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Author |
File Description |
xavill |
Posted on 09/15/01 @ 12:00 AM
File Details |
Version: |
The Conquerors 1.0c |
Style: |
Mix |
This scenario will mix the historical facts and the fantasy in the existence of the Order of the Knights Templar.
The Knight Templar were founded by Hugues de Payen and eight knights more that arrived in 1118 to Jerusalem in order to establish a base to protect the pilgrims in their way to Jerusalem.
After nine years, they travelled back to Europe to recruit more knights to their cause.
How is possible that a nine knights order became the most powerful organisation of their times? This campaign will give a historical-fictional point of view of this fact.
FEATURES:
- Multiple option system: So you can play several stories in one scenario. Every choice you make will change the story of the game. Every time you play it, the story will be different.
- The first part is Fixed Force, the second part RPG.
- Choose what you want to say to a character, different options of dialogue.
- Multiple side-quests.
Hope you enjoy.
Send your comments, criticisms or doubts to xavill@mixmail.com
Xavill (Woad Creations)
The story of the Knights Templar continues in The Revenge of the Templar
To continue in Spanish, click Here |
Pages: « First « 1 [2] | Author | Comments & Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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bleedteal |
Posted on 04/09/02 @ 12:00 AM
I downloaded this campaign in earnest because I had great interest in the subject, which is the Knights Templar. This campaign shows how the order began. You control the original nine knights who sailed from France with a purpose to complement that of the Knights Hospitallers. The Knights Hospitallers aided pilgrims in the Holy Land while the Templars protected pilgrims on the way to and from the Holy Land. So it's only fitting that you may run into the Hospitallers while playing the campaign. However, this campaign revolves around the Templars secret motive to search for relics under the ruins of Solomon's Temple, namely the Ark of the Covenent. This campaign has recieved much attention, which the campaign is worthy of, as I am producing the sixth review.
PLAYABILITY: This scenario has abundant replayablity value, in that you choose your own path to victory. You choose which path to take to Jerusalem and who if anyone to escourt. Once in Jerusalem, you could reach your objective 4 totally different ways. I won't go into detail about your objective, but this campaign provides a few hours of fun. There's lots of debate about this campaign's bugs, but the only one that efects gameplay is a situation where a hero dies and you don't lose. This bug is the only thing that pohibits me from giving a five. Great job, Xavill !
BALANCE: This was the weak part of the campaign. I found it a little easy. I'm a capable AOK player but, of course, not the best. If I find the campaign a little easy, it's a bigger problem than if I find it a little hard. This is a fixable problem. There are nine powerful knights but only Hughes des Payens and Godfrey of Saint Omer must survive. Maybe other knights or all should have to survive. The author could also help the matter by putting more danger inside of Jerusalem.
CREATIVITY: The Kestrel argued that this campaign only had one new thing and gave it a three in creativity. This new thing is choosing what to say in a conversation. The Kestrel was correct, in that there's only one original concept implemented in the senario. However, we are not to judge the creativity only on the number of "new things" we can find. In this day and age, it's not easy to make new trigger tricks and so forth because so much has already been done. I think it's great that Xavill could add other trick to the barrel. Furthermore, I have not seen many quality scenarios based on the formation of an order of Knighthood. I think the plot itself is a little creative.
MAP DESIGN: It's true that the map has a lot of almost empty desert space, but the player doesn't have to see much of it. We are only to rate the map on what we see. In addtion, desert maps are not the easist to make due to a lack of tools on the editor. This part of the terrain could be improved using texture mixing. Shadows wrote a helpful article about the subject. The article still sits in the database of AOK SCN PUNK. On a different note, I thought the city of Jerusalem was pretty eell done. It's not as good as Gregory Koteles's work in The Adventures of Robin Hood, but still quite good.
STORY/INSTRUCTIONS: The story was well wrote and was on an interesting subject. The author also did a descent job of leading the player. I had little trouble understanding what I had to do next. The messages and intructions had some grammer/spelling mistakes, but the first tongue of the author is not English. We should understand that AOK is a very popular game that has fans outside English speaking countries. Many talented scenario designers speak English as a second or third language. If English isn't the designer's first language and the grammer/spelling mistakes don't efect our ability to understand or enjoy the story, as was the case here, then I think they should be overlooked. Details, such as, the personality and background of each character could have pushed the score to a five.
Overall this is a solid campaign that could be great with a little tweaking. Unfortunately my review may drop this scenario out of the BEST OF AOK. That's too bad because I enjoyed playing it and it's a worthy download. Here's a final thought. Although a scenario is not to be judged by it's length, I feel that the score would have been higher if it was expanded. For example, making Jerusalem bigger would have provided more missions and perhaps more danger. In addtion, it would have taken up a little bit more of empty desert space. There's nothing wrong with a large important city like Jerusalem dominating a map. Download this scenario !
Later
bleedteal[Edited on 11/29/06 @ 10:58 AM]
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Tanneur99
Official Reviewer |
Posted on 01/02/03 @ 12:00 AM
The campaign starts as a FF, to later be a RPG supported historical story telling and has a minimum of three different playable scenarios on one map. The Story of The Templars was the Blacksmith Feature on July 27, 2002.
