- Joined
- Aug 12, 2006
- Messages
- 10
Control the Ruins - 1.4b
1.4b is up, as of 12/15/2007.
-Index-
1.) About Control the Ruins
2.) Features
3.) Development
4.) Advice
5.) Updates
1.) About Control the Ruins
A view of the center ruins.
CtR takes place in an isolated jungle site, where ruins of a past age dominate the landscape.
Vicious bestial races roam the northern and southern reaches; two expeditions from the civilized world each control a small ruin to the northwest and southeast.
Inside a wall of rocky cliffs, huge ruins sweep across the center of the region, holding secrets and crypts untouched by man for aeons.
It is for these that you are fighting.
Take control of one of the classic 23 Heroes and help your team in an intense struggle against three other teams (Two of the four teams may have human players) to hold the central ruins for 3, 5, or 10 consecutive minutes. Be warned, however, that each team will attempt to steal the ruins for their own gain-- in the case of the neutral teams, they just wish to revert control of it to the jungle.
Stealing the ruins is as simple a matter as stepping onto the decorative center-plate with any Hero.
2.) Game Features - What Makes CtR Different?
First off, the genre is an interesting medley: King of the Hill, AoS, arena, also mixing in a focus on quick thinking and on-the-spot strategy over preplanned item and Hero builds.
Beyond that, there are plenty of things to keep it different:
A small skirmish takes place on one of the ramps of the center ruins.
There are plenty of other features (most standard, some not), quirks and secrets on the map that you'll discover and learn through the course of play. Knowing the map and how to use it to your advantage is a great help.
3.) Development
This map was originally one I made last year, finished, released one public version (v1.397), and was dissatisfied with my results.
I came back to it a month ago, started polishing and rebuilding, and I am very pleased with it all this time around. That said, though, it is still a beta; there are no bugs on the map that I know of, but only lots of public testing can say for sure.
Who's helped on the project so far:
giX - Playtesting, and suggestion to populate the map with more trees.
fire_rain424 - TONS of playtesting, and some general suggestions. Hosting, too.
I'll add your name here, and in the ingame credits, if you help out-- right now, that's mainly playing the map as much as you can [stand]
.
Send me an email at mangoeldarkartATyahoo.com, post here, or message me on East Coast b.net at Stabbity if you want to contact me.
All your support is very much appreciated.
4.) Advice
There are some things you'll want to keep in mind when playing CtR:
~Heroes are pretty fragile. You'll want to stay on the fringes of fights until you get a few levels and a bit of cash.
~If you die, you lose half your current gold and Item Tokens, so don't be afraid to run away if you're losing. There is a Banker in each base to whom you can trade in money for bags of it, which do not drop on death.
~The furbolg creep camps do not respawn. They're a good source of starting cash to get you off on the right foot.
~Supply Lines, packdogs, and inventory space upgrades (oh my) are all very useful to your team; with the exception of the packdogs, they're also all quite expensive.
~This is an important one: you are encouraged to use multiple item-builds per game. In longer games, you'll easily have the cash to switch out items depending on who or what you're fighting, or what your current situation demands. Don't feel like you have to follow one strategy per game.
~It all takes a bit of getting used to, and your first game or two are probably going to be a little frustrating. I've eased the learning curve based on my own and two testers experiences to be as gentle and enjoyable as it can be, without being at the cost of depth.
5.) Updates
1.4b is out! Here's the changelist. I'm going to try to get some form of ruin-locking into 1.4c, but that didn't make it into this one. Enjoy.
Control the Ruins - 1.4b Changelist
General
-The bonus timers for Short Game and Long Game modes were working incorrectly, and are now fixed.
-Several bugs in the spawn triggers fixed, and gameplay between teams should be a bit more balanced.
-Added three new game-modes: -ktw: Kills to Win (1,000), -ktwnc: KtW+No Creeps, -rg: Random Game: one of the other game-modes.
-Terrain surrounding the central ruins recieved a touch-up.
