Onwards goes the journey of the valiant Bannerman to the Duke of Nicaea!
As a faithful Rhomaion the Duke was quite pleased with your defence of Tomé and sends you now to a valley called Protothebais.
Two years ago the Duke passed the valley on a raid against the Arabs and Turks and found that Roman control should be reestablished there.
He asked you to build a small fortification and gather some weapons for the upcoming military campaigns of the Emperor. The land is quite barren, but with your superior skill you can manage to feed the peasants, can't you?
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This is the promised third map in my Byzantine series. Hints to solution are contained in the ingame description.
A sequel is planned but not ready at all...
I hope you like to play small missions. I greatly appreciate comments ;)
Agreed, this short mission is packed with lots of fun. Thanks for sharing.
Playability: 4.5
Designed quite well. The map design (more on it later) was functional. There was also a lot of micromanagement, but not too much, such that the player will be constantly preoccupied but not overwhelmed.
That said, there several key points I want to critique about:
> Tanner's workshops are pointless because dairy farms are not permitted.
> The length of the mission is determined by the rate at which materials are gathered. The less experienced the player is with the economical aspect of SHC, the more difficult the game gets.
> Signpost confines suitable building area to around the center of the map. Not necessarily a bad point, but something to note since half of the map is already occupied by mountain/hills.
Balance: 4.5
The entire balance of this map is centered around design. The lack of a sizeable garrison is a given. I actually completed the game without digging moats or using pitch, or using any religion, and I felt that the mission was just right. If these few selections were removed, I would raise this category to a 5.0.
Creativity: 3
The historical connection of the story is enjoyable, perhaps even uncanny. However it isn't very original, and the overall map design certainly isn't. A map like this would make a great addition to Firefly's Historical Campaigns, but alas, it is nothing too new.
Map Design: 3
As mentioned before, more functional than aesthetic. A good third of the map is just basic desert, and the hills appear to be hastily drawn using the raise land tool. Nevertheless, the oasis isn't bad and looks fairly natural.
Story/Instructions: 3
A basic, but well-written and detailed paragraph. An excellent starter but needs more content to increase this score. You've written the objectives and a prologue. How about e.g. POV? Description? Details? Etc.