Posts from Fallen Knight Auto-translated

Name: Fallen Knight
Map Name: rutger
Map Type: Single Mission
Two-level map: yes
Number of players: 3
Size: Medium
Map author: Navkratis
Map description: When demons launched another raid on the local lands of the Griffin Empire, the knight Rutger, who had been secretly studying dark magic, decided to take advantage of the opportunity to step out of the shadows and achieve his ambitious goals.

This scenario turned out to be quite challenging compared to my previous maps, but yesterday, albeit with difficulty, I managed to complete it on Veteran difficulty. Occasionally, on the second week, the green player appears; in such cases, reloading helps, but your main problem will still not be him. As with all my other scenarios, this one can also be played in the original Heroes. I will be glad to receive feedback on any inaccuracies or errors you notice. Have a nice game!)

Thank you to users Dolgiy (first version of the map), Khottabych (both versions of the map), and everyone who helped me on the forum for their technical assistance.

P.S. UPDATE 09/11/20 Revised version 1.1:
- Further work has been done on the landscape, and the density of objects on the map has been slightly reduced.
- The starting message has been divided into four parts.
- Additional scripts have been added.
- The "Capture Kiatri-Shurra" quest has been moved from the additional quests to the main quests; it now appears as the story progresses.
- Three additional quests have been added: "Mausoleum," "Stashes," and "Necromancer"; all of them appear as the game progresses.

I will be glad to receive your feedback on version 1.1; a lot of work was put into this update.

I will definitely play it; the screenshots are really beautiful.

Walkthrough of the "Fallen Knight" scenario (heroic difficulty): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQa88t-O97E

It seems my scenarios evoke a strong emotional response, which is the best motivation to continue my work in the field of mapmaking.

Your maps lack: a well-paced storyline, the presence of cutscenes, interesting scripts, possibly puzzles or riddles, map design (but this is subjective), essentially, they can only be completed by playing as the Engineer class because other classes need more freedom. There are no challenging battles with computer-controlled opponents (the difficulty, or rather, the constant and endless attacks by computer-controlled opponents, is not challenging; it's just tedious, having to sit near the castle and block one-way portals with your units).

Everyone has different priorities; I primarily try to carefully craft the visual aspect, filling the fantasy world with many details: various types of trees, grass beneath them, underground mushrooms growing near glowing crystals, and so on. For example, when looking at the same "Valley of Dreams" in the editor, you can see that dozens of man-hours were spent working on the terrain. I understand that this aspect may not be important to some, but here on the forum, I receive feedback about how beautifully the landscape is made, and that makes me very happy. :) The map design is done deliberately because I really dislike it when the terrain looks like a flat tablecloth, and conversely, I love creating long mountain gorges and winding paths. This is truly a matter of taste, as is the creation of cities that are only partially buildable. In any case, I don't plan to change anything regarding this. Scripts are certainly useful, but personally, they aren't my strongest suit. It's not always possible to get an answer quickly on the forum, and constantly bothering Khottabych in private messages with questions about scripts also feels wrong. Nevertheless, I gradually learn something new, and in the most recent map, the presence of scripts is already noticeable :). The same applies to cutscenes; for now, I have decided that studying them would not be worthwhile based on the ratio of effort expended versus the result obtained (two or three minutes of video). I usually do test playthroughs on Veteran difficulty, trying not to focus on any single skill (except for my favorite logistics). On Veteran, I play based on my rather modest experience, assuming that regular forum users are much more experienced and can easily complete the game on Hero where I struggle on Veteran. Regarding enemies coming from everywhere, let's just look at the maps. In "Haven of Druids," the obvious first goal is the nearest Dungeon city on the island, after which you can feel relatively safe, accumulate strength, and capture the Elven city, and from that point on, the threat comes only from one Dungeon. By the way, the path by sea from the north is blocked by cliffs, so there's no need to talk about enemies coming from everywhere. In "Fallen Knight," the enemy usually comes from a portal to the north, and the starting city is located in the corner of the map and can be lost. Finally, in "Valley of Dreams," the starting city can only be attacked through a long gorge to the south; after capturing two Necromancer cities, it is again sufficient to defend a narrow section of road to the west, and after that, you can place Nazir to guard the exit from the portal (remembering to provide him with reinforcements), while Ilfina will calmly clear the area and gather forces from the Elven city for further progress. So, if you know the specifics of the map, the playthrough isn't as difficult as it seems :). In addition, judging by the feedback here on the forum, many forum users get quite positive emotions from playing my scenarios, and I periodically update them myself. In particular, I wrote several days ago here /topic/12384/ that I am slowly improving "Fallen Knight." And finally, when forum users write what needs to be improved, I always try to take this into account, although I cannot always do so (due to lack of knowledge in scripts) or want to (due to different visions, for example, regarding certain aspects of map design), but I welcome any constructive feedback :) To summarize: I gradually develop in some areas (scripts), albeit not instantly; some things are seen differently by me and part of the forum users, which is perfectly natural, although overall positive reviews prevail (and I don't pretend to be a guru of mapmaking). The playthrough of my scenarios usually starts with an irritated state of mind; it turns out that someone made you angry before the stream, upset you, and the most popular word used to describe my maps becomes "garbage," but at the same time, you persistently continue to play them). Of course, it's your choice, but from the outside, it creates a rather strange impression, as if you have something personal against me, although I don't remember doing anything to provoke such behavior

