Scenario Review: Liberty 4 - Unlawful Orders

Feedback for the mainline campaign Liberty.

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flammstrudel
Posts: 74
Joined: April 13th, 2013, 9:08 pm

Re: Scenario Review: Liberty 4 - Unlawful Orders

Post by flammstrudel »

(1) What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?
1.10.2 Fugitive (difficult) – no reloads

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
3/10

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Clear.

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
Very good.

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
First I went poacher heavy. Ouch. Otherwise an easy scenario.

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
7/10 The human/ undead metamorphosis made it quite entertaining.

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
Make dark adepts change into mages and vice versa. And it could be a little bit harder, give them 60 gold around turn 6 or 7, this way you can fight one more wave before you kill the leader.

(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
see (5)
Linthar
Posts: 77
Joined: September 14th, 2006, 12:16 am

Re: Scenario Review: Liberty 4 - Unlawful Orders

Post by Linthar »

(1) What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?
1.10.7 Difficult

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
4.

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Clear

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
The dialog at the start of the scenario was strong until the enemy randomly transformed into undead, and then nothing made any sense at all, and the explanation at the end really doesn't explain anything. Who cursed them? They seem to be working for Asheviere except that in HttT while Asheviere had plenty of orcs they were never any signs that she was allied with necromancers so she should have had no way to curse them, and in fact the way it's described the curse seems to originate from some entity that took offense at Eldred's betrayal, so why were they allowed to just keep working for Asheviere after being cursed? Why where they only cursed at night? Why did they recruit dark adepts when they aren't supposed to be necromancers. And all of this nitpicking is nitpicking with the advantage of the explanation at the end of the scenario. The first transformation comes completely out of nowhere and is incredibly confusing when it happens. The whole thing heavily feels like someone thought of a cool idea gameplay wise for a scenario then hastily tried to write a plot that would allow theme to use it.

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
The flat open terrain is rough playing as outlaws, but the enemy was quite manageable, especially having an ally to help. The change to undead while surprising didn't really make things any harder. I already had a impact heavy army before I knew what was going to happen.

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
4. I spent more time trying to figure out what on earth was up with the undead then I did actually strategizing how to fight them.

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
The humans shifting to undead and back is a neat concept, but it really needs to have a better in world explanation.

(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
No.
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dabber
Posts: 464
Joined: April 2nd, 2014, 6:41 pm

Re: Scenario Review: Liberty 4 - Unlawful Orders

Post by dabber »

(1) What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?
1.11.16 Fugitive (difficult), 314 starting gold

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
2 - Difficulty was mainly allocating experience, not winning.

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Clear.

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
I liked the idea and the scenario, but the undead transformation part didn't feel legit.

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
None ... its easy.

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
6

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
It needs some element to give it a challenge. You have ideal defensive position and the enemy wastes themselves against you. Then you walk over and bash the leader.

(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
No
fareley
Posts: 66
Joined: September 10th, 2008, 5:45 pm

Re: Scenario Review: Liberty 4 - Unlawful Orders

Post by fareley »

(1) What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?
1.12.0 Hard no reloads

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
5

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
They are okay, kill the enemy leader.

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
Was fine

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
I knew that the guys would transform at night, so I was able to recruit accordingly. If I hadn't remembered it woulda been a pain.

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
7 - A straight up mission with a twist at night :)

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
It is a lot of fun already.

(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
The first time I engaged too late when the enemy held the forest. Even though it was at night it ended badly. Also I recruited Poachers, which were a huge mistake. There appears to be a lot of luck involved with how your ally engages the enemy on the first turns.

(9) If you know a bit of the Wesnoth Markup Language - do you think that the WML of this scenario is clear and well commented? If not which part would you like to be documented better?
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tr0ll
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Re: Scenario Review: Liberty 4 - Unlawful Orders

Post by tr0ll »

(1) What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?

1.13.6 normal

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)

2

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?

very

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?

clear, it is strange that Lord of Elensefar lets you take his villages

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?

none

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)

4

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?

a few more enemies

(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?

no
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Konrad2
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Re: Scenario Review: Liberty 4 - Unlawful Orders

Post by Konrad2 »

(1) What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?

1.14.0, Difficult

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)

4

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?

Very much.

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?

Clear, although Elensefar is somewhat weak.

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?

Noticing that I am forced to rush towards the enemies if I want to win within the turn limit.

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)

5, an army that has always strong dmg is a nice concept.

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?

A last breath for the enemy lieutnant.

(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?

I held back in my first run before noticing how short this scenario is with a turn limit of 16 turns.
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LordWolfDan
Posts: 216
Joined: September 30th, 2018, 7:31 am

Re: Scenario Review: Liberty 4 - Unlawful Orders

Post by LordWolfDan »

(1) What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?

- 1.14.5, Easy

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)

- 5

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objective?

- Clear, kill the enemy general

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?

- Lord Maddock seems like a likable ally. The twist of Kestrel and his army being undead was a great move

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?

