GCI/Playtesting/Son of the Black Eye/Challenging
Overall: No major issues. There was a bug mentioned on scenario 2, but I suspect is a wesnoth bug and not a campaign bug. Some text lines should be changed, but these are minor errors. Overall, the campaign is very interesting and fun, and the scenarios were quite smooth, with the exeption of some later ones.
Scenario 1:
Cutscene: No issues
Introductory text: What is meant by "Those orcs don't imagine they are living their last day"? Perhaps something along the lines of "Those orcs shall pay for our ransacked villages" or other might do better. End text: Line 1: "argh! I die!" He is a human, not an orc. It should perhaps be changed to "I am dying", or "I am slain" for proper english.
Scenario: Overall, not difficult. I noticed that if I send a few wolf riders down the flank, I can capture most enemy villages without any resistance. It might be intent of this level though... The scenario objective was quite clear, and I had no problem figuring out what to do. The dialogue was pretty engaging. I think that some of the in-game text is a bit awkward gramatically, and some times the humans talk like orcs. I had no major challenges meeting this objective. If there was token resistance in the middle keep, it would make it more difficult. Also if there were a few villagers garrisonned near the lower river crossing, to prevent me from capturing all the enemy villages.
Fun: 5. Not boring, but it could do with a few twists or challenges. It felt pretty straightforward.=, but then again, this is the first scenario.
Difficulty: 4. Relatively easy
Errors: None
Scenario 2: The Human Army
Cutscene: None.
Scenario: No major issues. Overall a good scenario. I think that the early finish bonus should be increased however, to compensate for the invariably horric losses.
Fun: 5. In retrospect, not that bad.
Difficulty:6.
Error: The replay file was found to be corrupt and numerous errors were encountered, such as "not enough castle spaces" and "unit is too expensive to recruit". This may be a software error and not a scenario error, however.
Scenario 3: Towards the Mountain of Haag
Cutscene: No text in cutscene... Not sure if this is a problem, the scenario was very straightforward.
Introductory text: No issues
Mid-Text: When first move done: "I've never pushed so far." Slightly awkward. Maybe verb should change to campaigned, or travelled.
Mid-Text: Once again, "argh, I die!" from a dwarf. It could be a little more realistic.
Scenario: Quite fun. I found it to be moderately easy. I lost a few troops, but it was quite easy. Both objectives were met. The scenario was pretty clear, the dialogue was less engaging, but the scenario was really interesting and provided many paths to beat. I had no major challenges. It was a lot of fun. I also do not understand why, upon the death of the trolls, I lose? Perhaps I should simply not recieve troll assistance for the rest of the campaign?
Fun: 7. Fun and Interesting.
Difficulty: 5.
Errors: I went to the NW keep with a wolf rider. I got some troll allies. But for some reason, when I did that, the objective screen appeared, telling me that I had moved my hero to the signpost, which I did not. Game then continued, and during finish, end screen appeared again, and game ender properly.
Scenario 4:
Cutscene: No text in cutscene. See above.
End Text: A bit cheesy and lame, especially when hero says "it was fun, wasn't it"
Scenario: Really long and boring. Increased in difficulty though. I think that if the upper two keeps were merged into a single keep, the scenario could be a bit faster. My objective was clear, but the dialogue was moderate. I had minor challenges(in a good way) keeping my leader alive. Interesting scenario. Also, if the mission ends and the assassin is not free, the ending is kind of forced. Perhaps an alternate dialogue with the remaining elves fleeing and the hero freeing the assasin would make it better and more realistic.
Fun: 4. A bit too long for my taste
Difficulty: 7. Poses a challenge.
Errors: Same error as scenario 3 when I sent a troll into the beseiged castle.
Scenario 5: To the harbor of Tirigas
Cutscene: No issues
Scenario: Fun and short scenario. Dialogue again a bit lame.
Fun: 5
Difficulty: 5.
Ideas: Perhaps the leader should start on the keep instead of nearby? And perhaps the undead forces should have a better recruitment algorithm. Also, what does that holy water do? From the dialogue it is unclear, and everything looks the same when I look at the unit profile.
Errors: none.
Scenario 6: Black Flag
Endscene: Another "argh I die" which needs to be replaced with something... else. And kapoue's "finally, you pay for what you did to my orc brothers" should be changed IMO to "Finally, you HAVE paID(caps indicate change)"
Scenario: Quite good, but I think that the pirates need to come in waves, and not a bunch. Because when the pirates and south fortress are defeated, which is quite easy to do, the whole thing becomes easy.
Fun: 6. Could be improved.
Difficulty: 6. The pirates can be a tough nut to crack, but past that, the scenario is a breeze.
Suggestions: Make the boat pirates come in one or 2 boats at a time, but make it a recurring event.
Scenario 7: Deserts of Death
Unclarity in objective 1: Where is the oasis? Does it refer to the northern oasis or the southern one? And with whom must I reach it?
Scenario: Not bad. Pretty fun and interesting. I think that the scorpions should be a little less clustered and appear everywhere in the desert, instead of just one place. Because once I defeat the starting scorps, there is no need to keep a close eye and guard those shamen, which the fog of war suggests. No major difficulties.
Fun: 6
Difficulty: 7
Scenario 8: Silent Forest
Scenario: Quite easy. There were no major problems. The dialogue was not so interesting, but made sense, and there were no errors in regards to the scenario, and the objectives were quite clear.
