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Minotaur's Labyrinth v1.6

This bundle is marked as high quality. It exceeds standards and is highly desirable.
----------Shadow Fury Presents----------

Minotaur’s Labyrinth
Created by Shadow Fury

Map Info:

The Minotaur's Labyrinth offers an exciting horror experience to live out either alone or with your friends. The game is based on the greek mythology where you will fight the beast called *The Minotaur* in his large maze. Dare to venture in the obscure creepy atmosphere of the monotone maze in the role of a hapless villager and be careful not to get caught by the Minotaur! If he spots you, you must try to outrun him unless you want to become one of the many hundred corpses. To escape from the labyrinth, you shall not search for the exit, there isn't one! You must find an item called *Despair* and give it to a person called *The Cultist*. This is a pretty difficult quest so there's an alternative; kill the Minotaur! There are several items and weapons all around the maze to help you accomplish this task. Teamwork and cooperation are very important since the Minotaur is very strong. Only a group of heavily armed villagers may hope to slay him.

Features:

A thrilling, frightening and challenging gameplay experience which promises to give you intense fear
A dark terrifying monotone ambient to let you get lost easily while running around desperately
Real life resemblance. As you pick items, you'll see them worn on your own villager. Cool right? But what makes the game more realistic is that you can only pick one weapon per category, something not present in most Warcraft maps. For example, you cannot pick a sword and an axe or two shields. This means that you have to choose wisely the items you keep and throw away. One final real-life-like feature is the lighting system. If you manage to find a torch, the atmosphere will be less dark for you and for all the players around you
A lot of items, including books, logs and diaries to give you information or help you with your quests, and weapons to fend off or even kill the Minotaur
A secret chamber which can only be entered by finding a bloody key somewhere in the maze to unlock the gate closing it. It keeps something unknown to humanity from centuries because nobody ever managed to find it, will you discover it?
Up to 10 players can play the map. This can be played single player or multiplayer with a full house, at your preference!
Smart AI for both the villagers and the Minotaur, meaning that you can still play with other 9 computerized villagers in single player
A lot of characters to meet who will help you to kill the Minotaur or even escape. Some people, however, will only accept to help you if you give them something back or accomplish a task for them.
Areas of thicker fog. Keep away from such regions because they slow you down, providing a precious advantage to the Minotaur for slaying you
Various game modes which are the following:

  • Beginners Mode
    This is the mode for first-time players and novices. If you want to practice, this is the right mode for you. More items spawn, the Minotaur will take more time to be released and will move slower. Trust me, this mode is really straightforward

  • Normal Mode
    This is the common mode whose gameplay has been described above
  • Hardcore Minotaur
    Same as normal mode with just some little exceptions... no Despairs, no Cultist, just you and the Minotaur. Your only task will be killing him so good luck! He even starts with more HP than normal! At least more items spawn
  • Insane
    Normal mode became too easy for you? Try Insane then! It's a harder version of normal mode where there are less items, the multiboard and secret are disabled, the cultist's location doesn't ping periodically when you pick Despair and the Minotaur is harder to kill. Don't go for this mode if you're not pro!
  • Nightmare
    Do NOT choose this mode if you are not experienced. If Insane has become a piece of cake, then Nightmare is the right mode for you. When you play it, you will understand why it's called "Nightmare"


Some helpful tips:

Scour for a torch! It's so dark in the labyrinth that you can scarcely see what's in front of you. However, if you find a torch, it'll be a big relief, trust me.
If you pick the item Despair, be ready to run! By picking it you'll drive the Minotaur mad, giving him maximum movement speed for 10 seconds and revealing your location constantly for that duration. If you manage to survive that or the Minotaur is just too far from you, don't hesitate to search for the Cultist then!
Didn't find Despair? Then don't *despair* too much. If one of your mates found it, keep looking for him instead. When a villager gives the Cultist a Despair, he's not the only one to leave the labyrinth; his followers are also allowed to escape so don’t miss the opportunity.
Cooperate! Find the AI buddies and they will follow you. If you keep walking on your own, death will await you very soon. If you are playing in multiplayer, it's even better. Gather into one place and let everyone of you have a specific role. Due to the range of weapons present, you can create different combos, each with different purposes. For example, Angelic Spear + Orb of Light = High HP regeneration so if you get a good deal of armor, you'll be the tank of the team. Another example is getting the Thorium Hammer + Energy Elixirs which will make you the stunner of the situation. A final example is getting a Torch because this will allow you and all players around you to have a better vision of the maze. Distribute the roles evenly, don't just go for the stronger items (for instance Torch is the weakest weapon but if you don’t have one you and your mates will enjoy the darkness).
Did you die too soon? There’s no need to hate yourself for that, you’ll be granted a second chance. You will become a ghost and your new task will be finding the black phantasm of Glandar. It’s unoffensive, don’t worry, but if we really need to talk about dangerous stuff, then be aware of the Soul Devourer. It is going to track your little ghost, make your task harder and try to vanquish you. It moves at a high speed so you have to find Glandar’s ghost quickly. Once you find it, kill it and you’ll revive.

Screenshots:


An image of the entire labyrinth:

233766-albums6886-picture100201.png


An area of various archways and the perilous crippling fog:

233766-albums6886-picture100202.png


Some mysterious demonic footprints:

233766-albums6886-picture100203.png


Various corpses, skulls and blood plus two deadly regions of crippling fog completely covered with archways:

233766-albums6886-picture100204.png


The secret chamber from outside (not showing the inside of course, it's your task discovering it):

233766-albums6886-picture100205.png




There are no screenshots of face-to-face encounters with the Minotaur because I don't want to ruin the surprise! Some of the screenshots are also outdated.

