To the Bitter End

[deepstrasz]

You're quite active on your thread. I don't remember asking you how long did it take to finish this work (hours per day and so on).

 

[Soul Reaver]

You're quite active on your thread. I don't remember asking you how long did it take to finish this work (hours per day and so on).

Yeah, I keep an eye on the thread so I can answer peoples' questions. I'm happy to hear from people who are playing the campaign.

I'm not actually sure how long it took overall. I've got a wife and a full time job, so I have a lot of other commitments. I typically set myself the goal of working on it an hour every day, but there were plenty of times I couldn't work on it at all, and other times where I would work on it every spare moment I had.

Overall, it took over six years to finish, so a lot of work went into it!

 

[MC_HeartAttack]

Yeah, I keep an eye on the thread so I can answer peoples' questions. I'm happy to hear from people who are playing the campaign.

I'm not actually sure how long it took overall. I've got a wife and a full time job, so I have a lot of other commitments. I typically set myself the goal of working on it an hour every day, but there were plenty of times I couldn't work on it at all, and other times where I would work on it every spare moment I had.

Overall, it took over six years to finish, so a lot of work went into it!

Wow, SIX YEARS? No wonder it's so good..

 

[WhiteFang]

Yeah, I keep an eye on the thread so I can answer peoples' questions. I'm happy to hear from people who are playing the campaign.

I'm not actually sure how long it took overall. I've got a wife and a full time job, so I have a lot of other commitments. I typically set myself the goal of working on it an hour every day, but there were plenty of times I couldn't work on it at all, and other times where I would work on it every spare moment I had.

Overall, it took over six years to finish, so a lot of work went into it!

Wow,that's a long time

 

[deepstrasz]

Hey Reave'! Don't remember asking you how everybody seems to be talking the same language ?

 

[Soul Reaver]

Truth be told, they're not really. Although Morganem will have started to introduce a formally mandated 'common tongue' amongst the governments of his vassal kingdoms (likely based on the Dharuk language), this wouldn't have spread everywhere and would not be extensively used by most of the populace. There are two reasons everyone understands each other:

Firstly, all the powerful immortals/beings in the game have some manner of magical or technological 'universal translator' thing going - Soul Reaver, for example, not only knows a huge amount of languages, but also has a minor cantrip active at all times that ensures he understands (more or less) what is being said in languages he does not know, and ensures that his own speech is similarly 'translated' to the listeners. Cameron's suit comes with a universal translator, though even without it, his psychic powers allow him to non-verbally 'understand' what people are saying even if it's a different language. And so on and so forth. The Dharuk, for their part, are crudely taught the languages of the places they invade (if their role requires them to do anything but bash people's heads in) - Dharuk are intelligent and fast learners when it comes to things like that.

Secondly, the plot would be vastly harder to follow for the player (and the characters) if all the dialogue was written in the native languages of the speakers and nobody understood each other.

 

[ThunderWarcraft]

Nice! I'm hoping for some more great work in the future.

 

[deepstrasz]

Almost forgot about these.

You guess from what level they are They're all from the same mission.

 

[Soul Reaver]

Almost forgot about these.

You guess from what level they are They're all from the same mission.

They're from Chapter VII, I've looked at it long enough to know right away.

I'm guessing you're demonstrating how you can view the terrain layout through the "fog of war" in some missions?

Chapter VII isn't the only one where that happens - it happens in any mission with a visual 'fog' effect (and there are quite a few of those in To the Bitter End). Unfortunately there isn't anything I can do about it short of removing the fog effect, which is something I don't want to do.

It looks cool though.

As an interesting note, you might notice that during the Prologue cinematic (which is set in the same location) that fog isn't present. That's not a mistake... there's a reason why it's only there in Chapter VII onwards.

 

[deepstrasz]

I'm guessing you're demonstrating how you can view the terrain layout through the "fog of war" in some missions?

No, Mr. Reave'. It's the level where I just saw/realized of the artistic value of the fog of war. Other missions might have that too, but this one's FoW caught my attention very fast.

