Posts from Walkthroughs for custom maps.

And perhaps it would be even better to leave such reviews on the sites from which you downloaded these maps.

I downloaded it from the neighboring thread.

P.S. If I understand correctly, the main problem with maps for Heroes of Might and Magic is that the development team makes constant updates, and a super-map made a year ago can be ruined by some updates in the mechanics.

Only if the map was made to exploit known bugs.
There was a problem at one time that old maps stopped opening after the release of 1.6, but this was fixed within a few weeks.

To be honest, I don't remember any discussions about maps for HotA in this thread. But that doesn't mean people aren't playing them. Keep an eye on the feedback. And even better, perhaps leave similar feedback on the sites where you downloaded these maps. There, this feedback will be very useful, as people often hesitate whether to download a map or not, and their opinion is often based solely on the minimap image and the comments under the map.

P.S. If I understand correctly, the main problem with maps for HotA is that its team makes constant updates; a super-map made a year ago can be broken by some updates in the mechanics. That's why everything is stable and unchanged with SoD. But this is the opinion of someone who doesn't play HotA

I wouldn't say that the updates are constant. There haven't been any major changes for a long time. The last significant one was when Conflux was deprived of the grass bonus, and a different landscape – highlands – was introduced. And the nerf of some secondary skills, like logistics and intelligence, also made adjustments. Indeed, this could have broken some maps, but not critically for everything. Soon (about 2 years ago), they should add a new Castle and new units and heroes, which could also break something. But overall, this shouldn't interfere with any games here and now. And plus, if a map is relevant, the author can also update it.

I think the main problems are the conservatism of the community (to a greater extent) and the inability to connect SoD save files (to a lesser extent). Well, maps for HotA are being created; we just need someone to create a popular masterpiece, which currently only exists in SoD.

[quote=Dirty_Player

I think the main problems are the community's conservatism (to a greater extent) and the inability to connect with the SoD (to a lesser extent). Well, maps for HotA are being created; we just need someone to create a popular masterpiece, which currently only exists in SoD.[/quote]

Judging by the number of new maps created for HotA on maps4heroes compared to maps for SoD, HotA is a fairly popular direction. Sooner or later, such a masterpiece will be found.

By the way, a new map by frifix was released on 01.01.2021, Full Fire, even two 007 meets Dr. No 2020. I think I'll start playing them.

I watched the streams, and the battles are certainly fun, but the map's corridor-like design really spoils the experience. It would be more interesting to confuse the player with alternative options. Or even not confuse them, but simply give them the opportunity to choose different ways to complete the map.

I have a map like that. The battles are so-so, but it's easy to get lost on an open map. However, it was criticized on one of the forums. So, I'm currently finishing and reworking it.

Map Name: Shadows of the Forest
Version: 1.0
Author: Louis Cyphre
Downloaded: from the Heroesportal map catalog

The map is the first element of an extremely ambitious project to remake the original Armageddon's Blade campaign. The author had already presented this campaign in a remake format to players back in 2018. At that time, as I understand it, the source of inspiration was Season's maps, and the remake included a number of progressive ideas, but overall the difficulty was moderate, and the campaign was suitable for a wide range of players. After that, the author dove even deeper into the depths of Heroes hardcore and decided to significantly increase the difficulty level of the Armageddon's Blade remake.

According to the author's statements, "Shadows of the Forest" significantly surpasses in terms of difficulty the popular hardcore maps, including "Xiedu", "Metataxer’s Revenge", etc. After completing the map, I can essentially agree with this statement. One can feel the author's desire to make various aspects of Heroes gameplay significant (battles, required tempo, interaction between heroes, economy), but the emphasis here is specifically on the combat component. The map, like "Alcatraz Escape", takes the hardcore nature of battles in Heroes to the next level after "Metataxer’s Revenge". The tempo requirements are also set quite strictly at the start, but after about 3 game weeks, the player may feel enough freedom to play more deliberately and calmly. You will also have to keep an eye on the economy, but there are no particular difficulties in gathering the required amount of gold and resources as the game progresses.

