Posts from Necroknights of the Beam-Beam Hills

Title: Necroknights of the Bim-Bim Hills

Map Type: PVP
Two-Level Map: Yes
Number of Players: 2
Size: Small
Map Difficulty: Normal
Version: Warlords of the Wasteland / Equi 3.55 (better suited for playing with the "Equi" AI)
Map Author: Abenheiser

Map Description: The Bim-Bim Hills have long been a source of pride for the forest people of Dilidon, until the vile dark usurpers of Trintren reached their beauty. From now on, these lands are ravaged by war, and only one who unravels the deeply hidden mystery of the magical hills will be able to win.

Features:
• Well-balanced gameplay between two opposing factions (Death and Nature);
• Beautiful and memorable visual design;
• 3 different ways to reach the enemy territory;
• Variety of power-ups and a mini-boss;
• Replayability;
• Suitable for quick games;
• Recommended for online play.

Important The map uses mirrored objects that are not in the original game, so to make the scenario work, you will need to place the storm_updates.h4s file (in the map archive) in the game's /Data directory. No file replacement is required.

This is a remake of my childhood map, which I created in 2009, and the first completed project for a player in many years. I will be glad for any feedback! I wish you a pleasant time with a cup of fragrant tea, dear Heroes fan! ☕

UPDATE: The map has been additionally localized into English and included in the main archive, which also contains the translated instructions.

🛠Balance patch 1.3 is out!🛠

- Knowledge Dolmens have been added for tier 3 guards near dwellings on the surface.
- Magic Altars on starting locations have been replaced: Nature -> Life, Death -> Order.
- The spell selection in the libraries of Life and Order has been adjusted. Now, on each level, the library of Life guarantees a spell against the undead.
- A new yellow portal has appeared in the Dungeon, leading to the dwelling of Goblin Knights. Passage to them requires a fee of 2000 gold, 10 wood, and 10 ore.
- To increase the value of Hills, 4 treasure chests have been added to each one.
- The "Ship's Log" artifact has been added to the water for Mermaids.
- On the starting location of Nature, near the Fountain of Health, the "Bag of Gold" artifact (250 gold per turn) is now guaranteed to be found.
- In the city of Nature, a "Rainbow" is built from the 1st turn.
- A fixed unit of mercury on the Death location has been replaced with sulfur.
- The guards of the gold mines in the Dungeon have been slightly weakened.

Important The map uses mirrored objects that are not in the original, and therefore, to run the scenario, you will need to place the storm_updates.h4s file (in the archive with the map) in the game directory /Data. Replacing files is NOT required.

🛠Minor patch 1.3a🛠

- Slightly modified the list of spells available for learning in the Nature magic guild;
- Added a skeleton with an artifact to the Goblin Knight camp;
- Removed the "Lightning" spell from Vulcanar; the black dragon has been replaced with a hydra, and the number of centaurs in the army has been slightly reduced;
- Fixed an issue that prevented access to the upper part of the Nature Dungeon without defeating the tier 3 creature.

🛠Balance patch 1.4 is out!🛠

- Death loses some starting resources depending on the difficulty level. On Champion difficulty, Nature receives an additional 500 gold at the start.*
- Death now has a permanent penalty of 100 gold/day.
- A border guard unit has been added on the water between two players (gargoyles and fire elementals).
- A purple one-way portal has been added to the Vulcanar's treasure chamber, and the visual design of the location has been slightly improved.
- Two Chaos Magic altars have been added to the treasure chamber.
- Vulcanar lost 2 experience levels (18->16) due to the "Divination" skill being reduced from master level to advanced level.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Novice: (Nature) 20000 gold, 20 wood/ore, 10 rare - (Death) 12500 gold, 12 wood/ore, 6 rare
Apprentice: (Nature) 15000 gold, 15 wood/ore, 7 rare - (Death) 10000 gold, 10 wood/ore, 4 rare
Expert: (Nature) 10000 gold, 10 wood/ore, 5 rare - (Death) 7000 gold, 7 wood/ore, 3 rare
Master: (Nature) 5000 gold, 10 wood/ore, 5 rare - (Death) 3500 gold, 7 wood/ore, 3 rare
Champion: (Nature) 500 gold, 10 wood/ore, 5 rare - (Death) 0 gold, 7 wood/ore, 3 rare

The script only works if both players are human.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Important The map uses mirrored objects that are not in the original game, so to make the scenario work, you will need to place the storm_updates.h4s file (in the map archive) in the game's /Data directory. Replacing files is NOT required.

