Carthage: New Beginnings (Campaign)

[SciGuy42]

I am happy to present the start of a new single player campaign called "Carthage: New Beginnings". The campaign will cover Dido's departure from Tyre up to the founding of Carthage. This campaign will be fairly short, about 6 or so scenarios. They are mostly done and I will be porting each one to the current version of 0ad and provide an update every few days.

Chapter 1: In the beginning

You are Elissa -- the sister of the tyrant of Tyre, King Pumayyaton. All your life, you have dreamed of glory but lately, your brother has been increasingly pushing you out of power and out of influence. You sense that is the time to make a move. And what better way to show your abilities to the citizens of Tyre than to raid a band of Celts who have recently moved in and established a small fishing town on the mainland.

But first, you must figure out how to get your elephants across the sea as to take down the settlement's fortifications. Your husband, Acerbas, the High Priest of Melqart, has an idea. A band of pirates holding out on an island to the north-west, has stolen an ancient relic. Should you be able to return it, he will secure enough money to purchase you a ship that will be able to carry the elephants across the water. But you must be careful - our current ships are weak and can only be used to ferry our soldiers but not for battle.

AI Settings: Player 5 should be on Petra with a difficulty of your choice (the hardest for best experience). All  others should be set to Sandbox.

Note: you may need to know a tiny bit about the geography of Tyre to know which was is North

Where to get the scenarios:

https://github.com/SciGuy42/Carthage_BeginningsGloryAndDemise/archive/refs/heads/main.zip

You should extract the files in your /mods/user/ folder. On Linux, that is typically located in /home/.local/share/0ad/mods/user/. Note that the repository contains additional scenarios but I haven't tested them yet and they most certainly need fixes and a play test. But coming soon!

I play tested on the following build: Mar 22, 2022 (25860-release), which is the default version on Liniux when installing from the "universe". There are probably issues with newer versions if the javascript API is not backwards compatible or if template names changed.

A few screen shots from the game play:

Spoiler

 

 

Some questions for developers:

1. Can some point me to the function I need to call to display text in the same place where we see notifications, like when a players enters a new phase? Since the objectives change throughout the game based on events, I would like to periodically print the current objectives to remind the player.

2. Similarly, is there an example of a dialog box but no so much a dialogue with 2 options but just 1 option? I found the example with two buttons and am currently using that but I don't actually need two buttons and which button is pressed is irrelevant.

Observed issues:

1. One of the docks that the AI build rotated the wrong way by 90 degrees, instead of the dock facing the sea, it was oriented parallel to the shore.

2. The first time I used catapults, I gave them the command to attack a fortress while the catapults were packed. The moved closer to the fortress, unpacked but were still outside of range. I had to pack them, move them closer, then unpack and then they worked fine.

Want to help?

While I am quite proud of my Tyre, it can use a round of, let's say, "beautification". If you like that sort of thing, let me know, I can give you permissions in the repository. The only constraint is that I'd rather not move the docks and also the passages to the harbors should probably not get smaller. Eventually I may need an "early" Carthage but probably not for the first few missions. If you want to help there, I am already thinking of one possible scenario that would take place in Carthage, let's say, 10-15 years after it was founded.

I also need a mod file but I don't know how to do that.

The other way to help, of course, is to play it and write back with how it went.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lion.Kanzen]

Elissar or Elisha sounds less Latinized or Western name.

https://phoenicia.org/elissardidobio.html

 

Edited March 20 by Lion.Kanzen

[Grautvornix]

Congratulations @SciGuy42!  This is a phantastic start - love it when you have to struggle with scarce resources initially trying to cope. And for the right atmonsphere, you  are also telling a good  background story. Looking very much forward to your new campaign!

[ShadowOfHassen]

I've been wanting campaigns in this game, so I'm glad to see this. If you need any help writing or need someone to look over your in game writing, let me know.

Actually, while I've been working on the encyclopedia, I've had style ideas for the narrative and writing in campaigns. My ideas don't have to be followed exactly, but some standardization could possibly be nice.

[SciGuy42]

Chapter 2: Revenge

You have had to flee Tyre, along with your most loyal supporters and adventurers seeking glory in battle. Stricken by grief due to the murder of your husband, you decide to pay a visit to an Assyrian fort on the way to Cyprus - and not just any fort, one that currently hosts the general Abibaal as an ambassador, who is (secretly) your brother's lover. You will have your revenge!

Your objectives are to establish a settlement and raise an army to kill or capture Abibaal. Abibaal is bound to be located in one of the civil centres in the Assyrian fortress. You must search for him and have your revenge!

Screenshots from game play and a view of enemy fortress:

Spoiler

 

There are multiple ways to win, some smarter than others

 

 

[SciGuy42]

Chapter 3: Blessings

You have finally arrived in Kition, a Tyrian colony in Cyprus where your husband's brother is the head priest of Astarte. You grieve your husband's death together. But work is to be done. The priest is ready to provide Astarte's blessing for your journey but there is trouble that needs to be dealt with first. News of your assault on the Assyrian fortress has reached these lands and the general in the Assyrian colony to the West of us has vowed revenge. To the north east, a band of Greeks live in the hills and have decided that now is the time to plunder. You must help Kition defend itself. Defeat the Assyrians and the Greeks!

Your scouts report that there are friendly traders in the area -- we should search by boat and within land. We do not have the resources to establish a settlement and will need to rely on trade to support our forces.

Directly to the north, our scouts report the presence of barbarians -- they may have useful loot and perhaps even weapons that will be helpful to us.

AI Settings: Greek Traders should be set to Sandbox. Everyone else, Petra with a difficulty of your choice.

Note: any buildings you capture will not decay due to lack of culture influence.

 

[SciGuy42]

Carthage 4: The Island of the Palace-builders

After securing blessing at Kition, you continue to sail West, in search of new lands to settle. As supplies run low, you make a stop at Crete, the island of the palace-builders. You remember the lessons from childhood, about a great people who lived on the island, their palaces and wall paintings. All of that is history is gone though, Dorians from the North have been raiding the islands for centuries and there is little left of the palace-builders.

You have dispatched two of your most loyal servants with a small contingent to secure food supplies. The hills nearby are inhabited by herders -- we must capture their corrals and secure a total of 650 animals for the journey ahead. To the West, lies a small Minoan settlement that we can trade with. Further to the North is a Dorrian city, well fortified and protected -- we must beware! We are likely to face attacks both on land and sea so build up your forces fast! News of our arrival has spread and we can expect a much larger Dorian army to arrive within 2 weeks time (~50 minutes game play) -- we must secure the animals by then!

AI Settings:

Dorians and Minoans should be set to Petra with a difficulty of your choice. All others should be Sandbox

 

Spoiler

Long story short, you must capture as many corrals as possible and secure the animals. Good luck!

 

 

 

 

Edited April 14 by SciGuy42