Project Development: SoHE

Slayer14 · 01-23-2011, 02:12 AM

This is what the SoHE Team has put together so far...

SoHE (The Story of the High Elves) will be a Single-Player Campaign that features many custom units with custom models.

The Story

The story behind SoHE...

The story is an alternative to Blizzard's story of how the High Elves become Blood Elves and begins when Arthas defeated the High Elves and destroyed Quel'Thalas. As you may already know, Arthas used the Sun Well there to revive Kel'Thuzad. Although Quel'thalas was destroyed through the might of the Scourge, many of the High Elves survived and fled to the northwest. Little did Arthas know, the High Elves had covered much more ground than he thought. The High Elves actually had three magical wells that generated power for them. Other than the Sun Well, there was a Well of Eternity and the Twilight Fountain.

The Twilight Fountain provides magical energy to the High Elves, and until the High Elves can get to it, they won't be able to generate their own mana. The High Elves will have to have be able to still use mana though. That is where the Mana Carts come in. They'll have to pull these magical carts around to make mana for them, since they can't do it on their own without power from a fountain.

Chapters
We already have some ideas for a few chapters in the campaign and were working on more!

Prologue: Sylvanas' Message

Just before the major attack on Slivermoon, Sylvanas Windrunner tells the High Elven Captain to take some of his brethren and retreat to the town of Quel'Thalan before it is too late.

-Idea by ImperialShadow

Chapter 1: Escape from Quel'Thalas

The first chapter of this story will be where some of the High Elves escape Quel'Thalas while the Scourge kills everyone else. The High Elven Captain retreats to a forest and discovers a small army in the forest that was left behind in the war between the Scourge and the High Elves. The escape route that the High Elves take is unordinary though. They don't just run away and into the forest, they run into an underground cave that leads them to safety.

This Chapter will take place in an underground cave where long forgotten Skeletons and Arcane Golems roam. Your main objective is to escape the cave, but some skeletons have it blocked off with a Force Wall. Destroy the power generator to bring down the Force Wall. Be aware that the skeletons have built a base in the caves though. They are sure to give you a good fight as they do not want you intruding in their base.

There are also Skeletal Orcs in this cave, who died in the first war with the Burning Legion. They were revived by Rajz'narak an ancient necromancer who lived in the cave and he is powerful enough to sense the presence of the High Elves. Stay alert, there's no time for lunch breaks.

-Idea by ImperialShadow, MrStormyZ, Slayer14, and EpicCraft

Chapter 2: Attack on the Trolls

After the High Elven Captain emerges from the cave and into the Plaguelands, the Elves notice many different Elven camps.

A powerful Troll Magi possessed a pack of wolves to help them destroy one of the villages, but something went wrong with the spell. The pack of wolves ordered the rest of the Trolls to obey him and the Great Wolf Champion took control. Now, his warriors, the Great Wolves, have taken over the village and now the Great Knight has killed the Troll's leader and has a camp somewhere in the woods. Hunt him down, but beware, the Great Wolf Champion obtained a Spell Book when he killed the Troll Leader. The Troll Leader was a powerful warlock and the book he was carrying had the knowledge to summon Wolf allies. This was used by the Trolls to create Wolves to fight for him. Now it is in the hands of a Great Wolf Champion.

-Idea by ImperialShadow and Slayer14

Interlude: The Demonic Request

Grimtel, a Fel Orc Warchief controlled by the Burning Legion, who is in Ashenvale, receives an incoming request from the Dreadlord, Rashgarroth. He orders Grimtel to take his warriors to Quel'Thalas and help the him and the Scourge find the remaining High Elves that survived and destroy them.

-Idea by ImperialShadow and EpicCraft

Chapter 3: Rescue the Elves

With the fall of the Sunwell, the elves living near Quel'Thalas were devastated. In the depression, they couldn't figure out what to do and least cared even if they were to get killed, so it comes to Good ol' Dalos to rally them up and as most of them are unable to use any magic, he needs to provide them with weapons and lead them to the Capital city of Dalaran.

You must go around to 4-6 different High Elf Villages and rescue the villagers there. Your main quest will be to fight off all of the invaders attempting to overrun the villages.

-Idea by MrStormyZ

Chapter 4: Quel'Thalan

Dalos Hawkwing finally arrives in Quel'Thalan, the village Northwest of Quel'Thalas, and builds a base there. Dalos discovers that the gold mine was nearly depleted in after 1 to 2 hours. Dalos called a Scout Captain Group to scout for more gold mines and lumber, but after 1 hour, Dalos still had not received any word from his scout group and Dalos himself organized another party to find the group. He found out that his men were being held captive in cages in a small Fel Orc lumber camp.

In this chapter, you will play as the High Elf Captain, Build a Base, and destroy the small Fel Orc lumber camp to free your missing soldiers.

-Idea by ImperialShadow

Chapter 5: Village Under Siege

The High Elves are prospering in their capital city of Quel'Thalan, but they're unaware of the dangers that lie ahead. The Undead Scourge has found out where one of their cities are and are planning to attack.

