Winds of Fate

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Celtic_Minstrel
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Re: Winds of Fate 3.x.x (Drake Campaign for BfW 1.16)

Post by Celtic_Minstrel »

name wrote: May 22nd, 2022, 2:20 pm At least as far as the interface goes, I believe there's only room for two traits. So adding a third trait (loyal) to an already existing unit when it gets promoted to intendant, would displace one of its original two traits in the interface. But I agree that the intendants still need to stand out better from the rest of the recall list.
You can easily have three traits. The reason adding the loyal trait displaces one of the other traits is because it's added before the random traits are generated, and random generation generates enough traits to make the total number of traits equal to 2. If you want random traits plus an extra, you need to add the extra trait separately after the unit has been generated, basically something like this:

Code: Select all

[unit]
	id=whatever
	# put unit attributes here
	# no [modifications] tag
[/unit]
[modify_unit]
	[filter]
		id=whatever]
	[/filter
	{TRAIT_LOYAL}
[/modify_unit]
If you want the loyal trait to appear first, it would be a bit more complicated but is still doable :

Code: Select all

[unit]
	id=whatever
	# put unit attributes here
	# no [modifications] tag
	# no x and y
	to_variable=somevariable
[/unit]
[set_variables]
	name=somevariable.modifications.trait[0]
	mode=insert
	[insert_tag]
		# This assumes you've set a variable that contains the contents of the loyal trait
		name=loyal_trait
		tag=value
	[/insert_tag]
[/set_variables]
[unstore_unit]
	variable=somevariable
	x,y=whatever
[/unstore_unit]
Author of The Black Cross of Aleron campaign and Default++ era.
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Re: Winds of Fate 3.x.x (Drake Campaign for BfW 1.16)

Post by name »

Celtic_Minstrel wrote: May 22nd, 2022, 4:18 pm If you want random traits plus an extra, you need to add the extra trait separately after the unit has been generated, basically something like this:
You are absolutely correct it looks like... but for some reason the existing WoF code does it almost the exact same way except that in place of {TRAIT_LOYAL} it instead uses this custom macro as some kind of workaround:

Code: Select all

#define OBJECT_LOYAL_WITH_OVERLAY
    # For the second intendants
    [object]
        [effect]
            apply_to=overlay
            add="misc/loyal-icon.png"
        [/effect]
        [effect]
            apply_to=loyal
        [/effect]
    [/object]
#enddef
I guess it must be a leftover workaround from the BfW 1.14 era or earlier. I will modernize it as you have outlined.
Thanks for the help everyone. :)
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Re: Winds of Fate 3.x.x (Drake Campaign for BfW 1.16)

Post by revolting_peasant »

This will help find the relevant units in the recall list. Thanks.
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Re: Winds of Fate 3.x.x (Drake Campaign for BfW 1.16)

Post by stencil »

Just wanted to stop in and note that I've played the first three scenarios (1.16.2) and quite like the drake dialogue and lore. The short, deliberate sentences definitely give them a unique style to other races, almost like they are speaking in poetry. One thought, it took me several months to dig into the campaign because the first scenario wasn't that interesting to me; personally I might be drawn in more if there was more explanation about how the hunt was needed because hatchlings aren't getting enough food and flights are going rogue, like we hear after scenario 3 before the exodus. Otherwise, though, looking forward to finishing the rest of the campaign!
Thank you to everyone who has worked on this game!
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Re: Winds of Fate 3.x.x (Drake Campaign for BfW 1.16)

Post by name »

stencil wrote: July 21st, 2022, 5:09 am I might be drawn in more if there was more explanation about how the hunt was needed because hatchlings aren't getting enough food and flights are going rogue, like we hear after scenario 3 before the exodus.
That is an interesting idea. Currently, the hunt in the first scenario is about completing one of several hazardous trials which determine if a drake is capable enough to lead a flight (the drakes are aggressively meritocratic about leadership). But making it instead a desperate hunt for food might really help streamline the story, which is especially important for the opening scenario. I will give this some careful consideration.

Swapping the first and second scenarios might also help a bit, since the second scenario drops more details about their wider circumstances. :hmm:

Thanks for the feedback on your experiences so far, and I hope to hear your future thoughts on the remaining scenarios if you get the chance.
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Re: Winds of Fate 3.x.x (Drake Campaign for BfW 1.16)

Post by stencil »

I had hoped to go a little farther before adding more feedback, but since I'm going somewhat slow, I thought I'd just write what I have so far. I've done scenarios 4 and 5 and am midway through 6 now (I believe).

