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Betzalel : Decadence
Betzalel : Decadence is a custom map I am designing for Warcraft III. It's purpose is to serve backstory for a future Survival Horror RPG "Revenant : Curse of Betzalel", while introducing a unique style of multiplayer gameplay and forge itself as a stand alone game.
The Idea
This mod is going to be a team survival map containing two forces. Force 1 will hold siege inside of a mansion and have to protect a child from the attacking team, Force 2. The theme is set in the current day, and to set this scene I will be creating all the custom models and terrain necessary to achieve a world very different from the standard warcraft universe.
The Story
Every 2000 years a child is born of pure heart and soul, A gift from the gods to serve as a pillar of faith for mankind. It's presence provides the human soul with redemption and its purpose is to prevent God's children from slipping into damnation. The children is imbued with the true power of the Holy Spirit, and although they walk among us, their power remains unnoticed by the general public. Their healing power works on a plane unseen by mortals and rewards those of faith. Having a being of heaven take physical form on this planet allows the gods to witness the consequence and effect of humanity's dark side first hand, allowing them to remedy the strife and chaos and keep the devil at bay. Upon death the child is able to repair and mend the damaged bonds between earth and heaven and essentially provide mankind with a clean slate to start over.
Once the child is born its powers need to develop as its physical body starts to synchronise with the wavelength of earth. In its youth it's power is very limited, leaving it vulnerable to attacks from evil forces sent to this world by the Dark Lord himself. To capture the child's soul is and has been an imperative part of the Devil's assault on earth for eons. Removing the child before they have had the chance to repair the planet's wounds would weaken our heavenly bonds to such an extent that it would allow the Devil passage onto the earthly plane, and grant him the opportunity to reign over mankind for the next 2000 years without any resistance.
An ancient order of the Church, The Guardians of our Savior, are the sole force responsible for protection of the child. They are a sacred and secret order, unknown even to the modern day vatican and pope, and are the only mortals aware of this event and the birth of the holy child. It is their duty to remain in the shadows until it is completely necessary for them to act and protect the child from the dark forces. They are the only thing standing between mankind and the apocolypse.
The current date is the 06 of June 2006 A.D. Six years earlier a boy was born and discovered to be the host for the holy spirit. His name is Betzalel, and since discovery the Guardians have been ever vigilant in monitoring his security and development... but times have changed. The dark forces have amassed much greater in strength then ever before and have chosen the vessel for their assassins. The boy's parents. Quick to react, five Elite Guards were dispatched to set up perimeter in the child's home and guard him from the darkness until daybreak, when he would be relocated to holy ground.
It is a dark day for mankind, and if the Guardians fail in their mission then the world will be lost. Pray for them, pray for the child and pray for yourself... for the end is nigh.
Game Play
FORCES AND VICTORY CONDITIONS
The game is broken up into two forces -
Force 1 : The Guardians - 5 human players, their mission is to protect the child from the daemonic attackers, and slay them for victory. If the child is lost then the team is defeated. If a guardian is killed, he remains dead and the game is over for that player. Force 1 Holds seige INSIDE the mansion, trying to keep the heretics out.
Force 2 : The Darkness - 2 human players, their mission is to slay the child without being vanquished back to the realms of hell. If the child is slain then this team achieves victory, if their Heretic is slain they are defeated. Force 2 begins OUTSIDE the mansion, trying to work their way in.
THE MAP
Force 1 will be holding seige inside of a mansion with various entry points. The mansion will consist of multiple rooms and an outdoor garden area which will be cordoned off by the masion's fence. Beyond the fencing is the surrounding landscape with areas of "unholy ground".
Force 1 will be able to barricade the entry points by buiding either walls or marking existing walls with holy scripture. Force 2 can not pass these points without breaking them down first.
The areas of "Unholy Ground" are points around the map where the heretics have most power and are able to level up, summon items or demons to assist them and regenerate. The priest's of Force 1 are able to purify these areas for a short time to slow the heretic's progress.
To be clear, the child and the priests will be inside the house perimeter, and the Heretics will be outside. This is kind of like vampirism in the respect that you build walls around your base to keep the vampires out. The heretics are going to be far stronger then the priests as they are unholy beings, and this is the reason for the smaller number.
