Techtree Contest #4 - Improved Melee Race

[RED BARON]

Hmm seems like there still is a tiny chance that I get the time to participate But lets see what happens.

 

[Wraithling]

RED BARON, do surprise us with something

And my congratulations to all the participants who are still in the contest. Seemed to me like many of you are smugly confident with your ideas if you are still contesting. I for one can't wait to see the final submissions. Good luck on the final stretch!


PS: And a small announcement, I plan to wrap up my entry and submit within two or three days because I'll be busy during early February. No objections to an early submission I hope?

 

[Lich Prince]

PS: And a small announcement, I plan to wrap up my entry and submit within two or three days because I'll be busy during early February. No objections to an early submission I hope?

It's not against the rules as long as you've previously posted a WIP. I also plan to submit my final entry soon.

 

[supertoinkz]

Fuck deadlines, I'll join with my Night Elf powers.

 

[Laserdude]

Does the WIP have to be in the formate of a map? Cause then I have to sumbit it before I finish it, otherwise, if the WIP can be pics, then I have allready submitted my WIP

 

[Wraithling]

Yes, you're all good Laserdude. WIPs can be just pictures of your race progress.

And supertoinkz, welcome to the party. So.. night elf again eh?

 

[RED BARON]

RED BARON, do surprise us with something

I'll try

 

[Direfury]

Just fixing up some soundsets and building information, then it's on to the tech and ability finalizing.

But, I guess I'll post a quick few WIPs.

As of yet, the only abilities I have to keep working on are Sanctity, Call of Darkness and Clairvoyance.

Sanctity doesn't seem to want to agree with me, and won't target enemy and allied units.

Clairvoyance doesn't seem to appear. At all. Ever.
Same with Call of Darkness.

Also, to clear things up, Lichdom imbues the Exalted Caster with an increase in attack speed, aswell as allowing him to regain health upon attack, reminiscent of Vampiric Aura. It disables Clairvoyance and Apotheosis to make way for Unit Abilities like the new Death Coil and Rending of Souls. Once the 22 seconds are up, those abilities are sapped away and the Caster regains his sight and magic shield.


On that note aswell, the attachments I've decided to use with Lichdom don't appear when he casts the spell. I've tried it with triggers and items, so I might just go with a custom unit.


Also, Apotheosis seems to protect fully against Disease Cloud. All of this is balanced out by the Caster's low hitpoints and slow movespeed.

 

[The World Is Flat]

Eh.... Joining. If i dont finish in time, I'll judge.

 

[The_Swamp_Warrior]

Eh.... Joining.

Yay!

 

[The World Is Flat]

Somph.

 

[supertoinkz]

Correct me if I'm wrong.

- 4 Heroes
- Any number of units (Most likely greater than or equal to 12 units)
- Any number of buildings
- Must not exceed 2 MB (oh mah gosh, too small for me :C)
- Must stick with the Original Race's concept/idea/philosophy
- Beings/Creatures must come from the lore

Right?

Oh yeah, techtree idea is nearly completed lol

 

[67chrome]

Correct me if I'm wrong.

- Any number of Heroes
- Any number of units (Most likely greater than or equal to 12 units)
- Any number of buildings
- Must not exceed 3 MB
- Must stick with the Original Race's concept/idea/philosophy
- Beings/Creatures do not necessarily have to come from the lore, but should tie into the concept/idea/philosophy.

There
At least I'm mostly sure about the last one, I think Pharaoh_ made that one more lenient after the official launch of the contest.

 

[Direfury]

If that's the case, I have an epic idea.

Sacrifice the three heroes to replace them with one fully capable of holding his own in their place.

 

[JokeMaster]

Wut , only 3 mb? Shit my map has already 5.

 

[Direfury]

1.21 MB here. Oh I'm gonna have a field day with my submission.

 

[Wraithling]

Vermillion Edict, great WIPs. Though why does Exalted Caster have 8 abilities?

Edit:
/me nags supertoinkz to see a few wips

 

[GhostThruster]

I might not make the deadline... got a cold and I'm going on a small Holiday. Anything's possible.

Is anyone using alot of triggers?

 

[Wraithling]

Aww.. I hope recover from your cold soon GhostThruster. The least you deserve is to complete your race after investing a lot of time into it. God bless and God speed. And holidays are awesome

I'm using a lot of triggers.. or at least I think I am. (For starters, all my hero skills are triggered.)

 

[Lich Prince]

Get well soon Ghost, and no, I'm not using alot of triggers (only the race selection and gold mine ones actually).

