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The Second Kretharn War - The Night of Long Tears
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Author |
File Description |
Mash (id: Mashek) |
Posted on 06/08/06 @ 05:10 AM (updated 06/22/06)
File Details |
Version: |
The Conquerors 1.0c |
THE SECOND KRETHARN WAR - Part II
~The Night of Long Tears~
'Old King Tyronis took to the lance and horse and sacrificed his life to save others. Old General Hamandis, overcome with grief, contemplates his death to come and the lives of many others!'
The last hours of Erertiya are in place! The few surviving, battered Erertiyans of Prethonia have made it to Argeron, and now, forty thousand warriors of Krethar march for the walls of the capital like thunder in the earth. The city, in which several hundred Erertiyan warriors defend. General Hamandis, a man feared and respected by allies and enemies alike, for the first time in his life feels so much anguish over a war that has gone for far too long. He fears the future of his people, and now contemplates his suicide as the last night of Erertiya draws over.
This is the cut-scene following The Feud between two Kingdoms, the cut-scene following the story of A Day of Hatred and Lost Memories. It is the last cut-scene before the Siege of Argeron, the second last installment of the series.
Make sure you read the story and hints. Enjoy!
Latest Update 1.1: Dialogue has been fixed. The Cavalry Charge scene has been fixed a bit and some minor grammatical errors have been fixed.
The story starts in The Second Kretharn War I - A Day of Hatred and Lost Memories, continues in The Second Kretharn War - The Feud between two Kingdoms and here. |
Author | Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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Byzan (id: ByZaN) |
Posted on 06/09/06 @ 07:26 AM
The Second Krethárn War – The Night of Long Tears, like all other of Mashek’s projects, is awesome!!! The Second Krethárn War is a fictitious scenario set in the time after the First Krethárn War, between Krethár and Erertiya. It has everything you need in a scenario, Emotion, Action, Story, etc. It is worth downloading, even if the time is quite long, my advice is, DOWNLOAD!!!
Playability: 5
The story, like all other Krethárn War scenarios, is great. There was plenty of Music, and FX Sounds, the scenario uses the Fog of War trick, and others adding to a great watch.
Balance: 5
A cutscene is an Automatic 5.
Creativity: 5
I was looking forward to reviewing the creativity. Mashek used some interesting tricks in this scenario, If you look at the 'Keep' in the scenario you will notice its not just made form a Wonder, but by Castles and buildings from different civilizations. There was also a lot of renamed units, the LARGE Armies Trick and Mashek also used the fog of war trick, which can do some various things, such as; Creating a Darker atmosphere to the terrain, Using sounds then revealing the map. Very Well done Mashek!!!
Map Design: 5
The Map Design was great! It had a snowy atmosphere, the buildings were not just made out of a simple building, but by many, which were put together to look as if it were one, (The Keep is one of those buildings).
Story/Instructions: 5
The story is probably the best I've seen in AoKH, a war between a Dragon and a Bear, Erertiya and Krethár, a great story about Akxarix's vengeance on Erertiya, in the Second Krethárn War (I'll try not spoil it anymore). A beautiful story, would've took a while to make it, so don't go skipping the Instructions or History.
Additional Comments:
Keep up the great work Mashek, cant wait until the next Krethárn War scenario hits the Blacksmith ;)! |
The_Slayer90 |
Posted on 06/13/06 @ 04:25 PM
The Second Krethárn War: The Night of Long Tears, is a single scenario cutscene that tells the story of what happens after "A Day of Hatred and Lost Memories"
Playability: 5
This was a very enjoyable cutscene, and the author used many tricks that all blended smoothly for a perfect cutscene. It was as if I was watching a movie!
Balance: 5
Since this is a cutscene, it gets an automatic 5
Creativity: 5
The author included very creative ideas in this cutscene, Such as the keep, which was two diferent kinds of castles, a Celtic wonder and many other bildings. I also enjoyed the scenes which had huge masses of enemy soldiers.
Map Design: 5
The map design was incredible. Each patch of grass, each patch of snow, each dead tree held so much emotion that one couldn't help but feel downhearted.
Story/Instructions: 5
I have never seen a better story than in TSKW series. It's like reading a book and watching a movie at the same time!
Additional Comments:
Download this now! You won't be dissapointed. Just be sure to check out all of Masheks levels for TSKW.
[Edited on 06/13/06 @ 04:26 PM]
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Stephen Richards
Official Reviewer |
Posted on 06/21/06 @ 07:29 AM
The Night of Long Tears is the third in a series of scenarios covering the fictional Second Krethárn War. It is a cut-scene which means that the player does not actively participate but merely watches the story unfold. It lasts for around nine-and-a-half minutes.
PLAYABILITY (5)
I came to this as a bit of a cutscene-sceptic. Usually, after about a minute I’m itching to get stuck in and start the killing and destruction. Only a few exceptional designs can counteract this for any longer and the Night of Long Tears falls into this category. Through a wintry and desolate map, music and writing it captures the ravages of war and creates a mood of desolation and melancholy about as well as can be done in AoK. Cut-scenes are very labour intensive so I can imagine the amount of work which went into this. The author stipulates that the game be played on certain settings which helps to enhance its mood. With hindsight it seems rather obvious but I cannot recall being recommended to play at a specific resolution before. I found scarcely any spelling or grammatical mistakes and although I found the writing a little overwrought in places, in general the author is to be commended for their excellent use of language. There is also a very striking bitmap and as one might expect an excellent history section. My only niggle is that I found the superimposed dialogue (whereby text is added to the end of sentences) slightly disconcerting as I ended up reading the sentence from the beginning each time. However, this is really picky!
