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An unnamed RPG - status: braintrain

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An unnamed MMORPG - status: braintrain

I have, for quite some time now, meaning to do an MMORPG, and this is quite a big project. What I would like is some ideas, brainstormers, braintrains. Recommendations or a few tips to make it better than the average general RPG one might find out there.

The current work lies mainly at the point of hero creation, since this is the heart of the map, this is where I'll spend most my time until the project "goes off the ground" so to say. So I won't raise your expectations but rather spice it up with a bit of curiosity.


All of this is still in the making, you can be a part of the map, so help out, share some ideas!

Please feel free to use the jump list created for the sole purpose to keep the scrolling to a minimum and reading efficiency to a maximum! The closing statement link takes you to the bottom, so you don't have to scroll all the way down.
(I use the Jump list in all my bigger posts, be sure to look for it)


Ideas
"The help you can provide is limitless, but here are some rules"

So, for now here's what I'd like from people willing to help me in the "take-off" on this project.

  • A class idea (existing or not) should explain the weaknesses and strengths, the tactical advantage the class may have over other classes, disadvantages in battle respectively advantages, general popularity... Anything worth mentioning about the class.

  • Spell ideas for the classes stated or created. The spells should be advanced, include small twists and extra conditions (if this or this criteria is met) The harder and more complex the spell is to create, the better. Mind you it needs to be rather original. There is no limit for a spell's attributes and possibilites (but limitation, knowing where to stop is, too, the key for a good spell. Synergy spells are warmly welcome, as long as they fit within the criterias mentioned.

  • Recommendations to improve the map's quality

  • Tips and tricks to use when creating an MMORPG, anything helpful

  • Terrain ideas, generally in the form of screenshots, maps or by explaining it in words. Whatever is needed to explain Your vision of how it would look like
Constructive criticism is a 'philosophy' I wish everyone followed.
If not, I'll point out people who don't and ask for an elaborative answer.


Class Listing

Each hero will have at least 11 spells and a maximum of 22-33 spells. So lots of ideas for each class, and all have to be scripted.
Each class has 3-8 low level spells, 3-8 medium spells, 3-8 high spells
and 2-4 'ultimate' spells with a rather big cooldown.

Here is the class list gathered up so far (alphabetical order):

  • Archer [ _ ]
  • Ardent Warrior [ _ ]
  • Battle-Mage [ _ ]
  • Beast Shaman [ _ ]
  • Magi [ _ ]
  • Crafter [ _ ]
  • Druid [ _ ]
  • Engineer [ _ ]
  • Half-Demon [ _ ]
  • Hunter [ _ ]
  • Knight [ P ]
  • Necromancer [ _ ]
  • Paladin [ _ ]
  • Priest [ _ ]
  • Scout [ _ ]
  • Spawn of the Scourge [ P, C, ~, N ]
  • Spear Wielder [ _ ]
  • Spy [ _ ]
  • Summoner [ _ ]
  • Thief [ _ ]
[ _ ] = hero has no data to begin processing
[ P ] = hero is being processed, meaning it is in the queue of the main to-do-list and will undergo each step
[ C ] = concept of the hero is completed
[ ~ ] = the quota of spells for this hero has been satisfied
[ N ] = all data needed for a hero has been gathered
[««] = creating hero
[] = done


Map
Idea


The map consists of two teams, names are not yet decided,
each team have a number of classes to choose from (or load an already existing hero)

The beginners will be safeguarded, and cannot attack or get experience from mobs that are (n) levels higher. Higher leveled heroes attacking an enemy hero (n) levels lower than the attacking hero will either be punished/not allowed (unable to attack)

Each team have their bases on opposite corners of the map (arguable) and will send high leveled armies at eachother from time to time, where high leveled heroes can help out.
If the opposite base is destroyed they are rewarded with (items, level or whatever will be a good reward at this point) and the game ends

This will of course not be an easy victory, but is set to be hard, and only achievable at higher levels.

Throughout the map, there will be lots of small bosses, camps and various obstacles and secrets. (There's talk about doing dungeons too, but for now it'll be without)

The map will also include a really strong AI and PET map, allowing players a good fight, and pets that can be either AI controlled or controlled by the player himself.

Saving can be done at any time.
Loading can only be done at map initialization.

