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Scenarios » The Battle of Creation Shadow Pack
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The Battle of Creation Shadow Pack
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Author |
File Description |
jamieJME |
Posted on 01/04/03 @ 01:08 PM (updated 08/10/03)
File Details |
Ruleset: |
AoW2: TWT - TS Standard Rules |
Map Size: |
XL |
Levels: |
2 |
Single Player?: |
Yes |
Co-Op vs. AI?: |
No |
PBEM/Hotseat?: |
No |
Multiplayer Online?: |
No |
# of Wizards: |
2 |
# of players: |
1 |
Skill Level: |
Advanced |
Password Protected: |
No |
Welcome to the incredible land of Erithnia
Experience Erithnia, a realm of epic proportions and beauty; with opponents threatening you and the neighbouring lands there for the conquering, an unknown danger gets ready to strike. Quests and plunder abound in these kingdoms but expect resistance to your iron-fisted rule. Gather the many custom heroes to your banner and equip them with the hundreds of items stepped in the archaic magic of Erithnia. Although your main quarrel is with Fiirsha of the elves over the ruins of the Ralagrathrian Empire, you, Bruuk of the Orcs will have the chance to enslave all of Erithnia. However, an unknown danger lies in wait for you…
This is a purely single player map, with a total of three different endings, hundreds of events and over a hundred custom items and heroes all on stunning scenery. Anyone who has a phobia of extra large maps due to extremely long turns need not worry here for there is only 1 Ai player to make sure that the turns are of an acceptable length. Added to all this, there is a tremendous replay value in which you can attempt to capture and hold all of Erithnia in the face of heavy resistance by your conquered foes.
Please note that this is not a Shadow Magic version of the Battle Of Creation, I have only made it so that it can be played with Shadow Magic. This was and remains an AoW2 map, however it is now possible to play it with Shadow Magic.
Make sure that if you play it with Shadow magic that you choose the Shadow version because the AoW2 version is unwinnable if played with Shadow Magic |
Pages: « First « 1 [2] 3 » Last » | Author | Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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Sirius_Sam |
Posted on 05/07/03 @ 10:07 AM
Playability: 5
This was at least as much fun to play as the original campaign.
Balance: 4
Well-balanced vs. the CPU. AI exploits, etc. are not the mapmaker's fault.
Creativity: 5
LOL...a bit busy, but very well done. :)
Map Design: 5
I almost gave it a 4 since the XL map and all the terrain variance is such a processor hog, but it's actually well thought out and a lot of fun.
Story/Instructions: 5
Nicely placed throughout the map...the story is as entertaining as the actual warfare. The scenario feels almost like a throwback to AoWI with it's detail. That's a GOOD thing! :).
Additional Comments:
This is the first scenario I've downloaded since I finished the packaged campaign/scenarios that came with the AoW2 game, so take my opinion with a grain of salt, but this scenario was easily on par with the actual campaign and head and shoulders above the included scenarios that shipped with the Wizard's Throne. This map alone would have been worth the discounted purchase price of $20.00 or so I paid for the game a few weeks ago. Nice Job! :)
S_S[Edited on 05/07/03 @ 10:21 AM]
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RogerRabid (id: Roger the Rampant) |
Posted on 05/27/03 @ 04:14 PM
Playability: 5
Very playable, and lots of possible paths makes for lots of replayability, too
Balance: 3
Balance isn't so crucial in singleplayer maps, but this map is heavily stacked in favour of the AI
Creativity: 4
I wouldn't call this a particularly original map concept. It's an old and familiar theme, but well executed
Map Design: 4
Very good, but by no means perfect. Too much homogenised forest for my liking, too many razed watch towers, and the volcano in the middle of acres of bland unadorned steppe mountains was somewhat unconvincing but lots of tough indie stacks and events stopped boredom creeping in. The fact that the most southwesterly goblin city on the surface has no inhabitants, and the goblin city to the northeast of it has occupants that offer to join you, seems strangely out of place in a map where everybody wants to fight you, and nothing is gained easily. You won't have any difficulty levelling up your (very few) heroes in this map! The opening scene was really dramatic, and set the scene perfectly
Story/Instructions: 4
The spelling mistakes/typos became quite tedious, but the opening story is backed up by a really complex series of messages and signs. Whichever route you take it does seem to make sense (that's easy to say, but not so easy to achieve). I loved the "goblin talk" and the "pirate talk" that you encounter in different areas of the map. All these things helped to add texture, and to draw you into the fantasy world of Erithnia
Additional Comments:
I don't know which map Alex Mars played (and whether it was a different one to me) but I had no difficulty killing Naachta by day 10, simply by using the starting units and attacking cities using autocombat. As Naachta was killed before day 10, there were no "waves of high level flyers". Also it would be ridiculous to suggest that whether an item gives you an extra 2 resistance or not would determine whether you can win the map or not
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Ola |
Posted on 07/07/03 @ 11:29 AM
Playability: 5
Best map I ever played, including the AOWII campaign. Some amazing ideas on it, and great usage of events, the story is really telling itself through the map, as it should be.
