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4.5 (2 ratings)
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16 years ago
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They carry me out. But that's not the point. The interesting thing is that it's fun to play.
16 years ago
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The map is excellent!!

It was designed for both single-player and Multiplayer, which is great!!!

Well, at first glance, the angularity of the territories is noticeable... but here it is a planned feature - you can feel it, however, it's a matter of taste.

Overall, it's good and there's a lot packed in. I won't judge the balance and accessibility, as it depends on the playing style, but of course, there is enough for both blitz and long games)). However... the fact that there are places with a bunch of dragon lairs or a bunch of hives in a row seems a bit wrong to me.
The balance in Multiplayer will be quite skewed... whoever grabs these places faster will have an advantage.

And there's a slight imbalance at the beginning - Red has a core Naga, while others don't have anything similar... not all 4 playable colors have a good start, for example, the Elves (purple) have unfavorable terrain... this is a disadvantage in development and breaking through defenses.
And the AI also has this... especially the Barbarian - not only will the battles take place underground (a bonus for underground units, not Barbarians), but they will also have to move armies across the sands with a 150% penalty...

But overall, I really like the map!!! but I can't play it... I don't have time
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16 years ago
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pHOMM
This is an excellent map!!

It was designed for both single-player and Multiplayer, which is great!!!

Perhaps the only thing that stands out at first glance is the angularity of the territories... but this seems to be a deliberate feature, although it's a matter of taste.

Overall, it's well-made and has a lot of content. I won't judge the balance and accessibility, as it depends on the play style, but there is definitely enough for both blitz and long games.

However, I think it's a bit off that there are places with a bunch of dragon lairs or a bunch of hives in a row...
This will create an unbalanced Multiplayer, where whoever grabs these places first will have an advantage.

Also, there's a slight imbalance at the beginning - Red has a core Naga, while others don't. Not all of the 4 playable colors have a good starting position; for example, the Elves (purple) have unfavorable terrain... this is a disadvantage in development and breaking through defenses.
And the AI also has this issue... especially the Barbarian - not only will the battles take place underground (which is a bonus for underground units, not Barbarians), but they will also have to move armies across the sand with a 150% penalty...

But overall, I really like the map!!! But I can't play it... I don't have time.

