Dwarven crown v.0.0.1

[Casual User]

Good morning!

I've written the beginning of a small custom campaign. It's called dwarven crown. In it, you, Garald, a dwarven prince of the city-state of Kot must battle your brothers to become the king of Kot. I've only made the basics of the first three scenarios (I plan on ~10 of them), but I'll post them here, so you can give me ideas on scenario improvement, storyline, finishings, etc...

This is my first custom campaign, so be charitable

A few notes:

1. to install it, you'll need to put it as always in userdata/campaigns. However, the campaign file crown.cfg is in the campaign folder so you'll need to move it. Also, I've made some re-touches to the standard dwarvish units. The unit cfg files are included, but on my computer, the game only recognizes them if you put them in the official wesnoth/data/units directory. I've made them so they won't interfere with the standard dwarven units.

2. a few caveats:

- the campaign has 50% stability. On my computer at least, it doesn't wreck Wesnoth nor does it wreck the computer, but ~50% of times, when I start the campaign, it shuts down Wesnoth. I don't know what's causing this bug, so if you can find out... It dowsn't cause any damage to the computer or to the game, so try a few times before giving up.

- there is some artwork needed. I've introduced a split in the dwarvish fighter line, it goes:

dwarvish fighter -­­­> dwarvish noble -> dwarvish lord
-> dwarvish steelclad -> dwarvish champion

with the noble line gaining leadership. The two lines look the same right now though, so... Also, I've added a new unit called cannon which temporarily uses the dwarvish runemaster's graphics.

- It's still early days, so I've got a lot of sandpapering to do, and I know it.

Thanks for reading, and maybe downloading the campaign?

[Casual User]

Good afternoon!

Not even one download yet! Is it that uninteresting? Incidentally, I've play-tested the three scenarios included, and I've come to the conclusion the 3rd really needs a change. I personally quite like the 1st and 2nd (but hey, witnessing about myself here...). The third is actually good and has a nice feel, but armies grow WAY too huge and it gets very slow. Also, since there's no way to actually stop the attackers but only to delay them (which is your objective), you lose all the lvl 2 and cannon units you've accumulated and are left only with some guardsmen (if at all).

Therefore, in case anyone actually downloads this, treat the 3rd scenario as incomplete. Try it if you feel like it, but keep in mind everything I've said above.

I'd also really like some feedback on the cannon. It's a grossly un-Wesnothish unit, but I love playing with it and it many layers of strategy. Since it costs 160gp, I don't think it's overpowered.

Thanks for all the downloads, comments and suggestions.

[turin]

I plan on playing it, but not right now. Perhaps tomorrow.

So, what's up with the cannon? What are its stats?

[Glowing Fish]

What OS are you using?

[turin]

Well, to start with, there seem to be some bugs with the campaign. I can't get it to work, anyway, without making the following changes:

put crown.cfg one directory lower than it is.

add a [+units] tag to the crown.cfg file.

and it is preferrable to have some of the stuff in crown.cfg inside an #ifdef.

Here is an updated version that should work for everyone if you unzip it in .wesnoth/data/campaigns/ or equivalent.

[edit]
fixed attachment

[turin]

I've played the first scenario so far. I think the urban fighting aspect of it was very fun, however, it might have been a little TOO easy. I just recruited an army and hung in the back while the other two brothers fought each other, then, when they had killed most of each other's armies, I came in and killed them both. Since the bonus was turned on and I had so many villages flagged, I started the next scenario with 1400 gold, and I think that's a bit too much to make it much of a challenge. Of course, this was on easy difficulty level.

[Casual User]

Good morning!

1. I actually mentioned the thing about the campaign and unit cfg files having to be moved. It's not a bug, it's just me being lazy (my backup files have crown.cfg in the crown directory and I didn't feel like zipping my working files.

2. Yes, the first scenario is rather ridiculously easy, not so much because they fight between themselves that because, for some reason, the AI only recruits one or two units before going after villages (even though they have the money to recruit more), so you can put one of your units (preferably guardsman) on their keep. I don't know how to fix it yet. The 1st scenario has a huge gold bonus, the 2nd is shorter but still gives a lot, but it will be useful in the 3rd scenario (even after I re-balance it), trust me (you'll face three ennemies, each with a 1000-1500 gold piece budget, so you need ~2000 gold yourself to stay alive).

3. I'm using Windows, does it matter?

4. cannon:level 4, 3 moves, dwarvishfoot+40% resistance to fire, 50hp
attack:cannon volley:long, 70-1, magical, fire
cost=160gp

Basically, the cannon is THE un-Wesnothish unit. It is a sort of uber-mage which has a straight 70% chance to kill nearly any unit in the game. It's way too expensive to field in numbers and (due to the absence of melee) a swarm of weak melee fighters will turn it to puree, and get a hefty amount of xp out of it.

On the other hand, it is unaffected by terrain which means it is great for breaching defense lines on castles (I'm currently playing the 3rd scenario, siege of Kot, where you get attacked by cannons, and unless you surround it with fighters (or have a go with your own cannons which is a lottery), they'll make huge breaches. Then, all they need is to move a few units in, and voila, you've lost... Also, it is wildly effective against small groups of very powerful troops.

So that's that, really. I'm currently working on dwarven crown 0.1 which will have a playable Siege of Kot scenario, and two more of them: Southward Bound and Old ennemies, and a small tweak to the maps (going to make Kot a tiny bit smaller).

