Scenario Review: THoT 9 - Forbidden Forest

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Scenario Review: THoT 9 - Forbidden Forest

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(1) What difficulty levels 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?
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Felsenherz
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Re: Scenario Review: THoT 9 - Forbidden Forest

Post by Felsenherz »

(1) Normal
(2) Medium - 4 - if you have some good Veterans
(3) I never finished this Scenario because time was running out. The hero is calling all units to him by reach the sign on the left side of the map. So I walk with all units to and positioned them around him. But nothing happened. Maybe I´m to stuoid to finish it... :|
(4) The Elvs are only talking in the begining; so the rest is really boring.
(5) ...
(6) 3
(7) Create a new Magic Item because the Suicide-Item is stuoid.
(8) Nope
(9) -
G14N14RI12
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Re: Scenario Review: THoT 9 - Forbidden Forest

Post by G14N14RI12 »

Felsenherz wrote: (3) I never finished this Scenario because time was running out. The hero is calling all units to him by reach the sign on the left side of the map. So I walk with all units to and positioned them around him. But nothing happened. Maybe I´m to stuoid to finish it... :|
I had this problem too, until I realised that you need the loremaster to touch the signpost as well.
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Turuk
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Re: Scenario Review: THoT 9 - Forbidden Forest

Post by Turuk »

(1) What difficulty levels have you played the scenario on?
Lord (Challenging) 1.5.7

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
4. Seems a bit hard, so many elves to fend off while making a mad dash through the middle. So I exploited the classic... "Well boys, really only the two of us have to get through..." and just recruited level 1 guardsmen. Both of the main chars made a mad dash for the sign post with some fancy dodging, and got there hurt but ok as the elves played tag with my guardsmen. It was a close thing, but recruiting level 3s meant getting bogged down and crushed (I did not have enough money to recruit more than 4). Lost my White mage, but I finished super fast and so it's a trade-off for getting money.

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Crystal. Run like hell.

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
Not bad, but a bit basic. We want to get through. We will not let you. You will die then.

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
Dodging the woses appearing out of nowhere.

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
5. Nothing too great but fun to try to confuse the elves.

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
Eh, my fault for not having enough gold, so good as is. Probably more fun to have a running battle if I had had the money.

(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
Realizing that I should recruit cannon fodder and not veteran units.

(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?
Looks fine to me.
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Benefuchs
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Re: Scenario Review: THoT 9 - Forbidden Forest

Post by Benefuchs »

(1) 1.4.7, medium
(2) 8
(3) clear
(4) clear and rather simple
(5) hm... Hitting elves in the wood. Being atacked by many strong and hidden enemys.
(6) 3
(7) Hm, I don't think fighting elves in the wood leading a dwarve-army could really be fun...
Well, and as said before, the temple could contain something better, maybe a strong weapon or a strong ally.
(8) Well, the first time I just lost because of being to slow, the second time, using only L1 guards and running both my mages were crushed by woses.
(9) NA
zaimoni
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Re: Scenario Review: THoT 9 - Forbidden Forest

Post by zaimoni »

Mythological wrote:(1) What difficulty levels have you played the scenario on?
Easy [Wesnoth 1.6.2]
Mythological wrote:(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
7.
Mythological wrote:(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Transparent.
Mythological wrote:(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
Very reasonable.
Mythological wrote:(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
It's a bit inobvious to guess that the mages need to wait at the bridge for their cover to arrive, but that dashing there is fine. There's no real hint that the Woses are coming.
Mythological wrote:(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
8. I strongly doubt that crushing all Elvish resistance would be viable at higher difficulties. ("They picked this fight. Leave no survivors.")
Mythological wrote:(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
A triggered dialog on Easy to hint about splatting the mages on Woses.
Mythological wrote:(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
No.
Mythological wrote:(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?
Yes, the WML is clear and well-commented.
Gugunja
Posts: 2
Joined: September 12th, 2009, 7:12 pm

Re: Scenario Review: THoT 9 - Forbidden Forest

Post by Gugunja »

