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[Hero Arena] Defenders of Aggra (Concept Development Thread)

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Hello! Some of you may know me from previously being here, others not. When I left I was working on a project that I attempted to resume as of three days ago, to no avail. The project was scatterbrained, unorganized and poorly done, the blame of which resides on me. So I have decided not to scrap the map, but salvage ideas from the map, as well as some coding. The new project will be worked on and updated, as well as utilize a better organizational system to ensure that if I am forced to take a break as I was last time, I can resume it. Just as the olden map "Heroes of the Fray" was a hero arena, this one will be as well. This time, I will have some assistance from my girlfriend, and hopefully will be able to get a real team together. But enough about me, let's get to the concept development.


Credits to: Nicolas Collings for the Orc, Eira_Dirca for the Elf

Gameplay
Gameplay will be teams or FFA. A max of 12 players, minimum of 2. The current decision on how teams will work is as follows:
  • Count the players.
  • If there are even players, send the first player found (in order 0-11) a dialog with available layouts.
  • If odd players, automatically set to FFA -AP
Basically, the first player decides the layout, unless there are an odd number of players, in which the game defaults to FFA All-Pick. This is because several champions are support based and it would be unfair to random off these champions to players. Remember, this game is really based on teams.

Possible team layouts are:
  • 2v2v2v2v2v2 (6 teams of 2)
  • 2v2v2v2v2 (5 teams of 2)
  • 2v2v2v2 (4 teams of 2)
  • 2v2v2 (3 teams of 2)
  • 2v2 (2 teams of 2)
  • 3v3v3v3 (4 teams of 3)
  • 3v3v3 (3 teams of 3)
  • 3v3 (2 teams of 3)
  • 4v4v4 (3 teams of 4)
  • 4v4 (4 teams of 4)
  • 5v5 (2 teams of 5)
  • 6v6 (2 teams of 6)
  • 1v1 (2 teams of 1)
  • FFA (x teams of 1 where x <= 12)

The goal of the game is based on the mode selected.

In Death match, each player is awarded an amount of lives based on the primary player's choice. Last man standing wins. The values are estimated to be 1,3,5,7,10,15,20,30, but this is only concept development. In DeathMatch Teams, the game is played differently. Instead of individuals, the teams get X amount of lives (number of players on each team * values previously) and last team wins.

Capture the flag is an interesting mode, it requires cooperation, and tactics beyond doubt. The flag is placed in the "arena" section of the middle of the map, after it is opened up, and dropped on player death or the icon given to the player when they pick up the flag. In this mode, each team is given a certain location, and it is confirmed that there will be a max of 4 teams.

Infection, the third mode, is somewhat of an oddball. This mode is highly up for debate, and unlikely to make it to development, unless people really want this mode. The team proportions change to being for every three players, there is one infected. to a max of 12 players (3(3+1)). Every time an infected kills a pure (regular player), they become infected as well. The infected have 3 lives, and after every death they gain (Level * 5) to their attributes.

Domination, the fourth mode, is a common mode. There are 9 bases in the map, 3 max teams, and every 5 seconds you hold a location grants you 2 points. However, holding more locations grants you total points from locations + locations. For example, you hold 3 locations, you will gain 6 + 3 points. Holding all nine points grants 18 + 9 = 27 points! Point values to reach are currently estimated to be 100,150,200,500. This is subject to change.

Blackout is our FFA only mode that can be chosen instead of Death-Match. Blackout gives players a small radial view around their champion on the map, refreshing the fog of war periodically. Brawls are difficult, characters with leaps can jump on and off camera, and there's more than champions lurking in the dark after the clock strikes midnight... The game is won by slaying the demon that is released after the clock his 0:00.

Terrain
Currently we are looking at a free roam arena, which will include minor, optional objectives to boost your team or yourself, as well as the changes which will be system coded depending on the mode chosen. Because there are so many modes to pick, the map will be subjected to different approaches of positioning and different styling techniques to not only make it functional but be aesthetically appealing as well. The terrain is only going to be a concern during major system development and during terrain layout. We are still working on the draft of the map's layout, but it will be posted when we are done.

Items
Our current item system is looking at a building system, and then jumping into a tier system. To elaborate, we will use the "Sword" for Example. The Sword will be a STR builders damage item, giving STR attribute, a critical strike aura, and flat HP. The sword will be built from items, and then after obtaining "Sword" you will upgrade it through a tier system, with each tier increasing it. There will different choices for tiers and players will be able to pick and choose their upgrades, however the end result will be relatively the same. There may be 2^10 different paths, but it will lead to most likely the same 5 items.

The reason for this is that you may need a different specialization of an item as the game progresses, and this allows you to pick said item. We do not intend to force players to stick to an outline I.E. Helm, armor, weapon, offhand, accessory, ring, but it will most likely be ideal to do something of the sort.

We didn't want to make a recipe based system like DotA or LoL or many other hero maps because its so very difficult for a player to learn the building system, and with a system like this you can clearly see what you should be building, how to build it, and all of your upgrades. If people think we should make it an item build requirement to have helm, accessory etc. we will definitely add that, but we don't want to consider it at this time.

