Hearth is a Tower Defense map. The heroes from the world above mean business, and they seem to have your pre-built dungeon surrounded. Minions need to be managed with speed and care to be kept alive here.
The structure of the match is this: within 90 seconds or so, hero parties will steadily enter from all four sides and attack. There is a long first wave of low-grade parties, dangerous through numbers, followed by a short breather and a final showdown against the Lord of the Land (Earl Jason[1]) and his allies.
The opposition in Hearth comes entirely through scripted events (extensive references to in-game Turns, time units which run 18-20 per second, follow). At the start, a hidden clock begins ticking, and will trigger the release of the following hero parties bent on attacking the dungeon.
First Wave[]
Hero Party "FIRST"
Copies of this party spawn every 1750 turns (~90 seconds) in the West cavern until the main timer reaches 13,000 turns.
Hero Party "SECOND"
Copies of this party spawn every 2250 turns (~2 minutes) in the East cavern until the main timer reaches 13,000 turns.
Hero Party "THIRD"
Copies of this party spawn every 2750 turns (~2½ minutes) in the North cavern until the main timer reaches 13,000 turns.
Hero Party "FOURTH"
Copies of this party spawn every 3500 turns (~3 minutes) in the South cavern until the main timer reaches 13,000 turns.
Second Wave[]
The moment the heroes above have been vanquished, you are sent a congratulatory message, and another hidden timer begins ticking. When 3000 turns have elapsed, the break is over, a new message comes up expressing hopes that you aren't AFK, and the following three unique Hero Parties warp in.
Hero Party "FIFTH"
East cavern.
Hero Party "SIXTH"
North cavern.
Hero Party "SEVENTH"
West cavern.
Hero Party "EIGHTH"
While the others strike when the hidden timer reaches 3000 turns, this party is delayed until 5000. It appears in the South cavern.
Hero Party "KNIGHT"
After the hidden timer passes 5000, the game will constantly check to see if there are fewer than 3 heroes in action, and the moment that happens, this party appears in the East cavern. Defeating the Knight fulfills the victory condition here.
Strategy[]
This section attempts to cover some points of interest without railroading any one strategy. The gist of this match is easy enough to summarize: keep an eye on the overhead map while moving and micromanaging your creatures, constantly. There is not much in the way of expansion to do with a pre-fab dungeon nestled in Impenetrable Rock. But the creatures need to train, defend, and recover, getting from one job to another correctly and quickly. The Imps usually need babysitting as well.
Money
Every hero that enters this realm is carrying 1500 cash on his person, which is dropped on death. One might not need to create more Imps beyond the first four because of this. Claiming all dirt and territory is highly recommended; Imps' job AI prevents them carting random gold pots to the Treasure Room until all accessible territory is claimed.
Transferred Creature
A top transfer, say, from Moonbrush Wood where we had our pick of both Good and Evil-aligned minions, will be able to handle one front at a time; your ordinary minions on this level will basically fill in the gaps as manufacturers and reserve-fighters. A great crutch for anyone either unable or unwilling to deal with the initial struggle for survival.
Increase Levels
Make a point of visiting the small cave outside the training room, perhaps by possessing an expendable creature like a Demon Spawn to knock down its door and trigger the Boulder Trap. A third Increase Level is in fairly easy reach. Tunnel out to the water from the Library and build a Bridge to capture it.
Bile Demons
Loading the Training Room with Bile Demons is a solid approach to any level. A handful of 4's and 5's can handle everything here.
Orcs
Barracks are, most unusually, pre-researched here. It may be useful to immediately lay a slab to attract some Orcs. They don't need micromanagement on this level. They train by default, hit hard in a fight, and when injured, they retreat and heal in the Lair... and then get back to training.
Dragons
Controversial creatures: very tough, but expensive on this impoverished map and unable to deal much damage. To switch them on and off at the portal, sell 1 Treasure slab.
Workshop
This room warrants a decision. The default 5x5 Workshop products are nothing to write home about, and if you do not intend to use the Workshop, it can be sold, possibly for more training space. Expanding the Workshop instead allows creation of very powerful equipment, which can hold parties off for a very long time (Magic Door), halt them indefinitely (Lava Trap), or slay them outright (Boulder Trap). The catch is that they take a long time to produce and deployment can expose your Imps to danger.
Messages[]
Briefing Text
"If lands had legs this one would be on its knees. Its desperate inhabitants are preparing a full scale attack on your dungeon. It will be an ideal opportunity to practise unspeakable evil on a massive scale. Go for it, master."