 

[Soul Reaver]

Another update! To the Bitter End has now been updated to version 1.0.05!

There are lots of small fixes in this update - little bugs, inconsistencies, glitches and annoyances that have been bothering me. The changes include:

- Incorrect trigger entries that reduced the efficiency of Blood Plague in Chapters 5-8 have now been fixed
- Explosive Shells slightly improved
- Active sub-selections are now no longer being reset whenever a treeman 'unroots' in Chapter 3 (seems to have been caused by a hardcoded problem with the 'root' and 'unroot' ability in vanilla Warcraft 3)
- Allied units are rescued from cells automatically when the doors are broken down in Chapter 1 (no need to run up to the ones in the back anymore!)
- Chapter 2 AI improved slightly
- Using the Soul Amulet now cancels the effects of Celerity (just like it logically should)
- Splash screens for opening/credits prettied up a bit
- Various small fixes to range/damage/MP progression for several abilities and summoned units
- Various small tooltip and dialogue fixes

 

[DarkSword123]

is this a re-realse ?
i remember playing this already
Did you just add some stuff and then re-release it ?
i haven't play it yet i just want to see what you have to say

 

[Soul Reaver]

is this a re-realse ?
i remember playing this already
Did you just add some stuff and then re-release it ?
i haven't play it yet i just want to see what you have to say

It's an 'update' - so yes, it's the same game, but with a bunch of small bugs and problems fixed. There aren't any major changes, just things to make it play smoother and eliminate inconsistencies and small annoyances.


For example: in Chapter III, if you had a group of units selected during the battle against the Juggernaut, then your sub-selection (ie, the unit you selected by pressing Tab) got reset to the first unit in the group whenever a Treeman uprooted itself. This was a bug due to how the Root/Unroot ability works in Warcraft III. I re-coded how the Treemen spawn so that doesn't happen anymore in this latest version.

 

[Baluar]

I don't think I've played something this good in a long while. I'm in mission 4 at the moment, and I'm already loving it.

The gameplay is nothing out of the ordinary... or so it would seem at first. It isn't particularly fancy, but it is done wonderfully, and plays extremely well. Besides, you can't hate a game with something as awesome as the Sphere of Annihilation in it.

(It is a little unforgiving, though, but there's no fun if there's no challenge, huh?)

The story isn't pretentious in its premise, but it works remarkably well and now I want to see its ending as soon as possible.

The music is something to be noted. I love all the tracks I've heard so far, and I have no reason to think the rest will be any different.

I honestly have yet to find a thing I dislike about this.

 

[Soul Reaver]

I don't think I've played something this good in a long while. I'm in mission 4 at the moment, and I'm already loving it.

The gameplay is nothing out of the ordinary... or so it would seem at first. It isn't particularly fancy, but it is done wonderfully, and plays extremely well. Besides, you can't hate a game with something as awesome as the Sphere of Annihilation in it.

(It is a little unforgiving, though, but there's no fun if there's no challenge, huh?)

The story isn't pretentious in its premise, but it works remarkably well and now I want to see its ending as soon as possible.

The music is something to be noted. I love all the tracks I've heard so far, and I have no reason to think the rest will be any different.

I honestly have yet to find a thing I dislike about this.

Really happy you're enjoying it so far! Note I love very difficult games, and so the difficulty does ramp up (Chapter IV is a vicious wake-up call). Personally I'd recommend fighting your way through it nonetheless (and saving often), as that will feel more rewarding when you win, but if you find it too tough to be fun, you can change the difficulty for the current Chapter by typing in 'easy' or 'medium' in the chat window ('hard' is the default).

But I promise that it is possible even on the default difficulty!

Send me an email when you've finished it, would love to hear your feedback.

 

[Baluar]

Indeed. I could only try a bit of Chapter IV before I had to leave home for a few days, and it gave me a lot of trouble. I recklessly sent Kitharsis to fight and ended up with him losing mote than half his health in the second enemy encounter.

 

[Soul Reaver]

Indeed. I could only try a bit of Chapter IV before I had to leave home for a few days, and it gave me a lot of trouble. I recklessly sent Kitharsis to fight and ended up with him losing mote than half his health in the second enemy encounter.

