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Best Files » Chinese Design Contest: Glory of the Tang
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Chinese Design Contest: Glory of the Tang
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Author |
File Description |
Stan (aka The Conquistado |
Posted on 02/15/01 @ 12:00 AM
File Details |
Version: |
The Conquerors 1.0c |
Style: |
Mix |
Number of scenarios: |
3 |
The Tang Dynasty was the apex of the Chinese Empire. During the time that it existed, the Chinese Empire reached its maximum in all aspects. It owed most of this to Taizong, the greatest ruler in Chinese history.
However, unlike most Chinese emperors, Taizong (Li Shimin) was not the eldest son of the family. In fact, his fight for the throne was long and full of hardship. From the Sui Army to the Zheng Kingdom, from Liu Wuzhou to Xue Jue to his own flesh and blood, Li Shimin had to face all of them to obtain the precious throne.
This is his fight to become the emperor of China.
Credits:
Testers: The_Great_Alexander (AOK Dragon), Shykre (SCN Punk), Emperor_Vishruth (Tsunami Studios), Black Knight (Team I5), Iclan_HyperionX (Tsunami Studios), Iclan_Weezul (Weezul Studios), Gemmy, King Solomon, Das, Shadows (SCN Punk) and Cian McGuire
History: I am the master and so only my Chinese history set helped ;-) |
Author | Comments & Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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Angel SpineMan
Official Reviewer |
Posted on 03/03/01 @ 12:00 AM
This is a fantastic campaign that will provide many hours of quality entertainment. Stan has constructed a very good campaign here with lots of variety that will suit any AoK player. I won't go over each scenario one by one since that will take too long and I don't want to spoil the fun, but I will go through the scores.
Playability: I was really tempted to give a 5 here but there were just enough problems with certain areas of the campaign that I couldn't give a 5. The reason I wanted to score the campaign so high was the sheer fun of the entire thing. You are always doing something different and the story progresses along fairly quickly. Stan did a nice job of keeping the player on his/her toes and you rarely get stuck in a rut. The reason I couldn't give this a 5 was because of the two times that conquest victory conditions are given - both times I had to reveal the map to find the last few guys to kill - and the first time that I played the 3rd scenario, I got to a certain point where I couldn't possibly win. I started over and was able to complete the mission, but it shouldn't have had the bug in the first place. But overall, the playability is really great... it's a joy to play the whole way through.
Balance: This is a definite 4. I really felt that scenarios 1 and 3 were far too easy. The instructions set you up to believe you will need tons of resources... so I set about getting lots of stuff. Now maybe I was just slow about winning but I had 10,000 of every resource when I won each of those. I think the player is given too many resources for it to be properly balanced and the player's camp is not threatened enough to make scens 1 and 3 difficult. That being said, the balance on scenario 2 was superb. Your base is constantly under attack from the very beginning and the progress is slow and methodical because there is so much fighting. I never ran out of resources but it seemed I almost always had less than 1000 gold and less than 1000 stone. It was difficult but fun... perfectly balanced. So that combined with the other 2 scens rates the campaign at a 4.
Creativity: This campaign was loaded with evidence of creativity... the dialog was good, the maps were creative, the victory conditions were varied and creative, everything was crafted very nicely so the player never has the same experience twice. The scenarios even move from winter to summer... amazing job.
Maps: Another excellent job. Hours upon hours must have been spent detailing the map so precisely. It's a joy to walk around in this scenario just to enjoy the scenery.
Story/Instructions: Great work. I was never confused as to what was expected of me to move the scenario forward. Everything was spelled out very nicely with great hints and scouting reports. The story had plenty of twists and turns, yet was still easy to follow. Great job here.
History: Extensive history is provided at the beginning of each scenario. Very nicely done!
Great work Stan! It is obvious you spent a lot of time on this campaign and it shows. :) |
Cherub Lobby
Official Reviewer |
Posted on 03/15/01 @ 12:00 AM
Campaign : The Glory of the Tang.
General Comments
Absolutely excellent quality Campaign. Superb attention to map detail was the stand out in this campaign. Except for just a couple of little faults it could have got a perfect 5.0 (in this case) Probably the real disappointment was the sometimes confusing plot where it seems the author just tried to have too much happening at once
Scenario 1.
Mainly a build and destroy scenario with a lot of nice twists and plot turns. Some of the additional mission were really nicely executed and generally the scenario held together. At times it seemed a little overambitious and somewhat confusing. At the end a serious flaw meant I had to attack ground with Onagers to get into the final Castle Playability 3, Creativity 4, Balance 5, Map 5, Story 4, History 5. = 4.33
Scenario 2.
