The Fires of Pride (0.3.0)

[Joram]

Last Update 2/11/2011

4/16/2011: Public Service Announcement #1
5/7/2012: Public Service Announcement #2

Greetings all, and welcome to my first campaign.

In the old days, before the comings of humans to the great continent, a mighty elf warrior attempts to undue the vengeance that his rival has taken. As he struggles to save the one he loves, he must come to terms with the consequences of his anger, folly, and pride.

Goals

My goals with this campaign are as follows:

1- To create a strong story. I am working towards this by having as much of the plot as possible driven by characters, rather than events. Furthermore, I hope to flesh out more than just the main character. As an indication of how extensively I'm going in this direction, 4 out of the 14 planned scenarios are dialogue only (if you don't count the occasional attack animation ). If you think this sounds incredibly boring, then perhaps this isn't the campaign for you. I hope that isn't the case though. I actually don't usually like long council scenes, but that is because they are almost always about events. My goal with the dialogue only scenarios is to focus on the characters. Not sure if the difference really means all the much, but I'm liking it so far.

2- To have interesting gameplay with unusual strategic and tactical situations. I do not know if I'll ever succeed on this one, but to give you an example, I'm trying to create maps where getting 4+ Elvish Scouts is a viable strategic move, and in some cases even the most desirable. And no, not just by making huge maps; I've tried to keep them as small as possible, with the exception of a few large battles, such as the first scenario. Rather, by making terrain or combat situations where you need to reach objectives before the enemy, or where flanking and village stealing are more available as tactical choices. Perhaps I'm doing a rotten job, but you might want to level a Rider or two in the first scenario, just in case.

3- To tie in with current Wesnoth history. If you're curious as to how I'm going to do that in a campaign set 1600 years before the humans came to the Great Continent, well, you'll just have to wait and see.


Current Status:
last updated 1/18/11

Changelogs
0.2.0, January 25, 2011
0.3.0, February 11, 2011

1- 7 out of 14 scenarios functional, albeit in need of some balancing and possible redesign (particularly #5 and #6)

2- No portraits are done, which is okay for now since I've stolen a bunch from the mainline campaigns

3- There are currently no special units in the campaign that need spritework done, however I may include them further down the road after the story is mostly finished (for example, the hero is arguably deserving of his own unit type)

4- Scenarios were balanced on the medium difficulty, but are arguably rather difficult for that level. I erred on the side of too difficult. Difficulty was shifted slightly in either direction for hard and easy.


To-do List
sorted by priority

1- Finish the other 7 scenarios

2- Balance the current ones

3- Introduce some more advanced WML techniques into the campaign to streamline certain plot elements (everything I want to do can be worked around using normal WML, but I'd feel like I was cutting corners if I didn't go all out).

4- Try my hand at spriting a bit, and see if I can come up with a special unit for the hero

5- Convince some poor fool to create original portraits for me (actually, since this doesn't involve any work on my part, I should have placed it higher).


What You Can Do

You want to help? Great! Please write up the code for my next 4 scenarios and get it to me by next week, okay?

Actually though, playtesting would be a great help. I'm especially interested in these things:
1- What was your reaction to the story? I realize it isn't finished, but did it strike you as bland? Interesting? Nonexistant? The greatest thing that's ever happened to the game? If you have any suggestions for the story, I'd love to hear them. Even if you don't have suggestions, I'll take opinions to.

2- How did the maps feel to you? This is actually my biggest concern at the moment. I can sit happily WMLing away for a couple hours, and coming up with story and dialogue is usually fun, but making maps is difficult. If you don't like a map for any reason, please share. If you DO like a map, I'd love to hear that as well. If you want to volunteer to make maps, I will fall on my knees in front of you in order to more easily kiss your shoes.

3- Difficulty. The obvious one. Actually, it's what I care least about at this point. As long as I have the trusty "Create Unit" in debug mode, I won't have any trouble beating it.


