Crusade over Europe needs your help

[SNIper of DARKness]

Hello! I am currently working this summer on revitalising an old project called Crusade over Europe, I have managed to bring the old team (Shush,Oranki) together and release a new version after 4 years of stagnation that fixed many issues, but it's not enough. I am looking to release a complete version that will actually add the core Mechanics we wanted when we started making this map.

I am especially looking for mappers that can work triggers (GUI/JASS), bonus points if you know a code language and know about LUA which is what we currently work with to transfer code in to Wc3. Now this project has been in the works for more than 10 years, and it would mean a lot to get some closure by adding the finishing touches.

Information about the project as it currently works:

It's a Medieval themed Grand Strategy RTS PVP map for 20 players, where you start as 1 City and tech up and expand. There are four factions and 4 main unique Mechanics for the map:

1. Cities with Dynamic population and events, can change tax level, increase public order, get revolts which spawn rebels (more on that in mechanics).
2. Supply Mechanic, all units and buildings suffer attrition damage if outside of a Supply Aura, this mechanic prevents some typical RTS abuses.
3. Unit upkeep, every military unit has a gold upkeep, which is paid every turn, even substracting from your treasury.
4. Faction with different Religion and mechanics which you get depending on the region you choose in game to start.

Terrain Screenshots:

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You start with 1 Settler and have 1 minute to pick the spot you want to start by inhabiting one city on the map, you can choose any city on the map to start, which first will dictate the faction you get and second the initial taxes/starting resources.
Factions Map:

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The combat mechanics are based around rock/paper/scissors counters, inspired by Age of Empires and Empire Earth. There are 5 tech tiers, each unit having 3 upgrades. So as you advance you must also upgrade your Units. (you can find a counters excel file attached)
Main income is gained from Taxes which you can influence through your gameplay, setting taxes higher, this will however lower the Public Order (PO), so you will have to start building specific structures nearby a city to increase PO to counter the higher taxes, like Churches, Universities, Inns.
Gameplay Screenshots

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As you can see below there are some flavoured texts that provide some relevant information to the player.
Events/Gameplay

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Most fleshed out mechanic is currently our dynamic cities, they can have a lot of modifiers with different chances to trigger which will affect; Population, Public Order and the Tax bonus. A low Public Order will start spawning Rebels, there are 3 tiers, with each increasing the number and type of Rebels spawned, last one turning your Capitol
Mechanics

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Current Mechanics we need help with to finalise map:​

- Victory Condition.​

- Pope and Crusade mechanic.​

- Since the new Overhaul making income real time rather than turn based we now need help re-adding the "set tax level" and many of the random modifiers.​

If this project shall continue after the main mechanics are done, there are a number of things we would like to add:

• Mongol Invasion (invasion from AI troops from east)
• Cultural Victory (a different way to win from just conquest where you and your entire faction wins by completing tasks like Crusades/Jihad, Tech Upgrades, being first to get certain tech)
• America Expansion (explore America, which will be carved in to the Saharan Desert)
• More City building, more city modifiers, more events.
• Generals having a chance to get retinues after leveling up (similar to M2TW). Ie. If train x number of archer get Item Archer Leader +10% ranged dmg, Bodyguard +3 armour, Logistician gets the aura from Supply horses etc..

If you think you may be able to help in any way, I'd be happy to hear from you!

Attached Files
If you are interested you can find the map file attached, you can open it in WE but due the compiling method we use it will bug if trying to save.
Replay of two most recent games.
Excel File for Unit counters, combat, techs.

Thank you for reading.

 

[SNIper of DARKness]

Latest replay, 18 players. It evolved in to Arabs vs Western Europe/Roman Empire/Eastern Europe. Where the Moors crossed the Rhine in to Germany and also formed present day Caliphate of England.

I'll upload the factions unit list with more detail on the differences.
EDIT:

Western Europe

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Saracens

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Eastern Roman Empire

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Eastern Europe

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As said above, you will have to upgrade your units as the game moves on. Each upgrade providing roughly +30 hp and 4 Attack along with various new abilities, they will also increase in cost and upkeep. Call it inflation as more and more of the map gets controlled and more income is gathered.

