Scenario Review: (UTBS) 6.1 In the Tunnels of the Trolls

Feedback for the mainline campaign Under the Burning Suns.

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

Re: Scenario Review: (UTBS) 6.1 In the Tunnels of the Trolls

Post by flammstrudel »

1) What version and difficulty level did you play the scenario on? Please do not submit feedback from pre 1.4.
1.10.2 - medium

2) Do you think the difficulty is adequate to the level? If not describe the issue that made the scenario to easy/hard.
7/10 It wasn't easy and it wasn't really satisfying. It's once again a dungeon-tube battle. You enter the troll's realm through a tiny stretched hole. You can get two or three on the other side before your force gets intercepted on 30% terrain. It's a slugfest. Afaik the only option to avoid heavy losses is luring the trolls into the tube and slaying them one by one with heavy healer support and constant troop rotation. It's a long and boring fight. The lava part was way easier (those weak flame guards don't spawn all to often). The last battle was way better, due to imminent time-out, better map design and the unexpected (yet not neck-breaking) zombie troll surprise.

3) Was there any event that caused you to almost instantly loose, or made the scenario unplayable without reload?
Nope.

4) Do you like the storyline and the dialogues? If not what part/character lags behind or what would you like changed?
Everything was fine. Except the dwarf at the end. Meh.

5) Do you think the scenario was fun? Please write down some thoughts about gameplay, mood etc.
First siege: 3/10, just not my cup of tea. Lava lake Island Hopping: 6/10 interesting new concept, just a bit easy, but a good idea nonetheless. Final boss fight was great 8/10. I really liked the hidden grave, it's just such a cool thing, makes the map more vivid. I didn't have time to get it though and sadly it's not worth it anyway. Poison melee for one healer is underwhelming. The side quest dealing with the prisoner was also a nice addition (with a useful reward), but you need to be quite lucky to finish it. Triggered it with a quick-traited desert star and sent said unit right to the hapless dwarf. No way to get there faster! And yet he only survived with 2 HP and just because the troll had spectacularly bad hit rolls.
nikita1996
Posts: 49
Joined: July 18th, 2015, 8:07 am

Re: Scenario Review: (UTBS) 6.1 In the Tunnels of the Trolls

Post by nikita1996 »

1) v1.12.4 difficulty: Desert Sentinel (Challenging)
2) Yeah. Completely adequate! I think this is the second hardest scenario in UtBS.(The hardest one is the battle before the last battle.) After crossing the lava, I didn't have many unit to fight with trolls. I used all 68 turns up. It becomes harder and harder in this scenario when you play. It was the hardest time that I was going to kill the troll king in the southeast.
3) Yes. I reloaded 2 times. The first time is when I ambushed the undead trolls. They are not very strong but enough to kill my weakest unit -- Zhul. Zhul was seriously hurt in the war before but she met undead trolls unluckily. The second time is the last turn. It wasn't easy to kill a lv 3 troll in a castle. I could only kill him by luck.
4) The dialogue is generally interesting.
5) Yeah. Fun but hard.
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gmalone
Posts: 1
Joined: July 16th, 2018, 10:57 pm

Re: Scenario Review: (UTBS) 6.1 In the Tunnels of the Trolls

Post by gmalone »

1) What version and difficulty level did you play the scenario on? Please do not submit feedback from pre 1.4.
1.14.4, Easy, using Levels 1-3 characters. Would've loved to have had higher level characters. None of previous scenarios needed it, though.

2) Do you think the difficulty is adequate to the level? If not describe the issue that made the scenario to easy/hard.
The issue with UTBS is not fighting through the Trolls which was manageable (I chose to help the Dwarves), but it's the lack of adequate time (# or turns, 62) to complete it in. Seriously, just a few mis-turns or following one of the side adventures, and you're screwed and don't know it until you're on the final approach to the last boss. I'd have allowed 70-75 turns, maybe 80+ so it could be fun and finishable. I can't imagine playing on a hard level and ever completing the scenario in time.

3) Was there any event that caused you to almost instantly loose, or made the scenario unplayable without reload?
Needless to say, on the first play thru one must figure out the lava room and not waste time trying to see if there's any way across the lava without going the long way around, or losing 25 HP in burning lava. The lava room eats up lots of turns. As I've said before, you actually have already lost the race-against-the-clock early in the scenario, and you don't know it, at least playing with the Lvl 1-3 characters I had. That makes me frustrated and a bit angry w/ the unforgiving design.

