Invasion from the Unknown (legacy version)

Review and rate user-made single and multiplayer campaigns and scenarios.

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Captain_Wrathbow
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Re: Invasion from the Unknown

Post by Captain_Wrathbow »

:roll: Well I definitely wouldn't compare him to Jar Jar Binks...
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Zerovirus
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Re: Invasion from the Unknown

Post by Zerovirus »

I once said something to Espreon along the lines of "Mal Keshar should have been a twisted fusion of The Joker and Edward Cullen minus the stupid, not this... Comedic character." Now that you put it that way, he kinda does remind me of Jar Jar Binks.
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Captain_Wrathbow
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Re: Invasion from the Unknown

Post by Captain_Wrathbow »

:( I like the way Mal Keshar is portrayed....
Thoth
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Joined: January 9th, 2010, 5:57 pm

Re: Invasion from the Unknown

Post by Thoth »

(1) What difficulty levels and game (& campaign) versions have you played the scenario/campaign on?

Played on 1.8.3, medium difficulty

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario/campaign? (1-10)

7

(3) How clear did you find the scenario/campaign objectives?

Very clear.

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline?

I enjoyed it the first time through the campaign, but it's a lot of clicking the second time around.

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario/campaign?

Focusing too much on a few units and not getting enough level 3s to defend the Dwarves at the end of part 1 of the campaign. That and trying to keep the suicidal Dwarven leaders alive.

(6) How fun do you think the campaign is? (1-10)

10. Great job, it's obvious you have put a lot of time and effort into making this campaign.

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the campaign to make it more fun?

Get rid of the campfire sound effects. They're annoying.
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Captain_Wrathbow
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Re: Invasion from the Unknown

Post by Captain_Wrathbow »

Thoth wrote:Get rid of the campfire sound effects. They're annoying.
Nooooo! [sound_source]s are cool! :augh:
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Iris
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Re: Invasion from the Unknown

Post by Iris »

Grzywacz (the mainline developer who implemented sound sources in the first place) agrees with Captain_Wrathbow. Probably.

Note that pressing ESC is enough to skip any dialog sequence.
Author of the unofficial UtBS sequels Invasion from the Unknown and After the Storm.
Thoth
Posts: 3
Joined: January 9th, 2010, 5:57 pm

Re: Invasion from the Unknown

Post by Thoth »

shadowmaster wrote:Grzywacz (the mainline developer who implemented sound sources in the first place) agrees with Captain_Wrathbow. Probably.
meh. It's a minor thing and only occurs in a couple of scenarios, I can live with it (luckily my speakers have an "off" switch ;) )
Note that pressing ESC is enough to skip any dialog sequence.
OH HO! Now that is a handy piece of information. Thanks. :)
omegafield
Posts: 1
Joined: June 2nd, 2010, 1:47 pm

Re: Invasion from the Unknown

Post by omegafield »

So far I think the campaign is fantastic, but I do have a question... It seems as though there is a void armor in stage 7 (Elf vs Goliath), and I just can't find it. Could anyone please point me in the right direction?

Thanks!
MRDNRA
Posts: 212
Joined: September 11th, 2009, 5:06 pm

Re: Invasion from the Unknown

Post by MRDNRA »

I really enjoy the campaign, I've completed all the levels up to the one where you have to kill the master of darkness. I reckon it is the best of all the campaigns, and am looking forward to when the After the Storm campaign is finished (I've played the first 2 levels of that one so far too and have enjoyed those just as much).
Kingslayer
Posts: 46
Joined: October 5th, 2010, 9:42 am

Re: Invasion from the Unknown

Post by Kingslayer »

(1) What difficulty levels and game (& campaign) versions have you played the scenario/campaign on?
Version 1.8.3
Easy

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario/campaign? (1-10)

8

(3) How clear did you find the scenario/campaign objectives?

Very good, easy to understand.

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline?

I loved all the history, of the two suns and the reign of chaos etc etc...

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario/campaign?

It went pretty smoothly until the last couple scenarios, when I couldn't use cannon fodder at all. I had to radically change my play style.

(6) How fun do you think the campaign is? (1-10)

10. Best I've ever played, although I don't think I can do it again anytime soon - the endless Shaxtal spawns were traumatic :P

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the campaign to make it more fun?

Maybe some more use of the Aragwaith?

(8) Any grammatical mistakes in dialogue/story text?

