Extended Era revived - version 36

[Temuchin Khan]

Thanks for the quick reply! I've added mention of the Fire Arrows to the Rami and Rami al Nuri descriptions. And I would like to know what the developers of the Khalifa think of my descriptions, so feel free to ask them!

(a) Are all the units female?

All the humans one are.

This raises further questions regarding their origins, culture, beliefs, and recruitment methods. As far as I know, even the creators of the Windsong have not dealt with these sorts of questions yet. I have some ideas, and I'll try to hint at the answers in the unit descriptions.

EDIT: Should any of the units be renamed? "Heretic" and "librarian," and to a lesser degree "arbiter," strike me as rather odd unit names. Would these changes be acceptable?

Code: Select all

                    -> runeforger
scribe -> scrivener -> savant -> conservator

           -> lorekeeper
gatekeeper -> harbinger -> haruspex

[Noyga]

I got bored, i decided to prerelease (half broken, but playable), so here is vx.31.0-pre1 (offline here :
http://bluebloup.free.fr/wesnoth/Extend ... re1.tar.gz):

New stuff:
- The Windsong faction
- Sylvan fairies
- Frost Wyrms
- Aragwaithi Ancient Banner
- Naga Abomination & Dephtprowler (maybe i should change this name too)
- Some animation/frames updates
- Some balancing updates

Known issues:
- since i use 1.3.8 [race] format, it might not work with 1.3.7
- i haven't moved the animations in the new 1.3.8 [attack_anim] tag, so i will generate a lot of depeciation warnings
- Updated by error the Naga Sentinel Frame instead of the Naga Guardian
- Quick and dirty sound and animations: Fairies & Wyrms
- Translations aren't updated

Todo:
- Fix the above
- Add a few animations i did not had time to include
- Add a lot of description i did not had time to include
- Update wescamp

[Iris]

I wonder if you have noticed this or not, but well, I was working with the August release, so I might be outdated as well.

While testing the Chaos faction merge into my campaign, I noticed the "Winged" daemons sink into deep water. I corrected it by adding the "flies=true" statement to their movetype. Not sure if this was already fixed.

[Noyga]

It has been fixed a while ago, i don't even recall when...

[movetype]
name=demonfly
flies=true

[Nosmos]

we are playing with the newest extended era under 1.3.7
windsong and aragwaith units dont have traits anymore ? is that a feature or a bug ?

and wesnoth crashes if you try recruting someting with undead

[Noyga]

I'm using 1.3.8 race definitions, those are not fully compatible with 1.3.7, so it's not surprising that 1.3.7 doesn't recognise the races (this should happen for any EE-specific races, not just Aragwaith and Windsong).

Btw i haven't modified anything in the undead faction yet, but i have seen similar crashes with 1.3.7 before i started to upgrade everything for 1.3.8. I have no idea of what is causing this, maybe it is fixed in 1.3.8 ?

[Temuchin Khan]

The Windsong unit descriptions are complete. Also, I thought I should mention that, since my question got no reply, I acted on the assumption that no changes were to be made to the unit names and found ways to make each of the names that bothered me make sense. Also, I tried to give them a vaguely Taoist feel, and to indicate not just what they did in time of war, but also what they did in time of peace. I developed them quite a bit beyond megane's sparse outline, but I don't think I've strayed from the basic concept.

Seeker – A Seeker’s role in ordinary times is to patrol the Isle of Libra and make sure it is secure. In times of extreme balancing, she also plays the role of a scout, insofar as she can go places that the Courier cannot easily reach, and because her swiftness and dexterity enable her to ignore enemy zones of control.

Pathfinder – The Pathfinder not only excels in the same skills as the Seeker, but also has learned the skill of attacking a distracted enemy from his blind side to inflict greater damage.

Farstrider – The Farstrider has perfected the arts of the Pathfinder as is often entrusted with the coordination and organization of Seeker and Pathfinders, whether in ordinary times or times of extreme balancing.

Skyrunner – The Skyrunner builds upon her ability to control lightning, making her useful for deflecting potentially dangerous charges from the Isle of Libra in times of peace and for frying enemies in times of extreme balancing.

Stormbringer – Having perfected the art of controlling the dangerous elemental force of lightning, the Stormbringer has a recognized place in Windsong society, and coordinates the training and activities of the Skyrunners.


