Oath of Allegiance [SP Desert People Campaign for 1.13.5]

Discussion and development of scenarios and campaigns for the game.

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Kwandulin
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Oath of Allegiance [SP Desert People Campaign for 1.13.5]

Post by Kwandulin »

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Description
"Accompany Ilriel, an elvish druid of the Southwoods of Wesnoth, and take part in an unforeseen and unmeant adventure that leads to lands far away."
(Intermediate difficulty, 21 scenarios, 3 of them dialogue-only)

Intent
Oath of Allegiance aims to be a rpg-esque campaign featuring two main protagonists that evolve during the campaign both gameplay- and storywise. Utilising the new faction of the desert people, OoA tries to introduce their units, their story, culture and connections to the realm of Wesnoth during this medium-sized campaign. It also enhances typical gaming experience of Wesnoth, the careful training and xp-farming of units, by allowing them to find and utilize a limited amount of fresh items and thus allowing unit modifications that may lead to interesting additions.

Features
  • use of the units of the new desert people faction
  • additional campaign-specific units
  • heroic units with unique advancements
  • several hints and notes on how one may use the units
  • medium sized maps with intense battles
  • elevated terrain
  • many places of interest with hidden events
  • music by West
Impressions
Spoiler:
Feedback
Feedback - of any kind - is much appreciated.

Guide
Spoiler:
Download
The newest version of the campaign can be downloaded via the add-on server that is accessible from Wesnoth 1.13.x
Last edited by Kwandulin on June 15th, 2017, 8:51 pm, edited 27 times in total.
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Re: Oath of Allegiance 0.1.0 [SP Campaign for 1.12.0]

Post by Konrad2 »

lovely campaign, just two things i want to mention.
in the last scenario Dawoud says at the beginning :,,But was just the vanguard..." it should be: ,,...But that was just the vanguard..." or is it intended, meaning that Ilriel doesnt understand their language perfectly yet?
the other one is that i suggest that you rename the scenario "Sands of Time", because there is already a scenario with this name in the campaign "Soldier of Wesnoth" by revansurik
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Re: Oath of Allegiance 0.1.0 [SP Campaign for 1.12.0]

Post by Kwandulin »

Yes, the first thing was not intentional, i missed that mistake and changed it accordingly. I've also changed the scenario name. The new v.0.1.1 can now be downloaded.
Thanks for the hints!

Code: Select all

v.0.1.1
- renamed scenario 4
- fixed the dialogue in scenario 5
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Re: Oath of Allegiance 0.1.1 [SP Campaign for 1.12.0]

Post by Lord-Knightmare »

Campaign difficulty: Normal/(switched to Easy on scenario 4 after getting screwed...twice)
Wesnoth version: 1.12

Scenario 1: No comments
Scenario 2:
My first ever try at Khalifate. Didn't have enough starting gold, so couldn't save some loyal units. Footpads were no match for the Arif and Dawoud is a good counter against poachers and thieves. Jundi were excellent all-rounders and a bane to thugs. My only complaint is that you didn't allow me to use the Naffat.

Scenario 3:
Recalled for the first turn only (less gold on start) and had a hard time initially, but the scenario was a walk in the park after I levelled an Arif and a Jundi.

Scenario 4:
Got screwed the first 2 times due to a low number of recalls. Then I switched to easy and I was able to win when I took side 5's veterans and then took each enemy out at a time.

Scenario 5:
Nice way to end a campaign, but a bit too generic. Giving me cavalry unit recruits for the last battle was kind of insignificant since I did not use them since my infantry were more than enough for the enemy side to handle. The wyvern rider boss was a moderate challenge. However, you could have included an epilogue about what happened afterwards. Did the Elven Shyde stay with the Khalifate? Or, did the Khalifate escort her back home? Or, did Ridwan make her one of his wives (since I think the Khalid of Serrul could have many wives)? The number of speculations I have are around twenty so, a proper ending for the story would be appropriate.

My ratings: 8.5/10

Additional Comments:
This might be first ever campaign with playable Khalifate units (the Khalifate first appeared in 'Soldier of Wesnoth'). With translations and a bit more balancing, this one might have the potential for mainline and an introductory guide to the Khalifate.
the other one is that i suggest that you rename the scenario "Sands of Time", because there is already a scenario with this name in the campaign "Soldier of Wesnoth" by revansurik
If two scenarios from different campaigns have the same name, then it is not really an issue at all. Legend of Wesmere and Heir to the Throne have a level with the same name (Cliffs of Thoria) and it has been like that for quite a while now.
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Re: Oath of Allegiance 0.1.1 [SP Campaign for 1.12.0]

Post by Kwandulin »

Thanks a lot for sharing your experience.

Regarding the naffat: I decided not to allow the player to make us of the naffat because the naffat is a very specialized unit that i believe fits best into the army of a military city, like Kesh or Azen. That's why you are fighting naffats as an enemy (maybe the naffat is even the reason why those cities are so successful regarding military). Since the khalifate units you control come from the city of Serrul, a rather peaceful, non-military, city, i believe it would feel odd to control naffats (though it'd definitely add some extra flavour to the campaign gameplay-wise).
While writing the campaign, i decided to stick to the geography of the southern lands.

