With the release of Emperor at GOG.com, I'm seeing both new and renewed interest in this game. I think that helped bring back my muse, because I now have ideas and motivation to jump back in to custom campaign design.
I released a couple of small campaigns last year but now is the time to return to one of grand scale. Since the first of this month (May 2017) I've been working on "A Xia's Diary III".
It's been a LONG time (over 14 years!) since I used the Three Kingdoms period as the time period for a custom campaign, but I have been drawn back to it. I believe it's mostly due to finally seeing John Woo's excellent movie "Red Cliff" (2009), which tells the story of the famous Battle of Red Cliffs. (In my opinion you should RUN, not walk, to see this film!)
My research for the storyline was a bit overwhelming because there is SO much good plot material available for the 3K period, and there is (sadly) so little we designers can put on the splash screens of a custom campaign (due to constraints with the Campaign Creator software). Nevertheless, here are the events I am focusing on to include in this new campaign.
184 CE - Yellow Turban Rebellion begins
185 CE - Oath of the Peach Garden between Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhange Fei.
189 CE - Emperor Ling dies.
190 CE - Dong Zhuo captures Luoyang and sacks it. He takes Emperor Xian to Chang-an and establishes it as the new capital.
192 CE - Dong Zhuo is killed by his subordinate Lu Bu.
192 CE - The main Yellow Turban army surrenders to Cao Cao.
192 CE - Liu Bei becomes Prefect on Pingyuan County and assists Gongsun Zan in fighting Yuan Shao.
196 CE - Cao Cao takes control of Emperor Xian and moves the captial to Xuchang.
200 CE - The Battle of Guandu. Cao Cao defeats Yuan Shao.
200 CE - Yuan Shao dies of illness.
208 CE - The Battle of Red Cliffs. Cao Cao is defeated by a coalition of Liu Bei and Sun Quan.
210 CE - General Zhou Yu of Wu dies of illness.
213 CE - Cao Cao's forces capture Liang province (Liangzhou).
214 CE - Liu Bei captures Chengdu.
219 CE - Liu Bei's forces capture Liang province (Liangzhou). (This is known as the Hanzhong Campaign)
220 CE - Cao Cao dies of illness in Luoyang.
220 CE - Cao Pi succeeds Cao Cao and forces Emperor Xian to abdicate, proclaiming himself Emperor of Wei.
220 CE - Guan Yu is killed by Sun Quan's forces.
221 CE - Zhange Fei is assassinated by his subordinates.
221 CE - Liu Bei declares himself Emperor of Shu.
222 CE - Sun Quan declares himself Emperor of Wu.
224 CE - Liu Bei dies of illness.
252 CE - Sun Quan dies of illness.
As with my other Xia Diary campaigns, the third installment will also have the maximum scope of 10 missions. I have 8 new custom maps planned for it. Here is a draft of the mission teasers and time limits:
Mission 1 - Oath of the Garden - 4 years, from 181 CE to 185 CE.
Mission 2 - The Yellow Turban Rebellion - 5 years, from 185 CE to 190 CE.
Mission 3 - Descent into Chaos - 6 years, from 190 CE to 196 CE.
Mission 4 - The Battle of Guandu - 5 years, from 196 CE to 201 CE.
Mission 5 - Sun Quan's Challenge - 3 years, from 201 CE to 204 CE
Mission 6 - Rider of the Water Dragon - 4 years, from 204 CE to 208 CE
Mission 7 - The Battle of Red Cliffs - 3 years, from 208 CE to 211 CE.
Mission 8 - The Relentless Ambition of Cao Cao - 6 years, from 211 CE to 217 CE.
Mission 9 - The Fist of Liu Bei - 6 years, from 217 CE to 223 CE
Mission 10 - Grand Xia of the Three Kingdoms - no time limit, starts in 223 CE.
So you can see this is an ambitious project. At this point, I have the skeleton of the storyline, the mission flow, and have built the first map. There is still a long way to go, so if I had to guess on a completion time right now I'd say that I hope to deliver this by Christmas 2017.
Please feel free to leave any comments, suggestions, or questions you may have about this project.
Expand your fun by downloading free custom campaigns for Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom.
