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Techtree Contest #5 - Results

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After considering certain facts with some moderators, we have decided to ignore public voting and base the results off the judges' reviews. I will not reveal the reasons behind this to each individual that contacts me, all I can say is that certain things happened and the poll went doomed. Forgive me for the inconvenience, but it had to be done.



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• GhostThruster
• Wraithling

Additional Info:

100% of the results were based on the reviews of the previously mentioned judges.



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67chrome

Gameplay - 8/10 Your race was full of impressive features. The slave system was distinctive and ingenious, but I thought it could be expanded upon (it could've been really cool if you could actually enslave enemy units in a non-imba way). Loved the Wall system, which was cool albeit buggy. Most of the abilities were basically mash-ups of different effects, but they fitted and were unique in their own right. Mana shields for the buildings seemed a bit useless and misfitting however. The mana shield abilities don't suit a dark elf race well and you should perhaps give the buildings something to actually use the mana for, otherwise you should just give the building normal HP or non-deactivateable mana shield. Btw, ALOT of your abilities and stuff are dysfunctional (eg. the Phase ability of the Dusk Knight, and idk why but the units do not move to rally points).

Balance - 2/10 Balance is poor, particularly with the race's defensive capabilities. First thing, the arena systems are way imba. The enslaved shades can carry 20 gold (I know you reduced their HP, but Wisps have 120HP and still generate 10 gold only). The first ability seems a tad imbalanced, mainly because it affects all units (imagine, just sacrificing 75 gold to gain a universal scroll of regen, protect, and beast. It could far too easily buff a small army into an OP war machine). Also, I dislike the arena system, as it clears up your food supply AND gives a unit a hefty PERMANENT stat bonus (perhaps the champion should get damaged after the fight, or be temproraily penalised [eg, a custom buff 'Wounded' - This unit was previously in an arena fight, and will walk and attack slower from his wounds] ). Also even when you send in an Archer or something, your heroes still gain exp. Mana Shields for buildings are alright, but not when combined with impenetrable Wall Scions, shield and HP upgrades, tri-shooting spires, Sacrifices to Lolth, and also the general tankability of all the units save the umbramancers and the archers (who will be safely stored in the Spire btw or be buffed from arena fights). This makes a far too solid defense (though they also make damn nice targets for Siphon Mana and Mana Burn). The basilisk is a nasty little minx, who looks balanced by himself (coz of his low HP and attack conflicting with his high food cost and OP ability), but can be too deadly when paired with high attack units, which basically focus down the immobilised and slowed attack targets of the beastie. This race lacks any detection (or for that matter, any kind of concealment), save the Dust item. Oh, and I think you should decrease the cost of the orb item slightly. I don't see the reason for the 1 extra food of heroes :?(q mark on purpose).

The Legion - 7/10 Well your units are all unique, however that was not so hard to achieve with such a small techtree. I did like your idea of making each unit like a 'mini-hero' so to speak (well, basically the management and survival of units here is more significant than for the other races). Most of your units were imba themselves, but that was solved with gladiator fights, lack of variety, and resource/training costs.

Originality - 6/10 Meh, the concept itself is a ripoff of DnD (a quick google of the word 'Lolth' showed me that), but its still unique in its implementation in Wc3. The beasts, although rather few and similar, were a small but nice addition. The arena system was particularly very creative, I've never seen the like before. Most of the items were either from other races or just small edits.

Appearance - 8/10 Loved the OVERALL use of models, skins, and icons. They all fitted each other and had a unifying theme of darkness and emos and stuff :p. Great to be able to see units fight in the arena. However, there are somethings that are bad; War Mill model for armory could have had a custom skin at least (come on man, you're 67chrome!), the treasury model was just...my lord, the tile splats for the treasury and roost were very unfitting and looked like MrT's bling with skittles, and I think you've mixed up the Mana Shield icons too (activate is deactivate icon, and vice versa). The Hydra and War Beast lacked TC, and there were a few typos (eg. on the Purchase Slave tooltip, you spelt 'variety' wrong).

Total - 31/50

ashbringer753

Gameplay - 4/10 Not really refreshing, and does not bring up anything new to the table. Your spire idea, although new to Wc3, is a rehash of terran addons and is not very balanced or developed. There are no systems that stand out (upgradeable food source has been done, teching is like advancing through ages in AoE with bonus number of troops spawned that will potentially go over the food limit and give you too much of an imba army or wasted food usage which you may have wanted to spend on another unit). Trebuchets were kinda cool, however there was no build limit as stated (and even if there was, you could bypass it by morphing into a pack horse).

Balance - 4/10 Considering most of your units are copies of or based on other unit, your race was modestly balanced. However, the Citadel is an imba building indeed. The Spire does not cost resources, cannot be replaced, and the heroes can be summoned without upgrading to Tier 1 or 2. You may think this covers up for lacking a third hero, well I think you should've designed three rather than giving the player the ability to summon 2, one after another without tech. Oh yeah, I know you were trying to be creative but what looks good on paper doesn't necessarily look good ingame. Those techup upgrades cost too much, and spawn a bunch of random units. It is just messy. Units are not good. You should have a one 3 food t1 unit and one 2 food t1 unit (the Warder and Longbow both cost 3 food). I allowed this for 67chrome because it fit his theme and his techtree was purposely small. Now Trebuchets are just way too good against buildings, and they are incredibly mobile (and like I said, limit does not work). Oh and come on man you've combined the Bat Rider, Mutalisk, and Observer into the deadliest (and most OP) harassment force ever (Shadowwing).

The Legion - 6/10 The units gave me an Age of Empires feel to it. They all had very different roles. This race seems more of a race which focuses on the massing of units, judging from abilities like Yeomanry and the techup upgrades. I don't really like how you're just mashing up unit ideas from different concepts.

Originality - 4/10 I'm not really pleased with it. Aside from the name and some very minor systems, not much is unique. This race is particularly too close to the Alliance, which is cool since they are based off medieval britain too, but units like the Irish Berserker are just Griffon Riders with Incinerate. Yeomanry resembles last contest's winner's 'solidarity' gimmick, so even if you didn't copy him, it's not anything new.

Appearance - 7/10 The models had a nice synergy and fit very well. You gotta love Mr.Bob for those awesome buildings ;D. I actually liked alot of the names for those units. It took me back to the days of Age of Empires. However, alot of the icons do not fit. Yes, they fit their specific role, but as a whole group in one techtree, the icons did not suit each other because of the clashing styles (eg. the four upgrades in the Forge and the Ranger abilities). The Serf skin could've been more 'medieval'. If you look closely, the guy's wearing a striped t-shirt and suspenders, EERILY similar to MODERN day construction workers I'd say. A more notable fault is the Shadowwing. Not only does it not fit with the theme of the rest of your race, it's model is very stiff and basic, and lacks TC.

Total - 25/50

Kam

Gameplay - 9/10 Oh my. You've shown many an interesting playthings to me. Mana system, although isn't very inspired, is a fun new way to train units, reminds me of Warp Gates. I don't know why the town hall has the rally ability though. Gold mines system is also a cool new thing few attempt (we will get down to why later...). The whole lifespan thing, although very confusing at first, is rather unique and does its purpose. Portals can be a bit slow to work, and building placement is very buggy (and a hero icon always shows up when I build :/). The race also lacks an item shop and a sufficient amount of upgrades, but that is a small dent in the huge machine of uniqueness and fun that is this techtree.

