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Author |
File Description |
ArchNidhogg (id: Mouse Overlord) |
Posted on 11/27/05 @ 03:53 PM
The Kharlan Tournament:
Hoping to win himself some few thousand coin, Calek enters a seemingly ordinary tournament hosted somewhere in North Carolina. Simply killing some competitors and leaving with the money will be too easy for Calek to fail at. But why does the tournament host own an army? And what is the cause of the nearby colony's hostility towards the tournament? When a competitor disappears and an army attacks the tournament grounds, matters become slightly more complicated...
Although The Kharlan Tournament employs normal, simple RPG gameplay, the simplicity will be enough to keep your attention for at least 45 minutes. And though the main character is the most important unit you will have, at several points throughout the game you will be controlling a small army or a mercenary, increasing the level of strategy required, but not making the game frustrating or impossible to beat.
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Installation Notes:
-Put the .age3scn file and the .bak file into your "my documents/my games/age of empires 3/scenario" folder.
-Put the ENTIRE "Kharlan Sounds" folder into "C:program files/microsoft games/age of empires 3/sound" folder.
All directory names are listed assuming that you used the default installation directories.
Then just go to the single player menu, click the "Custom Scenario" option, and click "The Kharlan Tournament
V1 ~ ArchNidhogg", and play!
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For Best Gameplay Experience:
-Make sure that when playing AOE3, you experience NO LAG. This scenario has 16 cinematics, and any small bit
of lag will make the scenario completely unenjoyable. To reduce lag, turn to your graphics options. However,
make sure to leave "High Poly Models" on!
-Save your game every so often. You never know when you may die... and you don't want to have to start over!
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Thanks for playing! Visit us at www.archsyndicate.com - The ArchDesigner Syndicate. Designing the Worlds. |
Pages: [1] 2 » Last » | Author | Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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FanaticalAddict |
Posted on 12/02/05 @ 04:11 PM
Playability: 4
Very well designed and a lot of neat activities to engage in. Also some very good opportunities to take charge and play the game in between the tournamnets, particularly at the end.
Balance: 3
I found most of the tournaments relatively easy to win. It was more difficult during the times inbetween the tournaments at time...but winning the tournaments themselves and advancing in the scenario could have been more difficult.
Creativity: 4
A really nice design and story...although, during the period, I do not believe the British and the colonists actually held any torunaments that were fight to the death...perhaps in some of the native American areas, particulalry amongst their captives.
Map Design: 4
The map was good...a lot of eye candy and a lot of good terrain. In addition, the triggers were very well done.
Story/Instructions: 3
The instructions in general were very good, but there were times during the scenario when there were significant pauses between action without a lot of detailed instructions. Also, I noticed a couple of misspellings. More recorded voices for the instructions would have been critical in getting a higher score here.
Additional Comments:
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TheMightyLemon |
Posted on 12/07/05 @ 09:50 PM
Playability: 5
I give playability a 5. There were relatively no bugs. (Tiny ones like a Dragoon left or multi-kill gold counting) But I know those are probably unavoidable. All triggers were also finely placed and were executed well
Balance: 4
The balance was even in most places. And most places were conquerable with a decent micro. Although the first merc buying sequence is flawed, because of too few units, and the final battle is a little too close, with so many Culverins, and only 4 cavalry.
Creativity: 5
The scenario was compeletely original. I have never heard of this idea before.
Map Design: 4
The map design was great. It contained many natural aspects you'd expect, and many other things that you wouldn't. The building positioning also is good. But in some areas, it seems a little bit bland, like you could add something
Story/Instructions: 5
Great story. The dialogue was witty, and was occasionally altered if you didn't do something. The instructions were also good. They throughly led me through the scenario. One thing I can say though, 1 or 2 words were a little off in grammar.
Additional Comments:
A great scenario. An almost must play. Definately worth your time to play.
You clearly made a winner. |
hollanj |
Posted on 01/28/06 @ 09:35 PM
Playability: 5
(The playability exceeded any other scenario ive played. It was fun and enjoyable, the movies were good and there were choices you had to make along the way and smarter players would have gone back to either healing spring on a number of occasions.)
Balance: 5
(The balance was great. For a sort-of fixed force game you always had just enough numbers to defeat the enemy. It was hard to find out where the announcer was hiding but the hint "stand on top of a high cliff helped. Multiple objectives and in-game movies added extra depth to your scenario.)
Creativity: 5
(Perfectly creative. The ideas were exceptional and unique. The game was excellent in all aspects and the map was also very creative.)
