Carved in Stone 0.8.0 [SP Dwarven Campaign for 1.13]

[Kwandulin]

Description
"During the glorious Silver Age of Wesnoth - an age of prosperity and civilization - seemingly endless series of orcish attacks were lead against dwarvish settlements, that were newly founded in the now colonized Northlands. But times have changed. One day the orcish attacks suddenly stopped. Accompany our dwarvish heroes led by Andurin, a wise runesmith, on their journey through the vast plains of the southwestern Northlands; bring the evil doings of orcs to light and disclose their secrets."
(Easy difficulty, 8 scenarios)


Features
- small to medium sized maps with intense battles
- new dwarvish units, both completely new unit lines and expansion of already existing unit lines
- visit long-forgotten places of ancient dwarvish history
- find and rescue (optional) heroes with unique AMLAs and expand your truly heroic group
- several sidequests, secrets and eastereggs
- beyond the knowledge of basic mechanics of wesnoth there is nothing else needed in order to manage the few non-standard aspects of the campaign (no inventory, no right-click or the like)


Feedback
This campaign is by no means finished at this point of time. Yet, I decided to release the campaign since the current progress of the campaign development allows a thematic cut resulting in a roughly closed plot. This first part now needs your attention and gaming expertise. I would appreciate it very much, if you had the time to play through this part and give me feedback. Help me make a good campaign out of it.

If you like to, you may use the following scheme to give feedback for single scenarios:
1. What version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?
2. How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
3. How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
4. How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario? Are there any spelling mistakes or text passages that could and should be improved?
5. What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
6. How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
7. What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
8. Did you encounter any bug?

Furthermore, you may use the following scheme to give feedback for the campaign as a whole:
1. How difficult did you find the campaign as a whole? (1-10) Does the description 'Intermediate difficulty' fit well?
2. Was the main plot clear and interesting? Do you think the plot fits into the world of wesnoth?
3. Did you make use of the new dwarvish units? Did you find them interesting and fun? Were they balanced? Do they fit into the dwarvish race?
4. How fun do you think the campaign as a whole is? (1-10)

In order to not spoil the fun for the others, it'd make sense to use the

Spoiler:

-tag if there is anything you believe needs to be hidden.


Download
The campaign can now be downloaded via the add-on server that is accessible from Wesnoth 1.12.

[Gitanomad_X]

hi Sulfur,

Thanks very much for what seems to be the beginning of an enjoyable and polished campaign. (I even forgot that it wasn't finished and was disappointed that it ended at Spellkeep.) I'm too lazy/busy to give a lot of scenario-specific feedback, but aside from the interesting new units, I found the automatically recalled mermen/mermaids to be useful in certain scenarios but something of a chore in others. Protecting them while they travel over dry land to the nearest pond, river or marsh takes time and resources… I'll try to think of more stuff for future messages, but in the meantime, keep up the good work!

[Kwandulin]

v.0.2.1 can now be downloaded from the server that is accessible from Wesnoth 1.11.16

Changelog (may contain spoilers)

Spoiler:

- improved story
- non-essential heroes (except Norn) are now not automatically recalled at the beginning of a scenario
- added a new scenario between Old_Friends and The_Dead_admonish
- added three new scenarios to continue the story (still not finished yet)
- added portraits for Dwarvish Brewer,Dwarvish Brewmaster, Dwarvish Forefather, Dwarvish Ancestor,Dwarvish Icesaint
- Spellkeep now does not collapse during the scenario
- The_March: weaker vanguard
- Kwandulin now can advance
- added Dwarvish Wolfmane, Dwarvish Ancestor, Dwarvish Wargod, Dwarvish Icesaint, Dwarvish Scoundrel, Dwarvish Headhunter
- minor balance changes

[Crow_T]

Maybe its because I'm still on 1.11.15 but I get this error

Code: Select all

The following add-on had errors and could not be loaded:
    Carved in Stone

Please report this to the author or maintainer of this add-on.