Balance - 0/10 Unfortunately, you've sacrificed any kind of balance for all those wild race gimmicks. Gold mines generate steadily at first, but later you'll find it to be too slow. I'd recommend being able to upgrade the mines to mine faster. Also, the resource gathering methods are a bit too 'harass-proof'. The shadows are INVISIBLE, can hide in trees other units can't reach (seen in vids of Moon games), and they don't stand around like Acolytes. Mana system and units is the most absurd thing ever in terms of balance. You get your hero near-instantly (and his spells are freakin' insane, love the Hideous Halo one tho), units also spawn (and with more efficient 'rally' points, as they can avoid pathing issues or units can escape from enemy surrounds) instantly and very quickly. No, doubling the cost of everything is not a good way to solve this, and no, making sure a player's an entire army is dead after 5 minutes just basically cuts their strategies short. Neither of these really makes an equilibrium. Something more suitable could have been degenerating HP. Yah, and the hero. You only had one, but his skills are goddamn ownage (he removes buffs WHILST HEALING HIMSELF AND REGENERATING MANA). This means he is OP early game and UP late game. Lord Jesus Christ you have a FLYING WARP GATE WITH SIPHON MANA (Derelict), and if not for the fact that abilities like Soul Leech does not work, the units would get even MOAR imba, not seemingly possible with their huge attack power and hit points. No detection methods for this race.

The Legion - 7/10 Well unit layout is not so much different. You got your t1 units, your casters, your 2 siege units etc etc. What I liked was (aside from their hideously insane amount of attack and HP) their abilities. Some were simple or minor edits, some were stuffed with triggers and special effects, nearly all gave the unit a nice feel. Though I'm not sure why a ranged siege unit has Immolation and another unit with a very strong siege attack already needs Demolish.

Originality - 8/10 I see the race itself borrows concepts from many common and generic races, such as the Undead and Demons. Nonetheless, in the realm of Wc3 modding, the 'Lost' are a truly unique race with many new features and systems.

Appearance - 5/10 The race has a nice flowing theme going. However, there were many bugs concerning the race's aesthetic side. The build animation shows when you prompt to construct a building, a dummy hero appears on the left side of the screen, and when a unit is spawned, it plays a stand victory or whatever animation and then turns stiff. Tooltips were often far too short and hard to understand, as well as containing the occasional typo. Models and Icons were of average quality. But I absolutely loved the special effects of abilities, particularly the hero's.

Total - 29/50

Naragog

Gameplay - 6/10 You did add a few new features to the gameplay. First off, I like the cave system, though I had no idea how it worked at first. You should always give players information regarding how your systems work, especially unfamiliar ones. Also, the sapper I found to be a creative unit. It is invisible, but it cannot attack buildings or harvest, a pretty reasonable trade-off that results in a balanced builder/scout hybrid. The unit abilities were quite dull however. Most were just copies of existing abilities and it was UNCANNY how many times I saw the 'Web' ability (and we'll come back to that again later). I think the Scout would've been suited to the invisibility ability more. Your casters lacked good spells and could not be upgraded. I do like the Cave Spider in essence, but really, it's a Mothership in Wc3 (it can get focused easily, it is slow, it costs too much, and most of all it is useless). The heroes did have some interesting abilities. I liked the Spiderling Attack ability. However I disliked the Lord, as his abilities were either unoriginal or dull. The Outpost shouldn't be able to train workers, and you lack a shop building. I don't see why the Cave Spider Den should be a second tower, and its 'Uproot' ability is permanent...

Balance - 3/10 Your race contained mediocre balance. Firstly, I DID like the builder unit...that is, until I reached tier 3 and discovered its upgrade. Trust me, 65 dmg average (+bonus vs buildings) and invisibility is not balance. Personally, I would've made the sapping upgrade tier 2 and reduced the damage by HEAPS. Secondly, this race is super-op with its tunnels. The player can easily build a tunnel in the enemy's base (with an invisible worker) and amass an army of Scouts with a Queen with Spiderling Attack, and against an early NE player or UD player, its like insta-gg (at least Hu have militia and Orc have burrows). Keep in mind the tunnel costs 15 gold. Yep, 15. I noticed alot of your buildings cost few in gold and many in lumber (imba coz you start with 500 gold and only 150 lumber). Another thing, half the attack force has Web. I realise that it is bad when a race lacks anti-air (like yours), but it's worse when your entire army can immobilise a whole airforce. As said, the Cave Spider is one of the most pitiful units in the whole universe. He is incredibly vulnerable to air units and ranged units, he can't see shit, he moves like a turtle, he does not even have that much damage, and he costs over 600 gold and 12 food. Any logic? The ulti of the Lord can potentially destroy a player's micro. At least abilities like Taunt are insta-cast, whereas this ability is an AURA. Overall, this race was TOO mobile (I'd like to mention the Outpost building, which can be a mini-base basically) and...cheap. Lastly, do you seem to notice some of the buildings have 35 armor?

The Legion - 4/10 The units were not particularly interesting, and there were like... 8. Their roles are clearly defined, mostly because there are only 8 of them. The abilities of the units were appauling, they were unoriginal, lacking in numbers, and some could not be cast (the Caster upgrades are missing). But yeah, the Tunneler is fun, so is the Cave Spider (though hugely imba).

Originality - 4/10 In general, the theme of this race is uninspired. A typical Nerubian-themed techtree. There were no special elements. Technically, your race had a few bright ideas. Liked the Tunneler unit as a fusion of scout and builder, liked the cave system, I enjoyed playing around with it. The Cold Tower, however, is...unacceptable (brute copy of UD tower).

Appearance - 2/10 Um...you do know the IMPORT MANAGER exists right? There are alot of Nerubian models that could've allowed you to avoid using the same model 3 times with different colour tints. The building models were shocking; most were just fugly unanimated doodads, and the Cold Tower did not fit in at all. The icons are not only disgusting and mismatching, they are also scattered in random button positions, particularly in the build command card. I did not know which building was what, and the tooltips did not help. The tooltips had alot of typos, were too short and did not explain the use or effect of an object.

Total - 20/50

Dionesiist

Gameplay - 5/10 Well, this had a lot of potential...but your lackluster effort made alot of things that could've been good turn bad. Still, your race shows some nice gameplay features. I liked the two-worker system, though the Phaseling costs too much. I think that the Replenish ability on the builder is nice and useful. The unit 'evolution' was a cool feature, though when teching you are completely unable to produce any army, and Infernal Knights requirement is broken. I think the builder should be able to summon buildings though, since you only start with one. The abilities were average, you could've easily come up with more unique and exotic abilities. Alot are just renamed or edited standard abilities, and the Painmeddler's ability cannot even be unlocked. The health bonus upgrade is a new twist, though it is probably not as useful as an armor upgrade (which reduces % damage every hit). Your hero was rather boring, and there was only one. This race lacked any type of detection, a tower, and a shop. I do not see why the Hellgaoler and Over-thingy has mana, just to receive extra damage against Spell Breakers?

