Fantasy Friday XVII - Homelands of Teria

[Alex Walz]

FANTASY FRIDAY XVII
The Homelands of Teria

Welcome back to another Fantasy Friday! Seeing as how there have been a couple questions regarding how MMORTS Homelands work, I thought it would be best to address these curiosities with today's showcase. We will be looking into the three human homelands: Southmont, the Rollingplain, and the Wold.

Dawn of Fantasy's MMORTS, or Online Kingdom, mode gameplay revolves around a player's Homeland territory, which can be built in one of nine regions across the game world of Mythador. Players will develop their homeland from a single building (a couple in the case of the orcs), worker units, and a hero unit to a massive empire complete with layers of heavy walls and keeps, a complex economy, and a number of armies and trade caravans wandering the map. To develop this city, players can gather resources, construct various buildings, recruit new units, and research powerful upgrades and new abilities. Even when a player is offline, their homeland will still be in development with the worker units still gathering resources and finishing constructing any buildings tasked shortly before logging off. Although, the gathering, construction, and training rates are significantly slower than in the fast-paced Skirmish modes.

At your homeland, you will meet an Advisor unit, who will give you your first quests, which will ease the MMORTS learning curve in their introduction to many of the game's mechanics. These quests form the foundation of the MMORTS Campaign storyline and unlock various elements of the game, through which you will discover the large world of Dawn of Fantasy, with its myriad of characters, events, and subplots. While most of these quests engage the player in PvE gameplay throughout the twelve major NPC strongholds of Mythador, there are a couple PvP quests in which players must conquer similarly-matched players in a specified region. Completion of these quests typically results in additional resources or units.

If at any point your own homeland is threatened, you will be able to opt out of the battle by paying a tribute to your attacker. If you decline this payment and ultimately lose the battle at hand, your loss will not be devastating. Your homeland will recover but suffer a small loss of some units, resources, and buildings while the victor will receive a considerable amount of resources.

The text below is specific to the individual homeland, while the screenshots and captions contain information relevant to each of the human homelands.


Begin your adventure by choosing your homeland at the New Stronghold page. Browse through the nine regions before making your choice.

The Alpine Region of Southmont

Seen by many as the capital of Teria, Southmont is home to the important cities of Dagbor and Raebor.

A Southmount stronghold in its earliest stages. Look closely for a first glimpse of our new building GUI and unit formations. Your homeland will start off with two battalions of peasants, two battalions of swordsmen, a hero, three building plots, and a Town Hall - in which you can train peasants and horse carts and purchase a layer of walls, houses, or additional building plots.

Dagbor itself lies on a flat plain ringed by mountains, but far more typically, cities in this region are built in the mountains themeslves, taking advantage of the Alpine terrain to provide natural defenses.

The bitter rivalry between Dagbor and Menthorn arises in part because strongholds built in the rugged hills of Southmont are quite powerful and difficult to dislodge. This in turn has led to Dagbor dominating all of Teria.

After choosing a race and a homeland, pick out a Primary and a Secondary Trait for an instant bonus in the respective field.

During the War of the Lost Kings, Menthorns and their allies savaged great swaths of Southmont. To spur economic revival, King Erian has now opened up many lordships in this region, encouraging knights to come and rebuild the devastated land.

Southmont players have by far the best strongholds. An abundance of stone mines allows top-notch fortifications to be built and fully upgraded. By raising large herds of sheep, and by exploiting their numerous gold mines, players are able to turtle-up, quest, research, and prosper.

Economic Bonus:
-Mountain-dwelling sheep flourish here, with a fattening generation rate increase of +50%.

Economic Penalty:
-Other domesticated animals, however, are less suited to rugged Southmont, so pig and cow fattening generation rates receive a -25% penalty.

Research Adjustments:
-The difficult life in alpine villages has bred a resourceful and innovative people. Consequently, all upgrades and research in Southmont are at a -25% cost.

Building Price Adjustment:
-Weapon production in Southmont is more difficult than it is in the flatlands,

Can you build an empire out of a Town Hall and a couple peasants and swordsmen?

and building a Blacksmith requires +200% wood.

Unit Price Adjustments:
-A long associations with the Royal Court at Dagbor, and the advanced training of the Royal Army, benefits all who recruit knights in this region. Both Melee Knights and Mounted Knights receive a -25% gold and food cost benefit.

Military Bonus:
-The advanced military skills of the Royal Army also benefits all Melee Units who are trained in Southmont, and they receive a +25% Armor benefit, except for Pierce Armor, as the subtler aspects of ranged weaponry still elude them.

