A Terrible Nightmare v1.04

[deepstrasz]

The camera has some problems at time especially when getting near map borders. The camera remains somewhat in place while the child goes out of the shot. It is restored when the kid is taken back out of the map borders.
The player controlled unit might just not stop moving in a direction unless the key that leads the unit to move in that direction is pressed again. It might be because of selecting other units during locomotion.

I have to play this more for proper feedback. It's quite interesting. However, in single player it's a bit hard especially when the witch overruns you (faster movement speed+2 hit kill). I'll have to test this in multiplayer.

 

[Ungoliath]

Thanks for the feedback! I'm aware of all the things you pointed out.
Regarding the camera, my guess is that the camera bounds do not go all the way to the edge. I'll try to fix it, or find some way around it.
As for the movement thing, I'm also guessing it is because of selecting other units. This can be fixed by making the child stop every time a unit is selected, but that too can become quite frustrating. :/
Regarding the Witch, there are some unlockable abilities that make you invulnerable/invisible for a short duration, allowing you to escape the Witch! I might however make one of these available from the start.

Thanks for testing the map, man!

 

[deepstrasz]

I might however make one of these available from the start.

If it can be finished in one player, that might not be necessary (or you could at least do it for singleplayer only, maybe). I just probably have to get a hang of this.
About the word(s) in the circle: I've wrote all bunch of random stuff in the chat box and nothing happened. Do I need the Owl Detective for that?

Edit: does hiding in the blue lights help against the witch or only hides you from the other guardians?

 

[Ungoliath]

All riddles (if you can call them that) are related to things in the map itself. So, for example, when Jack refers to the "Bishop" he's referring to the npc the Lonely Bishop!

Do I need the Owl Detective for that?

That is a really great idea! I could make it so that you can purchase hints from the Detective Owl if you're struggling with a riddle.

does hiding in the blue lights help against the witch or only hides you from the other guardians?

The bushes hide you from all enemies, except for the Child Collector, the one with the flashlight!

 

[deepstrasz]

All riddles (if you can call them that) are related to things in the map itself. So, for example, when Jack refers to the "Bishop" he's referring to the npc the Lonely Bishop!

Oh but he only said to go into the circle (of flowers I guess) and say a word or something. I went there and started writing in the chatbox. Nothing happened so I selected him and clicked the Talk ability again. He said the same thing about going into the circle. Is that a riddle?

The bushes hide you from all enemies, except for the Child Collector, the one with the flashlight!

makes sense.
Another question. Is the witch more likely to hang out in the southwest where the gold and many lumber stacks are?

EDIT: skip intro?

EDIT 2: the music shouldn't quite stop but loop (not really easy to do if it's wasn't created that way); I hear no violin song but directly the screams when the witch is close; the problem is that it's pretty much random; this time I didn't even had the chance to call a guardian apart from the one the Wanderer had offered.

EDIT 3: for some reason when you go to the southeast (where the snow land is) the camera raises and you're seen from behind from afar.

EDIT 4: it would be neat to select the guardian somehow other than when looking at him (=when it is in the camera screen). That would make controlling the guardian easier. You can't use CTRL+number because he's not owned by the player.

 

[Ungoliath]

Aaah, I see now! I'll make it more clear that he asks the riddles as you enter the circle, and repeats them as you re-enter.

skip intro?

Working on it!

the music shouldn't quite stop but loop (not really easy to do if it's wasn't created that way)

This is the thing that I've struggled with most! It's not difficult to make it smooth, but the thing is, as soon as I edit this particular mp3 file, the quality suffers so much, and I don't really know why. This is a thing I'll experiment with for sure.

for some reason when you go to the southeast (where the snow land is) the camera raises and you're seen from behind from afar.

The camera changes as you start climbing the mountain!

I hear no violin song but directly the screams when the witch is close; the problem is that it's pretty much random; this time I didn't even had the chance to call a guardian apart from the one the Wanderer had offered.

No violin song playing is indeed strange. Had you encountered the Witch earlier? Was she still in the vicinity? I'll see what I can do, regarding the wanderer thing!

 

[deepstrasz]

The camera changes as you start climbing the mountain!

Oh.

No violin song playing is indeed strange. Had you encountered the Witch earlier? Was she still in the vicinity? I'll see what I can do, regarding the wanderer thing!

No violin, just screams. I sometimes hear weird sounds: metallic, some sort of growls or winds IDK.

