Contest 34: Exile-Audition: Introduction

Welcome to the contest pages for Contest 34: Exile Which will start on July 17th, 2003.

This is a Cleopatra game; it can only be played with Cleopatra. This is the audition for the Cleopatra Team contest to be held in August 2003. You must submit a saved game so we can sort the talent and the players. Your audition score will be a part of the final team score, so do your best with audition map.

The usual rules for a CBC competition apply to this contest. So, there will be no discussion of the contest during its running period. After the contest has been closed, all individual scores will be counted, and based on this, the teams for the contest map will be put together.

Besides the scores of the audition map we will also take the track record of a player into account. So, a known pro handing in a meager novice score, will still be regarded as a pro! We will try to mix all players according to talents, so each team will have pro's and novices. As soon as the team contest has started, you are allowed to discuss the audition map with your team mates (in your private forum only) as well as the results you got in the audition map.

The official results of the audition map of all players will be published after the contest map has closed and then you can also discuss the audition map with your team mates in your private forum.

Note that the score you get in the audition contest, will not only be used to put together the teams, but it will also be part of the final score of your team!

Furthermore you are only allowed to send in two saves. So check very carefully if you have fulfilled the CC's. We will check each entry ASAP after we get it. If you have sent in an invalid save, you will be notified and are allowed to correct it as long as the closing date hasn't passed!

Use the link below to download the starting position: (this file will be added on July 17th, 2003)

Exile (Normal Difficulty)
file is in zip format

To download the mission, simply click the appropriate link. The file you receive will be in a zipped format. After downloading, decompress the file (using, e.g. PowerArchiver or Winzip). You can get Winzip free from their website at www.winzip.com.

Then place the unzipped file in your family save directory (in the Pharaoh root directory, Save, [YourFamilyName]; by default C:\Sierra\Cleopatra\Save\[YourFamilyName]\).

To play the game, start Cleopatra, go to your family, and select "Load Saved Game". You will find Exile_Audition as a saved game. It should be preset at the correct difficulty level.

Please make sure you play the game from the start at the correct level of difficulty. Select Options, Difficulty and check it. If necessary adjust the difficulty, select new game and reselect the Exile_Audition saved game. Now you can play.

All players are advised to peruse the remainder of the contest pages (links to which can be found at the foot of the page), as well as the General Rules and Pharaoh/Cleopatra game features.

Exile was created by Henrium.

This contest closes at 11 PM EST, July 31, 2003 You will be notified what team you have been assigned to shortly afterward. The final team contest will be posted and you will have about 3 weeks in August to meet with your team members and send in your saves. Do your best on this, the Audition map, because it is part of your final team's score!

Exile-Audition : The Story

It is the dawn of the New Kingdom, Pharaoh Ahmose has defeated the Hyksos and established his capital in Waset. Now, his first priority is to regain control of Upper Egypt and he is on a military mission to conquer large parts of Nubia.

As an obedient citizen, you joined his army and a company of charioteers has been assigned to your command. After a hard day of marching and fighting, you like to go to the local senet house, drink a bit and gamble (and loose) a lot. One day your luck changed. Two unknown men played at very high stakes and they were really lousy players. You won 5.000 debens, which meant you could retire and go live in a nice mansion in the countryside, you thought .......

However, the unknown men were cousins of the Pharaoh and the money they lost belonged to the Pharaoh and was a war trophy they were supposed to bring back to Waset. In order to save their own skin, they told the Pharaoh you got them drunk and stole the money from them. The Pharaoh was furious and sends his royal guards to fetch you. Knowing he has a blind eye for the flaws of his family, you did not wait for them to arrive and fled to the north. You could persuade some men of your charioteer company to go with you.

At the end of a long journey, you arrived at Timna, an old deserted fort along the trade route to Canaan. After you discovered some gold ore, you decided to stay and build your own city. The military campaign of Pharaoh Ahmose continues, but he has sent a large battalion of his Royal Guards after you, they are expected to arrive in Timna in less then 2 years. So, until then you should try to maximize all the ratings of your city and hope this will please the Pharaoh enough to let you live.

Exile-Audition: Contest Rules

First, competitors are reminded that the normal CBC General Contest Rules apply to this contest. Competitors are also advised to peruse the list of Pharaoh/Cleopatra game features. The game you submit for your entry must be saved in December of the second year, when the countdown in the top left corner of the screen shows one month remaining.

The mission goals (minimum values) to be met in your entry are:

1. City must not be in debt
2. People should at least love you
3. You must save the game in December 1556 (the countdown will say 1 month remaining)

The valid entries will then be ranked according to the following winning criteria:

Then the score for the map will be established by adding up all ratings, thus kingdom rating + cultural rating + prosperity rating + monument rating; for this map the maximum is 306 points.

Exile-Audition: Designers' Advice

This is a Cleopatra game; it can only be played with Cleopatra.
Competitors are reminded that the normal CBC General Rules apply to this contest. Competitors are also advised to peruse the list of Pharaoh/Cleopatra game features.

Since the Pharaoh is very angry with you, your Kingdom Rating is very low and every year in November it will drop further (just a reminder for your December-save). You will be getting requests for copper, troops, wood, pottery, grain and papyrus. Complying with the requests will bring you a raise of your Kingdom Rating.

Giving the situation you won't be surprised to find that the Pharaoh didn't give you any money, nor is there a bailout in case you run into debt. You will have to use your own savings to get established in Timna. Furthermore, your city is situated along a newly established trade route and the price levels may differ from region to region. So, maybe you can find some unexpected ways to make money.

Timna is in the middle of the desert and not very attractive for immigrants. In order to get people to your city you should not tax them and keep them happy by paying decent wages.

This contest should be saved in December 1556 BC. Remember to save your game every December as usual. The Kingdom Rating Drop in November is a reminder for you. The annual saves don't have to be submitted when you enter your final save. They should only be made available upon request from the jury.
Exile was created by Henrium and was beta-tested by JuliaSet, Taelia and Oregon Taz.

This Audition contest closes Friday, July 31, at 11 PM EST, 2003. Please note the date!! You will be contacted with your team information within a week, so you may start the regular portion of the team contest.

Good luck and have fun!

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