Week #8 - Stronghold 2

[Lord_Chris 251]

Your challenge is: Create a basic Kingmaker or Multiplayer map for Stronghold 2. The map should accommodate a maximum of 6 players and have various concealments on it.

 

This can be any size of map, with any amount of landscaping effects, rivers, trees, or anything you so desire!

 

Useful resources

 

• http://www.stronghold-nation.com/article/186-a-map-editor-tutorial
  
• http://www.stronghold-nation.com/article/76-scenario-types
  
• http://www.stronghold-nation.com/article/26-keeps
  
• http://www.stronghold-nation.com/article/1-map-editor-overview
  
• http://www.stronghold-nation.com/article/239-making-hidden-pathways
  

 

Note: Your entry must be attached to this topic by Midnight on Saturday to be counted in this challenge (27/2/16 23:59). If no entry is attached (via .zip. then your entry will not be counted! The results will be revealed on Sunday..

 

Good luck everyone!

[EaglePrince 230]

This sounds interesting. :) I hope I will make something for this one. Oh, and by the way, I would suggest that it might be better or us to be told on Saturday about what is the challenge for the next one. That was we would have Sunday for this, and now we have only working days left. :)

[Tokamaps 27]

Im surely making an entry for this!?

 

Maybe i can win this.

 

I have already a couple ideas :)

[EaglePrince 230]

  Quote

I'm surely making an entry for this!?

 

Maybe i can win this.

 

I have already a couple ideas :)

Read more  

 

God, no, now I have no chance. :D Have mercy, please... :D

 

These are my chances to win now. :D

 

I'm just kidding a little, it's a good chance. :)

[Nigel 71]

Lol Eagle Pince :D

 

 

Well, I am not sure I will be able to submit a map for this one. Maybe, maybe not.

But I surely look forward to seeing - and playing - the maps that are created for this challenge :)

Edited February 22, 2016 by Nigel

[Tokamaps 27]

:D

Looking forward to See your entries.

[EaglePrince 230]

I have made a map, but I still want to see if I can do some more things about it. :)

[Lord_Chris 251]

Well, good luck! I'm looking forward to seeing what else you can achieve on it! :)

[Tokamaps 27]

I hope i can finish my map until saturday evening.

[EaglePrince 230]

Do I smell mercy..? :D Or maybe not. :D

[Nigel 71]

Well, even though I had little time this week, I could not resist to join you two in this challange.

 

It may not be my best map, but it surely was the fastest map I ever made, created more or less in one evening.

It is a simple 1v1 multiplayer map, but I believe it meets all required criteria and the landscape is not ugly but naturally looking.

 

I am off for the weekend now, but will look forward to see on Monday, what you guys have come up with :)

Weep 9 of 52_Nigel_Rivals on the Island.zipFetching info...

[EaglePrince 230]

Here is my map as well. I tried to do it by implementing those ideas I saw at Vetkas maps, but I didn't know how much time I am going to have, so I worked less with elevation. Nevertheless, the map is not completely flat, I hope it looks natural, and that it will be exciting to play.

 

I saw Nigels map, his idea was to make a balanced 1v1 map. I made a map which would be better to be played against computer, but it would be interesting to play with human players as well, only it isn't balanced. My idea was to remake an old map I created when I was younger - it was a map that I lost: it had two sides of a river while in the middle on river island there were outlaws. A downside of this map was that, if I put an AI lord such as King or Hammer, they wouldn't be able to develop their castles due to outlaws attacks. They just don't train troops that they can, they wait until they can train their best troops, and they fail against those early attacks. This time I made positions differently, so if one wants to play against Hammer he could put give him Olaf as an ally, and Olaf can defeat outlaws easily.

 

So, this map is for me to feel less sorry for losing my old map - this one is similar in its design, while it has some stuff fixed, and in this one I implemented what I learned here at Stronghold Nation.

 

Oh, and damn, I just took a look at some stuff here, and I saw how I could make my map somewhat better... :D So... I'm not submitting my map yet, but until I do that - you're going to be able to see the minimap. :)

 

It seems that I'm going to spend some time reading those articles by tokamaps over again, just as I am in the mood to play with the editor, but not for this map - for this one I'm going to do a little adjusting. :)

 

 

EDIT: I have attached my map. :)

 

SECOND EDIT: Now after making few changes I am submitting this new version of the map. One villages is now set to produce iron instead of three types of food, and outlaw castle got a gatehouse.

