The Beautiful Child

[Delicius169]

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You mean that you can exploit it by leaving the scenario unfinished and restarting it to get more experience?

yes

I have found out what is The Affably evil campain based on thanks to Lovercraft btw, but I am not sure about this one yet.

Affably evil has nothing to do with Lovercraft. The story was based on clues about past from LotI, filled by trying to explain how could the few strange things in its beginning happen (Lethalia's name-to-run-away-from-very-fast, her quick move to necromancy, Delly not caring when Efraim left her etc.), gluing this together in a way that looks natural did not leave much space for additional ideas.[/quote]

Sorry, I forgot to explain what does Lovercraft have to do with it.
There was a part in his story, when describing something morbid, absurd, terrible, that even de Rais, wouldnt do such horrible things.
And I had feeling that I ve seen name de Rais (Raise, Retz sometims written) somewhere- and I googled de Rais, and found article about evil deeds (killing children, experiment with necromancy, demonology,... or the other teory, that church wanted to confiscated his possesions.)


Edit: shortcut of The Beutifu Child- TBC- intentional?

[Dugi]

I could not replicate the error again. I think that I kept my version compatible with updates in LotI, but I have not updated the version on the server for too long. So I have just updated it, it should be working.

The morbid tuberculosis-related shortcut was just a coincidence, but I do not mind it. The corruption spreading over the society shown in the campaign is like a deadly disease.

Replying to the rest of what you wrote in a PM as it's not related to this campaign.

[Sire]

Taking a break from playing LotI to play this campaign, and I have several bugs to report.

I have just returned to Burke's Castle after "To Tame a Land", so I have not finished the campaign yet. However, so far, I am enjoying the campaign. The dialogue choices are a nice touch, and I enjoy expanding the party with new characters. I look forward finishing this campaign.

BoW Version: 1.12.4
TBC Version: 0.1.5 Beta (A previous version, the latest seems to be 1.0.0)
Difficulty: Normal

Feedback List:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Bug 1 - Crooked Ravine - Variable Spelling Error
- Says {VARIABLE quests.ravine_eld_and_wolf yes} instead of {VARIABLE quests.ravine_elf_and_wolf yes}

Bug 2 - Invalid WML
- <Invalid WML Found> [get_unit_resistance] not supported.
- To Tame a Land Scenario, seems to be the Exterminator (and by extension, the Manhunter) unit type. Specifically, the "Chaos" attack.

Bug 3 - To Tame a Land - Unfinished Text
- Rimaru's dialogue when it is raining blood.
- Says only "I think that we'll need to " then ends abruptly.

Scenario - To Tame a Land - Feedback
- Bandits refuse to attack my units
-- One attempt I tried a "kill all leaders" strat, but the factions that could be hired did not really attack my units unless it was impossible to retaliate (such as a Trapper attacking my Swordsman).
- Allies units can surround the boss, making it impossible to deal proper damage with your heroes, especially with the turn limit and the Blood Rain effect.
-- I had to resort to cheating as I had no desire to restart the scenario (for the third time) or go back several turns.

General Feedback
- It seems this campaign focuses mainly on the main heroes and not recalls (considering that recalls seem to be wiped every battle). A part of me would like to be able to use my veteran units in future battles, even if they are restricted to the recruit scenarios. Otherwise, aside from using recruited units as meatshields, there is no real reason to recruit units so far.
- Note: Progress wise, I have just finished To Tame a Land. I have not completed the campaign as of present and will upgrade to 1.0.0 after posting.

[Dugi]

Says {VARIABLE quests.ravine_eld_and_wolf yes} instead of {VARIABLE quests.ravine_elf_and_wolf yes}

Fixed.

<Invalid WML Found> [get_unit_resistance] not supported.

I am not sure when I fixed this, but I could not replicate it on version 1.0.0, even when using the save files from people who had that problem.

Says only "I think that we'll need to " then ends abruptly.

Looks like I haven't finished the sentence when writing it. Finished it now.

Bandits refuse to attack my units

I increased their aggression. I hope it will work out.

Otherwise, aside from using recruited units as meatshields, there is no real reason to recruit units so far.

This is a design flaw that will be hard to correct. In the campaign Affably Evil, the heroes have a 300% experience modifier which means that they reach level 4 by the end of the campaign and are not much stronger than recruits. Maybe I could use it here too, but that might need a serious rebalancing. If you have played that campaign, can you please tell if it's better that way?

I am not updating the server version because of these few changes.

