By the way, I'm currently playing your "Preserve." I like it so far...
(Василь Симоненко. Люди – прекрасні)
New here? I'm Roha — want a quick tour?
I also have a question for the creator of this map: Samatron, what was your idea behind giving humans a shield that provides +6 defense near their castle? I started playing this map with friends. Naturally, I chose humans, one of my friends chose elves, and the third chose demons. They started complaining that it's unfair, why do humans have this, but they don't. This shield can be obtained on the first day without any losses. An Archangel, along with 12 archers and 9 upgraded monks, can't be countered.
I spent about 4 hours playing this map and lost. At first, I liked it, but when almost the entire map was revealed, I didn't know where to go. It's too confusing and tedious. I didn't finish it in the end – I got tired of it.
Yeah, well, if it's a game over, it's a game over. But overall, it's not bad, an interesting map. Thanks.
...., maybe that was the author's intention? I don't know.
Completed in 35 months
Well, for a beginner, you're incredibly persistent and patient! :) My personal record for the longest game: 29 months on the "Jedi story" map (but it's a difficult map to complete quickly). A normal time for a typical XL-sized map with a Dungeon is up to 12 months; after that, playing becomes too tedious. So, you should start with simpler maps.
I also had an overflow of money once. However, I reloaded the save before that incident and changed the resources (in such a situation, you can also recruit troops in all cities, even if they are not needed); after that, the overflow did not occur. And yes: the overflow occurs after 2 billion gold, so it's a very rare occurrence.
Regarding assembled artifacts: did you definitely free up all the slots they occupy? Some sets cannot be worn together. If you can't figure it out, post screenshots, and we'll take a look.
Copy the downloaded map into the game folder (Maps), then launch the game and select this map from the list of scenarios. Good luck with the playthrough.