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Object: Use your Hero to take control of the 5 Obelisks, unlocking the gate back to Azeroth, and escape.
Plot: You have been killed in battle on Azeroth and entered Erebus, a middle-world between the living and dead, and gateway to the Underworld. Neither here nor there, you are doomed to wander here for eternity ...unless you can escape.
There are 5 rivers which lead to the gateway: Styx, Phegethon, Cocytus, Acheron, and Lethe. Each of these rivers exploits a weakness within you and your units through a mist, affecting your ability to command and fight.
~Styx is the river of hate, and intensifies such hatred of enemies, your units’ attacks become reckless and less effective.
~Phegethon, the river of flame, takes what burns in the hearts of warriors and uses it to destroy flesh and metal alike.
~Cocytus is the river of lamentation, reminding all units of their regrets and failures, dulling their vitality.
~Acheron, the river of pain, corrodes the body and mind of your units until there is nothing left of them.
~Lethe is the river of oblivion, robbing your units of their memories, it leaves them standing with no knowledge of purpose.
The power of each river is focused through an Obelisk. To control each river and cast off the effects of its mist, you must control the river's Obelisk. Each is protected and you are not the only Hero planning to escape. You must raise an army to defeat the challenges which lie before you. Not until you conquer all of your weaknesses, shall the gateway from Erebus be revealed. Not until then, shall you escape ...Erebus.
AI:
-Erebus has a competitive AI, and the difficulty you select matters. Easy AI: This difficulty will pit you against the original AI used Normal AI: This difficulty receives +80 to base speed, 5% faster HP regeneration, 5% increased mana regeneration, and +5 base damage to all units & both attacking buildings. Normal gets Spiked Barricades for its buildings reflecting 5 damage Insane AI: This difficulty receives +160 to base speed, 8% faster HP regeneration, 8% increased mana regeneration, and +10 base damage to all units & both attacking buildings. Insane gets Spiked Barricades for its buildings reflecting 10 damage. Insane is allied to Erebus and Eredar Warlocks it controls will summon Ker (1 per Eredar Warlock)
-Depending on your system abilities, we recommend that you use no more than 3 computer players if you're playing by yourself. It's best used for practice/testing or to fill an empty slots in multiplayer games. You can use more, but the frame rate may become an issue (especially if on your own) due to the sheer volume of AI commands to it's units on the map.
-In games with 4 or less players (including AI), all AI armies will spawn on the west-most island (Phegethon’ Island). Note: Multiple (user) players with full armies do not cause this, just the AI micro.
-The AI is designed to destroy other bases; it will not capture Obelisks (This is Thanatos' task).
-The AI uses a full (100-soul) army.
-If the AI can make a Slave, it can make a base.
***New Players should never play against the Insane AI***
Save/Load:
For some reason, saving the game and loading it later will cause the game to glitch. This is assuming you can load the saved game at all. I do not know what causes this, as it's an issue with the save/load feature of WarCraft 3 itself. It is advised that you finish the game you're playing. However, you can save and view replays.
Gameplay:
-You begin the game as a Soul. Your first step is to find a slave and Possess it. You will then be given your Hero form and take control of the surrounding buildings. Next, use these buildings to create slaves which can build aditional buildings allowing you to create more complex/powerful armies. With enough power, and the use of Sky Barges, you should be able to take control of an Obelisk by defeating the Guardians and placing your Hero within the Circle of Power. Your Hero must survive for 45 secs (you will not be able to control him during this time) before the Obelisk falls under your control and the effects of the river channeling through it are removed from your units. By controlling adjacent obelisks, you open portals between them allowing you to quickly travel across the map. Be warned, your enemies can use these portals as well.
-Typing "-fastgame" will lead to a player vote. If enacted, the Obelisks will not be defended and Thanatos will never recapture obelisks lost to players
-If you hear a strange sound while playing the game, something happened. It was probably important.
-The islands are connected by bridges; these bridges are monitored by Charon. To cross them, a fee is automatically collected - failure to pay results in loss of whatever attempted to cross the bridge.
-Defeated players will be given a choice to fade into Erebus (become an observer that can see all but remains unable to interact the game or the players) or to take vengeance and become a Theratone that serves Thanatos (join Neutral Hostile and attempt to disrupt surviving players’ attempts to win).
Note: Erebus is a FFA.
To begin you must choose your hero class, a list/description is given to you on the loading screen.
You begin as a Soul, and must wander around the map until you find a Slave and possess it.
A neutral Slave must be captured to begin building your base. They are found near Shrines and Mausoleums.
Raise Slaves from your recently acquired Shrine.
Before you can build anything else you have to build your primary structure, the Fissure...
...then you must build a Necronage.
In order to build your army you need a Crypt.
In the event your Hero (Your Incarnation in Erebus) is defeated, you can revive it at a Shrine you control or at a Temple of Vengeance.
The more Shrines & Obelisks you have, the larger your income will be. The more Necronages and/or their upgrades that you have, the more food you’ll have available. The more Crypts that you have, and/or their upgrades, the faster you'll be able to rebuild your army. Upgrading your primary structure will allow you to upgrade your existing buildings as well as build specialty structures such as Soul Towers, Beacons, Altarsof the Forsaken, and Temples' of Vengeance.
There are a variety of methods for capturing Obelisks. You can wait to steal one just captured by another player or take it from Erebus.
In either case, you have to build a Sky Barge in order to reach the platforms.