Balance: 5
Not too easy, and also not too hard - perfect combo!
Creativity: 5
Amazing! I loved the fact that there are lots of independants on the map, each with their own interests and their own stories... It's so natural! Makes the game much more interesting, as if you have many different opponents, not just the two wizards...
Map Design: 5
I love the way this map is drawn. There are many "schools" of mapmaking, some people think it doesn't look good when each hex is filled, some people prefer the "natural" look, some prefer Queen Elquein's style maps... IMO, this map is ideal.
Story/Instructions: 5
Just great! I especially loved those little reports that you get that you advance, and the "HELP" that your enemies yell when you start conquering them... :-) It's so sweet and realistic! Besides, lot's of special quests, information, dangers that aren't the "stay on the roads, there are fire storms here" style, but much more interesting and real... Many events, but I loved the fact that it's still AOW, it didn't become "game inside a game" like in some other scenarios -- all the story is realistic and fits the world!
Additional Comments:
I just have to agree - if you're going to play one map this year, make it this one! |
Horza666 |
Posted on 07/15/03 @ 01:14 PM
Playability: 4
A very difficult map to play. But challenging ! MOST SP player will love it after they are used to play against the AI. It's necassary to save the game. (i.e. when you don't kill Naachta by day 10....)Once you have control over Bradnak Forest it's allways possible to go in all directions (ok, the Empire is heavy !)
Balance: 3
The AI is well in control of the game. Map can't be won on Emperor Level (IMHO). I salute everyone you succeeds that one ! Play in lower levels, and you have a real chance (if you are clever)
Creativity: 5
The story is awesome creative ! Everything fits funtastic, items, events and so on. The map is entertaining. One allways wonder which message will show up when nearing the next location.
Map Design: 4
Map landscape looks great. Even if there are many different locations. Allmost every borderline between the territories are well done.
Story/Instructions: 5
As said before. You get so into this game. You have to finish it.
Additional Comments:
I had my first plays on this map on my old computer. The ofter discussed "memory leak" was a great thread. Now using a new machina with all the latest drivers and of cause enaugh memory the problem is gone.
If your reaally into playing SP you definately have to test this map !
And please Jamie give us a update including the shadow realm when SM is out.... PLEASE !
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Shadowolfe |
Posted on 07/16/03 @ 06:00 AM
First thing first... A few months ago I played the orginal BOC. I thought it still needed work and without really having the time, left it unfinished. Seeing all the hoopla in the reviews, I decided this past week to give it a go again but with the newer "Gold" version. And of course like the orginal... I hope you have alooooot of time on your hands 'cause man is it looooonnnggg!!!
Playability: 3
The "Gold" version features an additional wizard named "Bertraka". This wizard as well as "Fiirsha" (the other and same wizard from the original) are set at "AI - emperor. For those who remember playing the original, it was challenging enough. This one at emperor level mind you, is EXTREMELY CHALLENGING! The scenario was at times alot of fun, some really interesting battles like when my first and newly casted Dark Angel with Fire Halo was attacked underground by a party owned by Bertraka. This really surprised me. (I'll explain later.) Now against two Elders, one Slither and five Crushers and without magic use, (him also), I thought I didn't stand a chance. I immediately took out the range units and was successful. For those who know will understand that when computer controlled units attack a "flyer" unit it needs range units to do so. However if the computer's own range units die off, the other non-range units if any, remain. I think you can choose not to attack them with your "flyer" then end your turn and wait something like 25 rounds for a stalemate however I said to my sweet little dark Angel, "Give 'em hell!". I lost but only one very weakened and I'm sure very relieved Crusher remained. (Thank the powers to be for "Life Stealing"! Can I get a Howl here?...thanks!) I guess I am telling you this is because with this map you are very certain to have at least some really great battles! This part I really liked about the map.
