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Author |
File Description |
LordSnorealot |
Posted on 06/24/03 @ 12:00 AM
File Details |
Version: |
The Conquerors 1.0c |
This is only the demo of the Final version of the campaign(the first scenario)
You take control of a band of Praetorians, you ahve to seek out a lost Roman town there and from the resources their take out a Greek fort.
give me feedback on how to improve myself. |
Author | Comments & Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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Clayperboy (id: clayperboy) |
Posted on 07/06/03 @ 12:00 AM
The Praetorians (DEMO)
By: LordSnorealot
In this game you are a band of Praetorians looking for a lost Roman base where you can build an army and destroy the Greek. Enemy.
PLAYABILITY: First off, this was en extremely hard game to beat. You start of with a modest army, some gold to buy more recruits, but unfortunately you are greatly outnumbered. On my first try I was wiped out right at the games beginning, and there was still more waves of enemy coming. Exploring the map was more of suicidal mission as I met up with large bands of powerful forces that wiped out my scouts immediately. It was only after I garrisoned some troops in an ally’s keep that I realize that there may be a way to win. I used my fastest players to lure large amounts of enemy to these sites then once inside, the enemy stood around waiting. This allowed me the time to find the Roman camp and start building, but it was still an uphill battle as there are too many of them to fool. Also the Greek town is building resources at a fast pace, and starts attacking early on once the Roman Camp changed ownership to me. After I was able to fortify my town the game became much more enjoyable. Another way I was able to beat the game, was to scatter my villagers all over the outer edges of the map as soon as I found the camp, , a couple made it and started to rebuild with little resistance from the brutal horde. I normally don’t discuss game tactics , as it could spoil the game for someone else, but don’t believe this will be the case.
BALANCE: There were way too much enemy on the map for the army I was given, even with the extras I picked up along the way. The first few times I tried playing this game and found the Roman camp, it was destroyed within minutes. I was allowed a large population, but could not build the resources needed to develop it, because I was exhausting everything I had just to defend myself. This game would have played out well with just half the enemy troops, and perhaps not having the Roman camp in my enemies backyard.
CREATIVITY: I was a little disappointed with this side of the game, as it held some good potential. My two ally towns did nothing but stand around as war raged all around them. The purchasing of recruits there was a nice touch, and thought they could also have had their diplomacy set to neutral to the Greek, or at least participate in the game by offering a back door or safe haven for my men. I noticed that there was another addition of creativity that seems to have gone wrong at the start of the game. I believe Greek Commander was supposed to change sides with me, but was killed at the games beginning by a couple of crossbows.
MAP DESIGN: The map looks pretty good in most places except the beginning, which has the two unfinished bridges side by side spanning a sewer (according to the author). The reality feel of a map is an important aspect of any game, as it tends to draw the player in, where the other aspects keep them absorbed. The games introduction says you start in a sewer,, so when the game starts, the first thing that grabbed my attention, is why are there two unfinished bridges crossing a sewer? I will not deduct for this, just a curious tidbit The rest of the map was well made with attention given to the finer details and had a realistic feel. The Castle at the Roman camp has a design problem which was a major set back. At a crucial time in the game with resources desperately low, I selected some units to be built but they never arrived at the battlefield. When I checked back to see what went wrong, they were all caught by cliffs. The author built a bridge to the castle which was on a cliffed hill thinking the new units would be created on the bridge which will not happen,, good thing for the “save game”.
STORY/ INSTRUCTION: Normally a game with instruction and story should receive a 4 rating, but given the scope of this game and the lack of instruction I feel I have to deduct. The story is good, but the instruction is weak, and it seems the author never really playtested the game much, to give instructions to "not fight unless you have to". Giving bad instructions is probably worst than giving none at all. I focused on the instructions and tried to comply with the authors advice in hopes to win, but when it became apparent that it was adding nothing to the game it became a big let down. I was also told to watch out for wild animals, but a large pack of wolves were unavoidable at the games beginning. I feel that instructions like these are mere fill ins, and do not contribute to the games direction. A game that lacks in this area could haul down the fun aspect.
