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Great Eye Candy: "Sneaky" by: mitch1971

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Empires Heaven began full of promise; it featured the second game from the talented bunch of people at SSSi and it attracted the attentions of a goodly number of the best designers Heavengames has ever played host to, designers like Kor/Derfel Cadarn, Andrew/Mechstra, iNtRePiD, Gordon Farrell and Hank. In the early days this promise seemed to be fulfilled, as forum parties occurred every Saturday and, though the design community was a small one, a disproportionally large amount of scenario design projects were made and a good few entered into Empires Heaven's top rated. Empires was a brilliant game and Empires Heaven was staffed by good people, yet somehow it slowly became less and less active. SSSi stopped supporting the game and people began drifting away. This trend has continued to this very day, as only a couple of die-hards post regularly and even then, generally only in the community forum. Thus, it is time for Empires Heaven to close. Compared to some other Heavens, it had had a short life; yet its life was that of a flare. At its height, it burned brightly and with vigor before slowly becoming dimmer and dimmer, until, now, it is finally being extinguished.

I'd to thank all the previous staff who've worked here at Empires Heaven for their contribution, either when I was only a forummer myself or during my own time as a staff member here. These fine people include Seraphs Park and intrepid, Angel CenturionZ_1 and Cherubs AntiAmi and _o0XxX0o_. Also, I must thank the great community that Empires Heaven had, and especially those few die-hards that remain for their fanaticism.

So what happens now? The site will be archived over the weekend, rendering the downloads and forums read-only. You can post your farewell notes here.

Exemplary Achievement at the Front: D-Day

Today, I will show off something a little different. This is Scorcher's D-Day v2.05 scenario, which currently has a score of 3.9, though I am confident that this will soon be improved. But regardless, what does Scorcher say of his scenario?

Storm the German beaches as the United States or the Soviet Union. This is a very customizable Scenario. Players are able to choose a Difficulty Level(Easy, Normal, Hard), Game Speed(Slow, Normal, Fast), and Enhanced Graphics optons. Each nation has different and enhanced game play features and there own objectives to be completed. An important objective in this scenario is to capture curtain points which once done you'll be able to recieve additional reinforcements.
United States recieved units quickly by air transport and recieve more when you capure an area.
Soviet Union can field a large army and recieve new recruitments often.
Heres one example of the enhanced gameplay for the Soviet union. Any ground unit within range of a commissar receive a speed bonus but any unit outside range receives a penalty. This make it a strategic units for the soviet union.
This is a very well done scenario and much more then one would expect. Check it out!


Scorcher has worked long and hard on this project, taking heart despite my probably-too-harsh-at-times reviews and working to improve it, and it is showing as the quality of the scenario had steadily risen since it was first released, as you may see in my latest review.

Original: This is a relatively fun scenario. You get to hit and penetrate beyond the beaches of Festung Europa once more. While it is, admittedly, a relatively generic and very overdone scenario, the author attempts to spice it up with features that you wouldn't find in one of the run of the mill a-dime-a-dozen D-Day scenarios, and a map design that is significantly better than the truly generic D-Day scenarios. Overall, except for a few bugs (and poor documentation, mentioned later), it was quite fun.
Revised: The overall improvements to this scenario are somewhat nice, even if not really that significant.
Revised2: The improvements made are telling, especially to the balance, making the flow and play of the scenario better.


D-Day v2.05 is a project well worth checking out, especially as its rougher edges are continually made finer.

Exemplary Achievement at the Front: The Battle for Berlin

Today, I shall show off The Battle for Berlin, a project by Field Marshal BM. It is, in essence, a meatgrinder scenario as the player sends his cannon fodder into the dangerous streets of Berlin during the last days of the Third Reich. The project averaged a 4.6 after four reviews.

"In April, 1945, the Russians were closing in on Berlin. Hitler demanded a fight to the death and designated Berlin a "fortress" to be defended to the last. The city's commandant, Major General Hellmuth Reymann, calculated that it would take at least 200,000 experienced troops to defend the capital, however the only ones available to make up the Volkssturm (or home guard) were mostly old men, women, and children.