There are Culture specific units, for example WE gets Pikemen and Heavy Infantry, while Saracens get Shock Infantry and Light infantry along with a special Light Cavalry with anti-cav properties.
Different factions have access to different techs and mechanics, EE Peasants can use their peasants to permanently bolster their army with Militias, while ERE can build Mercenary Camps and hire Latin equivalent mercenaries at increased cost and upkeep.

 

[SNIper of DARKness]

Currently working on releasing a new version.

EDIT:
I have found some help, currently exploring new ideas.

 

[SNIper of DARKness]

We have opened up the map to allow for LUA code to able to be input in to the map. This will allow for more features to be added.

Currently we are considering expanding on city modifiers and adding multiple victory conditions ranging from: Conquest, Culture and Technology.

Depending on the buildings you have, cities will develop differently, main city modifiers are Population, Happiness (Public Order) and Tax. And different buildings will impact differently.
Also certain cities will give bonuses (for example if you own Jerusalem all your cities will get a +10 Happiness modifier).

In the end we are exploring to expand in gameplay in other areas, so that you can play the game in more ways, rather than focusing on Military and Conquest, you can also play the game by growing your Empire and your cities, winning the game like that.

We are still looking for people that can help in their spare time, whether it be idea or developing code and triggers in to the map directly.

Feel free to ask questions about the game.

 

[SNIper of DARKness]

Currently going through a income overhaul where we will have real time income as opposed to income per turn, this will have the effect of giving players instant feedback, on top of that victory conditions are being done and city mechanics are being also updated and m
ade tighter.

We will soon need people for tests, so in this regard no matter what skill level you have in map making, any insight you have in the map is duly noted and welcomed.

 

[Nihilism_Is_Death]

Currently going through a income overhaul where we will have real time income as opposed to income per turn, this will have the effect of giving players instant feedback, on top of that victory conditions are being done and city mechanics are being also updated and m
ade tighter.View attachment 483174

We will soon need people for tests, so in this regard no matter what skill level you have in map making, any insight you have in the map is duly noted and welcomed.

looks good but I believe there is a max limit on the number of text tags you can use on the map at any given time.

 

[SNIper of DARKness]

looks good but I believe there is a max limit on the number of text tags you can use on the map at any given time.

That won't be a problem, as the texts only appear if you select a city. There's been a lot of progress as some kind Hiveworkshoppers have decided to aid me but I still need help before a "final" release. I will be updating this post and include the new stuff later today.

 

[SNIper of DARKness]

Thanks to the help of some hiveworkshoppers the map has been modernised and is a lot more customisable, most notably we have moved from the WURST model to LUA based code. Along with that an overhaul to the income system has been placed, we have moved from the classic but old and antique turn based system (income every 2 minutes) used in many maps to a more dynamic income, giving players instant feedback.

Get the newest version of the map here (also updated the main thread):

Crusade over Europe 1.01 Beta

www.hiveworkshop.com

 

[Sanhedrin13]

Really cool looking map so far. Important suggestion, make another version of the map with only 7 or 8 players max so if someone wants to host it without a premade group he will be able to fill it with randoms. Randoms, from past experience hosting, avoid joining lobbies when they see something like 3/20 on the list. They join much quicker when they see something fast like 3/8 and assume the lobby will start soon. Also reduce the main map's version to 14, nearly no map ever fills to 20 on the lobby list.

 

[SNIper of DARKness]

We are looking for a new person that can work with LUA.

Current problems:
Desync - caused by a researchable, still have to pinpoint which ones
Too much gold late game - we need to reintroduce wages for units
Victory Condition tweaks - need a timer that tells people in how many minutes they win/lose after they complete the objectives

 

[SNIper of DARKness]

This is the latest version, included many quality of life improvements and balance changes.

Most notably, we have streamlined the starting, you now spawn with a King, 6 champions and 7 workers. The Champions can be upgraded as you advance but are not trainable anywhere else, unique for each faction.
Updated prices to reflect the new income.

We still are looking for active help.

 

[SNIper of DARKness]

The Desync has been narrowed down to do with a LUA trigger, would anyone be able to give a hand?

 

[SNIper of DARKness]

Can anyone help? This desync is killing the map, everything is working as well as it should, the gameplay is great, I can't stop playing it, it's just that everytime if I host with 7+ players it desyncs after 30 minutes, sometimes later some times earlier. I just don't have enough knowledge about this to do anything about it.