Men-nefer — A Capital is Founded

Mission: 4 of 38 — first Early Dynastic city
Era: Early Dynastic · Dynasty 1 · Pharaoh Hor-Aha
Classical name: Memphis
Starting funds: Very Easy 7 500 Db Easy 5 000 Db Normal 3 750 Db Hard 2 500 Db Very Hard 2 000 Db
Deities: Osiris · Ptah · Bast
Trade: Perwadjyt (300 Db) · Nekhen (550 Db) land; unlock after papyrus tutorial. Nubt / Thinis display-only
Previous mission: Nekhen — The First Pharaoh
Next mission: Timna — An Expedition to Sinai
Status: Implemented Tutorial

Briefing

History panel message_history_men_nefer; start popup message_trade_on_the_water:

After a lengthy struggle, King Hor-Aha has managed to unite the twin kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt, and proclaimed himself Pharaoh over all Egypt! As a sign of his absolute sovereignty, and the establishment of this, the first dynasty of Egypt, Hor-Aha has ordered the founding of an imposing capital at Men-nefer, from which he may govern this fledgling nation. Because of your family's many generations of faithful service to this land, Pharaoh has chosen you to be the architect of this splendid city. Because the capital is the very symbol of our Kingdom, its citizens must enjoy a quality of life heretofore unknown in this land. To this end you will eventually need to trade with other cities in the realm, and to provide a higher standard of education for at least some of your citizens. You must also build a sacred mastaba tomb for the city's nobles.

Men-nefer (Memphis) introduces education (papyrus / scribal school), land trade with a dock unlock, and the first mastaba monument — while still gating features through tutorial milestones.

Objectives

Population1 500
Culture15
Prosperity20
Monuments9
Kingdom40
Housing level10

Goals match mission1.pak scenario 4. Victory also waits on the three tutorial flags below plus a short cooldown.

Tutorial unlocks

Empire map starts disabled. Core civic / farm / pottery / beer / entertainment / Osiris–Ptah–Bast temples are available from the start.

1 Spacious Apartment Unlocks Reed Gatherer, Papyrus Workshop, Scribal School; Education advisor; message_tutorial_education.

100 papyrus in yards Enables empire map + Dock; Trade advisor; message_tutorial_trade_with_other_cities.

100 bricks in yards Unlocks Bricklayers Guild + Small Mastaba; Monuments advisor; message_tutorial_monuments. Import bricks from Perwadjyt after opening the route.

Pharaoh requests

Timed requests from pak scenario 4 (chains match dump):

Year 6 · month 8 9 beer / 12 months — ok → KR +5 → gift 20 bricks; refuse/late → −6

Year 8 · month 10 8 papyrus / 9 months — ok → papyrus demand↑ → +5; refuse/late → demand↓ → −4

Year 10 · month 5 10 barley / 18 months — ok → +9; refuse/late → −6

Year 15 · month 4 8 pottery / 12 months — ok → +9; refuse/late → −6

Strategy

Grow housing to Spacious Apartment for education, make papyrus to open trade, import bricks for the mastaba, then meet ratings while answering Pharaoh.

Phase 1 — Capital basics

Chickpea and barley farms, pottery, beer, Booth/Bandstand, and temples to Osiris, Ptah, and Bast. Push at least one house to Spacious Apartment.

Phase 2 — Education and papyrus

Reed Gatherers → Papyrus Workshop → Storage Yard (≥ 100). Place a Scribal School for culture. Dock unlocks with trade.

Phase 3 — Trade and mastaba

Open Perwadjyt (300 Db) for bricks (and figs/clay/pottery/reeds). Nekhen (550 Db) sells clay/pottery/beer and buys papyrus. Completing the year-6 beer request gifts 20 bricks toward the mastaba unlock. Stock 100 bricks, then Bricklayers Guild + Small Mastaba for monument 9.

Available buildings

Building	Available
Civic, farms, pottery/beer, entertainment, Osiris/Ptah/Bast, mud walls / gatehouses / towers	Mission start
Reed Gatherer · Papyrus Workshop · Scribal School	≥ 1 Spacious Apartment
Dock	≥ 100 papyrus stored
Bricklayers Guild · Small Mastaba	≥ 100 bricks stored

Developer reference

Paths relative to repository root. Full empire redefine like Timna/Behdet.

Mission script — src/scripts/mission/m_004_mennefer.js

Imported by src/scripts/missions.js. hide_pak_cities / hide_pak_routes / hide_pak_objects, map_background empire id 1.

win_criteria {
  population 1500 · culture 15 · prosperity 20
  monuments 9 · kingdom 40 · housing_level 10
}
// Trade: Perwadjyt r1 land 300 · Nekhen r4 land 550
// Display: Nubt, Thinis · empire starts off until papyrus milestone
vars {
  spacious_apartment_needed : 1
  papyrus_stored : 100
  bricks_stored_needed : 100
}

Event handlers

event_mission_start ~225 message_trade_on_the_water; empire id 1; map off until papyrus; restore unlocks from vars. mission4_on_start
event_advance_day ~261 Spacious Apartment → education buildings + popup. mission4_handle_spacious_apartment
event_warehouse_filled ~295 / ~316 100 papyrus → trade/dock; 100 bricks → mastaba guild. mission4_handle_papyrus / bricks
event_advance_month requests Beer (+5→gift bricks 20); papyrus (demand± then KR); barley/pottery (+9/−6). mission4_pharaoh_request_*
event_update_victory_state ~285 Gates on apartment + papyrus + bricks flags and delay. mission4_handle_victory_state

Game messages

Key	Line	When
`message_history_men_nefer`	2493	History — “A Capital is Founded”
`message_trade_on_the_water`	3128	`start_message` — water trade / fishing / shipwright
`message_tutorial_education`	3212	After Spacious Apartment
`message_tutorial_trade_with_other_cities`	3276	After 100 papyrus
`message_tutorial_monuments`	3352	After 100 bricks

Save / map

bin_x64/Missions/mission_04.sav · Voice 204_mission.mp3 / 204_victory.mp3.

3 · Nekhen — The First Pharaoh 5 · Timna — An Expedition to Sinai