Damn! I'm in the crippling fog:

233766-albums6886-picture100206.png


Playing a game with my computerized buddies:

233766-albums6886-picture100207.png


Oh look, I found the entrance to the secret chamber. I just need the damn key:

233766-albums6886-picture100208.png


Poor Villager 10, he was so young and naive. May Villager 8 escape from the Minotaur at least:

233766-albums6886-picture100209.png


Change Log:




Map uploaded



Removed Minotaur's gameplay
Different camera perspective which will hopefully prevent view obstructions and allow better movement in the maze
Decreased collision size of Mindless Wanderers and of the various characters in the labyrinth
Decreased damage of all traps
Added resistant skin to iron helmet and metal helmet
Fixed some bugs with the AI and the ghost's camera
Increased the Minotaur's maximum mana to 250
Changes the villager's name from *Villager* to *Lost Villager*



Decreased darkness of maze
Removed the + sign from the name of the map
Removed auto-attacking of villagers



Added new items (more to come) like Angelic Spear and Metallic Armor and a legendary item called Dragon Blade
Revamped the old items. Now you are only able to pick one weapon, one shield, one armor and one helmet so each individual item shall give you some benefit by itself
Increased Minotaur’s Hurl Boulder stun duration from 1.5 seconds to 2
Added new skills to the Minotaur which are Minotaur’s Frenzy (every 15% HP missing increases attack speed and lifesteal) and Roar of Terror (decreases armor and attack damage while also dealing damage) but removed Cannibalize
Hopefully reduced the lag and ultimately removed all possible leaks
Torch now provides vision to all nearby allies so if you got one torch others simply need to stay close to you and not get torches for themselves
Both the Minotaur’s AI and villagers’ AI have been made smarter, especially the one of the villagers because they need to take human-like decisions such as dropping a weak item for a stronger one without bugs. The AI villagers are also cooperative now. They will follow you but they’ll also take the items they find convenient. However, if the Minotaur appears, the villagers will either fight or forsake you to him (in that case you’ll firstly have to escape then re-find the villagers, granted that you all survive)
Increased Minotaur’s HP by a lot so you really need to cooperate to win (I tested the game 1000 times with the AI and I’m sure it’s balanced)
The strongest items no more spawn in front of you. They spawn at a long range from all villagers so you'll really need to scour for them
Added the skill "Scream" to the villager. It allows other nearby villager to spot your location but take care, it also permits the Minotaur as well to know where you are if he's close enough!
Bows & Arrows bugs when picking it have been ultimately fixed
Increased the height of all archways as to avoid camera obstruction
Villagers spawn at great distances from one another, meaning that it's impossible for two villagers to spawn in the same region or find themselves very near to each other
Fixed some awkward bugs and a rare bug which was spawning on a cliff and getting stuck
Other little updates which I may have forgotten but the ones listed above are the most important ones



Fixed two critical bugs. The camera would malfunction if a villager dies and you're not playing with Player 1 (Red). If you managed to play this multiplayer and encountered this problem, you can relax, it's finally fixed! The other bug was probably more concealed. *Chased* sometimes appeared and didn't change into *Alive* even if you moved away from the Minotaur to a large distance. Now this issue is gone!
Zoomed out the camera on the Ghost to make it more comfortable. Glandar's ghost also moves at a lower speed to contrast the high speed of the Soul Devourer
The Minotaur wins if all villagers die EVEN IF Glandar's ghost is still alive
Added two new items: Halberd and Chromium Shield
Renamed some items e.g Metal Helmet ---> Aluminium Helmet
Changed the icons of some items
The Minotaur now gains +5 damage for every villager around him. The first bonus damage of +5 is obtained for two villagers, not with one. 3 villagers = +10 damage and so on
Priest and Necromancer do not require any quest to side with you. They just join you if you come within their range
Fixed all the erroneous tooltips like "Scream" which showed a cooldown of 1 second whilst in reality it's 15
When you pick Despair, all villagers have your position pinged on their minimap and the picker of Despair has the position of the Cultist pinged. This is to let the task of escaping from the maze more probable than killing the Minotaur on Normal Mode
Even smarter AI for both villagers and Minotaur
Other little changes I may have forgotten



Auto-attack disabled! I said that I had removed auto-attack in a recent version but apparently I hadn't
Beginners mode implemented. Now first-time players can try this and novices can practice with this mode
Insane mode has been made even more insane because it was too close to difficulty to normal mode
The bug where the multiboard didn't display to host has been fixed
All abilities can be cast instantaneously, meaning that you can use "Scream" while walking
The secret chamber finally bears a secret! If you find the bloody key, run like hell to open the gate!
Cultist's position pings every 20 seconds to all villagers with a Despair rune
Some other stuff changed/added



Camera modes implemented. This means you can change from first person view to zoomed normal camera view by pressing Esc to facilitate movement in groups
Torch can be moved from the left hand to the right hand and vice versa. This will allow you to carry a torch and a weapon/shield at the same time
Nightmare mode added for real hardcore players
Two new items added: Haste Boots and Speed Gloves
Some items now reduce movement or attack speed


Credits:

Special Thanks:
  • WendigoWars
  • Mf-Shroom


Models:
  • Tarrasque
  • -Grendel
  • SuPa-
  • KayS
  • perfjert
  • sunwarrior25
  • Callahan
  • Hellish Hybrid
  • Sephiroth_VII
  • Sunchips
  • Matarael
  • Tr!KzZ
  • Lord_T
  • Thrikodius
  • Chenralstrasz
  • ikillforeyou
  • Ami
  • Chen
  • HappyTauren
  • General Frank
  • Ket
  • Mythic
  • Astaroth Zion

Icons:
  • KelThuzad]
  • Chen]
  • HappyTauren
  • Paladon
  • NFWar

Skins:
  • halo
  • L_Lawliet
  • xxxxxxxxxx

Loading Screen/Map Preview Image:
  • WendigoWars

Other:
  • WendigoWars
    Some of the resources used in the map have been imported by WendigoWars and I'm unable to find the authors of such resources. An example is the custom music.



Author's notes:

WendigoWars is the original author. He created the layout of the maze and a few of the basic triggers. Besides, this map is all his idea, not mine. Basically, he gave me the foundations and I built on them this awesome map! Permission to upload this map myself has been given here
Before trying the map with the AI or in multiplayer, try it out yourself alone in single player to know how scary this game is. After doing so, I strongly encourage you to test the map in multiplayer and report any lag/bugs you encounter
The map will undergo various updates to implement the multiple missing elements like the purpose of the secret chamber
As I've always been an honest reviewer with your maps, I wish you to be the same when judging my map. Point out all the negative issues you found in it, I'll accept them as long as you provide constructive criticism to improve my map. Don't forget to report bugs/errors/glitches so that I can fix them as soon as possible! Thank you and have fun terror!