In terms of similarity to the mentioned maps "Metataxer’s Revenge" and "Xiedu", a funny parallel arises regarding the presence of a signature "calling card" battle at the early stage of the game. In Metataxer, it was a battle in a castle against the hero Sir Lock attacking on day 1; in "Xiedu", it was a battle with Moon against titans and giants. In Shadows, it is a battle against 6 green dragons, which is capable of seriously puzzling anyone and serves as a good characterization of the overall level of the combat component on the map.

To briefly go over the combat features, the player is offered to go through a maximally diverse set of battles, while difficulties must be overcome using two stacks of types very familiar to hardcore maps: an OP shooter (snipers) and an OP non-retaliating unit (archdevils). Units can be used individually or as part of an interaction. Another characteristic feature is that a significant part of the scenario must be completed without resurrection, and you will have to make decisions on how to come out unscathed from battles against vastly superior enemy forces: in some places, if desired, you can rely on randomness (although it is not mandatory), in others, consider acceptable losses, including using the rarely applied "sacrifice" spell.

In terms of structure, the map is quite linear. There are no questions as to where and in what sequence to move. The clearly visible stages of the game can be highlighted as follows: the initial grass respawn with a checkpoint in the form of a flux in the north; the first part of Eofol with three freely roaming heroes and two heavily guarded Inferno towns; the second part of Eofol with a new wave of dynamic enemies and an even greater number of diverse siege battles (this stage of the game reminded me of a terrarium of various creepy-crawlies); the third part of Eofol with the most sophisticated sieges, but the simplest roaming enemies; the battle with hero Holivya (one of the most complex and labor-intensive in all my Heroes practice—the winning try took 5900+ rounds, for goodness sake); the descent into hell with the need to fend off crowds of enemy heroes in a single turn movement; a tricky final battle with hero Fraelocia.

I must also note that due to the novelty and "untested" nature of the map, as is usually the case, a number of critical problems were identified during the walkthrough that required correction with a save editor; therefore, playing version 1.0 is not recommended, as it is technically impassable. Download the map from maps4heroes. I maintained contact with the author and shared feedback during the process; all remarks and wishes were taken into account, and he is promptly fixing the problematic moments. Overall, I liked the map very much, putting aside the rawness of the first version. The only thing I don't like is the author's tendency toward what I consider excessive object replacement. Be prepared that a well here may turn out to be an oasis (or maybe not, heh), a lookout tower a Sanctuary, a garrison, or a seer's hut, and a boar hideout an elven town. The author is guided by aesthetic considerations in this regard, and each object replacement has its own logic, but this does not make it easier for the player to navigate.

The walkthrough itself took me almost two months of leisurely play. At the beginning of the year, I initially thought about finishing the Chinese map "Dark Man", but Shadows truly sucked me in and diverted all my gaming time and attention to itself. In general, the map is recommended for all players who are truly confident in their skills and seasoned veterans looking for new challenges and original content. In this regard, they will be served first-class. If the author can make the entire campaign in the spirit of this first map, it will be the most massive Heroes project currently in existence. I wish them luck in achieving this ambitious goal.

P.S. During the walkthrough, I took a lot of screenshots and videos, but I only posted two battles from the early stages of the game on my channel (1, 2). The fewer spoilers for the time being, the better for the map itself.

Hello everyone.

Some of you might find this interesting.
The Last Crusade v4.0 has been uploaded to maps4heroes.
I hope all the backdoors have been closed. I really hope so.
The main changes, of course, concern the Fanatic. The others have been slightly adjusted.

