Life and Death I

[tulee]

Just to remind you all: The author of this campaign is Zhi Xingren. The campaign is posted on hiveworkshop on his behalf with his express permission.
The campaign was originally posted here:

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Permission From Author

This is a campaign from the Chinese language warcraft 3 community. Hopefully we can "give back" in the sense that by sharing many campaigns from their community, it will inspire Hiveworkshop creators to make more campaigns, and then their community can play those campaigns when their translators bring Hive campaigns to their community (so in this way, they can benefit also).

 

[gaurdian of the flame]

it won t work on 1.31 will it ?

 

[Jarl Bob]

it won t work on 1.31 will it ?

Recommended version 1.35 - 1.36

 

[deepstrasz]

Hard to call that image permission granted. Please show more details.

 

[raypack]

Hard to call that image permission granted. Please show more details.

Looks good enough to me, chief

 

[cleavinghammer]

General:

Campaign image in the menu is a unit texture.

What exactly is a Shengyuzhe? I'm assuming it's a rank since everyone refers to Zan as "the Shengyuzhe".

No skipping? Alright, thanks for the warning at least.

Auxiliary Aura buff needs a tooltip. If I understood it correctly, it only affects Zan?

The unit summoned by the King's Battleship spell is called Holy Battleship. It and the summoned militia have untranslated timers.

Resurrection learning tooltip says it targets 6 units instead of the actual number at different levels (the spell's tooltip does state this). I'd suggest making summoned Militia unavailable for Resurrection, as it can bring them back instead a more useful (and permanent) unit.

Proudmoore's urn: I'd make the text " 's Ashes" green as well.

Combining items could use more detailed tooltips, particularly the two-stage ones.

Why "Forcibly Promoted" Footman?

I dunno about Mai having no damaging abilties, at least give him his hawk as a permanent summon.

First level:

Loading screen: This might be a widescreen issue, but I can't read half the top text ("After Admiral Proudmoore was kille- Jaina, who was determined to beco-") since it's hidden by a black bar. The white text is fine (but would be more readable with a line break for the numbered parts).

Bu Lusi starts with 0 mana.

Is it Bu Lusi or Bulusi Kang?

Rifleman shouldn't have the same icon as the Footman.

Levelup conversation: "useless resources or precious treasures" -> not sure what this means.

Music stopped looping after a while.

So the transports took quite a bit of damage from my troops before they were captured, what happens if they all die?

Killed a Royal Guard, who was suddenly named Voyage's Royal Naga Prophet.

Using the hawk to scout around lets you see a bunch of items stored in an inaccessible place.

... Combining the revenants makes a journal? Did the soldiers become the revenants? With the hawk you can see a Overflowing Spirit Bowl, shouldn't it turn into that?

Journal 2: then -> than

Journal 4: lead -> led

There's a bunch of flowers in an arrangement, do they mean anything?

Mossy Golem: "reincarnation amulet" -> "rune of rebirth"

Rock Defenders should be a different color, I thought they were regular rock golems.

Rock Defender guarding the Stone Palace: "Thing golem" -> "This golem"

I still have the Forest Troll reagent and couldn't find anything to use it on.
Edit: Wait, that's what it does? I destroyed a perfectly good orb for this?

Caves: There should be a message like "There's a seal on the cave, we can't leave". The caves also shouldn't stop teleporting after they're cleared out, I left some items inside and had to reload.

Something kills Mai's hawk if it goes near the NE corner, maybe use anti-flyer barriers instead.

Summoned reinforcement timers read "Deplete".

...OK. I legitimately did not expect that ending. This one was interesting, the difficulty wasn't enormous but surprisingly high for a first mission and a baseless one.



Interlude: I don't think "sturdy" is the best word to use here.

 

[cleavinghammer]

Second level:

Loading screen: I'd use "thirst for magic" instead of lust.

Intro: Hi immersion, bye immersion.

• How do they know what genes are?
• The "type OK to bring him back" part should not be spoken by him, unless this and the genes thing are him hallucinating.

Mai Nasi (Magic Drinker) is now Ma Nasi the Magic Drinker (Arch Mage).

Revenge quest: at sea -> to sea

Hydra cutscenes:

• fast -> fact
• implicate -> amalgamate

Cannon cutscene: The fog of war shouldn't be present when the cannon is shown firing. Also the projectile looks too small compared to the cannon.

After the cannon cutscene, Mai/Ma is neutral, the nagas are still under player control.

Jieke's tents show up as enemies but can't be attacked.

Robot Goblins make penguin sounds.

