Battle.net TD 1.2.7e

[Michael the Boombringer]

Seems interesting.

 

[Thing_I]

Map Submission Rules from Hive states:

• English only:

In-game text and Hive description. The grammar and spelling must be adequate.
​

That being said, if you make a general attempt at translating it to English, I can help with grammar if you feel that is an issue. However, your description seems to have decent enough grammar.

 

[LordTalbot]

you are right, I read the rules before uploading my map. I can only defend it in so far: Behaviour of most towers become clear from their tooltips, as they include range and damagetype. Yet of course there are towers with special abilties and effects that can probably not be understood before building them, but become clear when they are built.
It's not the optimum but I think it would be legit if I just delete all tooltips except range and dmg-type But couldn't we just imagine the rest wasn't there?

My map has, as stated above, about 210 towers, many of the extended tooltips are cosmetic and include very loose writing, tons of jokes and such, which is the main reason why I never translated them. I think the map would lose much of it's charme.

I have a positive feedback for this map by a full house of non german speaking players, but I know it's not correct by strict display of the rules :/

 

[Thing_I]

Of course I'd never expect you to remove the map, or it to even get a substandard rating. I'm just making sure you know the rules, that's all.

EDIT: Look at that, message #100

 

[LordTalbot]

Hello @ adminteam,
when I translate everything and then and just keep 2 languages for towers and waves, that should be ok or?

I could translate those few lines on the general interface and then copy all towers and text messages, translate all the copied content and offer to chose between english and german. So the map could be played completly in english, and alternatively also could be played with the original german tooltips and text messages.

 

[Daffa]

@LordTalbot

Keeping additional languages as long as english is fully supported seemed to be alright. I myself did it with my map in the past (though not to that extend).

 

[LordTalbot]

@Daffa the Mage
thanks for the information

I'll start the translation in any case now, but it will probably be only half as good, because even though my english isn't so bad I made INTENSE use of worldplays etc. etc., which I certainly can't do so well in english.

However, we'll see where this goes <-- damn, I love that smiley

 

[Thing_I]

How goes the translation? Do you intend to recreate all of the units and such?

 

[LordTalbot]

I've already spend a bunch of hours on it, also luckily a good friend is helping me and his english is "even^^" better than mine. Yet I have to repeat what I said before, the english version is going to be a lot less funny, there are to many wordplays that can not be translated and jokes that are related to german commercials or other phenomenons.

However, I am on it, i think i can give a meaningful statusupdate in one week. Right now I would expect it to take me 2-3 weeks

 

[LordTalbot]

I have updated my project, the map can now be played to the whole extend on english, just as well as in german. A voting at the beginning of the game will decide the language for all players in this particular run.

The new loadscreen is held in english as well

I translated roughly 210 towers, 230 abilities, a few items and tech levels and most of the triggers. The biggest issue probably were the long waiting times on changing the unit data and on some other unit related tasks.

Looking soo forward for a positive admin feedback

 

[TTT]

the image of this game seems interesting! But i think the game does not suit for me because of my bad english~

 

[deepstrasz]

1. You could reduce loading time by releasing two versions one in English and one in Deutsch. That means deleting the custom data with the other language descriptions. That also means having Quest Log proper descriptions designed for each language version. Now, there's a lot of Deutsch in the Quest Log with no English counter. This also means changing the armour/attack types to be English. Starting text message and defeat message too.
2. Fokus has no DISBTN. Use these to make a passive icon for that icon:
Button Manager v1.8.2
BLP Lab v0.5.0
Complete Icon Tutorial - All About Icons
How to Make an Icon
3. Truesight could have a passive icon since it's not an active ability.
4. Colour icons to give other players a tower have no DISBTNs.
5. Teenage Boy's ability description->Deutsch. Also, Start LOAP's description does not say how much damage it deals like other towers.

Basically you need to "eliminate" the green icons (on pause/F10) and have the map in English.

Awaiting Update.

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

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

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

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

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

If you want more reviews, come here:
The Grand Review Exchange!

 

[LordTalbot]

1. Update:
-all buttons do now have DISBTN's
-I translated the remaining bits in the credits (the topic "Über die Karte..." is just some general information about my intentions with the map. I renamed the english topic of this style to "About the map..." to make this more clear) There should be no missing information on english. In the command section german and english are separated by a "/" on each command.
-Building LOAP will now spawn the english tower, my trigger was spawning the german one instead, I don't know how I oversaw that. All races have been played in the english version. Most of them were tested by a second player as well.

2. from here
-The welcome message is not english, because it appears before voting takes place. It is however not relevant for playing the map. If it needs a translation stil, is it okay to solve this with an additional textmessage of the same color?
-The Armor and Attack types are presented in a list that shows percental information about efficiency and weaknesses between attack types and armor types. The types are represented by german words, but I don't see a difference for the player for them having different names. Reading the tooltips is the same for the player if they are named "stich", "1", "pierce" or "ying".
-I know that there is a passive symbol for truesight, but I decided for the current one instead.
-I don't want to separate the map into 2 different Versions because the german version couldn't be downloaded from here for example (A german Version would also have a very hard time on other places). I stopped a loading time of 34 seconds for myself without having a high end mashine, but ofc it can take a minute or so slow PC's or laptops.

