Scenario Review: DW 4 - Slavers

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Scenario Review: DW 4 - Slavers

Post by Content Feedback »

(1) What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth 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?
(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
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Maiklas3000
Posts: 532
Joined: June 23rd, 2010, 10:43 am

Re: Scenario Review: DW 4 - Slavers

Post by Maiklas3000 »

(1) What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?
Difficult (nightmare); 1.9.0

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
9.5

(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?
Great. When slaves are freed from cages, I don't need a big conversation to explain why they will now fight on my side. Just have them volunteer to fight, and that's that.

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
This is a very difficult scenario. It's hard to avoid putting the critical Priestess (Cylanna) on the front line at the start. She is usually greeted by two Saurian Oracles. The first Oracle says, "Pfft-pfft-pfft", and the second one says, "Pfft-...". Game over.

The slave revolt helps, but the allied units can easily get in the way and cause defeat. So, it's a bit random.

The terrain around the first enemy fortress is nasty for mermen and often causes my units to get surrounded and defeated.

I lost the Drake right at the end, pointlessly.

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
9

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
Don't spawn any slaves near my lines. Move the four slaves in the southwest to the other side of the enemy keep. That way, they won't interfere with my battleline, which is critical to keep intact in the face of skirmishing Saurians.

(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
Aside from losing many times (and restarting, not reloading), I also several times experienced a crash when an allied (slave) Brawler leveled up (AMLA). This is a general bug in 1.9.0 and may have something to do with it being a custom unit.

(9) If you know a bit of the Wesnoth Markup Language - do you think that the WML of this scenario is clear and well commented? If not which part would you like to be documented better?
Most excellent.

* * *

If you watch the following replay, I recommend at least 4x acceleration under Preferences.
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alda
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Re: Scenario Review: DW 4 - Slavers

Post by alda »

(1) What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?
difficult, 1.9.0

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
9

(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?
average

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
Well, just surviving the hord of lizards. The first time, I wasn't sure about what to do with my army and when to free the slaves. Actually, after several restarts, I've found out that in this scenario, you have to be really aggressive and kill the most lizards possible before night comes or else you'll be slaughtered.

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
9, I like when scenarios reward more agressive strategies than just sitting and letting the AI come at you.

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
nothing here

(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
well, just having too many saurians to cope with and starting to lose my high lvl units.

(9) If you know a bit of the Wesnoth Markup Language - do you think that the WML of this scenario is clear and well commented? If not which part would you like to be documented better?
sw_emigre
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Re: Scenario Review: DW 4 - Slavers

Post by sw_emigre »

Development Team wrote:(1) What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on? Challenging.
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10) I can't beat it. I've tried at least a half-dozen times, and without save-loading, I can't get far at all. I watched the replay, and that was basically the strategy I was trying, but the oracles use their magic and kill off enough of my people that I have no chance of finishing. I like playing Wesnoth, but I'm not looking for some super-challenge, so I will just bail on this scenario. (And I've beaten most of the mainline campaigns on the hardest level, so I ain't the best, but I shouldn't have this much trouble on the 4th scenario, where I have a handful of level 2s, 160 gold, and am up against over 40 enemies, including a bunch of level 2s and magic users. Looks like you can keep this scenario, I'm done.)
(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?
(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
(9) If you know a bit of the Wesnoth Markup Language - do you think that the WML of this scenario is clear and well commented? If not which part would you like to be documented better?
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tr0ll
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Re: Scenario Review: DW 4 - Slavers

Post by tr0ll »

  1. What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?
    1.8.4 medium
  2. How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
    9
  3. How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
    quite
    this scenario could have a few implicit learning objectives attached: using time of day, using terrain, playing the odds. they are totally critical to winning this one, i had to reign in my advance units and expectations a few times to prevent heavy losses.
  4. How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
    good motivational story.
  5. What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
    keeping some slaves alive
    losing no loyal or veteran units
    dealing with skirmishers
  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?
    need some kind of dialog if all the revolting slaves are killed. or a reason to go help the ones at the north end even if im not strategically ready.
  8. Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
    had to retry at several points with different strategies, due to good AI tactics
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Arawn
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Re: Scenario Review: DW 4 - Slavers

Post by Arawn »

This was a good scenario. I'm mostly just here to point out some missing frames in the saurians. After they attack and pull back, they seem to disappear for a moment. Nothing big.
But could we see more drakes in this? I know this isn't a drake campaign but when I saw Keshan I thought, "This is awesome and... just a drake burner? This would be pretty easy to work in; there's a good chance the slavers captured more than one drake. Maybe that cage can spawn multiple allies, like when the player frees the shyde in Legend of Wesmere (I forget the scenario number, but I remember an archer, a fighter, and a shyde popped out). Also, maybe after they defeat the drakes on their island, a couple decide to join in? I'd definitely like to be able to have an inferno drake (included), hurricane drake, drake battler, and drake blademaster by the end scenario.

