Map in progress: "A Lord in a Canyon"

[Mathew Steel 151]

The map is "Large" and set to the game type "Military". I won't show any screenshots yet, as there is still a lot of work to be done. There will be more as I get closer to uploading the map.

 

The Story:

You awaken. You don't feel any pain, but the beaming sun burns your eyes. You sit yourself up and look around you. Remembering nothing, you stand up. You feel unbalanced, you must have been lying down for some time. Situated in a deep canyon. Few vegetation, lots of stone.

 

The sandstorm passes and you see a group of men in the distance. You call out for their aid. The men come running to you weapons sheathed. As they get closer, you notice the colour of their under armour, these men are friendly. You and your men talk, trying to figure out how you got here. Nobody knows. One of your archers points out the note on the floor. You pick it up, then begin to read it out loud.

 

"Follow the canyon. Beware of the enemy. My fort is situated at the end of the canyon, you won't miss it. Good luck."

 

Signed

Sir Richard Lionheart

 

You and your men agree to follow the orders, not because you are sure Sir Lionheart wrote this note and that it is trustworthy, but because you have no other option. You say one last sentence before commanding your men once again, "eyes peeled, blades to the front, archers to the back!"

 

The mission:

The aim of this map is simple. You and your men must fight your way through the canyons and reach your ally's territory at the other side. Although getting there won't be so easy.

 

You will be confronted with enemy lands, where small defences have been set up in order to prevent you reaching your ally. Other enemies will be attacking you at certain points by ambushing you from different directions. Some of your men are in checkmate and attempting to move them to you will result in their death. You must use the troops you start with in order to rescue your men. Rescuing all your men isn't required but it will reward you further into the mission as you will most certainly lose troops.

 

There is more than one route to take in order to reach your ally. Using both routes with the correct troops is how you will succeed in rescuing more of your men. A synchronized attack with archers at a vantage point and swordsmen executing threats to your archers is how you will succeed.

 

 

Note:

In order to succeed you will need to make strategic decisions and be able to improvise at different points in the mission. Attempting to rush through the enemy with your men will result in defeat, you are outnumbered. But as a wise man once said:

 

"It takes more than troops to win a war"

Edited January 9, 2015 by Mathew Steel

[Micha! 27]

Sounds nice. I like that you did a real story for your map :)

[Lord_Chris 251]

It's very well written. It has the makings of a fine campaign!

[EaglePrince 230]

I like how you imagined it, I'm sure it will be fun playing it. :)

[Mathew Steel 151]

It's nice to hear such positive feedback :) hopefully it lives up to expectations! :D

[Mathew Steel 151]

So I have been working on the map a lot and the everything is done except scripting and testing, which shouldn't take too long.

 

But for some damn reason the units can apparently walk up mountains that a deer would have struggle climbing. I've checked to make sure the mountains are steep enough (even though its clear that they are just by looking at them) and I still don't know the problem. I placed the units at the start, could this be it?

[Lord_Chris 251]

Are the mountains pathed out? (Just like what you do with water to stop people walking on it)

Edited January 11, 2015 by Lord_Chris

[Mathew Steel 151]

I didn't realise that was needed for mountains. I'll give it a go :)

 

Just remembered I have no knowledge with pathing. I have never tried it, could I have some instructions? Thank you!

Edited January 11, 2015 by Mathew Steel

[Lord Vetka 63]

You will need to do the pathing, any unit will go anywhere on the map unless you do pathing. You could build a castle under the sea if you wanted and it would play!

 

Click the pathing tag and you will see the options, set the brush up one and run some pathing along the bottom of the mountain, you can cover the side of the mountain, I just make a loop around any ground I don't want people walking on. You could download Two Cities to see how I setup the pathing and the camera.

 

Also, the mountains cause the camera to jump up and down, annoying, use the camera grid to smooth it out, you can also add in for the start, a place you want the player to see before he is moved to the keep or even a few places, play around with the tools I suggested, if you have any questions just ask.

 

Your new map sounds quite good, hope to see it in the downloads, take your time, it's best to post a map that is 100% working, testing will give you that. Good Luck!

[Mathew Steel 151]

Well this does sound very fancy, I'll be sure to experiment with other options when this is done.

 

But I cant find the different options. I select markers > pathing > pathing

 

Then all that shows is a chain with markers. I don't understand what I'm doing. Sorry if I seem really dull, I just haven't worked with these type of map editors before so its all very new to me.

[Lord Vetka 63]

No problem I do that enough myself, you will see the pathing tab in the main tool section, pathing all by it's self.

 

You do need the other pathing tool for the scripting, place the invasion marker by the enemy keep or the invasions will not work.

 

Have any questions about scripting, feel free to ask, don't worry questions rarely sound bad.

