Formation Defense 2.0

[wingednosering]

Long ago I'm sure many of you saw Formation Defense 1.0 near the top of the popularity charts. If you didn't, you missed out on some epic gameplay; but never fear! A new and improved Formation Defense 2.0 is coming...and it's going to change the way we look at defense maps...

2.0 brings with it a great number of changes, with everything from addictive reward systems to the newly implemented competitive mode, which allows players to send formations at one another in a fight to the death. Keep in mind though, that competitive mode is not for the faint of heart...

The official thread for this project is actually located over on SC2Mapster, so head on over to this url:

http://forums.sc2mapster.com/resour...03-alpha-formation-defense-2-0-with-video/#p1

for additional screenshots, and lists of new features.

This project is currently in an Open Beta stage, which means anybody who wants to participate is welcome to play (US, SEA, or EU servers only).

If you have any feedback or bugs to report related to FD 2.0, feel free to either post here or on SC2Mapster.

I'm ready and willing to answer any questions you might have regarding this project, so ask away!

 

[Dr Super Good]

1.0 was completly unplayable for the fact no one knew what the hell was going on. It lasted 1 week on page 2 before being dropped to non existance. People usually dropped from it in under 1 minute from a full house as all the text in it was complete nonsense.

One of the worst maps I ever seen on EU where effort must have been put in but clearly in the wrong places.

2.0 might jut be playable if you make proper english tooltips...

No one can play a map where all the Strings are missing.

 

[Tleno]

I think that was beause the map was made for NA and not localized for EU... I mean, I heard lots about uncompatabilities like that.

 

[Dr Super Good]

When I play a map I expect it to work. I do not care about where it is made as long as when I play it I am not confronted with garbage text.

The fact that US and ENG are pratically identical yet not implimented so, for a stupid reason, is another problem entirly.

1.0 was unplayable due to garbage text so never became popular and nothing can change that now (as it was in the past).

 

[Tleno]

Yes. The most immportant thing to concentrate on now is making sure it will woth on EU ENG.

 

[wingednosering]

Any problems on the EU servers was not actually my fault. The game was stolen a while back and uploaded by another user on NA, so I assume the EU game was the same. I never put it up on EU or authorized anybody else to do so.

What you played was a stolen version of the game. I'd ask you not to judge the game by that.

Unless the game is uploaded by "Wingdnosring" do not trust it.

Out of interest, how was the text garbage? Were strings actually missing or did the writeups contain improper grammar and spelling?

 

[Tleno]

There were missing strings. Like /Civilian22222 and whatever.
so... you're not going to upload this on EU or give it to some modder you trust to make an EU version (Still crediting you as creator) and upload it on european b.net?

 

[Dr Super Good]

What you played was a stolen version of the game. I'd ask you not to judge the game by that.

In that case the map was even worse as it never existed. Pointless making a map no one can play.

The garbage text is caused by missing localization data. There was no enGB language text in the map, only enUS (yup, you guys apparently do not speak english) so all text you added was missing. When text is missing, it shows the text identifier (the path the text should be located at) which is totally meaningless (often its just the data ID with some hashes).

There might be some way to configure my client to use the enUS language text but that would render all other maps (with enGB language) unplayable equally and frankly almost every map has enGB language localization.

 

[wingednosering]

"There were missing strings. Like /Civilian22222 and whatever.
so... you're not going to upload this on EU or give it to some modder you trust to make an EU version (Still crediting you as creator) and upload it on european b.net? "

Yikes! That's what I figured based on your above comments.

The possibility of a EU release exists, but for the moment, I'll be restricting it to the US servers until I know the game is running well and has some popularity behind it. At that point...we'll see.

"In that case the map was even worse as it never existed. Pointless making a map no one can play."

Interesting phrasing there. My original, US version of the game was quite playable and fun. It peaked on the first page in terms of popularity, but fell into decline again rather quickly, unfortunately. The main problem was that it was in BETA form, but only about 7 users ever contacted me with feedback.

With 2.0 I've gone back and I've done TONS of private testing (only 1v1s...very few people I know have SC2). Nearly every bug should be eradicated for release. I've got threads like this up on three different websites and I haven't had a single US server player respond asking to test. The SC2 modding community seems very small and protective of their own projects, compared to the old Warcraft groups.

