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Campaigns » When the Wheel Breaks ~ Chapter 1: The Prophecy ~
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When the Wheel Breaks ~ Chapter 1: The Prophecy ~
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Author |
File Description |
Ingo van Thiel |
Posted on 03/30/07 @ 04:58 PM (updated 06/25/07)
File Details |
Version: |
The Conquerors 1.0c |
Style: |
Fixed Force |
THE STORY:
A nameless Shogun is haunted by the same dream every night: He sees his carriage race through a gorge, fleeing from an invisible enemy. It breaks down on a bridge, and he hears his own death scream inside the smashing wood and metal.
A wise woman gives him a cryptic prophecy: "When the wheel breaks, the shogun breaks." The Shogun fears a rebellion and starts such bloody counter measures that this actually plants the seeds of rebellion in people's hearts.
The story is told by Ronin Akira, who lost his daiymo to the Shogun's suspicions.
His revenge seems out of reach. Then something happens which looks like the prophecy is about to be fulfilled...
THE GAME:
Download the campaign file into your Age of Empires II/Campaign folder and the soundfiles into your Age of Empires II/sound/scenario folder.
Recommended settings: Normal speed, sound turned off. You can speed up or slow down Age of Kings by pressing the "+" and "-" button though.
This is a fixed-force scenario, but the difficulty level varies greatly. "Standard" is quite easy, "Moderate" gives experienced players a fair challenge. "Hard" is for people who like to micromanage and use every tactic trick in the book. I hope you'll enjoy this one-scenario campaign!
NOTES:
Thanks to everyone who playtested the scenario! The names are in the history section. Special thanks to Anastasia for providing me with a some great soundfiles.
UPDATE:
25th June 2007: Added a bonus zip file with a PDF which tells the rest of the story, and an epilogue scenario. |
Pages: « First « 1 [2] 3 4 5 6 7 » Last » | Author | Comments & Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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Nightfire |
Posted on 04/07/07 @ 03:23 PM
This is great, I just played the entire thing this morning. I'd have to say that Ulio was your best, however. |
UnnamedPlayer |
Posted on 04/07/07 @ 08:47 PM
Well, you are comparing 1 scenario of an unfinished campaign and story to a completed campaign. |
Rion |
Posted on 04/09/07 @ 07:04 AM
How long are you suppoed to wait before the massacre in the end happends? |
Ingo van Thiel
File Author |
Posted on 04/09/07 @ 04:48 PM
Stu183 and Rion: Sorry to hear you're having problems. Please send me a saved game to my address van-thiel(at)web(dot)de, so that I can look into it. It would be good if the saved game was sometime shortly before the bug occurs. |
Artifex |
Posted on 04/16/07 @ 08:48 AM
A superb game indeed. Altough it ended abruptly. Is it fair to assume there is a 'Chapter 2' coming up, Ingo? |
Stu183 |
Posted on 04/16/07 @ 12:17 PM
It happens everytime. I'll send later tonight. It may be a sound file, But im not sure :s I'll send my recent version. |
Rion |
Posted on 04/22/07 @ 03:01 AM
It was because I had a mod installed. Very good scenario. |
Mash (id: Mashek)
Staff
Official Reviewer |
Posted on 04/22/07 @ 06:30 AM
Great fun, authentic feel, and crisp play. Excellent work, Ingo. :-) |
Mash (id: Mashek)
Staff
Official Reviewer |
Posted on 05/11/07 @ 03:44 AM
'When the Wheel Breaks ~ Part I ~' provides a single playable scenario and cut-scene addition. The story is fiction, set in feudal Japan, and tells of a prophecy that entails the doomed fate of the ruling warlord. As restless sleep turns to nightmares, the warlord diverges on a mad attempt to change his fate by accusing the local lords of treason and executing them. The death of one ruler inevitably leads to a samurai called Akira and his tale of revenge. An exciting journey begins, a plot begins to unravel and questions are raised. In all it remains a highly promising yet unfinished tale, and serves as a good reminder of the kind of standard that a long-time designer of the Blacksmith has to offer.