-Added a random weather system.
-Variety of minor bugs fixed.
-Full control should now be given to the team of a leaving player.
Units
-Increased all unit spawn times by 10 seconds.
-The Alchemist and Tinker morphing abilities now have the added benefit of increasing the caster's inventory to 6 slots for the duration of the spell, if they have not already bought the upgrade.
-The neutral Life Drain's effect has been reduced to 25 from 55. Some would agree this was long in the coming.
Items
-Supply Lines now cost 50/50 instead of 30/30.
-Witchdoctor's Stick no longer grants +25 mana, but now is able to summon Healing Wards.
-Hammer of Kridan's +HP regeneration has been reduced from 2 to 1.
-Claws of the Fallen Disciple now provide the ability to create a 2 second invulnerability shell around yourself.
-Ogre-King's Club now grants +30 HP instead of +45, and has a 20% chance to deal 5 additional damage on each attack.
-Goddess Tear Gracestaff now also grants Spell Shield once every 45 seconds.
-Chainmail grants +3 armor, up from the previous +2.
-Half-plate Armor's armor bonus has been upped to +5.
-Added two new items to the Oradi Clansman: Rod of Volcano's Flame and Rod of Winter's Frost.
~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~
Well, with all that said: play, and have fun. I'd love your feedback and testing.
Thanks for your interest.
Stabbity
Control the Ruins v1.4b - Late Beta
1.4b is up, as of 12/15/2007.
-Index-
1.) About Control the Ruins
2.) Features
3.) Development
4.) Advice
5.) Updates
1.) About Control the Ruins
CtR takes place in an isolated jungle site, where ruins of a past age dominate the landscape.
Vicious bestial races roam the northern and southern reaches; two expeditions from the civilized world each control a small ruin to the northwest and southeast.
Inside a wall of rocky cliffs, huge ruins sweep across the center of the region, holding secrets and crypts untouched by man for aeons.
It is for these that you are fighting.
Take control of one of the classic 23 Heroes and help your team in an intense struggle against three other teams (Two of the four teams may have human players) to hold the central ruins for 3, 5, or 10 consecutive minutes. Be warned, however, that each team will attempt to steal the ruins for their own gain-- in the case of the neutral teams, they just wish to revert control of it to the jungle.
Stealing the ruins is as simple a matter as stepping onto the decorative center-plate with any Hero.
2.) Game Features - What Makes CtR Different?
First off, the genre is an interesting medley: King of the Hill, AoS, arena, also mixing in a focus on quick thinking and on-the-spot strategy over preplanned item and Hero builds.
Beyond that, there are plenty of things to keep it different:
- Over 40 different types of NPC soldier-- each type with unique stats, and several abilities that they use frequently to change the course of battles.
- Huge battles all over the map, with up to 4 sides participating in any one.
- Not only is each individual unit spawn-type random, but every unit makes different choices where to go across the battlefield.
- Seven game-modes: Long Game, Long Game/No Creeps, Short Game, Short Game/No Creeps, No Creeps, Kills to Win, Kills to Win/No Creeps. More... variety, later.
- Currency system contains gold (gained from all kills, used to buy consumables, packdogs, several upgrades and supplement some gear purchase) and Item Tokens (gained in smaller quantities from all kills, used to buy all gear, and supplement some upgrade purchases), which allows you more selection in your purchases.
- Lieutenants, AI-controlled Heroes who are weaker than player-Heroes, do not respawn on death, but come knowing all their abilities already, are an additional boon for your team. They too steal the ruins for their team, and are great fighters. You may also give them their own gear (even through the Lieutenant Quartermaster in your base, who sends out your donations randomly) to better their fighting ability.
- A plethora of different ways to take, steal and defend the ruins-- Hero and unit abilities, barricades, reinforcements, packdogs, gear and consumable potions, and general chaos all contribute to making each game play just a bit differently than the last.