 

[Laserdude]

Just checked my race... Only 976 kb!
I hope I might not have done too few units in my race.
However, I have lots of things to do. Which would normally take untill after 7th febuary to complete.
So, that means I've got enough time, and I can finish should I want to.
(Yes, I just said that I am doing things faster then they are normally done).

No, but seriously. I have lost my enthusiasm for this contest, but, since I have started, I hope I have the will to complete the map.

 

[Ash Darkside]

I am using a lot of triggers, it is difficult and I am not even half done.

 

[67chrome]

I hope you guys are all able to finish. Anyways, my race is just shy of 3 mb. And I'm using a decent amount of triggers, most of my spells and some of my unit's auto-attacks are triggered.

 

[Dionesiist]

Weren't you texturing all your units, too?

 

[Sage Chow]

I might dumb down my entry by omitting a large number of portraits, DISBTN's and several skins. 3 mb is proving to be quite a challenge:

- The map itself (No object data/triggers) = 227 Kb
- 12 units x 150 (Includes portrait/anims/skins) = 1800 Kb
- 10 buildings x 75 (Think lame birth/work anim) = 750 Kb
- 4 Heroes x 150 (Simple model or good skin) = 600 Kb
- 40 icons x 8 (26 units, 20 Ability, 16 Hero, 20 Upgrade x 2 (DISBTN) x 25%) = 320 kb
- Custom buffs/SFX/Summons/Editor data/Triggerdata/UI skins = 250 kb.

A fully custom race needs roughly 4 MB, that is without anything fancy. 25% custom icons won't even cover the units. To cut this number down you could use skins on the units, (maybe lowering the size by 600?) and use a few blizzard buildings. The only way to get down to 3 MB would be to cut one or two heroes, and use at least 5 blizzard units.

 

[Direfury]

Vermillion Edict, great WIPs. Though why does Exalted Caster have 8 abilities

Technically, he'll have upto six at any given time. Lichdom disables Clairvoyance and Apotheosis. Fortunately it's all balanced, as Apotheosis defends him from most spells and ranged attacks, to cover for his low health and movespeed.


Also, lol chow. Pokemon gold ftw.

 

[The_Swamp_Warrior]

@Sage Chow, That Isnt Very Hard for Me When The Corrupted Nightelfs Are In Wc3

 

[GhostThruster]

@Sage Chow: There are many ways to squish your shit down. There's the MDX Squisher, BLP lab has a Mass Optimizer, you can use Vexorian's Map Optimizer (to an extent, as you'll probably need an open map ), and you can convert all your GUI into JASS.

 

[Sage Chow]

@Ghostthruster: Thanks! Yeah, I've been trying to squish my models with MDLVis, which is saving a LOT of space, but I'm not sure I'm going to reach the 3mb with all the shit i've been editting in And my calculations were based on optimised models in the first place.. I guess I have to be really anal about file-size and delete those glow geosets and random animations.. I'll get there one way or another, but the result may not be pretty xD

@Vermillion Edict: Yeah, honoring the sprout tower xD

 

[RaijinSpark]

3m max space shouldn't be a problem, learn how to reduce file's sizes.

Before, I reduced like a 400kb model to 100kb quality is the same. I can give you some tips and how tos when it comes to squishing. or atleast you can PM me the file and I'll do it for you

 

[67chrome]

Weren't you texturing all your units, too?

Maybe

I was thinking about doing it for the buildings to but now I'm just planning on texturing the town hall. The other buildings will simply get a custom ubersplat and vertex coloring to set them apart from the other races, which should be enough. (custom rally flag with team color to


The only unit models I'm using is the High Warlord Naj'entus one by Misha and the Fel Rider by donut3.5, beyond that its a few projectiles and spell effects.

most of my skins are someware between 60 and 80 kb to, so I'm able to do all the units and summons with a custom texture.

 

[Direfury]

I've fixed all the buildings so that they can, with a little smart placement, completely waste an AOE attack like Flame Strike. Most buildings are rather large, though, and can all take most of a Flame Strike, allowing any units using them as a safehouse to run out unscathed and ready for battle. Leaving, say, a Farmhouse line infront of your towers would provide a good shield, assuming you fill these Farmhouses with warriors.

In addition to the units getting a large variety of abilities, the first tower unlocked is a simple watchtower, with the next being more of a tall, thin fortress, and one summonable magic tower built through use of an item.

 

[GhostThruster]

@67chrome: So...many...units...

