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Author |
File Description |
AnastasiaKafka |
Posted on 12/25/03 @ 12:00 AM (updated 12/31/03)
File Details |
Version: |
The Conquerors 1.0c |
Style: |
Other |
The Nativity Set
I always enjoyed setting up and playing with the nativity set at Christmas time when I was a child. Much of my enthusiasm for games and scenario design stems from those childhood events, and Christmas time memories.
I wanted to do something special with this unique tiny map that is a treasured gift, given to me by Ingo Van Thiel. Only as we neared the holiday I was experiencing computer problems. I was working on a fun and funny Christmas scenario using the 'Christmas Mod' found at the AOKH Blacksmith but all was lost in a computer crash (unrelated to using the fantastic Modpack). Wishing to do something special for my friends at Age Of Kings Heaven and the scenario design community, I was hard pressed for a good premise for a AoK gift. I hope all will enjoy the premise; The Nativity Set even though it was a rushed design.
The mystery about the birth of Jesus is one of faith, and is innocuous outside of that context. This infant, however, the first born of a Jewish artisan named Joseph and his wife Miriam (Mary), was to prove to be no ordinary child, for he was destined to play a unique part in history. He would be drawn to the dreams and visions of his people, and so clothe his life that he would give rise to a faith which identified him among many Jews as the Messiah, among many Gentiles as the Divine Savior of the world, and among many others as a remarkable man for his life and place in history. Within a century of his birth stories relating the circumstances of his nativity appropriate to the dignity in which he was held, began circulating among his following. These stories, simply and beautifully told, still have a strong emotional appeal. They bring us back again to that sacred place of childhood's imagination where there is no barrier to the commerce between heaven and earth.
The Nativity story of Jesus is a Christian belief, and I have created the scenario with the utmost respect for that fact. Still, I'm hoping that AoK enthusiasts of all faiths will enjoy it from a historical perspective. The paragraphed phrases in the scenario are from the Bible (Luke and Matthew), and other historical sources. Please accept my Christmas gift to AoK scenario design enthusiasts.
Anastasia
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General Instructions
.cpx to Campaign folder
.AI and .per to AI folder
.mp3 and .wav to Sound/Scenario folder
Turn game music volume to off before playing.
Play on the Normal speed setting.
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Peace on Earth - Merry Christmas!
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The Nativity Set by Anastasia - Tsunami Studios 2003 ©
Special Thanks to Ingo Van Thiel.
Microscopic Map by CenturionZ_1 and Ingo Van Thiel 2003 ©
- This map is a lot smaller than any other map. It only has 50x50 tiles. This is a template given by CenturionZ_1 (AoE), and recreated by Ingo Van Thiel for Age of Kings II - The Conquerors. The small map can only be used with 2 Player setting in the scenario editor, among other cautions for use.
Advanced Immobile Units AI by Zanzard Lothar - Tsunami Studios 2002 ©
Tanneur99 for his excellent Review and pointing out the Playability issue with the 800x600 resolution.
Staff and Visiting Members of HG AOKH and The Crew at Tsunami Studios.
Please feel free to write me with any questions or concerns regarding this scenario: anastasiatsunami@aol.com
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Author | Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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Tanneur99
Official Reviewer |
Posted on 12/26/03 @ 12:00 AM
"The Nativity Set" is a single scenario campaign, an interactive cut-scene, the events take place around 7 B.C. in the town of Bethlehem, staging the birth of the Messiah.
PLAYABILITY: I enjoyed this short cut-scene, a Christmas gift to the HG community which gave me some reflective moments. A biblical scene we all know, which kept me interested to the end and beyond. 5
BALANCE: This category is related to the skill of the player and is somehow subjective, as the reviewer rates, if the scenario was too hard/easy to complete for him or if the scenario is well balanced. The scenarios goal was to do something special for friends at Age Of Kings Heaven, to show a cut-scene with a Christmas theme and it is in the intention of the author that there will be no fighting. From the review tutorial: “One important item to note about scoring the balance category for scenarios where no fighting takes place, such as cut-scene scenarios, some puzzle scenarios and some rpg style scenarios, is that just because the player cannot die in such scenarios, that doesn't mean the scenario isn't balanced. You also need to take the author's original intent into account, giving the author some benefit of the doubt. If the author never intended the player to face a struggle to survive, then there's no reason to knock down the balance score if there isn't any fighting. So keep in mind that you do need to take the intent and goals of the scenario into account when scoring the balance category, especially for those scenarios where fighting is not included.” 5
CREATIVITY: Completely original, nothing comparable has ever been done with the AoK editor. The idea, to stage the nativity play for Christmas is near at hand, never done before as yet. I liked the choice of music suiting the scenario perfectly, including the replay features at the players will; the creative design on a tiny map; the unit choice for the three magi, wise men, the Angel of God, beta units and the realistic approach to the mystery. 5
MAP DESIGN: The tiny map has a good design of the town of Bethlehem, map copy, the manger was well done, sparse use if not a total absence of what we call eye-candy, perfect for the arrival of the Messiah. 5
STORY/INSTRUCTIONS: Realistic historical approach connecting the events to the prophecies of Balaam, the mention of the early Greek sources referring to the magoi, magi, wise men instead of three kings. The magi, at the height of their power in the sixth century B.C., were organised in a sacred caste providing priests in Persia with strong religious influence over the following centuries which probably lasted until the time of Christ in the Parthian Empire. Exemplary author's description, read me, sensible bmp, d/l instructions, clear hints and the in game text was well chosen for the event. 5
Overall: A masterpiece.
