Forum username: SageMcQuincy
Scene name: Stonehill Castle
Scene download link: https://mega.nz/#!CipxBADA!7tVCXnX1K2z9EOF4rrdo8DfKZEXhEeEBSp5EUdZMhjw
Terrain code: scn_castle_24_exterior castle_24_exterior 256 none none 0.000000 0.000000 100.000000 100.000000 -100.000000 0x00000001300659630003c8f300003ca000006a8900003c89
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outer_terrain_plain
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What I always felt during single player castle sieges was the lack of 'progress' or 'phases' during an attack. Generally, the men get up that one ladder, get on the wall, smack through the defences and all blob up into the reinforcement blob, mindlessly running in a swarm to the closest enemy.
With this map I tried to give some sense of 'stages'.
After many playtests, the following is the most common way this siege plays out:
The attackers approach and end up at the gatehouse, there's the first chokepoint. when they break through - archers on the walls able to shoot them on both the outside and inside of the castle - they enter the courtyard and split. Generally one group goes left up the tower and the other group right, because the archers are the closest enemies.
The reinforcements spawn on the 1st floor inside the keep, making them unable to just continue the blob in the courtyard (that'd be boring, I think). Since the attackers split up, it feels more a general fight in a castle, rather than a blob-on-blob swingfest on either a ladder or in an open courtyard.
After the archers get taken out on the walls, there's generally a chokepoint in one of the towers connected to the interior, where the reinforcements meet the attackers on the wall. Of course, since there's three entry points into the interior of the keep, you can always take a group of soldiers and walk around to either catch stragglers or attack the main reinforcement group from the side or behind. Sometimes the AI even ends up doing that themselves when both groups turn towards the keep in somewhat of a pincer movement.
Because the reinforcements spawn inside the keep on the 1st floor, and the archers don't move much, the AI and player are forced to go inside, experience the interior of the keep, and clear it out, making sure that most areas of the castle are actually used (as opposed to a simple 'quickest route to enemy blob')
Still, I found all my playtest sieges to each have gone in their own unique way. It's never really the same because of the many pathways the AI can take depending on how it all progresses, as well as the player input though commands. I hope you enjoy it!
The approach to the gate.
Attackers getting near the broken entrance.
The defenders gathering on the bottleneck to protect their keep.
The initial clash
The defenders point of view of the initial clash (at nighttime).
Attackers have broken through and are racing up the towers for protection, and to get those pesky crossbowmen on the walls.
A peaceful intermezzo: The courtyard
Meanwhile, the battle is taken to the walls. Reinforcements arrive from inside to help their allies.
Another wave of reinforcements from the inside race along the walls to get into the fight.
The battle is moving towards the interior.
Peaceful intermezzo 2: The kitchen.
Fallen men in the interior, the fight is over.
More fallen men. (while in the background you can see the attackers having mobbed up to the last poor defender in the corner)
An bird eye's view.