Scenario Review: (UTBS) 3. A Stirring in the Night

Feedback for the mainline campaign Under the Burning Suns.

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Pater-Brown
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Joined: May 26th, 2006, 6:53 pm

ChangeLog Vers. 1.1.8

Post by Pater-Brown »

Oops, was it my fault, that the undead leaders cannot move anymore?
emdot
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bug in scenario

Post by emdot »

svn ver.: 13328 (in campaign folder)

Bug in 3rd scenario: Long_Night, after killing of second spectre
scenario crashes due to improper number of site (21), I believe this is
reason::

{UNIT_ (Spectre) (Azkotep) 2 (21) (24) ( _ "24")}
{UNIT_ (Spectre) (Ystara) 3 (21) (7) ( _ "7")}

These lines should be::

{UNIT_ (Spectre) (Azkotep) ( _ "Azkotep") 2 21 24}
{UNIT_ (Spectre) (Ystara) ( _ "Ystara") 2 21 24}

Note: they are not consecutive.
IB
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Joined: September 28th, 2006, 11:38 am

Post by IB »

I got the same thing when killing the second undead on turn 10. Using 1.1.10.

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zookeeper
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Post by zookeeper »

Fixed now. I had fixed Azkotep's macro earlier already, but I didn't unfortunately realize that the other one suffered from the same bug. :?
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Zhukov
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Re: Scenario Review: (UTBS) 3. A Stirring in the Night

Post by Zhukov »

• What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?
Medium (challenging) difficulty/Version 1.1.11

• How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
7/10 - But that's playing for zero losses.

• How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Fine-fine-fine.

• How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
All good...IIRC. Other people keep mentioning Garak getting possesed. That didn't happen to me. Poor bugger got killed at the end, but never possessed. Is that a bug...?

• What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
Not all that much actually. I got rid of the undead leaders while the orcs were still in the hills. Hardest thing was keeping those %#$! fragile elves alive.

• How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
The villages made things interesting. I'd give this 8/10.

• What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
Make the undead bases further from the villages. Or make the villages closer to the player's base. The way it is now, the player doesn't really get any opportunity to defend some of the villages. The undead can reach a couple of them no matter what you do. Having to mount a hurried defense is interesting, but it is frustrating how some villages are as good as lost right from the beginning.

• How much gold did you have at the start of the scenario?
Not sure, I'll guess about 200.
Gus
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Location: France

Post by Gus »

I'm currently being frustrated to death by this level (in medium) and would love tips/replays.
I can't defend against the undead who recruits 3 Wraiths in 2 turns, i've already lost 2 villages, and my units can't get to the front quickly enough. I have a bunch of level 2s plus a couple of 3s (3 Sentinels plus Nym, 3 Druids and a Shyde, 3 Rangers, 1 Marksman, Kaleh is a Captain, Elyssa a Silver Mage for maximum mobility), but they don't really help. I started the scenario with about 420 gold, spent all of this Recalling and getting a few extra units (mostly a couple of scouts, on turn 1), but the Wraiths wreak havoc, especially since they can connect with the Revenant and Riders, in the South.
I simply don't get it =/ Do i have to save/load until i get good luck? Because as it stands, even with normal luck i get trashed, and i certainly don't get how someone can resist a bit of bad luck by clever tactics here.
Falesh
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Post by Falesh »

Medium (challenging) difficulty/Version 1.1.14

I found this a challenging and fun map.

I have one reservation though, it felt a bit false. What I mean is that the undead are close enough, and fast enough, that if they wanted they could take over lots of villages before you have a chance to defend them. It gives a feeling of victory being a little hollow as they could have run ghosts/horses about and taken the villages if they wanted to.
llib
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Joined: December 27th, 2006, 5:42 pm

Is there way to save Garak?

Post by llib »

Is there way to save Garak?
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Xandria
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Post by Xandria »

It's not false - after all, the two undead just want to kill each other, and you're in the middle...
The fight against human stupidity is endless, but we must never give it up.
- Jan Werich
Imp
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Post by Imp »

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

Challenging, 1.2

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

4. The villages made it so. I only lost one in the end, and only because it was the northermost one right next to the undead and they captured it on their first turn when none of my recruits could move. None of them could have reached it anyway. It was a simple matter of blitzing to the undead leaders and wiping them out in 8 or 12 turns (2-3 turns after the orcs appeared - however long it takes the orcish leader to reach my keep). The orcs proved a nuisance (a good, tactical nuisance!) and I thought I was in trouble when they recruited a bunch of troops in my keep, but I felled the last undead leader then.

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

Not very. Kill undead, cool. Keep villages until dawn...How long until Dawn? My scenario didn't have a turn limit.

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

Very clear, very interesting. I wish the undead duelists played a bigger role in the story. (I quit in Out of the Frying Pan).

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

Keeping the villages intact, keeping my troops alive - only 1 died in the end, plus Garak to make 2. Repositioning my troops in time to hold off the third front against the orcs.

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

10. I very much enjoyed it. However, a sore point is that losing Garak, w ho we'd painstakingly levelled...

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

Warn us earlier in the campaign not to level Garak.

