I have uploaded this adventure to Stronghold Heaven to allow players that did not compete in the challenge at I-ChallengeU.com a chance to play the map on their own terms. There is a small readme attached to the zip as well.
By official proclamation of the King it has come to pass. Build a castle to suit the Kings fancy and forever be considered one of his finest subjects.
The King has requested that you clear and build a castle on this beautiful mountain side. All of England will look upon this castle as the grandest of all structures on this fair land.
This map being a contest map, will not fulfill all of the much desired items found in most economic missions. If you do decide to rate this entry, please make sure you understand the meaning behind the upload. It is meant as a guide to users who have not played in challenges and may want to see what its all about.
Review comments are in sympathy with the author's comments on the download description page.
Playability: Whilst I missed out on my chance to play this challenge (and if anyone is listening, any chance of another?!) I wanted to review this map for the map it is. As an economic scenario, it is fine and is still an interesting story to complete. It kept my interest throughout.
Balance: Okay, the economic goals are achievable, but I give this a 4 because it is still a challege to meet the criteria bearing in mind that this is a fairly big map. Some larger maps just don't seem to work, the sheer size can cause problems with taking food to the granary when you have a large population, for example. Or the movement of troops around the castle. This works fine and makes a change from smaller castles that are 'compact'.
Creativity: Linked to the story about setting up a new castle on a hilltop, this works very well. It would stand very well against other economic maps and presents a challenge.
Map Design: About spot on! I love to see realistic landscapes, or a map where thought has gone into the layout and good use of terrain tools. This is a very well made map. Terrain blends in well to surrounding features and the use of vegetation and stone to 'pad out' the land is exceptional.
Story/Instructions: Thorough, concise, appealing and easy to follow. It's not hard to spend a few moments and let the mind wander to come up with a story, no matter how basic it is, but to do it well is another matter.
Very good map, certainly recommended, especially to those that didn't play the challenge first time around. And to sound like a broken record, any chance of another?!
Dianna125
Posted on 12/10/02 @ 12:00 AM
Rating
3.6
Breakdown
Playability
4.0
Balance
3.0
Creativity
4.0
Map Design
4.0
Story/Instructions
3.0
For a large map, this one was laid out very well and very diverse. The goals weren't too difficult, but the bears and wolves proved to be an interesting twist. The bandits didn't come to my castle though - their presence was announced and then they left the map. I assume that this was due to the fact that this map was not intended to be an economic one. Overall, this was a fun map with a great layout.
peter2008
Posted on 03/23/09 @ 02:04 PM
This is a medium size map? You feel so small in it.
It's a PYOK map, and siting granary and stockpile at different spots will make up significant differences, too. (Replayability.)
It was really lovely to play and do some castle building in this moved and "waving" landscape. Only some sharp transitions could have done better: smother elevating from low ground upwards, beaches at the sea, some mixture of land around the cluster of marsh.)
Probably come back when I want to play around in a relaxed mood.
[Edited on 03/23/09 @ 05:48 PM]
ericgolf Staff
Posted on 03/23/09 @ 03:32 PM
I was passing by and noticed the minimap graphic link was dead. So I took the liberty of adding the minimap. In the process I had to guess that the version used was v1.1 (the update form insists that the version is now added).
Posted on 03/02/02 @ 12:00 AM 