Era of Four Moons

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Velensk
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Era of Four Moons

Post by Velensk »

The Era of Four Moons is now on the server available for download.

The Era of Four Moons is an era based on the world created by the author L. Shelby the art is done by her.

There are four factions in the main era and another four which are currently under construction.

Highlanders: Chaotic/Neutral faction that fights/moves well in hills.

The highlanders are based off a culture with much in common with the plains indians(native americans) and nomadic african tribes. Their units all have very high hitpoints however they all suffer substantial negative physical resistances to reflect the brawn their lifestyle grants being offset by not wanting to carry armor around all the time.

Half their units are very cheap allowing them to swarm easily however they do have a number of expensive support units. The witch doctor provides healing and can lower enemy defense, the lion warrior is a durable skirmisher, and the elephant is a living battering ram (and a lvl 2 recruitable).

Imperialists: Lawful faction with an emphasis on winning through attrition.

The imperialists are based on a couple of related nations who have a vaguely romanesque flavor. They have discovered through proper training, discipline, and formation tactics that they can defeat stronger and more numerous foes and have been using this knowledge to conquer new lands for awhile now. Civil war is brewing around the time this era would be set as one half of the nation has been failing to press into the land of the merchant lords and the other has been failing to push into the dense jungle of the darklanders and both blame the other for the stagnation that is starting to occur.

Some imperialist units have good physical resistances and get 50% defense in the open allowing them to hold ground in the open without much difficulty. They have a cheap ranged unit to provide some ranged damage from the protection of the formation and a swifter light infantry unit that fights well in forests while no other units in the faction do. The standard can improve the resistances of allies around him and generally make areas a pain to press into. Until recently this faction lacked a major damage dealing unit but has gotten one in the form of the slow and vulnerable ballista. A more mobile/reliable alternative to the ballista for fort busting is the sapper, a suicidal unit who reduces the enemies current hp by a % of itself equal to their current defense value.

Sea States: Lawful/Neutral faction with good quality generalists.

The sea states are based a a large number of economically linked city states on the coast and major rivers that thrive from the trade that comes with their position. The capitalistic elite tend to have all the power and are known as merchant lords. The city states are constantly at war with each other but have been willing to work together in the past to repel imperialist advances. Many of the worlds most skilled artisans and craftsmen live in this place where the system of guilds protect them well from the misfortune that can befall independents (though not necessarily so well from the other guilds). As a result sea state equipment tends to be good quality.

The defining thing about how the sea states is built is that almost every unit knows what role it fills and is custom built to fill it. The regimenteer knows that it will play the defensive melee wall and thus is neutral, with decent hp and a high damage low strike attack. The composite bowman knows that it will be providing ranged firepower for offenses and thus is lawful and chooses an ideal damage distribution, the horse archer knows it's a raider so it has enough speed to harass and run, enough of a ranged attack to soften enemies up and a decent melee attack to retaliate with, ect. This comes at the price that sea state units tend to be rather expensive.

Darklanders: A chaotic faction which fights well in forests.

The darklander culture inherence much from south american and african jungle tribes. They are semi-nomadic due to use of slash/burn agriculture and have never been very centralized. They have a sort of a religion however unlike the highlanders it isn't very important to their daily lives and mainly serves as a reason to bash their neighbors whenever rations get tight.

The primary aspect of the darklanders offense is that they have both a slower and a berserker but it isn't the only thing going for them. They tend to have plenty of cheap damage dealing potential from their tribesmen and hurlers (when they get the backstab) and a decent harrasser with poison in the viper. That being said much of their play revolves around protecting their their two expensive units from melee foes at day. Darklander units tend to be on the somewhat fragile side outside of forests.

Included in the era but not apart of the core set are a number of factions based on other nations in the world. These factions have received much less testing/polishing than the first four and do not have custom art yet. These factions are considerably more likely to have major changes done to them than the rest.

Dalefolk: A purely neutral faction who favors mountainous terrain.

The people the Dalefolk were based on have historically been neutral as they've never wanted to attack anyone and no-ones has ever successfully attacked them. However as the other significant culture in the area I thought it would be appropriate for them to have a faction. A mountain range splits the continent in half and in the dells between the great peaks live a grey-skinned people. Known outside mainly for their inventions and magicians most of them are actually simple miners, herdsmen, and craftsmen. Living near the tops of the mountains has given them a resistance to cold that none of the other peoples can comprehend.