There are plenty of other features (most standard, some not), quirks and secrets on the map that you'll discover and learn through the course of play. Knowing the map and how to use it to your advantage is a great help.
3.) Development
This map was originally one I made last year, finished, released one public version (v1.397), and was dissatisfied with my results.
I came back to it a month ago, started polishing and rebuilding, and I am very pleased with it all this time around. That said, though, it is still a beta; there are no bugs on the map that I know of, but only lots of public testing can say for sure.
Who's helped on the project so far:
giX - Playtesting, and suggestion to populate the map with more trees.
fire_rain424 - TONS of playtesting, and some general suggestions. Hosting, too.
I'll add your name here, and in the ingame credits, if you help out-- right now, that's mainly playing the map as much as you can [stand]
.Send me an email at mangoeldarkartATyahoo.com, post here, or message me on East Coast b.net at Stabbity if you want to contact me.
Looking down on North Team's base.
All your support is very much appreciated.
4.) Advice
There are some things you'll want to keep in mind when playing CtR:
~Heroes are pretty fragile. You'll want to stay on the fringes of fights until you get a few levels and a bit of cash.
~If you die, you lose half your current gold and Item Tokens, so don't be afraid to run away if you're losing. There is a Banker in each base to whom you can trade in money for bags of it, which do not drop on death.
~The furbolg creep camps do not respawn. They're a good source of starting cash to get you off on the right foot.
~Supply Lines, packdogs, and inventory space upgrades (oh my) are all very useful to your team; with the exception of the packdogs, they're also all quite expensive.
~This is an important one: you are encouraged to use multiple item-builds per game. In longer games, you'll easily have the cash to switch out items depending on who or what you're fighting, or what your current situation demands. Don't feel like you have to follow one strategy per game.
~It all takes a bit of getting used to, and your first game or two are probably going to be a little frustrating. I've eased the learning curve based on my own and two testers experiences to be as gentle and enjoyable as it can be, without being at the cost of depth.
Some soldiers engage in the wilderness.
5.) Updates
1.4b is out! Here's the changelist. I'm going to try to get some form of ruin-locking into 1.4c, but that didn't make it into this one. Enjoy.
Control the Ruins - 1.4b Changelist
General
-The bonus timers for Short Game and Long Game modes were working incorrectly, and are now fixed.
-Several bugs in the spawn triggers fixed, and gameplay between teams should be a bit more balanced.
-Added three new game-modes: -ktw: Kills to Win (1,000), -ktwnc: KtW+No Creeps, -rg: Random Game: one of the other game-modes.
-Terrain surrounding the central ruins recieved a touch-up.
-Added a random weather system.
-Variety of minor bugs fixed.
-Full control should now be given to the team of a leaving player.
Units
-Increased all unit spawn times by 10 seconds.
-The Alchemist and Tinker morphing abilities now have the added benefit of increasing the caster's inventory to 6 slots for the duration of the spell, if they have not already bought the upgrade.
-The neutral Life Drain's effect has been reduced to 25 from 55. Some would agree this was long in the coming.
Items
-Supply Lines now cost 50/50 instead of 30/30.
-Witchdoctor's Stick no longer grants +25 mana, but now is able to summon Healing Wards.
-Hammer of Kridan's +HP regeneration has been reduced from 2 to 1.
-Claws of the Fallen Disciple now provide the ability to create a 2 second invulnerability shell around yourself.
-Ogre-King's Club now grants +30 HP instead of +45, and has a 20% chance to deal 5 additional damage on each attack.
-Goddess Tear Gracestaff now also grants Spell Shield once every 45 seconds.
-Chainmail grants +3 armor, up from the previous +2.
-Half-plate Armor's armor bonus has been upped to +5.
-Added two new items to the Oradi Clansman: Rod of Volcano's Flame and Rod of Winter's Frost.
~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~
Well, with all that said: play, and have fun. I'd love your feedback and testing.
Thanks for your interest.
Stabbity
Last edited:
