This is for my new solo map
A Wizards Tale xl sod
Solo map very challenging all towns do not have mage guilds the hero utilises eagle eye.
version 1.0
http://www.mediafire.com/?811id73q5019msd
link above is for the dload of the map
Maygwan@yahoo.com for any probs or you can post here.
I have playtested the map myself and completed it but it is very hard and i was wondering if its to hard for some, should i release this version + an easy version.
thanx
simon
Map tester needed please
Hello,
i had a little time and took a quick look. please note that i do not have much experience with playtesting maps and probably also won't have much time
my first problem was the garrison, kind of annoying to reload just because the monsters got high morale. spirit of oppression would help (but you probably did not give it to the player on purpose). i had almost 800 mana left at the end of the combat so the mana bonus could be lower to keep things challenging.
then conquered the first city on 121 and could not do anything for 2 weeks just press end turn because of the guard. maybe something could be added for the player to do.
currently i'm on the teal island, have town portal which helps a lot, but his last hero is too strong... 80 archangels with cape of velocity just kills almost all my titans as first action. i do not see yet how to kill him.
i can continue testing probably next weekend but the map indeed looks very hard.
i had a little time and took a quick look. please note that i do not have much experience with playtesting maps and probably also won't have much time
my first problem was the garrison, kind of annoying to reload just because the monsters got high morale. spirit of oppression would help (but you probably did not give it to the player on purpose). i had almost 800 mana left at the end of the combat so the mana bonus could be lower to keep things challenging.
then conquered the first city on 121 and could not do anything for 2 weeks just press end turn because of the guard. maybe something could be added for the player to do.
currently i'm on the teal island, have town portal which helps a lot, but his last hero is too strong... 80 archangels with cape of velocity just kills almost all my titans as first action. i do not see yet how to kill him.
i can continue testing probably next weekend but the map indeed looks very hard.
adam77 wrote:Hello,
i had a little time and took a quick look. please note that i do not have much experience with playtesting maps and probably also won't have much time
my first problem was the garrison, kind of annoying to reload just because the monsters got high morale. spirit of oppression would help (but you probably did not give it to the player on purpose). i had almost 800 mana left at the end of the combat so the mana bonus could be lower to keep things challenging.
then conquered the first city on 121 and could not do anything for 2 weeks just press end turn because of the guard. maybe something could be added for the player to do.
currently i'm on the teal island, have town portal which helps a lot, but his last hero is too strong... 80 archangels with cape of velocity just kills almost all my titans as first action. i do not see yet how to kill him.
i can continue testing probably next weekend but the map indeed looks very hard.
Hiya thanx for the imput ya i wanted to keep there morale high in the garrison so it does take a few tries. The idea is to use the monks as bait and then use the angels to bring them back to life. i split the angels and monks. this gives more time.
you need to keep all the titans and angels alive.
The teal heroe you have to do the water part first getting armor of wonder,
lions shield and the pandora,s box. also before attacking him you can open the blue border and recruit the titans. if u are lucky you can run right past him getting the second lot of titans and hiding in the border gate where u free king arthur. This then allows you to use diff tactics to beat him i wont say how but there are a few ways.
Also arcadia will give you a nice few recruits. It took me a few tries but there are ways.
ps u can split the titans also in the battle but i may add a cape of velocity to the pandors's box if you cant find a way to beat him just to make it easier.
You can also open the rampart area and do the water part there too as they cant leave there island so there are a few different tactics you can use.
I did mention it was very hard so i may release the hard and challenging version for some and an easier version for others.
I was lucky to not have morale for nagas at wrong moment, so enjoyed the garrison. But i agree that the 150 gremlin guard could be less, as me too did not find anything to do for 2 weeks, and unless there is a specific reason why AI needs that extra time I would let the player venture further sooner. Did not make much further yet due to real life time constrains.