Now back to playability... As I said earlier this is one heck of a long scenario! Along with the seemingly endless encounters, I feel that this map has just way too much on it. For what I think a single player scenario should be, simplistic, a sense of freedom and played within a reasonable amount of time, this one is not. You start in the lower left corner which limits your starting option to only go somewhere between north and east. Why not with on such a large map can the starting point be let us say near the center... that would have been really interesting thus a sense of freedom for choice and replayability. Also with the computer players preset at emperor, the now "two" opponents are heading directly for you because of "defined regions". You will notice "Why is the computer not attacking me? I have a Goblin Wyvern right there...". I don't care for this, it plays illogical. Furthermore as one plays and gains more and more control of the "regions", your turn will increasingly become longer as does the computer played wizards thus adding to an already long game. Overall the scenario is playable and in regards to events and etc., they seemed to have work satisfactory.
Balance: 2
As said previously, with the "Gold Edition", there is now a second opponent preset at emperor level. You will find that this new guy has plenty of resources under it's control too... pleasssseee make the hurting stop. Yes, this "is" an XL map. Logic would dictate that single player scenarios should be designed on smaller maps...so much for logic... never the less, a second wizard was definitely welcomed! However, here's how some of what happened...
Around day 40 or so this new guy casted Earth Mastery. (For those who know this spell will probally agree... "I love the sphere mastery spells but uuuggh I hate it if someone else uses it.") Anyway there are alot of nodes on the map so when you start the calculations... this new guy has now alot of mana under his control plus additional domain. Soon within about 10 days this new guy was pushing up from the underground into pretty much my backdoor area. Remember about the "Dark Angel battle" spoken about earlier, well she was there to give a scouting report as to how and where they were coming from until this new guy surprised her instead! You see with the Earth Mastery, the new guy (wizard what's his name oh yeah Burptraka or something like that...) had casted two Earth Elementals that tunneled through next to a conquered Dwarven city! Nice job on the designer part if this was meant to be however there is more...please read on...
Shortly following, a horde of Draconians were coming through the newly accessed tunnels with not just one stack but like 4 and 5 stacks and I think there were more behind too. This wasn't the kick in the booty though. What really got me that among the mostly comprised armies of Elders were a couple of Red Dragons and not one or two but three Basilisks! (Man was this guy realllllly busily summonning up the best!) Remember, that was just at the front and was unexpected! Also, elsewhere, most of my armies were pushing north to finish conquering the Tigrans and my really kick butt army with "Rultakc" (now a plus 30th level hero (started at 20th level) with all stats near or at 20 and with the "Goblinsbane" double strike axe!) was near the Orcs in the far east. Oh yeah the "chick" wizard with the two "i"'s in her name was also coming my way quick but with only just the small stuff. You know... like about four or five Fairy Dragons, a couple of Titans and of course her own sweet little Angel too! :)
Alright now, I consider myself a clever and well experienced player but what the heck was going on here?...I continued on and with the assistance of now four heroes willing to die for me, I thought well maybe there's still hope... yeah right they were probally thinking "Hey Bruuk, you're on your own buddy!". So where I am getting at with all this is that the AI is definitely at an advantage (at least at emperor level and maybe at less difficulty too) and to play this as a single player scenario, it is undoubtedly unbalanced. It was fun trying!
Creativity: 4
One thing can be said here, there was an incredible amount of work here however I feel that "creativity is creativity" and not quantity. The other thing that should be said is that I really didn't see anything new here (in way of how the game is played) or anything really outstanding for that matter. The map contents were mostly about all these strong stacks throughout the regions. The "Twelve Pieces of Creation" was a nice touch but because the game plays so long you sometimes lose sight of this.
Map Design: 4
Great intentions here but the scenery just wasn't convincing to me. Alot of areas of the terrain were overdone not to mention that most of the map had a "thick" look to it. Beforehand I read a review stating that this map did not look "realistic", I am guessing that this is also why it doesn't seem convincing. Also the regions being set up as their own, (Ex. Tigrans - desert and etc.) and the nodes and such were geometrically arranged. This looked unnatural and also uncreative.
