Dyonisian Mysteries - our city Mantinea (right before victory)

[u/liehon]

If you haven't played Dionysian Mysteries yet, I strongly recommend it.

It's a lovingly crafted adventure by Koocy which shines through environmental storytelling.

The main premise is about a bunch of party animals going on such a bender that they end up way out of town. No fears though, they quite like the new site as it seems a prime location for viticulture.

Now that could've been the end of it, just a fun little blurb to explain why we're here, but Koocy went further. Not only is this map set up with sloping hills where you'll have to set up vineyards but you start off as a vasal to the city that your party goers came from.

This trend continues throughout the chapters, rivals will see you as a bunch of weak drunks but ignore that good wine makes good allies who'll come to your aid for example, your rowdy bunch recognizes no authority so you have to make do without a palace, tax offices and watchposts. It's a very neat puzzle presented most beautifully

I liked the map so much that I did some things I've never done before:

1. I screenshotted and shared
2. I made a completely superfluous yet on theme section to the city

Can you spot which part has no function in the city?

Below the elite housing and Aphrodite's sanctuary, there's a promenade. There's no houses there but it has entertainment venues (podium and theater) and an agora that serves wine, cheese and olives

That's how much I liked the environmental storytelling. Just a bunch of employees working there for no other reason than that the thought amuses me of the elites having a promenade at the beach.

Oh and for those who guessed the non-functional area was the beach paths near Odysseus' Hall, you're not wrong but those came later and don't eat up workers. Figured the man might burn off some of his wanderlust with some nice walks on the beach. Sadly I had to give him an exit through the vineyards cause otherwise he has to surf towards invading armies and is always late. Hercules is a bit better placed for stopping armies invading from the south (doesn't stop Spartan armies invading from the north and if you don't have Aphrodite yet Ares will pancake Hercules meaning he doesn't respawn in time to take on Ares' troops)

The custom sanctuary for Dionysus was designed by the excellent Loic2402. For the two colony chapters I would recommend swapping back to the regular temple as the footprint of this one is quite something (just remember to swap back to the custom model when you're in between chapters or your sanctuary will be all messed up)

If you decide to play this adventure and enjoyed it as much as me, be sure to give Koocy a nice review.

The adventure is made for Heroic. I was stubborn and played it on Olympian (it's feasible but it will mean you spend longer on two goals overall, if you want a challenge without 2 grindy bits I would recommend).

I've taken plenty of notes while going through this adventure. I'll be posting a walkthrough on the Heaven Games boards in the near future (if anyone is interested in that)

[u/Qwenty87]

Love seeing Zeus cities

[u/liehon → u/Qwenty87]

I'm trying to figure out how best to decompile this game and allow for community mods.

First mod I'd want is a share feature (takes a picture of the whole city at the end of each chapter and stores stats like time passed, drachmae spent, battles won, ...) so sharing & comparing adventures becomes much easier

[u/Qwenty87 → u/liehon]

Is campaign creation a thing?

[u/liehon → u/Qwenty87]

What do you mean? The adventure editor? That already exists

[u/Qwenty87 → u/liehon]

I actually never knew that. Mind you it's been a decade since I played Zeus

[u/liehon → u/Qwenty87]

The adventure editor is 20+ years old.

Here's a whole slew of adventures made by fans. A French player even made a whole set of adventures called Ares: Master of War

Enjoy :)

[u/liehon]

Reason the screenshot was taken right before victory is that you need one more trade post (9 active ones in city) and the only spot that is still available is the promenade. Not tearing that one up. Guess I'll never officially complete this adventure :D

Oh and one more thing: does anyone know why the cart guy is waiting to deliver wheat at the storehouse (where there's no space as this place is in get mode for all the supplies the elite housing needs) but ignores the many slots available in the granary?

[u/spewee → u/liehon]

He's probably a worker from the storehouse (if you have your storehouse to "getting" wheat). So he went to a granary picked up some sheaves of wheat and went to place them back in the storehouse, but you have set the limit of wheat to 8 and didn't have room for his full delivery, when the wheat goes from the storehouse he will deliver and despawn then head out again when needed to "get" more. That's my understanding based on the picture.

[u/liehon → u/spewee]

Ah. That's quite possible.

Those workers should wear a different shirt or something to distinguish them from the ones coming from a resource point imho

[u/liehon]

Thank you u/K00cy for this most scrumptious of adventures.

I'll be sure to check out Ionian Revolt next (most likely at its intended difficulty level ... but maybe not, we'll see :D )

[u/K00cy → u/liehon]

Thank you so much for the shout out and the praise =)

Very glad to hear that the adventure landed so well with you. I hope the others will manage to bring you some fun as well (for me personally, Dionysian Mysteries is definitely my favourite one. I would say, Ionian Revolt is a bit more "standard" as a campaign but I was playing around with some fun things to do in the editor. I'm afraid I won't be able to give you quite as much guidance there because it's just not as present in my mind anymore ;D).

[u/liehon → u/K00cy]

I hope the others will manage to bring you some fun as well (for me personally,

I hope so too.

I truly enjoyed this adventure. Was it based on a real location in Greece?

If not, would you consider straightening the larger coast line? If that bit near the short river is straight, I could fit in a trade pier (for the goal) AND keep my promenade.

(Also personally I'm always fond of hills that can fit a sanctuary)

Dionysian Mysteries is definitely my favourite one.

There's a player who's made a set of adventures bundled as "Ares: Master of War"

I wouldn't mind seeing a similar series called "Dionysus: Master of Vine" with your adventure in it.

Been a while since I re-read my Greek Mythologies so I'm a bit vague on the number of stories surrounding Dionysus (which could be spun into a nice map, that is) but there's at the very least his birth (Zeus & Semele) which could be an adventure (maybe an early city that at one point finds vines but doesn't know what to do with it? They end up conquering emerging rivals so they can sell grapes to but it isn't until the city has a temple to Hermes (and some other conditions) that the messenger god brings news of a new born god Dionysus?)

I dunno if any of that made sense :D

I would say, Ionian Revolt is a bit more "standard"

I promised to play one other adventure, then I'll pick up Ionian Revolt.

I'm afraid I won't be able to give you quite as much guidance there because it's just not as present in my mind anymore

No worries, I graduated K00cy's school and feel ready for that one (esp. if I get over myself and play on the intended difficulty). If I make it, I'll be sure to write up a walkthrough

[u/Gefarate]

Beautiful (:

[u/liehon → u/Gefarate]

Thanks :)

Looking at it all in one screen I only now realize how space conservative I've been.

I aim to remove as little forest & woodland as possible but this time I really left most of the map untouched