Journey Into the Dwarven Roots (Campaign for 1.16.x)

[Lord-Knightmare]

add images for the first two scenarios..the Go-to symbol used in HttT is a great example but feels out-of-place. If anyone has suggestions I'd appreciate that.

People usually go with the goto icon or the signpost in core, but if you feel crafty...you can make some dwarven navigator marker?

[groggyfroggy]

Any updates?

[Ashmyr]

Any updates?

I kind of forgot about this project and got busy with life, but I will be trying to get ~2 scenarios out before Christmas. My schedule is kind of demanding now, but I should be able to free up some time.

[Ashmyr]

Update #2

I now have Troll Territory in progress. It should be finished by Wednesday; and if not that, within a week. I am waiting on some revisions to the dialogue and some friends will help me with my code.

In this update will also be included minor revisions to scenarios 2 and 3 for balance issues and ease of play, and I'm hoping to introduce some "non-linear difficulty elements", so parts of the scenario other than just gold and enemies get harder. I am considering some major revisions to scenario 4.

The new scenario will be a little text-heavy, but I have attempted to make the text more player-involving by reacting to the presence, or absence of Garug.

After this scenario will be "Liberation of Marne", which should be relatively easy to code.

I am also considering the campaign's title to be changed to something less generic, such as "Tunnels of Garhme", or "Liberation of Marne", lol.

I hope you all enjoy it, and let me know any thoughts/advice on the new scenario and the coming edits that you are willing to share.

Edit: Misspelled the name of my own Dwarvish Kingdom. Gnarme -> Garhme.
Edit: Apparently I had the renaming conversation on page 1 or 2 of this forum already, oops. It's been too long.

[Drizzt_DoUrden]

Like it overall, my two favorite things are the moral ambiguity/complexity and the dialog, the two things i disliked where how generic s3 felt and the seeming lack of passion in the characters dialog. I know i said I like the dialog, i do it just doesnt feel intense enough for situations like grave robbing,

Scenario 1 - no combat - quality dialog, but I was a little confused when the scout disappeared, his death was not obvious, although i may have missed one message. I really like that the king trusts the runesmith's judgement one going with the general. 9/10

Scenario 2 - here is where the ambiguity really jumps out at you with the bandits plundering their ancestral burial grounds. and the raising of some skeletons by the Runesmith hero/sidekick Arolmar. I like this part, but the fury of Arolmar is too understated. this scenario was very hard, I lost about 8 times or so. i never restarted from the beginning, but i dropped to 4 units including leaders and lost 2 level 2 units when i had 6 units left. 9/10


Scenario 3 - "Hunt spiders and tentacles in the caves to get from point A to point B and find one ally of a surprising race". nothing interesting happens in this scenario, where are the difficult choices or interesting discoveries? not much dialog in this one either. i dont mind it being laid back, but it needs some sort of complication or point of interest. I like the option to save the potential ally, and i am curious what his full storyline is, but it still feels like a pretty barren scenario 5/10

Scenario 4 - "Fight some fire beasties then help a some drakes protect their lava temple so you can get past their troll enemy" My first thought is why is it all rock throwers and wizards/shamans? where are the classic trolls? it made the trolls much easier to beat. Also this was a breeze on hard, i made many mistakes and wasnt punished except losing one Thunderguard. I like the idea of reluctant allies though, and i feel like the Dragons should re appear later in the campaign, and having the choice of whether to try to kill everyone vs ally with the drakes would be awesome, especially if the reappear, and what you chose effects their future hostility 6/10

I am really looking forward to the future of these characters, and if Garug is ever truly an ally and not just "Enemy of my enemy". I like the sound of Tunnels of Garhme

[GreenScarab]

So... Hello There!

What to say, I really like your overall idea of the story and placement of the campaign.

There is an mystery in it and potential for beign wonderful position in Wesnoth world.

I played it almost one year ago but seeing that it is somehow revieved i want to offer some help.

I can help in detailing maps to be more nice to play and watch, you can see my skills in a campaign of mine.

Also I am able to provide you an two portraits for your main Heroes, ofcourse if you would like it.

Here is an examples of what I could provide for Dulotmos, finished:

Spoiler:

And here is a sketch for Arolmar, already full painted I couldn't make a painted photo so I show sketch, waiting for inking.