Thanks for reading and downloading.

P.S. Turin, I downloaded the version you posted, but it doesn't actually work on my computer...

[Casual User]

Good afternoon!

Well, I've done a bit more work on the campaign. You're still going to need to move all files in the crown/units folder to the Wesnoth/data/units folder for it to work well, though. The stability seems to have improved and it very rarely if ever still does the little bug I mentioned before.

I've made three more scenarios which puts it up to six out of the ten I have planned. I've also re-balanced the first three and they are, in my opinion, much better.

In any case, remember that any commentary which is half-constructive is appreciated, and also to be charitable as I'm still learning WML here

Thanks for reading, and for downloading the new version, maybe...

[Ardonik]

Your campaign cfg file (once moved to its parent directory) is missing an ID="blahblah", so it doesn't even show up in BfW 0.9.3+cvs. I added it and played up to the third scenario on normal.

The first scenario was simple, and I earned a bonus of over 1000 gold for beating it. I used that cash in the second scenario to buy a full castle of "cannons" and proceeded to wipe the floor with the orcish enemy in the next scenario. However, the 12-turn limit means I only had 400 gold to spare by the end of it.

The third scenario was a joke. There were so many units that the computer players took up to five minutes to complete their turns, and the scenario is not possible to beat, even after recalling nine "cannons." If you think otherwise, please post a replay of you resisting for 25 turns on any difficulty. (Even if it were beatable, it gets boring very quickly to have to deal with that many units.)

The cannons were game-breakers, both in my hands in level 2 and in the enemy dwarf's hands in level 3. (For those who haven't played, they're like 50-HP, level 4 Dark Adepts that deal 70-1 ranged fire damage and move as fast as Woses.) I don't think it was a good idea to include them in the campaign.

Finally,

Good morning!

Good afternoon!

Good morning!

Good afternoon!

At first, your greetings were quaint, but by now I find them tedious, especially when you comment more than once in a thread. Off-topic, I know.

[ott]

You need a #ifdef CAMPAIGN_CROWN/#endif around the inclusion of the scenarios. Moreover, you also need a [+units]/[/units] tag where you include the unit files, also inside the campaign #ifdef. Like so:

Code: Select all

name= _ "Dwarven Crown"
define=CAMPAIGN_CROWN
icon=dwarf-lord.png
description= _ "Claim and hold the crown over the dwarf city-state of Kor against your brothers"
difficulties=EASY,NORMAL,HARD
first_scenario=crown1
[/campaign]
#ifdef CAMPAIGN_CROWN
{@campaigns/crown/scenarios}
[+units]
{@campaigns/crown/units}
[/units]
[binary_path]
path=data/campaigns/crown
[/binary_path]
#endif

Then you should not need to fiddle around with the game data. Finally, you only need to put the binary path outside the #ifdef if you have custom images that you would like to access in the campaign difficulty menu, otherwise it's better to minimize the impact your campaign has on any other campaigns.

[Casual User]

Good morning! (sorry, it's gotten ingrained)

1. The reason I haven't done more work on the campaign .cfg file, and won't, is very simple: every campaign I've downloaded off the server doesn't work on my computer. Turin's version which changed the .cfg file didn't work either. Hopefully, in Wesnoth 1.0, this problem will be fixed. Until then, I've found this compromise which both works on my computer and can work on others without huge changes, so I'll keep it.

2. To answer Ardonik's comments, the third scenario has been tweaked so the armies grow less big in the last version. However, If you recruit nine cannons in the second scenario, they are useless against the tiny ennemy army (two or three is perfect), will keep your other units from levelling and you will be doomed. See, the huge bonus is meant to make sure you'll have enough troops to win the third scenario. If you throw it away by spending 1440 gp on nine cannons, you don't have the slightest chance...

So keep the commentaries coming. Incidentally, I've made cannons more frail and might make them even a tiny bit more so in the next version, but they have and will keep their punch. They require very specific strategies and great care, but I think they really add something. They do not, incidentally, replace an army, they can only increase your firepower...

[ott]

You are very unlikely to have many people testing your campaign if you require them to conform to a baroque idea of how their game install directories should be, or require people to edit the files.

Almost every campaign on the campaign server works without problems on a range of different platforms -- if you are having problems, perhaps you should reexamine the way your copy of the game is installed? If you are having problems with some peculiarity of your platform, please communicate this to us so that we can help you add support for your platform. If you just sit there it is very unlikely anything will change before 1.0.

[PainfulDeath]

Hey i downloaded the campaign and whenever i wanna play it it says error unit not found: 'Dwarf Noble'

i downloaded the campaign put it in the campaign folder with one .cfg outside. The dwarf noble is in the units but it still doesn;t work!?

Any help would be appreciated...Perhaps you can send me the info of a dwarf_noble? If i can replace it in the units it might help...Here's my email if it helps Sexzbeast@gmail.com

Please reply in some manner...Just a post would be nice...if it helps

[Casual User]

Good afternoon!

I don't know why it doesn't work. Normally, if the unit .cfg files have been placed in your Wesnoth/data/units folder, it should work...

On the other hand, I will soon upload a new version which no longer needs any changes to the root structure, i.e. you only unzip it straight to your Wesnoth/userdata/data/campaigns folder. I should upload it in about a week.