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Jerusalem, Saladins' assault
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| Author |
File Description |
| Lord Michael I |
Posted on 09/25/06 @ 07:59 PM (updated 09/28/06)
| File Details |
|---|
| Map Size: |
400x400 (Large) |
| Difficulty: |
Easy |
Minimap:
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A bazaar of living history, Jerusalem's Old City is a densely packed labyrinth of more than 100 streets, 1000 shops and more than 3000 years of human experience. The origin of the name of the city is uncertain. It is possible to understand the name (Hebrew Yerushalayim) as either "Heritage of Salem" or "Heritage of Peace".
That is a fragment of the small article I made to introduce the map, located in the zip file when downloaded. The zip file also contains a little document saying some tips, if you find the map a bit hard (Trust me it's easy).
I made the map as best as I could according to an image I found describing the XIII Jerusalem.
A little screenie of the map:
I think there isn't much to say here, since the story and the instructions are found in the zip file.
I'd like to thank Captain Diablo for playtesting and his feedback. I would like to thank Duc De Noisel (Heck, he just gave a link), giving a very useful link that gave me an idea on how to make the exterior terrain of the map. Please forgive me for the lame attempt of the dome of the rock, but it was the best I could do...
Have fun!
-----Update-----
- Added some stairs to the inner towers, allowing you to man them with crossbowmen if they breach your walls and get thos lazy pikemen down there to fight!
- Put some engineers I forgot to put in defensive to make them pour the oil alone.
- Some troops inseide Jerusalem were put to patrol to make it look nicer.
- Put some patrollers I forgot to on defensive on the outsides of the castle. |
| Pages: [1] 2 » Last » | | Author | Comments & Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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| Captain Diablo |
Posted on 09/26/06 @ 03:06 PM
Indeed, the screenshot puts the mood and action perfectly into place. Stunning, absolutlely brilliant playability that rivals any large map more or less.
First come the horse archers, which intend cruelly to wipe out your defenses and succeed if the pitch provided isn't put to use. [A feature after my own heart :)]
Simultaneously come the slave army, burning your farms to rubble, and the normal archers, trying to help out and cover both parties as they make thier runs.
The assassins are hell bent on capturing one of your gatehouses, and even under hundreds [literally] of arrows walk silently as can be to do so.
Arabian swordsman are there to finish the job and if you didn't make use of the weapons in the armory, and the monks, or both, they slowly walk through the hugely realistic setting to destroy the remnants of Jerusalem.
I took off .5 points, for the Pikeman situated on the few lookout towers, they made troop gathering difficult, and they looked extremely standoffish to the wholey realistic feel of the map.
It's great stuff!
UPDATE- Pikeman are gone, good work!
Balance: 4
At least a thousand Arabian troops are marching toward you, yet one can't help feeling that you have more than a "one winged plane falling to earth" chance of winning.
The town itself makes troop movement very fluid and understandable, it plays to both the player's advantage and the AI's advantage.
I took off one point because of the exploit of hording your troops atop the keep, however, it's a given and frankly happens with every large scale invasion map.
Wonderfull balance.
Creativity: 4.5
Jerusalem is a great setting for a crusader invasion, and one done so well deserves a good rating for creativity. The city looks realistic the terrain the same, and the invading armies are a force to be reckoned with!
I took off .5 for, well, the story, I think with historical maps the creativity and story goes hand in hand, how well can you blend fiction with history, that's how I judged.
Thumbs up here!
Map Design: 5.0
What more can I say?
-City looked immense, yet realistic.
-Terrain looked natural, based on the parts around the castle, which is your main focus.
-Troop movement looked amazing.
I took off one point because of the pikeman, again, and that because I've heard part of Jerusalem lied on a hill.
UPDATE-Pikeman are gone, hill non existent, but fixed anyway and still looks great!
Still incredible.
Story/Instructions: 4.5
Factually based, good enough for a historical map.
Although .5 was taken off because of the non-existent fictional viewpoint.
Still informative on the whole, however.
Additional Comments:
Great map Lord Michael! It was a joy to playtest!
UPDATE- Pikeman fixed, now everything is nearly perfect![Edited on 10/04/06 @ 10:48 AM]
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Lord Michael I
Staff
File Author |
Posted on 09/26/06 @ 05:25 PM
"
Well, I put them intending them to be guards checking over the city... Sorry bout that...
And the other problem, yes, Jerusalem sits on a hill of over 2000 feet. Now, you ask: Why the heck didn't he put Jerusalem on a hill, knowing it is?
Beacuse it isn't a huge plain, it has parts a bit higher or lower than others, and making walls in those unstable terrains make the walls look wobbly (and for me), ugly.
Hm... Captain diablo, what do you think of updating the map and getting those pikemen off there? |
| Captain Diablo |
Posted on 09/27/06 @ 01:08 PM |
Lord Michael I
Staff
File Author |
Posted on 09/27/06 @ 04:30 PM |
| The Dragonheart |
Posted on 09/27/06 @ 11:09 PM
(Insert Playability analysis here)
Balance: 4
(Insert Balance analysis here)
Creativity: 5
(Insert Creativity analysis here)
Map Design: 4.5
(Insert Map Design analysis here)
Story/Instructions: 4.5
(Insert Story/Instructions analysis here)
Additional Comments:
Awesome map to play. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I also had heaps of archers and crossbowmen left.
