[New Campaign] StarCraft I: Echoes of the Swarm (new name)

[omega20]

Heh, that's funny, I was just about to download this campaign. I'll wait for the next release. Can't wait to play it

If everything goes as planned, you won't have to wait for long.

[omega20]

I'm proud to announce that, finally, the new version of the campaign is out! Those who already played it, may be interesting in playing it again, since some things have changed. Those who not... well, just enjoy!

http://www.sendspace.com/file/s76fnd

EDIT: The link is also available in the first post.

[Church]

I'm proud to announce that, finally, the new version of the campaign is out! Those who already played it, may be interesting in playing it again, since some things have changed. Those who not... well, just enjoy!

http://www.sendspace.com/file/s76fnd

EDIT: The link is also available in the first post.

Wotcha! It's about time! *goes to play it*

I'll make a reveiw for you

[johnnythewolf]

Is the custom soundtrack still there?

[omega20]

Is the custom soundtrack still there?

Oh, yes, it's still there, sorry. I just forgot to convert it to a light version before releasing the full one, and when I did realize I had already posted the new links. I'll release it tonight or tomorrow at the very late. It is my intent to have it finished as soon as possible, since I do realize the full campaign is worth 90 MB with custom tracks and some people may find it just too much.

EDIT: Here it is, the light version. It only has custom tracks in key points (that said, the boss battle in map 6 and the end credits; those using this version should lock the default game music by pressing Ctrl + M at these points).

http://www.sendspace.com/file/idar79

[Church]

Omega, Mission 10 is a corrupt file in the non-lite zip.

[omega20]

Omega, Mission 10 is a corrupt file in the non-lite zip.

Strange, it opens fine to me. Check it out again with all editors; StarEdit, X-Tra and ScmDraft. If the problem persists, I'll reupload the map separately here.

[Church]

None work, and when I got to that point in the campaign it said it couldn't find the specified scenario. Also, I opened it with WinMPQ and WinMPQ crashed.

[omega20]

Try this. Is a link of just the 10th mission (the one of the full version). It works for me, so I really hope this works for you.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/xotcxp

Cheers!

Oh, by the way, I noticed the light version I uploaded was compressed on a .ace file. Here I post a .rar file, for those who prefer this archive (to be added in the first post too).

http://www.sendspace.com/file/6dz5xr

[johnnythewolf]

ACE files can be opened with WinRAR, anyway.

[omega20]

ACE files can be opened with WinRAR, anyway.

I know; I used it to compress the files. In fact, I just posted the .rar link for those who don't have access to (or just don't have) WinRAR.

[Church]

Try this. Is a link of just the 10th mission (the one of the full version). It works for me, so I really hope this works for you.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/xotcxp

Cheers!

Thanks omega!

EDIT: I am having no end of trouble with this mission... It plays for about one minute, and then crashes, saying that 'Zerg10Track1' is corrupt.

Also, here's the review so far. I'll finish it up when I have time:

######################################
## STARCRAFT I: ECHOES OF THE SWARM ##
######################################
BY OMEGA20

REVIEW - JIM_RAYNOR

MISSION 1

->Briefing:

Typos:
- 'To' instead of 'at', 'When the Zerg arrived to Chau Sara'.
- 'Spreaded' instead of 'Spread', 'as the Swarm had already spreaded to several other Terran worlds.'

Plus:
- I like the introduction very much.

->Mission:

Typos:
- 'Do' instead of 'Does', 'As you grow, so do your brood."
- 'Advice' instead of 'advise', 'I will oversee your progress from now forward and advice you as you continue to learn.'
- 'Advice' instead of 'advise', 'I would advice to infest it in order to learn more about these creatures' abilities.'
- 'But know that if you've won today is because we have not interfered.' The 'if' and 'is' shouldn't be there.

Plus:
- Very nice way to start of the campaign, and great introduction for Araq.
- Terrain looks very natural and nice.
- Music score is perfect.
- "Look at that structure, Cerebrate. It seems like it is some sort of factory-like facility. The level of technology seems less advanced to that of the Protoss though." I like this statement, showing how much the Zerg do and don't know. It's quite cool
- The speech is all very nice, albeit a few things mentioned below. I like a lot of what Araq says.

