An Atlantis Scenario Done Right!

[shamrock]

At least I’d like to think so – I ask all of you to be the judge.

The legend of Atlantis has always struck me as a great idea for a Civ scenario; however, I’ve yet to see a compelling example that comes anywhere near fully developing the concept. Even in the version that came bundled w/ MGE, the usually solid Mick Uhl offered up a thorougly uninspiring creation, without so much as a sinking continent (or events file!). Oh, how far the art of scenario-making has come since then.

So that is why I have worked for months on a comprehensive Atlantis scenario which I’ve named “Atlantis: The Lost Empire” (it was originally named “Atlantis: The Eternal Empire,” but then the Disney movie came along and I just couldn’t resist their title). I’m posting this scenario in the hopes that everybody will download and try it – not playtest it, mind you, but actually play it. Although I welcome any feedback and constructive criticisms, this scenario has already been playtested quite a bit, so there shouldn’t be any big issues. Note that the complete scenario is quite large, consisting of 4 different zip files:

- ATLANTIS.zip (701k, required): Main game files
- SOUND.zip (1.2M, highly recommended): All sound files
- GRAPHICS.zip (1.9M, suggested): Modifications to a few key graphics
- VIDEO.zip (3.1M, optional): Two new Atlantis-themed videos

And a question for scenario experts. I will submit this scenario here to Apolyton (if it’s not too big), but where else should I submit it in order to maximize visibility? The CSC, perhaps?

Warning: The remainder of this post is a shameless self-promotion!

[shamrock]

The premise of this scenario is as follows: You are Atlas, leader of the Atlantean Civilization. The Atlanteans are technologically superior to all other civilizations, but somehow must survive the imminent sinking of their continent and effectively start over. In order to win, you must either conquer the world or construct a Deep-Sea Submersible (instead of a spaceship) that will allow you to journey to the lost city of Atlantis. And as if things weren’t challenging enough, each of your two brothers leads a powerful faction of Atlanteans who possess certain key artifacts which will make your task even more difficult.

This is not a scenario in the conventional sense where objectives are to be achieved within a narrow time frame and/or acoss a limited region. The only things that are predetermined in this game are the map, the civ starting positions and the events that bring about the inevitable sinking of Atlantis. Above all, this is NOT a war scenario. With all due respect to the creators of some of these fantastic wartime scenarios, I don’t particularly care for that style. Or at most, it’s only fun once or twice. This scenario is really more like what I would call a modpack, i.e. it’s similar to standard Civ, but with a thoroughly Atlantis flavor. In order to achieve this “Atlantis flavor,” I’ve implemented the following:

- All new tech tree (click here to download)
- All new units
- All new wonders
- New improvements
- New terrain
- New cities
- Multiple event files and rules files

Here is the world map in 9300 BC. Seems pretty familiar, but there are definitely some key differences, some obvious, some not so obvious…

[shamrock]

Here is a shot of Atlantis while life is still good:

[shamrock]

And a shot from much later in the game:

[shamrock]

The "Deep Sea Submersible" looks suspiciously like a spaceship! Hmmm. (Note that GRAPHICS.zip is necessary to achieve this effect).

[ravagon]

Looks nice. I'll give it a run through when I get the chance.
Although I would beg to differ about Mick's FW Atlantis Scenario (Assuming it to be the same as that in MGE?). It had a pretty good events.txt file and it certainly included a sinking continent. (ie: Mine sunk! ).

[Kull]

Gotta love the "Deep-Sea Submersible"! That's a nice touch. ("Sonar Equipped!" LOL)

[kobayashi]

Originally posted by shamrock
At least I’d like to think so – I ask all of you to be the judge.

The legend of Atlantis has always struck me as a great idea for a Civ scenario; however, I’ve yet to see a compelling example that comes anywhere near fully developing the concept. Even in the version that came bundled w/ MGE, the usually solid Mick Uhl offered up a thorougly uninspiring creation, without so much as a sinking continent (or events file!). Oh, how far the art of scenario-making has come since then.

I just wanted to say that one of the scenarios that comes with Civ (was it midgard?) has a race of atlanteans and when there is global warming, the atlanteans islands begin to sink. This is probably not the same one as the one you are talking about.

The picture of the spaceship - submarine has got me sold. I will download and play it.

[Henrik]

The Atlantis scenario that came whit MGE had an events file!
And the island does sink (learned that the hard way )
I've attached it below.

Your scenario looks better though

[shamrock]

Ah, yes, you are all correct! I apologize for my rash comments and to Mick Uhl! There is definitely an events file there. Now that I think about it more carefully, I remember getting a couple of "sea monsters" both times I played it, so obviously there HAD to be an events file. As for the continent sinking, I see that is also in the events file; however, the denominator for this random turn event is 401, which would explain how I could have played it twice without Atlantis ever sinking.

[Henrik]

I also played it twice, and sunk both times right in the begining

[Chris 62]

Shamrock,

It is a most impressive looking scenario! Well done!

For a good place to host it, try Civfantics center.

http://www.civfanatics.com/