Progress/Update Log

This is to get a general idea of how it could look like (this is the actual concept script, still being edited and corrected, you can comment on all of the spells listed here as well)

(Concept 1) SPAWN OF THE SCOURGE
Low level abilities
<no name>
Using the dark powers granted by the scourge, the caster slam his feet into the ground, waking the
nearby spirits and commanding them to attack the targeted unit. The spirits charge the target at low
speed but as time passes they grow restless and accelerate. The further away the target is from the
originating point of attack, the more damage it will recieve once the spirits reaches the target.
However, if the targeted unit is far away enough, it will avoid damage, but will in change be slowed
by n%

Scourge Sergeant
----------------


High level abilites

Scourglings

the caster summons little scourglings by tempting them with his dark being as a temporary host.
After they have fed upon the caster for a short duration, they charge random enemies and burrows
into their bodies where they slowly devour the host from within. However, for every second that
pass they grow larger, thus making it impossible to stay in the host, forcing them to exit their
host in the most painful of ways. With their newly eaten flesh they can temporarily sustain
a coherent body of their own, but will collapse after a few hits and the scourgling is forced
to find a new host.

The host cannot be friendly.
Initial damage on caster: n
Maximum of n reoccuring times then it is severly weakened and must burrow under
ground.
Devour damage: n% or n hp each second (increases by lvl)
Exit damage: n
Scourgling hp: n
scourgling damage: n

Bane of the Scourge
the caster conjures forth a sign of doom hidden from the eyes of the enemy, that will act as a
bomb when enemy units are near. At detonation it will draw life from all nearby enemies and allies
and is converted to pure bane, then fired on a random enemy, severely damaging it.
However, if there is a Scourgling festering on a host nearby (not including the caster) all life
will be focused on the host, if it is a hero the scourgling will spawn as a strong, permanent,
minion; if it is a non-hero it will feed on the host until it dies, and then spawn n-n scourglings

Mana Charge
Building up a mana charge, the caster, places it on a targeted unit, friend or foe, and starts draining
mana every n seconds for n seconds until the charge has been built up. Then with but only a word
the charge is released, and all nearby enemy units' mana is drained and dissipated in the air,
forming a mana cloud. All nearby friendly units recieves a mana regeneration boost, based on the
amount of mana drained.
If the target has no mana/no mana pool, it will instead drain life, and have a similar effect.
If the charge is mixed between the deadly combination of mana and health, the dominating side
will affect the outcome.
Mana: The charge stuns all nearby enemy units for n duration, and restores mana to the caster
Health: A deadly cloud is created and damages all units within the cloud.

Presence of Death
the caster's magical force has increased to a state of immense power, so powerful that the dead come
back to life to serve the caster's will. If these undead die once again by the enemy's hand,
they will spew intestines on those who slew them. The slimy insides corrode their skin,
damaging them for n per second for n seconds and slowing them down by n%
Level 1: The caster's presence is however not that strong, and can only keep n undead 'alive' at one time.
Level 2: His prescense has grown stronger and can now allow the scourglings to survive longer, increasing their amount of attacks
before their bodies collapse, and can keep n+n undead 'alive' at one time.
--Each level adds to his general spell power


Auditions

None so far

Staff

Main staff
ShadowMan

JASSers

Terrainers

Iconeers

Skinners

Current Braintrainees
shadow3

About the author

I joined the hive not so many years ago, but have grown alot since then, both intellectually and mentally (and physically :wink:). I am 18 years old, and will soon graduate school. (Yay school!) And after a sabbath year, I'll start studying for a Masters degree in Engineering with programming as a main focus.
Enough about that. People are never genuinly interested in other people, are they? Here are my merits.

GUI experience
Like most of us do, I started in the Graphics(al) User Interface, to learn the basics of the mechanics and physics in the Warcraft world. Then I spent most of my time on the forums, eagerly looking for help, but I soon realised (was told) that there was a tutorials section! And believe me, I love tutorials as long as they're understandable and well explained, and these were 'awesome'!

So, I started sifting through the tutorials and before I knew it I could do some cool spells, but only until I heard about MUI, that increased the task of creating a spell tenfold. So even more excited about the things you could do with GUI I tried making my first MUI spell, and lo and behold! I failed... Miserably...

A bit depressed over my defeat, I refused to give up and gave it another shot, and I failed again. So I gave up. Lousy self-confidence...

