[Co-op Campaign]Shadow of the Xel'Naga released!

[OutsiderXE]

Affter 5,5 years I released my StarCraft 2 campaign "Shadow of the Xel'Naga"!

StarCraft II: Shadow of the Xel'Naga is a custom campaign for the award-winning Real-Time-Strategy game StarCraft II, created with the StarCraft II Editor. All 7 maps were released on November 27th, 2015. They are available on the StarCraft II Arcade, free for everyone.

In Shadow of the Xel'Naga the focus lies on variety. Each map is unique and based on a different sub-genre of strategy games. These sub-genres include Tower Defense, MOBA, puzzles and more. Additionally the campaign offers co-operative gameplay. All maps can be played alone or with a friend.

The story is based on the StarCraft novel Shadow of the Xel'Naga, written by Gabriel Mesta. The action revolves around a colony planet called Bhekar Ro, where one of the frequent and very violent storms uncovers an ancient Xel'Naga artifact. This temple calls both, the zerg and the protoss, while the colonists call the Terran Dominion for help. All these events cause a great confrontation on the normally placid world. The story acts as an interquel between StarCraft and Brood War.

Anyone who owns the free StarCraft II Starter Edition can play any map of the campaign. Simply start StarCraft II, go to the Arcade tab, type in "Shadow of the Xel'Naga" or "sotx" in the search tab and you can select any of the 7 maps to create a new game. It is recommended that you start with "Chapter 1: Welcome to Bhekar Ro".

Chapter 1 Walkthrough on Youtube: https://youtu.be/0AaZfu9iSOE

Chapter 1: Semi-open world Level with drivable vehicles:

Chapter 2: Point and Click Adventure with an Inventory and Multiple-Choice Dialogues:

Chapter 5: Stealth Gameplay likeCommandos/Desperados:

More information, plenty of screenshots and complete video walkthroughs on my portfolio website: http://www.outsiderxe.campaigncreations.org/sotx.php

About me: I have been making maps since WarCraft 2/Red Alert 1 and have created the popular WarCraft 3 campaign "Lord of the Clans", "Day of the Dragon", and "The Last Guardian". Thanks to these campaigns I got a job as a level designer for the game developer Ubisoft Blue Byte. My dream is to work for Blizzard one day

Thank you for reading and have fun playing!

- OutsiderXE

 

[deepstrasz]

5 YEARS? Oh mah gods.
Does it have any original music?
You almost scared with the co-op in the title

I don't understand why they don't make a custom campaign section like in TFT, for SCII....
Why isn't there a place for SCII maps on the Hive like there is for WcIII?

I'll try this sometime as I've played your Wc stuff and I dig it. But when will you make something totally original, story and all or at least fan fiction ?


Btw Outs', is the Galaxy Editor harder than the World Editor? I'd really love to do something with it. I've opened it a few times and kind of almost died when I saw what metaphysics were in front of my eyes.


Hey! Did you make a Warcraft II campaign too? I mean with actual objectives and levels following one after another? Cause the original editor didn't allow that to be done.
Did you also make a campaign for Red Alert? If so I want them all


εις υγεια!

 

[OutsiderXE]

5 YEARS? Oh mah gods.
Does it have any original music?
You almost scared with the co-op in the title

I don't understand why they don't make a custom campaign section like in TFT, for SCII....
Why isn't there a place for SCII maps on the Hive like there is for WcIII?

I'll try this sometime as I've played your Wc stuff and I dig it. But when will you make something totally original, story and all or at least fan fiction ?


Btw Outs', is the Galaxy Editor harder than the World Editor? I'd really love to do something with it. I've opened it a few times and kind of almost died when I saw what metaphysics were in front of my eyes.


Hey! Did you make a Warcraft II campaign too? I mean with actual objectives and levels following one after another? Cause the original editor didn't allow that to be done.
Did you also make a campaign for Red Alert? If so I want them all


εις υγεια!

I think effectively it was more like 2-3 years. I was taking a lot of extended breaks due to university.

SotX doesn't have any original music. I try to stay true to the Starcraft 2 visual and audio style.

