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Chronicles of Tirisfal Recruitment Form

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CHRONICLES OF TIRISFAL


INTRODUCTION

Hello all! You may or may not know me - either as Zaljinzoo or Warchief_Grom - but I've been a... decently active member of this community since early 2008. I make no claims of being a very prominent member, as I usually just kind of quietly lurk around and only make comments on things that particularly interest me or things made by friends of mine, but I hope for that to change, with this! I have seen many projects come and go over the years, even offered some small bits of help on one or two: some have met various degrees of success, while others get abandoned in their infancy. I like to think that I have paid good attention and seen what goes into a successful project and what can typically lead to a flop, so I hope you will understand why - when I get to that part - the selection process for team members may be limited and selective. I'm not looking for a massive team of just anybody, I'm hoping for a small, specialized team of dedicated people who will share my passion for the project...

But before I can even begin to expect that, I have to give you guys some idea of what the project is, don't I?


OVERVIEW

The Chronicles of Tirisfal project has been in "development" for over 12 years by yours truly, though until not it has really only ever been in "concept phase." Ever since I started playing the Warcraft series, I always thought to myself... How would -I- have taken the story, as opposed to how Blizzard did? What if this happened, instead of that? What if this character had lived longer within the storyline, while this character died off earlier? What if this type of magic or creature worked differently, or chose a different course from the canon? What started out as simple-minded musings like that have evolved over the years into a collection of ideas of an entirely redesigned look at the story of Warcraft as a whole, spanning between every game in the series and beyond, creating what basically amounts to an extremely in-depth fan-fiction of epic proportions, with no stone un-turned and no detail overlooked. Every change has a reason, and the rippling effects of those changes is understood and addressed.

My knowledge of the Warcraft Lore is quite extensive, after all, as the series has been a part of my life since I was a child and I grew up absolutely enraptured with the universe. I remember many days I devoted to simply scrolling through countless articles on wowwiki (and later wowpedia), studying every facet of the story with far more gusto than I ever did my schoolwork. I have read just about every novel at least once, scrolled through many parts of the manga/comic series, read every short story, watched every video... Obsessed is putting it mildly, I will admit.

While I adore this series and still love the games - even World of Warcraft, for all it's faults - I must say there were many retcons and design choices I could never fully agree with... Bits of story that I would have preferred to see done in other ways. (*coughspacegoatscough*) Chronicles is my attempt at remastering and retelling the story in a fresh, interesting way that addresses these bits of dissatisfaction and also just generally puts my own twist on aspects, further developing concepts that may have been left somewhat... Lacking, in regards to the attention that Blizzard decided to give them.

So what are some of these changes, and what are your ideas for the storyline, you may ask?

THE BASICS

I can't sit here and detail EVERYTHING that's been changed and everything that's going to happen. The post would simply be too long and it would spoil the fun of the whole thing, anyhow! But I can give you a few notes to give you the general gist of what's going on. First thing worthy of note: Azeroth is the name of the human kingdom, it's place as the name of the world has been taken by Tirisfal.

The first campaign released under the Chronicles of Tirisfal name will be a semi-short prologue by the name of (at least it's working title for now) CoT: Catalyst. In addition to Catalyst, an expanded prologue will be written in the form of a manual-type resource which will include bits of lore and reference guides to certain things (as well as some walkthroughs for the campaigns) and, separately, a collection of short stories that I will publish on the Hive forums somewhere, which will look into storylines from before even the Catalyst campaign.

Catalyst takes place just before the opening of the Dark Portal. Indeed, the Portal's opening is a major part of the campaign. It will feature roughly 3 missions of each of the races, giving tutorials for their special racial features as well as delving into their involvement in the overarching story. After Catalyst, there will be a batch of four campaigns under the name of Chronicles of Tirisfal: Age of Blood, following all four races and their involvement in the First War.

Yes, you read that correctly: four races in a campaign set during the First War. This isn't Orcs and Humans alone, you see, and that is as good a place as any to start giving some details about the story.

RACES

Horde

The first two races should be easy enough to guess, as they have been the stars of the show since the beginning. But not all is as it was in the canon! Take charge of a new and improved "Old Horde," their ranks filled with raging orcish warriors and warlocks, backed up by their massive brutish cousins from Draenor: the titanic ogres. Orgrim Doomhammer also strikes a deal with the goblins far earlier than he had in the true storyline, giving the Horde access to their crazy inventions and even crazier goons. Charge to the Keep of Stormwind with the aid of Kil'rogg Deadeye, Gul'dan, Cho'gall, Griselda Blackhand and many others! Lok'tar Ogar!