Kitharsis' AI is a real pain here, since he'll try to fight despite being useless at it. Tell him to Hold Position when there are enemies nearby and he won't rush in murder himself.

He's also slow as molasses so it helps to have a rearguard following him (I use Fei, or Daemons if I have them) and not allow the companions to get too widely separated.

There are some tips on the official website (http://www.warpstormstudios.com/tothebitterend/hints.htm) if you need them.

 

[lonepair]

What is the song played in chapter VIII during Slayer's commune spell? Thanks!

 

[RED BARON]

As I did on Wc3C I realize I should do so here as well. So subscribed for updates

 

[deepstrasz]

What is the song played in chapter VIII during Slayer's commune spell? Thanks!

Credits

Music:

Title:
'Kalki (edit)' by E.S. Posthumus

Prologue:
'Pompeii' by E.S. Posthumus

Chapter I:
'The Wretched' by Nine Inch Nails

Chapter II:
'The Becoming' by Nine Inch Nails

Chapter III:
'Tikal' by E.S. Posthumus

Chapter IV:
'Nineveh' by E.S. Posthumus

Chapter V:
'Karma' by Kamelot

Chapter VI:
'We're in this Together' by Nine Inch Nails

Chapter VII:
'Welcome Within' by Godsmack
'Ultra' by KMFDM

Chapter VIII:
'Yamiiro no Yume/Anger (edit)' by Kasamutso Kouji
'Missing Time' by MDFMK
'Kalki' by E.S. Posthumus
'Ashielf Pi' by E.S. Posthumus
'Kuvera (edit)' by E.S. Posthumus

Epilogue:
'Indra/Arise (edit)' by E.S. Posthumus

Talk about lazy...

 

[Soul Reaver]

What is the song played in chapter VIII during Slayer's commune spell? Thanks!

It's actually two songs, edited together to make them into a single one (it sounds like they were meant to be together anyway).

The songs are 'Yamiiro no Yume' and 'Anger (Edmond kara no Tegami)' - they're both from the soundtrack for "Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo".

The credits in the manual has a list of all the songs used in the campaign.

 

[Warcraftpower08]

Hi guys im a new guy though i joined months ago... So anyway, Soul Reaver, your campaign is so epic! "heavy breathing" so haha i downloaded the new version and finally have no problems about the victory screen not appearing. so umm i got to say how can i put voices in the characters? i just want to try if my voice and others can speak for the characters while having dialogues so um great map and its easily 5/5 dont let others pull you down haha oh and also did you get the characters when you were writing the story?

 

[Warcraftpower08]

 

[Soul Reaver]

Hi guys im a new guy though i joined months ago... So anyway, Soul Reaver, your campaign is so epic! "heavy breathing" so haha i downloaded the new version and finally have no problems about the victory screen not appearing. so umm i got to say how can i put voices in the characters? i just want to try if my voice and others can speak for the characters while having dialogues so um great map and its easily 5/5 dont let others pull you down haha oh and also did you get the characters when you were writing the story?

Hi Warcraftpower08,

I'm glad you enjoyed the campaign and aren't having the victory screen issue at the end of Chapter I anymore (I did a whole bunch of stuff to try and fix that issue, but I'm still not convinced it's been completely eradicated...)

If you want voices in my campaign you won't have much luck - that would require editing the maps, and for several reasons (including space constraints) they've been compressed so they can't easily be edited. I'd rather like to make a voiced version, but alas, that's a huge project to do properly....

If you mean for your own maps, it's not that hard - just grab a mic, install Audacity (which is free) and start recording! It helps to have a decent, non-echoy, noise-free room to do it in of course. Warcraft 3 supports both MP3 and WAV file formats, but I think for unit responses etc it prefers WAV.

As for the characters, I'm guessing you're asking if I invented them myself? Partially. Soul Reaver is a character I invented years ago (even before To the Bitter End came out). Fei Serumen, Sera Poi, Cameron Aileron, Kitharsis and Slayer were invented by other people (again, before To the Bitter End came out). All the other characters/NPC I invented specifically for To the Bitter End though. The credits list all that stuff.