The Galaxy Editor is harder if you focus on the Data Editor and try to create new units or spells. If you focus more on triggering and terraining then I wouldn't say it's harder, there is just more stuff to choose from.

I'll probably never create my own story. I love wc and sc lore and I like to see as much as possible in playable form. I also know my weaknesses (writing stories) and by sticking to existing stories I have managed to turn one weakness into a strength.

I haven't created anything worth remembering with Red Alert or WC2. I wrote this merely to state how long I've been a passionate mapper.

 

[deepstrasz]

Hey, how do you save? On Arcade it's like playing multiplayer...
And, you should set the genre to single player in the Arcade.

 

[OutsiderXE]

You cant save. thats why i have built.in systems that dont let you lose . but it's not just singleplayer. it's a co-op campaign

 

[deepstrasz]

You cant save. thats why i have built.in systems that dont let you lose.

Aha. I did not try playing more as it was late and wanted to just take a glimpse of it.
Ευχαριστώ!

 

[deepstrasz]

It's really something. Apart from some levels, it's StarCraft. The stealth based level is the most annoying one mostly because of enemy AI bugs. It was also the level that felt arcade. Strangely, the tower defense level was more fun, and I don't really like TDs.

first level:
-the northern bridge was raised while the storm was banging?
-why must they use scan to find vespene gas?
-the big truck doesn't kill the cows but kills the other creatures when it runs through them
-the cars moved themselves from the barrier in the northeast to somewhere in the south/center of the map
-wow, really? Both cars out of fuel...
-destroying the barrel east of the turret group in the north will instantly move Octavia near the destroyed barrel's location. This happened when Octavia was attacking the barrel over the rock bundle. This happens with the northern rock pile as well
-using the Automaton on the malfunctioning turrets part of the stage kind of ruins the fun of having to pay attention to their firing patterns

second level:
-seems Octavia has lost her previous abilities
-well, the robot's weapons could be grey until they can be used
-Gather's description should have Robo-whatever name instead of MULE
-why would they think Lars is dead when he was just teleported. They assumed him dead because of the long period that passed?
-Abdel says "what the fekk..." Why no real swears?
-Octavia can't get to the yard south of Abdel through town. She has to destroy the electric fence...
-minerals appear in the fox holes and on that cliff near the artifact after turrets are destroyed. What's the use of harvesting then?
-Infested Rastin only wants to attack Octavia, not the robot too
-zerg don't scout. They just stand there until the end cinematic when they are triggered by the finish of a turret's construction
-Octavia leaves on foot although the robot is not damaged since she repairs it during the end scene and she doesn't consider the dangers ahead

level 3:
-although playing the other races kills the mystery element, it's calls for diverse gameplay
-what!? All Observers were destroyed by the Terran colony who happened to also be infested?
-why did the Nerazim go through the midst of battle?
-right at the start in the background to the right, the Wraith attacks one of those three Mutalisks and none of them attack back. The Wraith even fires infinitely, probably. They should move or something to make the scene look more realistically. As it's now it looks like turrets firing
-well, I don't know what item vaults are doing on an asteroid selling terran gear
-enemy units should pursue the player units at least a long distance
-OK, so the ship can't carry Xerana anymore that she has to Blink?
-the Wraiths near the locked DTs don't do anything to help their terran comrade
-Void Prison can be used on flying units too (Battlecruisers, kind of unrealistic)
-most Missile Turrets are neutral
-the Science Vessel can get off the asteroid but the Star Relic can't follow it because it's not flying!?
-I guess DTs are held captive by zerg? Strange, zerg usually kill protoss on the spot

level4:
-how did some colonists build up defenses so fast against an already vast zerg force?
-she has lost her jump boots
-the Ultralisk insists on finding all turrets near the entrances even if they don't shoot at it
-zerg units do not attack the robot, nor Octavia
-now she can't get inside the robot anymore
-zerg are amassing nearby the Supply Depots in the west and some Broodlings attack them but no HP are lost
-the zerg in the northeast don't attack Octavia
-building the maximum number of repair bots for the zone where the resources must be protected will disable further construction of those types of robots in the last part of the level. Some of them (2) can be brought to the last piece of the map while the others are trapped in the cliffs to the west. After a while, the blocked ones come too

