The Recent Ratings
This page contains the ten most recent ratings.
The scores are listed in the regular order, Playability, Balance, Creativity, Map Design and Story/Instruction.
— Jayhawk
The Recent Ratings
| Barbarian invasion | 4.3 | LorDoug | |
| The Anarchy - Trials and Tribulation | 4.8 | romanrook | |
| Ashenvale | 3.1 | Hypernova90 | |
| River-Side Way | 4.1 | evil_space_cows | |
| The Priory | 4.0 | brave sir robyn | |
| Turku Castle | 4.1 | STreTcH23 | |
| The Trials of Lord Manikin - Ch1 - 'For Sir Edmund' | 3.7 | MasterOfDomain | |
| Tower of London - 1547 | 2.6 | Knightly_Maps | |
| Tower of London - 1547 | 3.3 | lordnathan | |
| The Battle Of Isar Stream | 3.7 | GrumpyGills | |
| 2008/05/01 16:09:13 GMT-4 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Author: IrishKern | Map: Barbarian invasion | |
| Reviewer: LorDoug | Rating: 4.3 | Scores: 4.5 5.0 4.5 4.0 4.0 |
| I'daccept your thanks graciously, IrishKern... If you could spell my name right! ;)
But seriously, I enjoyed playtesting this map, and here is the review I've been promising:
Playability: 4.5
I was never bored on this map. I was always kept busy with plagues knocking my bakers dead as they carried their freshly-baked bread to the granary... which I desperately needed, as all my food was being stolen. And then there were the invasions to worry about...
Balance: 5
In my opinion, the high point of the scenario. I'd describe myself asa mediocre player at best, and I frequently found myself on a knife edge, juggling the economic goals with repulsing the invasions.
Creativity: 4.5
The use of moat as flooded land around the keep gave this map a distinct feel, as the little building space severely limits you early on, and it places a lot of pressure on you to direct the few troops you have to fill in the moat as quickly as possible to get your first structures up.
Map Design: 4
Overall, I found the map was decent; it was natural, with nothing that stuck out too badly. But what bumps this up a bit is the positioning of the iron and stone deposits: the distance they are from your keep makes them harder to defend from roving macemen, and increases the time it takes for you to get the resources in.
Story/Instructions: 3.5
The story wasn't bad, but there was nothing outstanding about it either.
Additional Comments:
The only thing - the one and only thing - that annoyed me slightly about this scenario was not your fault, but Firefly's. My units had an irritating disposition towards leaving single tiles of moat out when digging up the area. Tiles that would inevitably be exactly where I wanted to place my next building. But a lot of furious clicking can remedy that problem.
P.S:
Hang on - playtest another map? You've got to be joking! You think I want to get sucked in to another scenario that could be even better than this one?!
Great! ;) | ||
| 2008/04/25 15:53:24 GMT-4 | ||
| Author: Knightly_Maps | Map: The Anarchy - Trials and Tribulation | |
| Reviewer: romanrook | Rating: 4.8 | Scores: 5.0 4.5 5.0 4.5 4.5 |
| Playability: 5
This map was very playable. The whole thing played smoothely with no problems whatsoever, so great great job on this section of the rating.
Balance: 4.5
The whole map was almost perfectly balanced. The enemy invasions supported eachother completely so that as soon as the first one was defeated the second one attacked. The only small issue I had was the weakness of the enemy first attack, which I drove of easily and got extra time to prepare a bit for the rest of the invasions. Still, great job again
Creativity: 5
Excellant job here. The map had an amazing amount of creativity thrown into it. The whole opening battle scene, the reinforcements, and the whole yellow VS yellow idea was incredibly cool. Nice Job.
Map Design: 4.5
The map design was also very good. I really liked the pitch burned terrain, it had a realistic look. The whole map, the river, coast, and mountains all had a realistic look. I believe you used the himilaya trick for the mountain hill thing, but I am not totaly sure. Overall a great job except for the ship. The ship itself was very good but what I didn't like was the dock thing that it was atached to. It just did not blend or look realistic in the terrain. Still you definately did a great job here too.
Story/Instructions: 5
Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!
Additional Comments: A great map and definatley worth downloading. A very promising start to the series. Keep it up!
