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FSC 2019 - Dwarves, goblins and wizards
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| Author |
File Description |
| iLikeHell |
Posted on 11/18/19 @ 11:04 AM (updated 01/08/20)
| File Details |
|---|
| Version: |
The Conquerors 1.0c |
| Required Modpack (if not included with the download): |
Userpatch 1.5 |
| Style: |
Role Playing Only |
This is my entry to the 2019 Fantasy Scenario Competition
To be able to complete everything in time I neglected my family, but this is a detail because finally after so much work the map is over
The game style is adventure, with some secondary missions. I added a few hundred new units between buildings, plants, monsters and soldiers and this should recreate an atmosphere and a more enthralling style of play for the players
The scenario is in 255x255 format, so huge, but not all useful to complete the campaign. In this regard, I added scheme of the entire region, with the names of cities and areas, divided by colors: of interest or useless to the game. However, the map can all be visited and it is treated in detail
The scenario was tested for MEDIUM difficulty and FAST speed
Along with nearly 600 triggers there are also many sound effects and a soundtrack that will keep you company in your adventure
The story line is very simple and classic: a hero and his friends must save the princess in danger and free the whole kingdom from the evil forces and to do so they will have to fight against hordes of goblins, zombies, monsters and demons. Nothing special isn't it?
There is nothing else to say, come on go to save the princess!
Heroes characteristics:
Birbo:
-Fast attak
-High speed
-Good armor
-Very balanced
Nurin:
-High attak
-Trample damage
-Low speed
-High accuracy percent attak
Falkor:
-Good range
-Minimum range
-Slow attak
-High attak
-Low accuracy percent
-No armor
UPDATES
1.2
-Auras system improved
-Increased werewolf life of 20Hp
-Fixed bug in the church mission
-Fixed bug at caves entry
-Iron boar life lowered by 200Hp
-Fixed bug that attracted animals when you were casting magic against living skeletons
-Heroes icons changed
-More sound effects
1.1
-Werewolf life lowered by 20Hp
-Added 4 potions
-Aura system improved
-Kroas warrior moved
-Mission to recover the hunter, more clear
-Temple mission bug removed
The map should be bug-free and in my tests I never had problems, but if you meet them, write me and they will be solved as soon as possible
My other work
http://aok.heavengames.com/blacksmith/showfile.php?fileid=12905&ci=d48fb72dcc7e79fa54074842cbfdd7c9YToxOntpOjA7YToyOntpOjA7czoxNDoiU2VhcmNoIFJlc3VsdHMiO2k6MTtzOjQ0OiJsaXN0ZXIucGhwP3N0YXJ0PTAmYW1wO3NlYXJjaD10aGUgdHdvIHdvcmxkcyI7fX0=
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| Author | Comments & Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
|---|
| HELLKNIGHT61 |
Posted on 12/12/19 @ 01:20 PM
=== MY GENERAL OPINIONS BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ===
* [ SPOILER ]!
+ The scenario starts great with girlfriend scene. It starts exciting and effective.
+ This scenario has many new terrain textures, buildings, objects, goblin units, orc units, wizard units, dwarve units, ogre units, troll units etc... This scenario is a new world with unlimited new textures and units.
+ The map design is nearly PERFECT due to effects of new textures and author's correct object placements.
- After player takes control of our unit as a villager the game starts to become a little tedious and boring because the game requires exploration again and again for each step one by one. Each step requires an another exploration with unnecessary boring tedious walkings. In addition the side quests that make our unit stronger are also require exploration with unnecessary boring walkings. Examples: Finding the oldwise, Finding the werewolf, finding the wizard and finding the person who gives us werewolf quest etc...
+ The map's .jpg picture file makes easier to explore our quest areas. If this map is not available it will be much more harder to explore quest areas.
+ After player starts to enter into goblin's area the game suddenly starts to become absorbing, funny and effective. The game stops becoming tedious and it starts to show its real great potential to players. But players need to skip tedious and boring exploration parts one by one by being patient until reaching goblin's area. After reaching goblin's area the game's chest shows its inside to players.
+ The game is very fantastic and creative in some moments. Examples: Goblin Boss part, Scorpion and Mangonel part, Goblin Cavalry part, Teleportation part, Switch part, Troll part, Ogre part, Earthquake part etc...
- The game says that players can use their potions again after 45 seconds. But I have obtained the both 2 potion types only one time during the whole game.
