Strenth and Honor 2 plumbs the chaos of 292 BCE

This game spans most of the civilizations of the known world of the eastern hemisphere at a very interesting point in history. I recently wrote an article about the Han dynasty and the rise of Liu Bang, the dynasty's first emperor, for Heritage Key. I found the political and military maneuvers of Liu Bang to be fascinating and in many ways similar to the intrigues in the late Roman Republic. This game gives you the opportunity to explore both!

[Image: Character Qing Bu, a former prisoner of the Qin who escaped and eventually became a key general of the Han. Image courtesy of game developer "Magitek".]

"In 232BC, many great empires have risen to power on the world stage. In the West, the nations that once made up Alexander the Great's mighty empire are crumbling and conflicts and political differences are plaguing the region. Carthage and Rome are bitter rivals fighting to dominant and eliminate each other from the area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. At the same time, the typically peaceful Egyptian Empire is at war with the Selecuid Empire as an act of revenge against a murder plot by the Selecuid king that secured his claim to the throne. In the Northeast, the Huns threaten the northern Chinese states as the Qin dynasty fights to unify China and in Southeast Asia, the death of the great ruler Ashoka has left the nation in a state of flux. The world is chaotic and full of heroes, dreamers and deceivers. What path will you choose to raise a mighty empire?"

Characters:

Each character in SNH2 has an archetype which will affect their personality attributes score ranges. These scores include such traits as a character's openness, intelligence, morals, charm and ambition. Depending on their attributes they may be loyal and effective warriors and negotiators for your cause or they may seek to rebel and bring an end to your reign. There are fourteen archetypes in the game which are:

Caregivers: A Caregiver is always concerned for the well-being of others. Caregivers like to be in roles that give them a chance to nuture and help—often to the point of neglecting their own needs. On the flipside, less scrupulous Caregivers can be manipulative & demanding—using love as a weapon.

Berserker:The Berserker craves thrills and excitement, is always the first to charge into battle, the last to leave, and the first to get drunk afterward. A Berserker may meet a quick end, but will at least have the priviledge of a glorious death.

Rogue: The Rogue is the classic risk taker and scoundrel. In the constant quest for big wins and good times, the Rogue tends to get by on charm, preferring to improvise and not think too much about rules or morality.

Curmudgeon: The Curmudgeon is the eternal crotchety old fart. Deep down, this character is loyal, sensitive, and true, but also recognizes the dangers of trusting too easily. As a result, the character is skeptical, jaded, quick to find fault with things, and not afraid to speak up about it.

Lone Wolf: The Lone Wolf is ruthless, detached, and cunning. A Lone Wolf always does what it takes to get the job done, but is guided by a sense of internal logic that often translates into a rigid code of personal honor. The Lone Wolf is the perfect scientist, assassin, or effective (if harsh) leader.

Schemer: A Schemer is sly and resourceful, but generally anxious. As a result, the Schemer prefers to stay in the background and manipulate a situation to gain power and position, rather than take what he wants by force.

Dreamer: The Dreamer is the classic visionary, explorer, artist, mystic, or philospher. A dreamer is intensely curious and imaginative, with a passion for exploration and making the world a better place.

Pragmatist: Pragmatists are the neighborly, down to earth sort. They like to get right to the point, do what they have to do, and go home. Pragmatists avoid complication—they can be thoughtful, but aren’t grandiose about it like Dreamers can often be.

Tyrant: The Tyrant craves nothing but power and control—the ability to shape the world in his or her own image. A Tyrant will stop at nothing—other people, nations, and philosophies are merely obstacles to be overcome.

Champion: The Champion is obsessed with justice, honour, and fighting evil (real or imagined). The Champion can be bossy, but always protects the innocent and those he or she is responsible for.

Fanatic: The Fanatic lives for the cause, and is loyal to beliefs and duty above all else. This person will stop at nothing—even if it means bending the rules. Fanatics make good career soldiers or religious zealots.

Engineer: The world is disordered, chaotic, and imperfect. The Engineer is determined to correct this—to establish a perfect and true order, even if it means taking the world apart in order to build it better than it was before.

Peacock: The Peacock is obsessed with being the center of attention. Highly concerned with status, a Peacock constantly demands rank, rewards, and accolades (whether these are deserved or not).

Achiever: Friendly, gregarious, and outgoing, the Achiever is always looking for a way to sweeten the deal in order to make the big score.

Personality Attributes

As stated above, a character's archetype impacts their personality attributes score. Here is a list of the attributes each character has which will change how they react to your commands and your rule and makes each character unique.

Ambition: Ambition determines how easily a person will be satisfied or dis-satisfied about an issue. It also determines a person's level of interest in political parties.