Map Description Template Created by -Kobas-
Find more here: Map Description - Templates


Keywords:
Minotaur, Labyrinth, Maze, Horror, Terror, Fear, Frightening, Scary, Dark, Obscure, Gloomy, Nightmare, Creepy, Greek, Mythology, Villager, Legend
Contents

Minotaur's Labyrinth v1.6 (Map)

Reviews
21:00, 5th Aug 2015 Orcnet: The Gameplay is really fun, with its play value having more than just 1 game option, I can actually try a few of the levels such from Normal to Hard which gives more heavy atmosphere for those that manages to complete...

Moderator

M

Moderator

21:00, 5th Aug 2015
Orcnet:
[img]http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/members/194715-albums6441-picture75028.png[/img]


The Gameplay is really fun, with its play value having more than just 1 game option, I can actually try a few of the levels such from Normal to Hard which gives more heavy atmosphere for those that manages to complete the main goal of the game. Somehow the enemies inside the maze seems a bit more of a sudden jumpscare than a defending denizen. I end up trying to kill those wandering units before the Minotaur tries to kill me, I also end up reaching units that can be rescued in the game which gives me more time to look for the items and let them be a bait for the Minotaur.

My little suggestion for the Gameplay is that it probably needs zombies, skeletons? or just lesser enemy units that attacks you than just the minotaur, although those units must be really weak in my observation so it doesn't give players a terrible heat stroke.

The terrain is good looking, it really shows a good depth of a mysterious dungeon with the perfect tone of SFX covering the maze. I don't have problems getting blocked by doodads and such, so I think there's nothing wrong to add suggestions.

Lastly, I can say the game management is well executed and does not need any more changes depending on the map maker's choice of course, still I seem to get distracted in one of those egg sacks, sure they give such a bloody SFX when attacked but I get the feeling they are in need of item drops don't you think? Also maybe adding crates, boxes, or cages some item drops (or jumpscare trigger?) would give more features to the game.

Overall, map is fun while it lasts, I still did not reach the main goal of the game though.
 
Level 21
Joined
Nov 4, 2013
Messages
2,017
Interesting... I thought this project got buried.

I revived it after a lot of months of no-working. No problems with leaks anymore. I think of cancelling the Minotaur's gameplay because I find it unenjoyable (but maybe people will enjoy it ^^) and, as you said previously, non-evolving. If the majority agrees, I will remove that part.
 

Remixer

Map Reviewer
Level 31
Joined
Feb 19, 2011
Messages
1,954
Okay I tried it... I must say it's better than it used to be.

Some things still hurt my eyes:
Villager role:
1. The first camera angle when the game started was facing a cliff, I could not see a thing.
2. I was attacked by the minotaur and tried to run away but he casted the "Ground Slam" spell and my cursor hit him instead, the custom camera really makes the game a mess sometimes.
3. I found that the traps and other units kill more villagers than the minotaur itself. Better just stand still and only run if you face the minotaur, better chances of surviving longer and have the minotaur waste all his mana or health to others.
4. I died and turned into a ghost (as a player 1) and then player 3 died as well and my camera was panned into a fog of war. Check triggers.
5. There seems to be no defeat/win functions, the game just keeps going even if all villagers are dead.
6. Some of the items seem rather useless. It makes no difference whether you have some +2 armor helmet or not.
7. Why is the unit's name "villager". Couldn't you figure out any better name than the name Blizzard originally came up with?

Minotaur Role:
1. Two runners died before I spawned. I found that rather retarded.
2. I used one spell just to see how it works and I was out of mana.
3. I can't pick up items or destroy them.
4. I do not gain anything from killing a villager, not even add to stats?
5. There is no advancing in the gameplay which makes it really boring. I can just stand still and wait for the runners to die to traps or other aggressive units around the maze.
6. I tried to cast the boulder spell on a runner but every time he was able to get around a corner and the casting was cancelled.
7. The AI sometimes attacks the minotaur and dies for nothing.
8. These random wandering mobs around the map block as hell. I lost a runner 4 times because some Mindless Wanderer blocked my path for several seconds. (And I can't attack them either.)

General:
1. Feeling is decent, the decoration is good now, there are some minor things that I would still change.
2. Change the Info Messages when trying to pick up item or attack some unit that can't be killed.
For example if minotaur tries picking up item the message should be "Minotaur can't pick up items."

Suggestion:
Remove the part of Minotaur gameplay or make it more interesting, it is really dry like this.
 
Level 21
Joined
Nov 4, 2013
Messages
2,017
There are many misconceptions and misunderstandings in your review:

There seems to be no defeat/win functions, the game just keeps going even if all villagers are dead.
Wrong. If you kill all villagers, you win unless Glandar's ghost is still alive because in that case one villager can revive.

Some of the items seem rather useless. It makes no difference whether you have some +2 armor helmet or not.
Some items are weak, others are strong. If you don't manage to gather lots of armor items, that +2 will make a little difference.

Why is the unit's name "villager". Couldn't you figure out any better name than the name Blizzard originally came up with?
Why should this be a problem? It's pretty unoriginal, I know, but it follows quite well the story behind the map. People from a village mysteriously vanishing and finding themselves in the labyrinth

I used one spell just to see how it works and I was out of mana
Impossible. You probably used Ground Stomp and it costs only 90 mana out of 200.

I can't pick up items or destroy them.
That's intentional. If the Minotaur can destroy items, then the villagers will not find a lot of them. It's already hard finding the good ones so why making the task harder?

I do not gain anything from killing a villager, not even add to stats?
Once again it's intentional. The smaller the number of villagers, the greater the chance of the Minotaur to kill them. If I even added stats to him, I would make the task of killing him out of the question.

I tried to cast the boulder spell on a runner but every time he was able to get around a corner and the casting was cancelled.
If you could always stun them, it would be too easy. You even acknowledged that traps damage mostly the villagers to being able to stun them directly would make it too straightforward.