- It is possible to pass ancient temple area by not destroying the church. I left from their line of sight ( spider and the other enemy type ) and I skipped them by not making the church quest.
- In addition when player enters into ancient temple they can be our ally. Because I destroyed the church before entering the ancient temple as a test. After that they became my ally in the ancient temple. But I wanted to skip this bug. So I loaded an earlier save game slot to enter ancient temple again. I entered this temple by not destroying the church this time. So I evaded from the bug.
- Also goblin leader didn't attack the dragon in my some tries. It attacked the dragon in my other tries.
- The big trolls were ineffective because they always squeezed by being betwwen of other goblin and human units. So my magician killed them easily.
- The game's some parts were too hard. "Werewolf" part and "Demon Cavalry Leader" part were too hard. I used save and reload too often to pass these parts.
- The "Objectives" part is not enough to guide players. For Example: Players need to go near of the "door" of Ancient Temple to be able interacting with it. Another Example: Players need to talk with the fake woman to learn the church objective.
=== MY FINAL THOUGHTS ===
POSITIVE: New hundreds of textures, objects, units and sound effects... Great map design... Great absorbing atmosphere with creative and challenging events after entering goblin's area...
NEGATIVE: Tedious exploration parts until reaching goblin's area... Some battles were too hard... Insufficent guide for objectives... Some bugs... |
iLikeHell
File Author |
Posted on 12/14/19 @ 03:59 AM
- There were 6 potions in the game, but I've added 4 more to make it more fun and easy
- Now it is not possible to pass through the temple before having done the church mission
- In the first passage to the ancient temple the monsters must be your allies because you are not able to kill them, but when you left the next room they return enemies. The church must be destroyed because it is part of the campaign, I had not thought that you would be able to dodge all the monsters
- In my tests the goblin head monster has always attacked the dragon, but anyway diplomacy change and it can not attak you
-In the battle of the trolls I did not want to do something too difficult and the magician's help is in any case necessary to win, even if the enemies are not really that dangerous
- In the werewolf's mission, it would be good to have Luco's and the hunter's help, which is nearby and marked by a yellow aura. In any case, I took away some of the wolf's life
- In the mission of the Demon lord you just have to run away and destroy the mine to make the stones collapse on him. The only difficulty is to calculate the right time but it is a matter of a few attempts
- About the quest you told me, going near the temple door to enter for me does not seem so strange and in the cave considering that the only possible thing is to talk with the ghost woman, marked by a yellow aura of the objectives, it did not seem so difficult to me
- About exploration, I like to discover some maps and cities, but above all it is made much easier by the game map I provide to you and by the fact that the useful units of the game have a yellow aura at their feet a lot well visible, but I understand that the rpg-exploration type is not your favorite :)
For the next time I think I'll hire you to find all the weak points of the map because you managed to find holes that I hadn't even thought of and that I couldn't even find hahaha[Edited on 12/14/19 @ 05:08 AM]
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| HELLKNIGHT61 |
Posted on 12/14/19 @ 08:36 AM |
Lord Basse
Official Reviewer |
Posted on 01/08/20 @ 08:23 AM
There were parts of this map that I quite enjoyed. Others, the majority of it unfortunately, not so much. The gameplay consist primarily of long walks between scattered points of interest, with little to nothing happening in between. Occasionally you will find side quests (which are really compulsory to finish, if you want to have a chance at beating the ending), but these too require long walks. The world is buzzing with life in the form of moving units, varying landscapes, NPCs minding their own business and so forth – but there are very few things you can actually interact with. So while the world itself looks alive, the gameplay becomes very dull very quickly. Which is unfortunate, because it is clear that the author has put a lot of effort into this work.
The scenario starts off with a scene which I can generously describe as inspired by a similar scene in my campaign “The Relics of Athalën”, it even uses the same modded starlight graphic. No credit is given to the creators of the modded graphics which are used heavily throughout the scenario. I recognized buildings and units from a vast array of modders, even some of my own. While there’s nothing wrong in using graphics made by others, it goes without saying that you should give credit to the people who did the actual work with the graphics. As things stand, it comes across as you’re claiming to have made all of the graphics yourself, which is unfair to the actual creators. A simple list of the people whose work you borrowed and a short thanks would go a long way. Still, one could be generous and consider this an improvement over the author’s complete plagiarism of an older map for the 2012 ES Remake Competition...
