Nightfall

[BainIhrno]

Nightfall

 

Author: Scott Evans

Difficulty: High

Rating: PG

Version:

 

Composite Score: 3.82 / 5.00

 

Best: 0%

Good: 82% (14/17)

Average: 18% (3/17)

Substandard: 0%

Poor: 0%

 

Keywords: Based on Book, No Custom Graphics, Open Ended Scenario

[ScenarioReview]

ALCRITAS

 

I really enjoyed Nightfall. The plot is cumbersome at points, and several transitions are handled extremely poorly, but the dungeon play is some of the most imaginative and just plain fun I've seen even to date.

 

It’s been 2000 years since the suns last set. What will result when they do? Whatever results, be aware that there are SPOILERS BELOW!!

 

In essence, that’s the story of Nightfall by Scott R. Evans (MOUNTAINEER AT WONDERLAN DOT COM), an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg. Up front I’ll tell you that I haven’t read the book, so can only comment on the scenario as a scenario, and not to its faithfulness, or lack thereof.

 

Nightfall starts off nicely, arriving at a local campus, where the impending astrological event is about to occur. The mechanics aren’t all that interesting, suffice it to say that all you really need to know is that because this particular planet has six different suns in its sky, it’s always light out — except for once every 2000 years (thanks to a planetary eclipse). Regardless, while nighttime might take 2000 years to come on this planet, you’ll be entrenched into it in around 10 minutes of game time.

 

Actually, that’s not entirely true. You start the scenario. Learn about the impending nighttime, then it comes, then you wake up. The entire “night” is lost in transition, an effect I wasn’t too found of. To be honest, I don’t think it would have been that hard to simulate the brief night experience, but such was not the author’s intent. So be it.

 

After you wake up, things, of course, have changed drastically. The once peaceful Ogres have gone rabid, and will attack you on sight. Governments have collapsed, widespread looting and anarchy prevail. Regional warlords have begun to seize power. Most troubling of all, a religious cult, who somehow managed to predict the exact moment of nightfall have emerged as one of the strongest forces in the area.

 

Unfortunately Nightfall gets a bit disjointed at this point. The remainder of the scenario breaks down into four separate quests — getting a message to a political leader in a nearby city, helping the Ogres back on the path to civilization, opposing a regional warlord, and taking down the pesky religious cult.

 

These missions are all something of a mixed bag. The courier message is relatively straightforward, but not all that spectacular. Helping the Ogres is much better, involving a series of short and fun missions. Of course, the premise of the Ogres is a bit troubling — the use of a 2000 year event by religious fanatics doesn’t strike any false chords (See, for example, Earth), but a physiological change based on a few minutes of darkness is very odd. What happens to Ogres if they accidentally stumble under a tree?

 

The regional warlord quest was designed with one serious flaw — use of the “Flight” spell will allow you to circumvent 90% of it. The religious cult is better, but again the scenario runs into plot problems. Instead of logical concerns this time, however, the cult just comes off as extremely anti-climatic. How the religious cult figured out the exact moment of nightfall was the primary mystery of the scenario. The resolution — “They did some research and figured it out,” leaves a very bitter taste in the mouth. These may or may not be flaws in the book itself, I don’t know, but they certainly are flaws in the scenario.

 

All said, Nightfall is a fun little scenario, but not one of the all time greats. It’s designed for low level parties, and is rated PG.

 

My score - Good

[ScenarioReview]

MEASLE

 

A terrific scenario. It has humour, a good plot and the programming, while nothing innovative suits the story well. One of my favourite early scenarios.

 

The three different paths you can take to get to the ending is a nifty and, by now, oft repeated idea.

 

Good

[ScenarioReview]

DRAKEFYRE

 

However, of the four paths, I found one too abrupt and one too buggy to do much at all. However, it's still a solid scenario, and a lot of fun. If you enjoy the scenario or the book, read/play the other.

 

Good

[ScenarioReview]

TERROR'S MARTYR

 

Ehh...

 

The plot of this scenario was very interesting. Seeing as Blades and books are two different mediums (though that pushes the limits to say), I won't count it against Mr. Evans for using a story from Asimov. Then again, many parts of the scenario were iffy. One path was beatable with abuse of the flight spell. The cultists made very little sense. The ogres made me fear sitting under trees, etc. Combat seemed a bit poor, and many places seemed a bit shallow. However, it's not a bad scenario, persay, just a (fairly large) bit rough around the edges. Average

[ScenarioReview]

BRETT BIXLER

 

I found the first part of scenario very enjoyable, being familiar with Nightfall the short story and Nightfall the book. To me this was the "solid" core of the scenario. After that part, the scneario became more mundane. Interesting, but not overly so. Also, I had a hard time adjusting to a universe that conflicted with the original stories.

