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Author |
File Description |
ericgolf |
Posted on 07/26/06 @ 07:20 PM (updated 08/02/06)
File Details |
Map Size: |
400x400 (Large) |
Difficulty: |
Hard |
Made with version: |
1.1 |
Minimap:
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Read the story carefully. Each character will tell you something about how to succeed in the game.
May your god go with you:
It is the year of Our Lord 1493. The King has given you a mission in the New World. His words still ring in your ears: You are to colonise and hold the lands North of the Great River beneath the mountains of Adam's Divide. It is to be expected that your presence there will be challenged. Indeed one purpose of your mission is to form a bulwark against the rapidly encroaching expansion of the heretic, El Negro (You know him better as The Wolf!). Wherever you find his men they are to be put to the sword. Indeed you are to lure him and his Diabolical forces to battle and defeat him in the name of our Lord and all that is Holy. Remember - We expected Our subjects to be God-fearing and obedient. Let there be no doubt that the King's writ holds sway in these new lands! Go forth and pacify!
The King's Archbishop, The Very Reverend Twist-Endshout, briefed you as you backed, deferentially, away from His Majesty: "My Son. Our missionary monks have preceded you. Many of the local tribes have seen the wisdom of the ways of our church. Indeed some may be persuaded to take up the good fight with you against the Heretic if they feel that our colony follows the path of righteousness. And if you come across any heathen, unbelieving, barbarian, tribesmen you know what the King expects to be done with them..."
The King's Chancellor, Sir Swindle-Twist, briefed you before you left. "Your Lordship. You are to exploit the resources of the King's new lands. In addition, The King's emissaries have made contact with the natives of our colonies and they are willing to trade. As such His Majesty expects iron for our industry and gold for the royal coffers. The Navy Ships Bonds mature in April 1523 so you must be ready with your contribution shortly before then. However, we shall want regular financial reports. Understood? If things go well the King's Colonial Troupe of players might visit. That will be fun won't it?", he said raising a sceptical eyebrow.
The King's Minister of War, Sir Ralf Pomposby-Stander, also briefed you. "Now look here old chum, what! These native Johnnies might well come in handy but be careful what you hand out to them, what! It wouldn't do for 'em to get their hands on any crossbows, armour and whatnot. Eh? Or we might have the Devil's own job dealing with 'em if we ever got on the wrong side of 'em, what! So don't expect any supplies of that type to come your way when the boats stop by. We just won't risk it, what! You understand don't you? There's a good chap, what! By the way, I've seen to it you will have what it takes to erect your colonial HQ but it is up to you to secure His Majesty's subjects promptly inside a suitable stockade. It wouldn't do to have word get round that our colonists are not safe in the new lands. It might also impress the natives, what! And mind out for the wolves. If you were to let your colonists perish you would surely lose the King's favour, what!
The King's Jester, Dave, then briefed you: "Now then your Lordship. Aaarhghh!" You cut him of with a swift cuff round the right ear. "That is QUITE enough briefings, thank you!" you sneer as you stride purposefully out of the court. As the door swings shut behind you, you hear the Jester's Parthian shot: "Goodnight your Lordship. And may your god go with you!"
Quote:
"Goodnight. And may your god go with you."
[Dave Allen, Comedian. 1975ish]
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I would rate this as difficulty rating: Hard. I would recommend that you play this first on Normal.
Note:
The following note gives some small things away about the game play of this scenario but not much. However, you might wish to "Look away now" at least until after you have played it once.
About this scenario: -
I made this scenario because I like place-your-keep type scenarios. In some ways it is similar to my other submitted scenario ("Lost World"). The story helps to justify the existence of what is an untouched, forested, wilderness. There are resources to make a seriously strong settlement. It has only one signpost and I have made sure that the enemy cannot enter from any other part of the map other than adjacent to the signpost. I have tried to prevent the building of towers overlooking the signpost so that the player cannot massacre the enemy while he stands about dithering. (I have not sought independent play testing, so it is possible someone might get round this aspect of the map.) I have spent a lot more time fine-tuning the invasions and the economic goals in this scenario than I did for "Lost World". I also spent much more time on the terrain. I have tried to make the landscape look realistic where this does not interfere with game play. There are game play reasons why each part of it is the way it is. However, if there is anything seriously wrong with this scenario please post a comment or email me and I can put it right.
I hope you have as much fun playing it as I had creating it and testing it :-)
I welcome reviews and comments. I would love to see where players place their keep. If you enjoyed the game please email me a screenshot which includes the overview minimap at the bottom of the player screen. My email address is david(at)egss(dot)demon.co.uk .
Acknowledgements:
"Fixing Lazy Invasion Forces" an article at www.Stronghold-Knights.com
Submitted by Aubergine, Brave_Sir_Robin, Jalis, Earl_Listibald, Talos_911, UnikUnok, SimRPGplayer, GeneralMatthew, Dragonheart_Killer
(http://www.stronghold-knights.com/site/article273.html). I found this article particularly useful.