stage5:
-throwing a rock to distract the first Marine near the ramp but slipping by them at 1 meter distance?
-OK, now the DT lost her other abilities and the ship is useless. Moreover the Void Prison now has a melee range
-the Missile Turret's array turned red while Xerana was going for the ramp in on the left and nothing happened
-so Xerana was contacting terrans to aid her!?
-patrolling guards may start walking even if the rock distraction has not yet expired
-some guards may come from a not so nearby place and catch the protagonists for no reason or they go to other guards but with their array red
-under the cloaking bubble Octavia cast the goo but the Marine came to her so it won't affect him even though he couldn't see her. After the bubble disappeared and the protagonists were taken back to the starting area of the zone 7, that Marine had the goo effect on him... This happened where the two Marines and a tank are. One of them is patrolling and in their right there are bushes
-Xerana knew something about the artifact!? How? The others had no clue. Anyways, the story is really absent and filler
-music should not play on/through the sound channel

chap6:
-how did they (terran and zerg) get inside?
-relics upgrade terran weapons?
-Hydralisk destroy the rocks and then just stand there...
-units can't be upgraded anymore after the Shield Battery battle in the middle of the map. I guess only one upgrade per unit type?
-when opening the last door of the middle map doors and after the PvZ ends, the remaining Hydralisks get to the edge of the cliff from where the protoss came
-in the last part of the map (northeast) things almost look like protoss and zerg are on the same team
-again put music on its channel, not on the one for sound

last level:
-space debris doesn't damage anything
-so, they could only attack from behind (where the Mineral Fields are) only after the 15 minutes ran out!?
-well, Vespene Gas seems to be infinite but not Minerals too!?
-so what was keeping the shields on both the protoss and the zerg that the terran couldn't attack them and neither could they each other and why?
-the nuke blast looked strange. Small rockets coming, not doing much and then suddenly a big boom in the middle
-the energy ball was as big as the temple after the latter exploded
-I don't remember any hybrid as powerful as that one. Maar was one of the most powerful but still it didn't do supernovas
-so how and why did Lars survive? How did he get out of the temple? The energy ball destroyed everything inside and then outside. When/how did Lars and a bunch of other men get out?

My favourite levels were the last two.

I liked your self characterization at the end. Why don't you try sending them e-mails and stuff or check the jobs list on their site?

I'll give it 4.5/5 because the story really sucks. I understand it's not made by you but that shouldn't stop you from changing it to make sense.

 

[OutsiderXE]

Hello, thank your for your detailed feedback. It will be really helpful in case I decide to update it in the future.

Some people ask why I chose Shadow of the Xel'Naga as my first book-based campaign, despite it having such a weak story. It's simple: It has a lot of combat and features all three races. I don't think any other book has that combination. Having a weak story was actually a good excuse to modify it even further to accommodate my gameplay ideas.

A lot of points you mentioned, like abilities not carrying over/being different, unit behaviour and tech-trees are just the result of trying to make the maps as varied as possible or simply to make the gameplay work the way it is.

What's also interesting is that, because all levels are so different I get very varied feedback. Some people prefer Chapter 2, some others prefer Chapter 5. All seem to like Chapter 6; probably because it is very close to classic Starcraft gameplay while still having it's own features. My personal favourite is Chapter 5. I love stealth games and the stealth system in this map is a lot like Commandos/Desperados and has so much potential for tweaks to become a truly great mechanic for future projects.

About your story feedback:
Chapter 1
- All your feedback is based on gameplay decisions. Many people play the maps solo, so they don't realize how important it is to make all abilities as equally important as possible. Thus it can happen that you have to scan for resources. In many other cases it can mean that the heroes have to depend on one another.

Chapter 2
- "fekk" is actually a common swear in the starcraft universe (see Starcraft Ghost: Nova). Also the word "fuck" is forbidden for sc2 maps on battle.net.
- Didn't the epilogue text of Chapter 1 say something like "Lars was absorbed"? The Black Hole ability seemed like the most appropriate to show this.