Ya ty for that i did reduce the gremlins to 100 it is so the ai can get the extra bonus but i do agree with the extra waiting being a tad annoying.Pitsu wrote:I was lucky to not have morale for nagas at wrong moment, so enjoyed the garrison. But i agree that the 150 gremlin guard could be less, as me too did not find anything to do for 2 weeks, and unless there is a specific reason why AI needs that extra time I would let the player venture further sooner. Did not make much further yet due to real life time constrains.
About the 4 key-heroes that give access to territories: first managed Drakon, which is probably meant as one of the last. But in swamp the movement is slow and without boosts or sanctuaries visible i have no idea yet how to get past Tazar. Anyway, took out also Catherine and now my heroes are playing cat and mouse with castle main hero until i gather enough troops to kill him.
Perhaps some redwood observatories or sanctuaries could help in these areas. View earth and air are good, but they do not show for instance guard gates. Much has to be found by trial and error and reloads. Of course if it is supposed to be such map where in some battles the key is correct random spell from a genie, then fine.
Perhaps some redwood observatories or sanctuaries could help in these areas. View earth and air are good, but they do not show for instance guard gates. Much has to be found by trial and error and reloads. Of course if it is supposed to be such map where in some battles the key is correct random spell from a genie, then fine.
I managed to kill the last teal hero by defending in the castle.
Destroyed the catapult, then blinded the units one by one and shot them.
The first strike of the archs killed 37 titans but i guess there is no way to avoid such losses when the enemy has so many troops.
Killed also the 3 remaining underground heroes (on 316).
Interestingly I had problem only with the rampart army, I lost all my master genies (32) and champions (32), survived most of the titans (74 out of 76), archangels (48), marksmen (166), archmagi (41) and zealots (16).
The numbers are interesting because then I killed Drakon with absolutely no loss and Astral with losing only 3 archmagi. Learnt Resurrection from Astral which is a big help.
I do not know if I was only very lucky but these two were meant to be the harder. They simply did not have a chance against expert berserk.
Destroyed the catapult, then blinded the units one by one and shot them.
The first strike of the archs killed 37 titans but i guess there is no way to avoid such losses when the enemy has so many troops.
Killed also the 3 remaining underground heroes (on 316).
Interestingly I had problem only with the rampart army, I lost all my master genies (32) and champions (32), survived most of the titans (74 out of 76), archangels (48), marksmen (166), archmagi (41) and zealots (16).
The numbers are interesting because then I killed Drakon with absolutely no loss and Astral with losing only 3 archmagi. Learnt Resurrection from Astral which is a big help.
I do not know if I was only very lucky but these two were meant to be the harder. They simply did not have a chance against expert berserk.
Hi guys thanx on info i will definately look at astral and the beastmaster and im glad you have found ways to beat the teal and ramparts. just remember you can do the secret area before you take out tazar. hopefully your enjoying the map and i will be taking your advice onboard.
The map is meant to be universal in your choices on who you decide to take out first some may find rampart easier to deal with while others will do teal or the fortress. Some may do the secret gates before all 3.
The only parts you cant choose are inferno and barbarian they will have to be beat before you can go underground vs necromanser and conflux.
Alot of the game also depends on your hero learning the rare spells from the different enemies, some will learn all the spells and im sure many will miss some of the spells. The map is almost certainly a trial n error map allowing the player to try and use many different strategies to overcome there opponent.
thanx again guys for the imput.
The map is meant to be universal in your choices on who you decide to take out first some may find rampart easier to deal with while others will do teal or the fortress. Some may do the secret gates before all 3.
The only parts you cant choose are inferno and barbarian they will have to be beat before you can go underground vs necromanser and conflux.
Alot of the game also depends on your hero learning the rare spells from the different enemies, some will learn all the spells and im sure many will miss some of the spells. The map is almost certainly a trial n error map allowing the player to try and use many different strategies to overcome there opponent.
thanx again guys for the imput.