Now, you can take Obelisks by using Soul Towers and and steady stream of units to divert the Guardians' attention.
In the event you don't like taking high-risk chances you can slowly advance walls and towers to remove the Guardians before you send your hero into the circle of power.
Once you reach the platform, build a Necronage and protect it. Otherwise you'll have to fly more Slaves in from somewhere else.
There may be up to 12 challengers struggling for control of the Obelisks, and all 5 must be controlled by the same player to open the Gate to Azeroth and escape. Building a force sufficient to not only take control, but protect each Obelisk is necessary. If there are many challengers, it may be necessary to destroy them before pursuing the task of controlling the Obelisks. Once all 5 Obelisks are under your control, move your Hero to the Gate and send him through it.
Lich's ultimate.
King's ultimate.
DeadEye and Lich using ultimates while battling each other.
Attacking a base.
Destroying a base.
Custom: Nearly everything in Erebus (terrain: tiles/cliffs, doodads, models, and icons) is custom and made by either a THW user, Crabby_Spider, or myself.
The following icons were altered only in that a passive version was created. No change to the art was made.
Icon Used As -=|=- Icon Name
Souls [Icon] -=|=- ShadeTrueSight
Mist of the Phegethon -=|=- LightningShield
Mist of the Cocytus -=|=- DeathAndDecay
Mist of the Acheron -=|=- AntiMagicShell
Mist of the Styx -=|=- UnholyFrenzy
Mist of the Lethe -=|=- Banish
Cloak of the Phegethon -=|=- WallOfFire
Stun -=|=- Dizzy
Torch -=|=- SearingArrows
Lyssa's Rage -=|=- FireBlade
vAI_2.0b_10/31/14:
~Refreshed the upload to commemorate the 5-year anniversary of this map.
~One more update is ready to go, I just need the 2 hours required to do it!
vAI_2.0b_09/07/14:
~Modified the experience-gained formula for heros to increase the experience required to reach max level (25)
~Activated an additional faction (NPC only) - Rebels will search for bases to destroy. Rebels are not friendly to anyone but Thanatos
~Modified the Lich's Dark Ritual to heal HP & mana
~Modified the trigger that concerning Lethe's affect to target units with buff as opposed to determining which players aren't the controlling player
~Fixed bad icon for the Buried Skorpius
~Fixed error where defeated AI players retain their names
vAI_2.0_08/23/14:
~Players can now play with Erebus upon defeat as Theratones or be an Observer
~Corrected several bad tooltips
~Consolidated redundant triggers
~Modified player selection in Pre-Game to indicate that Erebus is a FFA & no more than 3 AIs should be present
~Fixed gltich where main building was stolen, shutting the victim out of the game
~Renovated the Income system; a note of it is present on the player's primary structure. This should make gameplay more of an area-control
~Redid tree/mushroom placements on applicable islands; mostly to encourage attacks and allow for easier base builing
~Removed an obsolete trigger which provided a gaurenteed base of 50 Souls for all players; this encourages attacks on Necronages and their upgrades to limit enemy production
~Added Emissary; the only unit capable of capturing Shrines & Masoleums which are now invulnerable
~The Incarnation's "Smother" ability renamed "Conquer" as it now captures Shrines & Masoleums, though not as effectively as Emissarys do
~Reworked hero abilities to add extra levels and the addition of the Attribute Bonus ability; AI does not use the modifications
~Added Essence Transfer as a late-game research for Masoleums for added base defense
===========================
~AI difficulty levels incorporated:
Easy AI is the original AI
Normal AI receives +80 to base speed, 5% faster HP regeneration, 5% increased mana regeneration, and +5 base damage to all units & both attacking buildings. Normal gets Spiked Barricades for its buildings reflecting 5 damage
Insane AI receives +160 to base speed, 8% faster HP regeneration, 8% increased mana regeneration, and +10 base damage to all units & both attacking buildings. Insane gets Spiked Barricades for its buildings reflecting 10 damage. Insane is allied to Erebus and Eredar Warlocks it controls will summon Ker (1 per Eredar Warlock)
vAI_1.9_04/21/13:
~Food limit is 100, not 150. This should reduce lag due to too many units present and increase AI potency
~Unit levels and costs are more reasonable; the Crypt/Barracks/Fortress nowproduces the primary units for 5/10/15 (T1/T2/T3) costs
~Diversified AI armies to better suit the hero-type used
~AI now utilizes a tier system (Example: T1 uses Footmen, T3 uses Swordmasters)
~AI Ghouls will now clear large swaths of trees
~Disabled the ability for AI tocapture nuetral Shrines Masoleums (rarey used)
~Removed several AIstart locations due to base-construction problems
~Spirit Link now connects 10 units and distributes 100% of the damage across linked units
~Replaced Evasion with Moros's Caress for the Wyrm
~Ghost Rider gained 'Incinerate' abilitity; deals 100 damage to an enemy unit, structure, or tree. Has a 2-min. cooldown
~Now Warden is 2nd tier (T2) assualt and Tomb Breaker is T3 assault
~King base damage doubled to 10
~Assassin renamed to Marauder; now raised by Temple of Vengence
~Temple of Vengence only assembles fire-based units
~Marauder & Ghost Rider now have HP regeneration
~Added Temple of the Forsaken; a new building introducing new units. Also raises Eredar Warlocks
~Added Arachne; fastest ground unit in the game, can immobilize units for a short duration
~Added Skorpius; a powerful 'tank'
~Added Crossbow, now the tier-3 archer
~Ghost Rider & Tomb Breaker have a faster & notably faster attack rate, respectively
~King, Tomb Breaker, Lich, & Eredar Warlock now have AoE attack damage that can hit trees, structures, and units
~Buffed King's damage, HP regen, attack speed, and attack AoE
~King and Lich have new models
~Increased size of Footman
~A sound will play when a player loses
~Replaced sounds played when an obelisk is taken and when the game is won
~Increased the primary units' attack speed to better suit smaller armies
~New loading screen
~No longer use the 'King Leoric' model/icon
vAI_1.8_07/24/11:
~Swapped Deadeye's and King's Shock Therapy and Thunderang, respectively.