Balance - 4/10 The unit training method led to imbalance. The unit unlock upgrades to unlock units cost far too much (a fine example being the Colossus), the workers themselves cost too much in food and gold, and the method makes you a sitting duck when teching. I respect how you balanced the lack of an early siege unit with a chaos attack unit (whose HP also accounts for that). However, the casters seemed like they had too high stats and not good enough spells. Especially the Eidolon, whose first two abilities are pathetically underpowered and ineffective. I did not mind the Infernal Knight's ability as much, I actually think it needs a buff. I would have made it a higher chance, but to only affect non-hero organic units with less than X% hp. There is only one hero (who alone is balanced), which will leave the player almost impossible to win in late game. Your race is also EXTREMELY weak in defense. It lacks a tower and detection to stop harassment, and when teching, your army production stops, disabling reinforcements. One could argue you could use the wisp's replenish, though usually I would not make too many of those units, and that ability is more for restoring your retreating army than defending from an oncoming attack. Alot of the tier 3 units cost far too much in gold, but the Infernal Knight only used 3 food for a 1000hp unit who can insta-kill units.

The Legion - 4/10 The units themselves were dull. They did have clear cut roles, but their abilities were quite boring, with the exception of the workers. I did like the Painmeddler unit, his second ability especially as it is unique for a caster to be a DPS, and the Colossus was a cool siege unit and tank (liked the idea of the Immolation ability, to ward off melee attackers). The Phasebat is useless; it has too low chaos damage, so it cannot be used as anti-air, and it can't attack land units/structures. The hero served a useful role, but was executed badly (he was rather boring to use).

Originality - 5/10 Well, there's nothing new to the theme. A bunch of demons. The unit designs were nice, however, and did not seem as generic as the average red guy with horns and a pitchfork. Your unit training system is a new feature, but shares similarities with other systems. The units had typical roles and abilities, nothing special to see here. Your race lacked innovation, but was moderately original.

Appearance - 7/10 Hmmm...very nice unit models and icons...strange, but neat. However I can't say the same for the ability icons and building models. You could've at least re-textured the buildings, and with the 'Human' build system, the summoning animation freezes when the wisp dude stops constructing a building. The Phase units did not fit in that well aesthetically.

Total - 25/50

Spinnaker

Gameplay - 8/10 I was pleasantly surprised. VERY pleasantly surprised. The little aspects of the race aren't overtly original, but as a whole the race presents a unique and interesting gameplay. Build system was excellently thought, balanced and refreshing. Your worker unit seemed kinda dull however, and it seems this race has faster access to a full techtree. I liked the Void Rift thing building, and its abilities. Personally, I would have nerfed the Void Rift's HP and cost, remove the Amethyst Tower, and make the Void Rift as a more unique tower. Your heroes were not as interesting as the rest of your race, I dislike the Champion particularly, as his abilities were dull. The units were a different story. I liked most of their concept and design (Saboteur Saboteur Saboteur!!!), but to be honest their execution could have been better, as a few of their abilities lacked inspiration and often their stats/attributes did not match their role(eg. Fred is a siege unit, yet his attack is magic). And I praise you for being one of the only contestants to have a shop, though you could've added some custom items.

Balance - 6/10 Well, I must compliment you on NOT wildly adding fancy race systems in favour of balance. You had most of the necessary race features (eg. healing - transfuse/salve, proper unit roles, shop) but you did lack a good form of detection. The Inner Sight ability of the Warlock was the only way, even then it was poor (you must cast like in melee range, and small AoE). And your race seems incredibly anti-magic...the number of units with abilities to either remove buffs or take mana or destroy mana or be immune to magic... (just in case you wanted a list: Mastermind - pas ability, Champion - two magic resistance abilities, Beholder - purification, Blind Beast - spell torment, Nether Drake - mana break and skin ability, Fred - shatter and spell immune, Monoculus - basically all of its abilities). My main concern is that the abilities are similar and this race is the bane of all summoned units. The Nether Drake also costed WAY too much food and its Nether Skin ability kinda defeated its one weakness (piercing attack). ...Basically aerial units are SUPPOSED to be weak against ranged units. And I believe medium armor for the monoculus is a poor decision; he is a melee caster, therefore he engages in melee fights, then why is his armor type so susceptible to melee attacks? Your race lacks siege units too. In the tooltip, it was said Fred was a siege unit, but with his magic attack, he is pretty much useless (as a siege unit, but beastly against infantry), and the Saboteur is too high-tier and costs too much. The Fallen heroes were overall balanced, but there were some abilities (like Battle Cry - extremely effective, particularly with worker rushes) that were overpowered, and some (like Reanimation - costs too much, weaker than Raise Dead despite being a hero ability) that were underpowered.

The Legion - 6/10 Apart from the fact that half your race serves as anti-caster units, your units are pretty well split into their respective roles. Just a lack of siege units and detectors are your only problem. Most of the abilities were nicely made. A few honourable mentions include Siege Aura, Elemental Curse, and Equalisation (VERY USEFULZ). The Champion of the Old Gods was my least favourite hero; his abilities seemed like cheap edits or were imbalanced (Battle Cry as said before, and Carapace thingo which has too long cd and then too short cd).

Originality - 4/10 Well we haven't had a faceless race so far, but even still, you could have expanded on its theme. Units/buildings were generally uniform in the way they were made and used. And you borrowed a few mechanics from Sc2 (eg. the Void Rift seems to be based on the Zerg Queen, the Spire system is the same as the Pylon fields). Come on, why would you leave a model's name as 'Fred'?

Appearance - 4/10 Unit models were fitting and looked nice. Buildings, not so much (though I realise there are not many faceless custom building models). Effects were simple but effective. The energy field rings are kinda ugly. There are very few custom icons used, a few which put together don't match. Oh, and if I had a penny for every typo or grammatical mistake in your tooltips and descriptions, I would...still be poor but not as poor...

Total - 28/50

shiik

Gameplay - 3/10 I realise you joined extremely late...but come on if you know you're gonna submit something like this just don't do it. This is clearly unfinished, and even what you did complete was not too pleasing. Your unit training system, though unique, was poorly designed. Eventually, little spirits would take up my whole base, and you can't even use them to scout since they have no sight... Also, there is no information on the units that can be spawned when combining spirits, other than their costs. The lumber system is not really interesting, it is automated and takes away your ability to clear trees. And it would be incredibly easy to spam blacksmiths for mega-lumber generation. The units did not seem like they were in the same techtree. And some aspects of your units are just random, like the Machine Head (with 295 HP) with a taunt ability. Angela Gossow's ultimate is basically useless (or at least inefficient), unless of course you'd want to sacrifice a level 6 or higher hero for some minor healing. Now, those were the things that WORKED. Here is the rest that is broken. No mana regeneration, so no abilities at all and the prolific shapery will not work, two of your heroes are 'empty', shaperies often bugged and stopped production of spirits randomly...

Balance - 4/10 Your balancing was not as poor as your race's gameplay aspects. Still, certain things bug me. The unit training system was confusing, and gave me access to too many units in just tier 1, with some a little over powered being available too early (can anyone say...amaranthe?). I will assume that the mana regeneration was left dysfunctional by accident, but even if the units had mana, their mana caps were often too high (prime example being Gojire with 700 mana after research). Lumber system was super duperly imbalanced, as it stopped you from clearing trees until you got the high cost high tier Mayhem Machine. It also automatically makes lumber, removing the need for additional demonoids (and additional food) for lumber. This also allows all five demoids to start mining at maximum effectiveness early on. The lack of two working heroes puts this race at a disadvantage. Your spiritsurge building was majorly overpowered and useless; it can generate 16 food, but by the time you've upgrade it you've already gotten enough lesser surges to fill the food cap.

