man Part 2". It has been updated by now, so you can review it if you want to. |
Suppiluliuma
Staff |
Posted on 03/15/11 @ 01:10 AM
Playability: 5
(Each scenario is a campaign on their own. However i find their names a bit cacophonic...too much blood in there lol. The campaign requires patience, focus and endurance, even to entertaining and complex. Not recommended for starters, this one is advised for mid/high level players. The use of blind lame priests makes lick play an important role, however it makes it quite satisfying when the events go as one planned them.)
Balance: 4.5
(I think there's a drawback as i felt a bit asphixiated by the objectives. But this isn't Gumble's fault...i think it has become "trendy" to make scenarios with way too many objectives and this is where you need to be focused all the time, still i think the objectives could be made simpler. Still there's a huge array of them so even tho I lost my temper more than once, at last one gets entertained and/or frustrated at times. )
Creativity: 5
(I've got to say that I loved the graphical aspects of this campaign. Wonderful job, Gumble!. You did do your homework. Every city and settlements is beautifully done, and the level of detail and how you played to make those temples, plazas and monuments looks is quite impressive. Also the objectives demonstrate they required brain hours to be planned so, great job. )
Map Design: 4.5
(Also it is nice to see how Gumble represented the real world geography in each scenario. I just have one complain regarding this and it has to do with the last scenario "Born in Blood, Fallen in Blood" The map is huge and there's so much space that can't be used...so iIcheated (lol yeah) to see what was beyond and i saw something that wasn't too cool for me. That kinda disappointed me after seeing your capacities. )
Story/Instructions: 5
(The historical information provided is in general interesting and makes one get interested in knowing more, however i have a major complain here. Why do you mention the Inca empire in last scenario's aftermath? Maybe i am misunderstanding but it gives the impression to me that you add them in the same geographical with the aztecs and other valley of mexico's people...maybe you should change how you wrote it to make it clear you want to make a scenario about them while pointing out that you're interested in other latinamerican pre columbian cultures beyond Mexico. )
Additional Comments: i have few but here they go again. The objectives could be made simpler. Maybe it was just me but they could be frustrating at times.
Don't do maps bigger than necessary: empty space gives a bad impression.
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Bumblebee |
Posted on 06/15/17 @ 04:46 AM
The last scenario is unplayable, Hunac Ceel turns into a commoner and dies easily to the towers and archers you put along secret path. Please fix that. |
Filthydelphia (id: Al_Kharn the Great) |
Posted on 12/17/17 @ 09:15 PM
I am trying to play this scenario with aoe_scout's UPatch and I cannot figure it out. I can convert the were-jaguar, but he never reaches the crocodile fast enough to save the priest. Is there something to this that I am missing? |
Fisk (id: Fruktfisk)
Staff |
Posted on 06/06/20 @ 03:23 PM
@Bumblebee: The core idea is that if you don't right click any resources, he remains a hero and can bypass the towers while taking some hits.
@Al Kharn: I told you in the forums, but for anyone wondering this opening sequence becomes unplayable with UPatch as it removes the random accuracy from hunting. |
rakovsky |
Posted on 07/17/21 @ 03:15 PM
A CHRONOLOGY FOR THE FIRST SCENARIO.
The first Scenario, "Ancestor Blood Rites," has 3 parts: Olmecs, Tula, and Toltecs. The Olmec story starts at San Lorenzo. Wikipedia says it was occupied in 1750-50 BC, although there was some small occupation of it after that. Other places are Tres Zapotes and La Venta. Tres Zapotes may have lasted for around 900 BC to 900 AD. La Venta lasted from 1200- 400 BC. In the first part of the scenario, a priest precipitates the fall of the Olmecs. The Olmecs lasted from 1200- 400 BC. The Victory Screen talks about the Olmecs as dating from 1400 BC to 400 BC.
So the first part can be dated to sometime around 500-400 BC, with the Olmecs coming to an end.
In the second part, the story talks about the building of the Toltec capitol of Tula around Tula Grande to rival Teotihuacan. Teotihuacan was built around 100 BC and lasted until between 550 AD and the 8th century AD. Wikipedia's article on Tula says, "The earliest well-defined settlements in the Tula area appear around 400 BCE... Tula Chico's occupation is from 650 to 900... Tula Chico was abandoned between 850 and 900CE, and Tula Grande began to develop. Tula fell around 1150."
Tula's story talks about the Zapotecs and the map shows them near Oaxaca. Wikipedia's article on them talks about the Zapotecs as being there during the "Monte Alban periods," which "lasted from 500 BCE to the time of conquest in 1521 AD." The Victory Screen talks about Teotihuacan lasting from 200 BC to 750 AD. It also talks about the Toltecs lasting from 900 to 1200 AD.
Since the Toltecs are in the second part of the scenario and Tula Grande began to develop after Tula Chico's decline in 850-900, the second part of the scenario must begin no earlier than around 900 AD.
The third part of the scenario talks about Tula Grande as having already been built. It also talks about Tepoztlan. Wikipedia says there is an archaeological record there of Mesoamericans from 1500 BC to 1521 AD.
The second scenario begins by saying, "It's the 8th century" AD and it talks about the Maya.[Edited on 07/17/21 @ 03:16 PM]
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PartizanLegis |
Posted on 08/17/23 @ 07:16 PM
I finally managed to try and play this without the UPatch, but I am stuck at a certain point in the first scenario. How am I supposed to convert the orange villies? The initial priest cannot move as he is trapped in a cliff. Great eye candy, environment overall, but some obstacles like the overkill of Lion Kings and the wall placements feel like quite a chore and demand too much patience... |
HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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4.8 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 4.8 | Balance | 4.7 | Creativity | 5.0 | Map Design | 4.7 | Story/Instructions | 4.8 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 2,054 |
Favorites: [] | 0 |
Size: | 1.60 MB |
Added: | 11/17/10 |
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