@Generic Roughneck: Hm... are you sure these levels were from this campaign? There is only one mission, in which I use a lever and that one doesn't automatically end the level either. There is also no situation, where you could pick between two levels (though I did plan that in my first drafts, but chose not to do it in my final version). The campaign progression is fairly linear, aside from unlocking the two bonus levels.

Could you give me the level names/map names as they appear in the level selection (the names, not just the numbers)? I want to be absolutely clear which levels have the issues, so I can help out with that.

First you do a mission that I would guess is your homerealm. There are a couple of switches and levers. After pulling either you end the mission. The two following missions, doesn't matter which I choose, I end up with impenetrable rock blocking off every possible exit from my dungeon heart. One of the missions has such a small start area I cant even build. The Impenetrable rock stops me from finding a gateway for creatures so can't even recruit.

@Generic Roughneck: What homeworld mission are you talking about? As I see it only two missions could apply, which have impenetrable rock in the way. If it's Harmony Falls, you have to capture the temple in the south and then wait for the event, as stated in the level briefing. It takes roughly a minute or so to appear. The other one would be Kitten Meadow, where you have to defeat one of the high witches to gain access to the main fortress.

Where any of these the level you are stuck in or is it another level?

Why am I stuck behind Impenetrable rock following the pointless homeworld mission? There is no explanation as to what is required, and not even a hint on how top proceed.

@toastkid.williams: You're welcome. Glad you like it, even though it still has some, err, quirks I haven't found a real solution for yet. ^^

@Padelboot - i see, thanks a lot, and thanks for your campaigns, they are really enjoytable.

@toastkid.williams: I use DK2 rules for this, so a herogate is deactivated when all surrounding tiles are owned by the player (the gate itself doesn't count). This also includes water tiles and earth tiles. It is advisable to go to the herogate quickly and do so, especially in later levels when the "nuisance hero parties" can be quite stronger than in the earlier levels. If you are unsure whether it is deactivated or not: my script makes it so that a herogate will be "killed", meaning have 0 hitpoints when it is deactivated. There is no other way of destroying the gates.

I hope this helps clearing it up a bit.

@toastkid.williams: It's not a bug, but a consequence due to the way I scripted the enemy. What is supposed to happen, usally, is for hero units to spawn at the gate and then try and attack the players dungeon heart. Unfortunately the game can break this quite easily. Whenever their path is blocked (like with replacement earth) they just tend to stay at the gate. Since the script dictates a new party is spawned every few minutes, the number can grow quickly. Vitbergen is a particular offender, because it has two herogates, which can both be activated at the same time. My personal advice would be to stick to one side until the herogate is deactived. (to be continued...)

It seems that even after capturing an Empire/Heroes gate, it keeps spawning empire forces. They generally can't be destroyed either. Is this a bug?

Yeah, on reading the rest of the comments i realised it's a common issue: there is no limit set on the spawning so they just keep spawning and spawning until there's hundreds of the feckers. I got past it using the debug console to spawn hundreds of augres to take them on. Kind of a bug I would say, though i'm enjoying this custom campaign a lot. I think L9 might be the worst offender.

I had a similar problem. I think they can keep spawning without limit, I remember having to use a trainer because there was literally hundreds of them.

I'm enjoying this campaign but am stuck in L9 Vitbergen: i've cleared out everything except for the doors in the north west and north east, which i currently have blocked off with replacement earth. Behind each of them is an *emormous* Empire army. My own army is pretty big, after loads of capturing and corrupting, and i spent ages (and lots of money) building a huge array of traps outside the NE door, before breaking the rock to let them out. But there are so many Empire forces they just smashed through all my traps and wiped my army out: it wasn't even close. Some previous levels had this sort of "hidden empire army" which you had to avoid unleashing, and could find another way round to the boss. But i can't find another way in this level. Any suggestions? thanks

@ComGaunt: In that case you are missing the level keys. Similiarly to the original Dungeon Keeper 2, the bonus levels are unlocked by finding certain artefacts in the previous levels. If you do, a message will appear telling you that you gained access to a hidden realm.

Hint: Take a good look in Level 6 and Level 14. ;)
More specific descriptions can be found in other comments.

I have finished the campaign including level 18 but the two bonus levels (Caradrico and Freetown) are not unlocked. Am I missing something?

@Blink: The Underhill only shoots banshees at enemy cores, however, there is no enemy core in this level. The underhils have different effects, which only activate in levels 19 and 20 as reward for those who are thorough. In level 9, you only have to KO the lord of the land, who is in the north (it's a atronghold with two entrances). The underhill and the magical girls are optional.
The gateways can be stopped as shown in level 2, although admittely this level makes it difficult due to them being out of the way and waves spawning quickly. If possible, try to stick on one side of the map until you deactivated the gatway. Alternatively you can put earth on the small tunnels leading to the gateways, but that won't stop the gateway from spawning more units, which can lead to performance issues if kept too long.

I must be missing something screamingly obvious! What do you do with the Underhill to launch balls at the enemy? I'm stuck on level 9. I have explored everywhere but there are two gates at the top that just poor enemies, so It must be the underhill thing on the right that I claimed, but I can't work out how to activate it. Thanks.

