Stranger in Wesnoth

Review and rate user-made single and multiplayer campaigns and scenarios.

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iMakepeace
Posts: 14
Joined: February 7th, 2016, 9:23 am

Stranger in Wesnoth

Post by iMakepeace »

My other three campaigns are The Elf, the Dwarf and the Mage; Add's Army; and Sleuth Sisters.

1. For those who have played all four campaigns, which did you like most, and why? Which did you like least, and why?
2. For any or all of the campaigns, how were the difficulty levels? Did they fit with your expectations?
3. Related to this, how did the campaigns work on Hard difficulty? I freely admit that I'm better at coding than playing, so I don't test on Hard.
4. Are there any characters who you would particularly like to see again in future campaigns? Any you wouldn't?
5. Is there anything in particular that I do too much of/don't do enough of?

I'm not going to request any comments on the art, because it is improving, I assure you. "Stranger in Wesnoth" was my first serious attempt at drawing (at the age of fifty-mumble), and I've got a great deal better since, to the point where next time I update SIW it will include redraws of the worst of the art. (Vlachen. And the scene with the mermaid. I was pleased with them at the time, but they make me cringe now.)

EDIT: and I have just updated it (21 February). Now neither you nor I will have to look at that washed-out portrait of Vlachen ever again!

Many thanks!
Stranger in Wesnoth - The Elf, the Dwarf and the Mage - Add's Army - Sleuth Sisters - Return of Sir Charles - Comrades in Arms - Thrugbad the Good
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taptap
Posts: 980
Joined: October 6th, 2011, 5:42 pm

Re: Stranger in Wesnoth

Post by taptap »

I played the first three scenarios on hard difficulty.

First is surprisingly hard as you can do little to protect a unit when bats focus it down. It gives a huge amount of carryover gold that messes up balance down the road. Proposal: Do not force me to protect all four elves. (Consistently the first scenario is the hardest in all your campaigns I have tried, in some it seems impossible even.) Completely remove carryover / early finish here, but give a sufficient amount of starting gold in second one.

Second was surprisingly hard with the amount of troops I recruited (recall loyals, and two of each type of elf) because the amount of respawning bats came as a surprise, so it took me a long time. I had >300 gold saved throughout the scenario and could have recruited many more units if I wished to do so. This would bring an even better result due to map control / upkeep / gold earned. Finished turn 30 of 35 with 1 loss (could have been more) and 135 kills (90 of them bats). Proposal: Give 1 instead of 4 loyals.

Third scenario started with 395 gold, of which I used 224 (for 5 recruits and 7 recalls). By turn 12 the fight against violet and a few trolls was basically won and the violet leader isolated, significant forces of the trolls were still capturing villages from the invading orc, but they had no chance to influence the outcome given that they arrived scattered in the following turns. The scenario lasted until turn 25 when I calmly moved up, but the too generous turn allowance is 40. (This leaves too much gold again and I start scenario 4 with 838 gold.) Proposal: Reduce turn number to 30.

The change to conveniently cave adept outlaw units is not really motivated, that the elves leave apart from those on the recall list is a nice touch, but if you saw some humans fighting during the third scenario instead of only orcs and trolls and invading orcs it would be more obvious where your human recruits come from.

How did you come up with the name of the hero?
Spoiler:
I am a Saurian Skirmisher: I'm a real pest, especially at night.
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taptap
Posts: 980
Joined: October 6th, 2011, 5:42 pm

Re: Stranger in Wesnoth

Post by taptap »

Dwarven Caves seems impossible in any difficulty. (Only tried hardest, admittedly.) I would have won if defeating all enemy leaders would have been alternative winning condition, as is I finished 8 turns away. I sent one force south (with the leader), as the island dwarf tends to lose against the orcs, and the main force went against the drakes.

You have 30 turns and you don't know the exact location you have to reach, the scenario is completely cave terrain making movement very slow. Moving the hero along the sides around the center requires some 25 moves, you can possibly fail here even if no enemies were present. Straight through the center it requires less moves (around 15 I guess), but you face the bulk of enemy forces on your way. Your turn allowance is further limited by the fact that you can recruit only on turn 2 and probably need to stay one or two more turns for a sufficient amount of units. The bulk of your forces moves 2-3 tiles per turn (non-quick and quick poachers / thugs, others may be a bit faster), so even if you try to crush the drakes in a reckless wave attack, you have trouble to do so, because you are unable to push enough forces through the bottlenecks, if you proceed more carefully, you are bound to lose on time.

