The Bees Journey - 1.18 Campaign

[KameRamen]

This topic is the place to discuss "The Bees Journey" an add-on campaign in the process of development.
The original of this work was released in December 2022 and the "New Edition" in January 2024. The download is available in game versions 1.16 or 1.18.

With the official release of 1.18, updates with 1.16 will be discontinued. This is to simplify administration. Please migrate as soon as possible.

Major changes in the New Edition

The 20 scenarios will be reduced to 12-14. In addition, some character names have been changed, and all dialogue and text has been rewritten. The most significant change is the change in unit specifications. Units that were employed on an experimental basis and more closely resemble real insects were standardized.

The development of the New Edition originally began with the author's dissatisfaction with the storyline. The campaign was released as the new add-on in 1.16 to avoid player confusion; on the 1.18 server, it does not bear the name of the New Edition.

I invite you to share your feedback with me. The content can be related to anything, but I am especially looking forward to the units and the gameplay aspect. Please give me your suggestions to improve the story as well. But you do not have to put too much effort into it. It is only if you have the time.

Screenshots

S5 - Arrival at Lagos Island at 1.16

S4 - At the Port at 1.16

Trailers

• New Edition Official Trailer - English

• New Edition Official Trailer - Japanese

Previous Threads Materials

• The Bees Journey

• The Bees Journey [Version 1.3.0]

Looking back, it has been more than one year since I started developing this series. It is because of everyone's feedback and words of encouragement that I have managed to continue creating until now. I would like to express my gratitude for that

[Atreides]

S1 played. I noted that Noaille started talking mid scen without it making much sense about some operation. May have been triggered by first killed Hornet. Missing some dialogue? Also a lot of sounds are missing for attacks and death, etc. Bees have no die sound, Hornets no attack sound for one of their attacks. Also speaking of sounds it'd be nice if they had some custom bee sounds, would really add a lot. Oh and for the S1 intro narration there is a has where there should have been a had.
Otherwise still really nice. Been long enough since last time that I'd actually forgotten what happened when I last played. : )

[KameRamen]

Hello. It has been a while!

I noted that Noaille started talking mid scen without it making much sense about some operation.

I included the scene between Noaille and Marie with the intention of warning the player of the enemy reinforcements (turn 5 end.) It is true that the word "operation" may be difficult to understand. I will revise as soon as I come up with an idea.

Also a lot of sounds are missing for attacks and death, etc. Bees have no die sound, Hornets no attack sound for one of their attacks.

Was it completely silent? Sound is working properly on the development environment side...

Oh and for the S1 intro narration there is a has where there should have been a had.

I corrected it as soon as possible. It is a very difficult part to notice, so this is very helpful.

Thanks for the first feedback. I am honored to have you back again.
As an additional note, S5 has only been completed for a short period of time, so there are many inadequate parts in particular. I am still in the process of revising it, so I would appreciate your feedback

[Atreides]

Hello. It has been a while!

I noted that Noaille started talking mid scen without it making much sense about some operation.

I included the scene between Noaille and Marie with the intention of warning the player of the enemy reinforcements (turn 5 end.) It is true that the word "operation" may be difficult to understand. I will revise as soon as I come up with an idea.

Also a lot of sounds are missing for attacks and death, etc. Bees have no die sound, Hornets no attack sound for one of their attacks.

Was it completely silent? Sound is working properly on the development environment side...

Oh and for the S1 intro narration there is a has where there should have been a had.

I corrected it as soon as possible. It is a very difficult part to notice, so this is very helpful.

Thanks for the first feedback. I am honored to have you back again.
As an additional note, S5 has only been completed for a short period of time, so there are many inadequate parts in particular. I am still in the process of revising it, so I would appreciate your feedback ;)

Oh that was a warning, yeah it really didn't come across like that at all. "They can afford it." doesn't seem to relate to anything. We don't know what "it" is.
I could suggest something like "They have a lot of hornets, many more hornets than are attacking us now. Maybe the rest are planning some sort of special operation."

Some sounds are there, others are silent. I just had a peek into the units and bees do have a die sound, it might just be that it is quieter than the saurian hiss die others have. The hornets though all are missing the fangs MISS sound. This sounds strange when all their attacks miss (common when the bees have 80% def in woods) since it is competely silent then.

I shall embark on S2 now. This one I _do_ remember from last time. Free the caged unit! : ) Always fun to get new units in a fight.

S2 done. (I am using a "cheat" addon called no turn limit so I was not sure if it would cause trouble but luckily it did end after T12)
Interesting to note that the bees and drones have little chance in combat vs the nagas but the balling works fine.

