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HF Emerald Gardens v2.01b

This is the first public release of the Heaven's Fall Warcraft III mod in some time. I am aware it still has some bugs. To make it compatible with Patch 1.28, I stuck what used to be a 6-race game mod into a map.

Some features were lost in translation to map status and still need to be fixed, so I am happy to receive any feedback given. I'm currently aware that the "Credits" menu (quests menu in game) does not correctly display because the mod's language files don't work in a map.

Also, I'd like to change the tavern to have a rotating heroes system at the start of each night during the game but right now it is just stuffed full of almost too many custom heroes.

But, I've been sitting on this project, squirreling it away from the world, and despite bugs this map will allow you to play the old Heaven's Fall mod content in Patch 1.28.

Races available:
Human @ 100% Handicap: Zear Fallen
Orc @ 100% Handicap: Lost Tribe
Undead @ 100% Handicap: Voidspawn
Night Elf @ 100% Handicap: Northpact
Human @ 90% Handicap: Final Alliance
Orc @ 90% Handicap: The Enlightened Tide

The map file is the standard Emerald Gardens except that the tileset is changed to Ashenvale. That's not my idea, I saw somebody else here on the Hive who changed Emerald Gardens to the Ashenvale tileset so I tried it myself.

I hope you enjoy!

Credits

Retera:
Retera is the sole creator of the Northpact race, the Voidspawn, and the Final Alliance and greatly remastered and redesigned the majority of the Zear, the Enlightened Tide (originally the Naga), and the Lost Tribe (originally Draenei). Management of game JASS scripts for the mod has also been undertaken by Retera, although the Caster System code was first created by Vexorian (see Vexorian section) and implemented into the mod's original map by Naresh (circa 2005).
All custom models not otherwise given an author's name can be assumed to be created by Retera.

Naresh:
Naresh was one of the originators of the mod when it was first created circa 2003, serving as the lead designer for the Forsaken, High Elf, and Naga unit data.
He gave lots of general design and troubleshooting help as Retera remastered the old races and developed new ones. He is the creator of the Risen race unit data as it exists in its developmental form (not currently available for play).

Naresh is also the creator of the original Harvester's Mill (a building in the Lost Tribe, updated by Retera to have Stand Work and Birth animations), Crystal Spire (a building in the Lost Tribe), and the Wanderer of Worlds neutral hero (demon form and normal form) models (this hero is not currently available in-game).

Wurmcrusher:
Wurmcrusher was a concept designer for the Zear who worked with Ben to produce the original unit, ability, and upgrade data for the race circa 2003.
Since then, the Zear race has seen many changes made by Retera. However, with the addition of Retera's Zear custom models the race has simply been implemented into an even greater version of what it was. Of all the original races of the mod, the Zear are the one left the most intact by Retera because it felt to him to be the most creative and unique of the original mod's races.
Wurmcrusher also gave inspiration on a few of the Voidspawn's hero abilities. In addition, Wurmcrusher was a leading concept designer for the Harbinger of Armageddon, Duelist, Mercenary Captain, Grim Guard, Firewalker, Earhshaper, and Storm Lord neutral heroes as well as the Earthshaker Golem and several custom neutral units.

Ben:
Ben was one of the originators of the mod when it was first created, and designed numerous old spells (circa 2003) and worked alongside Matt to create and implement the original Zear as a race (before it had any custom models).

Dollerbill:
Dollerbill was the designer of the Blade Warrior hero ability ideas, which were then implemented by Retera.

Khaloracy:

Khaloracy provided conceptual ideas and support to Retera while Retera was constructing the Enlightened Tide race, and also served as a game tester (circa 2008).

Vexorian
:
Vexorian is the brilliant JASS scripter who devised the Caster System and offered it for the world (http://www.wc3campaigns.net/vexorian/) along with his magnificent Spell Template system, which was used throughout the design of this mod in nearly all races.
It must be admitted that although Vexorian, to the best of Retera's knowledge, knows nothing of this mod, it still could not have been made as it exists without his code.
A small handful of spells, such as the Forked Chain Lightning ability, are nearly direct copies of spells created in example maps by Vexorian, but most of the mod's newer spells simply take advantage of his brilliant Caster and Template systems. Heaven's Fall thanks him graciously for his code!
(Note: Vexorian's Caster System is now far beyond the version 12 originally used in Heaven's Fall, but the makers of Heaven's Fall cannot easily use vJASS for a mod environment. For more information on this, research Vexorian and the newer caster systems, which he kindly continues to provide.)