The Legion - 5/10 Your units had clear roles, but their execution in fitting into their specific roles could have been better. They are too easily accessed in the beginning, and too difficult to accumulate in the end (thanks to the green spirt's 135 second cooldown). Some units were confusing for me; Machine Heads had taunt despite their 'cannon fodder' role, Immortals only had 2 abilities - I'm not sure if they are nukes or support or what...

Originality - 4/10 You have a unique theme (heavy metal)...however I will NOT award you points for this, because, to my knowledge, naming something to do with your theme yet having it actually have nothing to do with it is not originality, it's an excuse to seem creative. What do mosh pits have to do with taunt abilities? Why are half your techtree named fancy names, yet their abilities and attributes have absolutely NOTHING to do with your theme? And technically, your race was not too original either. The build system is basically a poorly copied zerg larvae system. And nearly all your abilities are just slightly edited standard ones with double the mana cost.

Appearance - 5/10 Each individual model was acceptable, but when put side by side, I would not think they are in the same race. Same goes for buildings, even though you had some nice models in there. Custom icons were non-existent in this race. In summary, models separately looked good - together...not so much, icons looked bad and some didn't suit their names or ability functions.

Total - 21/50

Wazzz

Gameplay - 6/10 Hmm...... nice. Power system is a really cool addition, as is the Demon Gate building warpy thingo. Only suggestion is perhaps a maximum of two Power Generators can be applied, instead of just one (and you could add in some kind of penalty). It could give players more choice, like whether he should focus on one Demon Gate with two generators or two Demon Gates with their own generator. Building layout was nice, but you could've added a third tech building instead of spamming upgrades in the Weapon Platform, and you did not include a shop. Overlord was kind of disappointing. Judging by the first ability, I thought he could be some kind of 'always advantaged superhero', yet the rest of his abilities were simple and generic. Heretic unit is a good idea with good execution, though I think you could have given him an initial weaker attack, and then an attack upgrade, instead of an upgrade to unlock his attack (I'll get to why later). Units had simple, but effective abilities.

Balance - 7/10 And who would have thought, the race of demons with guns had the most balance of all the entries. Your demons have detection, invisibility, and importantly, race gimmicks that DON'T destroy balance. Power system was quite balanced, as you are allowed one per building (still, I would have liked it more if you did my suggestion as stated in the gameplay judging). Mana system is good, though a bit overpowered (would've made it to absorb 1 point and allowed 2 generators to repair, but that's just me). Quite a few upgrades (particularly the armor one) cost too much. You lack a shop, and there is only one hero. If you had perhaps made that one hero somehow able to manipulate other heroes or be able to gain the upperhand at appropriate times (with more than just one ability), it would have been balanced. Now, to the units...that Sky Terror is a BEAST. TOO much of a beast, that is. Basically, it is a flying siege tank which can also attack air/land units. Oh, yes, and it also has mana shield and can carry troops. You could've at least given it heavy armor so it could be weak against units like frost wyrms. There is no counter to the Sky Terror (piercing and normal damage from units like hippogryphs and flying machines do nothing against fortified armor). Also, early game this race is very susceptible to rushes, as no units can attack and you need to wait a while before you can summon units from the Demon Gate. Plus, if an opponent simply takes out your Power Generators, you're screwed.

The Legion - 6/10 Your units have distinct roles. Their abilities reflect their primary role in battle. The only unit I have a concern about (regarding its role), is the Mobile Generator. It is a bit useless, and could do with perhaps a tiny mana regeneration rate. As said before, perhaps the Heretic should get a weak initial attack to repel scouts, rushes, and be effective as a caster in your main army.

Originality - 6/10 You have added a subtle twist to the generic demon theme. However, despite the names and icons, it is still basically just an everyday demon race. Your power system is similar to the Protoss pylon system, however units such as the Hellion (ground support+anti-air, only a tad similar to dotts), Mobile Generators (defense/anti-caster/caster support) and Phase Tank (infiltrator+siege) are quite creative additions.

Appearance - 5/10 I can't say this is the most beautiful race, but I acknowledge there aren't too many futuristic demon models. Many of the models and icons do not give a futuristic feel, and often units like the Incubus have ability icons which just don't go together (a leech mouth next to thorns next to a needle, with different art styles, does not look fitting). Nonetheless, use of custom imports is satisfactory.

Total - 30/50

Wrathling's Notes:

It has been 6 weeks since I accepted Pharaoh_'s offer to be one of the judges for this contest, and as such I'd like to apologize to everyone involved for my inexcusable delay.

Overall I'm pretty content with the scores, although I find this judging experience a difficult one in terms of distributing points for each of the five sections, because of two reasons:

One, I'm personally not too fond of the same amount of points allocated for each section. If I am allowed the wanton freedom to award points, I'd allocate up to 25 pts for Gameplay, while the remaining sections are each allocated between 5 to 10 pts. That is because in my opinion, Gameplay is the main essence of every race, more so when the theme of the day is 'Innovation'. With a distinctive Gameplay, your race could provide an exceptional playing experience. Without Gameplay, the race would just be a smattering of model swapping and some simple edits of unit stats & abilities.

Two, I felt I'm not the best person to judge certain sections, thus I implore the contestants to take my feedback purely as single person's subjective point of view. For example, I felt the section of 'Balance' requires
the judging person to have both extensive experience of the RTS genre as well as good gaming skills, otherwise how would the person be able to decide whether a race has too much OP-ness or UP-ness without making a bunch of rash assumptions. The 'Originality' section also requires and experienced eye, as what is new to one person might be seen before a dozen times by another person. And finally when it comes to judging 'Appearance', I'd readily admit that I'm blind to looks (unless it is very very exceptional - either way).

I welcome any feedback that any of you would like to give, especially if you disagree with some of my points and would like to debate them or to simply seek more clarification. And I apologize firsthand for any typos and grammatical/structural mistakes that you might find in my review.

So without anymore ado, let's get to the scoring :)

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Gameplay 15/20 - A lot to offer

+ I abolutely love how unique and interesting the way this race produces its units. It uses only one unit production structure, the Shapery, which produces spirits every interval. Any two spirits are then chosen from a total of 4 spirits types to combine into one of 10 different possible unit combinations. This idea also includes a limitation of spirit types available according to the race's current tier, and allowing the player to choose what spirit types each Shapery will produce next, increasing the playability of this concept.
+ The next unique concept centers around the Transfer Mana ability. All units of this race gain mana as they fight, but the mana will also drain out quickly outside of combat. Units can then transfer what mana they have remaining to either the hero, a spellcaster unit, or the Prolific Shapery. I think that this adds further gameplay value to the race.
- The hero could be a lot better. It's first abilty does nothing, its bloodlust look wasted on a hero, and its ultimate is wrong on many fronts. Firstly why would I want to sacrifice my level 6 hero in a ladder game, secondly even if I did I expect it to do something more unique than just doing damage, like an aoe heal or resurrect my town hall.

