Hunters of the East

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

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skeptical_troll
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Hunters of the East

Post by skeptical_troll »

General questions:
1. Which version of Battle for Wesnoth and of the Campaign did you play? At which difficulty level?
2. How interesting did you find the story and the characters? Did you think some parts where inconsistent/too predictable/contrived?
3. How fun was the gameplay overall?
4 How difficult did you find the campaign overall?
5. Which were in your opinion the best and the worst scenarios (and why)?
6. Where the objectives always clear?
7. What impression you had of the writing style and which in your opinion are the parts that need more improvement?
8. What do you think in general of the maps quality?
9. What was your general impression of the campaign?

Specific question about some scenarios:
a) Scenario 3 has a very big map. Did you think it makes the scenario boring or frustrating?
b) scenario 6 (and 5 as well, but that should be easier) has some enigma to be solved in order to progress. Was it too obscure to understand?
c) After scenario 7 there is a rather long story-only 'intermezzo'. Do you think it is too long and boring? Did you have the impulse to skip?
d) In Scenario 12 ('finding Tocletus') the objectives change few times. Did you think it was annoying and it could be classified ad 'tomato surprises'?

Please add any comment and suggestion that you think may help improving the campaign.
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The_Gnat
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Re: Hunters of the East

Post by The_Gnat »

Hi Skeptical Troll, i just recently came upon your campaign and so have only played scenario 1 so far but thought i would post my comments! I've played at easy, on wesnoth 1.12.6. Hunters of the east version 1.1.16.

Overall the plot seems to have a good foundation (i haven't played enough yet to say more), also i like the fact that in this scenario you don't have to beat the enemy leader but instead have to escape to the mountains, its a good variation from the traditional scenario objectives (which become rather boring). As far as this scenario goes i also noticed that the map looks really cool, its almost too bad that there's no reason to go explore the far top-left corner of the map, or venture into the mountains somewhere.

One thought i had though was that you make it so the player has to remember the password to get the gold. It wouldn't make it much harder but it would be good because it would make it seem more interactive (rather than having your guy know the password already).

You could create a option message like this:
Spoiler:
Similarly i thought it would be cool if a specific village (maybe the one at the far bottom right) had something cool inside it. Maybe a more powerful unit, or maybe a arcane magic bottle, or something like that. Linking back to my first point about how cool the map is if you go to one village a guy could tell you that you should travel into the mountains far top-left and will find a magic sword. Also it would be nice if not all the guys from the villages were woodsman but some were peasants and maybe even a few ruffians, that would make it seem more real. You could probably do that easily with a randomizer.

Overall the campaign seems cool and you don't have to change anything if you don't want, and i look forward to the rest of the scenarios! (as i play them i will comment more)

Thanks alot!
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skeptical_troll
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Re: Hunters of the East

Post by skeptical_troll »

Hi Gnat, thanks a lot for your feedback!
I like the idea of varying the units spawned by villages, I think I will do it keeping the probabilities of woodsmen higher (it's a village of hunters, after all) and add an occasional peasant/ruffian/fisherman to help immersion.
Having an interacting dialog to say the password could also be nice, I should only make sure that the player doesn't have to restart because he missed the dialog with the village's chief.

Concerning the 'unexplored map': I generally like to make surroundings even if they aren't relevant for the gameplay (you'll notice this more in the rest of the campaign). In this specific case, going through the mountains would be too much time consuming and you'll probably get surrounded by bats/ghosts (depending on the level). I might add an Easter egg in some village, but it would likely be a short dialog or something simple. Powerful swords, units or potions would be bit our of context in this scenario set among hunters and peasants.

Once I'm finished with the first version of 'Return of the Abyss' I am planning a general overhaul of this campaign so small suggestions like yours are really welcome!
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The_Gnat
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Re: Hunters of the East

Post by The_Gnat »

Hi Skeptical Troll, i think i will post my thoughts for the rest of the scenarios below as i finish them:

Scenario 2 - Overall another good scenario, i liked the fire arrows they were cool! The dialog was easy to follow and no problem, obviously it would be cool if you got some pictures for the story before the scenario starts but its hard to find good art :P . I think it would have been nice if it was a little more involved though, like 1st time you kill a ghost it says something, and after a caravan gets up past the sign post someone speaks, and the enemy leader maybe taunts you on turn 8... stuff like that. Also i noticed not 1 enemy unit went anywhere near a caravan, i think you should make an [micro_ai] or something to prioritize the caravans so some guys attack them, otherwise its basically - you win after 12 turns.