Odd:
- Cerebrate Araq states, 'I too am a Cerebrate of the Swarm, like you.' The 'like you' sounds odd, as if he is grasping for words.
- 'I will oversee your progress from now forward and advice you as you continue to learn.' Again, grasping for words.
- 'Good job, Cerebrate.' It sounds odd for a Zerg to say good job, well done is a bit more appropiate.

Bug:
- I was able to cinch the Infested Command Centre part by lifting it off and landing it in my main base. As the Terran were set to attack to where it was, I had an easy wait. You may want to add a trigger and location to prevent this.

MISSION 2

->Briefing:

Typos:
- There should be a comma after Pleased in 'I am well pleased young Cerebrate'.
- 'Tought' instead of 'Taught', 'They must be tought that actions like that... have a price.'
- 'Fullfill' instead of 'Fufill', 'Go now, my child, and fullfill your purpose.'

Plus:
- Nice use of quotes from Liberty's Crusade.

Odd:
- Players may find it strange that Araq and Zasz have the same portrait.

->Mission:

Typo:
- 'Focuse' instead of 'Focus', 'Since your units are already upgraded, you can focuse on spawning new minions'.

Plus:
- The music score is just right for this mission.
- It's always nice to see an old map in a new way

Complain:
- The 'New Mission Objectives' text states 'Zasz must control at least 1 hatchery.' While, on the other hands, the mission objectives state, 'Zasz' hatchery must endure.' While not dreadfully important, it's nice to have consistency.
- There's no message upon defeat, and I often found myself staring at the defeat screen wondering what the heck happened. I noticed this in a lot of maps, and it is quite annoying.

Odd:
- 'But it won't make you any good.' Do you mean, 'It won't do you any good'?

Critical Bug:
- I found the dropships before destroying the Terran base. Before I could destroy it, though, my units were pulled back to the base with the message, 'You cannot leave the battle!' Later, when the Protoss base was spawned, much of the Terran base was there and, in effect, many of the vital Protoss structures weren't spawned and I had an easy time with the base.

MISSION 3

->Briefing:

Odd:
- Seems strange that Venezoth would say 'don't' as most Protoss don't use contractions.

->Mission

Plus:
- Music score is very fitting.
- Great little introduction to Grothesk.
- Funny computer scene to lighten up the mood a little.
- Much less typos then the previous missions.

Odd:
- Seems strange that the Zealot would say 'En Taro Adun' to the Zerg, as En Taro Adun is a Protoss greeting.

MISSION 4

->Mission

Plus:
- Funny introduction, with fairly fitting music.
- Blizzard characters seems fairly in character.
- I like the way you called Duke 'snake', just like Jim and Arcturus did

Typos:
- 'His' instead of 'their', 'So, it'll be your mission to remove the Terran threat in the region by killing his leader'.

Bug:
- When Raynor speaks, it shows Hawthorne's portrait.

MISSION 5

->Briefing

Typos:
- 'It' instead of 'if', 'I don't know, though, it they have some connection with the psionic energy emanations...'

->Mission

Complain:
- Not a very fitting music track, but it works.
- It takes a heck of a long time, a long boring time, to destroy the Orange base.

Bug:
- An SCV managed to grab the Psi Emmiter before I arrived.

Typo:
- 'Many' instead of 'much', 'The scouting underlings you sent ahead of your Swarm provided us with many information about you.'

Plus:
- I found a way to use the rampant Zerg to my andvatage, attacking the Terran at the same time. It was fun
- Great ending scene with nice foreshadowing.

Odd:
- Seems strange that Hawthrone would say 'Meh'. It's hard to understand how he can go from shock to that.

MISSION 6

->Breifing

Typo:
- 'Lintern' instead of 'lantern', 'drawing them in like moths to a lintern.'
- 'And well?' The 'and' shouldn't be there.
- 'Fullfil' instead of 'fufill', 'Go forth, children of the Swarm, and fullfil your task.'

