Scenario 1: Rooting out a Mage

Feedback for the mainline campaign A Tale of Two Brothers.

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RS14
Posts: 4
Joined: January 5th, 2009, 4:24 am

Re: Two Brothers: 1. Rooting out a Mage

Post by RS14 »

1) Hard, 1.4.
2) 7.
3) Very clear.
4) Clear but not very interesting. Also, I personally don't care for messages that interrupt combat (such as the "I hear these creatures..." message); it seems distracting. I'd prefer a monologue by Arne at the end of that turn along the lines of "Our spears seem ineffective against these creatures." It's more informative to new players and makes just as much sense.
5) Obsessive desire to protect loyal units. Also, I restarted after first attempting "The Chase," which seemed likely to prove the most difficult scenario of this campaign, and as it seemed like footpads would be just about worthless in it, I recruited only spearmen and bowmen. As it was, I won with no losses, although the footpad and one spearman survived by very narrow margins.
The trick for this seemed to be to lure fast-moving ghosts to the hills in the south so you can have some breathing room while you defeat the initial force of skeletons and dark adepts.
6) 6. The map is interesting, but too little of it really seems to wind up in play. I found the ghosts more annoying than even the skeletons, but that's just me. The trio of horsemen were very fun just by virtue of their ability to kill any isolated unit, though.
7) Place two villages near the center of the forest and hills to the south-west to make it a more viable avenue of attack.
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Vainglorious
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Joined: January 5th, 2009, 3:53 am

Re: Two Brothers: 1. Rooting out a Mage

Post by Vainglorious »

(Preface: This was the first scenario I played after the tutorial.)
(1) What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?
Easy difficulty, version 1.4.7.
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
3
(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
I found the objectives clear and easy to understand.
(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
The storyline was clear, but a tad generic. My main criticism of the dialogue, however, is that it seems consistently abrupt/short and rather simplistic. Example:

"Ha, so you thought to send a mage around and stab me in the back? Well, I have news for you. We've kidnapped him!"
"What? Bjarn kidnapped? And the evil mage still ravages the land? Noooo!"

In my opinion, this sort of verbal exchange needs to be longer and grittier to make it atmospheric and believable. I know most people don't want to read a novel as they play (I certainly don't), but I think a little more detail and polish could really go a long way in this case.
(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
My major challenge was attempting to claim and hold villages on what are essentially two fronts: The west side beneath the enemy's castle, and the upper east side above my castle. I had to think of how to split my forces while incurring minimal losses. I found horsemen useful here, because they're quite mobile and could move between these two fronts readily.
(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
8
(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
I'd want to enhance and extend the dialogue, as mentioned above. Also, given that this scenario on Easy is intended for brand-new players, a subtle explanation of the usefulness of Footpads might be a good idea (without foreknowledge of their niche, I thought they were sub-par compared to all other available units).
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randomdragoon
Posts: 34
Joined: February 27th, 2009, 8:00 am

Re: Two Brothers: 1. Rooting out a Mage

Post by randomdragoon »

(1) Hard, 1.4
(2) 3
(3) Clear
(4) Meh, it's okay
(5) The skeletons
(6) 4
(7) For some reason, one time I played it the AI recruited almost all dark adepts (and two ghosts), which were ludicrously easy to kill (compared to if he had recruited skeletons like he should have).
Krellja
Posts: 19
Joined: May 11th, 2008, 5:17 pm

Re: Two Brothers: 1. Rooting out a Mage

Post by Krellja »

ivanovic wrote:(1) What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
(1) Easy, 1.6.2
(2) 2
(3) Absolutly Clear
(4) ok. I lke the story of the two brothers.
(5) The Ghoul's Poison. I'm relatively new to really playing Wesnoth.
(6) 6. In spite of the poison, all my units survided. A nice success for a beginner.
(7) none.
DrPepper8
Posts: 11
Joined: August 31st, 2009, 10:16 am

Re: Two Brothers: 1. Rooting out a Mage

Post by DrPepper8 »

1. 1.6.4, Challenging

2. 5

3. Clear.

4. It was OK.

5. I'm fairly new to Wesnoth, so took me a couple of attempts before I realised I should be using footpads - after that it was fine.

