Return of the Keeper Campaign for KeeperFX
The Return of the Keeper takes place after the Keepers have departed / slumbered for 100 years. You awaken to find the land suffering under the heavy yoke of the tyrannically good Avatar (Who simply refuses to stay dead), and become obliged to set things Right.
ROTK is considered by me as a "fix / tweak" to improve the challenge level of initial game, fixing exploits (boulder & lava traps, lightning spells, etc) and having limited numbers of Creatures. It is also meant to have some Nostalgia factor, like revisiting Dungeon Keeper 1 but as a very much different gaming experience.
The Heroes are not extremely tougher, but they have been tweaked somewhat and are more sensible. They generally come in Groups and stay in Groups, with more numbers. Plus they are now deployed by Enemy Keepers, who no longer share your (limited) Pool. You may also never convert them.
None of the levels are meant to be bone-bitingly hard, but they should keep you on your toes, rather than make you feel like a leisurely stroll / turtle. It is also good for the Keeper to plan ahead, value and deploy his Creatures wisely, because the Creatures are generally Irreplaceable. Limited Resources against many foes, with no simple exploits to quickly resolve it.
This is a currently a 3 level Campaign, will come up to about 6-8 levels in all. There are also more levels under consideration.
You can download it here.
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1) Moonbrush Wood
As a newly awakened Keeper, you search the Libraries for Lore and knowledge on harnessing the more powerful evil Creatures that have dwindled in number. It is also an in-game introduction for the Rules of the Campaign, and details how the creatures have been tweaked. You end by facing a few progressively tougher waves of Heroes, which you likely will have difficulty facing if you don't apply your new-found knowledge at the Temple.
2) Tulipscent
Another familiar realm, you face your first Hero Keeper. Depending on how quickly you move, it can be hard or easy, but generally they will bring the fight to you, but make sure they don't let the Local Heroes (White) come to play against you. From here you will understand what Heroes they have and learn to deal with them Quickly.
3) Woodly Rhyme
You face two enemy Hero Keepers and once you break out to claim your Gems, there will be constant local invaders. If you survive the break-out, your challenge will be to build up with Enemies knocking on your doorstep on two separate fronts. Meantime, the clock ticks as the local Heroes build up...
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Proper use of the Campaign involves using 4 .CFG Files (rules, magic, keepcompp, trapdoor) to be placed in FXData folder, and I have included Batch Files for you to install them and restore back without manually doing so. To Use it properly, please unzip with Folders into your KeeperFX folder.
If however you are familiar with manual changing of your CFG files, its best to do so Manually.
I will update this thread as new maps are Released, please feel free to comment also.
from the Readme on the Creature & Hero Changes / Tweaks
Spoiler
Changes / Tweaks to the Player Dungeon Keeper
Most levels start you with the following Creatures in the pool with a Portal Max of 20-24. Changes to the portal availability will generally be reflected in the game.
"Starting" Creatures
- 8 Demonspawn
- 8 Bile Demons
- 8 Warlocks
- 8 Orcs (5x5 Training Room Reqd)
- 4 Trolls (max level 4)
Demonspawn have an improved Training Value of 3.
"Later" Creatures
- 2 Dragons ( 1x1 Barracks )
- 2 Dark Mistresses (3x3 Torture Chamber)
- 2 Vampires ( 4x4 Graveyard)
- 4 Tentacles ( 4x4 Temple reqd )
All of them have Training Value of 3, except Tentacles have a Training Value of 5.
NONE of the creatures above will train automatically.
All Levels will have 1 Increase Level Special.
Note that IMPS can now be trained more easily (they have a training value of 2 up from 1).
Remember that throwing a Creature out the Portal is as good as killing it - they will NEVER return. So you can use this info to manage your game.
I'm currently also considering whether to reduce the number of Bile Demons from the Pool.
In Some Detail
- Demonspawns now have Missile 3, Flame Breath 5, Heal 7, Speed 9. They also have 475 Life (up from 325) as adjusted to make them closer to Hellhounds. They take half the normal XP to advance from level 9 to 10, and the other half will turn them into level 5 Dragons.
- Trolls are now generally used for Sacrifice
- Dragons now match the Bile Demons in Movement Speed
- Warlocks gain Rebound instead of Sight at level 8
- Dark Mistresses have lost their Haste spell
- Vampires now resurrect from level 8 onwards. Their pay has been reduced. Vampires now need more XP for levels 8-10 only. (in the original game, they have Training Value 4 but a lot more XP required for levels 4-10)
- Horned Reapers are now exactly as healthy and tough as Bile Demons, and about 25-30% more effective than Samurai. Their pay has been reduced.
Note that the Temple cannot be gained by Research, so Tentacles will come in very late (usually after you sacrifice your Trolls).
NOTE : you may wish to plan how to select your Creatures for each level. With fewer creatures, less margin for error (tossing a creature ou means it never returns), some planning is probably a very Good idea.