Charm: Charm determines how easily the person gets approved for marriage and how easily the person corrupts a target. It also determines the likelihood they will promote the Pacifist party.

Confidence: Confidence determines the preference for self-governing and the likelihood of promoting the Warmonger party.

Honour: Honour determines how difficult it is for a person's loyalty to change. It also determines their likelihood of promoting the Warmonger Party.

Intelligence: Intelligence determines the succes rate of treaty signing and emissary jobs.

Morality: Morals determines how difficult it is lose loyalty to the Empire when governed citizens are not happy. This might lead the person to rebel when the city is rioting. It also determines the likelihood of not promoting the Warmonger party.

Openness: Openness determines the likelihood of not losing loyalty when a party agenda is not reached and how well the person gets along with people of different civilizations. It also determines the likelihood of promoting the Pacifist party

Battle System:

3D terrains allow you to watch the battle from many angles.

4 unit types with historical uniforms, weapons, flags, and accessories for each civilization to enrich the cultural backdrop. The unit types are Heavy Infantry, Light Infantry, Archers and Cavalry.

Several unique city layouts and landcape backdrops including forests and deserts for variety and realism in battles that take place across the globe.

Weather effects like fog, rain, and snow influence the outcome of the battle. Heavy fog can have a "fog of war" effect in battle mode, so that an army would have little or no intelligence about the enemy army’s numbers, strength, and position.

Choose the attack time: Attacking at dawn increases the chance of fog, which can be used to cover your charging cavalry. Natural lighting changes corresponding to the time of day.

Soldiers act human. Fear, fatigue, and morale affect their performance in battle.

Chain of Command effect means the leader influences the performance of his subordinates.

Battle replay allows the player to review their success or failure.

Multiplayer option lets the player to compete against a friend.

A free download of a demo of the game is available.

Comic Book Artist Brendan McGinley Tackles Roman History

For those of you who may have found reading about the Punic Wars a bit dry, you may wish to take a look at Brendan McGinley's online web comic, "Hannibal Goes to Rome". I found the graphics quite energizing and appreciate his efforts at bringing Roman history to readers who prefer a visual approach to learning!

"I've always loved comics," Brendan explains, "and comics helped me fall in love with history. I can only recommend Larry Gonick's CARTOON HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE series, which taught me gobs about Roman history! But it was my inexplicable love of Carthage that led me to write Hannibal Goes to Rome. I guess I'm just fascinated by the idea that such a prevalent culture could be swept completely off the map, and even worse -- the history books. It made me wonder what other zeniths of human society are just whispers to the wind now. "

"You really have to respect Hannibal -- love, hate or fear him, he made for some audacious history! "

Check it out:

Shadowline Web Comics

If you speak Greek

If you or your children speak Greek, the Foundation of the Hellenic World produces several multimedia educational games about various topics in Greek history:

Searching for Alexander the Great

Travel with Jason and Danae and follow the course of Alexander the Great! Travel around the world, see museums and monuments and learn about the civilizations that were influenced by the Macedonian king all over the world! Have fun with amazing games, collect objects that testify to the glorious history of Alexander the Great, solve the riddles and face the obstacles of the cunning Leo Foxy. At your disposal there will be a large encyclopaedia with all the necessary information! Do not waste any time! Create your own presentations and take part in the great competition of the game. Discover the ancient civilization and unfold the magic world of Hellenic history, in an educational game that combines learning and action! In our new adventure, with Jason and Danae as the leading characters, you will discover the unique history of Alexander the Great. In the beginning of the game, listen carefully to the information provided by the teacher at school regarding the paper you must prepare, which is a presentation of the Macedonian king. Solve the initial riddle, take the book with the rules of participation, which is also the manual of the game, and prepare yourselves for a magic journey to history! Lead Jason and Danae to the areas of their yard and speak with the heroes that are in the rooms: their advises and inventions will be very useful! If you search well and use your power of reasoning, you will manage to collect the necessary gear which will help you to travel in nearby and far away destinations and discover unknown aspects of the fearless Alexander the Great. You should ask the people you meet in your way, you will see impressive museums, mysterious tombs and traditional Greek hamlets, in order to collect as many objects as possible so you can create your own unique presentation. When you return to school you will have the opportunity to prepare your presentation and, when you are ready, to show it to your classmates! But the most important fact is that you can save it and send it to us, participating thus in the competition that will regularly take place, with great gifts. Language: Greek!