You are absolutely right; let those who have enough time to play it be the judge.
It's not the goal to please everyone.
Thank you for your comment.
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16 years ago
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Here, I'm finally playing through this map. I usually don't meticulously study maps in the editor beforehand; it's not as fun to play when you already know everything, but some maps are designed specifically with this kind of preview in mind – otherwise, it would be almost impossible to complete them. I want to ask some questions: 1. A garrison with 70,000 Azure Dragons in the Dungeon, which cannot be added to your army – is this a bug or a cruel joke? If it was intended, then WHY are they there?! (I think it's still a bug). It would be logical to break through to them (after killing 671 Crystal Dragons!), add them to your army, and defeat all the enemies. But no! 2. "Scams" (that's what I call them): A Seer gives the Shield of Lion's Courage, but to obtain it, you have to give up a Legion Statue (and not a "Legionnaire," by the way!). What is more valuable to the player? Personally, for me, it's the Statue! Another Seer, waiting for a hero with primary skills of 40/40/40/40 – what can he offer that would be valuable when I've already reached such levels? 3. A Scroll of "Summon Ship" in a hard-to-reach location, guarded by Azure Dragons and Magic Elementals. What's the point? I learned that spell a long time ago! Is this the author's joke? My Walkthrough is far from over, and the Author's Vision has not been revealed, so there may be new questions and comments. I don't want to offend you; I'm just trying to be objective. Good luck with your map-making!
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16 years ago
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Marmot
Here I am, finally playing through this map. I usually don't meticulously study maps in the editor beforehand; it's not as fun to play when you already know everything, but some maps are designed specifically with such a preview in mind – otherwise, it would be almost impossible to complete.
I have some questions.
1. A garrison with 70,000 Azure Dragons in a Dungeon, which cannot be joined to your army – is this a bug or a cruel joke? If it was intentional, then WHY are they there?! (I think it's still a bug). It would be logical to break through to them (killing 671 Crystal Dragons!), join them, and defeat all the enemies. But no!
2. "Scams" (that's what I call them): The Seer gives the Shield of Lion's Courage, but to obtain it, you have to give up the Statue of the Legion (not the "Legionnaire," by the way!). What is more valuable to the player? Personally, for me, it's the Statue!
3. A scroll of "Summon Ship" in a hard-to-reach location, guarded by Azure Dragons and Magic Elementals. What's the point? I learned this spell a long time ago! Is this the author's joke?
My playthrough is far from over, and the Author's Vision has not been revealed, so there may be new questions and comments.
I don't want to offend you; I'm just trying to be objective. Good luck to you in mapmaking!
Marmot
As the author, I didn't intend for the map to be previewed in the editor before playing; otherwise, this condition would have been mentioned in the description. This is a personal choice for each player.
Regarding your questions, I will try to answer:
1. A garrison with 70,000 Azure Dragons in a Dungeon. This is not a bug or a joke. I didn't want the player to have additional upgrade opportunities, as there are already quite a few. The area inside the protected zone was intended for the AI player to level up. (the color is bluish)
2. Regarding the Seer, I don't see a subject for discussion. If you don't want to, don't give it up; it's your right. However, for the Seer's quest, the exchange is not for a statue, but for a Horn of Plenty. Just so you know! And whether to call the statue "Legionnaire" or "Legion" is not important to me; I took the names of the artifacts from the editor.
3. Regarding the scroll, this is not the author's joke. I'm glad that you already have the "Summon Ship" spell; it's intended for those who don't. This is also possible. I didn't put dragons to guard it; that's a mistake, but the Magic Elementals guard not only this scroll but also other artifacts.
I didn't quite understand what I could be offended by. Objectivity is a difficult thing; not everyone can do it. Thank you for your wishes; I also wish you success in mapmaking and playing through my maps.
If you have any more questions, I will be happy to try to answer them.
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16 years ago
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samatron
As per the Seer's request, the exchange is not for a statue, but for a Horn of Plenty.
Technically, yes, but to get the Horn, you need to give the Guardian the Statue!
samatron
Regarding the scroll... I didn't place any dragons to guard it; that's a mistake.
Whose mistake? If it's yours, fix it!
By the way, the Turquoise (=Gray) one doesn't want to level up with dragons, as you intended – is he just lazy...? :)

Moving on. The Guardian (yet another one; surely not the last :)) requires an Angel Alliance. Ha! If I had one, would I give it to some random GUARDIAN? :)
Another minor point (compared to the previous ones). The inscription on the sign says (from memory): "To the east, there is a Seer who can help." I'm not a local, of course :), but one Seer lives west of that place, and another lives south.