Will it be okay if I exchange the ending screen to an english one and add an english opening message? Gameplay after voting english is 100% english after all, there is no gameplay wise cut to the english version of any kind. I think that it can be played and understood to full extend. The LOAP tower was an unfortunate mistake, I'm certain that I don't have a second error of this kind.

 

[deepstrasz]

-The Armor and Attack types are presented in a list that shows percental information about efficiency and weaknesses between attack types and armor types. The types are represented by german words, but I don't see a difference for the player for them having different names. Reading the tooltips is the same for the player if they are named "stich", "1", "pierce" or "ying".

Well you could have them in English and put them in Deutsch in the log.

Will it be okay if I exchange the ending screen to an english one and add an english opening message?

Guess so. Most importantly English needs to be for any sort of useful to critical information as gameplay, abilities etc.

 

[LordTalbot]

Well you could have them in English and put them in Deutsch in the log.

I highly prefer to keep this one as it is, as I don't see it interfering with the playability or understanding. If you can't approve the map without the armor and attack types beeing english words still, I wouldn't put the german ones in the log or anywhere. I think the armor and attack types could be numbers or anything instead of words, because the tooltips clearly tell what any placeholder does.

Guess so. Most importantly English needs to be for any sort of useful to critical information as gameplay, abilities etc.

When voting english, all information is provided in english. This includes all towers, their abilties, all announcements and generally everything. The only thing that is not formed with english words by that point are the armor- and attack types.

The opening message does now appear in english and german at the same time. Also the green message in the background that appears before picking the language is now translated when the language is picked.
The ending screen is not up to date, right now it says version 1.1b and "Danke fürs Spielen" instead of "Thank you for playing", I will have it updated.

I would just like to know if the map can be approved with that. I will update the screenshots as soon as possible, so that they show the english interface.

 

[deepstrasz]

I would just like to know if the map can be approved with that. I will update the screenshots as soon as possible, so that they show the english interface.

Well, it's not like it's up to me. It's that rule which states that everything should (kind of must) be in English. Would it be that difficult to switch the armour and the rest of the Deutsch to English? You can keep the Deutsch in the log parallel to the English text if you necessarily want that.

 

[LordTalbot]

Well, it's not like it's up to me. It's that rule which states that everything should (kind of must) be in English. Would it be that difficult to switch the armour and the rest of the Deutsch to English? You can keep the Deutsch in the log parallel to the English text if you necessarily want that.

It is not technically difficult and I wouldn't mind to change the names of the armor and attack types to english. The actual problem is that I will have to touch 420 towers again and each one takes a loading time of 20 seconds (after 1.28) just to accept the changed tooltip. Thankfully Normal and Chaos is the same in both languages so it's possibly just 60-70% of that amount of work. The progess however will still take several hours for something that, in my oppinion, doesn't change anything for the player.

 

[deepstrasz]

The progess however will still take several hours for something that, in my oppinion, doesn't change anything for the player.

Well, you'd have to ask the Staff (https://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/staff-contact.692/) for that. I cannot get past the rules without their permission.

 

[StoPCampinGn00b]

We've decided that bilingual maps are okay. The language rule has been updated. You can take it from here, Mr. deepstrasz

 

[deepstrasz]

1. Why not add some hotkeys for the buildings?
2. You could make passive icons for those like Black Arrows (see one of my comments above for the links to the program).
3. Tante Emma instead of Aunt Emma on the English version; the unit's name I mean. Just saying. Also: Lanterne (why make it a unit anyway?), Ein Baum, Riot Mitarbeiter instead of Employee; Überflieger instead of High flyer; Upg. Kanonenturm (unit name) instead of Canontower; Spieler instead of Player.
4. You could also mention the damage the towers do in their description along with their hitpoints/life maybe?
5. Warcraft Mapper has two towers with Immolation.
6. LoL, upgrading from an Archer to a Scorpion and then to a Dryad and so on.
7. Zapp-Elin in the multiboard but Böse Goblin on the unit name.
8. Long Range Tower Upgraded looks the same. Actually some towers suffer from this problem. What about a hue/colour or size change?
9. Rather Play Severian's Mode on Crossbow, I'm not sure it works.
10. Skilllevel icoin doesn't have a DISBTN.
so on and so forth.

Overall a fast paced tower defense with a satirical premise and where with get to play as a multitude of builders.

Approved.

 

[LordTalbot]

thanks for your new review and for the approve. Did you actually play all races? Because the newest 2... or 3, are really neat That would be brutal and horror mainly. I made space invaders last fall and the other two between winter 16 and spring of 17. The other races are technically a bit behind, though they also received a lot of new love.

