Darkness Returns I v2.4.1

[MasterBlaster]

If you're not planning to continue on with this project then I don't really see much point in me doing a grammar check for it I'll reserve my time and effort for your another project

 

[Championfighter25]

Even though you won't be working on this campaign, in case you decide to return one day and work on it again... I will leave my review for the possible future
HEAVY nitpicking incoming, some or most of it, depending on how you look at it will be very unneeded and very undeserved
I will be quoting certain parts of the map description or dialogue if they need correcting to save time. I'm sure you will get what character or part of the description I'm pointing to.

- I don't think all campaign buttons should be visible from the beginning

Chapter 1:
- You must proof should be corrected to ''you must prove''
- You should add a do after why. ''Why do I have to be paired'' sounds better in my opinion
- ''Your operation base'' -> ''Your base of operations''
- ''Be active in search'' -> ''Be active in your search''
- ''can act as substitute for'' -> ''can act as a substitute for''
- I think it would be a bit better if you let us chose which abilities to learn for our heroes. We may choose wrong, but we will learn and chose the right ones eventually.
- Giving hotkeys to the units will be a good idea in my opinion
- ''Destroy enemy production building to weaken enemy assault'' -> ''Destroy enemy production buildings to weaken the enemy assault''
- Footmen having a healing ability sort of makes sense since they've probably received first aid training to help injured, but I don't think it should be the autocast heal you've given them. Something like Zalamus' Q that has a longer cooldown so they can't spam it would make more sense. With the current healing ability, they just can't die. I've nearly completed the mission and didn't lose even 1 footmen.
- I think a cool mechanic would be, after we killed a commander unit, the nearby enemy units get demotivated and get an attack debuff for a few seconds.

Chapter 2:
- ''This prototype machine capable'' -> ''This prototype machine is capable''
- ''so they will take no reinforcements'' -> ''so they will get no reinforcements''
- Vadrazus' mind trick doesn't have a hotkey
- I think Vadrazus meant ''the night has begun'' in his speech before the mission ended
- 1 hour is a bit way too generous. Changing it to 40, even 30 minutes would still make the mission beatable in that time.

Chapter 3:
- ''Grand Coalition'' -> ''The Grand Coalition''
- ''between them and Revolutionaries'' - ''between them and the Revolutionaries''
- ''The Revolutionaries has set'' - ''The Revolutionaries have set''
- ''to proof if their'' -> ''to prove if their''
- After ''to proof if their'', the map description suddenly ends.
- ''until the reinforcement arrives'' - ''until the reinforcements arrive''
- ''for the reinforcement'' -> ''for the reinforcements''
- ''kin finest archers'' - ''kin's finest archers''
- Archer has a double C
- Archers don't cost food
- Alliara's healing rain doesn't heal heroes.
- The useful easter egg is a bit too useful. After getting it, I was able to relatively easily crush both the bases of the Phoenix flames and Revolutionaries, using only them and my heroes.
- Normally at the last minute for these kinds of missions, there is a gigantic attack wave that nearly breaches your defenses. I was kind of disappointed not seeing one here.
- Destroying the 2 enemy bases sadly ruins the last moments of the chapter. There are no enemy reinforcements since you already killed them all, but you are still forced to retreat.

Chapter 4:
- ''isn't this feels quite... fishy?'' -> ''doesn't this feel quite... fishy?''
- ''to minimize amout of enemy attacking the village'' -> ''to minimize the amount of enemies attacking the village''
- Even though this was one of the harder chapters for me, no technical issues were found

Chapter 5:
- ''invading this area and many villages had fallen'' -> ''invading this area and many villages have fallen''
- ''Larazda is the last of village to stand in this area'' -> ''Larazda is the last village standing in this area''
- White Fang's hero portrait is bugged.

Chapter 6:
- ''only Zarb-Zurb village lies as the last line'' -> ''only Zarb-Zurb village lying as the last line''
- ''to call a desperate reinforcement...'' -> ''to call for desperate reinforcements''
- ''to another area soon'' -> ''to another area so soon''
- ''that Azure Coalition has betrayed us and now aiding the revolutionaries'' -> ''that the Azure Coalition has betrayed us and is now aiding the revolutionaries''
- ''charge blind into enemy'' -> ''change blind into the enemy''
- ''it would be wise to request a reinforcement'' -> ''it would be wise to request for reinforcements''
- The acolytes of the undead don't mine gold from the gold mine, neither do ghouls harvest lumber

Overall, I like this campaign. The terrain is above average in my eyes, the gameplay is enjoyable, even though I was skeptic about the ''no cutscenes or cinematics part'' that also turned out well.
The story is a bit all over the place since we play from a few viewpoints, and it was surely, even if a bit slowly at times building up to something until it suddenly stopped since we aren't probably going to get more chapters.
If you are ever going to return to this project, consider this review and the things I mentioned in it.
Despite having a few problems you will want to fix, this gets a 5/5 from me. Enjoy!

 

[Daffa]

Thanks a lot for the reports! I'd do bug fixing especially major ones. To be fair, the last chapter is broken on Undead side as I haven't write their AI before I dropped the project.

As for other issues you found, I appreciate all these grammar checking you even bothered to and will check the rest. If I may ask, what difficulty you play? The second chapter timer is heavily altered in Mastermind, but I will lower other difficulties as well.

 

[Championfighter25]

As for other issues you found, I appreciate all these grammar checking you even bothered to and will check the rest.

It took me more time to write them down in this review than to notice them, funnily enough.

If I may ask, what difficulty you play?

Medium.

 

[Daffa]

It took me more time to write them down in this review than to notice them, funnily enough.


Medium.

Must be a hassle D:
Sorry for the trouble.

I suggest try Mastermind just for the Vadrazus chapter. Other chapter mostly has stronger and more aggressive enemies as difficulty arise so there's no need, but that one has a major twist in the story.
Keep some save file though, it's not gonna be pretty at all.

 

[Championfighter25]

Must be a hassle D:
Sorry for the trouble.

Don't worry about it.

I suggest try Mastermind just for the Vadrazus chapter. Other chapter mostly has stronger and more aggressive enemies as difficulty arise so there's no need, but that one has a major twist in the story.
Keep some save file though, it's not gonna be pretty at all.

