Training with Clea (1.9.5+)

[shadowblack]

I decided to have a look at actually making a campaign, and I had the “brilliant” idea to make it a tutorial style campaign. I thought that “Hey, there’s already a tutorial, so if I have any trouble I can look at that, right?” (a VERY wrong assumption).

Making the maps was relatively easy. Making the first scenario, however, proved a bit more difficult than I expected. So far I have completed only turn 1 (which includes recruiting units and capturing a village) and before I continue I’d like to ask if I have made any significant mistakes this far (in code or text)? Also, is there anything I could have done in a more efficient manner?

I did test it and the few things I have completed work fine. Stderr.txt shows no errors related to the campaign (except for the lack of _info.cfg), so I seem to have fixed all the major issues I had.

P.S.: Yes, this was initially based on “A Simple Campaign”. But it turned our far from simple. At least making my naga campaign will be relatively easy after this.

[Reepurr]

Clea reckons you can only recruit when you're standing on a castle hex.

Excuse me? Keeps can be recruited from.
(and only with a unit with a gold crown, called a leader)


Otherwise it seems quite good, though ridiculously long-winded.

[Elvish_Hunter]

So, after all the testing that you did on TSoG, I did some testing for you.
First of all, you should edit your first post to specify that the campaign is for 1.9.4 ([gold_carryover] is not supported in 1.8.x, for example).
Instead of storing unit, if you don't need to unstore them you can just kill them.

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	[event]
		name=recruit
		[filter]
			x,y=37,7
		[/filter]
		[store_unit]
			variable=recruit
			kill=yes
			[filter]
				x,y=$x1,$y1
			[/filter]
		[/store_unit]
		[unit]
			id=Elriend

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	[event]
		name=recruit
		[filter]
			x,y=37,7
		[/filter]
		[kill]
			x,y=$x1,$y1
			animate=no
			fire_event=no
		[/kill]
		[unit]
			id=Elriend

In this message:

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		[message]
			speaker=Clea
			message=_ "Now you have an archer. She has been given the traits 'dextrous' - which is a trait that increases her ranged damage by 1 point and is exlusively avialble to us elves - and resilient."
		[/message]

exlusively should be exclusively, and avialble should be available.
In this message:

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		[message]
			speaker=Clea
			message=_ "Try to level up a shaman if you can, as her advancements are even more useful: the Druid heals 8 points of health and can cure poison, while the sorceress has a powerful magical attack that is very effective against undead and is excellent for finishing off weakened enemies."
		[/message]

Druid has the first letter in caps, while sorceress hasn't.
Instead of doing

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		[disallow_recruit]
			type=Elvish Shaman
		[/disallow_recruit]
		[allow_recruit]
			type=Elvish Fighter
		[/allow_recruit]

you can just do

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		[set_recruit]
			recruit=Elvish Fighter
		[/set_recruit]

After that message

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		[message]
			speaker=Clea
			message=_ "Move him to the village at 43:9. By doing so he will capture the village, giving you extra gold income."
		[/message]

you should scroll to that village ( [scroll_to] ), and place a label on it ( [label] ).
In this message

Code: Select all

[message]
					speaker=Clea
					message=_ "One last thing: Earlier I mentioned Loyal units. These units have the Loyal trait, which means they don't require upkeep. However only special units have that trait - normal recruits can't get it and will always require upkeep. If you are lucky enough to receive a Loyal unit try to keep it alive, as you won't be able to replace it if you lose it."
				[/message]

you should mention that loyal units, usually, have a bronze ring above them; if they have a silver crown, they're heroes and their death means defeat.
Another suggestion: to make a certain word evident, instead of writing in caps, you can use Pango markup. For example, <b>slow</b> will make the word "slow" written in bold, while <i>slow</i> will do the same in italic.

I think that it's all for now. Hopefully my suggestions will be useful!

[shadowblack]

Thank you both for the comments. I've fixed all the things mentioned (or at least I think I did). I've updated the archive in the first post.

@Elvish_Hunter
I didn't know about [set_recruit], as I haven't seen it used yet. By the way, it uses "recruit=", not "type=" (as I found out after a quick test).

Now to continue with the rest of the first scenario.

[Elvish_Hunter]

I didn't know about [set_recruit], as I haven't seen it used yet.

So far, the only place where I seen it used was a scenario in Love to Death.

By the way, it uses "recruit=", not "type=" (as I found out after a quick test).

Right, it was just a copypasting mistake. I edited my previous post.

[shadowblack]

Okay, first scenario is mostly finished. It still lacks a proper event for the player's defeat, many of the texts could probably use some work, and I need to make sure that the [move_unit_fake] tags work as intended, but the main part of the coding is done. Any glaring mistakes I missed?