 

THIRD EDIT: There was an unexpected problem with the second version, in that version map has only two castle estates, so I'm bringing the fixed version. "Dolina Odmetnika new version" is bad.

Download "Dolina Odmetnika fixed version". Hopefully Chris could remove "Dolina Odmetnika new version".

Dolina Odmetnika.zipFetching info...

Dolina Odmetnika new version.zipFetching info...

Dolina Odmetnika fixed version.zipFetching info...

Edited February 29, 2016 by EaglePrince

[EaglePrince 230]

I have added the map.

[EaglePrince 230]

Oh, and I wanted to say one more thing. For example, I know I could have used different elevation levels, that can make things more interesting! For example, roads can be really awesome like that, and rivers can also look pretty cool. I will try that in some of my later maps. If there is anything else that you can notice I missed, please let me know, I may not be aware of that.

 

I will also go through the articles again to see all the tricks you were writing about, I could find some of those useful and make maps even better. :)

[Lord_Chris 251]

I'll look forward to playing both your entries :)

[Lord_Chris 251]

Just a last minute warning for anyone else who hasn't entered yet and would like to! Remember that the contest closes Midnight tonight and you must have your entry here before then!

[Tokamaps 27]

I don't had any idea of an story, and so here is the map.

 

I need to say a couple things about this:

The several Castle sites have several advantages and disadvantages.

 

The only Estate on the map is a chokepoint for getting stone.

 

Simoly ignore the .s2m tachment, chris, and take the zip.

# 08 mp Map.s2mFetching info...

the chokepoint island.zipFetching info...

Edited February 27, 2016 by Tokamaps

[EaglePrince 230]

I like your map, you made those details quite well. :)

 

I like how you made the entire terrain - how you mixed up those different terrain types making it look really beautiful. You did make elevation I was speaking about I could implement in some of my future maps - the west bank of the river on your map is a perfect example of what I had in mind. It's just one level above the river, and with those different textures and tiny details you made it so it doesn't look just flat.

 

I also like the position on the hill above the sea, it's a perfect position for many human players while AI lord can also handle that position quite well - there is enough space for a small AI lords castle. I won't even mention that it looks epic - any castle on that hill will look amazing.

 

And finally - the north-west position, it's also greatly done. I especially like how you made those marches there.

 

 

By the time I see that I never knew the Stronghold 2 editor as much as I could have if I had. Whenever I would try to make a map I would settle with a "simple flat map", not knowing how much it offers. I know I was talking about this before, but I feel so sorry for not trying those things with the editor back when I was younger and when I had more time to play with it. Maybe we could say it is partially Firefly's fault as none of their original maps has as good landscapes as this one posted by Tokamaps, and they didn't show to people how Stronghold 2 Map Editor is a great tool. Still, this only applies to those who had the game but didn't have internet - whoever had internet he was able to download those beautiful maps made by the best map makers, and to see examples of what can one do with this editor. :)

 

I don't know about you guys, but I'm looking forward to next Stronghold 2 challenge. :) Making those maps is quite enjoyable and relaxing.

[Tokamaps 27]

Wow!?

 

Im so Happy that You Like this map.

 

Maybe we could play that Soon.

 

My favourite Position is the One behind the mountains.

 

I had a lot of fun with this By playing on small player advantage with two bulls on my side and three williams aggainst.

[EaglePrince 230]

Well, you make good maps in general, and I like when I can play a game on a map and enjoy. That is indeed for what Stronghold 2 is the best of all Stronghold games, and especially with a right map.

 

Besides this map I remember that you have submitted some other maps of yours as well, and I planned to play them, but then obligations... And I still want to play them, and I will - by the time.

 

I agree, it would be fun to play it in multiplayer. I find the position in south-west quite interesting, so I could be there. I don't care too much about balance - you have some advantages, I have some other advantages, and that's what makes it more interesting.

 

By the way, in those games you told about - you start as free map, right? I had feeling that with these settings Bull could take down William by not letting to grow stronger... I guess I was wrong, though I have noticed that some of those limitations regarding rank don't apply to computer players like on human - they are able to build stone walls from the very beginning for example.