Sure, I will.
There is a slight possibility I may never return and thus you may not get any more reviews like this from me, but we shall see.

 

[Daffa]

Don't worry about it.


Sure, I will.
There is a slight possibility I may never return and thus you may not get any more reviews like this from me, but we shall see.

Now I truly feel sad
Hope all goes well for you

 

[deepstrasz]

You could hide the credits list for easier scrolling.

Why are all chapters visible? It's not in map development anymore.

Spoiler: chap0

1. -transmissions run too quickly
2. -so, Light's Protection and Devotion Aura are the same thing
3. -Footmen have a portrait issue for some reason
4. -wait a second... the blue team plays by itself too alongside player control?

Spoiler: chap1

1. -why not try to make cinematic scenes; you know a slow rolling camera is much nicer to look at than from the same angle while text comes up on the screen
2. -the commander disappeared after the FX of the teleport disappeared and not with it
3. -main quest requirement alignment issue in the quest log
4. -footmen can get through trees right west of the archers and get back to the base
5. -so, the upgrades in the Blacksmith are only for the elves!?
6. -pheonix guardians have 5k mana and crimson hunters 2k!?
7. -the game mostly uses Warcraft III content; there is little custom content and I'm not referring to models/skins but items, units and abilities
8. -are you suppoed to be able to destroy their main base before the reinforcements arrive?

Spoiler: chap2

1. -why do most units have healing in this game of which many are melee?
2. -Elite's Poison Sting has no description
3. -Undead are Warcraft III Undead
4. -so, the green humans gather to the north and south and only attack when you go to engange any of the bases around the gray settlement? So, if you don't attack, they don't either? Oh, so they do, after a while by themselves. I'm on Easy, and they 're coming from everywhere constantly. On Easy it's bearable but there are many units and on harder difficulties, I'm sure that would be a problem, getting stuck and all that.
5. -there's no character development; there's just a bunch of people I don't know about or can relate to
6. -how can I build the Workshop for Canon Towers?
7. -hotkeys should all be WERTY or like in Warcraft III; don't mix
8. -am I to just randomly send units or my mini-army everywhere on the map till I find the circle or should I get some directions? Wait... it's under the fog of war in the north. So, I just simply get to it by clicking move with any unit? Oh no, I should have gone to it before they started attacking...
9. -there are unguarded dark green barracks spread across parts of the map
10. -so, Azralor arrives but the timer still stands or that's until he attacks/prepares?
11. -there are three units which have the Heal ability and two with Healing Wave
12. -never a fan of units appearing out of nowhere, but buildings!? That's way weirder
13. -this map is just chaos; I can't even control my troops properly; there's just too many on the screen and it turns into a healing clicking fest
14. -those revolutionary elites are coming and coming and I'm playing it on Easy...
15. -wasn't there a yellow Mountain King? It's not anymore... and that Arzalor doesn't attack; MT appeared later from somewhere but didn't do anything but to defend the middle, all yellow AI did the same
16. -you don't even gain experience
17. -you really want to force players to destroy all farms becuase they train Peasants which rebuild the base!?
18. -I'm lucky the undead are not attacking
19. -train, attack, train, rinse and repeat
20. -started attacking the undead base from the south and they didn't come to defend it; this, after destroying both human bases; the acolytes weren't even mining
21. -the Black Citadel's damage is lower than a Nerubian Tower's; what melee patch version did you save this map on?
22. -all bases destroyed, nothing happens, all objectives grayed out
23. -executors look like a totally black or unit without any texture

I just want to know what's up with chapter 2 before continuing with the others or trying a whosyourdaddy run on chap2 for a re-run.

Overall, the gameplay seems chaotic at times; design is weird.

---

EDIT

Spoiler: Fallen01

1. Units that see you should have the Magic Sentry buff over their heads.
2. Towers might shoot from behind tree ranges. You'd have to use the Meat Wagons on them or circumvent a lot to get to them.
3. Small units can get to the portal and from that zone near the trees in the west the enemy shoots Rain of Fire... (see picture).
4. Enemy units appeared right between mine and that was called an ambush Happened right west of the gate where two towers are facing it from its east.
5. Why are the enemy and your troops the same colour!?
6. Crimson Archers and the unit to their right (in the pheonix barracks) have broken descriptions.

---

EDIT the 2ND

Spoiler: Rebels01

1. I guess Command Aura icon was better than Endurance since it gives damage and not attack speed? Oh wait... by the way what auras did you use so they stack? I can't remember right now which other aura gives attack damage.
2. What's this Way of Whatever? Makes spells look weird when other heroes don't have the title text like that.
3. Otka's projectile is annoying because it comes with the Possession sound which is heard loudly.
4. The heroes don't share the experience...
5. You can destroy the crimson and undead bases before going to the first main objective (Easy).
6. The buildings of the Reszhan or whatchamacallit are invulnerable. I've attacked them from the north. Maybe because the base will become yours?
7. I get "an allied town is under siege" announcement shown on the minimap in the mid-map enemy base.
8. This map was recycled from another campaign of yours, I think.
9. Don't understand why the middle ally has the farms outside of the base easy target for the enemy.
10. Aren't Sorcerers and Sorcerecess the same thing?
11. This chapter on Easy is way much easier than Grand Coalition 02 on Easy. The Orange destroyed the Yellow by themselves.
12. Ending the level gets you to the game's menu not the campaign's.

---

EDIT 3

Spoiler: NewCoalition01

1. How'd you make the damage bonus auras stack?
2. The wolf hero's portrait is bugged.
3. Really? An undroppable item which only gives 1 to armour?
4. Spells are repetitive among heroes. Each faction should have different things: units, abilities etc.
5. Warchief's damage is a joke. Actually, never mind since it can almost permabash you.
6. Two Rivers (; you really gotta do your own maps. It's not hard at all man. Nobody asks for realistic sceneries.
7. How would Sir Edward be a great commander if he doesn't know the people? I assume he doesn't even know the geography of the land.
8. Is Ani supposed to have piercing attack type? That's kind of useless against most armour types.
9. For a wolf, Ani moves faster...
10. This mission on Easy is really easy. You should equalize same difficulties between every chapter.
11. ~"Let my villagers aid you from a long range". Kind of late for that
12. Well, the issue with the resource wagons is that you only need one worker on a mine with a wagon. If you put the wagon right near the mine, the worker will harvest quickly basically eliminating the need for the distance between the wagon and more (the standard 5) labourers on the mine (see pic).