Map Design: 5
(The map design was very good. You had just enough eye candy to get a five and I think any more eyecandy could have contributed to excessive lag. Although I experienced no lag whatsoever.)
Story/Instructions: 5
(The instructions and story were extremely good.The instructions were not always as clear as SOME ppl would have liked but this added to the balance of your game. The fact that you had to figure out what to do was better than forward instructions.)
Additional Comments: Perfect scenario. Must have required A lot of work. This review is my opinion on the level and i disagree on a lower rating. This scenario had everything it needed to be gr8. Obviously more upgrade choices would have been more ideal but this is a limitation of the editor so the creator is not at fault. As previously stated I would like to know what editor you used for all those good camera angles. DOWNLOAD IT! You will NOT be wasting your time.
regards, hollanj
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xXRavenHawkXx |
Posted on 03/16/06 @ 03:49 AM
Playability: 5
Kept me hooked for a couple of hours. I especially liked it how you put a couple of semi-major battles in with an rpg without making it feel like an ordinary random map situation.
Balance: 5
I gave you a 5 here because allthough i died quite a lot, it was usualy because of my own lack of skill rather than your map design and in the end you did warn quite alot to save so cant blame you hehe :). Also the fact that neither the enemy nor you ever had an overwelming advantage.
Creativity: 5
with no doubt a 5 never played an AOE:3 map like this before, totaly original (as far as i know). No where near like a RM and a good as far as I know fictional story line blended with a historical? (dont know much about American History sorry)
Map Design: 4
This was preety good but some parts i didnt get, e.g. the gold mines sticking up on the cliffs in the middle of nowhere, a part at the end where i couldnt walk (perhaps you did this on purpose?) and even though it helped you to find the healing spots I think perhaps you could have used something alse instead of waves, perhaps fountain of youth? Also enjoyed the many clear and quality cinematics you added in. and finnaly the way in which you made it so you couldnt go to some areas due to not having a key or a ship.
Story/Instructions: 5
Excelent constantly evolving storyline that kept me playing until the very end. Instructions clear and informative.
Additional Comments:
Overall probably the best scenario I've played on AOE:3, it was original and the storyline kept me playing until the end. If I was to change one thing it would be the funky healing wave and the totaly out of place gold mines on top of the cliffs. Good work and keep bringing out more scenarios! |
Elpea (id: lp_usa)
Official Reviewer |
Posted on 12/04/06 @ 04:06 PM
Good RPG scenarios for Age of Empires III is a rare breed. Many try, but few hit the sweet spot that was often hit on the days of Age2, Kharlan Tournament gets as close as you'll get to that sweet spot. The scenario features amazing gameplay, a creative theme, and excellent dialogue that is almost non-existant in many scenarios.
The main [b]gameplay[/b] of the map is set around a tournament (as you would've guessed), but it doesn't stay at that. The author sends you around story-building tasks and events that certainly adds to the scenario, instead of being a simple tournament scenario, it also has a rich story and enough gameplay variations to keep you interested. You'll not only be fighting in the main tournament, but you'll manage armies, collect gold to buy upgrades, manage mercenaries, and more.
The downside of gameplay comes with this map's difficulty. I have nothing against the map being hard at some spots, but this one is hard too soon. At the beginning you're tasked with killing Thiefs to collect gold to get yourself a Mercenary for the next round. It's all good except you have 2 minutes to do it and no idea where all the thiefs are. This task is when you learn how to purchase Mercenaries, and in no way you should be pushed off to a timer on trying to learn something.
The [b]Story[/b] and Dialogue are my two favorite parts of this scenario. The dialogue was fun, well-written, and actually had personality. The way you are introduced to the shop owner is very well though of, instead of just sending you off to see him, you two meet due to consenquences with someone else. Another fun thing is that there is multiple dialogue depending on your situation at the arena, depending on how you show up to it (how many people are in your team, for example). The story is intriguing too, a lot more than you'd expect from such a simple premise.
The [b]Map Design[/b] is simple and sufficient. There's no abuse of eye-candy nor lack of terrain-mixing. Everything is good looking and nicely done. I wish there was a little more detail in some parts, but overall the map does well.
[b]Balance[/b] as I mentioned before, can be a weak point in this map. The actual tournament is easy to get through, however, the other tasks can be intensively difficult and requires you to save a lot. It doesn't help you can't skip cinematics so if you die, you'll have to re-watch it all.