Spoiler:

Lastly, I know that my style (you can clearly see it also in my campaign in the link below) is very different from what Wesnoth offer (cause I draw mostly hand draw style, and water paint), but maybe I will be able to help you.

[Ashmyr]

Like it overall, my two favorite things are the moral ambiguity/complexity and the dialog, the two things i disliked where how generic s3 felt and the seeming lack of passion in the characters dialog. I know i said I like the dialog, i do it just doesnt feel intense enough for situations like grave robbing,

I love moral ambiguity and I'm glad someone noticed. I have difficulty with dialogue, and I might go back revising a lot of it.

Scenario 1 - no combat - quality dialog, but I was a little confused when the scout disappeared, his death was not obvious, although i may have missed one message. I really like that the king trusts the runesmith's judgement one going with the general. 9/10

I suppose I could make it a little more obvious, but the death noise does play. I suppose someone could interpret that as him collapsing and not dying, though. I really wanted to create an interesting contrast between the "go-get-'em" Dulotmos, the patient and knowing Arolmar, and the wise King.

Scenario 2 - here is where the ambiguity really jumps out at you with the bandits plundering their ancestral burial grounds. and the raising of some skeletons by the Runesmith hero/sidekick Arolmar. I like this part, but the fury of Arolmar is too understated. this scenario was very hard, I lost about 8 times or so. i never restarted from the beginning, but i dropped to 4 units including leaders and lost 2 level 2 units when i had 6 units left. 9/10

I did not mean to make it so hard on HARD, since I don't playtest all difficulties (kind of gets tiring playing your own campaign over and over, ruins the fun, lol). If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears. I like that you liked the unique elements of the scenario.

Scenario 3 - "Hunt spiders and tentacles in the caves to get from point A to point B and find one ally of a surprising race". nothing interesting happens in this scenario, where are the difficult choices or interesting discoveries? not much dialog in this one either. i dont mind it being laid back, but it needs some sort of complication or point of interest. I like the option to save the potential ally, and i am curious what his full storyline is, but it still feels like a pretty barren scenario 5/10

I will likely develop this scenario later on, and I admit it is a bit of a weak-spot, but I have a few ideas to make it more interesting, and don't worry, I'm developing Garug soon, somewhat. He plays an important role in a new scenario.

Scenario 4 - "Fight some fire beasties then help a some drakes protect their lava temple so you can get past their troll enemy" My first thought is why is it all rock throwers and wizards/shamans? where are the classic trolls? it made the trolls much easier to beat. Also this was a breeze on hard, i made many mistakes and wasnt punished except losing one Thunderguard. I like the idea of reluctant allies though, and i feel like the Dragons should re appear later in the campaign, and having the choice of whether to try to kill everyone vs ally with the drakes would be awesome, especially if the reappear, and what you chose effects their future hostility 6/10

I think that choice would be great to implement later on, though I will be adding some justifications on why you side with the Drakes instead of being hit with a menu. I thought it would be cool to add an ally people wouldn't expect to find in caves.

I am really looking forward to the future of these characters, and if Garug is ever truly an ally and not just "Enemy of my enemy". I like the sound of Tunnels of Garhme

I might change the campaign to that in the next revision, but, funnily enough, it is rather close to "The Earth's Gut"'s acronym, another Dwarvish campaign, which went by the working name of "Dwarvish Kingdom" before it renamed, lol.

[Ashmyr]

So... Hello There!

What to say, I really like your overall idea of the story and placement of the campaign.

There is an mystery in it and potential for beign wonderful position in Wesnoth world.

I played it almost one year ago but seeing that it is somehow revieved i want to offer some help.

I can help in detailing maps to be more nice to play and watch, you can see my skills in a campaign of mine.

Also I am able to provide you an two portraits for your main Heroes, ofcourse if you would like it.

Here is an examples of what I could provide for Dulotmos, finished:

Spoiler:

dulotmos.png

And here is a sketch for Arolmar, already full painted I couldn't make a painted photo so I show sketch, waiting for inking as I went our from home.

Spoiler:

arolmar-preview.jpg

Lastly, I know that my style (you can clearly see it also in my campaign in the link below) is very different from what Wesnoth offer (cause I draw mostly hand draw style, and water paint), but maybe I will be able to help you.

