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Author |
File Description |
Eaten Alive3 |
Posted on 11/19/10 @ 12:51 PM (updated 11/22/10)
File Details |
Map Size: |
Small |
Number of Players: |
4 |
Balance: |
Balanced |
Difficulty: |
Normal |
Made with version: |
1.4.1 |
Minimap:
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| Fixed a problem with Forest Battle and Ocean battle :) |
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Hello, this would be my second publishing to Stronghold 2 Heaven, but most certainly far from my second map! I puzzled one day upon the fact that there is one game mode for multiplayer. That's it. Kingmaker. You can't do war scenarios, peace scenarios, sieges (okay, there's MRT's siege maps), freebuilds (although you could agree not to fight with your opponents but that's not the same), or such. Then I decided I would try to make atleast one of those playable. So I started trying to make them, but something didn't feel right. Then, in frustration, the idea came to me. Something no one had ever tried before (as far as I know), something that was completely new to Stronghold 2.
And here I am, finally done, with the Total War maps! What is a Total War map you ask? Well, it is the name I decided to give these types of maps. Why did I call them that? Because they remind me so much of the battles in the Total War series. A Total War map is designed for multiplayer. AI CANNOT play these. Sorry, those of you who prefer fighting AI. You are given a small army, which contains a certain amount of troops. You cannot build. It's completely your tactical battle strategic skills, put to the test! In these maps, I try to give you ranged units, often catapults/ballista, foot units, and cavalry.
And, instead of giving you one map, I have given you FIVE! Each map is of a different terrain. Note, these are small maps, because if I gave you large maps, that would be very boring moving your troops all the way across just to fight. Although I suppose if it was a large scale guerrilla warfare... Yes, that would be most interesting... So how do you win a Total War map? Well, this is a little different than a normal game. Instead of eliminating the lord, you must eliminate all the enemy troops. Of course, this wont grant you a victory banner, but it will be a victory nonetheless. You proved superiority over your opponent's strategic mind.
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The different map terrains:
Desert -- This is a 1v1 duel, and was the first Total War map I made. It consists of desert shrubbery, and a lot of sand (obviously).
Grassland -- This is a 4 player, which can be played with teams, or free for all. The landscape has mountains surrounding, sparse trees, a middle hill, and a grassland feel to it.
Forest -- This landscape is one where your ranged units can really be effective. The forest may look to you like it has one way through, but if you think that then you have been fooled. There are 20 hidden paths throughout the landscape. Your units may find that they have been ambushed by a hidden cavalry, or shot down by hidden archers. Before trying this map in multiplayer, you might want to run through with AI testing all hidden paths. You should know about where they are... 4 player map.
Ocean -- This is a tropical land, filled with water, many islands, trees, and battling ships. If you look at the right place, you see 2 ships in a fight to the death. The troops on these ships do not need to be eliminated in order to win. It's just an eye candy piece ^_^. A 4 player map.
Mountain -- This landscape is very rocky, with 5 large hills which could be used to fire from with archers. If you see archers on hills, try to even out the score by getting on one yourself. No horse units could make it up here, as the generals decided the horses would break their ankles on this rugged rocky landscape. However, you did manage to convince a small viking tribe to join your cause. Once again, a 4 player map.
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If you have a question about the map, comment here, and I'll try to answer it as soon as I can!
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Design notes... Desert battle, was the experimental prototype. I had a good deal of fun winning and losing against foes in multiplayer. I had little idea on how to hide keeps well, so I just put them on areas elevated enough so that no troops could reach. I eventually got around to making a second one, Grasslands. This one was actually inspired by the arena, symmetrical style maps that I absolutely am sick of. But I gave it a natural feel, so I don't hate this map :). I did the same thing with keeps in this one. I found this one even more fun than desert battle. Then, I made Forest, which was meant to be an ambush-ey style map, where you can just hide some troops and wait for the enemy to go by. Unfortunately, hiding them is really hard to do when your opponent is watching you. So its best to do that early when they're setting up their armies still. With the keeps I came up with a new method of hiding. I placed them in minimum terrain and painted with trees, that couldn't be passed.
Then, I made Ocean, and had a thought to create 2x2 estates and place the keep flag in the middle. My results? You can play it with AI but in multiplayer, an instant Victory sign appears. So none of that. I had actually been wanting to create a battle between 2 ships for some time. I don't like how it turned out, but I will try again some time. You might expect from me, some time, a War Scenario that takes place on a ship, and possibly crashed on an island. I'd like to do that some time, anyway. And finally I made mountain, which I am overall happy with. In this one, I discovered that I could make a large map, add keeps, then make it small. It seems to work :D. I personally liked my job of texturing, and then curse at Firefly yet again, for not making snow. And that I didn't like SHL so much either :/.
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Enjoy the map!
--Sir Tin aka Eaten Alive3 |
Author | Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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Russano |
Posted on 11/23/10 @ 10:33 PM
Playability: 4.5
Being some of the better maps that I have played, I found out that the replay value of these maps are endless. I usually play a multilayer map several times before getting bored and never playing it again. With these, the possibilities never end because the enemy can't just swarm you with knights and beat you unless you have more knights then they do (which, let's face it, is how most all multilayer games go now). Because the maps are so balanced (see below) the playability goes up that much higher. The only problem is on the desert map, where you start out with troops by your keep. The archers that spawn there can mean that if someone camps by their start point they gain a defensive boost that was not intended. The game play is otherwise perfect.
Balance: 5
The balance was my favorite part (aside from the sheer creativity of the idea!) All sides start out in locations that are more or less identical and they get the same number and types of starting units, meaning that there is only one thing that changes the tide of the game: Who you play against and what tactics they like to use. If future maps like this become more balanced, I will be in awe because these definitely earn a 5.
Creativity: 4.5
Maps like this have been done before, in a way. But they mostly focus one who rushes first and who starts near a tower. These maps you can't rush, because you will be slaughtered. Making the main thing that turns this into a new breed of map is the fact that the only way to win is to think and strategic maneuvers. I believe these are pretty much one of a kind, so you gain yet another high rating here only lowered by the fact that slightly similar maps do exist.
Map Design: 4.5
This area is quite clear once you open the map in the editor or in game for the first time. The texture is all varied but at the same time none of it is out of place. There is little room for improvement here, clearly another 5.
Story/Instructions: 5
No story, but they are king-maker maps, so this does not matter. What matters are the instructions and the information about the map that you give. You tell us everything we need to know and more or less answer any questions we might have. Nothing more to say here, another high score.
Additional Comments:
I strongly recommend this map pack to anyone who really likes multilayer maps with good replay value and who like challenges. I only wish that I wasn't running Windows Vista on my computer so that I could play online with these more often. |
HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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4.8 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 4.5 | Balance | 5.0 | Creativity | 4.5 | Map Design | 5.0 | Story/Instructions | 5.0 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 6,261 |
Favorites: [] | 2 |
Size: | 2.28 MB |
Added: | 11/19/10 |
Updated: | 11/22/10 |
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