Southern Alliance

The Kingdom of Azeroth does not stand alone in this version of the story. The dwarves of Khaz Modan and even the men of Kul'tiras will not abandon their southern kin to their fate in the wake of invasion of both orcs and demons. Follow the quest of the new original character, Sir Erron, to defend the Kingdom from the rampaging evils that blight it's idyllic lands. Aided by the legendary Anduin Lothar and other such champions as Thargas Anvilmar, Khadgar, Tandred Proudmoore, Alonsus Foal and more. Light be with you - For Azeroth! For King Llane!

Cult of the Damned

The other two are perhaps a bit more surprising. Firstly there is the Cult of the Damned, but not as you know them! Medivh is their founder and leader: the Dark Prophet, the Fallen Guardian. His possession at the hands of Sargeras is more complete than we ever saw in the canon, and he is far more actively looking to herald in the coming of the Burning Legion. Yes; Medivh is a playable hero in Chronicles, and commands forces ranging from corrupted men and orcs to the demonic forces of the Legion itself. In the Cult campaign, you will ravage the land in preparation for the Horde's conquest (unbeknownst to them) with such figures as Medivh and Gul'dan taking the helm and employing the aid of the dreaded Nathrezim - Tichondrius, Anethuron and Mephistroth chief among them. Play your hand from the shadows and prime this world for invasion, in the name of Lord Sargeras!

Draenei

Not all who wander the dying world of Draenor are as vile and war mongering as the savage orcs and brutish ogres. Deep in the twisted forests and caverns of the red world hide the remains of a broken people - the Draenei. Once a peaceful and spiritual folk and the dominant race of their homeworld, Draenor, they were brought to ruin when the once divided Clans of orcs united under a single banner and waged a bloody crusade against them. Scattered and lost, the various tribes of Draenei fight a losing battle with the orcs that they know they cannot possibly hope to win. You will take on the role of Akama, Elder Sage of the Ashtongue tribe, and work to unite your people in a new quest... A quest to venture to a new, unfamiliar world where the Draenei might have a chance at recovering what they have lost... And a chance for revenge! Korsha'gal!

CATALYST

So now that you know the races, I can give you a basic synopsis of what will happen in the Catalyst campaign.

You will first play the three missions of the Cult of the Damned, taking command of the three Nathrezim lords as they clear the haunted Swamp of Sorrows of human incursion, ravaging the budding town of Marshtide Port to cinders as best you can whilst staying undiscovered. You will also venture into the deeper, forgotten parts of the bog where ancient elven artifacts lie lost and dormant, corrupting them for your own purpose and then using them to tear open the dimensional rift that will become the Dark Portal... Afterwards, you will protect the Fallen Guardian as he crafts the rift into the Portal itself, while also using the Rift yourselves to travel into the world of Draenor, aiding Gul'dan in his own task of securing the newborn Portal on the other side and protecting him from those who would stand in the way of the Legion!

After this, you will take part in the Horde's initial crossing into Tirisfal, first taking on the role of Cho'Gall and assisting him in his rise to power as Chieftain of the Twilight's Hammer Clan as he dethrones the former Chieftain - an Orcish Herald of Twilight - to secure his own place of power within the Horde's leadership, and earning the favor of the Shadow Council. Then you will follow Kil'rogg Deadeye and help to clear the way to the Kingdom of Azeroth, carving a bloody road through Deadwind Pass and the southern forests of Brightwood, slaughtering and capturing any unsuspecting humans you can find! Finally, the two heroes of the Horde will rendevous together and make the initial charge against Stormwind Keep, letting the pale dogs know that the Horde has come to claim their lands!

But the human capital will not be such an easy target! Lord Anduin Lothar, the Lion of Azeroth and Armsman of the Brotherhood of the Horse, will rally the defense and lead a glorious counterattack against the two Orcish clans, repelling them off and breaking the siege! Then they, too, will venture into the forested lands of Brightwood, hunting down the Horde and chasing them back to the Swamps. There they will earn themselves an unusual prisoner, who will promise them aid in return for their life. On the advice of the prisoner, Sir Anduin will lead his brave knights into the lands of Westfall and into the Deadmines in search of a powerful artifact that will aid them against the forces of darkness, but there he will meet an unwelcome surprise, and may find that his quest may not be as easy as he would've expected...