Oh, and if you think it's a 5/5, please do vote for it on the first page!

 

[Perkyguy]

Well after finding myself with more spare time these last weeks, I happened to remember WC3 used to be a thing, and by association, TTBE.

Its been 5 years since I last attempted it.
Remember me SR?
Let me dig up a hint for you from my PM box:

08-24-2011, 10:53 PM
Hi Perkyguy,

Saw your message on Chapter VII... I'm happy to report that To the Bitter End is now complete. It's not just Chapter VIII, it also includes a Prologue and Epilogue cinematic, as well as enhancements, fixes, and some rebalancing. It'll be slightly easier than before (which I'm sure you'll be glad to hear), though it's still going to be very tough.

I'm already feeling your pain in trying to finish Chapter VIII with no saves...

Enjoy! Let me know what you think!

Thats right. Im the nutjob that finished chapters 1 through 7 without the use of saves back when they were individual custom maps. (and provided the replays for it).

(Hindsight: they also felt harder back then - I dont recall Fei's passive granting magic damage reduction back then, and it feels like the overal campaign difficulty was toned down from what i remember.)

Well make that 1-through-8 now.

My summary? @#$%ing hell. I feel like this map we personally tailored for my torment.

There is no fantasy setting in which these 5 would have stood a realistic chance of actually succeding with this endeavor ( since we are going with a scenario where they dont get any mulligans - they get one shot at it and death is final). This final map in particular is so heavily slanted in favor of the bad guys, i had an easier time going through chapters 1-7 (no saves) in a single sitting than finishing just 8 (same condition).


At the end of the chapter 8 no save run, I felt no elation. No sense of victory. Only an indignant outrage, born out of the frustration of going through a battle where you went out of your way to make enemies as cheap as cheap gets, along with every advantage imaginable in order to slant everything in their favor so much it feels like trying to climb a flat-surface 90 degree wall.

More than once or ten-ce(i made that up). I imagined a scenario where you would be imprisoned, to be released only after you accomplish what I have, so that you can gain the faintest idea of the amount of frustration this endeavor entailed.

I have this eerie paranoid suspicion that you went cuckoo for cocoa pufs on the difficulty for the final chapter purely because you knew i would try and finish it in one go (as your PM suggests), and you wanted to have at least one chapter undefeated with my unique limitation

Many of you might (and most will) question why bother doing this in first place, with such a handicap. Well, its a state of mind - Ive long since come to consider that using saves in any game (for any purpose other than continuing where you left of last time), voids any sense of accomplishment, since infinite re-dos mean you will finish the game sooner or later, regardless of how bad you are, turning the game into an interactive story for which you simply tag along. I realise this is an unusual PoV, but it is what it is.

You guys know what my best hint to in completing the campaign is? Let all cutscenes run their length - your characters still regenerate and their cooldowns refresh without ticking the chapter's timer.

Anyway...
Replays available

 

[bietroi963]

Hey, I dont know if this was posted, but I found a bug in Act II cinematic. The face of Soul Reaver face...somewhere

 

[Soul Reaver]

Well after finding myself with more spare time these last weeks, I happened to remember WC3 used to be a thing, and by association, TTBE.

Its been 5 years since I last attempted it.
Remember me SR?
Let me dig up a hint for you from my PM box:




Thats right. Im the nutjob that finished chapters 1 through 7 without the use of saves back when they were individual custom maps. (and provided the replays for it).

(Hindsight: they also felt harder back then - I dont recall Fei's passive granting magic damage reduction back then, and it feels like the overal campaign difficulty was toned down from what i remember.)

Well make that 1-through-8 now.

My summary? @#$%ing hell. I feel like this map we personally tailored for my torment.

There is no fantasy setting in which these 5 would have stood a realistic chance of actually succeding with this endeavor ( since we are going with a scenario where they dont get any mulligans - they get one shot at it and death is final). This final map in particular is so heavily slanted in favor of the bad guys, i had an easier time going through chapters 1-7 (no saves) in a single sitting than finishing just 8 (same condition).


