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Author |
File Description |
bleedteal |
Posted on 01/27/04 @ 12:00 AM (updated 01/29/04)
File Details |
Version: |
The Conquerors 1.0c |
Style: |
Mix |
THE GAME
There are few battles in history more pivotal than the prodigious clash of arms between the Romans and Huns in 451 AD. One could argue that the fall of Rome was inevitable, but Western Europe's assent from the Dark Ages would have been much slower had the Huns finished the proposed destruction of Gaul.
You get to relive the battle as a real historical figure, Arderic, who assumes the role of Attila's top cavalry general. The Romans, Huns, and each side’s respective allies have made their camps. Through Arderic you have a chance to change history. What if Attila was able to convince the Alans to join his side, as he had hoped? However, if you choose, the mission may turn into much more, as you assume the role of a general racing against the clock, as he tries to give his side every possible advantage before the battle. Will he die before the battle even begins? For the Huns' sake, I hope not. Will he tip the scales in the Huns' favor? History lies in the balance.
NOTABLE FEATURES
~ 4 possible outcomes, one historical (none are a truce)
~ Morale preserving generals and chieftans
~ Several challenging sidequests
~ Frankish village for you to raid at your leisure
~ "Random" events/objectives
~ Large chaotic battle at conclusion
~ Significant Re-playability value
~ Difficulty Dynamic
CREDITS
Playtesters in alphabetical order …
ax_man1, Danthered, DarckRedd, Derfel Cadarn, Devil Ranger, Dr Lorenzo, Lt_Surge99, Marshal Gandalf, Mechstra, PaulC2001, Raptor the Good, Red Beard, red braizer, Tannuer99, The Shadows, The X-King, Tonto_DaVe
I'm deeply sorry, if I missed somebody.
I’d also like to thank my Dad, two sisters Amy and Elizabeth, and good friend Nathan for playing Truly Countless bodies during various stages in its development. They gave me plenty of insight of how newer players might approach the game.
Finally I would do poorly to neglect to mention that this scenario (as well as many others) makes use of Zanzard Lothar’s superb Advanced Immobile Units AI.
TECHNICAL NOTES
This scenario may cause some lag on low end systems. However a Pentium II 500 MHz with 256MB Ram should be more than adequate.
Make sure you unzip ‘Truly Countless Bodies.cpx’ into the campaign folder in your Age of Kings directory. Unzip this readme anyplace out of the way, where you can easily find it
This scenario may be played effectively on all speeds. |
Author | Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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kevo (id: kevingamer prime) |
Posted on 02/08/04 @ 12:00 AM
Truly Countless Bodies, by inneudo alert, is a very nicely crafted campaign that deals with Arderic, a Hun Commander. This is a very well made one scenario gem and a prompt recommendation.
Playability: 5
This is a very nice scenario with alot of fun elements. This scenario had a ton of action and was full one excitement and pulse-pounding action. I really liked the minimap during the invasion of the roman barracks. Blue and aqua dots streaming to the battlefield appeals to me somehow .
Balence: 5
A little hard for me, especially after the roman barracks is captured, but that probably just means I suck....
Creativity: 5
Very creative! I loved this scenario and the author probably planned it very well to have made it this good. I especially loved the dialogue system, which prompts the user to clcik on the unit to say the next line of dialogue instead of simply lining up timers. This is good because now the user can read conversations at his/her own pace. The author also made this is a very nice blend of fixed force and rps.
Map Design: 5
Nice map! This map is very detailed and is set to a great foresty theme. Everything from rivers, towns, and cites; all the way down to boars, dirt, and individual trees are in place.
Story/instructions: 4
This is a very nice story and intresting plot. But the instructions are mediocre. I was a little confused at what the author meant by certain camps and generals. He could improve them by marking them with flages and/or changing view to them to give the user what the heck he means by "othrogotic camp" ;) Other than that, very good!
