Posts from Mapmaster 2013 | [CONTEST] Mapmaster 2013

Can you vote for each nomination, meaning one vote for the single-player category and one for the multiplayer category per person?

Yes, that’s exactly right.

There aren't many maps, but still....

Hooray! It happened. :) This 'event' cannot go unnoticed. It's still pleasing that people's enthusiasm doesn't fade, and people continue to create maps, even though the game can be considered 'old-school' in some ways. What can I say, they even organized their own kind of contest... Huge thanks to everyone who participated - and continues to delight us with new creations for our beloved game :smile12: Unfortunately, I don't have that much time (and I'm also immersed in the routine of online battles :cool:), but I'll still try to play all the maps, although perhaps superficially, without a full playthrough... To all the 'evaluators', have a pleasant game and a sea of emotions from the playthrough; I'm sure the maps won't disappoint :) :smile13:

I completed the "Whisper of Death" map. On Veteran difficulty, although when loading, I saw that the recommended difficulty was Hero. Although, I probably should have tried it with a human player as well. At first, the map seemed too "confined" to me, as there was little space, but many objects. I noticed a small drawback here - some buildings didn't match the terrain at all, but whatever. Not knowing what awaited me, I started playing as the Demons with Agrael. (I have a mod that unlocks heroes). At first, everything was too easy - almost free artifacts, all the necessary mines were just a step away, etc. But then problems started - enemy heroes crawled out like cockroaches from every crack. I would barely deal with one with a decent army, and another would appear from the other end. Moreover, these were Dark Elves, who could wipe out half my army with just one spell. The poor devils died immediately, and along with them, the Cerberi and Demons. For about two weeks, I held the borders against the invasions, then I got tired of it and pushed towards the enemy, where I also encountered decent armies. I somehow captured his castles, then repelled the castle in the center, where he still managed to sneak in, and the game ended. During this time, I killed all possible heroes of the Dark Elf race. With all this, I completely forgot about the quest that the Prophet gave me - I really didn't have time to look for the artifact. But, the game was exciting, I must say, maybe I'll risk trying it on Hero difficulty later. There are no complaints about the graphics. My advice to the author:
1) remove buildings that don't match the terrain, and replace them with dwellings.
2) strengthen the defenses in the garrisons so that it is not so easy to penetrate enemy territory. Accordingly, strengthen the protection of mines, etc.
3) coordinate the cities with the race chosen by the player, so that none of the races get an advantage (although in any case, the Necromancer will have it easy)

That's all for now, thank you for the map)
P.S. I liked the Sphinx's question, or rather, the answer options for it

THE HELL INVASION не 320 на 320, а 216 на 216...

I started playing Hell Invasion. This time, I decided to play as the Necromancers. I restarted the game three times because none of the saves worked. The graphics and environment are stunning; everything looks very beautiful! But there is one flaw to note: all the creatures are facing the same direction, sometimes with their backs to the hero. It would be nice if they could be rotated. And something else: the third time, I got quite far, thinking, "Where are the mines?" and ran into an army consisting of 30 Ancient Ents and 60 Archers. (I had saved beforehand). I suffered heavy losses, decided to replay, and then... both saves stopped working; the game crashed every time I tried to load them. And the map size doesn't seem to be that large; I don't know what the problem is. Once I gather enough patience again, I'll try playing as a Necromancer again, a poor guy scavenging wherever he can, but surrounded by a magnificent landscape. Oh, and one more question: at the start, the Necromancer has 1 city, while the Mage has 4. Isn't that a bit too much for the Mage in Multiplayer? One piece of advice for the author: place a mana well near the city. Because the Necromancer is already a resource-poor character, and on top of that, he's always running out of mana; it just disappears somewhere

Update from 01/04/2014: archives have been re-uploaded. The map "The Fire Storm" has undergone a version change.

Regarding Hell Invasion: due to the reasons mentioned above, I started playing without saving, not taking too many risks. I managed to level up quite a bit, and Giovanni learned the Shriek of Horror spell. Thanks to diplomacy and the Herald of Death, my army grew rapidly. A couple of times, I didn't understand where I needed to go, so I just wandered around the map in a zigzag pattern. I used the auto-battle feature for almost all the battles in the middle of the game. Overall, everything was going well until I reached the border with the green player. There was nowhere else to go – the only option was to enter the portal. The portal was guarded, but I didn't understand by whom. So, I clicked on the portal, and a battle with Kha-Beleth started. His stats were twice as high as mine, and his army was 10-20 times larger. The outcome was clear, even dark magic and the Shriek of Horror spell couldn't help. Since I didn't have any saves, I couldn't replay. I made a mistake; I should have sent a secondary hero into the portal first. Either I don't know some secret, or I should have spent a long time building up my army. By the way, Kha-Beleth is a level 1 hero, right? I'm not sure if I'll be able to bring myself to try playing through it again. If I do, it won't be anytime soon. As I already wrote, the design is great, and in some places, the author might have overdone it. Perhaps that's why the saves aren't loading now. The troop placement is a bit illogical, as stronger monsters are stationed in less important buildings than in more important ones. I just need to complete the third map and draw some conclusions

I finished the remaining multiplayer map and single-player scenarios. Regarding the Dragon Utopia map: I played as the Dark Elves against the Mages. I cleared the surface quickly. I left a decent garrison in the town and headed towards the mountains. I noticed that the passage there to the neighbor was blocked, and I thought it was a bug. Then I realized what the trick was. The battles with the dragons were difficult, but I killed the necessary ones without losses, thanks to the stalkers and the hero's magic. However, the way back was not pleasant – I lost almost all my creatures in the battle. The enemy was already on his way to my castle, but when the main hero returned to the castle and rebuilt the army, he was stunned. I crushed him in his castle, and then the most interesting thing happened – all the dragons are dead, the enemy is defeated, and the game... continues! Regarding the design: the surface is done simply and somewhat roughly in the areas where the snow transitions to grass. But the mountainous part was impressive. It's very beautiful and realistic. Great idea! And it wouldn't hurt to work a little more on the strength of the neutral creatures. I'm posting screenshots as evidence that the game didn't end.

