Sleague Reviews

[William Keenan]

Did you know there are ten new scenarios up for review this month? Why not write a review of one? It's a great way to have fun playing civ and give something back to the civ community while you do it.

Personally, I find it more fun to play a scenario if I'm writing a review of it.

Are you suffering from Red Front Fever? Cool! Red Front is one of the ten on the list. Writing a review of it should be as easy as one, two, three (or should I say ten, ten, ten).

http://sleague.apolyton.net/download.shtml

[Paul Hanson]

I`ve been wondering if anyone was going to review my scenario, Firewall, for quite some time. Maybe it`s pants, so nobody could be arsed, but if it is do tell me! I`d appreciate any feedback from anyone on it good or bad!

-End Desperate Plee-

[Cam]

Can't do it - requires MP Gold.

[Allard HS]

A review is gonna be sent tomorrow.

[William Keenan]

I'm happy to tell you that I am already in the process of reviewing Firewall, Paul.

My initial thoughs after three turns ...
[*] I don't like the defence only units like city guards. I find that frustrating.[*] I think the unit firepower figures distort the unit balances.

for example a unit with
ADM 5/3/2 Hp:3 Fp:4
is three times more powerful then
ADM 5/3/2 Hp:2 Fp:2

[Paul Hanson]

Well, I`ll change the movement of city guard for the next version.

As for the problems with the coastal cities, it`s supposed to happen. I actually had problems getting the AI to attack them and capture them as well. It`s intended to represent the overwhelming maritime strength of the Pirates against the Destari. For instance, a man with an axe isn`t going to hold out long against a ship armed with cannon, is he. However, admittedly it is frustrating to have to watch your forces being decimated, but the same thing happens of RF and it`s one of the best scenarios ever!

Thanks for the positive comments, at least I now know that`s there`s some good bits in the scenario!

[Mao]

Hmmmm.....how is Firewall, worth downloading? I personally don't like Fantasy, sorry. I was going to write a review a while ago, I wanted to contribute something. But now I'm clogged with schoolwork, sorry . Shows you how much of a procrastinator I am huh?

[Paul Hanson]

Thanks for the feedback William, I really appreciate it.

The unit figures were a right ballache as far as design was concerned. I wanted the Pirate units to be tough, but not unbeatable, and the best way to do that seemed to be through firepower and hit points. The main problem though is that it leaves many units pointless and not worth the effort (Cavalry and Halberdiers are good examples of this).

On the subject of defence-only units: If you mean that you would prefer them to be mobile, I might do that if enough people dislike their immobility.

If anyone else has any comments, e-mail me at paul.hanson@btclick.com, rather than clogging up this thread with stuff that isn`t particularly relevant to the topic (getting people to do reviews for the SLeague).

[William Keenan]

Yes I mean the lack of mobility and the 0 attack factor dos'nt make sence to me. They are supposed to represent armed soldiers, right? A Zero attack and movement is fine for a fort or small town but not for troops.

And the lack of any coastal fortresses in the cities against allowed the pirate ships to slaughter the troops in the towns without even scratching the ships. I lost 20 units on the coast on the first turn without inflicting any losses to the pirates.

On the plus side I like the atmosphere of the scenario and the fact that you made alot of changes to the improvements.

[Paul Hanson]

That`s not for me to say, you can do it now if you want but personally I`d wait for William`s review before making my mind up.

Of course, I reckon it`s great, but that`s just me. It`s probably terrible.

[William Keenan]

I recommend Firewall as a scenario to download and play. I consider myself an extremely harsh critic and I recommend very few scenarios for play. Firewall is not perfect but it has all the design quality that makes a scenario worth playing; well thought out design; attention to detail; considerable play testing; quests.

Bottomline on Firewall is this, if you like fantasy and you like fighting hard for your victory then you will like Firewall.

BTW, Paul ... what level of difficulty did you design Firewall for? Diety? King?

[Paul Hanson]

Thank you William!

I designed Firewall in Deity, so none of the cities should fall into revolt on the first turn. However, it is tough on Deity (even I, with my knowledge of what was going to happen and what had to be done, couldn`t finish it, even with a human partner playing the Noress), so I`d recommend Deity only for a real expert. King or above should suffice (any lower and you begin to get attack bonuses and the computer gets all sorts of penalties).

Hope this helps!

[William Keenan]

Paul, the note above is very helpfull and should be included in the readme file on the next version. I look for those kind of notes when writing a review. I consider it part of General Care.

[Cam]

Time Threat Paradox

I would encourage anyone reviewing this scenario to be aware of some of the problems as set out in the following thread: apolyton.net/forums/Forum29/HTML/000450.html

I have possibly wasted four hours trying to play the game after losing my 'past time traveller' (in a similar manner to 23 Skidoo and bribing rather than killing the elusive 'mutant worker' that brings about an important event (obviously just finding this message board thread as a result of a lack of meaningful progress in the scenario). I suspect I may still be able to win the game, but only through total destruction of every Fabian city, which is seemingly a pretty tall order.

f.y.i., I've reviewed 'Gangwars 1.09'.

[DarthVeda]

cool!