(1) What difficulty levels have you played the scenario on?
Medium, 1.6.5
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
6. It was a bit touch and go for a few turns near the start, but after playing defensively for a while the map was mostly empty and I was able to stroll across without too much hassle.
(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Very clear
(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
In my mind this scenario doesn't really mesh into the story of the campaign as a whole, but it didn't bother me.
(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
Because the elves are so fast and often hidden, it is particularly difficult to compose a strategy until you've played the map and already have an idea what's coming without seeing it.
(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
8. It was a nice change of pace to fight the elves in the forest and I liked the mix of enemies. The terrain was well placed, particularly the forested hills.
(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
As with many maps, the pressure doesn't last very long. It was very easy to gank the south-western leader, and the other two don't pose much of a threat once the initial wave of enemies is over. I think it'd be worth moving the south-western leader further to the east so they're a bit more sheltered and/or increasing the ongoing unit production rates for all of the leaders.
(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
Losing a bunch of units to unexpected attacks/ambushes on my first couple of tries.
(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?
N/A.
sw_emigre
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Re: Scenario Review: THoT 9 - Forbidden Forest

Post by sw_emigre »

Mythological wrote:(1) What difficulty levels have you played the scenario on?
Medium, 1.6
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
7. I guess it isn't too difficult if you restart, but I just played through once, and lost my Gryphon. (Plus some other guys, but I can live with that.) Losing him is going to hurt me I know in future scenarios, but I will try it out without him. I was sweating by the end of the trail, really thought I was toast and going to have to restart, or accept loss of the archmage...which would have forced a restart.
(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Fine.
(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
Kinda weak. I thought the drarves would have tried to justify going through, and the elves would have said they have been burned once too often, or something more than, "Yes...no...fight!"
(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
Ambushes by the woses. Lost my Gryphon when he was completely surrounded by 3 of them.
(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?
It was good, but I really wish I had known that they could recruit woses.
(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
No.
(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?
n/a
cph
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Re: Scenario Review: THoT 9 - Forbidden Forest

Post by cph »

(1) Lord, 1.8.1.
(2) 4
(3) Fairly clear - by the time I got to the end I had forgotten that I had to move both bosses to the signpost.
(4) Okay.
(5) Ambushing units, and keeping my white mage alive when my force was small and the enemy could circle behind easily (they're more mobile in this wooded terrain).
(6) 6 - a different enemy adds variety, and I like the mix of enemies.
(7) It is okay as is.
(8) Nothing that forced a reload, but I did save-load a bit at the end to fix a couple of careless moves.
ManiacTehGreat
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Joined: May 6th, 2010, 11:40 pm

Re: Scenario Review: THoT 9 - Forbidden Forest

Post by ManiacTehGreat »

I started this scenario with only minimum gold, so IIRC I could only recruit four units. Which makes it hard to resist the hordes of elves.

This is the sixth mainline campaign I play, but this scenario is the first one which leaves me completely frustrated and annoyed. Out of disgust I resorted to looking up cheat codes, so I could get past this scenario.
monochromatic
Posts: 1549
Joined: June 18th, 2009, 1:45 am

Re: Scenario Review: THoT 9 - Forbidden Forest

Post by monochromatic »

Mythological wrote:(1) What difficulty levels have you played the scenario on?
Normal 1.8.3
(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
4 - Elves can be difficult to fight, but it was mostly woses, so it wasn't a problem. Your heroes, a Lord, 2 Explorers, and a Mage can really take you far.
(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?
Nothing special.
(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
Watching out for ambushes.
(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
5 - an interesting scenario. Needs some quick thinking and careful planning.
(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
Less woses and more elves.
(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
Bad timing.
(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?
Didn't check.
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Maiklas3000
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Re: Scenario Review: THoT 9 - Forbidden Forest

Post by Maiklas3000 »

(1) What difficulty levels have you played the scenario on?
hard; 1.8.3; 125 starting gold

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
8

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
Not so clear. When I moved one of my two heroes to the signpost on the last turn and he was out of movement points, I was blocked from being able to move my other hero there and so I lost the first time.

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

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
With my limited gold, I recalled two Pathfinders, two high XP Fighters, one Gryphon Master and recruited one Mage. I ended with Two Explorers, two Steelclads, the same old Gryphon Master, and a White Mage (with the Staff), plus starting units.