PLAYABILITY: 'When the Wheel Breaks' provides entertainment as good as you will receive for a story that will never be completed. I enjoyed every second of the hour or so worth of game play, and the challenge provided on each difficulty level. The scenario felt dark, haunting and mysterious, and with some welcome twists along the way. The warlord's prophecy, his nightmares, and Akira's tale - his hard fall from samurai to ronin - was intriguing and complex. The creativity was eye-opening. I relished the trigger tricks employed throughout, and the look and feel of the map design. For a single scenario (and additional cut-scene) there was never really an end to the excitement and scenes providing maximum amounts of fun. I was left wanting more when the scenario unexpectedly ended. A wonderful piece of work. 5
BALANCE: For me the scenario is perfect on all three-difficulty levels with standard being an easy yet fulfilling ride, moderate a harder more tactical approach and hard being something that even devoted gamers will be tested with. I first played on standard to get a feel for the scenario and the clues with which I would need for the more difficult levels to come. Game play was a little tough in some areas, but nothing that resulted in numerous reloads from an old save point. On moderate I was well met by strong enemy forces. Assaulting the bandit camp meant I had to be fast and tactical, micromanaging my already battered men to overcome the enemy. The ronin duel was noticeably harder, and the confrontation with the mounted samurai at the blacksmith more thrilling. On hard the scenario really tested me, with reloads more frequent and battles just as tense, needing to be faster with my assaults and just as deadly. 5
CREATIVITY: Exemplary. The scenario is not only creative with regards to the way the map design has been laid out, like the villages and mountain valley, but also for its many innovative tricks. I spotted an anvil at a blacksmith, signs hanging from trees, women dressed in Kimonos, a masked Ronin leader, umbrellas and new types of torches. I also witnessed a man swimming, drowning, and a rescue take place. To pick one thing out in particular, the way the attack on the bandit hideout was carried out, with sounds, two ways to invade, enemy towers that can be garrisoned with your hero and burn when taken, are eye-opening and inspirational. There is much more but things which I will leave to the downloader to discover. 5+
MAP DESIGN: The sure sign of a master designer can be found through the extensive detail layered into the map design, but that's just the way Ingo goes about it. The design of feudal Japan with manors, farms and outlying villages has an authentic oriental touch, complimented by the use of sounds and music. I was particularly impressed with the subtle use of map copying to convey some stunningly creative town designs, or the bandit hideout in the mountains. Terrain mixing, use of Gaia and other objects done to perfection. 5
STORY/ INSTRUCTIONS: The music and atmosphere bring you well into the story with a warlord's nightmare, a prophecy and news of the shogun's mad purge across the land. The story was rich with complex themes and characterisation, and the dialogue was perfect. Additionally the scenario features a great bitmap and extensive hints. 5
CONCLUDING: 'When the Wheel Breaks' is a fantastic scenario, with no efforts spared in detail or creativity. The atmosphere is very well conveyed, complimented by an authentic Japanese touch. A must download for anybody looking for great entertainment.
In a word - Compelling.
In closing - A must download![Edited on 03/19/18 @ 09:26 PM]
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Enraged Orange (id: RoboPaul88)
Official Reviewer |
Posted on 05/16/07 @ 01:42 AM
Ingo van Thiel has had, to put it lightly, a rather storied scenario design career. From The Quest, which set the standard against which all scenarios would be measured, through the epic Ulio, his body of work has been unsurpassed in ingenuity, design, and polish. Each new campaign marked another raising of the bar. On a chance visit back to this site, I happened to notice that he had released a new scenario - "When the Wheel Breaks." This came as something of a surprise. Ulio was the epic capstone to his career, the product of years of work and the last in a string of masterpieces, each one improving on the last. So what was this "Wheel" scenario? Another epic?
Not quite.
