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 (Final update)


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 2:
- Inaccessible mineral fields have been removed and/or repositioned.


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.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Apr 11 2026, 2:17 pm by Andrea Rosa.

Yay, you updated your StarCraft Custom Campaign! Sweet!

Hi! First I wanted to say "Tales From Halcyon" does an excellent job at fleshing out a nothing-character like Alan Schezar and the campaign was well on its way to become my favourite ever - Mission 3 especially, which is exactly the kind of Zerg-Terran team-up I wish Episode VI could have been about - until I got to the fourth mission, which I just cannot beat, I am sorry.

I tried playing at the slowest speed and then reducing the difficulty by removing the need to protect bunkers, reworking the map layout and reducing the number of Zerg spawns in StarEdit, but I still cannot get much further than 8 or so minutes left and I have no idea what I am doing wrong despite watching a couple playthroughs on YouTube. Not only that, but towards the end, I get so many "cannot be placed" error messages.

Hi Johnny, thank you very much for trying my campaign! Now let's see how to beat that nasty mission.

Ignore the various playthroughs on YouTube. None of them undertook this scenario in the way it should be played, and most of them managed to win by sheer luck, or because they have super-human micromanaging skills. I've even seen people lifting their buildings in order to use them as blockades, none of which will work. I guess that the reason you are always defeated is because you can't adequately defend the main gate (the entrance with two Bunkers), so we'll focus our attention on that particular spot.


- Upgrades are fundamental. In this mission it's very easy to forget to upgrade your units, since your attention is constantly brought to the Bunkers. Infantry weapons upgrades are especially important, whereas you can neglect infantry armor. You can't beat this mission if you don't reach level 3 for infantry weapons in due time, so always remember to check your Engineering Bay (you might want to hotkey it). Vehicles upgrades are important too, but not as much as infantry upgrades. Needless to say, you must also immediately research U-238 Shells.

- The best position for your hero Tank is exactly between the two Bunkers at the main gate. Keep it in normal mode, since in siege mode the splash damage could inadvertently damage your Bunkers. Later on in the mission, when groups of Ultralisks will appear, you can briefly switch it to siege mode, but make sure to aim at distant units to avoid damaging your Bunkers. When in doubt, just leave the Tank in normal mode: it will still deal a lot of damage.

- Elite Firebats can be stimpacked many times, and they are devastating in stimpack mode (especially when upgraded). If a large wave is approaching and you are quick, you can unload the Elite Firebats from the Bunkers, stimpack them, and put them back inside. This is not necessarily needed, however, and I rarely do it.

- Slowing down the game speed is fine, as long as you don't push it to be absolute minimum: in that case, the spawning triggers won't be able to keep up with the game speed, producing the annoying placement errors you reported. This is aggravated by the fact that many of those spawning triggers make use of the Wait function.

- I assume that you always have at least one SCV close to each Bunker, for repairing. Concerning the two Bunkers at the main gate, one SCV will not be sufficient, so I suggest you to have 2 SCVs per Bunker there: they will fix any damage very quickly, both to your Bunkers and your hero Tank.

- Apart from the Marines and Firebats loaded into the Bunkers, you also need many Marines immediately behind them, and also some Goliaths to counter Mutalisks. Five/six Marines might be enough to defend the two small side entrances, but the Main gate will be subject to much stronger attacks: you will need at least 25-30 tightly packed Marines there, along with a handful of Goliaths.

- Use the walls of the main gate at your advantage, making sure to place some Marines up there too. They will deal additional damage to the Zerglings rushing beneath, while receiving minimum damage from the Hydralisks. Consequently, those Hydralisks which are hit by the Marines on high ground will be distracted for a while, allowing the rest of your defenders to kill them.

- Don't be excessively scared by the occasional Infested Terrans: their damage is greatly reduced (200 instead of 500).

- Make sure the version you are playing is post 2020. The original version from 2015 featured standard Bunkers, whereas in the updated versions the Bunkers have additional armor.

- Don't underestimate resource gathering: even though this isn't a macro mission, you still need a constant income, or you might be unable to research those critical weapon upgrades at the right time.

- Obvious suggestion: save often. I'd suggest you to save your game every 3-4 minutes. If something unexpected happens, you can retry and you will be prepared.


I hope these hints will help you beat Mission 4 and proceed with the rest of the campaign. If not, let me know.

Post has been edited 3 time(s), last time on Apr 20 2026, 4:10 pm by Andrea Rosa.

I did most of what you suggested there, but I guess I made the mistake of spending too much in vultures. I did not know game speed could break triggers, however. Good to know!

I do not know if you plan on making more SC/BW custom campaigns, but if you do, I would be very much interested in checking them out!

Vultures are nearly useless here: they have a slow rate of fire, and they can't hit air targets. Goliaths are much more flexible, but what you really need are lot of Marines.



I have retired from my "career" as a map maker/level designer. I had detailed plans for a Brood War campaign, but that project has been cancelled. Anyway, the five StarCraft campaigns that I have released over the last ten years should keep you busy for a while (beware though, they are all quite hard). They are all interconnected, so I suggest you to play them in the following order:

1. Tales of Halcyon
2. Enslavers Special Edition
3. Voices of the Swarm
4. Champions of Khandia
5. Flags in the Dust

What was it going to be about, if you do not mind me asking?

It was going to be set after the events of Brood War. It would have told the vicissitudes of a UED outpost that had been left behind during the hasty evacuation from the Koprulu Sector. Life on that planet was problematic because of a stunted ecosystem, resulting from a previous cometary impact. After some initial skirmishes with the Zerg and the Morians over the fight for the scarce resources, the marooned UED personnel would have eventually faced their true enemy: a bizarre coalition of renegade Terrans and fallen Protoss, operating under the command of an enigmatic "Crimson King" (who would have turned out to be a returning antagonist from Champions of Khandia).

Intriguing! Here is to hoping you change your mind and return to finish it one day.