At the end of the chapter 8 no save run, I felt no elation. No sense of victory. Only an indignant outrage, born out of the frustration of going through a battle where you went out of your way to make enemies as cheap as cheap gets, along with every advantage imaginable in order to slant everything in their favor so much it feels like trying to climb a flat-surface 90 degree wall.

More than once or ten-ce(i made that up). I imagined a scenario where you would be imprisoned, to be released only after you accomplish what I have, so that you can gain the faintest idea of the amount of frustration this endeavor entailed.

I have this eerie paranoid suspicion that you went cuckoo for cocoa pufs on the difficulty for the final chapter purely because you knew i would try and finish it in one go (as your PM suggests), and you wanted to have at least one chapter undefeated with my unique limitation

Many of you might (and most will) question why bother doing this in first place, with such a handicap. Well, its a state of mind - Ive long since come to consider that using saves in any game (for any purpose other than continuing where you left of last time), voids any sense of accomplishment, since infinite re-dos mean you will finish the game sooner or later, regardless of how bad you are, turning the game into an interactive story for which you simply tag along. I realise this is an unusual PoV, but it is what it is.

You guys know what my best hint to in completing the campaign is? Let all cutscenes run their length - your characters still regenerate and their cooldowns refresh without ticking the chapter's timer.

Anyway...
Replays available

Would love to get the replays from you - could you email them to me? Or send me a link to a dropbox type thing?

I promise you that the final chapter's difficulty was not designed to torment you - it was actually designed to torment ME. When, in the last stages of the battle, I felt my heart hammering in my chest, I knew I'd got it about right.

That said, I never designed it with the intent of saves not being available - if that had been my intent, I would have added some sort of revive mechanic or the like. It's not supposed to be a roguelike! Your suffering is as much your own doing as it is mine.

You're right about Fei's ability having been changed to add a small amount of damage resistance - it comes at the cost of some dodge ability, but in latter stages of the game spell/magic damage outclasses physical damage, so giving him that resistance helps keep him more viable later on. I also fixed up some other areas that in hindsight I felt left too little room for error and fixed some bugs.

[Screenshot]

Hey, I dont know if this was posted, but I found a bug in Act II cinematic. The face of Soul Reaver face...somewhere

Not sure why that's happening - I'm not able to recreate it myself, and the triggers do explicitly tell Soul Reaver to face in Fei's direction. That said, because the cinematics play 'in-game', sometimes the pathing can end up bugging out and causing a character to take longer than they should to move somewhere, possibly causing stuff like this. Not sure what I can do to prevent it really...

Does this happen to you every time? And are you using the latest version (v1.0.05)? You can type in 'version' in the in-game chat window to check the version number.

 

[Perkyguy]

Would love to get the replays from you - could you email them to me? Or send me a link to a dropbox type thing?

I promise you that the final chapter's difficulty was not designed to torment you - it was actually designed to torment ME. When, in the last stages of the battle, I felt my heart hammering in my chest, I knew I'd got it about right.

That said, I never designed it with the intent of saves not being available - if that had been my intent, I would have added some sort of revive mechanic or the like. It's not supposed to be a roguelike! Your suffering is as much your own doing as it is mine.

...
$%^)*@*)($*$_)@$*)&$#@^*
...
(@&#(&@(#&#@(&*!^@&(*^@!(*^@!(*^@!(*&^@
...
Ugh...So here's the thing...
Now that the the separate chapters are bundled into 1 whole campaign, i can no longer save replays the usual way, since clicking continue at mission end immediately start next chapter, and clicking quit exists to campaign screen.

Playing the first chapter, I got it recorded as the "Last Replay" option from the replays menu. And so I proceeded to copy and save under new name all "Last Replay" 's after every chapter, but this workaround apparently only works for the first mission for some reason.

So now i have multiple copies of me going through Dark Dawn...