[Sire]

@ Dugi

1: Invalid WML - Seems to be Fixed
- Playing the latest version (1.0.0) and spawning in an Exterminator for testing seems to indicate that the bug is no longer present.

2: Affably Evil
- I have not played Affably Evil, although I was considering it when deciding between TBC and AE. After reading through both topics, the increased EXP requirement turned me away from playing Affably Evil and play this campaign first instead.
- As I do not know how Affably Evil's balancing turns out, I can not leave proper feedback for introducing that method of balancing into this campaign. However, I am currently enjoying leveling up my party of heroes and mercenaries, and I may not enjoy the campaign as much if their EXP requirements were increased.
- The only suggestion I have to encourage recruiting units (and introducing the recall mechanic), is to allow for units to be recalled in certain scenarios. Of course, that would require these scenarios to be rebalanced and perhaps have some text explaining why they are only around for certain scenarios, but otherwise, this should leave the main heroes, mercenaries, and "free roam" scenarios as they are now.

[Dugi]

Invalid WML - Seems to be Fixed

Good to know.

The only suggestion I have to encourage recruiting units (and introducing the recall mechanic), is to allow for units to be recalled in certain scenarios.

I was trying to tackle the problem that in long campaigns, you often don't recruit what is suitable to handle the enemy, just recall what you have. You have just some loyals that are always recalled. This would go against it. That's why I see the way to fix it in reducing the power of the heroes.

You're a native speaker of English language right? Since I am not, I'd like to ask if there weren't some language oddities in the dialogues and such.

[Sire]

Finally finished the campaign on Normal difficulty.

Overall, it was fun and enjoyable, but after realizing that recruits are essentially useless outside of the very starting scenarios, I decided not to recruit any. At the end of the campaign, I had over 2000 gold in excess, even after buying items from the end-game town.

In addition, I practically finished the final scenario with two main units, my player character (a Duke), and the faithful lieutenant (a Dragon Rider). I did obtain all the mercenaries and they had some levels invested in them as well, but aside from the healers, (Rimanu and the "she-brother"), those two units practically soloed the finale. Of course, at the boss encounter, I did use my other units to help out, but overall those two were my main powerhouses.

Long story short, the hero party really does not need recruits aside from maybe the the very start of the campaign. While it was somewhat fun to wreck everyone, I must admit there was not much of a challenge (on Normal) outside of boss encounters and the "To Tame a Land" scenario. Perhaps the 300% XP increase may help the player try to use recruited units, but it may also just have the player (especially with hindsight), just focus on a few units instead of the entire party.

As for being a native English speaker, I guess I am one. I pointed out several spelling errors and the like in the spoilers, and while I could go through the entire campaign checking pure dialogue, I will be busy for the month of November. However, afterwards I should have free time again, and could go through the text then if you like.

Bugs and More Feedback:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Thunderhold - Luke's Speech
- Current: "Your ressurected your body with your necromantic abilties and made her your mistress"
- Fixed? "Your ressurected her body with your necromantic abilities and made her your mistress"

Thunderhold - Spelling Error
- Current: "A doubt a woman can become so poweful."
- Fixed: "I doubt a woman can become so powerful."

Scenario 04 - Marching to War - Repeated Dialogue
- "Do you have any evidence about that?" & "Let me think, who was last known for using such spells? Queen of Darkness?" have the same results (unless intentional).

Scenario 05 - Coming of the Tide - C++ Crash
- Occurs after Turn 6, please see the image for more detailss
- However, it can be ignored and the game will go on.



Faithdome - The Reveal
- Seems a little anti-climatic.
- I understand the overall dialogue, but for some reason it didn't have a big impact on me.

Scenario 6 - Boss 1 Dialogue
- "second_unit" does not speak, the boss simply talks again.
- I think I used Champion Burke to attack him, and the death blow may have been from the parry instead of the actual attack. I do not remember.

Valley Passage - Spelling Error
- Sicaria "realised" to -> "realized"

Valley Passage - Unpassable Mountain Dialogue
- My Iron Mauler can't pass through mountains, but the alt dialogue did not trigger.

Valley Passage - Respawning Units
- I finished the boss battle and switched maps (one of my soldiers could teleport, so I teleported to a nearby village and went to the waystone). Upon returning, all the enemies and events respawned.
- In theory, it may be possible to fight the boss encounter again, but I did not check if I could.

Scenario 8 - Bringing the Light - Altar Guardians
- Dialogue triggers when guardians attack, not the player attacking them.