6. 6

7. Given that footpads are the key to victory, starting the player off with mainly bowmen and spearmen was a bit misleading - maybe give them another footpad or two from the beginning?
Bob Rock
Posts: 5
Joined: November 27th, 2008, 9:45 am

Re: Two Brothers: 1. Rooting out a Mage

Post by Bob Rock »

(1) What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?
hard, 1.6.4
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
5
(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
very clear
(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
The new version has been improved a lot. Well done
(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
ghosts and skelly are very hard to kill with the given units
(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
6
(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
I cannot say
Joram
Posts: 366
Joined: September 2nd, 2008, 5:36 am

Re: Two Brothers: 1. Rooting out a Mage

Post by Joram »

(1) What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?
A lot. Most recent try was Hard on 1.7.6

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
2- Not difficult at all. Send all forces along the south bank of the river to lure his ghosts away, assassinate the leader with my horsemen.

Actually, my southern forces ended up defeating his, and my assassination team was intercepted by a few adepts (vs horsemen :mrgreen: ), and a skeleton. I ended up just blitzing through and leaving the skeleton and a couple of southern ghosts behind. No sense in wasting time on them.

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Very clear.

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
Very good job. The intro story is five times better than it used to be. I've always liked this campaign, but now it's even better.

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
None really. Just a straight forward bash them.

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
9- It didn't take long, so my short attention span kept in it well. :)

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
I can't think of anything that would improve it more than the new dialogue and story already has.
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ftl
Posts: 8
Joined: February 24th, 2010, 9:33 pm

Re: Two Brothers: 1. Rooting out a Mage

Post by ftl »

ivanovic wrote:(1) What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?
Easy, 1.6.5.

Played it right after the tutorial, but I HAD played Wesnoth for a bit a few years ago before quitting.
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
3.
(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Clear.
(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
Pretty good. The storyline seemed like a pretty straightforward setup, but that's okay.
(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
Dealing with poison.
Using footpads right.
Not losing guys - I wasn't sure how many it was ok to lose.
(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
5
(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
[/quote]

It's pretty good as it is! :) Hmm, if I had to suggest something...
shadowblack
Posts: 368
Joined: April 15th, 2010, 3:03 pm

Re: Two Brothers: 1. Rooting out a Mage

Post by shadowblack »

(1) What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?
Hard, 1.8.2 (I’ve played it on Easy, too, but I’ll comment only on the Hard version)

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
3 (much easier than I expected)

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

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
Interesting, although killing the enemy leader before turn 10 makes things a little less interesting since we don’t get the text about Arne worrying for his brother.

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
Surprisingly, none (unless you count killing the enemy leader without losing anyone). I guess I got really lucky with the units the enemy recruited and was able to kill them with little trouble.

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
7

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
Just one – if a unit on the player’s side stands next to the enemy leader before turn 10 dislay the message about Arne getting worried about Bjarn.
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Mountain_King
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Re: Scenario 1: Rooting out a Mage

Post by Mountain_King »

(1) What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?
1.9.5, Challenging, No recruits challenge.
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
probably five to win, seven to win without losing anybody. I was actually needing to think about where I placed my units. :P
(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Very clear.
(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
Par exellance thanks to A-Red's rewrite.
(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
1. Not recruiting. 2. Not losing anybody.
(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
About five or so.
(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
No changes.
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AvovA
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Joined: April 17th, 2011, 9:26 pm

Re: Scenario 1: Rooting out a Mage

Post by AvovA »

(1) What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?
1.8.5, hard
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
2, easy
(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
very clear
(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
don't care
(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
none really
(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
3
(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
Add something unusual to the map. Like an ambush or a magic item to pickup.
It is just a normal scenario right now.
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Faello
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Re: Scenario 1: Rooting out a Mage

Post by Faello »

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

Challenging (Knight) - top difficulty level, 1.9.6, no saves/reloads

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

1.