~Corrected Deadeye AI build error
~Decreased the Stun ability duration from 2 to 0.5 seconds
~Obelisks now have the Obelisk Mist ability as a defense against attacks.
~Nerfed Deadeye Lightning Nova to 50 D/T instead of 75 D/T
~Buffed Lich's Lightning Strike to 35 damage instead of 25
~Modified AI scripts to allow better defense when bases are severely damaged
~Removed the space in front of the name: King of Kjeldor
vAI_1.7_07/17/11:
~Added -FASTGAME information in the |cffffcc00Info|r tab in-game
~Buffed King's Ultimate (20 DPI instead of 10 DPI)
~Buffed DeadEye's ultimate (5% DR/B instead of 20%, 75 D/T instead of 10, 10 bounces instead of 5)
~Nerfed Lich's ultimate (-10% DR/B instead of -20%)
~Corrected trigger which failed to show the name of the player who opened the gate to Azeroth
~Swapped base buildings to prevent glitch that makes heroes unreviveable:
---Temple of Vengeance is now based off of the Altar of Kings instead of the human Barracks
---Shrine is now based off of the Altar of Darkness instead of the Dranai Haven
~Player names are displayed properly after a victory occurs
~The victorious player is no longer "killed" during the closing cinematic
~Buffed starting mana for the Deadeye/King; 150/200 instead of 100/100, respectively
vAI_1.6_07/09/11:
~Corrected the trigger which determines when a player is defeated to prevent players from having no units and remain in game blind
~Corrected Interface statement referring to Farms when unit production is maxed
vAI_1.5_07/03/11:
~Added the FastGame Option
~Walls are no longer counted as units to prevent a player from being defeated
~Increased Swordmaster model scale from 0.5 to 0.8
vAI_1.4a, 06/20/11:
~Corrected Tomb Breaker and Peon animations when attacking trees
~Decreased Volcano upgrade time from 140 to 60 seconds
~Decreased Inferno upgrade time from 140 to 120 seconds
~Increased Reaver model scale from 0.8 to 1.3
~Corrected several interface typos
~Updated/removed all Incarnation references
~Dimmed the brightest crystals on Acheron's island to ease strain on eyes
~Decreased Sky Barge minimum height from 90 to 50 to allow easier visibility of it while passing over tall trees
~Buffed movement speed of all units (includes Neutral Hostile) +30 to allow quicker traversing of the map
vAI_1.4, 06/19/11:
~Erebus now has a custom interface designed specifically for it
~Corrected interface typos
~Kings, Liches, Peons, and Tomb Breakers can attack trees; however, Ghouls are still the most effective tree removal
vAI_1.3b, 02/07/11:
~Nerfed Ker HP regeneration (5HP/S to 1HP/S)
~Nerfed Mist Walker HP regeneration (5HP/S to 2HP/S)
~Switched to Heavy Green Fog for weather effect
~Added a linear Black Fog to darken Erebus moderately
~Replaced Thunderang icon
~Hades Pathrazers will only attack heroes and structures
~Nerfed the chance that Thanatos will recapture a lost Obelisk (50% instead of 60%)
~Fixed targeting issue preventing Slaves from being healed by the Avenger's Mend ability
~Buffed Thunderbolt's (Lich spell) cast range (500/700/900 instead of 200/400/600)
~Footmen are raised with Defend active
~Changed the Bone - Decay time to 10 seconds (Prevents confusion as to whether certain units are still alive)
~Corrected hotkey conflict for the Avenger (Enter the Veil and Subvert no longer collide)
~Repositioned a Shrine to prevent the AI from getting stuck trying to build a Fissure
~All players will be alerted when a player's hero is destroyed in battle (They'll know who killed and who got killed)
~All players will be alerted when a player's primary structure is destroyed (They'll know who crippled and who got cripled)
~The AI will build and attack with Reavers
~Buffed the King with 10 starting armor
~Corrected selection circle size for the Mausoleum and Shrine
~Gave Lightning Towers a small AoE attack
vAI_1.3, 01/05/11:
~Added modified GDirt tileset (Base: Underground-Dirt)
~Added modified Dirt tileset (Base: Icecrown-Dirt)
~Added modified cliff tileset (Base: Underground-Natural Walls)
~Added modified grass tileset (Base: DalarenRuins-Grass)
~Added modified vines tileset (Base: Felwood Vines)
~Swordmaster has new model and icon
~Corrected Credits lists
~Added New 'Toll' bridges between the 5 islands
~Players can choose 1 of 3 possible hero types
~Added Paladon's Lightning Strike Spell
~Corrected Incarnation ultimate, now chain lightning is casted.
