Pharaoh and Cleopatra is an isometric city-building game set in Ancient Egypt by Impressions Games and published by Sierra Entertainment for Windows-based computers . It involves the construction and management of settlements and cities in ancient Egypt, and is the first such themed game in the City Building series.
| Pharaoh | |
|---|---|
| File:PharaohGameCover.jpg | |
| Developer(s) | Impressions Games |
| Publisher(s) | Sierra Entertainment |
| Platform(s) | Windows |
| Release | 1999 |
| Genre(s) | Strategy/Simulation |
| Mode(s) | Single Player |
| Cleopatra | |
|---|---|
| File:CleopatraGameCover.jpg | |
| Developer(s) | Impressions Games |
| Publisher(s) | Sierra Entertainment |
| Engine | Isometric projection |
| Platform(s) | Windows |
| Release | 2000 |
| Genre(s) | City-building game |
| Mode(s) | Single Player |
The original game Pharaoh was released on October 31, 1999, and complimented with an expansion pack, Queen of the Nile: Cleopatra, released by BreakAway Games the following year. Both the original game and expansion pack and commonly referred to, and my be purchased as one, under the title Pharoh and Cleopatra
Game description
- See this section of the City Building Series article for a gameplay overview.
Pharaoh is based on the same game engine as Caesar III, also by Sierra Entertainment, and operates on the same principles, but has many improvements and exceptions which will be described in this article.
Winning conditions
Each city must be "won" before the next city in the campaign can be accessed and played. Each mission sets five targets for the city, each being a value on a rating scale. A higher target along the scale represents a higher difficulty level for the city.
There are five rating scales: population, representing simply the number of residents in the city; the culture rating, representing the population's access to city services; monuments, which represents monument completion; the prosperity rating, which represents the city's financial success; and the kingdom rating, representing the city's relations with the Pharaoh and other cities in the kingdom.
Religion
The gods present in Pharaoh are:
- Osiris, god of the Nile flood
- Ra, god of the kingdom
- Ptah, god of industry and workers
- Seth, god of war
- Bast, goddess of the home
Some cities worship only a selection of these gods, and all cities have a 'patron god' which must be worshipped more than others and is harder to please. In addition to temple-building, festivals may be thrown to specific gods to appease them.
If a god is angry, it may effect a disaster upon the city, relevant to the god's ___domain. Osiris, for example, will reduce the Nile flood, thus reducing agricultural yields.
Trade
Trade is an essential part of the game and for most cities a primary source of income. Pharaoh has a highly sophisticated trade system, allowing the player to micro-manage the flow of commodities into and out of his city.
Excessive importing of a product can be prevented by instructing merchants to only deliver products to city storage yards if those storage yards have not exceeded a given stockpile. Similarly, exports can be limited so that the city does not run out of a given commodity. Additionally, instructions given to each individual storage yard can ensure that trade deliveries to one particular ___location are quickly distributed over the city, which is important for trade by water as cities usually only have one suitable site for docks.
The player can also order the city to stockpile a commodity by temporarily preventing export or consumption.
Industry and agriculture
In Pharaoh, industry is not only necessary for the production of commodities but also plays a big role in the mining of construction materials, which are used in monuments.
Pharaoh also has a complex agricultural system based on the annual inundation of the Nile. Some areas of the city map next to the river are designated as flood plain areas, which are covered by water once each in-game year and where only farms and roads may be built. The extent of the flood determines how fertile the farms are when they are planted after the flood, and this determines the yield of the farm at the harvest season.
| Primary industry | Raw Product | Secondary industry | Product | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wood Cutter | Wood | Chariot maker | Chariots | Wood for Shipbuilding; scaffolding (for monument construction); Chariots as equipment for Recruiter building for training chariot-riders |
| Clay Pit | Clay | Potter and Brickworks require Clay to function | Pottery; Bricks | Pottery used as domestic product for housing evolution, Bricks used in monument construction |
| Reed Gatherer | Reeds | Papyrus Maker | Papyrus | Library and School service buildings |
| Barley Farm | Barley | Brewery | Beer |
|
| Flax Farm | Flax | Weaver | Linen |
|
|
Chickpea Farm, |
Chickpeas, |
Cattle Ranch and Brickworks require Straw to function | Meat and Bricks | Food supplies; Bricks (for monument construction) |
| Gemstone Mine | Gemstones | Jeweler | Jewelry | Domestic product for housing evolution |
| Copper Mine | Copper | Weaponsmith | Weapons | Equipment for Recruiter building for training spearmen |
| Gold Mine | Gold | N/A | N/A | Delivered directly to city treasury to supplement funds |
| Granite Quarry | Granite | N/A | N/A | Monument construction - Obelisks |
| Limestone Quarry | Limestone | N/A | N/A | Monument construction - Pyramids |
| Plain stone Quarry | Plain stone | N/A | N/A | Monument construction - Pyramids |
| Sandstone Quarry | Sandstone | N/A | N/A | Monument construction - Sun Temples |
Military
Some cities are susceptible to attack by other civilizations, and the player must counter this threat by building defenses. A maximum of six armies can be recruited from the general population, each consisting solely of spearmen, archers, or chariot-riders. Walls, gates, and towers, limited only by costs, can also be built to defend the city. Warships can also be constructed for naval defense.
