|
Author |
File Description |
Angel Mark (id: Mark Stoker) |
Posted on 12/02/01 @ 12:00 AM
File Details |
Version: |
The Conquerors 1.0c |
Style: |
Mix |
Number of scenarios: |
2 |
This is the final version of SCN Punk's "Nyctophobia" campaign.
STORY
The mighty city of Chichen Itza had prospered for many generations. Under the rule of a succession of strong and competent kings, Chichen Itza's influence spread across the Mayan homelands, making the city the most dominant in all the Yucatan.
Then came the day the prophets had been forewarning about for hundreds of years: the day the barbaric Toltec invaders first arrived from over the horizon. With the Toltecs came despair and destruction never witnessed before by the Mayans. The grand city of Edzna, under the rule of the great King Nopaltzin, fell to the Toltecs without a struggle. Edzna was razed to the ground, and all its inhabitants, including King Nopaltzin, were sacrificed to the gods.
When news of this horrifying defeat spread throughout the Yucatan, King Gucumatz of Chichen Itza knew he would not be able to hold off the Toltecs himself; he would need support from the rival Mayan city-states to defeat the Toltecs. Without more ado Gucumatz sent messengers to all of the rival Mayan kings, asking for help. The other Mayan kings were reluctant to form an alliance with Chichen Itza, but they knew too well that it was their only hope for survival. Eventually every key Mayan city joined the alliance with Chichen Itza: Uxmal, Izamal, Sayil, even Chichen Itza's archenemy Mayapan joined the alliance. And thus began the bloodiest war in the history of the Mayans...
"Nyctophobia" is a fictional mini-campaign about the Toltec invasion of the Yucatan peninsula, the home of the Mayans. In this campaign you play Tlanextic, a high-ranking warrior from the mighty Mayan city of Chichen Itza. Your mission will be to unite the estranged city-states of the Yucatan peninsula and lead the defence against the ruthless Toltecs...
CREDITS:
Scenario Design: Mark Stoker (member of SCN Punk Team)
Voice Acting: Dastal (member of SCN Punk Team)
Playtesting: Aztec_Brave, Aztec_King, BrandNewCar, Cat, Ex-T, Flavius Aetius, Gawain, Ingo van Thiel, King Barbarossa, Lord Redwall, Mental Dwarf, Mechstra, Pyromaniac, Shykre, Socrateius, Talon Karrde, TNK, and Ultima_Knight
Aditional Credits:
Enrique Orduno - New units and objects template scenario.
Sybex - Official Scenario Design Toolkit.
Zanzard Lothar - "Immobile Units GOLD" AI Script.
For more information on this campaign, read the readme file included in the ZIP file.
For more of the author's work click Here and Here |
Author | Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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JackalRat (id: BrandNewCar)
Official Reviewer |
Posted on 12/03/01 @ 12:00 AM
I eagerly downloaded Nyctophobia, I thought this would be a good campaign, It was better than I had expected even for top class designers. It tells of the story of the Yucatan jungle and of Chicken Itza and the invasion of the Toltecs. You meet the main characters in the prologue, namely Tlanextic and Timas.
Playability: Well the first thing hit me quite soon into the scenarios, choices. They’re were many and it all helped bring the story together. For instance taking a path when told you’re meant to go down another totally disregarding orders makes it all the more fun. I can see myself playing this many times yet to come.
Balance: The balance was well set out the difficulty settings actually made a difference to how difficult the campaign was which was good. I’d say it had its hard parts but using common sense and perseverance you can achieve you’re objectives in the game. The balance to me seemed spot-on.
Creativity: Well, this campaign has many new features considering how old Age of Kings is now I was surprised. Examples being, Setting light to huts to start a fire, invincibility and using an abandoned mangonel. Along with many other features that although have been done before are well executed. The creativity was superb and the detail can often be overlooked in light of the other great things this campaign has.
Map Design: The map design was brilliant. It looked like a jungle peninsula and the scenery was ever changing. From screen to screen it changed and kept the player wondering. Great stuff! After playing through all the different choices of the campaign I think I explored the entire map! The features such as waterfalls also helped the maps design.
Story/Instructions: The story tells of the invasion of Toltecs and the various tribes in the Yucatan combining forces as one to stop the Toltecs invasion force. Betrayal is only one step away and you can play from both sides the Toltecs and the Mayan defence! The story was griping and proved for much enjoyment. The instructions were clear and well organised, they were set out so it was easy to read. The choices never seemed confusing because the instructions helped keep the player knowing what he was doing.
Overall: Wow! A 5.0 campaign, I didn’t think I would have seen this for a long time yet. The last Age of Kings 5?Perhaps but I doubt it. This was a great campaign and one of the best I have ever played ranking up there with all the top Age of Kings scenarios/campaigns a last thing I didn’t previously mention was the great use of sounds. I urge you to download this masterpiece of a campaign! I think by the review you already knew that ;-). |
Tiago Silva |
Posted on 02/18/02 @ 12:00 AM
Nyctophobia is a game about Yucutan.