Other than my obsession with drakes: great campaign. This has been the most fun add-on campaign since Brave Wings. It definitely deserved to go mainline (although I still feel Brave Wings should too). Loved the art, the scenarios, the allies you got (love Inky. That thing rules), everything. More specifically, I liked how this was only 12 scenarios long. Recently I've felt myself get bored with campaigns that run for 20+ scenarios and preferring those that go for 17 and under. And great work giving the player a bat on scenario 2. Bats really needed some love and you've finally did it. That thing has been snatching up villages ever since.
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beetlenaut
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Re: Scenario Review: DW 4 - Slavers

Post by beetlenaut »

It is a merman campaign, and not a drake campaign! A bunch of drakes would change the tactics too much. The saurian animations were a work in progress recently, but they work fine in the current development version. I'm glad you liked the campaign!
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The Founding of Borstep,
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Pewskeepski
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Re: Scenario Review: DW 4 - Slavers

Post by Pewskeepski »

(1) What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?
Normal 1.9.3 (268 gold)

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
8

(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?
Great, But why is the Drake a prisoner of saurians? (Usually their in alliance) I suggest that Keshan says he was a outcast or something.

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
I don't like fighting saurians, Especially on terrain that is in their favor :augh:

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
7 even though their Saurians, I found this one fun

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
None

(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
No, I restarted from the beginning a couple times because I lost some good units

(9) If you know a bit of the Wesnoth Markup Language - do you think that the WML of this scenario is clear and well commented? If not which part would you like to be documented better?
...
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dsa
Posts: 58
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Re: Scenario Review: DW 4 - Slavers

Post by dsa »

(1) What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?
Difficult, 1.9.3

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
9, the most difficult scenario in this campaign. There were not many chances before to get high level units and you have to fight against a lot of units of the most annoying race in Wesnoth, which demands full concentration during the whole scenario. Fortunately there is the option to initiate the slave revolt, which slows down and distracts the enemy a bit.

(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?
Good.

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
Magical attacks (which make my terrain defense futile), skirmisher ability combined with high mobility and a high enemy terrain defense or to make a long story short: Saurians.

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
8, actually a real good challenge, especially the slave revolt is a good idea as an additional tactical option. The negative thing is "just", that you have to fight the most annoying race and the scenario becomes a bit exhausting after some time.

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
It is okay as it is. Almost too hard, but I guess, this is what you can expect from the hardest difficulty.

(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
Some reloads, when I lost a bit of my concentration and made some simple mistakes.
Ceres
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Re: Scenario Review: DW 4 - Slavers

Post by Ceres »

(1) What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?
Easy, 1.9.4
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
8.
(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?
Nice.
(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
Saurians running right through my force and hiding in swamp.
(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?
Maybe make the leaders less aggressive, all three died, because they ran out of their castle right in the center of my forces just to throw spears at mermen with full hp.
(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
Spread out too much twice.
podbelski
Posts: 151
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Re: Scenario Review: DW 4 - Slavers

Post by podbelski »

(1) What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?
1.9.8, top difficulty, reloaded several times

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
at least "9" if you take "no reloads" challenge.

(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?
good

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
not letting the saurians to sneak behind my lines/surround a unit, protecting my injured

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
it's fun, thanks to the revolt. At times it can become annoying

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

(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
I'm not very familiar with playing against saurians, so made quite a few mistakes the first half of the battle. Reloaded after several bad placements, and once to luck out the survival of my priestess...
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taptap
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Re: Scenario Review: DW 4 - Slavers

Post by taptap »

(1) What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?

Warrior (Challenging), 1.9.9

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

After thinking twice: 7.

(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.

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

Staying calm and defending first (mermen on 70% vs. saurians in shallow water is like elves at the edge of a forest = great position), triggering uprising when saurians are weakest (turn 11) and insurgents achieve something (although they managed to put even the units they levelled on such bad terrain that they lost them in the night after to the last remaining saurians).

Personally I had not enough money to recall all my level2 units, people who say they had no opportunity to level up units likely didn't gave the ai the chance to generate enough walking experience points in the first level.

(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?

If the saurians were less aggressive and stay in the swamp my strategy (distraction in the north, defense in the coral reef and uprising in the morning of the second day) would not have worked as planned. After the merfolk declares the intention to free all the slaves shouldn't they be the attackers with the saurians awaiting them in the swamp?