There were a few, can't remember...
Kingslayer
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Re: Invasion from the Unknown

Post by Kingslayer »

By the way, I think that the damage absorption for Argan is fine. I surrounded him with deathblades, and Mal Keshar and Elynia. He attacked the deathblades with his ranged attacks, and Mal Keshar and Elynia were able to slowly bleed him to death.
LaughingLich
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Joined: November 30th, 2010, 2:14 pm

Re: Invasion from the Unknown

Post by LaughingLich »

(1) What difficulty levels and game (& campaign) versions have you played the scenario/campaign on?
Easy with a personal restriction to not let one of my men die unless it is absolutely necessary (example:
Spoiler:
The Elf lady dies) Version 1.80.0.1
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario/campaign? (1-10)
7 Excellent amount of challenge but not impossible
(3) How clear did you find the scenario/campaign objectives?
Very clear. Very few moments of confusion
(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline?
The dialog and storyline were awesome and well thought out
(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario/campaign?
Defeating Elyssa as well as Argon without losing a man...that was really difficult, but I managed. Not exactly the challenge everyone will encounter, but I thought I would mention it :)
(6) How fun do you think the campaign is? (1-10)
10 Definitely the best Campaign yet. My other favorites before playing it was Descent into Darkness and Under the Burning Suns, and this is the continuation of both! :D
(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the campaign to make it more fun?
Keep making the next campaign for an epic 2nd adventure of Mal Keshar and company! :D :D
(8) Any grammatical mistakes in dialogue/story text?
I havent played in a while so I cannot remember any...I will let you know if I run into any. GREAT JOB
spir
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Re: Invasion from the Unknown

Post by spir »

Hello,
shadowmaster wrote: (1) What difficulty levels and game (& campaign) versions have you played the scenario/campaign on?
If reviewing a specific scenario, please specify.
medium; wesnoth 1.8.4; IftU 1.80.0.1
shadowmaster wrote: (2) How difficult did you find the scenario/campaign? (1-10)
6 Nicely playable -- until scenario 07 the elf versus Goliath. (see below)
shadowmaster wrote: (3) How clear did you find the scenario/campaign objectives?
All right.
shadowmaster wrote: (4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline?
Clear enough; the notice about having played DiD and indeed UtBS is necessary.
shadowmaster wrote: (5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario/campaign?
I'm stuck in Goliath scenario! Have opened the first doors using the blue crystal ball, but cannot find how to progress further. Have re-inspedted every corner of the area: no way :-(
shadowmaster wrote: (6) How fun do you think the campaign is? (1-10)
7 Quite pleasant. I esp. loved the 4-side scenario: love to play ennemies against ennemies.
shadowmaster wrote: (7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the campaign to make it more fun?
Don't know yet, tell you when i have reached the end.
shadowmaster wrote: (8) Any grammatical mistakes in dialogue/story text?
English is foreign to me ;-)

Any tip on how to move on in scenario 7 welcome :-)
By the way: after activating door-opening ball, there were some dialogs about a new monster everyone seemed to see, but me! It did not appear, i haven't fought it. Possibly looks like a bug explaining why I cannot progress further (maybe its death should launch any action?).

Thank you very much for your work,
Denis
Denis
life is strange

various stuff about BfW (rules, stats, alternatives) and WML (parser, semantic schema, evolution)
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Arawn
Posts: 82
Joined: November 3rd, 2010, 2:34 am

Re: Invasion from the Unknown

Post by Arawn »

(1) What difficulty levels and game (& campaign) versions have you played the scenario/campaign on?
1.8.5 Easy

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario/campaign? (1-10)
Actually, the balance is fantastic for me.

(3) How clear did you find the scenario/campaign objectives?
Clear, it's more straight-forward than expected

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline?
Ok... see below.

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario/campaign?
Units having poor movement, but that doesn't really count. None.

(6) How fun do you think the campaign is? (1-10)
So far, 7. The campaign itself is a 10; I just don't think it fits into the rest of Wesnoth. Demons as enemies and the fall of Wesnoth.... no thanks. I want my games timeless (yes, I also refuse to recognize UtbS);

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the campaign to make it more fun?
I would tweak Malin. Ok, first off, I was initially afraid that I would hate the idea of Malin being a good guy, but its surprisingly not bad. I like how it shows that even after millenia, someone can atone for their misdeeds. That's a very good message. But the dialogue somehow doesn't suit him. He sounds out of it. It's hard to explain, but I would have expected him to have more reserves about helping, or to be conflicted in what he was doing. Or, sometimes I wished he would be a bit insane (After all, he spent thousands of years in a cave after being betrayed). Instead, he's so... collected. There are moments when he attempts to make a joke but it comes off poorly. At a minimum, I would expect him to go way more crazy when seeing the orcs in that one level before they enter the caves. When night fell, he said something like, "Now I will show them." Instead, I expected him to charge at them the moment the level starts, possibly summoning high-level undead temporarily or something. He didn't even seem to care that they were orcs. Phew... that was a long one.