Overall I definetely recommend trying this scenario out, it's, in my opinion, one of the best single player scenarios for Age3. |
Pig2 |
Posted on 12/18/06 @ 05:02 AM
Playability: 4
This was a very enjoyable scenario to play. I enjoyed the story and playing through the missions and the tournament. The only problems here were those relating to the movement limitations of my units. When I had to defend the tournament grounds against the Carolinian army, it was very frustrating not being able to go outside the gate. There was also an occasion where I couldn't move across a flat piece of land when I was looking for weapons. Lastly, when I was escaping the tournament grounds, it took me a while to realise that a piece of wall had disappeared. I think this piece of wall would be better off attackable rather than disappearing.
Overall, this was a very fun scenario to play. There were no major issues and I was thoroughly entertained throught the scenario.
Balance: 4
The balance in the scenario was great. The missions were challenging but not to easy so I was kept entertained for a reasonable length of time. The only issues I had were with the first mission where you had to kill seven theives to buy a mercenary. I only managed to buy a mercenary with one second to spare. A bit more time would be better. Also, I think the actual tournament could have been a bit harder.
Creativity: 5
This scenario was very original. Its story, concepts, missions, map design among many other things are quite unique.
Map Design: 5
Excellent map design. The eyecandy is spectacular and very natural looking. Clever map layout too. The only suggestion I have is to make the tournament grounds and nearby city harder looking with a bit less grass because they are inhabited, but this is only a very slight problem. Otherwise the map design was outstanding.
Story/Instructions: 4
The story was great: very original, interesting and had plenty of twists and turns. The instructions were a slight let down however. Overall they were very good, but there were times when I had finished my set objectives and I didn't know what to do next.
Additional Comments:
Excellent scenario. It was lots of fun. I would highly recommend this map to anyone.
The last suggestion for improvement is regarding revealers. I think the mercenary and upgrade buying area should not be revealed until you have talked to the merchant guy and the revealer near the merchant should be destroyed once you've talked to him. I also think that it might be nice to have the tournament arena revealed all the time. Also, maybe keep the second healing spring hidden until you approach it.
Thanks for making this awesome scenario, keep up the great work. |
Karmic (id: karmic) |
Posted on 12/26/06 @ 09:24 AM
Playability: 4
Overall, fairly well done. I enjoyed a great majority of the scenario. There were a couple of quirks, though. Firstly, after I had acquired a mercenary (the Imperial Espada), I got an extra one right before each tournament battle, after the cinematic. The first time I was able to get that extra merc to join my hero, but when the last battle began, the now two extra mercs were left stranded in the northern mountains with no way out, since the ship was also gone. This was slightly irritating. I'm guessing that the scenario creates a new merc at the tournament field and somehow fails to remove the old one. Perhaps something the designer might want to look into.
Secondly, when defending the gate I had assigned some of the horsemen from General Bryant's reinforcements to a group. After the battle was over, I still had the group and could select it with the number it was assigned to, but the units had turned into something called "Cinematic Group" (I forget the exact name).
Speaking of defending the gate, I agree with a previous reviewer that not being able to pass through the gate was somewhat annoying, especially as I was given a number of melee units. When the gate did convert to my side, though, I found that the units had a lot of trouble passing through it. When telling them to move somewhere outside the gate, they kept amassing on top of that small hill next to it, and I had to move them through step by step.
These are the main things that spring to mind right now. Overall, though, the scenario was enjoyable.
Balance: 4
Most of the time I had just enough units to win the battle at hand. Defending the gate was probably the closest call. In the end I had just Calek with a couple of soldiers, and a Bombard and Rocket (General Bryant was down as well), so I ended up using Calek as a bait to lure the enemy troops to the artillery's range and taking them down that way. This was probably due to me losing a lot of troops at defending the gate, which was in a very uncomfortable situation.
The rest of the battles were easy at best (like the tournaments), and manageable at worst. Even the last battle didn't prove much of a problem. Bryant's army looked a lot more intimidating during the cinematic than it actually was. I've just started playing AoE III and I was able to beat the scenario on the second try (the first time I ran 1 gold short from buying that merc).
Which brings me to the merc-buying point. I agree that a little more time is needed there. The first time, after I lost the second tournament battle, I simply looked over the map and I think the two thieves to the south of where you meet Jagras and Irving are easy to miss, if you head out eastwards straight away. And without those two it seems you can't get the needed 8 gold.
Creativity: 5
A very nice idea with an excellent RPG touch to it. Nothing bad to say.
Map Design: 5
The map was very well done. Those waves on land aside that other people have mentioned as well, everything was nice and seemed natural enough, without being too cluttered or causing lag. The mountains were a bit cramped and I sometimes found it hard to figure out where I could go, or to target obscured enemies, but that's a minor issue.