Changes:
1) All super-heroes (Tazar, etc.) have been removed.
2) Extra wisdom is no longer needed here.
3) All temporary restrictions have been moved forward by 1 month.
4) More distinct difficulty levels have been added to the starting locations - now more objects are blocked for higher difficulty levels.
5) An enhanced mode has been introduced. It gives some advantages to the computer players. It can be enabled or disabled (depending on the player's choice) on the map by one of the special heroes.
6) Some informative messages have been added for better understanding of what's going on.
7) The backdoor with the black tent (from Dendy, although he didn't know it was a backdoor) has been closed.
8) The possibility of unfairly capturing spheres has been closed (the computer opens it, but doesn't have time to take it - and then the player is quick to do it - after hundreds of restarts).
9) Important spells have been moved further away from the player for higher difficulty levels.
10) A new puzzle has been added for the Fanatic on the barbarian continent. The difficulty is not high.
11) The backdoor with the Lord Haart lock (from Dendy and Antoshka) has been closed.
12) A new puzzle has been added on Haart's island. The difficulty is not high.
13) The puzzle for obtaining the wings has been made more difficult. The difficulty is high.
14) Unnecessary decorative paths on the water have been removed.
15) The AI has been slightly more motivated in some areas where it was acting foolishly.
16) A new puzzle has been added for the Fanatic in the underground corridors. The difficulty is not high.
17) A new puzzle has been added for the Fanatic on the Galtaran/Moandor location. The difficulty is medium.
18) The puzzle for Tamika has been restored. The difficulty is not high.
19) The overpowered backdoor with flying through the water corridor (from Dendy) has been closed. It broke the entire further mechanics. It won't happen again.
20) Closing the backdoor from point (19) immediately re-enabled several puzzles of varying difficulty on the Charny terrain.
21) Taking the city portal has finally been implemented as originally intended. The difficulty is high.
22) An oversight with the possibility of taking the peasant's hideout at the beginning of the game on higher difficulty levels has been fixed (thanks to Chaosmonger for the sudden information).
23) Taking the berserker has been made more difficult. The difficulty is high.
24) The puzzle for Tanta/Marius has been made more difficult. The difficulty is above average.
25) The puzzle for taking the white tent has been made more difficult. The difficulty is high.
26) The puzzle for freeing Katerina has been made more difficult. The difficulty is high.
27) Work has been done to prevent some bugs in the HD and SoD_SP plugins.
28) The starting Factions have been slightly rebalanced.
29) Vampires are no longer available for hire.
30) Various minor changes...

successful attempt after 5900+ rounds

That was an epic battle. I hope you recorded a video?

There's a video, but it only covers the first 50 rounds.

Enhanced mode has been activated.

How much does this mode affect puzzle-solving? Or, as I understand it, does it only affect the increased combat power of companions?

it doesn't directly affect the puzzles. However, it is assumed that it will significantly complicate the ability to meet the time limits, which will ultimately encourage the player to solve all the puzzles in the minimum number of moves.

Map: Breaking Wind and Waves
Author: wklhy
Download: /topic/at/1177626/

Although I'm not a huge fan of Chinese maps, at some point I decided that for the sake of completeness, it would be good to complete at least one Chinese map of each type: static, where enemy heroes are almost completely immobilized; semi-static, where some AI are given a certain amount of freedom; and dynamic, where enemies move across the map fairly freely. I had already completed one map of the first two types, so only a dynamic one remained.

Without thinking twice, I immediately jumped into Dark Man, also produced by wklhy. After playing until the beginning of month 3 and simply getting fed up with endless rollbacks and replays, I decided to put it aside "for later" and look for something simpler. In the end, I settled on "Breaking Wind and Waves".

THE MAP

The map consists of a water surface with many islands of various sizes. Some islands are large enough to accommodate 2-3 castles. Others have only enough space for 1-2 objects like a mine, an external dwelling, or a seer's hut. There are very many islands, and it becomes immediately clear that moving across the map will not be easy; the fact that almost none of our heroes have Navigation, while almost all enemy heroes do, makes matters even more difficult. But the fact that all the action takes place on islands is precisely our key to survival. If anyone attempts this map, I think they will figure out what to do quite quickly.

In my opinion, the map is drawn very well. I didn't notice any illogical or strange spots; everything is balanced and overall it's quite pleasant to play (as far as it can be pleasant to play on a map where you have to board and disembark from a ship daily ).

The structure of the Gameplay, as I understand it, is done in a style characteristic of this author, and indeed many Chinese maps in general:
- the player has a fixed number of heroes at their disposal, some of whom have useful specializations or spells;
- portioned distribution of key spells, where one spell can be taken by only one hero (in a Seer's Hut or from a Scholar);
- many free-roaming enemies of varying degrees of "imbaness," who are released from quest pillars on a timer to turn the player's life into hell;
- many prisons in areas inaccessible to the player, from which new, even more imba heroes crawl out like shark teeth to replace those killed.
All of this is present in the author's other maps, and it is also present in Breaking Wind and Waves.

OUR HEROES

We start with one hero - Christian. But within just a few days, our pool of heroes begins to grow. If started correctly, we can get Jela and Adelaide at our disposal on the very first day, and after a few days, release Orrin and Saurug from prison.

