Story: The definition of sequestration is the removal or separation of something, banishment or exile. It's a withdrawal into seclusion.
This word summarises what the whole map is about. In a bitterly cold land ravaged by infertile lands, hostile environments, harsh weather and a dark secret which has spread across the lands. Somewhere near the coast where the fresh air sweeps through the valleys bringing life to some of the lands, a fortified castle stands guard to the main entrance to the mainland. The late King grew old and with age came sanity, his wife the Queen was so depressed that she hung herself outside the castle. With the King and Queen gone the castle, it's people and it's lands fell into despair. Not more than a year later a baron from the mainlands rode along the coast and discovered the desolate castle. Noticing it's strategic point and it's fertile lands he has sent you to take charge of the castle and bulk up its revenue, most of all the trust. The lands need reassurance and trust. God speed.
About the map:
The fertile lands were inspired by the english countryside and how they have sections partitioning the lands to the corresponding farmer. The rest of the landscape and terrain was inspired by Norwegian and Scottish coasts, the landscape was also inspired by my last map lindisfarne, I just loved the combination and colours of the shrubs and rocks, it just works so effectively.
The castle was a random design but I loved the wooden walls surrounding the keep and mountains which act like a natural defence and also stopping the mountain rocks from falling below.
If you do decide to siege it the castle works very well but the A.I. didn't behave as to how I wanted it, they come from the mountains rather than the coast. If you do manage to fix it and make a successful siege/invasion BY ALL MEANS PLEASE DO UPLOAD IT! I'd love to see it work.
The castle is designed so that the A.I. cannot ravage the fertile lands and come from behind, but they do attack the main front of the castle which works well.
One last thing: The trees seem to die very quickly, I do not know WHY they do this, it's just a bit frustrating, nevertheless I hope you enjoy it.
Best of luck!
Ferrus Rinn.
Playability: 4
It was quite fun to (re)build a town in those ruins next to the magnificant castle. It could of been improved by the invasions working a bit better, but all in all a pretty exicting and fun, map.
Balance: 3.5
The balance was the point that most let the map down. The F1 invasions did not work well and the trees disappeared. You also did not get to place your own keep which is something I like most about freebuild maps.
Creativity: 5
I have not seen anouther such freebuild map on this site, great idea for a town ruined by the rule of a depressed and grief stricken ruler who had failled thier people.
Map Design: 4.5
The map is a real gem, the castle is simply stunning and the landscape is super-realistic. The one thing that bugged me, and stopped me giving you a 5, was that the trees all died really quickly. This made the land look a bit sparse, you might want to look into the trees dying if you did not want it to happen. I loved the castle and those custom towers with the archers inside!
Story/Instructions: 4
You have a nice emotional story. The reason I did not give this a 5 was that you did not flesh out the story. You need to write more.
Additional Comments:
This map looked great- and is great- but it lacked a few things that let it down a bit.