A few months later, I sifted through the tutorials section and got a link to a Beginner JASS, and I wondered, "What be this new magical thing?", well not really that precise thought, but, you get where I'm getting at.


JASS experience
Man oh man did I enjoy this tutorial, it opened up a world where I could actually learn how to program (albeit on a very simple level) it soon developed into a fullblown addiction. I just had to learn all the secrets about this JASS.

Then a few months later after lots of reading a thread made by Vexorian, popped up (linked through the tutorials section) where he show how to use the H2I bug to return an object's (handle) unique ID.
The feeling I had then can't be described, but it was a mix between happiness and excitement. This was precisely what I was looking for, a means of referring to a timer, or a unit, or anything. Then of course he showed how to use it, through gamecache, and I soaked it right in.

After a couple of tries I mastered this technique and was really happy I could make MUI spells without a trouble, then, came vJASS.


vJASS experience
I heard about it used, using structs, libraries, scopes. I went through the JASShelper manual a dozen of times to understand these concepts until I could finally grasp the contents (I was about 16) And not until about yesterday, I realized that I'd used vJASS, that was installed with the NewGen Pack people had recommended for JASSers, I also got JassCraft, a great way to learn more about the natives.
So here I stand today, with all(no not really all, there is always more to learn) knowledge ready to use!


C++ experience and PHP experience
Though it might not have to do with any of this, I learnt C++ through JASS and vJASS, incredible, huh? all this from a simple game editor...
Then after that there was PHP, and that was a cakewalk with all the automated functions (like JASS).
Now I grasp most C++ concepts and methods and I create gaming applications (real simple though they may be) with DirectDraw, and am soon ready to go for DX3D...!


Project Recruitment

[I'll need advanced JASSers for this project, so in due time, if you feel up for a challenge, raise your hand, send a message, poke someone, do something to get some attention and let's see if you're prepared for this
JASS REQUIREMENTS LISTED

  1. For you, JASS is like your native language, you speak it fluently.
  2. vJASS. Structures, scopes, libraries, runmacros, debugmode, private/public/neutral declarations, polymorphism, encapsulation and inheritance, all of these concepts are known to you, and you are comfortable with all of these 'methods' (hehe)
Guidelines:

  • Will, where there is a will there is progress
  • Patience, is a virtue
  • Time, is needed
  • Understanding; learn, develop
  • Progress, is made
Hope you understand the guidelines people, on the project, should remember and follow at all times.]

[Terrain managing is held back for the time being]

[Icon makers/modifiers is held back for the time being]

[Skin'ers is held back for the time being]

Replies

For classes, I would try to be a bit more distinct. For example, instead of having a mage with "fireball" "lightning bolt" and "freeze" try to put a unique spin on a generic class. An example could be something like a time mage. Spells could include mass stop, fast forward, the time slow spell from the new diablo (see blizzards site) etc. If you want memorable heroes, they should stand out.

Also, that is a lot of skills. How long is the map supposed to last? Or will it have save states?

The class list is yet to be completed, and to really make these heroes stand out I want originality in the spells, and twists and conditions for them. Which is also why there will be many spells. I want everyone to give it a shot at this and try to come up with a great spell they've always wanted to do.

As for the map's durability, it is planned to last for up to around lvl 50-70, which is why there are so many spells. It shouldn't be easy to get to the maximum level either.

I should probably point out that the "magi" is in fact several mage classes, this is still a working process, so state your opinions!

Keep the suggestions coming, anyone can have ideas, but to execute them is harder.

ShadowMan, I hope you're going to make the spell tooltips shorter, because those are long :p
Ah yes, well these descriptions are only when the hero 'learns' the ability, the spell's description when the hero can use it is much shorter.

As for the spells you suggested,
A good name for the unnamed ability is Haunt indeed, but I actually wanted it to be several ghosts. but I'll take it into consideration.

The nightfall ability sounds a bit 'iffy' I'll see if we can modify it a bit for a more tactical spell.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[A discussion in the hive chat is currently taking place [16-13-37] ]
[Discussion ended at [18-30-10] ]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
tjdrake719,

Prayer
Remember that the abilites have to be tactical; spells that makes the unit uncontrollable and then invulnerable (and increasing stats AND drains life from enemies) is a very overpowered spell. Heroes shouldn't be made invulnerable for any other reason than a fast spell. So this idea have to scrapped.

