Death is a Circle (0.2.0)

Discussion and development of scenarios and campaigns for the game.

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orcish_orc
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Death is a Circle (0.2.0)

Post by orcish_orc »

The first version of Death is a Circle, version 0.1.0 is up on the 1.4.5 campaigns server now.

Contributers

The maps were designed by y0urb0ss while I, orcish_orc, wrote (read: copied and edited from other campaigns) the WML. We got some friends to do some basic testing.

We did not create the images, we took it from the forums, thus it is GPL'd. Unfortunately (sorry!) I cannot find y0urb0ss (who took the pics) now, if anyone knows or remembers who drew them please reply and I'll include them.

Completeness

This is an Undead campaign of average length. The final length should be around 10 scenarios. The campaign is incomplete; only the first 4 scenarios are completed, and even then, they may be tweaked for balance. The other scenarios may be playable but are not completed.

Story

You are Mal Festo, a Lich, serving the Ancient Lich Necromancer Zolgan. The following are extracts from the campaign.
Immortality is the path of an undead. Death is seen as the perfect path. But Death itself is not Immortal. This story is about a Lich that conquered Death.

Aided by Necromancer Zolgan, the Ancient Lich sent one of his loyal Liches, Mal Festo, to get the Apocalypse Orb. It belongs to the gods, where this tiny black thing, could revive or kill Immortals.

Mal Festo: "Such a small village...what an unexpected place for the Apocalypse Orb to appear."
Sergeant Bob: "What the-"
Sergeant James: "What is that thing, sir?"
Mal Festo: "Who am I? I am the master of death itself."
Sergeant Bob: "Hah. And what exactly are undead doing here?"
Sergeant James: "U-Undead, you say, sir? But that's not possible..."
Mal Festo: "It appears you have a certain...orb that we desire. Give it to me and I will spare your village."
Units

You can recruit the standard repertoire of Undead units, but we have included a few modifications to them. So far this includes tweaking the walking corpse line.

Your opponents shall mostly be loyalists, with an emphasis on mages, and other Undead.

Like many campaigns, your recruit list will change between scenario - how boring would it be to recruit the same set of units through a campaign? In DiaC the list changes a bit more than normal though. And units get dropped from it too.

A scenario is planned where you can raise units from a graveyard without paying gold.

Help

Please download the campaign from the campaign server and comment on it here!

Edit: Only the first 4, instead of 5, scenarios are complete.
Last edited by orcish_orc on December 14th, 2008, 11:05 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Turuk
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Re: Death is a Circle, Version 0.1.0

Post by Turuk »

I currently have a list of projects and other testing, but I like the sound of this campaign, so I've put it on the list and I'll be happy to provide feedback.

Good job on the well-detailed outline, and even the teasers. Even if your campaign is barely held together at this moment in the development stage (and that's a general your), it does encourage people to try your campaign if you present an organized and coherent post. Hinting that hopefully, unlike a fair number of unfinished campaigns in this forum, yours will actually some day be complete. :)
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orcish_orc
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Re: Death is a Circle, Version 0.1.0

Post by orcish_orc »

Thanks. I think it'll be easy enough to finish, but for now I'm not satisfied with the plot, maps, and scenario plans for the second half (5 scenarios) of it.
jani
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Re: Death is a Circle, Version 0.1.0

Post by jani »

its good its one of the best! i have waited undead campaing really long. scenario death gate is odd loyalists cant even make it to the gate before you can close it and if you choose fight how can u fight when ur troops and you yourself are inside and enemy is outside?
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orcish_orc
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Re: Death is a Circle, Version 0.1.0

Post by orcish_orc »

Ah sorry about that, I had WML trouble on that scenario, seems like I did not test all the options... will fix it. Thanks. In the meantime I believe the "do not fight" option works.

I copied the WML from this dwarven campaign that needed you to close off a cave by standing on runes and then their WML will check if all enemies in the cave are dead, after there are no more enemies in the cave the victory condition is triggered.

Do you have comments on the scenarios before that?
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Re: Death is a Circle, Version 0.1.0

Post by jani »

dead march was pretty good i didnt notice anything bad it was little bit too easy tought.
first scenario was pretty good too but it could maybe have more turns coz 23 is not enought.
i did not get spirited prisons idea coz why do you help elves and who was the enemy you are fighting and why dont you have to kill the lich? and you said 5 campaings are ready and spirited prison is 5th and i think message campaing incomplite came there and betrayal was dialoque so do you count it as scenario?

PS. im really sorry about bad english.
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Re: Death is a Circle, Version 0.1.0

Post by docrock »

in "Dark Gates" the recruiting of adepts does not work and after closing the gate the scenario does not end. otherwise glad to have another undead campaign going.
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Re: Death is a Circle, Version 0.1.0

Post by orcish_orc »

jani wrote:first scenario was pretty good too but it could maybe have more turns coz 23 is not enought.
I suggest you bring out Mal Festo to help, especially in killing the Sergeants and the Paladin. With only walking corpses I doubt it is possible to complete this scenario. After bringing Mal Festo out I completed the scenario on the 18th turn.
docrock wrote:in "Dark Gates" the recruiting of adepts does not work
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Re: Death is a Circle, Version 0.1.0

Post by cobra »

Amazing campaign and very well done! Keep up the good work! :D
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Re: Death is a Circle, Version 0.1.0

Post by Turuk »

Scenario 1
-Great way of showing off the growing power of necromancy, by using the simplest units. Also a good scenario that sets the tone for the story, nothing too hard but starts to get you into the undead mindset.

