Just finished playing this campaign. I expected it to be as good as Voices of the Swarm, and my expectations were fully met. Once again the balance was perfect. The 1st level had a few parts that seemed a bit too easy, however it got very challenging trying to reach the Cerebrate. The same goes for the 2nd level: you are tricked into thinking that it will be a walk in the park, however stealing the crystal won't be easy because the Protoss suddenly go berserk and you are basically cut off from reinforcements. In the 3rd level you are given limited control over a Zerg brood (and a well-known Zerg titan), which allows for multiple strategies... and then you play the wonderful 4th level, one of the best and most compelling defense maps ever made. The last two missions are a tour de force, and they hold several surprises that I won't spoil for you.

The heroes are well characterized without being stereotypical: Schezar is deceptive and arrogant but also shows a twisted sense of humor, Cavendish is pragmatic and compassionate (would you expect that from a Confederate?), Larsson has some similarities with Raynor, but my favorite is Krauzer: his competence, self-control, elusive past and loyalty really make for a cool character. Briefings and dialogues are meaningful and concise, so that you don't have to spend too much time reading overly long text, and the writing is quite good, despite English not being Andrea's native language.

As I expected, all maps have a beautiful terrain layout and well implemented victory conditions. Andrea has definitely nailed the SC feeling, and the story perfectly connects to Enslavers. Not only that, but the campaign also reflects the spirit of the highly factionalized Terrans: in the span of just six scenarios, you get to play as the humble Colonial Militia of Halcyon, then you team up with Schezar's Scavengers only to be exploited and backstabbed, and end up joining Delta Squadron for your ultimate revenge.

Great work Andrea, I really hope to see more from you in the future!

UPDATE


ALL MISSIONS

- The campaign has been rebranded as "Veteran Level"
- Auto-centering function for "End of Briefing" (mainly for those who have StarCraft Remastered).


MISSION 1 "DEUS EX MACHINA"

- New sound effect in mission briefing.
- New triggered attacks.


MISSION 2 "BAD MOON RISING"

- New triggered attacks.


MISSION 3 "UNNATURAL SELECTION"

- The available resources have been slightly increased.


MISSION 4 "THE STAND"

- Bunkers have +1 armor.
- The Player's starting amount of minerals has been reduced from 1600 to 1500.
- Minimal changes to the map.


MISSION 5 "TURNING THE TIDE"

- The cost of Nuclear Missiles has been cut in half (100 minerals, 100 gas). This change does not apply to the final mission.
- Marcus Jenkins' Hit Points have been increased from 180 to 250.
- The available resources have been slightly increased.


MISSION 6 "ORBITAL DELIRIUM"

- The available resources have been slightly increased.
- The "Thank You" text is now yellow colored

hi Andrea Rosa. Thank you so much for creating the Campaign Map.

My name is eksxo and I'm translating the campaign map into Korean.

This campaign map is too difficult and I would like to make an Easy version of the map for beginners.

I would like to ask your permission to modify the map.

If you don't give me permission, I won't modify the map.

Post has been edited 3 time(s), last time on Apr 17 2024, 6:56 am by eksxo.

Surprising to see a Korean saying the map is too hard Seems like Koreans are usually way ahead of the rest of us in terms of skill level.

Not all Koreans are good at gaming.

Fair enough, sorry to stereotype. I always think of Koreans in general as gods of StarCraft.

Btw, it looks like Andrea Rosa hasn't been active on SEN since the end of January. You might get a faster response emailing him. I pulled his email from his website, it's: ilpinky@libero.it or you could try his Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrea.rosa.kriegbringer

Okay, thanks for the answer.

Hello, sorry for the late reply and thank you very much for playing Tales of Halcyon!

I'm always happy when someone volunteers to translate one of my campaigns, even though I must inform you that a Korean version already exists. I don't know who made it, but I've seen a video on YouTube. In any case, if you want to make your own translation, then go for it.

Seeing my maps altered in their functionality, however, is something that would make me much less happy, because the maps were designed to work in a very specific way. Tales of Halcyon is not for beginners, it is aimed to experienced players, but at the same time it can be used as a training ground to improve your skills. If a particular mission is too hard for you, I could give you some hints on how to beat it. Also, you could slow down the game speed, or use the game cheats - still better than tampering with the maps functionality. I don't recommend changing the AI scripts, since in some maps the triggers are tailored to the computer's behavior (for example, the triggers might expect the computer to build Ultralisks in order to activate another event). Finally, it is not said that what is too hard for you, will be too hard for other players.

All of this being said, if you really want to make an easier version of the campaign for your personal use, then feel free to experiment with the maps as much as you wish, just please don't share it on the Internet, otherwise there would be a duplicate version of the campaign floating around with unpredictable gameplay behavior: some maps might not work properly, and I wouldn't be able to give assistance to people reaching out to me in search of help.

Warm greetings from Italy, remember that I'm here if you need help on how to beat the campaign!

UPDATE - 27 MAR 2026


Mission 1:

- The AI for the red Zerg is now activated either after rescuing Schezar, or after building a Command Center. In the previous versions, the AI only started after Schezar was rescued: this could potentially be exploited to make the mission much easier, as demonstrated by C(a)HeK in his test video.


Mission 3:

- The player now receives a notification upon completing the optional objective.


Mission 4:

- Larsson (Siege Tank) remains invincible during the final cutscene, even if switched between normal and siege mode.


Mission 6:

- The dialogues in the final cutscene have been slightly changed to better connect with the events narrated in Champions of Khandia.
- The player now receives a notification upon completing the optional objective.

Yay, you updated your StarCraft Custom Campaign! Sweet!