Looks like another public beta will be needed, but this time...I've done my homework .

Ideally, I'd like a few seven player tests to ensure everything is working okay before the game goes live...but no volunteers = no seven player testing .

 

[Dr Super Good]

The main problem is the restricted domain... Looking for US specific testers rules out the 5 odd other regions SC2 has.

Frankly it was really stupid for blizzard to do that. In WC3 I often used to hop between EU and US as it got late and EU players logged off. On the EU server it is impossible to play custom games between midnight and 8 AM.

 

[wingednosering]

Formation Defense 2.0 has gone live on the US servers! It is still in an open beta phase, so please report any bugs or feedback here, pm me, or email me.

 

[McGunnz]

Hi,
Just a note related to some of the previous posts.

Some individual either hacked this game or for want of a better reason took a copy of the game, possibly so it could be moved onto other servers. The person’s name which appears on the SC2 servers list was or is a user named "Spark". It's not fiction, its fact.

All this person appeared to do was rename it "Formation Defense LA". After he or she gained control of a copy of FD, the game could not be adapted, updated or improved in anyway by this person or by Wingednosering.

He "Spark" doesn't know nor has he ever shown any interest in adapting its code. Ha! And what could he do to it to improve it or otherwise without understanding its concept or the intricacies of its programming.

There is only one Creator.. "Wingednosering".! And to add this game was never put onto or posted to any other servers other than US that I know of. Why do I know this?

I know him (the developer) personally and professionally. I have watched this game develop from it's initial concept. I have helped test it's function and played it many times since incept.

If any one was playing it in it's previous form (i.e. Formation Defense LA) it would be full of errors due to the fact that after a certain point, it was never updated or upgraded or improved.

If there are Eng issues from EUeng to USeng, that was unintended and certainly not the intention of Wingednosering and yes it may be a Battlenet blizzard issue.

Also to note: If any one could adapt it for other servers I'm sure the person who developed the game it's concept would have the best chance of promoting it to other servers on BN.

FD 2.0 is a fantastic work in progress.

Keep up the great work WNR!!!!

Try the Beta people it's a blast in solo or in competitive modes, I know WNR looks forward to your comments.

Have a great one eh.
Gunnz

 

[Tleno]

Well for us EU players it's better an unupdateable irreadable version that was stolen from it's author than nothing.
Seriously, you should find someone to make a real EU version - this will prevent it from beeing stolen, plus your map will gain more popularity.

 

[Dr Super Good]

The EU version was called "Formation Defense" and was obviously uploaded by someone else as the EU service is separated from the US service and the average map stealer would not bother to get both.

 

[wingednosering]

The EU version was called "Formation Defense" and was obviously uploaded by someone else as the EU service is separated from the US service and the average map stealer would not bother to get both.

Yeah, unfortunately this means I need to contact blizzard to get the rights to the name if I ever do get it up on EU, unless I want to make mine look like the stolen copy .

I've heard it's on SEA unofficially too.

Well for us EU players it's better an unupdateable irreadable version that was stolen from it's author than nothing.
Seriously, you should find someone to make a real EU version - this will prevent it from beeing stolen, plus your map will gain more popularity.

Yeah, it's become quite apparent to me that most of the high quality modders are on EU. Getting feedback on the US servers is like pulling teeth.

Once I can be sure the current version (open beta on US) is running well, without bugs and such, I'll definitely look at getting a EU player to to upload it.

 

[wingednosering]

I've put a new promo video up on the original post.

 

[wingednosering]

Assuming no major bugs are found, the map will be coming to EU and SEA this week!

 

[Tleno]

And what about the localisation so there wouldn't be any text problems like with that stolen version?

 

[Dr Super Good]

Thats easy, you just copy the english localization to all languages in a region.

Language specific translations can also be carried out (so german localization is german for example) by simply giving only the localization data to someone to translate. This way you can have someone else translate into languages you do not know without comprimising the map. However even if that is not possible, english is a lot better than the path nonsense.

 

[wingednosering]

It will all be localized (English only).

 

[Tleno]

Excelent! Can't wait to try it then!