I'm currently using my second guardian as my first was killed and am trying to upgrade him (earth; thanks to the stun it's easier to escape).
Is the custom skinned Abomination (bear) actually giving a quest with that: "maybe the witch has my kid" stuff? The witch's place (to the southeast) is very annoying; lotta trees, very easy to get stuck; I was lucky I didn't meet her there.

EDIT: guardians like the Earth one can just cover the screen when following :|

EDIT2: weird for almost 20 mins now I haven't seen the witch and I've left her with 2k HP; is she stuck/removed or something? By the way does she regenerate? If she is killed, what happens? Can the lantern dude be killed?

EDIT3: there needs to be a way to keep track of all the acquired items (Bishop's ring, letter, etc.). I'm not sure messages appear in the Chat like they do in the Log for singleplayer. A special place in the Quest Log or a secondary inventory might be needed.

 

[Ungoliath]

Man, thanks for all this feedback! I've made so many improvements in the last hour.

weird for almost 20 mins now I haven't seen the witch and I've left her with 2k HP; is she stuck/removed or something? By the way does she regenerate?

Interesting. The Radar building can locate the Witch, what does it say? She does not regenerate, as it's one of the goals to take her down.

there needs to be a way to keep track of all the acquired items (Bishop's ring, letter, etc.). I'm not sure messages appear in the Chat like they do in the Log for singleplayer. A special place in the Quest Log or a secondary inventory might be needed.

Done!

 

[deepstrasz]

Destroying buildings? Does that give you 50% of the resources back? What's the use of destroying them? Is there a limit of buildings per torch?

Interesting. The Radar building can locate the Witch, what does it say? She does not regenerate, as it's one of the goals to take her down.

Tells me, the witch has been seen in the north but doesn't ping. Next time I pressed right after the cooldown finished, it said she was seen in the southwest...

EDIT: why do Lost Souls have the Select User ability? How do I know what Greta and Hans (the couple) are searching for as they don't say anything about it?

EDIT2: at last she appeared and before that I've got the red ping on the map as when the game starts. And now I can't escape with my 3/3 upgraded guardian as she follows him and attacks him :|

 

[Unregret]

This map reminds me something about "Alice in Wonderland" but with darker theme. You should change the default icon set of WC3 to something "dark and deep".

 

[deepstrasz]

Killed her. But I think another one appeared as I've seen the red ping where she usually appears when the game starts... Have no guardian at the time and I'm having a hard time finding any stones. There's a NPC guardian but I didn't yet find the entity he wants me to free.

EDIT: lucky me I've found the merchant and took the fireG.

EDIT2: I get it. It's the ring. The owl says so.

EDIT3: where do you upgrade the fireG? Not the whiteF, I guess. Maybe, the red?

EDIT4: Holy Ghost! Now there's an invulnerable witch too! OK so I need the K for the CC.

EDIT5: FINISHED!

4.5/5.

The thing is, you kind of have to know the map to play it properly. That's why it's best you play it in singleplayer first. Takes about 2hs to get the hang of it (exploring and stuff).

"Problems":
-you can't escape the witch unless you leave your guardian to die (she is faster than the guardian too and by the time the invisibility spell fades, she is still on your/his track). If you don't have a guardian, only luck like the slowing coin building or the blue flickering bushes can be your escape
-guardian stones are scarce later in the game; I don't know how it works, maybe related to how many players are in the game?
-you don't want two witches in the game and one of them being invulnerable

Haven't played it in multi so can't tell how that flows but if everybody is on their own (except for when they're in the cages!?) it'll be kind of a horror show.

 

[Ungoliath]

This map reminds me something about "Alice in Wonderland" but with darker theme. You should change the default icon set of WC3 to something "dark and deep".

That means so much, thank you! Yeah, might do something with the icons in the future. When all mechanics are fully polished I will start focusing on UI and new content.

FINISHED!

4.5/5.

The thing is, you kind of have to know the map to play it properly. That's why it's best you play it in singleplayer first. Takes about 2hs to get the hang of it (exploring and stuff).

"Problems":
-you can't escape the witch unless you leave your guardian to die (she is faster than the guardian too and by the time the invisibility spell fades, she is still on your/his track). If you don't have a guardian, only luck like the slowing coin building or the blue flickering bushes can be your escape
-guardian stones are scarce later in the game; I don't know how it works, maybe related to how many players are in the game?
-you don't want two witches in the game and one of them being invulnerable

Haven't played it in multi so can't tell how that flows but if everybody is on their own (except for when they're in the cages!?) it'll be kind of a horror show.

