Behemoths Lair Q&A

[Kalah]

A new Q&A has been posted by the <b><a href="http://h6.heroes.net.pl/en/nowina/3216.html">Behemoth's Lair</a></b>. The most exciting bits are talking about a possible revival of the M&M RPG, a brief visit to the NWC universe, neutral dwellings and a couple of other things.



To read earlier Q&As, go to <a href="https://www.celestialheavens.com/805">this Celestial Heavens page</a>, the <a href="http://heroescommunity.com/viewthread.p ... 41">Heroes Community</a>, the <a href="http://heroes.ag.ru/h6/qa/eng/">Heroic Corner</a> or <a href="http://www.heroesofmightandmagic.es/por ... =13">Torre de Marfil</a>.

If you would like to take a look at the original page visit this link:
https://www.celestialheavens.com/1340445906

[jeff]

Interesting comments, but not all that much new. Hints of an RPG, but is it going to be online MMORPG, in which case count me out. Will it be TB or real time, if not TB then I'm not interested. UBI has performed so badly with H-VI that I have no confidence in anything they produce until it is released and evaluated by the fans.

[Kalah]

Please keep making campaigns for H4, jeff - they are great. I'll host 'em.

[jeff]

Been working on one now for 18+ months, the end is in sight but I am looking through a telescope to see it.

[Kalah]

Why not submit a "beta" for testing? I'm sure the H4 lovers here would like an early sneak-peek.

[jeff]

Why not submit a "beta" for testing? I'm sure the H4 lovers here would like an early sneak-peek.

One mini campaign is ready for that though the story still needs some work, but the second mini has only one map ready. So I will think about sending you the first one.

[Duzeom_]

I am working on campaign in H4 too ...

[jeff]

I am working on campaign in H4 too ...

Great the more the merrier!

[Karmakeld]

Me too.. has been for the past nearly 36 month :-/ Currently at map 8 of 15 (16) But hopefulle Duzeom and another couple will keep aiding me with their testing..

But sure we'd love beta testing. Also if anyone is interested in helping out, shout out..
Edited on Sat, Jul 07 2012, 15:44 by Karmakeld

[jeff]

Currently at map 8 of 15 (16)

Wow, I for some reason thought eight was the maximum number of maps in a campaign.

[Karmakeld]

hmm. I sure hope not. Anywho, for the testing so far, each map has been divided into seperate chapters as single map campaigns, just carrying over the heroes. This also allows player to change difficulty for each map and make some of the "carryover variables" easier for me. But map 9 will let me know if there's a limit

[jeff]

hmm. I sure hope not. Anywho, for the testing so far, each map has been divided into seperate chapters as single map campaigns, just carrying over the heroes. This also allows player to change difficulty for each map and make some of the "carryover variables" easier for me. But map 9 will let me know if there's a limit

There may not be a limit, but if there is you can always divide it in two and carryover the heroes from the first into the next. That could include heroes to transfer variables so the player heroes start with the correct artifacts.

[Karmakeld]

Well Duzeom's campaign contained 9 maps, but I haven't yet tried to included all 14. Last one will be like WoW. It'll work out, even if it has to be split into 2 or more pieces.. biggest issue is time..

[Kalah]

Just shooting in here ... more than ten maps sounds like a lot. Take great care to let the story and hero building evolve over time, otherwise it will soon get boring.

[jeff]

Just shooting in here ... more than ten maps sounds like a lot. Take great care to let the story and hero building evolve over time, otherwise it will soon get boring.

To me this would be the biggest problem, in DF no hero was in more than 4 of the eight maps, and in LS no hero was in more than 3 of 6 maps. The reason was the hero becomes too powerful for balancing at several difficulty levels. In both campaigns the main heroes were in the first and last map and alternated in teams in the maps between. Using them more frequently then, you are stuck with a choice of limiting the experience level at a level that is too low which means the map must be quick or it becomes boring as the player's heroes can't progress any more. If you set it too high then you get the god-like hero. So using the same hero in more than 4 maps is a real delicate affair. So I will be interested in how you handle that.

[Kalah]

Indeed!

[Karmakeld]

well first of, it's a two side story (both good and evil) :-) Other characters will also appear in some maps, but in total the "evil" characters will appear in 4 maps. Also not all carryover heroes will be given from the start. But the main character will carry through 8 maps. I am aware of the "god-like" issue, and I guess alot of testing will be needed or perhaps a degrading of the heroes powers (or perhaps I will just fail?). I can tell you that originally I had schemed a total of 20 maps, but that cooked it down. (ah well a lack of experience led me to this insane project). Don't worry about the story, it will evolve through each map. up to map 7 is 120 pages in a word document

But please ask away, I'll be happy so share some plot to catch interest

[Kalah]

What are the sizes? I guess a high number is OK if they're not all huge.

[jeff]

Story should not be an issue, but size can be, in my campaigns the first maps were medium and the last was extra-large and the ones between large. The one I am working on the two mini-campaigns are all large maps with the finale map they feed an extra-large. Two reasons for that are one an extra-large map can be very boring if too much back and forth travel is involved, and two the amount of landscaping can be overwhelming. One hero on eight maps is going to be very difficult to make the maps interesting either because the hero levels up to the max too quickly on some of the maps or as mentioned they become too powerful. The problem when you bring in the other heroes with this one that’s on 8; they have to enter fairly developed (most players want to develop them and not have you do it); otherwise you have the challenge of making the map difficult enough for your powerful hero, so those combats aren’t boring and yet have the opportunity for your level 1ish heroes to advance and not continually get killed. To be honest that will be tough particularly on the high levels of difficulty. I wish you luck but I think there has been a reason why the same hero is usually not on a lot of maps. It would be great to link my campaigns together as they are a continuing story, but I cannot think of a way to make them interesting.

Perhaps this discussion should be moved to the mapmaking guild?

[Karmakeld]

Kalah: sizes are so far: S, S+U, M, M+U, M+U, L, M+U, M+U. But I plan for them to vary through the rest of the campaign, as I believe it'll also give more pace to it, instead of just a serie of 6 L maps in a row.



The problem when you bring in the other heroes with this one that’s on 8; they have to enter fairly developed (most players want to develop them and not have you do it); otherwise you have the challenge of making the map difficult enough for your powerful hero, so those combats aren’t boring and yet have the opportunity for your level 1ish heroes to advance and not continually get killed. To be honest that will be tough particularly on the high levels of difficulty. I wish you luck but I think there has been a reason why the same hero is usually not on a lot of maps.



Jeff: I have though about making a tread, instead of keeping it here, but.(what to name it ;-).. I'm well aware of size, and for the most part, I've have a hard time seeing any of my maps as XL, as I too think they easily become too long/large. Also aware of the fact that players will want to develop their heroes themself, but eh, how many of the original campaign were you actually able to do this? ;-) I guess combat is mostly a selection, so that one helps a bit. But part of my ambition is to encourage player to keep some of the heroes together (story wise) and if the "late" heroes are too weak I guess that's another encouragement. I fear you might be right, and as I said, I've might've aimed to high. Original idea was just to gather a series of map where you could really develop your hero, as my gf though most campaigns ended when the hero was just beginning to be fun playing with but only little developed. I guess this project will show if there's a reason for that :-/