[Arena] Capture the Egg

[Tjuhl]

I'd like to introduce you to Capture the Egg (CtE), a Team PvP map made by Tzirrit and me.

Map Story
Cold winter + times of peace make heroes become mercenaries to pay the bills. Powder scratched off frostwyrm eggshells = valuable ingredient for engineers (Ulf&Grim, blue faction leaders) and alchimists (Gizz the Alchemist, red faction leader). Hero mercenaries who want to pay their bills + demand for valuable ingredient = PvP.

Map Description
CtE is a TEAM VERSUS TEAM map with a strong focus on team vs. team battles. The goal of the map is to gather more gold than the enemy team until the time is up. Each game lasts 15 minutes.

Gold may be acquired by killing members of the enemy team (20 gold per kill) or by carrying a spawned frostwyrm egg (5 gold per 5 seconds carried). Frostwyrm eggs may only be carried within the rectangular temple areas they spawned in. There are 3 frostwyrm egg spawn points (temples) within the map. An egg spawns at one of the 3 locations. After 120 seconds, an egg hatches and a new egg is spawned at one of the other 2 spawn points.

As this is a TEAM PvP map, there are 4 different roles (with currently 4 different classes, 4 additional classes are planned, though) each player may choose when the map begins and at respawn. Each class has a very unique / individual playstyle as each class uses different mechanics to generate mana:
* Protectors (Tank) gain mana by damage they and nearby allies receive
* Crusaders (Melee Healer) gain mana by hitting enemies
* Thunderers (Ranged DD) gain mana by standing still and shooting (all mana is lost when they move)
* Berserkers (Melee DD) gain mana by dealing damage

In order to provide a fun and balanced gameplay where success is purely based on player skill, we decided to NOT put in items and levels. Each class spawns with all its abilities and thus its full potential. If a player decides to choose another class after death, he is not punished in any way and can immediately get back into the fray. Thus, this map is not about individual character advancement but rather using and choosing class synergies within your team and your available abilities wisely.

Screenshots
* Hatch me if you can


* Cleave


* Divine Purpose


* Fanaticism


* None can stop the crusade of the righteous


* Chaaaarge!


* Berserker in trouble


Download
* CtE @Tzirrit
* CtE @TheHelper.net
* CtE @HiveWorkshop.com
* CtE @EpicWar.com
* CtE @IncGamers

Have fun playing the map! We are looking forward to any (preferably constructive) feedback you may have. If you like the map, we gladly invite you to join the Steam community group. [Cross-Marketing ftw!] You may, of course, also try out "Southfury Banks", our 1st map.

 

[Tjuhl]

Some further information on the map:

Units/Heroes
There are two teams, with up to 5 players. Each player can chose one out of 4 heroes: a Tank, a Melee Healer, a Ranged Damage Dealer and a Melee Damage Dealer. Each of the hero units has its very own and distinguishable class machanic that gains and uses "mana" in totally different ways, leading to a totally different style of play for all the classes.

Players can freely choose as which hero they want to re-spawn after being killed. They can also commit suicide to repick their hero at any time (but only in their teams base).

Gameplay
The main goal of the map is to collect more gold coins than the other team. A team collects gold coins by getting hold of Frostwyrm Eggs that randomly spawn, one at a time, at one of three possible locations (temples) troughout the map. If a player gets the Egg, his team will gain 5 gold coins every 5 seconds, as long as the player carries the egg. Moreover, killing an enemy hero grants 20 gold coins.

After a while (120 seconds), a Frostwrm Whelpling will hatch from the egg, damaging all players in range and slowing them for a short duration. Then, the egg will respawn at another position, and so on.

To win, a team must collect a certain amount of gold coins or have more gold coins than the other team, when the game automatically ends after 15 minutes.

 

[oritemusic]

Looks interesting ^^ I'll test it out bit later

 

[Ricardo Irving]

W31C0M3 70 7H3 H1V3 W0RK5H0P! (in boring speak, Welcome to the Hive Workshop). Sounds nice.

 

[Tjuhl]

thanks for the welcome.

would anyone like to share feedback on the map or are you too busy playing it (and then playing it again and again and again)?

 

[Squidle]

Mehh,

I don't like the map, the heroes are a bit plain and boring.
The spells are not really special and the goal is a bit...

I just don't like it, but that doesn't means that it's bad it's just my opinion.

 

[Tjuhl]

Mehh,

I don't like the map, the heroes are a bit plain and boring.
The spells are not really special and the goal is a bit...

I just don't like it, but that doesn't means that it's bad it's just my opinion.

"Plain and boring"? Could you specify? Especially when comparing the heroes and their abliities and their individual resource mechanics with DotA or AoS heroes? Please also remember that this map is designed for (WoW arena like) teamplay, not individual (DotA or Diablo like) 1v1 situations.

The goal is a bit... let me guess: simple? Well then it's working as intended. In the end, Capture the Egg is a "WoW scenario" style map with the goal to gather more points (in CtE: gold) than the enemy. 5 gold per 5 seconds egg carried, 20 points per enemy player killed. We WANTED the players to bother about, well, fighting against each other in a team, and to try out different ad-hoc combinations of the available classes. Through this ruleset, I hope this goal was achieved.

 

[Tjuhl]

I updated the map description to give a more detailed and precise overview on it.

We'd be glad to hear your feedback on it!

 

[Tjuhl]

in competitive sports, e.g. soccer, there is usually little to no difference in equipment. all participating players wear the usual equipment (shoes, dresses,...). if a player scores a goal, he must not add "deadly spikes" to his shoes and he won't get a discount on fouls. he won't get a free shot, and he won't get a "sprint buff". equipment conditions stay the same. the only disadvantage the other team has is the overall pressure that they themselves have to score a goal in order to still be able to win the match.

This similarily applies to most action shooter multiplayer games: respawn, repick class, assault again, die, repeat. The only penalty is the loss of some time and the pressure to have to catch up in terms of current score.

in DotA, Heroes of Newerth, League of Legends, WoW PvP and many many other RPG-based PvP games, this is not the case. The decisive factor is not exclusively "skill", "effective team collaboration", and "good strategies". In most "competitive" RPG PvP games, "stats" via "items" and "levels" enter the fray. there usually IS a difference in skill, thus at some point in the game, the more skillful team can increase its domination gap even further by increasing its stats permanently. the gap between "currently better team" and "currently inferior team" grows.

it's comparable to a soccer team being allowed to have an additional player per goal scored on the field. it leads to frustration of the other team as it has to struggle significantly more to catch up.

and that's why, imho, there shouldn't be any possibility for players to get any stats at all (via items, or levels, ability levels, or whatnot) - expect those buffs temporarily granted by the use of abilities.

tzirrit and I executed exactly those conditions in both of our Warcraft III mods, "Southfury Banks" and "Capture the Egg", and we think this makes the overall gameplay fairer, more enjoyable, and more competitive (and easier to balance).