Feedback Form: Feel free to disregard if you have something to say that doesn't fit!
(It's more like guidlines than actual rules)

1. What difficulty and version of Wesnoth were you playing?

2. How difficult did you find this campaign? What were the hardest scenarios?

3. Did any scenarios strike you as being too easy/difficult?

4. What were the primary factors contributing to those scenarios easiness/difficulty?

5. What do you think of the story? Do you have any suggestions for a different approach/direction for it to take? (or any guesses regarding where it's going? )


Campaign Storyline Summary
WARNING! MEGA SPOILERS!

Spoiler:

It is some 1600 years before humans landed on the great continent. In those days, there were orcs there. Not in such great numbers as later followed the humans, but present nonetheless. The elves hated the orcs and the orcs hated the elves. So it is not surprising that there were frequent wars. Eventually, the elves banded together to entirely eliminate the orcish threat from the great continent.

Elendar is an elvish warrior of great renown. Kind and honorable, yet very proud. The praise that is showered upon him has not improved his manner, and many elves who feel cheated out of their own share of glory hate him all the more for it. His friend Kalneth and wife Thynarea are concerned that he will one day provoke one of his adversaries too far. This he does, and one day as he is marching north for the final battle with the orcs, word is brought that his home has been attacked by the elf lord Lendanir and his wife taken captive.

Stricken with grief and anger, Elendar pursued his enemy ceaselessly. Accompanied by Kalneth, the trail eventually leads to the sea. Brooding upon Elendar and his continual thieving of glory, Lendanir had decided in anger to take his revenge, then quit that portion of the Great Continent; sailing either to the south to find new lands. Elendar procures a ship and follows.

However, upon the Three Sisters, what is now known as the Isle of the Damned, something happened. In those days, elves lived there in the shadow of ancient ruins on the western side of the island. Lendanir tampered with those ruins, and through treading into hallowed champers, brought a terrible curse upon himself. An ancient, powerful, and magical civilization, sensing it's demise, put guardians in place to guard it's most holy ground. Immensely powerful, these guardians cursed any being who entered with a curse tailored to them specifically. As Lendanir entered that place, the guardians sensed his lust for power, and so gave him great power, transforming him into a lich. Elated, Lendanir did not realize that through the long span of years to come, bonded in immortality and cut off from all living things, the power that he desired would be the greatest curse that could have been laid upon him.

With his newfound power, Lendanir changed his plans for revenge. Using his dark magic, he transformed Elendar's wife into an undead horror. He then set her and his now-dead followers on the elves living in the island, destroying the settlements and bringing darkness and shadow. When Elendar arrived, he was greeted by refugees who did not know what had occured, but fled the approaching shadow. Confronting Elendar, Lendanir showed him his wife, thus dealing the cruelest blow that he possibly could have. Satisfied with the pain he had caused, and not wishing to end it prematurely, Lendanir prepared to depart, leaving many of his undead minions behind.

Elendar, unable to bring himself to slay Thynarea, sent Kalneth back to the ships to cut off Lendanir's escape on the other side of the island and pursued the lich with the rest of his men, following him into the ruins himself. The guardians, still present, sensed the fury and pride within him, and transformed him as well, his anger becoming literal fire that flowed through his veins. As he had cut so many lives short, so his would be cut down to a handful of years. And as he prided himself on slaying the beasts of the wilderness with never a thought of pity for them, he should become like them, shunned by the great races as something alien. His pride and martial prowess should accompany him for the remainder of his days. And so, for those of you who didn't see it coming, you have the drakes.

Cursed, Elendar vowed to continue. His followers, also sharing the curse of their leader, were confused and bewildered, but Elendar's commitment to his quarry convinced them to follow him; what else was there for them to do? They came upon Lendanir in an inner champer, preparing incantations to bury the place so deeply that none would wander into it and also gain his power. Upon seeing Elendar and his companions, he realized that the curse would be different for everyone who entered, but proceeded anyway. Elendar and his followers barely managed to hack their way out of the caverns before the spells activated, sealing the chamber away forever.

