Campaign Creations

Aeon of the Hawk - Special Edition

1- Introduction and background:
With Starcraft 2 well on its way, the twilight of the Starcraft campaign scene draws close, as the community is eager to play the sequel and explore a whole new world – or should I say galaxy – of possibilities. However, as the Starcraft Minicampaign Contest shows, the good old Starcraft: Broodwar is not dead. Not yet.

Around 4 years ago, when the campaign scene was already declining and I was getting tired of SC multiplayer, I finally started making my contribution to Starcraft. The mind-blowing behemoth called Legacy of the Confederation by The Oracle and Joel Steudler brought another meaning to “epic” and showed how Starcraft was perfectly capable of delivering a detailed storyline that far surpassed that of Blizzard’s own campaigns (in my opinion, anyway). And the (still) largerly unknown but terrific Newrand Citadel by Messiah00Guy (m0g) showed how a few elements – creativity, simplicity and knowledge of Staredit – would suffice to make interesting gameplay. These two campaigns were the main motivators behind my own mapmaking.

Thus the Protoss-based campaign The Flame Knives was born. The success I achieved with it largerly surpassed my own expectations, and when I was finally done with the campaign… well, I still had ideas for more maps. Triggering minigames, making terrain, coming up with dialogues and cutscenes had become a hobby, an addiction… and then I knew I would eventually make another campaign.

It was then that my second campaign, Aeon of the Hawk, was born, and once again I achieved success with it.

After a huge loss of motivation and time, which led to a complete lack of progress for around 2 years, I decided to take the half-made old maps I had lying around my HD, debug and polish them. The mention of Aeon of the Hawk in a recent PC Gamer article was an unexpected recognition, and it restored my lost motivation.

This Special Edition is the result: the campaign is complete, and is only undergoing final beta testing before release.

2- Campaign Intro:

Aeon of the Hawk takes you to the distant fringe world of Athlys III; formerly a backwater colony of the Terran Confederacy, Athlys III declared its independence and assumed a neutral position among the Terran worlds. The numerous corporations, owners of research & development facilities and production centers on the planet rule it with no goals other than preserving their wealth and expanding their market. The provisional government is nearly absent and lacks the powers necessary to challenge these companies.

This chaotic environment highly interests the powerful nations of the Koprulu Sector, who are eager to explore regions such as the Athlys system and gain footholds on them. The Terran Dominion, The Umojan Protectorate and the Kel-Morian Combine, factions with bitter convivence, sent their ambassadors to fringe worlds such as Athlys III to hire the services of the greedy, yet effective corporations to support their economies and war machines.

A planet far from the influence of the major powers; a nation without a law, ruled by dog-eat-dog laws; a world home to countless mercenaries. Would there be a more forsaken place to start a war where much may be at stake?

This is what The Hawk believes...

3- Features:

3a- Story and presentation: - Several dynamic cutscenes;
- The plot is a huge investigation featuring many plot twists, and hints about the villains’ plans and identity are given right from the start;

3b- Gameplay:- Original gameplay;
– Each map plays different from the previous one;
- Campaign intended for veterans with some multiplayer experience. Micromanagement and multitasking skills are must-haves;
- Several secret objectives will reward you, if you do above and beyond your expectations. Examples include preventing losses of units, paying attention to details and hints, and so on.

3c- Terrain and ambience:- Music coming straight from old school games and remixes of game music;
- Custom sound effects and beeps;
- Custom title screen by Joel Steudler;
- Custom portraits by Cynon;
- Custom hero voices;
- Several new doodads and units made by Taeradun.

4- Tech Work:

Taeradun describes his work on Aeon of the Hawk, which is, as far as I know, the only campaign to feature original doodads and terrain sprites:

I’ve been around the StarCraft modding community for a long time now, and while I had various projects planned, none ever saw much actual production. Modding for Aeon of the Hawk has therefore been my main contribution to the community, and I’m glad to have helped with such a great campaign. Custom terrain has been one thing I’ve been particularly interested in for a while now, and I would have loved to have developed this even further for Aeon of the Hawk if it were not for the all-too-familiar problems of time and motivation. This is something I hope to explore further with my own project, Code Red, as a final goodbye to Brood War before StarCraft II is released (if I ever get around to working on it lol).