The AI sometimes attacks the minotaur and dies for nothing.
The AI attacks only when it has more than 50 HP and has appropriate items otherwise triggers force them to flee.

However, your other points are good and I would like to work on them. I think of implementing two camera modes, the current one and the one of the ghost for the villager. I also plan to reduce damage from traps, make the Minotaur's gameplay more interesting (don't know how, any suggestions?) and decreasing the collision size of mindless wanderers.
That bug of the ghost seems strange, I'll look into it, it could be that I did a mistake when I had to recode the whole triggers for some reasons.
 

Ardenian

A

Ardenian


Review Minotaur's Labyrinth + AI


Visuals - Ambience and Aesthetics

Minotaur's Labyrinth offers an intended monotone design confusing players and greatly capturing the feeling of a confusing labyrinth.

The re-creation of fog of war and black mask greatly contribute to the atmosphere and the desperation the villagers feel.

Frightening background music promises that the players do not rest and feel safe until they managed to escape the labyrinth


Gameplay and Features

The gameplay is simple. Run, run and run, grab gear lying around the floor and hope you don't have to face the minotaur, searching for Despair to leave the labyrinth.
After a villager died he has the chance to revive if he kills Glandar's ghost, making players not wanting to die as hunting the Devourer is nothing but difficult.
Characters offer variety and help to survive this madness.

The addition of a well-working A.I. promises extensive gameplay even solo with adding computer players.

As Remixer mentioned, the runners spawned are sometimes affected by labyrinth influences resulting into health loss or death. This is a point you could fix.
The gameplay as Minotaur is indeed quite uniform and lacks variety. Having no opportunity to improve or change anything about the minotaur makes his gameplay very simple. You could think about additional features like optional side quests for the minotaur and options, maybe unlockable spells or the option to change the labyrinths pathing.
I mostly agree with the rest of the points of Remixer.


Result
Minotaur's Labyrinth + AI is a very fast-paced, haunting horror map that one shouldn't play alone in the dark, having head phones!
While the overall game time is very short, it is more than 'enjoyable' ( = making you scared and not wanting to be alone in the dark), the gameplay with the Minotaur is lacking. I hope we see some features for him with future updates.

I vote for Approval
 

Remixer

Map Reviewer
Level 31
Joined
Feb 19, 2011
Messages
1,954
Wrong. If you kill all villagers, you win unless Glandar's ghost is still alive because in that case one villager can revive.
Okay, did not know that one. Does the runner AI even seek for the ghost? I did not see it once. Can the minotaur kill the ghost(s)?
Some items are weak, others are strong. If you don't manage to gather lots of armor items, that +2 will make a little difference.
No, I don't think it makes any difference since the minotaur hit is exactly around 33%~ of the runners health so even if the runner had +5 or +8 armor the minotaur would kill them with exact same number of hits.
Why should this be a problem? It's pretty unoriginal, I know, but it follows quite well the story behind the map. People from a village mysteriously vanishing and finding themselves in the labyrinth
Why couldn't you name them "Lost Villager" or something more unique. Currently it seems as if you were too lazy to change the name (since even the model is the same.)
Impossible. You probably used Ground Stomp and it costs only 90 mana out of 200.
Not literally out of mana but you can't cast the spells more than once. I find it absolutely ridiculous since they are next to useless. (e.g. ground stomp is useless, takes more time to cast than normal hit and deals less dmg)
That's intentional. If the Minotaur can destroy items, then the villagers will not find a lot of them. It's already hard finding the good ones so why making the task harder?
The minotaur's power already feels very limited: he gots blocked by random creeps, can't destroy items, huge mana costs and his spells rarely hit/prove useful
Once again it's intentional. The smaller the number of villagers, the greater the chance of the Minotaur to kill them. If I even added stats to him, I would make the task of killing him out of the question.
Not if you made the game more progressive for both sides, currently the minotaur side is very un-rewarding
If you could always stun them, it would be too easy. You even acknowledged that traps damage mostly the villagers to being able to stun them directly would make it too straightforward.
Or you could make it double pro: make helmet prevent the stun/reduce duration and make the boulder cast instant/faster and missile speed up.
The AI attacks only when it has more than 50 HP and has appropriate items otherwise triggers force them to flee.
This one AI was red health and then he picked up health potion used it and just stayed to fight tho his end.
 
Level 21
Joined
Nov 4, 2013
Messages
2,017
Okay, did not know that one. Does the runner AI even seek for the ghost? I did not see it once. Can the minotaur kill the ghost(s)?
Ghosts do hunt for Glandar's ghost but they're unable to kill the Minotaur of course.

No, I don't think it makes any difference since the minotaur hit is exactly around 33%~ of the runners health so even if the runner had +5 or +8 armor the minotaur would kill them with exact same number of hits.
It might not be very worthy but the game is based on your luck too. Pick what you find, if it's not good, let it be good.

Why couldn't you name them "Lost Villager" or something more unique. Currently it seems as if you were too lazy to change the name (since even the model is the same.)
That sounds much better! Gonna implement that.

Not literally out of mana but you can't cast the spells more than once. I find it absolutely ridiculous since they are next to useless. (e.g. ground stomp is useless, takes more time to cast than normal hit and deals less dmg)
You can if you have full mana. The other spell costs 75 mana and cannibalize doesn't cost any mana.

The minotaur's power already feels very limited: he gots blocked by random creeps, can't destroy items, huge mana costs and his spells rarely hit/prove useful
You still need to get used to him. I played him lots of times and I manage to kill the villagers with some patience. I cannot let him destroy items because it would limit their number, especially if you play Insane mode. About the "random creeps", I will reduce their collision size so that this awkward issue doesn't occur again.

Not if you made the game more progressive for both sides, currently the minotaur side is very un-rewarding
It's hard to make the Minotaur's gameplay more rewarding. Even doing what Ardenian said wouldn't improve the status either. It's chosen, the Minotaur's gameplay is removed. This is a horror map and playing the Minotaur doesn't give any fear. It's just boring, I agree.