Playing through this right now, some preliminary thoughts:
1. The huge battle against the Naga Queens can be made harder by limiting the spell points available. That way the player is forced to ball the Naga Queens up before casting Berserk. I did it on my first try even though there was still one stack of 300++ Naga Queens left by spamming Implosion on it (I had enough mana).
2. I had to wait two full weeks to get the 150 Gremlins required at the quest guard. I don't like it. Why not make it 100 Master Gremlins?
3. There's a point near the first gem pond that you meet where you cannot move without moving onto the gem pond again. I think that should be fixed.
4. With the millions of exp coming from killing the Naga Queens, and given the size of the army a player may have, many of the later fights seem utterly trivial. Same to all the dwellings and some of the creatures you're given. When you have 20 Titans, what are 20 Archmagi other than fodder? Are they necessary?
5. You absolutely have to learn Slow at the start of the game. Although Eagle Eye does a good job, it's still not a guarantee, so if it's possible to add more + Eagle Eye artifacts to Alakazam that would be good.
6. Ability to hire more heroes would make this map so much less tedious.
Will play on and say more
EDIT: Oh and I'd also ask someone to fix the English. The presentation could be so much better ...
1. The huge battle against the Naga Queens can be made harder by limiting the spell points available. That way the player is forced to ball the Naga Queens up before casting Berserk. I did it on my first try even though there was still one stack of 300++ Naga Queens left by spamming Implosion on it (I had enough mana).
2. I had to wait two full weeks to get the 150 Gremlins required at the quest guard. I don't like it. Why not make it 100 Master Gremlins?
3. There's a point near the first gem pond that you meet where you cannot move without moving onto the gem pond again. I think that should be fixed.
4. With the millions of exp coming from killing the Naga Queens, and given the size of the army a player may have, many of the later fights seem utterly trivial. Same to all the dwellings and some of the creatures you're given. When you have 20 Titans, what are 20 Archmagi other than fodder? Are they necessary?
5. You absolutely have to learn Slow at the start of the game. Although Eagle Eye does a good job, it's still not a guarantee, so if it's possible to add more + Eagle Eye artifacts to Alakazam that would be good.
6. Ability to hire more heroes would make this map so much less tedious.
Will play on and say more
EDIT: Oh and I'd also ask someone to fix the English. The presentation could be so much better ...
I'm a hypocrite because I suggested that all life is sacred and should not be wasted without good reason.
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Salamandre
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Lower mana cost?Banedon wrote: When you have 20 Titans, what are 20 Archmagi other than fodder? Are they necessary?
Guys...if you want to make sure the human learns a mass spell, give AI a spell power of 1. He will have to cast it each round and increase the chances exponentially.5. You absolutely have to learn Slow at the start of the game. Although Eagle Eye does a good job, it's still not a guarantee, so if it's possible to add more + Eagle Eye artifacts to Alakazam that would be good.
Some maps are full of such passages and i see no problem there as you do not have to go there very often.3. There's a point near the first gem pond that you meet where you cannot move without moving onto the gem pond again. I think that should be fixed.
I agree that some neutral stacks could be removed. Fightning 1000 vampires is fine for two times but if 7 consecutive battles are identical it rather adds to annoyance.4. With the millions of exp coming from killing the Naga Queens, and given the size of the army a player may have, many of the later fights seem utterly trivial. Same to all the dwellings and some of the creatures you're given. When you have 20 Titans, what are 20 Archmagi other than fodder? Are they necessary?
I would have suggested the opposite actually - lower the eagle eye and other skill levels at start. I do not know how the EE bonuses cumulate, but i felt that there was no spell that was casted and i did not learn. For slow better give it to more heroes or add a shrine.5. You absolutely have to learn Slow at the start of the game. Although Eagle Eye does a good job, it's still not a guarantee, so if it's possible to add more + Eagle Eye artifacts to Alakazam that would be good.
Um, you haven't made very far in the game yet? Only problem is rehiring if i'd like to suicide bomb an enemy with some secondary heroes.6. Ability to hire more heroes would make this map so much less tedious.
