Legend of the Invincibles

[Matherton]

Thanks for your quick response!!
As for the difficulty of Avengers, I think I will be able to beat it now, once I get to it. I think my problem was twofold: a) I entered the scenario with about 800 gold (which seems to be low for 4 enemies with 600 gold each, though, I think, doable), and b) I had built both my characters and my top recalls incorrectly; I think the biggest error here was failing to use the Redeem attack enough. Anyway, I will tell you how it goes when I get there. I suspect that I am a fairly good test case, since, as I said before, I love Wesnoth partially because I don't, essentially, have the kind of brain that is very good at playing it. It is therefore a perpetual challenge for me and thus perpetually interesting. Anyway, my point is that I am no genius at Wesnoth and therefore a good tester, I think.
-Melanie

[jeffgreen]

The "empty field" problem appears at the start of new scenarios - my workaround is to just reload Auto-Save-1.
I'm not sure if that will be any help in tracking the problem. (To be honest I thought I'd caused it with my tinkering)

[Dugi]

@Matherton
You're saying you are that kind of person who plays wesnoth rather to play through the story and to enjoy the gameplay than to look for challenges. As you said, that makes you a perfect tester of the easy difficulty. So, if you find a scenario overly difficult on easy, it is time to make it a bit easier. Easy difficulty should be possible to complete without too much unit building or long-term planning.
Can you please tell me which scenarios you found too easy and which ones were troublesomely hard?

@jeffgreen
I have investigated it enough to know when does it exactly appear. It appears after that all starting codes I have written get executed, but before the autosaving. I can't track anything here without editing the executable which seriously I don't feel like doing, because learning what to do would mean studying the structure of the whole code and might take me a week. I can only guess what is the problem, but the only possibility I can imagine is that a unit with a bad string in its type appeared on the recall list (maybe just a typo there). This can explain why is it appearing in all following scenarios. The save file is several megabytes large, so I can't just read it and looking for particular strings leads to nowhere, because I don't know what the string is (it is not an empty string, I have verified that) and the keyword 'type' is too common.

___

I have released a new version, 2.5.9. It contains fixes to all bugs I could remember and could fix at the moment. Regarding other significant changes, Krux has now his own sprite and portrait, thundersticks are now craftable, all ungeared Walking Corpses are automatically removed from the recall list (significantly reducing the size of save files) and I added Troll Boulderlobber from Balancing Extended Era Modification as an advancement for Troll Rocklobber (with AMLA and all this stuff, of course). I also slightly weakened the demons appearing in chapter 9 if you're starting there and some other petty things.

I think it is now time to start working on chapter 10, Dawning of a New Era. It will have probably 15 scenarios (if I won't change the storyline planned) and it will be a bit orcish.

[Konrad2]

@dugi
i am very happy to hear that you now begin with the 1ßth chapter i look forward to play it (though i still have to play chapter 8 and 9 xD )
you should make some exception for deleting walking corpses, because when you attack the orcish main army in the 4th chapter you need every undead you can get (you run around with plague in first attack and in next scenario you get all those walking corpses deleted and only have ghosts left? not rly nice to think about)
@Matherton
just some advise: dont sign a post with your real name in the internet when you are trying to be anonym

[Dugi]

It makes sense to avoid deleting walking corpses in chapter 4. In the next version, they will not be deleted in scenarios An Army Is Born, The First Blow, Dealing with Trolls and Invasion. Not hard to code if you know what to do. Geared walking corpses aren't deleted anyway.

I personally think that writing your firstname on forums is not a problem, a problem would be writing both firstname and lastname (unless your name is as mainstream as Jack Smith, John Potter, Peter Jones, Thomas Taylor or so...).

More important. Chapter 10 will feature orcs as playable faction. I had some quick ideas, there were units in other add-ons that could be reused, so I created some kind of first plan. I found Orcish Sovereign to be a good advancement of Orcish Warlord (he just becomes more powerful thanks to his strength, and starts thinking unlike many orcs, no?), although he might need some modifications of stats. I was really pleased to find on the forums an unused, perfectly animated sprite for some Orcish Nightblade, intended to be an advancement of Orcish Slayer (author was Sleepwalker).