The natural thing to do is to make a stand in the wooded hills southeast of the keep, and maybe it's the right thing to do too, but if you don't finish off the assault from the South extremely quickly, then you will get sandwiched between that assault, Woses from the East, and Riders from the North.

(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?
None. I'm going to update the walkthrough to point out that the Staff of Righteous Flame imbues the steadfast ability, which is nice for a Red Mage.

(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
See #3. It was painful to replay from turn 1 over such a minor issue.

(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?
Good.
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Thrash
Posts: 223
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Re: Scenario Review: THoT 9 - Forbidden Forest

Post by Thrash »

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

1.8.3, Medium, 146 starting gold

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

8. This is more like it.

(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?

Good.

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

Elves. Woses. Elves appearing from nowhere. Woses appearing from nowhere. Elvish riders riding around and attacking wounded units. Elivish riders appearing from shroud and attacking wounded units. Elves swarming me and ZOC locking me in and attacking until more elves (and woses) appeared from shroud.

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

7, a good challenge.

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

Good as it is.

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

Death of all my units 5 or so times.

First I tried the old bull rush 2 or 3 times. Got bogged down and killed. I got within a turn or two of the signpost once before the elves dragged me down.

Then I held the hills SE of the starting fort planning to make a defensive stand until the bulk of the elves were dead. And I fought, and fought, and fought and they kept coming (out of nowhere). So finally I ran for it, got bogged down and killed.

Then read the wiki. Following its advice I moved through the SE hills and attacked the SW elves, killed them, moved NE and then got bogged down and killed.

Finally, I moved through the SE hills, killed the SW leader and then managed to somehow make it to the signpost without losing a unit (with some really close calls) and picking up the staff on the way. I think I was a little more agressive this last time, but honestly I just had some good luck in that my dwarves didn't bog down for turns on end flailing at forest, though there was a few tense turns getting to the fork in the river by the temple. And somehow my Arch Mage didn't die.

(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?

Looks good.
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turin
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Re: Scenario Review: THoT 9 - Forbidden Forest

Post by turin »

(1) What difficulty levels have you played the scenario on?
Hard 1.9+svn

(2) How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
9. Difficult all the way through.

(3) How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
It was odd that you needed both main characters to step on the signpost separately -- it meant you couldn't win on your next turn if both were just barely within reach of the signpost. Dunno what the solution is.

(4) How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario?
It was kind of odd that the elves didn't let them through. I know elves vs. dwarves and all, but I thought at this point in history they were basically friendly, and I don't think the attack by the masked ones would change that -- wouldn't the elves realize they were MASKED and therefore EVIL, not like normal dwarves? This needs more justification, I think.

(5) What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
Not having all my units die, then on later tries not having the advanced units I wanted to preserve die.

(6) How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
9! I love scenarios like this where you scrape through by the skin of your teeth. Also, I got some nicely leveled up mages and burnt me some woses, which is always fun. I didn't quite buy the reasoning behind the elves not letting you pass, but it didn't bother me that much really, I was too busy trying not to die.

(7) What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
This isn't fixable, probably, but one thing I don't like about scenarios like this is, once you get past the hardest part, if you do well enough and kill all the baddies, you can milk the level for XP a bit and avoid any danger of dying for several turns, letting fresh streams of new recruits wash upon you. There's no real way to fix this; I guess it's a reward for doing well.

(8) Was there any event that caused you to lose the game and forced you to reload or restart the scenario?
Bad recruits to start with, and then a few tactical miscues. I probably tried it four or five times before finally getting it right.
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bobby
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Re: Scenario Review: THoT 9 - Forbidden Forest

Post by bobby »

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

1.8.0, Medium, 270 starting gold

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

4. A lot easier than I expected, 2 keeps of troops, 4 pathfinders and the arch mage help a lot. I was also lucky with no elven ranger.

(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?

Not much dialog. Maybe a line or two when woses appeared to liven it up. I didn't know only mages can take the staff in the middle. Reloaded for that.

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

I came prepared with lot of troops closed to levelling so it was pretty easy. Not getting my Gryphon trapped/killed.

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

7.

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

Maybe more shaman, druid and sorceress to slow my forces. The elves never coordinated their units, usually always attacking alone in different areas of the map.

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

Making sure my gryphon survived, and to get the final kill of the NE leader without having my leader wait another turn.
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