 

[Sage Chow]

After doing a big chunk of spellmaking i'm about halfway. I'll post a little list of units and abilities:

The main system is the weather system which sets a field effect to buff or nerve a large group of abilities. The elves will have access to Rain and Sun, whereas races like the Icetrolls (not in the map) will get access to Hail.
A possible strategy is to follow a weather type: For instance the River Druid sets up rain at lvl 4 (via Lightning Storm) buffing Turtle spirits, Owls (Stormwinds), Water Elementals and Lily Vines (Water Absorb). But also Zephyr Arrows and Weatherball will pick up a boost. Certain weather changing items can be bought from the Race and Map shops aswell.

The Day/Night system is also buffed and will become part of the tech-tree. Starting midway, a specialization upgrade path makes the player choose between upgrading Day or Night abilities (Shadow Claw upgrade, Moon Adept ultimate, etc).

Unit Description

- Nymph: Builder/Harvester. An etheral spirit of nature. Can cast Spirit Link to animate a plant or tree (see picture). The nymph can also revert back to it's original form. Cast Seed to kill the nymph for a hauntable plant. They cost 90 gold.

In the end i hope to have 20-30 different vines/treants. Each summon costs one food and has a basic ability. Some are more effective in special weather conditions. The shop sells seeds to plant the destructibles needed. (Especially handy since the map has one type of doodad..)

- Ranger: The basic ranged unit, ideal for damage and scouting. Has Shadowmeld at night and can use Track; reveals hidden units and gives a 5 second vision of enemy units within 1500 range. In the campaign it gets Herbalism, which enables it to craft simple items from plants/trees. I'm still thinking for a melee spell. Upgrades: Hunting Bows, Elven Boots (All base units have the trolly 260 base speed. This upgrades speed by 40 so they can escape basic enemy units)

- Sentinel: The staple melee unit. Somewhere between a footman and the knight, starting out pretty weak but has a lot of upgrades. The Sentinel can alternate between a legionair spear and a short sword, and both forms come with their own pro's and cons. Can cast Mirror Shield to bounce negative buffs (Spear) and Blazing Sword (day/sword) to lower armor when attacking. At night it has magic resistance, during the day it has piercing resistance.

- Ballista: The main siege unit. Can Shadowmeld to make up for it's frailness and can be upgraded with ? to do (insert something cool with AoE)

- Adept: The main caster. Alternates between Moon Adept and Sun Adept depending on day/night. Moon adepts are defensive and can (auto)cast Lunar Chant, adding a cool defence boost, Mana Torrent, replenish a lot of Mana in AoE, and a 3rd support ability. Sun Adepts are more offensive and cast Solar Flare (blind+damage), Life Blaze, replenishing health in AoE, and a 3rd Sun-boosted ability.

- Druid: Short ranged semi-ancient caster. Focus is on nature spells and spreading negative buffs on the enemy. Can (auto)cast Blossom (Increases Attackspeed of Ancients, but lowers it on any other unit), Cotton Spore (disables non ancient melee attackers) and Poison Cloud (poison AoE, stun/sleep chance) (WIP)

- Wolf Spirit: Agile melee attacker with a day and night form. It is designed to take on a single target rather than fend off a group.
The night version is super fragile but has Permanent Invisibility, making it a perfect scout. It has Shadow Claw (chance to slow opponent and deal damage over time) and Howl (increases damage on first strike and may scare enemy into lowering attack) to become a super annoying hit and run attacker.
The day version has doubled hitpoints and Chlorophyll, increasing regeneration and speed in sunlight. It also gets Ivy Claw (needs better name) which increases damage with each successive hit. I'm thinking to add a regenerative ability under the Sun.

- Owl Spirit: The main Flyer. Reasonably bulky flyer with massive anti-air damage, adept at annoying ground units. Has Stormwind which gives a chance to trap enemy ground units in a whirlwind during Rain. Also learns Headwind which slows units facing the owl and accelarates units facing in front of the owl. Optional 3rd ability: something anti-air.

- Turtle Spirit: Tank and Rain Abuser. The general idea is that this unit becomes extremely dangerous near water. It gets a Hydroblast ability to deal a lot of damage in exchange for mana (eg. water). Mana is only replenished during rainstorms and while swimming in water. The turtle can also switch attacks in water using Water Inlet. Enables 10 attacks @ massive damage for 15 mana per attack. Hydrophyll will boost attack during rain even further. To support the tank strategy it gets Spikes and Hardened skin.

- Uber Unit: still working on this one. I'm planning a rain and sun uber and the player will have to choose one or the other.

Heroes

The ranger was created to fit the nocternal hunter/anti magic playstyle. The other units should support the various weather tactics, but i haven't found the best distribution yet. I want to make a legendary Druid trio of somesorts that fit a specific weather/day effect and also fits a unique role stat-wise.