Later, the Undead attack the city and the citizens all take up arms and attempt to fight off the Undead, however the citizens are highly outnumbered and require assistance from the High Elven Army. As the High Elven Captain, it is your duty to go and defend the besieged city.

-Idea by ImperialShadow

Chapter 6: The Naval Ambush

The Alliance could not hold off the Scourge at the Capital City and thus the Elves are forced to flee again, they now plan on going to the land which their Fallen Ranger General had mentioned to them earlier.

The Elves found a good number of ships at the shores and are now setting sail to the new land. They are attacked by Fel Orc Ships on the way, so will be somewhat of a Naval Survival/Escape Mission.

-Idea by MrStormyZ

Chapter 7: Twilight

The High Elves need to establish a base near the Twilight Fountain. This chapter will be about collecting a certain resource, like the 4th Orc RoC Mission where you collect lumber. Also, since the High Elves finally found the Twilight Fountain, they won't need to use Magic Carts anymore. They will be able generate their own mana normally.

-Idea by MrStormyZ

Chapter 8: The Fate of the Windrunner

Sylvanas Windrunner, former Ranger General has been slayed and revived as a Banshee. She knew about the Elves' new land and she was ordered by the Dreadlords to lead an Undead army there while Arthas and the Demonlords head to Kalimdor.

The Main Quest of this chapter can be kill her or get her to come back to her senses and at the same time, the Elves must defend the Twilight Fountain.

-Idea by MrStormyZ

Chapter 9: The Dreadlord's End

You, and your Elven brethren, must retake Quel'Thalas and conquer the Undead who stole your land. The Undead has set up a large base in the city of Slivermoon and have set up other bases around Quel'Thalas, and you need to take them out. Of course, by now, Arthas and the Scourge are gone and have moved on to Northrend with Kel'Thuzad.

Your Main Quest will be to slay Rashgarroth, the Dreadlord in charge, and destroy his base.

-Idea by MrStormyZ and Slayer14

The Units

We're slowly creating the units we want for our project, one by one!

High Elven Captain:

Warrior Hero and leader of his High Elven brethren. Will be using the following model: Royal Captain

High Elf Swordsman:

Basic foot soldier. Can learn Defend and Critical Strike.

High Elf Spearman:

Will be using the following model: ElvenSpearman

High Elf Archer:

Basic ranged unit. Can learn Slow Poison and Long Range. Will be using the following skin: High Elf Archer

High Elf Ranger:

Advanced ranged unit. Will be using the following skin: BloodElfRanger_by67chrome.blp

High Elf Knight:

Strong mounted unit. Has Critical Strike and can cast Charge. Will be using the following model: High Elf Judicator

High Elf Watcher:

Light scout and patrol unit. Will be using the following model: HighElfWatcher.blp

High Elf Sorcerer:

Spellcaster unit. Has the abilities Restore Health and Mana, Armor Boost and Lightning Shield. Will be using the following model: High elven Sorcerer

High Elf Arch Cleric:

Spellcaster unit. Has the abilities Healing Rain, Rain of Thunder, Flame Aura, and Summon Golem. Will be using the following model: HighElfArchCleric

High Elf Worker:

Worker unit. Can harvest Gold and Lumber and Build structures. Will be using the following model: High Elf Craftsman

Arcane Golem:

Golem made of crystals and magic that are very hard to crush due to their strong, crystalline exterior. Seen lurking in the caves of Quel'Thalas. Will be using the following model: CrystalInfernal

Lurker:

Undead spiders raised back to life by the Ancient Necromaner, Rajz'narak. A formidable opponent due to its webbing capabilities. Will be using the following model: Lurker

Skeletal Raider:

Highly moblie wolf raider who as fallen in battle and raised by the Ancient Necromancer, Rajz'narak. Will be using the following model: SkeletalRaider

Skeleton Champion:

Large, powerful skeletons, often the bodyguards of very powerful Necromancers. Will be using the following model: Leoric the Skeleton King (Diablo 1 version)

Rajz'narak:

An ancient undead Necromancer who once served the Undead Scourge long ago before Kel'thuzad ever existed. After the first war of the Burning Legion, Rajz'narak escaped unnoticed. He wondered the earth for a long time, with no food or water for many months, causing him to become increasingly skinny and a little bit cold. Eventually, he ended up near Quel'thalas and noticed a cave and figured there might some source of food in there; rats, water, anything. But then, at that very moment, his powerful knowledge base of magic informed him of the orcs, they were following him the whole time. A Red Dragon appeared to be as well, and killed all of these orcs. The Necromancer quickly retreated back to the cave. One night later, he snuck back out of the cave and noticed the Red Dragon had flown away. He revived the bodies of the Orcs to serve him for eternity and went back into the cave. Right then and there he decided that he shall live inside that cave. And for any of his hunger needs, he shall send out one of his minions to retreive food for him. Will be using the following model: Arch Necromancer by Kitabatake

(Various High Elven Buildings:)

Will be using the following models: High Elven Buildings Pack by Elenai

The Images

Work in Progress Terrain

In-game Screenshots

Concept Art

Current Positions:

