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Battle Mages -1.6.8f-

Update: The versions made between 1.6.0e and 1.6.6d are made by RushSecond, who was updating the map in my stead. I have resumed work since. See http://comclan.co.cc/forum/index.php?board=5.0 for the Battle Mages forum.

Battle Mages can be best described as a tactical battle involving only heroes and destructive spells. The goal varies depending on what game type you are using. Team Elimination is a team game where each player has X amount of lives. The last team standing wins. Deathmatch is a free for all brawl that ends when someone gets to X kills. Team Deathmatch is deathmatch with teams. Capture the Flag is self-explanatory. Assault is a double-round attacker and defender type of game.

There are currently 58 spells that can go into your 6-slot hand, as well as 16 ultimate abilities that are accessible from your ability card. You use your spellbooks to remove and add spells to your hand so that you can quickly activate them at a moment's notice. Spells are purchased at the shops at the top-left corner of the map, otherwise called the "base", the only place in which the two teams don't fight each other. Spells, in addition to gold, require spell points to learn. Spell points are gained by investing in your spellpower attribute, translating to 2 spell points per spellpower point.

The actual gameplay is heavy on aiming and dodging, and there are several unique or highly dangerous spells in each of the four classes: Fire, Ice, Lightning, and Arcane. Each class shares some similar types of spells, but they all have some unique things that make them have tactical value. Fire is great for dealing a lot of raw damage, but it all-too-often hurts your own teammates and yourself, and is generally difficult to aim correctly. Ice doesn't do as much damage as the other elements, but it has a crucial slowing ability that makes the victim much easier to target. Ice also has a couple abilities that completely freeze your enemies, but those are high-level and costly spells. Lightning is all about accuracy and speed, though there are a few special lightning spells that are slow and powerful. Lightning also possesses the ability to add "charge" to those it hits, increasing the damage dealt with future attacks if you can continually land hits on that player. Lightning is a well-varied element, but it is nothing in comparison to the range of uses found in Arcane magic. Arcane is very hard to generalize, but it is, in essence, both utilitarian and potentially deadly. From spells that form walls to a beam attack that deals mana burn damage to a couple homing projectiles to a holy bolt that heals friends and enemies, Arcane has a place in any strategy.

There are also hybrid spells available to those who wish to learn more than one element. This is a slower path, but is generally worth it in the long haul. To get a hybrid spell, all you must do is learn all of the spells of the same tier in two elements, and a predetermined one of your current spells will be replaced with a far superior hybrid version. There are five tiers of spells, numbered after how many spell points they require to learn. There are tier 2, 3, and 4 hybrids, no tier 1 or 5 hybrids. For all intents and purposes, tier 4 hybrids are regarded as ultimate spells; once you learn a tier 5 spell or tier 4 hybrid, you can't learn another. There are 18 hybrids to find, in total.

I hope you have fun with this map and its variety!

Keywords:
Battle Mages, Battle, Mages, Spells, Mage, Combat, Magic, Fire, Ice, Lightning, Arcane, Meta, Hybrid, Fighting, Crazy, Arena, Deathmatch, Team, Spell
Contents

Battle Mages -1.6.8f- (Map)

Reviews
Mini-Me: Nice spells. Good gameplay. Gets a thumbs up from me :).

Moderator

M

Moderator

Mini-Me: Nice spells. Good gameplay. Gets a thumbs up from me :).
 
Level 2
Joined
Aug 7, 2007
Messages
29
i played this map with my friends they find the map great and i too, for a beta map is this good.

nice spells, and Gameplay, but maybe add different models for the caster!!!
 
Level 13
Joined
Feb 28, 2007
Messages
477
Wtf, an 8.89 rating but only 1 vote? Two decimal places made by a single rating? What is this madness?!?

Anyways, thank you P@ker for the review. In fact, I added options for different models to the map as you were playing it. After I test it out, later today, I will upload that new version.

Edit: Uploaded! Have fun. :O 666kb

Edit2: Hmm, seems like a couple people scored really low (2 or 3). I would like to know why this is so that I can remedy any flaw you see.
 
Level 2
Joined
May 21, 2005
Messages
12
I love the map, man. All I can ask for is even more spells. I'd love to see further spell trees of the current elements, and even entire new elements.
But I digress, great job.
 
Level 3
Joined
May 3, 2007
Messages
27
hey dark reverent my brother played against u in this game i have a couple of ideas earth element maybe? wind element? nature?(ex:entangleing roots)darkness element? light element? like these ideas?
 