Fun: 6
Difficulty: 6
Scenario 9: Shaun-Taum the smug
Scenario: All right. No issues with objectives or other things. Pretty fun. I understood everything and had no major difficulties. The hardest part in the scenario is defeating the initial onslaught, but this can be done easily with trolls in the right places.
Fun: 8
Difficulty: 7
Scenario 10: The south bridge
Scenario: Ok. A few notes with the objectives: From the dialogue, it was unclear where Inarix would appear, and also unclear exactly where I had to get her. Also unclear was the fact that any troops below the bridge would be dead. Perhaps this should be clarified by adding a note to the objectives?
Fun: 7
Difficulty: 9
Scenario 11: Clash of armies:
ERROR: Temporary hourglass freeze encountered when 3 units tried to board a ship. Same task happened successfully before. The screen was frozen for ~10 secs before the ship moved. During freeze, the portrait of the boarding unit was under that of the ship. Is this supposed to happen?
Scenario: Very interesting and fun scenario. I enjoyed it alot. The dialogue made sense, and so did the objectives. It would be nice to know when the time runs up. Would it be possible to add a counter in the objective menu or get someone to tell me when victory is near. Like "We only need to hold out a little longer. Already I sense the thundrous march of the Great Horde arriving" the day before the horde is due to arrive? My only trouble was that I sometimes failed to reinforce my flanks properly after assault.
Fun: 9
Difficulty: 8
Scenario 12: Giving some back.
Scenario: The starting cutscene was really engaging! Quite easy. Unfortunately, no ending dialogue, which should really be added. No major difficulties.
Fun: 7
Difficulty: 5
Scenario 13: A dwarvish stand
Cutscene: "The river bork" is mentioned, but the map says "Bork river". I know they are the same, but perhaps the "River bork" should be changed to match the map for consistency and legibility.
Starttext: Son of Blackeye at the end of the startext says: "blood and steel". Not a really great battle cahnt. I suggest "For the shamans", of "For ou brethren", but certainly not "blood and steel". After all, they are fighting for vengeance, and it would be nice to see a little more of this.
Endtext: Is the part at the end a crude attempt at humor? If it is, I assure you it is not working. Please change that.
Scenario: Pretty easy. My only minor difficulty was in killing the level 2 dorfs.
Fun: 6
Difficulty: 7
Scenario 14: Back home
Scenario: The dialogue is ok, the scenario really interesting. The scenario was mildly easy. The only major difficulty was killing the humans near my keep, but when that was done, it became easier, especially with the arrival of Gruu and his trolls.
Fun: 6
Difficulty: 6
Scenario 15: Civil War
Scenario: The map was fairly balanced, but large. Overall a good scenario, but I feel that the allotted turns should be increased a bit. Not too much fun though. My only major difficulty was destroying the troll thrust in my base that came from my camp's SW while I was sending troops to fight southbound and westbound, though I suspect this is an error of my own.No problem understanding the scenario or the dialogue.
Fun: 5
Difficulty: 7
Scenario 16: The coward
Scenario: My really major difficulty was in clearing BOTH of the two keeps close to my start location. That task alone makes this insanely difficult, hence the difficulty of 10. I understand that the point of those keeps is to be troubling, but would it really be a big issue if we moved one a little back so that their units wouldn't be in the range of the other keep in one turn? please? And if that doesn't work, could the leaders have lower hp and not be getting 40% def. the first turn? I don't know how many restarts I had before beating this. Otherwise great scenario. Dialogue ok, objectives super clear. And my second minor difficulty was defeating the original line of ogres and assassins, but that was to be accounted for.
Fun: 6
Difficulty: 10. Because it is immensely difficult to get a foothold. Once this factor is removed, difficulty 8, due to the amount of ogres.
Scenario 17: Human attack:
Scenario: Please clarify somewhere that windmills are not villages, because I was confused. Also, why must I hold off the humans and not simply defeat them? I don't think the scenario explains why... But onto other things. The scenario proved quite easy, and my brother-generals defeated most of the enemy high-level troops. I had no major difficulties. The game was quite fun. The only issue is that the Grand Marshall will exit his fortress if he can attack any of my troops, which, bereft of a bodyguard, caused his defeat. Perhaps he should have a dedicated bodyguard unit or two to prevent this from happening.
Fun: 8
Difficulty: 7
Scenario 18:
Scenario: Dialogue intriguing, the scenario objectives clear. The scenario is well-handicapped, and the storyline was executed superbly. Just one @AI gripe that the Northern alliance kept sending lone healers to battle. Not sure if this an in-general AI problem or a scenario-specific one, but I think it should be fixed at any rate. Also, I feel that there should be text whenever one of the leaders fall, because currently there is none. Something like "At last, the orc homelands shall be safe" for the death of the human general, and "Shaun Taum is dead at last. I have avenged my father at last". It seems appropriate. My major difficulty was in gauging the progress made towards the death of each leader, and thus misapproportioning my forces. In addition, I found that getting to shaun taum was quite easy, and that perhaps the mountain pass separating the northern alliance from shaun should be widened to make it more difficult for this to happen, and that perhaps Shaun should be bestowed with more forces.
Fun: 8
Difficulty: 6