i hope that this level will not be as bad as my first....this time it works, well anways this level should be played on easy.... if this level is too hard please tell me and i will make the necesary changes.... oh yeah and if you enjoyed this level, which i hope you do, please tell me and i will definately make another one... thanks and enjoy
Playability: There's nothing at all wrong with this map and I found it easy to play, interesting throughout and very enjoyable. It's not the most challenging of scenarios but well put together. The events are a mixed bag though. The fires in the castle were timed to perfection and caused enough damage to set me back. Initially they started at the iron mines but sprouted up around the granary and armoury, the two worst places to have a fire! I panicked as I saw these go up in flames but the wells placed sporadically around the castle did the trick in the end. However, this would have been a little better if the travelling fair option was more liberally used. Whilst it boosted the popularity to soaring heights, it really wasn't required as I had one inn, one hop farm and one brewery to lift my popularity by +2 and thus able to cover the low taxes I set. It's a small point, but a little more tailoring here would have probably seen this increase the score.
Balance: A bit on the easy side. You have one entry to the castle, which could easily be defended. I moved all archers and those crossbowmen I recruited to the gatehouse, splattered a few killing pits in the path of the enemy troops once I knew shere they would walk and bought pitch from the market in smallish amounts but used this to devastating effect. Larger invasions would have been better, or even to disable the crossbowmen from the barracks. The balance isn't faulty at all, but needed to be a little sharper. I managed to meet the economic goals just after the last invasion.
Creativity: Not the most original of maps but again well thought out. A good story accompanies the map.
Map Design: Generally well done. It needs a little more work on the terrain modelling and maybe something a bit more adventurous in terms of the castle and walling. That said, it looked fine and I really do enjoy playing these smaller map scenarios. A large map would drown the gameplay, choosing the small map is a very good choice. A little less iron on the map would have made this more taxing, as five iron mines can easily produce sufficient iron to meet the weapons goals. Iron was also available at the market: better to turn this off to add to the challenge.
Story/instructions: Nothing wrong with this area at all, just lacking a little in content and depth.
This is a great little map that I really enjoyed! If anything, it's more suited to the beginner, but still a great attempt and there are some elements of this that I really liked. Balance is probably the key issue here along with a little more offered in terms of map design. If the author were to provide more maps and look into these areas, there is promise for a really good scenario. I'm looking forward to playing more from this author. Good work and a very good effort.