1. Describe the process of making a complete scenario starting from the idea and ending in the submission of your finished scenario. Do you have a schedule in which you have written the exact tasks for every day?
Ideas can come to me at any time. I’ll be reading a tutorial on SHH, watching a news report, or thinking about an historical event, television program, or movie. Once I’ve settled on an idea I break it down into goals that a scenario must meet in order to simulate the idea. I start working by laying out the terrain of the map and then place buildings on it. I set the availability of building construction based on the idea I’m using, as well as restrictions on recruiting of soldiers, items that can be traded, etc. I constantly adjust all of the elements of the scenario while I’m working on it, and often a happenstance combination will lead to a new idea or heavy modification of the original one. Once everything is in place I playtest the heck out of it, changing any aspect that doesn’t seem to be working. When I get to the point where I can’t do anything more with it, I write up the descriptions and any text files I want to include, zip it up, log on to SHH, and submit it. I then cross my fingers and hope the comments and reviews won’t be too bad.
2. What is your first piece of advice to a new scenario designer?
Take your time. There’s no need to rush things. No one can write a top notch scenario in just two hours. Put some thought into it and set it aside every once in a while. When you’re finally ready to submit it, you’ll have something to be proud of.
3. How do you decide the map size of your scenario?
I like to stick with the smaller sizes (300x300 and less). The action in most scenarios can usually fit within those confines. A smaller size also means less terrain to have to work on, especially in areas that aren’t really used much during the mission. Also, my poor old computer has trouble handling the larger size maps! :^(
4. How do you balance your scenario (invasions, events and victory conditions)?
Playtesting is the best way to see if what I’ve created works correctly or not. Trying out different strategies and tactics will demonstrate whether what you have works and is better than any amount of analysis. I’ll play the game once, adjust the parameters, play it again, adjust them again, play it again, etc. etc. etc. until I’m satisfied it works.
5. How long does it take you to design a scenario? (you don't have to answer this question if you have already mentioned this in question #1)
It depends on how much free time I can devote to it. My most recent efforts have taken approximately 4 weeks each.
6. What is your favourite eye-candy and why? What is the most common eye-candy you use? (note: this does not exclude natural eye-candy, such as rock formations, erosion etc.)
I love things with lots of movement. My favorites are waterfalls and I’ve managed to incorporate one into every design I’ve submitted so far. The built-in foam and spray effects mean lots of motion there. Lately, I’ve been adding patrolling soldiers to maps with a pre-positioned keep. A map that opens with everyone just standing around doesn’t look very realistic to me. Also, they draw the player’s attention to important parts of the map.
7. Do you design scenarios for multiple games at the same time?
I’m currently designing for Stronghold only, although I’m thinking of picking up Battle for Middle Earth II as it seems to have a good mission editor in it as well.
8. What do you like and what do you don't like about the SH editor?
Ease of use is the best part of the editor, in my opinion. The controls are intuitive and can be learned quickly. I can sit down in front of a plain, green square, and within minutes have mountains, hills, rivers, and forests covering the land. The editor is flexible enough that I can make a map as detailed or broad as I wish, and still have a good-looking product. The scenario parameters editor has a well thought out design. It’s easy to set up starting forces and resources, building availability, and equipment limits. The event scripting feature is my favorite. I can have all sorts of events occurring at pre-set times and under a wide variety of conditions. It’s almost like writing a play. My biggest beef is the inability to program custom messages into the scenario, you’re limited to the messages used in the missions that came with the game. The ability to have the Scribe say something like “Sire, the 12th Elven Archbow Brigade is assaulting the north wall!” would be a big plus in whatever future editions of Stronghold come along.
10. Do you playtest your scenario yourself or do you ask for playtesters?
I always run through the scenario myself before giving it to someone else to look at. It’s a great way to find out if something works or is falling apart. It can also be a springboard for new ideas. I haven’t asked for playtesters for my efforts yet, and I think my quality has suffered for it. I want to establish a decent reputation before making such a request, but that time is coming. I’m really not a very good player of Stronghold (this is one reason I design maps, that way I don’t have to play them) :^). I tend to make scenarios that are too easy to win as a result. Having others test my design will help alleviate that.
11. How do you know your scenario is ready to be submitted?
When it fulfills all of the goals I’ve set for it, I’ve run out of new ideas to add to it, and I’m satisfied that it is winnable.