Stronghold Adjustments:
-Strongholds are easily laid out so that the cliffs surround half of the stronghold perimeter. A huge bridge with a mountain river flowing under it is always available to serve as one of the entrances.

At your new homeland, you will be met by an Advisor unit who will give you your first quests and introduce you to MMORTS gameplay.

My peasants began mining from a rare, unguarded stone mine but were quickly ambushed with rogue troops, forcing me to call in my swordsmen.

The geography of Southmont is characterized by rugged terrain, mountain streams, and waterfalls.

A typical Rollingplain stronghold represents the region when you pick out your homeland.

The Plains Region of the Rollingplain

Rollingplain is one of the older provinces of Teria. Thorndale stronghold dominates this flat, meadow-rich, wide-open landscape. Traditionally, the Lords of Thorndale have considered themselves loyal vassals to the King of Dagbor, and this in turn has placed the men of Rollingplain at odds with the rebellious

Humble Beginnings

Menthorns. For its part, Dagbor has always recognized the strategic value of Rollingplain, as it serves as a buffer between Southmont, the Realm of the Elves, and the great open borders of the Orcish Realm in the east. During the War of the Lost Kings, the orcs destroyed many lordships in Rollingplain. As a result, in the ruinous aftermath, there is plenty of empty land up for grab. Dagbor would prefer to see this area settled by knights loyal to the King, but dislocated and disaffected rebels from Menthorn are equally likely to settle here.

In Rollingplain, players will have to rely on a gold-based economy. Cavalry and infantry will be the backbone of their army. Lack of ranged units will create some difficulty with sieges, but Rollingplain riders will top any cavalry of the world. In the wide open plains, trees are scarce, so strongholds will tend to be built from stone, making a dramatic silhouette on the horizon line. In this wide-open, thinly forested region, which is half alpine terrain, players will find plenty of room for building and expanding their city.

My stronghold after fending off its first attack, some rogue swordsmen - not including the wolf pack who picked off some of my peasants earlier. Wolves are an early threat in the human homelands as they will charge your camp with surprising speed and prey on nearby deer, which are valuable to an early economy.

Gold mines are plentiful and will drive the economy effectively. Stone will be the building material of choice, as stone mines here are easy to find. Hunting is available, but there are limited herds of deer.

Economic Bonus:
-Gold will provide the economic power for any Rollingplain lordship, with a mining output of +25%.

Economic Penalty:
-Reduced forests and a wood gathering rate of -25% will limit the usefullness of this resource in Rollingplain. The thin, dry grasslands are not optimal for raising herds, either. Cow, sheep, and pig fattening and generation rates are reduced by 25%. And the thin soil reduces farming production rates by 25%.

Research Adjustments:
-In the thin grassland ecosystem, economies mature slowly. This results in a +25% additional cost to all economic

While gold may be plentiful in the Rollingplain, don't expect it to be unguarded. Even a lone Ogre can prevent you from mining gold without several battalions of infantry or some ranged units at your disposal.

upgrades.
-The wide open plains are also unfriendly to soldiers who specialize in ranged weapons, and they too suffer a +25% cost to their upgrades.
-Cavalry and infantry will flourish here, however, and they get a reduction of -25% cost to all upgrades.

Building Price Adjustments:
-Local ingenuity over the centuries in Rollingplain means the people

Bring your wounded troops to the Healing Well located next to your Town Hall to recover lost hitpoints.

here build with alternative materials and consequently use less lumber, so houses require -25% wood.
-Farms, on the other hand, require additional outlays in order to make the soil arable and adequately irrigated. This adds +200% gold to the cost of plowing new fields.

Unit Price Adjustments:
-As mentioned early, Cavalry, Swordsmen, and Macemen flourish in the broad fields of Rollingplain, and they require -25% food and gold.
-Ranged units, however, fair poorly in the wide-open terrain. Trebuchets and Archers both incur a +25% wood penalty when they are recruited.

Military Bonus:
-Cavalry is definitely master of the battlefield in these broad meadows, and they receive a movement bonus of +25%.

In the nearby meadows, there are a couple building plots that are yours for the taking - if you can fight off any nearby rogues, that is. Unlike the plots within your walls, these plots can only support Farms.

While waiting for my Farm to be completed, my peasants loot the corpses of those rogues unfortunate enough to make a camp nearby.

My peasants plant and harvest the wheat fields surrounding my new Farm.

The Wold as seen from the World Map. While normally a lush, grassland region, we'll be visiting it in the winter for a change of scenery. My homeland, creatively named "Homeland," can be seen in the northeast of the region.

