Leafsea Burning (1.16)

[Spannerbag]

Feedback and comments thread for Leafsea Burning on BfW v1.16.
Please feel free to post suggestions, bugs, comments etc. here.

I hope you enjoy playing my campaign.

Cheers!
-- Spannerbag

[white_haired_uncle]

S3: as fas as possible

Woodhale: +10 to offensive ranged attack (well, sort of)

error config: Error while loading the map: Unknown tile in map: (Wwf^Soys) 'Wwf^Soys' # 1.16.10, FWIW

[Spannerbag]

S3: as fas as possible...

Are you actually enjoying the campaign so far, or not?
What difficulty are you playing on BTW?

error config: Error while loading the map: Unknown tile in map: (Wwf^Soys) 'Wwf^Soys' # 1.16.10, FWIW

Yeah, that error crops up in the logs. It's a custom terrain thing. My understanding (based on what people cleverer than me have said) is that the game doesn't know what to do about that terrain on the minimap. It doesn't seem to impact gameplay. If I knew how to fix it I would

Cheers!
-- Spannerbag

[white_haired_uncle]

I'm playing on easy, since no one ever tests that, and I'm more interested in custom units/etc than anything else.

S4 was an interesting ride. First I was worried that I had not positioned correctly initially, and wouldn't be able to fix it with the horde up in my face. Then I wanted to recruit as many units as possible (elite, of course), but worried that I'd be too packed in to rotate and heal. Then it was really fun for awhile, up until about the death of the first orc leader (I went clockwise). Getting to/through the second orc leader was pretty brutal, and I'm concerned about the units I lost. At this point, it was very close to getting extremely tedious but recovered. FWIW, the tide played only a minor part (barely noticed it after the first couple minutes) as there were too many other things going on. Oh, and maybe cut down on the number of times I need to click to acknowledge a tide effect on a unit, after the first few I'd prefer just to let them say something, wait a second or two, then move on.

Spoiler:

The hint about not killing the necro was unnecessary in my case, since I only advanced clockwise and never got the chance anyway. But I hope it only showed up because I was playing on easy.

Then, as I was skipping through the blah, blah, blah, more blah, blah, will you shut up already, blah, blah at the beginning of S5, before I could stop myself I clicked right past the info about units. I only saw enough to know I wish I had read it. How about a menu item to review important stuff? Even if I had paid attention, I might not remember tomorrow(?) when I come back to play again.

[Spannerbag]

...Oh, and maybe cut down on the number of times I need to click to acknowledge a tide effect on a unit, after the first few I'd prefer just to let them say something, wait a second or two, then move on.

OK, can do something about that, thanks.
+ Added to todo list.

Then, as I was skipping through the blah, blah, blah, more blah, blah, will you shut up already, blah, blah at the beginning of S5, before I could stop myself I clicked right past the info about units. I only saw enough to know I wish I had read it. How about a menu item to review important stuff? Even if I had paid attention, I might not remember tomorrow(?) when I come back to play again.

Yeah, I wish I could think of a way to compress the explanation but I feel it's needed so the player knows what's going on.
I suppose I could add a note in objectives?
Would that work, or would you prefer a context menu item?
(I find as a player I often forget they're there - but maybe that's just my awful memory...)

Query:

Spoiler:

How did you find the necro's lengthy bit of plot exposition towards the end of S4 (Treachery)?
Have you any suggestions as to how I could trim the necro's rather lengthy speech -or is it OK as is?
FWIW I had two narrative tracks for this campaign depending on how the canon is interpreted.
The other narrative is I feel a bit better dialogue-wise but this narrative IMHO fits better with implications regarding the capabilities of various races made in The Rise of Wesnoth.

Cheers!
-- Spannerbag

[white_haired_uncle]

If the explanation is lengthy, I'd make it a menu item. A reminder in the objectives to check the menu item?

Can't address dialog, I don't read it.

[Spannerbag]

If the explanation is lengthy, I'd make it a menu item. A reminder in the objectives to check the menu item?

Good idea.
+ Added to todo list.

Can't address dialog, I don't read it.

Well, hopefully the later scenarios will still make sense

Have adjusted drowning so dialogue is always a [message] for player units but for ai units only first unit issues a[message] and thereafter is [floating_text] in ai unit's side colour.
Will test this - probably later this week after implementing other todos as well - and see how it works in-game.