Lendanir had slipped away again, taking his ship (now manned by a skeleton crew), and sailing west. With no need for provisions, he could do so now without fear of the open sea. With Elendar having lost everything and been humiliated by his curse, Lendanir had no desire to kill him and end his torment.

Elendar continued to give chase. After sailing for some time, and eventually losing sight of his quarry, he came upon a desert island where men dwelt. The men were being attacked by naga, but Elendar came to their aid so that he might inquire of them if they had seen another ship pass by. The men knew nothing, but directed him to "the Sage", who lived higher up the mountain. Elendar found that the Sage, though he looked human, was really an ancient magician of another race; one of the few survivors from the old days. The Sage told him that a source of dark power had indeed passed by the island, sailing west. In exchange, Elendar told him what had happend to him, for the Sage was curious what manner of creatures they were. The Sage was saddened to learn of his unhappy state, but could do nothing to reverse it. Recognizing that the drakes were doomed to extinction in a short time, the Sage offered to create females for them. The females would be non-sentient, but would allow the drakes to continue. However much the Sage wished to avoid more things coming to an end, Elendar was shamed enough that that was his preferred state. So he refused the offer and went on his way to prepare the ship for departure again. However, one of his followers, angry at Elendar because of the curse, decided at this time to abandon him. Returning to the Sage, he pretended to be a messenger from Elendar, telling the Sage that he had changed his mind, and that he desired the females. The Sage was surprised, but his happiness at being able to prevent the destruction of a new part of the world was his dominant emotion, and he did as requested without question.

When Elendar found out, he was furious. Leading his loyal followers, he defeated the rebel and took control of the females, giving none access to them.

Upon resuming his journey, they met a storm and the ships were separated. Elendar's ship was smashed onto the rocks of another small island, where he was set upon by bandits. Here he defended himself for some time till the other ships could land.

The death of his most faithful follower in the battle was the final stroke on his conscience. Realizing how much pain he had brought to everyone around him, he commanded Kalneth to take those elves that remained back in the last remaining ship, and forced him to swear to tell no living elf of the curse. He also urged him to find some way of healing Thynarea, and breaking the curse on her. He himself would stay on the island, and perhaps eventually find someway of continuing his journey into the west and finding Lendanir.

So vehement was Elendar that Kalneth obeyed his friend's commands. However, he reinterpreted what he had promised to his friend. He and his men told no elf living at that time, but from those elvish children born to them afterword they chose one in each family to enter into the secret. The story was preserved, kept secret, and passed down, and kept almost unchanged till the present day.

Thus the story was written down and preserved in a letter by an elf to be kept for his son. The father died before his son came of age, but the letter was kept by his friend, and given to his son at the appropriate time. And thus Kalenz became the keeper of the true tale of the origin of the drakes, and the passing of the greatest elvish warrior that ever lived.

[Joram]

Changelog: version 0.2.0
Updated 1/25/2011

- Added 6th scenario, A Path Followed
- Uploaded campaign to the 1.9.4 server
- Corrected all issues that feedback brought to my attention


version 0.2.1
- Fixed an error with the map paths that was breaking the campaign
- Fixed an error with the final message of Scenario #5 and #6

[Ceres]

Ehm, campaign not loading on 1.9.4 due to misspelling in the map path.
"~add-ons/The_Fires_Of_Pride/maps/..." should be "~add-ons/The_Fires_Of_Pride/Maps/...", to match the folder name, in the third scenario.
Further you appear to have added numbers to the map names, but forgot to change the map paths.

