A large-scale campaign update has been conducted; the file has been re-uploaded.Goals pursued:1) Review balance and implement the enemy strength calculation core developed for the "Battle of the Heavenly Gates" map. Make the difference between playing on low and high difficulty levels more tangible.
2) Improve visuals (give the main hero a unique model, create a more canonical icon). Remove clutter of objects and effects on maps where possible.
3) Get rid of unnecessary files and mods.
4) Edit the story, provide more meaningful motivation for characters, reveal more important details, remove some illogical moments, and reflect character personalities.
5) Refactor all scripts to make them more concise and stable.
6) Make the campaign more user-friendly (provide additional mechanisms for resolving difficult situations, speed up progression, reduce "empty running," add hints, make gameplay on low difficulty levels truly very easy, remove "meat piles" where it does not affect difficulty and only drags out time).
What has been changed:Globally:1) A new icon and model have been added to the main hero. I didn't make the model myself; I implemented and adapted the
xHero Replacer mod. Visuals were changed only for heroes of the Dungeon faction.
2) All artifact mods, as well as some objects, have been removed. Thanks to this,
the campaign is now fully compatible with original campaigns and scenarios.
3) Sigrif's specialization has been weakened for high levels.
4) A new travel spell, Haste, has been added to Sigrif (restores 80% of movement points no more than twice a day for a certain amount of mana) — this greatly helps in escaping pursuers and speeding up progression overall.
5) Scripts have been completely reworked on all maps, and balance has been improved.
6) On each map, the ability to activate "God Mode" via the console with the command @GodMode_On() has been added. It can be activated multiple times. The command gives Sigrif infinite movement points, a large army to all player heroes, and a large reserve of resources. Infinite movement points can be deactivated with the command @GodMode_Off(). This is for those who want to know the plot but do not want to spend countless hours fighting through neutrals and enemies. On some maps (e.g., 4 and 5), it still makes sense to occasionally skip turns because the plot is tied to specific day numbers.
Map breakdown:New Threat:1) Added a check for the TalkBoxForPlayers function call. In case of failure, a message appears to the player about an incorrect game version.
2) The hero's starting army has been adjusted.
3) Script errors and minor map bugs have been fixed; some dialogue scenes have been changed.
4) The final objective has been changed — instead of capturing all castles, it is now necessary to kill all enemy heroes as well. All dark elf castles are divided among different player numbers acting in an alliance.
5) Enemy army calculations have been changed.
6) Joining creatures to the hero's army (except for standalone stacks) is now based on the presence of upgrades in the hero's army (i.e., if the hero has black dragons, then black dragons will be added, not red or twilight ones).
7) Excess "meat" has been removed from Railag and Ossir; stats have been brought to normal values. The player is given the opportunity to create a build for Railag themselves.
8) Some heroes in prisons have been changed.
9) Other fixes and improvements.
Path of the Outcast:1) The subtraction of experience and stats from Sigrif has been refined.
2) Two new quests for orcs have been added, along with a new linear reputation growth scale for orcs.
3) Balance has been completely reworked; calculations for armies and enemy hero stats have been changed.
4) Script errors have been fixed.
5) Many dialogues have been refined.
6) Most tasks can now be activated and completed by secondary heroes (though some can still only be taken by the main hero).
7) Completed secondary quests are now hidden in the task list.
8) Silanna's trees have been removed; instead, experience increases are given for completing key quests.
9) Rewards for completing key quests have been changed.
10) The coordinates of the Elusive Ginno are displayed in the console every day.
11) Other fixes and improvements.
In the Depths of Shio:1) The Scepter of the Underworld mod has been removed; instead, a standard Staff of the Underworld is given.
2) Army and stat calculations for enemy bosses have been changed.
3) The introductory scene has been reshot, the scene with the history of Dominion has been restored, and many dialogues have been rewritten.
4) The Ring of Dominion mod has been removed; instead, a new travel spell is added to the hero.
5) The hero now carries over from the second mission to the third (all experience is lost, but some stats and spells remain).
6) Joining creatures to the hero's army (except for standalone stacks) is now based on the presence of upgrades in the hero's army (i.e., if the hero has black dragons, then black dragons will be added, not red or twilight ones).
7) The Ring of Swiftness can now be obtained without clearing all crypts and barrows (it is found in a random crypt or barrow).
8) Rewards for completing secondary tasks have been changed.
9) A hint has been added to help with the task of activating dolmens (does not appear immediately).
10) Script errors have been fixed.
11) Other fixes and improvements.
Return of the Hero:1) The Teleportation Ring mod has been removed; instead, another standard artifact is used. Accordingly, the way the hero can enter the city has been changed.
2) The timing and order of enemy reinforcements have been changed; army and stat calculations for enemies have been modified.
3) "Meat" has been removed from the elven city garrison. A completed quest for a siege engine now cuts 20% of Faedan's army; an uncompleted one cuts 10% of Sigrif's army.
4) Most dialogues have been rewritten, and the final dialogue scene has been expanded.
5) The Prophet and Dragon Utopia now give Sigrif 4 runes instead of 2. Each fully studied branch of a magic school in the library now provides additional bonuses.
6) Army and stat calculations for enemy bosses have been changed.
7) Secondary tasks that progression on the map depends on have been moved to main tasks.
8) Script errors have been fixed.
9) Other fixes and improvements.
Dark Messiah:1) Sigrif's starting army has been changed.
2) Many dialogues have been rewritten.
3) Completing the star quest now provides more bonuses. The star is no longer tied to a specific hero (one can obtain it, and another can immediately give it to the prophet).
4) The rule about heroes being on certain tiles at the start of an attack has been canceled. Now the main thing is that heroes are not inside the castle and that there are no secondary heroes (there are warnings about this in advance).
5) Army and stat calculations for enemy bosses have been changed.
6) The combat script for the human main hero has been rewritten.
7) "Meat" has been reduced in many places on the surface.
8) Purchasing creatures and artifacts on the surface has been removed.
9) Script errors have been fixed.
10) Other fixes and improvements.
MasteR
