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Author |
File Description |
olowek2111 |
Posted on 09/24/09 @ 12:47 PM
File Details |
Map Size: |
300x300 (Medium) |
Difficulty: |
Hard |
Made with version: |
1.2 |
Minimap:
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Hi. Please rate and comment. History and some photos in zip file.
Dún Aonghasa is the most famous of several prehistoric forts on the Aran Islands, of County Galway, Ireland. It is located on Inishmore at the edge of an approximately 100 metre high cliff.
A popular tourist attraction, Dún Aonghasa is an important archaeological site that also offers a spectacular view. It is not known when Dún Aonghasa was built, though it is now thought to date from the Iron Age.[1] T. F. O'Rahilly surmised that it was built in the second century B.C. by the Builg following the Laginian conquest of Connacht.[2] It was probably originally constructed as a circular ringfort several hundred metres from the coast, its present precarious position being the result of centuries of coastal erosion.
The fort consists of a series of four concentric walls of dry stone construction, built on a high cliff some one hundred metres above the sea. [4] Surviving stonework is four metres wide at some points. The original shape was presumably oval or D-shaped but parts of the cliff and fort have since collapsed into the sea. Outside the third ring of walls lies a defensive system of stone slabs, known as a ‘Chevaux de frise’, planted in an upright position in the ground and still largely well-preserved. These ruins also feature a huge rectangular stone slab, the function of which is unknown. Impressively large among prehistoric ruins, the outermost wall of Dún Aonghasa encloses an area of approximately 6 hectares (14 acres). Although clearly defensible, the particular location of Dún Aonghusa suggests that its primary purpose was religious and ceremonial rather than military.[citation needed] It may have been used for seasonal rites by the druids, perhaps involving the bonfires that could be seen from the mainland of Ireland. [5] The location also provides a view of as much as 120 km (75 mi) of coastline[6], which may have allowed for control over a coastal trading highway.
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Author | Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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PAlAT (id: palat) |
Posted on 06/08/10 @ 10:59 PM
Fort Dún Aonghasa
Playability: 3.5
Some concern for the playability here. Interesting how the walls of the fort are at a lower height than normal. This causes the AI to shut down if a wall is placed to block the front entrance; gatehouses are not permitted, so players may actually do that if they decide not to use the farmland outside the fort.
The most common explanation to this error is that there is no low wall option in Stronghold 1. Mapmakers who choose to create those kinds of walls MUST either use the rock flattening method OR place the wall on a lower terrain height than the tiles around it, the latter being the better choice for gameplay. Either way the AI will treat the wall as impassable and only attack walls which it can cross.
Without taking advantage of that bug, players must use pitch very wisely. As well as burning the enemy to crisp there are also economical goals that have to be achieved. Players may find this easy on hard or even very hard. All economy is set up. Even several iron mines and workshops are already up and running.
Eliminating all invasions may not even be possible here depending on the difficulty level.
Balance: 4
Not bad, as long as the aforementioned AI error does not happen during gameplay. Sure, the player is incredibly outnumbered, but that’s where all traps come in handy, pitch the most valuable in this case. Nevertheless most invasions consist of light/no armour units, who are really, really easy to shoot down. And then a skilled player will burn the ditches between the gaps in the walls, just as the enemy walk straight into the fire.
The keep is not properly enclosed. The AI realizes this, moves its entire army, instead of its usual “testing the waters before cannonballing in” strategy. Unfortunately for them, there is no way else in than to walk through the fire once the ditches have been lit. First half of the mission is much too easy, then things toughen up when pitch stocks run out.
The lowered walls may serve another purpose, making the player's archers more vulnerable and thereby balancing the map out.
Creativity: 3
Very creative how you managed to get all the units in every invasion to attack at once... also seems like the way Dún Aonghasa is built here, its fortifications are not very strong (intended for religion and ceremonies). Instead of the four concentric walls, there are only three. (?) There is no way that those walls are four metres wide the way you've placed them, and I see no sign of the hevaux de frise.
Perhaps a way to increase your score would be to build remains, a skeleton of a previous coastal trading highway as you've stated might have happened.
Map Design: 3.5
Hmm, not flat and boring. Very beautiful maps are often set to mid or high plain, so that the colour of the ground is yellow or beige. A sheer drop to the sea, which the fort is built ever so closely to. Nice mountains on both sides, stones placed cleverly to imitate stone pathways in the actual fort, and I presume those are sea stacks that have been formed by the constant weathering and erosion caused over years of repeated wave pounding. Seems pretty precarious of the fort's position, how you placed it. The forest is pretty bland though, needs more effort.
Story/Instructions: 3.5
I don't mean to offend you in any way but when I saw [citation needed] in your historical info, I instantly thought that you might have copied all your text from wikipedia. So I wiki'd Dún Aonghasa and both info were the exact same, with a few minor changes on the wiki page because this map is over half a year old and the page was last edited on March 17 2010.
You have nice pictures of the fort (and that's why your score is raised a bit) but as for the text you REALLY have to paraphrase the info, or add your own fictional story to the existing info and give credit to Wikipedia, or else that's plagiarism and plagiarism is not cool.
Fort Dún Aonghasa is also located on a 100 metre high cliff so this map is geographically correct.
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HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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3.5 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 3.5 | Balance | 4.0 | Creativity | 3.0 | Map Design | 3.5 | Story/Instructions | 3.5 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 296 |
Favorites: [] | 0 |
Size: | 539.16 KB |
Added: | 09/24/09 |
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