Proposal: (I am thinking about playing with a reduced amount of gold according to my earlier proposals, not the 800+ I have as is.) Make killing all enemy leaders an alternative victory. Add cave path and dark dirt tiles throughout the map, even a few tiles do wonders for overall mobility. Widen the bottleneck directly SE of the keep. Add some changes other than scorpion density between difficulties (small differences to allies / opponents, initial gold and income). 8,0 being open, but impassible as map edge looks weird. Give a few more turns in addition to added mobility.

Bugs: Scorpions currently spawn in walls, I guess this is a mistake.
I am a Saurian Skirmisher: I'm a real pest, especially at night.
Foozinho
Posts: 3
Joined: August 29th, 2016, 9:01 pm

Re: Stranger in Wesnoth

Post by Foozinho »

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but how do I access these user made games?
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Kranix
Posts: 6
Joined: November 28th, 2010, 8:06 pm
Location: Denmark

Re: Stranger in Wesnoth

Post by Kranix »

Foozinho wrote:Sorry if this is a dumb question, but how do I access these user made games?
Just click "Add-ons" (or the equivalent in your language) from the main menu. Search for what you want, install it, and it will be added to the relevant menu (campaigns in this case).

Also, please do not post the same post in several threads. Generally, these forums move slowly enough for your post to be seen without spamming.
white_haired_uncle
Posts: 1108
Joined: August 26th, 2018, 11:46 pm
Location: A country place, far outside the Wire

Re: Stranger in Wesnoth

Post by white_haired_uncle »

NOTE: This post is about the campaign An Innocent Man. The link from the addons http server brought me here.

In Villages in Tumult, I think the dwarf AI needs to be adjusted so their leader doesn't get killed on turn 1. He dies with like 600 gold left, so I think this is probably not intended, but caused by different AI behaviour in newer versions.

Also Lord Rheoran needs to be less aggressive (stupid) in The Traitor. It's not turn 1, but he's not living long enough for me to get to him to help.

In Right Hand Man, the objectives say you lose if the turns run out, but there's no limit. I'm also not seeing an explanation why my wolf units are missing from the recall list.

If anyone takes over maintenance, there are some scenarios, particularly early, that probably should have turn limits. I had like +45 gold, all the enemies wiped out, and all I needed to do to end the level was move a unit somewhere (or something like that). Or I could just hit ctrl-space a few hundred times.
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Lord-Knightmare
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Re: Stranger in Wesnoth

Post by Lord-Knightmare »

white_haired_uncle wrote: January 20th, 2022, 5:26 pm NOTE: This post is about the campaign An Innocent Man. The link from the addons http server brought me here.

In Villages in Tumult, I think the dwarf AI needs to be adjusted so their leader doesn't get killed on turn 1. He dies with like 600 gold left, so I think this is probably not intended, but caused by different AI behaviour in newer versions.

Also Lord Rheoran needs to be less aggressive (stupid) in The Traitor. It's not turn 1, but he's not living long enough for me to get to him to help.

In Right Hand Man, the objectives say you lose if the turns run out, but there's no limit. I'm also not seeing an explanation why my wolf units are missing from the recall list.

If anyone takes over maintenance, there are some scenarios, particularly early, that probably should have turn limits. I had like +45 gold, all the enemies wiped out, and all I needed to do to end the level was move a unit somewhere (or something like that). Or I could just hit ctrl-space a few hundred times.
I think someone forgot to update the pbl template file when porting it under the porting project :lol:
Creator of "War of Legends"
Creator of the Isle of Mists survival scenario.
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vghetto
Posts: 755
Joined: November 2nd, 2019, 5:12 pm

Re: Stranger in Wesnoth

Post by vghetto »

Lord-Knightmare wrote: January 20th, 2022, 8:42 pm I think someone forgot to update the pbl template file when porting it under the porting project :lol:
No, it's intentional.
I couldn't find threads for some of his work, so I linked them to here.
vghetto
Posts: 755
Joined: November 2nd, 2019, 5:12 pm

Re: Stranger in Wesnoth

Post by vghetto »

white_haired_uncle wrote: January 20th, 2022, 5:26 pm NOTE: This post is about the campaign An Innocent Man. The link from the addons http server brought me here.

In Villages in Tumult, I think the dwarf AI needs to be adjusted so their leader doesn't get killed on turn 1. He dies with like 600 gold left, so I think this is probably not intended, but caused by different AI behaviour in newer versions.

Also Lord Rheoran needs to be less aggressive (stupid) in The Traitor. It's not turn 1, but he's not living long enough for me to get to him to help.

In Right Hand Man, the objectives say you lose if the turns run out, but there's no limit. I'm also not seeing an explanation why my wolf units are missing from the recall list.