Mystery in ancient Miletus

"Mystery in ancient Miletus" is a game in which knowledge and entertainment coexist harmoniously. It is addressed to children above the age of 10, but also to everyone who wishes to learn about ancient Miletus in a pleasant way. Starting the application, the player has the possibility to meet the family of the heroes of the series "Jason & Danae". He can also colour various images with the heroes and print them out in colour or black and white. The game is essentially divided into two parts. The first part consists exclusively of cartoons. The player "experiences" the game through the eyes of its leading characters, Jason (High School student) and Danae (Primary School student). The heroes, always under the guidance of the player, must in the beginning roam through the areas of their residence, in order to collect more information about the story of the game. In these areas there are hidden many riddles, which every time include a new element that furthers the development of the story. Their solution leads to key objects that contribute to the solution of the game. After they collect all necessary information, the heroes are ready to "travel" to ancient Miletus. The second part of the game includes a tour to ancient Miletus, which takes place through the use of interactive virtual reality video (QuickTime VR). Through it, the player experiences the area as it was in the Roman Period, as does the visitor of "Kivotos", FHW's virtual reality system. The successive images (QuickTime VR) that have been used allow for the 360o visual coverage of the areas, solely using the mouse. At the same time, brief historical information is provided for every area. Historical information appears both in text form and images as well as in video format, which comes from the documentary "Miletus... A City in Four Dimensions". In addition, the CD-ROM includes a glossary and an encyclopaedia with historical data about Miletus, information about the areas and the buildings, the important people that lived in this city, general information about various sports and buildings of Antiquity, but also many ancient sayings. And some advice!!! Try to call from the devise in the room of uncle Pericles. All telephone numbers can be found on the bulletin board. You will discover many secrets, which will help you solve the game. Language: Greek!

Imperium Romanum Makes Its Debut

As an educator and a history buff I was particularly excited to read about the "History mode" version of this new Roman Empire city-building title. The graphics look terrific too!

Review by Emmanuel Brown

Imperium takes up arms against the preconception of Roman city-building titles, being at once incredibly deep and historically accurate yet also streamlined and extremely user-friendly. If you're at all interested in Roman history, or indeed just want to give the strategy genre a tryout, you can do far worse than to give this some time.

So, covering all the bases then, Imperium is at heart a city-building game, pure and simple. Whilst there are three different single-player modes to get stuck into (more on those later), each one essentially boils down to laying out buildings and resources in your chosen pattern, and attempting to resolve the need for wealth and expansion whilst keeping your citizens happy and safe. It's a balancing act right away though, with even the tiniest decisions bringing about consequences further down the line.

Settlements occasionally need to be conquered		Graphical quality is excellent for a strategy title

As this is Rome that we're dealing with, the building types are all of a fairly primitive nature compared to modern cities. Basic amenities such as food and water need to be taken care of with wells, pig farms and the like, whilst clothing requires buildings such as flax farms and tailor shops. Housing is built at a primitive level initially and eventually upgrades according to the wealth of the inhabitants, which is in turn affected by a number of factors such as the surrounding area and the ability to work. Buildings in disarray due to a lack of maintenance (a constant supply of stone is important here) are at risk of catching fire, and people unable to find work will eventually turn to crime, sometimes starting the fires themselves.

As mentioned in the preview however, as this is Rome we're dealing with, it isn't just a basic way of life that needs to be provided. As your city expands and the population becomes more prosperous, other types of decorative elements take precedence in the build queue. This isn't a game simply about making everything work to a satisfactory level, it's about building an attractive and wealthy city, and basking in the results as your influence expands.

Over time your empire will grow to a considerable size, and fortunately Imperium features a decent enough interface for keeping track of everything. Numerous statistical graphs are available to sift through for problematic areas, and neglected sections of the map soon begin to take on a darker hue as citizens leave or businesses are unable to find a proper workforce. In that manner, it's always fairly obvious which neighbourhoods need attention, and issues can normally be cured with the addition of whatever resource is lacking in that particular area.

Fires can be dealt with in a couple of different ways		Seems familiar...

Of course none of this comes for free, and you'll need a constant supply of Denarii (the game's overall currency) in order to keep building new structures, and to fund expansion. Taxation is a key element here, with wealthy citizens providing more resources for the public coffers, whilst trade routes can also be examined, and goods bought and sold outside of the city. Completing goals such as attracting a particular number of people to your city, or keeping the satisfaction rating above a certain level, also brings about financial rewards from the senate.

There are three play modes available by default, with each one offering up a different approach to the core subject matter. History mode is perhaps the most interesting, starting off at the beginning of the Roman timeline with the foundations of the great city by Romulus and Remus in 509BC, and continues to develop all the way through to 120AD. Branching paths are offered as your city builds, taking in most of the major events throughout Roman history. Playing through this mode is as educating as it is challenging, with points of interest narrated and explained as you build up the might of Rome in an accurate fashion.

