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Black Winter is a map project I've been working on for several years and through several totally reworked versions, finally to reach this point, a nearly finished map with some exceptionally nice features, one of which, no other maps have, a system that literally exists no where but this map, which I think is pretty exciting. The object of the map is a simple one, you're dropped off in a remote region by the Soviet army, to conduct several operations of salvage, search & destroy, rescue, etc, while surviving hordes of violent zombies. There are several available classes to play and several locked classes that can be earned with experience by completing missions and killing zombies, each class has different specializations, and some eyecandy quality spells. There are several guns, which can be equipped, regardless of class, yes, regardless of class, a Medic can carry a Dragunov SVD, or a Demolition Specialist can carry a Dragunov SVD, weapons do not rely on your class. Suppressors, Laser Sights, Scopes and other items can be equipped to any gun you are carrying, universally, except rare cases, for example you can't put a Suppressor on a flamethrower, that's just silly.
There is currently one game mode, which is survival, the goal is to survive for as long as possible against endless waves of unique enemies and bosses. If you survive 60 minutes you have the opportunity to be extracted by helicopter before the installation is nuked into oblivion. There will be more game modes to come, specifically Story Mode is planned, as well as PvP mode where one player can play as an alpha zombie.
Classes
Classes are always subject to change, as new ones are being added and locked at any given time, but the classes as of now are like so.
1): Field Medic
2): Radio Operator
3): Demolition Specialist
4): Combat Engineer
5): Scout Recon
6): Assault Trooper
7): Heavy Support
8): Designated Marksman
Ranks
1): Private
2): Gefreiter
3): Junior Sergeant
4): Sergeant
5): Senior Sergeant
6): Starshina
7): Praporshchik
8): Senior Praporshchik
9): Junior Lieutenant
10): Lieutenant
11): Senior Lieutenant
12): Captain
13): Major
14): Lieutenant Colonel
15): Colonel
16): Major General
17): Lieutenant General
18): Colonel General
Weapons
AK-47
AKS-74u
RPK
Saiga-12k
Dragunov SVD
LPO-50
Laser Rifle
Screenshots
Thanks to
Models: Talon The Mage, General Frank, Kofi_Banan, General Frank, Takakenji, Shamanyouranus, WILL THE ALMIGHTY, killst4r
Skins: Just_Spectating, The_Silent,
Icons: The_Silent, Zombie.,
GUI: Ap0calypse, Anejez
Rank System: Ap0calypse
Jump System: Paladon
Terrain: yours truly
Special thanks to Reaper51 for testing the last 200 versions with me. If I missed you in the credits, let me know!
ReviewBlack Winter
Key ConceptDefense/Survival - Starting off with the Loading Screen. I like that a lot of information is put in it. That's a good thing. Though, instead of a black one you could use a nice one that fits the theme of the map. I see...
Everything is so blue and blurry it's hard to see your hero. There is visual monotony.
The light ability doesn't do anything, at least not after you click it. You have to equip the weapon first.
Some abilities have active ability icons like Point...
This map will continue to be updated vigorously. So any bugs, ideas or concerns brought up in the comments will be addressed in future versions. the terrain is still being updated constantly as well. The save/load system was broken over the course of the last several Wc3 updates, but hopefully someone with more skill will help me out with a new one that is totally stable. There is a bit of a learning curve to the map so I may need to actually write a comprehensive guide of some sort in the near future.
If you're familiar with Undead Assault 2, Dawn of the Dead or Night of the Dead, you should catch on fairly quickly. Enjoy!
Defense/Survival - Starting off with the Loading Screen. I like that a lot of information is put in it. That's a good thing. Though, instead of a black one you could use a nice one that fits the theme of the map. I see that you wanted to fully remove the User Interface. You managed to do it a bit but you can do more than that. Try talking to this guy, Rufus, he knows exactly how to do it. Multiple types of difficulty are available to choose from, that's great for newbies since they won't instantly die as soon as they start playing.
Gameplay
I choose the Field Medic to play. His abilities are nice. I like the fact that those spawn do not engage you right from the start so you have enough time to check the hero's abilities. The flesh explosion when an enemy dies is really cool. The incoming "radio station" messages are a funny and cool feature in the map. Loved the weather changer. Really adds a touch up to this map, especially since it is a survival type. This part was awesome: Imgur , like shut down that door and wipe out those wretches. Really fun. The fire traps field as well from that chamber. The ranged weapon is really well designed. In your inventory, able to switch from range to melee or keep both, also it reduces the movement, it provides that feeling that you are carrying a real weapon and since it is heavy you move slower. Thumbs up on that! The reload system is nice, you can kill the enemies with the knife until your ranged weapon reloads. QWER system for hotkeys is used, fortunately. Here Imgur , it felt like I was playing Alien Shooter, camping somewhere and holding my ground while wiping out those puny monsters. The gameplay is really cool.
Terrain & Aesthetics
The environment really fits the theme of the map. The winter theme is well designed and the places that you can find on the map while playing are cool. What I would complain about is some natural phenomenons, imagine a snowstorm occuring out of nowhere or an earthquake. That would be awesome in the map and to the survival theme.
Wizardry
There's no need for gigantic spells with tons of effects in this map. The ones used fit the gameplay and each character you play with.
