Posts from This world will burn to ashes!

Scenario [XL]: "This world will burn to ashes!" - EnterEsc

Title: This world will burn to ashes!
Map name: This world will burn!
Map type: Scenario
Two-level map: yes
Number of players: 2
Size: Extra Large
Map author: EnterEsc
Map description: The walls of the Shio prison are weakening, and demons, driven by an insatiable thirst for chaos and destruction, are preparing a new invasion of Ashan. The first to bear the brunt of Inferno's wrath will be the Empire, the long-standing and sworn enemy of Urgash's children. The demon lord Raast was tasked with being the one to strike the first blow against the unsuspecting humans. Surprise is the advantage given to the demons in this war, so after the Empire falls, the other races will not be able to withstand the onslaught of the fiery legions. And after that, there is no doubt, the whole world will burn to ashes!

From the author: Usually, the demons invading Ashan are opponents, but playing this scenario will require you to take on the role of the fiery conquerors. It turns out that creating chaos is not so easy when everything and everyone is against you. Here, you will need to calculate every route and every battle. Good luck!
I look forward to your feedback!

PS On any difficulty level except Warrior, you need to wait for the script to load for about 40 seconds (until the dialogue scene appears)

Instructions: Unzip the archive, place the file This_world_will_burn.h5m in the Maps folder of the game

An interesting scenario, well-developed and beautiful. I would recommend it to everyone who believes in their abilities and enjoys carrying the game on a single hero (without using summons and phoenixes). Thank you for the interesting map; I look forward to your next creations. P.S. You could reduce the loading time by an order of magnitude by removing a lot of these "if" statements and using a few unconditional loops.

I didn't have enough time to complete everything – I mean, to reach the end and clear the map, there were no problems with that. 3 experience points were left uncollected, and I didn't even have time to properly clear the map; only minor things remained, and I had to load a save to make it to the garrison in time (I did). At first, I was defeating everyone slowly, but then I realized that wasn't the right approach.

I didn't have enough dedicated time to clear everything – I mean, to reach all locations; there are no problems with defeating enemies. 3 resource nodes remain uncollected; I didn't even have time to properly clear the map, only minor tasks are left, and I had to load a previous save to make it to the garrison in time (I managed). At first, I was defeating everyone slowly, but then I realized that wasn't the right approach.

Yes, it won't be possible to clear everything, so you need to choose priority targets and build optimal routes :)

The map is designed using the same template as the map with the mage: I run, run, run…, I run, run, run… I keep running. There’s no end in sight. At least the demon can move quickly, and there are enough troops assigned to him to prevent battles from becoming tedious. The technical and visual aspects are pleasing. However, the gameplay is monotonous and quickly becomes repetitive. When I reached the river, I wanted to set everything to automatic mode and let the demon move on his own. I finished the map in 70 days (“hero”). I almost didn’t pick up any demon units. My starting army is sufficient, and the joined units are more of a hindrance due to their different upgrade levels. It’s best to start learning magic from the first tier, not the third. Most of the magic touch temples turned out to be unnecessary due to the lack of magic schools. Castles without defending heroes are a depressing sight. The spawn zone for Iris is poorly placed. It can be bypassed. Miv is useless without combat scripts. I didn’t like the ending at all. Fighting with two unknown entities is frustrating. (My main character randomly obtained Valeria on automatic mode). If fighting with Daleb is somewhat acceptable, and you can win after a few tries, then it’s impossible to win against Nimues. He has no common spells (!), not even “Weakness,” and the defending hero has a set of dwarven armor, meaning the chance of spell reflection is very high. The barbarian has more combat options compared to this crippled demon. The author suggests the player organize a “balaclava attack.” You can only win the battle with a certain amount of luck, which leads to a large number of replays, without making it more interesting. P.S. There is a campaign called “Flame of Vengeance” (2008) – I recommend it as an example of how to make a map about a demon raid not only beautiful but also engaging.

