Flight to Freedom (drake campaign)

[MadMax]

Hiya. My computer has been in the shop for ages, but I should get it back sometime this week. I had some thoughts about the new levels (which are a cool idea), and I'll see if any of my notes survived the repair soon.

I'm still behind FtF, it's just...harder...without a computer.

Sounds good!

Sorry about your computer. I remember when mine went fubar a couple of years ago (it had a manufacturing defect), but the shop fried it and gave me a newer one, since they didn't have any equivalents in stock to replace it with! But anyway, I've been very busy with school and homework, and 1.3.8 makes some significant changes to unit WML, so the next release is probably at least a couple of weeks off. However, I will be able to include new content in it.

[Nova]

I have a computer again! My time's a little short, but I've been poking at FtF here and there.

What's the gameplan for the new branch? Is it supposed to ever intersect with the main branch? I don't think that the end-of-Hafwyt-time-warp-to-the-beginning (which doesn't actually work, incidentally) is going to cut it.

I can start brainstorming unless you have a plan already.

[MadMax]

I have a computer again! My time's a little short, but I've been poking at FtF here and there.

What's the gameplan for the new branch? Is it supposed to ever intersect with the main branch? I don't think that the end-of-Hafwyt-time-warp-to-the-beginning (which doesn't actually work, incidentally) is going to cut it.

I can start brainstorming unless you have a plan already.

This branch will intersect with the first, because the Gate of Storms will interrupt the planned convocation. More of the plot is revealed in this update.

UPDATE:
version 4.3.3 released, for Wesnoth 1.3.9+
7.66 MB download

unit WML updated to 1.3.8+ standard
new scenario: Mountain Crypt (in second branch)
bugfixes
turn limit of Forest of Nightmares reduced to 25
balancing changes

[Nova]

Hoo -- busy, busy, busy.

I still try to take time when I can. Here's some thoughts so far.

2B -- ALTERATIONS AND ADDITIONS

"Hmm... so Hartholar now wears the chieftain's robes. He is a bigot, but a wise drake nonetheless. And the Jamolar tribe, even in these swamps, is mightier than ever before."

Malakar: "Hartholar! Who are your allies?"

Malakar: "Hartholar! There, to the north, are the humans' scouts! All hope is lost! As chief, I will face the hordes in single combat.”

Malakar: “Hartholar, you are bound by this sacrifice to accept my people into your tribe. Perhaps your combined strength can succeed where ours has failed.”

Hartholar: “Stay, warrior-chief! This sacrifice… I see you are free of Stakron’s taint. Forgive me, Malakar, I have done you a great wrong. I pledge myself and my tribe to your service, upon my honor.”

Malakar: "Then we must plan our resistance!"


5B -- ADDITIONS

Malakar: No! Hafwyt is falling!
All able-bodied Drakes: I call upon the pledges you have given to your tribes, to your families, and to me. Now, with everything you have left, attack their leaders. Yes, their swords and arrows will sting, but not one of us shall go to our graves today knowing that we let the softskins take Hafwyt without first paying every drop of blood we can wring from them. By honor and by Gar-alagar, forward!


Lose Conditions.

1A --> 2A (already there)

2B --> 2A
If you kill Hartholar, the humans overrun the Drakes with ease.

Black Screen
With Hartholar dead, the swamp tribe quickly dispersed in a panic. Malakar attempted to lead his remaining forces forward, but was consistently hampered by tiny, desperate guerrilla attacks from the remaining Jamolar drakes.

PIC
When the humans caught up, they found a tribe that was tired, dispirited, nearly lost. The battle that ensued was short and brutal.

Most of the Drakes were allowed to simply sink beneath the murky waters, but a few of the stronger survivors were bound and dragged by horses back towards the shore.

GOTO "Boat" PIC -- Many drakes died, etc. Pick up the story as if you'd lost the first map.

5B --> 2A
If you lose a tower of Hafwyt, use Malakar's new, desperate dialog. Then cut straight to...

PIC

General, I'm pleased to report that our cavalry says the last of the stragglers have been rounded up.

Very good, Captain. That was a careless battle, on our part. Our losses were much higher than they should have been.

Sir, I assure you that our men fought their hardest!

Yes, Captain. I do not doubt their courage or their effort. However, we need to increase our training two-fold. If we're to hold these quarries, we cannot afford to fight another battle like this.

No, Sir. Sir, may I ask what is to be done with the captives?

Execute the dying ones. A General Dacayan will be by in a week's time. I hear that he is willing to pay handsomely for slaves. See that we are able to sell him as many healthy Drakes as possible.

Sir, yes, sir.

--Segue into mainline story, but include Hartholar as a non-critical hero as a reward for making it so far. When he dies next, he's just gone. Tenbakar is never heard from again.

-----

GENERAL THOUGHTS

I'm a little unsettled by how little Malakar seems to know about his homeland. I don't know what to do about that, as I understand it needs to be explained to the real-life players.