More story would be nice and some seers/quest guards were very generic, but i did not find the language disturbing. Maybe because my own is as bad :pEDIT: Oh and I'd also ask someone to fix the English. The presentation could be so much better ...
I have not had time to play and probably cannot continue before next week. Once i knew the layout of teal area, he took some time, but got defeated by a plan. Thereafter moved to wizard area which is in progress.
Archmagi mana reduction would matter if Alakazam didn't have hundreds of mana points. There's no reasonable way for him to run out of mana.
I think the closed passage is a map flaw that should be fixed if possible; not a big one but still a flaw. As for starting with lower skills, only problem with that is that you need all those mass spells later. Without Expert Slow the Nagas are tough to beat. Finally with the suicide bombing thing the enemy heroes I've faced have all had some very high stats, so suicide bombing isn't going to be very effective, but that may be just me.
I don't think the language was "disturbing", it's just ... jarring, because it's rather subpar compared to the overall experience.
I think the closed passage is a map flaw that should be fixed if possible; not a big one but still a flaw. As for starting with lower skills, only problem with that is that you need all those mass spells later. Without Expert Slow the Nagas are tough to beat. Finally with the suicide bombing thing the enemy heroes I've faced have all had some very high stats, so suicide bombing isn't going to be very effective, but that may be just me.
I don't think the language was "disturbing", it's just ... jarring, because it's rather subpar compared to the overall experience.
I'm a hypocrite because I suggested that all life is sacred and should not be wasted without good reason.
Hi guys thanx for the imput i will read through them and make a few changes.
I already fixed gremlins to 100 and i added gunner in the water area, You also get gelu and dracon and king arthur so there are plenty of heroes. All the enemy as high stats so suiciding wouldnt really help.
Archmages allow for less mana and the spell points i will keep at 999 vs naga,s as some players could struggle.
Everytime i have played vs the slow hero he as cast it. I will probably leave a message informing that the hero as slow.
Sorry on english and story i am not a great story teller unfortunately. I did try and put in quite a bit of story in the early stages and then lata on its down to just taking out the opponents. The gem pond isn't a flaw i wanted it there lol didnt think it would annoy anyone.
The vampire stacks ect are there to build heroes xp allowing for stats to build.
I dont know maybe i just dont make very good 1 player maps perhaps i should just stick to the multiplayer legion maps i normally build??.
I just fancied having a go at making a map utilising eagle eye.
I already fixed gremlins to 100 and i added gunner in the water area, You also get gelu and dracon and king arthur so there are plenty of heroes. All the enemy as high stats so suiciding wouldnt really help.
Archmages allow for less mana and the spell points i will keep at 999 vs naga,s as some players could struggle.
Everytime i have played vs the slow hero he as cast it. I will probably leave a message informing that the hero as slow.
Sorry on english and story i am not a great story teller unfortunately. I did try and put in quite a bit of story in the early stages and then lata on its down to just taking out the opponents. The gem pond isn't a flaw i wanted it there lol didnt think it would annoy anyone.
The vampire stacks ect are there to build heroes xp allowing for stats to build.
I dont know maybe i just dont make very good 1 player maps perhaps i should just stick to the multiplayer legion maps i normally build??.
I just fancied having a go at making a map utilising eagle eye.
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Salamandre
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You make very good maps, the previous I played gave me much enjoyment, don't give up because a few comments. It's just that eagle eye sucks compared to other skills, so you can't really build an entire complex map based on the probability of stealing spells.
AI will cast only a few, having strong hardcoded preferences. At least in SOD you can't. For such ideas is better to try WoG and control carefully what's going on. I just spent a few days last week by trying to configure berserk power and AI value, and failed. Looks like berserk isn't even flagged as spell in AI's book. No matter what you code, he will never cast it. And berserk would be a great spell for AI.