Spellbound:
This guy drew that epic set of UI panels you see surrounding your screen when you play the Voidspawn and Lost Tribe. He also drew their custom ground textures, and the helped stylize the new version of the Voidspawn's blight. He's a pretty sweet artist.
Also, he made his own mod, called Four Empires. You can check it out and download it at [Altered Melee] - [MOD] Four Empires
He's made several custom races and worked on other projects more recently as well. He runs the Custom Race Makers discord chat what has kept me motivated about Warcraft III when I might otherwise have been distracted away to some other game.
He's also served as a play tester.

Hayate:
This guy made the awesome leaping wolf animation for the Northpact wolves.

Blizzard Entertainment:
The Northpact's Tuskarr Chieftain hero uses World of Warcraft icons for his fishing skill, and for the fish items he can find by fishing.

Terrain:
The terrain used in this map is from the default Emerald Gardens melee map, changed to the Ashenvale tileset. Somebody else had this idea first. I played a map on the Hive with Spellbound that had changed this melee map to Ashenvale, and thought it looked interesting. So, I attempted the same process on my own. As such, I'm not using their work, but I've used their idea.

Loading Screens:
All loading screen artwork was found on Google image searches, then modified in some cases.

Khyrberos:
Cheerleader :)
Contents

HF Emerald Gardens v2.01b (Map)

Reviews
deepstrasz
Pretty hard to remember those races and handicap to be able to start as a custom race. Might want to rethink that via triggers and dialog boxes. Credits are mandatory in the map thread description. Awaiting Update...
deepstrasz
No idea what those CUSTOM_NAME_[NAME] are in the Quest Log but whatever. Approved.

deepstrasz

Map Reviewer
Level 69
Joined
Jun 4, 2009
Messages
18,799
Pretty hard to remember those races and handicap to be able to start as a custom race. Might want to rethink that via triggers and dialog boxes.

Credits are mandatory in the map thread description.

Awaiting Update.

===================================================

Always check/recheck the Map Submission Rules! (Map Submission Rules)

These will help make a better description:


Screenshots could attract more players to download your work. Make the best of them.

A credits list in the map thread description is required where the names of the resource (models, skins, icons, spells, sound etc.) authors are mentioned along with the specific resource. It would be a luxury to have links leading to the used resources. Credits in the Quest Log would be appreciated.

A detailed changelog in the first post would be helpful to reviewers and notify fans about the newest implementations to your map.

To make your work run smoother, fix the so called leaks: Triggers - Memory Leaks and Custom Scripts

If you want more reviews, come here:
The Grand Review Exchange!
 
Sounds good. I uploaded the map on my phone on my way home on the train last night, I just figured the world ought to have it.
The credits list is very short. It uses Vexorian's Caster System, a jumping wolf animation by Hayate, and the Voidspawn & Lost Tribe UI and ground textures by Spellbound. The rest of the names are mostly just cited for inspiration.

Do you specifically have something that detected that leaks are an issue? Since the map plays well I was thinking that wasn't much of an issue.
 
Level 14
Joined
Jun 15, 2016
Messages
749
I play the map twice and quite fascinated by the well-cared tech-tree design and how flexible playing styles it can offer to players.
It feels like playing original Warcraft 3 classic melee but with bigger scale and faster pace (heroes and units are more powerful and diversified than original races). For example, you can train smaller units from bigger ones or summon a moving unit as return-harvest base.

All these non-outsourcing resources in this map is huge, unlike anything I have seen before. Each race has it own theme and unique strength/weakness.

Currently, AI behavior of this map is quite varied and can be inactive sometimes but still good enough to play with. We will test each race carefully to see any further bugs and report here as soon as possible.
 

deepstrasz

Map Reviewer
Level 69
Joined
Jun 4, 2009
Messages
18,799
No idea what those CUSTOM_NAME_[NAME] are in the Quest Log but whatever.

