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Three Kingdoms - Cao Cao's Ambition
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| Author |
File Description |
Filthydelphia
(id: Al_Kharn the Great) |
Posted on 01/01/20 @ 01:42 PM (updated 04/05/20)
| File Details |
|---|
| Version: |
Age of Empires II: DE |
| Style: |
Build and Destroy |
Screenshot:
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"I would rather betray all the people under the heavens than for all the people to betray me." - Cao Cao
Dong Zhuo's death at Lu Bu's hand has thrown China into chaos. Six warlords fight for dominance. Which one will prevail?
Features:
For the first time in Age of Empires: choose from one of seven factions!
Choose to play as Cao Cao, Lu Bu, Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, Liu Biao, Kong Rong, or the rebellious Yellow Turbans
Each warlord has unique bonuses, units, and personal objectives
Navigate the unique friendships and rivalries of the Han court
Battle over a massive Giant-sized map of China to defeat your rivals
About the Author:
Filthydelphia (xbox: PhillySouljah) is the award-winning designer of historical custom campaigns and official content for the Age of Empires franchise. Part of the Forgotten Empires campaign team, his works include the Portuguese, Burmese, Bulgarian, Italian, and Indian campaigns featured in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition as well as several campaigns in Age of Empires: Definitive Edition. |
| Author | Comments & Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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| DeeDarFan |
Posted on 02/01/20 @ 05:44 PM
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Filthydelphia
(id: Al_Kharn the Great)
File Author |
Posted on 04/05/20 @ 08:54 AM
- Elite UU upgrades no longer prevent the training of the UU for both Human Player and AI Players.
- Chu Ko Nus are disabled where appropriate.
- Heroes are trainable at the Castle for all factions.
- Fixed cosmetic issue on final victory slide. |
| Zeggsy |
Posted on 05/27/20 @ 11:36 AM |
| kud13 |
Posted on 12/28/20 @ 01:42 PM
Playability: 5
Although it's mechanically quite simple, the scenario is, frankly, loads of fun. Each of the 6 warlords has their own "prestige" objectives, achieving which makes the other AIs stop attacking them. In addition, the game features a diplomacy system that ensures that the AIs declare wars on each other (and the player), but their targets seem to vary, increasing replaybility. But the true meat of the scenario are the role-playing opportunities- picking a warlord, giving them a personality, and acting on that; challenging yourself to prevent others from achieving their goals; getting embroiled in a free-for-all to simulate the civil strife and unrest that usually follows a revolution and breakdown of social order.
The 6 warlords are split into 3 "civ groupings", being the Northern, Central, and Southern Han. Each group has access to unique unit roster in addition to standard infantry, foot archers and siege. All 3 factions are fairly viable, and there aren't really any deep tactics at play. The Yellow Turbans are unique in that they are unable to produce villagers (needing to convert them from other factions instead), and their tech tree is limited by Feudal age upgrades- though they do get access to Kipchaks as cavalry archers and Tarkans as very mobile siege. The Yellow turbans also aren't concerned with the warlord's prestige objectives and squabbles, since their goal is to bring the whole system crashing down.
Taken altogether, the scenario offers immense replayability, with an enjoyable basic B&D core, and that makes it incredibly playable.
Balance: 3
Honestly, this was a big stumbling block. Despite the variety and all the fun I derived from conquering the map of China again and again, there was very little actual challenge. The only time I was put under overwhelming pressure was as the Yellow Turbans when I foolishly set up my base camp in between 3 warring warlords. Having relocated a bit out of the way I was able to develop my fledgling economy in relative peace and eventually rise to crush the well-entrenched AI bases.
Although the Yellow Turbans appear to be the most challenging faction to play, they actually have the greatest rushing potential, since all warlords start out with 3 villagers and no TC. I was actually able to prevent my first target from even completing a TC before I converted their 3 starting villagers, effectively eliminating them from the game before it could begin;
Although the unique tech trees among the warlords are geared towards providing a varying experience, I found that nothing and no-one can resist massed ranged units (be it Chu Ko Nus, Rattan Archers, or heavy CavArchers) supported by ample siege. Since AIs start out without TCs, there are no walls on the map, and enemy bases are generally located in open floodplains that let the player simply steamroll each base into nothing-most being surrounded by gently rolling hills that can be used by said archers to draw the AI force into a suicidal charge against elevated archers. While there's certainly satisfaction to be derived from this, the balance, even on Hard tends to skew on the easy side. Not a single AI deploys skirmishers or onagers to deal with the massed archer spam- which is strange, given how prevalent skirmishers are in campaign AI's tactics.
Creativity: 5
What the scenario lacks in difficulty, it makes up in creativity. The diplomacy/rivalry system, the prestige objectives (entirely optional), the little extra challenges and Gaia pickups, the 4 unique tech trees and associated playstyles- All of this coalesces into a truly one-of-a-kind experience that NEEDS to be experienced by any B&D fan.