Samples of Taeradun's doodad work - background planet and asteroid
[imgwh 640x480]http://sc.campaigncreations.org/aeon/im ... reen11.jpg[/imgwh]

5- Screenshots

The awesome title screen made by Joel Steudler:
[imgwh 640x480]http://sc.campaigncreations.org/aeon/im ... /Title.jpg[/imgwh]

Map 7 - Infiltrate hi-tech underground complex:
[imgwh 640x480]http://sc.campaigncreations.org/aeon/im ... reen04.jpg[/imgwh]

Map 7 - explore a seemingly abandoned high-tech facility, but watch out for its automated defenses:
[imgwh 640x480]http://sc.campaigncreations.org/aeon/im ... reen32.jpg[/imgwh]

Map 8 - Shady elements and conspiracies:
[imgwh 640x480]http://sc.campaigncreations.org/aeon/im ... reen07.jpg[/imgwh]

Map 9 - Micro Wars:
[imgwh 640x480]http://sc.campaigncreations.org/aeon/im ... reen10.jpg[/imgwh]

Map 9b - Frontal assault. One of the most action-paced maps in the campaign:
[imgwh 640x480]http://sc.campaigncreations.org/aeon/im ... reen14.jpg[/imgwh]

Map 9b - extended terrain:
[imgwh 640x480]http://sc.campaigncreations.org/aeon/im ... reen15.jpg[/imgwh]

Map 9b - suppah battlel cruzia and its pew pew lasers are under your command:
[imgwh 640x480]http://sc.campaigncreations.org/aeon/im ... reen16.jpg[/imgwh]


Executable file: unfortunately it needs Brood War patch 1.10 due to some custom hero abilities. The files for both 1.10 and 1.15-A are contained in the zip. Just unzip the 1.10 files in your SC folder and have fun. If you're not feeling safe, backup staredit.exe, starcraft.exe, patch_rt.mpq and storm.dll(those are the only files changed by patches). Run the executable, select Play Custom -> Use Map Settings and have fun.

http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeonse/Exe.zip



The maps. Some of the episodes are zipped because they include an addon cutscene map. Download and unzip the .zip ones in a folder under your Starcraft/Maps directory.
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeonse/Hawk-01.scx
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeonse/Hawk-02.scx
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeonse/Hawk-03.zip
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeonse/Hawk-04.scx
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeonse/Hawk-05.scx
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeonse/Hawk-06.scx
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeonse/Hawk-07.scx
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeonse/Hawk-08.scx
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeonse/Hawk-09.zip
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeonse/Hawk-10.zip

Alternatively, you may download the entire campaign here:

http://sc.campaigncreations.org/aeon/files/Aeon.zip

Easy Type:
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeonse/Hawk-01.scx
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeonse/Hawk-02.scx
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeonse/Hawk-03.zip
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeonse/Hawk-04.scx
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeonse/Hawk-05.scx
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeonse/Hawk-06.scx
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeonse/Hawk-07.scx
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeonse/Hawk-08.scx
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeonse/Hawk-09.zip
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeonse/Hawk-10.zip

Can I get a woot, woot?!
No, but seriously. I have to say, I've played both Aeon of the Hawk (Heck, I played it first back when there were only two missions!) and the Flame Knives campaign. As a gamer and as a (very unskilled) modder, I'm not ashamed to say that the imminent release of AotH-SE is both invigorating and suspenseful.

Good luck with this!
~Kaoru

Thanks, and also thank you for the PM. It is messages like these, coming from people I've never met before, that make me feel accomplished and encourage me to produce more, more and more maps. You're in for a story full of conspiracies, plot twists, and an overall more consistent campaign than Flame Knives (the relatively small size and reduced cast helps). There's also a very disturbing ending that makes even the FK ending feel somewhat hollow and amateurish in comparison. But this is just my opinion, I'll let people judge by themselves.

Also, I'm not Karune but I welcome your woots. Thanks!

