Contest 152: Come Together (a Caesar 4 Team Contest)

Welcome to the contest pages for Contest 152: Come Together . This is a Caesar 4 Team Contest. Only players who have been placed into a team can officially enter this contest, however other players are welcome to play. Thus should only be played with Caesar 4 with the latest patch. Check the HeavenGames site for the latest version. Use the links below to download the starting positions:

Come Together (Map, Script and XML - All Difficulties)
files are in .zip format

Come Together (Novice Difficulty Starting Save)
file is in .zip format

Come Together (Easy Difficulty Starting Save)
file is in .zip format

Come Together (Intermediate Difficulty Starting Save)
file is in .zip format

Come Together (Hard Difficulty Starting Save)
file is in .zip format

Come Together (Insane Difficulty Starting Save)
file is in .zip format

Come Together (German Language file)
file is in .zip format

Vous trouverez la traduction en français pour ce concours ici.

Procedure for extracting files-

You will need to download the following files:

Firstly the zip file "ComeTogetherScenarioFiles" will contain 4 files: "Come Together_Color.dds", "Come Together_Blend.dds", "Come Together.cs" and "Come Together.xml". Each of these files should be extracted to the directory Scenarios

   (Default location C:\Program Files\Sierra\Caesar4\Data\Scenarios).

Secondly, you will need the starting save for your chosen level of difficulty (note: you are free to play at any and all levels if you so wish). This will have the extension .c4s and will be found in the zip file "ComeTogetherNovice.zip", "ComeTogetherEasy.zip", "ComeTogetherIntermediate.zip", "ComeTogetherHard.zip", "ComeTogetherInsane.zip" as appropriate. This file should be extracted to the directory Saved Games in your C4 installation

   (Default location C:\Program Files\Sierra\Caesar4\Data\Saved Games).

Thirdly, if your prefered language is French or German, you should download the file ComeTogetherFrench.zip or ComeTogetherGerman.zip, as appropriate. The file "Come Together.xml" should be extracted and copied to the directory Scenarios (overwriting the English language version).

If you are running Vista, when you download any C4 files, they are always, by default, put in Virtual store with Vista:

   C:\Users\Name-of-user\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Sierra\Caesar IV\Data

You have to copy or move the files to the following folders, which are, by default:

   C:\Program Files\Sierra\Caesar IV\Data\Saved Games for c4s. files and

   C:\Program Files\Sierra\Caesar IV\Data\Scenarios for all the other files

(Thanks to schwartzhorse for the Vista instructions!)

For applying the contest "patch" - download the zipped cs file and copy to the Scenarios folder, overwriting the existing version. (Note that the up to date .cs file is included in the Scenario Files zip above.) You can continue playing the scenario at whatever point you wish - you do not need to restart the scenario.

You start the save from the Main Menu in C4, selecting "Load Save." The save "Come Together Novice" or "Come Together Easy" or "Come Together Intermediate" or "Come Together Hard" or "Come Together Insane" should appear in the list. It is not necessary to alter game difficulty.

Background Story

Appearances can be deceptive. The wealth of the Roman Empire is not what it was, and a financial crisis is looming. Many experts have expounded theories as to why this should be so, but a surprising number are convinced that the real reason the Empire is suffering is because it no longer honors the god Neptune as it once did. These people long for the days when every Roman city worshipped Neptune and treasuries everywhere grew as a result of his favor. And some of them even whisper of an old legend, of a place known as the 'Aisle of Plenty', so blessed by Neptune that it is said that its governor was able to earn a million denarii within a few years.

Sensible people, of course, scoff at such fanciful tales. And yet... explorers have now returned to Rome, claiming to have found an answer to Rome's problems. They have discovered what they say is an ideal spot to found a new city, in a place where great riches might be gained - if only the forgotten Roman god of the sea is honored there. Or so Neptune's Last Oracle has told them, whom they have found living in that place, in a cave by a ruined temple. This Oracle apparently babbled on to them about eight fabulously rich cities that mysteriously vanished from the face of the Earth long ago - which (he insists) was because of Neptune's curse on the Empire. He says that this land contains a 'rift in time and space' through which travellers from those lost cities might come together to trade once more - if somehow Neptune can be persuaded to allow it.

All of this sounds complete gibberish to Caesar and other sane people, but desperate times call for desperate measures. So it is that you have been dispatched to this strange land to see if the tales are true. Perhaps you can build a city there that will give due honor to Neptune? If the tales you have heard are true, then a city of high Culture, Prosperity and Beauty might be enough to persuade the forsaken god to allow traders from the lost cities to come through the 'rift'. Seek out Neptune's Last Oracle for advice.

But Caesar has warned you this project must be carried out in the utmost secrecy, for he has rivals who would be eager to stake a claim on any wealth that you might gain, should the legend prove to be true. And of these rivals, none is feared more than the one who goes by the name of Seutonius Paulinus Grinch XII. He comes from a long line of trouble makers, and has many enemies (many of whom call him 'Old Flat Top' behind his back, on account of his strangely shaped head). In order to avoid drawing attention to yourself, you will therefore not be permitted to trade with any other city in the Empire. Caesar says you have just seven years to succeed and save the Empire, returning to Rome with as much denarii as you can muster. Good luck!