~Incarnation renamed to Deadeye
~Players can choose one of three hero types [Strength, Agility, Intelligence] to play
~Players are renamed to their chosen hero's proper name
~Smother now only targets Slaves
~Added a new loading screen, with hero-class information
vAI_1.2b, 12/19/10:
~Corrected ability names on unit tooltips
~Added new Bone Tileset
~Added modified Rough-Dirt (Base: Icecrown) Tileset
~Terrain has been improved:
---Acheron's island has a variety of crystal models and colors
---The eastern half of Styx's island has more variety of trees present
---Phegethon's island has been redesigned to allow better use by players and AI as well as to improve terrain art
~The Incarnation now gains XP for killing Guardians from level 5 on
~Corrected movement animation speeds for the Incarnation, Tomb Breaker, Warden, and all archer units
~Fixed Reaver icon glitch (It would disappear if repeatedly clicked)
~Reset Tomb Breaker tint
~Avenger can now cast Mend
~AI can now build and use Avengers
~AI will now research Preacher and Avenger upgrades
vAI_1.2, 12/12/10:
~AI script improved (if it can build a Slave, it can re/build a base)
~Removed all unit/tree shadows
~Added 3 realistic tree models
~Added 6 new crystal varieties
~Necropolis can now attack
~Altered tree minimap colors (no longer all green...)
vAI_1.1, 12/05/10:
~Replaced Tauren Chieftan with Tomb Breaker
~In games with 4 or less players, any AI players will start on the SE island. Human players may travel there if desired
~Warden model and icon replaced
~Starting buildings remodeled and renamed (Village Center is now Shrine, Village Stable is now Mausoleum)
~Repositioned building icon locations (Slave's build menu is now tiered in appearance)
~Added Thanatos and Guardians to retake Obelisks for Neutral Hostile
~Comp controlled Heroes take control of nuetral Slave units
~Demolish and Subvert now have special effects
~Thanatos (Guardian Hero) will now try to recapture lost Obelisks
~Warrior's Grace renamed to Mania's Dexterity
~Double Strike renamed to Lyssa's Rage
~Cleave renamed to Moros's Caress
~Reaper renamed to Ker
~Removed unused variables
vAI_1.0, 11/27/10:
~Added AI script to combat bases (can't capture Obelisks)
~Wardens, Footman, Swordmasters, Archers, and Preachers have new soundsets
~Theme music will be played whenever an Obelisk is captured, or the Gate to Azeroth is revealed
~If Obelisk taken from Player controling 5 Obelisks, Gate to Azeroth is hidden again
~Removed Obelisk Reaper script (Reaper patrols still occur)
~Avenger must now research all upgrades for it's abilities
V1.3b, 11/25/10:
~Added Hadian armor type icon
~Set hero icon position back to 0,0 to prevent the inability to resurrect him
~Buildings under construction were immune to damage due to Normal armor type edit. Now these buildings can be destroyed.
~Corrected typos in Hero's fade ability
~Corrected various grammar/typo errors in all abilities; removed unused World Editor abilities
V1.3, 11/21/10:
~Major balancing corrections made, includes:
-New armor types (Hadian, Clad, and Spiked) and attack type (Lightning)
-2 new abilities (Spirit Link and Enter the Veil) [ for Avenger ]
-Introduction of a general "Rock, Paper, Scissors" concept;
(Melee>Ranged>Assault>Melee)
~Replaced Soul Tower with Lightning Tower
~Avenger is now a support caster
~Added a new caster: Eredar Warlock
V1.2b, 11/16/10:
~Removed unit-group leak from Headcount trigger
~Replaced Cinematic actions from Defeat triggers with Visibility modifiers
~Fixed PlayerLeaves trigger (it turned off after the 1st use)
V1.2, 11/14/10:
~Simplified Player Leaves and Limit Bases triggers
~Simplified the Income trigger via turning it into a loop
~Removed about 40-50 leaks, most of them Location leaks
~Corrected misspelled name (Temple of Veangeance)
~Added a creep patrol system
~Elaborated Obelisk Mist abilities (i.e. Phegethon reduces armor by 5)
~Hid map playable boundaries with tree walls and cliffs
~Fixed Soul Tower's misplaced Attack icon
~Nerfed Mist-Walkers (HP now 100 instead of 1,000)
~Replaced Subvert and Demolish icon art
V1.1, 11/07/10:
~Corrected Possession tooltip
~Modified unit tooltips to more accurately suggest strategies
~Buffed Footman speed (now 300 instead of 270)
~Gave Peons the Stun ability
~Gave Tauren the Cleave ability; corrected Tauren's selection circle size
~Gave Archers the Double Strike ability
~Corrected icon art (passive abilities now have passive icons)
~Added 'Slave Radar' and ping Obelisk locations
~Starting buildings are now repairable
~Added an Observer mode when a player no longer has any units
~Added Subvert hotkey
~Added terrain to Obelisk platforms
V1.0, 10/31/10:
~Initial map upload
How you can help:
~We need testers. If you find terrain issues, bad/miss-spelled tooltips, unit imbalances, ability imbalances, leaks in code/inefficient coding, or anything else you find worthy of mention, please do so. Or, you can simply provide suggestions for improving the game.
~I'm aware some users prefer fancy descriptions. If they think this description is inadequate, then they can make what they feel to be the best design and PM it to me. I may not use it, but I will thank you for your efforts.
~Regarding our AI scripts, if you have suggestions for priorities, conditions (to optimize performance), or any other changes then feel free to contact one of us.
