H4 campaign in progress - The Tale of Young Mudgeon

[Panda Tar]

*gasps* Karmakeld!

You are almost convincing me to reinstall this game to play your Campaign! I hope you are proud of what you have done!

Just to be sure, it is compatible with Equilibris, pretty yes? I'm still a bit busy with other life issues and work, still if you need someone else to test maps (in a more ordinary sort of game play, because I'm not a Champion player, I think), I could try and help.

[Karmakeld]

it is meant purely for Equlibris. It's also the only way I could be able to use these custom made portaits I've made specificly for this campaign: https://www.celestialheavens.com/forum/7/12752
Gee Panda, that would be nice. Keep an out for the new updates v. 1.1, that should be out this month (fingers crossed). But I would love more testers for the future maps. I'm fortunate to already have 1 champion tester, so other difficulties are most welcome :-) I'll pm you when I'm in need to testing..

Woa, I just had an annivesary .. Just not sure how many years I've been a member..

[Panda Tar]

[Karmakeld]

my update has been delayed due to lack of time.. hopefully december should be realistic..

[MadMax]

This looks very good! I have never really played H4 fully.. Perhaps I should install it and try this beauty out!
Great to see that you actually intend to follow through fully as well.

Well done!!!

[Karmakeld]

Thx. It's a year long process, but being somewhat half way, I'm don't intend to bury it
But it's Nice to see ppl. showing interest in This campaign.

[Panda Tar]

Still haven't started it, but will soon start.

[MadMax]

Thx. It's a year long process, but being somewhat half way, I'm don't intend to bury it
But it's Nice to see ppl. showing interest in This campaign.

As a fellow mapmaker, I know how much one values the input of others!
Do not bury it, it has great potential, I have checked in on this thread ever since it started really.. I think you got a real talent for stories and map making.. If you ever feel like trying out HoMM3 mapmaking, I would love to recruit you!

[iLiVeInAbOx05]

Once I get some extra time to play stuff for fun (or if you let me know you need me to help testing), I'll definitely play the maps you've released so far

[MadMax]

Thx. It's a year long process, but being somewhat half way, I'm don't intend to bury it
But it's Nice to see ppl. showing interest in This campaign.

Soo, I actually setup HoMM IV last night and intend to check out the maps today (I believe it was this campaign, you have released some maps right?

[Karmakeld]

As a fellow mapmaker, I know how much one values the input of others!
Do not bury it, it has great potential, I have checked in on this thread ever since it started really.. I think you got a real talent for stories and map making.. If you ever feel like trying out HoMM3 mapmaking, I would love to recruit you!

Thanks HOP. I envy you, you MoS team, but sadly I must admit that my Homm3 peaked some 14-15 years ago. And the little I've played with it's editor, is just about as many years ago. But it's amazing the interest your project has (atleast the views). Ofcourse a comment once in a while, is always nice
As long as there is still interest, I won't bury it. But I owe alot to my trusted advicer and tester, Maciek. Also his kind words, that this campaign included ideas he hadn't seen before in a HoMM4 campaign, is a motivation. (I also have a small aim at reaching Psychobabbles top 11 list )

Soo, I actually setup HoMM IV last night and intend to check out the maps today (I believe it was this campaign, you have released some maps right?

True, Chapter 1 & 3 is released as stand alone maps, but pm me and I can send you the maps with carry over properties, if you wan't to play the other maps later. I've updated 1 less important thing in map 1, since the release. Map 2, 4 and 5 have all been updated in 2015 (still polishing the latest additions). Anyway, just be sure to play it with Equilibris mod, as you otherwise won't be able to win some battles in the first map.

Panda: I'm hoping to have you ready to test map 2 soon :-)

iLive: I just have to wrap up map 2, then I'll be in need of you. But I know you're busy aswell with your own campaign as well as idea and script development :-)

[iLiVeInAbOx05]

iLive: I just have to wrap up map 2, then I'll be in need of you. But I know you're busy aswell with your own campaign as well as idea and script development :-)

Testing a map takes significantly less time for me than all the rest I'm doing now, so I'll certainly be able to squeeze in some time when you're ready

The ideas part is getting a little out of control right now, haha I'm working on what the events for the tournament will be / how will they appear to the player, and there will be a carnival / fair next to said tourney, and I am hashing out some fun ideas for booths / attractions there as well. Probably going to have to scrap some of it and just use the best ideas

[Karmakeld]

Testing a map takes significantly less time for me than all the rest I'm doing now, so I'll certainly be able to squeeze in some time when you're ready

great, I think I'll just send both of you a save file for testing , and then I can add the last script later one of the upcomming days.

[MadMax]

Thank you for the kind words Karmakeld, if it wasn´t because we were so busy playtesting and trying to finalize our third campaign, I would ask my fellow team mate Yurian to playtest as well!
I will PM my e-mail so I can get to look it up in the editor.
What difficulty are these maps aimed towards? I am not experienced at all in HoMM4 unfortunately, but will download Equilibris and check it all out!

I would love it if you ever decided to want to join us, or perhaps create your own HoMM4 Sighisoara chapters!
Us nordic people need to unite, and with you on your side and Kalah's Norweigan heritage, we would be a full nordic team (Kalah hosts our maps, so.. I count him as a team member).

To summarize, I think you have great potential and skill, and I like how you write your stories, I will try to help out and would also gladly accept your help if you ever want to cooperate!

[Maciek]

What difficulty are these maps aimed towards?

What could you possibly mean by that?