Rally the Serfs
This is simply a summoning spell, can be done with an already existing spell in the abilities editor, and that aside, it doesn't yield a tactical value, if any it'd be confusing. Summoning spells on a knight overall seems highly unlikely.
Scrapped.

Last joust,
This spell is awful, sorry but it is, it is an unavoidable spell, and doesn't hold a tactical value either (I can imagine him in the field almost dying, then casting this spell and poff, win). Scrapped, but it could also be an ultimate spell, but it's still too overpowered, and simple.

Keep the ideas coming though, remember, tactical value and not too overpowered.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
woxx

You mean like some sort of 'tank'?
Yes, I've been thinking about that but I need several 'tank's; they yield high tactical value in all situations
Defender sounds very general, I wouldn't mind something a little more unique for each class.
If you've got any ideas for your suggestions, please edit your post with some more information about them

Closing statement

This thread will be updated as often as possible and will be fully rewritten when the first hero is born.
Everything about the map, can be changed, modified, because it is still in the making, so give some feedback, som criticism. (repeating myself am I? I'll stop now.)

I will attach a map of the current hero's progress. Updating occur every spell. Feel free to comment. Please keep in mind that each update may be incorrect to the one currently in the workshop.
 

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  • Spawn of the Scourge.w3x
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Last edited:
Level 4
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Messages
115
For classes, I would try to be a bit more distinct. For example, instead of having a mage with "fireball" "lightning bolt" and "freeze" try to put a unique spin on a generic class. An example could be something like a time mage. Spells could include mass stop, fast forward, the time slow spell from the new diablo (see blizzards site) etc. If you want memorable heroes, they should stand out.

Also, that is a lot of skills. How long is the map supposed to last? Or will it have save states?
 
Level 6
Joined
Jun 8, 2008
Messages
256
I think he said there would be save/load.
ShadowMan, I hope you're going to make the spell tooltips shorter, because those are long :p

As for a new spell idea:

Haunt
Calls upon an undead champion to chase a targeted enemy for n seconds. The champion moves slowly, but will slow down his target by n% when he reaches it.
If the champions target dies the caster is given control of the champion for the rest of its duration.

Should only chase 1(!) unit, so it must either be kited or tanked through, and should deal significant damage along with the slow. In my head I was thinking it should have the locust ability until the target dies, but that's up to you :p


Nightfall

Surrounds the target in a cloud of darkness for n seconds, reducing its range of sight to n and make it lose its sense of direction. When the target is freed from the spell, it will be blinded by the sharp light, and will have n% chance to miss on attacks.

You should make it so that when the spell is cast, the targets camera changes position, or moves, so that it is very hard to go where you want to. Also, the spell should only be usable during the day, or at least the last part shouldn't be applied during nighttime.


Spell reflect
Don't really think I have to say anything more about this one as it's pretty straight forward :p
Possible?
Could be for most of the heroes actually.
 
Last edited:
Level 4
Joined
Apr 24, 2009
Messages
115
Knight Ability:

Prayer
Casting Time: 10-20 seconds (depending on power levels below)
Range/AOE: Visible Screen

The Knight prays to the heavens to strike down enemies and heal allies. The knight cannot take any action while spell is being cast. Once completed, prayer heals all allies by x% and drains life from all enemies by y%. Once casting is complete, the Knight becomes invulnerable for z seconds and all stats are temporarily increased by q%.



Rally the Serfs
Casting Time: 5-10 seconds
Range: N/A

The knight raises the rallying call, and his loyal serfs answer. X (20+) serfs swarm the knights enemies protecting their lord.

Serf:
HP: low
Attack damage: low
Attack speed: very high
Length of Life: 60 seconds
Abilities: Community Healing (Each serf heals each other serf by 5%)



Last Joust:
Casting Time: 2 seconds
Range: Target Single Enemy

The knight challenges a lone enemy to a duel to the death. There is an x%(lower) chance the knight will die and a y%(higher) chance the enemy will die. Only one can survive.



Just a few ideas, if you want I can post more later, but those seem very knightly.
 
Level 5
Joined
Jun 27, 2008
Messages
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This sounds cool. You could make a class like Juggenaut or Defender. You know "can absorb a LOT of damage" and stuff^^
 
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