1. Blade Thrower still has 0 armour with Zear Spikes on. The spell doesn't mention the values it gives.
2. Not sure if storage wagon should have fortified armour and such high HP when it can be moved wherever.
3. You should place the items in the treasure wagons in the order they become available. I'm not sure about that Gem of True Seeing. Depends on the other faction units.
4. What does Forgotten One have mana for? Same with many other units.
5. Besides moving, wagons can also teleport. Not sure if that should be available to all of them.
6. You could try WERTT on ability hotkeys and maybe units and buildings too.
7. Ogre Slingers make Forgotten Ones kind of useless if not for their Command Aura.
8. This faction has a slow food progression since Tents only really give 2 food as 1 is taken by the newly trained Fortifier. They have to build Encampments instead which take longer to construct.
9. Ring of Fire deals 400 damage to one unit and lasts 40 seconds!? Ouch. Forcing the enemy to use more units just to reduce/spread that damage isn't good either. Can it be dispelled?
10. Blood Magi's portrait is broken. It shows the frame right when first clicked but after a few seconds the ogre gets outside of the portrait box to the left.
11. So, I don't get it. You keep the Eye of Kilrogg and Runes names but change Bloodlust to Insanity?
12. So, there's no High Upkeep in the gameplay? Or you've just changed the names of the upkeep levels?
13. Training Wagon is pretty much useless. Only having some few upgrades.
14. The Zear faction has a lot of immolation spells, even a permanent immolation item.
15. Ogre Mauler attack very fast with the upgrade and has 25% Bash. I think it's too much considering the high damage the unit has. Not to mention you could use Insanity on them which would highly decrease the chances for enemy heroes to escape.
16. Bonecrusher's portrait also has moving camera issues. Vicious Rage=Avatar. Actually all Ogre unit portraits are bugged.
17. Death's Grasp=Doom. Other spells are also very similar if not copies of Warcraft III ones but most of them are custom made or improvised.
18. Energizer's soundset has a horse in it :D
19. The backwings of the dragon look weird when moving as they get off the tail and back.
20. Summon Chaos Demon (after cast) has no DIBTN and it looks like a green square on F10/pause. The ability doesn't mention the cooldown duration.
you can use these to make DISBTNs and more:
Button Manager v1.8.2
BLP Lab v0.5.0
Complete Icon Tutorial - All About Icons
How to Make an Icon
21. Blade Thrower bodies seem not to disappear.
22. Death's Nova doesn't deal damage to unit when getting a bit outward. Not sure how it's supposed to work. If the FX is just for visuals and not actually doing anything.
23. Blood Magi has spikes on him but not the ability too.
24. I'm not sure if even heroes should have the Zear Spikes on them.
25. Demonic Possession used on friendly units does not spawn anything. Tried level 1.

1. Elemental Charge says it lasts 0 seconds. I suggest the changed Labourers to at least have average movement speed else they will be very weak as their piercing attacks won't be too much use against tier 1 units so they need to hit and run to compensate.
2. Rock Tower does not want to be built. The Labourer just stops near the chosen construction site. This only happens if the Labourer has used Elemental Charge and reversed to Labourer.
3. I'm not sure if it's something on my end or because of ALT+TABing but when moving the screen in some directions especially to the south, the building underzone stretches on the grass as if becoming part of its texture. See picture:
ReteraLost.jpg
4. Draenei Eyepiece's icon=Wrath of the Elders'. Avoid using the same icons/models/resources for different things.
5. Since abilities like Chaotic Fury and Blade Toss don't require mana, you should increase their cooldown.
6. Should Echoing Weakness work on friendly/user units too?
7. The Seer can cast Shroud in Shadow without the Master Upgrade.
8. Not sure Eyes of the Ancients is legit. I mean, forever? What if you don't have anything at the moment to dispel? It's basically partial maphack.
9. Battlemasters with Rage on are monstrous. Also that ability icon is used by the Zear.
10. Not sure what to think of Crystal Spire when you can build more than 1. Plus, this faction also has towers unlike the Zear.
11. Elemental Charm brings out three spells of which one is a healing one. It might be too much especially one on each hero. Also, these spells are found in the Crystal Spire.