Heroes
Heroes is a major part of this map for me. I love designing heroes and concept design for them. However, when it comes to heroes, they are the most time consuming, and most difficult to produce. Because of this being based off of a "salvaged" project, we will be transferring information to our blog very frequently and already have nine concepts down for heroes. We also have a hero who is in late stage spell development! So we are hoping to get to work on these soon, but we will need more developers. Heroes for us are a big concern in that they need to be original in the map. Why pick Hero A if Hero C is the same? The other things about heroes are the lore and the balancing. It is a desire to have all the heroes have a back story and a logical purpose. I would like to get someone on the team for Hero Concept Design too. We also have a Hero Balancing Team (HBT), and we will need them when we get there.

Creeps
Something that seems almost insignificant in this map sadly are the creeps, but not to the development team. We think the creeps are going to be the tipping point, the difference between that crucial upgrade and a team fight gone wrong. We don't want creeps to make the win, but make an even or close match, a winning match. Creeps will ideally be placed in a balance around the map, not out of the way, but not in your face. We want them to blend with the woodwork and even have brawls themselves possibly. There also is the possibility of buffs on the table.

Systems
Some systems we would like to see in the map are very interesting and will seriously alter game-play and tactical thinking strategies. A mischievous mechanic known to League players is the brush, a mechanic i wished to include in Heroes of the Fray. For those who don't know, this mechanic hides players inside the brush from those not inside. This mechanic will be very difficult to get to work, but worth it.

My own chat system will be implemented into the map, as such I will be performing updates on the system more frequently as I get to development.

A mechanic being salvaged here that was found to be interesting is the Combat spells mechanic. The following section is directly copied from the HotF: Battle Arena thread, as it is a thread belonging to me. Combat spells are innate abilities that you are able to select from once you pick a hero. You cannot change this during the course of the game. Combat Spells level up twice, to a total level of 3 during the match: once at 10, and again at 19. These abilities are available for everyone to select from, and give more unique play style to the game.
  • Ensnare: Binds the target enemy in vines for 2 + seconds, and reducing armor by 5 * (Ability Level *2). Cool-down: 230 seconds
  • Turmoil: Tosses a ball of energy at a point area and knocks all units in a 100 area back 250. Cool-down: 260 seconds
  • Heal: Heals the target for 300*(Ability level). Cool-down: 300 seconds
More spells are going to be added later, this is just a taste for now.

Another system being brought over is the streak system, which is also copied from the post: Streaks will be enabled for a player when they kill 3 consecutive heroes (not exactly in a window of time) and will continue to count up as they kill heroes without dying themselves. Streak values are yet to be determined.

Team Information
Currently, DoA is looking for members to join the Concept & Design team. Please note that this isn't the development team. The positions open here are subject to interview, and proof of quality work. We are very open however and encourage anyone who thinks they can be an asset to the team to simply comment down below or PM "khamarr3524" and we will contact you. We are currently looking at these needed positions:
Positions Available

Terrain Design Team:1
Model and Animation:1-2
Graphic Design(Splash, banners, signatures, Hero Concept Profiles):1
Hero Balancing Team:4
Current Staff:
khamarr3524: Project Leader, Head Dev
Irislane4: Dev, Project Co-Leader
Sick: Hero and Item Concept Development Team
Earthshaker: Hero and Item Concept Development Team

If you're interested please use this form. We will update positions daily and check more frequently than that. We are constantly working on concepts at this time and have yet to open the world editor. We want to get the ideas written down and understood before we get into it. If you're interested in the map don't forget to check out our blog by either clicking the banner at the top or here Feel free to post support and keep the thread alive!
 
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Level 5
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Nice project! Seems pretty serious and well organized. Congrats on that!

I'd really like to help with the concept creation, but I sadly have my plate full at the moment. If I get some free-time I'll apply for the position if it remains vacant.

Just wanted to say that and give my support! Let's hope you guys manage to finish it!
 
Level 9
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We really need concept team members, there is a lot of lore that needs to be done, redone, and really worked on. We're really working on concepts only right now, what we want in the map. But there is always a need for lore work. I'm personally working on hero concepts in my free time at school, and sitting at home with a mind map on my tablet just laying out things that are desired and going to be considered for development.
 
Level 9
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Due to several setbacks, and a smaller team than expected, our development has been slowed, and we will now be delaying our coding development until March 27th. No actual map work will be done until this time. We are still very much alive here, working diligently to update our blog, and will be reposting this information will more details, and some changes into the main "Map Development" category. We are writing out pseudo-code guidelines for our core systems now, and will then move onto game systems. We hope to get the rest of our champions up to date with the standards we desire to see them at, as well as acquire the icons, and accredit the creator's of the icons appropriately. Concepts are coming along nicely and we know a lot of detailed information on all of our systems now. Check the Map Development page soon as we will be posting there March 27th!
 
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