At the start of S3 (not played yet just saw the intro dialogue) I noticed a big problem with the Merman's speech. He should be saying "(These) S/swamps are for (us) mermen!" Also sad that the enemy could not be bribed with honey! ; ) Hmmm maybe you can add something about him saying "Hey I'm undead, I don't want your lousy honey." but that would make the line about them not listening irrelevant though.

[KameRamen]

I could suggest something like "They have a lot of hornets, many more hornets than are attacking us now. Maybe the rest are planning some sort of special operation."

There seems to have been problem with the translation. I will adopt that dialog.

The hornets though all are missing the fangs MISS sound. This sounds strange when all their attacks miss (common when the bees have 80% def in woods) since it is competely silent then.

I added the MISS sound to the hornets fangs. It seems I have been neglecting this bug for over one year

At the start of S3 (not played yet just saw the intro dialogue) I noticed a big problem with the Merman's speech. He should be saying "(These) S/swamps are for (us) mermen!"

I will adopt that dialog. Thank you very much.

Also sad that the enemy could not be bribed with honey! ; ) Hmmm maybe you can add something about him saying "Hey I'm undead, I don't want your lousy honey." but that would make the line about them not listening irrelevant though.

I see. They certainly don't need to eat honey because they are undead I think I can still find room for enhancement in this area of the scene as well.

Many thanks for the detailed report!

[Atreides]

The hornets though all are missing the fangs MISS sound. This sounds strange when all their attacks miss (common when the bees have 80% def in woods) since it is competely silent then.

I added the MISS sound to the hornets fangs. It seems I have been neglecting this bug for over one year :oops:

Hehe, I think I noticed it back then also but forgot to mention it. Good to _hear_ it will be fixed.

[Atreides]

S3 done. Whew, that was a tricky one. No bugs/typos to report other than maybe writing "the Lagos Island" would be better as "Lagos Island". Since Lagos is presumably its name it should not have a "the" in front except for cases where you want to indicate that it is somehow the most famous island in the world. The actually is short for something like the great or the magnificent, etc. when used like that.

And next S4... coddling that undead who just must have a boat... : ) I'd tell him to take a long walk on a short pier. Well... I would if he wasn't level 3. Not that he'd drown anyways...

S4 is as far as I got in the old version. I won but when I tried recently to resume it with S5 it told me it could not find the scenario. Reason was I had the original old version! The one that you updated must have changed stuff. Anyways, none of that matters anymore since this one will be replacing that. By the way, glad to hear that it was shortened from 20 to 12. HttT is very long and I am still working on my original 1.12 first run on that.

[KameRamen]

S3 done. Whew, that was a tricky one. No bugs/typos to report other than maybe writing "the Lagos Island" would be better as "Lagos Island". Since Lagos is presumably its name it should not have a "the" in front except for cases where you want to indicate that it is somehow the most famous island in the world. The actually is short for something like the great or the magnificent, etc. when used like that.

Thanks for playing, I'll try to fix that after I also check what Lagos. There is no concept corresponding to "the" in Japanese, so it is quite easy to make a mistake.

And next S4... coddling that undead who just must have a boat... : ) I'd tell him to take a long walk on a short pier. Well... I would if he wasn't level 3. Not that he'd drown anyways...

He will be useful in the future

S4 is as far as I got in the old version. I won but when I tried recently to resume it with S5 it told me it could not find the scenario. Reason was I had the original old version! The one that you updated must have changed stuff. Anyways, none of that matters anymore since this one will be replacing that. By the way, glad to hear that it was shortened from 20 to 12. HttT is very long and I am still working on my original 1.12 first run on that.

I think it was due to various modifications The reason for designating this release as the new add-on is also to avoid that confusion.

New version 23.11.25 is attached at the top. I have implemented almost all of the ideas and other things that have come up so far. There are also significant map changes in S5.
Please update if you like. The compatibility is maintained, so you can continue playing the game.

EDIT: I tested S5 again and it seems slightly too difficult... I am currently in the process of adjusting the map and gold.

[Atreides]

S4 done. Tried to keep the bone man away from the woses which worked. They beat up the undead side easily. Threaded "skinny" through the eye of the needle and he got to his boat on time. Now have a King and Queen bee. Nice.

S5. Noticed a small thing with the dialogue, it should probably be "a rough place" (missing the a), otherwise fine. Haven't started S5 yet, looks tough. I think this is the first scen where you must kill all the enemy.