[Lord_Chris 251]

Well, there is some competition here this week!

 

• @Tokamaps - 3 points
  
• @EaglePrince - 3 points
  
• @Nigel - 2 points
  

 

You can view the feedback below. I posted the feedback not in order of points, but in order of how I played the maps. I downloaded them all at the same time and played them as they were automatically ordered by the Skirmish menu in the game.

 

Note: Because both and [user]tokamaps[/user] were awarded with 3 points, I'm going to ask [user]Charles of tours] to view both those submissions as well. The winner will be the person who averages the most from our scores, or if both of you score the same from our averages, we'll take another look at them and decide together. Thank you all of you for taking part!

 

@Tokamaps

 

Your map was fantastic. The estates were very well planned and laid out on the map, and the sizes of them were very realistic and natural looking. I was also very impressed with the tree placement too, there was just few enough trees to make it difficult but enough to still have a good natural effect. The use of bridges was very impressive - I also liked the idea of you making it difficult to block the passage across the bridges by making them a different estate altogether. The use of sea and rivers were very effective too, because it helped make the shapes of the island look much more natural. Particularly the eastern part of the map was very impressive being enclosed and the way that the pitch was included. Personally, my favourite part of the map was the estate containing the stone, which could be used as a choke point.

 

This would be a brilliant multiplayer or kingmaker map (as I played) and I'm delighted to award you with 3 points for this challenge!

 

@EaglePrince

 

This is another very good map with equally effective tree placement. I also liked the feature of including Outlaw Camps here. The numerous outlaw camps brought the game to a much higher level of combat because it was much more difficult to both take out your enemy, defend against your enemy and defend against attacking outlaws at the same time, without a sufficient supply of troops. The various choke points around the map at bridges also make it much more exciting to play. While the landscaping was not quite as good as @Tokamaps' the outlaw camps and the number of chokepoints definitely made up for this feature, and the fact that the estates were placed over many bridges meant it was very easy to ambush the enemy and kill lines of troops. My only criticism of this map is the fact that estates are squares and not more natural looking. I understand why you have done this, and it's to try and balance the map as much as possible, but it does affect how natural looking the map is.

 

To end on a higher note, I was very impressed with the curves of the river, and the water placement. Very impressive indeed! From stones in the water to the marvellous shrub placement, it was a very tough choice to make on grading this map. After very careful deliberation, I've decided that it's my honour to award you with 3 points. Congratulations!

 

@Nigel

 

While the landscaping was slightly more basic, this map has equally nice features such as the mountain and the trees that created a choke point right down the middle. There was also a feature which was unique to this map that I liked very much - both the other maps were all flat, whereas your map has some height in it that allowed one of the two players to get a height advantage over both of the passages to the other estates. I was impressed with how you managed to build the mountain up so that both players had an equal chance to climb it, and I liked the numerous levels very much. And while this map did lack the large amount of open space that the other two had, it did use the space effectively to ensure that placing buildings would be a challenge, and the mountain was always a central issue to what was happening. I liked the unique and unorthodox approach of being on an island too, for the few flaws the island did have, it was a good map for action. For all these reasons, It's my pleasure to announce that you have 2 points!

[Tokamaps 27]

Im awaiting your Feedback, its going to be pass!

[EaglePrince 230]

Me too, thanks for the nice feedback.

 

Regarding square estate borders, I agree, it would look more natural, only I decided to keep them square for the same reasons you mentioned. Somehow I became more tolerant to square borders, I got feeling that those doesn't have to matter much, though I may not be right f course. Now when you mentioned it - maybe I could have made those borders more natural at least in the north-west where estates are all close to each other. I'm glad that you like how I made the landscape and that you like that idea with outlaws.

 

I was thinking about outlaws before while thinking about a good multiplayer map. Those outlaws can give us natural way to bring us a natural no rush period - no one would attack until he is able to defeat the outlaws, and that wouldn't be before players have enough archers or stronger melee troops.

[Lord_Chris 251]

After very careful deliberation, Charles and I have decided to award this week's victory to . Congratulations to [user]tokamaps[/user], but well played [user]eagleprince] - you very nearly won!

[Tokamaps 27]

Im Happy to hear this!

Im really sure that it was pass.

I would had Begrudged eagle prince's win, cause he had Made a very well map.

 

Greetings tokamaps