Or you could make it double pro: make helmet prevent the stun/reduce duration and make the boulder cast instant/faster and missile speed up.
Nice one! I can lower the stun duration by using resistant skin but the second part is impossible for me to do.

This one AI was red health and then he picked up health potion used it and just stayed to fight tho his end.
Strange... in the triggers he's supposed to use the potion and run away. I must look into this

By the way, I found out the ghost camera issue and hopefully it should be fixed. Expect an update by today where I'll implement most of the things you said.
 

Remixer

Map Reviewer
Level 31
Joined
Feb 19, 2011
Messages
1,954
Nice one! I can lower the stun duration by using resistant skin but the second part is impossible for me to do.

Why couldn't you reduce the casting time or increase missile speed?

Also: I forgot to add to my first review. Seriously shields only give armor? They could very well also give chance to reduce damage greatly (Hardened Skin). The current shields do not differ from armor or helmets in any way (except mirror shield).

Also fix the item name "Bows and Arrows" couldn't you just use "Bow".

About the ghosts:
So can the Minotaur kill the player ghosts? Since if he can't you must re-figure that part out. What is the minotaur's purpose meanwhile the runners search for the Special ghost to use the spell on while they are ghosts?

EDIT: If the debris (eggs) do not drop any items why not make them untargettable?
 
Level 21
Joined
Nov 4, 2013
Messages
2,017
Why couldn't you reduce the casting time or increase missile speed?

Also: I forgot to add to my first review. Seriously shields only give armor? They could very well also give chance to reduce damage greatly (Hardened Skin). The current shields do not differ from armor or helmets in any way (except mirror shield).

Also fix the item name "Bows and Arrows" couldn't you just use "Bow".

About the ghosts:
So can the Minotaur kill the player ghosts? Since if he can't you must re-figure that part out. What is the minotaur's purpose meanwhile the runners search for the Special ghost to use the spell on while they are ghosts?

EDIT: If the debris (eggs) do not drop any items why not make them untargettable?

1- Casting time is 0, setting it to negative doesn't work
2- You are supposed to gather armor items till you get something acceptable like +12 armor. If I let shields give like +10 themselves then when you'll sum the rest you'll get unacceptable armor. This is not a issue for me and it's quite irrelevant speaking about it. I may add specific skills to items (like I just did with the helmet as you suggested) but none of them will have their armor increased
3- Wooden armor has hardened skin, no other item shall have it again to avoid unbalances
4- No, he cannot but there is the Soul Devourer that acts like the Minotaur of the ghosts. Since the Minotaur's gameplay will be removed, there's no need to think about that issue
5- The item is charged and the charges represent the number of arrows
6- Egg sacks spawn spiders if you destroy them. They do not really do anything but it's just to give some "surprise effect"
 

Remixer

Map Reviewer
Level 31
Joined
Feb 19, 2011
Messages
1,954
1- Casting time is 0, setting it to negative doesn't work
Set casting time to -1 and make sure that the unit's "Cast Point" is set to 0. Also remove the "casting animations" from the spell. And you should have an instant spell.
2- You are supposed to gather armor items till you get something acceptable like +12 armor. If I let shields give like +10 themselves then when you'll sum the rest you'll get unacceptable armor. This is not a issue for me and it's quite irrelevant speaking about it. I may add specific skills to items (like I just did with the helmet as you suggested) but none of them will have their armor increased
Sorry for irrelevance but I think the shields should have the "Hardened Skin" ability since they are actually meant to block entire attacks, maybe reduce the shield's armor and add it to the armor(s).
Additionally you could make heavy armors/shields reduce the movement speed.
6- Egg sacks spawn spiders if you destroy them. They do not really do anything but it's just to give some "surprise effect"
You could make them explode automatically when run next to. But it's totally optional.
 
Level 21
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Set casting time to -1 and make sure that the unit's "Cast Point" is set to 0. Also remove the "casting animations" from the spell. And you should have an instant spell.

By removing the minotaur's gameplay, it's no more a problem. The AI will handle it much better than us due to its rapid reflexes.

Sorry for irrelevance but I think the shields should have the "Hardened Skin" ability since they are actually meant to block entire attacks, maybe reduce the shield's armor and add it to the armor(s).
Additionally you could make heavy armors/shields reduce the movement speed.

I believe armors protect more than shields don't they? I have a better idea. Why not letting shields allow you to cast "defend"?

You could make them explode automatically when run next to. But it's totally optional.

Maybe...

IMPORTANT: Map updated, I would be grateful if you could re-check the map again ;)
 

Ardenian

A

Ardenian

About the new cam for the villager, I myself hardly see a difference, did you slightly increased the height ?

The villager can now see partly over walls/edges, I ma not sure whether it is a serious problem tho, as he cannot see details/ the floor.
 
Level 21
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About the new cam for the villager, I myself hardly see a difference, did you slightly increased the height ?

The villager can now see partly over walls/edges, I ma not sure whether it is a serious problem tho, as he cannot see details/ the floor.

The angle of attack was decreased and the distance increased. As long as the villager cannot see what's behind walls, I don't think there's any problem. I just want the camera to be proper. Also notice that now you can move backwards because there is a little space behind the villager that can be clicked without problems.
 

Ardenian

A

Ardenian

Nice! The issue with running away after facing the Minotaur is much easier now!
 
