Marlo_Stanfield
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Map Name: Conquest of Heaven and Hell
Author: maygwan
Game Version: Horn of the Abyss
Map Size: G
I decided to take a break from SoD and return to a map that I couldn't beat in HotA about a year ago (I hope you won't throw stones at me for posting here; the forum section dedicated to HotA is completely dead). Interestingly, I reviewed old saves from scenarios I played a while back. Among them were Supernatural and A Barbarian Uprising Conquest. As I recall, those were also decent maps. And all were authored by maygwan. Moreover, these maps are of the maximum, giant size (252x252; for comparison, XL maps are 144x144). You can imagine the potential inherent in such a scenario format and the level of epicness that can be constructed with proper skill and enthusiasm.
It seems to me that maygwan has succeeded in creating G-maps more than any other author at the moment. And Conquest of Heaven and Hell should be considered the most successful attempt, despite a number of quite serious flaws, which I will discuss later. As confirmation, this turned out to be the most discussed HotA map on maps4heroes.
A year ago, the map seemed very difficult to me, but in reality, it isn't. It can't be compared to hardcore SoD maps. The goal of the scenario is to defeat the hero God; the defeat condition is standard. To briefly describe the concept of the map: a hero under our leadership named Merlin challenges God and the Devil, first conquering the entire earthly world.
Among the map's features that deserve mention—and which can be seen as either a plus or a minus depending on the player's preference (though the last point certainly cannot be called a plus):
1) Rapid development from the start
At the beginning, the game progresses via Titans, so we experience no problems with neutrals. Except that breaking through black dragons without losses was a bit stressful.
2) Complete absence of taverns on the map
For me, this is a plus; taverns always simplify the game significantly by allowing the main hero to be moved wherever needed, dismissed/re-hired, digging for necessary heroes, using all sorts of tricks, etc.
3) Absolutely passive AI
Lately, I've grown unused to maps where no one threatens us at all and we don't have to constantly think about survival. The game is completely linear; we come to the AI ourselves and defeat them one by one in the order prescribed by the author. At first, this provided a sense of satisfaction due to the lack of habit, but over time, such a layout becomes boring. After all, there should be some threat from enemy heroes, otherwise, one might fall asleep during the Walkthrough.
4) Interesting critical points in the form of needing to defeat enemy heroes who, while immobilized, are quite fierce
Since HotA removed the mind magic immunity for troops of the Courage mark bearer (a mistake, in my opinion), the only way left to make a tough AI hero is the power of the Father of Dragons. In Conquest of Heaven and Hell, the author repeatedly turned to this method to create hard-to-beat powerhouses. Particularly interesting are the battles with two heroes who each have 30,000 Minotaurs with +3 morale and tactics, as well as with Mutare and Mutare Drake with legions of various dragons. It was exactly on the latter that my first Walkthrough stalled. But finding the right method to defeat them is actually not very difficult.
5) The ability to play with different heroes as the primary leader
As we progress, we free seven heroes from prisons. Among them, Crag, Tazar, Jelu, Dracon (the one specializing in Wizards), and Sandro deserve mention. You can switch to any of them as the main hero if desired. Our starting Merlin is an intelligence specialist; by the end of the Walkthrough, he had nearly 10,000 mana—total imba.
6) Quests requiring a specific collection of creatures to proceed
A frankly sagging point of the map. You constantly need to collect certain units, which is quite boring. The quest for 4,000 Wizards was especially annoying. They could only be collected by the end of the 7th month; I had to do absolutely nothing for an entire month because it was impossible to move forward without them.
7) A failed second part of the scenario
After defeating Mutare and Mutare Drake, we free Dracula (Sandro) and collect the Cloak of the Undead King. Additionally, we get a Berserker, and previously we had the Medal of Vulnerability. You can imagine the rest. The author tried to create serious opponents even for tens of thousands of Liches, but when the number of Liches exceeds hundreds of thousands, no one is capable of creating problems anymore. Therefore, both the Hell line and the Heaven line were played through quite reluctantly; even the final battle felt like a one-sided slaughter. On top of that, the author seemingly just ran out of imagination for the final stages of the Walkthrough. The locations of the last AI flags are VERY long, desolate, winding passages. I spent about three months just overcoming them. Another flaw is that the amount of troops the enemies had was sometimes so enormous that when stacks were merged, the value for many heroes went into the negative. Not that it affected much, but still. I read in a discussion on maps4heroes that maygwan was preparing an ultimate version of the map with fixed bugs and without the cloak, but it seems it's not available yet.