The map is designed using the same template as the map with the mage: I run, I run, I run…, I run, I run, I run… I keep running. There’s no end in sight. At least the demon can move quickly, and there are enough troops assigned to him to prevent battles from becoming tedious. The technical and visual aspects are well done. However, the gameplay is monotonous and quickly becomes boring. When I reached the river, I wanted to set everything to automatic mode and let the demon move on his own.
I finished the map in 70 days (“hero”). I almost didn’t pick up any demon units. My starting army is sufficient, and the joined units are more of a hindrance because they are of a different grade. It’s best to start learning magic from the first tier, not the third. Most of the magic touch temples turned out to be unnecessary due to the lack of magic schools. Castles without defending heroes are a depressing sight. The spawn zone for Iris is poorly placed. It can be bypassed. Miv is useless without combat scripts. I didn’t like the final battle at all. Fighting with two unknown entities is frustrating. (My main character randomly obtained Valeria.) If fighting with Daleb is somewhat acceptable, and you can win after a few tries, then it’s impossible to win against Nimues. He has no common spells (!), not even “Weakness,” and the defending hero has a set of dwarven armor, meaning the chance of spell reflection is very high. The barbarian has more combat options compared to this crippled demon. The author suggests the player organize a “balaclava attack.” The battle can only be won with a certain amount of luck, which leads to a large number of replays, without making it more interesting.
P.S. There is a campaign called “Flame of Vengeance” (2008) – I recommend it as an example of how to make a map on the theme of a demon raid not only beautiful but also engaging.

Thank you for the constructive criticism

Walkthrough of the scenario "This World Will Burn to Ashes" (HERO difficulty): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUvdlRluq3A

EnterEsc, was such a beautiful tactic for defeating Valeria and Bertrand planned from the beginning?

EnterEsc, was such a beautiful tactic for defeating Valeria and Bertrand originally planned?

Yes, especially on the Hero difficulty.
I wanted to create challenging battles despite the main hero's progression, so I made sure to force players to fight not only Raast...

Yes, especially on the Hero level)
I wanted to create challenging battles despite the main hero's progression, so I forced you to fight not only with Raast...

Dear author, you wanted to "create challenging battles despite the main hero's progression," but, forgive me, you created something of a mess! If WE had wanted that, or if it even made sense, we would have started playing a completely different scenario! Just explain to yourself the point of leveling up a hero, leading them across the entire map, only to be given some cripple with a stick and forced to assault a Castle? If the map were terrible, I would understand that you have some issues with logic, but the map is simply excellent! No bugs (minor flaws don't count), purely a rushing map as I like, I had to think through the strategy, protect my troops as the apple of my eye, think, and in the end, get two wounded troops, on whom the victory now depends! This is simply an epic fail, how you screwed up this scenario in the end. Okay, I've already come to terms with it, but explain to me what you wanted to achieve when I dive into the portal at the end, a window appears with the new hero Nimues, and as I understand it, I can transfer artifacts and troops to him for the battle. But the next action is that I assault the Castle of Daleb! Daleb, for crying out loud! Why her, and not Nimues? I'm not even saying that Nimues has troops of other tiers (you can reload and give him others), but Daleb? Why is there no way to give her troops, artifacts? Why should I even transfer anything if I'm fighting third and don't even know what I'll need? Why does the victory in the scenario depend on the first of the three battles at the end, and the first battle is conducted by Daleb, to whom nothing can be given? Why couldn't I level up these two as I want? Why is Nimues so castrated? Just a bunch of whys and wherefores. In short, to say that I'm frustrated is an understatement. I managed to pull through the battle with Daleb after many reloads, but the scenario is meaningless and merciless. The only good thing is that I had a good fight for two days.
Advice for other players. When you descend into the last Dungeon at the finish, you will be ambushed by the last hero of the Order faction – this is the last battle, the Finale! Then the circus with horses begins. I agree with 13ga on many points.
Criticize – suggest.
Advice: to the author... after the heroes are released from prison, they are given artifacts (this is more than enough), there is no need to call them into battle. There is simply no need. And to the players... Soul Eater and Hellfire are a must! Protect the Imps! (they determine the amount of mana drained from enemy heroes, losing troops to various rings of cold and death is bad), protect the horses (they are the main damage-dealing stack). Machines with a tent are a must-have, as well as education with a rooster, so that you can learn low-level spells, which are not easy to find because they are random. I chose Darkness, but you can also choose Summoning (Phantom, Wall) + Darkness. If you get Light, that will also work. You can have two schools, but not Chaos, because you can only increase the spell power to 20+-. Imps and horses of the second tier are better than the first, it is more profitable to scare with the second than to damage with an aura. I had to upgrade the Succubus to Temptresses because the Night Hags didn't want to cast Confusion (a must-have) on you, but just hid or walked around.