Behind the
Curtain: Over the Shoulder
by Charles
Watkins
Part 2: Map Design
In this series, I’m taking readers through the process of making a map. In Part 1, I settled on a story that can be played out in Heroes IV, giving players a lot of freedom while maintaining an overall continuity. I want to stage some interesting encounters that can turn out different ways and change the course of the game, and to tell the story through player interactions instead of narrative.
It’s a Large, 2-level, solo-play story map called ‘Lost Crusade’. The story centers on Eleanor of Aquitaine, who goes on a crusade to deliver the Sword of the Gods to Jerusalem, which is under siege by the Turks. Her quest takes her to another land filled with fantastic creatures and powerful magic. As she finds her way back to Earth, she meets old friends and new, arriving in the Holy Land as the warring forces are at the verge of Armageddon.
By looking over my shoulder while I put it together, maybe other mapmakers will see something they are able to use and players can get a better idea of the kind of effort that goes into these things. I’m sure there are mapmakers who just open up the editor and have at it, but I like to work everything out on paper before doing the heavy editing. I save most of the writing for the end, since it’s something I can work on while the map’s out for testing. I’m already starting to feel some urgency since I figure I’ll need to have the map out for testing by the first of December to be able to make the January contest deadline.
In this part, I finish the planning process and create the main elements of the map. This may make more sense if you’ve already read Part 1, where I laid out the storyline and gave a little Crusader history. Speaking of which, I now have some updates.
More on 12th Century
First, let me point out a typo in Part 1, where I said Eleanor married Louis VI. That should have been Louis VII.
Second, after further research, I can now fix the date as 1152. By then Eleanor had returned from the Second Crusade, and Jerusalem is under siege by the Turks. The Pope then was Eugene III, another follower of Bernard, and the Byzantine Emperor was Alexis the Great. The King of Jerusalem at that time was Baldwin III, so I have rearranged some character names to make Baldwin the king, Raymond the ranger, and Godfrey the general.
And third, I have introduced an ‘ultimate’ bad guy behind Hugh’s corruption. This is Hassan i Sabbah, founder of the Assassin cult. He ruled by terrorizing rulers and caused the fall of the Seljuk kingdom by assassinating Malik Shah.
Now that I’ve worked out the storyline, I need to decide on the main locations and characters that will be involved. For this, I’m using various lists, which are shown here. Even if I weren’t writing this article, I’d want to keep the lists since it’s so easy to lose track of things as the map is taking shape. By the time you see the lists, they will have been revised time and again as I strive to tighten up the story and tie up loose end. As I said, for me it’s easier working everything out on paper than having to change the map halfway through.
Basic elements
First I need to identify the various factions and assign them colors and alignments. To make it easy to remember, I’ll use the defaults as much as possible.
Color Assignments
Purple – Crusaders (Eleanor’s party)
Green – Arcadian Allies
Blue – Order
Orange – Chaos
Neutral – Nature, Death
Teal – Christians
Red – Turks
Character Classes
Eleanor, Priest
Hugh, Warlord
Raymond, Ranger
Godfrey, General
Iblis, Demonologist (Evil Druid)
Celeste, Druid (Fairie Queen)
Eldaron, Beast Lord (Elf King)
Omar, Paladin (Eleanor’s love)
Baldwin, Lord (Protector of Jerusalem)
Hassan i Sabbah, Assassin
Malik Shah, Barbarian (Sultan)
Rosencrantz, Archmage (Swordsmith)
All of these are heavily customized heroes with skills appropriate to their classes. To keep up morale, I have contrived to start the Warlord and General as Knights so that they will be Purple, like Eleanor.
Staging area for heroes. Some of these have two tokens, since I want to remove the initial party after they pass through the portal and have the members reappear later. Once the heroes are on the map, they can be referenced in scripts. The same goes for towns and quest locations, so I’ve also put those out.
Some of the people these characters are named after were French nobles, but I think most players would more readily identify with their English names. Thus Godfroi became Godfrey, Baudoiun became Baldwin, and Guilliam became William. Hugh, Raymond, and Louis come across OK. There will also be an assortment of minor heroes used in encounters, but since they are not involved in interactions, they can wait.
