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Eurona's Curse Teaser (Extended)
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Author |
File Description |
newIdea |
Posted on 10/15/06 @ 11:11 PM (updated 10/20/06)
File Details |
Version: |
The Conquerors 1.0c |
Eurona's Curse - Teaser
Daybreak. As the sun rose from the east, the deep green of the land set its morning dew. The chill autumn wind blew off from the Mountains, and the surrounding wildlife could be heard in all its morning eager, as it usually was. But this would be no usual beginning...
This is the extended version of the previously released EC Teaser in the forums. It was originally released on the forums only, but I decided to host the file here in the Blacksmith for reference reasons. I want to be able to look back on this someday without regretting not submitting it, so I could see it later. There is quite a bit more content on this version than the last one. SO if you saw the first version, hopefully you won't be disappointed with this version.
SPECIAL CREDITS:
- Tsunami Studios: Support
- Age of Kings Heaven: Support
- DiGiT: AoK Trigger Studio
TESTERS:
- Oliver
- Anastasia
- Warwick
- watchwood
- BrandNewCar
- Mashek331
- Aro
IMPORTANT SETTINGS:
Screen Size: 1024x768
Game Speed: Normal
Graphics: High
Sound Volume: Highest
Music Volume: Off
Speaker/Headphones: Loud
NOTE: If even one of these settings is not set correctly, your viewing experience will drastically decrease.
NOTE2: Make sure there are no other programs running during the scenario. This can drastically throw off the timing of the scneario's music and sounds.
NOTE3: Do not use Marco Polo. This can also decrease your viewing experience.
Eurona's Curse Discussion
EDIT: File updated, 20/10/06. |
Author | Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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Mash (id: Mashek)
Staff
Official Reviewer |
Posted on 11/08/06 @ 04:14 AM
Eurona's Curse is a fictitious cut-scene focused around a young man called Yereoc and his incessant haunting dreams that come and go every night. Mysterious figures hurl fire balls, leveling entire towns and eradicating entire populaces, bursting them open into clouds of ash. In the land around Yereoc a war brews somewhere in the countryside and mysteries and twists flare around every corner. We are introduced to characters, their deep bonds of friendship and one man's troubled life.
As Yereoc's dreams pass on, the mysterious figures notorious for hurling fireballs begin to show up in real life, leaving a trail of destruction as they go. We are left wondering about the strange figures' identity, their purpose, and about the main character's strange connection with them. Who is this man, what of his destiny, what of the country's?
PLAYABILITY: I came to this cut-scene at first not knowing what to expect, not knowing of the qualities of designing that the author had mastered, but when I did play it, I was in shock, and in awe. Very few cut-scenes can ever grasp your attention at the moment go; in fact, very few cut-scenes can ever even keep your attention transfixed for the whole of the view time, and 'Eurona's Curse' does just this. Complete with some of the most beautiful and well designed scenes, a riveting story and contemplative music that is just so crisp perfect, so atmospheric, any and every viewer will be impressed and intrigued. The author takes a new approach to the fantastical genre, a new leap toward magic and dark sorcerers making for a highly compelling and innovative piece of work. I thoroughly enjoyed this cut-scene to say the least. One so gorgeous and thrilling certainly stands up among the top with other classics such as 'Legends of Chila' and 'Immortal Prey'. The map design was just so impressive, so fantastical and so detailed. The music enhances this and is vividly wild with emotion; you really get a sense of the beauty of nature, a sense of days when the birds and wildlife are at its most eager. The story is just so immersing; one full of twists that really bring it to life and keep you captivated throughout. The way everything was carried out was just so perfect and masterly orchestrated, and the use dialogue is also original and very poetic at that. At fourteen minutes, this cut-scene makes its way to the top! 5.0
PACING: When rating this category, reviewers must take into account the author's intentions and goals of the design. It is in the intention of the author that this scenario evolves plot and story, and to show a cut-scene whereby the player receives no units to control and no struggle to survive. As such there is no deduction from the overall score because there is no fighting for the player. 5.0