The Dalefolk generally need to spend time on defense until they can gather all their tools however once every unit on the faction is available they have a very cohesive and effective force both for offense and defense. Their offense is generally quite reliant on melee damage but they can weaken enemies at a distance with poison.

Pygmies: A purely chaotic faction that fights well in forests/swamps.

The Pygmies are a strange small people who live in a remote swampy jungle. They generally leave everyone else alone but on the occasions when outsiders have fought them the tactics they have defended themselves with (and presumably the ones they use on each other) are bizarre to the extreme. Poison is omnipresent to their style of conflict and a number of unpleasant magics and beasts seem to be at their disposal.

With the exception of the level 0 knat, pygmies tend to be a bit expensive but the prevalence of the knat still allows them to swarm. Pygmies are a highly mobile faction and though their hp tends to be low, they do not die as quickly as you might expect due to a combination of high defenses and special abilities. They have much more access to ranged firepower than melee.

Whites: A somewhat chaotic faction which fights well in rough terrain.

The whites do not live on the same continent as the rest and at this point in history have had absolutely no contact with them. In the future they will fall into much the same role as the native americans did to the europeans (though before the onset of gunpowder) so I decided to include them anyway. Their culture could be described as a mix between that of the east cost native americans and the norse. They have metal working though they are unskilled with it.

Their units tend to be a bit expensive for their cost outside of hills/forests. A relatively mobile faction and home to the most self-contradicting unit I have ever devised, a steadfast berserking unit as strong at a distance as in melee(though not really very strong at either). Most of the very aggressive units are chaotic, most of the more defensive units are neutral.

Freemen: A lawful faction which gets bonuses on sand and penalties in forests.

The freemen are named after the nomadic tribes who wander the arid wastelands but there are infact many of them that are urbanized. Small city states ruled by petty nobility. Their land is rich in metals precious and useful but low on food and water. The men of this land are noted seeming to enjoy (or at least be proud of) their harsh laws and lifestyle. A more benign power than the aristocrats which binds the people together is the church which has great influence over the common people and helps ensure that no matter what or why war breaks out, the effects are minimized as much as possible.

The closest thing this faction has to a basic melee unit is a bit expensive for the role but does sport an alternate piercing backstab attack which makes it extra dangerous on offense. The units in the faction tend to be durable though not overly mobile or damage dealing. Features another recruitable level 2 beast this time the mighty roc who is both mobile and damage dealing but quite vulnerable for it's very high cost of 30 gold.

I feel like the freemen are missing something though I am not sure what. I do not want to give them a lot more in the way of strait up damage or mobility but I feel there must be something else that would be fitting. If you have any suggestions feel free to post them.
Last edited by Velensk on February 14th, 2011, 2:16 pm, edited 3 times in total.
"There are two kinds of old men in the world. The kind who didn't go to war and who say that they should have lived fast died young and left a handsome corpse and the old men who did go to war and who say that there is no such thing as a handsome corpse."
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sur.nhm
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Re: Era of Four Moons

Post by sur.nhm »

Velensk wrote: The Era of Four Moons is an era based on the world created by the author L. Shelby the art is done by her.
Whoops! Copyright issues?
I'm not really around any more, but you can find me in TvTropes.
Velensk
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Re: Era of Four Moons

Post by Velensk »

None, the serial numbers are filed off and no names are stolen. The author herself is definitely aware of the project (like I said, she did the art), however no copyright material is on the server.
"There are two kinds of old men in the world. The kind who didn't go to war and who say that they should have lived fast died young and left a handsome corpse and the old men who did go to war and who say that there is no such thing as a handsome corpse."
Velensk
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Re: Era of Four Moons

Post by Velensk »

Updated recently.

New unit for the sea states (based on the vessels used during the Battle of Caishi)
Numerous balance tweaks
Factions now have a distinct race
Some bug fixes in general and related to the hex special
"There are two kinds of old men in the world. The kind who didn't go to war and who say that they should have lived fast died young and left a handsome corpse and the old men who did go to war and who say that there is no such thing as a handsome corpse."
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Zerovirus
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Re: Era of Four Moons

Post by Zerovirus »

One question- why and how are ships moving around on dry land?
Velensk
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Re: Era of Four Moons

Post by Velensk »

The same way ships have always been moved over land. They are hauled; presumably by the invisible crew, like the ones that man and drag the ballista.