Berlin, through the efforts of the Volksstrum, was prepared for the Russian offensive. Barricades were constructed and trenches were dug to trap tanks, however Reymann saw the preparations as futile and said, "I only hope that some miracle happens to change our fortunes, or that the War ends before Berlin comes under siege. Otherwise, God help the Berliners!" Despite fortification efforts, the men and artillary needed to defend the capital never materialized. Meanwhile, 1.3 million soldiers of the Red Army stood poised to descend upon Berlin for what Marshal Georgy K. Zhukov called, their "final hour of vengenance." Every man, on orders from Moscow, had been required to swear an oath on the Soviet flag to fight with special zeal for the motherland, the Communist Party and final victory.

The Russian defeat of Berlin was inevitable for they outnumbered the Germans in men 5:1, guns 15:1, tanks 5:1 and planes 3:1. Yet the battle for Berlin was a unpredictable and bloody; fueled by mutal hate and marked by atrocities. Hitler by this time was talking about armies long since destroyed and had delusions that the British, Americans and Russians would turn against one another. Meanwhile, Stalin believed that whomever raised their flag over Berlin first would be the victor of the war. The Western Allies believed differently and as the Red Army fought for Berlin, they sought to conquer strategic industrial territories for the future division of Germany. The Red Army paid a high price for Stalin's misconception. The casuality rate for the Red Army during the battle for Berlin matched the war-long casuality rate of four Soviet soldiers to one German fatality.

The Soviet battle to capture Berlin finally came on 16 April and was fought building to building and street by street. By 25 April, Berlin had been encircled by the Russians. And on the 30th of April the Russian flag was raised, barely before the deadline decreed by Stalin. The city surrendered on the 2nd of May."


That's nice and all, but what did some of the reviewers think?

First of all; it was a fun scenario, really. You could somehow feel the hell your men are up to. This was achieved by putting music into the scenario (which is, I believe, from Call of Duty). But it could've been a 5. I'll explain why.
The thing that decreased this score, was the fact that the only thing the player had to do was to send his soldiers into battle, let htem be slaughtered by the enemy fire, and charge the next wave of soldiers. It would've been more fun if the player was given command of tanks, or even planes.
Though, this does not take away the amount of fun I had while playing it.
- EEGamer4ever

[Playability]: The scenario was fairly enjoyable, as I said the gameplay was not particularly inspired, but the experience was made mesmerizing by the stellar use of map design and sound effects. For the most part I didn’t notice any bugs, but then again, I spent most of my time looking around at the destroyed section of the town. One feature of the scenario that I did find annoying was the cinematic that plays upon the death of the flag carrier. The cinematic is looped, so every time I tried to hit esc to reload from my last save point, the cinematic would start up again, and I would have to wait for it to complete, or move the mouse quickly before I could reload the scenario. Though I only died once, and it was during my second run through the scenario, I found this highly irritating.
- Intrepid


As you can see, The Battle for Berlin is a fine scenario overall. So what are you waiting for? Go download it!

Exemplary Achievement at the Front: Moody's Men

Today I will present what is probably the most painstakingly created scenario for Empires yet: Mitch1971's Moody's Men. Even with my high standards, this project was awarded an incredible 4.7. I really can't say anything more that he doesn't mention in his project description, soo:

MOODY'S MEN : THE TRAINYARD. (EMPIRES V1.3)

The Moody's Men scenario is set in WW2. It follows a day and night in the life of Capt. James T Moody and his small squad of men, as they attempt to infiltrate a german controlled trainyard in search of an engineer. Who survives is up to you, and Moody of course!

Features in the scenario are:

Frag/smoke grenades: using in-game chat system.

Grenading tanks: using in-game chat system.

Remote mines: Easily planted, easily detonated. Needed to clear or destroy certain units.

Recover system: Increase first aid and attack bonus.

Cover system: Use certain objects to protect your men from fire.