Chapter 3
- They send one Observer to the terran settlers. There was no mention in the book of other Observers being sent elsewhere.
- In the book Xerana didn't have that accident near the asteroid. She landed on the planet safely. So that level was (except for some transmissions and texts) purely for gameplay.
- Xerana set up the Item Vaults (my story)
- Yeah even the zerg may hold prisoners from time to time. See Lasarra in Heart of the Swarm). Btw. in an earlier version those prisoners used to be Zealots. DTs that can morph into Dark Archons are much cooler

Chapter 4
- The settlers built what you tell them to build No really, if you read the book you'll find it very silly how the settlers can hold back so many zerg. But it was an excellent excuse to come up with many different types of towers and create a Tower Defense level.

Chapter 5
- Xerana send out a psi call to see if she can find any allies (protoss). She didn't expect a terran would answer the call. It's actually made clear in the book that Octavia has some low-level telepathic abilities. I'm not sure I made that clear enough. I didn't want to make the cinematics too long, that's why some important plot elements are displays as transmissions during the gameplay phase. Some of that may slip by the player.
- In the book it is made very clear that Xerana is a scholar and in search of information about the Xel'Naga. I'm not sure I made that clear enough.

Chapter 6
- A lot of the events happen during the time span of just a few hours or simultaneously. The book doesn't make it very clear in what order the races got into the temple, but getting inside was actually no problem for any of them. Actually a lot of dialogue you see outside the artifact actually happened inside (Lars' absorption for example), but when the maps were created I couldn't switch the terrain textures sets at leisure.

Chapter 7
- Would be really annoying if flying debris damaged units. Neither does it happen in the original sc2 campaign.
- Vespene is infinite because it was so in SC1 (also, the campaign is partly based on a SCBW mod)
- The Zerg and Protoss were constantly attacking you from 3 sides. Let's just assume here that their reinforcments (from behind) took as much time to get there as Duke's forces would have, if he wasn't slow as hell.
- The book has a very different finale than mine: In the book Alpha Squadron attack Protoss and Zerg around the Temple, and they lose. Duke then decided to send in a single Ghost and nuke the hell out of the Artifact and all enemy forces. I wanted to put emphasis on base building and not have another hero-centric map (for the Ghost), so I came up with the idea that the Artifact is protecting/buffing the Zerg and the Protoss when their buildings get destroyed. It wants to absorb their essence itself. There is a transmission explaining that as soon as you destroy a building. Without audible transmission a lot of information can be lost.
- I'm also not very happy with how the Nukes look. There was a problem with the effect and I had other, more important things to fix.
- The temple wasn't just the building. It was the entire mountain. Also, you know how SC2/WC3 scaling works. It's not real-life sizes.
- I'm not so sure the creature was a hybrid. It's described as an "Energy Creature". In any case, it being able to destroy so many enemies is accurate to the book.
- Xerana explains that the creature didn't need human DNA so it left all humans unharmed. The book doesn't go into detail about this. I assume they were materialized the same way they were absorbed in the first place. The creature shed some excess energy, that reinvigorated plant life, and then the humans after a short time.

If you want I can go into detail about gameplay decisions.

 

[deepstrasz]

Some people ask why I chose Shadow of the Xel'Naga as my first book-based campaign, despite it having such a weak story. It's simple: It has a lot of combat and features all three races. I don't think any other book has that combination. Having a weak story was actually a good excuse to modify it even further to accommodate my gameplay ideas.

I understand that. It would've been amazing if you would've made the story to make sense.

My personal favourite is Chapter 5. I love stealth games and the stealth system in this map is a lot like Commandos/Desperados and has so much potential for tweaks to become a truly great mechanic for future projects.

I like the idea of the level but there were a lot of weird AI movements and actions that really became annoying at some points, especially when trying to get to the last part of that region.

- All your feedback is based on gameplay decisions.

I don't mind tweaks to diverse gameplay that much. However there were possibilities to not make the level look so linear.

- "fekk" is actually a common swear in the starcraft universe (see Starcraft Ghost: Nova).

If you're referring to a book, I don't read expanded universe because mostly it tends to retcon things.