First, regarding the possibilities you mentioned, I understand the original motivation that the S1 hunt is a trial of worthiness, it just wasn't that compelling to me because I didn't really have much investment in these characters yet. Who cared if Gorlack was going to be a qualified aspirant or not? I didn't even know him. That's why I thought having a slightly larger-picture motivation would be helpful. Swapping scenarios S1 and S2 could be useful for that, though I think it could also work fine as-is with some modifications. One thing, I wasn't quite clear how familiar orcs were to the drakes? I probably just wasn't paying very close attention, but I don't remember whether they were very surprised by the orcs or nonchalant. If the orcs were novel but the response was straightforward ("they're prey"), I assume there might be other examples of where the drakes ate other sentient species as prey? Just wondering.

More things I like:

Karron: It's nice to have a more complicated character, one that appears somewhat antagonistic but doesn't disappear after just one scenario. After scenario 5 we see that there's a deeper relationship between him and Gorlack, which made me wonder if perhaps there could be a slight modification when first meeting him in scenario 1: he's clearly pretty prideful, but though his hunt group had (mostly) died in the first island, he's apparently willing to join up with Gorlack and company for safety pretty easily. Maybe this already happens at a higher difficulty, but I thought, it might make it more convincing that Karron would stay with them until their hunt was completed if he was slightly injured when first meeting him? It wouldn't necessarily have to be much, but if he had 8 or 12 hit points of damage when you first find him, Gorlack could say something like, "Oh, you're injured, you should stay with us for safety," which to me might be more convincing than if you already find him in perfect health and he's completed his hunt but not yet flown back for some reason.

No gold carryover: Definitely nice for controlling the difficulty, without running into the gold snowball effect.

Difficulty: I normally play things on easy, but here I actually switched from attendant to dominant starting with scenario 4, so that was nice to feel like I maybe was doing okay. I could theoretically be getting better, but my guess is that everything is just titrated slightly easier; at any rate, it was well balanced at least for my skill level.

Scenario objectives: Definitely nice to have some variety beyond the usual "Kill everything" objective.

Ships: These were a nice challenge on Three Sisters, as they would sneak back and capture villages I thought were safe. So I'm a big fan.


Comments on other things:

Saurians: I thought there could have been slightly more explanation for why Gorlack and company would start the lasting relationship with the saurians. Right now it appears to be, Saurians have legends of drakes and worship them when seen, so are happy to be commanded about by Gorlack. I thought, maybe Reshan could mention something about how in addition positive feelings toward them because they look like hatchlings, they could prove as valuable allies due to their devotion. Particularly because there's the reference to the moon culture, that could be something that's pointed out (that they appear most active/powerful in the night, when drakes traditionally rest). Just something that might strengthen that connection between drakes and saurians a little bit, since presumably they're sticking together pretty tightly for the rest of the campaign.

Books: I wasn't able to tell whether the books in S2 and S5 were for anything more than lore purposes. The clasher one was at least next to the village where you find a clasher, but the glider and silver mage books appeared to be just for flavor purposes (along with the whirlpool)? If so that's pretty cool (particularly the stylized silver mage language), but it definitely made me wonder if there was some key combination that I was missing (land on the glider book with Gorlack while Reshan is within 10 hexes? Have an auger wade out to the silver mage book to learn some more powerful type of magic?). I guess it would be less unusual if there were occasional other flavor elements as well around the maps, like a random bottle of wine the humans left behind in a fort or some animal bones they could use as toothpicks on the hunt island/three sisters, something like that. If it's just the books that's fine, just a small thought.

Mermen: Maybe moving onto one of their villages could have a couple of them pop out of one of the villages, similar to how allies pop out of the tombs on Three Sisters? Thematically it seems like it could make sense, that the mermen were claiming the villages and had already sent some soldiers to start the transition.