Map Design: 5
Although I'm not too familiar with the geography of Central China, this map has pretty much everything, except for snow. Map design is varied, and each part of the map has something interesting to look at, with rivers and fords having strategic importance as they naturally divide most warlords' spheres of influence, with cliffs hiding riches like relics and gold mines, with deeper, more tropical jungles to the geographical south. the map is turned, so that the north corner is actually the geographical East, which was a really neat touch.
Story/Instructions: 4
The story is told though an introductory slide show and in addition the opening cutscene that has you survey the available faction choices before making a decision. In-game messages from your advisor warn you of your rivals' progress, as well as alerting you to other points of interest. All of these were well-done and contributed to the sense of the story.
What I liked less were some other gameplay choices, and specifically how they failed to contribute to the role-playing the scenario seems geared towards. 2 sets of Gaia soldiers led by two heroes arrive at different points in the game- always to join the player, even if the player's score or progress towards their prestige goal does not really warrant any additional renown. It would have been neater to have different heroes show up depending on which warlord the player picks, to reflect the intricacies of the story being told in the source material; I also felt it was a missed opportunity for the Yellow Turbans, who are the only faction that can be allied with the Xianbei Barbarians, to not have any goals related to forming an alliance and coordinating their efforts against the other warlords.
None of these are serious problems; the only reason they stand out is because they seem vestigial ideas of what could have been a truly incredible role-playing scenario.
Additional Comments: Despite some features feeling a bit undercooked and overall being fairly low on the difficulty curve, Cao Cao's Ambition is most certainly an amazing, one of a kind scenario that deserves your attention. The innovative diplomacy system and ability to pick your side and set personal goals and role-play your warlords as you may want offer a type of sandbox experience that is completely different from anything you may have played in AoK before. This is a must-play. Just make sure to crank up the difficulty. [Edited on 11/12/21 @ 01:32 AM]
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| rakovsky |
Posted on 01/13/21 @ 11:22 AM
Wikipedia says that Liu Biao "is best known for serving as the Governor of Jing Province (covering present-day Hubei and Hunan) from 192 until his death in 208. He was also a member of the extended family of the Han emperors through his ancestor Liu Yu, the fifth son of Emperor Jing."
Yuan Shao led the warlord coalition who opposed Dong Zhuo.
Kong Rong was a 20th generation descendant of Confucius and promoted Confucian studies and as chancellor of Beihai State, he "provided proper burial for deceased refugees who had no family members to look after their funeral affairs." (~Wikipedia)
I guess I would pick the latter two.[Edited on 03/04/21 @ 02:34 AM]
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| rakovsky |
Posted on 04/01/21 @ 09:43 PM
There were small glitches that probably were not the fault of the author. They made it alittle easier or harder, depending on the glitch.
Playing on HARD as Yuan Shao, I saw that there was an option to research Elite Keshiks, but after I researched some other things like armor, I noticed that the Elite Keshik button was gone so that I couldn't research it any more. It wasn't just reddened out, the whole button vanished into black. I reloaded past savegames to see at what point the Elite Keshiks option disappeared and it turns out that the Elite Keshik option was removed from my earlier savegames too. That reminds me of how in some AOE2 HD (2013) savegames, the AIs' tribal names (eg. "Yuan Shao") switch from the Scenario Designers' Custom names into the default AOE2 AI Player names (eg. Henry IV is a common one), and then when the glitch occurs, it changes the AI names in all previous savegames. The glitch didn't stop me from winning, but it's a harmful glitch because the northern Chinese Players rely on cavalry for force. I remember seeing the Elite Keshik button in the Stable, and The info box for the Keshiks in the Stable says that there are the Elite Keshik upgrade in the Castle. To check the problem, after I beat it I restarted the scenario, used the resource cheat to Age to the Imperial level quickly, and I saw that I could now research and then train Elite Keshiks on this second playthrough. So I don't know what causes that glitch that makes the Elite Keshik upgrade button vanish.
On HARD, playing as Liu Biao, about 25-29 minutes into the game, I sent a trade cart to explore around Cao Cao's base for a market, and he sent me a message saying that he was sorry, but he has to fight me for the sake of progress. Almost 30 minutes into the game, I got an announcement from my monklike advisor that Cao Cao was forming a coalition with Lu Bu and Yuan Shu against Yuan Shao. I got worried that this meant Yuan Shao declared war on me, so I checked the Diplomacy menu, and Cao Cao and Yuan Shu were still aliied with me. In fact, none of my past "Chat" messages sent from the upper left in my Chat log actually said that Cao Cao declared war on me. My guess is that Cao Cao declares war on you if you send military units close enough to his base and that the trade cart triggered the announcement, but not an actual declaration of war.
When I had only two enemies left, Lu Bu and Yuan Shao, my advisor announced that I had just two enemies left. And then a chat message announced that Cao Cao, who by the way had already surrendered after I invaded his base, declared war on me. A lone grey Cao Cao Champion unit then started attacking one of my mines below my TC.
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Balance: 5
I liked the balance. At first it seemed pretty Hard on HARD, and I had to use some tactics or tricks (eg. getting Liu Biao's relics early on instead of him when playing as his opponents). But with the help of the tactic of using the Pause button while issuing commands, I usually did not have to reload from savegames, which made it ferel easy when I got things drown and under control. A few times, also I either lost secondary objectives or my hero died. But since otherwise I had it under control due to those tactics, I did not feel in danger of losing once I took down the first three opponents.