[perseo]

First of all, I think you must try to play the campaign before uploading it, because this campaign doesn't work properly.
A few things:
1_If you name the folders with a capital letter, you must put the capital leter in the scenarios, for example the _main file says:

{~add-ons/The_Fires_Of_Pride/scenarios}

and folder's name is Scenarios, so the campaign can't start. Another one, the first scenario says

map_data="{~add-ons/The_Fires_Of_Pride/maps/01_For_Fame_And_Glory.map}"

and it must say:

map_data="{~add-ons/The_Fires_Of_Pride/Maps/01_For_Fame_And_Glory.map}"

2_Your scenarios .fg files are a bit untidy, I think you must follow a order to put write them, if not they're so difficult to find the mistakes. For example the header of a scenario file must be something like that

#textdomain wesnoth-LGA
[scenario]
id="01_Romper el cerco"
next_scenario="02_El bosque susurrante"
name= _"Romper el cerco"
map_data="{~add-ons/La_guardia_austral/maps/01_romper_el_cerco.map}"
turns=20

{DEFAULT_SCHEDULE}
{SCENARIO_MUSIC "northern_mountains.ogg"}
{EXTRA_SCENARIO_MUSIC heroes_rite.ogg}

(for exmaple) but you put the things scattered all over the file.
3_ It's good to put 3 or 4 spaces before tags like [event] or [unit] for better follow of the WML.

Other last thing not related with the coding, the objetive in the first scenario is a bit unclear... What exatcly means "break the orcish center"? Why you don't said something like "kill Ugluk"?

Without encourage of disturb you, Perseo

[Joram]

First of all, I think you must try to play the campaign before uploading it, because this campaign doesn't work properly.

I thank you for your suggestion, but I did and have and it works perfectly well on my computer. The only, and I repeat, the only issue is the one that Ceres brought up about the map names. I made a careless change at a moment when I was somewhat rushed for time and needed to meet someone, and broke the campaign. Everything else has been tested and works. So unless there are different rules for campaigns that you download from the add-on server and those you create yourself, the campaign should be in working order.

Ehm, campaign not loading on 1.9.4 due to misspelling in the map path.
"~add-ons/The_Fires_Of_Pride/maps/..." should be "~add-ons/The_Fires_Of_Pride/Maps/...", to match the folder name, in the third scenario.
Further you appear to have added numbers to the map names, but forgot to change the map paths.

Are you quite sure? The map numbers was, ehm, yeah. A bit of an error on my part. So sorry.

But That is the only issue on my version. The "maps" vs "Maps" has absolutely no effect, and it has been that way ever since version 0.1.0, which worked perfectly fine. I'll go through each and change it (no sense in needless inconsistencies), but it isn't causing any issues here.



The technical difficulties hopefully have been addressed, and the campaign should be in working order now. Thank you both.

[bigkahuna]

the campaign should be in working order now. Thank you both.

*cough*

In the third scenario, change

Code: Select all

map_data="{~add-ons/The_Fires_Of_Pride/maps/The_Dragon.map}"

to

Code: Select all

map_data="{~add-ons/The_Fires_Of_Pride/maps/03_The_Dragon.map}"

In the fourth scenario, change

Code: Select all

map_data="{~add-ons/The_Fires_Of_Pride/maps/Orcs_in_the_Woods.map}"

to

Code: Select all

map_data="{~add-ons/The_Fires_Of_Pride/maps/04_Orcs_in_the_Woods.map}"

It appears you haven't fixed the map problem yet I DID check the other scenarios and they had no map_data errors. I'm curious why you skipped these two

[Joram]

It appears you haven't fixed the map problem yet I DID check the other scenarios and they had no map_data errors. I'm curious why you skipped these two

What version are you on?

What is your download time?

At the time of posting, the maps were fixed. It is possible that you got "0.2.1" before I made the changes, but that's because I'm still experimenting with the whole version numbering thing (which still makes it my problem).

EDIT: Apologies, 1.9 vs 1.8 issues. Also, the complication of trying to edit the "(M)maps" in both versions. NOW it is fixed on 1.8 as well (where prior it was just on 1.9).

[bigkahuna]

What version are you on?

I was on 1.9.2, but DID download it prior to the update. My bad, didn't see the time of the posting.

First Scenario Feedback -

A. Unclear. "Break the center"? I didn't see any of the other elvish lords who were supposed to be flanking, so I assumed that the entire group of orcs was the center.