Also one other thing, i am playing the campaign on easy, but it wasn't so easy this scenario ;) . It wasn't hard and if you like the level of difficulty i think that its fine to leave it how it is but i would suggest changing that initial choose-difficulty-level option box that comes up before the campaign starts to give the options - Normal - Medium - Hard or something like that to show that its not going to be easy (like for example heir to the throne), Another fun scenario and i look forward to playing the rest!!!
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taptap
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Re: Hunters of the East

Post by taptap »

The_Gnat wrote:i think you should make an [micro_ai] or something to prioritize the caravans so some guys attack them, otherwise its basically - you win after 12 turns
really not the same on hard :) (if you are interested in other player comments for some reason, there is another thread in development forum)
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skeptical_troll
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Re: Hunters of the East

Post by skeptical_troll »

I can certainly add small dialogues here and there if you think they were lacking. I generally enjoy them, although there are people who don't like too many interruptions during the game play. I'm making some attempt in drawing story art, but I'm just learning so it will likely take time!

Concerning balancing, if I understand what you mean the scenario is too hard on 'easy', but not on the 'caravan protection' part, since no units attack them. So ideally it would be preferable to have less enemies coming straight to the village and more chasing the caravans. As Taptap says, this doesn't happen on hard (nor on medium in my experience) simply because the enemy recruits enough scouts for village-grabbing along the caravan route.
A trick could be to increase the village value of the AI on 'easy', without touching other difficulty levels. Storywise, it makes sense to me that undeads go for living beings rather than caravans, but this is just a detail.

Thanks again!
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The_Gnat
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Re: Hunters of the East

Post by The_Gnat »

Hi Skeptical Troll,

Yeah i think changing the ai village goal should solve the problem so that your caravans get a little resistance along the way!! Thanks for responding and i look forward to playing the rest of your campaign!
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The_Gnat
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Re: Hunters of the East

Post by The_Gnat »

Hi, i don't know if you care but a minor grammar thing i noticed in scenario 3 the start of the story it says: "However, nobody of them knew...", when it probably should say "However, none of them knew"

Also in the scenario objectives it says: "Find the island and bring there the four caravans...", but maybe should say: EDIT: (thanks forestdragon) "Find the island and bring the four caravans... to it", I'm no grammar expert so these are just suggestions i have :mrgreen:

I am going to play the third scenario and will post more then! :D

EDIT:

Ok, so i'm playing the third scenario and was really expecting an option for whether you let Den & Byn Lohy and Benny help you. I think you should add in a choice using a [option] tag in a message! If you don't choose it then your silly because instead of getting three good units you have to fight them but i think its good to have a choice anyway! :D

Similarly maybe give an option whether to let the goblins join you or not and if you choose not to then you kill their leader and maybe when you reach some other place someone decides to join your side because you've killed the goblin leader. (just some more ideas) :D
Last edited by The_Gnat on November 18th, 2016, 7:03 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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ForestDragon
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Re: Hunters of the East

Post by ForestDragon »

The_Gnat wrote:Also in the scenario objectives it says: "Find the island and bring there the four caravans...", but maybe should say: "Find the island and bring to it the four caravans...", I'm no
actually i think it should be "Find the island and bring the four caravans to it..."
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skeptical_troll
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Re: Hunters of the East

Post by skeptical_troll »

Hi Gnat & Forest Dragon,
I do care about grammar corrections, especially in evident places like titles and objectives. english is not my mother tongue so any help in improving the text is very welcome! I will correct those two things, thanks.

As for your idea of leaving the player the choice to refuse Den's help: the main problem, beside being suicidal, is that it would be too inconsistent with the story (how would you get the weapons, for example?), so I think I'll leave it as it is.

The goblin is a different thing, I may actually do that. Although they are great help, some player might be annoyed by their coward betrayals and would prefer to get rid of them at some point.
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The_Gnat
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Re: Hunters of the East

Post by The_Gnat »

skeptical_troll wrote:As for your idea of leaving the player the choice to refuse Den's help: the main problem, beside being suicidal, is that it would be too inconsistent with the story (how would you get the weapons, for example?), so I think I'll leave it as it is.