AI will cast only a few, having strong hardcoded preferences. At least in SOD you can't. For such ideas is better to try WoG and control carefully what's going on. I just spent a few days last week by trying to configure berserk power and AI value, and failed. Looks like berserk isn't even flagged as spell in AI's book. No matter what you code, he will never cast it. And berserk would be a great spell for AI.
Finally with the suicide bombing thing the enemy heroes I've faced have all had some very high stats, so suicide bombing isn't going to be very effective, but that may be just me.
Um, maybe i used wrong wording, but i mean sending heroes with minor troops and casting lightning or berserker on enemy before running/getting killed. The higher enemy stats, the more effective this method is as magic bypasses any stat other than magic resistance. On some maps (H3 THUNK, H2 Last Phoenix (iirc)) the mapmaker has pretty much said that this strategy must be used in order to deal with the final enemy.maygwan wrote:All the enemy as high stats so suiciding wouldnt really help.
Sorry to say, but I do not know by heart your other maps and how skilled you are and neither i have completed and understood all your intentions with this map yet. Just do not forget that experience itself has no value. In presence of trees of knowledge some exp from battles may not even help to raise your level. Hero level, which is an outcome of experience is also important only because it gives +1 to a primary skill out of 4 choices. To build a hero with all stats 50+, IMO stat boosting structures, events and artifacts are of higher importance than leveling through experience.The vampire stacks ect are there to build heroes xp allowing for stats to build.
I do not mind if you keep all the neutrals, but i would recommend to switch some of them so that consecutive fights are not identical.
Ok pitsu i understand what you mean now and yes you will probably need to use that strategy in this map also, i may look at adding a tavern to the inferno.
Also pitsu if u ever wanna play some of my maps they are all on ch just search for maygwan i have released like 20 maps so far.
Valery i too tried to get the hero to learn beserk but they wouldn't which is why i added it as a scroll.
I didn't mean my solo player maps were not good in the strategy and difficulty department just they are never great in the english and story side to it. Where as i dont do much story or english in the legion based maps its all about strategy ect.
Yes eagle eye isnt great but it was just i fancied making a map that utilized it
something a bit different from the norm.
Anyway i hope folk continue to test n play the map and enjoy it i will look at some changes soon.
Also pitsu if u ever wanna play some of my maps they are all on ch just search for maygwan i have released like 20 maps so far.
Valery i too tried to get the hero to learn beserk but they wouldn't which is why i added it as a scroll.
I didn't mean my solo player maps were not good in the strategy and difficulty department just they are never great in the english and story side to it. Where as i dont do much story or english in the legion based maps its all about strategy ect.
Yes eagle eye isnt great but it was just i fancied making a map that utilized it
something a bit different from the norm.
Anyway i hope folk continue to test n play the map and enjoy it i will look at some changes soon.
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Salamandre
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Well I'm not a native English speaker, but I can do the writing for the map for you if you wish. Otherwise agree with Pitsu that switching some of the stacks are good, because killing 500 Vampires again and again and again gets tedious really fast.
I fought my way to Teal's territory and, to be honest, that huge army can't be beaten. Not only does he have 60++ Archangels and close to a hundred Angels, he has Expert Tactics, his Archangels always play before my Archangels (can't Berserk) and his stats are huge. He also gets Frenzy, and a Frenzied Archangel stack instantly wipes out my own Archangels. I can still kill him though, by attrition warfare. He moves slower than my heroes and there's a convenient pseudo-sanctuary behind that blue gate in his land, where he can't enter. I had King Arthur run rings around him, taking his castles and hiring + upgrading his units, then hiding behind that blue gate. Not having Tavern has its uses after all, he can't get more heroes either. With tens of Angels per week I'm bound to eventually kill him. I don't know if this kind of attrition gameplay is something you intended, however.
Also there seems to be a large number of irrelevant stuff on the map, e.g. the Windmills around Teal's land. It's not like anyone will run short on resources so ...