Details:

    Macro/file '~add-ons/Carved_in_Stone/units/Dwarves' is missing
    at ~add-ons/Carved_in_Stone/_main.cfg:34

Edit: easy fix, linux is case sensitive, the main cfg uses Dwarves, Legends, Monsters, while the folders in units are dwarves, legends, and monsters. Just changing the folder names fixes it

Also, the dwarvish brewer sprite wasn't showing up, the actual sprite is named "brewer," not "Brewer" as per the unit's .cfg. Again, Linux issue (and maybe Mac, being Unix-like). There are probably more of these, I will check on the next release

Also, you requested dialogue help, here is the first scenario, use what corrections/edits you please:

[Kwandulin]

Thanks for reporting that issue. I have now overhauled the ressources, the bug should not appear now (if i have not overlooked a fault). And thanks a lot for the edits of the dialogues; I appreciate that. I've changed the dialogue accordingly.

The new v.0.2.3 can now be downloaded from the server that is accessible from Wesnoth 1.11.16

[Sneezy]

Hi Sulfur-- Using CiS 0.2.3 with BfW 1.11.17 on win-7 plus SP1, I've reached Pathways of the Past, and have found a few things to report.

First problem: At the end of The Dead Admonish, my Andurin was lev-3, HP=48, XP=78/210. At the opening of Pathways of the Past, Andurin is back to lev-2, HP=40, XP=0/86. Somehow, the more-experienced version of Andurin was lost or misplaced.

Second problem: the gryphon moved away from the starting spot, into the main E-W tunnel, and spotted a swamp ahead; Andurin said: "I am afraid we do not have a choice other than directly marching through it." That seemed odd, like he was responding to someone else, so I looked at the WML. It looks like one of the messages was skipped, because there wasn't a "secondary_unit."

Code: Select all

	[message]
	speaker=secondary_unit
	message= _ "That is what smells of decay! Mushrooms! We should not get too close! It certainly will take us some time to march through the marshes."
	[/message]
		
	[message]
	speaker=Andurin
	message= _ "I am afraid we do not have a choice other than directly marching through it."
	[/message]

Third problem: on all the scenarios so far, i.e., 1 through 5, the colors in the small map at the upper right don't match the larger screen. Enemy (team color=blue) units are marked with red dots, and friendly units (team color=red) are marked with green or black dots. That's pretty confusing.

The story is very good so far. Dialogue is good, the characters are interesting, and it's not entirely clear yet what's going to happen next. The story has drawn me in. And I find your new dwarf units pretty interesting.
Keep up the good work!
--sneezy

[Kwandulin]

Hello Sneezy,

thanks for reporting these issues.

I can not replicate the first bug, neither on 1.11.16 nor on 1.11.17, but i assume this has something to do with this. After a unit grabs the sword in The Dead Admonish, the unit is deleted/overwritten which may cause the behaviour later. I guess the bug will be fixed with the next version of Wesnoth. I'll keep an eye on it, though.

Second problem: Yeah, you are right, i totally missed that one. It'll be fixed in the next version. Thanks!

Third issue: Do you mean these dots?

dots.png

If so, these dots indicate wether the unit has full movement points (green), has some movement points left (yellow) or has no movement points left (black). These do not represent the unit's side. If you do not mean these dots, please let me know.

Other than that, thanks alot for reporting the issues and thanks for the kind words!

[Sneezy]

Hi-- Thanks for the quick response. I used debug to tweak Andurin back to the level & XP that he should be. And he came through okay at the start of the next scenario. So, I dunno....

On the dots, maybe the attachment will help. Five red-team units are in the mountains; they are marked with black and a yellowish dot. Three blue-team units are just south of them, and they are marked by red dots. It would be better if the dots matched the team color.