 

[Daffa]

You could hide the credits list for easier scrolling.

Why are all chapters visible? It's not in map development anymore.

Spoiler: chap0

1. -transmissions run too quickly
2. -so, Light's Protection and Devotion Aura are the same thing
3. -Footmen have a portrait issue for some reason
4. -wait a second... the blue team plays by itself too alongside player control?

Spoiler: chap1

1. -why not try to make cinematic scenes; you know a slow rolling camera is much nicer to look at than from the same angle while text comes up on the screen
2. -the commander disappeared after the FX of the teleport disappeared and not with it
3. -main quest requirement alignment issue in the quest log
4. -footmen can get through trees right west of the archers and get back to the base
5. -so, the upgrades in the Blacksmith are only for the elves!?
6. -pheonix guardians have 5k mana and crimson hunters 2k!?
7. -the game mostly uses Warcraft III content; there is little custom content and I'm not referring to models/skins but items, units and abilities
8. -are you suppoed to be able to destroy their main base before the reinforcements arrive?

Spoiler: chap2

1. -why do most units have healing in this game of which many are melee?
2. -Elite's Poison Sting has no description
3. -Undead are Warcraft III Undead
4. -so, the green humans gather to the north and south and only attack when you go to engange any of the bases around the gray settlement? So, if you don't attack, they don't either? Oh, so they do, after a while by themselves. I'm on Easy, and they 're coming from everywhere constantly. On Easy it's bearable but there are many units and on harder difficulties, I'm sure that would be a problem, getting stuck and all that.
5. -there's no character development; there's just a bunch of people I don't know about or can relate to
6. -how can I build the Workshop for Canon Towers?
7. -hotkeys should all be WERTY or like in Warcraft III; don't mix
8. -am I to just randomly send units or my mini-army everywhere on the map till I find the circle or should I get some directions? Wait... it's under the fog of war in the north. So, I just simply get to it by clicking move with any unit? Oh no, I should have gone to it before they started attacking...
9. -there are unguarded dark green barracks spread across parts of the map
10. -so, Azralor arrives but the timer still stands or that's until he attacks/prepares?
11. -there are three units which have the Heal ability and two with Healing Wave
12. -never a fan of units appearing out of nowhere, but buildings!? That's way weirder
13. -this map is just chaos; I can't even control my troops properly; there's just too many on the screen and it turns into a healing clicking fest
14. -those revolutionary elites are coming and coming and I'm playing it on Easy...
15. -wasn't there a yellow Mountain King? It's not anymore... and that Arzalor doesn't attack; MT appeared later from somewhere but didn't do anything but to defend the middle, all yellow AI did the same
16. -you don't even gain experience
17. -you really want to force players to destroy all farms becuase they train Peasants which rebuild the base!?
18. -I'm lucky the undead are not attacking
19. -train, attack, train, rinse and repeat
20. -started attacking the undead base from the south and they didn't come to defend it; this, after destroying both human bases; the acolytes weren't even mining
21. -the Black Citadel's damage is lower than a Nerubian Tower's; what melee patch version did you save this map on?
22. -all bases destroyed, nothing happens, all objectives grayed out
23. -executors look like a totally black or unit without any texture

I just want to know what's up with chapter 2 before continuing with the others or trying a whosyourdaddy run on chap2 for a re-run.

Overall, the gameplay seems chaotic at times; design is weird.

I intentionally open all chapters, as the chapter locker (chapter 0) is not properly coded to unlock other chapters. Will fix in a patch.

Chapter 0 :
1. Will check the speed.
2. Yeah, I don't think it's a big problem. The buff benefit is a big one, especially for this chapter
3. Model tied problem, I consider replacing them.
4. Was a 2P map before, I think it has to be something from AI mechanic. Will fix the problem.

Chapter 1 :
1. I know, just not motivated for that
2. I'll take a look into that
3. alignment issue? I look into that
4. Must be some holes in the trees, will fix
5. For this chapter, yes
6. They have 500 mana cost for each Rain of Fire and 200 mana cost for Inner Fire
7. I prefer to keep it close so players can adapt quickly for early chapter
8. Shouldn't be, maybe I'd boost the defense or something

Chapter 2 :
1. I want to simplify player from having to rely on Priests or heroes for heal
2. Will fix that
3. Yes, it's intentional
4. I will consider some tone down in the difficulty.
5. The development is kind of cut out cause campaign is far from actual completion (as mentioned, I do drop the project)
6. Must've overlooked tech tree requirement, will fix.
7. Only heroes use QWERTY
8. Will give proper direction for this part of the chapter
9. Intentional. Dark green can be destroyed before the rush assault begins
10. There are 2 forces that arrives. Azralor's main force (which covers north map) and the mountain king's force, which covers only a small base at north early in game.
11. Might need to tone down the healing I guess.
12. I want them to construct their base but that would make things much harder for player's end, with the rush and all that
13. Will tone it down.
14. They always come, difficulty tones down enemy health and some forces are removed from the map
15. Odd, I will check his AI
16. Last time I check it did, I will take a look into the scripts
17. Currently, yes. I disable the farm peasant train for enemies in the next patch.
18. Their AI is not working
19. Will consider something to add twist
20. Answer 18
21. I'm sure I use the latest patch
22. Will fix
23. Intentional, might look into files for Night Empire for proper color scale

I apologize for such a messed up chapter, the chapter 2 is the only chapter that isn't 100% completed and the last to work on. Other chapters are working as intended (at least from my tests). Will fix this particular chapter to properly reflect it's intended playable state (it's complete story wise, but not gameplay wise as I drop the development).

 

[deepstrasz]

4. I will consider some tone down in the difficulty.

Easy only needs to go softer with Orange. That's basically the biggest problem. Well, the undead didn't do anything so, I don't know...

7. Only heroes use QWERTY

Yeah, but it's confusing. All units should use the same pattern.

12. I want them to construct their base but that would make things much harder for player's end, with the rush and all that

You can make it so that they do it super fast but it'll at least look good. Plus, I really was thinking of getting that mine in the north before so it'd look weird if suddenly my town hall was replaced by theirs or spawned right near it or not at all.