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

Rushing too fast and seeing it is no good (didn't continue and restarted). Reloaded six moves earlier once after a bad disposition of my units.
I am a Saurian Skirmisher: I'm a real pest, especially at night.
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taptap
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Re: Scenario Review: DW 4 - Slavers

Post by taptap »

On Triton (Difficult), 1.9.13 AI didn't rushed as madly into the water, so you have to lure them out to get a fight, especially during the day it was much more careful than on Challenging. Thanks to the deep water I could almost completely disengage during the night. No enemy leader killed until very late but when they started looking overstretched on turn 16, then I triggered the uprising, and the rest happened very rapidly, the insurgents even finished the SE AI. (5 losses, 63 kills, 10 surviving insurgents)

Difficulty 7 (I got better in the meantime, played patiently and started with >100 bonus gold), Fun 9 (It is great, you can't rush and have to be patient, but you can't just sit on your coral reefs as well, because then they don't actually come).
I am a Saurian Skirmisher: I'm a real pest, especially at night.
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Wesbane
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Re: Scenario Review: DW 4 - Slavers

Post by Wesbane »

  • 1) Level, Version? Normal (180/180 gold pieces); 1.9.7
    2) Difficulty? 5.
    3) Scenario Objectives? Clear.
    4) Dialogue and story? Good.
    5) Challenges? Find a good tactic, since this what can be found in walkthrough was simply wrote by saurian or one of their slaves... Although I did not read it before I written this comment. See replay.
    6) Is it fun? 7
    7) Make it more fun? Although I do not think that any changes are really needed consider this interpretation of game event. If you do not call slave to fight for their freedom there is no word about them in the end of a scenario, if they do and they all die in the process no one trouble his thought about them either. I mean wow Kai is really enlightened monarch. Rebellion is a nice option but I am not a fun of needless slaughter if it is not my objective. Anyway I think that it is good to keep it as is since that makes him not so awfully righteous.
    8) Reload or restart? Many restarts
    9) WML? Well commented.
    10) Replay? Attached and working.
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Ninjuri
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Re: Scenario Review: DW 4 - Slavers

Post by Ninjuri »

Owch, i definitely think i did something wrong, I didn't even come close to killing the first enemy leader. I'm going to try again after reading this thread and the wiki though.
My strategy was to wait until the enemy had all their forces drawn out, and fight with them a bit. This would put them into the negetives monitarily so they could not get any more reinforcements, and i would fight them at the south, so the middle and northern saurians would have their lines stretched out. After the negetive funds and the streching, i would call the slaves, then put my full army to charge and sandwitch all the saurians.

This did not work, as the uprising was a lot less climactic than i expected, and didn't last long because the saurians bore down on me. I already have some ideas as to what i did wrong though. I should have saved the fighting for the day, made greater use of impact-type weapons, and not sent my healer up the coast to get villages, (not sure what i was thinking with that last one). Anyway second time's the charm so here i go again.

Edit:
I tried it a second time and got a little farther, but still got rolled. I read the wiki and everything. Instead of rushing in, i held back along the river so the enemy would have to fight in water and have less defense, i also used their negative resistance to impact against them by spamming cits and initiates. I made sure to be defensive during the night and offensive during the day. I put all my high level units on the front lines, and used a cheap cit to go up the coast and capture villages/get the shipwreck gold.

For some reason i was still getting swamped pretty good, so i called in the slaves. I thought i might be able to make it when i had a shot at freeing the drake and getting on the southern castle, but every time i freed him i died the next turn, so i had to retreat instead to my own castle and try to rebuild my force with the shipwreck gold, which didn't work. My forces got whittled away so i just left he base behind and swam away into deep waters, living happily ever after.

Edit 2:
Third time was the charm. I held them off on the shoreline next to my base in the beginning, and then pushed inward as hard as i could. I was lucky that all 3 of the saurian leaders seemed suicidal and charged into my forces, I would not have been able to win otherwise. I made heavy use of the lightning sceptor thing, and the drake too. I think i lost all the vets i came into this with, or at least most of them.

Normal 1.10.2
Difficulty: 10
Objectives: 100% clear
Dialogue: Good, you can see Kai mature.
Challenges: The buying power of the enemy was just massive, and the slaves consisted of mostly lv.0s which couldn't put up much of a fight.
Fun: 6
Changes: I would cut the buying power of the saurians, or create a greater presence of slaves/captives. Perhaps some rescue-able mermen going up the coast in cages.
Restarts: I had to restart twice because i kept getting owned. I finally made it on the third try.
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Fate is against me.
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