It was stormy afternoon when you left your castle to the canyons.Desert winds were as cruel as they can be.Your caravan,despite all its heavy load,had been blown over.You and your man had to reach a safe place for cover unil the wind stop.
Just when you turned around,not more than 10 arrows soared through the wind and hit several of your spearmans,bringing them to their knees.For a short while,you thought that it was just some random shots from the nearby outpost.
Soon,not more than 10 knights rode past you.They seem to have ignored you,judging by the flag they were carrying,it was not one of your men.The wind and fog slowly cleared,you went into shock as you saw vast armies on both sides,each carrying a different flag.
Not long later,they saw you,one of them said "You there!You are in the middle of a war!Our lord have decided to wipe out the entire civilization around this desert,you can retire form this battle,but when we reach your castle the next time,you will be vapourized."
After hearing this,you quickly ordered your men to retreat.Sounds of horn grew fainter and fainter as your travel furthur away from the armies.You know you have to do,you know you have to protect the people.
After a hard day,you reached back to your castle.With haste you sounded the castle bell,gathering all men who were capable of bearing any arms and made preperations.
The war was going to begin,you had only one chance to survive...
-note-
The patches of land that looks sunken supports farms
Playability: 4
Ok. Due to the featured dune like shapes that seemed to cover almost 80 percent of the map, It was all desert terrain. But there were still unusual features which'll be covered in design. The reason i gave u a 4:Ai's had a little problem with thier castles.this is a large map so won't be a prob providing extra space.Of course all keeps had dunes surrounded in a symmetrical shape. Human would simply biuld on top those dunes.but i didn't make walls of any kind but had slaves dig moat around the keep. By the way an article on biulding walls/towers on dunes is provided by Leaveyou in the strategy section i think.
Balance: 3
First of all the maps somewhat unbalanced. it's because the top left and bottom left keeps had to share stone.I think your previous map "Desert canyons" had better balance. Again it's a 4 because: U were too generous with the iron and stone. I played on the bottom keep and frankly found way too much resources. trees were fine. I have to point out here that- the only type of tree that can grow on desert terrain or dry earth is the olive tree which can grow further on dunes.Other types of trees need oasis grass. I played against the wolf,caliph and snake. There were rooms for up to a dozen mines and quarries.
Creativity: 4
It was a bit surprised to see the Hades Level. i didn't realize it untill i started to invade the enemy castles. And with most features of maps and stories already come up, it's quite hard for an author to find new materials. But you did fine.
Map Design: 5
I liked the frizzy map design look from the minimap.Obviously u've worked hard on this too. But somewhoe i found the oasis rather strange yet interesting. They appeard to be holes.Here's a suggestion: you could add higher ground using elevation tools. that'd be more eye pleasing.
Story/Instructions: 5
Ok, since i'm not much into stories i give most maps the same. The story spoke of a war in the middle of a desert. Funny why the 10 knights didn't slaughter or make any attempt to fight against the lord.
Additional Comments:
I enjoyed it. Keep mapping.
Ps: check out Yasko's "Lasting Impressions" which is a perfect exmaple of using the Hades terrain (ie: the patch like features)