Your maps, aside from the design, resemble GSC maps. This is the main criticism: there are no interesting quests or plot development (it's not a good idea to dump the entire supposed plot into the first text window, even without a mod, and have players scroll through it for 20 minutes). Any creative work will always have fans and haters, so it's not surprising that some people like the maps. I'm just sharing my opinion as a user who has played more than 70 fan-made maps and 10 fan-made campaigns, so I have something to compare them to. I only play because there's not much else left, and as the saying goes, "in a fishless pond, even a crab is a fish."

Any creative work will always have its fans and haters.

Let's leave it at that. Authors create their scenarios as best they can and as they like, and no matter how much you yell at them that it's "garbage," it won't change anything.

A revised version 1.1 has been released; if no bugs are found, it will also be the final version. Many changes have been made.

Well, what can I say: the map is very good, and it's interesting to play; there's clear progress – scripts, quests, gameplay. Thank you for your hard work.

This map slipped my attention due to the website update and subsequent "improvements." I will definitely write a review after I complete it. However, after reading the reviews of the well-known "walkthrough" author, Remix, I couldn't stay silent. Author, don't pay attention to the opinion of this

Moderated: INSULT in the message

; he is not worth your attention as an author. Keep working, and we will keep playing. Hello to everyone.

This map slipped my attention due to the website update and subsequent "improvements." I will definitely write a review after I complete it. However, after reading the reviews of the well-known "walkthrough player" Remix, I couldn't stay silent. Author, don't pay attention to the opinion of this immature brat who persistently tries to monetize his pathetic attempts, while being unable to complete even a single serious map. This chatter is not worth your attention as an author; keep working, and we will keep playing. Best regards to everyone.

Remix is a very experienced player who has completed more than 70 fan-made maps and 10 campaigns. And it's certainly not surprising that he has something to compare them to. I am very surprised by such a foolish comment from you, but perhaps it is sarcasm. And please refrain from such insults.

Whether you are a well-known streamer or not, you are not a professional mapmaker. And if you really think that what this "walkthrough player" wrote is nonsense, I can write a more serious review.

I can't help but agree with Khottabych's opinion. The criticism of Remix was constructive, as evidenced by the changes made by the map author after that criticism. All that remains is to wish Remix to not pay attention to the comment of a young (or not so young?) Antik.

I can't help but agree with Khottabych's opinion. The criticism of Remix was constructive, as evidenced by the changes made by the map author after that criticism. All that remains is to wish Remix to ignore the comment of a young (or not so young?) Antik.

It is very likely that this is trolling or sarcasm directed at me, although it contains unacceptable language.

In either case, Warning according to point 4.9.

Unfortunately, the topic has once again turned negative. I can only say that version 1.1 includes many changes, and work on them began BEFORE the review, as I wrote at the end of this topic: post. Constructive criticism, without shouting "it's garbage" and using obscene language, is always welcome. And I wish all forum users to take things easier, play the cards they like, and calmly delete those they don't like, without torturing themselves by trying to complete them. There are enough reasons for negativity in life, so I wish everyone all the best and lots of cute cats 🙂