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Campaigns » The Successor - Act Two: Initiation
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The Successor - Act Two: Initiation
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Author |
File Description |
panel |
Posted on 03/12/13 @ 06:17 PM (updated 03/31/13)
File Details |
Version: |
The Conquerors 1.0c |
Style: |
Mix |
Number of scenarios: |
2 |
Screenshot:
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*** This scenario received the awards for Best Gameplay, Best Story, Best Score and was named "Release of the year" in the AOKH Game of the Year Awards of 2013 ***
It was the year 1369. Four years had passed since Krall, formerly known as The Successor, had been crowned as king of Ravenia in the never-ending cheers of Kron citizens, after the demise of the evil Fanarian governor Willan. However, only half of his father's land was now free from invaders and war. The other half of Ravenia, the Sylvanian province, was still under Tugai dominion and Sylvanians suffered every day at the hands of the brutal barbarians from the steppes...
INSTALLATION
VERY IMPORTANT: To experience the game as it was meant to be played, make sure you have the files from Act One in your installed folder, because the sound files found there are used extensively in this second installment. They are very important, especially for the cinematic moments, so please take the time to include them! You'll find act one available for download >>>HERE<<<
In order to install Act Two, copy the .cpx file in the campaign folder of your Age of Empires II the Conquerors root folder, and the sound files in the sound/scenario folder.
The recommended settings for playing this game are: a resolution of at least 1024x768, normal speed, music off. Using other settings might ruin the game experience. While playing, make sure you always have "chat to everyone" selected in the taunts section. It is vital for the taunt-based moves to work later in the game.
FEATURES
1) A much stronger emphasis on the RPG aspect. You'll control one unit most of the time, improving his skills, stats and equipment throughout the game. In addition to that, the usual fixed force battles, puzzles, etc.
2) The game contains two scenarios. The first is playable and the second is a cinematic. The total gameplay time is over 6 hours (probably a lot more depnding on how much you enjoy exploring). There are around 1900 triggers in total.
3) A huge map featuring improved map design compared to Act One, including an updated and playable version of the city of Hansbrok (rated 4.7).
4) A storyline that builds up on the First Act and sets the stage for the Final one. Old and new characters, non-linear narrative with lots of twists and turns, lots of cutscenes.
5) Tons of side features and easter eggs. Remarkable interactivity (for AOK standards) in terms of character improvement: improving stats through exploration and quests, economy system, levelling up that changes character's appearance/equipment, learning useful skills and special moves. Almost every single NPC in the game (there's lots of them) will talk to you.
6) An extensive and immersive soundtrack in the vein of the previous Act.
CREDITS are to be found in the readme file. A special thank you goes to Excelsior, Shieldwolf23 and Khan Ivayl, for their contribution to shaping the game, and to Blackforest Studios for their support and for being awesome in general.
Thanks for downloading. Please comment and review, I am always looking for feedback :)
UPDATED 31.03.2013 fixing some bugs and balance issues. Related to the change view bug - there's nothing I can do about it, your best bet is to reload and try again, close all other applications running in the background or play on a more contemporary machine. With a pentium I3 processor and 4gb of RAM, I've never encountered any crashes while testing. Can't guarantee for anything lower than that.
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Pages: « First « 1 [2] 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 » Last » | Author | Comments & Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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Julius999
Official Reviewer |
Posted on 03/15/13 @ 10:54 AM
Playability: 5-
Despite some glitches, it's impossible to deny that this scenario provides a lot of solid entertainment. It's a large role-playing style game with a strong narrative aspect, a good amount of side quests and a lot of items and hidden bonuses to reward exploration. Sometimes, for variety, the player takes control of a settlement and must defend it from attack. There are special abilities for your hero to learn but these are almost entirely an optional extra - the majority of the gameplay is about micromanaging a small handful of units. There are some slow periods, especially at the start with the sheep herding, but try to get through them as the pace does pick up.
Saving often is advisable, particularly as there is one problem that can cause the game to crash when entering the inn in Narwan. Other glitches are slightly annoying but not a real problem, such as when special abilities get confused by mounting and dismounting.
Balance: 4
Although the scenario is entertaining, that is mostly because of the exploration and the story rather than the challenge. With most objectives you cannot really fail, and must simply walk around or cut down a tree until you get what you need. Elsewhere, provided you retreat for healing every so often the scattered wolves and bandits and other enemies pose no real threat. The sequences involving the defence of a settlement from waves of enemies are also rather easy, even on the hardest difficulty level. The most challenging parts were returning to Narwan and escaping again, and the skirmish at the curiously named Lumberjack Village.
Creativity: 5-
Mostly this plays like the majority of other RPGs made in AoK, but there were some additional creative touches like the special abilities. In particular the lock-picking skill was a nice extra. A mission involving moving through a city recently taken by the enemy was also interesting. The story also deserves credit in this regard, as it is more intriguing than most.
Map Design: 5
Aesthetically, the map design is overall excellent, depicting a generally snowy, forested landscape very well. The village of Zarn and especially the city of Narwan were also very well done. There were a couple of weaker areas such as some relatively bland residential parts of Hansbrok and some woods east of there, but not enough to weaken the overall impression of a map which is a pleasure to explore. The map design is also very good in terms of layout, with long and uneventful walks mostly avoided.