If i want working replays, ill have to re-do the whole thing on your older, separate files, where Cameron the elemental is also known as Clutchfiend the space marine.
The problem with that (apart from the glaring flaw of starting chapter 7 with preset skills - Soul Reaver has NO points in SoA as level 46) is that you never released Chap 8 as its own file, but rather as the apex of the campaign.

Worst part of it is that I actually have nothing and no way to prove my claim now - I dont keep the 5-year old replays (i doubt you do too) and unless you release chapter 8 as a separate file, It will stay that way.

Cherry on the top being that I'll have to go through the harrowing experience of doing that all over again.
I feel like that guy who climbed mt Everest alone and forgot to take pictures.

Anyway - do you happen to have a standalone version of chapter 8?

 

[Perkyguy]

I hunted down the standalone version of TTBE:chap 7 today, and after getting re-used to the old hotkey bindings, I made it through without saving or loading.

Here's the link to the replay: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xg4h7k80grsatyj/Chapter7 noreload.w3g?dl=0

In order to view it, you will also need the standalone chapter 7 version the replay was made on
https://www.dropbox.com/s/y7lgtmha2w541qo/TTBE07 Grim Harvest.w3x?dl=0

Ill have to gather the other standalones, and re-do the noreloads on them, but chap 7 is all i have time for tonight.

And i wont be able to do the chap 8 one again, unless you have a single map version of that one.

 

[Soul Reaver]

...
$%^)*@*)($*$_)@$*)&$#@^*
...
(@&#(&@(#&#@(&*!^@&(*^@!(*^@!(*^@!(*&^@
...
Ugh...So here's the thing...
Now that the the separate chapters are bundled into 1 whole campaign, i can no longer save replays the usual way, since clicking continue at mission end immediately start next chapter, and clicking quit exists to campaign screen.

Playing the first chapter, I got it recorded as the "Last Replay" option from the replays menu. And so I proceeded to copy and save under new name all "Last Replay" 's after every chapter, but this workaround apparently only works for the first mission for some reason.

So now i have multiple copies of me going through Dark Dawn...

If i want working replays, ill have to re-do the whole thing on your older, separate files, where Cameron the elemental is also known as Clutchfiend the space marine.
The problem with that (apart from the glaring flaw of starting chapter 7 with preset skills - Soul Reaver has NO points in SoA as level 46) is that you never released Chap 8 as its own file, but rather as the apex of the campaign.

Worst part of it is that I actually have nothing and no way to prove my claim now - I dont keep the 5-year old replays (i doubt you do too) and unless you release chapter 8 as a separate file, It will stay that way.

Cherry on the top being that I'll have to go through the harrowing experience of doing that all over again.
I feel like that guy who climbed mt Everest alone and forgot to take pictures.

Anyway - do you happen to have a standalone version of chapter 8?

I hunted down the standalone version of TTBE:chap 7 today, and after getting re-used to the old hotkey bindings, I made it through without saving or loading.

Here's the link to the replay: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xg4h7k80grsatyj/Chapter7 noreload.w3g?dl=0

In order to view it, you will also need the standalone chapter 7 version the replay was made on
https://www.dropbox.com/s/y7lgtmha2w541qo/TTBE07 Grim Harvest.w3x?dl=0

Ill have to gather the other standalones, and re-do the noreloads on them, but chap 7 is all i have time for tonight.

And i wont be able to do the chap 8 one again, unless you have a single map version of that one.

Hi perkyguy, I responded to you via email. The above files didn't work for me, I ran into a similar problem as you did (black cinematic when trying to run the replay).

I think the only really reliable way to make a gameplay recording is with a capture device, but unfortunately they cost a fair amount.

I'm really not sure how to get replays working properly with campaign maps, and the individual maps won't work properly if removed from the campaign file since they use shared resources. If anyone has any ideas though, I'm keen to hear them?

However: believe you. You don't need to prove it to me.

 

[edo494]

Replaying this on stream, and holy shit, mission 5 when you attack the camp requires the best micro Ive ever needed. Shit dies left right center

 

[Soul Reaver]

Replaying this on stream, and holy shit, mission 5 when you attack the camp requires the best micro Ive ever needed. Shit dies left right center

Great to hear you're streaming it! And yes, it's a VERY micro-intensive Chapter. I usually make it a point to join up Fei, Sera and Soul Reaver, then Kitharsis and Cameron, as quickly as I can - that way I have fewer locations/groups to worry about.

