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| Author |
File Description |
| greenmonster |
Posted on 02/25/03 @ 04:24 PM (updated 09/24/03)
| File Details |
|---|
| Ruleset: |
AoW2: TWT - TS Standard Rules |
| Map Size: |
S |
| Levels: |
2 |
| Single Player?: |
No |
| Co-Op vs. AI?: |
No |
| PBEM/Hotseat?: |
Yes |
| Multiplayer Online?: |
Yes |
| # of Wizards: |
4 |
| # of players: |
4 |
| Skill Level: |
Any (depends on AI difficulty setting) |
| Password Protected: |
No |
****map updated 9/24/03****
** special thanks to Final Bolt for letting me know about a few errors in my scripts! **
BACKGROUND
Not wanting to share these beautiful lands with the foul Orcs, the Elves strived for long years to get rid of them, and their goblin lackies.
Try as they might, all of their military strikes failed, even with the aid of the dwarves and halflings. An alternate idea had to be found.
And it was.
In a stroke of genius, it was realized that since the river flowed from the elven north to the orcish south, and that without water to sustain their lives, the orcs would be forced to move away, and take the goblins with them.
In a cooperative effort never seen before, and never duplicated, the Elves and Dwarves used all of their skills and magics, toppling a mountain which forced the mighty life giving river from flowing south; all of its mighty power would flow into the Halfling lands to the east.
Unfortunatly, the effort proved too much for the Dwarven Lord, and he died mid-effort. Without his help, the Elf Queen could not control the massive forces of Nature, and things went different then planned. Tunnels beneath the targeted mountain, home of many innocent goblins, gave way, wiping out 2 large goblin habitations, and flooding much of the underground. The undergound took the water as fast as the river could supply it, so the flow of water east was also stopped, killing many halfling crops, as well as progressing the decline of the Tigran lands into infertile desert.
Although things did not go according to plan, the river no longer could flow past the fallen mountain, now a massive rock dam, and the orc population dwindled.
After the chaos, the dwarves returned to their subterainian homes, very saddened at the loss of their lord. They no longer dealt with the elves, as many among them blamed them for their sorrows.
The Elves and Halflings however worked together to stop the loss of water to the underground. Enough debris were finally placed into the holes that the river formed a small lake in front of the Elf capital (flooding some areas), and eventually even flowing east again into the hafling lands (where it also naturally split and flowed into the Tigran lands of the southeast).
After, the elves gave the halflings full dominion of the lands they had until then only worked for the elves. Seperated by a range of mountains, the two races quickly lost contact as they both needed to attend to their own matters after the wars.
The elves themselves worked hard to turn the lands around their capital into a beautiful place, trying to cheer up their queen, who also felt some responsibilty for the Dwarf Lord's death. Her sadness lingered, and grew, despite the beauty achieved by her people, and she eventually died from grief. Her daughter, Reignbeau, assumed the throne, but she lacked the skills to heal the wounds her people suffered; for having their queen die from sadness was very hard for the elves to take, and while they still remain loyal to the throne, they have splintered into 2 groups, having little to do with one another.
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Many more years had passed during the elves rebuilding period, and in these times the halflings (no longer ruled or advised by the elves) had decided that they could increase the yields of their farms if they too diverted the river into smaller streams throughout their lands.
They dug large trenches to where they wanted the waters to flow, and dammed the already small trickle of water that 'escaped from their river'. The increase in water did indeed give them a greater crop yield, so the halflings thought that more water would help them even more. In an effort to get more water, a side wall of the lake was widened and deepened.
the influx of new water is too much for their tributary system though, and now their lands are flooding. And for some reason, they blame the elves for all of this, saying 'they should have been here to advise us!'
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While the halflings now have an overabundance of water, they have also caused a shortage for the Tigrans. Their lands are becoming bone dry, and their populations are starving.
They no longer wish to stay neutral. They want water, and food, and it might just be too late for them to be talked out of starting a war.