EDIT - 01:20hrs GMT 28th July 2006-07-28
Spotted an problem with the lord: he was not there. Story was altered while a fix was sought.
EDIT - 22:17hrs GMT 28th July 2006
Lord restored. Story returned to original form. Apologies to the first 39 downloaders if they found the game with no lord lacked something. The new zip file ends v3. Thank you to those who helped with the fix.
EDIT - 21:32hrs GMT 2nd Aug 2006
After reading some advice that in-game stories, ideally, should stand alone, I have adjusted the story in the map to reflect the main facts from the "briefings" that the player needs to know. DLs after 72 will get this. The new zip ends v4.
Maps by ericgolf:- The New World series: 1. May your god go with you (This map) 2. Little Keep on the Prairie 3. La Muerte Negra 4. La Muerte Negra (Eco) 5. Mined Over Matter. Also: my first map:Lost World |
Author | Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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Duc de Noisiel |
Posted on 08/03/06 @ 06:43 PM
I found the map very attractive in term of challenge, such as your previous submission.
I am used to play with "Very Hard" setting.
This map was tough.
Here are the objectives on "Very Hard" for the ones who would dare make it this way:
Collect gold: 40000
Collect iron: 100
All enemies are dead
Enclose keep
Blessing: 70%
Cruelty: 3
Population: 200
Playability: 5
It's a "place your keep" map with plenty of flat land to build, except it's covered with trees...
I had to restart this map quite a few times at the beginning to find the best possible spot for the keep, regarding the invasions to follow, until I found one that would make things easier.
Same thing for both the stockpile and the granary. This made me start again the map a few times as well.
Not to mention I sometimes got overflown by the waves of attacking forces. And my Lord died. And I had to think it over again...
At the beginning, you must make yourself a home cutting down those trees to have space, build some food supplies quick as you soon need to drasticaly increase your population in order to start to collect gold in order to make weapons and hire forces.
The first invasion doesn't come right way, there are some wolves and bandits to take care of first, but you better be ready when it comes.
The invasions itselves are pretty well balanced and keep increasing in size and forces. Awesome.
You can build everything. The restrictions come into the marketplace:
You can buy/sell: Bread, meat, cheese, apples, ale, and bows, spears, maces and swords.
It makes it tricky as to what to sell in order to make the 40000 gold....
What does offer the most efficient ratio is something I invite you to discover by playing this map.
Balance: 5
I had to constantly have an eye on what was going on, there was always something to do, think of, plan, it was great.
Not only do you have to survive and grow, but there are three main things to focus on:
Make the gold: 40000. This might sound easy, and in fact it was when I first succeeded, except I had not collected all the iron needed and that the blessing was at +/-30%...
The thing is you constantly need gold to make weapons barracks and to hire an army and that you are very restricted on what you can sell... You can sell food, but when you have 150 people running around, they do eat a lot, not to mention the dropping popularity with the wolves and bandits... that you must compensate.
Collect the iron: 100. There are four possible spots to build a iron mine on, and one of them is really far away in consideration of the length that has to be covered to bring one iron brick to the stockpile.
No matter what, you must start collecting the iron as soon as possible. I did finish the map with as high as 218 iron, but I had only +/-20000 gold and blessing around +/-48%...
The last but not least of the things to worry about is the blessing. In one of my attempts, I had three cathedrals, two churches and 51 or 52 chapels... and all I could reach was 52%...
The problem is that the people to bless are spread all over the map, constantly moving, and you need a lot of priests to make it. I finaly made it with less buildings, but that was at the very end of the time allowed, and until the last second I was worried if I was going to reach it or not. I did make 71% like a few seconds before the game time went to the last month with the defeat/victory message. I finaly passed with 70%. Relief!
Creativity: 5
This map all together is very well thought and tweaked.
You have the freedom to build up your domain and castle, and the results depend on how you handle it.
Map Design: 5
A lot of flatland, or should I say flat lands as there are different levels... But it wouldn't do if it was different. You need to have space to build to make it with a population that is so big. Two spots for stone, although I only used the southern one where you can build two quarries. The location of the iron on the map makes it tricky to collect what's required. The fact of having trees all over is also a challenge, not only to clear it up to be able to build to expand, but also to build at the beginning. There are three spots you can collect oil from. I did use it on my first attempts, but once I had found another way to defeat the invasions, I did not use it anymore.
Story/Instructions: 5
Nice story.
Additional Comments:
My results:
Game level: 15000
Troops lost: 5%
3 Extra irons
1583 Extra gold
2 Extra populations
Total score: 26145
After I made it, I figured I could have placed the stockpile in another place and collected more iron such as my previous attempts.
I have probably played this map 50 times or more. Once you are playing, you figure out that many things can be done a different way, in the sense of increasing the productivity.