- Didn't the epilogue text of Chapter 1 say something like "Lars was absorbed"? The Black Hole ability seemed like the most appropriate to show this.

I don't know. Is that the way everyone got inside that place?

See Lasarra in Heart of the Swarm). Btw. in an earlier version those prisoners used to be Zealots. DTs that can morph into Dark Archons are much cooler

Lasarra was held captive because of Kerrigan. It was an instant thought that came to her so she could use her to infiltrate the protoss ship. I didn't see any reason for those protoss to be held captive especially when they were elite stealth troops, storywise, I mean.

- The settlers built what you tell them to build No really, if you read the book you'll find it very silly how the settlers can hold back so many zerg.

Yeah, maybe the Dominion should've gotten there quicker.

I'm not sure I made that clear enough.

That's how I kind of understood it from the game but it's still a lame part of the story.

- A lot of the events happen during the time span of just a few hours or simultaneously. The book doesn't make it very clear in what order the races got into the temple, but getting inside was actually no problem for any of them.

How did they get in? Were they all absorbed too?

- Would be really annoying if flying debris damaged units. Neither does it happen in the original sc2 campaign.

Not if it would fall less often. This is not the SCII campaign.

- Vespene is infinite because it was so in SC1 (also, the campaign is partly based on a SCBW mod)

Yeah, but after a Vespene Geyser expired in BW, they were only harvesting 1 gas per worker. Is that the case here too?

so I came up with the idea that the Artifact is protecting/buffing the Zerg and the Protoss when their buildings get destroyed.

Well, if it supposed to absorb the essences why protect the races!? Anyway, the buildings near the temple had a bubble on them for some reason but the units fighting in front of the temple didn't.

- Xerana explains that the creature didn't need human DNA so it left all humans unharmed.

Really? Then why did Scottie and the others die inside?

I assume they were materialized the same way they were absorbed in the first place. The creature shed some excess energy, that reinvigorated plant life, and then the humans after a short time.

You're implying that the humans were resurrected!?

If you want I can go into detail about gameplay decisions.

If you wish but gameplay is gameplay. All that matters is for levels to not feel linear or at least to not make them conspicuously linear as the second level (If I remember correctly; the one with Octavia having to enhance the robot).

 

[OutsiderXE]

How did they get in? Were they all absorbed too?

The artifact has a normal entrance.

about debris falling and not damaging: it's just my personal preference to see the debris fall for dramatic effect but not affect the gameplay due to damage.

eah, but after a Vespene Geyser expired in BW, they were only harvesting 1 gas per worker. Is that the case here too?

yeah, it should be the same.

Really? Then why did Scottie and the others die inside?

They were absorbed as well, although I can see that their death animation may have given the wrong idea. You can see Scott and his squad outside along with Lars in the outro.

About the linearity: While even my WC3 maps are known to be very linear I have made an effort to make these maps non-linear where I could.
- I would describe Chapter 1 as a (mini) semi-open world map. For around 50% of playtime you can choose yourself which objectives to complete and where to go. I wanted to add more open space and make the vehicles be more important towards the end, but it didn't work out as I wanted.
- While the puzzles in chapter 2 are always the same, a lot of them can be completed in any order. But that is the nature of point and click adventures. It's not about choices, but find out how to solve stuff.
- Chapter 3 is extremely linear, but provides some options how to approach enemy bases. I initially planned this level to be less linear, so the players could choose which race to attack first, but it didn't work out with the intended cutscenes.
- In chapter 4 you have some freedom as to which areas you want to defend next and, naturally, how you want to set up your defenses. I like that the enemy AI actually attacks your towers, and not just passes by (could be the reason why you like this level despite not liking TD in general).
- Chapter 5 starts very linear, but towards the end you can be very creative and have relatively much space.
- Chapter 6 is very linear but has some options on where to go. I don't think open space would have helped this mission more.
- Chapter 7 is your classic RTs base-building mission with all the freedom that comes with it. It has more bases and more space than the average SC2 campaign map.

The problem with the linearity exists because each map is unique and needs to act as a tutorial... and once you have mastered it you already move on to the next map. There is not much breathing room. I try to counter this by making the maps longer than average sc2 campaign maps. A lot of the maps have ideas that could be main features of entire campaigns (see The Last Guardian, a point & click adventure campaign).