By the way, can anyone tell me how to submit a map? The only thing I'm having trouble with is how to put a minimap in the file.
[Edit – This review has be retracted by staff as part of a retrospective moderation of reviews. This was carried out to deal with the issue of some reviews not meeting the minimum standard. The content of the retracted review has been left to stand as a comment. The author is welcome to contact staff about this. Edited by ericgolf][Edited on 11/24/08 @ 03:56 PM]
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| God Avo |
Posted on 09/28/06 @ 03:17 AM
And to upload a map, you must make sure that the .zip you are uploading has no spaces in the filename, it can contain hyphons
underscores and also dots. And the first character of the file name must be a letter or number.
Same goes for the minimap, but you need a minimap extractor (theres a link in the submit page).
And this is a great map, Lord Michael I! I look forward to seeing some more of your missions! |
| lollard97367 |
Posted on 09/28/06 @ 10:08 AM |
| lollard97367 |
Posted on 09/28/06 @ 11:32 AM
Fun map with huge amounts of fighting and tactical play. You need to reinforce and use pitch ditch only when you really need it. Enemy got all the way into the the city, up to the gate outside the keep. So close call there! A fire broke out at the end, but I dont think I caused it. This map brought back memories of the actual place. I used my knowledge of the fortifications to move troops around. SPLENDID!
Balance: 5.0
With all the different troops types and ground to attack, this map did it perfectly. Im happy with the balance, and the enemy got outside the gate as previously mentioned. Starting gold seemed to be alot, but you are in charge of Jerusalem after all! And you need it!!!
Creativity: 4.5
I feel the map is out of scale since I have seen it first hand. However it would be impossible to make it exactly the same as the original due to game factors, building types available, and elevation. The old city is a maze of streets, with no open areas for fighting in because space is a premium. Jaffa Gate (where saladin attacks on this map) is the gate where I was actually tear gassed by israeli army 800 years later (by accident). I have tried to make a Jerusalem map, but to make it to scale is impossible even on a 400 x 400, so you have to trim it down. I think you did well on a small playable version.
Map Design: 4.5
More could be done on the landscape to detail it (even if you did get help). Also almost all movement in the castle is error free, even for horses which is surprising. Some troops are trapped and wandering around. Also more building eyecandy work would be nice. There was some basic fountain eyecandy, and lots of nice footpaths. Jerusalem is a unique city and you did well on getting it right.
Story/Instructions: 4
Lack of story but the included .doc files bring this category contribution up to a 4.
Additional Comments:
Download and play this masterpiece because it made me feel like I was back there fighting arabs. GOOD WORK[Edited on 09/28/06 @ 11:53 AM]
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Lord Michael I
Staff
File Author |
Posted on 09/28/06 @ 05:10 PM
Well, God AVo, I hope you have Stronghold, right now I'm starting a poyect based on a castle in england called Ewloe... It seemed interesting to me... I hope to you too!
Oh, and Dragonheart, download the map PNGer, here:
http://stronghold.heavengames.com/downloads/showfile.php?fileid=67
Thatwill turn your .map files in images for uploading...
"I feel the map is out of scale since I have seen it first hand."}
Yes, Lollard, me too...
I wanted to do Jerusalem exactly as how it was, with all the streets and mayor buildings, but then I ofund out that the editor just didn't have the capaity for that. In fact, there is one gate I had to ignore because it just didn't fit in correctly.
Tomorrow or if I have some time, today, I will upload the new version that makes you get those lazy pikemen off those towers... |
| BrandonLavoie |
Posted on 10/01/06 @ 01:22 PM
This map is really fun to play. All thats needed to be said
Balance: 2
Here is the disapointment here. Saladin mainly attacks the middle eastren gate. The archers and crossbowmen in the bottom wall have no use there, all you have to do is move most to your unused troops and stick them around the eastren gate house. Leave a few swordsmen on the other gatehouses to prevent assassin attack. Also, you have a marketplace and mounds of gold available, so you get recieve quick reinforcements.
Creativity: 5
Very well designed, I don't have much else to say
Map Design: 4.5
Although it could be detailed a bit more, its to my positive satisfactory. Yes, the Dome was bulit on a hill, but it does lead to unstable looking walls ect.
Story/Instructions: 4.5
Very well done, blah blah blah.
Additional Comments:
Its a very good map, except for the only attacking the eastren gate part. I would recommened adding a sign post on the westren side and add two more invasions :)[Edited on 10/01/06 @ 01:25 PM]
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HGDL v0.8.2 |
| Rating |
|---|
| 4.4 | | Breakdown |
|---|
| Playability | 5.0 | | Balance | 3.0 | | Creativity | 4.8 | | Map Design | 4.8 | | Story/Instructions | 4.5 |
| Statistics |
| Downloads: | 1,842 |
| Favorites: [] | 1 |
| Size: | 0.99 MB |
| Added: | 09/25/06 |
| Updated: | 09/28/06 |
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