A lot of the time I was quite confused about where to go next. Rather than giving clear instructions through dialogue, map revealers and so forth, the author usually refers the player to a map that comes with the scenario. While this is better than nothing, it is more of an annoyance to have to consult an out-of-game resource like this when the designer easily could have given better pointers. Instead you are often left to walk aimlessly and hope you get to the right place.
One thing that I enjoyed a lot, though, was the fact that all of the important characters were clearly marked by a star graphic under their feet. This was quite helpful in navigating the villages and cities, with tons of NPCs who usually had nothing to say.
The biggest letdown, however, was that the finale did not seem to work properly. I finished the scenario twice and beat the Demon king in the underworld, then Falkor revealed the green fire relic and I took it... and then absolutely nothing happened. Both times. I even went back into the goblin city, but nothing new happened, so I have no idea what the issue might be here. This, combined with the many minor issues, unfortunately brings down the score quite a bit.
BALANCE: 2
Some of the fights were quite enjoyable and well-balanced. Others were unfortunately often hampered by the bad pathfinding caused by having too many trees or GAIA objects cluttering the scene of the battle. This leads some of them, like the fight against goblins by the big tree, to be more annoying than entertaining.
By far the hardest part is getting past the derelict temple surrounded by monsters. I only managed it by using up all of my potions, of which I ever only managed to find 3. These potions actually do affect the other heroes, despite the hints saying this won't be the case, so I may have actually beaten these monsters too easily… which makes me wonder if they are even beatable at all, if the game worked as precisely intended.
Then there were some “fights” that were no challenge at all, like the Iron Boar just before entering the goblin cave. If you just use Falkor to kill it, it will never even charge you.
CREATIVITY: 4
Probably the strongest point of the map. The scenario is buzzing with life, there are a number of potion systems, RPG upgrades, enemy spawn points and so on that have clearly had a lot of thought put into them. The map is also filled with little design tricks, like villagers hammering the ground (repairing roads) or chopping trees that don’t fall. There are some weak points too, though. The story is just about as cliché as you can get, and the author is very open about this. The fights are usually very run of the mill, even the boss fight. The one major exception would be the goblin cave, which has a number of enemy spawners and well-placed enemies that force you to think about every move. Overall a strong point, but there’s room for improvement.
MAP DESIGN: 3
I like the grand scope of the map: a whole world of different locations all in one. Little things like scorpion bolts acting as wall decorations were quite nice little touches. The vast number of modded objects also helps in making each location unique, although the ones with clear white borders around them kind of detract from the whole experience.
Unfortunately the scenario often suffers from GAIA object spamming. Tons of eye candy is added which might look cool as individual objects, but make the bigger picture very cluttered. One particular gripe was the grass fields, where you could see very clearly where a thick square of plants had been map copied over and over. Overall I like the concept, but the execution leaves much to be desired.
The different locations also seem very much like separate chunks that don’t always flow into one another, which takes away from the feeling of one holistic world. Probably the most obvious case would be the goblin kingdom being like 3 blocks away from the red city of Oblomov. I get that it's meant to be underground, but it is just not very convincing when you see city streets and NPCs walking around right next to the epic boss fight area.
STORY & INSTRUCTIONS: 2
The story is predictably cliché, just as the author opens with. This may not have been too much of a problem if the characters were fleshed out, and the world felt real and lived in… but neither have received much care. The world certainly looks alive, but there is virtually nothing in terms of backstory to the different locations, and the characters can be described with a single sentence: a main character who is definitely not Bilbo, but Birbo; his girlfriend who has two lines and gets kidnapped; some wise scholar who gives you a mission; some magician and some dwarf who help you find your girlfriend; and tons and tons of goblins. That about covers both the characters and the plot.
Neither the story nor the world building are very engaging, which is a shame, because the map is certainly ripe with opportunity for a detailed fantasy story. Perhaps if the author had had more time, he would have been able to realize his full vision.
Various other issues:
* There are lots of Italian words everywhere which have not been translated: in object names, dialogue and even the names of the players.
* You cannot cross the bridge into Rosemary despite it not being blocked. I’m guessing it has to do with the customs check here, but there's no one actively stopping me, just an invisible wall.
* The water drop sound in the cave extremely loud for some reason.
* Villager Birbo is still standing by the tree from the first cut-scene when you go back there.[*]It's possible to get the dwarf hero too early if you use marco polo.
* The side quests don’t show up as objectives so it's quite easy to forget who you are supposed to return to with the objects, and where you're supposed to go in the first place.