Contest Rules

Completion Criteria:
Save made at any time from January 324 AD to August 327 AD (inclusive)

Defeat Events:
Ran out of time (continued past August 327 AD)
Caesar dismisses you. (normal game function)

Scoring (All Difficulties):

1 point for every 100 denarii in the treasury, multiplied by difficulty scaling factor (rounded down).

For each of Culture, Prosperity and Beauty:
- 20 points for each rating point.
- Plus 80 points for each rating point above 95.
- Plus 100 points for a rating of 100.

For the lowest of Favor, Security, Culture, Prosperity and Beauty: 25 points per rating point.

Difficulty Level Modifier:

The points contribution from Denarii only will be multiplied by the following Difficulty Level Modifiers to produce an adjusted score (rounded down):

Novice 0.8
Easy 0.9
Normal 1.0
Hard 1.1
Insane 1.2

Team Scoring

Team score will be the average of the scores of all team members.

A team member who fails to submit a valid entry will receive a score of 90% (rounded down) of the lowest scoring valid entry submitted by any player on any team. For this purpose only scores that form part of a team score are considered.

Team Forum Rules

Each team will be allocated a private forum on CBC. This private forum will be the only means of communication allowed between the team members with regard to the team contest. Players may not exchange map saves of the contest map, nor may they post screenshots or drawn diagrams of the contest map or pertaining to the contest map on any forum. Players may post links to information, game saves, etc, contained on CBC or other sites that was in existence at the time of the issue of the team contest map. Players may only post text on the team forums. CBC reserves the right to share information from one team forum with other teams if it is considered necessary in the interests of fair play.

The private team forums will be made public at the completion of the team contest.

Use of Exploits

Exploits #3, #4, #5 and #21 on this list are not permitted for this contest: (http://www.citybuildingcontests.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=891). The contest designers reserve the right not to accept as valid any submitted save where there is evidence of the use of any of those exploits. All other listed exploits are permitted - note, however, that the scenario script will only permit the manipulation of wages (as per exploit #20) at certain times during the game, in order to limit its effect.

Designer's Notes

A defeat screen will appear if any of the defeat events listed above occur. If this happens, you should revert to a recent saved game and correct the circumstance that caused defeat.

Not all buildings will be available at the start - most will unlock as you progress through the scenario.

This scenario contains a small military element that is optional, i.e. you do not need to build any forts in this game if you do not wish to. There are a small number of invasions, but each of these can be bribed; there is also a way of preventing the invasion without resorting to paying bribes or building any military.

Trade routes may only be opened at the discretion of the God Neptune. He will allow you to open one trade route each time your city's beauty rating, culture rating or prosperity rating reaches a certain point. This blessing may also be bestowed on your city should you chose to satisfy the military requests.

Caesar will not allow you to build anything should you get into debt by 5,000 denarii or more. This ban will continue so long as your city remains in debt by that amount.

The God Neptune will impose his own means of ensuring your population does not exceed a certain maximum level - you will be advised of this early on in the scenario. (If you have played previous AODE scenarios you will be familar with the technique he uses, known in the trade as "the targeted kablooey".)

The beauty rating is scored in a similar (though not necessarily identical) way as in previous AODE contests. Your city's current rating will be displayed at the top of the screen every two game weeks. Every two game months your Beauty Advisor will suggest what types of decorative items or attractive buildings to build in order to improve the rating. You will need a blend of all types of decorative item and impressive buildings (e.g. government buildings, temples, shrines and entertainment venues) to achieve the maximum rating of 100.

Please read all in-game messages carefully!

Two in-game messages are encoded. If the team together can decipher those messages and act accordingly, it will be to their advantage. The encryption system used is simple, well-known, and used by Julius Caesar (according to Seutonius, though not the one in this story).

Come Together will be maintaining the time-honored CBC tradition of requiring players to keep saves for December of each year. The scenario will issue a message each December to remind players to make their save. Only the final (completed) save is to be submitted, however. The contest designers may ask to see any or all of your December saves before validating your final save (but this would generally only be necessary if your submitted save exhibited any unusual characteristics that merited further investigation). *Once your save has been validated you do not need to keep these saves, unless they are used as a basis for generating further submissions.*

Credits

Come Together is an AODE creation, with Hieronymus as lead designer and Aramann as contributor of design "suggestions" (accompanied by whips and the stomping of feet). It was tested by both Daggy Designers.

Special thanks go to Schwartzhorse for the French translation of the XML files and to AndreasHauffe for the German translation.

Hieronymus and Aramann continue to insist that no sheep were harmed during the production of this contest.

When forwarding entries to CBC, only the c4s file for the final save is required, not your other (interim) saves.

This contest will close at 11PM EST (US) on Sunday July 5th, 2009. Please note the date!

This contest has ended.

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