Lord Bane has left to negotiate a trade treaty with Lord Winthrop, an
ally from the time of darkness when the Wolf and his minions tried to
take over both Kingdoms. Lord Bane has left you in charge of finishing
his Citadel and creating a thriving economy to support the trade he is
negotiating with Lord Winthrop. No sooner has he left when scouts
report that the Pig, the Snake, and the Rat have joined forces with
the Wolf to lay siege to the Citadel and get their revenge. Your Goal
is to build a strong economic base, finish the Citadel, and finish the
Wolf and his allies once and for all.
Hope you all enjoy my first attempt to create an interesting game with
both invasion and economic goals.
ProfLooney
Playability: 4/5. This map starts off with a pre-built castle, your citadel, and a number of economic goals to achieve. The invasions are quite numerous but well spaced out, culminating with a large, joint invasion towards the end.
Playability here was quite good throughout, with a review of the food chain required in order to feed your peasants. With the distance between the granary (I placed this just inside the citadel's walls for protection) and the fertile land I had to juggle foodstocks a little until I was happy with a good supply of flour for bread and had established numerous dairy farms, which could be placed next to and near the granary for convenience. The map plays well and the invasions are quite problematic. Recruiting from the barracks initially paid dividends and it wasn't until towards the end that I felt threatened. The map overall is good as an economic/invasion scenario and was completed first time around on hard difficulty.
Balance: 3/5. Achieving the economic goals shouldn't pose too many problems here. The one downside to this was that everything could be purchased at the market. I sold stone and even weapons to reach the gold requirement, spending small amounts on food as I went along. In terms of the invasions, they were well thought out and had a good variety of troops to consider. They could have been larger invasions here, and I thought that initially they were a little weak. Towards the end they seemd to cause more damage... which was also their downfall. The siege equipment used took out the staircase, the only entrance into and out of the castle. This may be more of a design issue, but I rebuilt the staircase to allow the map to be played through to the end. Good, but needed to be a bit tougher overall.
Creativity: 3/5. Plenty to do with this map. Not only do you need to obtain a small number of foodstuffs, but there are other economic requirements and invasions to deal with. All in all this adds up to a good effort at an ecovasion, bearing in mind that this is the author's first submission here.
Map Design: 3/5. In general I thought the castle layout was interesting and the gatehouse area appealed, with work being directed here to make something aesthetically pleasing. The terrain needs a bit more work to it in order to take on that realistic look, maybe adding more fluctuations in height, some boulder/rock outcrops and a smoothing of the low and mid-plain areas.
Story/Instructions: 4/5. Good story. It's well written and easy to understand. It introduces the map and sets the scene for what is about to follow.
IN SUMMARY: Not a bad effort at all. First attempt and many good qualities, combined with generally smooth gameplay.