I'm sorry if I seem like a worthless playtester, but I only got so far in the Evil side (Damned swamp battle! Damn! DAMN!), and I couldn't find any way around the land mines. So, in all its evil length and glory, here's my report.
____________________________________________________________ ________
WHERE THE SHADOWS LIE: Playtested by SS
Please note, the suggestions are in order of event. If you're confused,
think about what happens first in the scenario, and it'll make sense.
Ask me, if I confuse you at all. :P
------------------------------------------------------------ --------
Hey, Paul. A question before you read this obnoxiously large
list (hey, I play my cards, whatever the hand): Is this scenario
difficulty dynamic? At times it's somewhat easy. In others, it's
about average. I'm mostly referring to the "Good" side, though.
Evil seems to be about just right. About. (God Damn Swamp!)
------------------------------------------------------------ --------
PREGAME:
Bugs/Confusion:
- Sometimes, a villager appears in front of Darael while he
talks to Rogir. He just stands there. Whoops!
- Surviving Librean soldiers come to attack Roger, on
occasion while still in the city. Whoops!
GOOD SIDE:
- Remove the map revealer when Darael leaves the city
- On the path to the monastary, if you task Darael to the
right side of the forest, he goes through and meets an
inconspicuous army on the other side...
Run a quick forest line thru that forest, methinks.
- "En garde" what beasts? No one is in the camp...
- Where are my objectives to go and save the farming village?
- Not all of the villagers from the farming villager convert
to Illinor's side. Is that intentional?
- Go on the right road in Illinor, all the way up. When Darael
is tasked then to the middle road towards the king, he follows
a back way, and ends up changing ownership while hidden by the
archery range.
- During the seige of Illinor, Lord Lothar's soldiers head
up the beach path and into a corner right outside the city walls.
The scorpions and archers attack it, while they just stand
there. Hmmm. It's the same if you pick either the swordsmen,
or the archers. It makes the battle really really simple.
- During the seige, Lord Lothar's soldiers do not attack the
gate... The Mangonel kicks their arses. :P
- Question: If we've taken back the farming village, where
do Lord Lothar's men come from?
- Remove the instructions to make King Dunbar survive after
the battle is over.
- Whoops! The gate for the secret passage turns grey and
Moorish after Darael passes through.
- The group of enemies after the secret passage, right after,
when they are killed, a message pops up, right? Well, if
Darael is moved a little bit farther than where they were,
the save point message pops up, and you cannot read what
he said about the enemies. Perhaps the save point message
should be places in the second slot of the Display Instructions
trigger.
- Awww. Darael attacks the poor petard man's pavilion. You know,
the one you're supposed to click to play?
- I garrison in the Undercity's castle (without talking to the
gamemaster first), and get kicked out. The gate towers are
another story. I'm referring to reasons of healing, though.
- When the dockmaster asks you to play his game, the only option
that shows up is "No - Select the Dock". The option to select the
pavilion, which I did by remembering how I played the last game,
didn't show.
- In the dock game, once I passed the flag by one square, but then
I ran out of time, and my galley died, even though I was past the
flags. Hmmm.
- Dunno if this is intentional or not - In the melee game, when
your soldiers are created, some soldiers are prevented from being
made, because the soldiers either move into the creation spot,
or they don't get out of the way fast enough.
- Remove the map revealers at the melee game.
- Hey, guess what. When Darael leaves the castle for the melee game,
there's a "ring of unfog" as called by paladin_maker_0, or what is
used in AoK:TC night scenes by Berserker Jerker. I don't know how
you can get rid of it, meself, but I'm just letting you know.
- Please give instructions for the soldier uprising, as well.
- Whoops! The gate becomes Moorish at the outpost as well, when
Darael passes thru.
- Check it out! Yen Di monks by the second fortress convert Lord
Lothar's fellows! Rather, kill them with holy power.
- When Lief says "My longbowmen will stay here and guard the rear",
make sure there are actually longbowmen that Lief can refer to.
- After Lief is killed, what is Darael supposed to do? There are
no instructions. I'll have to find out myself.
- When Darael sees Illinor burning on the horizon, why are there
troops just standing there? Better remove 'em before that scene. - END NOTES FOR GOOD - Well, I couldn't get any farther from the landmines.
There doesn't seem to be any way around them. Perhaps it's intentional,
though? Ah well - onto the evil side!
EVIL SIDE:
- There is a knight by the windmill after the toll booth who is just
standing there. He does not attempt to attack Rogir at all. Hmmm?
- When you select the toll booth (I played through and killed them,
too, Mr. Devious. :P), you do not pay the halbierdier any money. At
least, you lose nothing.
- After the monk says to stop killing his bretheren, they heal Rogir
momentarily. Get that looping task trigger working right away. =)
- Why can I not use the sacred stone of fire in the farming village?
I know that Illinor is protected by the stone of earth, but does that
radius reach all the way to the village as well? :P
- Arthus's range is long enough for him to snipe the blacksmith building
that is second from the top one. Might wanna take care of that cheap shot.
... Whoops. Pun. :P
- There is a halberdier standing by the farthest down blacksmith building.