MAN, you finished it?! That means a huge deal, thanks! You've provided loads of constructive criticism, didn't expect to get this much sorted out the first day! Will upload v1.02 tomorrow with some pretty huge changes.

 

[deepstrasz]

Will upload v1.02 tomorrow with some pretty huge changes.

About the ending. Would be nicer to fade to black or to white (you know, the light after dying or something) instead of just showing the victory message over the scenery while the cinematic mode is on.

 

[Ungoliath]

About the ending. Would be nicer to fade to black or to white (you know, the light after dying or something) instead of just showing the victory message over the scenery while the cinematic mode is on.

I might just do that! I didn't want to skip the score screen, but now I just remembered that the dialog box and score screen are two separate things.

 

[deepstrasz]

Hey @Ungoliath, I've just played this with a friend. The Owl Detective can be used by other kids (allies); it's a good thing because there aren't really that many resources on the map.
Does the witch become stronger if more players are in the game?
Gold can be harvested if the players spread, otherwise some will have less to none.

Spoiler

I think I've gotten a message informing about the guardian being killed while in reality it was still somewhere far back (tried summoning another one and it didn't work and cracked a fragment trying to do everything to create a new guardian; later, I've found the previous one still alive ; I've left the guardian fight the witch).

When I pressed release, the game ended for my friend as well. Shouldn't everybody escape on their own? That would be better as not everybody should be able to in case the witch gets them on the way.

Is the appearance of the second witch random? I know that little rascal looks at you first though (someone is watching you). The main witch wasn't killed before the second witch made her first appearance. Her second, was after the main witch died and we were trying to get to the fountain. Luck that the witch attacked the guardian instead of the children (she is invulnerable anyway).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EDIT: that update seems to have added a lot of easy ways out of danger.

 

[Ungoliath]

That's awesome @deepstrasz!

Does the witch become stronger if more players are in the game?

That's what I'm planning for a future update which will revolve around scaling the Witches and making them more unique!

I think I've gotten a message informing about the guardian being killed while in reality it was still somewhere far back (tried summoning another one and it didn't work and cracked a fragment trying to do everything to create a new guardian; later, I've found the previous one still alive ; I've left the guardian fight the witch).

When the Witch "kill" you while your Guardian is still alive, it will basically go into a trance and become passive. If you, the owner, then return to the Guardian or call upon it through a Foundation Torch, it will wake from this trance.

There should now be a text message when you die that says something like "Your Guardian now stands silent, waiting for its Child to return..."

Is the appearance of the second witch random? I know that little rascal looks at you first though (someone is watching you). The main witch wasn't killed before the second witch made her first appearance. Her second, was after the main witch died and we were trying to get to the fountain. Luck that the witch attacked the guardian instead of the children (she is invulnerable anyway).

She shows up once two keys have been found and only moves once one of her two rascals has spotted you. The rascals are now visible in the fog, as I had previously forgotten to add a "extended line of sight".

that update seems to have added a lot of easy ways out of danger.

Maybe! It's all about testing. Most of these teleport mechanics have a high cost and are difficult to obtain until mid- or lategame. Who knows, I might tweak them in the future!

 

[Zominus]

*SPOILERS*

Hey there! I played this a bit ago finding many of the of the cool things about this map, but i was wondering if it was intended for the hostile wolves to become permanently invulnerable when put to sleep by the elder guardian. I believe the witch was also put permanently invulnerable as well and stopped moving when put to sleep *with multiple people in game* Unless I am supposed to kill the two rascals running around? I didn't notice before, but I had two keys, and just needed her last key, but could not finish it =(

 

[Ungoliath]

*SPOILERS*

Hey there! I played this a bit ago finding many of the of the cool things about this map, but i was wondering if it was intended for the hostile wolves to become permanently invulnerable when put to sleep by the elder guardian. I believe the witch was also put permanently invulnerable as well and stopped moving when put to sleep *with multiple people in game* Unless I am supposed to kill the two rascals running around? I didn't notice before, but I had two keys, and just needed her last key, but could not finish it =(

Ah man, that sucks! The Lull ability is an edited Sleep ability, no special triggers involved. Did they (the wolves and the witch) eventually become hostile? Or were they just permanently asleep?

EDIT: Found the problem! I had accidentally set the "stun duration" to 0 (when you're making this many spells you basically go into autopilot haha)

 

[Zominus]

Ah man, that sucks! The Lull ability is an edited Sleep ability, no special triggers involved. Did they (the wolves and the witch) eventually become hostile? Or were they just permanently asleep?