Good work, bleedteal. I like this scenario and I do recomend this for the typical action player.[Edited on 06/29/05 @ 09:16 PM]
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Tanneur99
Official Reviewer |
Posted on 04/28/04 @ 12:00 AM
'Truly Countless Bodies', cadavera vero innumera, is a single scenario, a MIX of RPS and FF with few B&D elements. The fictional story is based on historical facts; the events take place in Gaul, on the Catalaunian Plains, in June 451 AD. Three peculiar events led to the invasion of Gaul. In 450 AD, the East Roman Emperor Theodosius II died falling from his horse. Marcian, the successor, stopped the annual tribute to the Huns. Attila was furious, but feared an open conflict with the Eastern Empire. A scandal and a neutrality pact made an attack in the Western Empire legal and less risky instead. In 449 AD, Honoria, the sister the West Roman Emperor Valentinian III had an affair with her steward, who was executed. She sent a ring with a message to Attila, who asked for half of the Western Empire as her dowry. The time seemed right when Gaiseric, King of the Vandals urged Attila to attack the Visigoths in Aquitaine; in return, he would stay neutral throughout Attila's campaign. In 451 AD, mid June, Attila besieged Orleans; it was the last powerful obstacle between him and the Visigoths. Approaching forces under the Roman General Aetius made him retreat, and finally forced him to battle. Attila had not expected to face a powerful coalition of Romans and their usual enemies against him. The day of the battle, he only moved his troops into battle order in the afternoon. Was he afraid and planned to be protected by the darkness if necessary or did he have some missions for his general as this scenario suggests? You play Arderic (Ardarich), historical King of the Gepids (Gepiden), here a Hun cavalry general, your objective to defeat the Romans, to change history.
PLAYABILITY: The scenario provides endless playing variations, many optional side quests to choose until the start of the battle. Do not try to solve every side quests, to raid all villages in one game. As said, most are optional and it is not possible even if the player hits excessively the pause button. In addition, it would take some of the fun away of this excellent scenario. The scenario is action packed; the pace breathtaking with a high replay value and the player does his game plot with different outcomes by choosing a varied mix and/or sequence of quests for each game. 5
BALANCE: The scenario is difficulty dynamic in many ways, very creative and challenging. The scenario provides a good mix of easier and challenging tasks; you need some reloads, so save often. In case that the final objective becomes too difficult, the player can choose an easier objective, which suits the historical outcome. Keep in mind that the result of the battle on the Catalaunian Plains was that Attila retreated to his laager and gave up Gaul, but he was not beaten for good and attacked northern Italy the following year. 5+
CREATIVITY: Truly very creative, the scenario presents various game play options and outcomes, a creative balance, cheat control, random events/objectives and a moral system for the enemy. In addition, the author succeeds well to mix a fictional story with historical events and shows a good use of triggers. 5
MAP DESIGN: Design at its best! The map is realistic, detailed and varied with villages, towns, forts and a very good use of elevations, blending and terrain mix. 5+
STORY/INSTRUCTIONS: The exemplary history section and the aftermath are necessary to read. The very good introduction story brings you well into the game, describing the atmosphere in the wake of the battle. The instructions are perfect, clear objectives and helpful hints. Whenever you get a new objective, the location reveals, you know where to go and what to do. That supported the game play, as the player is under pressure of a time limit. From your starting point, the Alans and the secondary camp reveal, from there a village with supplies, the local lords, the town with market and the location with the Ostrogoths, later in game the location for a hostage to free, a town to provoke an upraise, three roman camps and a lumber camp. This leaves only a search for wild horses and a mysterious monastery. 5
OBSERVATIONS: Aetius was not only a great general but also a talented diplomat. His force consisted of Visigoths, Alans, Amoricans, Salian Franks and southern Burgundians, while Attila united Ostrogoths, Gepids, Thuringians, Sciri, Heruli, Rugians, Ripuarian Franks and northern Burgundians. Attila took the center with his Huns, the Ostrogoths the left and the other Germanic allies the right flank under Arderic, King of the Gepids. Aetius did choose to put the Alans, the weakest force in the center, opposing the Huns. On the right flank the Visigoths under King Theoderic I and his son Thorismund, while the Romans and the other German allies took the left. Attila, not aware of the trap pushed the Alans backwards and got a severe beating from Aetius at the right and Theoderic I at the left side.
