zip contents:
Seasons_G.rms (rescuable gaia units)
Seasons_NG.rms (no gaia units)
Seasons_NB.rms (no gaia units, no bonus buildings)
Place .rms files in your AOK/TC random subfolder, put .txt file where ever you want it. ;)
These RM scripts will generate maps of different seasons (spring, summer, etc.) chosen at random.
Each seasonal map has terrains & objects chosen to create illusion of different times of the year.
Seasons_G.rms contains 'rescuable' military units and is meant for multi-player games (only human players can rescue).
It is also good for new players who want/need a bit of help against the computer (not recommended for exp. players,way too easy in single player).
For more experienced players Seasons_NG.rms has gaia units removed.
For those wanting a more traditional game Seasons_NB.rms has bonus buildings removed.
These scripts contain alot of randomizing, some percents are low and don't fire often so play lots of games. ;)
In addition to random seasons, there's a chance of getting bonus buildings. When chosen they're placed along with TC, forming a sort of megaplex at center of players land. Watch your pop-limit, it's possible for 5 TCs to be built
on top of each other, so only 1 will show. Use of 'hotkeys' is highly recommended, as it is sometimes difficult to click on a specific building.
'Seasons' is a random map which generates maps of different seasons. In addition it also has extra gaia units and multiple buildings and the gameplay is rather different.
Theme: 4
This script randomly generates one map corresponding to some season. I liked the theme of seasons but I couldn't really tell much difference between them except that some had snow ( and snow forest ) and some didn't. Otherwise they seemed mostly same. The playability is also interesting though it doesn't work too well and it's certainly worth a try.
Visual Appeal: 5
Probably the best aspect of the random map, it generates beautiful maps with forests, mixed terrain, flowers, ponds, cliffs, etc. It looks very good and aesthetic with the right amount of eyecandy and resources. Much better than the original random maps in this regard.
Playability: 2
For an rms which looked so promising, it's playability is a distressing let-down ( at least for multiplayer games, I haven't tried AI ). The most serious problem is that both sides of a players 'base' and many other places are surrounded by water and only have a narrow neck. This forces an attacking player to concentrate on sinking enemy ships guarding the passage or building a navy there and this is immensely hard to do. Also there are too many forests blocking paths and raiding is impossible, which takes some fun out of it.
Then there are some additional problems for the 'gaia' setup ( with buildings and gaia ). Balance is off, as one player might get 10 cataphracts and the other just 2 monks ( which happened to me in one game ). Multiple buildings stacked on each other esp. castles don't look too nice and are difficult to select. There is too much gold and stone all over making it practically impossible to run out of resources. I played a 1v1v1 game and it was a complete stalemate for 2 hours ( mostly because of the incredible difficulty getting through the narrow necks and navy ) and we gave up out of sheer boredom.
Additional Comments:
It looks like an interesting map but has severe playability problems. I doubt anyone would play it more than twice or thrice. It's very nice looking though, good for a game against an AI :p