4 levels of difficulty: Same missions just more ball breaking battles with a small random/deletion/positioning of units.

Detailed map of a trainyard with train, carriages, train tracks.

http://photobucket.com/albums/v670/rain1971/

SCENARIO:
-----------
TRAINING INTRO CINIMATICS: small but sweet!
TRAINING LEVEL: Collect infomation about the new game mechanics. A fancy
'read me' file, let's say.!
MISSION INTRO CINIMATICS: learn about your mission from this 3 min
cinimatics.
-----------

-----------
TRAINYARD INTRO CINIMATICS: get your bearings from this minute and a
half cinimatics.
TRAINYARD MISSION: Hell!
TRAINYARD OUTRO CINIMATICS: Survive, do your job and...all I can say is
BOOM!
-----------

Music from COD, BIA, etc.

Thanks for downloading 'moody's men'. Enjoy!


(Description pared down slightly)
If that doesn't interest you, here's a snippet of my review:

Playability: 4.6
This is a very fun scenario. You command a group of (depending on the difficulty level you choose) fairly- to insanely-outnumbered American GIs on a rescue/search and destroy mission. Smart, or at least decently adequate, tactics are necessary for survival as the rules of warfare are changed with the advent of both fragmentation and smoke grenades, remote mines and certain units or buildings that cannot be destroyed by mere bullets or even sometimes cascades of grenades. The ability to choose difficulty at the beginning, as well as the option to turn rain on and off only adds to the replay value. Added to all this is the excellent use of sounds, the *ping* of the M1 Garand clip popping will become just as familiar as in Call of Duty. Everything works toward bettering the experience, and to good effect.


If you're still not interested, I do not have words to describe my thoughts. So, what are you waiting for? Gogogo and download now!

The Principles of Attacking an Economy

The Principles of Attacking an Economy by Falcon907 has just been added to the Strategy Central Database by Pecunia (due to my lack of HTML skills ). It is a no-nonsense guide to ravaging an enemy economy during the First World War. Falcon907 gives general tips and then writes in-depth about certain units from each World Wars civilization that are the most useful in destroying the economy and how to use them most effectively.

For those who are struggling with the difficult task of destroying a hostile economy or simply wish to have a new strategy available to them, this is a must read!

Exemplary Achievement at the Front: Lands of Iniquity

This week's featured design project (a bit late, due to unforeseen circumstances) is that of another veteran EE and Empires designer--Hank, creator of Lands of Iniquity, which was rated 4.4 average by two reviewers, cementing its place among the ranks of Empires' best design works.

Lands of Iniquity (UPDATED 5/1/04)
-----------------

This is a two scenario campaign, the first half of the full campaign.

The campaign is not historically accurate. The story, characters and events are fictional or somewhat fictional.

Features:

- Two full scenarios
- Intriguing story full of original dialogue and many, many cinematics
- Fixed force and RPG elements, including in-game decisions that can change the outcome of the final scenario
- Custom music

Feedback and bug reports can be sent to: Timskorn@aol.com

Thanks and enjoy.


Indeed, quite a sparse description and introduction to the project. However, excerpts from the following two reviews are not sparse, accurately highlighting both the project's achievements and flaws.

Although what there is is fun, it's way too short. The entire campaign can be played in approximately half an hour (though that, perhaps, is rushed). It feels more like a cinematic campaign with you interfering in the events a bit. On the positive side, what there is is great fun, the battles are intense (though a bit easy) and there is loads of atmosphere, mainly created by the cinematics. A low point for playability is the second scenario, in which until the final battle, the only troops to fight were one Count's men. The rest of the map was mostly empty, and you could basically blindly task Lucian from one objective point to the other without actually guiding him.
- Kor aka Derfel Cadarn

I had fun when I was allowed to join in on the action. Unfortunately there was not enough player participation or interaction. This would be a 5 if you could add-to or lengthen the main story line to include a couple (2 or 3) of player-interaction short-stories. In addition to adding short-stories, make the players interaction longer and exciting. be careful not to get too drawn out or loose sight of the main story line. A good story has a begining, middle and end (Don't get lost in the middle; you might say).
- toolboy

As you may infer, Lands of Iniquity is quite a fun scenario once the player is in actual command. So don't delay, download it and command a battalion of Englishmen today!

