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Author |
File Description |
Jax (id: Jax Omen) |
Posted on 03/25/04 @ 12:00 AM
File Details |
Map Size: |
300x300 (Medium) |
Difficulty: |
Normal |
Minimap:
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For centuries the fertile lands of Ryff, Holy Land of the three High Kings has been sought after by neighbouring counties.It has held firm for many a time and has been passed from generation to generation. But now the burden of defending Ryff has been passed to the hands of Prince Yall the second of the three High Kings. He hopes that the impending invasion will be the last, for he knows that if he looses this battle he will have forever lost the place of second King, which his ancestiors fought and gave their blood for. He knows his only chance of victory is to destroy the ruined castle and it's occupants to allow the safe return of the eigth battallion which will aid him in his oncoming battle.
Note: A large number of people have downloaded the map, but noone has reviewed it. Could someone please leave a review?
Positive and negative opinions accepted.
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Author | Comments & Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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NAT |
Posted on 04/21/04 @ 12:00 AM
Fun map to play, an extended siege map really where you have just enough time to gather your forces and make minor improvements to your economy before they attack. It was very close - playing on NORMAL a few of their swordsmen reached the keep which I though was very close as the castle is quite big. Howver you put in too mnay missle troops in the last invasions so after all this had happened then the AI brough up an army to arachers and crossbowmen which was slighty irritating - would have been balance 5 I think. I didn't go attack and kill the Wolf's men outside at the beginning and so had to do that afterwards as well. Although after killing them all the enemy engineers left the battle field as if victory was mine but it never came - this is something you should look into. The design of the map was interesting, I did not make any major changes to the city in the game although I did put in two stone gatehouses side by side just after the bridge. They snuck in perfectly. Scores wise the map design adn creativity earns a 7/10 quite comfortably - there is some good work here. Storyline could have been a little more detailed - close to a 4 (there are so many storylines now that are about 3.5!) Overall good work - I enjoyed this map a lot although I would look into the win condition. I believe Bismuth is also going to review this map and so he may discover the problem as well. |
Bismuth |
Posted on 04/21/04 @ 12:00 AM
Jax Omen has created an interesting looking map with many walls, gates, strongpoints, and eye candy scattered out across the landscape on one side of the river. This is definitely not just your standard box with towers at each corner. As I played through the game I kept spotting more little details that the author had created. The castle/settlement is fully developed from the beginning of the game with food and arms production, sufficient population, full stockpiles, good supply of military units and lots of gold. Jax Omen also made some nice looking ruins on the West side of the river. Creativity - 4
The map is mostly flat green plain with various pieces of stone and wood construction on raised sections to add height. Not too much fine detail in the map, I would have liked to have seen more landforming, erosion, rocks, plants etc. to add realism. Nice waterfall at the North end of map. Map – 3
The lone sign post is located on the West side of the river and the settlement on the East with a broad bridge (make of lowered walls) as the only crossing point. Since this scenario provides good stocks of stone from the beginning and enables the creation of gatehouses and towers, I chose to reinforce the East end of the bridge at the beginning. I also moved almost all the archers and crossbowmen to the fortifications close to the bridge.
From here on, though I faced some fairly large invasions, there was never a danger of defeat; in fact no enemy units ever even made it half way across the bridge. I continued to produce crossbowmen throughout the game and my strength only grew. I did attempt to move my knights out to the West side of the river so they would be in position to attack siege equipment but found this to be impossible due to the bridge being made entirely of lowered wall and steps which the knights could not cross.
By the end of the game there were large numbers of enemy engineers, laddermen, archers, etc clustered around the sign post but not attacking and I had to send my own units out to finish them off.
These issues unfortunately affect the balance and playability scores. A few suggestions to Jax Omen would be to offer multiple crossing points (perhaps make part of the river out of moat which could be filled in), disable gate construction and reduce the initial gold, supplies, etc available to the defenders. Balance – 2.5, Playability – 4
The story is well written and creative but a bit short – about 130 words. This could easily be part of a series of maps. How about expanding the story and providing a screen shot? Story - 4 (maybe generous)
A little more work on this would bring your review scores up quite a bit. A fine creative effort. Thanks!
Note: I did not read NAT's review until after I had finished my own but interesting that we come out the same. Perhaps a sign that the rating system can be fairly accurate or at least consistant. |
HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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3.6 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 4.0 | Balance | 3.5 | Creativity | 3.5 | Map Design | 3.5 | Story/Instructions | 3.5 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 513 |
Favorites: [] | 0 |
Size: | 541.02 KB |
Added: | 03/25/04 |
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