- None actually. Only that poachers and trappers seemed useless in this one (at daytime they're weak and their arrows against undead are non-effective)

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)

- 8

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?

- If it is a nightfall and when you reach Kestrel, he should summon some undead as reinforcements

(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?

- Nah
YanTanTethera
Posts: 9
Joined: July 11th, 2018, 11:41 am

Re: Scenario Review: Liberty 4 - Unlawful Orders

Post by YanTanTethera »

(1) What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?
Difficult, version 1.14.5.

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
5. It is all about holding the central castle until the first wave of enemies is defeated, then rushing towards their leader. Thugs are useful at night against the skeletons, poachers against riders at daytime.

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Absolutely clear.

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
The idea of an army turning undead at night is really cool. That Lord Maddock refuses to help due to his lack of troops is disappointing, but makes the storyline the more realistic.

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?

Keeping within the turn limit was a bit of a challenge.

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
6, I like defensive scenarios.

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
Uhm, no idea actually. It’s fine, especially story-wise.

(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
In an half-hearted attempt to do an excursion through the eastern gate I lost too many valuable units and reloaded.
Zrevnur
Posts: 117
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Re: Scenario Review: Liberty 4 - Unlawful Orders

Post by Zrevnur »

Content Feedback wrote: March 10th, 2008, 11:52 pm (1) What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?
1.14.9, Fugitive (Difficult) (in Ironman mode), played several times
Content Feedback wrote: March 10th, 2008, 11:52 pm (2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
3, I charged the enemy forces with mine and I had more power so I won, this campaign is too easy
Content Feedback wrote: March 10th, 2008, 11:52 pm (3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Clear.
Content Feedback wrote: March 10th, 2008, 11:52 pm (4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
Ok.
Content Feedback wrote: March 10th, 2008, 11:52 pm (5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
None.
Content Feedback wrote: March 10th, 2008, 11:52 pm (6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
5
Content Feedback wrote: March 10th, 2008, 11:52 pm (7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
Not sure. Due to AI ally behavior its hard to use a different strategy. The map is also too simple.
Content Feedback wrote: March 10th, 2008, 11:52 pm (8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
No, I played the campaign without reloading and scenario restarting.
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IceTyp
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Re: Scenario Review: Liberty 4 - Unlawful Orders

Post by IceTyp »

(1) What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?
Fugitive (Difficult), 1.15.5
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
3, This was pretty easy for me. But I lost two L2 units.
The allied units took most of the damage and their Heavy Infantryman did a lot of work for me.
(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
clear
(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
clear
(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
I had no major challenges.
(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
8, I like the mechanic that the opponents change their appearance.
(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
I would enjoy the scenario more, if it is more difficult.
Maybe disallow the ally to recruit heavy infantrymen (on the highest difficulty).
(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
no
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Konrad2
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Re: Scenario Review: Liberty 4 - Unlawful Orders

Post by Konrad2 »

(1) What difficulty levels have you played the scenario on?

1.15.5, Outlaw (Normal), 1.15.6, Fugitve (Hard)

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)

4

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?

Clear.

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?

I like the new explanation. And the the statue...

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?

Figuring out when the best time for attacking is. (I failed. Still won.)

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)

6, FTR I like the new maps.

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?

-

Scenario stats normal:
Spoiler:
Scenario stats hard:
Spoiler:
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Lord-Knightmare
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Re: Scenario Review: Liberty 4 - Unlawful Orders

Post by Lord-Knightmare »

Content Feedback wrote: March 10th, 2008, 11:52 pm (1) What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
1. Normal (the middle one). Wesnoth 1.15.11+dev
2. 5/10
3. 10/10
4. This scenario always leaves me wondering what happened to these followers of Ashievere/Eldred that they got cursed to become undead at night. I mean it's not at all clarified why it happened, but it was a nice touch. However, I would appreciate some hidden lore on it just to satiate my curiosity.
5. Beating the first enemy waves as after that, it's just the Kestrel (side 3 leader) left. I did the usual camping near the Elensefar drawbridge until the enemy carelessly attacked from water. Day or Night didn't matter. Poor defence meant I could easily clear it.
6. 5/10
7. Make my allies more useful than suicidal cannon fodder. All side 2 did was just rush and get them all killed and I had to clean up the mess. One other thing I would suggest is that the code which does the transformation be reviewed. When it happens, the HP of the units do not match and some units end up with less HP. An example is the Death Knight leader. When in General, he has 50/50 HP, and at transformation it's 50/63 HP. It should be 63/63 HP.
8. Not really, no.
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Remellion
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Re: Scenario Review: Liberty 4 - Unlawful Orders

Post by Remellion »

(1) What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?
1.15.14, Outlaw (Normal). Also sometime back in 1.12 or something.

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
5/10. I forgot about the Wesnothian troops' gimmick, which also removes their TOD handicap.

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Perfectly clear.

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
Now we get a few links to Heir to the Throne and the larger timeline: the scenic port of Elensefar, the little nuggets of history, and delivered by the conversation between Lord Maddock and Baldras which seem believable for two leaders who have had dealings with each other before. Also, I like that the enemy doesn't speak until the end.