->Missions

Odd:
- Even though it's for gameplay reasons, it seems strange that the structures, especially the minerals, would dissapear from the Boss arena.

[omega20]

Thanks omega!

EDIT: I am having no end of trouble with this mission... It plays for about one minute, and then crashes, saying that 'Zerg10Track1' is corrupt.

This is really odd! I went to check out what you say and... well, indeed this problems appears (I didn't played it earlier because I though it was a StarEdit-related problem. Now it seems its both). The map doesn't opens properly with ScmDraft (it shows an error message) and when I wanted to replace or to remove the 'Zerg10Track1.wav' file it said it can't, that the file is 'write-protected' (wtf?). Maybe because of this I didn't track it earlier. The bug is within the sound folder of the map, which I didn't check. However, the oddity comes now. The problematic file is in both full and light versions, yet it only seems to cause this bug in the full version (in light it allows me to replace, delete or do whatever I want with the file. In short words, it seems to work). I'll check this out and attempt to solve the bug.

MISSION 1

->Briefing:

Typos:
- 'To' instead of 'at', 'When the Zerg arrived to Chau Sara'.
- 'Spreaded' instead of 'Spread', 'as the Swarm had already spreaded to several other Terran worlds.'

Thanks. Some typos always seem to escape my grasp. I'll fix all of them in the next version (this goes for ALL other typo reviews in your post, so to don't repeat the same over and over again. That doesn't means I won't pay a close eye to them. )

Plus:
- I like the introduction very much.

Plus:
- Very nice way to start of the campaign, and great introduction for Araq.
- Terrain looks very natural and nice.
- Music score is perfect.
- "Look at that structure, Cerebrate. It seems like it is some sort of factory-like facility. The level of technology seems less advanced to that of the Protoss though." I like this statement, showing how much the Zerg do and don't know. It's quite cool
- The speech is all very nice, albeit a few things mentioned below. I like a lot of what Araq says.

Thank you very much, glad you liked these.

Odd:
- Cerebrate Araq states, 'I too am a Cerebrate of the Swarm, like you.' The 'like you' sounds odd, as if he is grasping for words.
- 'I will oversee your progress from now forward and advice you as you continue to learn.' Again, grasping for words.
- 'Good job, Cerebrate.' It sounds odd for a Zerg to say good job, well done is a bit more appropiate.

Agreed. However, it looked just fine the moment I wrote it and even later. I just didn't noticed that much about it until you wrote your opinion here. Thank you.

Bug:
- I was able to cinch the Infested Command Centre part by lifting it off and landing it in my main base. As the Terran were set to attack to where it was, I had an easy wait. You may want to add a trigger and location to prevent this.

This. Even with all my testing and careful eye I didn't noticed this! Wow! Thank you so much! I will think a way of solving this (maybe it's much easier, just giving the CC to a neutral player).

- Nice use of quotes from Liberty's Crusade.

I thought these would add a touch of originalty to the campaign. Glad you liked those.

Odd:
- Players may find it strange that Araq and Zasz have the same portrait.

Yes, this was a bit of an attempt to introduce Zasz a bit. Maybe not necessary, but I found this better than to just keep saying 'Zasz' brood does this', 'Zasz' brood does that', without even giving the poor thing to express itself.

Plus:
- The music score is just right for this mission.
- It's always nice to see an old map in a new way

My thoughts exactly. But I just didn't want to have too much original maps in my campaigns, so I ended up just having this one.

Complain:
- The 'New Mission Objectives' text states 'Zasz must control at least 1 hatchery.' While, on the other hands, the mission objectives state, 'Zasz' hatchery must endure.' While not dreadfully important, it's nice to have consistency.
- There's no message upon defeat, and I often found myself staring at the defeat screen wondering what the heck happened. I noticed this in a lot of maps, and it is quite annoying.

- This is a result of a lot of trigger-changing/refitting/testing/adjusting. The initial objective was to have one of Zasz' hatcheries survive the Terran attacks. However, later on, I decided to remove the Terran AI, resulting in no enemy offensive operations during the early stage of the missions. I changed the in-game mission objectives, but it seems like I forgot to change it in the briefing. Again, this will be fixed in next version.
- This is in purpose. I wanted to stick to old StarCraft rules of having a defeat message only when a hero or an important structure is destroyed. If the defeat is triggered by just the destruction of your entire base, no defeat message will appear (as it'd be obvious that you cannot play any longer without the means to produce more units).