12. If a fancy eye-candy you want to have on the map requires you to make playability worse, would you add that eye-candy on the map? (i.e. the graphics vs. playability issue)
I don’t think that is a decision a designer has to make. Eye-candy, by definition, serves no functional purpose other than making the map more appealing to the player. As such, it is used to fill unused or little-used portions of a map, similar to the way mapmakers of the middle ages used to decorate blank areas of their maps with pictures of sea serpents and such. Trouble was some sailors believed that such creatures actually lived in those areas of the world, and refused to go there! If the designer keeps the active area of the map functional and doesn’t overburden the computer, I don’t see any problem with loading the rest of the map with as much decoration has he or she wants.
13. What makes a scenario fun to play?
Something that always involves the player in the course of the game and gives the player a sense of making progress in it. I like giving a player a series of “mini-victories” while a game is running. Solving a particular piece of a puzzle or surviving a vicious bandit attack gives the player a sense of accomplishment and promotes the feeling that they just might beat this game after all. I also like providing the player some indication of whether or not they are on the right track while the game is in progress or should scrap it and start over again. Very little frustrates me more than playing a scenario for three hours, only to find I lost because of a mistake I made six minutes into the game.
14. If you're considered a creative designer, then what is the secret behind your imagination and creativity?
So far I’m scoring a perfect 5.0 in the imagination department, so I guess people must think I’m creative! :^) I’m really not very good at coming up with original ideas on my own. What I seem to be able to do is take other people’s good ideas and assemble them in new and unusual ways. I’ll see a way a building is designed in a tutorial and think, “Wow, I could use that on my map!” Or I’ll see how a person handled a particular script event and say “Hey, make this little change and I could have it in my scenario, too!” (rampant plagiarism is my specialty!) :^) I love history, so I find inspiration in events I read about. Since I’ve begun designing for Stronghold, I find my self thinking of how I can adapt my favorite historical events into a medieval setting. Almost any situation can be simulated in this game, if you give it a little thought. My advice to other designers is to expose yourself to as many sources of information as you can, and think of ways to take what you find and use it in this game.
15. Which one is better, designing ten 4.0 scenarios or one 5.0 scenario (quantity vs. quality)?
I definitely fall into the Quality camp on this one. With the large number of scenarios available on Stronghold Heaven today, I think it’s no longer necessary to crank out large numbers of good, but not great, scenarios. SHH visitors can pick and choose which ones they want to play, and naturally they’ll gravitate towards the ones that show the greatest promise. This is why an active review system is so important today. It gives visitors information on what is the best out there.
16. Do you work on many scenarios at the same time or do you concentrate your efforts on a single scenario at a time?
I find it best to have several projects going at once. Concentrating on only one can present problems when I reach a point where I’m blocked. Trying to overcome that block in order to make any sort of progress puts too much pressure on me in something that’s supposed to be fun. If I get to a point where I’m blocked or just plain bored with it, I set it aside and work on another scenario, or simply get up and go do something else. When I come back, I usually have thought of an answer to the problem and I can go on.
17. Do you work on your scenarios regularly or irregularly?
Since this is supposed to be a hobby, I work on them whenever I feel like it. One reason I don’t announce my projects is so I don’t feel pressure to get them done. Besides, I like surprising people.
18. After you've submitted a scenario, do you feel confident or uncertain of the success of your scenario? How do you try to ensure the success of your scenario?
Please see my answer to question #19.
19. Would you submit a scenario if you were certain it wouldn't be rated high (high is 4.0+)?
I have absolutely no idea how well a scenario I submit is going to be received when I present it. Some of what I thought were very clever ideas have been greeted with a so-so response, while others I thought were weak efforts have been getting rave reviews. All I can do is write a mission that I like to play, that I feel I have put my best effort into, and is something I can be proud of. I then release it and cross my fingers, hoping that others will enjoy it too. And besides it’s the public, God Bless ‘Em, that have the final say, don’t they?
20. What keeps you motivated to design scenarios? Why did you start designing scenarios?
The feeling of accomplishment I get when I put the final touches on a scenario and release it is what keeps me going. It’s the same feeling people get when they finish restoring a car, writing a novel, or getting a good grade on a test. It allows me to express my creativity in ways not available in other parts of my life.
21. What do you do when you're not motivated enough to design scenarios?
Play board games, toot on my tuba, watch my favorite TV shows and movies, surf the Internet, kiss my wife. :^)
Always Learning.
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