Main locations
The upper level is devoted entirely to Arcadia, with Chaos to the East and Order to the West. Eleanor will come in to the South and the corrupted part of Nature will lie to the North. The lower level will have the starting area, the end area, and enclosed locations for the Crypt, Forge, Dungeon, and Dragon Cave. The game will start in the Southwest and end in the Northeast, leaving the other corners for the ‘pocket’ locations. On a Large map, there should be enough real estate to allow a good visual buffer between the areas.
Arcadia towns:
Elise: Nature town, Neutral – I’m going to make Nature into an ally and set it up that when Eleanor takes the town it will change to the ally color. This will provide a place to retreat and I can script the Fairie Queen there. Nearby are two quest locations – Fredonia and Elf King.
Foss: Order town, Blue – This will be a walled city with rigidly squared off streets. Eleanor will be sent out into the countryside to collect taxes. As the new sheriff, she is awarded Order magic, For her second quest, she must investigate a prison break, gaining entry to the Dungeon where she can release the General and gain the Sword of Swiftness.
Chernobyl: Chaos town, Orange – this will be a disorderly collection of buildings and dwellings. The inhabitants will send Eleanor out to fetch the Ranger (Raymond), who has become a local legend and then award Chaos. But first he will get her to retrieve the Flaming Sword from the Megadragon lair.
Earth towns:
Aquitaine – Life town, Purple/Teal – this is the starting point of the quest. Near the town is a Temple complex where Eleanor gets the sword. I’ll have a path that leads to the docks, and along it I’ll have the Sprite ambush. A trail leads to the Portal that goes to Arcadia. Sometime after Eleanor crosses over, Aquitaine will be taken over by Louis, becoming Teal so it vanishes for Eleanor.
Jerusalem – Life town, Teal – this is the end of the quest. It will be a walled city with many splendid buildings, including the Mosque on the Temple mount. Inside, I’ll have the various nobles ready to parlay. Outside, I’ll put Crusaders on one side and Turks on the other, then
I’ll rig the walls so that they’ll come down on command of the sword holder.
Special Locations (not towns):
Crypt: Neutral. Underground, hidden in the depths of the Ghostwood. Chambers for both swords. Warlord (Hugh) is main encounter here.
Forge: Neutral. Part aboveground, part under. Just inside Ghostwood. Windows of the Magi. Oracles to treasures. Portals. Resources Bring swords to Rosencrantz for entry.
Dungeon: Located below Foss with many locked doors and loose monsters. Enter downtown.
Dragon Cave: Enter in the wilderness outside Chernobyl. It contains an assortment of Dragons and some minions.
Garden of Earthly Delights: Outside Jerusalem. HQ for Hassan.
Solomon’s Stables: ‘Underground’ connection between Garden and Jerusalem. Dark Champions and Temple treasures.
Portals/Tunnels
There may be other portals for minor locations, but these are the main connections between main areas:
Earth-Arcadia: Two-way Portal that will blow up after first passage, so there’s no turning back. I make it Two-way so players will be less hesitant to go through. And it’s combined with a Gate to insure that the party is complete when they step through.
Nature-Order and Nature-Chaos: These are simply paths through the forest that the Fairie Queen opens once the player becomes an ally. (More bombs.)
Forge-Earth One-way Portal: A shortcut to Garden from the Forge. Access requires taking Soul Stealer back to Rosencrantz, who will reveal location of the Sword of the Gods and open the portal.
Garden-Stables/Stables-Jerusalem: A pair of Portals allowing access to Stables of Solomon.
Ghostwood-Crypt Evil Tunnel: The graveyard area is walled and at its deepest point is the tunnel down to the Crypt.
Foss Dungeon Tunnel: Inside Foss is a tunnel down to the Dungeon. Eleanor is admitted after completion of tax quest.
Dragon Cave Evil Tunnel: Raymond follows trail to Dragon Cave, another simple tunnel. Raymond needed for entry.