Visit Zeus Heaven to expand your knowledge of Zeus and Poseidon.
I released a couple of small campaigns last year but now is the time to return to one of grand scale. Since the first of this month (May 2017) I've been working on "A Xia's Diary III".
It's been a LONG time (over 14 years!) since I used the Three Kingdoms period as the time period for a custom campaign, but I have been drawn back to it. I believe it's mostly due to finally seeing John Woo's excellent movie "Red Cliff" (2009), which tells the story of the famous Battle of Red Cliffs. (In my opinion you should RUN, not walk, to see this film!)
My research for the storyline was a bit overwhelming because there is SO much good plot material available for the 3K period, and there is (sadly) so little we designers can put on the splash screens of a custom campaign (due to constraints with the Campaign Creator software). Nevertheless, here are the events I am focusing on to include in this new campaign.
184 CE - Yellow Turban Rebellion begins
185 CE - Oath of the Peach Garden between Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhange Fei.
189 CE - Emperor Ling dies.
190 CE - Dong Zhuo captures Luoyang and sacks it. He takes Emperor Xian to Chang-an and establishes it as the new capital.
192 CE - Dong Zhuo is killed by his subordinate Lu Bu.
192 CE - The main Yellow Turban army surrenders to Cao Cao.
192 CE - Liu Bei becomes Prefect on Pingyuan County and assists Gongsun Zan in fighting Yuan Shao.
196 CE - Cao Cao takes control of Emperor Xian and moves the captial to Xuchang.
200 CE - The Battle of Guandu. Cao Cao defeats Yuan Shao.
200 CE - Yuan Shao dies of illness.
208 CE - The Battle of Red Cliffs. Cao Cao is defeated by a coalition of Liu Bei and Sun Quan.
210 CE - General Zhou Yu of Wu dies of illness.
213 CE - Cao Cao's forces capture Liang province (Liangzhou).
214 CE - Liu Bei captures Chengdu.
219 CE - Liu Bei's forces capture Liang province (Liangzhou). (This is known as the Hanzhong Campaign)
220 CE - Cao Cao dies of illness in Luoyang.
220 CE - Cao Pi succeeds Cao Cao and forces Emperor Xian to abdicate, proclaiming himself Emperor of Wei.
220 CE - Guan Yu is killed by Sun Quan's forces.
221 CE - Zhange Fei is assassinated by his subordinates.
221 CE - Liu Bei declares himself Emperor of Shu.
222 CE - Sun Quan declares himself Emperor of Wu.
224 CE - Liu Bei dies of illness.
252 CE - Sun Quan dies of illness.
As with my other Xia Diary campaigns, the third installment will also have the maximum scope of 10 missions. I have 8 new custom maps planned for it. Here is a draft of the mission teasers and time limits:
Mission 1 - Oath of the Garden - 4 years, from 181 CE to 185 CE.
Mission 2 - The Yellow Turban Rebellion - 5 years, from 185 CE to 190 CE.
Mission 3 - Descent into Chaos - 6 years, from 190 CE to 196 CE.
Mission 4 - The Battle of Guandu - 5 years, from 196 CE to 201 CE.
Mission 5 - Sun Quan's Challenge - 3 years, from 201 CE to 204 CE
Mission 6 - Rider of the Water Dragon - 4 years, from 204 CE to 208 CE
Mission 7 - The Battle of Red Cliffs - 3 years, from 208 CE to 211 CE.
Mission 8 - The Relentless Ambition of Cao Cao - 6 years, from 211 CE to 217 CE.
Mission 9 - The Fist of Liu Bei - 6 years, from 217 CE to 223 CE
Mission 10 - Grand Xia of the Three Kingdoms - no time limit, starts in 223 CE.
So you can see this is an ambitious project. At this point, I have the skeleton of the storyline, the mission flow, and have built the first map. There is still a long way to go, so if I had to guess on a completion time right now I'd say that I hope to deliver this by Christmas 2017.
Please feel free to leave any comments, suggestions, or questions you may have about this project.
Expand your fun by downloading free custom campaigns for Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom.
Visit Zeus Heaven to expand your knowledge of Zeus and Poseidon.
[This message has been edited by Gweilo (edited 05-30-2017 @ 01:41 PM).]