[Mathew Steel 151]

Thank you Vetka, really helped me out :) I'm sure I'll be back with more questions. Perhaps I should ask them in DM as this may go off topic slightly :D

[Lord Vetka 63]

No, if we go off topic, we can fix it, I would rather answer you here as it benefits more people.

 

Your question was " The map is working fine but it's currently too easy. I'd like to add small ambushes where the enemy will chase the player and attack."

 

In the factions tab you find pathing and the invasion markers, to get the enemy to attack other points instead of a straight attack on the keep, I placed additional invasion markers near the points I wanted Harass units to attack, the additional markers are separate from the one you place for the invasions, you need a new invasion marker to have the harass units attack, not an additional marker. To be sure, I'm not talking about the colored flags, but the third tab and the invasion markers, then the harass flags in the second tab.

 

I think if I remember correctly that I also added in Harass flags to each point as well, then scripted slaves and they attacked the mines and if any were left they would come and attack out buildings as well.

 

The map I'm talking about is "Chundra", it's in the downloads check it to see how I did the extra harass invasions.

 

I hope that helps, if not ask again!

[Mathew Steel 151]

Thank you for the help Vetka, I think I understand. I'll give it a go tomorrow or Tuesday, I'll let you know :)

[Mathew Steel 151]

Hi Vetka, I managed to sort out the camera option, it's a nice touch :)

 

I decided to download your map "Arvand" to see how you have done the invasions. You have set an entry point and target point using blue markers. Then I see there is a path marker next to the keep. I'm assuming all invasions will follow the same route? If this is true, how would one set different paths for different invasions?

 

Also if I'd like to make it so the enemy invasion chases my lord how would I do so? I know you gave me a tutorial yesterday but I cant quite figure out where to start or what to do. Again thank you for all the help :)

[Nigel 71]

I am glad you guys are having this conversation on the forum rather than in PM.

I am learning a lot - was not aware of how the camara grid worked. Also, the discussion of targeting invasions is very helpful.

 

 

On top of that, Matthew, I like the story you have for this map.

You write great stories. You could consider taking your stories further and across several maps. I would love to find out what that message was about once I get to the castle. :)

[Mathew Steel 151]

Thanks Nigel! I'll do so for the next map, possibly make it a sequel :)

[Lord Vetka 63]

The camera grid works great, the map you want to download would be "Chundra H" this is the only map that I used extra invasion markers on, those extra markers bring the harass slaves to the mines.

 

In the markers tab is the pathing tab, double click the pathing and you get a chain, double click the chain and you get a path marker, place it where you want the invasions to go, then double click the pathing again for a new chain double click the new chain for a new path marker and place it where you want different invasions to go, keep doing that until you have all of the invasion points set, it should give you what you want.

 

One thing I found is it seams you don't need more invasion flags than the first one, set the invasion to start at the blue one flag and they attack, check it and see, you might need the second blue flag but they seam to ignore it. I did use the second tab "AI" and used 2 separate Harass troops form up flags at the next path markers I placed by the mines.

 

To get the enemy to chase your Lord is the default setting for the game, if you are under attack at the keep and move your Lord away to a safe spot they will find him and attack. I believe that should work for you.

 

Edit- Well I tried to sneak this in after Mathews last entry, but..

 

Yes the story should be good the last one Mathew wrote for one of my Crusader maps was just great!

 

The forums are a great treasure of info if we all try and keep the conversations here instead of PMs, PMs have their place and should be used at the proper times.

[Mathew Steel 151]

Well I've managed to get them moving. They'll attack me if my troops are near.

 

But for some reason, they run towards the path marker but then run straight pass it! I can't figure out where they'd be heading? They run to the end of the canyon then get killed by ally troops. I don't understand why.

[Lord Vetka 63]

I don't have time at the moment, could you send me the map and I can take a look, it would be easier that way.

 

Thanks.

[Mathew Steel 151]

Thanks Vetka, I appreciate this :)

[Mathew Steel 151]

Thanks to the help of @Lord Vetka I have finally completed the map. Awaiting for it to be accepted to the download area.

 

I decided to make a trailer instead of using screenshots as I feel it shows the map off even better. Here it is- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICkMvIu8KYQ&feature=youtu.be

[Lord_Chris 251]

Sorry Mathew but none of your maps are in the download queue yet. The only maps there are by @Crusader1307.

[Mathew Steel 151]

My bad, I accidentally clicked submit on that reply before uploading the map. I thought I'd try and be clever and write it ahead, obviously it's backfired :D

 

Edit: I've submitted the map :)

Edited January 17, 2015 by Mathew Steel

[Lord_Chris 251]

Thanks, I'll get a downloads admin to look into it shortly. :)