Thanks for writing this campaign.
--sneezy

[Kwandulin]

The colour of these dots can be changed by clicking on the icon next to the minimap that shows a human figure and 8 colour blocks. If you click on it, the icon will turn yellowish and everything will be fine again.

[Sneezy]

Ohmygosh! Sorry I bothered you about that.
Meanwhile, I finished The March, and that was a heck of a scenario(!).

Spoiler:

It's quite an emotional roller-coaster. You start off thinking you have an okay plan; then you go low, thinking red will be overwhelmed; then you go high, thinking maybe you'll prevail; then you go low worrying that, even with help, you may get creamed; and then you find you've survived, lost a couple of units, promoted a couple of others. Whew!

Thanks for the good work!
--sneezy

EDIT:
I've reached the scenario Ruins & Remains, and have run into trouble.

Spoiler:

As the 5 heroes move north, they eventually trigger a moveto event, and all 5 of them are moved to hex 24,20. The first 4, though, seem to have been pushed into limbo, and Andurin ends up all by himself. The others are no longer on the map. Is that what you intended? I suspect that you meant for all 5 to be pulled forward, into the presence of the dragon. Since Grim is in limbo, he doesn't speak the line about "A dragon?! It was a dragon..." So I'm thinking there may be a bug here.

EDIT #2:
Bug has been fixed! In a pm, SkyOne told me about a lua bug in BfW 1.11.17, and gave me a copy of the proposed fix. I applied it, and the problem I described is now cleared. It was a problem in 1.11.17 itself.

[Kwandulin]

Carved in Stone 0.3.0 has been uploaded to the BfW 1.12 server. Several new scenarios were added in order to complete the storyline.

Kind regards

[Eagle_11]

Feedback
This campaign is by no means finished at this point of time. Yet, I decided to release the campaign since the current progress of the campaign development allows a thematic cut resulting in a roughly closed plot. This first part now needs your attention and gaming expertise. I would appreciate it very much, if you had the time to play through this part and give me feedback. Help me make a good campaign out of it.

If you like to, you may use the following scheme to give feedback for single scenarios:
1. What version of Wesnoth have you played the scenario on?
2. How difficult did you find the scenario? (1-10)
3. How clear did you find the scenario objectives?
4. How clear and interesting did you find the dialog and storyline of the scenario? Are there any spelling mistakes or text passages that could and should be improved?
5. What were your major challenges in meeting the objectives of the scenario?
6. How fun do you think the scenario is? (1-10)
7. What, if any, are changes you would have made to the scenario to make it more fun?
8. Did you encounter any bug?

Furthermore, you may use the following scheme to give feedback for the campaign as a whole:
1. How difficult did you find the campaign as a whole? (1-10) Does the description 'Intermediate difficulty' fit well?
2. Was the main plot clear and interesting? Do you think the plot fits into the world of wesnoth?
3. Did you make use of the new dwarvish units? Did you find them interesting and fun? Were they balanced? Do they fit into the dwarvish race?
4. How fun do you think the campaign as a whole is? (1-10)

In order to not spoil the fun for the others, it'd make sense to use the spoiler-tag if there is anything you believe needs to be hidden.

1. 1.12.1
2. 3-4 on a scale of 10. 4 for the rare moments when i had to rely on rng(and reroll to a previous save after), otherwise 3 aslong you know what you are doing.
3. nothing not understandable
4. There was an double letter typo at one of the earlier scenarios and a missing last letter of a word in a dialogue somewhere else.
5. Artificial Backintelligence and wesnothian RNG
6. Unmatched amounts of dwarven asskickery. A must play for any dwarf-fan. 11/10
7.

