Oh, alright, that's cool. I thought the scenario was about the Walking dead because it's named that and it's a zombie map. Just make sure it isn't about that because I fucking hate that.

I love these, I think it would be cool to develop more, games with missions, there's so much available in the game in maps I think there might be some cool things possible :)

Thanks again M. Poireau :)

As you're clanless, could I invite you to join our clan? One of the things we want to work on is a database to store and rate templates, including single player ones :)

We already have another member collecting up single player templates and training missions, if interested that would be great, but I understand if you're not :)

ah fleecemaster... I asked him too... now we have to fight! ;)

Sorry to disappoint you, but we have candy ;)

EDIT: Poireau can always join with an alt if he wants anyway, we allow for that :)

Edited 12/13/2015 00:11:14

Ha! You guys are hilarious.

Thanks all the same!

For those curious about the scenario:

When I play it, I use the deployment limit as a handicap (which I definitely encourage; I think it's far too easy without it in play).

Given that, I typically finish the scenario in 40 turns (that was my last run-through). Of course, however, I have an advantage due to knowing a lot more about the scenario than you might on a first attempt, but, nevertheless, there you have it.

As a general rule for the "early game", you want your production count to match the turn number (very roughly), so that by turn 15 you're producing 15/turn or so. That means you're likely "doing well".

Join our clan, seriously, we have like 3 other players making these sort of maps :)

Fleecemaster, send me a private message with more info - that sounds interesting! Cheers.

Multi-attack is enabled

Holy shit, what?!? *RTFM*

Hah, neat so far. Played it once and lost. Now that I know it's multi-attack I should do better! lol

I didn't understand the whole DNA bonus activation scheme until several turns in, also. Again, I guess I should RTFM first, eh? :-) (Actually, it looks like you don't have an explanation of that system in your scenario description? If not, might be a good thing to add.)

Here's one suggestion that will probably help you when balancing this further:

*spoilers*

Currently, it's a coin flip whether the big stack goes toward the player or away from the player on the Human side of the DNA strand. That's because the AI stack is neighbouring two neutrals. When neighbouring multiple enemy territories (incl. neutrals), there is always some random component to where the AI will attack, and with how much of its stack. If you want to ensure it goes *only* in one direction, you have to make sure there is only one neighbouring enemy (incl. neutrals). Therefore, if you want the big stack to immediately start going towards the player every time, you need to make sure the Creatif DNA territory is *not* an enemy (or neutral). Therefore, if you simply make that territory owned by the AI at the beginning of the game, rather than neutral, then the big stack will have no possible alternatives to attack, it will always attack Primal DNA with its entire stack. You don't even need to make it 0 neutrals, which is kind of a give-away clue that something fishy is down that way.

In general, if the AI is not going the way you want it to, you need to reduce its choices by giving the other territories either to that AI or one of its team mates.

Another thing you might have noticed is that the neutrals, especially the big wastelands are kind of 'sticky' to passing AI troops. They tend to congregate around them uselessly. This occurs when the AI doesn't have enough income to take the neutrals in one attack. It's basically trying to build up a stack until it's twice as big as the neutral stack. So if there's a wasteland of 12, and the AI's income is too small, it will slowly try to build up until it has 24 armies so it can attack.

This can either be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on what you want the AI to do, but usually it's an annoying bad thing. There's no easy solution, but ensuring that the AIs have some decent income, enough to make big enough stacks that can attack neutral stacks, will help. Making the wastelands smaller will help, too. But sometimes you don't want to give the AI a lot of income or make the wastelands small. In that case, you're pretty much stuck with the stupid AI loitering around big neutrals. Sucks, but that's why it happens.

I just want to point out once again that I love this scenario! :)

It does take some time to understand the whole DNA thing, and how to use Multiattack to your advantage, but it's awesome fun, you really get the sense of tying to avoid zombie hoards after a while :)

wct,

That's wonderful feedback. I fooled around with all kinds of different ways to get the AI to attack in a particular direction (even having them border the Human player on the first turn), but none of them panned out reliably. I'm not sure why I didn't think of your fix - it's simple and it will definitely work. Thank you! I'll adjust the scenario accordingly right away.

As for you "RTFM" comments, I very much intend the scenario to play out that way. I think what makes it most fun IS precisely the confusion you're describing. You have to fight hard to survive from the first turn, but at the same time you have to gather your wits and try to figure out how to earn some income and how to take advantage of the setting as well as the map's design. It takes a while, and that's very much as intended. (For someone fully familiar with the scenario and rules, it's actually not particularly difficult. It's the "figuring out" which makes it challenging and fun.)

However, having said that, the directions in the scenario "write-up" do tell you what to do, if you read them carefully...

The "multi-attack" rules represent the slow movement of the zombies, and allow the humans to run away or outmaneuver them. (Also, without them the scenario would be unbearably long.)

I agree with your comments on wastelands, but I've never found a good "fix" for that situation. Having the zombies stand around and then "wake up" when the humans near them is good enough for this scenario, I figure - it seems appropriate.

Edited 12/15/2015 17:48:02

Ok, I've updated the design of both "versions" of the scenario, and it is now playable as intended. Thanks, wct!

I should also mention that I'm playtesting a multi-player version of this scenario. If anyone's interested, post and I can invite you to the next run!

Mutli? Damn straight I'm in! :D

Nice! Anyone else?

Quick Update:

I have just modified the scenario a little more, and now I feel it has truly reached its potential; it's difficult but not impossible, very challenging creatively (you will be forced to come up with new tactics many times in this game!), and remains interesting a lot longer than it did before.

Even if you've already played it, I recommend that you try it again: it's working better than ever.

Edited 12/17/2015 05:20:38

Haven't tried the latest version, but I did find the version I played very challenging, even after I re-started knowing about multi-attack. I was too impatient to try to finish it, since it was much harder than I was expecting, and had too much RL stuff to deal with, but I will eventually come back to it and try to finish it. It was definitely fun and hard. And I didn't even use the suggested deployment limits or the negative Sanctions cards, either. I can only imagine how much harder it would be with those options.

Anyone looking for a good single-player challenge would do well to try this scenario out. Esp. if you like zombie games/scenarios. I think most people will require multiple tries, probably more than 2, even.

With a bit of fine-tuning, I think this scenario could probably deserve to become an official scenario with a difficulty similar to Crazy or Insane single-player levels.

Nice work, M. Poireau. :-)

Edited 12/19/2015 06:53:51

Thanks, wct!

I think the scenario has come along very nicely. Let me know if you manage to finish it!

I don't find it anywhere near as difficult as the Insane Challenge (which I was never able to finish - while this scenario I can win every time, even when I attempt specifically suboptimal strategies).

I always use the Deployment Limit, but my attempts to fool around with the Sanctions cards have led to defeat - that's a serious challenge! (Though it depends greatly on luck, unless you know ahead of time which AI you are using it on - I played it blind and got burned!)

Is anyone other than Fleecemaster up for the multiplayer version? I'm playing it with one group of players right now (and it's going well), but I'd like to have another playtest. Post if you're interested, please!