As for why, it is because simply too many maps have the castles separated from the bodies of water by land. All mainline aquatic units can struggle over land thus mainline maps are designed with that in mind. It would be a problem for navel units to not be useable because of one hex of land thus they can move over land.
"There are two kinds of old men in the world. The kind who didn't go to war and who say that they should have lived fast died young and left a handsome corpse and the old men who did go to war and who say that there is no such thing as a handsome corpse."
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wesfreak
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Re: Era of Four Moons

Post by wesfreak »

The beastman's (lvl 2 shifters) bear form is a bit overpowered, dealing 13-3 melee (total 39). Most lvl 2 units do about 30 or 32 damage. Beavers are also a bit too strong, since they let the shifter do good damage and have 60% defense on river ford. They also do as much damage as a land unit, and swimmers are normally a bit weaker than walking units.

Also: darklander canoes are mechanical and have no traits, which doesn't make sense, since attackers would be aiming for the person, not the canoe, with their attacks, and the person could be poisoned.
Velensk
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Re: Era of Four Moons

Post by Velensk »

The beastman is a darklander unit and it's level two form is the beast skull. I think you mean the wilderman.

I am not at all worried by the fact that some of the shifter/wilderman forms are stronger than their counterparts. If I make a level 3 form I might nerf some of them somewhat but as it is I am quite content for them to be that strong due to the quirks of the unit and faction. I will probably increase the xp requirements of the shifter next patch though.

The cannoe seems like a valid point.

For future reference, do not post in this thread saying 'x unit is overpowered/underpowered' and leave a quick reference to other units stats as evidence. I am already fairly aware of how relatively strong all the units are and will generally want evidence that is a bit stronger to convince me that it is a problem. If you want my reasoning for making certain units as strong/weak as they are, ask me and I'll explain.

In the case of the beaver form it is the cost of the shifter. You could use the shifter as a dedicated water unit if you wanted (would be a waste of potential but you could) and for 18 gold you would still be getting a unit slightly under par for the cost even with the decent toughness and melee unit level attack (keep in mind most mainline water units cost 4 gold less). On the other hand being quite versitile you could quite easilly using it amphibiously making well worth it's cost as a water unit. On the land, none of it's forms are 'bad' per say (except possibly the wolf but that form rarely comes up) however two of them must charge which can be a downside at times. Bear form is obviously the best all around however you can only remain a bear if you can remain in the forests. The unit as a whole is supposed to be a major strength unit for the faction and versitile enough to play the roles of aquatic unit, charger, and melee wall depending on terrain however its weakness are that it cannot completely control what form it takes (if it wants to fight the enemy it must step onto a peice of terrain next to the enemy), it cannot defend villages/castles very well, and it is relatively expensive.
From the perspective of campaigns they seem like a unit that could be very fun to play around with from the designers point of view however their lack of level 3 will make it so that they can never quite become as elite as other units may even though they are rather strong for a level 2. They might still be useful just due to their power/verstility/upkeep and this is desired. Same deal for survivals; as it cannot reach level 3 even its strongest form won't match up to alternative choices however it is versitile enough that it might be an option anyway. The problem that you seem to be complaining about arises when one of these things levels in multiplayer. I can see how that could be a big problem considering how easy it is to level that type of unit and how strong the level 2 form is however I do not think that simply making it weaker to compare better to the 'standard' level 2 for each of its roles is the way to fix this nor is as thematically appealing. I think that it would be better to simply make this harder to achieve. I do not think that this would negitively affect campaigns/scenarios all that much considering how much experiance points those tend to hand out. It is still possible that a player (in MP) will get wildermen and all the strength that comes with them after I make it requrire another kill+ however at that point, they may be entitled to that strength.
"There are two kinds of old men in the world. The kind who didn't go to war and who say that they should have lived fast died young and left a handsome corpse and the old men who did go to war and who say that there is no such thing as a handsome corpse."
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Re: Era of Four Moons

Post by bigkahuna »

I just thought I'd ask for courtesy's sake,

Can I use your ballista in my campaign? I would like to use it as a siege weapon; there is an extreme lack of those in Wesnoth :lol2:
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Velensk
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Re: Era of Four Moons

Post by Velensk »

Go ahead.
"There are two kinds of old men in the world. The kind who didn't go to war and who say that they should have lived fast died young and left a handsome corpse and the old men who did go to war and who say that there is no such thing as a handsome corpse."
Velensk
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Re: Era of Four Moons

Post by Velensk »

Just announcing a new version with a few new animations and several significant balancing changes. Also announcing that I am working on another campaign for EFM this one aimed to be more of a real challenge.