Exemplary Achievement at the Front: The Siege of Vienna

This week I will flaunt the work of a veteran Empire Earth and Empires designer, one who was Seraph of Empires Heaven for a while--The Siege of Vienna, by Intrepid! He uploaded this work under an alias, Scenario Design, and meant for the scenario to be an experiment, as it was a project wholly lacking in triggers. His experiment was quite successful, as it scored a 4.6 from myself. Of course, the author's description of his scenario must be provided.

Duke Frederick to Nicholas Graf von Salm

September 1, 1529

I am intrusting you with the defense of Vienna, I have been ordered by the most gratuitous sovereign Ferdinand I to oversee the security of this noble city. Your stellar reputation makes you the best candidate for the job. The Turks under Sultan Suleiman II have already slain and pillaged much of the land to the East. It will be your job to defend this city and save Western Christianity from the Turkish hordes. Suleiman II is marching towards the city with over 325 000 men, but with gods grace you will prevail. You will be compensated greatly for your efforts.

Sincerely,

Duke Frederick


Of course, the people must know what the reviewer thought of the project. Again, as with the previous entry, I will quote the relatively holistic playability rating given to the scenario.

This was fun to play. Watching the borders of your land, always wondering when a Turkish squad will come out of the fog of war adds to the tension. However, once you realize the enemy doesn't actually attack, you only need to pump out units and attack them, which is still fun. Yet there are still some unique moments, such as when your cavalry attacks the enemy artillery and captures all of it.


[nostalgia]
Such a scenario hearkens back to the old days, when triggers were still but a dream and the designer relied on his mapping skills, the AI and the variable difficulties to make the scenario fun and challenging. I am quite pleased to say that The Siege of Vienna easily compares to the best of this species of project, regardless of which specific game serves as the actual medium.
[/nostalgia]
Anyway, it is well worth a download and an attempt at playing on the hardest difficulties. To defend Vienna successfully is to parry the gravest assault Western Christendom had yet faced, and the rewards shall be great!

Exemplary Achievement at the Front: Fallen City

Each week, at its end (Sunday evening wherever I may be), I will present to Heavengames a scenario that truly deserves the appellation as 'One of the Best' here at Empires Heaven. This week, it shall be Fallen City by Oscar. His creation received a 4.8 from yours truly, quite an accomplishment! Without further ado, Fallen City!

In the year of our Lord 1241 Subotai's Mongolian hordes were covering the eastern Europe with blood. Hundreds of cities and villages were slaughtered and many others were threatened. Among these ones there was Silistra, a rich and impregnable city located in the Danubian Rumania built on an island in the middle of a lake. Sebastiano Venier, a Venetian merchant-prince, followed by Bishop Colonna and by a little escort, was reaching Silistra for business and for love but he was unaware they were running into pain and death.

Fantasy single player scenario totally invented for Empires: Dawn of the Modern World.
Fallen city is a fixed forces map fully based on the micromangement of few units. Have fun!

To quote my own review of this fine scenario ('cause I'm lazy like that, get used to it 'cause I'll be doing it a lot):
This is quite a fun scenario to play. It is one of the few (perhaps the only?) pseudo-RPG that has graced this heaven and, as such, is a very welcome addition to the downloads sections. It is very well balanced, leading to challenging but not anywhere near impossible (if you micromanage your units) gameplay. The scenario is quite creative and the map design is incredible. Finally, the story/instructions are incredibly well done and leave nothing more to be desired from them.

I might add that, thus far, Fallen City is the only non-campaign single player scenario to grace the top rated section of Empires Heaven. If you have Empires, I heartily urge you to download this amazing scenario and give it a whirl! You shan't be disappointed with it.

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