The Library of Kratemaqht [SP Campaign]

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cephalo
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Re: The Library of Kratemaqht [SP Campaign]

Post by cephalo »

marecki wrote:This is a great campaign, the custom dragon in particular was amazing. Also, unusually for Wesnoth, I'm enjoying the story a lot.
Quick question: am I supposed to lose the entire recall list except for scholars in Evacuation? I mean, it says Pass of Batos is the last battle with Jevyan's units, but I was pretty sure loyals would follow Antheia.
Thanks for the feedback! Yeah, it was designed such that she and those scholars would be the only survivors, but I can see why that wouldn't be entirely satisfying. It probably would have been a lot better to code a small scene where the loyals regain contact somehow.
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marecki
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Re: The Library of Kratemaqht [SP Campaign]

Post by marecki »

Alright, thanks. Too bad though, I didn't get much use out of my wonderteam (three loyal, strong royal guards 8) ) and the student line really doesn't have much going for it.
Anyway, I will give proper feedback when I'm finished with the campaign.
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revansurik
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Re: The Library of Kratemaqht [SP Campaign]

Post by revansurik »

I have a question that may be a bit off topic: when I had version 1.10, I downloaded this campaign and started playing, but, when I upgraded to version 1.11.1, I could no longer find the campaign on the add-ons server. Is there anyone else having the same problem? How can I download it again?
Author of the Dragon Trilogy.

If you enjoyed A Song of Fire, War of the Jewel, Aria of the Dragon-Slayer and Soldier of Wesnoth, you may like my new project: Star of Chaos, a science-fiction mystery/adventure intended to be a trilogy
;-)
cephalo
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Re: The Library of Kratemaqht [SP Campaign]

Post by cephalo »

revansurik wrote:I have a question that may be a bit off topic: when I had version 1.10, I downloaded this campaign and started playing, but, when I upgraded to version 1.11.1, I could no longer find the campaign on the add-ons server. Is there anyone else having the same problem? How can I download it again?
1.11 has some bugs that break this campaign (and other main-line campaigns as well) so I am waiting for this bug to be fixed before releasing the 1.11 version.
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marecki
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Re: The Library of Kratemaqht [SP Campaign]

Post by marecki »

Heh, didn't expect it to end so abruptly after The Evacuation (just when I finally decided to level up Shifty!), I was totally hoping for some dragon action later on. :D
Like I said, the campaign is extremely well done, maps are varied and tactically interesting, everything looks balanced (turn limits, carryover/enemy gold, etc.), at least on normal. Not much to criticize, this is all I could come up with:
-diversity of enemy troops...or lack thereof, almost every leader recruits only two types of units. Soo many longbowmen and pikemen (apparently Anaktoron military doesn't issue swords) It can get kind of dull, like in Deadly Confluence - why not give those orcs some wolves or assassins?
-"gimmicky" scenarios, like the two escape scenarios, the main culprit here is Emperor for a Day. While they arguably offer excellent exposition for the story, gameplay-wise they just seem too heavy on the rng. At least in Shifty "stealth" missions you can sort of plan ahead, during Altheia's escape all you can do is pray for the undead to miss. I actually tested it a few times after winning, making the same moves (not much the player can do, really): 2 (out of 5) tries Altheia gets out of the chamber, 3 times she dies horribly to the skellies. I would make path to the exit longer, but with more pockets of resistance and maybe one or two lvl2 allied units.
Kudos for making this campaign I really hope to see the next chapter someday.
cephalo
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Re: The Library of Kratemaqht [SP Campaign]

Post by cephalo »

Good feedback. Thanks. If I had an unlimited amount of time, I would have liked to have made the Anaktoron military more hoplite-ish to give them a more ancient feel, more like a kind of Hellenistic atmosphere. You'll notice there is no cavalry either. There are some player made eras that would be perfect, but the units aren't really animated unfortunately, so I chose not to use them.
cephalo
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Re: The Library of Kratemaqht [SP Campaign]

Post by cephalo »