Bestiary and Encounters
This is a list of creatures and encounters to be placed in each area. At first, I was going to use the creatures normally associated with each alignment, but found they didn’t always fit. So I took all the Nordic (Tolkien) types and gave them to Nature, took the Greek/Roman mythology types and gave them to Chaos, and took the Magical and Mechanical types and gave them to Order. On Earth, I’ll mainly use ordinary creatures.
| Creatures | Encounters |
| Wolves | Sword quest |
| Bandits | Sprite ambush |
| Pirates | Portal |
| Peasants | Takeover |
| Monks |
| Creatures | Encounters |
| Sprites | Ambush site – sprite trail + survivor story |
| Elves | Fairie Queen – reveal motive + give Fredonia quest |
| Dwarves | Castle entry – ally + give Elf King quest |
| Halflings | Castle entry – return Elf King + open ways + join Eleanor |
| Orcs | Fredonia quest – crusader armies |
| Goblin Knights | Elf King quest – join Eleanor until return to town |
| Ogre Mages | Evil Druid – first encounter (quest hut) |
| Trolls | |
| Waspworts | |
| Mantises |
| Creatures | Encounters |
| Satyrs | Rumor of Raymond |
| Centaurs | Cave -- Raymond – ally + Megadragon quest |
| Medusas | Contest – join + Chaos |
| Unicorns | Megadragon – Flaming sword |
| Minotaurs | |
| Cyclopes | |
| Hydras | |
| Titans | |
| Phoenixes | |
| Dragons (cave) | |
| Gnashers (cave) | |
| Gargantuans (cave) | |
| Sorcerers/Thieves | |
| Hera, Athena, Aphrodite, Eris |
| Creatures | Encounters |
| Peasants | Rumor of Godfrey |
| Bandits | Strontium -- Tax Collector quest |
| Golems | Dungeon – Godfrey + sword + join Eleanor |
| Mages | Technomage—constructs Catapults |
| Efreeti | |
| Genies | |
| Evil Enchantresses | |
| Dragon Golems | |
| Lord Strontium |
| Creatures | Encounters |
| Ghosts | Omar |
| Zombies | Evil Druid – rumor of Hugh |
| Mummies | Entrance to Crypt |
| Skeletons | Entrance to Forge |
| Vampires | |
| Bone Dragons | |
| Nightmares | |
| Imps | |
| Devils | |
| Venom Spawn |
| Creatures | Encounters |
| Elementals | Rosencrantz the Magus: Sword quest |
| Forge: Story of swords | |
| Windows of the Magi | |
| Oracles: Treasures of Solomon | |
| Portal to Garden |
| Creatures | Encounters |
| Skeletons | Hugh + Soul Stealer |
| Zombies | Sword rooms |
| Mummies | Treasure |
| Ghosts | |
| Vampires | |
| Bone Dragons | |
| Lich |
| Creatures | Encounters |
| Dark Champions | Temptation in the Garden |
| Nagas | Library of Lost Lore |
| Mermaids | Hassan I Sabbah + Sword of Gods |
| Thunderbirds | Exit to Battlefield + Obs towers |
| Omar’s entry/exit to Stables |
| Creatures | Encounters |
| Berserkers | Arrival |
| Bandits | Decision |
| Nomads | Armageddon |
| Pirates | |
| Peasants | |
| Squires | |
| Peasants | |
| Crossbows | |
| Pikemen | |
| Crossbows | |
| Crusaders | |
| Champions | |
| Catapults | |
| Ballistae | |
| Griffins? | |
| Behemoths? | |
| Barbarians | |
| Knights |
Before I start placing adventure objects on the map, I want to make sure that my scripts will work correctly. The best way to do this is to lay out the objects needed in a small area of the map for script development and testing. Testing is an iterative process and it helps to work in a small area.
When everything is working—that is, I have checked the main scripts using a test heroes—I can move the objects to their appropriate locations without worrying. While doing this, I start to flesh out the main heroes and configure the main towns. I use short descriptions to help follow branching logic, planning to go back later and replace them with the full story.
The
action starts when Eleanor visits the Monastery.
The Sword of the
Gods is in a room ‘below’, reached by the tunnel.
The
entrance to the Crypt. I’ll fill in Ghostwood later,
after I’ve gotmy
Haunted Forest obstacle brush looking
like it should. Then I’ll use the
Eraser to clear paths.