16. Last time I check it did, I will take a look into the scripts

Level 3 was max for me and I think I had it from the previous chapter.

18. Their AI is not working

Well, this pretty much makes the level invalid. I'll set it to Awaiting Update. I mean, at least fix the levels you have put forth for us since this is anyway an incomplete work.

21. I'm sure I use the latest patch

I'm referring to Map Options: Melee (there you should use melee latest patch) to be clear.

 

[Daffa]

---

EDIT

Spoiler: Fallen01

1. Units that see you should have the Magic Sentry buff over their heads.
2. Towers might shoot from behind tree ranges. You'd have to use the Meat Wagons on them or circumvent a lot to get to them.
3. Small units can get to the portal and from that zone near the trees in the west the enemy shoots Rain of Fire... (see picture).
4. Enemy units appeared right between mine and that was called an ambush Happened right west of the gate where two towers are facing it from its east.
5. Why are the enemy and your troops the same colour!?
6. Crimson Archers and the unit to their right (in the pheonix barracks) have broken descriptions.

View attachment 303268

---

EDIT the 2ND

Spoiler: Rebels01

1. I guess Command Aura icon was better than Endurance since it gives damage and not attack speed? Oh wait... by the way what auras did you use so they stack? I can't remember right now which other aura gives attack damage.
2. What's this Way of Whatever? Makes spells look weird when other heroes don't have the title text like that.
3. Otka's projectile is annoying because it comes with the Possession sound which is heard loudly.
4. The heroes don't share the experience...
5. You can destroy the crimson and undead bases before going to the first main objective (Easy).
6. The buildings of the Reszhan or whatchamacallit are invulnerable. I've attacked them from the north. Maybe because the base will become yours?
7. I get "an allied town is under siege" announcement shown on the minimap in the mid-map enemy base.
8. This map was recycled from another campaign of yours, I think.
9. Don't understand why the middle ally has the farms outside of the base easy target for the enemy.
10. Aren't Sorcerers and Sorcerecess the same thing?
11. This chapter on Easy is way much easier than Grand Coalition 02 on Easy. The Orange destroyed the Yellow by themselves.
12. Ending the level gets you to the game's menu not the campaign's.

---

EDIT 3

Spoiler: NewCoalition01

1. How'd you make the damage bonus auras stack?
2. The wolf hero's portrait is bugged.
3. Really? An undroppable item which only gives 1 to armour?
4. Spells are repetitive among heroes. Each faction should have different things: units, abilities etc.
5. Warchief's damage is a joke. Actually, never mind since it can almost permabash you.
6. Two Rivers (; you really gotta do your own maps. It's not hard at all man. Nobody asks for realistic sceneries.
7. How would Sir Edward be a great commander if he doesn't know the people? I assume he doesn't even know the geography of the land.
8. Is Ani supposed to have piercing attack type? That's kind of useless against most armour types.
9. For a wolf, Ani moves faster...
10. This mission on Easy is really easy. You should equalize same difficulties between every chapter.
11. ~"Let my villagers aid you from a long range". Kind of late for that
12. Well, the issue with the resource wagons is that you only need one worker on a mine with a wagon. If you put the wagon right near the mine, the worker will harvest quickly basically eliminating the need for the distance between the wagon and more (the standard 5) labourers on the mine (see pic).
View attachment 303295

Let's start with Fallen :

Hidden

1. Will do
2. Intentionally done to annoy the players in every way possible
3. Will check that
4. Welp, can't help with that. You can actually the whole 'ambush' thing as well. Will think of better ideas.
5. Suppose to be Black. Forgot 1.29 changes Black with Crimson. Will fix.
6. Will fix those.

On to Revolution :

Hidden

1. Auras with different buff stacks. I use Command Aura if I'm not mistaken, with flat bonus for Karizen.
2. It's from another project. I don't scrap it as it's a reference if I ever manage to get them done. Might remove them though, later...
3. Okta's whole data was taken from another portion of the bigger picture of this plot. Originally, his third skill was suppose to rely on an extra skill, but I scrap that and force him into full ghost call mode.
4. Odd, I will try to take a look into that.
5. Intentional, but technically you'd avoid losses as much as possible. You can't destroy Crimson without getting cheat on thanks to the rain of fire spam.
6. yes.
7. I will think of something. I hid some extra buildings the player gained later the mission.
8. No no, the map is Garden of War. Before you yell about using Blizz stuff, I'm aware of the matter already. It just that this map fits the bill of many concepts I worked on (especially mid area)
9. Just to add some annoyance, oh and food supplies. Or let's just say... they're dumb and I'm lazy.
10. Yeah, just slight aesthetic things.
11. It of course suppose to be. Grand 02 is technically the hardest in the current list (but some would argue Mastermind difficulty has Fallen 01 as the hardest due to it's shorter time constraint)
12. Will check this.

And last, for New :

Hidden

1. Same as Revolution.
2. Oh yeah, forgot about that problem. Will fix that.
3. Yep. It's suppose to be improved at some point in the story, but...
4. Reusable materials. Reusable materials. On a serious note, Ani and Okta comes from the same older project data. Hence similar spells.
5. Guess some trick works out eh? Good idea to have Bash + Endurance + Fast AS
6. I know. This is the last mod I work with Blizzard terrain materials anyway, hopefully.
7. This is actually can be cleared by future chapters, that is if they ever exist. (Nope, they don't)
8. Intentional. Cuz Arrows.
9. Will fix this.
10. I equalize mostly on higher difficulties to be honest. I'll consider it.
11. Welp.
12. All chapters have this wagon available, so... It's intentional. Let players have their way on dealing with a chapter.

 

[deepstrasz]

You can't destroy Crimson without getting cheat on thanks to the rain of fire spam.

You can on Easy after you let the unit consume its mana or kill it with only the two heroes. I'm talking about that one stronger unit.

10. Yeah, just slight aesthetic things.

Then be somewhat original.

 

[Daffa]

You can on Easy after you let the unit consume its mana or kill it with only the two heroes. I'm talking about that one stronger unit.

Then be somewhat original.

Will check on that

Will do, though it might not be pleasant for gameplay

 

[deepstrasz]

Will do, though it might not be pleasant for gameplay

Well, if you want to keep the general idea: for instance you can replace slow with an Entangling Roots based ability on one of the units and balance the two spells so none of them would be better than the other in the long run.