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
I forgot about that the little gimmick and had to in effect rotate the poachers I recruited/recalled with the footpads/outlaws. It essentially means that there is no TOD weakness and the resists game has to depend on TOD as well.

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
9/10. A gameplay challenge, along with an eminently holdable position (how good it is to be on the other side of that moat.) Also, more easter eggs (wow, not only do the maps look good, they hide easter eggs in plain sight). Another unrelated fun bit is that Lord Maddock kindly stepped out of his keep, so Baldras just took over all the villages and the castle of Elensefar. From an in-universe perspective, that was quite funny.

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
None!

(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
No.
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mal_shubertal
Posts: 93
Joined: December 1st, 2018, 6:58 pm

Re: Scenario Review: Liberty 4 - Unlawful Orders

Post by mal_shubertal »

(1) What difficulty level and version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?
1.16.2 Fugitive (Challenging)
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
6. I had to restart a couple times to figure out how to manage the time of day changes.
(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
very
(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
I like how throughout this campaign you get references to the Heir to the Throne campaign. It gives more depth to the world to see how the ordinary people have to deal with these same historical events without the benefit of wizards, elves, magic scepters, etc.
(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
The timing was the main challenge. Deciding when to cross the bridge, when to attack with which units.
(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
9. The time of day switching feature is fun and interesting and forces you to come up with innovative tactics.
(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
I like it as is.
(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
I WAY over-recruited poachers the first time, definitely a mistake.
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JL42
Posts: 66
Joined: December 9th, 2023, 11:19 am

Re: Scenario Review: Liberty 4 - Unlawful Orders

Post by JL42 »

What difficulty levels and game versions have you played the scenario on?
v. 1.16.10
Fugitive / Challenging
How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
5 – The difficulty here really depends on what troops Maddock recruits and how well they do. I played it a couple of times, and in one case his troops wiped out like half of the enemy forces, and another time they only killed one or two enemies. So it's a difficulty range of around 3 to 6 depending on that factor.
How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Mostly clear. Similar to the other maps I would recommend flagging the "special objectives" in some way.
How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
There are a couple of lines here that are actually funny ("Head out of your behind, Maddock!") and show how Baldras and Harper could be written in a way that sounds rural and humorous but still has integrity. Baldras seems to have at least a little bit of spine here. Overall though the dialogue partakes of the same ick factor as the other parts of this campaign. It's frustrating how it has taken one of the best stories in Wesnoth and turned it into a cheap mockery.
What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
Mostly just the time factor, plus the threat posed by the enemy leader. The limited time pushes you to move south out of the city before you really want to, and I had to attack the leader before I had a chance to heal. Overall it seems a good, balanced challenge.
How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
6 if you don't read the dialog. The overall concept of the scenario and the enemies changing form is really cool.
What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
Fix/revert the writing, and add some kind of notice about the "special objectives."

I also noticed that there was something weird about the animation of the enemy Lieutenant / Death Squire here. When he attacks, it plays the combat noise and shows the damage numbers, and then *after* that, with a bit of delay, he visually moves and does the attack animation. Not a huge deal, but it seemed a bit off, and is different from the other units.

---------------
About the Overall Campaign:

The maps in this campaign are generally solid and well-done. I like the revisions to the last few scenarios; these are big changes but they seem like an improvement over the old maps. Challenging, interesting, and well-balanced.

But, ugh ... the writing! The "dialect" here feels horribly off and inconsistent. The characters sound like some kind of city-slicker's sarcastic, mocking fantasy of rural people. (A lot of it actually sounds to me more like caricatured Urban Black English, rather than rural speech patterns; but it's false and inconsistent regardless.) Makes it very hard to develop sympathy and identity for the heroes because they come across as goofy caricatures. It's really difficult to write dialect without these problems so I would suggest just not doing it.

In addition, Baldras now comes across mostly as a sad-sack, with no real integrity, ingenuity, agency, or legitimate grievance. It just reeks of the attitude that these people, the actual heroes, are inept and dumb. Also, I understand wanting to make the ending more optimistic, but this also really weakens and eviscerates the story. There are still some high points, like the Monty Python references, but I seem to remember liking this one much better in the past, with the story being its high point. Now it just feels like a bad joke making fun of rural folks; completely ruins the enjoyment.

The "points of interest" throughout the various scenarios are a good addition, but it would be better if they were flagged somehow. Either with a graphical label ("Harper's Spare Bag") or through dialogue ("I left my bag in the northwest; if I can make it up there to pick it up then I'll be able to throw more rocks!") These work well as tactical objectives – deciding if it's worth leaving the battle to go after them – but it was kind of annoying to have to struggle to figure out what they actually do and who needs to go there. Eventually I just looked at the walkthrough for that information, but to avoid pointless hassles it should be clarified in the game itself.

Overall I'd give this campaign 3 out of 5 stars; it would be a lot higher if it weren't for the painful writing. The maps themselves are generally good.
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