Final Suggestions
Improve the appearance of the User Interface. Add voice sets for the units. Try to create AI if you have the possibility, if not, ask for some help. Add a custom loading screen (optional not mandatory). Try modifying the texts of the attributes if you used them differently in your map, since they look like this currently: Imgur
Overall, the map really fits the Survival theme and has a lot of touch ups that any player can enjoy. As of now, it should be approved with a 4/5 rating. Good job on the bundle's description as well.
Please try to group the images (screenshots and weapons) somehow not to be in a list to make scrolling easier.
A credits list is mandatory in the map thread description. Please write about the names of people or companies that made the resources: skins, models, sounds/music, other images etc. You can use this for help: Resources in Use by Black Winter v5.0a | HIVE
A credits list in the map thread description 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 too.
A detailed changelog in the first post would be helpful to reviewers and notify fans about the newest implementations to your map.
Map thread tags are important. Please use those that fit and not more or none.
Please try to group the images (screenshots and weapons) somehow not to be in a list to make scrolling easier.
A credits list is mandatory in the map thread description. Please write about the names of people or companies that made the resources: skins, models, sounds/music, other images etc. You can use this for help: Resources in Use by Black Winter v5.0a | HIVE
A credits list in the map thread description 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 too.
A detailed changelog in the first post would be helpful to reviewers and notify fans about the newest implementations to your map.
Map thread tags are important. Please use those that fit and not more or none.
It does appear in the custom ability panel (spell book?). That's where it has an active ability icon. For examples aura icons are passive looking as opposed to mana requiring spell icons.
Sorry. Those are not the only reasons. This type of map, I've seen it literally a dozen times. It's nothing new. Sure it has some difference but the core idea is pretty much the same. @Alxen345 pretty much stated what could be improved. I don't think unit/hero soundsets is a must. For me, it would break the creepy immersion a little. What you could add, is a sort of voice responses like in Counter-Strike or other shooters which have that, basically a player sending a text message (to all players) while a sound file plays like through the radio/walky-talky. Stuff like: "Copy that!", "Medic!", "Regroup!", "Move in!" etc.
The traps, do they reset after some time or are they one time only?
Also, I forgot, why let the player choose the game type when there's only one?
I remember the description mentioned something about batteries so I assumed the mana was for that. I don't know.
It does appear in the custom ability panel (spell book?). That's where it has an active ability icon. For examples aura icons are passive looking as opposed to mana requiring spell icons.
Space is a problem? You should check the max space for a map for multiplayer in recent patches. Anyways, a suggestion...
Sorry. Those are not the only reasons. This type of map, I've seen it literally a dozen times. It's nothing new. Sure it has some difference but the core idea is pretty much the same. @Alxen345 pretty much stated what could be improved. I don't think unit/hero soundsets is a must. For me, it would break the creepy immersion a little. What you could add, is a sort of voice responses like in Counter-Strike or other shooters which have that, basically a player sending a text message (to all players) while a sound file plays like through the radio/walky-talky. Stuff like: "Copy that!", "Medic!", "Regroup!", "Move in!" etc.
The traps, do they reset after some time or are they one time only?
Also, I forgot, why let the player choose the game type when there's only one?
I played with you and 1 other guy recently, RiotZ, and everything was working fine, hovewer I hosted this game myself today and played 3 times with 4-5 people and it crashed the game twice after around 10 minutes. No reason, no crash info, warcraft 3 just closed. Weird and I have no idea whats causing it.
Also, a few words about the map: I think it's fantastic, maybe yea, there are some similar maps out there like NOTD etc but this one feels unique. Great atmosphere, great lighning, you can feel this soviet feel. Awesome custom models and map terrain is 10/10.
Thing to improve, as mentioned above, some custom models for zombies instead of default ones as fiends etc. More weapons always a good thing too. Also, add a loading screen, as pure black only with text is boring. Maybe some screens from the game with text explaining how to use basic game mechanics. I'm also looking forward to more gamemodes.
I played with you and 1 other guy recently, RiotZ, and everything was working fine, hovewer I hosted this game myself today and played 3 times with 4-5 people and it crashed the game twice after around 10 minutes. No reason, no crash info, warcraft 3 just closed. Weird and I have no idea whats causing it.
Also, a few words about the map: I think it's fantastic, maybe yea, there are some similar maps out there like NOTD etc but this one feels unique. Great atmosphere, great lighning, you can feel this soviet feel. Awesome custom models and map terrain is 10/10.
Thing to improve, as mentioned above, some custom models for zombies instead of default ones as fiends etc. More weapons always a good thing too. Also, add a loading screen, as pure black only with text is boring. Maybe some screens from the game with text explaining how to use basic game mechanics. I'm also looking forward to more gamemodes.
I remember you bud. I appreciate you taking the time to comment. Maybe I'll change the fiend model but I think it fits. The map crashing is a big deal, if anyone can replicate it or figure out why post here so I can fix asap.
I'll be working on a Hunter vs Hunted mode where one player is a zombie next.
Played this map with a couple of friends today. It's awesome! We liked the atmosphere, terrain, class system and pretty much the whole map. But there is one thing: how do you survive for that amount of time?
We only managed to reach about 15 minutes on casual. Are there some tips or tactics?
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Approved
Really adds a touch up to this map, especially since it is a survival type. This part was awesome: 
The reload system is nice, you can kill the enemies with the knife until your ranged weapon reloads. QWER system for hotkeys is used, fortunately. Here 