Story/Instructions: 3
This is the weakest point of the scenario, in my opinion. The backstory was pretty laconic and the dialogue seemed awkward at times. I mean, "Congratulations, take my ship"? Really, that just left me staring at the screen for a good few moments. Also, I don't think "moronic" was a very common word back then, and I couldn't help but notice how Bryant suddenly started using more archaic grammar in the end (the whole "thou" and "thy" thing). Further, I found it odd that Calek didn't become suspicious when being led by Bryant to the prison that he had seen earlier. And the thieves all over the place that you could kill for money didn't make any sense either. Okay, I understand that Calek needs that gold, but I think I'd have used a secondary objective (having an NPC pay 1 gold for each thief killed) instead.
As for the instructions, they were a tad confusing at times, especially the ones that told you to explore the mountains.
Additional Comments:
Overall a very nice idea, but not too well thought through. There were a lot of inconsistencies and minor flaws. Still, time spent on playing this scenario is well spent. |
design and help |
Posted on 01/01/07 @ 01:04 PM
Playability: 3
I found many bugs in this game. The most common was merc duplication (At the end of the game I had about four grenadiers and three hussars, an occasional stuck in cinematic mode occurance, and some times when I started with four dragoons instead of three. OK.
Balance: 5
Some times too easy, sometimes too hard. A lot of times you had to get creative in your startegy to complete objectives. I like that kind of diffuculty. I wish enemies attacked your prisoners instead of just sitting there and waiting for calek.
Creativity: 4
Pretty creative. I like buying mercs. No comment.
Map Design: 3
Pretty good, A couple of odd things.
1. Capybara in the carolinas?
2. Waves on land?
Story/Instructions: 5
A gladiator-style death combat tournament in the americas? I know few people that inventive. Your "Save often" reccomendation was helpful. Ending was anti-climactic and very... um ... odd.
Additional Comments:
My only additional comment was that there are a couple of odd things with the native boys.
#1. They don't die (if they fall down they get revived as cherrokee)
#2. They stronger against all things as native boys than after you arm them against all opponents. Native boy:
28 attack, 16 range
Cherrokee Rifleman:
13 attack, X2 vs Heavy inf, 16 range
Less HP
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Spunky R3Born |
Posted on 06/21/07 @ 04:23 PM
Most things have already been said so i'll keep this short.
Playability: 3
Had fun, completed it first try. Wouldn't play it again.
Balance: 2
Easy, didn't have to load my save, got more difficult towards the end.
Creativity: 3
The merc buying already been done before was nothing new. but an enjoyable aspect none the less.
Map Design: 4
Nice map design, good textures. like the cliff elevation and natural aspects.
Story/Instructions: 3
Story was alright, no reason behind calek going randomly exploring at times. Did the boat i get sink? reliable instuctions throughout most of the game.
Additional Comments:
Few bugs nothing major. (not tried this) when you go to the prison/mining camp, can you delete the gates when you go through them? if so i would asume you could go back that way and not through the rotting wall.
I enjoyed playing it which is the main thing, have nothing to really grumble about. Great effort, thank you for making the map. |
huntertheduck |
Posted on 06/22/08 @ 08:43 PM
Playability: 5
This is playable. I had no problems playing it.
Balance: 4
It was balanced. After a while your merc and player could become really powerful. Because you kill alot of people. The turnaments were somewhat balanced. However on round 2 if you don't move fast getting a merc you almost certainly loose.
Creativity: 5
Quite creative. You go and play a round in the turnament, then go kill thieves and steal money, go buy mercs and better equipment, go play more rounds, something strange happens, then they refuse to give you money so you go and take your revenge. That was a big runon sentence lol. I love rpgs like this.
Map Design: 5
Exelent map work. Those cliffs were very good. Those must have been very hard to make. Not to mention there was some great eye candy. Like that prison camp with those miners mining.
Story/Instructions: 5
Great story. A guy comes to make some money. But there was more than just kill guys in a contest. Out of nowwhere a huge army comes and you must stop it. Then he goes and finds a strange base while exploring. Then they refuse to give him money when he wins.
Additional Comments:
This is a great scenario. When it says save you should save trust me. I had almost beaten it without saving then I lost and so I had to spend about anouther hour beating it again. But definetly worth the download. |
Pages: [1] 2 » Last » |
HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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4.4 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 4.4 | Balance | 4.0 | Creativity | 4.6 | Map Design | 4.4 | Story/Instructions | 4.3 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 22,684 |
Favorites: [] | 2 |
Size: | 645.58 KB |
Added: | 11/27/05 |
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