He just stands there doing nothing, even while his beloved blacksmith takes
damage.
- Um, dude? I press delete on Lothar. Guess what. Nothing happens! I don't
think the leader of all this chaos can be killed without something big
going down, do you? I notice he's removed, after the wonder falls, too.
Unrealistic.
- I noticed in the battle, Damon came along, while Arthus just headed back to
where he was before he changed ownership. Neither of them got healed (not that
I expected it). Hmm. Are they supposed to come along, or not?
- After the wonder falls, all surviving soldiers change ownership to ally
to you. Also unrealistic.
- After the town center falls, and the villagers are all killed, where do I go?
You must include instructions, and show where Lothar is. (Well, actually since
you aren't supposed to see him till you get near the river, give instructions
to head towards the base.) You removed him during the battle, so the player
may be lost, friend. =(
- Darael? In the battle? Wait. That doesn't fit with the good storyline either.
- A stray man-at-arms near the bottom flank of Lothar's men does not change
ownership.
- I head my army towards the enemy, and lo and behold, I cannot attack them, nor
they attack me. They're still Liberians!
- Why is the Frenchman Guy Josselyne with the Illinorians? OMG SPACE TIME
CONTINUUM... MY BRAIN HURTS...
- When Rogir runs away, something bad should happen... Or, perhaps, he should
just get tasked back. Don't let him leave the fields of war. :P
- "I just killed Guy Josselyne! The Illian General! w00t, victory is ours
for the taking!... Waitaminute. THAT'S NOT VICTORY!" Yeah. Shoudn't something
special happen after I kill the general? Like a morale increase? Or a morale
decrease for the enemy? Not nothing?
- I went past the main army, and since nothing held me back, I went into some
sort of camp. Lothar's voice mysteriously thundered from the sky for me to
use the stone. I did. And I don't even have it yet.
- Behind Lothar, at the swamp battlefield, is a forest. There's a path allowing
you to go through it and into the road to the monastary. Oops.- END NOTES - I've always considered myself a decent player. I could eventually
get through the hardest parts in the best-rated campaigns of all. But alas,
your steady stream of cheap, hi-hitpoint calvary had me beat. 9 pikes will not
beat 16 calvaliers. 9 men-at-arms will not kill 18 pikes. 12 Calvaliers will
not beat 9 men-at-arms and 12 long swordsmen. And Rogir can only last so long
against the crossbowmen. I'm sorry to be so useless in the evil side, but...
Eh. :P
------------------------------------------------------------ --------
Gameplay/Creativity:
GOOD SIDE:
- Not much fighting in the first part, as you flee Darael's home.
- Great storytelling.
- Because of the aforementioned bug on the army movements, the seige
is rather boring.
- you can't play the petard game more than once, because Darael
kicks the pavilion's arse. ;P
- The dock game is easy. The Melee game is hard (for a while). I like that,
man. Great minigames. =)
-Darael kicks too much ass, in my opinion. Literally, not figuratively,
yet.
-The seige of the second castle is easy if you get the seige weapons, and
easier if you get the ring. :PEVIL SIDE:
- That stone on the pedestal is clever. I had a similar idea, but it was
with a cannonball instead. It was in one of my boring, unfinished, now
deleted "Comedy scenarios". =)
- I really, REALLY hate to nag about the spell system, man. I know that
a lot of work must have been put into it. But you might want to put that
it cannot destroy towers (Librean ones ((Besides the one by the market)))
or defensive structures. Also, you evidentally have to be in a specific
spot for the spell of fire to work...
- Once again, great storytelling.
- I love it. The attack on the farm village is somewhat difficult, enough
of a challenge for me to enjoy it. Gotta hate those watchtowers.
- Jesus Christ. That battle at the swampy fields? That's so damn difficult.
Out hitpointed. Outnumbered. Lord Lothar is a HUGE liability... Ugh. :P------------------------------------------------------------ --------
Spelling Errors:
GOOD SIDE:
- Great job, Paul! I found none at all!
EVIL SIDE:
- Also none. Thorough, huh?
------------------------------------------------------------ --------
Minor Suggestions:
PREGAME:
- After the gate is broken, perhaps having the villagers do
something, rather than stand there.
- What is that trebuchet firing at, after the view is changed
to the gate and the fight? I'd remove the map revealer after
the view change.
GOOD SIDE:
- When the prisoners are escorted, a back rank following the
villagers may make things seem more real.
- The wonder is untouched?
- The watchtowers of Librea - forgotten by the enemy?
- Perhaps if Darael returns to the city and sees the toll guard
and the crossbowmen, they should say something?
-The Monks show no sign of recognition for Darael. He was raised
there, was he not?
- So that Darael does not head for the farming village too early
(before he obtains the army), perhaps a hold-back trigger is in
order?
- I head down the grassy path near Illinor, and out-of-the-blue,
a rather large fleet of galleons attack me. Ouch.
- While I'm down there, evidentally I can walk on whitewater.
Is Darael Jesus, mate?
- I'm saving the village, yet killing the villagers. Perhaps
the diplomacy should be "neutral" instead.