IN CLOSING: Download now and show the scenario to your family. |
RS Greo0 |
Posted on 10/19/07 @ 03:44 AM
Playability: 5
The playablilty will change form person to person but this amongst other things is my sort of scenario, being a cristian and all I found this scenario extremly fun to play.
Balance: 5
This is a cut-scene with playable elements where no fighting takes place giving it a 5.
Creativity: 5
I always wanted to see a nativity scenario to be made as I never had the time for it, also the unit selection was perfect, the city layout was perfect for this scene.
Map Design: 5
As I said before the city layout and unit selection were great. The terrain was awesome altogether exept the story the map design was the best for me.
Story/Instructions: 5
Being based on the nativity I HAD to give this a five and the instructions were good too.
Additional Comments:
A great scenario, DOWNLOAD NOW![Edited on 10/22/07 @ 10:17 PM]
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devagrawal09 |
Posted on 03/01/13 @ 05:03 AM
Playability: 5
I would appreciate this scenario as "EXCELLENT". The cut scenes and songs were excellent. I enjoyed playing it.
Balance: 5
As there was no action. It had only some playable elements like selecting objects to listen musics. So I gave 5.
Creativity: 5
This scenario was a lot creative things in it. A lot of triggers were used in it. All the things, design, instructions etc were creative. It was something never done in AoK ever before, I think.
Map Design: 5
As mentioned before, the map design was very creative. It did not look like a modified Random map from any angle. There was a good use of map copy to create new buildings.
Story/Instructions: 5
The story was a little long, but were excellent. A regional story in a gaming way! It was impressive. A lot of instructions were given at the same time, which make it a little difficult to follow, but it was good.
Additional Comments:
I would like to tell the author that adding color to the instructions and different players makes a scenario more impressive. Also, filling some empty spaces with some more units would impress the player. Including action is not necessary, but if some action is there, it would be more enjoyable.
Overall:
!!!! "" A W E S O M E "" !!!!
Thank You. |
motter28218 |
Posted on 12/23/13 @ 01:02 AM
Playability: 5
Easy to play, much different than a regular skirmish map, but nothing to difficult
Balance: 5
Was no fighting so balance is not an issue.
Creativity: 5
Very creative, not even sure how you did some of these things.
Map Design: 5
Map was drawn from scratch and is very good.
Story/Instructions: 5
Story was very good and instructions were easy to follow.
Additional Comments:
I'm obviously several years "late to the party" but I really had to write and say how much I enjoyed this. It is very simple yet still brings up a lot of Christmas feel in the player, I highly recommend this.
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rakovsky |
Posted on 09/29/20 @ 09:42 PM
Playability: 5
The first time that I played this, I thought that there was a problem where the Screen reverts to the center when you try to go to your units in the west. But this is not an issue if you just let the game tracks or announcements do their thing and finish their chat messages. After a series of opening messages, they bring the screen to the shepherds in the west.
Balance: 5
There were not any enemies to fight, so this was not a problem. And the goals worked- I was able to garrison in the Roman tower to finish the map.
Creativity: 5
This was a very creative setup because it matched the Biblical ambiance and theme of the Nativity story, with magi, shepherds, etc. I liked how she had creativity in her story, like explaining the meaning of the three kinds of gifts from the magi.
Map Design: 5
This was very good, using a Mediterranean style of architecture for Bethlehem's buildings that made it look like it belonged in the historical period.
For what it's worth, historically it is theorized that the Holy Family stayed in a cave, ie that the inn did not have a rooms opened so that they stayed with animals, and that animals were kept in caves at that time. This is the Eastern Orthodox Tradition.
But I don't see that as an issue here, because you can imagine that the Family went to a cave after the end of this Scenario.
Story/Instructions: 5
In her Story section, I like how the Designer gave an interpretation of the three gifts of the Magis.
She referred to Psalm 72, likely the part that says: "The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts."
Additional Comments:
I have the Steam version of AOK HD, so it was not clear exactly where to put the Sound files. The Solution is that they go in your Steam directory's folder located at steamapps/common/AOE2HD/resources/en/Sound/Scenario, since there is no AOE2/SOUND directory for the Steam version.
The Wall building playing one of the songs is in the west (or maybe somewhat northern part of the west), rather than the north like the Instructions say, but that is not a big deal IMO. However, in the far north there is a tent that when you click on it makes stars appear on the upper left of the screen. |
HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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5.0 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 5.0 | Balance | 5.0 | Creativity | 5.0 | Map Design | 5.0 | Story/Instructions | 5.0 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 15,205 |
Favorites: [] | 1 |
Size: | 2.01 MB |
Added: | 12/25/03 |
Updated: | 12/31/03 |
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