Launch crusade: Deliver Prelude to introduce Godfrey-1, Raymond-1, Hugh-1, and Eleanor-1 in Timed Event. Set stage and send Eleanor-1 to Monastery. There, she is given Quest and sword. Sword is in a Pandora’s Box for Eleanor-1. If not in Eleanor-1’s possession go to LOSS condition. Initial Victory Condition is to take it to Jerusalem, but this will change.
Sprites attack: A weak party of Sprites will attack Eleanor-1 and make off with the Sword. At this point possession requirement is removed. A trail leads to the portal. I want Eleanor and the 3 leaders together when they are taken to Arcadia. A way to do this is to have them assemble at a Quest Gate. I can use HAS CERTAIN HERO requirements for all four heroes to pass through a Quest Gate. In the gateway is the Portal to Arcadia, which drops the party on an Event that triggers two Custom Events. The first is an attack that will overwhelm the party. Nearby, there is a Neutral copy of Eleanor-2 and the second Custom Event performs a color change to Purple that makes her appear. The effect to the player is that after passing through the gate, the party is attacked and Eleanor manages to escape but is left alone in Arcadia. (There are also Raymond-2, Godfrey-2, and Hugh-2 in Arcadia that Eleanor will encounter later.)
Stranded: Next I strand Eleanor by changing her home town and surrounding dwellings to Neutral. I also unleash some Marauders to wipe out any stray armies the player has left behind—a Neutral hero is stuck under an object that is removed. There’s no Tavern in the starting town, so I don’t need to worry about extra heroes. By placing the Event next to a Window of the Magi, I may be able to have Eleanor see this happen.
Sprite encounter: I use a placed event for a single Sprite to ascertain Eleanor’s intentions, while filling the player in on the reasons for the intervention and explaining that her arrival here is unintentional. The Gate was to have closed, but the Sprites that took the sword were ambushed on their return by a legion of Imps. The Imps killed almost all of the Sprites and took the sword. The Sprite tells Eleanor to go to a nearby Quest Hut where she is sent to bring back the other survivors. These are scattered in the area. When Eleanor gets enough Sprites, the Hut opens up a path through the woods to the Fairie castle by parting (blowing up) some trees.
Fairie Queen: Fairie Queen cannot pass Nature Gate to leave the area around the Castle. She sits outside so that she must be encountered before the Castle can be entered. Initially she is Neutral and with her entourage would make a formidable foe. Completion of the Fredonia quest turns her Green (Ally) so that she can be encountered safely. If the Elf King is not in the party, she will send the Party to find him. When they return with him, she will turn Purple but dismiss her armies.
Nature Castle: Like the Fairie Queen, the Nature Castle starts off Neutral and turns Green when she does. When Green, Eleanor can enter and learn Nature spells. When she enters with Elf King, it turns Purple. (This makes Faerie Dragons available to the player.)
Crusader Village. Placed so that it is not accessible until Eleanor reaches Fairie castle, the village of Fredonia is populated by the Crusaders and Pikemen from the original crusade. A Quest hut near the Fairie castle sends Eleanor to investigate (and return with one of the strangers’ objects). When she gets there, the armies will join. (May want to run a short side-quest for the Catapult.) She can also capture dwellings for Peasants, Crossbows, and Squires. Quest hut takes a Squire, a Sword, and Armor to make a Crusader. (Crusader + Unicorn + Spear = Champion?) Also have a War College, Blacksmith, Stables, etc.
Elf King: By now Green (Nature) is an ally of Purple (Life). When Eleanor recovers Elf King, he will become Purple and join the party. When he gets back to Fairie castle, it changes to Purple too, along with its external locations. Fairie Queen will stay home (cannot pass castle gate). Elf King will accompany Eleanor as far as Crypt, then he’s banned by the Death Gate. However, his main value is the equipment he brings, notably the shooter’s delight: the Bow of the Elf King.
Druid Quest: Player is offered quest to find Druid and return with Necklace. Trail leads to Crypt, where Druid waits near entry. On Encounter, Druid tells his story and offers Death magic in exchange for his life. If accepted, the party turns Neutral and joins forces of Evil. Otherwise they fight and party takes the Necklace. Rewards for completion are additional plot details and an Artifact (Tome of Nature?).