There were a few other things too. For a XL map a few more roads would have been useful to help speed up troop movement. Also things like the "poison cloud" at the corner in the beginning of the game and all the magic catalysts surrounding the very center city appeared to look "goofy". To have the orbs there for quick and huge amounts of casting points with which to attack the city with magic just seems to compromise the aesthetics. (If that was the reason?) Overall the general placement of things seemed well planned. I was never short on gold or mana which for this kind of map and it's adversaries, you'll need all that you can get!
Story/Instructions: 4
Wow does this person likes to write. (For as long as this review is getting you'll probally think I do too...actually I think I get it from gradeschool... "I will not talk in class. I will not talk in class. I will not talk in class. I..." Sorry just a little humor.)
There are two things that I feel make for excellent storlines regarding scenarios. One is humor. The other is suspense. The author does a great job with the later. The whole concept of the "Twelve Pieces of Creation" is very interesting. At one time when I was reading about the prophecy telling about "where" each "piece" is, I thought to myself, "I wonder if I should write this down?"...but I didn't. I recommend you probally should, may add fun. I just knew they were out there somewhere and it was all part of the storyline's quest.
All together the story and instructions were well done. Especially early on about the urgency to defeat "Naachta". However I also feel that for the average player, most of the messages are too long and the overall story is a bit overwhelming. Also the whole "Bruuk contemplates" thing has a "third person" feel to it. The player of a scenario should have their own thoughts and feelings about what is going on and should not be "informed" from their "self". This gave me a feeling as if I did not have control and had no choice in the matter. I would choose a different means to pass information on about a certain mood and etc. There were also a few misspelled words but considering how much work was done in writing everything, a job well done!
Additional Comments:
Finally, the last section... yeaaaa! Well as I said before and again, this scenario is quite "loaded" and plays very long. In addition to the above catergories, there were also little things but maybe it's just me. One particular thing was when the hero "Rultakc" came along to serve he was already 20th level and well beefed up. (hmmmmm... burger.) The level progression of a hero is a part of the AOWII game that I really enjoy. So at 20th level it took away alot of this fun. (Considering what killer stacks were out there, this is obvious as to why.) However I feel heroes should be built up and earned while having a variety of stacks, some you attack now and some you save for later. One more thing about "Rultakc". Upon receiving this hero I noticed he had Marksmanship IV but no Archery or even a ranged weapon. At 20th level one would figure to expect something in order to take advantage of a well developed ability. Seemed odd and I could only grin saying "Ok... I guess his bow is broken. Now I need to find him one." However he did receive Archery at the 23rd level upgrade. I guess he got his bow fixed! :) Side note: I very much liked the fact that you gave him Leadership III!
In summary this "Gold" edition scenario obviously has had alot of work put into it and for this the designer is to be commended. I played it and it was fun but enough is enough and in my opinion it needs more work. Reduce some of the "stuff" and reconfigure the balance of the AI and this map has the potential of being one of the best out there. Quality not quantity.
I would also like to state that this is just one review of how I see it and strongly suggest that you read ALL the reviews that any scenario may have to offer. Sometimes scores can be misleading. The best advice is to check out the map regardless, for after the first few turns you should be able to determine for yourself whether the scenario is good or even the kind you enjoy. Personally a very long scenario like this one is not my style of game however if you have the time go for it. As for me I will have preferred to play a few less lengthly ones that can be just as good if not better then to just only play one long one. Happy hunting and thanks for your time in reading this review.
Shadowolfe |
adam |
Posted on 07/19/03 @ 11:09 AM
My first custom map that I have played and I enjoyed every turn. I hope there are more maps like this one. IN a way it was better than the campaigns with the game because it was supported more with events but also you had a lot of choice. I dont know how the events managed to work all the time but they did, no matter what I did. The second time I played it I did everything possible to throw the events out of line but not only did they keep working but they reacted to what I did and made it into the storyline. It was like there was a little man making up the map as I went along!!!
Ad |
cloudymind |
Posted on 08/05/03 @ 01:28 PM
Playability: 4
(Insert Playability analysis here)
Balance: 4
(Insert Balance analysis here)
Creativity: 5
(Insert Creativity analysis here)
Map Design: 4
(Insert Map Design analysis here)
Story/Instructions: 5
(Insert Story/Instructions analysis here)
Additional Comments:
First let me say I love this map. It's among one of the best including the official ones.
I played the gold version at emperor level. I haven't really finished it after 3 days. But, since I have killed the Ralagratha (the center draconian king with dragons) and dominated half of the upper level, I consider this map beaten.