IN CLOSING: Truly Countless Bodies is a great scenario, which I recommend to download. |
Andrew Dunn (id: Mechstra) |
Posted on 08/14/04 @ 12:00 AM
Truly Countless Bodies by bleedteal (or innuedo alert as his unfortunate accidental forum name would have it) is a scenario centred on the Battle of the Catalonian Fields in 451 AD, between the Romans and the Huns (and various other forces under them). You take upon you the role of Arderic, a Hunnic general, and the scenario begins on the eve of battle. You must take your small escort around, gathering more troops to fight under Attila and strengthening those already waiting for battle, before finally joining the fighting when the battle is joined.
PLAYABILITY: 5
The sheer amount of ways to play this scenario hits you from the off. The smallest choices are yours to make, such as choosing what troops will form your escort, as well as the more important decisions regarding side-missions. Your first real task is to either negotiate with the Alans or destroy them utterly – either is possible and changes how the scenario plays out. You’ll have further choices throughout the game, and optional tasks to complete/ignore as you choose. You can choose to play the tyrant with the locals, or tolerate them. You can effectively change history, or just follow the historical events if you wish. The small-scale conflicts are entertaining, the raiding is fun, and the huge battle at the end is chaotic (as promised by the author) and entertaining. The random nature of the scenario is such that even on my 3rd play-through, I was still discovering new things – such as the fact that the Alans can assign you more than one task to win their allegiance! I enjoyed the scenario immensely from start to finish, and a perfect 5 is its reward.
BALANCE: 5
The scenario is difficulty-dynamic, meaning that the situations change depending on which difficulty level you play it on. This means that it’s never too hard for you, or too easy – simply pick another difficulty level! The engagements are well-handled, with your small band of men well able to win if tactics are used, but you will suffer losses if you don’t micro-manage. The final battle may prove difficult, but it has been built up to throughout the rest of the scenario and if you haven’t prepared for it… well, you’ve no right to complain. The balancing of the scenario is masterful, and bleedteal has done a marvellous job of catering for all skill levels. A no-nonsense 5 here.
CREATIVITY: 5
Bleedteal truly shines in this department. The huge variety of tasks is a plus point from the very start, and the random nature of some of these makes the smile on the player’s face grow ever wider. You can supply your allies to help their war effort, provoke a rebellion in an enemy camp, relieve a besieged mining encampment, and the obligatory find-the-missing-horses mission even makes its usual cameo appearance. The immense amount of things-to-do means that the scenario never becomes a chore to play, and the replay value is almost endless. A very well-deserved 5.
MAP DESIGN: 5
The map design is the icing on the cake in this scenario. All the locations fit their purpose perfectly. The main Hunnic camp is impressively bustling and warlike, and the various villages are picturesquely designed/ruined, depending on how near the front lines they are. The grasslands and forests are believably detailed, with paths meandering realistically and not tending towards the large blocks of road that some designers favour. The map is also subtly designed to accommodate tactical play, with elevation advantages being a matter of life or death. The nuances present throughout the map are pleasing to the eye, making this map stand tall with the best of them. Yet another 5.
STORY/INSTRUCTIONS: 5
The background to the scenario is clear and well-written – you know exactly why this battle is taking place and you are given the historical backdrop in sufficient but not overwhelming detail. Instructions are well-written and cause no confusion, and overall everything is fine. One minor complaint I have is that I found it hard to identify with Arderic in any way (he seemed a pretty unsympathetic character) and I felt he should have been given a bit more depth (even if it was fictional). However, to mark down for this would be unfair in the extreme, and so it is that this final category is also awarded a 5.
OVERALL: 5.0
Bleedteal has designed a superb scenario, one of the best I’ve seen in the past 3 and a half years of playing AoK community scenarios and campaigns. If this is a sign of the quality present in AoK scenario design, then I’d say there’s life in the old dog yet. |
mikester |
Posted on 08/11/05 @ 02:40 AM
Playability: 5
This was by far "THE" best peice of art work i have ever played.There was so much to do so many side quests with the burgendians and trying to do them all before the 45 minutes are up was a challange in itself.Then the entire war between Huns,Ostrogoths (and if you did within the time limit) the Alans against the Visigoths and Romens really kept my eyes to the screen until i beat it but over all very awsome playability
Balance: 5
The balance was to amazing, it couldent be mroe balanced between the 2 armies i lost everytime i tryed until i got the mercenarys to help me out with fighting the Romans.if i could say ne thing about the balance of this scenario is it is almost perfect
Creativity: 5
Very indepth creativity for this sceneario...The scattered Burgundian camps really gave ya the sence of speed needed to try to complete the side quests before tackling the Alans and the Roman and visigoths. Then the Franks scattered about looking to be destroyed...Not many scenearios have much neutral oppisiton that i'v seen but overall very good
Map Design: 5
There's not much i can say with the map design except nearing perfection. The well placed Roman camps the well placed Roman towers around the Alans camp,i'v never seen anything so well planned out. This honestly must have taken over a month or alot longer,i haven't seen anything like this before. When i went into the game my breath was taken away with the map design.