EDIT: Found the problem! I had accidentally set the "stun duration" to 0 (when you're making this many spells you basically go into autopilot haha)

They were permanently stuck for the rest of the game sadly, so could not complete it, hehe. I think only other thing i noticed was the child permanently going in a direction if the arrow key was pushed too many times which I believe was already mentioned, and not TOO fond of that camera angle. Guardians can get in the way sometimes. Other than that, can't wait for the bug fixed version!

I did have a chance to use the similar abilities, but check if the sleep on the bear and the child's ability do not act the same way.

Although it was a bug before, it might be cool if there was a pacifist type guardian option, where the child did not have to kill anyone. Sort of idea from Undertales.

 

[Ungoliath]

Made a quick update! All changes are listed in the changelog. Also checked the bear's Slumber ability, it's all good.

I think only other thing i noticed was the child permanently going in a direction if the arrow key was pushed too many times which I believe was already mentioned, and not TOO fond of that camera angle. Guardians can get in the way sometimes.

The TWO things that this map is struggling with most at the moment, haha. I will eventually find a nice solution to both of those problems

 

[n0th1nG]

My friend, i very interested and very want to play with my brother, but it is too big to open it in multiplayer. I already install TFT 1.2.6 and it still can't load because your map is too BIG. Can you optimize the size or show me the way to unlimited please ?

 

[Ungoliath]

That's so great to hear, @n0th1nG!

The most recent patch is 1.27, which removed the 8mb limit. You can find all information here: [8MB Limit Removed Update] Warcraft 3 - Patch 1.27b

 

[n0th1nG]

Thank you my friend for giving the website, hope you got lots of reputation and lots of download

 

[Rufus]

Approved.
A delightful, charming and atmospheric map.
Awesome skins too, and the flashlight guy looks awesome and terrifying.

If you want more reviews, try joining the Grand Review Exchange.

 

[Alethos]

Loved the atmosphere and what little of it I could play. Every so often the camera kept getting perma-stuck going around and around my person (to the left- and pretty much everytime I ran into something ingame- especially near a fragment when I already had one) and now I'm dizzy af and really nauseous. Reseting the game didn't seem to help either. I guess it added to the nightmare feeling but maybe not in a way you intended.
Also try as I might I never could get the pixies to do anything to my (moon) guardian...

Hopefully I'll try again when things settle down and when I can find people to play with so the witch doesn't just go after me while I'm trying to walk in a straight line -.-

Edit: I think I may know what it was. I kept walking after having clicked on something. I tried it again and whenever I clicked something I was still and it seems to have worked.

 

[Ungoliath]

@Rufus Thanks, man! I've been thinking about joining and probably will once my exams are done, when I have the time.

@Alethos Thanks for testing my map! I was confused at first about what you meant with "the camera kept getting perma-stuck", but it is, as you've said, a problem caused by the arrow key movement. I think I've managed to figure out what causes it: while you're holding down your mouse button or having the ingame chat open, the game doesn't register if you would release an arrow key, thus resulting in the game thinking that you're still moving in a certain direction. This is fixed by simply pressing the arrow key again, making the game run through the triggers once more.
This is an issue though, and I'll probably test some of the arrow key movement systems that are available here on the site, as the one I'm using right now is ooold... time for an upgrade!

Also try as I might I never could get the pixies to do anything to my (moon) guardian...

Oooh, you found the Moon Guardian AND the pixies? That's awesome! Haha, here I was hoping that I could sneak in a rework (more or less) of the pixies, as I'm not really happy with how they function at the moment. There's a reason that they're only blessing certain Guardians, but I'm not really happy with how it turned out... They will be patched for sure.

 

[nmphuong91]

This map is fun, but it makes me feel motion sickness and nauseous. If there is another camera mode...Never been good with first person view.

 

[Thing_I]

Very cool! I see you took my criticism into account (and probably others' as well, but I didn't read anyone's reviews) and made the guardian easier to control and stay out of the camera. Nice! +rep and 5/5, I like this map.

 

[Ungoliath]

@nmphuong91 I'll always try to find ways to improve the camera system, so no doubt that it will continue to change along the road! However, I have no plans to change the view from its current third person perspective, sorry! Motion sickness really sucks though, I will definitely try to find some solution

@Thing_I Thanks man, that means a lot! Yeah, you guys have provided so much valuable feedback since I first uploaded the map, it's insane

 

[Crixis48]

La verdad me parece que wigetta es real.