Ok, I have finally uploaded the version for Wesnoth 1.11 with some minor polishes. Please let me know if anyone finds any bugs.
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Wesbane
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Re: The Library of Kratemaqht [SP Campaign]

Post by Wesbane »

Library of Kratemaqht (1.0.1/1.11+svn/Hard)
Setting: Irdya/Anaktoron (Old continent)
Era: Default + (Custom units)
Length: 12 + 5 cutscenes
Scenario average difficulty: 3
Campaign difficulty: Beginner

General
Campaign is about genesis, course and outcome of civil war in empire of Anaktoron.
Surroundings:
The way campaign looks. How it feels and uses game engine is simply amazing and unseen before.
Maps are nicely done although many parts of a map serve for story (decorative) purpose only what is not always good. You will travel through wealthy and populous kingdom which is torn apart by war. To create this impression in most of maps there is a lot of villages and they are placed in large groups, but map look doesn't suffer from it. More over you can feel destruction in game world as never before. Campaign features custom burning houses which are not only mere visual effect but have impact on battle course.
It is one of most cinematic campaigns if not the most. Cutscenes are packed with action and take place in several locations. Also game transition fluently into cutscene and cutscene into game. What makes it even more interesting since you will never know is it just a cutscene?
In terms of visual effects it also features the best epilogue ever.
As it was not enough you can experience a true wesnoth dragon. It is so unusual that it need separate mention.
Dragon is fully animated and have some nice custom sounds. Some of it animations are purely character play. Like roar and feasting. And last, but not least it preserves original wesnoth dragon concepts. It attacks with fangs and tail. Although it primary weapon is ranged magical fire breath which works as AoE attack when used offensively. There is one little bug with its animation, but it can't be noticed during playing it anyway.
In short this campaign surely establish new standards for wesnoth in department of visuals.
Design:
Scenarios design is good. All levels are playable. Objectives are clearly formed, so it is known most of the time what to do. There are several minor bugs and one bigger that affects game to some degree. However they do not make impossible to play and enjoy campaign.
Campaign is using default units although sometimes with unusual traits and abilities. Custom units are also present, but only as much as they are needed. Which is a great thing since it proves designer skill at using available resources. Beside that I really can't stand campaigns introducing many user made units.
I liked much idea of premagic era and weakened magic users. Unfortunately any extra mages aren't useful since you have already better characters of this class. In fact after my recall list was cleaned up after Jevyans Return I never bothered to recruit them again.
Gold carryover system is custom which is not a good choice for classic style adventure. Twenty percent instead of forty. Most probably this is caused by slightly overpopulated maps. Campaign is very easy, except two scenarios: Refugees and Loyalty's Cruel Reward. There is no moderately difficult scenarios. The huge difference between average level difficulty and hardest level is just to big. Most difficult scenarios are Refugees and Loyaltys Cruel Reward.
Story:
Amount of delivered information is enough. Writing style is good. Beginning is terrific. Switching between protagonists is cool, and quite innovative idea. Overall concept is nicely executed and creator skillfully merged a lot of facts from mainline into own story. To fully appreciate this playing The Rise of Wesnoth is recommended. However ending I found disappointing. It seemed rushed and unconvincing. Also few details don't match to reality of Irdya.
Fun:
Campaign is definitely entertaining. Well done battles. Good dialog. And full of fresh ideas. You can play as good and bad in a single campaign! Although I have nothing against being awesome most of the time enemies fell way to easily to my taste.
Replay value:
Campaign is nicely done and straight forward. Although there is nothing that would reject you from playing it again, there is nothing that would encourage you to do that either. No hidden secrets, no tactical challenges, no extra levels. No satisfying ending.

