First map I've made that I feel is worth sharing really :)
Basically it's an 8 player map, all the players start out on a (roughly) even footing, though some areas are in much more danger than others of indie attacks.
Independant armies spawn intermitantly and attack players throughout the game up to day 100, where they spawn constantly in overwhelming force if you haven't stopped them yet.
Couple of custom Heros, Triggers and all Wizards with full descriptions for them.
Don't think the AI will work with Humans/Frostlings well since the AI dosn't use boats (I think I read?).
Hope you'll all comment and rate!
Description:
"The world is in chaos!
Rebellion is rife in the nations and the Black Hand cult is on the move and summoning undead to attack everyone! The Independent Tradeing Co. has been seen funding the rebels, hireing mercenaries and has cut all ties with the leaders of the nations. The orcs are being united under a warlord called Ulric and threaten to overrun the holy Vargain empire. The only way to come out alive will be to conqueor the world with allies or through total war!"
It's been a while since we have seen a map, so the hunger for one may make the food look more tastier.
;)
For a first map, I would say that the goal of an 8 player XL map is quite ambitious. The map-painting is simple, but the global design is quite original in places. I do like these misty pathways between the mountains.
I am not sure whether all parties are balanced as well. Being a Wizard on the side definitely has its advantages (Draconians) and there are lots of storylines and differences in starting position that make the balance picture quite complicated. So do the Draconians start with a stack of 3 dragons, and the Darkelves with access to a lot of cities (and a very good defensive position, so it seems...).
The different storylines for each Wizard are very nice and spice up the world. It's not close to works like The Groll when it comes to depth of background, but its a good start for a talented and beginning mapmaker!
Keep it coming!
Sharky_22 File Author
Posted on 07/28/09 @ 09:22 AM
Ah sorry, those Dragons were for testing purposes, removed them now, thanks for that :)
The Dark Elves have the same access to cities as everyone else (except orcs), but yes a very good defensive position in their underground Fort.
The balance may not be perfect but I feel each race has something that helps it stand out :)
Thanks for commenting!
[Edited on 07/28/09 @ 09:25 AM]
The Groll
Posted on 07/30/09 @ 06:16 PM
Nice to se a new mapmaker!
Yes it´s time for a new map in the DL section and beacuse the forum is so quiet it´s nice to write something here :-)
This map looks simple from the painting view but also has some nice detail like a river delta, a cutted forrest (always the orcs) (Fangorn) and dusk and hazy pathes in the ashes mountains.
For a first map it looks good.
I have not played it but this map has events (what is not normal for a first map maybe) and it may be that the map plays interesting.
It reminds me from some few points of the idea to my last map "The Wilderness" (still in test
phase) so I like to see this one.
The terrain looks a little simple and like you look at a world map from very close but the distances are far.
Difficult to describe for me in english.
I don´t know if you have tested it but maybe you should set the independant AI to a more aggressive level. It is OFF in your map.
I am not sure if the spawned berserkers will make it on OFF level and do some trouble.
Will be interesting to beat the ring of the black angels in the dungeon.
You don´t need to put the *.bak file of the map into the zip file. The *.ahm file is the map and the *.bak file it only a save backup file of the map, while you work on it in the editor so it is useless to put it into the upload zip file too.
Only takes space and makes no sense for the players here.
A good first map Sharky
[Edited on 07/30/09 @ 06:21 PM]
rat_peddler
Posted on 07/31/09 @ 02:26 PM
A couple issues especially for single player playability.
1) The requirements to stopping the dark knights need to be clearer. Set them as a quest or something so they can be found in time.
2) The dark knight hordes really get annoying. Yes you were supposed to stop them. However, they can be pretty much avoided by going to all flyers. So now they just slow the game down. The number of them spawned should be set at a more reasonable level.
3) I don't think it is really reasonable to get them stopped and deal with all the other enemy AIs. Maybe it would be if the objectives necessary to stop them were clearer.
I played the map blind without opening in an editor. That is the only way I will usually play. I think having to open in the editor to learn how to play the map is not acceptable.
However, the map is interesting and was fun to play for the first 100 turns.