Level 3
Joined
May 3, 2007
Messages
27
hey dark reverent my brother played against u in this game i have a couple of ideas earth element maybe?(ex:earthquacke) wind element?(ex:huracane) nature?(ex:entangleing roots)darkness element?(ex:carrion sworm) light element?(ex: buning light,holylight) like these ideas?
 
Level 7
Joined
May 23, 2007
Messages
164
Well made map. Thumbs up from me too ^^.
Your work surprised me =).

Once again, good job.

10/10 from me =)
 
Level 16
Joined
Oct 30, 2004
Messages
1,277
Nice to hear that you are making another element.
You should also consider making different arenas. I've played the map many times and most complaints that I've heard are that the arenas "suck". While the simple arenas do work, you should consider doing a bit more varied arenas.
Also you should make more arenas that support many players. I always play this with full house, and there's basicly only one arena to choose for that. It's very rare from what I've seen that a game is started with less than 10 players, so big arenas are needed and you could scrap some of the smaller ones.
 

TKF

TKF

Level 19
Joined
Nov 29, 2006
Messages
1,266
I tried this map many times, and tried all the elements. But I doesn't like the Ice limit break.
Also I find most of the ice spells a bit weak, especially the AOE spells that is very difficult to hit moving targets. Otherwise I find Lightning and Fire seems very good. I wonder how the arcane magic will be :D

Nice spell design: 10/10
 
Level 13
Joined
Feb 28, 2007
Messages
477
You can actually use any arena you wish for any amount of players. You could, say, do Joust (2 players ideal) with 12 players, but obviously that would be a rather cramped game. Strife (the x-shaped arena) can definitely be played with 12 players, as can Corridor.

Most players like Four Square and Corridor, so I won't change those. I should redo Joust to be a + shape, though. Strife can stay as is. Warzone, however, needs some major modifications. I'll probably change it for the next version.

Due to technical limitations, I can't add an entirely new arena. I can, however, modify or replace existing ones.

Also, thank you for the reviews. They do mean a lot to me.

P.S. Ice isn't built for pure damage; it's mostly a way to make your enemies be sitting ducks to the more powerful attacks.
 
Level 13
Joined
Feb 28, 2007
Messages
477
Alright, it's updated.

Warzone is modified to hopefully be a bit more interesting and action-packed, there are now seven arcane spells (four to go), there is a new in-game minimap picture (and it's a whopping 60% smaller, too), and there is a new loading screen. I might have added something else, but I have forgotten.
 

TKF

TKF

Level 19
Joined
Nov 29, 2006
Messages
1,266
Now it lacks 4 arcane spells. I might suggest some if you want some suggestions:

Suggestion 1: Make a homing spell which fires 3 projectiles, each does 15 dmg?

Suggestion 2: Arcane Mirror Shield that deflect projectile spells hitting it, taking damage from other kind (like flamestrike, AOE spells)? Use that ultimate fire spell logic if possible.

Suggestion 3: Make starfall spell, a moon light effect appears on target location, and after a short time a small aoe starfall is being cast, with 1 star, which does 40 dmg? Maybe this is a bit lame.

Suggestion 4: Arcane orb. A summoned orb that stand still that becomes larger for every second and constantly having an increased area spell attack (like lightning orb, Thunder Ball) that attack enemies. Also it have a constantly increased (range) slow aura which slows everyone (friend and foe) which is to close to the orb. after 8-10 seconds, The orb has reach critical stage and explodes and harms everyone (friend and foe) nearby it.

Limit Break: Invisibility?, I didn't make that work. Check my profile signature, That I would called a limit break.

Hope this helped a bit ^^
 
Level 13
Joined
Feb 28, 2007
Messages
477
TKF, I'm glad that you like it.

Suggestion 1: I don't think that would be a very fair spell. Think about it; it's hard enough to avoid just one homing spell. It's impossible to do any more than 2 at the same time.

Suggestion 2: The arcane mirror idea is actually pretty good, but in reality, it would be next to impossible to add one. The way my map is set up, I would have to do a *LOT* of work to add a feature that would only be useful in a very few situations. My current idea for a large spirit wall thing, called a Spirit Protector, basically large enough to stand inside and be protected, will be what I'll use.