Moon Ranger: (Shandris + skin)
Agile stealth supporter, functions better at night and picks up any weather boost so it partners well with the other heroes. Has the innate ability Night Evasion, which increases evasion at night.
- Zephyr arrows: increased damage in exchange for mana. Has a secondary effect depending on Rain/Sun/Hail or Eclipse.
- Lunar Shield: The Moon Ranger and units in a small/larger AoE become shortly invisible to escape or sneak past enemy lines. Also provides a safeguard from enemy spells.
- Barrage: During the day the ranger replaces the previous ability and shoots a flurry of arrows.
- Elune's Grace: Increases secondary effects from all spells and increases the Ranger's attack range. Nearby units receive a minor bonus in regeneration.
- Eclipse: Blocks the sun for 2 minutes, enabling night abilities. Also sets a weather lock on the current weather. The eclipse may silence enemy casters and disorient melee units. (WIP)

River Druid: (or maybe Spring Druid) (Mal'furion+Skin)
Caster Hero, adept at casting water spells. Has the innate ability Hydrophyll increasing mana regeneration and damage during Rain. It's goal is to deal massive damage in the Rain and provide some minor support.
- Hydroblast: Simple damage in a line. Damage/range depend on Rain/Sun/Hail.
- Aqua Ring: Gives 200-600 protection versus damaging spells and heals 2 hp/sec.
- Water Elemental: Summon, has Torrent increasing damage in Rain.
- Lightning Storm: Instantly summons rain and strikes an area with lightning bolts.

Forest Druid: (or Autumn Druid) Strength support hero with Solar Power (increase damage + defence during sunlight)
- Healing Sun (Summons Sunlight and heals troops in AoE --> DAY)
- Wild Roots (Uproots vines to hit enemy units --> NIGHT)
- Animate Nature (Replace tree with Treant, plant with vine etc)
- Poison Thorns (Poison Melee attackers)
- 4 Seasons (Convert in Summer/Autumn/Winter/Spring treants)

Mountain Druid: Melee tank with snowcloak (Decreases damage by 12 in Hail) (Druid o/t claw + skin or new model)
- Roar (lower damage by 25/50/75%, force to attack)
- Smash (Thunderclap)
- Rock Skin (Reduce damage by 7/14/21)
- Nature Power (Earthquake/Tornado/Fire Storm/Blizzard depending on weather)

Ok, thats more than enough blabla for now.. Consider this a WIP.

@67Chrome: Those ground-textures look sexy!

 

[GhostThruster]

Those abilities look amazing... I love the day/night system.

 

[Zpider]

I am out, I tried to do something cool.
But I just wasn't in the mood to make a undead race.

 

[The World Is Flat]

My race is going to loose, i can't code anymore. unless people take leaking gui only code that suckxz.

 

[Chizume]

My code is gonna leak and be super-inefficient as well, but I won't let stop my creativity

 

[Direfury]

Through some quick reanimation and geomerging, I've come up with a Dragon Rider. a ground-bound black dragon ridden by a cloaked warrior, capable of destroying buildings and tanking during large assaults.

 

[The World Is Flat]

Apparently I will, because i have forgotten how to do some basic shizz.

Anyway, i am doing Nelfs.

 

[supertoinkz]

Will be posting some WiPs tomorrow.
BTW, are we allowed to use WoW Icons (Wc3 Borders ofc)?

 

[Direfury]

So basically, the WoW icons from the icon section? Also, any updates might be slow coming, I'm working on a high-res Dragon model.

 

[supertoinkz]

Some I need was there, but some aren't.

 

[Reaper51]

I'm out, the video card on my main comp is busted, and i can't do a race in a week : (
Sorry guys.

 

[supertoinkz]

I'm out :/, obviously not enough time. I wish this could be extended until Saturday :C.

 

[VeljkoM]

It is until 7th February and today is 30 January. So isn't that till next Monday then?

 

[Wraithling]

Sad to see you guys drop out. I don't know if the rule about needing a minimum number of entries applies for this contest, might want to ask the host about that. If it does and if we don't have a specific number submissions by the due date, I think we might have an extension. So keep your fingers crossed and continue working on your entry because, who knows?

I'm a little delayed myself but I certainly will be submitting my race. The Air Humans is almost done, I'd say about less than 10% left to do.

 

[supertoinkz]

It is until 7th February and today is 30 January. So isn't that till next Monday then?

Oh....silly me lol. I'm on again

BUMP. Finished Object Editor shit. Going to triggering, and then to the imports. Here's a pic of the units, I would like to put small descriptions on the units, but I'm busy.

That question marks means there is a missing unit I haven't thought of yet.

 

[The World Is Flat]

WEll i had better get started.

 

[Direfury]

Everythings good so far, I just need to refine some things and I'll be done.