Playability: The fun factor in this game was superb! It included lots of features, and you would never get tired of playing the game, truly a master-piece, worthy of a deserving 5.
Balance: Balance was perfect! It was neither too hard or too easy, and it got harder by the minute.
Creativity: Lots of trigger tricks, piranha, waterfalls, gods, everything!
Map Design: Map Design is beautiful, the yucatan south american penninsula is superbly desgined.
Story/Instructions: Great Great! Very Good story and many clear and precise Instructions.
Great Spelling Too, overall , a 5. |
DiGiT |
Posted on 03/30/02 @ 12:00 AM
This was a very good campaign... on my 'play again' list ;-). Explaination of my ratings:
Playability: Some parts were a bit tough on knowing what to do (for example when the Toltecs attack the second city in the beginning, I died a few times while triggers held me in place), but once I had complete control, it was challenging but beatable.
Balance: This was great! With the timed objectives and all, it musta taken some work to get it all working right. One of the first campaigns that didnt make my comp crash, too ;-)!
Creativity: The idea of this campaign was great! It wasn't historical, but it certainly could've been... very believable!
Map Design: Nothing bad, fantastic detailed map!!
Story: Ties in with the creativity, very good. The only small problem was sometimes the action went a bit too fast to make it believable... but that's very hard to perfect, so nothing major. |
AOKRokkit |
Posted on 04/27/02 @ 12:00 AM
The Punk team never fail to amaze me with what can be done given time, imagination and a copy of AOK. Nyctophobia is a truly great campaign, featuring the under-utilised Mayans with an incredible amount of original content, all played out on a map packed full of eye candy. I’ve always had a fondness for the new world civs and terrain, and their masterful use gives a lasting impression.
The campaign is a fictional account of the invasion of the Toltec Aztecs into the land of the Mayans, focusing on leading small bands of infantry through an entire invasion. (Coincidentally, my campaign-in-progress, The Omega War uses a similar idea. Which is bloody annoying, I can tell you.) The plot is excellent considering the amount of time the game is played over, and contains the best non-linear experience I’ve seen, as well as being the largest: which side you are on in the entire second scenario depends on what happens in the first few minutes. Another satisfying aspect is the characters, who have personalities, sensible stats, are relatively numerous and are a great asset, adding a satisfying slice of RPG. Then there are the set pieces, such as the beehives, the exciting and well-choreographed attacks on the first two towns, the waterfall and many others, all of which are amusing, immensely impressive and add to the gameplay magnificently.
Even better, especially for me, is that the game runs smoothly up until the point at which you gain control of Chichen Itza, without the slightest jerk even during large battles, all of which add to the beauty of the scenario's design. When the city does become yours however, the game grinds to a halt on my low-end P133 and becomes unplayable. It is short, but then again so was Max Payne; and from Tamerlane I was given the impression that more material means more repetition with the Punks. Not that it makes any difference. Nyctophobia is quite simply the best campaign available: waste no more time and download it now.
Playability: 5.0 – incredibly good, or course!
Balance: 5.0 – fine-tuned to perfection.
Creativity: 5.0 – Amazingly original.
Map Design: 5.0 – So much eye candy I want to cry.
Story/Instructions: 5.0 – Incredibly complex and deep for a two scenario campaign, or for that matter any campaign.
If I had enough flexibility to do so, I would’ve given her 4.9 on Playability and Instructions owing to the slow-down at the end and slightly dodgy scenario introduction images, but I can’t without bringing the game off the charts. |
Possidon
Official Reviewer |
Posted on 02/16/10 @ 09:22 AM
I’m not really a big fan of the Mayan’s and Aztec’s. The only reason I downloaded this campaign was because it was made by Mark Stoker. However this campaign changed my mind about the South American civilizations completely. This is a mixed campaign of RPG, FF, DtS and B&D
Playability: 5
Nyctophobia is a hugely enjoyable campaign about the Toltec invasion of the Yucatan. It is full of adventure and different choices. It is a very creative and well balanced game. I was playing on it for hours. I just couldn’t come off until I had completed it.
Balance: 5
The Campaign is very challenging but not impossible. The DtS parts give you enough time to build an army before the enemy come and the RPG parts allow you to choose different paths so you don’t run into big armies of Toltec’s. This campaign suits all difficulty levels.
Creativity: 5
The Campaign is very creative. The Piranha in the Shallows at the begging was really clever. I also like the different choices that you could choose between. The Yucatan map design was one of a kind and looks very pretty and the story was very clever.
Map Design: 5
The very beautiful Yucatan map design by Mark Stoker is as I said; one of a kind. The extensive detail is outstanding. From the high Mountains and hills to the small sea level rivers Nyctophobia’s Map Design is one of the Best by Mark Stoker. The Elevation and Cliffs were used nicely. The GAIA objects were also placed very carefully at look awesome.
Story/Instructions: 5
Nyctophobia’s story is Amazing. It tells the story of the Toltec invasion on the Yucatan and the tale of Tlanextic and Timas two Mayan generals who help defeat the Toltecs. Along side with the fantastic story are the wonderful, clear instructions. They are easy to understand and also have a big and helpful Hints page.
