Welcome! We've put together this demo to give you just a glimpse of what you can expect to find in the full version of our upcoming title "Pharaoh".
MISSIONS IN THE DEMO
We've included three missions in this demo, the first two of which are set in the "Pre-dynastic Period" of ancient Egypt, and are very similar to the first two missions of the full game. The third mission, however, is set in the "Archaic Period", and has been created especially for the demo.
In this demo, and in the third mission in particular, we've tried to include as many features from the full game as possible, without allowing it to become too unwieldy or difficult to absorb. Nevertheless, if you have not played any of our city building games before, you may find the third mission a bit overwhelming, as many concepts are introduced in a relatively short period of time. That's just because this game has so much to offer, and we didn't want to leave anything out! Rest assured that in the full version of the game, each and every fundamental game concept is introduced gradually, over several missions (throughout the whole game, in fact) with plenty of guidance, feedback and help.
In the third mission, your ultimate goal is to build a mud-brick 'mastaba' tomb. If you are an experienced Caesar 3 player, you may want to go directly to the "Archaic Period", where you can dive right into the this mission (though you will still miss some cool stuff in the first two missions).
If you haven't played our city building games before (or even if you have!), you may find that the following information helps you to use and enjoy the demo.
Tutorial Features:
Pharaoh contains several types of helpful messages to guide you through the game.
At the beginning of each mission, you will see a briefing that explains the mission's overall goals, including what you need to do to win the mission and move on to the next one. You can re-read this briefing at any time by clicking the "ankh" symbol on the Control Panel.
After the mission begins, tutorial panels periodically introduce newly-available game features. These messages are stored in your Message box, marked by a scroll symbol on the Control Panel.
During the mission, you'll see an "immediate goal" on a banner across the top of your screen. This tells you what to do next to advance the mission along. When the goal is satisfied, the banner will be replaced by the next goal. If the banner doesn't change, then you haven't met the immediate goal. (For example, the first goal is to "Build some houses and watch immigrants arrive." If you do that and the banner doesn't change, then you haven't built enough houses. Build some more, and eventually you will have enough to move on to the next step.)
CREATING A CITY
A city in Pharaoh is essentially a collection of working buildings and housing. To build any new structure, select a category from the panel at the right of the screen, then select the specific structure you would like to build from the available choices you see. Move the mouse pointer over the landscape. You will see the structure itself where you are able to place the building, otherwise you will see a red diamond, indicating that this particular structure may not be placed in that location.
On-line help and feedback
Though it has not been fully implemented yet, Pharaoh does feature extensive on-line help. When in doubt, you can right click on any structure, location, or city inhabitant for more information about it or about your city in general.
WORKING BUILDINGS
In order for working buildings to function they must be placed in a certain way. This is mainly intuitive, although there are a few key concepts you should be familiar with.
Road Access
Most structures must be next to a road, because this is the primary means the city's inhabitants will use to interact with them. This does not mean that the building should be surrounded by road, merely that there should be some road along some part of the building's side(s).
Labor Access
Most working structures (as opposed to houses) need to employ people in order to operate. A freshly built structure dispatches a citizen to walk the streets in search of housing; if he walks past housing, the structure will know it has physical access to labor.
Insufficient number of workers in city
Even if a structure has access to labor (housing), there may not be enough workers in the city for all buildings to work. The game automatically allocates the available workforce to different tasks (you can review and change these via the Labor Advisor, which is not available until the third mission in this demo).
Supplying the Brickworks with straw
In order to get straw from a Storage Yard to a Brickworks, set the Storage Yard's special order for straw to "Empty Goods."
HOUSING & EVOLUTION
When immigrants first move into new housing, it is of very poor quality, called a 'hut'. One of your primary goals in building a successful city is to 'evolve' its housing, that is, to improve it by providing its inhabitants with food, water, and certain amenities. If a house subsequently loses access to food, water, or amenities on which it was dependant, it will similarly 'devolve', until access is restored. As housing evolves (or devolves), it's outward appearance changes.
Amenities
These take the form of actual goods (such as pottery and beer, delivered to the house from a bazaar), and access to services (such as religion & entertainment, provided by citizen 'walkers' i.e. priests & jugglers in this example).
Desirability
Proximity to unattractive structures (such as industrial buildings) makes it more difficult for a house to evolve, regardless of what amenities it might have access to, while proximity to attractive structures (such as gardens and statues) makes it easier for a house to evolve. It is therefore important to allocate certain districts of your city for quality housing, free from unsightly industrial structures, in order to achieve the highest level of housing evolution possible in a given mission.
Purpose of housing evolution
The better the quality of housing, the more taxes its occupants pay (though taxation is only available in the third mission of this demo). Additionally, housing evolution is often a goal in and of itself, required in order to win certain missions, because it is a good measure of how nice a place your city is to live in.
HOTKEYS
p Pause the game
r Rotate statues
[ Decrease game speed
] Increase game speed
f Fire overlay
w Water overlay
d Damage overlay
c Crime overlay
t Problems overlay
space Toggle between normal overlay and last overlay
F6 Windowed mode (only at 16bit color depth)
F7 640x480 resolution
F8 800x600 resolution
F9 1024x768 resolution
Number keys, '-' and '=' Advisors (when available)
So, you've played the demo, and you want to know what more you can expect to find in the full version of Pharaoh...
The story of Egypt
In the full version of Pharaoh, you'll play almost forty missions, covering the Pre-Dynastic Period, the Archaic Period, plus the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms of ancient Egypt. As you move through this 'campaign', you'll chart your family's rise to power from its humble beginnings...hopefully culminating in your accession as Pharaoh.
Along the way you'll choose which cities you wish to govern...some are set in a hostile environment where you'll be attacked by any one of several enemies, while some are more peaceful.
Build the greatest monuments the world has ever known...
In addition to the mud-brick mastaba you built in the demo, the full game of Pharaoh features many more monuments, such as the Sphinx, Pyramids, Brick Pyramids, Obelisks, Stepped Pyramids, 'Bent' Pyramids, Mausoleums and Sun Temples.
Often you'll need to stock these with grave goods, for the journey into the netherworld...
Interactive Kingdom Map of Egypt
The full version of Pharaoh features an interactive map of Egypt, where you'll set up relationships with the rest of the kingdom, and the ancient world. You can trade by land and sea with your Egyptian neighbors, as well as foreign kingdoms like Nubia, Libya, Kush, Lebanon, Canaan, Greece, Crete, Syria, Cyprus, Palestine, and foreign peoples like the desert Bedouin and Arabian nomads.
The Egyptian Pantheon
Fifteen gods and goddesses of Egypt are available for worship in the full version of Pharaoh. You'll also be able to dedicate a Large Temple to any of them. A god so revered will bestow special blessings on your city...
Military activity
In order to combat the "Nine Bows", or nine enemies of ancient Egypt, you'll be able to command land troops, such as archers, spearmen and chariot warriors, as well as naval forces. Transport ships are used to move your forces up and down the Nile, protected by powerful warships. You can also build defensive fortifications, like walls, towers and gatehouses.
Industry & Commodities
In the full version of Pharaoh you'll find many more buildings, industries and commodities. You'll need to import rare and exotic luxury goods, such as ebony, ivory, incense...even leopard skins, from far off lands like Pwenet and Mesopotamia.
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