 

[Daffa]

In response to moderation, I have released 1.1 to address many issues. There's also a major bug within 1.0 that caused some chapter to not properly respond to the difficulty system, which has been fixed for this release. Below is the list of response (within parenthesis) for the moderation that has been applied to this patch :

Spoiler: chap0

1. -transmissions run too quickly (changed dialogue time, hopefully fix this)
2. -so, Light's Protection and Devotion Aura are the same thing (Not a big deal to be fair)
3. -Footmen have a portrait issue for some reason (Fixed)
4. -wait a second... the blue team plays by itself too alongside player control? (Kind of not intentional, but I don't see this too game breaking)

Spoiler: chap1

1. -why not try to make cinematic scenes; you know a slow rolling camera is much nicer to look at than from the same angle while text comes up on the screen (nope, not gonna change this. It takes too much work to rework all scenes at this point)
2. -the commander disappeared after the FX of the teleport disappeared and not with it (fixed)
3. -main quest requirement alignment issue in the quest log (hopefully fixed)
4. -footmen can get through trees right west of the archers and get back to the base (hopefully fixed)
5. -so, the upgrades in the Blacksmith are only for the elves!? (intentional)
6. -pheonix guardians have 5k mana and crimson hunters 2k!? (intentional : RoF cost 500 mana for them)
7. -the game mostly uses Warcraft III content; there is little custom content and I'm not referring to models/skins but items, units and abilities (intentional)
8. -are you suppoed to be able to destroy their main base before the reinforcements arrive? (technically not, though it's not much of an effect to enemy relentless assaults)

Spoiler: chap2

1. -why do most units have healing in this game of which many are melee? (Intentional)
2. -Elite's Poison Sting has no description (I'll remove the ability altogether)
3. -Undead are Warcraft III Undead (intentional)
4. -so, the green humans gather to the north and south and only attack when you go to engange any of the bases around the gray settlement? So, if you don't attack, they don't either? Oh, so they do, after a while by themselves. I'm on Easy, and they 're coming from everywhere constantly. On Easy it's bearable but there are many units and on harder difficulties, I'm sure that would be a problem, getting stuck and all that. (Do not provoke the enemy before allies arrive)
5. -there's no character development; there's just a bunch of people I don't know about or can relate to (Relate to the fact story is not finished)
6. -how can I build the Workshop for Canon Towers? (Must've miss that, fixed)
7. -hotkeys should all be WERTY or like in Warcraft III; don't mix (QWER for hero, unit uses normal hotkey)
8. -am I to just randomly send units or my mini-army everywhere on the map till I find the circle or should I get some directions? Wait... it's under the fog of war in the north. So, I just simply get to it by clicking move with any unit? Oh no, I should have gone to it before they started attacking... (Pinged at game start)
9. -there are unguarded dark green barracks spread across parts of the map (intentional)
10. -so, Azralor arrives but the timer still stands or that's until he attacks/prepares? (there are two waves of reinforcements, might've confused the main wave with the early wave)
11. -there are three units which have the Heal ability and two with Healing Wave (intentional)
12. -never a fan of units appearing out of nowhere, but buildings!? That's way weirder (can't have alternatives without rewriting a lot of stuffs)
13. -this map is just chaos; I can't even control my troops properly; there's just too many on the screen and it turns into a healing clicking fest (might tone down the assaults)
14. -those revolutionary elites are coming and coming and I'm playing it on Easy... (they have nerfed stats and the amount is lowered, will lower them further)
15. -wasn't there a yellow Mountain King? It's not anymore... and that Arzalor doesn't attack; MT appeared later from somewhere but didn't do anything but to defend the middle, all yellow AI did the same (Odd, I'm sure the AI script is working)
16. -you don't even gain experience (hopefully fixed)
17. -you really want to force players to destroy all farms becuase they train Peasants which rebuild the base!? (intentional, for now)
18. -I'm lucky the undead are not attacking (will fix this)
19. -train, attack, train, rinse and repeat (intentional)
20. -started attacking the undead base from the south and they didn't come to defend it; this, after destroying both human bases; the acolytes weren't even mining
21. -the Black Citadel's damage is lower than a Nerubian Tower's; what melee patch version did you save this map on? (1.29 patch, intentional)
22. -all bases destroyed, nothing happens, all objectives grayed out (hopefully fixed)
23. -executors look like a totally black or unit without any texture (intentional)

---

EDIT

Spoiler: Fallen01

1. Units that see you should have the Magic Sentry buff over their heads. (nope, for now)
2. Towers might shoot from behind tree ranges. You'd have to use the Meat Wagons on them or circumvent a lot to get to them. (intentional, this is why killing detectors and charm units are high priority)
3. Small units can get to the portal and from that zone near the trees in the west the enemy shoots Rain of Fire... (see picture).
4. Enemy units appeared right between mine and that was called an ambush Happened right west of the gate where two towers are facing it from its east. (intentional)
5. Why are the enemy and your troops the same colour!? (fixed, was a bug from 1.29 changing Black to Maroon)
6. Crimson Archers and the unit to their right (in the pheonix barracks) have broken descriptions. (they aren't suppose to be capturable by the spell, hopefully fixed)

View attachment 303268

---

EDIT the 2ND

Spoiler: Rebels01

1. I guess Command Aura icon was better than Endurance since it gives damage and not attack speed? Oh wait... by the way what auras did you use so they stack? I can't remember right now which other aura gives attack damage. (Both heroes has 2 different Command Auras)
2. What's this Way of Whatever? Makes spells look weird when other heroes don't have the title text like that. (Intentional, hint for earlier materials that was scrapped)
3. Otka's projectile is annoying because it comes with the Possession sound which is heard loudly. (well, I can make Okta's projectile the old one, but gotta make his kit similar to earlier version. Got a good projectile idea?)
4. The heroes don't share the experience... (not intentional, though I'm confused how this happens to be honest. Must've been range limits, which is intentional if it does)
5. You can destroy the crimson and undead bases before going to the first main objective (Easy). (I'll just let this intentional, for now)
6. The buildings of the Reszhan or whatchamacallit are invulnerable. I've attacked them from the north. Maybe because the base will become yours? (intentional)
7. I get "an allied town is under siege" announcement shown on the minimap in the mid-map enemy base. (can't fix this after some troubleshoot in the past)
8. This map was recycled from another campaign of yours, I think. (*cough* Garden of War *cough*)
9. Don't understand why the middle ally has the farms outside of the base easy target for the enemy. (Intentional)
10. Aren't Sorcerers and Sorcerecess the same thing? (Yes, for originality, not gonna change this for now)
11. This chapter on Easy is way much easier than Grand Coalition 02 on Easy. The Orange destroyed the Yellow by themselves. (Intentional, GC02 is the hardest at the moment, second if counting scrapped half-finished Feralia chapter)
12. Ending the level gets you to the game's menu not the campaign's. (Odd, can't think of why though)