Some of the most significant balancing changes.

Ballista moved to the imperialist faction, now lawful and costs 19.
Hardback: cost ->18(-1) hp ->35(-2) damage->8-2(from 9-2) xp->48(+6) Leveled up forms made significantly easier to kill.
Slinger: melee attack ->5-2(from 4-2), ranged attack ->5-3(from 8-2)
Velite Hp->44(-6)

Regimenteer cost->14(-1) hp->36(-1)
HorseArcher cost->18(-1) hp->33(-1) melee damage->3-3(from 4-3)

Darklander Cannoe is now not mechanical

Dalefolk Shifter has been generally nerfed in particular the bear form.

EDIT: Galleys/Paddlewheels have been made even more vulnerable on land.
"There are two kinds of old men in the world. The kind who didn't go to war and who say that they should have lived fast died young and left a handsome corpse and the old men who did go to war and who say that there is no such thing as a handsome corpse."
Velensk
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Re: Era of Four Moons

Post by Velensk »

Fairly soon I will be releasing a new version to fix a couple of the mistakes I made updating it last time.

I have made a couple new factions based on other cultures in different parts of the world. No custom art is done for them or will likely be done for quite some time. I can include them with the main era if anyone expresses interest in trying them out to see how they play and start balancing but if no one expresses interest I'll keep them off the air until some polishing can be done to them.
"There are two kinds of old men in the world. The kind who didn't go to war and who say that they should have lived fast died young and left a handsome corpse and the old men who did go to war and who say that there is no such thing as a handsome corpse."
Velensk
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Re: Era of Four Moons

Post by Velensk »

New version is out. The balancing changes to existing factions was mostly minor however, there are now three more factions that can be added into the mix with the EoFM Extended option. These factions do not have custom art (and like I mentioned before, likely will not have them for some time) and are unpolished and tested in terms of balance but are available if you want to see the rest of factions that are in the works (the 8 now in existence cover all the major cultures in the world). It is entirely possible that new units will be added to these factions when I get a better feel for them through testing.

The new factions are:

The Pygmies: A very odd faction with no real basic melee unit. Units tend to be fragile and elusive (especially in forest). Almost every unit have the self heal ability (like darklander viper) and at high levels poison is everywhere. Low Damage per unit but swarming tendancies and related abilities and poison.

The Whites: Vaguely celt inspired faction. Moves well through most terrains though no defense bonuses. Possesses a strong magical attacker and an extraordinarily odd berserker.

The Freemen: Vaguely arabian inspired faction that fights/moves well in the desert. Their basic melee unit is intentionally overpriced though I may tone it down later (has a secondary backstab attack). Can produce large numbers of cheap elusive units roughly as durable as a footpad though not as damaging or fast to provide ZoC. Has a recruitable level 2 who is mainly intended to be thematic and provide water control (though in a very awkward way). Might occasionally be worth purchasing at other times too but I'd have to test more. This faction feels like it could use another unit though I'm not quite sure what that unit is.
"There are two kinds of old men in the world. The kind who didn't go to war and who say that they should have lived fast died young and left a handsome corpse and the old men who did go to war and who say that there is no such thing as a handsome corpse."
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Araja
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Re: Era of Four Moons

Post by Araja »

Very interesting faction, I never quite manage to find a use for it but it always captures my imagination and I come back to it. :)

Anyway, there are a couple of bugs in the new Freemen faction: the Zunbooruch can advance into itself instead of using "null", and the Caliph has the wrong unit name:

Code: Select all

id=EFM_Caliph
    name= _ "Amir"
Velensk
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Re: Era of Four Moons

Post by Velensk »

Thanks both for the compliment and the corrections.

I've reuploaded it with those corrections.

EDIT: Yet another bug fix that will correct the dalefolk not loading properly has been uploaded. If you want to solve it yourself you can simply remove the inexplicable '(ext)' which appeared on the end of the Dalefolk unit folder.
"There are two kinds of old men in the world. The kind who didn't go to war and who say that they should have lived fast died young and left a handsome corpse and the old men who did go to war and who say that there is no such thing as a handsome corpse."
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