Posts from Searches of the lost city

Title: Search for the Lost City
Map name: Searches of the lost city
Size: XL
Two-level map: Yes
Difficulty level: Very difficult
Description: According to one legend, the inhabitants of the dungeons built a city that was famous for its wealth and luxury. But many centuries later, the city was lost, along with its treasures. To win, you need to destroy all enemies, or find the lost city and build the Grail in it! (The map is long to complete!!!)
Map author: Samatron

Attention to all voters! The voting is open! Leave your comments and suggestions, please! Also, please vote only if you have actually completed the map.

The XL map series was created by me in 2008. I will upload all of them as much as possible. The maps were tested at that time.
Attention! The map was re-uploaded on 07/28/2010 with corrections for identified shortcomings.
Leave your wise advice, information about errors found on the map, and comments filled with deep meaning here. :) Good luck and have a pleasant playthrough.

All your maps are excellent, and now I will try to give an assessment based on which I evaluate the maps. 1. The person who creates the map should assign a city to a specific flag (color). Then, you can create a specific landscape for that city. 2. The player chooses the heroes directly. (you can choose either a warrior or a mage) 3. The hero does not have all specializations listed; I choose them directly during level-up. 4. Cities are not distributed. (a direct plus of the game is not only simple battles but also building an economy and development) And now about the disadvantages. There aren't any. There are only wishes. 1. Add more magic universities so that the player can choose how they want to develop their hero. And now a question. 1. Do you have geographical maps? For specific countries, continents, or land. 2. Do you have historical maps? (for example, World War II) Thank you.

Chebu-Rashka
I agree with many of your criteria for evaluating maps. Unfortunately, I don't have any "historical" maps with a World War II theme. I do have geographical maps in sizes "M" and "L" (Edge Island, Barents Island, Prince Charles Land). Some of them haven't been tested yet. I will definitely upload them as soon as possible.
Thank you - for the well wishes (I will definitely consider them), as well as for the lack of negative feedback (which is a pity), and overall for the comment. At least someone is writing them! :)

A tricky question.
Is there a tutorial on creating maps?
I've wanted to start creating maps a couple of times, but it just didn't work out. :o
And which castle do you prefer in the game (when you play yourself),
and conversely, which castle do you dislike the most?

Regarding a tutorial, I don't know of one specifically. My opinion is that anyone who has completed all the maps, especially the campaigns, is probably already capable of creating a map. Of course, this likely requires a strong love for the game. :) The criteria for map design will, of course, be different for everyone, depending on what they like and based on reasonable victory conditions for all players. In general, creating a map doesn't require a lot of intelligence; in any case, you can always click the help button in the editor and go to the map editor interface, where everything is explained in detail (what, why, and how). As with the game itself, map design skills come with experience and a lot of time spent. ;) :D
My preferences for choosing a Castle have changed over time. If we consider the history of the game, in the first part of Heroes, which I remember most fondly, I liked all four Castles (with Paladins, also known as Yellow Knights; with the Crimson Tower – Phoenixes; with the Pyramid – Cyclops; with the Black Tower – Purple Dragons). But I also liked things that you can't find anymore. For example, you could play as a Sorceress named Natasha and see a real African American woman in the photo. :D And there was a lot more. :) In Heroes 3, I initially liked the Castle, then I became a fan of the Necropolis, and then the Colony. Now, there is no particular preference for which faction to play; it all depends on my mood "at that" moment in time. :)

Another advantage of your maps is that they are rich in treasures. Chests, sulfur, mercury, etc. When you start playing on the last level, and you have no money or supplies, this helps. Moreover, you try to calculate each move, what to take first, so that you can build a capitol as quickly as possible. As for the music in the cities, I haven't experimented with it. When I was in university, we had a group of Heroes fans, and we tried to find the most suitable music for each city. We even often argued about which composition would be best.

I haven't gotten around to adding music myself yet. :o But I know some "Heroes" enthusiasts who do. I've seen and played maps with music; they were all for WOG 3.5. There were whole discussions about it. :) Some people said that adding music detracts from the atmosphere of "Heroes." The conclusion was that a new map should have new music. And that's probably right, if the mapmaker is convinced of it.

Well, in some cases, I think everything is perfectly balanced. The music in battles, the sound of the sea, the rustling of grass... I'm already playing your maps for the second time. (and playing as different factions) You've really thought through a lot. It's interesting to play. Although, of course, I get beaten. :)

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I've downloaded many maps from this site. Almost all of them are so poor, underdeveloped maps. They are not well-designed, and the geography of the maps is poor. At the same time, the development is not well thought out. The exits are guarded by units of level 7 and higher. And there is no initial development. You just sit there like an idiot and wait for the money to accumulate. Unlike your maps. When you can see how you've drawn every centimeter of the map, and at the same time, I don't waste time on just waiting, I develop every day. It's really interesting to play. I don't understand how others don't see your maps. But your maps are really a work of art, it's like a painting...

Chebu-Rashka, I completely agree with your opinion expressed in the latest post (and also in the previous ones)! It's a pity for those authors who don't seem to understand such simple things! "Wow, I created such a complex map – you won't be able to complete it!" Well, that doesn't really make me want to play such maps!
As for the tutorial on creating maps. I myself have been unsuccessfully looking for one. Now I am writing my own notes on this topic - maybe they will help someone. This is not a textbook, but rather reflections like "The Philosophy of Cartography" (/topic/972/ by the way, I highly recommend it to all map makers!) + various tips + analysis of typical mistakes and shortcomings of maps. All interested parties are welcome to join the thread: /topic/1763/
samatron, I downloaded your maps, but haven't played them yet. At first glance (in the editor), they do look pretty good!

Chebu-Rashka Thank you for the positive feedback. I'm really glad you like it. :)

I agree with you; sitting in a castle and waiting for money to accumulate is quite tedious and not interesting to me personally. Perhaps there will be those who say that it's great to just click "end turn," but as they say, to each their own. ;) There are so many people, so many opinions. Besides, such maps are the most common here. This can probably be explained, among other things, by the unwillingness to play large maps, which, of course, takes time. :rolleyes:

Probably, that's easier. (when you just wait for the money to accumulate :smile35:) It's easier to create a map that way. But to play maps of a large size, you need experience. And great skill. The main hero should always remain the main one, but he won't have time to be everywhere. If he runs everywhere and participates in all battles, it will take a lot of time, and in the end, you'll earn few points. As you progress, you need to develop new heroes. :smile13: And everyone has their own path of development...

Added after 49 seconds
My record was 494 points.

Samatron, Could you tell me if the maps (Edge Island, Barents Island, Prince Charles Land) are already ready, or are they still under development? If so, could you upload them here?

They are almost ready, :) just a few more tweaks to be made. But most importantly, they haven't been tested yet, and that takes some time, which I don't have right now.:(

Thanks for the map, I finished it today in about 4 hours. In the end, Adrian had everything at 99, about 40,000 harpies, and luckily, around 1500 green dragons joined, I played on 130% difficulty and just killed everyone, didn't find the Grail, the map is cool and not too difficult.

[itsray]Thanks for the map.

You're welcome. :) And thank you for taking the time to share your experience playing this map! Not many people do that. ;)