The zeppelin near Jieke is called "Captured Goblin Zeppelin".

Amulet of the Wild says it summons a Yeti instead of a Sasquatch.

No end cutscene?


Interludes: ... OK, that's quite a time skip. Seeing it gradually happen would have made it easier to follow.


Third level:

The dummy units used to provide vision are visible on the minimap.

Spellbook is now the far less useful default one, where Dispel Magic isn't available without Priest upgrades.

What's a Corpse Brother?

Archer -> Crossbowman

There seems to be a trigger causing music to start depending on region because I ended up with several loops of Alliance music playing at the same time.

Shard: What does "reveal terrain" mean? It doesn't cast Far Sight, as far as I can tell it does nothing.

The Summon Tie Gan item does nothing.

The acolytes around the endboss are holding still instead of their casting animation.

Tie Gan's name is now Pawu Deer and has no items.

Hold the intersection: No explanation of how long you're supposed to hold out. The first time I got swarmed and died, the second time I cheated past the abomination fight (it's not particularly difficult, just long), killed a zombie and a meat wagon, and the level proceeded.

 

[Maxlaid]

Did I understand correctly that the author forgot to rename the ability completely?

From Above Light Nova
Below Frost Nova

 

[cleavinghammer]

Fourth level: (So why'd the previous one say Final Mission?)

Loading screen is the skirmish map version showing the factions present.

Intro:

• Garithos Stormwind -> Garithos that Stormwind
• Last line from the Omnimage calls him Commander.
• structures works made -> structures built
• Dark Nights -> Dark Knights (but apparently they're Night Knights?)
• Necromancer should not tell the player to type OK.

Why are the ghouls red?

The Damn Banshee line can be repeated three times. Also, Damn Banshee. -> Damn Banshees.

Busi getting killed doesn't fail the mission.

Omnimage has no name.

Crimson Priest tooltips don't mention their spells.

Night/Dark Knights use the Knight icon.


Fifth level:

Loading screen is the skirmish map version showing the factions present.

Intro:

• Tie Gan's talking portrait is grey.
• different sizes -> all sizes

Blade of Protrusion -> ???

Tie Gan's attack isn't showing up, his ultimate has no learning tooltip.

Manic Predators -> Crazed Predators

Bear: always have -> have always had

Good Guy Medal: Why not keep Medallion of Courage? Especially since the tooltip says it gives 5 (it's 4) Str & Int.

Ugh, this was a slog. Maybe have the reveal item be on a cooldown instead of charges, having to keep going back to the shop is even longer.


Finale: death center -> ???


Overall... No major bugs, but the plot goes all over the place, completely skipping over some parts (who's Voyage? how the hell did the urn end up there?) and then going back to others. What was the whole deal with the Mai guy? You'd think he'd care about his uncle's fate more.


-

Weird bug, I'm not sure if it's the campaign, the patch or my computer but now I can only load campaign saves if I'm currently playing a level of that campaign.

 

[tulee]

Fixed the grammar/spelling/missing translations based on Cleavinghammer's comments.
There are some issues like Silverpine Forest map reverting back to standard loading screen and the campaign thumbnail being a standard human melee map that seem to be caused by the Wc3 version 1.36--- the editor keeps changing them back to default, so they can't really be fixed.


Here are some of my thoughts back from when I played Zhi Xingren's campaign 6 or so years ago-

Ch1
I love how big the map is, and how there are lots of secret items to find.
Zan En gives Bu Lusi lots of strange advice, like when he talks about young people being the future of a country.
Shocking ending to have the main hero of the chapter die, though the fact that he was leveling up so fast maybe hinted that we would not be using him again in the future.


Ch2
It's not clear why Mai Nasi didn't just absorb all the power of the Magic Eye when he first found it, instead of going back later to it.
I like the play style, being able to kill the Naga and revive them so they can then kill the sea witch by overwhelming her since she is immune to magic

It is not clear what happened to the Urn. It is hinted it was part of some conspiracy, especially when Jieke Mawei dies before he tries to tell the Heroes something important. Or maybe he was referring to his competitors, the goblins who helped Bu Lusi. Even if it is a conspiracy, it seems like a lot of effort to go to just to make Bu Lusi join the undead and Mai Nasi become an emperor.

Ch3
The gnolls had a very fast meeting (within 2 seconds?) and decided to not kill Bu Lusi. How nice of them.