Level 19
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Jul 2, 2011
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2,162
This map is basically unplayable

1.The bobbing and shifting of the camera causes head aches(flatten all walk-able terrain)
2.The AI doesn't have any team assist functions so even finding another villager doesn't help you survive(add automatic grouping when AI come in contact to other Villagers)
3. Traps! Do they rest... I die all the time because of traps, I can't see them. I can't avoid them, I just die over and over. (High light traps so players can avoid them)
4.TOOOO DARK! (Add lighting effects, touches, sparks from traps firing... shiny items)
5.Villagers start with no items... not even one... you could at least give them a pitch fork or some bread

after looking over the game, I find it unenjoyable and frustrating. However! With only minor improvements it could be great
 
Level 21
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This map is basically unplayable

1.The bobbing and shifting of the camera causes head aches(flatten all walk-able terrain)
2.The AI doesn't have any team assist functions so even finding another villager doesn't help you survive(add automatic grouping when AI come in contact to other Villagers)
3. Traps! Do they rest... I die all the time because of traps, I can't see them. I can't avoid them, I just die over and over. (High light traps so players can avoid them)
4.TOOOO DARK! (Add lighting effects, touches, sparks from traps firing... shiny items)
5.Villagers start with no items... not even one... you could at least give them a pitch fork or some bread

after looking over the game, I find it unenjoyable and frustrating. However! With only minor improvements it could be great

Are you sure you played version 1.1? The first one has the bad camera and the killing traps. Try v1.1, it's much better.
And I told you before that there are lighting effects but if you can't find them it's not my problem!
By the way, if you stick to the AI villagers they will help you. I am still working to let them stick to human players but that's quite complicated
Lastly, villagers of course start without items. In most games heroes start without items. In this game you're supposed to search for useful items throughout the labyrinth. You basically got nothing in the beginning on purpose
 
Level 22
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Feb 6, 2014
Messages
2,466
Some suggestions and negative things I found in your map:
- Removed the '+' character in the file name.
- Hard to control at first (and when on adrenaline). You should consider being able to turn/move using arrow keys, it will really ease up the gameplay.
- The minimap doesn't match the actual maze in the map so why disable Black Mask?
- Feels like there is no progress when playing, what I could have done in hours could also be done in a few minutes if you're lucky.
- A Player can easily dies within 5 minutes. I suggest a low difficulty at first and when the player is close to achieving the objective, make the difficulty harder.
- The villager's auto-attack is frustrating, whenever I see the Minotaur, he auto-attacks it. I think you can fix this so that villagers will not auto-attack the Minotaur, something about attack priority or unit classification, I'm not sure.
- Difficult to run with adrenaline because you will end up right-clicking the walls and the villager will mostly stop when that happens.
- I have to agree with TheLordOfChaos201 on the map being too dark. I think you can slightly increase the map lighting without affecting the horror-ness(?) of the map. Most horror games are not this dark.
- Consider adding jump scares, for the map to really be a horror map.

Some positive things I found in the map:
- The Turn Around ability is a GREAT idea, it is very useful.
- The terrain was nicely done, it fits really well with the theme of the map, though it is always the same, there is no terrain tile variation.
- The items use different models so players can easily differentiate items at first sight.
- The music and sound effects are great and fits with the theme. The timing of the sound is also very good.
 
Level 21
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You got some really good suggestions! Gonna follow most of them in the next update.
The minimap doesn't match the maze intentionally because I don't want people to use it like some kind of GPS system. It's a maze, I won't give you the luxury of exploring it completely (hence black mask everywhere) or know where you are exactly. When you could explore the maze, you already knew where you had passed so you won't return there because you know there are no items there. This also ruins the effect surprise of the Minotaur thus I'm not changing this part
Btw, to avoid auto-attacking, I'll have to set the acquisition range to 0. I think that will work
 
Level 22
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You got some really good suggestions! Gonna follow most of them in the next update.
The minimap doesn't match the maze intentionally because I don't want people to use it like some kind of GPS system. It's a maze, I won't give you the luxury of exploring it completely (hence black mask everywhere) or know where you are exactly. When you could explore the maze, you already knew where you had passed so you won't return there because you know there are no items there. This also ruins the effect surprise of the Minotaur thus I'm not changing this part
I meant enable black mask completely, meaning you can see the whole minimap at the start. So you wouldn't really know if you passed there before because all are not black. Example, if you look at Dota, you can see the minimap at the start. But if you don't want too that's fine too because the only benefit is you can see the circular maze (map preview) when playing.
 
Level 21
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Map updated already. Now I'm working on letting the gameplay be more interesting. One skill is just not enough for the villager right? I'd also like to try to implement keyboard movements and see if people find it more comfortable (but I quite suck at creating them so it's gonna be tough). Keep tuned guys, the map is constantly improving!
 

Remixer

Map Reviewer
Level 31
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Feb 19, 2011
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Map updated already. Now I'm working on letting the gameplay be more interesting. One skill is just not enough for the villager right? I'd also like to try to implement keyboard movements and see if people find it more comfortable (but I quite suck at creating them so it's gonna be tough). Keep tuned guys, the map is constantly improving!

By the gods go for ready-to-use system. Making such system is hard and you always end up causing leaks or something. Just try out the already existing systems at "Spells" section and see what works the best.


Also yes, you should add more spells but it's hard to say which. Maybe you could add items that would allow villagers to cast some spell once and then they must pick up the item again (e.g. Throw Hammer, Ensnare).

My opinion from the start has always been the game must be more progressive, I was surprised when you told all the items spawn at once. For god's sake why? This kind of action makes the map as in-progressive as it could be.

What I've been suggesting/thinking of would be that the items slowly slowly getting to better items. What would be even more advanced? Crafting:
For example following item types would spawn around the maze at start:
1. Wooden Stick [Item Type - Weapon]
[Increase attack damage by 4, range by 40, chance of critical hit +10%]

2. Blunt Stone [Item Type - Usable]
[Being too heavy to this stone can be dropped at short range, slowing down nearby enemies for a short duration.]
When dropped Blunt Stone has 50% chance to crack up.
[On events creates 0-2 Sharp Stones.]

3. Scrap Leather [Item Type - Material]
[Can be used to craft various other items.]

Crafting:

Leather Strips [Item Type - Material]
Create 1-3 leather strips.
[Required ingredients: Scrap Leather.] [Required tool(s): Sharp Stone.]

Sharp Wooden Stick [Item Type - Weapon]
[Increase attack damage by 8, range by 40, chance of critical hit +13%]
[Required ingredients: Wooden Stick.] [Required tool(s): Sharp Stone.]