Definitely looking forward to playing through the rest! Well done so far, for sure.
Thank you to everyone who has worked on this game!
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Re: Winds of Fate 3.x.x (Drake Campaign for BfW 1.16)

Post by name »

stencil wrote: July 30th, 2022, 6:46 am Who cared if Gorlack was going to be a qualified aspirant or not? I didn't even know him. That's why I thought having a slightly larger-picture motivation would be helpful.
Yeah, it's a really good point. The next version of this campaign is already going through the review process, but for the next-next version I want to try and apply your suggestion.
stencil wrote: July 30th, 2022, 6:46 am One thing, I wasn't quite clear how familiar orcs were to the drakes? I probably just wasn't paying very close attention, but I don't remember whether they were very surprised by the orcs or nonchalant. If the orcs were novel but the response was straightforward ("they're prey"), I assume there might be other examples of where the drakes ate other sentient species as prey?
At this point in time, the drakes consider the orcs to be an infestation, like a swarm of locusts that landed on one of their islands and consumed all their food there. This worsens their food problems somewhat. And the fact they have not been able to deal with this situation (for the two years since TRoW) makes your group of drakes look weak in the eyes of neighboring flights on the brink of going rogue (due to their own food problems). So your group is taking the situation seriously, but, as you observed, they are nonchalant about the orcs posing any kind of direct threat.

Some of the dialogue in S4 hints that the drakes have had a long history of minor skirmishes with the mermish before. And some dialogue from S5 refers back to a couple invasions by humans in TRoW.
stencil wrote: July 30th, 2022, 6:46 am After scenario 5 we see that there's a deeper relationship between him and Gorlack, which made me wonder if perhaps there could be a slight modification when first meeting him in scenario 1: he's clearly pretty prideful, but though his hunt group had (mostly) died in the first island, he's apparently willing to join up with Gorlack and company for safety pretty easily.
Karron is actually not just boasting when he says he will join the group in order to protect Gorlack. Even though he wants Gorlack to be humiliated at the contention, Karron would still be saddened to hear his former mentor and friend had died (especially if he was in a position to help, but chose not to).
stencil wrote: July 30th, 2022, 6:46 am which to me might be more convincing than if you already find him in perfect health and he's completed his hunt but not yet flown back for some reason.
That is a good point. If he was slightly injured, that would explain why he has not left yet.
stencil wrote: July 30th, 2022, 6:46 am No gold carryover: Definitely nice for controlling the difficulty, without running into the gold snowball effect.
Truth be told, I removed carryover just so I could keep the turn limits high or nonexistent. I really hate turn limits. :geek:
stencil wrote: July 30th, 2022, 6:46 am I could theoretically be getting better, but my guess is that everything is just titrated slightly easier; at any rate, it was well balanced at least for my skill level.
Your guess is correct, all the official campaigns were made about one level easier for wesnoth 1.16.
stencil wrote: July 30th, 2022, 6:46 am Saurians:
I have to wait before responding on this to avoid spoilers. ;)
stencil wrote: July 30th, 2022, 6:46 am Books: I wasn't able to tell whether the books in S2 and S5 were for anything more than lore purposes. The clasher one was at least next to the village where you find a clasher, but the glider and silver mage books appeared to be just for flavor purposes (along with the whirlpool)?
In the upcoming version of this campaign, the books provide experience points to whomever discovers them, and something special happens if you go to the whirlpool. Those features just could not make it into the current version, unfortunately.
stencil wrote: July 30th, 2022, 6:46 am Mermen: Maybe moving onto one of their villages could have a couple of them pop out of one of the villages, similar to how allies pop out of the tombs on Three Sisters? Thematically it seems like it could make sense, that the mermen were claiming the villages and had already sent some soldiers to start the transition.
At this point in time, the mermish have actually occupied the shoals for two years; this is another callback to TRoW. When you suddenly drop in on the situation, the mermish have already rallied everyone back to their sea castles in preparation to repulse the latest naga attempt at recapturing the region.
stencil wrote: July 30th, 2022, 6:46 am Definitely looking forward to playing through the rest! Well done so far, for sure.
Thanks! Your detailed insights will be very helpful when making future adjustments to this campaign. They are also a lot of fun to read.
name
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Re: Winds of Fate

Post by name »

Winds of Fate 3.0.9 is now available on the Wesnoth 1.16 add-on server.

Changes:

Simplify speech style
Simplify objectives
Lore books give experience to their discoverer
Cuttlefish advance to Krakens
Add Storm Daemon
Rebalanced Normal difficulty mode to be easier
Reblanced Difficult difficulty mode to be harder
Rebalanced Nightmare difficulty mode to be more self consistent
Intendants now have normal loyal trait

S1: Add a further dialogue hint that oases heal
S4: Dialogue hints for strategic weaknesses of each mermish commander
S6: Give player a couple level 2 clashers
S9: Critical fixes for bugs that could make this scenario unwinnable
S10: Fix bug preventing gryphons from spawning after dwarf tunnels collapsed
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Re: Winds of Fate

Post by stencil »

Ah, I wish I could go through and try out some of the changes!

