A map without any other pretention than to be play quicky. you will not need great strategy, but perhaps good coordination. I designed it to be play both as attacker or defender. Story ? no story, it's not an historical map,and it's only purpose is to be quick to play without worry players with sophisticated strategy.
My advices :
defender : play it at normal, you will probably enjoy a victory. Easy euh... easy ? Hard probably lot of worry. I didn't try at very hard.
Attacker : play at hard, below if you feel it's too difficult. I test (too many) at very hard, It's achievable but bloody.
Translation in english could be the great mole hill ;)
You want a story anyway ?
Ok
It's the story of the baron de Chat perché lord of great mole hill castle. I had a dinner with the Duke Grand Fromager (who is not know to be very smart).
At the end the duke present the pride of his Duchy. His cheese.
"But there is holes on your cheese duke, said Chat Perché"
"Yes of course,naturals holes" reply the duke".
Here Chat-Perché made a mistake, and try humour with the duke.
He said : there's holes in your cheese, but the more holes it have, the less cheese you have.
The more cheeses you have, the more holes you have.
And the more holes you have in your cheese, the less cheese you have.
So the more Cheeses you have,the less you have.
Sophism and rethoric are to sophisticated for the duke. he didn't understand anything, take this as an insult for his cheese and turn furious.
Chat Perché had to flee quickly, the duke behind him.
Pursuit only end when Chat Perché was safe in his castle, but now it's war.
playability : 5 This is one of the few siege maps I have TOTALLY enjoyed playing and is very, very playable. The AI works well and the scene is well set. A fully functional map.
Balance : 4 I found this map a tough one to crack but when victory came after many bitter losses, it was one of the sweetest sensations. but just because i beat it once, didn't mean i could do it again...needless to say I lost again in my next try. This map may frustrate the average player, but it is one of the most satisfying things to beat it.
Creativity : 5 A very well crafted map, with nice eyecandy and the idea of putting in a bustling village outside the castle is very commendable. This must've taken a while to think of and execute as i myself have used it in my Crusader map. It is very commendable.
Map Design : 5 The map is nicely detailed and very realistic looking. The village really made me fall for this map and the idea of using FUNCTIONING non-military buildings has pleasently surprised me. A lot of hard work done in the surrounding terrain and the castle is evident too.
Story/instructions : 4 Although there is no story perse I liked the story given in the download description page above. But what I liked most was Jalis' willingness to take the risk of not putting in a story. I know most designers would have put something dumb instead of admitting that there is no story, Jalis said it like it is and I really admire that. However the creative map design would be very well complemented with a proper story.
Overall : Although I was the first to download this map, I'm hooked onto it and I suspect i'll keep playing it for awhile now. But I highly recommend this map as it is a unique and must-play experience.
Awesome work Jalis...Glad you're designing for our Stronghold ;).