Quick plan for Northerners faction, many sprites will need edits, original units are shown too:

[Raijer]

All in all, it looks perfect, though there's a tiny problem: Isn't a werewolf a man that can transform into a wolf during the full moon ? In that case, having a goblin riding one would seem strange...
Also, the difference between the lvl 3 naga and the lvl 4 is too big, but i suppose you will edit it later.
And i don't like Krux's new sprite, doesn't look like a half-god to me, more like an evolved footpad.

[Konrad2]

i think the same as Raijer, when i saw the sprite of the lvl 4 naga i wondered first a bit and then i thought that the naga tamed some sea monster(it looks similar to a hydra) and you cant see the naga anymore, but you cant guess on the first try that it is supposed to be a modified naga
to the werewolf: i think you even have a book in the game that makes after several advancemets possible to change for the attack into a wolf right? does that mean you really intend to let the goblin ride a half-man, half-wolf creature/person?

[Dugi]

Lycantropy was originally supposed to manifest at rainy nights (there is a mental illness making people feel like transformed into wild beasts during rainy nights, and maul other people), but later, it was changed to the classical full moon (when wolves use to ululate). In other cultures (like Celtic), they were rather a race that could change forms. The only werewolves in wesnoth were in era of myths, where it was supposed to be an ability gained either by practice or genetically. I personally prefer this possibility too, werewolves as shape-shifting gangs, half-man half-beasts are better enemies than innocent humans who are transforming and attacking because they are being controlled by something wicked.
Orcs might be able to become werewolves too (because they are considered by humans to be half-men, half-beasts, with shamanic powers close to animals), better than humans, and they might team with a real good goblin rider. It might be explained in description. I will also have to improve the sprite.

I have taken the level 4 naga from Balancing Extended Era Modification, and it does not fit the contemporaneous appearance of nagas, but I hope that a change in colour or body and armour will do the trick.

(note: these are not rejects of your remarks, just justifications of my choices)

I have based Krux' sprite on the portrait. He was supposed to wear simple clothes, because he was living in the forest just with his parents, when the demons attacked and there was no time to get clothes that gods are supposed to wear. This is all that could remind you a footpad, because I have not based his sprite on footpad. I cam add some kind of more visible aura to make him sparkle like a superior being, but I don't think it is a good idea.

[Konrad2]

@dugi
forgot a long time to report it: the walkthrough for "Invasion" says that you can control the undead, but it would be better to control them because they get so easily slaughtered
i think you wanted towrite that you can let the ai play them or control them by yourself and you just forgot the part of ai control (would make sense then)

to the werewolf rider: goblins are said to be degeneraed orcs, which are detested by the "grown" orcs and only used as cannon fodder
with this background it is hard to believe that an orc would allow them to ride on him, especially when it is such a special orc who can be proud of his blood/practice for becoming a werewolf, you could say he evoled from the normal orc to something greater (you can also say that he evoled back to something he was before, you can take it as someone like)


first: i wrote down what i thought and this lead me t the thing what is in (i dont know the english word, it is those things i write in right now those () ) and i dont wish to delete it because i want to know later how i came to this thought xD
second: a possible unit description for werewolf rider (pls dont complain about grammar mistakes, you can edit is as much as you want)

Sometimes there is an orc born, who lacks intelligence, but is blessed with extraordinary strenght and wolf-like instincts. Those orcs look with time more and more like big wolves and when they lose control of themselves they certainly escape from the society and from any rules into the wilderness and are referred from then on as werewolves. It is said that those orcs have the legacy of their old, old ancestors inherited and are declared as holy by the shamans. Those orcs are truly half-man and half-beast and are nearly impossible ?to tame/to made obey rules?. However sometimes there are also battlehardened and expierenced goblin riders who are crazy enough to search for those werewolves and even manage to tame one enough to ride with him into battle. Those goblins are called werewolf riders and whenever they appear on a battlefield, they strike fear into the hearts of their foes and are even respected by the greatest of the orcs.