I thought I'd add a few more thoughts from playing through so far, in case they're useful. Apologies on the long delay, I played scenarios 6-9 shortly after last posting but just recently started 10, which I’m halfway through.

I quite liked the surprise announcement from Vladnir after S6, feeling that it made great use of the lore and gave added weight to Gorlack’s opposing decision. I thought the elves in S7 were quite funny and a good variety, although I missed whether there was a connection between the person noted in the journal and the main antagonist of S8; it seems like a natural place to connect the two scenarios, but I don’t remember the S8 person referencing it at all, so if the connection was there it could perhaps be made a little clearer. (Again, apologies to write so long after actually playing it.) I also wasn’t sure if the barrels in S8 could be used offensively, but that was answered nicely with Reshan’s end act.

Finally, S9 definitely started off as a climactic moment in the narrative arc, but I felt the ending wasn’t quite as satisfying as it could be. They’ve come all this way, initially succeeded, devastatingly failed, and were rescued by a deus ex machina, but then they just part ways? I don’t know exactly what alternative I was expecting, but it seems like if a fire dragon loves to fight a brother so much, wouldn’t he also want to fight an imposter who some think is his brother? I know he’ll probably come back into the story later on, but maybe the fire dragon would at least exact a toll or something on Gorlack’s group for saving their lives? And then for the start of S10, what are they doing up there? Aren’t they hundreds of miles east of where the other drakes are supposed to be arriving around Elensefar? Shouldn’t they be trying to return back to the coast instead of starting a new eyrie? I get that many flights were killed by the elves, but I didn’t think it was the entirety of the expedition party (as evidenced by the veterans that can be recalled in S10). I guess maybe I should just finish 10 and see what 11 brings, but if the intention is to start over again there, maybe there could be a messenger that heads west to tell other landing parties where the new location is supposed to be.

Maybe a lot of this was already addressed and I just forgot it, since it’s been a couple of months, but hopefully it might have some ideas to consider. Thanks again for all of your great work, it’s very fun to play (the dialogue in S10 cracked me up, hopefully that wasn’t entirely changed).
Thank you to everyone who has worked on this game!
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Re: Winds of Fate

Post by name »

You are welcome and thanks for the continued feedback. I will try to answer your questions as best I can while avoiding spoilers (given where you are in the story).
stencil wrote: September 16th, 2022, 8:10 pm I missed whether there was a connection between the person noted in the journal and the main antagonist of S8;
They are two separate entities with very different origins, motivations and natures. In fact, they might very well become mutual enemies if they encounter each other in future campaign(s).
stencil wrote: September 16th, 2022, 8:10 pm I don’t know exactly what alternative I was expecting, but it seems like if a fire dragon loves to fight a brother so much, wouldn’t he also want to fight an imposter who some think is his brother?
That is actually what originally takes place until the last two versions;I was instructed to remove the fight to meet mainline requirements (the reason why is unclear to me).
stencil wrote: September 16th, 2022, 8:10 pm I know he’ll probably come back into the story later on, but maybe the fire dragon would at least exact a toll or something on Gorlack’s group for saving their lives?
His only real motivation was learning the fate of his brother. Dragons (both fire dragons and drakes) can be prideful creatures who do not always admit when they are hurt by something. But their true feelings may be revealed through their actions and the subtext of what they say or don't say.
stencil wrote: September 16th, 2022, 8:10 pm And then for the start of S10, what are they doing up there? Aren’t they hundreds of miles east of where the other drakes are supposed to be arriving around Elensefar? Shouldn’t they be trying to return back to the coast instead of starting a new eyrie?
At this point, they would try to return, except that their gliders and other drakes would only be able to fly with a small portion of the meat they have collected (as there is so much of it) and thus it would take several round trips to get it all back there. And if they returned nearly empty handed, they would only be adding more hungry mouths to the situation back at their eyrie.