That worked, thank you.

@BoogieMan: It has been some time, but I do recall it's possible to get him out by possessing him through the menu. So rather than using the spell on him, you click on him in the menu. This does get tricky with the one challenge, where two units are hidden though.

What do I do in KCC11 with the possession door near to the dungeon heart? I cleared it of all enemies (no traps found) and rescued the Auger at the end. However, I can't get him out because it stays under fog of war and he won't leave through the door on his own even if I open it for him, and since it under fog I can't posses him to walk him out.

Congratulations. Truly well deserved.

@BBC: Glad to hear it! Hope you can enjoy the game without issues now. :)

hey padel its bbc no worries i did end up reinstallin the game and it worked out thanks for the help

@themightydog: Thank you, I'm glad you liked it, even though you ran into bugs. For the possession challenge: I haven't added a script to destroy the door as I was worried of breaking something. I'm currently working on a new campaign, but once that is done I will update this one, so the doors are destroyed or at least the wall breached.

The bug with the forces not contactiong you: That's the first time I heard of that. It's not linked to the hero gate, so that one should not cause it. Once the objective required is done, you will get a text message saying they will contact you soon. After one to two minutes a dialog window should pop up asking you to pick a side. What could happen is that the popup dfoesn't show due to possession being used, though usually that leads to the game flatout freezing as I heard.
My suggestion would be to complete the objective and then not use possession until you picked a side. Again: Takes roughly one to two or even three minutes for that.

Level 10, I meant sorry. And the hero gate I mentioned is the one nearest the dungeon core.

Congrats on an amazing campaign! I'm encountering a couple of bugs on mission 11 though - The possession challenge just doesn't do anything after completion, the door stays there. Also I think there's some scripting that isn't kicking in after I clam the..... forgot the name of the room lol, spirit chamber? Then the two forces are supposed to contact me. That's just not happening, stopping progress. I've tried restarting the level twice for the same result. Could it have anything to do with me not destroying the nearby hero gate leading to the script not being triggered? I've been farming the heroes for that sweet sweet blood money :) Many many thanks.

@Moatib: Thank you, I'm glad you like the campaign.
That's one way to do it. When I get around to update this, I will make sure the units can leave the possession area without a hassle.

i click in the creature menu list.. sorry

hi and many thanks for this campain. for level 11 i achieve to possess remaining unit by select possess spell then click on the "stuck" creature but it didn't work all time. i gess you rally unit to close to the exit then you go out with your creature and AFTER you possess the inside remaining unit

@Big BLACK ♥♥♥♥: That is unfortunate and weird to hear. So does it crash instantly or when loading a level? It's a custom campaign, so it shouldn't do anything unless a level is loaded. Make sure you have all the DLC installed that are shown on the workshop page. If that's the case, perhaps verifying the game files can help fix it.
If neither helps... I honestly don't know what's causing this. ._.

crashes my game every time i load with only this mod

@Antiga II: Making the final fight of a level a challenge is, by itself, a challenge. Just using unit and trap spam is not cutting it and can lead to framerate issues. If someone takes time to train and bulk their units, they will always have an easier time than a rusher. There are tricks I'm experimenting with right now, but otherwise overwhelming the heroes is the reward for training well, I suppose.

As for the hero bulking... yeah. Loved to convert tons of guards, knights and wizards in DK2. That habit hasn't died down ever since my childhood and is one reason I cannot resist doing it here. ^^'
Another example of personal preferences showing themselves in the level making.

@Antiga: (That's okay, Steam is a bit limited with that.) Thank you for the reply! It's interesting, because some have expressed the opposite, where they prefer the underlord maps the least. And while I personally also prefer the pure hero maps, especially in the early stages, I do recognize their value. They have the annoying habit of destroying pre-built dungeons, though.

Truth to be told: I don't like timed missions either. The only reason I don't despise Woodsong in DK2 is that it offers plenty of space to built a nice dungeon, as well as endless gem seams. If anything they do add variety and might force a change of playstyle. Grinny Rocks, aka Ritual chamber map, used to have a stricter time limit and even harsher hero respawn rates, when I first tested it.

Then there's the Ritual chamber map where you need to capture it within 30 minutes, and the defense map with the lord coming at you after 30 minutes, but the problem here are the forced timers. I do not like those, even if this did end up making these maps a bit more exciting.

There are lots of ways to add challenge while trying to build up, for example by forcing limited expansion by blocking off areas with defenses as to not feed the player any minions.
Have the heroes be able to bulk up as well, in the form of a hero gate and a locked door, in the same room as the Lord. 2 hours of bulking up for the player should then at least end up in a grand finale fight.
More limits in the veins of evil, forcing different tactics. For example, no Prison means no (free) blood money, no converting units, no spirits.
But in the end, Underlords are what give the most meaningful challenge. And there is a dire lack of them in this campaign, at least for my feeling.
(Sorry didn't fit in 1 comment :))

Maps with only hero gates and a lord to defeat usually end up with me dungeon keeping for 1-2 hours while bulking up, exploring the entire map and then in the end throwing an army of 100+ minions at the lord in a dissatisfying finale.