And then finally, you will cross the Portal once more and follow Nobundo the Scarred, Far Seer of the Greyheart Tribe of Draenei, and his search for purpose and hope amidst the ruins of his home world. Day in, day out, the Greyhearts are hounded by the Orcs, hunted for sport to the point of near extinction. While searching for shelter, you will find the mysterious Akama and his Ashtongue seers within a sacred cave, and together Akama and Nobundo will venture into the realm of the spirits, seeking guidance. Walking through the plane of spirits and enduring the trials of the elements, Nobundo and Akama will receive a vision that tells them their only hope is to leave their beloved world behind and search for a new land of promise and plenty. Believing that that can only mean they need to make their way to the same world as the orcs, the draenei resolve to gather as many tribes as they can so that they may make an assault on the Dark Portal itself, striking from the shadows and slipping through to the new world...

RECRUITING

So what am I looking for, in the way of a project team? Like I said before, I'm hoping for a relatively small but highly dedicated team of people who I know are going to work well together, get along, and have the commitment necessary to see this project through to the end. I'd rather have someone who was well motivated and able to get along with the other people in the team than one with the highest level of skill, though obviously a certain level of skill IS preferred. It's all about balance. As for specific roles and what I need, they can be best surmised as follows...

Story Consultants

I already have a very good idea of where I want the story to go, as you can likely tell... But I'm not arrogant as to believe every idea I have is solid gold and that there aren't better ways to tell it. As a story consultant, your job would be to offer suggestions for the lore and flow of the storyline for the project, but also to understand that the last word is ultimately mine. I've been working on this idea for 12 years now, so you will have to trust me that I know where I want to go with it, but I like to think I am entirely reasonable and willing to listen to the words of others if their thoughts are more sound than my own. I'm probably not going to want more than four people filling this role, maximum, to avoid conflicting ideas in the concept process, so I am going to be EXTREMELY selective here. You have been warned, haha.

Artists/Modelers

While we are sticking to the general style of the classic Warcraft games and, as such, it will be entirely possible to use already existing resources here on the Hive, I would IDEALLY like to have as close to 100% original resources as possible, done in the style of vanilla Warcraft III models and textures but of a higher quality. For reference, you may look to the work of Tauer, who has already agreed to be a part of this project team and will likely wind up the "head" of the art "department" for this team, unless someone I believe to be more qualified ends up interested in joining.

Furthermore, we will need people with skill in 2D artistry as well, to help with banners, concept art and any other images to be used on any forums we end up creating as well as resources such as loading screens and retextures.

Related to the modelers, but much rarer to find, I would also really like to have someone able to create cinematic movies akin to the ones seen in Warcraft III. Tauer has stated he would definitely like to try his hand at something along these lines, but obviously it is a lot of work for one person alone.

Programmers

This project is pretty massive, obviously. Or at least, it CAN be pretty massive if we get everything we're looking for. For that reason, I would love to look into the idea of making Chronicles of Tirisfal a full-fledged mod for Warcraft III as opposed to merely a collection of campaigns. Someone who knows how to edit MPQs and write executable files, change the coding of the game itself and all of that lovely stuff would be a fantastic asset to the team.

Additionally, in the same sort of category, people skilled in programming the A.I. of Warcraft III would be greatly appreciated as well.

JASS Coders

On a related note, people who are skillled in JASS and even just general triggering in Warcraft III are definitely needed for this project, with what we have in mind to do. From custom spells to systems to simply making things carry over from one map to the next (or even from one campaign to the next), JASS writers are simply a must.

The user known as Yugata has already agreed to be a part of the team and, similar to Tauer in the modeling department, he is likely to wind up my lead coder, at least in the way of spell design.

Cinematic Directors

Not everyone skilled with triggers is also skilled with in-game cinematics. I myself like to think I'm fairly good in this particular field, but I'm no expert at it. Someone with an innate sense of cinematography and timing as well as all the little camera tricks and filters able to be done in Warcraft III would make for a very nice addition to the project team.

Voice Actors

I myself actually have a decent vocal range and a passing knowledge of the manipulation of voice files, so if I absolutely had to I could probably get away with voicing every single unit and character... But that's obviously not ideal, haha. Even dismissing the amount of work that would go into it, even someone with an absolutely stunning range (which I don't have anyways) would struggle to come up with the amount of character voices needed for this project with each of them sounding distinct. The more variety the better, so this is actually where I will likely be asking for the most applicants.