'Rome' mode recreates the basic layout of the titular city and terrain, minus some of the important historical buildings. It'll be your job to recreate each of these, building up resources and keeping the population happy along the way. Each task is delegated with the unique 'tablet' system (in use throughout all storyline modes), with players able to take as many as three simultaneous goals at any time, or keep it to a single focus if so desired. Finally, the Scenario mode allows you the option of a starting plot in a number of cities spread throughout Italy and the empire, and allows you to build your own city entirely from scratch. Each map offers up a varying difficulty level in the form of resource availability and frequency of attack from barbarian tribes.

You'll end up proud of your city		The gladiator arena is a central piece in any larger city

And on that note, unfortunately the conflict with barbarians is where the majority of the problems lie with Imperium. Combat simply isn't well-developed, with a paltry selection of formations, and none of the standard control options of even a basic RTS game. You simply build squadrons of soldiers, archers or mounted soldiers, and send them to a specific place on the map. From that point it's literally a case of choosing attack or retreat, and success largely depends on numerical advantages. Whilst combat can be scaled back to a point that it's completely non-essential, it would have been nice to have seen an increased focus in this area. After all, Rome was build on a legacy of war and military might, not just the incredible development of civic services and societal improvements.

Also, it's worth noting here that Imperium is definitely not a game for those that like to get into micro-management detail. Many of the more laborious tasks are simply glossed over, with workers going about their business automatically, citizens assigning themselves to jobs, and in general the only intervention needed in your city will be to build new units and study the balance sheets. This is both a positive and negative aspect depending on how you look at strategy games. On a personal note, I couldn't be more happy that the microscopic detail takes care of itself, as I'd rather be free to concentrate on the overall picture, however, some hardcore players will definitely be in danger of feeling like the game plays on auto-pilot at times.

Overall though it's difficult to fault the blending of elements on offer here. Graphical detail is excellent on high-level systems, whilst the engine is flexible enough to scale down to more modest rigs with ease. The level of historical detail on offer will be enviable to even the more established franchises, and whilst Imperium doesn't do anything to reinvent the genre as a whole, it's certainly a well-refined product that's worth a look to veteran players.

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by Emmanuel Brown

Play History Website another great resource for historical gamers

I received an email from the director of Slitherine Software, the company that released such titles as "Legion", "Chariots of War", and "Spartan", and he told me his company premiered a new website, Play History, for historical game enthusiasts on November 9.

"As we remember history and look back to these momentous events, our fascination with the past will hopefully be encapsulated in our new portal, our own window in time leading to all things ‘history’ and assisting us to understand events that have shaped our lives. PLAYHISTORY will inform, amuse and focus on the many ways that we have found to enjoy our common passion through movies, books, videogames, wargames, boardgames and all of the other forms of entertainment that we use to recount History and make it relevant to the present.

PLAYHISTORY opens its doors with a feature about the 3rd Servile War, using a few images from the videogame THE HISTORY CHANNEL Great Battles of Rome (2007) to illustrate the events depicted. The Slave Revolts are just another example of Napoleon's famous words 'Imagination rules the world'. Like many other momentous events from the past this dream of freedom is a story of courage and fortitude that would challenge the writers of fiction. It is events like this that we will seek to celebrate over the coming weeks and months."

I am always excited to see any effort to promote the study of history and "Play History" with its timeline of events, featured products, and game-illustrated articles is a fascinating resource for us all. I will add a link to the site to this blog's permanent list of reference links.

Ankh: Heart of Osiris

After a wild party at Pharaoh's pyramid, young Assil accidentally dumps holy urns and gets himself a death curse - there he also discovers the precious amulet Ankh.

Only Pharaoh can save Assil - however not only is it impossible to get an audition, but Assil also has another problem: Osiris, God of the Underworld, is after the Ankh.

Features
At last a new humorous Point&Click-Adventure in state of the art 3D-graphics with attention to detail.

A funny and romatic story in a mystical and inspiring setting.

Numerous original localtions and characters create an immerging atmosphere that will amaze you.

The puzzles are always integrated to the gameplay - forget frustrating logical puzzles that have nothing to do with the game.

Self-explaining, uncomplicated interface, fair difficulty-level and above all: black humour in abundance!

Ancient Wars: Sparta filled with beautifully detailed images

I see that "Ancient Wars: Sparta" has been released and is presently being offered on GoGamer during one of their 48-hour specials for only $27.90. I checked the game review on Gamespot and noticed it received a "fair" rating from the pros but a "good" rating from the regular gamers posting reviews. I browsed through the 111 screen shots and loved the detail of the imagery, particularly the sea battle scenes so I decided it was worth the $27.90 just for the pleasure of looking at the scenery alone! If the game itself is interesting, and it sounds like it would be from the overall description of the game play including the ability to individually select weapons for your troops, that will be icing on the cake.

I am also interested in the possibility of creating online history vignettes using text from original sources accompanied by images like those in this game. It would be even better if I could capture short action clips to use in the presentation.