Before the events of this campaign Hugues Count de Champagne and his cousin and vassal Hugues de Payens travelled twice to the Orient and Jerusalem. After their return in 1115 a specialist for the deciphering of old Hebrew texts was hired and the Cistercian Abbot St Bernard de Clairvaux, to whom The Knights Templar had sworn an oath of obedience, poverty and chastity, sent them to Jerusalem in 1118. Since Biblical times the stable of King Solomon was untouched deep beneath the Temple and sealed. It was their mission to find and open the vault as St Bernard believed that it contained the Ark of the Covenant with the Tables of Testimony, the Cosmic Equation, the law of measures, weights and numbers. Among the nine knights were the future Grand Master of the Templars, Hugues de Payens and André de Montbard, the uncle of St Bernard. It is not known what exactly they found, if anything, they kept it secret from the world, but we can assume that something important happened in Jerusalem, by the events that followed.
PLAYABILITY: The campaign is great fun and like other best of AoK campaigns it is the story that keeps you interested, the founding of the Knights Templar and a dream of mankind, the whereabouts of the Ark of the Covenant. The theory of this campaign, that the Ark never left Jerusalem since the time of David has its merits and is more supported than other speculations, for instance Egypt, as in the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. You will have not a boring moment, the quests are all enjoyable and there are various options to play the campaign. Arriving in Acre you choose between joining the pilgrims, the Knights Hospitallers, continuing your journey alone and between the mountain and river road. In and around Jerusalem are six trade carts out of which you only need two, but depending on your choices not all are available. In other words you create your own plot. The term high replay value applies to this campaign perfectly. 5
BALANCE: The campaign was played on moderate, as requested. Overall a good balance, but the campaign is too easy to complete for a perfect rating. On your way to Jerusalem and in front of the gate only Hueges de Payens has to survive and later you could complete the quest with a cart offered and a correct answer to a knight or guess in a prison. The most challenging quest, to retrieve an old book, is not even mandatory. 4
CREATIVITY: Undoubted a creative campaign, the historical correct names of the nine knights, the well researched detailed story, the multiple option system of completing the quest, different options of dialogue and depending on your beginning choices the hospitallers and monks react with three different texts each, when asked for a cart. 5
MAP DESIGN: The map is a lot better than random and Jerusalem is one of the best done cities I ever saw with AoK. The problem is the landscape between Acre and Jerusalem, the palm trees don’t fit, too flat and not enough terrain mix. Desert maps are difficult and should not have much eye-candy, but this map could be better with some items added. 4
STORY/INSTRUCTIONS: One of the best BMP at the blacksmith, showing a long bearded Templar, unlike other knights they did not shave, and The Templar Seal, two knights, Hueges de Payens and Godefroi Saint Omer, on one horse, as the legend tells us. The instructions are clear, change according to what you play and a well, on historical background written interesting story with good dialogues. The rich hint and history section also confirm the rating. 5
OVERALL: A multi scenario campaign on one map about the most powerful organisation of its time.
OBSERVATION: One of the disputed campaigns at the blacksmith with overall ratings between 3.2 and 4.6.
SUGGESTIONS: The balance could improve if more heroes have to survive in the beginning. All of them would be historically correct and the three Flemish ones, Godefroi de Saint Omer second-in-command; Archambaud de Saint Amand; Payen de Montdidier next to Hugues de Payens would be logical for the negotiations with Baldwin II, who would not be pleased to hear that you left his compatriots in the desert. In Jerusalem the player should have to complete more than one side quest, as one of the parties offers already a cart for the help on the way and if you don’t help the hospitallers could be your enemy in town. Your city design is good, but the landscape needs improvement, more terrain mix, elevations, valleys, rocks, an oasis, a trade post.
IN CLOSING: I edited my review posted 01/21/O2 after replaying and raised my creativity rating. I also recommend "The Revenge of the Templar" by the same author. |
Templarius |
Posted on 05/27/05 @ 03:43 AM
Well done! I really liked your work and I hope you keep it up. Long live the Templars!!! |
laz123 |
Posted on 11/29/06 @ 07:15 AM
Nothing happened after killing all at the temple to rescue the farmer's daughter. |
Possidon
Official Reviewer |
Posted on 01/20/10 @ 08:41 AM
Playability: 5
I enjoyed the Story of the Templar because it kept me interested. It is all about the founding of the templar knights and the whereabouts of the Ark of the Covenant. There are many different choices in the game like choosing to help the Pilgrims or Hospitalers.
Balance: 5
I thought that the balance was very good. There was just the right amount of enemy soldiers to make a challenge. It wasn't too hard and it wasn't too easy. The Scenario supports all difficulty levels.
Creativity: 5
this is a very creative campaign based on correct historical facts. The well researched story, the multiple option choices, and the different dialogs if you choose different things. It is brilliant
Map Design: 5
I think Xavill is one of the best scenario designers in the AOKH Blacksmith. The map is so much better than a Random map. Jerusalem is one of the best designed cities I have seen in the blacksmith too. I have seen people complain that the desert is too plain, but in real life people, IT IS!
Story/Instructions: 5
the Story was very fun and enjoyable but at the same times it was interesting and educational. I learnt a lot about the Foundation of the templar knights. The instructions were clear and I knew what I was doing at every point in the Game.
Additional Comments:
A Must Download
Edited for typos.[Edited on 02/03/11 @ 02:32 PM]
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Pages: « First « 1 [2] |
HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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4.2 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 4.4 | Balance | 4.1 | Creativity | 4.3 | Map Design | 3.9 | Story/Instructions | 4.1 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 5,397 |
Favorites: [] | 1 |
Size: | 294.48 KB |
Added: | 09/15/01 |
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