If anyone takes over maintenance, there are some scenarios, particularly early, that probably should have turn limits. I had like +45 gold, all the enemies wiped out, and all I needed to do to end the level was move a unit somewhere (or something like that). Or I could just hit ctrl-space a few hundred times.
Thanks for the feedback.
The save file didn't show him dead. Did he die because a grabbed the village on turn 1 and got surrounded?
I could take away his move on the first turn, that might fix it.

Do you still have the save file for the traitor scenario?
white_haired_uncle
Posts: 1108
Joined: August 26th, 2018, 11:46 pm
Location: A country place, far outside the Wire

Re: Stranger in Wesnoth

Post by white_haired_uncle »

vghetto wrote: January 23rd, 2022, 1:17 pm
white_haired_uncle wrote: January 20th, 2022, 5:26 pm NOTE: This post is about the campaign An Innocent Man. The link from the addons http server brought me here.

In Villages in Tumult, I think the dwarf AI needs to be adjusted so their leader doesn't get killed on turn 1. He dies with like 600 gold left, so I think this is probably not intended, but caused by different AI behaviour in newer versions.

Also Lord Rheoran needs to be less aggressive (stupid) in The Traitor. It's not turn 1, but he's not living long enough for me to get to him to help.

In Right Hand Man, the objectives say you lose if the turns run out, but there's no limit. I'm also not seeing an explanation why my wolf units are missing from the recall list.

If anyone takes over maintenance, there are some scenarios, particularly early, that probably should have turn limits. I had like +45 gold, all the enemies wiped out, and all I needed to do to end the level was move a unit somewhere (or something like that). Or I could just hit ctrl-space a few hundred times.
Thanks for the feedback.
The save file didn't show him dead. Did he die because a grabbed the village on turn 1 and got surrounded?
I could take away his move on the first turn, that might fix it.

Do you still have the save file for the traitor scenario?
Yes, he got surrounded at the village.

The AI in 1.16 is pretty bad about allied leaders running out and playing in traffic. Most of the UMC I've seen needs to be adjusted if you have an ally who needs to survive.
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Konrad2
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Re: Stranger in Wesnoth

Post by Konrad2 »

S2
Both Aethelwenna and Amariel demand upkeep, and lack a a silver crown. Also, there no bats to kill.

(Now that I think about it, there was only one wave of bats in S1, although there were probably supposed to be more of them.)

S3
Something is wrong with the scenario objectives. I only get the generic 'Defeat enemy leader(s)'.

S4
A couple of things:
Some of the wildlife spawns in the cave walls or in deep water.
Please put a village in reach of each of the leaders (this would mean a change for Peldur and Agsil). Why? Because if one of them is poisoned (by a scorpion), they never recover because they can't reach a village. They sit at 1hp for the rest of the scenario, which is way risky and unreasonable.
Add two castle hexes at 18,7 and 19,8 for the drakes. They have the most gold, but only a small castle to recruit. This is made worse by the AI they are using, which is not prioritizing recruiting. They died with 200+ hold to spend.

Every scenario lacks music.

Ruins
There are supposed to be lots of undead on the map. There are none.

EDIT:
Since there is no topic for Comrades in Arms:
The following add-on had errors and could not be loaded:
~\Wesnoth1.16/data/add-ons/Comrades_in_Arms/_main.cfg

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

Details:

Macro/file '~add-ons/Comrades_in_Arms/utils' is missing
at ~add-ons/Comrades_in_Arms/_main.cfg:89


EDIT 2:
About An Innocent Man
Beleaguered Dwarves
So, I'm supposed to keep Bronna alive, a unit that actively goes to the front lines and fights? ._. The only solution I see there is to stop them from fighting at all. And that sucks to implement as the player.

EDIT 3:
It's possible to win the scenario. It's by no means fun, making sure that Bronna doesn't suicide. The ai of the dwarves also means that they fight to the death, so they are not much use in the long run, and you have to fight almost all fights on your own.
101 turns, would not recommend.

EDIT 4:
No topic for 'Dwarves never get lost'
Very basic and simple. Too simple for me, there is pretty much never anything interesting. :/
Lynoic as Mage of Light has a mp cost of 2 in caves, unlike her as White Mage.
Lynoic and Young Runecrank need silver crowns.
This campaign uses the old '80%' carryover.

Trolls in the Hole
Aiglos' death is no lose condition, even though he appears in the next scenario again.

Replays for campaigns without a topic: (Campaigns in no specific order)
Stranger in Wesnoth
Spoiler:
An Innocent Men
Spoiler:
A Winters Tale
Spoiler:
Comrades in Arms
Spoiler:
Dwarves do not get lost
Spoiler:
Return of Sir Charles
Spoiler:
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