1. Activating Drain Lumber doesn't stop the gold mining. So, why should there be a deactivation for it, just to stop trees from being destroyed?
2. Childs of Nether just appear out of nowhere at random?
3. Why called Shadow BUNKER if it cannot host anything?
4. Why does Maw of Oblivion even have an attack if it doesn't do any damage? Also, it should deal some damage as it's a hard hero to use because it can only use spells when rooted. It only uses mana and is a strength based hero.
5. Netherwalker has no portrait. Lovely colour change. But I think red (player) will still be red and there won't be any colour change then.
6. Degenerate lasts kind of much considering it immobilizes and disarms and deals damage too. Hopefully heroes are affected less than or equal to 5 seconds.
7. Dark Summoning icon=Enter the Aether.
8. Black Phoenix Egg is too powerful. I suggest making the egg vulnerable, else this spell is pretty much an exploit after the Drake's split into four which can be used to escape without losing the unit while on low HP.
9. Enter the Aether makes the Drake invulnerable and is not a timed spell. This means you can leave the unit in your enemy's base. Maphack-like.

In all honesty love the Zerg feel to it. It's my favourite faction/race so far.

1. Are you sure Snowballs don't stun heroes at all as in stop their channeling abilities?
2. Not sure if Block Ice should have True Sight from the start, also, considering the Frostwolf having True Sight which of course requires upgrading.
3. War Cry says it lasts 0 seconds.
4. There are three leap spells. I'm not sure that's really a good idea. I think the range is a bit too big.
5. Impenetrable Hides mentions Turtle instead of Mammoth.
6. Summon Wall needs a cast range reduction and maybe the armour type shouldn't be Fortified.
7. Mention in the description what the Angry Murloc means/does.
8. Summon Moon (after finishing ritual) icon has no DISBTN.

1. Problem with custom loading screens is that Zear will still appear when choosing Human with 90% handicap. Also, Idle Worker icon as for the Zear, UI etc.
2. Can't build the shipyard as there is no way to reach the water. Also, the map is not specifically designed for water battles. Other factions don't have ships or units which walk on water.
3. Horsemanship=Steadfast and they have different icons and names.
4. The Scout is too small considering he is on a horse.
5. Arcane Priestess' Nova seems pretty similar to the Zear demon's.
6. Arrow Towers have no upgrades as their description says.
7. Bellow icon=Charge. And his Charge's icon is different. Confusing.

Compared to the others, this faction keeps a lot of the original Warcraft III stuff.

1. I think the Coral Bed should be bigger. You can just hide them somewhere in the corner of your base and have much more space than other factions.
2. Enslave doesn't mention what the spell does for each level.
3. The Mur'soph Emperor is way too big especially when using his transformation spell.
4. Serpentine Water Spirit is also present on Arcane Priestess.
5. Corruption is really neat because it can be used to augment your units.
6. The Sea Turtle has its selection scale too big.
7. Tidal Ravager is overpowered not only because of its Chaos Attack Type. It attacks both air and ground units and buildings from the common range (600) and also has Fast Attack Speed and fortified armour.
8. Ancient Hydra has two spells which the Hydra has. Wouldn't it be better for the more powerful unit to be the upgrade of the other then?
9. The Royal Guard only has Resistant Skin something that the Ancient Hydra also has.
10. Water/Sea Elementals can be converted into Poison Elementals but what about other units :D? Do they only get Disease Cloud?

Approved.
 
I really appreciate the review on this and will attempt to review and update. I believe several of the visual bugs, such as ogre portraits, are the result of some homebrew MDX squisher code I ran on the map to get it down to 25 MB from 100 MB because at 100 MB the game cannot handle it on Battle.net. Yes, blizzard removed the 8 MB limit, but once you go past around 100 MB the maps can get in the game lobby but fail to start. Anyway, I think this same code might be responsible for missing disabled icons, too. I'm pretty sure those used to be there in the EXE mod version pre-1.28.

I would like to comment that the Zear Fallen *do* have slightly better food progression because of the Victuals Wagon. The intention for Fortifier Tents is that they will probably just be used in the very early game. Then you can switch to Victuals Wagons. You might want two Encampments, so that one can be training wagons and one can advance to the next tier, but this is left up to the player to decide.
A lot of the other stuff you mentioned I agree sounds like it's just broken and I'll investigate tonight.
 
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