 

[deepstrasz]

I was playing with the Nature Guardian and the Owl Guardian replaced it after getting with the fragment through the well. The Nature Guardian became static but still helped against enemies (black wolf). Shouldn't you first banish a guardian to be able to spawn another?
Loading the quicksave after getting the Ghost Key crashed my game for some reason.

 

[Ungoliath]

Thanks for informing me! Man, I hate when errors like this slip through the cracks.

Loading the quicksave after getting the Ghost Key crashed my game for some reason.

This I find really strange, will look into it later today.

 

[Ungoliath]

@deepstrasz For how long had you been playing? Was it a long session?

I suspect there is a small memory leak somewhere

 

[deepstrasz]

For how long had you been playing? Was it a long session?

Not that much, about 1h.

I suspect there is a small memory leak somewhere

Yeah, might be my game as some people have not experienced something like this on some maps I have.

 

[Insanity_AI]

Me and my friend were playing this, got all the three keys, I got caged by black wolves, he dropped the keys in the fountain, a cinematic started, aaand we both got an "unexpected error".

 

[Ungoliath]

Me and my friend were playing this, got all the three keys, I got caged by black wolves, he dropped the keys in the fountain, a cinematic started, aaand we both got an "unexpected error".

Same thing happened to me recently as I was playtesting, will fix it in v1.4 (along with other things)

 

[Khianskhi]

i have a question i'm new to the patch and i can't seem to find the Maps folder in order to play these maps please help me, i can't play any .w3x maps because there is no folders in my file

i downloaded warcraft 3 RoC and TFT btw. can't play the maps in local area network. i really wanted to play these kinds of maps please do help

those kinds of folders attached on the picture i can't find it just these ones on the other picture

 

[Ungoliath]

@Khianskhi I was really confused as well! Turns out the map folder is not where you installed Warcraft 3, but in the "My Documents" folder. Hope this helps!

 

[Otherknownoise]

Nice map!But sadly my sight is always blocked by trees-- sometimes by guardian, then get captured.
And I don't find how to upgrade some kind of guardians, like fire fox.
Where are black dogs and witch sis from? I may miss the information.
Also "ctrl+c" unlocks the view.
Anyway, it's great.
——————————————————————
I don't know how to say that in english. If you choose one unit and press hotkey "control"+"c", camera unlocks and can't be reset. WC3 bug.
Wishing well could be very useful to observe an area.

 

[Ungoliath]

@Otherknownoise Thanks for playing my map!

I understand the camera can be a bit janky, I've been trying to improve it every now and then. With this update - along with increased vegetation - I also made the roads wider and more noticeable. There are several NPCs that advise you to follow the roads, so that you don't get lost (and end up with trees blocking your view)

Regarding the Fire Guardian - that is something you have to discover ingame.

I use several visual and auditory cues to hint of potential danger. Each time the wolves howl you can catch a glimpse of them on your minimap. As for the Sister - there is some information that pops up once you enter that particular phase of the game. There are also some NPCs who provide info regarding the wolves and the witches. There's a heavy focus on interaction!

I had no idea about "ctrl+c" haha

 

[Raforce]

Great map, really enjoyed it a lot. Great idea. Exploring and quests were fun. We finished on first try without finishing every quest.
Experienced the second issue as well - my model was invisible for everyone, happened on the second part of the game.

 

[Ungoliath]

@Raforce That's awesome, thanks for playing my map!

Man, sorry that you encountered the second issue! Was it only your model that became invisible? For how long had you guys been playing? Do you remember if you were doing anything in particular when the game entered its second phase?

 

[Raforce]

@Raforce That's awesome, thanks for playing my map!

Man, sorry that you encountered the second issue! Was it only your model that became invisible? For how long had you guys been playing? Do you remember if you were doing anything in particular when the game entered its second phase?

Hey, hey,
thanks for your quick response. Well, no problem about the issue. At first, it was kinda weird, but as you are able to see your shadow, you can still move on.

We played around an hour or so. Been a few months ago, but i since i liked the map, i wanted to provide some feedback. We got to the second phase prolly around 45-50 minutes. My character got captured in the second phase after my guardian (fully up-ed Moon) defeated the witch iirc, and i found myself invisible in the cage. Sadly, I did not keep the replay. Prolly the next time trying to do all quests, I'll keep it, just in case.

Still great map - keep up the great work!

 

[SubjectNameToChange]

Truly a unique experience! I remember playing it with friends, we all found it amazing
By the way, version 1.03 properly works with 1.26a & 1.27b patches