Added 5 minutes later
itsray
I finished it in about 4 hours, played on 130% difficulty, just killed everyone, didn't find the Grail, the map is cool and not stressful.
It would be interesting to hear how you completed it? Did you study the map? Did you cheat? ;) Although on 130% difficulty, it's probably easier. I'm playing on Impossible, as the author intended. It's not easy!.. :)
And who else has finished it? Let us know!
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16 years ago
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Marmot.
There is another way to obtain the Horn of Plenty without giving up the Statue. Find the answer to this question yourself. If you find it difficult to find, and you simply don't want to part with the statue, then unfortunately, I cannot help you.
The error with the Dragon Guardian is likely due to your computer; unfortunately, I cannot fix it for obvious reasons. If the player color name (teal - grayish-blue) is of critical importance to you, all questions should be directed to the map editor, as the color name is taken from there.
And the peak of your confusion is the inscription in the pointer about the Seer's Hut in the east! I don't know how you couldn't find it, but it is present on the map and is indeed in the east. There is no error here. I wish you more luck in completing the game and better coordination with the cardinal directions. For verification, I would like to know from you the exact location of the hut in the west, about which you know, in coordinate system. Perhaps your computer is indeed playing unfairly?-)
I hope you will participate in the voting for the map and give your most balanced and objective assessment after completing this map. Good luck.
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16 years ago
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samatron, I apologize, I made a mistake! It's just a shame that I didn't have time to correct it earlier (the game, the internet - everything is done in short bursts). I have already found the hut in the east in a place where there was still some unexplored space.
I also know how to get the Horn of Plenty. Or, in the worst case, I'll give away the Statue.
The name of the player color is not of paramount importance to me; the main thing is to understand it correctly. For example, I don't like the definition of "Purple": in my opinion, it's violet. But these are minor details and depend on the translation (as do all the names).
Regarding the possible reasons for discrepancies in the game. I play the WoG version of "Heroes," installed on "The Shadow of Death" from "Buka." I don't WoGify the map at the start; all WoG settings are at their defaults, and WoG scripts are disabled. But WoG still has its effect because its "features" work (commanders, creature experience, special skills...). So, discrepancies with the game in SoD are inevitable, but they are usually not critical.
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16 years ago
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Finally, I finished playing this map after a short break.
The main thing: I liked the map! You need to keep in mind that I don't like "Impossible" difficulty (this is the 3rd one I've completed out of those). And from the very beginning, I didn't believe I could do it. But when I did!.. I've never gotten almost 1.5 million experience points in a single battle before! And by the way, the result took the top spot in the leaderboard; all the previous ones were much more modest.
I won by fulfilling the first condition: I captured Mazata and placed the Grail there. I tried to defeat the remaining enemies, but the battle with Valeska (pink) cost me too many of my troops, and with the army and skills I had, I couldn't defeat Axis (orange) and Nagash (pink).
What's good (in my opinion):
1. There's no dictation from the author: the player is free to choose both the method of victory and the path to take. The Seers give side quests, which are not required to complete. The Guardians can be bypassed by obtaining the Wings of the Angel (I even regretted taking them: if I had known where they were, I would have been flying around for a long time). Personally, I didn't give anything to anyone, I just received a gift from a Seer for having initial skills of 40+.
2. There are many artifacts, some even 2-3 of each. Everything you could wish for. I collected 2 Legion Statues, 2 or 3 Horns of Plenty.
3. There are enough "enhancements" in the Dungeon (Libraries of Enlightenment, Arenas).
4. There are also plenty of monsters to level up.
Now about hiding the monoliths behind volcanoes: on the one hand, it seems like an original idea (I haven't seen anything like it yet), but on the other hand, you have to look for them! Pixel-hunting is not a very pleasant activity, especially in "Heroes." Besides, there's no other way to get to Mazata.
What personally bothers me:
1. The deliberately rectangular landscape.
2. Inferno on patches of clover among the lava. It's supposed to be funny, I guess...
What remains unclear: How did Orange (Axis) manage to get 700+ Phoenixes, if, in theory, the Phoenixes are all placed as guards? I even checked in the editor later: he definitely took them from the Blue Tent, but that's impossible, because they are set not to join! But this is a question for WoG, not for you, Samatron (as I already said, I play everything in WoG: it's more interesting).
My final rating (the answer options in the poll are not very detailed): approximately 8.5 out of 10. That is, "very good, except for minor comments."
I wish you many more interesting maps! Keep making them!
Now I'm playing your "Island of the Little Skull."
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16 years ago
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Marmot
Finally, the other day I finished playing this map after a short break.
The main thing: I liked the map! You need to keep in mind that I don't like "Impossible" difficulty (this is the 3rd one I've completed out of those). And from the very beginning, I didn't believe I could do it. But when I did!.. I've never gotten almost 1.5 million experience points in a single battle before! And, by the way, the result took the top spot in the leaderboard; all the previous ones are much more modest.
I won by fulfilling the first condition: I captured Mazata and built the Grail there. I tried to defeat the remaining enemies, but the battle with Valeska (pink) cost me too many of my units, and with the available army and skills, I couldn't defeat Axis (orange) and Nagash (pink).
What's good (in my opinion):
1. There is no dictation from the author: the player is free to choose both the method of victory and the path to follow. The Seers give side quests, which are not required to complete. The Guardians can be bypassed by obtaining the Wings of the Angel (I was even disappointed when I got them: if I had known where they were, I would have flown a long time ago). Personally, I didn't give anything to anyone, I just received a gift from the Seer for having initial skills of 40+.
2. There are many artifacts, some even 2-3 of each. Everything you could wish for. I collected 2 Statues of the Legion, 2 or 3 Horns of Plenty.
3. There are enough "enhancers" in the Dungeon (Libraries of Enlightenment, Arenas).
4. There are also plenty of monsters to upgrade.
Now about hiding the monoliths behind volcanoes: on the one hand, it seems like an original trick (I haven't seen anything like it yet), but on the other hand, you have to look for them! Pixel-hunting is not a very pleasant activity, especially in "Heroes". Besides, you can't get to Mazata otherwise.
What personally bothers me:
1. The deliberate rectangularity of the landscape.
2. Inferno on patches of clover among the lava. It's humor, I guess...
What remains unclear: How did Orange (Axis) manage to get 700+ Phoenixes, if, in theory, Phoenixes are everywhere as guards? I even checked in the editor later: he definitely took them from the Blue Tent, but that's impossible, because they are set not to join! But this is a question for WoG, not for you, Samatron (as I already said, I play everything in WoG: it's more interesting).
My final rating (the answer options in the poll are not very detailed): approximately 8.5 out of 10. That is, "very good, except for minor flaws".
I wish you many more interesting maps! Keep making them!
Now I'm playing your "Island of the Lesser Skull".
Thank you for your feedback. I'm glad that the map has so many different ratings, and mostly positive ones.
It's a pity that I forgot to disable the Wings of the Angel in the editor; otherwise, the walkthrough would be much easier and would change the playthrough. This artifact was not intended to be used in the map. Thank you for writing about this; I will fix the map. -)

