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Scenarios » Nordic Star v.1.03a (upgraded 'Master of Wonders')
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Nordic Star v.1.03a (upgraded 'Master of Wonders')
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Author |
File Description |
Webusver |
Posted on 06/19/03 @ 04:21 AM (updated 06/16/05)
File Details |
Ruleset: |
AoW2: TWT - TS Standard Rules |
Map Size: |
L |
Levels: |
2 |
Single Player?: |
Yes |
Co-Op vs. AI?: |
Yes |
PBEM/Hotseat?: |
Yes |
Multiplayer Online?: |
No |
# of Wizards: |
8 |
# of players: |
6 |
Skill Level: |
Any (depends on AI difficulty setting) |
Password Protected: |
No |
Surface Minimap:
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Cavern Minimap:
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NORDIC STAR v.1.03a - (upgraded 'Master of Wonders')
AoW:SM scenario with custom spells by Webusver@mail.ru
Spells' descriptions are included in file "levels.htm"
Hall of Fame
1. Idealistos played at average difficulty with orcs and defeated everybody in 65 days!
2. Andrey Goncharov played at average difficulty with archons and defeated everybody in 175 days.
3. Gerd played at average difficulty with elves and defeated everybody in 230 days.
Features
Battle&Magic scenario. L-map. Tough AI. 2 strong AI wizards + 6 playable. Starting races, spheres and wizards are customisable. Picturesque landscape. Smart lads and gals heroes. Subclass hero's system. Custom spells. Custom diplomacy system.
Package
The archive contains three scenario files with different difficulty - average, hard and impossible. Impossible scenario file is password protected. Every player, who beats AI in this scenario (at any difficulty level), will be included in the Hall of Fame. Just e-mail to webusver@mail.ru your savegame which was played with original resources and my spells. (spells.pfs -file, which is included in the archive).
Gameplay
You start with a bunch of 0-level troops with weak city and have to grow your army to 4-level monsters. But even they are not enough to achieve victory. You have to find the legendary sword, which can help you to be victorious.
The beginning of the story
Glorious Saurak the Nordic Star was killed by mysterious assassins who wanted to steal the legendary sword Nordic Star. But the sword was hidden somewhere. There's no evidence who owns the sword now. But at the same time the most noble gentlemen Sir Algernon and Sir Lambert accused each other in thievery without explaining reasons though. And war began between them. And all wizards were involved in this war. Algernon hired Dread Knights and prepares a huge army which will be ready in about 1-2 months. Lambert tries to unite all wizards to fight against Algernon but wizards have already declared numerous wars against each other and all peaceful efforts fade. There remains the only way. The way of the sword. Nordic Star sword.
Player instructions
1. Eklo has a magic cloak. Don't throw it away. It's the key to the treasury room with reward. Eklo must be alive too.
2. If you don't plan to rescue Eklo, go the harbor near Lambert-Hall, take a galley and sail to your castle. This may be essential for cooperative multiplayer game.
3. Try to avoid making alliances or declaring wars if you don't want additional problems.
4. Keep peace with King Lambert. Don't try to ally with him or declare war. He will never accept peace or alliance offer. You will not be able to use the Stone of Request if you are at war with King Lambert.
5. Check descriptions of your heroes. If you keep more gold in your treasury, you will be able to hire better heroes. Remember that heroes of lower subclasses will never gain as much abilities as heroes of higher sublasses already have.
6. You will need the sword Nordic Star to defeat Algernon. Otherwise it will be almost impossible to kill him.
Installation
1. Copy file "Nordic Star.ahm" to folder "../Scenario/Custom/".
2. If you don't want to play with custom spells, stop accomplishing this step. Copy file "spells.pfs" to folder "Resources" if you use Default resources. Copy file "spells.pfs" to folder "User/Name_of_your_Custom_Resources" if you use custom resources. |
Author | Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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EyeBall |
Posted on 07/09/03 @ 07:22 PM
Playability: 4
(Insert Playability analysis here)
Balance: 4
(Insert Balance analysis here)
Creativity: 5
(Insert Creativity analysis here)
Map Design: 5
(Insert Map Design analysis here)
Story/Instructions: 5
(Insert Story/Instructions analysis here)
Additional Comments:
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omega |
Posted on 07/10/03 @ 06:59 AM
Playability: 3
Ok
Balance: 4
good
Creativity: 5
The events used to give the computer an advantage are very clever. I would like to know how you did it.