Summary:
Overall it is well made, really great, easy campaign suitable for beginners with story explaining some events from The Rise of Wesnoth. Bringing new standards in design, especially visual ones. It story is shown from several angles what is unique feature, but unfortunately potential of this solution wasn't used at all. If you are looking for deep plot, and tactical challenge you won't find it here.
  • Surroundings: 10
    Design: 6
    Story: 7
    Fun: 7
    Replay value: 5
Campaign score: 7
Player note: 8

Replays:
LoK-replays-11.1.zip
They will not run for version 11.2 and later!
(481.23 KiB) Downloaded 783 times
Development suggestions:

Sections below contain quite detailed information about game events. If you are player who just want play reading it may potentially spoil the fun.
Bugs:
Surroundings:
Design:
Difficulty:
Story:
Criticism:
New ending:
Final notes:
Last edited by Wesbane on April 17th, 2013, 3:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
cephalo
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Re: The Library of Kratemaqht [SP Campaign]

Post by cephalo »

Wow! Thanks very much for the detailed and thorough feedback! I have to say I agree with most of what you wrote. I do agree that the ending was rushed. That is mainly because after 8 or 9 months of slogging away, I was fairly well burnt out! I like your ideas for a more complete ending, but I need to save a lot of lich lord internal drama for the sequel that happens 900+ years later.

I don't know how much of my life I want to dedicate to Wesnoth, but the sequel is probably going to take a year or more as I have only been kicking around disconnected story ideas in my head so far. This campaign could definitely use some more polish, but I really need to do the second half of the story first so it's at least a complete arc.

EDIT: Ah it's unfortunate that you had to play the scenario with 1.11.1. I waited until 1.11.2 to publish the 1.11 version because they fixed that bug that caused leaders to lose their gold and recall lists. Apparantly, it affected some mainline campaigns in the same way.
gooby
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Re: The Library of Kratemaqht [SP Campaign]

Post by gooby »

Like the campaign so far. Look forward to seeing it finished.
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raoni
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Re: The Library of Kratemaqht [SP Campaign]

Post by raoni »

I really liked your campaingn, it turned in one of my favorites(along with Tale of Crelanu and Fate of a Princess), it would be nice if it is set as a mainline in the future
The animations of the dragons wore a great new thing in the Wesnoth world

Pesnonally I don't had much difficulties because I use Debug Mode

The jewel in Akrina's head being the Ruby of Fire is a cool thing

A few questions:
Is Akrinas evil?
Is lord Lenvan the lich carrying the Ruby of Fire in The Rise of Wesnoth?
Is that Familiar the same of TROW?
cephalo
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Re: The Library of Kratemaqht [SP Campaign]

Post by cephalo »

Thanks for the feedback raoni. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
raoni wrote: A few questions:
Is Akrinas evil?
He is a large predatory, avaricious beast. He does what he does, evil is probably not the exact word. I think of dragons as sentient but also highly instinct driven. Highly dangerous, but not specifically looking to cause suffering, only looking to put down threats to the hoard.
raoni wrote: Is lord Lenvan the lich carrying the Ruby of Fire in The Rise of Wesnoth?
Yes. How he get's it should be a fun story to tell.
raoni wrote: Is that Familiar the same of TROW?
I'm not sure yet.
Wussel
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Re: The Library of Kratemaqht [SP Campaign]

Post by Wussel »

Hi, enjoyed playing so far. Your dragons really go over the top in terms of server space. You make a movie out of every move. PNG has a compression function. This helps a lot, when used. You can make the files smaller. You do not need 400 by 400 for every dragon frame. That would help a lot. Get rid of some frames. 64 MEGA bytes for unit graphic folder is a record by its own.

If there is no need to gather experience for your troops a hint would be nice. I did level my fellow prisoners on this prison break just to never see them again so far.

The sneaking thing is really nice idea. More storyline sketches later would be nice too. Your sketches are cool. Keep them up. Don't make them generic.

Make a list what you need. You need a girl. There was a toddler posted some time ago.
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raoni
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Re: The Library of Kratemaqht [SP Campaign]

Post by raoni »

Thanks for the reply
I only remenbered about my post today
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raoni
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Re: The Library of Kratemaqht [SP Campaign]

Post by raoni »

there is a sequel planned or in process or ongoing?
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