Sharp Stone Spear [Item Type - Weapon]
[Increase attack damage by 11, range by 45, chance of critical hit +17%]
[Required ingredients: Wooden Stick, Sharp Stone, Leather Strips]

Stone Hammer [Item Type - Weapon]
[Increase attack damage by 17, chance to stun target for 0,35 seconds 15%, reduces attack speed by 20%.]
[Required ingredients: Wooden Stick, Blunt Stone, Leather Strips]

Sling [Item Type - Weapon]
[Increases attack range by 400. Reduces damage by 4. Has 35% chance to deal 35 times base damage.]
[Required ingredients: 2 Leather Strips, Scrap Leather] [Required tool(s): Sharp Stone.]
[Requires Sharp Stones to operate.]

Leather Boots [Item Type - Boots]
[Increase movement speed by 25, provides 3 extra armor.]
[Required ingredients: 2 Leather Strips, 2 Scrap Leather]

Leather Helmet [Item Type - Helmet]
[Provides 1 extra armor. Reduces the damage of harmful spells by 30%.]
[Required ingredients: 2 Leather Strips, Scrap Leather]

Leather Jacket [Item Type - Body Armor]
[Provides 4 extra armor. Changes the armor type to Leather.]
[Required ingredients: 2 Leather Strips, 3 Scrap Leather]


This way you would make the game a lot more progressive. Also if this would be implemented you can make also the minotaur's role a lot more progressive as he could get something from killing the villagers and such.

About crafting: You could add a menu (spellbook) with spells that tell what they create and which materials you require for them. Then player clicks e.g. the button which says "Craft Leather Strips". One Scrap Leather gets removed and 1-3 Leather Strips are given to the unit.
 
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Remixer, you're making the game too complicated. I want to keep it simple, you are going for a totally different way. There are items that provide abilities (Net provides Ensnare). I'm starting to suspect you played the game for a few minutes and immediately quitted because you did not find all the items apparently. The game is partially based on luck, damn, that's why items spawn all at once. You pick what you find and let it be good for you. Additionally, if the weak items spawn first then the strong ones, it would lead to an unbalanced gameplay. The Minotaur would kill very easily some villagers from the early game, making it too difficult or even too tedious. You have to take into account all of these things before giving suggestions :/
 

Ardenian

A

Ardenian

I agree with Shadow Fury. Adding item recipes makes the whole game more complicated as the gameplay is set on a fast speed, escaping the Minotaur, who has the time and patience to think about crafting items ?

Don't get me wrong, it is great that you give suggestions on the game, but I think item crafts don't fit this game.
I would be glad to hear more suggestions from you, keep it going!
 

Remixer

Map Reviewer
Level 31
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Feb 19, 2011
Messages
1,954
Remixer, you're making the game too complicated. I want to keep it simple, you are going for a totally different way. There are items that provide abilities (Net provides Ensnare). I'm starting to suspect you played the game for a few minutes and immediately quitted because you did not find all the items apparently.
I quit because all the runners died to traps/minotaur and as a minotaur because all the runners died. As you said it's based on luck, I did not face the item net.

The game is partially based on luck, damn, that's why items spawn all at once. You pick what you find and let it be good for you. Additionally, if the weak items spawn first then the strong ones, it would lead to an unbalanced gameplay. The Minotaur would kill very easily some villagers from the early game, making it too difficult or even too tedious. You have to take into account all of these things before giving suggestions :/

How would it make it too difficult at start? Did you miss this line: "This way you would make the game a lot more progressive. Also if this would be implemented you can make also the minotaur's role a lot more progressive as he could get something from killing the villagers and such."?

I just told this way or something like it would allow the minotaur's part to be progressive too, not as boring and dull as it is now. But if you made your final decision about removing the minotaur's part.

Personally I find the game too simple for my taste. For a few reasons:
1. There is very little variation in items, reducing the replaying possibility. In total there is less than 10 items, which I find very few for a map this size.
2. The traps and other creatures do more damage and harm than the minotaur itself, making the fear of minotaur odd. I do not fear minotaur, I fear more for the traps and other aggressive things.
3. After you find the 3 necessary items after which you won't get remarkably better you just have to wait for the other runners to gather them too, making it mostly waiting for others to catch up.

Sorry if I seem offensive/negative but there is just so many things in the map that clip oddly with my idea of the map. You try to make it more progressive or not? You want to keep it simple even though it is very simple right now. You say to fear the minotaur even though you can easily escape from the minotaur and evetually you'll die to traps.

Why don't you make traps stun the runners so they actually had a reason to fear the minotaur, whom would get notified if a runner ran into one.
 
Level 21
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Nov 4, 2013
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2,017
Are you following the updates or not? Since the first update, traps have been nerfed, the camera has been fixed, the minotaur's role has been removed not only because it was hard to make it interesting but also because even if I managed to make it good, it would go against the original idea of the map, horror map. There's nothing horrifying when you play the monster that is supposed to scare you. The Minotaur's role is something I don't plan to look at anymore because it will be fully computerized.

P.S: There are 14 different items in total and other creatures don't deal any damage. Mindless Wanderers simply disease you...
 

Remixer

Map Reviewer
Level 31
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Feb 19, 2011
Messages
1,954
Are you following the updates or not? Since the first update, traps have been nerfed
Haven't bothered to check the new version out yet, but even so, as long as the traps deal damage and have nothing to do with minotaur's actions they are dangerous.


P.S: There are 14 different items in total and other creatures don't deal any damage. Mindless Wanderers simply disease you...
Disease deals damage, so they do deal damage. There is some "soul" seeker or something who looks like a grim reaper who kills you (at least when you are a ghost).
 
Level 21
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Haven't bothered to check the new version out yet, but even so, as long as the traps deal damage and have nothing to do with minotaur's actions they are dangerous.

Maximum damage is 25 and only 7 traps do that, others deal lower damage. Seems reasonable to me. Traps are needed to raise the awareness of players because I don't want them to move the villagers while they're sleeping because nothing threatens them. It is also to help a bit the Minotaur with his task.

Disease deals damage, so they do deal damage. There is some "soul" seeker or something who looks like a grim reaper who kills you (at least when you are a ghost).

Deals so low damage that I don't even consider it fatal (0.5 per second and it lasts 10 seconds which means 5 damage in total). Is that too much or what?
 