CREATIVITY: The creativity in this cut-scene is excellent. Mysterious figures hurl fireballs wiping out entire villages, dew forms around the bases of houses early in the morning and the heavy use of the author's very own 'Invisibility Cloak' is just plain striking as units appear out of nowhere renamed respectively. In addition you will find a wild horse roaming a paddock, an astounding bitmap, plentiful renaming, a remarkably creative use of terrain and poetically appearing dialogue. The way the towns are put together, the view appearing and disappearing on the minimap, the Town Centre's veranda seated by walls and a fictitious story hand-crafted from scratch bring this category to a clean and well-deserved perfect score. All this, and a stunning title which concludes the cut-scene that will really surprise and impress you. 5.0
MAP DESIGN: The author makes his name known by the time and effort he takes to lay down so much as a square of terrain. Every little tile, every crevice, every scene is designed to perfection, the editor's limitations manipulated beyond what I previously thought out of reach, at least for me it is anyway. The trees are mixed very nicely, ordaining a very natural and realistic feel, but also keeping to the fantastical aspect as we see in one area a forest mixed with palms, oak, pine and jungle. Ruins and damaged houses can be seen in the depths of the forests, peaking among the tops of trees or sitting alongside roads and really develops a sense of history to the land, a story. Clumps of grass overflow the streets of beautifully designed towns with perfect map copied buildings and Gaia is used to realistic standards. A well put effort for a well-deserved score! 5.0
STORY/INSTRUCTIONS: The story is creative and original, a concept I myself have never witnessed in the Blacksmith as of yet. The author introduces the protagonist's story with an extract in History seemingly told from a storyteller's perspective. It tells us what is to come, of lost loyalty and good, of the evil and betrayal to come and a destiny wrapped under a cloud of uncertainty. Instructions are exemplary, detailing the settings we need to have before viewing and makes clear how the cut-scene will be so much less without the adherence to them. The plot of the cut-scene itself was intriguing and simply wondrous, topped by the superb use of dialogue that perfectly matches every scene and appears very flowingly and poetically. However I encountered many spelling mistakes throughout play. In History it seems that you many a time confused 'his' with 'this' or the other way around. Also, I would think the lines *thinks* Where are my boots?! would be best said as *thinking* and the one where that guy destroys best said as man or figure. In addition you spelt Yereoc as Yeroec at the dream and at the part where the Inn Keeper greets the two men he should say, "Is there something I can do for you two?" You did not add the last word onto the sentence. If anything, I felt the cut-scene was not evolved enough to deserve a perfect rating overall, the story still left going and the viewer waiting to see what happens next. 4.0
CONCLUSION: newIdea, this is a work of art. I hope you retain the beauty in this scenario in the ones following. I eagerly await the sequel!
In a word - Wondrous.
In conclusion - A must download![Edited on 08/03/15 @ 03:14 AM]
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Dantares IV |
Posted on 02/16/07 @ 06:10 PM
Playability: 5
This cutscene is totally playable, and is one of the best cutscenes I have ever seen. The music is wonderful, and the story is superb. A great cut scene!
Balance: 5
As allways, a 5.0 here.
Creativity: 5
The mysterious storyline, the beautiful forests, the nice looking town/inn, and the great job of map coping. The creativity is wonderfull!! Oh ya, and the large use of the invisiblity cloak is marvelous!! I have never seen it used to this extent ever!
I only see it used maybe three times at the most in games. I don't even feel like listing all the times it was used here.
Map Design: 5
The mixing of different types of trees and the ruins that are made to look grown over are superb. Never before have I seen such forests!
As I said before, the town is well made and nothing in the map is left unchanged. Unless of course you type marco/polo! lol :p
As Mashek said, "The author makes his name known by the time and effort he takes to lay down so much as a square of terrain." I agree with those words 100%
Story/Instructions: 5
Well, at first I was thinking of making this category a 4.0 because of acouple of confusing parts that I had mentioned before hand, but I got most of those answered before I wrote this review, so this stays as a five. The story given is great! I really do not have much more to say about it, sorry.
