| Emperor: Rise Of The Middle Kingdom |
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Information AboutEmperor: Rise Of The Middle Kingdom |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT EMPEROR: RISE OF THE MIDDLE KINGDOM | |
| 2002 video games | |
| city building games | |
| games featuring china | |
| isometric video games | |
| windows games | |
Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom (shortened to ''Emperor'' or ''RotMK'') is the seventh title of the City Building Series , developed by Impressions Games and published by Sierra Entertainment . BreakAway Games , which developed the '' Pharaoh '' expansion ''Queen of the Nile'' was in charge of developing the game. Not unlike the remaining five games (excluding expansions), ''Emperor'' focuses on the building and development of a city in ancient times, this time Ancient China (which won on a popularity poll against other possibilities, such as Mayan , Inca , Indus or a return to Roman Empire ), from the Xia Dynasty (2033 BC) to the Song - Jin Dynasties (1234 AD). Keeping up with the improvements to city layout in its predecessor, '' Master Of Olympus - Zeus '', ''Emperor'' featured a brand new farming system, which turned plantations into individual farm tiles to be built around the farm building at a maximum difference of three, allowing for a farm to have more than one plantation for a wider output. Other new features include a Feng Shui meter, which influences how desirable and accident-prone a house is and a return to regular monument building (such as sections of the Great Wall Of China unlike the large temples in ''Zeus''. The tagline of the game is "''Build and Rule Ancient China Wisely''". Due to the increasing financial problems of Sierra at the time, ''Emperor'' was not given an expansion. GAME MECHANICS ''For a detailed overview of the game mechanics, see Series Concepts And Mechanics '' As with others games in the series, the player must build a city in an empty plot of land of variable size and resources. Like ''Zeus'', goals in each level no longer depend on percentile scores, but on objective goals - profit, cash in treasury, production of goods or conquering a rival city, among others. Food resources in this game are Wheat , Rice , Bean Curd , Millet and Cabbage s which can be obtained from farms, Fish and Meat from fishers and hunters, but also Salt from mines or Spices , only available from import. The later two are required to produce ''Delicious food'', a requirement for the highest income citizens, and can replace one food type, which means a city with access to both food and spices require only one kind of food to produce ''Appetizing food'', which would otherwise require three different kinds. Food is named after the available goods - If the player only has millet, the peddler will sell Millet stew. Raw Materials include Steel , Iron and Bronze (for weapons, and the later, also for bronzeware and currency), Clay ( Pottery , making of bronzeware and monument building), Wood (used in Lacquerware , monument building, writing material for the tax collector and confucian academies and prime material for chariots and crossbowmen), Lacquer (used in laquerware), Mulberry trees - food for Silkworm s, which in turn provide raw Silk that can be woven into fine silk, Tea bushes (the crops can be directly sold as tea), Hemp (basic requirement for dwellings, can also be turned into Paper that replaces wood as writing material) and Jade , available only from import, that can be carved and exported back, being the most expensive trade commodity in the game. The player can build a Mint and have a limited yearly output of currency, and later in the game a money printer, which uses paper instead of copper. Goods are distributed into the same fashion as ''Zeus'': a large plaza-like road named ''market square'' is built on a road, and goods stands are placed on top of it. After the first goods are available (as the owners of each shop pick them from the nearest supply), a peddler will start roaming around in the roads distributing available (and required) goods. To avoid wasting food on a common block, food quality can be controlled by the player. Unlike ''Zeus'', entertainment services only require the school ( Music and Acrobat ) as they will perform in the market square. Coverage is determined by the path from the schools to the market and then by a banner-carrying announcer. Elite housing value increase if they have access to Kunqu (theatre) performed at a Pavilion, and musicians and acrobats will also perform there. At the Chinese New Year a Dragon Dance leaves one of the market squares with musicians and acrobats following if the player is willing to pay the cost of the celebration. Also, when a player starts a new user handle, he is asked to choose a sign from the Chinese Zodiac ; if the selected sign coincides with the new year sign, the player can choose benefits like special gifts or improved crops. As usual, additional services are provided by watchtowers (decrease unrest), inspector's towers (maintain buildings in good shape) and wells (provide water to common housing) - these three have different sprites, depending on the appeal of the location. Herbalist s provide basic health care, while wealthier dwellings will also require Acupuncturist access. In addition to the road blocks, it is also possible to build decorative walls which turn into gates when intersecting a road; these gates are able to block only certain types of walkers: services (such as guards and water carriers), religion and peddlers. This allowed, for instance, to create the market in the middle of a city block, surround it by walls so that the appeal of neighbouring houses does not decrease and then block the gates to priests and monks, which won't take the road ahead, or simply avoid them passing by access-only roads. Religion plays a less dramatic impact on the game than in ''Zeus'', and based on the Chinese tradition of Ancestor Worship . These are separated into four Philosophical and Religious teaching schools, each with three representatives - The Ancestors from the Chinese Mythology with Nu Wa (Creator Goddess), Shen Nong (Divine Farmer) and Huang Di (Yellow Emperor); ''' Confucianism ''' with Confucius (Sage of All Time), Sun Tzu (Master Sun) and Mencius (Second Sage); ''' Daoism ''' with Xi Wang Mu (Queen Mother of the West), Zao Jun (Kitchen God) and Guan Di (God of War) and finally ''' Buddhism ''', represented by Guan Yin (Goddess of Mercy), Bodhidharma (Buddist Monk) and Sun Wu Kong (Monkey King). Unlike the Gods and monsters of Zeus, the ancestors appear in a city as soon as enough gifts (which must be selected according to the Ancestor for better effect) are given and can be directly controlled to perform tasks such as blessing and commanding the armies, but are also able to do other tasks for the city: each one of them also has a walker function, reduces cost by half in some buildings, some of them are able to capture animals for the Palace and other bonuses (with Xi Wang Mu, monument building is faster and Bodhidharma fulfills any computer-controlled city request for tea, for instance) If the player requests too many blessings or army commands (or generally, gives too many orders instead of letting roam the city on his own will), unless he also keeps up with gifts the Ancestor will leave. Ancestor worship access (done with temples) is a basic commodity for both kinds of dwellings, but Confucianism is only required by elite neighbourhoods. Either Daoism or Buddhism, both of which have a regular shrine and a large temple, is required by the wealthier sects on both common and elite neighborhoods. CAMPAIGN The 7 campaigns of Emperor take the player through Chinese history. Notable inclusions include the building of famous monuments like the Great Wall of China, and the Terracotta Army. In the first campaign, the player is simply a humble villager elder, in charge of leading a nomadic tribe to settle down along the river. In the final levels, the player is the Emperor of China, and oversees the construction of the Great Wall to foil the invading Mongols and their leader, Genghis Khan. The various buildings and food supplies are made available to the player as their empire expands. The time they become available roughly corresponds to when that same food and wahtnot became available to the Chinese in real life. Because players serve several dynasties and Emperors throughout the game, they will not always be building the same city. Often, they will be sent to build up a new city. Later, a player may return to that city to acomplish a new goal. Because the 7 Campaigns take place many years apart, the cities built up in one campaign may become ruins in another. Several times a player will return to the site of a city they themselves built many years ago, and be forced to excavate the ruins so a new city for their current ruler can be built. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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