Remixer

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Feb 19, 2011
Messages
1,954
Maximum damage is 25 and only 7 traps do that, others deal lower damage. Seems reasonable to me. Traps are needed to raise the awareness of players because I don't want them to move the villagers while they're sleeping because nothing threatens them. It is also to help a bit the Minotaur with his task.



Deals so low damage that I don't even consider it fatal (0.5 per second and it lasts 10 seconds which means 5 damage in total). Is that too much or what?

If we consider: Villagers have 100? hit points.
1. You step into a trap and you'll lose 25% of your hit points
After the trap you keep moving and let's say you regenate back 3 hit points (12 seconds). After that you go past a Mindless Wanderer who inflicts you the disease for 3 seconds (time to get past it), which deals 0,75 damage. After that you take 0,25 damage per second (including regeneration). Which in total is rounded to around 4 damage. Remember during this time you have no regeneration. So after stepping into the trap 25 seconds ago you now have 74 hit points. Now you step into another trap (which is very likely since there is 35 traps in total). This time "a floor trap" which deals 20 damage" Now you have 54 hit points (which is just a little bit over 50% of your health) now after you step into this floor trap (just as you realize it) you turn around and go back from where you can but you remember the Mindless Wanderer and take the route to another direction now the wanderer comes from the fog of war and again inflicts you with the Disease again. Pretty much same as before. After this you have 50 hit points. It's only a half what you could have.

Now you hear the music change, the minotaur is chasing you. You start running away and he tries to boulder you (but you use the spell and he does not have time to finish the cast). You sadly run into another trap which deals again 20 damage.

So summary:
After this all, the minotaur chased you for 4 seconds and you have around 34 hit points (regeneration) even though the minotaur did not hit you once.

So yes, I still think it's a bit overpowered to have 35 traps + 3 Mindless wanderers dealing damage to the runners not even mentioning the minotaur.
Remember you only faced 3 traps out of 35 and only one of the mindless wanderers, yet you ended up having around 30% of your maximum health.

Imagine if the minotaur did hit you once. - You would die if a mindless wanderer came close to you. And all this (except the minotaur's hit) is something you can do nothing about as a runner)
 
Level 21
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That's there's something called "Healing Elixir". All the large story you recounted has only a probability of occuring. I tested the map like a 10000 times before uploading it and the probabilities of dying from a trap with low damage (because months ago in an ancient veriosn the traps dealt low damage like now) are minimum. The Minotaur is still the main damager and due to the surprise effect he does he'll surely manage to stun a human player. Perhaps you don't notice that the maze is gigantic and the chances of hitting a trap are low. Lastly, 12 of the traps are very visible to human players so you may only run into them if you're being chased and you're running desperately or because you were not looking carefully (that wouldn't be my fault then). Summing the effect of elixirs, I disagree fully with what you're saying right now about traps. It was reasonable when the damage was over 50% of the villager's HP but now you cannot object.
 
Level 21
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Thanks for map approval! I read your suggestions and you may be surprised to hear that I had already implemented some of them but they ended up either ruining the game or making it worse/unbalanced. Items are supposed to be picked up by chance if you find them, not to be taken by destroying a doodad.
One successful suggestion though could be the part of the skeleton. I had done that before but because I had some problems with the triggers, I cancelled it. I wanted them to appear as the skeletal doodads around (death animation for them) but the problem was that I wasn't able to detect when a villager was nearby them unless I pre-placed them in the Editor. I think I'll do that in a future update because it would be a cool feature that might also scare some players ;)
 
Level 19
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1,713
Pros:
-Fun and challenging map to play
-Features different difficulties

Cons:
-It's too dark and almost impossible to see unless you get a torch.
-Minotaur AI seems too simple, it just follows you until it kills you.
-Very few items, like 10 or so.

Suggestions:
-Add more items for countering the Minotaur, like Health Bonus items.
-Do something about the darkness it's hard to see.
-Change difficulty, you can for example change the spawn time of the Minotaur, 30 sec for Insane, 40 sec for Hardcore and 50 sec for Normal.
-Improve Minotaur AI, make him wander the labyrinth instead of making it target you and follow until it kills
-Is it able to play as Minotaur? that would be a lot of fun.
-You could take a look at Mansion Murderer for more ideas, it will help a lot.

Overall:
There is a lot of room for improvement, good luck with your map and I'm looking forward into testing future versions :)
 
Level 21
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Thanks for the suggestions. Currently, there are 14 items in total. I plan to add more. One thing I do not plan is reducing the darkness as this would ruin all the horror feeling of the map. It has already been reduced enough in the other updates. This game really has to be played in a dark room to have a better visual.
The Minotaur is programmed to chase you. From your description I think you mean he's too difficult to beat. How come a monster will not chase you if he finds you?
Spawning times may be increased, seems a reasonable suggestion.
Eh, the older version used to offer the Minotaur's gameplay but trust me it was too boring.
 
Level 1
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i unlocked the room with the bloody key, and it was just full of dead bodies, and then the minotaur attacked me, slammed all my soldiers dead, and then i killed him.
 
Level 21
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i unlocked the room with the bloody key, and it was just full of dead bodies, and then the minotaur attacked me, slammed all my soldiers dead, and then i killed him.

I guess you didn't read the description. Unfortunately I still didn't implement fully that part. If you enter it, you'll find nothing useful. I'm trying to gather suggestions about what to implement for the secret chamber because I don't really have great ideas.
You must really be a very lucky player because I never managed to open that damn chamber (probably because I didn't really care about doing that since I wouldn't win anything)

MAP UPDATED!
I've finally updated the map after some weeks of work and dedication.
To view all the changes, check the changelog. The main updates are more items, item revamps, new game mechanics and a tougher gameplay which encourages cooperation for achieving victory. Anyone that tested 1.2 must try out 1.3 because it is 100 times better and has a lot of bugs you may have found fixed.
 
Level 21
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My camera some times glitches, so it wont rotate with my char.

I dont really get the ghost part, the blue pings is the reaper and you have to find Glandar? which is impossible :<

really fun map!

Thank you for your kind rating! The blue ping is Glandar's ghost which you must catch to revive. If it is just too hard I'll simplify it. Version 1.4 will be released soon.
 
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