Omar Encounter: Omar is Neutral wandering in Dark Forest. When encountered he can be fought or asked to join. If fought and defeated, encounters in the Garden cannot be avoided. If he joins, romance ensues. When Omar receives Life, he becomes a Paladin. After Omar joins, a VARIABLE truelove is initialized to the current day. Then a set of Global Continuous Events are then scheduled for truelove+interval.
Chernobyl (Chaos Town): Starts Orange and changes to Green when Raymond returns, Purple when Megadragon is brought in. On Entry, Eleanor is offered Chaos magic.
Dragonslayer Quest: Rumors of great Dragonslayer lead to Raymond, after several encounters with wandering Black Dragons. On Encounter, Raymond joins and shows path to Megadragon cave and Flaming Sword.
Dragon Quest: The player has the option of slaying the Megadragon or otherwise obtaining the Sword, which is Raymond’s quest object. However, to get reward of Chaos creatures, she will need to return with Megadragon.
Foss (Order Town): Starts Blue and changes to Green when taxes are collected, Purple when Godfrey is freed. On Entry, Eleanor is offered Order magic.
Tax Collection Quest: Eleanor is dispatched to collect taxes by visiting mines. I use a variable to count the mines captured. This is incremented (PLUS) in the Captured Triggered Event. On completion, Eleanor is made Sheriff and given key to Dungeons, where Godfrey is held.
Dungeon Quest: Godfrey reports that the Sword of Swiftness was hidden by another prisoner in the Foss Dungeon. He made a map and scattered its parts throughout the Dungeon.
Forge: Requires Flaming Sword and Sword of Swiftness to enter. Rosencrantz will ally, but not join. Gives relic equipment and tells story. Can destroy Soul Stealer. Reveals Sword of Gods has returned to Earth!
Crypt: Elf King refuses to enter. Many scary encounters—melt walls to reveal monsters. Rooms for Sword of Life and Soul Stealer. Main Encounter with Hugh. If Eleanor takes Soul Stealer, it begins sapping her strength.
Garden: Portal to Jerusalem uses a Two Way portal and Gate to stop return without Eleanor. Party arrives in the Garden of Earthly Delights, held by Dark Champions, and Hassan I Sabbah who has the Sword of Gods. Hassan has been luring Crusaders here and drugging them. In this suggestible state, he brings out their hatred of the enemy and turns them to Dark Champions. Hassan tempts Eleanor. (I could temporarily change her to Neutral.) Exit to Battlefield with roaming Neutrals. Past them is the massive army of Turks, laying siege to Jerusalem in the distance.
Solomon’s Stables: Omar knows a way past the siege armies, through a Portal in the Garden. The Portal leads to Solomon’s Stables, where Josiah hid the treasures of the Temple back at the Roman invasion. From there, another portal leads inside the walls.
Jerusalem: Entry commences final sequences. Inside the walls is the Holy City with an area outside set up for a council between Baldwin and Malik Shah, both starting Neutral to avoid premature battle. Outside their forces are massed on either side of the wall.
Here are the possible endings:
- Eleanor offers sword to Baldwin (refused)
- Eleanor offers sword to Baldwin again (accepts, end sequence 1)
- Eleanor offers sword to Malik Shah (accepts, end sequence 2)
- Eleanor offers sword to Malik
Shah (refused)
- Eleanor offers sword to Malik again (accepts, end sequence 1)
- Eleanor offers sword to Baldwin (accepts, end sequence 2)
I’ll have Eleanor do some soul searching here, get the player to think about the consequences of what might happen, including the possibilities of refusal as well as acceptance of the sword. I’ll try to make some parallels earlier in the game so players will be more likely to catch on to the winning moves.
(I thought about an end sequence where Eleanor keeps the sword and returns to Arcadia, but that would leave the crusade unresolved and her adventures essentially pointless. Would that be a victory or a loss? I really can’t say.)
End sequence 1: Having been impressed by his opponent’s refusal of the sword, the other accepts it and then gives it to his foe. Walls stay up. WIN
End sequence 2: Now believing it is God’s will, the one offered the sword a second time accepts it and uses it to bring the walls down to start the final combat. Eleanor can join this side, but player loses control. Probably LOSS
Next: Layout