Scribe – The primary duty of a Scribe is to collate the wisdom of the ages, the observations of the Couriers, and the pulses of the All felt by the prophets, and the ancient decisions of the Founding Council of the Windsong, and to transmit and preserve them. In times of extreme balancing, her ability to control the ice and cold of her homeland earns her a place in the armies of the Windsong.

Savant – A Savant has advanced beyond the purely mechanical duties of a Scribe and started learning to apply the wisdom gathered by the Windsong and to follow the Course of the All. In times of extreme balancing, she can use the icy and cold at least as effectively as the Scribes, and with greater wisdom.

Runeforger – The Runeforger has left aside the path of the Savant to focus on ways to use Pulses of the All offensively by casting opponents into depression or afflicting them with unpleasant memories, and thus sapping their will to live, or by directly sapping their life force. Though rarely needed in times of peace, such skills are more than useful for extreme balancing

Arbiter – An Arbiter’s primary task is to adjudicate disputes between members of the Windsong. In times of extreme balancing, she uses ice and cold with great effectiveness and employs a scythe to defend herself at close quarters.

Librarian – The Librarian’s primary task is to conserve the many volumes of ancient wisdom entrusted to the Windsong, and to carry on the traditions of the Founding Council. Though her presence at the heights of Windsong society might seem odd to outsiders, to the inhabitants of the Isle of Libra, given their heavy emphasis on education, it seems fitting and appropriate. In times of extreme balancing, she too uses the cold and the scythe as her weapons.


Ascendant – An Ascendant has spent a lifetime meditating and contemplating the Course of the All, and often senses when something important is about to happen. Sometimes she will feel a Pulse of the All that one who may join the Windsong, and dispatches a Courier or an Envoy to recruit her. In times of extreme balancing, her leadership skills and ability to heal are invaluable.

Prophet – A Prophet, more so than a Weaver, focuses all her efforts toward meditating and contemplating the Course of the All, and learning to feel its pulse running through her and through all things. She thus improves her healing abilities and becomes an acknowledged leader.

Herald – An Envoy who has learned to perfectly flow with the Course of the All and to unveil its flow to the uninitiated is known as a Herald, and is no less useful in times of extreme balancing that the Envoy.

Envoy – The Envoy, by closely cooperating with the Course of the All, can travel at the speed of thought among friendly villages. This ability can be used to contact prospective recruits or to rebalance with the All an opposing force by upsetting its internal balance.

Weaver – A Weaver has begun to walk the Course of the All, but is still too inexperienced to realize that she does not control it. Hence, she is called a Weaver. In times of extreme balancing, she supports her allies with her ability to heal the wounded.


Gatekeeper – Even the Isle of Libra stands in need of sentinels. In times of extreme balancing, their duty is to protect the homelands and to delay advancing enemy forces, but even in ordinary times they perform a helpful function, for their reassuring presence helps to maintain orderliness and harmony on the Isle.

Lorekeeper – Some among the gatekeepers will be picked for a more sensitive role, that of guarding the vast collections of lore and wisdom which are so precious and necessary to the Windsong. In times of extreme balancing, they can also function as more powerful versions of the Gatekeeper.

Heretic – Some Gatekeepers grow to love the thrill of combat and abandon the high calling of defending the Isle for the baser joy of frying their enemies. Normally, these are held in suspicion by their sisters, but in times of extreme balancing, their usefulness is undeniable.

Harbinger – A Harbinger is a Heretic whose love of combat and slaughter has transformed her into a true monster. She will attack until either she or her opponent is dead. Even more suspect in ordinary times, she also is useful in times of extreme balancing.


Courier – The Courier’s main duty is to find and draft prospective recruits whenever an Ascendant feels the pulse of such an opportunity. In times of extreme balancing, her ability to fly and to pelt her enemies with rocks makes her quite useful.

Emissary – The Emissary has perfected the skills she acquired as a Courier and added to them some skill with the sword. This only increases her usefulness in times of extreme balancing.

Reaver – The Reaver, due to her heavier equipment, has lost speed, but is quite useful in times of extreme balancing, at least for aerial offensives. In times of subtle balancing, she assists the Dreadnoughts in guarding the seas surrounding the Isle of Libra.

Dreadnought – The Dreadnought, true to her name, is a fearful aerial fighting machine, and is wisely employed during times of extreme balancing. Outside those times, her main role is to guard the seas surrounding the Isle of Libra.