Scenario 2
-Very well-done map. Good placement of initial enemy forces, and then the surprise that comes really forces the player to play aggressively and make it south as fast as possible.

Scenario 3
-Challenge is misspelled. So is Marshal. I like this map as well, it helps to convey the sense that you are fighting a holding battle against the large army.

Scenario 4
-The dialogue is not complicated but a bit...confusing. It goes back and forth between so many people, the vague references as to what is happening, plus the fact that you cannot tell which of the units is speaking... makes it a bit hard to follow. I understand what went on, and you do sum it up at the end with the script, but I thought I would point it out.

Scenario 5
-Story is a bit odd here, as it seems to jump from one to the next.
-Elves seem to move towards the wall where I will come out as if I am an enemy, yet once I break through, they head north as they should.
-Map causes horrible bottleneck to the north, and there are huge numbers of units backed up on either side waiting to get through that one gap.


Good campaign so far, interesting story and I do enjoy the maps. Dialogue needs some work, both to make it clearer and just some grammatical/spelling errors. I do like where you are taking it, and look forward to seeing more of it.
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Re: Death is a Circle, Version 0.1.0

Post by orcish_orc »

Cobra:

Thanks! Can you tell me what you thought were the parts that you liked?

Turuk:

Scenario 1: Do you think I should give Mal Festo some bats?

Scenario 2: Ahhhhh. You see, the enemy placement was quite haphazard... I have already modified it such that the Loyalists are in the middle and the 2 lichs are at the bottom. My original plan was to give the 2 lichs recruiting abilities and give Mal Festo a very small recruiting space to force him to recruit a small bodyguard squad run down, but since canrecruit=1 still does not seem to be supported... what I keep getting irritated at playing through is that my allies get ALL the XP.

Scenario 3: Planning to make enemies come in three waves. I think it'll be fun.

Scenario 4: Changed the plot some time ago, I think I got confused by my previous plot.

Scenario 5: Ack...bad scenario. Really bad.

Jani:

Hmm I agree that death march was too easy. I think restricting recruits to level 2s made the enemy waste lots of gold... I'll shift the level 2s to scenario 3 and let scenario 2 recruit level 1s.

I should upload the new version in a few days (changes: plot changed from scenario 4 onwards, maps edited slightly, recruit lists changed). After that I'll code scenarios 5,6,7. Thanks all for providing feedback!
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Re: Death is a Circle, Version 0.1.0

Post by Turuk »

Orcish_Orc

Scenario 1
It could benefit from some bats, they are not necromantic and could therefore be easily given to Mal Festo. They would also help with harassing the peasants and providing some screening when the surprise comes at the end.

Scenario 2
Loyalists in the middle? Hmm, that would play quite a bit different, and I would say go with it if you want, but the way it was set up with the liches in the middle really plays well given the story line of them coming to your aid, but then you escaping and running into them. Not to mention the idea of a bodyguard squad is nice, but this was the scenario in which I received the 4 level 2's that would help me later on, and so it's a good one to earn exp.

Scenario 3
This one was actually really easy. Even though the enemy can recruit a bunch of level 2's, they spent so much time going after the villages, and winding their way through the swamp that I only had to hold the gate for two turns (against a total of 4 enemies that reached me). Once I closed the gates, easy win. Also, you are given the option to fight or leave, so I'm assuming that is if any of the enemy get inside? As it is, it is relatively easy to keep them out.

Scenario 4
Fair enough, it might just read easier if each person spoke less, but when they spoke, said more.

Scenario 5
Yeah, hey, it happens. :D It's a work in progress, I respect that. But the elves confused me, I was like wait where did they come from?



Keep up the good work, I look forward to the next version.
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Re: Death is a Circle, Version 0.1.0

Post by orcish_orc »

Wait, how the heck did you get 4 level 2s, I keep getting all my XP stolen.
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Re: Death is a Circle, Version 0.1.0

Post by Turuk »

Easy enough. I sent a bat down the right side, which pulled some of the Loyalists after it (You know the AI loves decoys. Here Longbowmen, follow the flappy thing.) Then I sent skeletons and skeletons archers mostly straight south from the fort, with 2 or 3 to the west. The two liches in the center spend all their force wearing down the paladins, and I would then nip in and pick them off. Killing the level 3s are a great exp boost, and then it's just a matter of picking off the lvl 2's as well. After that, I used the lvl 2's I had to mop up the couple left on my way to kill the leader.

I've played a large number of campaigns, so it's more a trick of knowing how to let your ally do the work for you, and stealing from him. :lol2:
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Re: Death is a Circle, Version 0.1.0

Post by orcish_orc »

I must try that strategy. Sounds effective.

But on the other hand, it might be a bad thing in a campaign if a player thinks "hmm how do I steal XP from my allies" instead of "hmm how do I defeat the enemies". Cos it weakens the suspension of disbelief.
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