Magnificent Men-nefer

by Jayhawk

Men-nefer was my first choice to play during the beta and upon reading the mission briefing I realised I had decided to tackle a monster. This version is, I believe, my 6th attempt to finish the map.

I started out placing my palace, a few noble residences and a bunch of farms. When that stabilised I added regular and luxury shops to keep the people happy and added a priest or two. These were allowed to do some serious shopping before I added the buildings they worked in.

A little later I added the actual pyramid, just north of the residential district, close to the quarry. A bunch of shops was added to start gathering resources. Annoyingly, I had two pharaohs die rapidly after each other in the first couple of years.

Men-nefer: Overview of the high society part of town.

The brickmaking industry was expanded and a few mastabas were placed between the pyramid construction site and the palace. Once the shops were thriving, I added an overseer and had him start quarrying limestone. In the mean time I opened up trade with various peddlers and with the Tura site. Soon pristine white limestone was coming to town by the barge load.

Men-nefer: Overview of the necropolis with the pyramid in the background.

Three more overseers were added and after a while the Tura site was shut down for trade, as I had enough limestone to add a few very small pyramids to the complex just in case any more pharaohs met an untimely end. The complex took shape slowly and I decided to open trade with the stele quarry so I could commemorate some of my expeditions. I added more priests and managed to stop people complaining about worship, which may have been a first. As my laborers were lugging blocks of limestone around the map, I had time to make some quiches.

Men-nefer: Overview of the great pyramid nearing completion.

The world map shows a sphinx to be constructed, which needed lots of limestone. It didn’t seem possible to set limestone aside while the pyramid was being made, but while the stone cutters were putting a fine edge on the pyramid, the limestone suddenly accumulated to more than enough for the sphinx. So with the great pyramid 90% finished I dispatched the goods and managed to up my prestige by a fair amount. A few seasons later the pyramid was finished and my prestige had reached divine, even with the -26 hit it had taken as two more pharaohs died shortly after one another.

Men-nefer: Overview of the harbour and the farming village.
  • Challenge Level: Normal
  • Elapsed Time: 58 years
  • Prestige: 203 (Divine)
  • Total Population: 875
  • City Satisfaction: Perfect

Download the nearly finished city here