TSP1: The Amaranthine Stone 1.0.9 - SP Campaign For 1.12.2

Discussion and development of scenarios and campaigns for the game.

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FaeLord
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TSP1: The Amaranthine Stone 1.0.9 - SP Campaign For 1.12.2

Post by FaeLord »

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The Amaranthine Stone is the first campaign in The Silverlight Princess Trilogy

Intro:
It has been a thousand years since the elves have withdrawn from the world. Returning to the birthplace of their race, Aranaathe, they have dwelt in seclusion. Now, the drakes have launched a surprise attack and stolen the elves' most sacred artifact, the Amaranthine Stone. Imbued with the light of creation itself, if it is not returned, the world will fall into darkness and Aranaathe shall perish.

Scenario Features:
+ Single player elven campaign with 11 playable scenarios
+ Four player characters each with 5-6 possible levels of advancement
+ Expanded soundtrack with The Amaranthine Stone music add-on
+ Wide variety of enemies
+ Good balance between story and strategy / action
+ Campaign course determined by player choices
+ PC buffs possible through found items
+ Straight-forward objectives
+ Original art by Kimirra http://kimir-ra.deviantart.com/

Save Files & Replays:
If you'd like to help improve future versions of the campaign, please send me your save and replay files by PM, along with info on what difficulty you are playing on.

Change Log:
+ 1.0.1
* Fixed minor recruitment bug.
+ 1.0.2
* Fixed crypt level bug.
* Reviewed all variables to ensure no further bugs lurking therein.
+ 1.0.3
* Fixed gryphon / Hawkwind plot hole for those playing on Hard.
* Modified Karesh 'en Khar scenario slightly.
* Fixed music bug in Faranill Forest level.
* Changed parameters to keep drake leader in place.
+ 1.0.4
* 1.0.4 runs on Wesnoth 1.12.2
* Fixed bug that prevented Sersys from manifesting during the epilogue.
* All spelling errors corrected.
* All player characters made less powerful.
* All scenarios rebalanced to provide a greater challenge to players.
* Fixed the massive defense hole in the Karesh 'en Khar level, (I think).
* Truncated the Elven Shaman unit tree.
* This version is on the 1.12 server only. I will not be uploading any further versions to the 1.10 server.
+ 1.0.5
* Added new scenario, The Path of Stars.
* Added two orc mini-factions (one with a nice berserker) to keep it lively.
* FIxed bug causing game not to load on Hard.
* Added 4th level (Scintillating Wisp) for Blink.
* Added a couple of new portraits
* Fixed a bunch of minor errors that don't affect gameplay but that bug the crap out of me personally.
* Blarg!
+ 1.0.6
* Fixed bug that was causing game to crash for some Windows users.
+ 1.0.7
* Prepped campaign for translations and uploaded for submission to Wescamp. Blarg!
+ 1.0.8
* Fixed minor problem in _main.cfg.
+ 1.0.9
* Added Russian translation files.
* Fixed Baal Argan's unit sprite and animations.
Last edited by FaeLord on October 31st, 2017, 4:33 am, edited 18 times in total.
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doofus-01
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Re: The Amaranthine Stone 1.0.0 - SP Campaign

Post by doofus-01 »

Hi FaeLord,

You might want to mention which version BfW this is for. BfW 1.12 is in beta phase, it will replace 1.10 any day/month/year/decade now. I post this because I didn't see this add-on in BfW 1.12 server.
BfW 1.12 supported, but active development only for BfW 1.13/1.14: Bad Moon Rising | Trinity | Archaic Era |
| Abandoned: Tales of the Setting Sun
GitHub link for these projects
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FaeLord
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Re: The Amaranthine Stone 1.0.0 - SP Campaign 1.10.7

Post by FaeLord »

Added. I'll mess around with the newer incarnations as soon as the stable is released.
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Re: The Amaranthine Stone 1.0.0 - SP Campaign 1.10.7

Post by FaeLord »

I just received a bug report. For those who have already downloaded, I will fix this tonight and re-up the campaign thereafter.
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Re: The Amaranthine Stone 1.0.1 - SP Campaign 1.10.7

Post by FaeLord »

Dwyllvyddn recruitment bug (on EASY) fixed. I have not test played the campaign on EASY or HARD, so if anyone playing on those settings encounters more bugs please PM me or post here.