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Balance 8/10 - Not much amiss

+ Generally good. And I thought that the food cost for normally abusable concepts like the Shapery and Blacksmith was fair.
- There are some minor stuff that should be avoided like the early availability of Amaranthes and the ease at massing up a bunch of Chaos Wyrms.

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The Legion 4/5 - Has variety

+ I thought that the Chaos Wyrm was overpowered when compared to the rest, but the unit roles are generally well covered without having too many repetitions. It would be great if some of your units like the Machine Head, Toxote and Soulfly have an additional high tier ability to complement its early tier one. And three spellcasters seem a bit much, since all three have the same magic attack.
+/- I didn't like the Immortal. I haven't seen a 6-food unit that could do so little, and it really look like a weaker copy of the Blood Mage.

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Originality 8/10 - A lot of room for experimenting

+ Designing an original concept is good. Designing one that plays a central role in the race is even better, and that's what I think the Shapery is.
+ Unique yet balanced lumber generator.
+ The functions around the Transfer Mana ability.

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Appearance 4.5/5 - Solid

+ Nothing that looks too out of place.

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Extra Notes & Suggestions:
* Would make things easier for first time players if you have a short description of each unit and what they do.
During my first time playing I've wasted a lot of food (and time) testing out each unit. Without a description,
who knows the Judas Priest actually doesn't heal :p
* Strictly my subjective view, I'm not fond of race makers taking some of the most powerful neutral hostile units and assimilating them into their race. Surely there are plenty of flying unit ideas that suit your race better than the Chaos Wyrm?
* Another suggestion: I think that all three of your spellcasters didn't really stand out too much - they have at most one ability that I find useful. Perhaps consider merging the Gojira, Judas Priest and Immortal into one unit? Let the Immortal have Dragon Blaze, Greater Siphon, Asche zu Asche, and Shroud of Darkness; now that would be a unit worthy of the 6 food.
* The Tranfer Mana concept could be expanded a lot more - like having more useful heroes, and making better spells for spellcasters.


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Total: 39.5





Gameplay 14/20 - Uncanny

+ This race shows its ingenuity right away as things are done differently even at the beginning. The game starts off with an self-excavating gold mine which doesn't require workers; and workers themselves can be summoned instantly at any spot within 700 distance at the cost of the structure's mana. This summoning method is the same for all other units of this race.
+ The thing that really impressed me is that this race uses an alternative to the food requirement. Instead of having units limited by the number of food provided, this race applies a timer to summoned units, making them die when the time expires. To further enhance this idea, the usual food providing structures are modified into structures which add time extensions to each unit's timer, making the gameplay very unique.
+ The Derelict (though it is a bit unbalanced) provides an added dimension as a mobile unit production centre.
+ Plenty of custom spells play around with. I only wish that spells with better synergy could have been chosen for the hero.

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Balance 4/10 - Some good, some bad

+/- It is perplexing to rate your race on the balance section, because I thought it was a mixture of both good and bad balancing. For instance, I felt that using mana cost and time limit in place of gold and food cost when producing units is quite balanced without giving the player an unreasonable early game advantage, but the stats of those units it can summon far surpasses original units of the same tier.
- I felt that when this race did away with the 3-tier upgrades that improves damage and armour, it tried to 'balance' it out by having the units start out too strong. I think those upgrades are still relevant as the current way is too overpowered.

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The Legion 3.25/5 - Overkill

+ Another case of hit and miss. The areas which I felt good are the individual unit designs (like the Razor with fitting spells that cuts and slashes its enemies), and obvious differences in unit builds so that there are no duplicates.
- The less good aspect is that all the units boasts an assortment of offensive spells, making this race ultra-attacking. Almost every ability I see is 'deal x damage to y units'. Even the healing spell Tainted Fountain cannot heal unless it dishes out tons of damage first. So I have an attacking force taking fire and needing reinforcements, I looked for units that can provide defense or protection and what do you know, I found none. This race is just about attack and more attack.
- Avoid unit designs that can do everything, like the Oppressor. It deals a piercing splash damage to units, deals siege damage to structures, has a 25 damage per sec immolation that quickly burns away enemy melee units, and has tons of hp and armour. It has no weakness. When I build a bunch of these and I don't need any other units.

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Originality 8.5/10 - Refreshing

+ A great concept of making units restricted by a timer instead of the normal food requirement. Also the idea is very flexible as the timer can be increased by individual kills or the creation of more Crux structures.
+ Using mana to summon units instead of gold. This concept is especially unique on the Derelict.

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Appearance 4.75/5 - Good choices

+ This race looks great with the custom stuff of the units, structures and spell effects coming together wonderfully.

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Extra Notes & Suggestions:
* I think that the main problem facing the race is to limit the number of unit production structures like the Aperture, as massing them up could quickly give an unfair advantage.


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Total: 34.5




Gameplay 13.5/20 - Provides a Challenge

+ This race introduces the Power Generator, transforming the usually bland food providing structure into a main gameplay focus. It generates mana to a single nearby structure, where mana is utilized as extra protection in the form of mana shield. Mana is even more important for the Demon Gate, a troop production structure which uses mana to 'warp in' units instantly. Thus this race applies strategic nous when it comes to placing the Power Generators so that each one is able to supply mana to an adjacent structure.
+ I like the hero's central role in the army, and I find the units generally well-designed with each having specific roles, requiring a mixture of multiple unit types in order to achieve a balanced army.

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Balance 8.5/10 - On the right path

+ In my opinion one of the better balanced races. Dares to implement radical stuff and yet I see no overpowered units or unit abilities. The speed in which I can raise an army is also fairly consistant with the default races, despite this race being able to produce units in an instant manner.

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The Legion 3.5/5 - Decent

+/- Each unit has its own role, although the Phase Tank and Felhound seemed to be overcrowding the siege department and melee department respectively. What I think can further improve your units are a fancy ability or two on the more mundane units. And a ranged attacker with better survivability than the Hellion would also be high on my wishlist.
<> Brutes and Archedemons are solid melee tanks, and that in turn left the Felhound's role unclear to me. What can the Felhound provide to the army that the former two cannot already do?
<> I like the Fiends. What initially seemed like a basic siege unit became quite an overkill once I upgrade its attack type from Pierce to Chaos. Its splash attack is a constant source of friendly fire though, which I think balances out its previous advantages.
<> Hellions could use a little bit more powerup. Neither really cuts it as a light ranged unit nor a light flyer. The Troll Headhunter and Gargoyle are better ranged units and anti-air flyers respectively, and have extra abilities to boot.
<> Didn't really found the need to use your mechanical units. Mobile Generator's Transfer Energy is nice, but mana isn't being utilized that importantly among your units yet. Phase Tanks and Sky Terrors are usable siege units, but the Fiends with their long range and Chaos attack just had a better edge when it comes to pushing.

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Originality 7/10 - Has potential

+ The importance of mana encompasses the whole race. It provides Mana Shield, it provides the only way to produce units, and it also elevates the role of Power Generators and Mobile Generators.
+ Unique troop production idea.

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Appearance 4.5/5 - Faithful to the theme

+ Got that high-tech-demons look just right.