I really like your style. Even if it isn't mainline-design, I would be glad to feature independent, unique artwork in the campaign. It would add a good sprinkle of uniqueness to the campaign, and I would be really interested in working this out with you. I cannot work with any 1.16 terrain yet, for complicated reasons, but I would be glad to have you onboard the campaign helping crew. If you are in the Wesnoth Discord, I'll be more easily able to contact you there and work this out, but if you only work on the forums, I understand, I can PM you some questions later.

[Ashmyr]

Hello! I apologize for the very long delay, and I tried my best to do an update as soon as I could after getting started again. I wanted to deliver on the promises I had made as soon as I could, but make it good quality.

The campaign should be going up about five to seven minutes after I make this post. If not, then by tomorrow.

Disclaimer, it's a big update and quite a bit has changed.

First of all, I wanted to make the main character more compelling, and I added "Journal Entries" between each scenario, and I wanted to add entries reacting to if you achieved optional objectives (Defeating the raider leader, saving Garug and keeping him alive, keeping the allied Drakes alive), but the [story] tag can't search your recall list (I suppose I could switch to variables, once I figure those out...), so I put some journal entries related to those at the beginning of each scenario. Some of these can be quite text-heavy and dense, but I tried to make the text realistic and interesting. I especially wanted to explore the ideas of nuance, prejudice, and moral ambiguity. While I imagine Dulotmos is a very intuitive character (leading to his very generic 'go here', 'do that' dialogue), I wanted to add a lot of his thoughts via the journal entries. I wanted to make the experience rewarding, to make the player feel like they are part of a story and actively adding to it with their decisions; expanding the world and what they know about it with exposition as a reward. This may be ambitious, though I am not one known for a lack of ambition.

I may have gone a little overboard, so I'm open to chopping a lot of the journal segments down, though I still want them to do their job and remain in some form, exploring interesting and specific elements of the world; elements typically not elaborated on that you would write about. I also wanted to explore Dulotmos's thoughts and intentions. I know Wesnoth campaigns typically don't go as deep as I did in exploring thoughts, intentions, and themes, so, I will put a disclaimer in the campaign description describing it can be text-heavy at times.

I added a new scenario, "Troll Domain" (Troll Territory in the files, last minute change), which explores the ideas I mentioned before; prejudice, nuance and moral ambiguity. It is text-heavy, which is a worry I have, especially if people did optional objectives to get more journal entries, though like I said before, I want players to feel like they are taking part in a story. The scenario changes depending on if you have Garug, so I recommend trying the scenario twice.

Again, if this is too much, I am open to the ideas of reduction or chopping down, but I hope those who are interested in that style of content will continue to stay, and I welcome all help.

An overview of other, minor changes:
Scenario 1
- Arolmar's HEALTHY trait has been switched for QUICK.
Scenario 2
- I believe I gave the player less gold?
- I decreased the amount of turns to make it harder and more like an intermediate campaign.
- I added the gohere label to where you need to go
- I nerfed the carryover from 60 to 40
- I changed the dialogue to clarify the priests maintain the mausoleums and memorials, since I know Mirion was confused about that
Scenario 3
- I changed the Dread Bat to a Blood Bat, I felt it was making the island *too* hard and it could take down level 1s way too easily. Maybe in the future I could re-add it on HARD?
- I decreased player gold.
- I nerfed the carryover from 40 to 60.
- I added the gohere label to where you need to go.
- I changed some dialogue to reflect Arolmar's position in the Kingdom and how he knows about so much.
- I changed the starting dialogue to not give away almost every enemy in the level right off the bat. I imagine some people will disagree with this choice, but there is the expedition hut that you encounter on Easy and Medium.
- I added a slider for Garug's health and XP
- I modified Garug's AI to be cautious
- I added dwarvish reactions to Garug joining the fray
- Added an extra hut on EASY
Scenario 4
- I changed some dialogue to provide exposition on the Drake enclave and their position.
- I made it so the player can obtain a loyal Drake Glider (cave movement is 2) if they save the allied Troll leader
- I buffed enemy gold
- I nerfed allied gold
- I gave the spawned units xp and health
Scenario 5
- Added minor accentation, which I might extend to other scenarios in the future. It's experimental.