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Some goblins have survived the floods and destruction, and they resent the Dwarves and Elves for it. They also resent the Orcs too, however, for forcing them into battle, and bringing them into such destruction. They are however, few in #, and in no position to rebel against the Orcs, should they come back to bully them.
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For all of the efforts, the Orcs were not driven from the lands. While most of their tribes have dwindled and moved due to lack of water here, one tribe in particular has survived, even thrived. This is due to a small cave near their land, which leads to an underground source of water, thanks to all of the flooding.
Since the elves have not bothered to patrol the area since the altering of the rivers flow (although the elves do remain vigilant in the forests to the north), it has given the Orcs of this tribe a chance to rebuild an army. Led by the wizard Ulmrat, his people are now ready to rally the other local tribes, and take these lands for their own for once and for all.
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| Pages: [1] 2 » Last » | | Author | Comments & Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
|---|
| Rajigar |
Posted on 03/21/03 @ 09:58 AM
Well, what can I say... I really enjoyed playing this map!
Balance: 4
I had this feeling that tigrians have a little too much gold and that elves have a little too much mana... I was playing tigrians though.
Creativity: 5
I like dry waterbeds, just like the author said :)
Map Design: 5
Very nice, there's not much more to say.
Story/Instructions: 5
Original story for a change :)
Additional Comments:
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| Wazzz |
Posted on 03/27/03 @ 10:27 AM
I'm sorry man, as I'm quite a busy man, I haven't had the time to play this map. looks fine at first glance
Balance: 4
Haven't played.
Creativity: 4
I really like your map's Surface level, but the underground isn't that good. The editing and details on the underground aren't great and there are a few dead end cave entrances. Also, digging so much can become tedious for players.
Map Design: 4
You placed some cities right on the very edge of the map, not only will this deny them crop fields, but it's also ugly.
Great job on the dried out riverbed. Kudos there! Surface well edited. Too many cave entrances though.
Story/Instructions: 4
Funny, the msg says halfling lands to the west. But in the map, all the halflings are in the east.
Great names, nice background story, great mapconcept.
Additional Comments:
One of the better ones, judging on creativity mainly
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greenmonster
File Author |
Posted on 03/27/03 @ 11:34 PM
Wazz, thanks for taking time out of your schedule to look it over for me, but I do have a question about your review....
in your write-up, you give me 4's straight across the board, but in the smaller 'chart', which affects a maps actual score, you gave me a 3 in 2 catagories...
which way is right?
also, there are no caves that lead to dead ends.... there are a series of caves that appear that way, but they actually keep going above/below ground and lead to an underground city in the mountains.
{EDIT; Wazz was correct; in the initial release somehow a block of earth was placed that ruined my tunnels. it was immediatly corrected.)
tunneling is a matter of taste... alot of people find it tedious, some find it rewarding, some strategic. I've made sure it is both rewarding and strategic, but have also made it unnecessary for those who hate to tunnel. Besides, tunneling won't be possible for most races until late in the game.[Edited on 08/19/04 @ 01:23 AM]
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Swra Latckretcnin
(id: Natalinasmpf) |
Posted on 04/10/03 @ 07:15 AM
The tunnels and water made for interesting warfare, both tunnels and mountains made for decisive planning as well as forcing me to adopt having more variety of units.
Balance: 3
There was a very good balance, but there were a lot of magic rifts (especially within Orc reach) that enabled me to research many level 3 spells and 4 skills within 70 turns. It was quite well balanced, with structure and water placement, had the magic rifts not been counted, although I feel the author may have added more rifts out of beauty and map design.
Of course, I had the mercy of not counting the fact that the Elves had an unfair advantage of having the relatively most beautiful terrain on the map, even though the other races had good scenery. (j/k) :p
Creativity: 5
All in all, it was very creative both in ways of map design, story and the way you could play it.
Map Design: 5
It was very beautiful, especially the waterfall and the surrounding areas, although I may have messed it up with my ring of decay-wielding Undead hero....:p
Good placement of objects and mountain passes and rivers, as well as the hidden structures underground.
Story/Instructions: 4
Very creative story, perhaps you could provide more on the Wizard background, and added a sign or two.