Mordak has a 200gp army that can hardly harm Arvith & his band of mercenaries, espescially that player can easily gain initiative, there's a lot of place to manouver and loyal troops cost no upkeep. Finished this scenario in turn 12/18.

0 losses, 15 kills.

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

Crystal clear.

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

Very interesting, this campaign has well written plot and nice story pictures despite being only 4 scenario long.

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

None major challenges.

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


7.

Plot definitely boosts this scenario rating.

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

No changes required.

(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?

No.

Replay attached:
Attachments
AToTB-Rooting_Out_a_Mage_replay.gz
Rooting out a mage, Challenging (Knight) difficulty level, 1.9.6, no saves/reloads
(14.7 KiB) Downloaded 735 times
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bjhartin
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Re: Scenario 1: Rooting out a Mage

Post by bjhartin »

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

Hard, 1.8.5

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

4. I recruited a few footpads as fodder for the skeletons. I pushed all non-mounted units into the western forest, and sent three horsemen north to the top and then west to assassinate the leader. The units in the western forest did not attack, but simply defended and pulled back each round to give the horsemen time. I finished pretty quickly.

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

5. Fairly clear. I wasn't sure whether the brother/mage character was going to appear at some point, though. My initial thought was that I was supposed to head north and let him attack out of the western forest.

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

5. The expository text on the screens between the levels (maps/cutscenes) is a little too long. Perhaps it's just me, but I think that such text is always a little less engaging than the dialogue between characters in scenarios. I think it's better to do exposition there, if possible.

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

None, really.

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

5.

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

The real fun is in figuring out that this is an assassination level. I think the key to making it more fun is to make the kill more rewarding. Perhaps you could give the mage a little more personality - make the player really *want* to get him via taunts, etc. Maybe reward the player a little if he kills the mage under a certain set of simple conditions, e.g. before turn X or without suffering losses. The mage might drop a little gold in that case - not enough to shift the balance, but enough to add some satisfaction, perhaps 25 gold.
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PorkSol
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Re: Scenario 1: Rooting out a Mage

Post by PorkSol »

(1) What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?Hardest, 1.9.8, no save load
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10) 4 to keep all loyal units alive and win quickly. 1 to win.
(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives? Clear.

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario? Above average, nice first scenario. One issue is that on my first run I did a lot of silly things to try and trigger the brother to launch his ambush. It might make sense to have somebody comment that the ambush should have been sprung by now. I didn't want to kill the mage too early and miss the ambush. Ended up restarting due to that.

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario? Preserving loyals, missing too many charges on the enemy leader. Trying to trigger the brother's ambush.

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10) 7. It's simple, but it plays out quickly and has a fair amount of plot. Works for a first scenario.

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun? Just have somebody comment that the ambush should have been sprung by now.
Attachments
AToTB-Rooting_Out_a_Mage_replay.gz
1.9.8, hard, no save load, preserved all loyals
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ipora
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Re: Scenario 1: Rooting out a Mage

Post by ipora »

(1) What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?
- Knight (Challenging), Wesnoth 1.10.0

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
- 6, or with right tactics 4.

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Very clear!
(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
- What lays in these brothers pasts? And where is he when we need him? For an unpretencious campaing and scenario it's quite good!

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
- Bad tactics (going right against the enemy) made me restart two times, and restarted once more after doing the wait some turns tactics, especially 'cause I lost two or more horses in the failed attempts, or ended up with only three loyal units.

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
- This is quite an exemple where a new player learns to wait a bit, if playng on Knight level, it's a just fun scenario --> 6.

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
- Sorry, no ideas here...
Attachments
AToTB-Rooting_Out_a_Mage_replay.gz
Wesnoth 1.10.0; no save reloads
(13.32 KiB) Downloaded 696 times
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