A really tough build and destroy again with many alternative and sometimes necessary mission. Tough enemies made sure every small castle was well defended. It was areal struggle to get around the map but resources kept cropping up when I needed them. I must have lost 1000 men by the end and was quite exhausted. The map again was superb but the story did get a bit confusing. Playability 4, Creativity 4, Balance 5, Map 5, Story 4, History 5. = 4.5
Scenario 3
Another magnificent looking map. I really like the two fold pressure in this scenario. You had to build up (under pressure and then save an allied Castle). I did get a little confused and had to lose a couple of times before I worked out where the Castle was (my fault really). The only thing that was quite confusing (a bug?) was the fact that at one stage a treb was attacking my allied castle only the treb was allied to me too. I couldn’t change diplomacy (triggers?) so I had to attack ground with a mangonel to destroy the treb ! Playability 4, Creativity 5, Balance 5, Map 5, Story 4, History 5. = 4.67
Overall 4.5 |
Angel Jerusalem
Official Reviewer |
Posted on 05/09/01 @ 12:00 AM
"Glory of the T'ang" is definately another addition to my personal list of favourite campaigns, regardless of it being an entry in a contest. I must commend (the newly-winged) Cherub Stan for a job excellently done and a sure winning of one of the first places.
As far as playability is concerned, I personally had a great time playing "Glory" and its varied playing genres, with the small exception of a little siege overkill in scn #2. The chats are likeable, the plot progresses nicely, and the only comment I have is that some humor is lacking, as well as a moral or overall message. In particular, I'm addressing a certain something that appeared in the history section in the 3rd scn, but I'll leave tha until the end. :)
Balance was quite alright, but I must mention a small bug in the 1st scenario: The objective is to bring some trade carts to specific places. When that condition is fulfilled, the trade carts change ownership and start moving around. It doesn't disturb the rest of the scenario but it looks wierd.
Another note I have is that in the 3rd scenario, when one is requested to guard a town named Gaozhu for 40 minutes, I found the task far too easy. Oddly enough, the following objective is to assasinate a heavily-guarded nobleman by the name of Li Jiancheng - which was far too hard. Other aspects of the field were over average, though, which earns it a 4.
The Map Design of "Glory" is superlative, no doubt about it. Eye candy is abundant, as you will notice upon your rampages, burning villages and such. Some mentionables are the ice ponds, the statues on water and the nice blend of terrains. The forest in scn 1 and the city in scn 3 were pretty bad, but on the other hand, I loved the work with the cities Chang An (scn 1) and Luo Yang (scn 2)!
If there's anything "Glory" shines at, it's probably creativity. From innovative objectives (and optional side-quests) to concepts like "destroy buildings == gold" and choices between going out to search for some swords or pay 10k gold. Definately a 5'er.
The story of "Glory" was above average, specifying the plot developments from a narrative point of view. The first paragraph of the first scn goes like this: "In the late years of the Sui, China was once again plunged into civil strife after only a short 50 years of stability. In the north, the Wa Gang Militia rampages and haunts the people of Northern China with war and the Turks are constantly threatening to invade. In the south, the Shi Jiande army ravagely fought the Sui and in the process brought suffering to the people.
In this period of chaos, one man stands to not only destroy the Sui, but to bring peace and unification to China. That man is Li Yuan, the duke of Tang.
But he could've never succeeded without the help of his seconds son, Li Shimin who in a later date would become Emperor Taizong of the Tang, one of the greatest emperors of Chinese history.
In this scenario and in this campaign you will guide Li Shimin from a the son of a regular noble to the emperor of China."
Indeed, very cool.
The History sections of "Glory of the T'ang" were very.... thorough. Too thorough. In one scenario, the first paragraph of the history section includes the names Xue Jue, Xiqin, Ping Yang, Lu Wuzhow, Qi Shi Jiande, Xia, Wang Shicon and Zheng. Which kind of threw me off, to say the least. :{ Nevertheless, the history section shows in-depth knowledge of history, validity of facts and the plot of the scenarios stayed more-or-less true to the history, which earns this field a 5.
As for the promised funny historical detail;
"Historically, Xue Jue died of a nose bleed three days before the final assault on Chang An, and the army of Xue Jue was forced to retreat." ROFL!!!
Top notch, Stan, top notch! |
The Downward Spiral
Official Reviewer |
Posted on 05/11/01 @ 12:00 AM
Glory of Tang was an excellent campaign. One of the best, if not the best campaign I've played when judging the contest. Stan obviously put lots of hard work into the creation of this campaign.
Playability: This was the campaign's major downfall, IMHO. Although there were unique objectives and such, I still found myself bored after a while. Unique objectives are good, but unique gameplay is great.
Balance: Perfect.
Creativity: The unique objectives were very creative. Many original aspects of scenario design were mixed into this campaign.
Map Design: *speechless*
Story / Instructions: Excellent work in this area. Not only did Stan stick with the correct flow of history, he also gave characters personalities. The plot was crafted with great depth.
History: I found no flaws in the historical tale of this campaign.