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| 2008/04/25 06:31:37 GMT-4 | ||
| Author: evil_space_cows | Map: Ashenvale | |
| Reviewer: Hypernova90 | Rating: 3.1 | Scores: 3.5 3.5 3.0 3.0 3.0 |
| Well here is the review as you asked for it.
Playability: 3.5
This map was very fun to play for me. Although I mostly play invasions and no sieges because of the economical suppelments. What I didn't like was the size of the map, although you have chosen it by purpose. Normaly I always use some larger sizes simply because of the reason that I can look over the map and measure out the strong and weak points of the defenses and attacking forces. In this map ( on the attacking side mostly ) I almost have no time to think because my troops are already being attacked by enemy arrows. If the troops are just out of range, I can carefully plan my strategy. I now I sound a bit dumb, because you can always pause the map, but this is something I usually don't do. I loved the tricky part on the attacking side, because the swamp makes it difficult and also the pitch makes it very tricky. On the defending side it is mostly watch and see and using some movements and making some archers lit the pitch. Make it necessairy to move your units around, and if you plan to make another one, you should place less units on the castle and less attacking troops so it will be nailbiting all the time because of excitement. You could also make your mapsize bigger and make your castle bigger. Moving units around makes it both fun and difficult. Also get rid of those tunnelers. They simply don't do a thing in the entire map. AI in common could be working better I think. The key for this is good map design so the AI can attack in a good and clever way.
Balance: 3.5
The map was balanced in a good way on the attacking side. It was very tricky as said before and it gave satisfaction when I completed the map. On the defending side I think it is too easy. Mostly it is watch and see and making the archers lit the pit. I think you should increase the number of attacking troops on the attacking side when defending.
Creativity: 3
I have seen a lot of maps with swamps. I love the tricky part but I don't think the concept itself is that creative. The map didn't have any exceptional stuff either. Try using to add some more eyecandy next time or extraordinairy castle design. A creative story could also increase the score a lot.
Map Design: 3
The swamp did look good and very "swampy" but the idea of suddenly having a cliff in the swamp didn't make too much sence for me ( correct me if I'm wrong but I haven't seen this in the real world ). It also had a bit too much trees and the castle design was a bit standard. Overall not bad but it could use some improvement. Try adding more eyecandy next time as said before and making varied kinds of ground types also helps increasing the look of a map. Simply using only swamp as ground and cliff doesn't look that good I think.
Story/Instructions: 2.5
The story was a bit lacking I think. Although it fitted in the map it was quite standard ( the pitch camp and your grandfather ). Also get rid of all those EEEERM and those terms in your story. It gives the reader less pleasure.
Additional Comments:
This is a fun map to play and is most fun when attacking the tiny castle. Overall the map does what it needs to do and the map deserves to be played. Spend more time on your story, and I would recommend increasing the balance when defending and make a more varied map in way of using ground types in the map design.
Still a very nice job !
I think you could create a larger map next time, with some more units and a better castle, simply because I know you can make something beautiful. Well keep up the good work. I hope you had some good information on this map.
If there are any questions remaining, just ask me.
Regards, | ||
| 2008/04/25 05:47:05 GMT-4 | ||
| Author: juozas | Map: River-Side Way | |
| Reviewer: evil_space_cows | Rating: 4.1 | Scores: 4.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.0 |
| Playability: 4.5
The map runs quite smoothly, except that there are too many trees, and they start to grow over your city in about 10 game years. There is also a bit much stone and iron, but that is balanced out by the fact that it is situated in the least defendable spot, as well as the huge mountain to the northwest. I also think you should have freed up the trade a bit.
Balance: 4
The map starts off near impossible, with wolves charging you from everywhere (I gave myself 5 bandits to ward them off), as well as reseource shortages. In later game, however, there are none of the economic problems that a big castle should face. However, as this is the case with nearly every freebuild, I've just gotten used to using the f1 trick on a common basis.
Creativity: 4.5
I like the idea of a multiple possibility start (meaning that you have more than 1 good area to place your keep), even though it is very common. But this map took it to another level, in that you have 4 good sites, each with a different tactical advantage! I also like the fact that there are no glitch-encouraging tricks with the editor. (They are normally good fun, but there are simply too many maps using them these days.)