Ch4
Simple concept of + str every time a unit dies, but it made it very fun to play the whole map, making Bu Lusi very strong. I had an incentive to kill every unit on the map.
The +str only triggers if the Hero deals the killing blow, so it makes all other allied units very useless, since early on they could easily be the killing unit and then Bu Lusi gets no STR. So basically, I only used the allied units at the end when attacking Varimathras to act as meat shields, otherwise I never used them.

Ch5
This map was quite hard to play through, since it was the last chapter and there was very little incentive to do anything except go straight to the end of the map.

General Points
I normally only think campaigns with a strong story are good, but this campaign was an exception. Except for the last map, all the chapters were fun to play, and many had simple but unique mechanics to make the game play interesting, like the +STR part of Bu Lusi's final map, or Mai Nasi needing to kill and revive Naga to slay the Sea Witch. I'm grateful Zhi Xingren allowed his campaign to be released on hiveworkshop.

 

[cleavinghammer]

Zan En gives Bu Lusi lots of strange advice, like when he talks about young people being the future of a country.

I thought that was meant to be him being a teacher to the guy, and coming across as well-meaning but out of touch.

 

[deepstrasz]

We definitely cannot go reviewing, especially campaigns, without congratulating @cleavinghammer for the preemptive detailed feed.

Spoiler: comments

1. Strange that part of the Kul Tiras people have been turned to Chinese at least in what names are concerned but at least the story seems to stay true to the Warcraft experience.
2. Sadly, the loading screens need to be converted to 1.32+ size.
3. Auxiliary Aura should use the passive icon version.
4. Jaina's Orders should have a proper description since it doesn't say it temporary summons troops.
5. Resurrection says it revives 6 when learning the spell but in reality it revives 1 (at least for the first level).
6. Golem Emperor Ritual Tool says a lot of blah blah but no actual properties/values.
7. Revenant Shard's icon is green on F10/game pause. It needs its DIBTN.
8. Not sure what troops and resources in war has anything to do with patience needed for education.
9. Ugh... consuming the Orb of Venom for a consumable potion definitely doesn't hold weigh if you plan to keep the item for the next chapters but if it's that necessary to win the 1st chapter...
10. Footmen and Riflemen have the same icon.
11. Strange Dust and the item the Dragon Turtle drops should have active looking icons.
12. Really don't understand why Mai Nasi hasn't got a proper custom skin/model and has been RGB hued instead.
13. Gem of Haste doesn't say it casts Divine Shield/Invulnerability.
14. By the way, not sure where all this is happening, still in Theramore island, or on islands around it? If so, why the Lordaeron trolls?
15. Gem of Swiftness doesn't say it gives Trueshot Aura.
16. The hawk was removed after meeting Samuro. Kind of lame. Might as well have been a hero vs hero fight.
17. Not sure what I've missed but the Sea Treasures quest didn't finish.
18. LoL. Mal Nasi breaks the fourth wall telling the player indirectly to type OK.
19. Makes no sense why Gem of Swiftness has to be picked rather than be in the inventory. Also, it's annoying to pick it up.
20. Mana Shield says it's level one but there's only one level anyway as this hero has no ultimate.
21. Silence has no title/name.
22. Pretty weird to promise something one has seen.
23. Seems Jaina's Secret Orders also work here summoning Skeletons basically being turned to the Book of the Dead.
24. Here's a nice one for you:
25. Spoiler