Meta wrote: Thanks, and also thank you for the PM. It is messages like these, coming from people I've never met before, that make me feel accomplished and encourage me to produce more, more and more maps. You're in for a story full of conspiracies, plot twists, and an overall more consistent campaign than Flame Knives (the relatively small size and reduced cast helps). There's also a very disturbing ending that makes even the FK ending feel somewhat hollow and amateurish in comparison. But this is just my opinion, I'll let people judge by themselves.

Also, I'm not Karune but I welcome your woots. Thanks!

The PM was just something that's been weighing on my chest ever since I finished the campaign. I'm glad you liked it - honestly, it just felt good to express myself, after being pent-up about it for so long.
Incidentally, I've played right up to what you had previously released for Aeon, right to the very last mission available on SAMods, so I know some of the story, already. I have to say, it's (And I can't even believe I'm saying this, but it is) definitely a step up from the Flame Knives. Very internally consistent, yes, and everything's a lot easier to keep track of. ...A lot harder, too, but, meh! Such is life.

Incidentally, regarding Karune: I doubt this'll be an issue for anyone here, but, you realize, anyone who doesn't read the SC2 forums is going to be totally confused by that. 

god get a room you two

Taeradun wrote: god get a room you two

We did. They totally kicked us out on the street. It was horrible - just horrible!

hmm Meta you could prossibly look up & credit the people who made the actual new unit graphics; I did the DAT/BIN editing and made the wireframes, and I think with at least one of them I edited the GRP to make it less screwed up, but it might be worth looking up on Infoceptor or wherever who made the original graphics for those units, not that the people are likely to still be around and find out if you don't but it'd still be nice

To quote a famous marine "HELL it's about time!" 

Give plx?

Taeradun wrote: hmm Meta you could prossibly look up & credit the people who made the actual new unit graphics; I did the DAT/BIN editing and made the wireframes, and I think with at least one of them I edited the GRP to make it less screwed up, but it might be worth looking up on Infoceptor or wherever who made the original graphics for those units, not that the people are likely to still be around and find out if you don't but it'd still be nice

Damn, I was counting on you to remember who made the GRPs, but it was so long ago. I'll try to find out who made them.

ok well I checked Infoceptor and found credit for these units; I dunno about that super battlecruiser unit though (didn't see it on Maplantis either); I don't think I was even involved with adding that one at all was I?

More screenshots. This time, a few screenies of maps that saw a previous release.

Map 1: The Black Box

A map set in a huge metropolis on Athlys III.

Command Umojan Vultures to intercept a group of terrorists and hijackers:
[imgwh 640x480]http://sc.campaigncreations.org/aeon/im ... reen01.jpg[/imgwh]

Ghosts sneak past enemy defenses:
[imgwh 640x480]http://sc.campaigncreations.org/aeon/im ... reen02.jpg[/imgwh]


Map 2: Rogues on the Run

Another city map. This time you'll have to interact with many characters in order to make progress in your investigation. There are stores, machine shops, hospitals, armories, pubs, mercenary havens, arenas, ghettos and many optional objectives.

Don't get run over
[imgwh 640x480]http://sc.campaigncreations.org/aeon/im ... reen03.jpg[/imgwh]

Umojan officers arrest medical lab personnel:
[imgwh 640x480]http://sc.campaigncreations.org/aeon/im ... reen05.jpg[/imgwh]

Map 3: Urban Warfare
The industrial area. Damn, I should have taken more screenshots of this one.

Defend against a slightly overwhelming assault:
[imgwh 640x480]http://sc.campaigncreations.org/aeon/im ... reen08.jpg[/imgwh]

More to come soon.

Download links are now available.

Since many people complained about the difficulty on the campaign, I'm releasing an easy-type version of it. Changes are usually related to the upgrades of all units in the maps, max upgrades available and hero stats.

http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeoneasy/Hawk-01.scx
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeoneasy/Hawk-02.scx
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeoneasy/Hawk-03.zip
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeoneasy/Hawk-04.scx
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeoneasy/Hawk-05.scx
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeoneasy/Hawk-06.scx
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeoneasy/Hawk-07.scx
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeoneasy/Hawk-08.scx
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeoneasy/Hawk-09.zip
http://staff.samods.org/metathrom/aeoneasy/Hawk-10.zip