Next comes the liberation of the witch Voy, who is the only one among our heroes to have the Navigation secondary skill. Moreover, this is also her specialization, so leveling her up is quite appropriate to use her as a "water logistician".

Caitlin (specialization +350 gold) joins our company next. As a rule, this heroine is not highly valued and is most often used as a "loosh" (resource collector). But on this map, she will play a quite prominent and even leading role for some time. At least for me, she was the main hero for almost half of the walkthrough.

Mephala, Ivor, and Khalid are liberated last. Some of them have parts of artifact sets, some have useful spells under certain conditions, and some were apparently planned as one of the main heroes.

I don't know how the author intended the roles to be distributed on his map. It seems common practice on Chinese maps to start with "loosh" heroes, then switch to a shooter, and let an armor-wearer carry the final part. Perhaps there was a similar idea here, and after a certain point, one should start playing as Mephala, since she initially had a decent set of spells. But in the end, I mained Caitlin for the first half of the walkthrough, and after obtaining the Book of Earth and until the very end, Orrin carried almost all battles single-handedly, while Mephala remained a loosh collecting growth from external dwellings and resources. I made this decision because Mephala lacks intelligence, as fighting with a tiny amount of mana and ordinary "Resurrection" would be extremely difficult.

ENEMIES

There are very many enemies on the map – nearly a hundred, including those sitting in prisons for the time being. Those I steamrolled through in the first two months aren't particularly noteworthy (some didn't even manage to leave their castle), but the others, who start waves of attacks on a timer, are almost all monsters. Their armies and stats are much higher than our mains', and each possesses artifacts that complicate the fight against them: some run around with Shackles of War, others with Cloak of Denial, and almost all have a Badge of Courage or Amulet of Blindness. Consequently, by the end of the walkthrough, a decent collection of Badges of Courage and "plucked eyes" was gathered.

Overall, it's quite difficult to highlight anyone from this multitude of semi-imba, imba, and super-imba heroes, but for me, the most unpleasant ones were those who had "Water Walking," and the worst of all was this Torgrim. He appeared on the surface in the fifth month, and honestly, I didn't really imagine how he could be broken through at that stage. Magic doesn't work on him, trickery is impossible due to the Shackles, and the 3K snipers Orrin had at the time dealt laughable damage to him (killing 70-80 titans or 700-800 fanatics per shot, whom the archmage immediately resurrected), while all snipers were wiped out by a single shot from any of his shooting stacks. For a long time, I was frankly afraid of him and avoided meeting him. Fortunately, he managed to be lured to the bottom of the map, where he got stuck for several months in a small area.

An interesting feature of such dynamic maps, where AI roam quite freely and in large numbers, is the constant exchange of troops and artifacts between heroes of the same flag. In most cases, this works in our favor—for example, when a particularly problematic or nearly impenetrable enemy hero gives away the Shackles of War, creating an opportunity for trickery, or when a hero with two shooting stacks gives one away, making them easier to kill. Sometimes these exchanges resulted in heroes running around with three Golden Bows or several Shackles of War.

But there were opposite examples too. In my case, the aforementioned imba Torgrim, as a result of "exchanges" with his comrades, literally turned into a real monster within a month, doubling the size of his most unpleasant stacks. Or, for example, one could encounter an enemy who, as a result of exchanges, had four massive shooting stacks and a Badge of Courage, and that usually boded nothing good.

WALKTHROUGH

We begin the walkthrough on a large island located in the north of the overworld part of the map, having one hero at our disposal and a castle that hasn't been built up yet. And the first surprise awaits us in the castle, namely — there is already a Tavern. At first, I couldn't believe my eyes, because usually, on hard maps, Chinese authors give the tavern in the middle of the walkthrough at best, or even at the very end. I thought maybe something bugged and immediately went into the editor to check. But it turned out that we indeed start playing with a tavern, in which, moreover, you can buy Jela. Pure miracles.

Our further actions involve liberating several heroes, as well as capturing this entire island. The procedure is surprisingly simple and generally takes 2-3 weeks depending on the pace.

After capturing the starting island, the player gets full freedom of action and can essentially sail in any direction. But I would advise studying the surroundings in the editor first and primarily checking all nearby castles for events and their timing. This is very important, as it helps to properly plan the route and, most importantly, the timings for capturing castles.