RESOURCES
I am going to convert the standard War III resources, gold and lumber, into two new resources to fit the theme of the game.
Gold - Gold will be changed to blessing, and be the primary resource of the Heretics. Each point of blessing represents the favor of the player's chosen diety, whether it be god or the devil. From the point of view of the Heretics, they gain blessing every time they destroy something of holy nature. From the Guardian p.o.v., they gain blessing for everything they destroy of evil nature. Limited blessing will be available for the Guardians and be used to build more advanced structures and items.
Lumber - Lumber will become Salvage, and be the primary resource of the Guardians. The idea behind salvage is that around the mansion there will be unlimited junk that the Guardians can aquire and make use of, example being in the production of walls or items. Guardians will aquire salvage through collection in mansion. Salvage will be limited for the Heretics, but for the most part be unnecessary anyhow.
THE UNITS
Force 1 :
All players on Force 1 will have control of a single Eilte Guardian. The guardian's abilities will be designed to either assist with the siege (eg. placing scripture, blink) or abilities to slow the progress of the Heretic and slay them. They will be ranged units.
As well as Elite Guardian, force one will have an important unit call the "Guardian's Neophyte", an apprentice of sorts. This unit will be both the builder and resource gatherer for the Guardians. If this unit dies, it will be able to be ressurected by the Elite Guardian. However, because it is a unit of extreme holy nature, a heretic that kills a Neophyte will recieve a large bounty of blessing.
Roles of the Neophyte include -
Collecting Salvage : Salvage is the primary resource for the Guardians. The process of a neophyte collecting salvage works on this principle - Whatever the Elite needs, the Neophyte obtains. This means that if the player needs wood or metal or whatever to build something, that is what the what the Neophyte collected when salvaging. This makes it simple to group the cost of every buildable structure and item under one resource. Salvage is obtained from scrap piles around the map.
Building - The Neophyte can build various walls to block off entry points into the mansion.
- Base of Operations. This building is the area the neophyte sets up to build items, etc
- Sentry Cameras. Built in areas of the map where a guardian has no unit, this enables
the player to keep an eye on the its defences and possible Heretic attacks.
Force 2 :
Each player will have control of one of the two heretics, both similar in ability. The heretics will be able to summon demons to aid them in battle, or to be used for tactical advantages (eg. distract the priests from a weak point in their defence). The Heretics abilities will be mainly offensive in design. The heretics themselves will be melee units, and the summons will vary.
Some demons will have abilities that allow them to get past the defences without destroying them (eg a short blink) and cause havoc inside the perimeter. Demons, however, cannot kill the child. The reason for this is that the child is imbued with such holy power that any demon that comes within range will take incredible damage from his holy aura and be sent back to hell. It requires a Heretic to kill the child, as they are part human, part posessed.
Betzalel : At this point in time I am considering making Betzalel an NPC. His control method will be through some basic AI but more importantly through dialogue and text control. The game host will be able to set up who can order Betzalel, so as angry players have limited chance of spoiling the game. Orders so far will include telling the child which room to go into, where to hide and when to use some special abilities (yet to be decided upon).
LEVELING
Priests - Fighting against darkness is the primary source of leveling for the priests. As they attack the enemy they learn more about them and become stronger, providing they survive. This is due to the fact they really only get this opportunity every 2000 years. So every enemy creep killed, or everytime they attack a heretic, they are going to get a certain amount of XP. The secondary method for priest's leveling will be prayer. This is so when there is nothing for them to fight, or do (say the heretics are regrouping and buying items) they will be able to channel an ability on the child, called prayer. This will grant xp over time and allow them to remain strong enough to fight on.
Heretics - Again, as these heretics are newly spawned evil, so they have to learn how to engage in battle on the earthly plane. They will gain small XP for every wall and priest they hit or kill. As well as that, If a heretic stands in the areas of "unholy ground" they will gain increments of xp over time.
This way each players hero has a chance to constantly gain xp, and keep up with the flow of the game.
Conclusion
This concludes the basic outline of Betzalel : Decadence. I feel that it is a unique concept for a War III mod, with light influence from Vampirism. I think it will provide the background I need for future related maps and will also hold itself well as a stand alone game, both fun in play method and interesting in design. Please feel free to ask any questions or comment about anything I have said so far
Betzalel : Decadence is a custom map I am designing for Warcraft III. It's purpose is to serve backstory for a future Survival Horror RPG "Revenant : Curse of Betzalel", while introducing a unique style of multiplayer gameplay and forge itself as a stand alone game.