 

I'd give Nightfall Good

[ScenarioReview]

STAREYE

 

As an Asimov Fan...

 

Nightfall is one of my all time favorites. It was probably the first scenario I really, really liked. In no way is it as good as it could be. I'm actually considering remaking it in Blades of Avernum for some practice with the new editor.

 

My score: Good

[ScenarioReview]

THE CREATOR

 

It gets Good from me.

 

"Funny" is the first word that comes to mind. It's not a pure comedy, in which the plot is not considered important, but it made me laugh more than some pure comedies. In other areas, it doesn't shine greatly, but is pretty good.

[ScenarioReview]

MORGAN

 

I enjoyed Nightfall, but it wasn't great. Parts of it annoyed me and I automatically mark down scenarios which use riddles.

 

Average

[ScenarioReview]

BIG WORDS

 

I loved it.

 

Like Stareye, it was the first scenario I really, truly liked. I had also read the short story and the book and found the transition to actually be good. I didn't have much experience with the game at that point, so I didn't catch all of the bugs, but my overall view of the scenario is what's important to me anyway.

 

Good

[ScenarioReview]

KHOTH

 

I enjoyed this, despite doing some of it backwards because of the flight spell.

 

Now I'd better go and read the book...

 

Good

[ScenarioReview]

DRAGYN BOB

 

I also enjoyed this scenario. Having never read the book, I still thought the plot was good all the same. Interesting game play. Good

[ScenarioReview]

ROSYCAT

 

At the risk of being repetitive -

 

I too thought it was great. I actually preferred it to Truffle Days, in the same way I preferred Back to Normal to Farmhands. I loved playing a scenario with interesting and well-written dialogue! For me, that's a huge priority, and it aggravates me when otherwise amazing scenarios are marred by their dull personalities (AtG).

It gets Good from me.

[ScenarioReview]

ORGGG

 

I liked this scenario quite a bit.

 

I found the theme rather off-putting. You're taking the Asimov short story and then adding slith, undead and mages that can sling fireballs. That's a culture clash that I could never reconcile while playing, and damaged the sense of immersion. However, treated more as a post-disaster scenario it worked quite well, though the first half matched that atmosphere better than the second half.

 

Having three separate paths was neat, though it did make the remaining portions of the game more of a mop-up operation as you now had the big gun spells. Being anticlimatic is bad. I really like the split in one of the paths where you got to choose which side you would be on, and it affected other events for a while. That's always a very nice touch.

 

A number of the puzzles were excellent, in that they were not arbitrarily shoehorned into the story, and yet were creative and interesting. I'm particularly thinking of the first hobgoblin, and crossing the surf.

 

One other weakness was the sporadic but jarring use of "fourth wall" type humor, like the stairwells in the large ruined town. It ruined the mood when the designer was directly talking to you, even if the editorials were cute. The dialogue was generally good, as was play balance.

 

Recommended.

 

Good

[ScenarioReview]

THE GREAT MISTER

 

I enjoyed this scenario. For some reason, I found the idea of working your way around in a 'locked' town to be very interesting (and am already coding a small scenario like that myself). Also, the Ogres/Hobgolins was a pretty fun mission to accomplish. The two(/three) others weren't as much so.

I disliked the Dicisiplesslipsi caves and the Warlords'-path. The only thing that saved the latter was the fun puzzle with the rope and the stalagmites. The tidal waves I passed in combat mode. :rolleyes

 

A fine scenario, though a bit rough around the edges. I consider this to be worth playing, to anyone.

 

Good

[ScenarioReview]

CORWIN

 

Combat was a bit too easy, but it made me laugh. A bonus is given for using asimov well.

 

Good

[ScenarioReview]

ARACHNID

 

I hate Asimov, but this scenario is worthy of an eight.

 

Good

[BainIhrno]

Sloppy, but interesting

 

+ Good storyline (Note that I have not read the story this scenario is based on.)

+ Good use of humor. (esp. "can't believe everything you read )

+ Mostly fun to play.

+ Very creative, with nifty little things.

+ Good dialogue

- Sloppy town design

- Didn't like the setup, but that's personal taste.

- It's possible to get stuck in the Grimwood castle

- Riddles used

 

Pretty good scenario. I preferred Truffle Days, but that is mostly a matter of taste.

 

Average