In general, all the maps are completely different, each has its own advantages and disadvantages. You need to think carefully about which one is the best. Among the single-player maps, I would highlight the "Illusion of Victory" map. It's a very original map where even an ally is, in a sense, an enemy. More details: I only found out on the seventh day that the task was to destroy the monastery within a week (I wasn't paying close enough attention). I started over. I went the wrong way and ended up who knows where. I started over. Fortunately, I found Logistics, otherwise I wouldn't have made it. I didn't suffer any losses because I used Devils and Dungeon Lords in battles. They have good health so they wouldn't die from minor enemies. As soon as I destroyed the monastery, I was completely confused about where to go and where to get troops. I had to make do with what was available. The mines followed the same pattern: first, I captured them, then a few days later, blue came and took them back, and a few days later, yellow came and captured them. In the end, most of the mines belonged to yellow by the time I destroyed two cities. I finally got to the Dungeon and found decent troops for myself. While I was completing quests with Shio, blue came back again and started taking everything. In the end, they and yellow were playing tag all over the surface. I didn't bother accumulating troops, and went for the third city. I took the garrison without any problems, but the city itself was well-guarded. The autobattle gave me a victory with heavy losses, and I agreed, expecting that now everything would be fine, but no! Now I had to deal with a demon with a considerable army. I decided to take a risk and teleported to the Inferno city, bought everything I could, and the next day intercepted Marbas on the road. The battle was tough, and I won on the third try! I won the battle thanks to the Cave Lords. And then, with a cup of coffee, I watched Alaric crawl towards the castle for 5 days. The graphics are excellent, and I didn't notice any bugs. The level of neutral creatures could be slightly increased, as well as the enemy's. I was constantly on edge and expecting some kind of trick. I even thought that I would have to defeat Orlando, but it didn't happen. Huge thanks to the author for the map. My vote in the Single-Player Map nomination goes to Illusion of Victory

I, in general, have also completed almost all the maps; I will write separately about each one. Whisper of Death. Not bad, but not perfect; the map is not fully populated, and some objects are arranged chaotically. There are some scripts, many approaches to the enemy, the possibility of a quick start, and a Dungeon with other players' mines. In principle, it's a good, even a very good map for Multiplayer. HELL INVASION. A large map, but I didn't like the design; there are again many objects arranged chaotically, an invincible Lord, and save game crashes... I didn't finish it. Dragon Utopia. You can see the work done on the landscape and terrain. However, it's clear that the author was in a hurry, especially with the second player's lands. Also, the surface leveling tool was practically not used, which is not good. But the island in the clouds turned out very well, and the dragons too. It's a pity that victory doesn't come, but the quests work, and that's already good. A very good map. Among the single-player maps, I would highlight Firestorm. First, the map is excellently designed, and it's quite large. An interesting, captivating plot, a huge and functional script, old and new heroes that can be leveled up to a good level, and interesting and useful side quests. At the beginning of the map, in the Dungeon, there were almost no difficulties. Of course, I got a little lost in the huge Dungeon, but then I oriented myself. It was difficult to destroy the groups of zombies, 10-12 in each squad. There was also a lot of running back and forth from the witch huts with quests. The quest from the Elemental Lord was also difficult, from start to finish. After emerging on the surface, the difficulties became slightly less, but there were many more difficult battles. Hundreds of thousands of peasants in the huts actively resisted my heroes, but I boldly moved forward, clearing the way, destroying the great city - the Celestial Gates. The main character with the great artifact was absolutely invincible, and even the outpost with thousands of angels and half a million militia could not stop him. And finally, the Stronghold fell, but did a happy ending await our heroes? I won't say about that ;)
I vote in the Single-Player Map category for Firestorm.
In the Multiplayer Map category - for Dragon Utopia.

I can’t seem to complete HELL INVASION. I understand that complaining about bugs is pointless; we need to vote instead. I’m playing as a Necromancer. By the middle of the map, it became boring and tedious due to the abundance of artifacts. I’ll finish it and then move on to the others.

Could you please remind me how much time is allotted for voting? Given my slow pace, it will take me at least a month to play through all the maps.

A month and it will be.

Added after 55 seconds

January 30, 2014 – voting closes;

+2 days, as promised by Ment.

Voting:
In the Single-player Map category - 'Illusion of Victory'
In the Multiplayer Map category - 'Dragon Utopia'

Minor comments:
Whisper of Death - Very easy to complete (and also due to the starting bonuses), minimal variability, designed for Necropolis.
HELL INVASION - Too many completely unnecessary special effects (it just makes your eyes wander). I couldn't bring myself to play it. In general, the map's design (stumps, rivers, etc.) is a good thing, but it's far from the most important.
Dragon Utopia - Thanks to several possible game variations, the vote went to this map. There are some flaws, but they are minor.