(8) How much gold did you have at the start of the scenario?

Argh, I can't remember. About 160.
bt
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Joined: January 19th, 2007, 3:45 am

Post by bt »

1) Challenging (middle) difficulty. Older version (I forget).
2) 8 out of 10. Difficult for me, but manageable.
3) The objectives are somewhat ambiguous, but the ambiguity adds to the level. However, I wasn't sure if I still needed to protect 6 villages in the later part of the level, although for the sake of story logic, I did so anyhow.
4) Very interesting.
5) Surviving surprise (Garak) after surprise (Orcs).

6) 10. The reason I'm making this post. I played this level a while ago (half-year or a year ago) and it was the best experience I've had playing Wesnoth. First, there's the tension of not knowing quite how long you have to survive against the undead, because there is no stated turn limit (I think). You have to protect the villages, but you're not sure how long. If you're like me, you manage to hold enough villages, and start winning against the undead, so you figure the nonexistent turn limit doesn't much matter, since you'll defeat the leaders.

Suddenly, the undead leader possesses Garak! He and his minions slaughter your injured troops and take villages you thought were safe in the rear. Now you're worried about that 6-village limit again. You wonder if there's a way to save him, perhaps by killing the leaders in the correct order. So you try to avoid attacking Garak directly. But then you're told you have to kill Garak for daylight to appear, and you realize - there's no time limit because you have to finish off the leaders! Then, the Orc appears! What else can go wrong!

Anyway, I thought the whole level was well designed to have drama and tension. I especially thought the Orc leader was a clever design, because while it's yet another surprise, you can try to react to it. You count the number of turns when he'll reach your keep, and then you can try to stop him, or else you can plan a defence accordingly. The level is probably a different experience depending on your troop position when the surprises happen, but in my game, the surprises made for a real challenge without becoming frustrating or impossible.

7) Changes? If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
8.) No idea. 400 gold, maybe?
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Buddy Jimm
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Re: Scenario Review: (UTBS) 3. A Stirring in the Night

Post by Buddy Jimm »

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

"Normal" 1.2.4

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

7. By chance I had some fast veterans, enabling me to balance each front as appropriate and have just enough leeway to react to the orcs. Took me a while back on Harsh sands to decide to make Elyssa a Silver Mage -- that sure worked out well in a scenario full of pre-owned camps.

It was also somewhat by chance (also Elyssa) that I was able to take out Zombie-Garak before his troop could get formed up. A round of bad luck would likely have ended the game right there.

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

A bit strange, but clear. Nothing wrong with putting useful information into dialog, but the need to hold onto villages doesn't seem to appear in my objective list. Also, without a turn limit or any other hints, it took a few turns before it sank in that the suns weren't coming up anytime soon.

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

Good on all counts. It was a little odd for Ystara to be able to just gank Garak out of the blue and give him a stat-boost and new friends, but one thing I learned from adventure stories is never to bother questioning the logic of drama-inducing villains.

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

Challenges aplenty, but none that aren't already obvious.

(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?

Not much to add here. The author-intention is pretty clearly conveyed.

(8) How much gold did you have at the start of the scenario?

784
ponkan
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Joined: December 10th, 2005, 9:16 am

Re: Scenario Review: (UTBS) 3. A Stirring in the Night

Post by ponkan »

quartex 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?
(8) How much gold did you have at the start of the scenario?
(1) Hard, 1.3.2.

(2) 'Bout 6 for pure difficulty I'd say, though the campaign seems to depend on a bit of luck in the beginning. The Orcs didn't trigger on my go-through, don't know why (played until turn 11, at which point I had managed to kill both leaders)

(3) Very clear, except for not knowing how long until dawn, but I gather that was deliberate.

(4) The two undead sniping insults at each other was novel, and fun.

(5) Keeping my villages covered. Had one open by accident and a wraith captured it, then the WC captured another village bringing me down to 6! Thankfully no others were captured.

(6) 8: the complication of the villages made it tense and interesting, and shooting for the turn-11 win kept me on the offensive. Played an older version where I was just too late to save Garak -- source diving told me that I couldn't save him anyway, but it was a nice extra challenge. Besides, having only 6 villages I needed the bonus! :lol:

(7) Can't think of anything.

(8) Don't remember, but it was enough to recall maybe 3 castles full of troops. And I certainly didn't end with much! I started the next scenario with the default starting gold, and at Hard it wasn't the breather I hear it's supposed to be.
There is no good, nor evil. Things are; that is all.
IB
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Joined: September 28th, 2006, 11:38 am

Post by IB »

1.3.6, says it has an illegal character and won't load.
cordobatim
Posts: 17
Joined: January 27th, 2006, 4:19 pm
Location: Texas

1.3.7, Stirring in the Night won't work

Post by cordobatim »

Hmmm... I just got 1.3.7, since UTBS wouldn't work on 1.3.6. The third scenario seems broken. When the southern undead player moves, a walking corpse is spawned, whether or not a village is captured or not. The scenario ends on the third turn because too many corpses have been spawned.
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