BALANCE (5)
Balance does not pertain to cut-scenes and, as per the reviewing guidelines, a five is awarded for this category.
CREATIVITY (5)
Nothing less than full marks could be awarded here either. The writing, design, sounds and the use of triggers is excellent. There are one or two tricks which are well-employed; although it’s a pity that exposed parts of the map reappear at times, this is probably unavoidable. Everything is timed to perfection. To pick out one thing, the suicide scene was conveyed well by the use of language and a simple sound effect.
MAP DESIGN (5)
Relatively little of the map is seen but all the visible bits are very well done. The landscapes are bleak and cold (enhanced by the sound effects) and demonstrate that less is more. As with every other aspect of the design there is excellent attention to detail (e.g. the dead bodies, and the birds).
STORY/INSTRUCTIONS (5)
Exemplary! As mentioned above, everything you need is here and then some. The notes say that this cut-scene proceeds the Feud between Two Kingdoms but in fact I think it follows it. This scenario is self-contained except that FbTK contains some sounds which are used here and I would suggest first playing FbTK (and the first scenario) to get the whole story. I’m sure the author already intends to but I would suggest bundling all the scenarios together into one campaign once finished.
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Mk101 |
Posted on 07/08/06 @ 02:31 AM
Looking at all of the reviews,I was expecting something exceptional, however I guess I liked Oliver's cutscene more since it had some special tricks possible by hex editing only.(I kinda got addicted to such kinds of tricks.hehehe)which is to say that although this cutscene doesn't have such fancy tricks(it does have tricks but not the type which Oliver used in his cutscene)it is not bad and also considering the fact that I myself can't discover these tricks I have to say well done
Playability: 5
This was perfect.No lag, no trigger bugs , no grammatical mistakes and excellent use of language.
Balance: 5
A cutscene automatically guarantees a a 5 here
Creativity: 5
The names were creative and the mixing of different buildings to create a unique building was a good trick(map copying trick I think)The story, the names of characters and the names of the cities were indeed creative.And it takes creativity to create a story from scratch with so much detail.
Map Design: 5
Map design was generally well done.The winter landscape suited the scenario well..
edit:Sorry nothing is wrong with the map design:)
Story/Instructions: 5
(Insert Story/Instructions analysis here)
I guess I'm not that much into siege type scenarios..but don't get me wrong, the story is good, but maybe it could be spiced up a little..you know maybe improved a little bit
Additional Comments:
As you have seen I've awarded lower scores to some of the parts which I felt could have been improved..but hey I'm no expert and if others say this is 5.0 stuff and then so be it.
edit:Sorry about the lowered score.Its like they say majority always wins.So I changed my review.I was so much impressed mby legends of chila cutscene, that this cutscene didn't look that good,but it really is(considering the fact that legends of Chila had been modified using hex editing and other tricks)
[Edited on 07/09/06 @ 07:46 PM]
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Julius999
Official Reviewer |
Posted on 05/15/08 @ 06:13 AM
Playability: 4+
The Night of Long Tears is part of a serial, as yet unfinished. It is purely a cutscene, and so those who dislike them are recommended to stay away. For the rest of us, this is an enjoyable and engaging cutscene that flourishes on a strong story and atmosphere. It will definitely impress the vast majority of people. The directing is of high quality (although one scene seems out of sequence, when the General enters the keep). However, what stops me from awarding the full mark is that the cutscene is really just a snippet from a larger, unfinished whole and does not stand alone as a good scenario in its own right. This is a major flaw in composition and with the cutscene short and somewhat unsubstantial it does not warrant five stars.
Balance: 5
The cut-scene is balanced and works as the author intended to go with the story. A straight five.
Creativity: 5
Although it may not stand out as creative at first glimpse, it does deserve full marks in this category. The story itself and the setting, characters and map design all contribute to this. The author has a monopoly on this sort of campaign and makes it work very well.
Map Design: 5-
The map design is bleak and atmospheric. So much that, at times, it seems rushed and incomplete. However this is the author's intention and it works very well to create the dark atmosphere and wintery setting that is the author's goal. In addition, what we do see is well designed, especially the scenes of pillaged villages. It would be harsh indeed not to award this the full rating, particularly as it complements the story so well.
Story/Instructions: 4+
First of all, this story is one of the most detailed and well written available in the Blacksmith. The story is not in itself outstanding (it is straightforward in fact) but the huge amount of detail and quality of the telling would certainly deserve a high five. The instructions too leave nothing to be desired. However, as mentioned above, the story as it stands is unfinished, and as protrayed in this cutscene, short and unfulfilling. The story is the central aspect of this scenario (as there is no gameplay) and so it seems fair to demand that it stands alone, as it has been submitted alone. It is definitely an extract rather than the complete article, and so cannot be awarded full marks.
Additional Comments:
A very good start, but room for improvement in almost every quarter, which I am sure the author will bring in his remake of the series. For the downloader, the story is something you do not want to miss, definitely keep a look out for this when it's finished.[Edited on 05/20/08 @ 08:54 PM]
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HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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4.9 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 4.8 | Pacing | 5.0 | Creativity | 5.0 | Map Design | 5.0 | Story/Instructions | 4.8 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 7,136 |
Favorites: [] | 0 |
Size: | 4.75 MB |
Added: | 06/08/06 |
Updated: | 06/22/06 |
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