~We're looking for Skeleton Models/Skins. If you have recommendations for a particular model post a link to it. If you'd like to make one for Erebus let us know and we'll tell you what we're looking for.
NOTICE: Erebus [Builder] is open source. We first learned how to map by starting with an unprotected CastleBuilder map, and do not wish to inhibit others from doing the same. Other users may NOT upload versions of this map, on this site or any other, without permission from both myself and Crabby_Spider. Since we can't ensure that others won't upload rigged versions of this map, we strongly recommend that you only download from www.HiveWorkshop.com for the most recent and balanced version.
K. Just tested it and I must say that I'm amused. Spamming towers and beacons against Walkers is really fun.
Terrain looks a bit cobbled. But, hey! This is Erebus! What's wrong with a little anomaly in a borderline lands? Amirite?
Walkers are a bit annoying with their Fire immunity, though. None of Specialized units can hit 'em. :/
All in all, pretty impressive. Although an addition of supportive spellcaster, more cavalry and AI would be greatly appreciated.
4 (3.5 rounded up)/5 and voting for approval. An AI would make me give 5/5
Oh yeah. You forgot to tell that Mist Walkers are immune to Fire on Info tab.
And Reapers are a bit annoying with their random occurence in... Lets see... Everywhere.
idea for casters: allow them to be automated (eg ability that turns off/on automatic casting of abilties that are not autocast, such as flamestrike)
also, debuff the casters' abilties a bit if automated (since thier skills are powerful)
idea for casters: allow them to be automated (eg ability that turns off/on automatic casting of abilties that are not autocast, such as flamestrike)
also, debuff the casters' abilties a bit if automated (since thier skills are powerful)
Flamestrike and Skyfall are no longer abilities. Make sure you have v1.3, as the Avenger is now a support caster with Spirit Link and Enter the Veil. The preacher's first ability is autocast (basically Faerie Fire). The Warlock's Deathmark is also autocast.
Wow, how'd we miss that one! Before we ever released the game the Preachers were called Annihilators (the upgrades work for the proper unit). Thanks for the catch, we'll have it corrected in the next upgrade.
Well, for me map is 4/5, and I am voting for approval!
I did not found some bugs, however I found some secondary things which needs improvements:
Ghoul, I did not noticed that he can cut down any trees!
Skeleton worker has peon voice which is stupid for ,,alive" Skeleton. Better use voice of Draenei worker for example
Skeketon Footman, it should be called in text tooltip Skeletal Footman, not just Footman (but not matter really), however you must remove that sound of footman because skeleton itself doesnot have any voice animation, so his mouth are just standing until he talks like footman. i suggest using voices which are ,,undefinied" and do not require (logically) unit to move his mouth much. For example, Obsidian Statue, Skeleton, FelHound, and some creeps.
Also, skeletal Archer has voice from Nightelf female Archer or bllodelf one, which sounds stupid for skeleton.
Tauren Chieftain doesnot fit skeleton race, you are using icon, therefore you should have a correspodent model for that model or skin, I am sure there is Undead Tauren model!
Also, Ranger has female voice whihc looks stupid
Preacher also has voice from that Priest, which doesnot fit for that skeleton. Plus that skeleton model doesnot have voice animation too. use some undefinied sound for him
Swordmaster has evil voice as supposed but from Death Knidght Hero! Which meansthere is horse's voice in background, and swordmaster is on foot, he has no horse! I suggest you to use Death Knight's voice for Ghost Rider rather than that human voice
Others stuff are fantastic, I enjoyed playing map!
Also man, like I know in past you are going to make this map, so I made models long time ago! Some of them can fit your Undead and demonic style, check out this: http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/models.php?u=MasterHaosis
I suggest you using Chaos Spirit Gateway because its only 30 kb size! And looks cool
Well, my main suggestion for this map is mainly a gameflow/aesthetic one.
Disagree with me if you want but I think the building techtree is very confusing and messy in comparision to the neatness of the unit techtree.
1) You could easily make each possesed Slave come with a Fissure instead of a Village Centre and Stable. Those two buildings are kinda out of place.
As for the units they train it, Ghouls, Wyrms and Workers can be trained at Fissures.
2) Perhaps change the Icon position of Workers to the first icon on the command card (0,0). Its kinda weird that its lying arounf randomly.
3)You can only build 1 Fissure at a time but would it make sense to have it as the first icon in your build list. Afterall it is the main building.
Doing so would probabbly look like this.
Fissure (Q) Necrogen (W) Crypt (E) Temple of Vengeance (R)
Well, my main suggestion for this map is mainly a gameflow/aesthetic one.
Disagree with me if you want but I think the building techtree is very confusing and messy in comparision to the neatness of the unit techtree.
1) You could easily make each possesed Slave come with a Fissure instead of a Village Centre and Stable. Those two buildings are kinda out of place.
As for the units they train it, Ghouls, Wyrms and Workers can be trained at Fissures.
2) Perhaps change the Icon position of Workers to the first icon on the command card (0,0). Its kinda weird that its lying arounf randomly.
3)You can only build 1 Fissure at a time but would it make sense to have it as the first icon in your build list. Afterall it is the main building.
Doing so would probabbly look like this.
Fissure (Q) Necrogen (W) Crypt (E) Temple of Vengeance (R)
1) Thanks for the suggestion, but those buildings and the units they offer are staying.