Additional Comments:
This is a great cut scene that deserves more reviews/comments, and downloads than it allready has. Well, I can't control the other people here, but I wanted to contribute a review to this cut scene, and now I have.
Good work and good luck on the next part of this game, I am sure it will be great!!
lol, I'm sorry I don't make such long and specific reviews as Mashek does, but at least I got the job done. This should look funny sitting next to Mashek's review. One enormous review and then my small one. lol
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Lord Basse
Official Reviewer |
Posted on 08/08/07 @ 05:34 PM
Eurona's Curse is a long, intriguing cut-scene with loads of enjoyment for the watcher. here is my review of it.
PLAYABILITY: 5
Eurona's Curse is really once of a kind. Even if the majority of the cut-scene shows two men walking a long a path, the design and story that is told meanwhile is absolutely breathtaking. Deep forests and curvey paths, no clutter. The music is superb and very fitting for the cut-scene. It's truly captivating.
The only thing that can be made better is to finish the story.
BALANCE: 5
It's a pure cut-scene, meaning there are no elements of gameplay and thus nothing to either mark down or up in Balance. The Review guidelines say that all of this sort of cut-scenes should be given fives.
CREATIVITY: 5
Eurona's Curse is an original. I haven't seen its like anytime before and I doubt I will in the future - as long as no one decides to make a carboncopy of EC :P.
The map design is beautiful, with great mixing and neither too much or little eye-candy/clutter.
All from the way the dialogue was presented to the dream to the way people walked was new to me. After watching it I had many questions about the tricks and things used and not all of them have been answered yet.
I give a solid five because both the overall theme and the details are unique and creative.
MAP DESIGN: 5
From the very beginning the design and outlay of this scenario is brilliant. Deep forests that seem impossible to cross, both in-game and if they would exist in reality, narrow blocks of houses with beautiful details, a marvelous inn... the list is long.
the only place where the design isn't marvelous is in the dream. I will not bring down the scores because of this, since dreams aren't like in the real world - not even the real world for a man made up of ones and zeros. In a dream, the world can look like the inside of a chewing gum... or it can look like the most beautiful mountains and hills in the highlands. My point is that the dream part may not look all too good, but it gives a good feeling of having a dream and a good contrast to the wonderful design over the rest of the map.
STORY & INSTRUCTIONS: 4+
The instructions where all very clear and it was impossible to get them wrong - unless you cant read. trhe beginning of the scenario gives you the time you need to configure your settings, then taunt 15 to start the cut-scene. It's a very good system, since you dont have to restart the whole cut-scene to get the timers working correctly if you miss out fixing up the settings.
The story is one of a kind. It's unique, deep and leaves many questions when the cut-scene end. I dont want to ruin it for possible watchers, so I wont go into details about the story.
All I can say is that this is far above average, and the beginning of a superb campaign. Already at an early stage the story has captured me.
The reason I deduct scores from this is because the story is yet to be completed. I had to decide between deducting here or in Playability, and because I enjoyed watching it so much, I took points from S/I instead.
OVERALL: The beginning of a masterpiece
IN CLOSING: Capturing story, an original idea, marvelous map design - this truly deserves its spot in the Top Rated
RECOMMENDED DOWNLOAD: Yes.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: This is a quite short review, I have to admit that. But I simply cant manage to write any more, and I think I summed it up in quite few words.
After watching this you end up with a head full of questions, and a hope that newIdea wont give this project up. This is very common, as many designers make wonderful teasers to projects they never finish, sadly. If the finished campaign - when or if it comes - continues with same style and depth of the story, I'm sure it will be given a solid five in the end.[Edited on 09/10/07 @ 09:40 AM]
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HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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4.9 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 5.0 | Pacing | 5.0 | Creativity | 5.0 | Map Design | 5.0 | Story/Instructions | 4.3 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 1,679 |
Favorites: [] | 2 |
Size: | 4.00 MB |
Added: | 10/15/06 |
Updated: | 10/20/06 |
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