My personal pro-con-list for each map would look something like this:
Chapter 1 pro: Vehicles. A lot of variation with the objectives. Open space.
Chapter 1 con: Lack of clear gameplay focus.

Chapter 2 pro: very unusual sc2 gameplay. I like point & click adventures.
Chapter 2 con: mundane tasks. some items hard to find.

Chapter 3 pro: After two relatively slow maps this one has a lot of action.
Chapter 3 con: Very linear. Abilities and items could be more exciting.

Chapter 4 pro: Enemies attack towers. Many different types of towers.
Chapter 4 con: Optional objectives are a bit weird.

Chapter 5 pro: I love stealth. I like the creativity that's possible towards the end.
Chapter 5 con: Very tutorial-like/linear to begin with. AI can be annoying.

Chapter 6 pro: The better version of Chapter 3. Cool level-up-system. Boss fights.
Chapter 6 con: Except for the level-up-system this map doesn't feel as fresh.

Chapter 7 pro: Used to be the worst of all maps until I implemented the buff system for enemies. Special abilities for Command Buildings. Cool environmental effects.
Chapter 7 con: (Too) many tweaks to the story. Two bases a bit hard to handle for one player.

I would say: 5>6>7>2>4>1>3

Rating this campaign alongside my WC3 campaigns I would say it's the best project I have ever created. It has the best terrain, the most diverse gameplay. It has a co-op system. Four instead of just one difficulty level. Level design is planned much better, thanks to many iterations a lot of maps have gone through. Just more professional in general. Storyline is probably the weakest, but as you said there isn't much I could have done.

Rating this campaign alongside other sc2 custom campaigns I would say it is the best custom campaign anyone will see for a long time. Some maps have more custom content and ideas than some of the other campaigns combined. But they have their own unique story (although non-sc-canon, which is a turn off for me), which I respect, and many other campaigns have superior terrain.

 

[deepstrasz]

The artifact has a normal entrance.

Wow, really? So, that's why Octavia didn't even want to search for her brother and tried destroying the temple...

- While the puzzles in chapter 2 are always the same, a lot of them can be completed in any order. But that is the nature of point and click adventures. It's not about choices, but find out how to solve stuff.

Yeah, there were better puzzles, actual puzzles in The Last Guardian.

I like that the enemy AI actually attacks your towers, and not just passes by (could be the reason why you like this level despite not liking TD in general).

Yes, but they don't attack the builders as well.

- Chapter 6 is very linear but has some options on where to go. I don't think open space would have helped this mission more.

Some levels are designed to be linear. There is no way to it.

Chapter 2 con: mundane tasks. some items hard to find.

Not really. That was my problem with it. For a point and click, it was quite easy.

Chapter 7 con: (Too) many tweaks to the story. Two bases a bit hard to handle for one player.

It's the difficulty of the level. It's was nothing wrong with the idea.

Rating this campaign alongside my WC3 campaigns I would say it's the best project I have ever created. It has the best terrain, the most diverse gameplay.

That's because SCII editor is more advanced... but that doesn't mean it's necessarily better than your other. It's just different.

It has a co-op system.

That's just a bonus. The difficulty option too.

Storyline is probably the weakest, but as you said there isn't much I could have done.

Well, it wasn't easy to have it make sense.

Rating this campaign alongside other sc2 custom campaigns I would say it is the best custom campaign anyone will see for a long time.

I don't doubt it's one of the best.

 

[OutsiderXE]

- Octavia assumed Lars was dead. My concern is, what was she thinking trying to attack the Temple? If it was me I would be afraid to get killed (absorbed) myself.
- The Last Guardian has 7 maps, which allows a lot more freedom as to how puzzles can be implemented, compared to the 1 map that is SotX chapter 2. Whether players like puzles or not, they'll know exactly what to expect from all 7 maps after a few minutes of playtime. Whereeas in SotX it's less then 15% of the entire campaign. If I added more stuff and made it more difficult it would have annoyed the player; I wanted to remove the item descriptions (which essentially give away the solution to each puzzle) for the highter difficulty levels, but it was too much work.
- Chapter 4 enemies not attacking builders: I had some problems with implementing the AI and have them efficiently attack the buildings when heroes were near.
- About SotX being different and not better than (my) other campaigns: Of course that's merely my own opinion*. People who wanted a more story-centric campaign, or more gameplay-depth with specific gameplay elements might be more satisfied with other campaigns. People like you, who comment and give concise feedback, are the real reason why I go back and update old campaigns.