As soon as we get in a boat, it becomes clear that our biggest problems will be specifically with movement across the map. Not only does the boarding-disembarking procedure take a whole day, but heroes without Navigation only sail for 1500 move points, which feels like a mockery. Therefore, capturing the few lighthouses is also one of the priority tasks.

It should be noted here that the map can conditionally be divided into 3 zones: the upper half of the overworld, where we start the game; the lower half of the overworld, isolated from it until visiting the brown tent, where quite imba enemies appear; and finally the underworld, from which hordes of enemy heroes will eventually surge toward us.

During the first couple of months (and here, the faster the better), all castles in the upper half of the overworld are captured without any difficulty, all enemy heroes there are eliminated, and the Brown Tent is visited. Here we liberate Caitlin from prison and, along the way, learn several imba spells. Primarily Resurrection, which is in the mages guild of one of the castles, and Blindness, for which one must sail to a separate island.

In general, on this map, spells, artifacts, or just some necessary items are very often located on separate islets, and in order to sail to an island and pick something up, one sometimes had to plan entire special operations. For example, to visit the Blue Tent and pick up the Legionnaire's Statue, I had to employ as many as six heroes. Some distracted the enemies' attention, others blocked possible landing sites with ships and their own bodies, while someone else actually took the artifact and visited the tent. Something like that.

But all this is still to be done; for now, I would call the conditions we are in during the first couple of months "greenhouse." Following the planned path, the upper part of the overworld is methodically cleared without much effort, a dozen enemy castles are captured, and enemy heroes are eliminated. After visiting the Brown Tent comes a foray into the lower half of the overworld part of the map, where Mephala is liberated, and most importantly, the Rampart is captured, near which there is an islet with the "Force Field" spell, which will be vital in the near future.

And finally, on 3.2.2 (a month later than in Dark Man), those typical wklhy things begin. Quite imba enemy heroes are liberated in the lower part of the overworld, and no less imba purple enemies crawl out from the underworld via one-way portals.

But fortunately, I had already prepared for their arrival, and enemies floating on ships do not scare me. Moreover, with Force Field available, it's already possible to fight some of them, and I passed many battles at this stage specifically through the use of Force Field. Here is a typical example of such a battle.

Enemies at this stage usually don't have many spells — about 5-6. But everyone has expert dispel, healing, and teleport, and they don't hesitate to use them at the first convenient opportunity. Dispel and healing slightly complicate the use of Force Field and various debuffs in battle, and if the enemy has teleport, it becomes harder to hold the defense in the castle.

The next couple of months pass rather chaotically. My heroes seize enemy castles whenever possible, catch mid-tier enemies, and dodge imba heroes, many of whom are currently beyond their league. On the islands, they learn important spells (specifically, Saurug gets Town Portal) and pick up artifacts, the most important of which is the Legionnaire's Statue, allowing for increased creature growth in castles. Regarding growth, another unimportant point should be noted. In some castles, troops are added every week via an event, though not everywhere equally. Therefore, it is desirable to try and reclaim castles with maximum "add-ons" by the end of the week.

From approximately the fifth month, heroes with Water Walking begin to crawl onto the surface. They go wherever they want, and whether you like it or not, you have to fight them. These are quite strong heroes, and to deal with them, I had to use trickery or fight on a tile with favorable terrain.

Depending on the circumstances, I used trickery in two ways. Either I lured them right to the castle and attacked several times with Armageddon, or I immediately used snipers with morale and frenzy from genies to shoot off the two most inconvenient stacks (usually both shooter stacks or those that move first) and bought my way out. The first option is cheaper, but the second allows for getting rid of the opponent faster.

I discovered a tile with a pocket inaccessible to the enemy by chance, and I eventually managed to meet several enemies there. Specifically, another one with Water Walking.

Since we have already visited the blue tent, it's high time to head underground, where one can seize a couple of castles from the enemy, and most importantly, obtain the Book of Earth as a result of another "special operation." After this, Orrin definitively becomes the main hero.

As I mentioned earlier, enemies with Water Walking were quite unpleasant. But there were also several heroes with Cloaks of Denial. Also not the most convenient opponents, and I had to fend them off in the castle. By crowding shooters into a corner and building a layer of phoenixes to delay flying stacks as long as possible, both shooting stacks were killed using morale, and then the rest were simply shot down. In short, something like that.