Map Design: 2
Far to many areas of endless solid trees. Map has a password which gives me immediate negative feelings. The fact that you can find out the password in the game doesn't make it any better.
Story/Instructions: 2
The begining story is ok and the events supporting it. However the signs about "VIP clients" and the letters of the password are AWFUL. I could not think of a better way to smash the players feeling of being involved in the game. At least make the signs seem to fit in with the world around them.
Additional Comments:
Some clever events used but the scenery and story need some work. |
Andrew_P |
Posted on 07/23/03 @ 06:13 AM
Playability: 5
This rocks! Better read below.
Balance: 5
Great challenge for experienced players and normal challenge for others by choice.
Creativity: 5
Scripting was done well. I also enjoyed custom items.
Map Design: 5
The map is smart.
Story/Instructions: 5
It is not dull with the story and also good that the story does not dominate over strategy.
Additional Comments:
All fives because the scenario is really great. :-)
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tremor_I |
Posted on 08/02/04 @ 01:57 AM
Playability: 4
(Insert Playability analysis here)
Balance: 5
(Insert Balance analysis here)
Creativity: 5
(Insert Creativity analysis here)
Map Design: 5
(Insert Map Design analysis here)
Story/Instructions: 5
(Insert Story/Instructions analysis here)
Additional Comments:
I enjoyed this scenario very much. Almost every battle with black player was as difficult as an epic battle. And the final was awesome. And sudden betrayal of the ally was very unexpected. A greedy fool.
Great! I rarely go to sleep at 5 in the morning... He-hm ;-) I didn't try your recent 1.8. version but in 1.6 (or 1.5?) it took me a lot of time to wait for AI players to make their moves. That makes a minus for playability. |
Sir Lazyborn XXL |
Posted on 08/10/04 @ 01:54 AM
Playability: 5
Very intensive gameplay. I didn't spend much time for just travelling. Opponents are everywhere. I like the strategic placement of mists, which cover enemies. It is the first map where I encountered challenging sea battles. And here is a real need to have fleet. There is also a good opportunity for tunneling. (Surprise!) Also I like your "alchemy" option. It is very convenient to transfer gold into mana and back.
Balance: 5
The game is very challenging and I like when everybody starts equal from the beginning and then there is a strong opponent at the end.
Creativity: 5
Very interesting scripting. Also I would like to know how did you enable additional abilities for heroes and artifacts. I didn't find them in the editor. And how did you place buildings in outposts? I played with your Microsort Windblows mod and liked the spell system better.
Map Design: 5
The map is very beautiful and each hex of it is pained with some decorations. Absolutely no blank places. Well thought strategic placement of mountains, water, mists, caves makes worth to try lots of optional abilities that I earlier never used. There is real need to swim, to tunnel, to have true seeng and so on.
Story/Instructions: 5
Though you positioned the map as a hack&slash type scenario, I was very pleased to encounter a smart storyline which developed while the game was going on. All events are supplied with instructions which are also helpful.
Additional Comments:
Thanks. This was a great game and I enjoyed it to the end. I may recommend this map as a long-play scenario with lots of clever scripts and advanced gameplay. Very hard. But the final battle brings complete safisfaction. :-) |
bkmz |
Posted on 08/17/04 @ 09:43 AM
Playability: 5
This was a real pleasure to play this scenario. Everything greatly combined in it: cool AI enemies, beatiful surroundings and dramatic twists of the storyline. I also liked that it is also highly oriented for magic using. It was very fun to meet legendary heroes from AoW1 in the middle of the game.