Positions	Position Holder 1	Position Holder 2	Position Holder 3	Position Holder 4
Project Lead	Slayer14	N/A	N/A	N/A
Project Manager	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Object Manager	EpicCraft	N/A	N/A	N/A
Terrainer	MrStormyZ	N/A	N/A	N/A
Triggerer	jeremywong97	arisato	rysnt11
Beta Tester	ImperialShadow	Shadow293903	Ognjen19
Idea Person	WillofKhrone	Final-Burn

Just to let everyone know, if you join this project team, you must obey the following rules:

Do not give new ideas on something that is near completion.
Rule #1 Detailed
Everyone may share their opinions/suggestions on any item on the project. Completely new ideas on a particular item (e.g. missions, cinematics, The Story etc.) will not be accepted after that item has been finalized. However, minor suggestions to change something will still be considered.
All members of the team have the option to freely fill any position below their position (according to the "Current Positions" table) without an announcement or being added to that position.
Rule #2 Detailed
Just to let everyone know how the project positions will work, if you are in a position that has other positions below it in the "Current Positions" table, then you can automatically be an optional person of any of those positions below you. Example, you are a Triggerer and later you decide you want to Beta Test for us. Instead of taking the time out of my busy schedule to hunt through this maze of BB Codes, I can just simply give you the map and show you this. Another example, you are a Beta Tester and you want to contribute ideas, go right on ahead. Another reason for this slight adjustment is that people don't have to ask me to join the team as one thing and say "I want to be an idea giver too". Of course if you are on the team, it makes sense that you will contribute ideas to your project.

This post will be updated regularly until the campaign is released. Until then, this post will be updated daily, if not more often than that.

If you have any suggestions or comments on the map or if you would like to join the SoHE team, leave a post on this thread.

Also, feel free to contribute to the campaign's ideas for chapters, units, and anything else that you have ideas about. Our team accepts constructive criticism so that we can make the best campaign possible!

When will there be a playable version?

Currently, there is no playable version available. Perhaps in the future there will be an alpha or beta release, but for now the project and a playable version is still in progress. When a playable version becomes available, it will be attached here.

Nightblade · 01-23-2011, 02:14 PM

I can throw some ideas at you if you want.

MrStormyZ · 01-23-2011, 02:56 PM

you might wanna improve the description using some BB Codes
The project seems to have good potential, I can help in Idea/Storyline
I'd join for Terrain as well but I'm a bit cut out on time due to my projects,
I'll let you know if I can.

EpicCraft · 01-25-2011, 03:26 AM

I'd love to help out!

I can BETA test and be a Terrainer.
If you want I can show you what I can do as a terrainer.

Slayer14 · 01-25-2011, 07:56 PM

OK, your now a Beta tester! (Unless ImperialShadow tells me otherwise.)

And sure, you can show us some of your work and we'll decide if you can help! Just attach it on a post here or send a link to a pastebin entry on a PM to me. (You may also send it to ImperialShadow, I'm more likely to get back to you the quickest probably.)

MrStormyZ · 01-26-2011, 02:25 AM

hey there you guys still need a terrainer ?
I just checked up with my other project and yea I got enough time
here are a few of my Terrain works

Terrains

Note: I haven't finished any projects yet,my Terrains were never reviewed by professional ones but people who seen it did like it.
I also do not have much control over the object editor hence I wouldn't say I can make Terrain with Custom Tilesets or Custom Doodads.

ToP-Fouraces · 01-26-2011, 02:57 AM

ImperialShadow, if you're looking for a terrainer i suggest you take up MrStormyZ's offer. He did the terrain on my map for me, and it is just amazing :)

I like the story too, it sounds good, will make for a good game.

Slayer14 · 01-26-2011, 04:23 AM

Wow MrStormyZ, that looks nice! I'll add you to the chart and check with ImperialShadow! Nice to see all of these offers to help with the project!

MrStormyZ · 01-26-2011, 06:00 AM

thanks for having me ^.^

ImperialShadow · 01-27-2011, 06:07 AM

I keep stormy as Terrainer and epic craft as beta tester.Also slayer find for me some modeller because i nid somone make fel elves.

frostloh · 01-27-2011, 01:38 PM

Good luck on your project, would be nice to see some more mappers on Garena =)

ImperialShadow · 01-28-2011, 03:45 AM

thank you frostloh

greasontim · 02-06-2011, 10:48 PM

Oddly enough that story can still go into the real one so really it is possible its just bending the timeframe a bit
Cause really they could of had three and arthas could of destroyed them still turning them into Blood Elves in the end

Slayer14 · 02-07-2011, 01:23 AM

Hmm. Interesting point you made there, greasontim. This could be like an unofficial campaign that shows something that is not shown in Blizzard's campaign. Surprising that it fits with Blizzard's storyline. That was unintended, but oh well. It's kinda cool actually. Thanks for sharing that.

greasontim · 02-07-2011, 02:22 AM

I'll keep a eye on this project to see how it turns out.