The Grassland Region of the Wold

According to

Just moved in! The area in black surrounding my Town Hall has yet to be explored.

ancient Terian lore, the first human settlements were built in the Wold, and Menthorn was the first great stronghold to arise in the Older Times. In later years, however, the Dagborians of Southmont became the pre-eminent lords of Teria. To this day, the Menthorns believe that their rightful place as the leading Lords of Teria has been usurped from them. Thus, when times are uncertain, the Menthorns seize the opportunity to strike out against Dagbor.

After the War of the Lost Kings, however, the Menthorns were scattered and their power was broken. Now the lands of the Wold have been opened up by the King of Dagbor to knights who want to make a fresh start there.

In the Wold, players will be able to build a strong economy by harvesting wood. Here, under the protective cover of the ancient coastal forest, ranged units develop quickly, receiving significant combat bonuses.

Save the Ale! A homeland quest worthy of my best soldiers. "And I did hear a report of an extremely intoxicated orc who was sighted -- pretending to be a cow! So I fear the worst!"

And the Wold player is the best in Teria when it comes to offensive siege warfare. On the defensive side of the equation, mighty Wold Archers and Harlberdiers make a deadly combination.

Economic Bonus:
-The thick plentiful forests provide a Wood Gathering rate increase of +25%. However, the land is not very well suited to domesticated animals. As a result, cow, sheep, and pig fattening and generation rates are reduced by -25%.
-This is counterbalanced by the rich, mulch-fed soil that has built up over the generations beneath the deciduous canopy, where the Farm Gathering rate is +25%. Ample herds of wild deer yield a Hunting Rate of +25%.

Economic Penalty:
-The economy of the Wold player will be driven by timber harvesting, especially since both gold and stone are scarce here, with Mining Rates of -25%. A lack of stone will slow down

If you hero dies in battle, you can revive him at your Town Hall.

castle building.

Research Adjustments:
-The native resourcefulness of forest-dwelling people will make innovation easier to accomplish in the Wold. All economic upgrades receive a -25% cost benefit. Ranged units also thrive here and their upgrades cost -25%.
-The Wold, however, is not hospitable to cavalry or heavy infantry units, and upgrading them requires a +25% cost.

Building Price Adjustments:
-Ironically, the ample supply of wood has led citizens of the Wold to expect more outlay in the construction of their Houses, which require +25% wood.

Unit Price Adjustments:
-Since ranged units prosper in the protective canopy of the ancient forest, Archers, Trebuchets, and Siege Weapons requre 25% less wood, with Archers requiring an additional 25% less food.
-The one infantry unit that can easily be trained in the Wold is the Halberdier, with pikes that can be readily constructed from the ample timber supplies. As a result, they require -25% wood and -25% food.
-Cavalry are costly to train and maintain in the forest, however, and require +25% gold.

Military Bonus:
-The opportunity for bowmen to practice with their ranged weapons in the forest has led to a greater skill in this area, and all ranged units from the Wold receive +25% range.
-Superior knowledge of the damage inflicted by arrows has led to the development of +25% Pierce Armor for all Melee Units trained here.

A stronghold under construction.

The grassland region in the summer season.

As the winter season draws to an end, my stronghold stands tall with a layer of heavy walls in the works and the backbone of a future army.

[Henry Martin]

Nice, great to hear you get bonus and penalties for where you decide to set up you empire, which adds to the strategy of playing the game. I also like the choice you get to start.

[welshie]

Nice already decided where im to lay my stronghold, Wold Kepp up the good work devs i cnt wait for next fridays version

[sneaky_squirrel]

Can't wait to decide which region I'll start out in .

[Generation]

Shiny I like shiny nice pictures like how the details are done

[Alex Walz]

Still adding screenshots - there's a lot for this one. So if you've already checked it out, please check it again in half an hour for new screens.

[metman]

This is great. I've already decided where I am going to put my stronghold as well, Wold.

[GPS51]

I love it. I can't wait to play the beta. Seriously keep these FF's coming. Any chance of getting to make a FF and Fantasy tuesday? I love how each region makes a distinct choice of gameplay but not to an imbalance. Great job. It's looking more and more epic. I'm spreading the word since I'm waiting for it to come out! BTW do the advisors resemble any RWS personnel?

[Zeluk]

Humans are nice, Elves next please .

[Alex Walz]

Any chance of getting to make a FF and Fantasy tuesday?

Today's 22 screenshots aren't enough to last you until next Friday?

BTW do the advisors resemble any RWS personnel?

Well there is this one crazy Russian elf living in a shack in the mountains who fires arrows at you if you step on his territory. A bunch of us at the office nicknamed him Kon.