The hero gate bug is probably the most challenging thing to deal with :) With dozens or 100+ heroes being stuck at the gate, getting unstuck by a single worker passing by.

To try to give an example of what can feel challenging to me, something like level 15 works well because you immediately are exposed to heroes, no choice (Unless you cheat with using replacement earth and block off paths) and because you need to deal with a decently strong Underlord, graveling towards you while taunting you.

I just did level 15 last night and I did like the challenge it offered.
I understand it must be difficult to find a good balance for everything, and I think you did an amazing job.

WtfO base campaigns mostly challenge the player by intimidating them with pressure or even an outright time limit (Often hidden behind timed triggers) which I do NOT like.

This campaign mostly challenges the player by forcing limited expansion or rush to prepare to defend against hero gate hordes. But with the ample building space, limited expansion is a very viable tactic and makes it quite easy. That is, as long as there are no other Underlords and as long as you manage your gold.

Maps with an Underlord are generally the most fun imo. Hero gates are usually what feeds my dungeon (Blood money for example) and are what actually make things considerably easier, even without cheesing a defense (well of souls behind walls and have em circle around em, for example) while the Underlord is what challenges it.

@Antiga: Thank you, I'm glad you like it. :)
The pacing and general feel of the campaign was one of my priorities and it's good to hear it worked out. I simply prefere the more relaxedapproach of DK2 and tried to translate it here.

Having levels feel similiar is inevitable to some degree, unless you do a creator mix like Korvek did. One persons style of making levels will stand out. My habit of planting outposts and hero vaults everywhere is... most likely noticed. Was even bigger in the version 1.2/1.4 days.

Level balancing might be the most difficult thing to achieve. If you scroll through the comments, you will notice Level 15 used to be quite notorious until I nerfed it. Wasn't even intentional, it just happened. Additionally there are different player types and skill levels, meaning some people will find levels challenging, that uber-pros breeze through.

Out of interest: What kind of level would you consider challenging? Or what should a level offer to be challenging for you?

Haven't finished the campaign yet, but I just did the 2nd bonus level and that was probably the most fun I've had with a mission so far. Not necessarily because of being the heroes, mostly because of the pacing, freedom and offering some sort of a challenge. Even if the vaults never send me any gold as they were supposedly going to :)
The entire campaign so far is of high quality, but even though there are a lot of very different maps, they often feel pretty similar. The few tricks we see mostly keep repeating themselves, especially with the hero gates which are easy to manage so there isn't much challenge, but other than that there isn't much to criticize.
Really love the pacing opposed to the official campaigns. We really have time to be a dungeon manager here. Keep it up :)

@Dismellion: Not a bug. I don't remember how I got the units out, but it is possible. Making an extra exit is already on my update list, however.

Level 11 has a bug(?)

Possessed doors do not get removed when you finish the maze and claimed unit gets stuck: you cannot draw it out with a raid or recall it.

Haha but Karma always comes. Sometimes they gather up in a group of 20-30 units because of me blocking their paths and once I need to proceed they just march on full team all-in. So I still kinda have to deal with them.

@Dismellion: I'm gad you are nejoying it. :)
Truth to be told: The heroes don't have an AI most of the time. They only dig paths in the later levels as part of initial attacks. And I like to keep the replacement earth available, as it fits with the somewhat more relaxed tone. Though I think I have an idea for this for my next campaign and I might add this in an update later.

Level 6 and so far I enjoy it.
The only issue I have with whole campaign is that Empire is too stupid to dig anything - you can replace earth around their gateways and they will be sitting there forever.

Understood. I used to play Dungeon Keeper, but it's so old I've forgotten all about it.

Thanks for that!

@couscousdelight: Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it! :)

The bonus maps are unlocked by finding the secret keys, just like in Dungeon Keeper 2. They take the form of artifacts, though just finding them is enough.
If you want to know where to find them, here is a small spoiler:

Caradrico can be unlocked in Everscream (Lvl. 6). Freetown is unlocked in Grinny Rocks (Lvl. 14). I've posted the exact locations in the comments

This was a excellent campaign, many thanks to you Padelboot !


PS : justg one thing, i've finished all 18 levels, but the 2 bonus maps are still greyed. Any idea about how to repair that ?

@Trivium: Thank you. ^^
Yeah, I did starting with the fourth entry. El Presidente was supposed to be a side character in the earliest version of this campaign, but I changed that when I wanted to be a bit more grounded.

Awesome campaign, ty for that, and im guessing creator played tropico aswell based on the bonus levels :D

Fantastic!

@Spuddnik: Thank you for the kind words, glad you liked it! :)
WFTO doesn't crash too often for me, thankfully, but it can go weird when loading save files during gameplay. There is also the pathfinding issue, that often breaks the hero groups for some reason... but hey. I take it as a win. ^^

And thanks for letting me know about the bug. I will check this when I work on the next update.

Oop, I found a bug in the last (non-bonus) mission. When I select to receive more mana instead of Stan, I do not receive the 500 mana. Very minor thing, but I thought I'd mention it.