B. Hard. Usually I have shamans, and they spammed assassins on me (had never happened before to me ) Not many trees in the middle, so I didn't have much cover. Once I made it to the warlords I didn't have many units left (and they were level three, which didn't turn out well).

C. Quiet. At the first part of the scenario there was a lot of talking, and then the elves were gone. There were no inscenario events (the orcs didn't even talk) and not much going on at all. I misunderstood the flanking part (see above), since no elves ever came as reinforcements.

[perseo]

Another thing I've just remark, It seems to be two scenarios numbre 5, but in number 4 there isn't a choose possible. How does it work? If you want some special units, I'm making a lot for practise and I can make it for you.

[Reepurr]

If you want some special units, I'm making a lot for practice and I can make it for you.

It takes about two minutes to learn how to do that. I'm sure Joram already knows how.

[doofus-01]

Maybe he meant artwork, he has an Art Workshop thread. (Where he also got dope-slapped, for some reason.)

[perseo]

I meant the artwork of the units, cause I use synfig studio and gimp and I'm getting very good results (for the animations). Obviusly even my grandma can modificate the units file...

[sur.nhm]

1. Easy, BfW 1.9.4+svn (r48377).
(And the rest of the form isn't relevant for me, as I have barely played the campaign.)
I. The first scenario's objective isn't clear.
II. All the elves, except those who use generic portraits (the Captain and the Marksman), don't have any. Possibly a problem with the scenario's WML.
III. The middle Orcish Warlord's name is from the Lord of the Rings, change it (copyright issues?). Also, a little more variation in the Orcs' names would be nice.
Otherwise, great. The story (what little from it that I've read) is magnificent, and the map is rather nice.

[Joram]

Several issues:

1- Unclear Objectives
Everyone so far who has commented on it has complained that the objectives in the first scenario is unclear. Quite so. It will be revised. At the time I had the brilliant idea of making the objectives "story themed", as in, phrased like it was the main characters objective. Well there is a fine line between genius and madness, and I think that this idea was 3 miles to the left of it.

2- The ghost Scenario

Another thing I've just remark, It seems to be two scenarios number 5, but in number 4 there isn't a choose possible. How does it work?

I made an early attempt at creating this campaign where Scenario #3 was the first scenario. I got all the way to scenario 5, but then made some revisions to the storyline. I then moved up, updating the files as I went, but haven't gotten to the original 5 yet. Thus, the "second 5" will be revised to be #7. At the moment, it is just a ghost file.

3- Missing Portraits
*gulps* Uh, I'll have a look at this as soon as possible. Hopefully I'll get it fixed by this evening at the latest. EDIT: Made a change which might help.

4- Names
Hehe, yeah. At the time of making that scenario, I just threw in the first name that occurred to me, then changed it slightly for the other leaders. I do something similar at a couple later points. Names will be revised before final version, though the one you mention specifically should probably be changed sooner than that.

5- Undeserved Praise

Otherwise, great. The story (what little from it that I've read) is magnificent, and the map is rather nice.

Thank you, thank you. This was a wonderful little morale boost for me. There's more to existence than error messages and broken code. My life has joy and meaning. I feel that-- am I boring everyone?



Anyway, thank you all.

If you want some special units, I'm making a lot for practise and I can make it for you.

If you want to practice making something "elvish warrior"-ish, I'd take it in a heart beat. It would be a lot easier, rather than just giving Elendar the strong, quick, intelligent, resilient traits to just make him a special unit that gets slightly better stats.

I don't like to ask people to do work for me when there's so much left undone (after all, what if I never finished this? How would you feel about contributing to it then?). But if you want to get some sprites, I'd definitely see about coding them in.

[perseo]

Yes, I've got some drafts fore a special elvish unit I called the legend-breaker, It's got a melee attack and a magic attack. I'll finish and I'll post it.

PD:I've just upload the image of the legend breaker. When I finish the animations I'll load it (about 3 or 4 days, cause I haven't got all the time I want).