Playability: "When the Wheel Breaks" is a relatively minor work. Of course, that isn't to say that this was churned out in a couple weeks - it certainly maintains the quality we've come to expect from Ingo. He describes it as "fixed force," which it is for the most part, but really it defies categorization. Much of it is essentially a puzzle: the key to success is determining the right approach to the situation more than completing the challenge itself. Frustration builds as strategy after perfectly-executed strategy results in failure, until at last the player realizes the key to success (especially if one does not make use of the hints :) ). You're left just shaking your head, thinking "how the hell did he even do that??" The duel is the best example of this: if you stick with standard Age of Kings strategic thinking, you'll get nowhere.
Balance: In all his scenarios, Ingo goes to great lengths to achieve a variable difficulty scale. Standard, moderate and hard all have significant differences - a much-appreciated feature for, erm, weaker players such as myself. Combined with the variability of conversations in the villages at the beginning, this also creates an incentive to replay the scenario multiple times - simply having beaten it on Standard isn't enough to claim to have fully experienced it. Balance tends to mostly be a throwaway category - "yeah, ok, I beat it but it took me a few tries, 5" or "dammit that was too hard...but I don't wanna look like I'm bad at the game...3" and such. This scenario is a great example of why the category exists, though: Ingo's balance work truly means that a rookie and an expert can derive the same enjoyment from playing, without either excessive frustration or boredom.
Creativity: Included in the introduction is a lengthy list of innovations invented by Ingo for this scenario, but I was caught off guard nonetheless. I have been out of the scenario design community for a while, and I grant that I'm not entirely up to date on recent innovations, but I think it's safe to say that whoever you are, there will be plenty of surprises in this scenario. Ingenuity abounds, from combat methods all the way to incidental background stuff. The end of the scenario is an especially strong example. How Ingo manages to continue to come up with so many new developments in each release I do not know, but rest assured that the tradition is brilliantly carried on here.
Map Design: The map is not especially large, and the bulk of it is simply countryside and small villages. While map copy tricks and of course plenty of terrain blending is used, there is nothing revolutionary about the map. Still, it serves its purpose more than adequately: it provides an authentic-looking stage for the action to take place on. Clever map work opens up new strategic possibilities in a couple of instances. The map looks good, certainly, no complaints there. I can't imagine any changes to the map which would have improved the scenario - it serves its purpose fine.
Story/Instructions: The story is quite good. Essentially, it's just a "revenge" story, but the integration of other elements keeps it compelling. Unfortunately, the scenario ends pretty abruptly, immediately following the introduction of a new dynamic into the plot. If there is to be no "When the Wheel Breaks, Part 2," I hope Ingo will at least post a plot summary on the forums or something. :) This is not a fault though; while it's nice when campaigns are finished, a partial story is a heck of a lot better than nothing being released at all. The scenario always strikes a good balance between story and game play, never feeling like there's an excess of exposition, but always keeping the goal of the action clear in the player's mind. The hints are helpful while not diminishing the challenge too much - they lead the player in the direction of the solution, which is important in a scenario where the solutions are often so unlike what the player has seen in scenarios before.
Additional Comments: Certainly, "When the Wheel Breaks" is not another Ulio. It can be completed in an hour or two, even accounting for the inevitable large amount of trial and error. If the campaign is someday finished, great, I'll be the first in line for part two. If this is indeed to be the end of Ingo van Thiel's career, though, it is not a bad one. It serves as a final tip of the cap to his fans, a low-key wrap-up to what has been the greatest string of achievements in Age of Kings scenario design by anyone.
May all your wheels remain intact :)[Edited on 04/15/09 @ 08:18 AM]
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Pages: « First « 1 [2] 3 4 5 6 7 » Last » |
HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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5.0 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 4.9 | Balance | 5.0 | Creativity | 5.0 | Map Design | 5.0 | Story/Instructions | 4.9 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 11,671 |
Favorites: [] | 9 |
Size: | 8.41 MB |
Added: | 03/30/07 |
Updated: | 06/25/07 |
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