Additional Comments:
I played as Orcs. The map could be revised a bit, but very good IMO. [Edited on 04/10/03 @ 07:20 AM]
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RogerRabid
(id: Roger the Rampant) |
Posted on 05/14/03 @ 08:14 PM [Edited on 05/01/09 @ 10:34 PM]
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| Luticus |
Posted on 07/01/03 @ 07:56 PM
Highly playable. This map is the current darling of my AoW2 online multiplayer group.
Balance: 4
I wish more maps would attempt the unconventional balance shown here. I dislike symmetrical maps, even to the point of preferring imbalance if the map is attractive and has logical terrain.
Creativity: 5
I like the hidden tunnel entrances and again, the unusual balancing.
Map Design: 4
Very well-designed. The combination of a realistic terrain, uneven resource distribution give it a lot of flavor.
Story/Instructions: 4
Good. To be honest, my group usually skips this stuff, but I appreciate the time an deffort put into this area.
Additional Comments:
Well done! Let's have some more like this!
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| ZombieEater |
Posted on 02/29/04 @ 10:45 PM
Balance: 5
Very unusual setup, but also very balanced overall.
Creativity: 5
Good use of map tricks, e.g. the famous waterfall. A number of scripts used to add variety to the map.
Map Design: 4
Well laid out, no boring spots. I'm not sure how good the idea is to "hide" Cave Entrances behind Mountains, but that's probably only because I didn't find them. ;) A few backdoors that take some digging, but may well be worth the price of admission.
Story/Instructions: 5
Very creative story, setting up the scenario, but no rigid script sequences or connect-the-dots at work.
Additional Comments:
Definitely a lot of replay value in this one, mostly because you won't see everything the first time around. |
| LordTheRon |
Posted on 08/04/04 @ 04:07 AM
Great playability. There's so much in this map. I've played it four times now (with all the different factions) and I keep discovering new things. This is best played with either people who know the map or with people who've never played it before.
Balance: 5
Amazing job on the balance. The starting conditions for all players are different, the goals are different and the races are different, yet the balance is there. A lot of playtesting went into this map and it shows!
Creativity: 5
Very creative map, especially on the goals for all the races and once again the balance. This could have been a 'mirror-map' but instead of the easy way out Greenmonster chose to do it very creative. Nice hidden caves and resources too.
Map Design: 5
Excellent design. Every square has been given much thought. Nice use of the mapeditor possibilities.
Story/Instructions: 4
The story is there and your instructions are clear. Nothing truly outstanding here but functional nonetheless. The fact that you have a goal as a race surely adds to the story.
Additional Comments:
This is one fun PBEM map. Plays good in teams or as FFA. GM is making a version for Shadow Magic too. |
greenmonster
File Author |
Posted on 08/19/04 @ 01:17 AM
because of differences between the 2 game engines, they play quite differently from each other - getting rid of the production resource 'cheat' makes a HUGE difference, especially when this map was designed around that very cheat! The SM editor has allowed me to do a bunch of cool things that really fit in with the background story though, and make the map feel more alive.
I'm quite happy with the SM version, although the AoW2 version remains my favorite.
Not to pat myself on the back too hard, but if you have not played this map using aow2, you are really missing out... go dust off your aow2 cd and find out what I mean!
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greenmonster
File Author |
Posted on 12/15/04 @ 11:11 AM
I HAVE, however, done an 'over-the-top' version for SM (probably PBEM only, because of all of the indies), which I'll release if there is enough interest. |
| Pages: [1] 2 » Last » |
 
HGDL v0.8.2 |
| Rating |
|---|
| 4.6 | | Breakdown |
|---|
| Playability | 4.6 | | Balance | 4.1 | | Creativity | 4.9 | | Map Design | 4.6 | | Story/Instructions | 4.5 |
| Statistics |
| Downloads: | 2,518 |
| Favorites: [] | 1 |
| Size: | 56.66 KB |
| Added: | 02/25/03 |
| Updated: | 09/24/03 |
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