*... Also, as the actual creator I look at the features from a very technical perspective. The average player might not even notice the four difficulty levels and just play it on the default (normal) level. For me it means I have to playtest and balance all maps four times over. Same goes for the co-op mode. The average player will probably play it alone. For me it meant I had to plan EVERY aspect of all maps with two players in mind, while still making it work for one player. So 4 difficulty levels * 2 play-modes = 8 times as much work merely for testing. And then you could say everything * 7 because of all the new systems in each map.

In that regard I have managed to create something even Blizzard has not: A co-op experience with a story mode. And then the idea of making every map as different as possible while working with a brand new editor. If you compare that to the very first version of LotC, the only really good thing about LotC was the story.

Sometimes I wonder if I tried to do too much at once. But now I am in a position where I understand the editor very well, and for a lot of ideas I have I can just copy&paste existing data/triggers and work with that.

 

[deepstrasz]

If I added more stuff and made it more difficult it would have annoyed the player;

Well, that's what I like about creation, experimenting, not going by the rules or be driven by the fear that they won't like it because it's not like the usual. Sometimes innovation would live their jaws opened in positive surprise.

*... Also, as the actual creator I look at the features from a very technical perspective. The average player might not even notice the four difficulty levels and just play it on the default (normal) level. For me it means I have to playtest and balance all maps four times over. Same goes for the co-op mode. The average player will probably play it alone. For me it meant I had to plan EVERY aspect of all maps with two players in mind, while still making it work for one player. So 4 difficulty levels * 2 play-modes = 8 times as much work merely for testing. And then you could say everything * 7 because of all the new systems in each map.

I do not doubt the hard work for it. But I won't rate it only because of that. The finality of it is what I criticize. Well, it is indeed annoying to test things alone when it's designed for multiplayer. But you can extrapolate somehow.
What's that thing with the average player? I'm not a hardcore gamer. I don't play on the hardest difficulties, mostly because it takes more time to finish something even if the result might be more satisfying. And I don't really like experiencing stories in multiplayer.

In that regard I have managed to create something even Blizzard has not: A co-op experience with a story mode.

They kind of did something for LotV, the co-op mode.

And then the idea of making every map as different as possible while working with a brand new editor. If you compare that to the very first version of LotC, the only really good thing about LotC was the story.

That is true but consider that Blizzard wanted to be as faithful to the RTS-RPG genre as possible.
Well LotC is your first, isn't it? Anyway, you are a great level designer. What I think you should try, is to get more into the experimental part than into trying to appease the masses.

Sometimes I wonder if I tried to do too much at once. But now I am in a position where I understand the editor very well, and for a lot of ideas I have I can just copy&paste existing data/triggers and work with that.

No. It's better to be as diverse as possible. Monotony needs flavour as disguise otherwise you'll get something like the secondary objectives of LotV.

 

[OutsiderXE]

Well LotC is your first, isn't it? Anyway, you are a great level designer. What I think you should try, is to get more into the experimental part than into trying to appease the masses.

Co-op mode and varied map types were experimental enough^^. I create every map so I can personally enjoy it. Otherwise it wouldn't be a hobby.

Puzzle maps are particularly difficult to balance when you don't have enough people to test them; as a creator you already know every bit and it's hard to foresee where people would have problems. And even when you test them; some person has a problem at point X, another a problem with point Y? Did they really not understand the puzzle or are they just dumb? Would you leave the puzzle the way it is and risk frustration or dumb it down so everyone can solve it?

As a player I prefer easy games that are possibly boring over hard ones that are possibily frustrating. It might quit both types of games, but with the latter at least I won't get angry at.