This is the first of a series of multiplayer maps I am releasing for the popular strategy game, Battle for Wesnoth. These maps have been play tested and all have a back story which may or may not fit within the Wesnoth canon universe, but serves to provide motivation and direction for the players. In future posts I’ll just launch straight into the story, but here I thought some explanation was warranted.
The Story:
With drought and famine making life had in the northern human lands the search for greener pastures is forcing two human lords south. Previously at peace they now find themselves lusting after the fertile green lands of the Elves. However, they’re not the only ones. To the west a small Dwarven enclave finds itself squeezed and to the East a Lich king has taken up residence in the swampy remains of a forgotten castle. The barren southern lands are as yet undiscovered, but rumour has it that the elves fight a constant war against those that would see their precious forests burnt and destroyed.
Game Setup
Download the Map: ElvenIsle Multiplayer Map
Game Version: 1.9.1 (Wont work on v1.8)
Max Players: 6 (2 humans vs 4 AI recommended)
- Human
- Human
- Elves (Rebels)
- Dwarves (Kalgan Allianace)
- Undead
- Orcs (Northerners)
Since the idea here is that the two human players have to work their way down the sides of the map and then up into the Elven Isle I like to give the Undead and Dwarves about the same starting conditions as the Human players. (about 200 gold) The Elves and Northerners need to be fairly well matched, and strong enough to resist rush attacks. I suggest a starting gold of about 400 to 500 and a bonus per turn. Yes, this gives them a huge advantage early on, but nothing a good player can’t overcome.
Post-Mortem
Why a post mortem? Well I believe it’s always useful to learn from your mistakes. I don’t get a lot of opportunity to rework my maps, so after one or two games I have them fairly well balanced and like to move on to the next. Of course they’re not perfect, so here I can reflect on what I like or dislike, what does or doesn’t quite work, what could be changed to improve the map or what I just plain wouldn’t do again.
Elven Isle really suffers most in the speed of the game play. The path down the sides is slow and the route fairly constricted. Though both players do tend to encounter their respective enemies at about the same time. Unfortunately player 2, once he’s defeated the Undead gets mired in the swamps and movement is just about impossible. Also, a large Merman force can pretty well dominate the map. The main change would be to rework the bottom right corner, providing faster travel across the swamp areas.