The goblin is a different thing, I may actually do that. Although they are great help, some player might be annoyed by their coward betrayals and would prefer to get rid of them at some point.
Sounds good! I still personally think you should give an option to accept den's help though! ;) Maybe what you could do is make it so that there are two options either accept and then the normal thing happens or refuse and then one of your loyal unit talks to you and convinces you to accept. That way the player would still have a choice but it would just would always end in accepting den's help. I think this would be good because it makes the player feel more involved in the plot (even though the same events happen either way)! :D Obviously this is just my opinion if you decide otherwise i wont get mad ^_^


EDIT: While playing scenario 3 i found the small island that has the rogue mage. Unfortunately i thought it was the island that the objectives told me to get my caravans on - so i moved all the caravans there. :P It would be nice if when you find that island one of your companions asks if that is the correct island and someone says that it is not that way other people don't accidentally do the same thing and have to redo a bunch of turns. :D (this addresses question 5. on your list)

Once again the map looks really cool (i like how diverse the forest is mixed in with swamps, mud,and all different types of forest it is really good! Scenario 3 is really big but i didn't really mind i thought it was cool!
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skeptical_troll
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Re: Hunters of the East

Post by skeptical_troll »

The_Gnat wrote:While playing scenario 3 i found the small island that has the rogue mage. Unfortunately i thought it was the island that the objectives told me to get my caravans on - so i moved all the caravans there. It would be nice if when you find that island one of your companions asks if that is the correct island and someone says that it is not that way other people don't accidentally do the same thing and have to redo a bunch of turns.
Good point, I never thought of that. I'll make it clear somewhere! At least it's not too off from the right direction, although there aren't comfortable roads up there.
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The_Gnat
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Re: Hunters of the East

Post by The_Gnat »

skeptical_troll wrote:Good point, I never thought of that. I'll make it clear somewhere! At least it's not too off from the right direction, although there aren't comfortable roads up there.

Yeah i should have been smarter :lol: it took like 6 turns to get the carts up 20 hexes through that forest so it obviously wasn't were i should have been going. ;)
Tigertown84
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Re: Hunters of the East

Post by Tigertown84 »

1. TBfW Version 1.10.7, Campaign version1.1.12, Medium difficulty
2. Really liked the characters and the story. Wesnothian and yet unique. Owning a rogue mage was very cool, esp when he leveled up to Shadow Lord. He was a tough SOB then. Hoping you make another campaign soon, maybe ABOUT rogue mages....hmmmm
3. Enjoyed almost every map. Great mix of terrains. Never boring. Surprise ending!!
4. Some scenarios were pretty difficult given I was only on Medium. I confess to some re-rolls of turns gone bad
5. The Great Forest was the map I enjoyed the most. Learning which faction to attack(or NOT to attack) and when was really key to this one. You could not just go willy nilly attacking anything that moved. Also Den Lohy became one of my favorite Wesnoth characters. Nothing like a scoundrel with a good heart, for the right price
I would say my least favorite map/scenario was 'Finding Tocletus' just because it was too easy to find him and the battle was over quickly.
6. No issues with the objectives
7. Some of the grammar was a little rough but the story enabled me to ignore that
8. Most of the maps were great, lots of uniquely blended terrain
9. Instant classic. Thank you for sharing it!!

a. I love big maps and I can not lie....lol
b. No, not too difficult
c. Story is important, didn't skip any of it or want to
d. I did have a sense of what might happen so I stayed East from the get go.

One final thing....man that was a bummer of a plot twist before the last scenario. No Disney type endings for you, huh...lol.
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skeptical_troll
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Re: Hunters of the East

Post by skeptical_troll »

Hi Tigertown84, thanks for your comments and the nice words, I'm glad you enjoyed the campaign! Now that I feel more confident about my english I may eventually go back to it and revise the text. I will probably hate myself and how verbose I was at the time :)
Tigertown84 wrote:Hoping you make another campaign soon, maybe ABOUT rogue mages....hmmmm

I did write another campaign after this one, as you see in my signature, and it does feature rogue mages but unfortunately only as enemies. However you'd need to upgrade to Wesnoth 1.12 if you want to play it (not much is created for 1.10 any more).
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