By the end of the sixth, beginning of the seventh month, Orrin is already participating more actively in battles and slowly starts catching the enemies scurrying around. He is helped in this by the Sphere of Permanence and Boots of Levitation obtained by this point. This period is saturated with combat, and sometimes it's necessary to conduct 2-3, or even four battles a day (1, 2 ,3 ,4).

Essentially, Orrin can now kill any enemy except for 5-6 truly imba ones, many of whom also have Shackles of War. But gradually he obtains further spells, such as Clone and Frenzy (finally eliminating the need to roll frenzy from genies), and now practically all enemies are defeated, including that same Torgrim. The battle is not easy; moreover, he loves casting Sacrifice. In one attempt, when I had a couple of half-dead stacks left and he had only a few dozen devils, I already began to anticipate victory. I thought, let him hit with devils while I resurrect everyone. No such luck. My eyes nearly popped out of my head when, from those few dozen devils, through a chain of Sacrifices (devils-horned demons-pit lords-titans etc.), he resurrected several hundred archangels, who instantly wiped me out. I had to maneuver during the battle and place my stacks on enemy corpses. In the end, I managed to defeat this character as well.

Only the final boss remains. That is Tazar level 59 with quite unpleasant artifacts and units. I don't even know if he could have been broken through in one go with the troops I had at the time. Personally, he seemed much more inconvenient than even Nila from Xiedu. Therefore, I didn't overthink it; I remembered I had Khalid with Berserk and sent her to perform a "hit." Unfortunately, a "run" was already impossible due to the Shackles of War.

Sacrificing Khalid, fifty phoenixes, and a few dragonflies, I was able to wear down the most unpleasant stacks and completely get rid of the most annoying ones — azure dragons.

Surely this battle could have been conducted more profitably, but I was satisfied with this outcome. Orrin, following behind, dealt with the remnants of Tazar's army without problems.

For defeating Tazar, we receive the Book of Air, fly into previously inaccessible zones, and finish off the enemies. One can dig up the Grail, but that seems to be an optional action.

Overall, I crawled to victory only at the beginning of month 9, and I assume that's quite slow. But I must admit, being a bit tired of Heroes, I played without particular zeal — just however it came. I think the Chinese players complete this map much faster.

VERDICT

Overall, I liked the map. Moderately difficult, moderately interesting. If played unhurriedly (though the map won't allow you to be a total slowpoke), it can be completed not only by an expert in Chinese maps, but also by a simply experienced player. There are taverns on the map, which provide opportunities for trickery; furthermore, the army accumulates quite quickly thanks to the Legionnaire's Statue and weekly troop additions in castles via events.

Two moments slightly spoiled the feeling of the walkthrough. First, the strange behavior of some enemy heroes. For example, some hero might land on a small islet and start aimlessly pacing in one spot for several months. Or they might get looped in the boarding-disembarking phase. First they land on shore, the next day they board the ship again. Then they land again, and board again, and this can continue for quite a while. Among such "junkies" were a couple of imba heroes who could have created serious problems for me. Naturally, such a development of events played into my hands, but still, it left a feeling of "cheesiness."

Second — the constant game crashes during battles where genies were used to cast spells on snipers. Considering that there weren't just 2-3 such battles, and that they required a lot of long randomizing, these frequent crashes were quite annoying.

But all the above are likely not flaws of the map, but some glitches of the game engine or installed plugins (but that's not certain). Otherwise, everything seemed to work normally and quite logically.

Summing up, I would recommend this map to those who want to try completing a sufficiently difficult dynamic map, or to those who simply enjoy challenging Chinese maps.

Based on the walkthrough description and the attached materials, it seems that the heroes had to do a lot of digging. When I was considering this map myself, I couldn't decide whether I would prefer the safe route to guarantee my safety or choose the more adrenaline-fueled option without digging. What do you think, how much more difficult would the walkthrough be without fortifying strategically important locations?

How much more difficult would the walkthrough become without fortifying strategically important points?

