Peloponnesian War (Reviewed)

...::: Peloponnesian War - Titans Edition v2 :::...

By Mythos_Ruler
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PLAYERS: 6, Teams, Free For All (FFA), or DIPLOMACY STYLE (recommended)

CIVILIZATIONS: Zeus, Poseidon, or Hades (Greeks are HIGHLY recommended as most bonuses can only effect Greek units)

MAP TYPE: Real World, Conquest

MAP SIZE: 821K

INSTALLATION: Unzip the .scx file to the \scenario folder of your Age of Mythology directory - C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Age of Mythology\Scenario or My Documents\My Games\Age of Mythology\Scenario

SHORT DESCRIPTION: Version 2 of the most accurate ancient Greece map available. Fight the titanic Peloponnesian War as one of 6 ancient Greek city-states, each with its own unique bonuses!

LONG DESCRIPTION: This is as accurate to the terrain of ancient Greece as is possible in the Titans scenario editor, so accurate, even unclaimed settlements are in place of real ancient cities. Each player plays as one of 6 historical city-states (Athens, Sparta, Thessaly, Eretria, Elis, and Corinth). Each player has its own unique set of bonuses based on historical records and good gameplay. Advancement is very fast with more starting resources than a supremacy game, but less than a Death Match. Researching upgrades is also nearly instantaneous once the upgrade has been selected.

GLOBAL ATTRIBUTES:
1.) Research Rate multiplied by a factor of 25. No waiting for that tech to reach 100%!
2.) All walls and buildings are beefed up considerably.
3.) Cavalry speed increased across the board.
4.) Population cost for Hoplites reduced by 1.
5.) Population cost for Triremes reduced by 1.
6.) Range for Juggernauts increased considerably, but Population Cost increased +1.
7.) Town Centers at or near 10,000 Hit Points(HPs).
8.) Town Centers now grant more population cap.
9.) TITANS DISABLED.
10.) HOUSES DISABLED.

PLAYER ATTRIBUTES:
1.) Athens - Very strong Walls. Excellent Triremes. Starts with a free Naval Shipyard.
2.) Sparta - Hoplite pierce armor increased substantially. Free copper armory upgrades. Barracks HPs increased. Barracks pop bonus. Starts with a free Barracks.
3.) Thessaly - Significant Farming and Husbandry bonuses. Cavalry attack and speed increased. Starts with a free Stable.
4.) Eretria - Significant Fortress and Siege bonuses. Transport garrisoning increased. Starts with a free Fortress.
5.) Elis - Granted favor every minute by Zeus. Very strong heroes and Myth Units. Starts with an additional Temple.
6.) Corinth - Free storehouse and market upgrades. Archer range increased greatly. Archery Range pop bonus. Starts with a free Archery Range.

GAMEPLAY HINTS:
1.) Since houses are disabled, Population Cap is determined solely by the number of TCs under a player's control.
2.) There are 5-6 TCs available per player. Grab as many TCs as possible to gain an edge.
3.) TCs are also important, because most of the gold on mainland Greece is situated at or near unclaimed sttlements.
4.) The islands surrounding Greece are rich with RELICS, SETTLEMENTS, and GOLD.
5.) The waters surrounding Greece are also rich in FISH. Control of the sea could be very important to the outcome of the game.

VERSION 2 FEATURES & FIXES:
1.) All 6 players are now RANDOMIZED between the 6 available city-states at the start of the game!
3.) CUSTOM RELICS based on ancient Greek history!
4.) EARTHQUAKE ZONES... watch out!
5.) Herdable animals are now guarded by their owners!
6.) Sea Monsters are now even more FIERCE and DEADLY!
7.) MORE historical factoids!
8.) The Gods intervene more often when you SLAY a beast!
9.) All players start the game with their own GENERAL ("Strategoi" in Greek)!
10.) Destroy a Persian TENT to find Persian GOLD inside!
11.) Discover an Ambrosian Spring! (Those who know Greek mythology will understand)
12.) Players start with a BONUS building that hints at their city's primary focus in battle.
13.) Hoplite Pop Cost for SPARTA now back to 2.
14.) Toxote range increased by +5 over previous version.
15.) Hypaspists beefed up vs. Hoplites.
16.) Terrain textures mixed a little more for visual variety.
17.) Terrain Elevation tweaked to help reduce the minimal lag from v1.
18.) Juggernaut range bonus fixed.
19.) LOS issues fixed with bonused ranged units.
20.) Triggers optimized better than previous map versions.
21.) All players may now read what their city's bonuses are.
22.) Added a brief historical overview of the Peloponnesian War in the "Spotlight" section of the Objectives.
23.) Increased cost of Farms.
24.) Plenty Vault and Healing Spring now cast at DELPHI and OLYMPIA.
25.) Opening Cinematic removed in order to facilitate quicker gameplay and reduce lag.

26.) Dozens more features and fixes!

CREDITS:
Thanks to CheeZy [aka CheeZy_Monkey] for applying his file size saving techniques (the original map size was over 1MB!).
Thanks to nifty_PS2MAN and ElfTheHunter for assisting in balancing discussions and feature suggestions. 

Thanks to the members of AMBITION DESIGNS for VERSION 2.0 playtesting.

Any questions, comments, or bugs, e-mail me at:

[email protected] (also my MSN Messenger account)
or
michae[email protected]

I hope you enjoy the map!

Mythos_Ruler