In general, I finished the Walkthrough on 16.3.6. Considering that some players spent over a hundred months on the map, this is perhaps not the worst option :)
Finally, a few screenshots of epic battles to realize the scale, even if it's mostly superficial :)
Author: maygwan
Game Version: Horn of the Abyss
Map Size: G
I decided to take a break from SoD and return to a map that I couldn't beat in HotA about a year ago (I hope you won't throw stones at me for posting here; the forum section dedicated to HotA is completely dead). Interestingly, I reviewed old saves from scenarios I played a while back. Among them were Supernatural and A Barbarian Uprising Conquest. As I recall, those were also decent maps. And all were authored by maygwan. Moreover, these maps are of the maximum, giant size (252x252; for comparison, XL maps are 144x144). You can imagine the potential inherent in such a scenario format and the level of epicness that can be constructed with proper skill and enthusiasm.
It seems to me that maygwan has succeeded in creating G-maps more than any other author at the moment. And Conquest of Heaven and Hell should be considered the most successful attempt, despite a number of quite serious flaws, which I will discuss later. As confirmation, this turned out to be the most discussed HotA map on maps4heroes.
A year ago, the map seemed very difficult to me, but in reality, it isn't. It can't be compared to hardcore SoD maps. The goal of the scenario is to defeat the hero God; the defeat condition is standard. To briefly describe the concept of the map: a hero under our leadership named Merlin challenges God and the Devil, first conquering the entire earthly world.
Among the map's features that deserve mention—and which can be seen as either a plus or a minus depending on the player's preference (though the last point certainly cannot be called a plus):
1) Rapid development from the start
At the beginning, the game progresses via Titans, so we experience no problems with neutrals. Except that breaking through black dragons without losses was a bit stressful.
2) Complete absence of taverns on the map
For me, this is a plus; taverns always simplify the game significantly by allowing the main hero to be moved wherever needed, dismissed/re-hired, digging for necessary heroes, using all sorts of tricks, etc.
3) Absolutely passive AI
Lately, I've grown unused to maps where no one threatens us at all and we don't have to constantly think about survival. The game is completely linear; we come to the AI ourselves and defeat them one by one in the order prescribed by the author. At first, this provided a sense of satisfaction due to the lack of habit, but over time, such a layout becomes boring. After all, there should be some threat from enemy heroes, otherwise, one might fall asleep during the Walkthrough.
4) Interesting critical points in the form of needing to defeat enemy heroes who, while immobilized, are quite fierce
Since HotA removed the mind magic immunity for troops of the Courage mark bearer (a mistake, in my opinion), the only way left to make a tough AI hero is the power of the Father of Dragons. In Conquest of Heaven and Hell, the author repeatedly turned to this method to create hard-to-beat powerhouses. Particularly interesting are the battles with two heroes who each have 30,000 Minotaurs with +3 morale and tactics, as well as with Mutare and Mutare Drake with legions of various dragons. It was exactly on the latter that my first Walkthrough stalled. But finding the right method to defeat them is actually not very difficult.
5) The ability to play with different heroes as the primary leader
As we progress, we free seven heroes from prisons. Among them, Crag, Tazar, Jelu, Dracon (the one specializing in Wizards), and Sandro deserve mention. You can switch to any of them as the main hero if desired. Our starting Merlin is an intelligence specialist; by the end of the Walkthrough, he had nearly 10,000 mana—total imba.
6) Quests requiring a specific collection of creatures to proceed
A frankly sagging point of the map. You constantly need to collect certain units, which is quite boring. The quest for 4,000 Wizards was especially annoying. They could only be collected by the end of the 7th month; I had to do absolutely nothing for an entire month because it was impossible to move forward without them.
7) A failed second part of the scenario
After defeating Mutare and Mutare Drake, we free Dracula (Sandro) and collect the Cloak of the Undead King. Additionally, we get a Berserker, and previously we had the Medal of Vulnerability. You can imagine the rest. The author tried to create serious opponents even for tens of thousands of Liches, but when the number of Liches exceeds hundreds of thousands, no one is capable of creating problems anymore. Therefore, both the Hell line and the Heaven line were played through quite reluctantly; even the final battle felt like a one-sided slaughter. On top of that, the author seemingly just ran out of imagination for the final stages of the Walkthrough. The locations of the last AI flags are VERY long, desolate, winding passages. I spent about three months just overcoming them. Another flaw is that the amount of troops the enemies had was sometimes so enormous that when stacks were merged, the value for many heroes went into the negative. Not that it affected much, but still. I read in a discussion on maps4heroes that maygwan was preparing an ultimate version of the map with fixed bugs and without the cloak, but it seems it's not available yet.
In general, I finished the Walkthrough on 16.3.6. Considering that some players spent over a hundred months on the map, this is perhaps not the worst option :)
Finally, a few screenshots of epic battles to realize the scale, even if it's mostly superficial :)