Effect of the butterfly — Maps: The Shadow of Death

Marmot

15 years ago

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iskatel78

something good is located beyond the volcanoes; this can be considered samatron's signature style.

Actually, this is a technique that has been used by many authors for a long time; some even abuse it. :( A striking example is the memorable "Jedi story": "horror flying on the wings of night...":smile24:

I haven't tried playing "The Butterfly Effect" yet: I'm afraid of the long and difficult game promised by the author. But maybe later...

In reply to Marmot

samatron

15 years ago

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Marmot

Actually, this is a technique that has been used by many authors for a long time; some even abuse it.

Undeniable statement, but I'll be honest, the overuse by authors is nothing compared to the stereotypical clichés used by some writers in forum posts:smile52:

Marmot

14 years ago

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I saved your map "for dessert," and as it turned out, for good reason: it can please both lovers of "meat" and explorers. Overall, notwithstanding a few insignificant remarks,
Knowing what I was getting into, I prepared for a grueling, prolonged struggle, but everything turned out not to be that bad: Perhaps the . I wondered for a long time, seeing several tents behind the gates—and unable to get close to any of them! It took me a long time to finally spot it: yes, it's hidden great! Therefore, my first suggestion: it would be desirable to make the hint about its location more transparent, and preferably not on a sign by one of the gates (I didn't pass through there for a long while), but as an event on the N-th day. After opening the first tent, everything went quite quickly and smoothly.
I cannot agree with Chebu-Rashka, who wrote earlier, that this map is "tailored" for a walkthrough with the Necropolis: I didn't free Sandro quickly, and the necro-castles captured during the walkthrough didn't promise a significant troop increase compared to my "human" army, so I was in no hurry to build up the Necropolis, especially since my phoenix growth is huge (3 castles + external bonfires), and I already have over 1000 of them! And even after rescuing Sandro, how quickly could I have leveled him up to level 40 (which Sorsha had reached by that point)? Besides, I did well with the humans. Therefore, Sandro, whom I still gradually trained, was more of a "support" unit, a gate-opener.
The fact that Catherine was "locked" in her castle behind white gates was good for me, but bad for the pink player: arriving at his location, I quickly captured 2 other castles, defeated his other heroes, and seized all mines and dwellings. I killed Catherine later, coming to her with a more powerful army. I threw all my strength first at her archangels, because she had a mana cistern and could clone them, which would have led to my defeat. Fortunately, she turned out to be witless.
Among the enemies, the I was was the cleverly hidden Christian, or rather, his strength.
The purple player was defeated in a single day: he has a tiny respawn and nowhere to run.
It was the same with the turquoise player: one day—and victory! Although Aznaan was tough, he was completely defeated on the first try, though I only had 3 mana left! But I immediately attacked Rizza, who was sitting in the castle, and defeated her without magic, but with losses. So what: it's the end, after all!

* The multitude of exits from the small and large green 2-way monoliths, and the whirlpools as well. Every time I need to get to a specific place, I have to "jump" 20-30 times, pressing Space; luckily, my heroes have 3 hats, so there are no losses from this.
* The passage guardian requiring 3000 Azure Dragons. A clear overkill! It's clear: this is to prevent the player from trying to gather them in dwellings—that would take maaaaany months (the Seer gives dragons for a difficult quest completed naturally during the walkthrough). But with this squad, if only for a day, I became the strongest player. One could require, for example, a few hundred peasants or boar riders, ensuring that there are no dwellings for them on the map.

So thank you very much, samatron, and further success in the art of mapmaking!

samatron

14 years ago

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Thank you, Marmot, for the high praise of this map, for the detailed feedback, and for your suggestions. :o

The location of the first tent was chosen in the context of the butterfly legend, where the first hint about the player's possible actions is found, and the second, as you noticed, is indicated by the sign at the gate. I also wanted to add another event for a specific day, but I abandoned that idea. Searching for it gives the opportunity to explore the map, find many useful items, and it's always more enjoyable to do this with a specific goal in mind. But that's just my personal opinion.

Of course, as you have already understood, the map is designed to be completed in different ways, and leveling up the Necropolis is just one of them. Your "Plan B" with Lord Haart also worked for me when I played it myself. ;)

I'll fix the issue with the Seer; I noticed this flaw a long time ago, but I just haven't had the time to fix it. I'll also correct the Gate Guardian so that it stands as it should. :D As for the Azure Dragons, I'll think about it. Of course, giving the player such powerful creatures, even if only for a short time, made me hesitate. Because the joy of possessing such power can tempt you to make rash decisions when leveling up your hero. :smile04: :smile08:

But ultimately, players have different skill levels, so this might be useful for inexperienced players if they are smart enough to take advantage of the opportunity. Overall, I'll think about what to do with this.

Marmot

14 years ago

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Yes, I also wanted to add that the ability to complete the map in different ways is another important advantage.
And the fact that, in the final stage (which some maps suffer from), I didn't have to spend weeks "stuck in one place," accumulating troops or leveling up the hero to the required "astronomical" primary skills, is also great. For example, I could have spent a few more weeks "leveling up" Sandro, but why bother if I already won?

Cain

14 years ago

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Samatron, I don't understand, you promised to upload a new map, and where is it???