Map Design: 5
This map looks GREAT! If I could build a small cottage anywhere in the world, it would be here (although I'd only have 5 seconds to enjoy it before i was torn apart by wolves.) The river rolling through the hills gives a feeling of absolute serenity. I recommend using wooden keeps, barracks and walls on this map, just to maximise that effect. (My mum, who hates computers, even said "What a pretty place.")
Story/Instructions: 2.5
Although it warns you that starting is not going to be easy, "You come to this land with almost empty hands. Choose your location carefully." Is hardly enough. Try to add a story on an update.
Additional Comments:
For all those that download, do not underestimate the wolves. get a barracks up quickly, and train some archers to eradicate them. | ||
| 2008/04/23 10:27:44 GMT-4 | ||
| Author: Sulis | Map: The Priory | |
| Reviewer: brave sir robyn | Rating: 4.0 | Scores: 4.0 3.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 |
| Playability: 4
This is an enjoyable scenario to play and definitely above average. Most things are available to the player so it suits a variety of playing styles. It's an attractive landscape that lets you get on with playing Stronghold, building your economy and constructing defences and in this sense it works very well. There are a few bad events that occur, wolves, plague etc, but nothing that will destroy your achievements or enjoyment of the scenario.
However ...
Balance: 3
This is where the scenario falls down slightly.
Although listed as an Invasion map I never actually suffered an Invasion before I won. This was somewhat disappointing as I'd built up my defences and troops in preparation for a visit from the Snake (as the story suggested).
**After playing I did look at the script and discovered that if I'd played longer I would have encountered quite a formidable invasion, but this does not occur until a long way into the game. - I won't say how long but if you take too much time to win you will need those defences. ;-) It's a real shame there weren't a few early Snake invasions to give the player something to think about and a reason to build a strong defence.
The early problems presented by wolves and bandits can be dealt with relatively easily and the economic requirements are simply a matter of time - with no Time Limit to pressure a player into mistakes it's just a steady progression towards Victory.
Some of the eco-goals feel slightly out of balance with one another too, It's easy to race to a far greater population than the 50-odd requirement but amassing 7000-odd gold can seem a little laborious.
Overall, if you don't take an excessive amount of time to reach the eco-goals this really plays more as an Economic Scenario than an Invasion.
Creativity: 4
This is a creative scenario, especially considering how old it is now. It's definitely above average even compared to some of the maps you see in the downloads today. Unfortunately though the (apparent) lack of invasions in an Invasion map does hurt it overall.
It's clear that Sulis knew how to create a natural and very pleasing landscape and understood the editor to a high degree. Along with a solid storyline this allowed him to present a very playable scenario that six years on I enjoyed playing.
Map Design: 4
Very good design. I only score this landscape a 4 because I've seen what Sulis has created since, if I'd rated this back when the map was made it'd probably have been a 5. The entire map is very well crafted and looks like a real place, perfectly natural and believable. There are no areas where anything looks out of place.
The river gorges cut the land into three distinct sections. One of which is inaccessible to enemies unless they go through your castle.
The inaccessible section where the Priory once was also contains the iron and stone deposits meaning they're safe from enemy attack. However the low lying farm areas are very vulnerable and will probably need rebuilding once or twice. The keep area itself has plenty of room around to construct a thriving economy. All in a very comfortable landscape to play on.
Story/Instructions: 5
Although personally I don't believe a long or complex story is necessary for any map this is an excellent storyline, both in the download section and the in-game description. It's a very believable story and really gives you a feel for what the map is about and sets up the scenario very well. It also ties in with the landscape perfectly. Story writing has never been a weak point in Sulis' work.
Additional Comments:
Overall a good map, apart from the Invasion anomaly. I would recommend you try it out. If you want to try the invasion then dig in and be patient, if you want to go economics only, then get a move on! :)
Sulis is easily one of the best map designers in the SH community and it was fascinating to see and play his first uploaded Invasion scenario.
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| 2008/04/21 19:36:21 GMT-4 | ||
| Author: Fintrollx | Map: Turku Castle | |
| Reviewer: STreTcH23 | Rating: 4.1 | Scores: 5.0 3.0 5.0 4.5 4.5 |
| Playability: 5
I enjoy seiges the most out of any other type of scenario and this one was a blast. Lots of unit types and enough action for me. Warrants a five in my book
Balance: 3
First time I played it I had 12% losses on normal. This was due to huge amounts of troop movement on my part. I brought every archer too the front 4 towers and used my pikemen to rush out to stop the gate from breaking. The enemy didn't breach the first gate. On very hard the seige weapons didn't work for some reason resulting in a 0% losses for me. Another problem was the houses on each side of the map. This diverted enemy troops making it much easier to defend the main castle.