Balance: 5
Starting races are well balanced since they all start in equal conditions and have the same number of towns ready to be conquered. AI here is very challenging. It expands very quickly and maintains huge armies. AI very quickly recruits 4 level troops. At the end most of my troops were also 4 levels. It happens very often to fight 3-4 enemy armies at a time. Lots of huge battles and that superboss was able to kill my roc-birds with just in one blow. My heroes ended the game with 30 exp level.
Creativity: 5
A huge job was done besides the maps design. Lot's of custom items and heroes. Clever scripting is the great bonus to the scenario. Yes, the alchemy is also a good idea. I also liked diplomacy tweaks. It was fun to have 'cursed' artifacts. Just put the 'creature's ring' on your hero and prepare that he may be banished... he-he. A bow with seeker and 'shoot javelins' was my favourite weapon.
Map Design: 5
The landscape is scenic and at the same time is thoroughly strategically designed. Each starting place has it's own feel. Depending on the starting races and assigned magic spheres. It would be pleasant to find myself having a house somewhere in that land... (of course after all monsters were defeated ;))
Story/Instructions: 5
I found the story to be not a standart version of typical strategic-game's scenarios. And it was very fun how the story developed during the gameplay.
Additional Comments:
Thanks for the great job!
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dimonv82 |
Posted on 03/31/05 @ 03:31 AM
Playability: 5
I saw the update of this scenario and spent 2 evenings playing it. It plays even greater than before and as I enjoyed it very much it is 5.
Balance: 5
Computer opponents are very tough. They are really tougher than in the previous version. I played v.101 earlier. Now I used Average difficulty to win and it was not easy at all. I screwd at Hard and can agree that Impossible setting is almost impossible.
Creativity: 5
No need to mention everything. It will take me too long to write. Everybody who didn't see this, has lost a lot.
Map Design: 5
Design is also cool and placement of every object was preciously calculated. For example in cooperative gameplay if 2 gamers start to rescue Eklo and the first takes the ring, then he loses some initiative and the second gamer has a chance to rescue Eklo.
Story/Instructions: 5
This story is my favourite now. It's cool. And it evolves during the gameplay. And such features as Eklo's treachery and king's threats made me to decide hardly what to choose.
Additional Comments: I suggest that everybody should try the scenario. Those who likes tough AI will find what they have. Aesthetes will find great scenery and smart heroes. RPG gamers will find a very cool story. In any case this is a "must have" for every AOW:SM collection.
Great map!
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gerd |
Posted on 04/22/05 @ 03:42 PM
Playability: 4
Balance: 5
Creativity: 5
Map Design: 5
Story/Instructions: 5
Additional Comments:
I never played a scenario more often than this one.
The charm of it are the tough battles and the good story. Be prepared loosing your towns and creatures and then gather your forces come back and look for Sir Algeron to fight the final battle.
There are adventures inside not easy to win but on the other side a nice bonus is the reward. And that's what an adventurer is looking for: After having a good hard fight getting a fancy item!
I always had a goal when I was playing this scenario. There is no conquer one city after the other and win the game feeling.
There are a lot of good ideas: Like choosing a hero of your choice when finishing a quest. Or having the option to go on different ways through the story. If you were only knowing the built-in scenarios before and then playing Nordic Star you will say "Wow" and wonder what is possible if a good designer makes an excellent job.
Nordic Star is no map for beginners which just want to enjoy winning battles and get more towns and creatures. It's designed for those ones who are looking for a challenge and are ready to sacrifice the world.
There are only minor cons:
1. It takes a long time when enemy creatures do their moves after they've reached the surface world.
2. One can get into a deadlock situation when playing like a bullhead (like me). But webusver mentioned that he has updated the map so that that will no more happen.
Dreams:
Extend an existing item with a property of your choice when winning a really hard quest
Extend a hero's skill greater than 20 when winning a really hard quest (if he is already on 20)
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HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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4.7 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 4.4 | Balance | 4.8 | Creativity | 5.0 | Map Design | 4.6 | Story/Instructions | 4.6 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 8,506 |
Favorites: [] | 0 |
Size: | 1.82 MB |
Added: | 06/19/03 |
Updated: | 06/16/05 |
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