But yes, don't get discouraged. I've thoroughly enjoyed the map so far, and have had to use several different tactics. They're complex fights in which magic can play a fantastic role, viz. I had no idea how to kill the thousands of Sharpshooters until suddenly Forgetfulness pops into my head. Against one hero I even took to splitting and arranging my units such that my enemy would ball up for Berserk; that took quite a bit of reloading to do. I blame you for having so many Shackles of War lying around lol, makes it so that each time I want to replay a battle I have to press Alt + F4
I fought my way to Teal's territory and, to be honest, that huge army can't be beaten. Not only does he have 60++ Archangels and close to a hundred Angels, he has Expert Tactics, his Archangels always play before my Archangels (can't Berserk) and his stats are huge. He also gets Frenzy, and a Frenzied Archangel stack instantly wipes out my own Archangels. I can still kill him though, by attrition warfare. He moves slower than my heroes and there's a convenient pseudo-sanctuary behind that blue gate in his land, where he can't enter. I had King Arthur run rings around him, taking his castles and hiring + upgrading his units, then hiding behind that blue gate. Not having Tavern has its uses after all, he can't get more heroes either. With tens of Angels per week I'm bound to eventually kill him. I don't know if this kind of attrition gameplay is something you intended, however.
Also there seems to be a large number of irrelevant stuff on the map, e.g. the Windmills around Teal's land. It's not like anyone will run short on resources so ...
But yes, don't get discouraged. I've thoroughly enjoyed the map so far, and have had to use several different tactics. They're complex fights in which magic can play a fantastic role, viz. I had no idea how to kill the thousands of Sharpshooters until suddenly Forgetfulness pops into my head. Against one hero I even took to splitting and arranging my units such that my enemy would ball up for Berserk; that took quite a bit of reloading to do. I blame you for having so many Shackles of War lying around lol, makes it so that each time I want to replay a battle I have to press Alt + F4
I'm a hypocrite because I suggested that all life is sacred and should not be wasted without good reason.
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Salamandre
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I have killed the teal, purple, orange and tan players.
I'm at 417, I had the feeling that I was too slow but now I am not sure, things just became easier as I advanced.
I had absolutely no problem with the inferno and barbarian areas, those enemy heroes rely too much upon one stack (devils, behemots).
One berserker as start to kill off other stacks and then blind (+ slow, bless, etc). They just could not do anything but watch their 1k L7 creatures die.
Maybe a badge of courage would help this problem (expert blind is dangerous also because the archangels can hit wothout retaliation).
Tazar could also use a teleport spell because if you are defending in the castle he can't get in (one funny move I've seen from him as he sacrificed the wyverns to resurrect hydras after the catapult was destroyed. Did not help him much).
Maybe I would even remove the blacksmiths from the towns so ammo cart would not be available.
One more note: I have tons of useless artifacts. About 5 of all the necklaces which give immunity against berserker, forgetfulness, curse, etc. I am not sure if I can sell them because they may be needed for quest guards. Maybe a hint could be added for the player like "Keep all shackles of wars but you may sell any other artifact."
I'm at 417, I had the feeling that I was too slow but now I am not sure, things just became easier as I advanced.
I had absolutely no problem with the inferno and barbarian areas, those enemy heroes rely too much upon one stack (devils, behemots).
One berserker as start to kill off other stacks and then blind (+ slow, bless, etc). They just could not do anything but watch their 1k L7 creatures die.
Maybe a badge of courage would help this problem (expert blind is dangerous also because the archangels can hit wothout retaliation).
Tazar could also use a teleport spell because if you are defending in the castle he can't get in (one funny move I've seen from him as he sacrificed the wyverns to resurrect hydras after the catapult was destroyed. Did not help him much
).Maybe I would even remove the blacksmiths from the towns so ammo cart would not be available.
One more note: I have tons of useless artifacts. About 5 of all the necklaces which give immunity against berserker, forgetfulness, curse, etc. I am not sure if I can sell them because they may be needed for quest guards. Maybe a hint could be added for the player like "Keep all shackles of wars but you may sell any other artifact."
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