Cheers!
-- Spannerbag

[white_haired_uncle]

Is this because I'm on 1.16 not 1.17...

spartan$ locate miner.png | grep -v timeshift
/opt/wesnoth-1.17/share/wesnoth/data/core/images/units/dwarves/miner.png
/opt/wesnoth-1.17-git/share/wesnoth/data/core/images/units/dwarves/miner.png
/usr/local/share/wesnoth/data/campaigns/Sceptre_of_Fire/images/units/dwarves/miner.png
/usr/local/share/wesnoth/data/campaigns/Secrets_of_the_Ancients/images/units/dwarves/miner.png
/usr/share/games/wesnoth/1.16/data/campaigns/Sceptre_of_Fire/images/units/dwarves/miner.png
/usr/share/games/wesnoth/1.16/data/campaigns/Secrets_of_the_Ancients/images/units/dwarves/miner.png

[Spannerbag]

Screenshot_2024-01-19_09-21-54.png

Is this because I'm on 1.16 not 1.17...

spartan$ locate miner.png | grep -v timeshift
/opt/wesnoth-1.17/share/wesnoth/data/core/images/units/dwarves/miner.png
/opt/wesnoth-1.17-git/share/wesnoth/data/core/images/units/dwarves/miner.png
/usr/local/share/wesnoth/data/campaigns/Sceptre_of_Fire/images/units/dwarves/miner.png
/usr/local/share/wesnoth/data/campaigns/Secrets_of_the_Ancients/images/units/dwarves/miner.png
/usr/share/games/wesnoth/1.16/data/campaigns/Sceptre_of_Fire/images/units/dwarves/miner.png
/usr/share/games/wesnoth/1.16/data/campaigns/Secrets_of_the_Ancients/images/units/dwarves/miner.png

Aw damnit!!!
I know what's happened, yes it's using the v1.17 media.
I tested the thing to death (both versions) and it was fine let's just say I had a few niggles with _server.pbl on 1.16 and in my haste when I saved earlier versions I mucked up the source version
I suspect some undead might be broken too...
I'll issue an update soon, trouble is I'm halfway through other fixes so I'll have to rollback those first.

Thanks for pointing this out, very annoyed with myself...

Cheers!
-- Spannerbag

[Spannerbag]

Updated to v1.1.1
Rush job to fix missing media but in haste managed to avoid tidying up properly hence the multiple updates.
Current to dos:
- Add menu item listing significant details for a scenario.

Cheers!
-- Spannerbag

[white_haired_uncle]

S08b: Survive? AGAIN? At least it turned out to be nothing but training for my berzerker (with a healer standing next to him).

S08b: Hew says his name is "Hew". For a dwarf, that's kind of short.

S09: Most of the civilians advanced fighting the wolves. I wonder if you take this into account in the objectives.

S10: Unknown unit type Skeleton Rider.

[bradleytr]

Thanks for information

[white_haired_uncle]

20240120 14:06:45 error display: could not open image 'units/elves-wood/fighter/fighter.png'
20240120 14:06:46 error display: could not open image 'units/elves-wood/fighter/fighter-se-run1.png'
20240120 14:06:46 error display: could not open image 'units/elves-wood/fighter/fighter-se-run7.png'
20240120 14:06:46 error display: could not open image 'units/elves-wood/fighter/fighter-melee-1.png'
20240120 14:06:46 error display: could not open image 'units/elves-wood/fighter/fighter-melee-4.png'
20240120 14:06:46 error display: could not open image 'units/elves-wood/fighter/fighter-defend2.png'

I'm confused. In my recall list, some units say "elite", and some don't but have a special icon thingy.

Final dwarf battle: Not much of a fight at all

Spoiler:

Let them fight several rounds until I had an opening, whacked the NW hero with my way-too-powerful drake, right about the same time as the other hero was killed (is the orc vs orc battle supposed to be so one-sided? seemed like the NW hero was stronger, and the undead focused on the SW team).

Final elf battle: A challenge worthy of a final battle IMO. Not too hard, not too soft, just right.

Overall: A lot of fun. Maybe packed a little too much into each scenario (units/AMLAs, tides, non-standard objectives, etc). I kind of feel like I went on a vacation and saw everything and did everything, but it took every last minute and I never took any time to just chill.

[Spannerbag]

Edit: Decided to remove this add-on for now, get it properly fixed and tested then re-publish.

S08b: Survive? AGAIN? At least it turned out to be nothing but training for my berzerker (with a healer standing next to him).

S08b: Hew says his name is "Hew". For a dwarf, that's kind of short.