Story/Instructions: 5
the instructions were very clear and east to follow...the objectives were well planned and well executed hen they were meant to. The story was very good and very descripitve and i enjoyed reading it to,made me think, over all it was a very good read.
Additional Comments:
To the Auther if you can keep making things like this, i'll say you are a god amoung sceneario makers. very fun and playable, execlent balance, awsome creativity, almost perfect map design, and good instructions and a great story a must d/l for anyone who likes age of kings my final verdict great job the best i have ever downloaded ever
(oh by the way dont get mad if you notice spelling mistakes in this its 4:03am and i'm realy tired lol) |
MythWriter |
Posted on 11/25/06 @ 09:24 AM
bleedteal's campaign "Truly Countless Bodies" is based on the Battle of Chalôns (or the Battle of the Catalunian Fields) between Attila's Huns and their allies, and Aëtius' Romans with their allies. In this campaign you control Arderic, one of Attila the Hun's generals, who travels around the map trying to make as many alliances as possible before the battle begins.
Playability: 5
"Truly Countless Bodies" was very playable. Instead of handling the entire might of Attila's army, which may confuse beginners and lag slow computers, you control a small band of horsemen (which makes it easier to travel). Arderic is a good fighter, so he does not die very easily, another advantage for beginners. However, there are also many challenges for veteran Agers, e.g. the Burgundian side quests.
Balance: 5
Most fights in this scenario are hard, but winnable, with exceptions of course. Depending on how many alliances are made, the armies of Attila and Aëtius are well-balanced, with the Huns having a slight advantage in numbers, and the Romans a slight advantage in technology. All in all, a hard but winnable campaign.
Creativity: 5
The idea of rushing around the map, desperately looking for allies appeals to me greatly. I especially enjoyed trying to tick off as many Burgundian sidequests as possible before rushing to the Alans' camp to stop them attacking. This is a very original idea, not often explored in Ensemble's campaigns. The idea of sinking armies' morale when their leaders die is a nice touch, though it has been used a lot, notably in Mcrnigoj's battle campaigns.
Map Design: 5
The map took my breath away. Though the minimap looks very cluttered, there are still peaceful Burgundian villages or undisturbed forests which offset the bloody clash of arms which is inevitable to occur...Lots of eye candy, the camps look good (I like the units training by shooting outposts) but just one thing: what are all the Missing Horses for? It would have been a nice touch if everytime you sent a horse back to Attila's camp, a Hussar or a Cavalry Archer would be added to your band. I liked the idea of making Attila's buildings Mongol-Japanese-Chinese style. They look better than the Goth-Viking-Teuton-Hun version in my opinion.
Story/Instructions: 5
I especially liked how detailed the Scouts section was written. I recognized at once that it was supposed to be biased towards the Huns and against the Romans, but it still half-convinced me that my victory was certain (the first time I played, I lost by the way). However, the instructions were slightly patchy at places. Eg. when I met with the Hun general and acquired troops to defend the Ostrogoths against the Romans, I didn't realize that Arderic had to go with them too. I ended up losing most of the Ostrogoth army. Also, you said that Arderic was a historical figure, but I can't find him in the Internet.
Additional Comments: I downloaded all of the campaigns with ratings of 4.8, 4.9 and 5.0, and this one is my all-time favorite. Nice work bloodteal!
PS this is my first review lol
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HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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5.0 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 5.0 | Balance | 5.0 | Creativity | 5.0 | Map Design | 5.0 | Story/Instructions | 4.8 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 17,811 |
Favorites: [] | 4 |
Size: | 344.51 KB |
Added: | 01/27/04 |
Updated: | 01/29/04 |
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