One reviewer complained that it was too easy, but I don't agree, because I needed to use the special tricks in order to meet all my secondary objectives. Plus, the Player has the option of choosing his character (eg. the Yellow Turbans) and his difficulty level (eg. Hard), so the Player can make it easier or harder depending on his preference.
Playing on HARD as Yuan Shao, I made about 30 villagers, got into the Imperial Age, and defeated the Xianbei. I collected 3 relics early on, which keeps Liu Biao from winning by getting 4. About 1 hour 10 minutes into the match, my trading ally Kong Rong had about 6300/7000 gold, which meant that I had to declare war on him. At that same time, Cao Cao declared war on me. My force at that point was almost all cavalry from fighting the Xianbei. At first I tried fighting Kong Rong when he got close to his goal, but his forces hammered my cavalry-based invasion army, which was not really ready to fight him. I realized that I could slow his gold trade by building a wall on the south side of his peninsula.
Later, playing as Kong Rong on HARD, I defeated Yuan Shu and Cao Cao. Since Lu Bu had only 2/4 castles, I turned my attention next to the strongest player, Yuan Shao. But just as I was building castles on Yuan Shao's border, Lu Bu rather quickly built his next two castles and the game said that I failed my "secondary objective" of stopping him, and that many in the Han Court now support Lu Bu. However, the game kept going on instead of ending immediately in a Defeat. In terms of the practical result of one of your opponents winning his "ambition," based on on the Hints tabs, I guess that some Players might be more likely to ally with your successful opponent. In my playthrough, I think that Lu Bu was fighting Yuan Shao and Liu Biao, so there was no one left for Lu Bu to ally with, and his opponents didn't switch into his allies. I restarted my savegame from about right after I beat Cao Cao and then I beat the scenario while meeting all my objectives.
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Creativity: 5
I really like this scenario. The Creativity is pretty good, with each Player having different missions.
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Map Design: 5
I liked the different special features of the map, like getting reinforcements when you have military accomplishments.
When I was attacking Cao Cao as Yuan Shao, I destroyed the enemy's TC and Cao Cao Hero unit, and I saw Emperor Xian, but the game wouldn't let me convert him. I think that the scenario should let me convert Emperor Xian, because historically, he wrote a letter pleading for other warlords like Yuan Shao to free him. The scenario does let you kill him, but you can get Cao Cao to surrender even without killing him. In my case, I spared him, and later the final Victory ending message said that the "boy emperor" is now in my grasp. But I guess that even if I killed Xian, it still would have given that Victory message.
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Story/Instructions: 5
I like that the Designer had an opening slideshow like in the official campaigns (eg. Alaric and Attila).
In the scenario, your advisor says when you go to pick the different warlords that Kong Rong is greedy. Historically, I don't remember anything greedy about Kong Rong. I could be mistaken. He was a Confucian scholar who was governor of a province but then became an official in Cao Cao's court. Wikipedia says: "He was defeated by Yuan Tan in 196 and escaped to the capital Xuchang. For being a political opponent of Cao Cao and humiliating him on multiple occasions, Kong Rong was eventually put to death on various charges... In 208, Kong Rong spoke ill of Cao Cao before an emissary from Sun Quan, a warlord who ruled the territories in the Jiangdong region. Cao Cao then ordered Kong Rong to be executed on various charges including, among others, "plotting a rebellion", "slandering the imperial court" and "disrespecting court protocol"." I could not find anything online saying that Kong Rong was greedy, so I take it that this is the Scenario Designer's creative artistic license. For instance, in a discussion with Kong Rong and Cao Cao according to the Three Kingdoms Fanpage, Xun Yu said, "Xu You, is greedy and ignorant." In an academic article, "Interpreting Yuan Shao’s Failure in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms", which mentioned Kong Rong, Xianru-Zheng wrote: "Xu Wei was greedy". On an online discussion on Dynasty Warriors the game, people wrote that Sun Jian was greedy. So other 3 Kingdoms figures were greedy, but being a Confucian scholar, he seemed historically more interested in being an advisor to the ruler than in wealth accumulation.
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Additional Comments:
The opening messages set the scenario in 192 AD. Historically, the Battle of Yan Province was in 194-195 AD. |
| rakovsky |
Posted on 04/05/21 @ 03:06 PM
He also wrote: "Regarding your war with Cao Cao, war with him is triggered to a timer (or if you change your own diplomacy), not proximity of a single unit."
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HGDL v0.8.2 |
| Rating |
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| 4.6 | | Breakdown |
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| Playability | 4.5 | | Balance | 4.0 | | Creativity | 5.0 | | Map Design | 5.0 | | Story/Instructions | 4.5 |
| Statistics |
| Downloads: | 1,208 |
| Favorites: [] | 2 |
| Size: | 5.38 MB |
| Added: | 01/01/20 |
| Updated: | 04/05/20 |
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