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Across The Wyrding Sea-v1.1
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| Author |
File Description |
| Needles |
Posted on 02/17/07 @ 08:57 AM (updated 04/03/07)
| File Details |
|---|
| Ruleset: |
AoW: SM - Unofficial Patch 1.4 |
| Map Size: |
XL |
| Levels: |
3 |
| Single Player?: |
Yes |
| Co-Op vs. AI?: |
No |
| PBEM/Hotseat?: |
Yes |
| Multiplayer Online?: |
No |
| # of Wizards: |
6 |
| # of players: |
6 |
| Skill Level: |
Any (depends on AI difficulty setting) |
| Password Protected: |
No |
Here’s my latest map. I’m not sure who (besides me,) plays these XL wonders, but I hope you’re out there! The map is balanced for MP use, alternatively, non-AI complainers can set the difficulty to their preferred level and get going!
Description/instructions: The map should work okay for MP, with balanced start positions – although it’s quite large. Don't fear the large number of events, my fellow story-haters! The events are all map driven, (explore 'x' and a single event happens,) never story driven (take the blah key to blah and do blah with it – I appreciate there are those who like this rpg-style of play, I personally detest it.)
You may customize wizards if you wish. Use of shadow shift/lock/etc. shouldn't prove too much of a balance problem - though you may not care for where you wind up! (I haven’t developed the shadow level very much – it’s my first use of it as a map painter and I didn’t wish to get too involved.)
Hints: Explore everything and keep an eye on your gold and mana totals as you do so, you may be pleasantly surprised.
Features: Just a big honkin’ map. I’ve augmented the stock hero stable with my usual bad-verse description rogues gallery, including several new ones created for this map. There are a few new items as well. The use of intermittent shadow terrain on the surface and underground levels makes for some interesting gameplay.
Acknowledgments: Thanks to The Sheik for his wizard portraits, available in the "downloads" section. It's great to see some actual public domain images available for use (as opposed to all the suspiciously “copyright infringement” looking images around.) Also thanks to Aquamote for the tollbooth teleporter idea (from the "library" section.) I hope you're still out there in the Age of Wonderverse, my friend. Finally, thanks to the 1.4Upatch team for all the great map tools and units.
Final Note: If there turns out to be as many nautical features in 1.5 as it appears at this point, there's a good chance I'll revisit this map when that patch is released. At that time I may change the wizards from pure elemental spheres to cosmos sphere with four choices in their "natural" sphere. They will be less true to their descriptions/background, but that concerns me far, far less than how the map plays. I'm thinking the map may do better without so many of the high level spells floating around. I'd like to get feedback from folks about this idea.
Peace & Love,
-Needles
Update version 1.1: Corrects the Teleport issue the Groll has identified below, plus a couple non-critical things that were bugging me. |
| Author | Comments & Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
|---|
| Magog |
Posted on 02/17/07 @ 07:00 PM |
| The Groll |
Posted on 02/22/07 @ 02:04 PM
Looks nice.
I will play your map in hotseat with my girl the next weeks and give you feedback and a vote than.
Have only taken a short look in the editor at it until now. What I like is that all nations have the same chances to win. All only one cits at the start. Same start settings. I hope in a future version to see some new hero faces?
Later more... can take some time because I´m very busy myself this weeks. |
Swolte
Staff |
Posted on 03/10/07 @ 06:19 PM
:D
Two issues:
Firstly, the map still lacks a strong feel of culture. Living beings create and organize the world around them in certain patterns (maybe not always as humans would do it, but still... even fantasy creatures have homes, territories, trade, racial expansion, etc).
In your maps, I miss that! For example, several races and structures are randomly spread all over the map and neighbouring eachother in a manner that still looks artificial, random.
On the bright side, it looks less 'computerized' (rmg-ish) than your previous one that was really 'bad' in that respect. This one still seems more 'alive', as there are less random things flying around.
My next, second, point echoes from your previous map. Except for the sea and the ShadowWorld-city, the map lacks in the amount of real 'impact areas'. Look at maps by the Groll, and you know what I mean. These are areas that you will remember because they stand out in one way or another. They gives areas a certain signature and can enhance the game experience, imo. Its getting there, but not strong enough!!
Ok, I hope you (and readers) don't take my comments the wrong way. This map stands above most what is uploaded here! There is nothing like it uploaded. Gameplay should be interesting as the sea is extremely fast and events keep things less predictable and more immersive.
I just feel that the mapmaker can do better!
:p
(Perhaps I wish he wouldn't just makes maps for the sake of straightforward multiplayer gameplay! ;))[Edited on 03/10/07 @ 09:12 PM]
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| The Groll |
Posted on 04/02/07 @ 07:46 PM
MY girl and I playing your map in hotseat since some days now and she plays as elfen in the dungeons.
We have discovered a bad error in your map.
An thing that can happen to everyone who make maps and use events. But this error has captured the whole army of my girl.
There is a magic crypt in the dungeon near the start city of the elven wizzard. South-west of this city. there you will be teleportet to the shadowworld and there you have to move south-east to escape using the mirror pool as teleport back but you have made the mistake there. Tekeport event from 28/95/3 back to the dungeons did not function. You made the mistake inserting the coordinates 28/96/1 and there is shadowvoid. So you are trapped with all units there forever. Changing it to the right coordiantes is possible but not in a running game because the savefile contains the map too and therefore a change in the map did not help you in a running game. We have reloaded and replayed this turn and of course my girl who was a little bit upset have not entered this teleporter again.
As I have said this can happen to every mapmaker. It´s only sad if players get caught forever with their armys.