Maps 1-4 got the rating of 'Hard' (2. got changed from 'Normal' to 'Hard' in the upcoming update), map 5 is rated 'Expert'. That's 'map difficulty'.

But there's also 'playing difficulty' that you choose when starting the game. And there are scripts dependent on that choice in every map. This is basically a standard in h4 mapmaking. Unlike in h3, where you more often see internal difficulty levels (most notably in Salamandre's maps) and maps intended for 1 difficulty level only.

For example, in map 1 you need to gather some resources within 2 months. Counting all objectives, you need to gather:
30 Wood, 30 Ore, 59.5k Gold and 45 Gems if you're playing on Novice difficulty,
30 Wood, 30 Ore, 114.5k Gold and 100 Gems if you're playing on Champion difficulty.

There are also some other differences in scripts between difficulties on that map.
Also, most neutral armies across the campaign are about 4.5 times larger on Champion than on Novice. (Not all, for some neutrals the standard Heroes 4 factor of 4.5 wouldn't fit.)

[MadMax]

What difficulty are these maps aimed towards?

What could you possibly mean by that?

Maps 1-4 got the rating of 'Hard' (2. got changed from 'Normal' to 'Hard' in the upcoming update), map 5 is rated 'Expert'. That's 'map difficulty'.

But there's also 'playing difficulty' that you choose when starting the game. And there are scripts dependent on that choice in every map. This is basically a standard in h4 mapmaking. Unlike in h3, where you more often see internal difficulty levels (most notably in Salamandre's maps) and maps intended for 1 difficulty level only.

For example, in map 1 you need to gather some resources within 2 months. Counting all objectives, you need to gather:
30 Wood, 30 Ore, 59.5k Gold and 45 Gems if you're playing on Novice difficulty,
30 Wood, 30 Ore, 114.5k Gold and 100 Gems if you're playing on Champion difficulty.

There are also some other differences in scripts between difficulties on that map.
Also, most neutral armies across the campaign are about 4.5 times larger on Champion than on Novice. (Not all, for some neutrals the standard Heroes 4 factor of 4.5 wouldn't fit.)

I apologize for being so blurry in my question.. Let me rephrase. How hard is the Campaign really? What skill level (that was the word I was looking for) is it aimed towards? Is it for novice players? Intermediate? Experts?

Thank you very much for the answer nonetheless

[Karmakeld]

I apologize for being so blurry in my question.. Let me rephrase. How hard is the Campaign really? What skill level (that was the word I was looking for) is it aimed towards? Is it for novice players? Intermediate? Experts?

As Maciek tried to sum up with his example, I try to aim at all difficulties in my settings. Another example is in the 2nd Chapter, where you carry weapon preserving tools (some which must be left behind), on Novice your stats will increase after each battle, while they will increasingly decrease as difficulties increase (credit goes to Maciek for this idea).
I have a friend who somewhat below novice and Maciek is by far a Champion player, so I try to set the victory conditions etc. to match the player's chosen difficulty. I want players like Maciek to be challenged, and players like my friend to still be able to complete the maps.
The maps are rated at the difficulty I aim the map to be, seen from a 'normal' difficulty point. But choosing Novice should be rather easy and choosing Champion should offer additional challenges.
It's aimed for players who like a story driven campaign, and/or who like the existing world of Axeoth. I usually play advanced myself, but I try to aim wider than just newcomers or champion players (hope that answers your question). Also I aim at offering other challenges than just beating the AI. And as Maciek, describes, I try to match most of these to chosen difficulty.
In your case, being new to H4, I would recommand choosing Novice.

Ask me again in 10 years time, and I might have the time to join you in a nordic project

Well by the time you've wrapped up your third campaign, I'm more likely at a point where I'll be in need of testers. That isn't my main concern atm. but thx anyway.

A side note, I just realized my maps/campaign passed 16K downloads..
Last time I checked, it had barely passed 1K.. Guess I better speed up..

[Karmakeld]

I might just benefit from this recent activity and ask for some help regarding some of my later Chapters.
Chapter 13, will be a 'Nightmare' chapter. Meaning you'll need to wake up from your dream.
So I already have tons of ideas for nightmarish stuff to implement in the map, but would love to hear if anyone has some cool scary nightmarish ideas.

Some of the basic ideas, which might also help with idea devolpment:
- You'll start as halfling, looking for your 'hero body'.
- I'll be using ideas from Silent Hill, like the world changing into 'dark world' at certain areas.
- You'll be venturing down into a Mausoleum at some point (have a look at the screen shot from map 5, for a small preview).
- You'll be fighting against yourself (hero vs hero).
- I'm hoping to be able to implement an illusion of the world slowly dissapearing (like The Nothingness from The Never Ending Story).
- There will also be events where you'll have to use your tiny size and sneak under large creatures (sleeping) or sneak up behind other.
- A nightmare hero transforming into several nightmarish creatures (the hero will dissapear upon attack, leaving behind a creature instead).

Now I have many more ideas, but these are some of them. Making story text and map design scary and eerie, shouldn't be that hard, but combining them with the game play, is where the fun begins.

So any ideas to what could be fun , scary , disturbing or nightmarish ?
All ideas are most welcome, even if they are borrowed from other games, movies, books etc..

[iLiVeInAbOx05]

Hmm, I'll have to do some thinking. A few maps down the road is going to take place on the Plane of Death, which will require thinking like this

[iLiVeInAbOx05]

Michael, one thought that just occurred to me that might help make things more nightmarish would be the narrative. How you describe things in any text events (map prologue included) could help paint a picture for the player that they might not otherwise see with just the map and its objects.

I'll keep trying to think of stuff.