In reply to Cain

samatron

14 years ago

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Cain

Samatron, I didn't understand, you promised to upload a new map, and where is it???

Just a little more patience, and everything will be ready. :) I'm testing it now, but I don't have much time for it.

искатель78

14 years ago

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We are eagerly awaiting the new release :)

Egg

14 years ago

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I liked the map, but I couldn't complete it, and here's why: to reach the orange castle, you need to eliminate Christian, who belongs to the pink faction. Maybe I missed something in the scenario, but I first eliminated the pink player and took all their castles; I didn't even know about Christian. Logically, after seven days, Christian disappeared because he lost his castle, but the guard's task remained. Now, I only have the orange player left, but I can't reach him because Christian is no longer on the map. If this is a plot device, then it's my fault; I overlooked something. Overall, I really liked the map.

samatron

14 years ago

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Egg
Thank you for pointing this out. It was my mistake, not yours. I will definitely add a guard to the quest so that it's impossible to reach the island without Christian's head. :smile08:
This is one of those cases where everyone plays their own game.

0KTU 2010

14 years ago

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The map is very good. I started playing as the Elven Castle. The most interesting part is, of course, the beginning. I developed to level 20, and the computer's army is scattered, so I easily dealt with the first three opponents. But then came the turn of monsters with an army of a thousand. The leading units didn't have fire magic, so I had to hire Isra (she somehow appeared by chance) and develop her. Large maps have this quirk (as with the map about the City of the Dead): without a Berserker, you'll be stuck. The map author is a humorist: kill Christian in a week, when you still need to find all the tents, and he also hid some portals behind volcanic veils and some artifacts, and catch 3000 "azure"... After finding Sandro, you finish the game in two weeks: the army of the last heroes is much weaker than the army guarding the passages.

In reply to 0KTU 2010

samatron

14 years ago

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0KTU 2010

The map is very good. I started playing as the Elven Castle. The most interesting part, of course, is the beginning. I developed up to level 20, and the computer's army is scattered, so I easily dealt with the first three opponents. But then came the turn of monsters with armies of a thousand units. The leading heroes didn't have fire magic, so I had to hire Isra (she somehow appeared by chance) and develop her. Large maps have this quirk (as does the map about the City of the Dead): without a Berserker, you'll just stand still. The map author is a humorist: kill Christian in a week, when you still need to find all the tents, and also, he hid some portals behind volcanic veils and some artifacts, and you have to capture 3000 "azure" creatures. After finding Sandro, you finish the game in two weeks: the army of the last heroes is much weaker than the army guarding the passages.

From what you wrote, I conclude that you did manage to kill him in a week?:D
This point has already been fixed; I added a guard, so now you can't get to the island without Christian's head.
I don't quite understand what you mean by "Berserker," and why you can only stand still without him???

In reply to samatron

Marmot

14 years ago

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samatron

I didn't quite understand the point about Berserk, and why it's impossible to just stand still without it???

I think the point is that Berserk is needed to defeat stronger enemies, neutral creatures, and garrisons than our hero. Without it, you have to wait until you gather a larger army, which, of course, isn't interesting, especially if it takes more than a week...

Drumer

14 years ago

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1) I liked that the balance of power remains normal throughout the game. 2) This is probably the first map where the limit of 8 heroes on the map seemed very small, but that's a good thing! 3) I carried a Grail with me throughout the game, hoping that I could place it in one of the elemental castles (or rather, the one in the middle of the fiery lake) and get all the spells – but I was wrong. 4) I got the Azure Dragons quite late, but I still managed to defeat someone with them... It was morally very difficult to give them up. I defeated the gate with 1k of various strong troops without them; in that battle, I spent 1700 mana on resurrecting the fallen – just enough for everyone. 5) I played as Sir Mullich, and all the speed artifacts appeared quite quickly, i.e., +6 speed for all troops... well, it was just awesome =). I decided not to level up Sandro, as he was clearly inferior to the main hero, but I still managed to gather 10k liches with his help. 6) The map is excellent. Thank you.

In reply to Drumer

samatron

14 years ago

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Drumer

1) I liked that the balance of power remains normal throughout the game.
2) This is probably the first map where the limit of 8 heroes on the map seemed very small, but that's a good thing!
3) I carried the Grail with me throughout the game, thinking that I could place it in one of the elemental castles (or rather, the one in the middle of the fiery lake) and get all the spells - but I was wrong.
4) I got the Azure Dragons quite late, but I still managed to defeat someone with them... it was very difficult to give them up. I defeated the gate guarded by 1k of various strong troops without them; in that battle, I spent 1700 mana on resurrecting the fallen - just enough for everyone.
5) I played as Sir Mullich, and all the speed artifacts appeared quite quickly, i.e., +6 speed for all troops... well, it was just awesome =)
I decided not to upgrade Sandro, because he was clearly inferior to the main hero, but I still managed to gather 10k liches with his help.
6) The map is excellent. Thank you.

Thank you for the detailed feedback.
I won't hide the fact that I'm pleased. You're the first to write that you managed to break through those gates. So far, no one else, including myself, has been able to do it. Apparently, the desire to possess these artifacts was very strong. :)
I'm glad you liked the map.