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Author |
File Description |
sceletar2004 |
Posted on 10/08/04 @ 12:00 AM
File Details |
Version: |
The Conquerors 1.0c |
Style: |
Fixed Force |
Number of scenarios: |
3 |
The second campiagn in the ~TROY~ series.This campaign contains three scenarios which cover various aspects of the Trojan war.It is reccomended to download the previous campaign before playing this one
Improvements over previous campiagn
[1]Better map design
[2]More trggers
[3]Tougher gameplay |
Author | Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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four hundred babies (id: Lord_Fadawah) |
Posted on 12/05/04 @ 12:00 AM
PLAYABILITY
This campaign is made of three scenarios, the final one is a cutscene. The first one sees you defending Troy against the Achaians. Right from the start, there were playability problems. After the initial cutscene, my city was soon under heavy attack from enemy forces. I was told to build a wonder to gain Apollo's favour, but there was no explanation as to how. Once I figured out that I needed to go to various dropsites and collect necessary resources from there, I soon had enough resources for the wonder, but I only got a few villagers to build it with. While this was happening, a monstrous army was hammering at my set of 20,000 HP gates. I kept attacking them with my starting army, but they just never relented...they kept on being respawned by triggers. Finishing the wonder before your scheduled deadline (when your second gate is destroyed) is basically impossible. The enemy soon gets dozens of trebuchets, new ones being created all the time, and they will destroy your gates pretty rapidly. I played several times, and always I would lose the game before my wonder was even 30% complete. Finally I typed in the aegis cheat to get the scenario to continue. Even then, your final objective of bringing Achaians within the flagged zone is impossible, since there are hundreds of them crowding around the entrance and you can't so much as get out of the gate.
The second scenario (switching sides and playing as the Achaians and trying to cripple Trojan supply lines by destroying nearby villages) is an improvement, but is weighed down by monotony and lag. As with the whole campaign, the cutscenes were cleverly executed, and the time-based FF factor was exciting -- your enemies rapidly build armies, and can't be left alone for long. But I really don't see why the player should be given almost 250 troops and siege weapons to "raid" the "small towns" with, or why the said "towns" are actually vast cities equipped with castles, fortified walls and large armies. Small groups of units attacking small villages would make the scenario faster-paced and more enjoyable.
As I said above, the campaign's cutscenes are a strong point. Large battles and whispered conferences are conveyed well, but some issues still occur. For instance: in the second scenario's beginning cutscene (a battle at the gates of Troy), after about 40 seconds the Achaian commanders say that the Trojans have won the battle and then everyone retreats. Twice when I played, the message would show at exactly the moment when the Achaians have killed almost all the Trojans and there are just a couple of enemy men-at-arms' left. Needless to say, credibility is somewhat strained in instances such as these. 4
BALANCE
The first scenario is impossible to complete. Even if, by some miracle, you manage to complete your wonder on time you still lose because there is no way to complete your subsequent objective. But since this is more due to faulty triggerwork than anything, only one point will be deducted. The second scenario is extremely well-balanced, heavy micromanagement and frequent saving is needed against the Trojan villages and it took me two tries to succeed. Well done on the second scenario, please correct game-ruining bugs on the first. 4
CREATIVITY
Some creativity in the map design and story progression, but nothing is really new. Having to defend a city against masses of units has been retreaded dozens of times, and so has the siege-a-gigantic-city theme in the second scenario. The cutscenes are good, and well-timed, but no new or inventive tricks are found either here or in the gameplay. It was slightly saddening to recieve an objective to the effect of "kill all enemies" in the second scenario. 3
MAP DESIGN
Having bamboo, palm, jungle and oak trees all on the one map is unrealistic, the author mixes terrain well and forces the player to use strategy when placing troops. The city of Troy was technically (if not visually) well designed, with intersections and T-junctions leading to important resource gathering sites. There are wonders which are temples to ancient Greek deities such as Eris, Zeus and Hera. The author also uses multiple civilizations in the city of Troy, and the different tilesets add an interesting effect. 4
STORY/INSTRUCTIONS
A good story, advanced well through gameplay and cutscenes, but the instructions could have been better. You're told to visit the priests, but you don't know where the priests are, you have to wander around the town until you find the temple. For your final objective in the first scenario, you must lure Achaian troops within the flagged Zone outside Troy to win. Aside from the fact that this is totally impossible, it is also confusing considering that there are a large number of flags outside the Troy, and your instructions aren't terribly specific. 4
SUMMARY
I did not regret downloading this campaign, and I look forward to playing the third installment of the series.
As a side note (although this doesn't factor into the score), there are some things I have to say about the sound files you included. They are saved as .wma, which AoK doesn't support. We're told in the readme file that this is to cut down on file size, and that to listen to them we need to convert them into .mp3 or .wav format (using GoldWave or Nero or whatever). This is doesn't make a huge amount of sense, as this isn't an option avaliable to many players and it is too much effort just for a few sound files, it would be quicker and simpler just to download them as .mp3s, even if you use dial-up like me. Also, anyone who wants to listen to them must also add triggers in the editor to play them. So, in future campaigns please provide the sound files in .mp3 format, and ask Angel Spineman to upload them for you if they exceed 2MB. |
HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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3.8 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 4.0 | Balance | 4.0 | Creativity | 3.0 | Map Design | 4.0 | Story/Instructions | 4.0 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 3,278 |
Favorites: [] | 0 |
Size: | 1.23 MB |
Added: | 10/08/04 |
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