Additional Comments:
A MUST Download. I have never seen a campaign about the Mayans/Aztecs that was this fun!
Possidon
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BritishGuy |
Posted on 11/10/13 @ 01:15 PM
This is the first campaign I downloaded from this community, therefore this is my first review.
Playability: 4
This game was immensely fun! You are always kept on your toes and you're always doing something - I enjoy that you're always doing something and never boringly waiting for resources to come in.
However on some occasions the game crashed for me. Especially when trying to load a previous save of the game. That's why playability is a 4 rather than 5.
Balance: 5
The balance is absolutely perfect for the story it tells. Your enemies at first are much more powerful than you - but that's the point! It makes the story work well.
Creativity: 5
The creativity was amazing. The sounds used, the triggers, the map design and so on. The triggers were endless - waterfalls, piranhas, talking to other units, buying things and so on.
Map Design: 5
These maps literally gave me an eyegasm. They are incredibly beautiful and so carefully designed. I was surprised at the professionalism of the design, in a good way.
Story/Instructions: 5
The story is so flawless and very easy to follow.
The instructions were easy to follow and contained excellent grammar.
Additional Comments:
This is a MUST DOWNLOAD campaign! Those who haven't tried this have no idea what they are missing.
Thank you for sharing this amazing campaign. |
kud13 |
Posted on 06/07/17 @ 11:03 AM
I used to wonder why the Mayans are so under-represented in the custom content, given their "exotic" status as a New World civ, and their pretty cool UU.
Having finally played Nyctophobia, I understand why better: it's because the bar's been set so incredibly high.
"Nyctophobia" is a massive "mini-campaign" depicting the Mayan resistance against the Toltec invasion of Yucatan. The player takes the role of warriors of Chichen Itza. It consists of 3 scenarios, packaged as 2, but an early choice in scen 2 could lead to 2 entirely different experiences.
Playability: 5
Playing this was incredible amount of fun. Much like the Mongols, Mayan unique units, are almost unstoppable when massed, and the B&D portions were a pure blast once the game took off properly.
I did encounter one bug, where AI transport got stuck on a rock and I was unable to recover my monks and their relics, but I'm willing to overlook this as a quirk of HD pathing
Balance: 5
Played on Moderate, the balance was fair and appropriate. In the prologue, constant micro was necessary to avoid losing the limited troops needlessly. In the B&D portions, once the player recovered Chichen Itza, enemies attacked in a steady trickle, that was wholly manageable, but any attempts to build up outside the walls were met with frequent harassment.
Creativity: 5
The prologue scenario employed many creative elements to spice up the FF/RPS framework. Nyctophobia proper was a solid FF transitioning to B & D with interesting side-quests. And the fact that an early choice offers radically different strategies deserves a 5 on its own.
Map Design: 5
The jungle looks beautiful. The Mesoamerican cities look imposing. The rivers that wend between the jungle fit in perfectly. Scattered villages add that touch of realism, even if not all of them are plot-significant.
Story/Instructions: 5
Overall, the story is told in a clear manner, and the "choice" as presented in the Nyctophobia proper puts the player in a tough spot, choosing between loyalty to a particular city or to Mayans as a nation. It serves as a cool illustration of how petty squabbles led to the downfall of an entire civilization.
I have only one concern with this section (SPOILERS BELOW!)
I wasn't sure whether to put this complaint her, or in the Balance section, but in the end, here seemed more appropriate.
It's about the above-mentioned choice. Specifically, the hints about it. The designer suggests that siding with the Rebels is a more difficult path.
I strongly disagree with this, having tried both ways. The reinforcements the rebels receive make it easy to breach the city. In addition, the rebels need only destroy a gate and bring hero to a castle, to gain control over THE WHOLE city. Whereas the Mayapans get a much smaller base INSIDE a hostile city, and the must destroy the same gate, PLUS the Castle to gain control. All the while the city around them is neutral, and enemy troops walk through the gates at their leisure.
I found this to be seriously misleading, since that can lead to some serious struggles early on. In AoK, I'd rather face 2 enemies when
control walls then 1 but no walls while I'm building up. If I could, I'd give this a 4.5, because I really liked the scenario overall, and it didn't phase me that much, but it's a serious potential issue that I think needs to be mentioned. However, since it did not actually affect my enjoyment from playing the scenario, I 'd give this section a "5-"
Additional Comments:
Minor complaints aside, this is a masterpiece. From map design, to the choices, to the sheer fun of commanding massive Eagle Warrior and Plumed Archer armies, this campaign is worth your time, and it's worth re-playing.
[Edited on 07/09/19 @ 08:58 PM]
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HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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4.9 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 4.7 | Balance | 5.0 | Creativity | 5.0 | Map Design | 5.0 | Story/Instructions | 4.9 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 29,952 |
Favorites: [] | 14 |
Size: | 2.00 MB |
Added: | 12/02/01 |
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