I hope you will rework this map whjen you have found all errors and maybe hear to Swoltes hints a little. The map is nice and I will report more if I can say more. I have the feeling that the AI´s can´t expand very good but that is a question that I can´t answer so far because I have not used cheats to not take away my joy playing the map. |
Needles
File Author |
Posted on 04/03/07 @ 04:53 PM
My profuse apologies to you, your girl, and all the others who have downloaded the map so far.
For what it's worth, I'm pretty sure this is what happened to that Roman legion that disappeared in the desert back in the first century - swept into a teleporter and couldn't return due to poor typing.
Thank you VERY much for spotting and reporting this - I suppose now I'll have to come up with rhymes for "Groll" so you can be a hero in my next map...(let's see, pole, troll, scroll,...) |
| The Groll |
Posted on 05/20/07 @ 06:15 PM
The map is realy nice.
Playability: 4
(Insert Playability analysis here)
I don´t know what vote to give here.
4 means that is it good to play but it is much to easy and that is the biggest minus in this map. I give a 4 because it´s good to play but it is much to easy and so it gets fast boring.
There whery no nice "bad" surprises that let you be carefull in the future of playing.
Balance: 4
(Insert Balance analysis here)
All races are balanced.
Means not to much. The map can be played with every race and I realy like such maps.
Creativity: 3
(Insert Creativity analysis here)
Very good. Much better than most other maps.
It looks like you are in a wild landscape. Stylish terrain. But to little diversity. It´s to much of the same. Some secial areas would be fine.
Map Design: 3
(Insert Map Design analysis here)
The same as creativity abouve.
Story/Instructions: 2
(Insert Story/Instructions analysis here)
There is not much and that makes the map a little boring after some time.
Additional Comments:
Everywhere where I have used the word "boring" I missed some events. That is a the minus point in this map. Boring means not that the map is bad designed. Boring means "boring" not in a to negative kind. It´s only to lees variety.
If you put maybe 100 different events into this map it will become much more attractive.
The landscape needs some more special locations where the player says "Whoau, whats that? I must explore this special location. What will happen there? Damn I don´t have the power now. I must come back later."
And some more different terrain. Snow, Steppe...
The shadowland looks a little easy/boring too.
I have played the map in hotseat with my girl now and we have ends the game after I have occupiend 80% of the surface (I play as humans) without a single day of loosing something important. There was never the point where I realy need to turn back. Run away from a terrible enemy.
My girl plays as Elfen in the dungeons. She is not as good as my humans but she has no real foe too.
So I asked her to use a cheat code to look at the whole map after some boring days and there was no real opponent left and so we stopped the game because it become too boring.
Some tips:
If you push up the AI played (maybe take a look into Gates of Elocin) the map will becomes interesting and more difficult.
If you change some terrain with special locations it becomes more interesting.
If you insert 100 Events, the map becomes very nice.
Don´t place to much different citys (races) to close together in such a map. It looks chaotic and it´s "unbeliveable" that there are Tigrans side by side with Orcs, Syron and Elven.
A race should inhabit a part of the land and you (the player) should be happy if you find a Tigran city after you have realy crossed the border of your folk/nation.
Dungeons:
Do not make the tunnels and walls to straight.
Do not make the caves too large. The player don´t know if he is in a dungeon where it is tricky to move or on the surface.
For this realy nice map it is worth to make such a bigger update.
I have said in my last reviews that the single votes mean nothing. Sometimes I have voted the map with a overall "sensed" vote.
In this map I have a strange feeling to make such a sensed vote in the end because the map looks nice and it drags you to play it but it´s too simple knitted and so I need to drag the vote down from a higer level that I liked to give.
The map promised so much when you look at it first but becomes very fast, very boring (more events, locations) soon.
It´s difficult but I try. I try to compare it with other maps...
The map is nice but boring. So I vote 3,0
Maybe you feel sad for this vote? Sorry.
I said I don´t like to make this sensed vote for this map but I must do it. It is not my intention to make this map bad and compared with other very bad maps the 3 is OK for me. But from 3 to 5 the way is short but a 5er map is a realy outstanding map and so the 3 is even a little to much for this one. Again sorry. It would be better if we could rate from 0-10 or 0-100 and if we had some more options like FUN for example. I have tryed to explain what I have felt during playing the map with my girl. I have written a lot here (half an hour) and that alone shows that I see much potential in this nice map.
If you like you can have one of the last savegames to take a look.
Please make a bigger update of this map. It is worth the work. Rework it but take at least the same time for events as for making the landscape. I think you shold take round about a minimum of 100 hours for the changes and this map can become very, very nice.
In a way that everyone likes to play it again and again.
Best wishes - The Groll[Edited on 05/20/07 @ 06:28 PM]
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| PawelS |
Posted on 11/21/07 @ 01:54 PM
Isn't Hyraherym supposed to start with Tigrans? Her starting city is Tigran in the editor, but it changes to Draconians in the game. The units and hero in the city are Tigran too, so I think her default starting race should be the Tigrans instead of Draconians.[Edited on 11/21/07 @ 01:55 PM]
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HGDL v0.8.2 |
| Rating |
|---|
| 3.2 | | Breakdown |
|---|
| Playability | 4.0 | | Balance | 4.0 | | Creativity | 3.0 | | Map Design | 3.0 | | Story/Instructions | 2.0 |
| Statistics |
| Downloads: | 1,382 |
| Favorites: [] | 0 |
| Size: | 1.10 MB |
| Added: | 02/17/07 |
| Updated: | 04/03/07 |
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