I restarted once after I accidently took the underground dwarf city that leads to Bertraka. Oh what a surprise! I was overrun by groups of red dragons. But it was still fun.
I have a few suggestions in case the author wants to further improve it or implement it into SM.
1. Make the hero start from L1-5. The hero I got from the beginning, Raltakc, is L20. Apart from his 40 health, he is really weak for such high level. I remember his attack/damage/defense is like 8/9/8. And it's very hard to further improve him due to the huge exp required to level up and his inefficiency to hit anything. I ended up using the other two heros (L5s)and had fun leveling up them.
2. Let Bertraka have multiple accesses to player's domain. He is too easy now due to the AI problem. Currently he has only one cave exit to player area where one group of attacker has to challenge two groups of defenders. I simply put a hero on the top of the cave with some warlords backup by cannons and catapults. The AI decided it's too stronge to beat so he never attacked me for the 130 turns that I played.
3. The first 100 turns are very fun to play when the player have to fight orc/dwarf/elf/tigrans/goblins of various difficuties. The monster layout is interesting and refreshing. But, for deeper areas (human/undead/halfings/draconians), the monsters are too weak by the time the player reaches them. In another word, we should see more L1-3 monsters in openning areas but mostly L3-4 monsters in the latter areas. I even suggest making the map smaller and more compact.
4. This is probably not the fault of the map but the game itself. The AI can't counter players with air superiority. With a group of buffed up black angles, I could take down any monster groups. This makes the game less challenging at latter stage.
All in all, it's a very nice map and thank you Jamie.
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A Former Lurker |
Posted on 03/02/04 @ 12:26 AM
Playability: 4
This is one of the best maps and I guess it shows. It took me a long time to rate this one but here I am. (better late than never)
Balance: 5
It looks like this category does not get rated properly. I read the guidelines and I think a 5 fits this better than some of the other makrs it was getting.
Creativity: 5
Very Creative, the best story driven map (almost!) i've played. This map stood on top of all the others for a very long time for me.
Map Design: 5
It looks very good and plays very good. I did not notice any major bugs but there are a few. Still there are so many things that deserve bonuses that it deserves the 5.
Story/Instructions: 5
The best for a very long time.
Additional Comments: Im very sorry it took me so long to give you a review.
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scottyu |
Posted on 09/20/04 @ 09:03 PM
Playability: 5
It was really really hard at the beginning. I definitely had huge problems and gave up until I realized it was set in Emperor mode. Then I switched it to Lord and even then it was extremely difficult. I kept getting killed by that third wave of damn bone dragons coming my way. Then I finally figured out to put some sacrifice pawns there for the dragons to attack me while I start killing some with some spells before they reached my castle and I was able to finish them there. After that, it sort of got easier but still, very challenging throughout the whole game. Took me SO SO SO SO SO SO SO many hours but I finished it. It was very addictive... too addictive like many AoW scenarios.
Balance: 5
I thought the beginning was just impossible but learned that it wasnt if I thought some more about strategy. So it requied some thinking and that was great. Made it more challenging.
Creativity: 5
Lots of things to do throughout the map.
Map Design: 5
Excellent map design.
Story/Instructions: 5
I thought it flowed well.
Additional Comments:
Awesome scenario. |
SmellySock |
Posted on 12/05/05 @ 07:41 AM
On of the best maps I've played so far - It took be a long time to complete but I was spellbund all the way through. Nice job JamieJME!
Playability: 5
(I thought it was a really hard map - which is good :) It took me several days to complete it. Just as I thought things where going well I was knocked back by the forces of good - Thats what only the best maps have got - the ability to be be challenging all the way through)
Balance: 4
(May be a little bit to hard for some players since the elves are so tough, but would be fun for most players)
Creativity: 5
(A lot of event, which in my opinion a very important to make a good map brilliant.)
Map Design: 5
(Nice looking map - and large to)
Story/Instructions: 5
(Good story all the way through the scenary)
Additional Comments:
Nope! |
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HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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4.6 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 4.5 | Balance | 4.2 | Creativity | 4.7 | Map Design | 4.6 | Story/Instructions | 4.9 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 15,880 |
Favorites: [] | 1 |
Size: | 2.21 MB |
Added: | 01/04/03 |
Updated: | 08/10/03 |
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