For example, you may wish to have 8 Demonspawn to become 8 Dragons, but...
- will you run out of Gold before then?
- Will the Enemy become very Strong if you leave him alone?
- Will you be attacked and find it difficult to defend yourself?
Changes / Tweaks to the Heroes & Enemy Keeper
Most of your Enemy Keepers will use Heroes as their units, and naturally they are allied to the Hero Player (white).
On the Hero Keepers side, they generally have
- Barbarians (vs Orcs)
- Wizards (vs Warlocks)
- Giants (vs Bile Demons)
- Fairies (vs Warlocks / Dark Mistress)
Like Demonspawn, Barbarians have an improved Training Value of 3.
"Later" Creatures
- Samurai (req Barracks) (vs Horned Reaper, roughly 2:1)
- Knights (req Barracks) (vs Dragon)
- Monks (req Temple)
- Priestesses (req Temple)
The above 4 Creatures are all of Training Value 3.
To reduce AI inefficiency, all the Hero Creatures will Train automatically.
Note that when the Hero Keeper gains his Barracks, he loses access to Barbarians and Giants.
The Heroes do not research Prison, Torture Chamber, Graveyard. The Heroes can build Temple, and Scavenger Room. Left alone long enough, they will (theoretically) Scavenge the White Heroes (if any are present) to their side.
Unlike you, the Hero Keepers generally have a lot of creatures in their pool, more than enough for multiple, repeated skirmishes against you.
Most of the Heroes have not been changed much, except
- Barbarian now is closer to an Orc and has a faster movement rate. He gains Rebound at level 9.
- Giant has normal movement rate, 900 Life (up from 650), Armor at level 3 and Speed at level 8. They are less accurate than even Bile Demons, though.
- Wizards have their abilities adjusted to gain more useful ones at lower level. Their damage output still cannot match Warlocks at low levels, until they gain Hailstorm at level 7.
- Fairies now have similar Life to Priestesses but less Armor & Defence.
- Wizards & Fairies now get hungry less often. This addresses the "far-away Hatchery" AI problem
- Samurai have 800 Life (up from 700) and gain Haste at level 5. They have no Sight.
- Knights have their Defence adjusted to 50 (up from 30)
- Monks now have Rebound and are a ranged unit. They have similar Life as a Wizard but more Armor.
- Priestesses no longer use Poison Gas but use Drain. They gain Drain / Healing much earlier, and will still Wind when faced with Gas.
- Various Salaries and Training costs have been tweaked, generally using as reference the "vs" creature on the other side.
To account for the random portal attraction of the Heroes, Barbarians & Giants can now research, but poorly. They will still train on their own.
Overall, although initially they are not very strong, the Heroes are designed intentionally to OVERWHELM you if you should try and Turtle. They not only have a higher Portal Max (about 30-35) and significantly superior Ranged Firepower, they also have superior units in more numbers ( you can have 2 Dragons 2 Vampires 2 Mistresses, they can have potentially unlimited numbers of Knights, Samurai, etc)
from the Readme on other Changes to Rooms, Spells, Traps, Doors, Recipes
Spoiler
Room, Spell, Trap Changes
The following Rooms have been removed / changed
- Guardpost : only present on levels with little water and Bridges are not required
- Prison : removed
- Temple : you cannot research this, you can only find it. After finding it, you still CANNOT build it.
- Graveyard : you may no longer raise Vampires from it. Well actually you can, it just takes 100 bodies and each one takes a very very very very very long time to Decay.
- Scavenger Room : the Enemy may have it, but not you.
The following Spells have been removed / changed
- Speed Monster : removed. Your Enemies may have this spell.
- Must Obey : available on earlier levels (tentatively)
- Hold Audience : removed
- Conceal : removed. abusable as the AI can't handle it.
- Lightning : removed. Yes I've taken PAINS that not even your Enemies may use it
- Cave In : removed
- Chicken : removed. Your Enemies may have this spell.
- Disease : removed. On occasions, your enemies may have it
- Armageddon : removed
- Destroy Walls : removed. sometimes available on the Map
The following Doors / Traps are removed / changed
- Braced Doors : removed. You can use Wooden Doors for your own Dungeon, Steel Doors for defence.
- Magic Doors : generally not available to you. the enemy may have it.
- Alarm Traps : removed
- Boulder Traps : removed
- Lava Traps : removed
- Word of Power : sometimes present, sometimes not
Note that all Traps / Doors have been reduced to 10 Gold for selling, except Magic Door remains at 1500.
Temple Recipes
The following Recipes are notified to you in the first Campaign Level, but just for completeness.
- Troll + Orc : Dark Mistress
- Troll + Demonspawn : Vampire
You will probably NEED to use these Recipes, especially in the Tougher Levels.
The following Recipe has been Removed
- Imp Sacrifice : Cheaper Imps
Abusable to spam 255 Creature limit. However, Imps are now more easy to Train.
Reply With Quote
any feedback on the levels?
Originally Posted by `ETCH