 

[Perkyguy]

Hardest part from chap 5 for me is trying to keep the king and his son alive during the mid-game clash of forces. If im going to fail that mission, thats the most likely point it will happen.

You'd think they'd have sense to hang back.

 

[Soul Reaver]

Hardest part from chap 5 for me is trying to keep the king and his son alive during the mid-game clash of forces. If im going to fail that mission, thats the most likely point it will happen.

You'd think they'd have sense to hang back.

The very first thing I do at that part is attack/move my guys right at the enemy, then start pouring on lots of AoE stuns.

That said, this tactic replaces "king and prince dies" with "one of my heroes dies" as the most common cause of death at that part. But I find it usually goes pretty well.

 

[Perkyguy]

What works for me is send katharsis in, activate the rage ultimate which serves to both lower damage pressure and slow enemies, while i line up the big booms.

Problem is king&son sometimes inch a little bit forward into the edge of the blastzone just before catclysm and the spirit bomb land

 

[Soul Reaver]

What works for me is send katharsis in, activate the rage ultimate which serves to both lower damage pressure and slow enemies, while i line up the big booms.

Problem is king&son sometimes inch a little bit forward into the edge of the blastzone just before catclysm and the spirit bomb land

I always avoid using Sphere of Annihilation or Cataclysm anywhere near the front of that battle zone for exactly that reason - I always fire them well back. The best abilities are ones with large AoE, fast-firing, stun, and no friendly fire. Darkbolt Barrage works well, and Meteor Shower is great too (if a little slower), with the Divinity Arrow as backup (as it's quite quick and has good stun). The Black Steel Gauntlets can also be helpful even just for their initial debuff effect, but Soul Reaver risks getting stunned almost right away if he uses them. The AoE stuns can buy time for someone else to activate their slower Ultimates. Unbridled Rage is great (Sandstorm is too but it takes too long to take full effect), Fei's Blood Corruption is very powerful if you can micro him enough to use it. Face of the Heavens is helpful but as the fight is usually really quick and bloody it's not quite as awesome as usual.

And the nukes are great, but like you said: they have to be aimed super carefully and possibly cancelled early (assuming they haven't fired already).

 

[Jayborino]

Hi Soul Reaver! I am currently making videos for TTBE on YouTube and what a challenge it is! The first map was very strange to me since I've never played anything like it, but have grown to quite enjoy the campaign as a whole. Anyway, later this week, I'll be putting out my playthrough of map 4 and wanted to point out that, during the boss fight, Fei got stuck near the boss - you'll be able to see better in the video, but it wasn't clear what he was stuck on as there were no tentacles around him. I can link you a timestamp here once I release the video on Saturday.

I completed the 6th map yesterday (making us fight the bosses from Reunion was not pleasant) and I feel that after completing that I should be able to finish anything the last two maps throw at me, albeit taking time to learn the encounters. Anyway, just wanted to let you know how cool your work is!

 

[Soul Reaver]

Hi Soul Reaver! I am currently making videos for TTBE on YouTube and what a challenge it is! The first map was very strange to me since I've never played anything like it, but have grown to quite enjoy the campaign as a whole. Anyway, later this week, I'll be putting out my playthrough of map 4 and wanted to point out that, during the boss fight, Fei got stuck near the boss - you'll be able to see better in the video, but it wasn't clear what he was stuck on as there were no tentacles around him. I can link you a timestamp here once I release the video on Saturday.

I completed the 6th map yesterday (making us fight the bosses from Reunion was not pleasant) and I feel that after completing that I should be able to finish anything the last two maps throw at me, albeit taking time to learn the encounters. Anyway, just wanted to let you know how cool your work is!

Hey, great! Please link me to your channel/videos so I can watch them! I always really enjoy seeing other people play.