- Shouldn't you re-ally with the country folk after the raiders
are defeated?
- For sparse, inexperienced soldiers outside of Illinor, there
sure are a lot of heavily armored soldiers inside.
- The villagers right by the gate are an annoyance in battle, as
well as unrealistic. Flee, little ones, flee! ^_^
- Why does the purple garrison of Illinor not head up to the gates
and defend the city as well?
- After the seige, when you talk to the King, mayhaps he should
turn and face you?
- What does this wealthy man do after he is saved? Stand there?
Maybe he should head on his way to his destination.
- Instructions for the gambling games could help. I figured out
the gist on my own, but for other players, y'know?
- The dock game sure is easy if you just stay to the left. Mmmm...
- It's a little off to see medium water make that strange outline
with shoreless water. It might be a turn off for some, though
I don't care, meself.
- 400 gold pieces, huh? The gambling games, of which there only
seem to be three, could get tedious, dude...
- Darael says to the merchant (scout calvary) that he has no money.
what of the money left from the Undercity? Perhaps if he makes enough
extra, he can buy the ring without losing his attack power! A reward,
for all that gambling.
- When the old man is met, and tasked to Darael, I think you ought
change ownership of Darael, so that if Darael leaves midconvo, the old
man does not as well.
- When Darael and the Champion (or Darael alone) pass the merchant with
the seige weapons, why not have the scout calvary have a remark, like:
"Bloody hell! Where'd you get those pieces? You're not going to seige
that place alone, are you!?"
- After the champion is killed, make sure to let the player know that
Darael is in "no-attack stance". It could make a difference, if they
usually let Darael auto-attack.
- Those deer in the siege of the fortress with Leif can be a nuisance.
- Oh my GOD, those seige engineers are annoying. It's not that their
hard to keep alive - oh, that's easy. It's the fact that they get in
the middle of the damn paths. :PEVIL SIDE:
- I noted that Darael was gone when I started looting Libera. But when
you play good, after he's left (I.E. You take control of him), the camp
is gone, Lothar is gone, Rogir is gone, and the monastary has already
been attacked. This doesn't fit. Not a big problem, especially if the
good and evil storylines don't fit together, it's just something I
observed. =)
- Maybe when you talk to Lothar after looting Libera, he should face
you. Try this:
____________________________________________________________ __
Trigger #
Display as Objective: No
Trigger On/Off: Off
Loop: No
Condition: Bring object to object (Rogir to Lothar)
Effect 0: Task Object (Lothar to Rogir)
Effect 1: Activate trigger ##
Trigger ##
Display as Objective: No
Trigger On/Off: Off
Loop: No
Condition: Timer (2)
Effect 0: Change ownership (Lothar, Player 2 to Player 2)
____________________________________________________________ __
That way, Lothar does not consistently follow Rogir, but he does
move a little bit. The first trigger can be activated as soon
as the yellow text shows up telling Rogir that he can use the
stone of Fire for spells.
- When Rogir attacks the monastary, save the "Aargh" for when he
actually attacks a monk and kills it. Preferably the first one.
To make sure it works, task Rogir at the first monk. :P
- When passing Illinor to go and attack the farming village, maybe
you should not let Rogir and his fellows get too close to the city.
If they really DO have an ill look about them, then the on-edge
warriors of Illinor wouldn't just say, "Begone." They'd probably
have a few new pincushions.
- Arthus snipes the villagers by Illinor before the trigger where
the villagers scream and flee. Perhaps you should change the
condition to "Object Visible"?
- Being able to go south on the grassy path near Illinor and be able
to snipe seems cheap, doesn't it?
- Hey... The farming village seems better defended than Illinor itself.
Hehe, Calvaliers and Elite Longbowmen compared to a rag-tag team of
spearmen, longbowmen, regular knights, etc.
- Maybe, if you decide to go difficulty-dynamic, you can decrease the
hit points of the buildings you are meant to destroy in the farming
village. I'm not complaining, tho.
- I noticed that if you destroy certain buildings in the farming
village, you get certain things on occasion. Make sure to let
the player know that!
- After all the tasks are completed, and this sounds like nit-picking,
I know, maybe instead of "We should get back" (if Arthus and Damon are
dead), it ought be "I should get back." They were alive for me, though.
- It sure takes a while for Rogir to get the army to attack Illinor, dude.
- Where's King Dunbar?
- Doesn't it not fit in with the Good storyline? If Rogir kicks Illinor's
butt in his siege, why is Darael able to fend them off? Wouldn't Lothar
tell Darael, his right-hand man, if he attempted an attack earlier? Hell,
all the soldiers are just standing there anyways, so it's as if the attack
never happened. Once again, it doesn't matter if the good and the evil
storyline doesn't work together.
- Why is the army of Illinor made up of Libreans? (They're owned by Libreans)
Perhaps you should instead temporarily ally with Illinor. Just a small suggestion,
like everywhing else in this list.
- Perhaps Lothar should be facing the battlegrounds, instead of mooning it with
his horse? ^_^
¯\_(ツ)_/¯