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Extra Notes & Suggestions:
* I felt that the mana can be utilized a lot more. Let the non-mechanical units use mana too, let structures (especially the defense tower) have other abilities apart from Mana Shield, and have upgrades that affects mana.
* I see a good concept for the structures. What about one for the army/units? I'd love to see you design something that forces the player to pay specific attention on the units the same way the player pays attention on building Power Generators.
* The Phase Tank or Sky Terror desperately needs a blink/teleport-like ability. What better way to improve the very standard siege or transport unit? Initially I thought the Phase Tank's Phasing Field ability sounded something like Blink, which would have given it a unique edge over the Fiend.


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Total: 37





Gameplay 7.5/20 - Has room for improvement

+ The main gameplay difference of this race is that it produces most units by permanently transforming the worker unit into something else. Even troop production structures have a significant difference in that they don't produce units, but they provide the relevant research for every unit's transformation.
- Apart from the above, I find the gameplay generally uninteresting. The race feels very empty - there is a lack of both concept and strategical outline to play the race, and many units look generic because they lack abilities. I strongly felt that the race's gameplay is little more than a bunch of structures and units slapped together.
- Several other gameplay aspects that I thought could be improved:
<> The hero. Although it has useful spells, I felt its role isn't defined well enough, eg. is it a tanker, damage dealer or more of a specialist? Adding ranged heroes will also improve this race as ranged firepower is sorely lacking.
<> It is rather disadvantageous that this race's core army moves slower than the average race, especially when this group includes the sole hero of the race and some important high tier units.
<> The 2-food workers hurts this race a lot in terms of early game speed, not to mention an unnecessary increase in upkeep.
<> Adding a defensive structure may provide more tactical options.

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Balance 7/10 - Mostly good

+/- Not much of a problem, the only factor I found to be slightly overpowered is the Infernal Knight with its one hit kill ability and the ease of massing up a horde of them due to its low food cost and quick build speed.
- Which brings me to my next point, the over-reliance on Infernal Knights. Not much balance in gameplay if players only build Infernal Knights as the other units offer very little in comparison.

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The Legion 2.25/5 - Unflexible choices

+/- For me some individual unit ideas of the Cabal weren't bad, but their functions lack cohesion when they come together as a whole. For example I felt that the Infernal Knight and the Colossus are great on their own but could overcrowd my combat space when used together, due to their similar slow movement, huge size and are both melee. The flying units don't really link up well too, since both lack any specialized abilities and one of them can only attack air.
- One other aspect which I think the Cabal race can improve on is to bridge the giant gap in strength among units. On one side are the Hellgaolers (420 hp) and Familiars (310 hp), and on the other we have the Infernal Knights (1300 hp) and Colossi (1600 hp). I felt there is totally no need to build the lower tier units once I can get the high tier ones, since they are several times stronger. Some of the solutions that I can suggest are giving the lower tier units upgrades that boost stats (like the Orc Grunt's Berserker Strength) and abilities to make them more different, or to simply tweak their stats until you are convinced that all your units can still be relevant.
- I think that the 'Hellgaoler->Infernal Knight' and 'Phasebat->Overfiend' transformations need a bit more emphasis on how it turns them into different units, as currently they felt just like a stat-based upgrade. For units to be truly dissimilar each must have different roles to play.

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Originality 2.5/10 - By the book

+/- One aspect seen a lot in this race is the way a unit can be upgraded into another different type of unit. I thought the Phaseling's way of transforming into various combat units is nice, although the 2-food cost kills a bit of its usefulness.
But most aspects pretty much struck with the standard way of doing things.

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Appearance 4/5 - One Big family

+ Units fit in well with each other.

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Extra Notes & Suggestions:
* The race needs more clean-up to remove errors and misinformation. I see tooltips like 'Familiar has Lesser Immolation and Destroy Magic', Phasebat can attack land and air units, Chemical Glands improves the attack of Overfiends, all of which were incorrect. The race won't lose points for that but it doesn't leave a good impression, like when you produce a unit only to discover that it isn't what its tooltip tells you.
* You replaced the 3-tier armour upgrade with a hp upgrade, which although has merit (if done right) it didn't work here. The current hp boost is too minuscule; to appropriately substitute for every 2 armour you'll need something like 100/200/300 hp boost PLUS a hp regeneration boost. Don't underestimate the importance of armour!


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Total: 23.25





Gameplay 14/20 - Purplemania

+ A novel concept in using the town hall to build structures. The idea is also well balanced as structures can only be built within the radius of another structure, so there is no abuse of creating a new structure anywhere on the map.
+ Although I didn't find it too useful, the special abilites of the Void Rift provides interesting alternatives that no other unit could do. (Too bad the Death Pulse upgrade is bugged)
+ Three decent heroes to choose from (hooray!), many custom abilities and many types of units makes this one of the more interesting and diverse races to play.
+ Well defined troop production structures that are seperated into low & high level faceless buildings and low & high level beast buildings makes this race easy to grasp.
+/- The speed of this race is rather slow during the beginning of the game as workers cannot be trained when structures are being built. In making the workers cost more plus a longer build time just slows things down a lot.

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Balance 9/10 - Safe

+ The race is stays good in this section as long as there are no abusable new concepts or extreme unit designs and abilities.

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The Legion 3.75/5 - Strength in choices

+/- With 11 combat units to choose from, this race provides players with a glut of choices on what sort of army to build. The plus point of such a high number of units is that I felt it provides a wide coverage of unit roles. But I also felt that there is a downside in this case, where some of the units and unit functions seem similar to each other.
+ One of the most unique unit is the Fred. This flying and long ranged unit with a splash magical attack provides the race with something both unusual and useful.
- Some examples where I felt unit functions were too similar and could be better designed:
<> Beholders and Huntsmen are identical in the areas of attack & armour type, attack range and hit points.
<> Some had abilities with similar functions, for example the Guardsman's and Beholder's Slow Poison, and the Blind Beast's and Beholder's anti-buff capabilities; I thought it felt overused considering that those are the units' sole ability. To illustrate this, what makes the player want to produce the Blind Beast? Combat-wise it is inferior to other unit choices, ability-wise another unit can do the same thing.

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Originality 5.5/10 - Shimmering

+ Unique building style. It would be even more original if the race can demonstrate what extra benefits and gameplay value this unique way has over the normal way of using workers to build structures.
+ Void Rift's special role in the race.
+/- I felt that this race is somewhat creative in itself because it focused a lot on getting the right look and feel, instead of just introducing new systems or unusual concepts.

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Appearance 4.5/5 - Polished

+ This race takes the effort to make everything look good together.

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Extra Notes & Suggestions:
* Some issues:- The Death Pulse upgrade has a techtree requirement of itself? The Mastermind's Mind Strike doesn't do anything. The descriptions of the 3-tier attack and armour upgrades needed to be corrected.


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Total: 36.75




Gameplay 6/20 - Has its moments

+ This race has a lot of potential for swarming the enemy, either via the ridiculously fast breeding spiderlings or cheap starting units. But even so I felt the idea could be further expanded, like having a cheap ranged unit to complement the Scout, and have the spiderlings not limited to the Queen Mother only.
+ The Tunnel Entrance as a place where all newly created units are spawned seemed like a good idea, but the inability to determine which Tunnel Entrance for your units to spawn from if you have multiple entrances limits its gameplay value.
+ The two heroes were average, and between them I prefer using the Queen Mother as her spiderlings provides probably the strongest offensive strength of the race.
- Other aspects of this race offers less than any of the default races, like no aerial units and very few abilities and upgrades.
- Errors like the inability of the spider tower to downroot after uprooting, no ability upgrades for spellcasters (despite their spells requiring those upgrades), and bugged load ability of the Tunnel Entrance gives the impression that this race hasn't been thoroughly tested.

