Contest 88: Gifted, a Pharaoh Contest

Welcome to Contest 88: Gifted This is the Pharaoh contest, but it can also be played with Cleopatra. You must have the latest versions installed in order to play this contest. The link to the patches is on our rules page. Use the links below to download the starting positions:

Gifted Easy
Gifted Hard
file is in zip format

After downloading, PC players should open the archive with a suitable programme (e.g. Winzip) Then place the unzipped file in your family save directory (in the Pharaoh root directory, Save, [YourFamilyName]; by default C:\Sierra\Pharaoh\Save\[YourFamilyName]\).

To play the game, start Pharaoh, go to your family, and select "Load Saved Game". You will find Gifted-Easyl or Gifted-Hard. It should be preset at the appropriate 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 Gifted 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.

Story

Selima Oasis has always been known for its prosperity and wealth, but now sandstorms have ruined the desert city. It is up to you to rebuild the place to its former glory. Unfortunately the sandstorms have also destroyed most of the resources of the area. Trade with other cities has become very difficult as also the river has been dammed by large sand dunes. The road along the dry river bed to the oasis is dangerous because of the hyenas lurking between the bushes and shrubs, and most caravans are not happy to travel it. Fortunately the trees are regrowing quickly. Not only do they provide a source of nourishment for some game, the wood is in high demand throughout the kingdom. You may expect various cities asking you for logs, and you may expect them to reward you with precious commodities which you can use to develop your city. Pharaoh also wants to help you with some gifts in the form of grain, unfortunately he has very little money to spare. If your kingdom rating happens to be very low at times, do not worry, Pharaoh will understand these are harsh times for everyone.

Rules

Completion Criteria: None

There are no completion criteria, the impossible population goal can be ignored, but prosperity, speed and money are the winning criteria. The population criterium of 99999 people is unobtainable, and is included only to prevent early victory. It can be ignored by the player.

Winning Criteria:
1. Prosperity
2. Speed
3. Money

Prosperity is the first winning criterion, the entry with the highest prosperity wins. Only in case of a draw, which I guess is pretty likely, will the speed criterion be used. I will be using the month of the save in judging. If that too produces a draw, which is not entirely impossible, money wil be the decisive criterion. For that I will use the treasury as reported by the financial overseer. The city may be in debt at the time of save.

The game may be saved and submitted at any time. There may be outstanding requests. Gifts are allowed. Annual saves should be made in December; there is an annual drop in the price of game meat at the end of November that may (also) function as a reminder. These saves do not have to be submitted, but should be made available upon request.

Designer's Notes

The easy map has more money available, and more gold mines can be built.

As there is no possibility of building a dock, there seems to be little point in opening a water trade route. Appearances can be deceiving though, so you might want to reconsider.

Khargha Oasis is both selling and buying game meat, and money is transferred accordingly, but all items appear to be listed as sold.

At first it may seem Selima is missing the essential ingredients needed to build a city, no resources, no trade possibilities, and even no granary to store food. As stated, these are harsh times, but the people of Egypt were resourceful themselves, and they managed to build a flourishing society notwithstanding the circumstances. Can you beat the desert? Remember, as the Romans said, nomen est omen.

Response to a gift is designed to take place with a fixed delay of one month after compliance. The game sometimes gives a longer delay, which is random, because the traders delivering the gift are delayed by rough conditions. If the player needs the response quickly, it helps to vary the exact timing of the compliance, save immediately afterwards, and test the outcome. A zero month delay may result in a breaking of the event chain, and stop further requests from that city.

Gifted is a Pharaoh map that can be played with Cleo as well. Happy gaming!

This scenario was Designed by Joshofet and tested by Pecunia.

This contest will close at 11PM EST (US), on Sunday, May 7th, 2006. Please note the date!!!!

This contest has ended.

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