* None of the NPC dialogue in Nim has been translated from Italian.
* There are at least two random invisible tiles where you can accidently walk in: one in Rosemary to the south, and one next to Falkor.
* There is no hero survival mission, and no hint that Falkor and Nurin need to survive.[Edited on 01/10/20 @ 04:12 PM]
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Popeychops
Official Reviewer |
Posted on 01/08/20 @ 06:16 PM
Music has been used to good effect. The sounds play properly and enhance the atmosphere.
Care has been given to ensure the composition of the piece is pleasant and engaging.
Sometimes the music for different areas overlapped when I travelled in a straight line.
It's an RPG. You spend a lot of time walking from place to place, and relatively little time in combat.
Unfortunately Age of Empires just wasn't built for random encounters, and static enemy units are easy to place, and require effort to improve on.
At times, there is no direction about where to go. You are given a map at the start, but within the game there is no reference besides signposts about where to go.
A scouts section with a list of the major cities and their locations would improve this a lot.
Once you assemble your team of heroes, it really starts to feel satisfying. Drawing strong influences from the Final Fantasy series, you have to manage the different classes of character in order to overcome the enemies on the map.
Balancing range and melee characters is crucial. The pacing of the opening section does drag a little. It might have been improved with a cutscene, instead of a 45 minute trek around the map.
More combat would be appreciated, and especially a way of healing out of combat.
I believe there is a broken sidequest in the northern corner, which is frustrating. Also, towards the very end of the scenario, my units kept getting stuck on rocks and mountains.
Balance: 1
There is challenge in the combat from the beginning. Elevation is used excellently and carefully, to modify the difficulty of the scenario.
The difficulty revolves around carefully using the map to fight statically placed enemies. Once you can beat something, that's it beaten.
Going back to safe areas can help, especially early on.
The line of sight is used carefully to control the difficulty. But unfortunately, that means that knowing what to expect removes some of the challenge.
Or so I thought.
Then I reached the ancient temple, after passing through the dryad woods. The monsters there are too powerful to kill with the heroes, without cheating in lots of HP through the potion system.
It's unfortunate, but I feel I have to mark down the scenario heavily in this category. I might be missing a method to kill them, but I don't feel I've been given the right instruction to find a way.
Creativity: 4
Modded graphics - a skybox, new buildings, new units - add visual flair to the map.
Some units are visible in the fog of war! Used to make a dramatic effect in the introductory cutscene
Graphical modification of the object outlines indicates quests with a gold star - a very cool idea!
Potions are used to give the player an edge in tricky situations.
Map Design: 3
Eyecandy used excessively to represent grass. A good effort, but executed poorly.
Ugly "path" objects placed into the fog of war and map boundaries. White outlines visible around stone mines and berry bushes.
But some modded graphics are used with the fog of war to produce a fantastic effect. The grass eyecandy looks much better when you're not there!
Terrain mixing has been used in part, but there is little thought given to contrast between greens and browns. Mostly just a mix of grass terrains. A little colour theory goes a long way!
The later areas use a limited palette and modded objects to bring underground caverns to life.
Some graphical errors were present, such as cliffs broken by elevation and water. Strange unnatural shadows were seen under some modded objects.
Story/Instructions: 2
Dialogue grammar isn't great. A little wooden, but it gets the point across. You're rescuing your kidnapped girlfriend, who it is hinted is of a higher social class than you.
Some of the place-names are in Italian.
It knows exactly what it is. It's not serious, and it doesn't take itself seriously.
I genuinely did laugh when you're directed in a quest to kill a named NPC, and when you walk up to that NPC they reply "Kill me? Ha, I'll join your quest!"
And that's it. You get them as a companion.
The fantasy elements develop late on. Unfortunately, the story is mostly introduced as it unfolds, with little in the way of setup or conclusion. You see things unfolding as your characters beat up enemies.
It's nice to get a call back to defend the world. But "The Hobbit" it unfortunately is not, and the ending feels a little bit rushed. |
HGDL v0.8.2 |
| Rating |
|---|
| 2.6 | | Breakdown |
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| Playability | 2.5 | | Balance | 1.5 | | Creativity | 4.0 | | Map Design | 3.0 | | Story/Instructions | 2.0 |
| Statistics |
| Downloads: | 102 |
| Favorites: [] | 0 |
| Size: | 638.73 KB |
| Added: | 11/18/19 |
| Updated: | 01/08/20 |
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