To Author
Sorry if i seem a bit hard, you display good potential in scenario design, and hope this review will help you see some areas where you could expand your talent.
I |
Tanneur99
Official Reviewer |
Posted on 07/08/03 @ 12:00 AM
The Praetorians is a mix of FF and B&D and a Demo, the first scenario for an upcoming campaign. The author asks for feedback and for test reasons the scenario comes as a .scx file.
The scenario brings you back to the early time of the Roman Empire and the "All Road Leads to Rome" mod pack is recommended, not necessary though. There is an uprising in the Greek colony, rebels invest the vicinity and burned down your towns; you have to gather your scattered Praetorians, recruit Legionaries, find a lost Raman base and take out a Greek fortress.
PLAYABILITY: Wow! This is one of these scenarios that give you this deep satisfactory feeling when you finally were able to beat it. The game kept me busy for some time, not a boring moment, addictive with a high replay value as the standard AI reacts different from game to game. The author had an ingenious touch to put you under pressure, perfect timing and it is crucial to be fast. There are some bugs, diplomacy, trigger and AI problems which prevented a higher rating. When I ungarrison from the castle of player 3, red, some of my units appear on the other side of the wall where they're stuck. Similar the castle at the base, units which ungarrison or are trained are stuck on cliffs. When I massed units at the three archery ranges they are all stuck, but I liked the effect of having them on the roofs. From the triggers the hospitalier should join, after a palisade wall is destroyed, but player 5 is ally to player 1 and apart from standard difficulty player two kills him in the beginning. On standard I changed diplomacy to destroy the wall, but still he didn't join and at that moment player 4 and 5 had already given up. I also never got the meaning of player 4 on the map, who is enemy to all others disposing of two pike men only. Player 3, using the idle AI is not interacting apart from shooting down the jaguars and wolves with the towers, which leaves us with two acting players. 3
BALANCE: For balance, the .scx file was transformed for the last three games into a .cpx, being a Demo for an upcoming campaign. The scenario was played on easiest, easy, standard, moderate and hard. Easiest is probably the only level allowing you to disregard the hints. The balance was simply great, challenging, demanding, right on the spot for most of the time. The narrow escape of General Belisarius was perfect especially on the hard level. Well timed, perfect balance for the build up of the fortification and the repelling of the attacks, great fight. On the higher levels the attackers will probably breach your fortified walls, yet still winnable after you almost got annihilated, simply breathtaking. You could call it a Pyrrhic victory for the Greek. The mid game, attacking uphill, defending your base, gathering your last Praetorians was exiting and demanding. Unfortunately the end game, after bringing down the castle and towers at the fortress entrance was too easy, no real resistance and the enemy gave up early, due to be cut off of resources. The fortress is surrounded by a moat, two bridges lead inside, one as connection to gold, wood and stone, an area accessible, easy to capture and the enemy walled himself in at the games start. 4
CREATIVITY: Creative map, balance and story with an AE style for AoK, recruiting mercenaries, trigger problems and three almost useless players on the map. 3
MAP DESIGN: The designer has his personal style and shows good potential. Elevations, good use of Gaia, overall to green, lacking terrain mix, definitely better than a random map. 4
STORY/INSTRUCTION: Clear objectives; helpful hints and a good story for a B&D. A large part of the map was revealed so I knew where to go from the beginning, what to do I found out after some restarts. I fear I disclosed already too much under balance, so I just repeat one valuable hint: "In the beginning don't fight until you have to". 4
OVERALL: A challenging scenario.
SUGGESTIONS: Players have the habit to garrison in towers, castles and boats, make sure they can ungarrison and relocate your archery ranges. Make player 2 allies to player 5 and player 1 enemy to player 5 until he joins. Block the access to the gold of player 2; avoid the walling in of player 2, shallows or maybe a second town centre.
IN CLOSING: Download, you get a good fight. |
HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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2.9 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 2.5 | Balance | 2.5 | Creativity | 2.5 | Map Design | 3.5 | Story/Instructions | 3.5 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 992 |
Favorites: [] | 0 |
Size: | 56.24 KB |
Added: | 06/24/03 |
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