The Idea
This mod is going to be a team survival map containing two forces. Force 1 will hold siege inside of a mansion and have to protect a child from the attacking team, Force 2. The theme is set in the current day, and to set this scene I will be creating all the custom models and terrain necessary to achieve a world very different from the standard warcraft universe.
The Story
Every 2000 years a child is born of pure heart and soul, A gift from the gods to serve as a pillar of faith for mankind. It's presence provides the human soul with redemption and its purpose is to prevent God's children from slipping into damnation. The children is imbued with the true power of the Holy Spirit, and although they walk among us, their power remains unnoticed by the general public. Their healing power works on a plane unseen by mortals and rewards those of faith. Having a being of heaven take physical form on this planet allows the gods to witness the consequence and effect of humanity's dark side first hand, allowing them to remedy the strife and chaos and keep the devil at bay. Upon death the child is able to repair and mend the damaged bonds between earth and heaven and essentially provide mankind with a clean slate to start over.
Once the child is born its powers need to develop as its physical body starts to synchronise with the wavelength of earth. In its youth it's power is very limited, leaving it vulnerable to attacks from evil forces sent to this world by the Dark Lord himself. To capture the child's soul is and has been an imperative part of the Devil's assault on earth for eons. Removing the child before they have had the chance to repair the planet's wounds would weaken our heavenly bonds to such an extent that it would allow the Devil passage onto the earthly plane, and grant him the opportunity to reign over mankind for the next 2000 years without any resistance.
An ancient order of the Church, The Guardians of our Savior, are the sole force responsible for protection of the child. They are a sacred and secret order, unknown even to the modern day vatican and pope, and are the only mortals aware of this event and the birth of the holy child. It is their duty to remain in the shadows until it is completely necessary for them to act and protect the child from the dark forces. They are the only thing standing between mankind and the apocolypse.
The current date is the 06 of June 2006 A.D. Six years earlier a boy was born and discovered to be the host for the holy spirit. His name is Betzalel, and since discovery the Guardians have been ever vigilant in monitoring his security and development... but times have changed. The dark forces have amassed much greater in strength then ever before and have chosen the vessel for their assassins. The boy's parents. Quick to react, five Elite Guards were dispatched to set up perimeter in the child's home and guard him from the darkness until daybreak, when he would be relocated to holy ground.
It is a dark day for mankind, and if the Guardians fail in their mission then the world will be lost. Pray for them, pray for the child and pray for yourself... for the end is nigh.
Game Play
FORCES AND VICTORY CONDITIONS
The game is broken up into two forces -
Force 1 : The Guardians - 5 human players, their mission is to protect the child from the daemonic attackers, and slay them for victory. If the child is lost then the team is defeated. If a guardian is killed, he remains dead and the game is over for that player. Force 1 Holds seige INSIDE the mansion, trying to keep the heretics out.
Force 2 : The Darkness - 2 human players, their mission is to slay the child without being vanquished back to the realms of hell. If the child is slain then this team achieves victory, if their Heretic is slain they are defeated. Force 2 begins OUTSIDE the mansion, trying to work their way in.
THE MAP
Force 1 will be holding seige inside of a mansion with various entry points. The mansion will consist of multiple rooms and an outdoor garden area which will be cordoned off by the masion's fence. Beyond the fencing is the surrounding landscape with areas of "unholy ground".
Force 1 will be able to barricade the entry points by buiding either walls or marking existing walls with holy scripture. Force 2 can not pass these points without breaking them down first.
The areas of "Unholy Ground" are points around the map where the heretics have most power and are able to level up, summon items or demons to assist them and regenerate. The priest's of Force 1 are able to purify these areas for a short time to slow the heretic's progress.
To be clear, the child and the priests will be inside the house perimeter, and the Heretics will be outside. This is kind of like vampirism in the respect that you build walls around your base to keep the vampires out. The heretics are going to be far stronger then the priests as they are unholy beings, and this is the reason for the smaller number.