The rectangularity is indeed present. Of course, this is what most people put as the first drawback. You can look at it differently. In general, the map does not claim to be the best. I will only say that the idea of the map with rectangular territories was completely different, but it turned out the way it turned out.
The map can be completed by fulfilling two conditions: building the Grail and defeating all opponents.
It is not necessary to find the hidden monoliths to get to Mazata. There is another way.

Due to the time that has passed since the maps were created, I may miss such moments as "Wings of the Angel" and so on. So I will be glad for any comments on the walkthrough.

Thank you for all your wishes.

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the map "Island of the Lesser Skull" was re-uploaded on 07/21/2010 with the identified shortcomings corrected.
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16 years ago
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I also wanted to say: the downside is that it's quite difficult to get into the Dungeon: one (hidden) monolith leads directly to Mazata, and the other isn't hidden, but you need to find it, and even then, it might not take you where you want to go. But the big plus is that enemies from the Dungeon can't get to the surface, otherwise the risk of defeat increases many times over. I shouldn't have mentioned the Angel Wings... :( Without them, the player will have a tough time. So, download this map now, while the author hasn't "removed" the Angel Wings! :) And there are still many useful items in it... :) Yes, Samatron, I'm already playing the corrected version of "Island of the Little Skull".
16 years ago
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Samatron, here is my wise advice. Think more carefully about your maps! It's interesting up to the point where it becomes difficult.
Good map, there is a struggle, but at a certain point, the Dimension Door spellbook appears!!! and everything becomes ridiculously easy. I even stopped playing, although, as a rule, I don't do that.
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16 years ago
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BIG, but it's also important to consider that players have different skill levels! And no super artifact, or even all of them combined, will guarantee victory: you still have to fight hard to achieve it - the enemies won't surrender on their own! And while some people enjoy a playthrough that lasts 10-20 in-game months, others (like me) get very tired of it and may end up abandoning the game.
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16 years ago
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BIG
Samatron I give you my wise advice. Think more carefully about your maps! It's interesting up to the point where it becomes difficult.
Good map, there's a struggle, but at a certain point, the Dimension Door spellbook appears!!! and everything becomes ridiculously easy. I even stopped playing, although, as a rule, I don't do that.
I really feel sorry for you. Unfortunately, no one is immune to mistakes. There shouldn't be a spellbook from one of the magic schools there. I am very grateful that you reported it. This error has already been fixed.
There's not much wisdom in the advice, just emotions, but still, thank you.
16 years ago
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In my opinion, the author sees wisdom only in praise.
Marmot, tell me, what's so difficult when you have the second strongest army against, essentially, static players?! And at the same time, you also get the air magic book, the door, and flight! You don't need to be a genius to win. There's no intrigue, it becomes uninteresting... Or maybe I'm wrong? ))

Added after 7 minutes
Marmot, I read some of your previous messages and therefore I apologize for my questions! I already have the answers to them.

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