Overall, great work. Stan, this is your best work as of yet. I had a blast playing it and I'm sure fans will, as well. |
laz123 |
Posted on 12/08/06 @ 05:03 AM
Okay, I paid the monk (merchant) 5000 gold, went back to put the carts to the flags but couldn't get into the inner courtyard as all gates were locked. Tigger probs. Anyway, very good game, but the instructions weren't too clear. Thanks. |
laz123 |
Posted on 05/26/07 @ 05:25 AM
Ocky docky, it got a bit silly in the 2nd game when 30 enemy ongers were fed through. You spoiled an excellent game by having the A1 on silly mode. |
kud13 |
Posted on 05/14/17 @ 01:19 AM
"Glory of the Tang" is a mostly Build & destroy campaign featuring Li Shi Min, the youngest son of the Dukle of Tang, who went on to become Taizong, the founding Emperor of Tang Dynasty.
Playability: 5
I'm going to echo a prior reviewer: this campaign was just insanely fun. This is arguably the most playable campaign I've ever played, and I think this is due in large part to the fact that the designer gave us a hero who is actually useful, and has enough HP so that it's possible to explore without worrying that a stray patrol will kill him immediately. The fact that Li Shimin (and later another cavalry hero as well) pack enough of a punch to survive almost anything (except bombard towers... and there are LOTS of bombard towers) means there's always something the player can be doing, such as scouting or raiding, which really filled the usual "lull" in B&D when you're teching up, setting up a powerful economy and massing troops. I wish i could give that a 6!
Balance: 4
Played on Moderate, at least, the balance was on the easy side. In scenario 1 there was literally no offensive pressure; Scenario 2 had the enemies attack with a mix of cavalry and siege (and especially the deadly Korean mangonels!), but towards the end, when I approached and besieged the capital, a pathing bug led the AI to mass its siege and crossbow army on a bridge and get stuck there, whilst I demolished their defenses from another side. Scenario 3 makes up for it by pitting you in a DTS situation against massive enemy bases, but even then I found it possible to take the initiative and go on the offensive.
Presence of MANY towers means the player needs to push very steadily with lots of siege, and this can slow the pace down, but I didn't find that problematic. Except in Scen 3, where there was an overkill of towers, but I suppose this was done to prevent the player from easily wiping out the force that's supposed to be besieging him.
I'm attributing the pathing issue to the HD edition, so i'll give it a 4.
Creativity: 5
The topic was interesting, there were some creative side objectives, and the campaign offered a good mix. The core of each scen is always B&D, but the side objectives in scen 1 were creative and added to the story.
Map Design: 5
All maps show high quality, especially when it comes to forests, mixing various types of trees to create something very believable. Everything you can see in Scenario 1, which takes place in the winter, is simply gorgeous, showing amazing use of the winter textures to create a truly memorable landscape. I say"everything you can see", because if you explore all the paths on the map, there is still a large dark spot in the center of the map, and post-game shows it to be filled with homogeneous ES-style forest. But since this part of the map really doesn't come into play, I see no point in lowering the rating for it.
Second scenario has a section of the map (between the initial starting position and the Korean base that has many narrow forest passes. I realize this was probably done deliberately to highlight the awesome power of mangonels and onagers, but I found that my units were struggling with pathing even after the fighting was done, getting stuck on bamboo plants that dotted the roads. Also, there were multiple resource piles that were surrounded by sporadic forests that had to be cleared so that mining camps could be built next to them. The overall look was great, but actual gameplay suffered a bit from the need for extra micro.
Story/Instructions: 4
History sections and bitmaps were excellent. The story was concise, but understandable. Dialogues had few occasional minor spelling errors, but nothing significant enough to warrant a lower score.
Some of the instructions, however, were misleading, sometimes to the point of annoyance, such as in Scen 1 when the designed mixed up east and west, and caused me to have my hero go on a wild goose chase between known allied camps (north and east), instead of looking for the as of yet undiscovered western camp.
Likewise Scen 2 includes an optional objective to destroy Luo Yang's "armoury" to prevent the enemy from sending further siege. Destroying that objective (a castle and 4 siege workshops) halts enemy siege production and gave me enough time to destroy the neighbouring enemy base, forcing them to resign. However, by the time I was ready to siege Luo Yang, the enemy siege was back in place (actually that siege was what caused the AI to get hung up on pathing and made the siege a joke)
Finally, in Scen 3, there is an entire enemy faction (the task Force) that goes un-used in the main story, and had no triggers associated with them once the siege was lifted. Overall, the surrounding Tang forts, while adding variety to the map and looking cool, didn't really contribute anything, so I was a bit confused as to why they were there.
These are minor complaints, but they prevent me from giving this section top scores.
Additional Comments:
Overall, this is one of the best B&D campaigns I've played, and given its age, it's pretty remarkable. Also noteworthy is that the map design and trigger work is so elegant that it remains fully compatible with the HD version, where many other older campaigns eventually bug out. Strongly recommended to any B&D fans. You won't regret it. [Edited on 07/09/19 @ 08:55 PM]
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HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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4.5 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 4.2 | Balance | 4.4 | Creativity | 4.6 | Map Design | 4.8 | Story/Instructions | 4.4 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 4,622 |
Favorites: [] | 0 |
Size: | 968.16 KB |
Added: | 02/15/01 |
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