These two messages are triggered in this realm despite previous availability of the items.
Chicken spell is researched
"You have discovered a devastating magical power. Target it against a creature to transform a fearsome monster into a clucking chicken. Marvellous.
A Magic Door is produced
"You have created a Magic Door. These are almost impregnable to all but magical attacks. I recommend sealing off your Treasure Room or Dungeon Heart."
An Alarm Trap is produced
"Your manufacturers have built an Alarm Trap. It will warn you of your enemies' approach and summon nearby creatures to deal with the intruders."Note: due to the unavailability of the Alarm Trap, this message is never triggered. There is code for it in the level's script.
First waves defeated, new timer starts
"Your annihilation of the first wave has met with the approval of a pack of demons from the fifth plane of hell. Train your creatures and prepare for another battle. You're attracting quite an audience."
Final wave arrives
"The enemy are upon us. I'm just telling you in case you were having a doze."
Player defeats Lord of the Land
"All the heroes are dead, which is as it should be. This land and all its spoils are yours. May I suggest that you waste everything?"
Sound Bytes[]
"Hearth. Family life is the reason these serfs seem so confident and cheerful. Their unruffled existences would make even a Terror Dog throw up its breakfast of half-chewed champions."
"Ruiniana. Not a soul stirs here now. Even the rats are afraid to come out of the drains to feast on the dead. You really outdid yourself here, Master. It's a pity that destruction is so easy."
— Canon Outro
Trivia[]
In an interview with Keeper Klan, Dungeon Keeper tester and manual writer Jon Rennie stated that Hearth is his favourite level, and that it took him "quite a few goes" to complete it.[2]
This realm's outtro speech file, BAD11.WAV, makes more sense if renamed to BAD10.WAV to correspond with Nevergrim. Snuggledell's outro file, BAD06.WAV (Ruiniana), makes more sense renamed to 11 to match up with Hearth. These files are in the game subdirectory \SOUND\ATLAS\.
Mismatched OC soundbytes
Intro
Matching File
Reasoning
GOOD01.WAV
BAD01.WAV
Anthrax
GOOD02.WAV
BAD02.WAV
Mention of Demon Spawn
GOOD03.WAV
BAD03.WAV
Inhabitants' altered viewpoints
GOOD04.WAV
BAD18.WAV
Mention of Trolls
GOOD05.WAV
BAD05.WAV
The quietude broken by screams
GOOD06.WAV
BAD07.WAV
What became of the bunnies
GOOD07.WAV
BAD08.WAV
Lady Catherine
GOOD08.WAV
BAD09.WAV
War arrived
GOOD09.WAV
BAD10.WAV
The legions of Hell rode in
GOOD10.WAV
BAD11.WAV
Inhabitants' violent death
GOOD11.WAV
BAD06.WAV
Feeding on the dead?
GOOD12.WAV
BAD13.WAV
Fairy ring
GOOD13.WAV
BAD14.WAV
Being together, in a mass grave
GOOD14.WAV
BAD15.WAV
Sleepy farms got "developed"
GOOD15.WAV
BAD16.WAV
Undead massacre
GOOD16.WAV
BAD17.WAV
No more flowers
GOOD17.WAV
BAD12.WAV
Razed completely
GOOD18.WAV
BAD19.WAV
A great battle
GOOD19.WAV
BAD04.WAV
Poisonous fumes
GOOD20.WAV
BAD20.WAV
Skybird Trill named
The names for this level in other languages are as follows:
Translations: Hearth
Language
Translation
French
Mondoult-Fouailler
Italian
Città Del Focolare
German
Heimathof Titisee
Dutch
Haardstede
Polish
Zacisze
Czech
Srdce
Swedish
HEMHÄRDA
Russian
Харт
Japanese
ハース
Chinese
家庭至上 / 家居郡
Hearth is depicted in the level map as just a bunch of huts on some rock. However, the rock explains the abundance of impenetrable rock in the level.
Other versions[]
15 May 1997 Prototype[]
A prototype version of this level (modified 15 May 1997; the final version was modified 7 June 1997) has some significant differences:
Final/KeeperFX
Prototype
The prototype version lacks the extra rooms, leaving you with little room to expand your dungeon. There is also no path to the water, meaning the only way to it is through the Gold Seams. There are also fewer doors (and no traps) pre-built at the start, which also means that some rooms have a slightly decreased efficiency. Other differences include:
Portal Speed: 400 Turns
Warlock
Hound
Demon Spawn