I think that without fortifying, the walkthrough would become significantly more difficult. Not to the point where it would be completely impossible, but it would be much harder. At the very least, because you would lose a lot of resources. The AI, considering their numbers, would spread out like cockroaches and start taking over castles one after another, and simultaneously in different parts of the map. It would be quite problematic to keep up with them and manage to reclaim everything.
And I think the author also intended for players to fortify. Otherwise, what would be the point of making such small coastal lines in the starting part of the map? Some of the islands, even quite large ones, are blocked by just two or three trenches. There are no such narrow coastal lines anywhere else on the map. Moreover, he clearly gives more than enough time before the first AI attacks. I assume this is also for that purpose.

Map: Breaking Wind and Waves
Author: wklhy
Downloads: /topic/at/1177626/

Thank you for the detailed review. I remember playing this map a long time ago, without knowing who the author was or what the idea behind it was. For some reason (!!!), I can't find any saves or mentions of its Walkthrough in my archives. It would be interesting to recall my playthrough. The map didn't seem very difficult to me. Yes, there are constant runs back and forth, but it is possible to win.
On the other hand, it turns out that I have played ALL 4 maps by this author - wklhy. I recently played one just a week or two ago, and I could write a review about it when I have time. The author is one of my favorites.

P.S. I found this map in my archive, but there is only a note "played" without any other comments or saves with the name "Long wind and waves", which is a pity....
I will try to make a review on another map.

I decided to return to Dark Man. It seems like a great map, very meticulously designed and balanced, but due to the abundance of events, the randomness in the AI's behavior, the imperfections of the game engine, and the author's mistakes, too many absurd things happen on it.

The first warning sign came when the blue AI, in the second half of the 4th month, brazenly dug up the Grail right under my nose. I don't know how it managed to visit the obelisks scattered across the map, but that's a minor issue. It dug it up, and that's that. It's unpleasant, but not critical.

The second point concerns the fact that the AI exchanges troops and artifacts. With such a high density of enemy heroes, this happens quite often and, as I wrote in the report on Breaking Wind and Waves, it can both simplify the game and make it significantly more difficult. In my opinion, both options break the author's intention and equally spoil the gaming experience.

Here are two examples with heroes who have the Cloak of Displacement. In the first scenario, I had events unfolding with Nila. This is a secondary quest hero, and initially, she looked approximately like this. Not a super-tough lady, but I think she would have caused problems with her three ranged stacks. I don't know who she traded with, but she ended up gathering some scum, and it became easy to kill her.
The second option is when this Fiona, also with the Cloak of Displacement, farmed herself a huge army somewhere and became much tougher.

After all, theoretically, any hero could acquire such an army and such artifacts that it would become simply impossible to defeat him.

Another unpleasant thing was that, for some reason, two enemy heroes got stuck in one place. One – the pink "jailer" – got stuck between the mill and the White Tent and cannot release Tunar and Elleshar from the dungeon, and the second – Solmyr – got stuck on an event in square (37,107,0) and has not been able to move for a week. In essence, three mini-bosses have been removed from the game. Two are inaccessible, and Solmyr is too tough to fight him on the ship at this stage, and there is a strong temptation to just ignore him. This does not affect the completion of the map, but it leaves a feeling of "incompleteness."

But all of this is, in essence, minor. The most "pleasant" surprise awaited me when Mutare Drake disappeared from the map. This is a quest hero, and he must be killed to proceed to the final boss. The fact is that at one point, I eliminated all the orange heroes and captured all the orange towns. And then, suddenly, it turned out that Mutare Drake, who is standing near the volcano and is not visible at all, was also under the orange flag. Accordingly, a week after capturing the last orange town, she simply disappeared, and the purple AI freely passed and freed my Astral. I was, frankly, a little shocked by this development.
I have no desire to go back a week to avoid capturing the last orange castle. It was too full of events and battles, and I spent too much real time on it. And in the current situation, as I understand it, it is impossible to complete the map without using cheats or interfering through a save editor.

In this regard, a question: is there a save editor where I could change the flags of towns? I would give the orange, for example, some swamp on the outskirts, just so that Mutare would live until I reach her.

Yes, and I also periodically watch recordings of LC's streams of this map. He has even more fun – the quest Gundula did not appear and did not open access to the purple tent. Now, many enemy heroes, including the quest hero Tazar, cannot pass through the purple gate and may also disappear from the map if he captures all their castles. In this case, as I understand it, the map will become unplayable without external intervention.