By the way, a lot of people struggle with Chapter VII's boss fights because they don't understand the 'power orb' mechanics.

Bascically the mechanics give both fighters access to HP/MP refills that (once activated) will automatically heal you when you need it, but each one a fighter uses up will cause the next one to take longer to appear for them. So you just have to wear the enemy down and force them use up their refills by doing more damage to them than they're doing to you - eventually their refills will take too long to appear for them, and you'll be able to kill them. It makes the fights take a while (especially the first one against Kherek) but if you're doing more damage than you're taking, you'll eventually win. Each boss needs different strategies and understanding the abilities they use against you is key to winning.

There's an explanation on the Hints page in the official site too in case you get stuck: To the Bitter End Campaign - Hints.

There are also hints for Chapter VIII but I'm reluctant to get you to read those at this point because it's full of spoilers. Just remember: save often and don't waste the mana splinters you get.

By the way: with regards to your videos, if you don't like how Youtube handles copyright claims and you want a good laugh, check out The Jimquisition's video on how to deadlock a video with conflicting copyright claims, see:

 

[MogulKahn]

Here it is: JayborinoPlays

 

[Soul Reaver]

Here it is: JayborinoPlays

Thanks, just found it myself as well.

 

[Jayborino]

5/5 without a doubt! This campaign is not for everyone - some may never be able to complete it, but the reward outweighs the punishment for those that are willing to try.

 

[Soul Reaver]

Thank you Jayborino! As you know, I've been watching the videos and enjoying them greatly, so another thank you for sharing them.

Please do vote for the map (by clicking on the 'rating' stars near the top of the page) if you haven't done so already.

 

[Soul Reaver]

To the Bitter End has now been updated to version 1.0.06!

No major changes, to be honest - just some bugfixes. Doodad placement in Chapter VI could in rare circumstances cause a hero to get stuck in an inescapable position during the boss battle, and I've done my best to eliminate the possibility of units dying during victory cinematics (again, this was rare but possible).

 

[Soul Reaver]

...and I've made some more additional changes and re-uploaded. v1.0.06 now features shadow maps for all outdoor areas (they look cool in indoor spaces too but make no sense), so now the campaign looks better than ever!

 

[Rence Kristoff]

This Campaign is totally EPIC! Everything about this is great, I love the story line, all the things the heroes did. The terrain is nice, spells are great, use of custom models and skins are perfect!

 

[Soul Reaver]

This Campaign is totally EPIC! Everything about this is great, I love the story line, all the things the heroes did. The terrain is nice, spells are great, use of custom models and skins are perfect!

Thank you Rence, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

 

[Soul Reaver]

The campaign has now been updated to v1.0.07

This version has several changes:
- Revamped difficulty system. Changing difficulty is still done with the in-game chat commands (see the readme), and Hard is still the default and is unchanged. However, 'medium' means you will take 25% less damage and inflict 25% more damage from all sources (usually). 'Easy' is 50% for both. Difficulty persists across Chapters as well, but can still be changed in-game at any time. Personally I discourage playing on anything other than hard if you want the real experience, but if it's just driving you to murder this should help a lot.
- Fixed AI in Chapter V so the units don't 'stop/start' so much
- Various spelling and tooltip fixes

Enjoy!

 

[Soul Reaver]

To the Bitter End v1.0.07 has now been translated into Russian!

A massive thank you to Кирляндия for volunteering to do the translation and all the hard work he put into making it happen.

You can get it from the Russian mirror of the official site, at http://www.warpstormstudios.com/tothebitterend/ru!

EDIT: Fixed a bug in the Chapter Select screen that prevented Chapter names showing up.

 

[Lord_Marrowgrath]

Campaign screen music... ROCKS I love that song from e.p. Gameplay and scenario amazing. 6/5 +rep

 

[Soul Reaver]

Campaign screen music... ROCKS I love that song from e.p. Gameplay and scenario amazing. 6/5 +rep

Thanks Lord_Marrowgrath! Happy you enjoyed playing it!

And I agree, E.S. Posthumus were amazing in everything they did. A terrible shame what happened to them, but at least their music lives on.