I believe the most important aspect of this map is the economic side, but the invasions really are very nice. The last one of 1517 is a pure delight.
What's most important in a map is the playability.
This is a fun map.
I believe it must be hard enough for average players on "hard" setting. I would be glad to read others review about this map to see what they think of it. |
God Avo |
Posted on 08/06/06 @ 09:39 PM
Playability: 5
I would of given this a 4, because of the trees, but after placing afew woodcutters huts I found a nice big open place to build my keep.
Balance: 5
The invasions where fine, just right because for me when the invasions came I had already enough troops, but no complete castle so that made me sweat abit :p
The blessing was hard, extremely hard ;)
Creativity: 5
You must tried to recreate the amazon forest! That is the most amount of trees I have seen so far :p
Map Design: 5
Nice, low land and easy to build on, the rivers and hilltops where excelently done ;)
Story/Instructions: 5
A great story, lengthy and an excelent vocabulary.
Additional Comments:
This is only the sketch of this review, I will improve it tomorrow.. god I have such a migrain :/ |
WarLord_Designs |
Posted on 08/09/06 @ 06:22 AM
Ok, so Im not as crazy as Duc de Noisiel, I didn’t play the map on very hard, I think that he must be one of the best stronghold players out there, definitely the craziest. That didn’t stop me from enjoying the map though.
-4- The map was very playable, what do expect when you have to build your settlement from scratch, cut through the forests of trees and carve out your Kingdome, great stuff. I always wanted to have a hilltop fortification, so I kept everything quite compact, the trees did get a little annoying, though it did add to the playability as I hastened to prepare for the attackers, great stuff. The only think I had an issue with was the trees, I think they were just a little too abundant and slowed the playability facto in the early stages.
-5- What can I say, great balance, do I need to say more? A lot has already been said so I I’ll keep it short. A great mix of attacks, events and economic challenges. The mixture certainly brings the map to life and does a great deal to keep the player interested.
-5- The design is very important; you show great creativity in the way the scenario is planed. Everything is there and yet you have to play a smart game and take advantage when you can to get through, great stuff.
-3- In my opinion it is the only real area that let your map down, I know that it has been said that it needs to be this way however I think it could have been improved. Not all of the flattened land is needed and so I think that some hills and even stones and dirt in the grassy areas could’ve been used. The mountainous areas are quite good, yet overall even using dirt and bushes could have helped lift this area of the map.
-5- The story is interesting and introduces the map well, Not too long not too short, worthy of a five indeed.
A very good map, just work on your terrain and i'm sure futer maps will do well. I enjoyed it, I'm sure you will too. Download it Now!
Alexus.
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barbarius |
Posted on 05/23/08 @ 05:54 AM
So, this is the first map. Playing on it was, according to my memory, very hard.
Playability: 4.5
The first time I tried to win, I lost very briefly, the first assault percing my poor defense and killing my Lord. The second attempt was better. We can't put the keep anywhere, so I chose a strategic place, where I wasn't disturbed by the bandits, only by some wolves, and of course by the enemies. They come very quickly, obliging yourself to make quickly a lot and lot of troops. Moreover, we begin the game withtout a lot of resources, a fact which makes the map even harder. The important number of trees is the first difficulty of the map : we must cut themselves quickly in order to create farms or buildings...
Balance: 4
The objectives are varied, obliging yourself to make a lot of buildings without having a high population, because of blessed people. However, the majhor problem was for me the iron. I don't know really why, but my workers weren't efficient. When the last assault form the enemies came, I had only 10 Iron in my stockpile. Of course, the enemies destory all the iron mine, but it's not the only reason. I think wolves are the explanation. Anyway, the mad is very hard, recommended for very good players. I was like Duc de Noisiel : no rest during the map. Otherwise, I think the design of the map suggests a choice between a development on the sterile heights, or in the lands full of trees. A good idea.
Creativity: 3.5
Basically, the objectives aren't especially. Collecting some gold, some stone, and having blessed people are usual objectives. Even if the map is difficult, it's not this difficulty which make exceptional the game. The idea of separating the map in two is a great idea, giving to the Player the choice. I think the must is to play in the lands, and to try again (if we are crazy) on the heights.
Map Design: 4.5
The map is very beautiful. The rivers on the south make me think to claws. On the minimap, I was intrigued by the separation heights/lands. What is good is that you put the resources of stone or iron in the heights ; it's more realistic. The design of the map is beautiful, and contributes to the playability of the map.
Story/Instructions: 5
A nice and developed story to introduce the map
Additional Comments:
In a word, a great work for a great map ! |
HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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4.7 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 4.6 | Balance | 4.8 | Creativity | 4.6 | Map Design | 4.4 | Story/Instructions | 5.0 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 1,237 |
Favorites: [] | 0 |
Size: | 750.21 KB |
Added: | 07/26/06 |
Updated: | 08/02/06 |
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