RESOURCES
I am going to convert the standard War III resources, gold and lumber, into two new resources to fit the theme of the game.
Gold - Gold will be changed to blessing, and be the primary resource of the Heretics. Each point of blessing represents the favor of the player's chosen diety, whether it be god or the devil. From the point of view of the Heretics, they gain blessing every time they destroy something of holy nature. From the Guardian p.o.v., they gain blessing for everything they destroy of evil nature. Limited blessing will be available for the Guardians and be used to build more advanced structures and items.
Lumber - Lumber will become Salvage, and be the primary resource of the Guardians. The idea behind salvage is that around the mansion there will be unlimited junk that the Guardians can aquire and make use of, example being in the production of walls or items. Guardians will aquire salvage through collection in mansion. Salvage will be limited for the Heretics, but for the most part be unnecessary anyhow.
THE UNITS
Force 1 :
All players on Force 1 will have control of a single Eilte Guardian. The guardian's abilities will be designed to either assist with the siege (eg. placing scripture, blink) or abilities to slow the progress of the Heretic and slay them. They will be ranged units.
As well as Elite Guardian, force one will have an important unit call the "Guardian's Neophyte", an apprentice of sorts. This unit will be both the builder and resource gatherer for the Guardians. If this unit dies, it will be able to be ressurected by the Elite Guardian. However, because it is a unit of extreme holy nature, a heretic that kills a Neophyte will recieve a large bounty of blessing.
Roles of the Neophyte include -
Collecting Salvage : Salvage is the primary resource for the Guardians. The process of a neophyte collecting salvage works on this principle - Whatever the Elite needs, the Neophyte obtains. This means that if the player needs wood or metal or whatever to build something, that is what the what the Neophyte collected when salvaging. This makes it simple to group the cost of every buildable structure and item under one resource. Salvage is obtained from scrap piles around the map.
Building - The Neophyte can build various walls to block off entry points into the mansion.
- Base of Operations. This building is the area the neophyte sets up to build items, etc
- Sentry Cameras. Built in areas of the map where a guardian has no unit, this enables
the player to keep an eye on the its defences and possible Heretic attacks.
Force 2 :
Each player will have control of one of the two heretics, both similar in ability. The heretics will be able to summon demons to aid them in battle, or to be used for tactical advantages (eg. distract the priests from a weak point in their defence). The Heretics abilities will be mainly offensive in design. The heretics themselves will be melee units, and the summons will vary.
Some demons will have abilities that allow them to get past the defences without destroying them (eg a short blink) and cause havoc inside the perimeter. Demons, however, cannot kill the child. The reason for this is that the child is imbued with such holy power that any demon that comes within range will take incredible damage from his holy aura and be sent back to hell. It requires a Heretic to kill the child, as they are part human, part posessed.
Betzalel : At this point in time I am considering making Betzalel an NPC. His control method will be through some basic AI but more importantly through dialogue and text control. The game host will be able to set up who can order Betzalel, so as angry players have limited chance of spoiling the game. Orders so far will include telling the child which room to go into, where to hide and when to use some special abilities (yet to be decided upon).
LEVELING
Priests - Fighting against darkness is the primary source of leveling for the priests. As they attack the enemy they learn more about them and become stronger, providing they survive. This is due to the fact they really only get this opportunity every 2000 years. So every enemy creep killed, or everytime they attack a heretic, they are going to get a certain amount of XP. The secondary method for priest's leveling will be prayer. This is so when there is nothing for them to fight, or do (say the heretics are regrouping and buying items) they will be able to channel an ability on the child, called prayer. This will grant xp over time and allow them to remain strong enough to fight on.
Heretics - Again, as these heretics are newly spawned evil, so they have to learn how to engage in battle on the earthly plane. They will gain small XP for every wall and priest they hit or kill. As well as that, If a heretic stands in the areas of "unholy ground" they will gain increments of xp over time.
This way each players hero has a chance to constantly gain xp, and keep up with the flow of the game.
Conclusion
This concludes the basic outline of Betzalel : Decadence. I feel that it is a unique concept for a War III mod, with light influence from Vampirism. I think it will provide the background I need for future related maps and will also hold itself well as a stand alone game, both fun in play method and interesting in design. Please feel free to ask any questions or comment about anything I have said so far
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