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| Thread: My first single player map (H3 HotA) | |
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Revesvans
Tavern Dweller
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posted July 30, 2017 12:32 PM |
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My first single player map (H3 HotA)
Well, that is not strictly true, I used to make loads of maps when I was a kid, but this is the first one I have finished, polished and published.
The map can be downloaded from my dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/s/19r7u7xu43gvn0v/%5BHotA%5D%20One%20Thousand%20and%20One%20Nights.h3m?dl=0
So this is a map style I used to dabble with when I was younger. You start out with a single unit, and gain new party members one at a time, managing each fight carefully to avoid casualties. This way, a single Basilisk is a force to be reckoned with, and two Minotaur Kings can be a nightmare! I'm sure others have made similar kinds of maps, but as a kid I thought this was an original idea and believed myself quite clever.
I've made the map in the Horn of the Abyss mod, which affords lusher environments, a more streamlined gameplay, and above all the possibility of turning off creature weeks causing random spawns on the map (something which used to break the maps when I made them back in the day).
Also there are a few rules to pay attention to while setting up/playing this game:
1. Play on impossible difficulty.
2. Choose gold or resource bonus from the advanced settings tab
3. On this map, all free standing castle units are willing to join you
4. It is possible, with some luck and a lot of skill, to lose zero units before the final match. You should try to conserve units as much as you can, but you don't need to restart from autosave every time you lose a pikeman or archer to a bad roll. Take the losses like a champ unless they are devastating
I'd love to hear some feedback (especially whether you think the map is challenging enough). I'm new to this forum so please tell me if I'm doing anything wrong both with regards to mapmaking and posting in general.
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Revesvans
Tavern Dweller
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posted July 30, 2017 07:55 PM |
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No takers? What if I throw in an image teaser?
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bloodsucker 
Legendary Hero
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posted July 31, 2017 01:45 PM |
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Revesvans said:
No takers? What if I throw in an image teaser?
From my own experience, you will be better served by sending it to Maps4Heroes (www.maps4heroes.com), if already properly tested.
Not going to play heroes in the next days but I promise to take a look one of these days.
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Revesvans
Tavern Dweller
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posted August 01, 2017 02:32 PM |
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bloodsucker said:
From my own experience, you will be better served by sending it to Maps4Heroes (www.maps4heroes.com), if already properly tested.
Not going to play heroes in the next days but I promise to take a look one of these days.
Thanks for the advice (and reply)! I was hoping to get some skilled people to play it and give me feedback as to whether it is challenging enough. I might want to make a few tweaks before I put it on that site
Would love to hear what you think when and if you get around to it!
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Salamandre
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Wog refugee
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posted August 01, 2017 02:56 PM |
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"Validate map" displays about 50 errors, as unreachable objects, quest guards without quest and color borders but not tent to visit. There is an interesting sense of decoration, like the conflux wall in the north, but there should be some way to skip so many errors while still having a creative design. Playing unfinished is maps never fun, so no takers.
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Revesvans
Tavern Dweller
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posted August 02, 2017 03:28 PM |
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Salamandre said:
"Validate map" displays about 50 errors, as unreachable objects, quest guards without quest and color borders but not tent to visit. There is an interesting sense of decoration, like the conflux wall in the north, but there should be some way to skip so many errors while still having a creative design. Playing unfinished is maps never fun, so no takers.
Do these errors bother players? They don't show up in game? It's just that a bunch of map objects that are assembled to look like cities, villages, forts and grand castles. I have walled them off from the player as their functions are purely for decorarion and not meant to be accessible. Thus they throw errors when you validate.
The map is finished, and completely playable from start to finish. What I want to test is how challenging/enjoyable people find it. Whether they like the story, the optional side quests etc.
I should mention two people have played it through on the HoMM subreddit, and gave me good reviews (https://www.reddit.com/r/HoMM/comments/6qd090/ive_been_without_internet_for_a_week_so_i_decided/). Just wanted to share it with this forum as well, as I imagined there would be skilled map makers here that could give me tips on how to improve.
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Corribus
Hero of Order
The Abyss Staring Back at You
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posted August 03, 2017 12:30 AM |
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I think he's saying that there's no way to distinguish cosmetic errors from those that may actually prevent completion of the map. Of course, we can take your word for it that it is playable....
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I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're goin', and hook up with them later. -Mitch Hedberg
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Salamandre
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Wog refugee
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posted August 03, 2017 12:54 AM |
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Yes, what I mean is that experienced people will investigate in the editor before investing hours in gameplay, and the editor analysis displays tons of errors. As I said, you can avoid such errors, if you just take care of several rules, as the necessity of having a passable square nearby every visitable object, and so on. You can use all colored boards for decorative purposes only, but think to place the respective tents in some corner not visible during gameplay. Same for quests boards, just put a dummy quest in, like bring 1 gold. Leaving them empty triggers validate error.
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Revesvans
Tavern Dweller
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posted August 03, 2017 08:14 AM |
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Salamandre said:
Yes, what I mean is that experienced people will investigate in the editor before investing hours in gameplay, and the editor analysis displays tons of errors. As I said, you can avoid such errors, if you just take care of several rules, as the necessity of having a passable square nearby every visitable object, and so on. You can use all colored boards for decorative purposes only, but think to place the respective tents in some corner not visible during gameplay. Same for quests boards, just put a dummy quest in, like bring 1 gold. Leaving them empty triggers validate error.
Ah okay, I will take this to heart for new maps. I'm afraid this one is filled to the brim with content though, so no such thing is possible. You'll have to take my word (and that of a few reddit users) that it is playable.
It didn't actually occur to me that people would post maps that turned out to be unbeatable after hours of gameplay, and you even say it's a common problem? I'd call it unforgivable!
Well hopefully someone here will play it and can testify that I've put like 16 hours of care and story into a tiny map. It's by no means a masterpiece, but I would like to think it both enjoyable and fresh.
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DarthVilgefort
Tavern Dweller
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posted August 17, 2021 06:46 PM |
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I know that you published this map over 4 years ago, and probably you will never read this reply, but I want to write that over the years I played this map many times, it's one of my favourites, I really like maps where you can't buy any reinforcments.
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