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Balance 7.5/10 - Within limits

+/- The massing up of units could sometimes go a bit out of hand (especially the spiderlings). But apart from that, most things are well within the limits of good balance.

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The Legion 1.75/20 - Uninspired

- I thought that the design of combat units were bland - a combination of low hp, same looks and having abilities that are mostly web or poison. The only unit I found interesting is the Princess, with its special 'For the Hive' ability and a useful regeneration aura.
+/- Although most important roles are filled, the race would have more diversity if you could add at least 1 air unit and a design a better balanced siege unit (the Cave Spider is too extreme). Currently there isn't a lot to play around with apart from building cheap units en mass.

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Originality 2/10 - Didn't work out

- The only idea which I thought creative was Tunnel Entrance, but its function is complicated and I couldn't find a useful way to utilize it. This race also lacks creative unit abilities or special unit roles.

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Appearance 1/5 - Needs more love

- Can't give you a high score for this section, not even for 'models that bind well with each other', simply because it is the same nerubian model for every single unit. Using the same model also provides poor visual memory, and makes the race appear flat.
- Structure choices were inconsistent - you've got nerubian buildings trying to blend in with primitive rocks and craters. Take the defense towers for instance, one is a spider while the other is the undead race's nerubian tower; this race can really look random at times.
- I don't mind overlooking the minor details, although I'd like you to pay more attention to structure sounds, their shadows and choose better icons. It gives the race an unpolished feel.


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Total: 18.25





Gameplay 13/20 - Good, but not great

+ The Archevin Kingdom plays out like a standard race for the most part, although there are some interesting additions. One such is Demand Reinforcements, where town hall upgrades cost a lot more but comes with several higher tier units upon completion. Another of this race's stand out feature is its superior siege power in the form of the Trebuchet. This re-deployable unit/structure provides an extra dimension of attack that is fun to play with.
+ The two heroes weren't bad; I particularly like the Morrigan Devotee's Disarm & Vengeance synergy. And I thought the spellcasters for the Archevin were really useful, unlike the lack of purpose for spellcasters in some other races.
- I think the main drawback of this race is that it lacks tactical variety, making the gameplay rather predictable. By breaking down unit abilities and you'll see either abilities that does some damage (Hobelar, Gallowglass, Irish Berserker, Shadowwing) or abilities that cripples movement (Welsh Longbowman, Sherwood Ranger). In short, if you remove the Trebuchet from the race, the gameplay doesn't offer much innovation. A decent enough gameplay, but needs more ingredients to turn it from good to great.

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Balance 9/10 - No complaints

+ The Archevin mostly follows the established format of doing things, so nothing really strays too far out of line.
+/- Although there are some unconventional designs like the early availability of heroes and the extreme range of the Trebuchet, I think it is debatable whether they affect the gameplay in a major way.

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The Legion 4/5 - Fitting & relevant

+ Nice unit designs without anything going over the top. Well defined unit roles; many of the tier-1 and 2 units are still relevant even after I have achieved tier-3. Also a good spread of attack and armour types amongst the 6 non-spellcaster combat units.
- One aspect that race could improve in is to avoid unit abilties that put too much emphasis on combat. The inclusion of some out-of-combat roles/abilities would both diversify and add more fun to the gameplay. For example, I was a bit dissapointed that the 3rd tier Gallowglass and Irish Berserker only boosts more hp and damage than the earlier tier units; it would be better if they had the ability to do something really unique.

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Originality 3/10 - Conventional

+/- The Trebuchet and some interesting unit abilities provides the innovation, but the rest are pretty much standard fare.

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Appearance 4/5 - Harmonious

+ The choices in custom resources complement each other well and is very easy on the eye.

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Extra Notes & Suggestions:
* It is better to use more familiar terms of Warrior/Cunning/Mystical Hero when describing the heroes.


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Total: 33





Gameplay 18.5/20 - The 'Wow' factor

+ Leveling up my units with the Arena to gain improved abilities and stats is a refreshingly new way to play a race.
+ This race turns the normally mundane worker unit into something more interesting - different worker units are available either by producing a random type in a town hall or through enslavement; and when there are excess workers, which happens often, you can even sacrifice them for temporary effects.
+ The heroes and Drow type units have a special Mana Shield to complement their below average hp, and the upgradable nature of this ability could actually make players focus on the mana bar for once when determining survivability.
+ Well-designed hero spells and many interesting unit abilities adds a lot of fun to this race.

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Balance 5.5/10 - Beast (over)Power!

- When there are so many new ideas implemented in the race, its overall strength may sometimes go off the balance. One aspect which I felt was unbalanced is the army strength, most notably the max-growth Hydra and the max-growth Wyrm. While their original stats were comparable with units from the default races, the fact that they can quickly grow to their maximum sizes within one minute effectively kills the game as a challenge. I don't think there is any tier-2 army in the game that can stop the level 7 Hydras. Which brings me to my next point, the arena's balance. I think it would be great if there is an addition of a limit to the level each unit can grow, depending on tier, because I don't want to see a high level Hydra so early in the game. Alternatively you could try slowing down the 'training' speed of the arena or something similar, although this would probably change the shape of the gameplay.
+ Apart from the above, I thought the balance in other aspects were good - especially with that huge variety of abilities and upgrades.

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The Legion 4.25/5 - Less is more

+ This race has only 6 combat units, yet each of their roles are so well defined to the point that they can be played in many ways. Add in the 'leveling/growing' factor and one can see that the 6 units actually have multiple sets of stats, making them seem like different units as they 'level up'. Furthermore, using the Umbralmancer's Shackle ability allows the player to acquire a wide range of different slave types, so the potential for troop variation is there as well.

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Originality 9/10 - Adventurous

+ There are many creative interpretations of Drow lore in this race, like the outstanding Arena idea. This concept represents the cruelty of the Drow who fight and kill slaves, while also forming an important part of this race's gameplay. I'd also like to point out that the visual aspect of the idea is very creative, where the two of them are transported on top of the arena to fight it out.
+ Then there is the enslaving idea, where captured slaves can be forced to fight or work as manual labour for the Drow. The slave retains some of its original stats, so it gives the player interesting choices to pick the desired type of slave.
+ Other nice touches like the upgradable Mana Shield, the Hydra's Triple Attack, the Spellbow's three coloured arrows, and the Wyrm's Dragon Breath gives this race a high score for innovation.

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Appearance 5/5 - Delightful

+ Lots of attention to detail; plus I think the Drow race looks the best among all 8 entries, so it gets my best mark.

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Extra Notes & Suggestions:
* I think the STR hero spells are too abusable because of the low mana cost.
* I'd like to point out that I always rush to maximize the level of the units at all times. Take the Hydra for instance, why make 7 levels of this unit when the only relevent levels seem to be Level 1 and Level 7, as I can breeze through Levels 2 to 6 with just a bit of gold. Perhaps give players an incentive to keep a low/mid level Hydra around, like giving it something a high level Hydra doesn't have?
* I think the army composition would be even better if you could design a siege unit - the only tactical option that seem to be lacking here. Siege attack can be rather underrated at times.
* Is there a more obvious use of the wall linking, or is it just the usual archers-hide-behind-the-wall tactic? Because its lack of purpose sticks out among your other purpose-ful ideas.