---

EDIT 3

Spoiler: NewCoalition01

1. How'd you make the damage bonus auras stack? (Explained before)
2. The wolf hero's portrait is bugged. (Fixed)
3. Really? An undroppable item which only gives 1 to armour? (Intentional)
4. Spells are repetitive among heroes. Each faction should have different things: units, abilities etc. (intentional, related to earlier materials)
5. Warchief's damage is a joke. Actually, never mind since it can almost permabash you. (intentional)
6. Two Rivers (; you really gotta do your own maps. It's not hard at all man. Nobody asks for realistic sceneries. (explained)
7. How would Sir Edward be a great commander if he doesn't know the people? I assume he doesn't even know the geography of the land. (this has some explanation in the next, never gonna pop up chapter )
8. Is Ani supposed to have piercing attack type? That's kind of useless against most armour types. (intentional)
9. For a wolf, Ani moves faster... (fixed)
10. This mission on Easy is really easy. You should equalize same difficulties between every chapter. (intentional, not gonna change the difficulty)
11. ~"Let my villagers aid you from a long range". Kind of late for that (not my fault )
12. Well, the issue with the resource wagons is that you only need one worker on a mine with a wagon. If you put the wagon right near the mine, the worker will harvest quickly basically eliminating the need for the distance between the wagon and more (the standard 5) labourers on the mine (see pic). (intentional, even feasible in all chapters with Wagons actually. It's not that potential given the fact Wagon is very vulnerable and all forms of worker cost 0 food)
View attachment 303295

 

[fantocan]

I just dl it and only the first level worked, the training mission, the rest could click at nothing, no difficulty menu ever show up.

 

[Daffa]

What patch are you on?

 

[fantocan]

What patch are you on?

Latest.

 

[Daffa]

My apologies for the trouble @fantocan
I hope discovered the troubled map and apparently some settings went wrong when I patch a horrible problem with the difficulty system. The next 1.2 will address this issue.

 

[fantocan]

I guess the newest big updates in W3 damaged your campaign bad, because even this new version you released got issues, now I can play the other Campaigns, but after the first Darkness mission in the second there was no quests, no dialog, no dificulty menu just had control of one Lich neither the enemy nor the ally produced units nor built anything they just stood there.

If I had to guess this project should start from scratch because it is suffering same as many other maps are with the new big update.

Or maybe the second "demon" mission was just that as the creator intended, but no quests no anything don't seen to be what you proposed with the "creative" Campaign.

 

[Daffa]

That chapter was scrapped and supposed to be unplayable. I think I forgot to cut an important link in the trigger structure of the first map.

My apologies, though other chapters are playable and tested for the newest patch.

 

[Deleted member 247165]

Review	Darkness Returns
Key Concept	Campaign - The campaign is nice even if you used Blizzard maps for each chapter. The heroes are fine, the lore as well. I liked it. The first map/chapter -> It's good that everything is explained at the start. Feels like a mini AoS map Troops fighting each other, main objective to kill the Mountain King and the Archmage. Blood Hounds -> I like how the night elven archers appears and shows up the enemy encampment. The terrain is nice for this map. I like details, although (ARTISTIC POINT OF VIEW, houses surrounded by trees and rocks with no exit, I think it's kinda weird. Just my point of view, don't mind it). I like how the enemy bandits appear out of nowhere, ready to ambush you . The barrels and crates, you can add something to be dropped from them. I broke most of them and I got nothing . Zalamus's Light Force deals damage to structures as well. Love this.
Gameplay	The quests for each chapter are fine and not hard to accomplish, excepting the one in Flames of Rezhan after you secure the base in the middle of the map. After you kill the Archmage. In the dialogue, there should be "we seem" not "we seems". It's kinda hard to defeat all those enemy forces after you secure the base in the middle of the map. I mean, the units you can train are not so strong, although the spells they possess are an advantage but not enough to close combat. Agent of Fallen (I think it should be Agent of the Fallen) - Cool map. I like the quest. The Dreadlord hero, Vadrazus, you put very useful spells for him regarding this chapter. Against the Currents - The White Fang hero, hotkeys for his spells are default ones excepting his ultimate, it should be QWER same as the others. Enemy units are full of stunning spells with long duration, try nerfing them a bit. Only one worker is not enough if you want to gather some lumber in order to build an altar to revive them. All enemy bases are almost 100 units one near the other. I think you should make the be further away one from another, so they won't come with their strongest units upon you at once when you attack one of the enemy bases.
Terrain & Aesthetics	You mainly used normal Blizzard maps, excepting two of them. It's not a bad thing, you integrated them well but some custom ones would not hurt.
Wizardry	Normal spells that fit each hero, it's good that you added 2 separated spells aside from those 4. They are really useful in combat. The spellcaster units have very useful spells, you really need them to resist in combat in chapter "Flames of Rezhan".
Final Suggestions	Nerf the enemy units that are almost full of stunning spells. Place the enemy bases in the last chapter, further away from each other. It's not so great to be assaulted by 3 deadly armies at once when you try to attack one of them, especially since your available units cannot hold them up so good. Create some custom maps for further chapters or for the current ones. I think it needs something more, come up with some cool updates for it and I'll surely improve the rating.

 

[Daffa]

It seems everyone always missed Farm is capable of training Peasants in Against the Current. Will fix this with a hint.

Thanks for the feedback @Alxen345 I will make some changes soon.

 

[Map Designer]

Quite neat description I must say. I wonder how impressive this will be when I launch WCIII

 

[deepstrasz]

Some changes made,
Approved.