2) That change will be present in the next update.
3) The icons in the Slaves build menu will be rearranged in a more logical, tiered order in next update
4) The Demolish and Subvert abilities are supposed to have SFX, but for some reason aren't always working. We're looking into adding them via triggers.
...1) You could easily make each possesed Slave come with a Fissure instead of a Village Centre and Stable. Those two buildings are kinda out of place...
We agreed the models didn't quite fit the theme so we did decide to chose different models and rename the Village Center and Stable, they'll be in the next update. They serve an important purpose on the map though (that's why there are 35 of them) so as Boris said, they will stay. We appreciate your feedback none the less, and hope the change we made will make it more acceptable.
i wish you could set up "temporary" alliences, where players could ally for now, knowing only one could make it out, it would be apreicated by more than just me
also, if you do this, let the AI be allowed to ally by host (if you have host detection) or a specific player (like red)
a suggestion on how to do it is by a menu (saying -aially) that choses a computer and choses a player or computer to ally it
anouther thing i knowticed is that you seam to be making a story line, which looks like it will conist of 11 maps
1: KOTH would start with 12 players and 1 wins and others die and go to Erebus
2: Erebus would start with 11 players and 1 wins and others . . .
3: . . .
my suggestion is to make each have 1 less player and more computer controled forces such as a neutral hostile
Temporary alliances may, or may not, be added in the future. I need more feedback on the issue before working on it. It would really complicate the game and create MANY more triggers... (since I would do it the same way it was done in CastleBuilder 2.4 North (No Myths) by Funness)
The AI is designed to be something to practice against. It is significantly crippled by the fact it only uses 1/4 of the total possible army size.
As for the storyline, that actually isn't being done.
Quite good map, i enjoyed playing it. Capturing obelisks are quite hard but it wouldn't be a challange then ^^ I have a suggestion, what about making other hero classes like maybe 2 or 3 more, the ranger what is currently the hero, maybe a mage and a warrior one
You removed the leaks, used loops, overall you knew what you were doing when you were triggering which was a pro of this map. I like the description as well, nice, pretty and long, explains everything I want to know. Quests are good and looking pretty as well. Terrain? Not so good, I don't think mushrooms would be necessary for that kind of terrain (maybe it is, but it looks ugly). You should try snowy trees instead or something else that would look good. There is a lack of environmental doodads as well, add some because it would look much better. A pro of the terrain is that you have done the tilesets nicely (done whats necessary for a natural environment). I recommend removing ground textures from the buildings and the shadows from the units too (they both look ugly and this is optional). But another thing I like is that you have messed around with the gameplay constants to make everything look more pretty.
Overall: This map was sure not made by an idiot, it was made by a person who knew what he was doing. This map was smartly done and with that I give this a 4.
Quite good map, i enjoyed playing it. Capturing obelisks are quite hard but it wouldn't be a challange then ^^ I have a suggestion, what about making other hero classes like maybe 2 or 3 more, the ranger what is currently the hero, maybe a mage and a warrior one
You removed the leaks, used loops, overall you knew what you were doing when you were triggering which was a pro of this map. I like the description as well, nice, pretty and long, explains everything I want to know. Quests are good and looking pretty as well. Terrain? Not so good, I don't think mushrooms would be necessary for that kind of terrain (maybe it is, but it looks ugly). You should try snowy trees instead or something else that would look good. There is a lack of environmental doodads as well, add some because it would look much better. A pro of the terrain is that you have done the tilesets nicely (done whats necessary for a natural environment). I recommend removing ground textures from the buildings and the shadows from the units too (they both look ugly and this is optional). But another thing I like is that you have messed around with the gameplay constants to make everything look more pretty.
Overall: This map was sure not made by an idiot, it was made by a person who knew what he was doing. This map was smartly done and with that I give this a 4.
The terrain was never designed to look 'beautiful' as Erebus is an underworld. We haven't found custom tiles that we like, but are learning how to make our own. I downloaded the "Ultimate Terrainer's Map v3.0" and found a number of trees that we'll (hopefully) use to replace most of the current ones to add more variety. The mushrooms fit the theme of Erebus better than snowy trees (Fire, Death, Lightning, and Darkness are the main focus points for this map), but thanks for your suggestion.
I do like your suggestion to remove the shadows from the units, as Erebus is dark with no source of light.
anouther thing i knowticed is that you seam to be making a story line, which looks like it will conist of 11 maps
1: KOTH would start with 12 players and 1 wins and others die and go to Erebus
2: Erebus would start with 11 players and 1 wins and others . . .
3: . . .
It's the only way I can get the AI to clear the terrain so they can build a base. Normal players can clear trees at will, the AI can't. Also, lumber isn't a resource. Just order your Ghouls to attack the trees to clear them (should take 3-4 hits).
It's the only way I can get the AI to clear the terrain so they can build a base. Normal players can clear trees at will, the AI can't. Also, lumber isn't a resource. Just order your Ghouls to attack the trees to clear them (should take 3-4 hits).
For those following Erebus, it's still being worked on. Crabby and I are trying to get the AI heroes to cast their spells properly. Once we can get them to cast the spells, we have to make sure the spells' artwork are correctly displayed (applies only to AI casters).
Next update will take place once the spells are functional.
Finally, the next update (vAI_1.3) has been released. It took much longer then expected, but should be working well. With the release of two new hero options, I'm going to need feedback in regards to balancing especially. The AI can only help so much.