Sky Shard – Sparks of Air may be woven together by Weavers into magical constructs that are often used, much like the Envoys, to throw an opposing force off balance during times of extreme balancing.

Sky Crystal – A Sky Shard is inherently unstable, and were at first rarely used, until one wise Herald realized that, given sufficient input of energy, they could be given a crystalline structure. During times of extreme balancing, this redistribution of energy can most easily be accomplished by making weak Sky Shards and having them suck energy from enemy soldiers until they have gained enough to facilitate restructuring.

EDIT: Minor cosmetic adjustments.

EDIT: New phrase in Librarian description.

EDIT: Noted what my edits were.

EDIT: New phrase in Scribe description.

[Truper]

Fine descriptions, except that the phrase "in times of extreme balancing" occurs far too often.

[Temuchin Khan]

Fine descriptions, except that the phrase "in times of extreme balancing" occurs far too often.

It means "when they're at war." It seemed to me that the Windsong would most likely use a euphemism to refer to warfare. "times of balancing" was megane's phrase, but I thought they would be more likely to use "times of extreme balancing," since they would see themselves as balancing in quiet and subtle ways the rest of the time.

I did have some other ideas, but "extreme balancing" seemed to me to be the best one, with "aggressive balancing" and "balancing with extreme prejudice" tied for second best.

[Vendanna]

Played a bit the last version (uncompleted as you said) I guess.

Naga abomination is facing wrong direction upon attacks (probably because the sprite isn't flipped)

Naga Abomination is also missing the sword attack icon (blank image) while the mace and spear are shown.

and lastly, both Naga Abomination and Naga Sentinel has a XP to lvl up lower than the Naga Warden (thus they level faster than the lvl 2)

awaiting to see the new naga guardian graphics (and maybe I'm able to finish the defend anim this weekend)

[Noyga]

Good catch ... The XP of the two should be 100, not 32.
And i'll fix the rest.

[Lastmerlin]

after loosing a game against sidhe i want to say i feel this faction is far too strong. the enemy recruited at most only rainddancers. This unit has a decent attack (6-3 magical ranged) but it is not weak in melee as all other strong mages at level one, it has a 5-3 melee attack too.

if i compare it to the human mage if get following differences:
negative:
+2 gold costs
-3 max. ranged damage

positive:
+10 max. melee damage (!)
+8 hp (!)
-8 xp (this is imo important too)
+better defense (+20% on forest, snow, +10% on swamp - especially the forest% are very important)
+better movetype (namely in the forest and some other less important tiles)
+20%cold resist

I have read some comments on such comparisons, they sounded *you are just a bad player* and *you cant compare one unit to another*. Thats clear but I think this is just obviously imbalanced. I could continue to name their frost mage (hoarfrost?) next, who has again the same main attack damage (21 max magical) as the normal mage, and again more hp, less xp, better melee attack, better defense, better movetype and costs even _less_ than the mage. Furthermore their is nearly no special the sidhe cant access to: ambush, berserk, backstab, leadership, skirmish, and some new specials on top. The sidhe are the only faction i know that can deal out each type of damage ( especially massive cold and fire, other factions have either fire or cold damage but not both).

For sure I am not a strong player and a really good player could be able to kill this faction if the enemy isnt as good in playing wesnoth. But i am sure with two players beeing almost equal in skill the sidhe player has a big advantage.

[Shadow]

Some stuff about WMl. I still didn't fixed all the TC problems with the archer.
Second is it possible that the archer stands in the position from the beginning of the the ranged attack (attack frame 1) else it looks funny when he switches from a south attack to the base frame .
Third could you set the duck defense animation for melee only, looks a bit stupid too. Thanks in advance.

[TheChronoMaster]

Yeah, in my games against a Sidhe player...I admit I'm no expert, but I shouldn't be totally outgunned by every single unit they have right from the start. (I play Loyalist and Arags usually, by the way)

And some of their (Really easy to get) level ups are just EVIL.

[lu_zero]

Yeah, in my games against a Sidhe player...I admit I'm no expert, but I shouldn't be totally outgunned by every single unit they have right from the start. (I play Loyalist and Arags usually, by the way)

And some of their (Really easy to get) level ups are just EVIL.

Looks like you don't take advantage of the time (daytime with loyalist against sidhe is something interesting...) and you had a scenario with lots of forests.

the standard mage lv2 are better IMHO

the hoardfroster is an archer btw...