Regarding the balance, the riders and the epilogue: I'll bear that in mind for the next update, thanks for the hints.
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Re: Oath of Allegiance 0.1.1 [SP Campaign for 1.12.0]

Post by Wesbane »

Konrad2 wrote:i suggest that you rename the scenario "Sands of Time", because there is already a scenario with this name in the campaign "Soldier of Wesnoth" by revansurik
Sulfur wrote:I've also changed the scenario name.
That is nice, but this change as request for it has absolutely no sense. :annoyed: The only reason to do so would be to avoid confusion if someone write about scenario on the forums. However no one identifies scenario only by its name since it would be very hard for others to figure out to which campaign it belongs. Scenario names are always used together with their campaign name.
If rule that scenario names have to be unique in every campaign would be applied soon there would be a need to invent scenario names instead of just naming them.
Also note that in practice scenarios have the same names in various campaigns.
The Library of Kratemaqht features scenario named Evacuation as mainline campaign Eastern Invasion. Mainline campaigns also share scenario names. In Northern Rebirth and in An Orcish Incursion last scenario is named Showdown. Probably there is no need to mention that they are entirely different scenarios?
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Re: Oath of Allegiance 0.1.1 [SP Campaign for 1.12.0]

Post by Kwandulin »

Apparently, "sands of time" is a term that is used really often outside of wesnoth (which I was not aware of when i was writing the campaign), and I think it's dull to encounter the same mental images over and over again. So, yeah, Konrad2's argument was not the crucial factor; I just took it as a hint to have a closer look at the term.

In the end, the new scenario name certainly fits better to the scenario than the old one, and I guess that's fine.
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Re: Oath of Allegiance 0.1.1 [SP Campaign for 1.12.0]

Post by Wesbane »

Sulfur wrote:In the end, the new scenario name certainly fits better [...]
Meh, improvement is always good even that made upon poor argument. :lol:
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Re: Oath of Allegiance 0.1.1 [SP Campaign for 1.12.0]

Post by Lord-Knightmare »

While writing the campaign, i decided to stick to the geography of the southern lands.
http://wiki.wesnoth.org/Geography_of_We ... thern_Land

Hmm, the first line even said that its existence was not confirmed. Then I guess you are the first one to disprove that ;)
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Re: Oath of Allegiance 0.1.1 [SP Campaign for 1.12.0]

Post by Xara »

A nice campaign to get people familiar with Khalifate. Thank you for the contribution.
I Played on Medium.

Scenario 1:
Because of the existence of Early Finish Bonus, in fact the longer Ilriel survives, the less gold will be carried over. That goes against objective description.
BTW, I survived till turn limit by running to the corner and keep adjacent Arifs at low hp. Is it supposed to be valid?

Scenario 2:
It's hard. Got my loyal Arifs killed by bandits, it's disappointing.
I wish I could be given one or two loyal Jundis.

Scenario 3:
Things got easier as I start to get my units advanced.
I killed Nuvdael, but nothing happened. I was anticipating some dialogues there.

Scenario 4:
Skipped Dawoud's words the first time because it's a big chunk. Then I found out there were loyal units in the middle to rescue, so I restarted.
It's easy.

Scenario 5:
Nice terrains around Serrul, it's beautiful.
Easily crushed the enemies. My troops outnumbered the enemy and had better quality, I droided my side halfway.
I feel it wrong for the enemy to have a large Army consisting solely of Arif. According to the description, they are supposed to be the elites among the Khalifate army, while Jundis are the most common soldiers.
It pronounces Sha'ha, not Zara.

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Re: Oath of Allegiance 0.2.1 [SP Campaign for 1.12.0]

Post by Kwandulin »

Thanks for sharing your experiences with the campaign. I took the comments and the reasonable suggestions to heart and changed the campaign accordingly. The new version Oath of Allegiance 0.2.0 can now be downloaded via the add-on server.

Code: Select all

0.2.0 changelog:
- scenario 1 is now dialogue-only (it was redundant anyway, since the XP of Ilriel wasn't taken over)
- several dialogue changes throughout the campaign
- you now got a loyal jundi instead of a loyal arif
- you can now recruit naffats 
- improved objectives
- improved the elvish forces in scenario 3
- added palace guards for Ridwan and guards for Uthman
- scenario 5 "The Pearl of the Desert" is now a lot harder
- added a sixth scenario "Face to Face with the Snake"
Edit:
Uploaded v.0.2.1 that fixes a critical bug which hindered the player from healing Ridwan.

Code: Select all

0.2.1 changelog:
- fixed a bug that hindered the player from healing Ridwan
- hints now only appear at the EASY difficulty
- extensive balance changes regarding the three difficulties EASY-MEDIUM-HARD: now the difficulty does not just change the amount of gold and the turn limit
- minor map changes in Scenario 5 and 6
- Rumms now has a treasure chest, so you don't necessarily need to defeat him in order to get his gold
As I am not a native english speaker, the dialogues may contain some syntactic or semantic flaws or just awkward passages that I was not able to identify yet. It'd be nice, if you could hint me at them, since i want to work on a german translation in the near future.