4) Do you like the storyline and the dialogues? If not what part/character lags behind or what would you like changed?
The story is fine, and interesting. Dialogs sometimes border on too much fluff in the campaign, but in this particular scenario (TOTT) are informative and generally useful and thankfully to the point and brief.

5) Do you think the scenario was fun? Please write down some thoughts about gameplay, mood etc.
Well, I liked rescuing the kidnapped dwarf and finding the Troll Tomb, but there's absolutely no way to accomplish those and finish the scenario in the limited turns available... unless you have super beefy high level characters and lots of them to spread around. Fun, yes until you find out how unforgiving the time clock is. Then it's a tedious pain to replay and try try again.

I suppose the key to really enjoying this TOTT scenario is to do it with lots of very high level characters. Me, I'm using Levels 1-3 types, and having no problem with the battles, but running out of time close to the end. That's frustrating. None of the previous scenarios were this difficult or needed multiple attempts like this one does for me. This is a scenario I will be glad to not revisit again.
LordWolfDan
Posts: 216
Joined: September 30th, 2018, 7:31 am

Re: Scenario Review: (UTBS) 6.1 In the Tunnels of the Trolls

Post by LordWolfDan »

1) What version and difficulty level did you play the scenario on? Please do not submit feedback from pre 1.4.

- 1.14.5, Normal

2) Do you think the difficulty is adequate to the level? If not describe the issue that made the scenario to easy/hard.

- Just as difficult as the last one. These trolls were pain in the ass and the lava was making things harder. Thankfully, I rescued the trapped dwarf (Rogrimir) and I actually managed to get the emerald wand!

3) Was there any event that caused you to almost instantly loose, or made the scenario unplayable without reload?

- Once again, Zhul was exposed to the trolls >.<

4) Do you like the storyline and the dialogues? If not what part/character lags behind or what would you like changed?

- It does seem to be good, and I liked the talk with the ghost of the dwarf. But why does the troll boss say that troll boss is dead??

5) Do you think the scenario was fun? Please write down some thoughts about gameplay, mood etc.

- It was challenging, but fun!
Zrevnur
Posts: 117
Joined: January 11th, 2020, 12:04 pm

Re: Scenario Review: (UTBS) 6.1 In the Tunnels of the Trolls

Post by Zrevnur »

Content Feedback wrote: March 20th, 2006, 6:12 am 1) What version and difficulty level did you play the scenario on? Please do not submit feedback from pre 1.4.
1.14.11 Champion/Nightmare no reloading, played several times
Content Feedback wrote: March 20th, 2006, 6:12 am 2) Do you think the difficulty is adequate to the level? If not describe the issue that made the scenario to easy/hard.
If knowing the scripting its too easy. Otherwise probably unfair. Edit: Main problem if not knowing the scripting is the fire monsters being created out of nothing.
Content Feedback wrote: March 20th, 2006, 6:12 am 3) Was there any event that caused you to almost instantly lose, or made the scenario unplayable without reload?
No.
Content Feedback wrote: March 20th, 2006, 6:12 am 4) Do you like the storyline and the dialogues? If not what part/character lags behind or what would you like changed?
The 'rescue the dwarf' part is very bad. Note that I am not 100% sure about the following as I dont know the code/script: It says to be quick. But this is not true. There appears to be a second trigger point which triggers the dwarf into existence. This makes no sense. The combination of it making no sense and the misleading dialogue is bad. If you do what logically makes sense - try to be fast you end up 'randomly' triggering the second dwarf sequence. Its advantageous to use the 'right' kind of unit for doing this and it doesnt matter how quick one is. Its also purely RNG whether the dwarf survives or not. (Unless maybe if I prepare exactly correctly like using 'the perfect bait' unit as trigger.) Unlike the replacement dwarf (if this one dies) this one doesnt have 'intelligent' trait. This shows itself in his behavior: He uses melee attack against the troll while only having 20 HP. If the troll scores with the counterattack the dwarf can be killed before the player can do anything about it.
And due to the start in '11. The Battle for Zocthanol Isle' this dwarf (having quick trait) is much better than the replacement dwarf so it matters.

And the 'alert the chief' part is also nonsense based on looking at 'all vision' replay. There appears to be another trigger point later which is the one actually creating (~= alerting) the chief.
Content Feedback wrote: March 20th, 2006, 6:12 am 5) Do you think the scenario was fun? Please write down some thoughts about gameplay, mood etc.
Yes except for the 'rescue the dwarf' part - see above.
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