Suggestion 3: Starfall in that case would be a COMPLETE copy of meteor. I can live with copies of basic spells such as the first spell in each element, but I will never make the advanced (fourth row/tier/level) spells be the same. I think my idea of Dimensional Shard, which is basically a moderately powerful sorta slow-moving projectile that warps whomever is hit to a random point in the map, might have to be used. Dimensional shard is up for change if necessary, however.+

Suggestion 4: Arcane orb would be too much like my currently planned Arcane bomb, which is basically a weakish projectile that grows in power as it moves, eventually exploding on something it hits. If you use it in short range (100-300 units), it will do like 30-40 damage and a smallish area. Long range would be a whole different story.

My ultimate spell is definitely going to be awesome, but I haven't the time to describe it.
 

TKF

TKF

Level 19
Joined
Nov 29, 2006
Messages
1,266
Very nice. I have played some games, and there many who use the holy bolt on enemies as well. Maybe colors in skill description will catch players attention so noobs won't heal their enemies :p

Also arcane magic is quite interesting. I used it everytime on the last games. I think the manaburn spell is bugged. I did once get a double mana burn on single target. (the -15 did appear twice).

tp bug is still there.

Also there is a victory bug. Sometimes the victory is not triggered when the other team has leavers. I have to use -boot command to force victory, but that doesn't always work :/

Also a question about last arcane spell. Does it increase in power each time it hits the walls? I seen it got a bit larger for each bounce, and then it disappear after some bounces. I only hit with it on direct hit, which did 100 damage I think.
 
Level 13
Joined
Feb 28, 2007
Messages
477
• The last arcane skill does 50 dmg and 75 mana burn. (mana burt turns into holy bolts) The bounces don't change the projectile, they are just extra chances to hit if you miss your target.
• Double mana burn would be extremely rare, but not unheard of. There is currently no way for me to fix it. The only way it can happen is if you shoot two people who are in extremely close proximity, one might get hit twice.
• TP bug is virtually unfixable.
• I have no idea why the victory bug is there; there seems to be no logical reason for it.

Thank you for the feedback; everything helps.
 
Level 1
Joined
Sep 17, 2007
Messages
3
Well, when I casted a spell as arcane it happened. Might of been a coincidence. Also, when I was buying a spell while my character was in the arena it crashed too.
 
Level 13
Joined
Feb 28, 2007
Messages
477
I've really clamped down upon the gameplay flaws. The spirit walls/rifts/protectors are now slightly stronger, have higher mana costs, lower cooldowns, and now block a lot more projectiles, including beam attacks (which they are now immune to). Walls and rifts also provide pathing blockers so that the way can be blocked. They also are affected by "damage over time" effects now.

I've made other tweaks, including making the deathmatch kill limit range from 9-30 instead of 6-20. Also, experience is gained solely from doing damage; making the killing blow not count for anything but statistics (unless it's a deathmatch game).
 
Level 13
Joined
Feb 28, 2007
Messages
477
I tweaked the leaving and booting triggers to hopefully lead to a solution to the problem of the game not ending when the last enemy player leaves.

Edit: Important update to 1.07! I fixed quite a bad problem that 1.06 caused, and I added a nice new feature. The host can now type "-swap <playername>" to switch his team! Because of this, I have removed the entire system of transferring stats to your teammates. Gold is still distributed, however.
 
Level 13
Joined
Feb 28, 2007
Messages
477
It allows the host to balance the game. Using the stat distribution system, the team with 1 player could have an incredible advantage over the team of 4 players and kick their asses. Using the host-discretion swap system, the game balancing is in human hands.

"-swap Dark.Revenant" would switch me from, say, team 1 to team 2. Doing it again would switch me back. Get the picture?
 
Level 1
Joined
Sep 15, 2007
Messages
3
Hello. I find a Big Mistake. When you CHoosing the number of Killing to win - there is Allways 10 Kills to win. if i choosing 21 and more - it is still 10 kills to win. but if i choose 18 or less kills - it is Working normally. Fix it Please. And please... Give a CHangeLog in here. Because you changing things - and we want to Know what was Changed in last 3 Versions. THank you.
 
Level 6
Joined
Jan 17, 2007
Messages
177
Hi! Me and my friends liked this game so much. My personal favorite is the Arcane magic.(especially the Arcane Bomb XD!)Anyway in the near future, are you planning to add other elemental spells like earth, dark, light, etc.?

P.S. I just read your other spost saying that you wont make anymore spell trees. Sigh... anyway this game really rocks!
 
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