Other than that, i am also searching for ideas on how to improve the language of the khalifate human; I believe it could use a unique flavour (dwarves have that scottish touch, saurians have that sssszzzzhh-thingy, trolls have that i-am-dumb-but-i-will-smash-you-anyway-touch), but yet again, i am just brainstorming.

I hope you enjoy (enjoyed) the campaign!

Edit #2: I've now uploaded a translation for our german friends.
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Re: Oath of Allegiance 0.2.1 [SP Campaign for 1.12.0]

Post by Xara »

A Bug:
In scenario 6, if Ilriel goes back to Nuvdael, Dawoud won't recruit or recall. It's an obvious one, so I guess you already know it.

And a suggestion:
Can you give some hint about the wose? 99 out of 100 players won't find the bonus because it's too hard to trigger. Chance is good that even when players noticed the place they won't send exactly Ilriel there to explore. Maybe the hint can be Ilriel sensing something strange but familiar when she's in a radius? Or when others are sent there, they noticing the strangeness of the tree and asking Ilriel to come and see?
And in scenario 6, I wondered why the wose stayed with me when Ilriel decided to slaughter elves. Maybe he should explain himself when recalled.
It pronounces Sha'ha, not Zara.

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Re: Oath of Allegiance 0.2.1 [SP Campaign for 1.12.0]

Post by Kwandulin »

The bug should not happen at all. I've just tested it on all difficulties with v.0.2.5 and it works. The code looks okay, too. But i remember that bug appeared somewhere between v.0.2.1 and v.0.2.5 caused by a wrong unit ID, but i've fixed that (those versions were on the server just for a really short period of time). It should work on v.0.2.5. However, if you actually did play with 0.2.5 and the bug did occur, please let me know about the level of difficulty and wether you did anything strange or not and i'll have a closer look. Currently it seems like you were one of those few unlucky people who downloaded one of those buggy versions.

Your suggestions regarding the wose sound good. The behaviour of the wose in scenario 6 - if Ilriel decides to stay with Dawoud - is not intentional, i actually just forgot about the wose. I'll fix that.

Thanks!
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Re: Oath of Allegiance 0.2.1 [SP Campaign for 1.12.0]

Post by Xara »

I redownloaded the v0.2.5 and repeated the bug. The bug occurs regardless of difficulties. I undroided Hawoud's side and found he is able to recruit but he just didn't choose to.
The only abnormal thing may be that I was in debug mode, but I think it's irrelevant.


Edit:
I just checked your codes:
You defined Ilriel as the leader of the red.

Code: Select all

[side]
		##:: Side Info
		side=1
		controller=human
		team_name=goodguys
		user_team_name=_"Dawoud"

		##:: Leader Info
		# This information is used to create the unit that becomes side 1's leader.
		type=Elvish Sorceress
		id=Ilriel
		name=_"Ilriel"
		canrecruit=yes
		unrenamable=true
		profile=portraits/ilriel.png

		##:: Recruit List
		recruit=Jundi,Hakim,Arif,Naffat

		##:: Gold and Income
		{GOLD 300 250 200}
		{INCOME 0 0 0}
	[/side]
But you didn't change leader when Ilriel leaves.

Code: Select all

[option]
				message= _ "I shall return to my folk, the elves."
				
				[command]
					[recall]
						id=Yagrasyl
					[/recall]
					[modify_side]
						side=2
						controller=human
					[/modify_side]
					[modify_side]
						side=1
#ifdef EASY
						recruit=Jundi,Hakim,Naffat,Qatif_al_nar,Arif,Muharib,Ghazi,Mudafi,Tabib,Khaiyal,Rami,Faris,Saree,Qanas
#endif

#ifdef NORMAL
						recruit=Naffat,Qatif_al_nar,Arif,Muharib,Mighwar,Ghazi,Mudafi,Tabib,Khaiyal,Rami,Faris,Saree,Qanas
#endif

#ifdef HARD
						recruit=Tineen,Batal,Qatif_al_nar,Arif,Muharib,Mighwar,Ghazi,Mudafi,Tabib,Khaiyal,Rami,Faris,Saree,Qanas
#endif
						
						controller=ai
					[/modify_side]
......
......
This may be the cause.
It pronounces Sha'ha, not Zara.

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Re: Oath of Allegiance 0.2.6 [SP Campaign for 1.12.0]

Post by Kwandulin »

I've updated Wesnoth to v.1.12.1 and still can't reproduce the bug. Changing the leader shouldn't pose a problem because both Ilriel and Dawoud have canrecruit=yes, so at any point of time side 1 got at least one leader (which shouldn't be relevant anyway).

I've uploaded the v.0.2.6 on which I tested and didn't encounter the bug. Maybe I've just missed a critical line in v.0.2.5 that i have intuitively fixed :?
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