    
26. Gan has no DISBTN, the icon being green on F10/game pause.
27. The Strange Hydra has no turn animation during attack as it has no movement speed.
28. A dwarf that has not heard of or seen a goblin before. Also, units selected during cinematic mode.
29. Makes no sense, there're even goblins with Chinese names. Ah, wait. The dwarf has that kind of name too.
30. What is a magic sacrifice?
31. Trueshot Aura is reskinned and with an active ability icon. Stun Bomb also needs a non-active ability icon while Heat Seeking Missile a passive one.
32. The huge cannon's projectile comes from under the muzzle.
33. Heat Seeking Missile seems not to do any damage in its path.
34. The chapter ends abruptly after killing the goblin boss/hero.
35. Oh brother. Mai Nasi's arc has gone crazy cartoon villain way. And all that to get revenge on the orcs, LoL.
36. Tie Gan belongs to the black or neutral passive player during the cinematic scene (portrait).
37. Some of the loading screens are unfitting for example the Coconut chapter one that's a real picture compared to the others which are drawn.
38. Mai Nasi's animations freeze after throwing the orb. Also, some of the transmissions are too fast to be read properly. Moreover, this cinematic map should have been fused with the previous as it's way too short.
39. With the undead suddenly being brought in the whole thing it feels like the story is randomly jumping around.
40. Precise Swordsmanship has a active ability icon.
41. Bulusi's now a hero but has no glow.
42. Fluent gnoll. Must have studied at Theramore university. Balusi is selected during cinematic mode.
43. The Spell Book now has two other spells of which one requires the Priest's training to be used (Dispel Magic).
44. Using the Potion of Invulnerability removes spells from the book but dropping and taking it back fixes the issue.
45. Many spells don't have proper level based descriptions in the learn ability menu. Also, Swordsmanship's level 3 says the multiplier goes to x2 but after being learned it's actually x3.
46. Splash Cleave also has an active icon.
47. It's weird to use non-model units to discover areas for the player instead of using the Visibility Modifier trigger because those units are shown on the minimap (confusing).
48. "Adventurer?" They didn't even see the Kul Tiras clothing to mention anything about it? Is that what you call a solo soldier that might be deserting or an assassin, adventurer ?
49. Anyways, this map is quite odd, not really adding anything to the story other than Bulusi remaining alone in completing the task but it feels out of place, the way it was done. Why for instance did the urn end up here?
50. Oh yea and the hero is named Bulusi Kang now while in game messages and before it was Bu Lusi.
51. The item to call Tie Gan doesn't work or at least there's no indication how to use it.
52. The Acolytes near Luan Fenpo have their animations frozen.
53. Lich: "I lost so many troops. Ha, ha, ha, ha! And another ha, ha!"
54. Gan is now named Pawu Deer!?
55. So while sudden character deaths might work for events like those happening to Zan for Bulusi it's nonsensical.
56. The gameplay with the immobile Gan is totally ludicrous. The hero's damage and HP are the same and the enemy's also. How're you supposed to eliminate everything before being overwhelmed? Alright, so the range is bigger.
57. One Corpse Brother remained idle. It dropped a Healing Salve that could not be taken due to distance and no hero mobility
58. Scarlet Crusade!? I definitely have no idea where the action takes place anymore. Now, we're in northern Lordaeron!? Tie Gan is gray now.
59. The story took a sad stroke to its core Bu Lusi becoming an evil puppet.
60. Garithos still lives!?
61. The undead Bulusi has no glow.
62. It would have been better to write about the OK in chat thing as a notice after the cinematic scene.
63. Weird item descriptions. Too many colours and no proper spaces or paragraph arrangement (example: Runeblade).
64. I guess this terrain is a modified version of the first TfT undead chapter?
65. Animate Dead doesn't say it's level based.
66. Even trolls have Chinese names.
67. Linear gameplay in this chapter and mostly throughout the campaign.
68. The Skull Crusher is just a Murdain copy and has the Crypt Lord's icon...
69. The Dark Knights quest does not complete after meeting them.
70. The Omnimage has no name and both Scarlet Crusade heroes have no glow. Who calls somebody by the name of Heart of Rage?
71. Why wouldn't the undead find some time to kill some sheep?
72. Towers are bigger and have no visible selection scale. I thought they'd also be stronger. The other human buildings are greater in size too with no selection circle to be seen.
73. Complete Suppression doesn't seem to finish after eliminating the enemy undead.
74. A quest message said the above quest finished when in reality the Scarlet Crusade one was marked as completed.
75. The mystery is lost when the player is shown the worgen from the shadows. Also, Tie Gan's ultimate has no tooltip (learn ability menu). No attack/damage values visible on the hero.
76. Good Guy Medal for the goodest animal murderer. Also, the lizard's message appears two times. Entered, also, with the bear.
77. Bash has a different icon and not a passive looking one.
78. This last chapter is really repetitive.
79. The Chinese dwarf has returned home and now with a grayed bear.
80. The screen turns black after the ending cinematic scene telling of the continuation campaign to come.

So, I really thought this would be a nice after The Founding of Durotar Kul Tiras side story but it was just another weird alternate universe fan fiction. Overall, classic Warcraft III RPG gameplay all the way.

Approved.

---

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[cleavinghammer]

The fact that the original character's names are in Chinese I can deal with, I know coming up with John Nounverber and Mary Adjectivenoun names is very much hit-and-miss.

 

[deepstrasz]

The fact that character's names are in Chinese I can deal with, I know coming up with John Nounverber and Mary Adjectivenoun names is very much hit-and-miss.

Sure but at least have some consistency, not every other random character having such a name. I wouldn't have commented much if it had been limited to a part of the Kul Tiras faction, let's say.

 

[cleavinghammer]

At least it's only original characters and not the canon ones.