Tech-Tree Designers

Through trial and error, I can come up with a halfway reasonable tech-tree of unique units and systems, but that takes a long long time of testing, reworking and scrapping and simply isn't optimal. A more experienced hand in this department would be more than welcome, so long as they show the level of skill and competence i'm looking for. One important feature of the gameplay aspect of Chronicles is the fact that the tech-trees are customize-able, so anyone seeking this role has to understand that they will basically be making two full tech-trees for four races, so the equivalent amount of work to about eight tech-trees, minus buildings and Heroes (which are unique).

Game Experts

Finally, no game can be truly finished without testers... But I'm not the kind of person who is looking for someone who just wants to play the work-in-progress map and give a tidbit of feedback. At least not for the official team - there will be playable demos released to the public in the future for that. No, what I am looking for in this role of the team are veteran players who have a STRONG understanding of the game and how it works, who would be able to tell me and the tech-tree designers what would work even before we put it to the test, who would know what would make for an interesting single-player experience and be willing to talk to the rest of the team about it before anything is even in a playable state and then also willing to play through it in a sort of closed beta to make sure everything is functioning and enjoyable before public release.

SELECTION PROCESS

As I mentioned above, the process of selection for team members is going to be quite rigorous and not just anybody is going to get a spot. Any offer of assistance will be under great scrutiny and will be judged by not just myself, but also any other member of the team. Currently, that is only Yugata, Tauer and myself, but will eventually include many others (I hope!), so the process will only get more and more selective as more members join the team. Don't worry though! Everyone WILL BE considered, even if we get to the point where I feel like the team is large enough and doesn't need anyone else. I'll still consider it! I'm open-minded and respectful, and I'll be honored if anyone decides to try to opt to join the team, so everyone's offer is going to be acknowledged and considered, at the very least.

So please, if you have any interest whatsoever, please throw me a private message and let me know if you're interested and what sort of skills you have to offer for the team! I'll be more than happy to hear from any of you. ^^
 
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Preeeeetty interesting as far as the story goes.
However, I think it's too grand to succeed. No offense.
None taken! I'm well aware of what you mean. Other projects such as Heart of Storms have tried to tackle this sort of idea and died off in development simply because of the scope. But even if I have to do it all myself, this project is going to see SOME level of fruition, I can tell you that much. This is as grand as I would LIKE for it to become, but I've already put 12 years of mental effort into it, I'm not about to abandon it now, haha.
 
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It's a nice idea but it's way too large, scale it down a LOT.
Create a prototype, something to show that you're serious, but all in all keep it small.

Or your project is going to end up here:
Projects of old, gather ye' resources... [Mod Compendium]

I'll recommend you read this:
Interlopers.net - Half-Life 2 News & Tutorials
Deleted my last response since you changed your post entirely, heh.

I am actually working on Catalyst on my own at the moment, which I had planned to release before even asking for team members. It was going to serve as a sort of pre-alpha demo, you could say. But I was encouraged to reach out a little sooner by some people whom I've shown this project to and I figured there really was no reason not to, especially since a small team is already starting to form with Yugata and Tauer. Why make Catalyst a cheaper experience when I could get some more people working on it and bring it to proper quality?

I do see your point, though, and I AM still working on Catalyst and will still release it on my own if no one ends up signing on for this project until then.

As for that article, I thank you for sharing but it wasn't much of anything I didn't know or at least think of beforehand. I lack the money to make a full-on mod site without knowing that people would actually be interested in it, and I also lack the graphical skills to make it pretty if I did. My specialty is writing and conceptualization of systems within the project. If things need to be scaled down, they will be scaled down, but I'm proposing the project as what I want it to be in the IDEAL situation. If it turns out to only be a collection of really large campaigns, that's totally fine in my book. I'm just saying making it a full-on mod would be the best case scenario if we can get people with those sorts of skills to help out. Does that make sense?
 
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Yeah I mistook you for someone else with my first post, so I changed it when I realized you were not him.

You seem to know what you're getting into, but I'd still recommend you post some screenshots of your work so far, at least to prove to people that you are doing work yourself.
 
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Yeah I mistook you for someone else with my first post, so I changed it when I realized you were not him.

You seem to know what you're getting into, but I'd still recommend you post some screenshots of your work so far, at least to prove to people that you are doing work yourself.
I will, when I have some more stuff worth showing! XP At the moment, most of my actual work has gone into experimenting with unit ideas and a little bit of terraining. When I get some more terraining work and hopefully some cinematic work done, I'll be happy to show off a few screenshots!
 