Creativity: 5
An impressive castle design with a nice array of towers and walls.Some nice ruins on the side as well.
Map Design: 4.5
Sets the stage for a massive castle defense in the middle of the valley. A nice bridge as well. Nothing really hinders the game play, but it is not good enough for a five.
Story/Instructions: 3
Basic story and instructions
Additional Comments:
Great map keep on designing them
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| 2008/04/20 05:10:50 GMT-4 | ||
| Author: LordManikin | Map: The Trials of Lord Manikin - Ch1 - 'For Sir Edmund' | |
| Reviewer: MasterOfDomain | Rating: 3.7 | Scores: 3.5 3.5 3.5 4.0 4.0 |
| Playability: 3.5
I enjoyed playing this scenario a lot, but I would not play it 3 or 4 times because it took quite a long time to do, and without major events (only two attacks).
Balance: 3.5
The balance between economy and troops was good here. I myself leaned too heavily towards the spear production and fell short when it came to the final attack.
Creativity: 3.5
I thought the scenario was quite creative, I liked the use of the events Apple Blight and Fire to pull back the player.
Map Design: 4
Loved the map design, the attention to detail was good and nice use of the bridge technique. The only thing stopping this reaching any higher was the beach; I didn't think it should have been that wide and.. boring. But apart from that it is faultless.
Story/Instructions: 4
The story was very good, with promise of more scenarios (look forward to those) to add to the score. I myself enjoy taking control of the other lords in the Stronghold universe, so I was especially pleased with the story!
Additional Comments: A great map. Look forward to more scenarios in the story!
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| 2008/04/18 06:22:46 GMT-4 | ||
| Author: MasterOfDomain | Map: Tower of London - 1547 | |
| Reviewer: Knightly_Maps | Rating: 2.6 | Scores: 2.5 3.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 |
| Playability: 2.5
This scenario, although offering mild entertainment, has little more to offer than that. The way the enemy acted became predictable after several times of playing the map, and the map does drag on a bit too long.
Balance: 3
It took me to my second try to actually beat this mission as defending on normal difficulty. As such, that ramped up the balance a bit. However, a few simple clicks of the mouse can set you in position to win.
Constant management of the forces around the map is crucial, especially the management of the engineers with the pots of oil.
Creativity: 2
I guess, using an outline of the Tower of London in a certain time period is proof of outside research, however, the fact that there is no London present, an almost necessary feature for a Tower of London Scenario, drags down the score.
There is no use of any nice editor tricks.
The way the walls and stairs are used work interestingly, as although you think you can just walk across there, it proves impossible, as crenelations block the way
Map Design: 2
The inside of the castle is rather plain and empty, very few buildings inside. Outside, it is largely empty, and that area could have used some touch-ups to make it looks presentable.
Story/Instructions: 3.5
There was some form of story, or instruction, giving a brief look at what you were to face. There was evidence and use of extensive descriptive vocabulary to help add more detail.
Included is a Hints/instructions file.
Additional Comments:
An acceptable map with a few flaws.
Just some tips:
I suggest not going with the "Tower of London" scenario, unless you are willing to create some form of bustling medieval metropolis around the tower.
With the river in the corner; at the moment, it looks like it and the marsh were just used to add some spruce-moose (:P) to the map, and they look very much so an afterthought.
You could have the river branching down through the map, and possibly make the enemy interract with it, through fjords and shallows.
There is not much more I can add at the moment, I am rather fatigued.
An acceptable scenario, as I said, but some changes would be needed.
Cheers,
GrumpyGills (Knightly_Maps) | ||
| 2008/04/16 15:57:18 GMT-4 | ||
| Author: MasterOfDomain | Map: Tower of London - 1547 | |
| Reviewer: lordnathan | Rating: 3.3 | Scores: 4.0 3.5 2.0 3.0 3.0 |
| Playability: 4
The siege is actually a fairly enjoyable one, although the amount of ranged troops is a bit unbalanced for the attacker. You archers just get wiped away before they can fire a shot without shields.