(8) Any grammatical mistakes in dialogue/story text?
You have set up several instances where a character finds something, has a reaction to it (usually bad) and is then reassured by another character. But you never check to make sure that they aren't the same character. Specifically: in the library level, when I reach the southern end of the corridor, the unit who finds it says they don't like it. At that point, the lady (yes, I forgot her name) tells them they have no choice. But in my case they were the same unit. It just wasn't a good dialogue.
Liquidity
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Joined: March 23rd, 2011, 5:08 pm

Re: Invasion from the Unknown

Post by Liquidity »

I actually made an account just for this review, since I doubt there's a whole lot of people who have played the campaign through on hard, so I hope someone is reading these :)

Review of difficulty:
I played the first half (part 1) of the campaign through on hard. I don't save/load at all in between scenarios. I found the first and second scenarios to be extraordinarily difficult, and all the scenarios after to be increasingly easy.

Since I'm playing 'expert' campaigns on the hardest difficulty with no saves I'm obviously looking for as challenging an experience as possible vs the AI. The first two levels were extremely difficult, and fulfilled this goal admirably. It took me about 16 tries on the first map, and upwards of 30 on the second map. (although on the second map I went for the kil all leaders victory, surviving may well be significantly easier) From the third level on, I was able to beat every maps in two tries, with most being a one-shot deal. By the time I beat the campaign, there was no difficulty at all, thanks to having various super units, and a squad comprised entirely of units with an average of 3 amla's.

In short: the difficulty curve at the beginning was marvelous, and terrible at the end. However, I can imagine that balancing levels near the end of a campaign would be quite challenging.


Spoiler Warning
Review of campaign:
Overall I loved the campaign. The story is cookie-cutter in theme, but well told and interesting in the details. The story was also very well tied in with the story lines of UtBS and DiD. I especially appreciated the chance to actually use the ancient lich unit in any sort of meaningful way, which was noticeably absent from DiD. A few of the levels dragged on, with no real challenge, but enough danger that I couldn't just scatter my forces in order to expedite the scenario, although for the most part I found the maps to be inventive and well executed. The only level I found intolerable was the desert level immediately after acquiring Mal Keshar. (I think that's the one, it's the one where you get ambushed by bandits at the end) The amount of time slogging across the desert after defeating the first two enemy leaders was ridiculous.


Review of Factions and Units:

Overall the chaos faction was very well made. I especially enjoyed the Demon Zephyr's, which thanks to their skirmishing ability and lv. 2 cap allowed for the implementation of very level specific challenges. (ie. They were difficult early on, and a breeze later.) The demon line was well made and balanced, but the huge variety, and to my mind fairly arbitrary, differences in resistances among the various advancements was somewhat frustrating, as memorizing 6 resistance tables is much more time consuming than 1.

The fire fairy line was very cool, but entirely useless in my experience. The Forest spirit seems to be somewhat viable, but the 25 max damage is simply too low to do much of anything. The dryad's 7-6 attack is fine, but not strong enough to make up for the lawful alignment, (quite a disadvantage in a mostly underground campaign) and fragility of the unit.

The warrior spirit line is clearly overpowered in relation to every other undead unit, but I assume this is intentional based on the attention paid to it in the storyline. I absolutely loved this unit line, as it is generally a cool unit, sylvan spark mattered just enough to make positioning important but not vital, and the 'terror' ability made great use of an aura as a debuff. The only problem I encountered with terror was that If I was attacking a lv. 1 with a warrior spirit(lv.1), while a forefather(lv.3) was also adjacent to the target, the leadership debuff would only be -15%. I also noticed that any positive leadership buffs on a target would completely override any debuff supposedly inflicted by 'terror.' Dunno if these things are fixable.

That's all I can think of at the moment. I'll probably play Part 2 at some point, but since I was able to carry over all my incredibly powerful units, the first scenario was a total comp-stomp, and I'll probably try and find a more challenging campaign for now.
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