In Heave and Earth (Grand Coalition 02) there are two orange paladin heroes with the same name: Manadar the Healer.
Didn't the purple undead have heroes? Also, they don't attack (out of their base)?
Green barracks seem to be shutting down after a while or when the orange and light blue bases are destroyed.
For the love of art, please use a skin or something on that Executor, it's ugly as the abyss. Try this: DarkKnight.blp

 

[Daffa]

Some changes made,
Approved.

In Heave and Earth (Grand Coalition 02) there are two orange paladin heroes with the same name: Manadar the Healer.
Didn't the purple undead have heroes? Also, they don't attack (out of their base)?
Green barracks seem to be shutting down after a while or when the orange and light blue bases are destroyed.
For the love of art, please use a skin or something on that Executor, it's ugly as the abyss. Try this: DarkKnight.blp

Strange, will chedk the paladin.
They are suppose to train them over time, will check the AI for the heroes.
Intentional, they will stop resisting once the other major faction stops fighting.
Thanks for the recommendation, will do.

 

[Daffa]

It feels odd that now I want to actually finish this campaign. Might want to wrap three more chapters before I moved on to Darkness Returns II if I can get motivated.

 

[Daffa]

Sorry for the update with no log, this is just to add Short Stories related to the soon to be released patch and to fill gaps in the maps.

 

[Daffa]

Version 2.0 Uploaded!

Hidden

Added Chapters :
- Agent of Fallen 02: Zero Hour
- Revolutionary Coalition 02: The Devil King
- Hidden Chapter

General :
- Revolution Elites HP reduced from 1670 to 1300
- Elites HP increased from 1000 to 1250
- Okta Raxus' Spirit Ghost Summon Mana Cost reduced from 250 to 200
- Alliara Lightstar's Blizzard Mana Cost reduced from 100 to 80
- Vadrazus' Agency Power Evasion increased from 20% to 25%
- Redha Ani's Sacred Arrow Base Bonus Damage increased from 25 to 30
- Phoenix Flames' Inner Fire Damage Bonus increased from 20% to 25%
- Phoenix Flames' Inner Fire Armor Bonus increased from 7 to 10
- Phoenix Flames' Rain of Fire Damage per Wave increased from 25 to 40
- Crimson Sword's Base Damage increased from 11 to 18
- Crimson Hunter's Base Damage increased from 15 to 25
- Parnada the Wise's Base HP increased from 1500 to 2000
- Phoenix Guardian's Base Damage increased from12 to 24
- Phoenix Guardian now has Ensnare
- Phoenix Guardian's HP increased from 1500 to 2000
- Changed many models and icons for better appearances
- Vadrazus' Wraith's HP increased from 750 to 900
- Vadrazus' Mind Possession Cooldown reduced from 15 to 10
- All Undead Units have their stats readjusted (due to Agent of Fallen 02)
- Lord Ozaras now only has one passive (Leader Aura)
- Farm (Grand) no longer trains Worker [No more hunting worker game]
- Doubled Divine Blessing duration
- Berserk mana cost increased from 25 to 50
- Increased Ice Time's Area of Effect from 450 to 1000
- Decreased Ice Time's freeze from 30 (10) to 20(5)
- Buffed Priest abilities

Grand Coalition 01 :
- Added Elite Waves that attack at longer intervals
- Added Final Wave that attacks at last moments
- Split defense outposts
- Rename generic commanders to have their unique names
- Added some units to help the defense further
- Player starts with tier 1 upgrade for all units except Archers (all difficulties)
- Ozarus now teleports back to base, regardless if cinematic is skipped or not

Grand Coalition 02 :
- Nazare P's Base HP increased from 45 to 90
- Rasi Annah's Ice Time Mana Cost reduced from 250 to 100
- Added Towers to most entrances to the middle base
- Level cap raised from 4 to 6
- Fixed Undead AI
- Added 1 Knight for player
- Allows Mortar and Siege Engine to be built
- Increased wait duration from 600 to 900 for enemy and 750 to 1500 for Azralor
- Added two more Town Hall for Zarb-Zurb
- Slightly altered the first phase after calling for help

Revolutionaries 01 :
- Executors are replaced with Lieutenants
- A new variant of Executor added in limited number to Azralor's forces
- Increases the tech tree of Revolutionaries for player
- Grant access to tier 3
- Steam Tanks are now trainable

New Coalition 01 :
- Engineer Wart's Damage Cooldown reduced from 3.5 to 2 seconds
- Engineer Wart's HP increased from 1200 to 1800
- Added an additional Elementalist to the eastern flank
- Added two additional Peasants at the beginning
- Slightly changed Chief, Ani and White Fang starting positions

NOTES: Many changes are not logged, only logged them starting from 31/12/2018 22:43 GMT+7

I also included two new authors involved in the development of the most recent 2.0 release.

 

[Daffa]

Found a major issue with Rev 02, will release fix soon(tm).

Also, since people have issues with Sorcerer=Sorceress, I've made some changes to Sorcerer's spell kit. Be noted this new kit won't apply to the hidden chapter due to a different mechanism for that particular chapter.

 

[Deleted member 247165]

Here it goes. You really improved this a lot. I like how it starts now with that zero chapter. Is good to see that you listened to feedback and improved the campaign per it. Since you improved it and fixed what I mentioned in my previous review, I'll raise my rating from 3/5 to 4/5

 

[Daffa]

I urge everyone who played 2.0 TO QUICKLY PATCH TO 2.1, Revolutionaries chapter is bugged as hell and hopefully this new patch fixed the issue regarding the switchings.

 

[.....]