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Total: 42.25





Each contestant's results are calculated through the ((Judge1 + Judge2) * 100/100) formula.

67Chrome: 31 + 42.25 = 73.25
ashbringer753: 25 + 33 = 58
Dionesiist: 25 + 23.25 = 48.25
Kam: 29 + 34.5 = 63.5
Narogog: 20 + 18.25 = 38.25
ʞııɥs: 21 + 39.5 = 60.5
Spinnaker: 28 + 36.75 = 64.75
Wazzz: 30 + 37 = 67

1) 67Chrome (73.25)
2) Wazzz (67)
3) Spinnaker (64.75)
4) Kam (63.5)
5) ʞııɥs (60.5)
6) ashbringer753 (58)
7) Dionesiist (48.25)
8) Narogog (38.25)




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Contest
 
Level 9
Joined
Jul 26, 2005
Messages
553
Actually I expected you to take first...

Looking at what came up, I had a shot at third if I did not give up two days ahead because "it would not be done in time", most of these are half-baked x_x

Also-I bet the reason you don't take the votes is that you forgot to put a message in the news about it, right? :p


So, when can we expect contest 6?
 
Level 35
Joined
Feb 5, 2009
Messages
4,552
fair enough :p

in that case, i'll just put forward a request that we limit the number of imports to a number, as was done with the techtree contest on wc3c (where they were only allowed one import)

just to see people's creativity with ingame models (getting somewhat sick of people capable of making their own skins and models blowing everyone else out of the water in the appearance field :p)
 
Level 35
Joined
Feb 5, 2009
Messages
4,552
it is my personal opinion that it would be interesting to see creativity with limitations in terms of imports rather than race selection (from the contest prior to this one)

would be nice to see what people can do with the ingame resources and what import(s) they would choose when limited in that aspect :3


the interest is probably derived from an 'Extra Races' mod i played a long time ago, where the creator made 8 additional races for an altered melee match, but didn't use any imported material

to me, it was brilliant to see such creativity using what little resources they could scrap together from ingame
 

Deleted member 157129

D

Deleted member 157129

Oh, look, results! :p
I really think you're praising my race too much, Wraithling, but thanks. And I appreciate the tips. I know the one hero that works is largely incomplete, neither the ultimate nor the first spell is working as far as I recall, and the Bloodlust was put in just to give it something. Anyway, I can't remember if I implemented a place-holder ability as the ultimate that killed you, but the idea was that when the hero eventually would die, it would deal large amounts of damage to enemy troops nearby as well as heal allied troops nearby. I don't think it actually did any of that, though. It was also meant to synergise well with the other heroes (or at least one of them) that I didn't finish making. The first spell is meant to take health from an enemy unit and distribute it to nearby allied units, but it would only occasionally work, I think. Lots of faults in the spell making on my part.

As for the spellcasters, yes, they are all the same kind of units in the end. I wanted the Judas Priest to be, well, a priest, but considering how mana not only can be used for abilities, but also increases (or activates, rather) health regeneration, I figured doubling a units mana would function as a heal as well as a means to give spellcasters more mana - or even double the mana of Angela Gossow before dying, so that the ultimate would potentially deal twice as much damage. The Meteor Rain, however, does not really suit him at all, and I should've come up with something more useful for support. Maybe moving Shroud of Darkness over to Judas Priest from Gojira and give the Immortal Silence. As for the Immortal itself, yes, I wanted to give him more abilities, but at the same time I already had two other spellcasters so I feared it'd be too much of it, and as I couldn't come up for a good excuse not to use blue+green for another mage, seeing as the combinations with blue were supposed to be magical, I slapped it in there. The similarity to Blood Mage, although evident to me now, was accidental.

As for Amaranthes, yeah, I worked a lot with trying to make them weak enough for their early availability as well as strong enough to be useful later, but as I haven't played RTS on a high level for years I didn't really find the appropriate strength. In retrospect I don't know why I didn't just make a high tier upgrade for it. The Chaos Wyrm is probably the laziest unit in the whole pack. I simply couldn't come up with a decent unit to parallel all the regular races' high tier flyers, so the easy solution was to add a dragon. Shame on me.

Moving on to GhostThruster's review, I have to say initially that it's sad that you missed some of the key features of the race and made a few false accusations. Anyway, I respect your opinion and I'm not doing this to complain or smother your work as a judge, I just wanted to clarify. First of all, you say the Blacksmiths are easily abusable and that they do not cost food, whereas they actually do cost food for the specific reason they would otherwise be easy to abuse. Moreover, they're also quite large, so spamming them all over the map without having control of huge areas of the map is harder. You also say there is no mana regeneration, while this is one of the key features in the race. They regenerate mana through fighting, some units can hold more mana and degenerate mana slower than others and you can transfer mana between units and to heroes (heroes regenerate, so the heroes can't transfer to units). Thus, the Prolific Shapery works just fine, but it requires you to pick fights and carry mana back to it. As far as I recall, I also made the Soulflies either degenerate mana very slow, or not at all, so that if you're opting ot feed the Prolific Shapery, you can transfer mana to a Soulfly in battle, and the Soulfly can fly back to deliver the mana. Of course, if you have few Soulflies this is a risk to take, because leaving your army without True Sight could be devastating. So the mana system is, although not fully developed, nor intuitive at first, is working just fine and I spent a lot of time trying to get the degeneration and mana pools to suit each unit. Moreover, a unit with mana regenerates health. There's a correlation between mana pool and health regeneration, but I can't remember how exactly I implemented it. I'm sure I had reasons to give the Gojira such a large mana pool, possibly to reduce its health regeneration while not impairing the ability to use Shroud of Darkness as tide turners.

As for the Machine Head's taunt. I'm not entirely sure how the taunt mechanic works in melee games, I had hoped it would be more like Axe's ability, from DotA. However, it's not meant to make them tanks, it's meant to mess up the enemy troop's focus and force them to attack the cannon fodder instead of the units that actually deal tons of damage. That they're low on health, in this case, is not as relevant. Though I suppose they could've benefited from a health upgrade in high tier to retain usefulness.

I'm not much of a WC3 melee player, but to me it seems you're disregarding the space cost of buildings such as the Spiritsurge. Upgrading a Spiritsurge fully gives you the same amount of food as two Lesser Spiritsurges in one spot, instead of two. This is crucial to keep your base compact. On the other hand, it also makes it easier for the enemy to harass your food capacity, so it becomes increasingly important to protect them.

I did not opt for the heavy metal theme to make my race more original, it's more of a comic relief kind of thing. As for naming the Taunt ability Mosh Pit, well, have you ever been in a mosh pit? Because it's pretty fitting given the purpose of the ability. And although you don't see the references between the names and roles, I do and I am sure quite a lot of people do, although not all are as obvious. Gojira is a band with lyrics and music shrouded in dark undertones, and they utilise a breakdown dependant sound picture. Judas Priest (although unrelated to the band) was meant to be a priest unit. Machine Head is fairly obvious. Either way, I never expected to get any points for making references.

Thanks for the effort, time and tips, guys.
 
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