It became a little bit long, but that is how i could imagine the unit description of the werewolf rider
the reason why a goblin can ride the "werewolf" is because the werewolf is a orc who evoled back into a beastlike creature with no intelligence, which walks on his foots (the hands and arms are foots for him, at least he uses them like foots)
if you liked my description dugi and if you want to take it, you are free to do so, i would just advise that you edit the sprite of the werewolf a bit so it would match the description

[Dugi]

forgot a long time to report it: the walkthrough for "Invasion" says that you can control the undead, but it would be better to control them because they get so easily slaughtered
i think you wanted towrite that you can let the ai play them or control them by yourself and you just forgot the part of ai control (would make sense then)

You're right. Also, I am not sure if I have corrected a bug there, causing it to be mandatory for ai to control them under certain circumstances.

to the werewolf rider: goblins are said to be degeneraed orcs, which are detested by the "grown" orcs and only used as cannon fodder

They aren't exactly detested. They are perceived as inferior and used only as cannon fodder because they are both weak and stupid and therefore next to useless.

By the way the ) and ( symbols are called brackets.

I was thinking about the description, and I have edited it like this (if you disagree, comment):
Sometimes it happens that an orc is grows really unintelligent and naive, but blessed with extraordinary strength and predator-like instincts and ferocity. They have great difficulties with integration into the orcish community, but shamans usually perform a ritual that allows them to transform their body to animal form, which lets them use their innate abilities better. It is said that those orcs have the legacy of their beast ancestors of distant past and are considered sacred. They abandon orcish communities and hunt in the wilderness. They shift back into the humanoid form only rarely, usually only to approach their victims unexpectedly. Those orcs are truly half-men and half-beasts and are nearly impossible to tame. However, sometimes there are also battle-hardened and expierenced goblin riders who are ambitious enough to search for those werewolves and even manage to tame one enough to ride with him into battle. Those goblins are called werewolf riders and whenever they appear on a battlefield, they strike fear into the hearts of their foes and are even respected by the greatest of the orcs.

[Konrad2]

i dont particulary disagree with this way of editing it, there is just one flaw: the orc can only be stupid OR clever/have at least some intelligence
he cant be stpid, but clever enough to change his form for the hunt of people and if we decide that he is clever enough to do so, we have to change the description from "tame" into "befriend" because you cant "tame" a intelligent creature because they are to clever, you can try to "befriend" them in order to fight side on side with it

[Dugi]

Hm, animals can use some ruses too. But you're right, I will change the purpose of morphing back to climbing.

The updated description:

Sometimes it happens that an orc is grows really unintelligent and naive, but blessed with extraordinary strength and predator-like instincts and ferocity. They have great difficulties with integration into the orcish community, but shamans usually perform a ritual that allows them to transform their body to animal form, which lets them use their innate abilities better. It is said that those orcs have the legacy of their beast ancestors of distant past and are considered sacred. They abandon orcish communities and hunt in the wilderness. They shift back into the humanoid form only rarely, usually only when they need to climb somewhere. Those orcs are truly half-men and half-beasts and are nearly impossible to tame. However, sometimes there are also battle-hardened and experienced goblin riders who are ambitious enough to search for those werewolves and even manage to tame one enough to ride with him into battle. Those goblins are called werewolf riders and whenever they appear on a battlefield, they strike fear into the hearts of their foes and are even respected by the greatest of the orcs.

[Konrad2]

i think now it is fine and i am honored that this description is based on a thought of mine because there is no greater honor for a fan than to take part in developing the game he loves

[Raijer]

I must agree with Dugi on that one, animals actually use tricks to hunt, and i think they could simply change form by instinct. Anyway, both descriptions suit me well, and it explains the origin of the werewolf rider in a plausible way.

[Konrad2]

what i meant was that they need some intelligence to figure out that people are less afraid from your humanoid form, then from your beast form