I've been mulling over the human's interest in Morogor, and here's what sounds best to me: there are two separate, but related, expeditions to Morogor. One, courtesy of Prax III, is trying to gather slaves to ease the Wesnothian national debt (as established elsewhere). The other is trying to capture and hold the quarries.

The Morogorian quarries are particularly special, as they have absorbed magical powers and fetch top-dollar for crafting stone staffs, cursed boxes, and the like. The Drakes are generally not terribly interested in the quarries, but they know they don't want invaders showing up and taking bits of their island away. Their primary interaction with the stone is the legendary Stone of Gar-Alagar, which is what keeps the island afloat. The island was supposed to be destroyed sometime after Rise Of Wesnoth, and this explains why it not only exists, but appears to be several hundred times the size that it was then.

Months ago, I made some reference to the island sinking again after the removal of the stone, and I just realized I never shared with you my thought processes behind that whole... angle.

The second branch needs to be able to intersect with the main branch as often as possible, I think. Otherwise, you've made two unrelated campaigns, and that makes it awfully hard to figure out chronology, plus it makes the download twice as big when it should be two separate ones.

I'm thinking it should be inevitable that you end up playing most or all of the "A" branch. The farther you make it in the "B" branch, the more bonuses you carry over. For example, making it to 5B would let you keep Hartholar. Maybe two or three missions after picking up Quemar, he starts to survive when you link back up with the main trunk. Just a thought -- I'm not really sure how difficult that would be to do.

Anyhoo, I'm still here, and still trying to do what good I can. I've got every line of dialog in a Word document that clocks in at 38 pages, and I'm looking for ways to make connections and make the world alive. If you want a copy, I can send it your way.

If I may be so bold as to say so, it's pretty noteworthy how your ability to write dialog has changed (improved) as this project has gone on. Most of the "B" maps are head-and-shoulders above what the "A" maps were, originally. Props!

[MadMax]

I'll try to implement this when I can, but I won't have very much time. Also, I still need to update the maps to the 1.3.11 format, which currently breaks FtF.

[Iris]

I'll try to implement this when I can, but I won't have very much time. Also, I still need to update the maps to the 1.3.11 format, which currently breaks FtF.

wmllint is your friend. It helped me a lot in the process, as it does everything automatically.

[Iris]

MadMax, why am I lately listed in the campaign's credits? I don't recall having contributed anything to it, did I?

Just wondering if my memory is that screwed up yet.

[Nova]

All right. These replace mission 3B, Council of War.

I strongly suggest you find someone who can draw a map, for use in this cutscene and elsewhere. I tried, but I suck.

[MadMax]

Shadow Master, I'm sorry for incorrectly citing you, but I used a few of the potion images from Invasion of the Unknown, and mixed you up with Shadow. It'll be fixed in the next release. Also, wmllint doesn't work on maps, although it's great with WML.

I already have a map of Morogor (actually made from a the TRoW scenario with WWWercator), but I'll implement these pictures (although I've removed the Chinese characters from the pagoda). Thanks!

[Nova]

No problem.

Rats, I thought I'd blurred the characters enough that they weren't noticeable. Oops.

I didn't realize there was a map already. It'd fit in great when they're talking about the path ahead. I've got a few more pics in the works -- here's hoping I have the time to finish them off.

Let me know if there's anything I should focus on.

[zookeeper]

Cute, they're so tiny!

[Nova]

Heh-heh. I suppose I had that coming.

Today's lesson is that removing the point of reference doesn't always remove the natural scale, as well. Sometimes you get busted.

Looking at my picture, I realized I forgot to blur properly. Here's a redo.

Here is also a lead-in to the Forest of Nightmares. Malakar's new line is "The fog is thickening down there." Then it should all fit in nicely.

Also, there's two pictures to start off Hafwyt. I don't remember the text off the top of my head, but it's something very roughly along the lines of "We made it!" followed by "But there's humans!" So I hid the humans behind a hill for the first pic, then reveal them afterwards. The rest of the intro I recommend keeping in-game -- this just helps set the stage.

[Angry Andersen]

Great Campaign! I really like the graphics and other details.

I played through the alternate path (killing horses and escaping on lvl1) on 1.3.12. I think the ending is a bit odd and a bit too early (I fell like I never had enough time to experiment with all the different varieties of units, esp. the saurians).

In the main path, the program unfortunately crashes when I kill the Caravan with the 500 gold (lvl 4, I think).


I tested this campaign first when it was still very new, and I have to admit that the progress up to the present version is really impressive!

[MadMax]

In the main path, the program unfortunately crashes when I kill the Caravan with the 500 gold (lvl 4, I think).

Did you see any error messages? Also, do you have a savefile of Caravan?

@Nova: Those pictures will work nicely. I especially like revealing the Hafwyt intro . However, I'm concerned that the building is too obviously a cathedral. A background of a castle may fit better, although the foreground is fine.

[Nova]

I don't really have any pictures of castles, I don't think... I'll keep digging through my photo collection and see if I can find something to swap out that might be more castle-y.

Next batch of pics will probably be a little while -- work is picking up again a little and the holidays are settling in with a vengeance.