Drakes & Caves

[taptap]

Why does every single UMC campaign designer put drakes into caves? This isn't fun, drakes don't want to be in caves. They would rather stay outside

Burning Soul = cave as scenario 2 (stopped playing there), Children of Dragons = starts in a cave and continues in scenario 2 (stopped playing there), Brave Wings = several cave scenarios later in the campaign. Why o why?

[doofus-01]

Cuz caves are awsome...

It was actually a cave scenario in Flight to Freedom that first made me open the scenario files and get to see how these campaigns were put together. A long, one-hex-wide cave passage, joined by three others, with dwarfs coming down them - it sucked. It wasn't challenging, it was just a waste of time. But editing the map, to include more dirt, less cave & wall, made everything better for the drakes.

With the (relatively) new movement animations, the drakes look better outside too. So there's that as well.

[Pewskeepski]

Burning Soul = cave as scenario 2 (stopped playing there),

Common, that's the one and only scenario where you're in a cave. Can't you just deal with one scenario

With the (relatively) new movement animations, the drakes look better outside too. So there's that as well.

And the lawful alignment doesn't help them underground either. Sometimes though, it just can't be helped. Like in my campaign, I had to make them go underground; where else could I have them go? It was completely for story reasons. I was actually going to have the final scenario take place in the caves, but I scratched that idea because I knew it would have sucked.

Would about Wings of Victory? Does it have an underground scenario?

[Alarantalara]

Would about Wings of Victory? Does it have an underground scenario?

Not yet, though I've read rumors of one being added…

I suppose I'm guilty of putting drakes in caves too. I even do it for the only scenario they appear. Does making half the map lava make up for it (their best defense and no damage penalty occurs on lava)?

[Elvish_Hunter]

Children of Dragons = starts in a cave and continues in scenario 2 (stopped playing there)

In the first scenario, the cave was completely paved by the Drakes, that are aware of their low movement there. The second scenario is the only proper cave scenario in that campaign, but the map isn't too big, and the corridors are narrow enough to allow you strategically placing your units. Once that you won it, the Drakes exit from the caves, to never make return into them.

[taptap]

Yes, I know, likely those caves are rare and often somehow adapted to Drake movement or even illuminated, the cave in Burning Souls is even optional and fits into the story, but it still feels wrong, but next time I start Burning Souls I just won't go into the cave. The cave maps in Brave Wings (I have seen 2) did in fact make me open the map editor for the first time

Roar of the Woses has cave drakes too, it is the first place where I noticed the pattern, but at least the player is playing saurians there, but either way I couldn't clear the scenario the last dozen times I tried and probably have to replay the campaign to the point once more. For the player having lava going drakes (+ plenty illumination on the map) would be awesome, for the AI it is just an opportunity to sacrifice all its units faster against the long rows of waiting orcs.

[Neuromancer]

I did it too. I guess it is hard to contain the drakes once they are at the open: they can fly across the entire map and wreck everyone during sunlight.