Complexibility from left to right and top down (Tier 1 beeing the most complex etc.):
Tier 1: Horror, Brutal
Tier 2: Space Invaders
Tier 3: Super-Magician, Warcraft Mapper
Tier 4: Half-life, LordTalbot, Normalo,
Could include that in the presentation

I'll go through your points a little:
1. It is a good idea, had it on my mind already too and it's likely that I add this
2. It is a very neat program indeed and I'll consider that
3. Tante Emma was a builder in shopping maul and Ein Baum was a trash/funmap baaaack (maybe 2005?) in the day, that's why I struggeled a bit with those two. I'll possibly replace them with a different looking and named wave each for english games. Riot Mitarbeiter and Überflieger... I announced them correctly but then forgot to spawn the english unit probably. I'll get rid of this.
4. I had that on my mind but decided strictly against it, I didn't want people to make their tower decisions based on calculations. I have a very precise excel table for this kind of stuff though The towers should have legit balance
5. Actually every tower should have Immolation! Both towers however stand for having the "OP Pick" and immolation triggers something like "daaaaamn you are the footmen killer" - at least in MY head
6. This stuff wasn't unusual in old tower defenses
7. The unit itself is named Zapp-Elin, they drop a "Böser Goblin" on death, which should be "Evil Goblin" in english... ok ok, i exchange that
8. Right, this "problem" only exists on "Normalo" Race though and is intended. This goes back to old tower defenses with unindividual updates. This mainly appears on speed tower, long range tower, frost tower, cannon tower and bounce tower... I have (small) differences in size for most of these, and had some in color, but reduced or deleted those.
9. It reduces the Crossbow's attack cooldown from 1,1 to 0,45 (and makes it a little bit darker) - it pays of (the attackspeed, not so much the color)
10. I noticed that yesterday and was hoping you wouldn't notice that until I get a chance to fix it

I'm totally looking forward for reviews, hopefully from games where 2 or more players played. Maybe I can get some stars finally I am on a review exchange already.
Also I should hint what color combinations are meaningfull... I'll maybe change the alliances for that.

 

[Teld]

Review! I've decided to give a 4/5, The map is working as intended, with all the core concepts of TDs present and functional, though it is pretty tough single-player (I didn't make it too far).

My minor critiques are just common spelling and grammar errors in the English mode, nothing major.

The towers themselves seem to get outpaced by the units pretty quickly on normal difficulty I'd like some more options to allow the basic towers a chance to keep up (much like how you can upgrade the Guard Tower damage)

I recommend handicapping the units depending on players if possible.

I think the teleport ability is a little unnecessary. Personally I think your builder should teleport to anywhere you tell it to move to.

I liked all the nostalgic towers, though the terrain seemed pretty dark and foreboding to me, counter to the happy nostalgia feel

I suggest taking the unused player slots off the leader board, unless there's AI or something that you can toggle on and off for them

 

[LordTalbot]

Thanks for your review. I answer some of your points and I think a bunch of this is solved when you play it more than one time and maybe even with different player numbers.

The towers themselves seem to get outpaced by the units pretty quickly on normal difficulty I'd like some more options to allow the basic towers a chance to keep up (much like how you can upgrade the Guard Tower damage)

It is classic gameplay that the early towers don't have a strong damage output in lategame. However, still most of the towers, also the early ones stand in their own right. The first tower of each race is always good for mazing, several of these can also be upgraded, some even in so far that they are good in lategame. Other early towers often have effects or can be expanded, but sure, not every tower ages well into lategame. This point is overall very different between the races.

I recommend handicapping the units depending on players if possible.

The game is indeed harder when you play alone because you have noone who could catch up your leaks, but it is totally possible, if you are a good mazer, even more so.

When playing alone, you only get one spawn. Units only spawn for active players. I don't intend to make the single units weaker than their base strength in normal mode, however there is the "Super Hard" mode where the strength of the units relates to the number of players. If you want an easier single player experience you could start as last defender with bonus income and smaller spawns (unless -fs or -cs are active), I dont find that very interesting myself though. I rather play red and go for it, when playing alone

I think the teleport ability is a little unnecessary. Personally I think your builder should teleport to anywhere you tell it to move to.

I didn't want to make the game to easy by allowing everyone to teleport all over the complete map with 1 click (Space Invaders Builders have that ability though). The teleport ability (what most builders have) makes a huge teleport and even though it doesn't teleport over the full size of the map it is a big addition to walking.

I liked all the nostalgic towers, though the terrain seemed pretty dark and foreboding to me, counter to the happy nostalgia feel

Well, I know that this is a turn off. The dark setting comes from the theme where I positioned the map. It represents a very aged battle.net which has lost most of it's life juice/players and is about to close it's gates for good. The loading screen might explain it a bit better "The battle net's darkest hour has come" However, it is generally not very inviting to the player with that... yeah

I suggest taking the unused player slots off the leader board, unless there's AI or something that you can toggle on and off for them

I had that thought a few days ago too, this will come in the next patch.

And that's that!