S09: Most of the civilians advanced fighting the wolves. I wonder if you take this into account in the objectives.

S10: Unknown unit type Skeleton Rider.

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated.

S08b: Ah... I'd hoped that there was enough variation between the scenarios so that the gameplay would remain engaging.
Apparently not
Heh, when I tried to use the 'zerk it got killed in short order.
Hew... mmm... I'll have a think but TBH that ain't a priority just now - any suggestions?

S09:

Spoiler:

The opening is very random but the logic should ensure that there are a decent number of civs around when Hew arrives.
Did you have only a few civs?
And if so did they mostly advance/die after Hew arrived?

S10: should be fixed, thanks.

Re. your second post:

20240120 14:06:45 error display: could not open image 'units/elves-wood/fighter/fighter.png'
20240120 14:06:46 error display: could not open image 'units/elves-wood/fighter/fighter-se-run1.png'
20240120 14:06:46 error display: could not open image 'units/elves-wood/fighter/fighter-se-run7.png'
20240120 14:06:46 error display: could not open image 'units/elves-wood/fighter/fighter-melee-1.png'
20240120 14:06:46 error display: could not open image 'units/elves-wood/fighter/fighter-melee-4.png'
20240120 14:06:46 error display: could not open image 'units/elves-wood/fighter/fighter-defend2.png'

Weird, can't find any reference to these strings in any of the v16 campaign .cfg files.
Will have to play through from start to replicate.

I'm confused. In my recall list, some units say "elite", and some don't but have a special icon thingy.

Understandable, recruited units are the same as regulars (except for the elite icon) until they reach maximum level and become "Elite...".
I would guess that those units with the icon but not the "Elite" title are lower than maximum level for their type?

Final dwarf battle: Not much of a fight at all

Spoiler:

Let them fight several rounds until I had an opening, whacked the NW hero with my way-too-powerful drake, right about the same time as the other hero was killed (is the orc vs orc battle supposed to be so one-sided? seemed like the NW hero was stronger, and the undead focused on the SW team).

Do you think the player choice adds anything to gameplay?
I'd appreciate any suggestions as to how to make this scenario more enjoyable.

Spoiler:

I agree that I probably should tone down the drake
Yeah, gold allocation varies depending on player choice, one does make the undead commander much stronger.
Removing player choice re. whether to "ally" with Haag or not would make balancing a lot easier!
I was thinking that having both groups turn on the player would be, probably, a more natural orcish response and it would also make the scenario a lot tougher as everything piles toward the player straight away...

Final elf battle: A challenge worthy of a final battle IMO. Not too hard, not too soft, just right.

Phew, got something more or less right anyway

Backporting from 1.17 has proven to be a mistake, I messed up the source repository and copied over some code I shouldn't so the v16 code is now broken.

Thanks ever so much for the feedback, sorry that you found so many bugs and issues.

Cheers!
-- Spannerbag

[white_haired_uncle]

The image errors occur in Slaughter. It looks like playing easy may help. Elvish Fighter Ghost. See also units/undead.cfg.

Hew's name: I think he's supposed to say something like, "Hew, son of Dulthalios, who forged the Silver Spork when...". I just remember Lethalia got chewed out for not saying her name right when she was introduced to a dwarf.

Check out the attached. I can recall an elvish archer who is probably "elite" (I pretty much ONLY recruited the special ones, and he has an icon), or I can recruit one that has elite in the name. Since their unit type names are different, there must be something different about them, right?

S09: Working from memory here... The civies advanced pretty early. When they left for the east, I want to say there were like 8 of them (and a handful of advanced units) and I had to get 6(?) to the border. Anyway, I just remember that if only 2 or 3 more had advanced I wouldn't have 6(?) to complete the scenario. Hmm, was that the scenario where they were recruited/recalled with "random" XP (IDK, perhaps these were recalls from an earlier scenario, I just remember they came out with XP, but not the same every time) -- maybe they advance too easy?

Spoiler:

I was pretty sure the orcs would turn on me. I was warned to stay out of it. Other than defending myself from the units coming up along the river, I avoided the orcs until the one was nearly dead and the other was undefended. I almost abandoned my castle just to avoid any conflict with the orcs. That would have pushed me toward the undead.

I also wonder if the orcs should not have turned on me since I was just hanging back and not engaging the undead. I wasn't paying much attention, but fighting the undead was kind of part of the deal wasn't it?

Surprised you pulled the campaign, it's totally playable as is.