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The Secrets of Sylvandell Ch 5
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Author |
File Description |
Sulis |
Posted on 01/12/04 @ 12:00 AM
File Details |
Map Size: |
400x400 (Large) |
Difficulty: |
Normal |
The Secrets of Sylvandell Chapter 5
The Final Battle for Sylvandell
And so the journey nears its end. The reluctant King arrives at the mighty city of Sylvandell, exhausted and weak, cold and hungry. He is met by a small party of knights and quickly taken to safety. But there is little time left, for the Darkness of Neroli are preparing their final assault. Evril is briefed of the plans to defend the city and unexpectedly learns another secret Sylvandell has been hiding all these years. For all the grandeur, pomposity and elegance she reflects on the outside, Sylvandell is weak; a failing defence system that would crumble... a fortified city rotten to the core.
Evril is guided to the most secure part of the city. He will play no part in the battle that will follow, for his presence has been too long awaited and the royal bloodline is too precious be broken. The armies of Sylvandell will take up the fight, every one of those men prepared to die for the cause.
Looking across the battlements, out over the marshes, the fringes of Wilder Wood can clearly be seen. And there, just in front of the ancient forest, in a line stretching as far as the eye can see, tens of thousands of Neroli barbarians are awaiting their final orders before the siege begins. They prepare for war by beating their chests rhythmically and baying for blood. This battlecry carries over the marsh to the city, to Evril, to every man who now stands ready to face the Final Battle for Sylvandell.
AUTHORS NOTES
This is the final chapter in the Sylvandell series of maps. The idea here is really quite a simple one... to survive. Whilst the closing chapter may be somewhat formulaic (final big battle, lots of fighting, winner takes all), the key to this map is the city itself. If you have read the story as it unfolded, you will hopefully have a picture of Sylvandell in your mind. It is the principal city, a city built as a beacon, a city hated by the Neroli for everything it stands for.
The map is dripping with eye candy, and tries to resurrect some of the great things about the editor. There includes my own versions of a throne room, a jousting arena, pleasure gardens, streets and an arena, to name but a few (keep an eye open for the pub garden!) and the map is, admittedly, an exercise in eye candy creation too.
In terms of the battle, you will face a multitude of units, hopefully all hell-bent on getting into the castle. Use your troops carefully. The armoury is full, the tresury has a healthy sum there and the marketplace will allow you to buy more weapons. You will need them.
DESIGNERS' POINTS
-Due to the design of the keep area, when you recruit a knight, you will have to manually select it from the campfire and move it to your chosen location. I suspect that with the design as it is, the knight unit is unable to move freely to the barracks. Please bear this in mind. Leaving the knight at the campfire wil slow the game down slightly until it is manually moved. -There are many, many buildings that the attacking AI will attempt to destroy. As a result, the full force of the invasion may not hit you until you are cowering on a corner deciding how to fight your way out of this. Whilst a map that doesn't have these distractions for the AI would leave a better battle, the map is purposely designed to be destroyed, and will be followed up in the epilogue to this story. -I have suggested that you play the map on normal difficulty. There will be a lot of units on the map, as well as a highly developed city. Users of lower spec computers may experience a little lag when playing the map. Please be aware. -The full story chapter is included in the zip file, and is also available to read in The Inn.
Final thoughts
As with any map I submit to Stronghold Heaven, I truly hope that you enjoy playing it. The campaign has taken months of hard work to finalise, hours and hours of playtesting and plenty of time back at the drawing board when things didn't go quite to plan! But therein lies the fun of designing for Stronghold.
And constructive reviews would be welcomed.
Finally, a special thank you goes to Jalis, for the map is built using his wonderful green player template. A wonderful creation that opens up new elements of map design.
Best wishes,
Sulis |
Pages: « First « 1 2 [3] 4 » Last » | Author | Comments & Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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Houck |
Posted on 02/28/06 @ 03:09 AM
Best of the Best!
[Houck, this is not up to review standards. I've retracted the score. Please reread the guidelines. Link is in the upper left. Please resubmit this review to have your score count.
-- Sparrow][Edited on 01/28/07 @ 09:33 PM]
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Llungki pey (id: younghappy) |
Posted on 05/07/06 @ 05:24 AM
LOVE playing this map!! |
PrinceScamp |
Posted on 05/09/06 @ 09:53 PM
Playability: 5
A really fun map and castle to defend on.
Balance: 5
I enjoed the map even though I havn't quite managed to win yet, it's still a fun last stand.
Creativity: 5
Map Design: 5
I spent the first couple of games just looking at the map bewtween managing my men.
Story/Instructions: 5
A good story and background that gives a reason to be defending the castle.
Additional Comments:
A hard but fun map. |
Dragons Rider |
Posted on 10/03/06 @ 05:29 PM
Playability: 5
This map went like magic, I couldnt belive it.The time You must have put into playtesting is simply amazing.