Odd:
- 'But it won't make you any good.' Do you mean, 'It won't do you any good'?

Yes, yes, and I thought I did have it as the latter expression. A mistake on my part.

Critical Bug:
- I found the dropships before destroying the Terran base. Before I could destroy it, though, my units were pulled back to the base with the message, 'You cannot leave the battle!' Later, when the Protoss base was spawned, much of the Terran base was there and, in effect, many of the vital Protoss structures weren't spawned and I had an easy time with the base.

The problem in this is that I tested the campaign pretty much alone. This bug shouldn't appear but, since I tested the map knowing about the mission objectives, the location placements and the ways some thing should and shouldn't be done, this resulted in no bugs for me. Still, there's much work to do on this mission from what I'm seeing. Thanks for posting this.

Odd:
- Seems strange that Venezoth would say 'don't' as most Protoss don't use contractions.

I didn't realize that, at that point. For the Protoss dialogues I spent a long time ensuring they were more formally writed and more "educated" than the Terran and possibly the Zerg ones. I didn't thought about contractions, though. I'll consider what to do here.

Plus:
- Music score is very fitting.
- Great little introduction to Grothesk.
- Funny computer scene to lighten up the mood a little.
- Much less typos then the previous missions.

Thank you so much and, again, glad you liked it. As for the typos, I expected the first missions to be the most problematic ones about these. Later missions shouldn't include as much typos, hopefully.

Odd:
- Seems strange that the Zealot would say 'En Taro Adun' to the Zerg, as En Taro Adun is a Protoss greeting.

My mad quest for attempting the Protoss to be educated. Maybe I just made them too educated though.

Plus:
- Funny introduction, with fairly fitting music.
- Blizzard characters seems fairly in character.
- I like the way you called Duke 'snake', just like Jim and Arcturus did

Glad you liked this.

Bug:
- When Raynor speaks, it shows Hawthorne's portrait.

This may be because I added that Kerrigan/Raynor dialogue in the later version. I didn't remember that I replaced Raynor's portrait by Hawthorne's (mostly the fact that Raynor wasn't going to appear in the first place). I'll find a way to fix this too.

- Not a very fitting music track, but it works.
- It takes a heck of a long time, a long boring time, to destroy the Orange base.

In some missions, I had problems when looking for music. In some missions I just putted some in hoping they'd fit, since I wanted to preserve other tracks for other key moments. I'll try to look for a replacement for this though. About destroying the orange base... I know. That's the whole point of the ravaging, uncontrolled zerg, sir. They add to the fun of the mission.

Bug:
- An SCV managed to grab the Psi Emmiter before I arrived.

I already expected them to attempt to do that (they ALWAYS do so) and thus I did have several triggers moving the SCVs away from the Emitter when close. This still doesn't seem to work though.

Plus:
- I found a way to use the rampant Zerg to my andvatage, attacking the Terran at the same time. It was fun
- Great ending scene with nice foreshadowing.

Glad to know this; this was the intent for them all the time. Not to having them to just attack you, but to attack everybody. Glad you liked this, and the end scene too. ^^

Odd:
- Seems strange that Hawthrone would say 'Meh'. It's hard to understand how he can go from shock to that.

He's supposed to be an arrogant, cold-hearted person. In the statement from which this expression (Meh) comes, it is explained that he "just didn't expected the Zerg to talk". Even if he was in a shock state in the previous statement, his arrogancy would prevent him to show himself weak before his enemies. Thus this radically different attitude. He attempts to be above Grothesk, attempting to hold his temper and keep his confidence, never willing to show weaknesses to a creature he views as 'inferior' (so inferior he just didn't expect them to talk. Thus the initial shock).

Odd:
- Even though it's for gameplay reasons, it seems strange that the structures, especially the minerals, would dissapear from the Boss arena.