New version attached to first post.

[Chefu]

I played through the first scenario and all the events seem to be working correctly. The dialogues are interesting and give each character a personality. A few issues I found were:

- The elvish ranger: after you wound it, it captures villages and then joins the fight and steals your XP! Wouldn't it be better to get rid of it after it disappears into the forest?

- What was the mountain for? That was a little confusing.

- Design wise, you are throwing out a lot of information in this first scenario. A first-time Wesnoth player would be very confused. If you check out the official tutorial, you will notice that the first scenario only shows you the very basics: The UI, how to move and attack, recruiting, leaders and villages. Then the second scenario tells you about different unit types, movement, defenses, basic tactics and ToD and lets you attack your first "real" enemy.

- This is similar to my last point. A new player needs to be taken through baby steps in order to learn the game. I think there is a little too much dialogue and info thrown at the player before he takes an action. If you talk about a feature, the player should be able to try it out right after (i.e. recruiting). Alternatively, you can comment right after an event happens (i.e. explaining village and rest healing). You certainly have done this for some aspects of the scenario but in several instances you introduce a feature/function and the player doesn't get to try it out or you introduce two or three things and the player only tries one after going through lots of dialogue.

- I like that you mentioned many exceptions to the "default" wesnoth rules (such as magical attacks or regeneration). However, I don't think this belongs in the first scenario as it is rather overwhelming. You could introduce them in a later scenario. It would be particularly effective if you actually had those units in play so the player can see the specials in action (i.e. getting to use a healer, having to attack a troll and seeing it regenerate). I liked the way you introduced the leadership special.


Overall, you have done a great job with the technical side of things. The various events are interesting and function correctly. However, you might need to redesign some elements as the information it throws at you is a little overwhelming and would be very much so for a new Wesnoth player. Well done and I look forward to keeping track of this project and how it evolves

[shadowblack]

Thanks for your comments, Chefu. In my work copy I have given the Ranger "ai_special=guardian", so he will no longer steal experience. The mountain was in order to prevent the player from getting ambushed by moving to the hex north of the village, as the event triggers only when the player captures the village, and you can't undo moves when you get ambushed.

As for the rest of the things you mentioned: I think I'll split the first scenario in two - first part will introduce just the basics, and the second part will be the fight against the goblins. This should reduce the amount of info thrown at the player at once (and I'll remove the impassable mountain while I am at it - it feels too much out of place).

[shadowblack]

After various delays I have resumed work on this campaign. It now requires version 1.9.5+ due to the first scenario using allow_end_turn and disallow_end_turn. I have split the first scenario in two, and during the fight with the goblins the player actually gets a loyal Sorceress and Marksman, allowing him to try the Magical and Marksman specials. There's just one issue with the first scenario (if you load a turn 3 autosave the scenario does not end) that I will fix tomorrow. There are two more scenarios left.

I'd like to ask for a bit of help, though:
1) Is the first scenario too short? Should I give the player a minor task, such as killing a quintain or a bat?
2) Is everything worded clearly? Anything that needs changing? Any typos?
3) I have attached a screenshot from the end of scenario 1. As you can see the game mentions carryover percentage and Retained gold. Is there any way to remove those lines? Since there's no early finish bonus and no gold carried over... Carryover report at the end of scenario 1 has been removed.

4) A second screenshot, this time from the end of scenario 2. The game mentions that the carryover percentage is 80 (even though it should be 40) and that I will start the next scenario with 210 or the minimum, not the "You will start with X on top of the minimum" I expected to see. Anyone know why it says that? Figured it out.

[Scaeb]

I noticed two things:

1. at some point in scen 2 i think, Clea says "Yu" instead of "You".

2. After you have split the original scenario 1 into two scenarios, you did not move the explanation of the "linger mode" to the end of the new 1st scenario. As by the time the user has already experienced it, its explanation after the second scenario seems to be out of place.

[shadowblack]

Thanks, Scaeb. New version in the first post. Changes:
1) Clea now mentions some weaknesses and advantages of Elvish Scouts
2) The note about Linger mode is now at the end of scenario 1 (can't believe I forgot to move that!)
3) The player now gets one more simple task in scenario 1: To kill a(n initially slowed) Wolf
4) There's no carryover report at the end of scenario 1
5) The carryover report at the end of scenario 2 is now correct
6) Fixed all the typos I found (including the "Yu" instead of "You")

I think the first two scenarios are fine now, so I'll move on to scenario 3.

[Scaeb]

Btw, though I think your tutorial is too much talk and to little "try", I really like the characters unfolding. You're good at writing!