Scenario 8 - Bringing the Light - Units inside Wall
- On the fourth level, there are two enemy units that spawn inside a wall.

Diplomacy
- I tried to choose all the diplomatic options in the playthrough (most of the choices would have been the ones I chosen anyway), but I never got the second diplomatic dialogue, just the first one (at the value of 3).

Ending
- While it gave a lot of information on the overall story, as a whole it really didn't seem to give that "ending" feel.
- I guess I wanted some sort of epilogue on "what happens afterwards to everybody" instead of just ending with "we will talk to the king and Burke is relieved that it is all over."

[Dugi]

Perhaps the 300% XP increase may help the player try to use recruited units, but it may also just have the player (especially with hindsight), just focus on a few units instead of the entire party.

If you ever finish Affably Evil, please tell me if you have not changed your mind.

I could go through the entire campaign checking pure dialogue, I will be busy for the month of November.

I am not gonna demand this from you. Just wanted to know if you had noticed something.

Scenario 05 - Coming of the Tide - C++ Crash

It's an AI problem where mapping units failed for some reasons. According to the devs, this should never happen, so if WML causes C++ errors, it's an error in the game. However, replicating this is nigh-impossible without the save file..

Faithdome - The Reveal
- Seems a little anti-climatic.

Well, Rimaru's family saga was not particularly important for the plot.

I think I used Champion Burke to attack him, and the death blow may have been from the parry instead of the actual attack. I do not remember.

It seems to be rather a problem with parry. I will check it out.

My Iron Mauler can't pass through mountains, but the alt dialogue did not trigger.

Weird. Was he modified to be able to pass through the mountains? Do you have a save file where I could debug it?

Dialogue triggers when guardians attack, not the player attacking them.

Intended. They explain why are they attacking you.

I guess I wanted some sort of epilogue on "what happens afterwards to everybody" instead of just ending with "we will talk to the king and Burke is relieved that it is all over."

This is quite bad for the case if I later decided to add a sequel.

The rest was dealt with in the expectable way.

[Sire]

I have attached the main scenario save files to this post. However, I only have the base scenario saves (from the start of the scenario), since I have a habit of cleaning out my BoW save files and replays on a regular basis. As such, I no longer have the save to test the "Iron Mauler and the Mountain" dialogue. I apologize for this inconvenience.

I hope by providing the main scenario saves will provide an idea of how powerful my units got as they progressed through the campaign, which should be useful for balancing purposes.

* * * * *

Perhaps one day I'll get around to playing Affably Evil, and when I do I'll leave the feedback in its respective topic. While I would have liked to see a more fleshed out ending for TBC, I can see why it is left open for any possible sequels down the line.

At any rate, thank you for creating this campaign. It was a fun experience.

[Dugi]

Thanks for the save files. See you next time.

[ZIM]

Dugi,is it intended that the heroes can't access their inventory in "To Tame A Land" scenario and units that recruited can't pick items?

[Dugi]

Recruited units can't access their inventories or pick up items. That is intentional, preventing your team from becoming too strong as it limits the number of heroes that continue to next scenarios and pick up items.

[nuorc]

Thank you for this nice campaign, Dugi!

I just played and finished it and generally liked it.

Dugi,is it intended that the heroes can't access their inventory in "To Tame A Land" scenario

@Dugi: Did you read this? My heroes could access it there.

units that recruited can't pick items?

Throughout this campaign I haven't warmed up to these 'auxiliary units'. If I can't keep a unit I don't want to put xp into it. So after the initial stages I basically once got some horses to grab some vills and 'just in case', other than that I felt my heroes sufficed (at least on easy):

Spoiler:

TBC-Siege_of_Ziggurat_replay.gz

(320.31 KiB) Downloaded 413 times

My player char Bluthorst can take some abuse!

A few things I noticed:

iceform seems pretty mighty.

There's other stuff I haven't tried yet, like otherwordly essence. But if you're for example riding a dragon, there's still no gear for his bite, right?

Are there some new death sounds in bfw?

[ZIM]

Oh,sorry.
It seems after I reloaded the scenario,my heroes can access their inventory again.
And,why can't I recall my units from another scenario?

[Dugi]

@ZIM
I think that you accidentally clicked on a wrong unit and thought it was a hero.

@nuorc
I think that people like dabber would report it if iceform was too strong.
Otherwordly essence works on various touch attacks, dragons' teeth aren't affected.
New death sounds? What are you talking about?