Balance: 5
My troops were locked in a head-to-head struggle with the enemy, yet no-one seemed to win until strived to tip the balance
Creativity: 5
The city is a perfect gem of creative ideas from the throne room to the pub to the theatre
Map Design: 5
What need I say on this? A perfect 5
Story/Instructions: 5
The story was creative and imaginative
Additional Comments:
Sulis, I understand you've come back, make some more maps!! |
Dido |
Posted on 01/27/07 @ 04:46 PM
Playability: 5
(Insert Playability analysis here)
Balance: 5
(Insert Balance analysis here)
Creativity: 5
(Insert Creativity analysis here)
Map Design: 5
(Insert Map Design analysis here)
Story/Instructions: 5
(Insert Story/Instructions analysis here)
Additional Comments:
Funky monkey!
[Dido, this is not up to review standards. I've retracted the score. Please reread the guidelines. Link is in the upper left. Please resubmit this review to have your score count.
-- Sparrow][Edited on 01/28/07 @ 09:32 PM]
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Krizzi |
Posted on 03/27/07 @ 01:42 PM
Hi im very new to this forum but not to the stronghold/crusader game
i looked at that map and i cant understand how you did those things like very low walls that people can walk on and very high walls too
can you tell me how you did those things?
btw: i liked that map best i have ever seen
..well and the first i have seen thats made by others...
edit:im not gona rate any thing yet[Edited on 03/27/07 @ 01:43 PM]
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ericgolf
Staff |
Posted on 03/27/07 @ 02:18 PM
You should ask this question in the Stronghold screnario design forum by posting a new thread there :-)
http://stronghold.heavengames.com/cgi-bin/forum/display.cgi?action=t&fn=4
hope this helps
:) |
LordNathan (id: lordnathan) |
Posted on 09/29/07 @ 10:07 PM
What can i say.
When I played chapter 1, my jaw dropped. When I played chapter 2, My jaw dropped. When I played chapter 3, my jaw dropped. When i played chapter 4, well youv get the idea.
But this is something else. My jaw didn't so much as drop but dislocate. the beuty of the castle, the excellence of the scenery, nothing i have played is match to this.
Out of curiosity, how did you get the items for the scenery,ie. duckboards on the wooden walls and stone on them, the tiny tipes of wooden walls and stone floors? |
MasterofPhate |
Posted on 02/18/09 @ 05:54 PM
Playability: 5
This map is so amazing with the sheer number of troops that have to be
fought off. Having knights and other close combat units allow diversity of play,
either keeping them inside to block a breach or sendingthem outside to stop
one from happening at all.
Balance: 5
Balance was good, there was just enough troops to defend the castle.
The thing that makes it great is that they attack all over the length of the walls so
it is not easy to just mass troops to defend one area without weakening another
vital place in the castle.
Creativity: 5
Where do I start? With the cool throne room? Or the story? Or the
design of the castle itself? This map is very very creative in every
aspect, great job sulis, unique and impressive.
Map Design: 5
Wow. Best map of the Sylvandell series. The castle is amazing, and the
eyecandy is epic with things like a jousting area, fountains, pub and more!
This map maintains the very real look of the marshes with great use of the editor
to make some awsome eyecandy.
Story/Instructions: 5
The story was great and a good way to end the series. Characters were
developed well, especially Rennish. The storyline gave this map a larger
than life epic feel of the ultimate final showdown of good and evil that is
hard to get without a great and outstanding story.
Additional Comments:
I love this series good job.
[Edited on 02/19/09 @ 03:13 PM]
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ajko |
Posted on 03/09/09 @ 10:52 PM
I have a couple questions.
1. Can you erase peasants in the map editor?
2.How did you get the wooden walls so short on this map.
3.How did you get the bandits(green archers and monks) on the map before the actual game starts?? I have to set them to come to my castle when im actually playing the map. If your wondering why I want this is because green is my favorite color. :P
4. Same thing with 3 except 1 more thing. How did you get green spearman and all the other green troops?? PLZ TELL ME I LOVE YOUR MAP!!!
TIPS: Try allowing the braziers to be built. Also pitch ditches would compliment that nicely, but braziers are fine. I really enjoy your map and I want you to make tons more. Try adding certain restrictions to certain troops/weapons so it makes it harder.
Once again 3&4 are pretty much this: I want green troops on my map but I have to set it as New Event always, for them to actually come once I've set my granary(started game). And I can only make them archers(and 1 monk). PLZ HELP IM A BIG FAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
Pages: « First « 1 2 [3] 4 » Last » |
HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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5.0 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 5.0 | Balance | 4.9 | Creativity | 5.0 | Map Design | 5.0 | Story/Instructions | 5.0 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 18,926 |
Favorites: [] | 2 |
Size: | 891.03 KB |
Added: | 01/12/04 |
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