Using the 23.11.25 update

[KameRamen]

S4 done. Tried to keep the bone man away from the woses which worked. They beat up the undead side easily. Threaded "skinny" through the eye of the needle and he got to his boat on time. Now have a King and Queen bee. Nice.

Nice strategy! I'm glad to see that your level up is going well.

S5. Noticed a small thing with the dialogue, it should probably be "a rough place" (missing the a), otherwise fine. Haven't started S5 yet, looks tough. I think this is the first scen where you must kill all the enemy.

Thanks for the help in reporting the typo. I will try to correct it.
I feel that S5 has been set too high in difficulty than before. So I am in the process of improving it, but I would also be grateful for feedback as of version 23.11.25

[Atreides]

S4 done. Tried to keep the bone man away from the woses which worked. They beat up the undead side easily. Threaded "skinny" through the eye of the needle and he got to his boat on time. Now have a King and Queen bee. Nice.

Nice strategy! I'm glad to see that your level up is going well.

S5. Noticed a small thing with the dialogue, it should probably be "a rough place" (missing the a), otherwise fine. Haven't started S5 yet, looks tough. I think this is the first scen where you must kill all the enemy.

Thanks for the help in reporting the typo. I will try to correct it.
I feel that S5 has been set too high in difficulty than before. So I am in the process of improving it, but I would also be grateful for feedback as of version 23.11.25 ;)

It was a pretty interesting fight, I'll upload the replay. You'll see I went after the bats and then decided to angle straight for the enemy undead castle. Managed to catch him outside and "ball" him a bit (but he was too big for my little bees to kill) and keep him away. The woses were pretty troublesome though, I didn't want to fight them but just like in an earlier 3 way battle where I was forced to hold off mermen even though I tried to avoid them, and I had to build a wall of bees to hold them back.

As a "Bee Master" it is quite important to move them in swarms which is something I've also been learning to do better in other wesnoth battles. I keep forgetting it is not a strategic war game but tactical and you can't form a "front line" everywhere.

[KameRamen]

It was a pretty interesting fight, I'll upload the replay. You'll see I went after the bats and then decided to angle straight for the enemy undead castle. Managed to catch him outside and "ball" him a bit (but he was too big for my little bees to kill) and keep him away. The woses were pretty troublesome though, I didn't want to fight them but just like in an earlier 3 way battle where I was forced to hold off mermen even though I tried to avoid them, and I had to build a wall of bees to hold them back.

As a "Bee Master" it is quite important to move them in swarms which is something I've also been learning to do better in other wesnoth battles. I keep forgetting it is not a strategic war game but tactical and you can't form a "front line" everywhere.

I have taken the time to look at your replay. I am surprised to see such an interesting game in the scenario I created as an extra.
In my case, I did not recruit much because units were fairly advanced in level. I watched the battle between the undead and the wose and gradually marched counterclockwise.

Your replay was an interesting technique I did not know about. I think it was good and solid playing (I tend to be reckless and let my units die.) Above all I have found my campaign to be properly flexible. Thank you

[KameRamen]

New version 23.11.27 is attached at the top. I have newly added S6. There have been adjustments to S5 in maps again and slight improvements to S3 and S4 in terms of turns. The compatibility is also maintained. It is easy to update so please try it if you like

[KameRamen]

New version 23.12.05 is attached at the top. Many changes were made to the previous version.
The most significant change is that S5 has become easier. Initial placement units have been eliminated and gold has been adjusted. The reason is that I tested it again and it was difficult for me to play.

Other adjustments to difficulty and turns across all scenarios were made, but these were minor in comparison. Compatibility is maintained, so the game can continue as is. If you like, you can update and try it out

[Atreides]

Ah nice, I must admit I got "stuck" on I think S5. I started but after 6 turns I had the feeling I was doomed and just left it... : ) I shall try it again now.

Victory! Those hornets are tough and the ants are weak. Only my swarms of bees managed to overcome them.

I levelled the King and Elder Bee and was surprised to see AMLA's instead of a new level. The XP bar was blue not purple so I was not expecting that. Admittedly some of the amla choices are quite good (Noaille's new fire attack!) and worthy of a blue bar but others (like 3 HP) are only worthy of purple.

Also some text problems.

"We ants feel. There is places..." seems to be one sentence split into two. "We ants feel there are places..." (is -> are)

"the harsh reality" should be "a harsh reality"

"fall came to an end. The group began" looks like also one sentence was split into two by accident. "...fall came to an end the group began..."