Thanks
-=FL=-
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Re: The Amaranthine Stone 1.0.1 - SP Campaign 1.10.7

Post by FaeLord »

Found another filthy dirty bug hiding out in the crypt level. I will fix this tonight. My apologies to all - I play tested this thing about a hundred times, but never hit the precise conditions needed to trigger this insidious little glitch until yesterday. For those who have already installed, this is not a crash bug - it causes the boss' henchmen in the crypt level to manifest twice.
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Re: The Amaranthine Stone 1.0.1 - SP Campaign 1.10.7

Post by FaeLord »

Crypt level bug extinguished. New version uploaded. Hopefully that is the end of the bugs.
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FaeLord
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Re: The Amaranthine Stone 1.0.1 - SP Campaign 1.10.7

Post by FaeLord »

Found bug that temporarily kills music in Faranill Forest scenario. I will fix this evening.
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sreesreearul
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Re: The Amaranthine Stone 1.0.1 - SP Campaign 1.10.7

Post by sreesreearul »

Hey,
A nice campaign, was a bit short though. I went till last scenario on day of release itself. But thought last may be tricky, and never found time afterwards, so is yet to play that. But out of curiosity debugged and fininshed the campaign. :P . I don't remember coming across any serious bug. But in the scenario after meeting the Dwarves, the game crashes when the last of the Goblins start to recruit. It's infact a typo I guess, blooglobin instead of bloodglobin. I just switched his side and played through. :twisted: . Alinde's development mechanism doesn't switch to default after exhausting all options. The xp bar disappears and her xp points pile up with no after effect.
Spoiler:
.
As I said before a nice campaign, art was well refined, new units were interesting and..., hope you will make more campaigns. :) :P
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FaeLord
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Re: The Amaranthine Stone 1.0.1 - SP Campaign 1.10.7

Post by FaeLord »

Hi sreesreearul:

Thanks for the report - that bug has already been fixed however.

Concerning the ease of the scenario, on Normal the gryphons don't show up until turn 6 and on Hard they aren't even part of the storyline. This campaign can differ very greatly depending on difficulty level. I always design the EASY mode to be exactly that, as it is geared towards novice and beginner level players. Using Blink to take out the nearest drake leader is exactly what you should do (more so if you're playing on a harder level where the drakes have much more gold and better access to high level unit recruits) to buy your other troops the time they need to get to the palace. Believe me, it's not so easy getting into the drake palace on the higher levels, especially if you've hit some rough patches earlier on and don't have a great army. Not sure if you noticed or not, but the gryphons, while helpful, will not enter the drake palace - you're on your own there. I suggest giving a harder level a shot.

I just took a look at Alindra's unit file, and you're right, the {AMLA_DEFAULT} is missing. I'll correct that tonight and re-upload after I finish the current test play.

Thanks for the kind comments.

FL
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FaeLord
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Re: The Amaranthine Stone 1.0.1 - SP Campaign 1.10.7

Post by FaeLord »

Found incorrect parameter that allows drake king to stray from his post under certain conditions. Given the fact that if he can just fly away any old time he feels like it, the elves will never be able to catch him, he needs to stay put. That's what you get for stealing the Stone, Kai Kirin! :twisted:

This will be fixed with all other reported bugs after I finish the final test play on Easy.
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Re: The Amaranthine Stone 1.0.3 - SP Campaign 1.10.7

Post by FaeLord »

Version 1.0.3 uploaded. Wrapping up the test play on Easy. I uncovered enough bugs that I'll give it a full test run on Hard as well.
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Re: The Amaranthine Stone 1.0.3 - SP Campaign 1.10.7

Post by Inky »

I recently finished this campaign (v 1.0.3 on BfW 1.10.4, normal difficulty) and really enjoyed it. The dialogue was extremely well written and the characters were very well developed. I just wish it was longer!

Some comments:
- A couple spelling errors in the campaign: preistess (dialogue in prologue and also second epilogue); breif, terriorty (story part before second epilogue)
- A lot of spelling errors in the unit descriptions: I could try to list them all if you'd like but it would take a lot of space - if spelling is important to you I would suggest spellchecking all the descriptions because most contain errors (I'm one of those people who reads every single unit description - and I really liked reading them!)
- The replay of Karesh en Khar crashes Wesnoth with an assertion error about the value of "side" when the gryffins arrive, but you can choose to ignore it and it continues normally so it's only a minor annoyance.
- Alindra lvl 5 has a blue exp bar even though she is at max level.
- In scenario 9 I leveled most of the gryffins but they are only with you for that one scenario - maybe a subtle hint that they won't follow you later? Or maybe make the max lvl 2 for regular gryffins so the player doesn't waste too much exp on them.
- I didn't have any difficulties with scenarios 1-9 but the last scenario took me several tries. There are so many high level units which have nightstalk, skirmisher, and/or can fly over chasms (meaning you aren't able to see them), and you are on such bad terrain that whatever unit they decide to focus on is dead. The method I eventually used to beat it was mass shamans as cannon fodder but this was a bit tedious. I started the scenario with 1.5k gold which was more than I could ever use - I would have preferred to have greatly reduced starting gold, and less of those shambles/dires.
- I loved using Blink! But he is extremely overpowered compared to all other units. With high resistances + 70% def on normal terrains + regen + illuminates, he is basically invincible and combined with his high mobility and skirmish he can almost complete entire scenarios on his own. It may help the campaign balance if he was less powerful.