Atmosphere - 3/5 - It is quite good, your map preview and loading screen is nice. But I suggest you use the Demon Interface made by unwirklich and also found in the MPQ of a tool called 'Wc3styler'. Some fog would do as well, and perhaps some more demonic buildings. I know you wanted to achieve a more undead effect, but ultimately, as your backstory says, it should be more demonic. All custom resources were used extremely well. Terrain could add some cliffs coz' it's kinda flat now, with some trees here and there.
Gameplay - 4/5 - To be honest, I only played for 45 minutes. But from what I saw, the gameplay was cool. It combined the common Wc3 RTS style with a little bit of Risk together nicely. However, it might be too easy to spam those Necronages, thus getting far more gold. I suggest putting a penalty, for example, they could use up some food, or else in a few minutes, I could have an entire base of Necropoli' giving me 10000000 gold every cycle. Also, maybe the auras of the Obelisks should be more 'concentrated' but has less AoE. I mean, my base is half way across an Obelisk and half my army is already losing health. If you concentrate it in a smaller area, then not only will there be less effect around the map, but more tension when you are trying to capture the Obelisk. Last thing; this is my first time playing, I made a deadeye and a Slave, and 2 minutes in the game, some flying Gryphons or something slaughtered my 2-man army. Perhaps when you build towers, it would become more fair, but early game, it can be annoying. Those abilities to self-destruct would come in handy, and despite what others say, DO NOT HOTKEY THEM.
Fun - 3/5 - This didn't pass as much fun as an Altered melee. But I didn't play multi-player and I was just beginning so, I can't judge too much. I'd say add some more options into the army. It's kinda bland at the moment. Perhaps you could implement a squad system for all those stupid skeletons running around. The AI also quickly finished me off before I could continue testing, though as said, I was new.
Creativity - 4/5 - Quite unique. Never seen a map like this. Would be better if it was more demon-like. The races could do with some more work, as mentioned, and you could spice things up with some better full-triggered spells. The beginning was cool, maybe you could add a Blink for your spirit.
Storyline - 4/5 - Because of the scope of the backstory, I also decreased the marking criteria, which is why I give a 4/5 for such a small backstory. Though creative and original.
Suggestions: Make it more demon-like. It's the underworld, not Undercity. Perhaps add a constant leveling system for the Guardians, so maybe it will check how much your used souls are, and create weaker/stronger Guardians based on that. Add some more fi-jazz to it. Make the race more unique and spicy. A squad system for those pesky Skeletons would be good, its not like you need to micro them much, all they have is defend and evasion.
Overall - 22/25 = 4.4/5 = 4/5 - It is a good map, better than most out there. Just take a look at the suggestions (most are just, well, suggestions, so you don't need to heed them). I think its fun-factor could be improved on though.
Dude it's an altered melee map, because an altered melee game is a rts themed map with modified or replaced races/units/doodads/destructible ect..
[/QUOTE]
And I agree with project about the terrain, it looks like you spent too much time on mechanichs and not enough on terrain/eyecandy trees look reeeaaalyy baaad...
And as for the cred's, some people |REQUIRE|you to give credits |ON THE SITE| if you use in a map and post on the web...... so..............
Atmosphere - 3/5 - It is quite good, your map preview and loading screen is nice. But I suggest you use the Demon Interface made by unwirklich and also found in the MPQ of a tool called 'Wc3styler'. Some fog would do as well, and perhaps some more demonic buildings. I know you wanted to achieve a more undead effect, but ultimately, as your backstory says, it should be more demonic. All custom resources were used extremely well. Terrain could add some cliffs coz' it's kinda flat now, with some trees here and there.
Gameplay - 4/5 - To be honest, I only played for 45 minutes. But from what I saw, the gameplay was cool. It combined the common Wc3 RTS style with a little bit of Risk together nicely. However, it might be too easy to spam those Necronages, thus getting far more gold. I suggest putting a penalty, for example, they could use up some food, or else in a few minutes, I could have an entire base of Necropoli' giving me 10000000 gold every cycle. Also, maybe the auras of the Obelisks should be more 'concentrated' but has less AoE. I mean, my base is half way across an Obelisk and half my army is already losing health. If you concentrate it in a smaller area, then not only will there be less effect around the map, but more tension when you are trying to capture the Obelisk. Last thing; this is my first time playing, I made a deadeye and a Slave, and 2 minutes in the game, some flying Gryphons or something slaughtered my 2-man army. Perhaps when you build towers, it would become more fair, but early game, it can be annoying. Those abilities to self-destruct would come in handy, and despite what others say, DO NOT HOTKEY THEM.
Fun - 3/5 - This didn't pass as much fun as an Altered melee. But I didn't play multi-player and I was just beginning so, I can't judge too much. I'd say add some more options into the army. It's kinda bland at the moment. Perhaps you could implement a squad system for all those stupid skeletons running around. The AI also quickly finished me off before I could continue testing, though as said, I was new.
Creativity - 4/5 - Quite unique. Never seen a map like this. Would be better if it was more demon-like. The races could do with some more work, as mentioned, and you could spice things up with some better full-triggered spells. The beginning was cool, maybe you could add a Blink for your spirit.
Storyline - 4/5 - Because of the scope of the backstory, I also decreased the marking criteria, which is why I give a 4/5 for such a small backstory. Though creative and original.