Overall:
- Added proper punctuation (lots of semicolons and commas, fixed a few typos, ie, "Thank", lol)
- Added proper formatting and indenting to most files (WML Indent for the win! Thanks, Eric and Knyght). The scenarios LOOK straight in my file editor, but get screwy when I upload or copy and paste for some silly reason.
- Added journal entries between (and before, since I can't check the recall list during a slideshow) each scenario.

Again, this adds a lot of dialogue and makes the scenarios more dense and text-heavy. If you disagree with that, I'm all ears for suggestions; but I really wanted to add exposition and nuance to this world and explore the thoughts of the main character on subjects of prejudice and morals.

I hope you guys like this, and I hope the text doesn't end up to be TOO much, though I really enjoy building a world through detailed exposition; I know some people prefer fighting to reading, and I understand and will seek to balance that.

I will likely modify in the future:
- Scenario numbers (so Burial Ground is 01)
- Non-linear difficulty to Burial Ground
- An easter egg or reward or encounter to Feral Tunnels, since I feel that is a weak spot.

Edit:
Forgot to list another change, the extra hut on EASY.
Forgot to list another change, Arolmar's traits.

[GreenScarab]

I cannot work with any 1.16 terrain yet, for complicated reasons, but I would be glad to have you onboard the campaign helping crew.

I am happy to be able to help. I can easily work on 1.14, no problem.

If you are in the Wesnoth Discord, I'll be more easily able to contact you there and work this out, but if you only work on the forums, I understand, I can PM you some questions later.

I have an discord, if you have some questions then contact me there, it is way better than here. I am on Wesnoth server.

[Ashmyr]

Very minor update: I am breaking some textwalls up into multiple messages. I am also updating some maps.

Knyght is maintaining the 1.16 version. If that version is behind my 1.14 version, it is not because of me.

[Ashmyr]

Another update should come out soon; within a day.

This will improve a lot of dialouge, change the portraits of Dulotmos and Arolmar out, update the maps for Feral Tunnels and Tunnels of Flame, change the scenario numbers, and add 2 events to both Feral Tunnels and Tunnels of Flame.

After that, I will work on an update to implement variables, minimize and shrink some dialogue segments (maybe) and implement right click menus for more information.

Edit: I should probably fix the Mage sprites and description as well...

[Helmet]

I played scenarios 1 and 2 on Medium difficulty and enjoyed them. I especially liked the maps and how the tunnels separated and reconnected in interesting ways. The villages were well-placed, making healing during battles somewhat difficult but still possible, which I think is ideal. The turn countdown was good, too. Not too many turns, not too few.

It seems like you either did a lot of play-testing, or you are really good at estimating challenges in a scenario. Not once did I ever feel like I was doomed because the enemy was too powerful, and neither did I ever feel like the battles were easy. The battles felt like, if I was careless, I would lose, but if I was careful and strategic, I would probably triumph.

Great job.

[Helmet]

Dwarvish Kingdom is a work-in-progress campaign...

I beat the 3rd scenario. Like the other scenarios, it was a good challenge on a well-made, interesting map. I lost some tough units, and was worried that my Leader was going to get killed because I needed to put him on the front line, but I managed to crush the enemy in the end. Attached is the replay, if you're curious.

I'm looking forward the scenario 4.

In my opinion, it's super easy to make a scenario that's overly difficult, but it's super difficult to make it a scenario that's challenging and beat-able. You are really good at making scenarios that are challenging and beat-able. I hope you make more. I find a lot of campaigns too hard or too easy, but yours are "just right."

Spoiler:

Back in scenario 2, on the island, I was expecting a magic ring, haha. I had my volume muted at the time, so I didn't hear the gold sound, so I didn't know I had received gold. I only learned about the gold after I checked the wml code later to see what happened to the ring. It might be a helpful to the player if you included text about the gold, like maybe the creature could say, "No! My preciouses! You took my 30 gold coins!"

Also, for your information, I did not fight the boss spider. The regular spiders were tough, so by the time I saw the boss spider, I was like, uh, nope.

[Ashmyr]

Thanks for the reviews! I hope you like Scenario 4. I'm working on an update, it'll fix a lot of the dialogue, upload three new scenarios (One is a cutscene), and fix unit balance as well. I'm glad to hear you found my campaign to be within the "Goldilocks Zone", and the various challenges to be fun and not tedious!