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Here's a few quick screenshots from a couple of the WiP maps. Bear in mind that many of these models are placeholders and nothing is final. XP

Bleeding Hollow Base Camp.jpg

Kobolds.jpg

Garrison.jpg

Dreadlord Meeting.jpg
 
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Hey, thanks Murlocologist for tagging me.

Well, this project looks like it could be one of the best ever. And Murlocologist is right, something this big can keep (or rather boost) modding in the community. Even if it does look too big, I'd gamble that Zaljinzoo knows what he's talking about compared to some other attempts. There's already a huge amount of detail and organization that just needs to be filled in.

But before the site spotlights this (via social media, green notice, and even front page news later on), it's essential we get some good imagery. Yeah, you have screenshots but they seem as basic as any other above average map.
Some sort of banner or very attractive screenshots with good terrain / models / gameplay should be made first. That way, things will be much easier when promoting this because promoting with the right image is everything, 10x more than just text.
 
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Hey, thanks Murlocologist for tagging me.

Well, this project looks like it could be one of the best ever. And Murlocologist is right, something this big can keep (or rather boost) modding in the community. Even if it does look too big, I'd gamble that Zaljinzoo knows what he's talking about compared to some other attempts. There's already a huge amount of detail and organization that just needs to be filled in.

But before the site spotlights this (via social media, green notice, and even news later on), it's essential we get some good imagery. Yeah, you have screenshots but they seem as basic as any other above average map.
Some sort of banner or very attractive screenshots with good terrain / models / gameplay should be made first. That way, things will be much easier when promoting this because promoting with the right image is everything, 10x more than just text.
I'm flattered at the praise and confidence! :)

Yeah, I would love to put some better preview work up. Currently working with Tauer on getting some unique models cooked up, but I admit to not knowing much of anyone who's really skilled at making things along the lines of banners, myself woefully included, haha. Between Yugata, Tauer and I, though, I'm confident we can come up with a really good demo version of the Catalyst campaign within as short a time frame as a couple months, if everything works out well, so hopefully that will suffice for a proper spotlight. Hopefully though, some talented 2D artists will find themselves interested enough in the project to sign on and make some banners/concept art before even then, but we shall see!

When we have something worth presenting to the community in full, I will be sure to send you a message! Thank you for the interest and support.
 
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Hello all! Apologies for the radio silence - the holiday season had everyone rather busy and Tauer has had a few things come up that he's still not entirely done with in his personal life. But Yugata and I are both still working on things, slowly but surely! The techtrees are coming along nicely and many Heroes are getting their abilities fleshed out. I haven't had the time to really work on terraining too much, but here's a little peek at the first Cult map of the Catalyst campaign, showing off a custom blight texture and "Outland Doodad" reskin that I myself threw together for a more WoWish Fel feel for the demon buildings here on the Hive, such as the ones made by Ujimasa Hojo. Just a little something to show you guys that things are still going! Will hopefully have much more to show off soon!

Dreadlord Coven.jpg
 
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Hello everyone! No screenshots today I'm afraid, but some fairly big news nonetheless!

Let me start by apologizing for another span of silence on here - came down with a pretty nasty flu AND had to get work done on my computer due to some hardware problems so that was a big wrench in the gears. But onto the good part!

Chronicles is going to have a playable altered melee map release fairly soon that will be continually updated with the various new tech-trees as they are developed, starting with the full Horde race since it's the one currently farthest along. This will give Yugata and I a chance to tweak things and test them out before we implement them into the actual campaigns and give all of you a little preview into the work we're doing! Since Tauer is still MIA we're going to be using resources from the Hive and such as placeholders until we can get our custom models worked on but hey - better than nothing right? :)

Considering we're still fleshing out the finer details of the orc tech-tree and I have to make my first melee style map ever, still probably going to be a bit before we get the first version publicly released but hopefully it won't be very long off!

In other news, now that I'm done being sick and I have access to my computer again, I've started writing out some of those manual-style resources and backstories! Currently have a couple prologue pieces for the Horde and Alliance races all about 50% done so those will be shown off fairly soon as well. In the meantime, check out this small overview of the Horde Clans to get some basic little hints of where they stand and how they might be featured in the grand storyline! More details for the more prominently featured Clans will be presented in the form of those background stories I mentioned, but this will serve as a nice little teaser and collection of general notes for my benefit. :)
 
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