🛠Minor patch 1.4a🛠

 

I can assure you that this is a very fun map for multiplayer, and although the Nature vs. Necropolis matchup seems quite unfair, after all the adjustments, both players have a chance to win.

🛠Minor patch 1.4b🛠

- Removed the daily penalty of 100 gold for Death (text on the sign adjusted);
- In the Death dungeon, the minotaur treasure room has been replaced with a beholder treasure room (identical to Nature);
- Adjusted the descriptive texts for the quest huts to match the number of creatures awarded as a reward.

Added 1 minute ago

I can assure you that this is a very fun map for multiplayer, and although the Nature-Death matchup looks quite unfair, after all the changes, both players have a chance to win.

Thank you very much for the supportive comment on the forum! I am very happy to see that the first feedback on the map highlights it in a positive light!😃

🛠Balance patch 1.5 is out!🛠

- Replaced the neutral tier 3 dwelling with Knight-Goblins with Ogre-Mages.

- Reduced the cost of opening the passage to the neutral tier 3 dwelling from 2000/10/10 gold/ore/wood to 1500/5/5.

- Added Potion of Fire Resistance to the neutral tier 3 dwelling area.

- Added Ivory Towers to the Bim-Bim hills.

- Rebalanced the Creature Portal for the Sylvan faction.

- Removed the permanent Necromancy learning in the Magic University.

- Certain spells have been banned.
(Sanctuary, City Portal, Walk, Scout, Smoke, Quagmire, Amulet of Life, Amulet of Order, Greater Amulet of Order).
Smoke was removed due to a bug with the scroll and added as a fixed spell in the Chaos library in both cities.

🛠Minor patch 1.5a🛠

- The central water guard has been changed from 10 Gargoyles and 5 Fire Elementals to 1 Sea Monster, 2 Cyclops, and 3 Mermaids.
- The guard of the sea treasures has been strengthened from 6 Mermaids to 7 Mermaids and 7 Harpies.
- The guard of the islands with altars has been strengthened from 1 Sea Monster and 2 Water Elementals to 1 Sea Monster, 3 Water Elementals, and 12 Fairies.
- Fixed a bug where a 4th-level magic altar was on the Isle of Death instead of a 3rd-level altar.
- Slightly strengthened the wandering armies on the hills.
- Removed the obstacle near the Crystal Pond on the Nature spawn, which prevented access to the Mage's Eye without defeating the tier 2 guard.

Minor patch 1.5b

- Fixed text errors in quest buildings;

- Added a narrative message when attacking Vulcanar for both sides;

- Added a "Banish" scroll for Tier 3 guards at the Sylvan faction (to counter possible illusions from the Haven faction's magic);

- Added troughs on both sides of the underground portal (to save movement points).

Minor patch 1.5c

- Modified the position and environment of shipyards for more accurate ship spawning;

- Increased the growth rate of hard-to-access and less popular creatures in buildings *.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Cerberus: +1 unit/3 days available for recruitment;
Vampire: +1 unit/7 days available for recruitment;
Elf: +1 unit/3 days available for recruitment;
Griffin: +1 unit/7 days available for recruitment;
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

🛠Major balance patch 1.6🛠

- Gold mines have been moved from the fountain area to the center of each volcano;
- The gold mine at Death is guarded by Order, and at Nature, instead of Force, it is guarded by Chaos; the units have been adjusted;
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Order:
- 10 Dwarves
- 10 Halflings
- 4 Gold Golems
- 1 Djinn
- 1 Dragon Golem

Chaos:
- 10 Rogues
- 10 Orcs
- 4 Medusas
- 1 Ifrit
- 1 Hydra

* The number of units in the squads is indicated according to the "Apprentice" difficulty.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- An Altar of Chaos has been added to the "Bandit Hideout" location;
- The fixed drop of Death Charms in the Library of Life at Nature has been removed;
- Fixed 1st-level spells have been added to the Library of Chaos for both factions;
- Many areas on the map have been fixed, through which it was possible to pass by splitting the army.