Spoiler:

Id tweak the hitpoints and damage of the Yeti to be lesser at Above the Clouds and make them more suspectible to fire and somewhat weaker towards arcane.
Id tweak the AI of green at Spellkeep scenario so he isnt suicidally charging attackers in the open, he should instead remain on the defense using castle tiles and teach him to not target trolls when there are orcs standing next to it because the troll regenerates and his troops die for naught.
Id re-locate the secret potion in Admonishing the Dead to somewhere actually reachable with an healer.
Id tweak The March scenario to be longer because the onslaught ends just then when the fun had yet begun. I ran out of opponents to fell at turn 19.
Id give a couple more turns to finish at Caverns of Dwore, it was very tight and took many re-rolls to time it all properly.
Id remake the Soulcatcher into something more useful. Ive given it to the Griffon, thought that would make him into the ultimate harass unit, thought of it behind enemy lines creating more village-cappers as it gets attacked. And then it maybe have saved his life for once, but never got to use that potential truely as the next scenarios happent underground.

8. The first Deathknight i fell with leader Runesmith didnt give any xp, killing him with any other unit else did.

Spoiler:

Whats the Stoneborn and Altvorder used for ? my Arcanister couldnt level beyond 4(exp bar looked purple like AMlA)

1. See. 2 above. Description is spot on.
2. It was interesting up until Spellkeep. From there turned full on clichee and the last four scenarios felt cramped in, as if hastily made. The ending scenario doesnt fit into wesnoth at all.
3. Absolutely.
The presence of a healer unit promoted the whole faction from mighty glacier to invincible bulwark, the possibility to slow made available was the cherrytop on the sweet cake. Ive shown 0 interest in the crossbow unit however and never managed to obtain the alternate advancement of ulfserker to test it. The 12 move lvl 3 griffon with seondary arcane ranged attack is an awesome idea. Seeing how an thrown red potion can fell an lvl3 leader was so funny.
Hell no, id steamroll everything coming my way in mp with those, theyr awesome like that.
Yes they do fit, i like how you handled the healer lorewise. You should tweak the 2x attacker lvl2 branch-off for thunderers so he doesnt lose the melee retaliation because that is an essential part of how that unit-line functions as the majority of exp those units can get is obtained through landing the killing blow in melee rather than keep missing the shots. The wolf provided by the Dwarvish Roamer was only useful as suicidal scout and optional cannon-fodder however.
4. see 6 above.

[Kwandulin]

Thanks a lot for your feedback!

Actually, I am secretly working on a major overhaul that fixes most of the things you mentioned, especially the four unfitting ending scenarios and the strength of the faction as well as a major overhaul to the Spellkeep scenario and to the swamp scenario.
I've removed most of the additional (recruitable) units (except the Dwarvish Scoundrel, i'll keep that guy) and shifted their essence towards unique hero units, so the faction you are playing with keeps some weaknesses.

It'll take a few weeks, though, as I'm busy at the moment.

[nuorc]

I played the campaign and very much enjoyed it. Thanks for the good work, Kwandulin!

I'm looking forward to play the next version with a new & improved ending.

Spoiler:

Edited wrong name. Sorry!

[marecki]

BfW v. 1.12.1, playing on normal.
This campaign is awesome. Maps are nice and detailed, I especially like the "places of interest" (e.g. boots in the first scenario, altar in the second), it really encourages the player to explore, kind of reminds me of Fantasy Wars in that respect. Cool unusual use of AMLAs on some of the custom units (headhunters, roamers). Dwarves are suitably dwarfy, especially Grim.
Difficulty seems just right for intermediate.
No serious bugs so far, in The March the AI-controlled reinforcements do not engage the enemy, they literally do not move at all, except for gryphons. Not a big deal though. In The Dead Admonish perhaps it should be spelled out that's it's only Andurin who can reach the objective (i.e other heroes don't count). I find it kind of funny that losing units in this particular scenario is actually recommended, as it is the only way to get ghosts, which are a solid counter to many enemies, such as trolls.
Also, the carryover system is kinda meh, I start almost every scenario with minimum gold. Why not change it to the standard 40% on top of minimum starting gold.
Anyway, I'm at the Spellkeep now and having a great time. Great job, sir.