Then a blizzard hits (winter comes much sooner in the high altitude of the mountains) which further hinders their mobility. The best thing they could do at that point is wait for the thaw.
stencil wrote: September 16th, 2022, 8:10 pm maybe there could be a messenger that heads west to tell other landing parties where the new location is supposed to be.
They encountered a glider messenger at the beginning of S9 (a survivor of the Flight Vladnir) who, after reporting the disaster in the south to Gorlack, flew on to try to report the situation to Karron (assuming Karron survived and made it all the way back to the eyrie as he was attempting to do). So via this messenger, the status and whereabouts of Flight Gorlack would already be made known to the other drake flights in the wider region.
stencil wrote: September 16th, 2022, 8:10 pm (the dialogue in S10 cracked me up, hopefully that wasn’t entirely changed)
No worries, that remains unchanged.
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Re: Winds of Fate

Post by Darthagnon »

Yo, I'm trying to find the older version 2.0.5 of Wings of Valor (from https://files.wesnoth.org/addons/1.14/W ... or.tar.bz2) but it is 404 - will the latest v3.0.0 version work in Wesnoth v1.14? Or can anyone send me a copy of the last compatible version for v1.14? Many thanks!

EDIT: Just tested Winds of Fate v3.0.1.0 on Wesnoth v1.14.17 and it crashed with error:

Code: Select all

The following add-on had errors and could not be loaded:
    D:\Users\Darren\Documents\My Games\Wesnoth1.14/data/add-ons/Winds_of_Fate/_main.cfg

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

Details:

    Macro/file 'TRAIT_LOYAL_HERO' is missing
    at ~add-ons/Winds_of_Fate/./utils/characters.cfg:49
        included from ~add-ons/Winds_of_Fate/_main.cfg:56
        included from ~add-ons/Winds_of_Fate/./scenarios/01_The_Hunt.cfg:202
        included from ~add-ons/Winds_of_Fate/_main.cfg:57
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Re: Winds of Fate

Post by name »

Unfortunately to play the latest version you will need Wesnoth v1.16. However...
Darthagnon wrote: December 28th, 2022, 12:20 am I'm trying to find the older version 2.0.5 of Wings of Valor
I do have a copy of 2.0.5 for you here:
Wings of Valor for 1.14.zip
(3.04 MiB) Downloaded 67 times

Let me know if it runs for you on 1.14. Though note that this version is so old now it is almost a totally different campaign, both in terms of story and game play.
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Re: Winds of Fate

Post by Darthagnon »

Works perfectly so far! Thank you so much for uploading that! Wish it could have stayed on the 1.14 add-ons server...
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Re: Winds of Fate

Post by beetlenaut »

I am trying out this campaign (on 1.17.12) for the first time. I like it so far, but I have a couple problems with "03-The Contention". First, the scoring system is a black box, and you just need to hope. I finished with much better units than my opponent, but we had about an equal number of villages, and it turned out that my opponent was getting 25(!) points for each. There was no way for me to have known that or adjusted my strategy until I lost by about 20 points at the end.

The second issue is that the win conditions are incorrect. It says you need to hold the advantage "by" turn 24, which would mean any time before that. It should say "on" turn 24, or, more accurately, "at the end of" turn 24.

I'm not just complaining: I modified the scenario. I added a right-click menu option that allows you to view the current score at any time so you can see how you are doing. I also changed the objectives, adding some more information about scoring and fixing the win condition. I suggest adding these fixes to the mainline campaign.

To use the fixes now, unzip the attached file into the top level of the Winds_of_Fate folder, and let it overwrite the files.
Attachments
WoF-03.zip
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Campaigns: Dead Water,
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and WML Guide
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Re: Winds of Fate

Post by name »

Glad you are giving this campaign a try and I really look forward to hearing your honest thoughts on everything. I am a big fan of your work - SotA is my favorite campaign in the game (mainline or UMC).
beetlenaut wrote: March 1st, 2023, 12:02 pm I modified the scenario. I added a right-click menu option that allows you to view the current score at any time so you can see how you are doing. I also changed the objectives, adding some more information about scoring and fixing the win condition. I suggest adding these fixes to the mainline campaign.
Wow, thank you very much, that is most generous!
beetlenaut wrote: March 1st, 2023, 12:02 pm I finished with much better units than my opponent, but we had about an equal number of villages, and it turned out that my opponent was getting 25(!) points for each. There was no way for me to have known that or adjusted my strategy until I lost by about 20 points at the end.
Hmm, maybe I should remove income from the scoring system altogether?
beetlenaut wrote: March 1st, 2023, 12:02 pm The second issue is that the win conditions are incorrect. It says you need to hold the advantage "by" turn 24, which would mean any time before that. It should say "on" turn 24, or, more accurately, "at the end of" turn 24.
There is a similar objective in a later scenario which uses the phrasing "by the end of" so I will update that also.
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