Story/Instructions: 5
As with the first Act, the story has had more effort put into it than most. I won't give away any details here, but if you enjoyed the author's previous work this is a worthy "successor". The story is probably the strongest aspect of the scenario. The instructions are also very good, and enable the player to keep on top of the main narrative as well as the various side quests and special abilities. There are also extensive hints available. |
Tolack |
Posted on 03/15/13 @ 12:06 PM
By the way, I couldn't comment, so I decided I'll write a review instead. Made this account as soon as I finished this campaign. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys RPGs, in game stories, and/or played the 1st Successor. *NOTE* There will be some spoilers.
Playability: 5-
I give this a 5- because of a couple of bugs which caused me to reload a save file due to triggers not activating (eg; Killing the siege weapon guards did not switch the siege weapons over to me. After reloading a previous save, it worked. Another issue was with the right stable, which if unmounting there, you were not able to pickpocket. Also, to move certain units (eg; worker), through certain areas, I had to do the spam click trick. However, since the left stable worked fine, Playability stays at 5.) Otherwise, the other 1.9k+ Triggers worked fiiiiiine. :D Anyway, the leveling system, the pricing for your gold, the fights, the side missions, they all were great fun and they all fit into the story in some way without seeming to be just "on the side". Except maybe the bastard riders. I liked them though. I hope their leader becomes the Tugai leader and helps the Sylvanians in Successor Act III. All in all, this campaign is hours of great fun.
Balance: 4
I gave balance a 4 because while the entire game played out very well balanced, the defense of the town where you can make an army requires SO MUCH LUCK! Even on standard. That's because when they target the villagers, they break through all your units. The only reason I was able to pass that act was because the villager that died (yes, one died), was not linked to the defeat trigger. You might want to fix that. (and I scouted afterwards and then realised how to save the villies. Mercs) As for defending the city at the very end, you might want to reduce the city funding. I had enough pikes + xbows to take out the Giant Tent and the Leader without even using the huge force of cavalry. So I gave the balance 4 because the last act is way too easy, even for standard. The rest of the campaign was very balanced though. You're still going to have a lot of fun, I just didn't feel like I was under pressure from the Tugai.
Creativity: 5
As a sequel, it was amazing! The ancient stones were worth the search. The main story was a shocker. That ending. That ending makes me so excited for the sequel. Basically, the ending rivals the ending to Ulio, if not bests it. Although, for the scenario 2 cut-scene, what happened to the archers in the tower? Was it just a bluff? Or did they run as soon as their leader was safe? Besides that tiny confusion, no gaps in the story line. It was great.
Map Design: 5
I'm not a good judge on map design, as in I'm not going to check whether the location of each tree with each shrub with each patch of ground matches a certain particular mathematical ratio to please the eyes. I thought it looked great. Buildings weren't clumped up like someone was playing a random map game, natural terrain suited the designed environments, although there was one issue. With the left stable, during remounting, the horse and foot soldier blocked each other at the door. So the soldier didn't enter, so I couldn't unmount. I recommend widening the entrances to the stable. Otherwise, the eye candy was great. Who's DEAD_END by the way? :D
Story/Instructions: 5
Story was original and exciting, while instructions were clear and precise. Overall, it was great.
Additional Comments: Please make an act III.
[Edited on 03/15/13 @ 02:46 PM]
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panel
Official Reviewer
File Author |
Posted on 03/15/13 @ 02:49 PM
Thanks a lot for the ratings and feedback!
Tolack: I've edited out the ending to your review. Don't worry, I have taken note of it and will take things into consideration (as I always do when people give me opinions of my work), but I just don't want other people to read it ;)
"Who's DEAD_END by the way? :D"
He's my colleague from Blackforest Studios and fellow Heavengames staff member. If you stick around here you'll surely get to know him.[Edited on 03/16/13 @ 04:45 AM]
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Dead_End |
Posted on 03/16/13 @ 05:17 AM
*Drops by* |
shieldwolf23 |
Posted on 03/17/13 @ 03:03 AM
Well-deserved reviews, for an outstanding work of art! I may not be able to post on the forums, but I'm reading all the feedback on the scenario, panel, and I must say, you're the man! :D
I'm still out of town though, so can't properly play this one. Which is better I think, since it will give me the chance to play the latest, more polished version. Definitely worth playing, and then, reviewing. |
NertyOX |
Posted on 03/17/13 @ 05:57 AM
Hey there
I follow all the installation steps that you're saying but when I click "OK" to play the game, it won't let me, it makes me quit.
There's the error window appearing
Don't Send and Send Report Error
Any help please? |
panel
Official Reviewer
File Author |
Posted on 03/17/13 @ 06:41 AM
@ Shieldwolf: thanks and hope you enjoy it more than the testing itself :)
@ Nerty: Sorry, i have no idea what the problem might be, but it's likely about your system, since you are the first person to report this. Try on another computer? Also, please don't post the same comment twice, I read all the comments on the blacksmith. When I don't reply it means I'm not online. |
NertyOX |
Posted on 03/17/13 @ 08:46 AM
Why my comments won't show up ? |
Dead_End |
Posted on 03/17/13 @ 08:48 AM
You might have to refresh the page. |
panel
Official Reviewer
File Author |
Posted on 03/17/13 @ 09:58 AM
"Why my comments won't show up ?" I've removed one of them, as both were basically saying the same thing. See my above comment. |
Pages: « First « 1 [2] 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 » Last » |
HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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4.9 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 4.9 | Balance | 4.4 | Creativity | 5.0 | Map Design | 5.0 | Story/Instructions | 5.0 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 4,731 |
Favorites: [] | 18 |
Size: | 30.72 MB |
Added: | 03/12/13 |
Updated: | 03/31/13 |
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