Suggestions: Make it more demon-like. It's the underworld, not Undercity. Perhaps add a constant leveling system for the Guardians, so maybe it will check how much your used souls are, and create weaker/stronger Guardians based on that. Add some more fi-jazz to it. Make the race more unique and spicy. A squad system for those pesky Skeletons would be good, its not like you need to micro them much, all they have is defend and evasion.
Overall - 22/25 = 4.4/5 = 4/5 - It is a good map, better than most out there. Just take a look at the suggestions (most are just, well, suggestions, so you don't need to heed them). I think its fun-factor could be improved on though.
~We checked out the Demonic Interface, but didn't raelly care for it. So, we're going to make our own. Our backstory is actually more mythological and less demonic, since Erebus isn't a hell-world (as opposed to Tartarus). We'll work on clarifing that further. A fog has been added which darkens the game and Erebus' weather was switched to a more obvious fog (Dungeon Green Heavy).
~Spamming the Necronages/Nec'sramps/Necropli isn't an issue. They don't guarantee you'll never go broke. I've reached as much as 200k necrogen (not as an income cycle, but total savings) before and spent it all in the process of assaulting a base. The income system in Erebus is different from that seen in CastleBuilder. Doing the math, to get up to 1,000,000 income/cycle you'd need 47,619 Necropolis (the T3 food/income building). To get even 10,000 you'll need 476.1 of them.
In regards to nerfing the Obelisk Auras, they're designed to affect the entire map. To shed their effects players need to capture them, which is the object of the game. However, we're looking into other things to add, such as the ability to raise Guardians to fight for you, that'll be localized to particular islands.
The Ker (your gryphon-like 'friends') will spawn and patrol the map. Initially they started spawning 20 sec into the game. Crabby and I delayed that until 10 min into the game (after 10 min your Soul will 'die' if you haven't possessed a Slave). We also nerfed all the Guardians' HP regen to make them more of a nuisance and less of a force to be reckoned with.
In a sort of compromise the units have a hot-keyed self destruct. They only take 5 sec to replace. The buildings have NO hot key for their Demolish ability
~We're checking out the squad system. What was the highest tier you reached? Only Footmen have Defend and they're just a T1 defensive unit. At max tier, you have access to 13 units (only 2 being support and 1 being defense). We plan on adding calvary as a 4th subclass option, but haven't found any approvable models yet. Currently we have Assault, Melee, Ranged, and 4 unique units from the Temple.
Thanks for the feedback and suggestions. In regard to the unit diversity, it doesn't seem like you got beyond T1. If you get a chance, download the next version and play against someone. I'd like to hear your comments about the game playing it the way it was designed (against other people). The AI is for practice/testing, it can't win the game. It shouldn't be used to measure gameplay; it is at a severe disadvantage vs. human players.
Note: All the changes that have been made will be in the next update. (a day or so from now)
I imagine so, what do you have in mind? The gate to Tartarus (prison of the Titans) is in the top-right corner of the map and curently unused aside from being a staging area for Thanatos.
Sorry the map hasn't been updated yet, the new UI is almost complete. Crabby's been working on it in his spare time. Once the last panel is done we have one more texture to edit and all should be well.
Erebus has finally been updated and completed. Any further changes will be additions to the current gameplay. If you think something is worth adding, post it here or PM me.
My main gripe about this map is long it takes from Game start to the point where you have teched enough to start capturing obelisks. Honestly the tech up stage of the game could be alot shorter, but thats just my personal preference.
Aesthetic
----------
I really like the current enviroment feel it gives.
Its dark and somehow ghostly which I think works really well.
There could be some contrast as its generally completely dark and some areas (Acheron Obelisk and surrouding lands) are quite straining to look at and navigate. Personally I think its got to do with the trees blending into the floor colour.
Some other things that might be useful
--------------------------------------
-Reaver's model is really small and hard to notice
-Sky Barge has really high flying height/large model, could be a bit lower so it blocks the screen less.
- Eredar Warlock's tooltip is kinda stuck in the era where theres was only 1 hero. It refrences Incarnation alot which should be changed IMO to hero since theres 3 of them now.
My main gripe about this map is long it takes from Game start to the point where you have teched enough to start capturing obelisks. Honestly the tech up stage of the game could be alot shorter, but thats just my personal preference.
Aesthetic
----------
I really like the current enviroment feel it gives.
Its dark and somehow ghostly which I think works really well.
There could be some contrast as its generally completely dark and some areas (Acheron Obelisk and surrouding lands) are quite straining to look at and navigate. Personally I think its got to do with the trees blending into the floor colour.
Some other things that might be useful
--------------------------------------
-Reaver's model is really small and hard to notice
-Sky Barge has really high flying height/large model, could be a bit lower so it blocks the screen less.
- Eredar Warlock's tooltip is kinda stuck in the era where theres was only 1 hero. It refrences Incarnation alot which should be changed IMO to hero since theres 3 of them now.
~Alright, I'll see what Crabby and I can do in regards to the game speed. The Volcano/Inferno are what delay max tier by almost 5 min. Erebus is a large map, so I'm considering buffing the movement speed of each unit slightly.
~I'm glad you like the atmosphere. The crystals are a bit harsh, so I may dim them slightly. The trees blending in is intentional. Erebus is really dark at first, as you increase the size of your base more will become visible. To greatly increase what you can see build more Beacons.
~I'm looking into the model/tooltips.
Thanks for the feedback!
//\\^^//\\
Edit:
Erebus has been updated. See changelog for details
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