Posts from One Hero Auto-translated

13ga... you take the gameplay too seriously. You worry about which perks should be assigned, etc. I just decided to do everything in an unconventional way. Maybe, yes, there are some oddities. But extremes are good. It's true that saves can't be loaded, that's a problem. Although, strangely, when I replayed a battle, the saves loaded for me. The map is overloaded with effects, yes, that's true, I didn't expect it to be so intense. It's affected by many "childhood diseases"... I don't understand why. In general, let's just say that the map was made with the goal of seeing and playing something unconventional and rare. In general, some people will like it, and some won't. It's not perfect, but still... Thanks for the criticism.

I tried playing the map. Saves don't load, which is unusual for a map of this size. The fact that it's impossible to save is critical for me – I can't play without being able to take breaks. But even with a quick look, besides the aforementioned saving issue, it's worth noting the map's overload of effects. They are at least annoying and make it difficult to see the surroundings. Even if that's the intention, it needs to be worked on so as not to strain the eyes. The lighting situation also affects the stylistic aspects; the multiple exclamation marks are completely unnecessary. Regarding other elements. I tried playing as humans. Alaric's starting upgrade isn't great. Having "Retribution" at the start isn't very profitable (the army is small), "Magic Speed" would be much better. It's all fine, but there's nowhere to quickly get rid of this "junk." I would prefer a hero with just skilled attack, and everyone can choose the perks to their liking. The starting army surprised me. The presence of a Seraphim is at least very generous (even on "Hero" difficulty, it's not challenging), and the choice of specific upgrades is a matter of taste... but it seems to be in the "Monsieur knows a thing or two about oddities" category. I had a similar feeling when I opened Alaric's spellbook: there's "Freezing Touch" listed (?).
Overall impression: the map is a semi-finished product, affected by many "childhood diseases." It needs to be refined and refined.

Not perfect, but still... ))))) And thank you for the criticism.

Too harsh.

Why does Alaric need the speed magic when he already has acceleration, and it is not difficult for a Knight to get light magic?

I agree with Ku. I'm glad that work on the map is continuing. My suggestions are to be more attentive and critical. Juss456 wrote very detailed comments about the "initial flaws" (message #8, starting with "More minor flaws"), and I decided not to repeat them (I couldn't see them all myself).

Juss456, I have no doubt that this map is the author's first attempt. I'm not against unconventional thinking, and I even support it. This work is presented for general review and discussion, which implies that it is about 90% ready, but in reality, it's just outlines and sketches for a future map. Therefore, my assessment is that the map still needs a lot of work and shouldn't be rushed for publication. Imagine you go to a dentist to treat your teeth. He's a beginner, and he starts treating them in a way that's not quite right. This is getting off-topic, so it's best to wrap it up. As far as I can tell, the author's ideas are already heading in the right direction.
It turned out to be long, I will share my thoughts about Alaric tomorrow, I apologize for the unintentional "novel with a sequel."

Added 23 hours 6 minutes ago

If I remember correctly, Alaric has +1% speed per level. With "magic of speed" (i.e., 30% initiative right away), by level 10, he will be casting "haste" at the level of a skilled light mage. With 10 upgrades, you can easily get skilled dark magic with "mind control." ("slow" is given at the start -40% initiative). This should be enough to easily defeat neutral creatures. I got 9 levels on this map in two turns. By that time, the Castle is not built, and only the starting troops are available. "Retribution" doesn't play a role in this scenario (even with skilled leadership, it will take almost a month to gather a significant number of troops), and Alaric's special ability combined with "Battle Spell" is already beneficial. Now, if you want, you can take light magic - skip the "righteous wrath" perk. Strictly speaking, the "archery" skill is the least useful for Alaric, especially if the opponent is a barbarian: only a miracle (like "empathy") will prevent the centaurs from going before the human archers, and there will be little left of them. But starting with archers and the archery perk is easier. That's why I wrote that it's better not to fill the "attack" slots at the start. Everyone can decide for themselves what is most important in a given situation. Now about the bonus upgrades. We need to decide, are we for simplifying or complicating the start? Option one: then red archers, they are better for most cases, and add 2 adepts to them. These give a stronger "punishing strike" than seraphs, and they are easier to keep alive. Option two: white archers, without higher-tier units. Knights without changes.
In general, the author of the map (and the map) has the freedom to decide what and how to arrange.

It turns out that at first, both regular and mass acceleration have almost no difference.

In short, I finished the map. If someone told me this was someone's first creation, I wouldn't believe it! But in any endeavor, the first attempt isn't always perfect, and there are some flaws here that can be easily fixed. Let's go over everything in order.

I started playing, randomly choosing Orcs (I don't like Orcs). But thanks to the hero's abilities, I quickly leveled up, and I even enjoyed it, getting into the game. I swept away everything in my path, and my army grew very quickly, but I ran into strong monsters, so I decided to replay and... saves didn't work. I had to start over, playing as Humans. Everything wasn't as great here. Alaric is clearly weaker than his opponent at the start, and this needs to be fixed. But I continued to move forward persistently and chose Dark Magic without thinking. And then Light Magic too. And then a Fallen Knight and Twilight... And in the city, I also got a bunch of Light and Dark magic spells. And then I found the Book of Darkness. In general, I ended up with a light-dark mage who was bullying all the creatures. The only exception was the undead, which I encountered too often, and on which you can't even cast Dominate (Control). I had to constantly resurrect everyone. Next, there was something unclear. I went to the top of the volcano and saw 3 stacks standing there - devils, lords, and succubi. I clicked on the Devils - they were inaccessible. I defeated the lords and succubi, and the devils became available. I got the Angel Wings and don't know what to do with them. Alaric couldn't fly anywhere with them. I took them off and went to visit the Orc. He turned out to be very cowardly, he didn't even pass the first barrier. In the end, the battle with him turned into beating up a baby. I'm posting screenshots and recordings of the battles for clarity. I think that if this wasn't AI, but, say, I was playing as an Orc, the battle would have been very epic, and I probably wouldn't have won with Alaric. Unless Dark Magic helped.

Regarding the design: excellent landscape design and artwork. You won't know how difficult it is to draw everything so that it all looks harmonious and diverse, without sharp transitions from one terrain to another, until you try it yourself. The only exception is the volcano. IMHO, it should be slightly reworked with the Smth element in the editor, as one side is too sharp, and the Inferno stone texture doesn't look good in relation to it. Otherwise, everything is good, the airplane fits perfectly into the picture.

There are a lot of effects. Sometimes it looks very beautiful, and sometimes it's an obvious overkill. This was especially noticeable at the top of the volcano, where there were so many lights that I couldn't see anything. I had to feel my way around. It would be good to clean it up. I think that if you remove a quarter of the effects, the map won't lose anything.

There are also some minor flaws: 5-6 times I encountered buildings that were poorly positioned, and the hero had to go almost all the way around them to click on them. The creatures guarding the dwellings of levels 4-7 were weaker than those guarding the dwelling of level 3. The creatures guarding the Ring of Dragons were weaker than those guarding the Ring of Lightning Protection. In general, there is still some work to be done here. You can even increase the level of the neutrals. The artifacts Princess Aeliana and Frida are not needed on the map; they should be banned. It would also be good to ban all books with magic.

In general, I finished the map in one go, without saving. Everything was great; the only thing missing was an epic battle at the end. If you tweak the map a little more, it could become an awesome multiplayer map! The design is impressive; I'm afraid to think how much time was spent creating all this. I don't think I forgot anything. Edit it and release a new version; I'll play it again.