Balance: 3.5
Once the attackers get on the walls, it is nigh on inpossible for them to lose. Put in some more defensive infantry, a couple of swordsmen on the keep would be good. In my opinion, the attacker can't make enough siege engines. Give him atleast 10 engineers to smooth things over. Only macemen and archers can climb ladders out of the available troops, so allow some siege towers to be built. The opposite side of the castle is scarcely defended, but you can't get the attacking force around there. A real castle would have an equal defence on all parts of the castle. If anything, you should at least started off with archers moving from their posts over there to the side which the attack is happenening on.
Creativity: 2
It's been done before, in the FFS Excalibur pack, and this is almost a replica, with one or two minor changes. For that, I'm giving it a low score.
Map Design: 3
I'm sorry, but a tower of Lonodn without the Thames and London city is a big no-no. You should only name a map after a place if the castle and the surroundings represent the namesake. However, if the castle had been called anything else, and with a different story - possibly one or two changes to the design of the castle, it could have done quite well.
Story/Instructions: 4
A story is present, and written quite well.
Additional Comments:
Plenty of potentinal, but don't go alluding to what it isn't. | ||
| 2008/04/14 04:12:25 GMT-4 | ||
| Author: romanrook | Map: The Battle Of Isar Stream | |
| Reviewer: GrumpyGills | Rating: 3.7 | Scores: 3.5 4.0 4.0 2.5 2.5 |
| Playability: 3.5
Romanrook's The Battle of Isar Stream is a clever map, that, unlike most other maps, is set as a capture of time, spread over hours, or a day, not years as many others.
It is enjoyable to play, and although it seems as if all you have to do is mobilise some soldiers, if only you do that, then defeat is almost a certainty it seems.
Balance: 4
In this map, you are pitched against a large enemy force, and although your army is not to be laughed at, it will be annihilated if you send them across the river at the position they are located at. The choices here are to group the soldiers and "Charge the Guts" /flanks, or retreat and defend the crossbowmen and lord while you attempt to keep intact your army.
However there will be soldiers that do not engage you, and you must travel up the them to engage, but they will engage due to Agressive stance. I.e. If you defend the south, there will be enemy up north for you to hunt down.
Creativity: 4
It is a very creative idea to pitch a battle scene, and fight it out, so almost full marks here. An idea, that I didn't encorporate either, would be to use the map template from various Cede missions in the Military Campaign, such as Mission 12: The Ransom, to get ahold of "Time Off" which turns off the date running, food being consumed, popularity falling. Now I think of it, not having a keep did exactly that!
Map Design: 2.5
One of my major problems is that I think the town/village could have been a bit more organised, a bit more centralised. I think it could have been quite brilliant with a manor house, a high street, and then custom farms spreading out. As it was not a building map, and not spreading over time, you could have had a lot of wheat fields using the 1000 stone printing press.
The foliage looked a bit odd, and I think I can identify why. It seemed as if you wanted it all to be equaled out, no part too dense, no part barren. It could have looked good with some slightly denser parts around the creek, or a pond, and slightly barren parts.
The village had no people... hmmm?
But still, overall it is a nice looking map, and definetely downloadable. Heck! I actually downloaded this map!
Story/Instructions: 4.5
You had a story, and it had nice elements, giving some form a atmosphere.
Additional Comments:
A very nice map, very worth downloading!
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To show our appreciation of people taking the effort to rate scenarios we've added a little Top 10 of the most active raters.
Top 10 Raters
| Reviewer | Scens. rated | Minimum | Maximum | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sulis | 227 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 3.63 |
| NAT | 207 | 2.2 | 5.0 | 3.84 |
| Dianna125 | 99 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 3.83 |
| Bismuth | 64 | 2.4 | 5.0 | 3.72 |
| Lord Karpathea | 56 | 1.2 | 5.0 | 3.96 |
| Jasper Tudor | 53 | 1.8 | 5.0 | 4.15 |
| Kester | 53 | 2.4 | 5.0 | 3.80 |
| Lord Malibar | 48 | 2.2 | 5.0 | 3.66 |
| Octavius Maximus | 48 | 1.6 | 5.0 | 3.44 |
| Lord Arthus | 43 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 3.73 |