Long ago the ancients worked this land. Their stories of hardship and happiness are long forgotten as are they, but a new age is dawning and freedom from fierce and cruel overlords is but a dream to many, but a lucky few have fled under the protection of a fair and just lord to rediscover this land and to share it's bounty.
I think you have a good feel for blending in the resources (iron and stone, etc.) to make them appear very natural in the landscape. I especially liked how you had the gradual transition from valley floor to the marshland. At first glance it seemed like just a large marsh, but at second glance, I thought - that really is nicely done! I really wanted to give a 4 for map design, but there was a lot of undeveloped valley floor, and most of the trees were unfortunately dead at the start. (If you don't already know - you can get around this by either placing trees at the very end of making the map, or by using Alt-H to keep the trees from growing while designing.)
Creativity & Map Design: 3
The dead trees actually provided for a nice challenge in the way of gathering wood. You offered a well thought-out assortment of starting goods - not too much of anything, but just enough to get off to a good start. You also had lots of nice animals (i.e. nice and not-so-nice) which I always like in free builds. :)
Playability: 5
Balance: 4
The story was fine - more details are always welcome!
Story: 3
This was a fun map to play - nice job!
~Kester
DirtySailor File Author
Posted on 09/09/04 @ 12:00 AM
Thank-you Kester for the review, I have a few more scenarios in the works and will use your advice to improve them.