Thanks for all the hard work you put into making this campaign! I could tell from the very first cutscene the enormous amount of care and effort that was put into it. I really loved playing it, and my only real complaint is that it was so short, because I got attached to all the characters :)
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Re: The Amaranthine Stone 1.0.3 - SP Campaign 1.10.7

Post by FaeLord »

Hi Inky:

Thanks for your comments. I will say up front that my real life job takes up so much of my time that I won't be making any longer campaigns until I am out of there. It took eight months to create the Amaranthine Stone as it is. And that is also why it took so long for me to reply to you.

Spelling IS important enough to me that I proofread literally every single document that displays text in the campaign. I did not use a spell checker however, and it appears I have missed some mistakes regardless. When time permits, I will address that.

I did not ever run across a crash bug on the Karesh en Khar level, but I don't ever run the replays and as that is the case, I would have no idea what would even cause such an error. I hope it doesn't cause any undue difficulty for other players.

The Alindra problem is already fixed, so I must assume you are using an earlier version.

Yes, I did not even consider that anyone would put much time into developing the gryphons. Like the dwarves and any other faction that assists the elves, they were meant to be a temporary aid only. I will add a warning.

The last scenario is supposed to be hard, but there are some tricks to getting through it if you pay close attention. One I will share here: You will notice that Ciond can recruit a unit called Elven Shaman (rather than Elvish Shaman) - this special unit advances at high level to a unit that can also fly in the void. It's worthwhile to develop some of those from the beginning. If you want the other keys to that level, PM me and I will give them to you. I will mention as well that in the last level, if you have over-relied on Blink, you will quickly find out that he is not as invincible as you previously thought.

I have no idea how you ended up with 1.5k starting gold on the last level. I designed the economy so that the player would have plenty of gold (up to 500 gold) on the last level, but I never intended it to be over 1000!

The final version of Blink is quite a bit less powerful than I originally designed him to be. Considering his spiritual nature, I feel he has the basic powers and abilities he should. He only has two attacks and he is a one-of-a-kind unit. You can never replace him or recruit another. I also have to assume from some of your comments that you are either a far better player than I am, or a more cautious one, because I have gotten Blink killed plenty of times playing on Normal. I will consider toning him down, because yes, under certain circumstances he can wipe out entire cadres of enemies (especially if those enemies are drakes or demons).

I am first and foremost an adventure player (rather than a strategy player), so the characters and story are very important to me. Given this, I am very happy that you enjoyed them as much as I did.

Thanks again for your comments. I am uploading a revamped version of my earlier campaign, The Drums of War, in the next few days here. It's not nearly as good as The Amaranthine Stone, and it is even shorter, but you may like it.

-=FL=-
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Re: The Amaranthine Stone 1.0.3 - SP Campaign 1.10.7

Post by Inky »

Hi FaeLord,

Thank you for taking the time to reply to all of my comments in such detail.
As for the gold in the last scenario it was easy to accumulate a massive amount in the previous scenario because the gold per village in that scenario was set to 3 (was this intentional?) so my income became around +60 (I started with 869 gold).
In fact for the entire campaign I often started with a huge amount of gold; perhaps either the number of turns or early finish bonus should be reduced.

About the final level I personally found it to be a pretty large spike in difficulty compared to the other scenarios. I did not mind as I like a challenge but I just wanted to mention this because perhaps other players may find it frustrating.

Actually I did get Blink killed once - during the final scenario a bunch of dires teleported in one after another. But before that I don't think he was ever in any danger, even though I often sent him by himself into a group of enemies.

I will certainly take a look at your previous campaign when I have the time. Thanks again for such a fun campaign! I think you did an amazing job with the story, cutscenes and developing the main heroes' personalities. I might replay it on the hard difficulty sometime.
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