I know, and thought about that. But this is necessary. A stranded pylon or mineral patch (specially the mineral patches, since you never know how many minerals will the protoss probes carve from them before their base is destroyed) may lead to confussing and some times even buggy situations. Just removing all of them solves this problems. Moreover, why would the minerals still be needed there when they are of no use any longer?

Whew, this was all, I think. Thank you really much for this review. It will help me a lot to improve this campaign. I'm looking forward for any more review. I really hope I can fix the bug in mission 10 too. It's the one I like the most, because of its gameplay and because of its beautiness (the best terrain/unit placement armony I ever made, in my opinion), and it'd be a pity for anyone to be unable to play it.

Cheers!

~omega20

[Church]

This is really odd! I went to check out what you say and... well, indeed this problems appears (I didn't played it earlier because I though it was a StarEdit-related problem. Now it seems its both). The map doesn't opens properly with ScmDraft (it shows an error message) and when I wanted to replace or to remove the 'Zerg10Track1.wav' file it said it can't, that the file is 'write-protected' (wtf?). Maybe because of this I didn't track it earlier. The bug is within the sound folder of the map, which I didn't check. However, the oddity comes now. The problematic file is in both full and light versions, yet it only seems to cause this bug in the full version (in light it allows me to replace, delete or do whatever I want with the file. In short words, it seems to work). I'll check this out and attempt to solve the bug.

Thanks, I can't wait to play it

Thank you very much, glad you liked these.

Of course, how could I not like such an awesome campaign?

This. Even with all my testing and careful eye I didn't noticed this! Wow! Thank you so much! I will think a way of solving this (maybe it's much easier, just giving the CC to a neutral player).

No prob It's not dreadfully important though, as only bad players (such as myself ) would try to lift if off.

I just didn't want to have too much original maps in my campaigns, so I ended up just having this one.

This is understandanle, as while I like the old maps and seeing them new, it can get really boring to have a lot in this way.

already expected them to attempt to do that (they ALWAYS do so) and thus I did have several triggers moving the SCVs away from the Emitter when close. This still doesn't seem to work though.

Yes, yes, and it's quite annoying. For the data disk in my campaign (Gas), it was easy because I could just surround it with a bunch of overpowered siege tanks. Of course, something this outrageous would only work in a silly campaign

He's supposed to be an arrogant, cold-hearted person. In the statement from which this expression (Meh) comes, it is explained that he "just didn't expected the Zerg to talk". Even if he was in a shock state in the previous statement, his arrogancy would prevent him to show himself weak before his enemies. Thus this radically different attitude. He attempts to be above Grothesk, attempting to hold his temper and keep his confidence, never willing to show weaknesses to a creature he views as 'inferior' (so inferior he just didn't expect them to talk. Thus the initial shock).

Ah, I see. Just me and my bad perceptiveness

I'll have more of the review later!

[omega20]

Critical Bug:
- I found the dropships before destroying the Terran base. Before I could destroy it, though, my units were pulled back to the base with the message, 'You cannot leave the battle!'

After cheking out this in the mission itself, I found out that what you mean is not a bug. It is intended to be like this. Even when the objectives state that you must destroy the Terran base, it is not necessary for you to do that in order to set on the next phase of the vision. The triggers have been set in such way that you have only to send a unit to the Dropships area in order for the protoss to attack (after the Zasz/Venezoth dialogue). As the Protoss appear, the Zerg just switch targets, allowing the Terrans to escape. After the initial protoss attack and just before the teal protoss begin to attack your base in masse, all zerg units are just moved back to the base (and will keep doing that as long as you send units south of your base during the teal attacks). The message, though, shouldn't appear the first time your units are moved. I'll look into this.

Later, when the Protoss base was spawned, much of the Terran base was there and, in effect, many of the vital Protoss structures weren't spawned and I had an easy time with the base.

This was the bug. It looks like I accidentally removed the switch which allows all terran buildings and units to be removed, and I may have done so after I tested the map, so the bug went unnoticed to me. Already fixed.

As of now, I'm still fixing the maps. You may expect a fixed version to be released shortly (hopefully with a working mission 10).

Cheers!

~omega20