In addition to defense, the player will sometimes be asked by other cities to provide reinforcements for a battle elsewhere.
It should be noted that police officers can also fight enemy armies but usually very unsuccessfully.
Monuments
.JPG){kind=link}
Some cities require that specific monuments be constructed before the player may move onto the next city in the campaign. These monuments can be obelisks, mastaba tombs, pyramids or sphinxes, and generally require a lot of time, effort and space to complete. The most time-consuming stage of monument construction is the acquisition of building materials, mostly granite, limestone or plain stone. These can be obtained at quarries, which require a large workforce.
Historical accuracy
.JPG){kind=link}
Although the puzzle-like aspect of Pharaoh keeps the simulation far from realistic, the game stays true to the chronological order and timing of major events in the history of Egypt, including monument construction, wars and national disasters, the births and deaths of notable leaders, and the founding and fall of ancient cities.
The game also provides limited encyclopeadic information about ancient Egyptian practices within its help menu. The instructional booklet includes a much more thorough but short history of Egypt.
Campaign structure
Throughout the game the player takes the role of successive generations of a particular family, progressing from city to city and ascending in rank from village elder to pharaoh. In most cases, the player is given the option of two cities to choose from to complete the next level. Usually one is more focused on domestic challenges, while the other involves military campaigns.
| Era | Rank | Peaceful assignment | Military assignment | Start Year | Reigning Pharoah | Primary Goal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Predynastic Period | Village Elder | Nubt (Naqada) | 3500 BC | None | Establish the first Egyptian village in history | |
| Thinis | 3100 BC | Thinite Nobles | Establish a local capitol in Lower Egypt | |||
| Perwadjyt (Buto) | 3050 BC | Thinite Confederacy | Discover irrigation and inundation methods | |||
| Archaic Period | Village Noble | Nekhen (Hierakonpolis) | 3000 BC | Narmer | Build a city to unify Egypt | |
| Men-nefer (Memphis) | 2900 BC | Hor-Aha | Build the first Egyptian capitol | |||
| Royal Scholar | Timna | 2850 BC | Den | Build a mining military outpost | ||
| Abedju (Abydos) | Behdet (Apollinopolis) | 2685 BC | Khasekhemwy | Establish the first Egyptian Navy | ||
| Old Kingdom | Royal Scribe | Abu (Elephantine) | Selima Oasis | 2650 BC | Establish a rich trading center/Build a military outpost | |
| Royal Judge | Saqqara | 2630 BC | Djoser | Build the Stepped Pyramid | ||
| Royal Mayor | Meidum | Serabit Khadim | 2600 BC | Build a royal burial complex/Reconquer a lost military outpost | ||
| South Dahshur | Buhen | 2575 BC | Build the Bent Pyramid | |||
| Royal Governor | North Dahshur | 2563 BC | Build the first True Pyramid | |||
| On (Heliopolis) | Iunet (Dendera) | 2551 BC | ||||
| Rostja (Giza) | 2508 BC | Build the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx | ||||
| Djedu (Abusir) | Bahariya Oasis | 2465 BC | ||||
| Nomarch | - | - | - | - | ||
| Chancellor | Dakhla Oasis | Dunqul Oasis | 2246 BC | |||
| Middle Kingdom | Vizier | Waset (Thebes) | Thinis | 2216 - 2215 BC | ||
| Menat Khufu (Beni Hassan) | Kebet (Coptos) | 1952 - 1951 BC | ||||
| Pharaoh | Itjtawy | 1880 BC | ||||
| Sawu (Mersa Gawasis) | Iken (Mirgissa) | 1800 BC | ||||
| Bubastis | Heh (Semna) | 1710 BC | ||||
| New Kingdom | Sauty (Lykopolis) | Khmun (Hermopolis) | 1541 BC | |||
| Baki (Kuban) | Byblos | 1480 - 1479 BC | ||||
| Hetepsenusret (Kahun) | Rowarty (Avaris) | 1372 - 1279 BC | ||||
Platforms
Windows 95 and subsequent. There was a Macintosh version planned(the manual provides Mac alternatives for a single button mouse).
System requirements
Win95, Pentium 133 (200 recommended), 32MB RAM (64MB recommended), 4X CDROM, 360MB free HDD space (600MB recommended) including 100MB free space on Windows HDD, 1MB VGA video card (2MB SVGA recommended).
Important Note: The game has an internal speed setting, ranging from 10-100%, increases in increments of 10.
External links
- Pharaoh entry at MobyGames
- Pharaoh description including system requirements.
- Pharaoh at HeavenGames