If you're not planning to continue on with this project then I don't really see much point in me doing a grammar check for it I'll reserve my time and effort for your another project

good question you're outdated project is continued

Review	Darkness Returns
Key Concept	Campaign - The campaign is nice even if you used Blizzard maps for each chapter. The heroes are fine, the lore as well. I liked it. The first map/chapter -> It's good that everything is explained at the start. Feels like a mini AoS map Troops fighting each other, main objective to kill the Mountain King and the Archmage. Blood Hounds -> I like how the night elven archers appears and shows up the enemy encampment. The terrain is nice for this map. I like details, although (ARTISTIC POINT OF VIEW, houses surrounded by trees and rocks with no exit, I think it's kinda weird. Just my point of view, don't mind it). I like how the enemy bandits appear out of nowhere, ready to ambush you . The barrels and crates, you can add something to be dropped from them. I broke most of them and I got nothing . Zalamus's Light Force deals damage to structures as well. Love this.
Gameplay	The quests for each chapter are fine and not hard to accomplish, excepting the one in Flames of Rezhan after you secure the base in the middle of the map. After you kill the Archmage. In the dialogue, there should be "we seem" not "we seems". It's kinda hard to defeat all those enemy forces after you secure the base in the middle of the map. I mean, the units you can train are not so strong, although the spells they possess are an advantage but not enough to close combat. Agent of Fallen (I think it should be Agent of the Fallen) - Cool map. I like the quest. The Dreadlord hero, Vadrazus, you put very useful spells for him regarding this chapter. Against the Currents - The White Fang hero, hotkeys for his spells are default ones excepting his ultimate, it should be QWER same as the others. Enemy units are full of stunning spells with long duration, try nerfing them a bit. Only one worker is not enough if you want to gather some lumber in order to build an altar to revive them. All enemy bases are almost 100 units one near the other. I think you should make the be further away one from another, so they won't come with their strongest units upon you at once when you attack one of the enemy bases.
Terrain & Aesthetics	You mainly used normal Blizzard maps, excepting two of them. It's not a bad thing, you integrated them well but some custom ones would not hurt.
Wizardry	Normal spells that fit each hero, it's good that you added 2 separated spells aside from those 4. They are really useful in combat. The spellcaster units have very useful spells, you really need them to resist in combat in chapter "Flames of Rezhan".
Final Suggestions	Nerf the enemy units that are almost full of stunning spells. Place the enemy bases in the last chapter, further away from each other. It's not so great to be assaulted by 3 deadly armies at once when you try to attack one of them, especially since your available units cannot hold them up so good. Create some custom maps for further chapters or for the current ones. I think it needs something more, come up with some cool updates for it and I'll surely improve the rating.[/COLOoolR]

thank you for informing us sorry if i saw this late because i've been busy yes we thought of some cool ideas and we received new models so thank you for the review!

 

[.....]

THIS CAMPAIGN IS NOT PROTECTED!
YOU HAVE MY FULL PERMISSION TO IMPROVE THE STORY AND EVEN ADD CHAPTERS AS YOU SEE FIT. IF YOU HAVE DESIRE TO SEE SOME OF THE CUT CONTENTS (INCLUDING A HALF FUNCTIONAL SECRET CHAPTER), FEEL FREE TO ASK IN PRIVATE!

For everyone ever involved in the work of this project, I deeply apologize for this. Special mentions for @ThinhHo @MasterBlaster @Rheiko @WarcraftLiterature and @Leo Akastenix
I also thank you for all supports from those who involves themselves in the development thread and in other media such as Discord and Private Messages

I am planning to take a different stance and rewrite the entirety of the story this campaign is based on (it's a small fraction of a huge story). Hopefully I can show people some interesting stuffs one day.

Slapping myself cause I forgot to mention @WhiteFang

---
@MasterBlaster I do remember I want you to do the grammar check and will release a newer version soon. But it seems things has gone differently for me. Feel free to do that and I will still credit you for that if you still want it. I deeply apologize to you for this, truly.

not protected huh? well i edited it and save and opened the campaign in wc3 everything's gone

 

[Daffa]

not protected huh? well i edited it and save and opened the campaign in wc3 everything's gone

How do you edit the campaign? The file there is the exact file used for development by myself personally. None of my map except Battle of Emerald Gardens is protected.

 

[UkyoKuonji]

Seem interesting going to try it now!!

 

[Daffa]

Seem interesting going to try it now!!

Would like to hear some feedback

 

[.....]

Would like to hear some feedback

Perhaps it would be nice if he rated a 5 or 4 but I ain't gonna force his choice of rate

 

[Daffa]

Perhaps it would be nice if he rated a 5 or 4 but I ain't gonna force his choice of rate

He did, though I need feedback more than rate.

 

[.....]

He did, though I need feedback more than rate.

i see and daffa for the judgement map you made there is a skill made by Jesushipster and it might be for sans but the bones may be realistic but it might work it's called bone impale

 

[Daffa]

i see and daffa for the judgement map you made there is a skill made by Jesushipster and it might be for sans but the bones may be realistic but it might work it's called bone impale

We'll see.

 

[UkyoKuonji]

Would like to hear some feedback

Opps! my bad i forgot to write a review... The story is great!! I would happy if you can continue the story.. Also NIGHT elves archer (not sun archer) called ARCCHER...
Typing error of arccher can be found in barrack after rescue them..

 

[Daffa]

Opps! my bad i forgot to write a review... The story is great!! I would happy if you can continue the story.. Also NIGHT elves archer (not sun archer) called ARCCHER...
Typing error of arccher can be found in barrack after rescue them..

Thank you, will look into that.

 

[.....]

Thank you, will look into that.

daffa perhaps you let me do with the unit training and typing to minimize mistakes

 

[Daffa]

daffa perhaps you let me do with the unit training and typing to minimize mistakes

Sure.

 

[Jason56_34]

what patch this is mainly assured? Because the first map was incredibly joyful.. but when I started the other maps.. It just went black.... I'll try on patch 1.27b




EDIT: DAMNIT! Did not work

 

[Daffa]

what patch this is mainly assured? Because the first map was incredibly joyful.. but when I started the other maps.. It just went black.... I'll try on patch 1.27b




EDIT: DAMNIT! Did not work

Only for 1.29 and up. I utilize the 24p feature for some of the more subfaction heavy battles.

 

[Jason56_34]

Managed to get 1.29 PTR and tried it, It was totally fun although on the chapter where you protect this waygate, I simply do not know how the bandits like "teleported" when I highly protected it, I clearly maintained all spots where the enemies attack?

+REP
4/5

 

[Daffa]

If you're not going with official installation, I'm afraid I cannot help at all. It's against the rules to support piracy.

I suggest get Reforged for $30 and it comes with the original RoC and TFT in a bundle.

EDIT :
I have removed the link in the post because it's a violation of the Hive Rules.

EDIT 2 :
Updated the campaign thread to make it explicit that it requires 1.29+