 

[wingednosering]

Unfortunately SC2Mapster has been down for 2 days and I was communicating with my EU uploader through it, so I can't get EU up until Mapster is back up and running. SEA is up and running though.

 

[wingednosering]

It's up on EU and SEA now.

 

[Tleno]

Finally! Gonna test it out right now!

EDIT: Nope, didn't find it. Are you sure it's on EU already?

 

[Turminator8]

err looks good!

 

[wingednosering]

Another user told me he can't find it as well, but my uploader sent me a screenshot showing it in the popularity list. I'm wondering if maybe he uploaded it as private or something.

I'm asking him about it, but it should be there as far as I can tell.

[Edit]: As soon as I figure out what's going on, I'll get back to you guys.

 

[Tleno]

Okay. I recall that once I uploaded my map as private and didn't knew about that until some guy from my friends complained he can't find it in maps list... so I fixed it then...

 

[wingednosering]

Yup, turns out he accidentally had it on private. It should be there now!

 

[Tleno]

Finally... gonna test it out now! Nobody shall stop me this time! Muahahaha!

 

[wingednosering]

LMAO, please tell me it's working now?

 

[Tleno]

It's working fine and it's just awesome!

I tested it only on theeasiest difficulty, which was too easy for me, in singleplayer, and it was great and I didn't notice any bugs or anything...

 

[wingednosering]

Fantastic! Competitive mode is even better, if you can find somebody else to play with .

Also, if you need a challenge, 'Herculean' is insanely difficult.

 

[Tleno]

Hmmm I think I'll go complete those two other modes first before going to Herculean...

 

[wingednosering]

The last two days it's plummeted on the US servers. Wonder why...maybe I created a bad bug or something? Strange.

If anybody knows of any serious bugs, please let me know.

 

[wingednosering]

It's regained ground the last few days. I've been modding very little the last two weeks or so, but 2.5 is most definitely in the works.

 

[Tleno]

Nice to hear that... well, may I ask what will be the changes in 2.5?

 

[wingednosering]

Nothing too fancy, mostly tweaks and bug fixes. As I said, I've been busy with some other stuff recently :S. Copied from SC2Mapster:

v2.5:

Bug/Fault Fixes:

-The Broadcast Tower was only firing one missile instead of two

UI:

-More work has been done to the achievement system. Previously, I left the scroll bar so that it could be dragged across the screen regardless of where your mouse was. I've since found a way to make it act more like a normal scroll bar, so you'll have to click directly on it from now on

-22 new achievements (and counting)

-Psionic Enchanters now have a lot more information on their tooltips (the tooltips also stay relevant even after upgrades)

-A few typos were fixed

-The "Anti-Avian Rounds" icon has been changed

Gameplay:

-The Heavy Machine Turret now hits only 5 targets, but for 3x the damage (same damage, just split between fewer enemies)

-The Restrain enchantment was made much worse. There is no initial target damage anymore and its duration has been halved. Psionic Enchanter upgrades in the CC will now improve duration and slowing speed instead of damage

-Bunkers and Bastions were a little too weak for their cost. They've been made considerably more powerful. Broadcast Towers have been adjusted accordingly


That's what's been done so far, largely based on user feedback.

 

[Tleno]

Wow, those are a lot of nice additions... so after some time these will be released on EU and other servers, too, right?

 

[wingednosering]

Absolutely.

 

[Tleno]

Oh, by the way, some small thing I noticed - On difficulty selection ment, Easy (Or whatever it's called) mode button doesn't have any tooltip saying what is the creep HP percentage on this difficulty.

 

[wingednosering]

I apologize to everybody for my prolonged absence. Real life called me away from modding since I last posted here, but I'm back to finish off that last update. I've only been working on it again for about 2 days, but the changes are already coming along nicely.

New Features/Changes (in addition to what was mentioned above):

- Two new buttons have been added to the game, which allow you to 1) select your leader from anywhere or 2) use a leader power anywhere, anytime, without needing to control your leader directly. These are accompanied with hotkeys (1 and 2 respectively).

- Quick-build. Tired of creating civilians/automatons and upgrading them in the middle of battle? You won't have to anymore! Leaders can now purchase upgraded units directly and put them into your formation. This costs the same amount of minerals/defenders, so all it does is save you time.

- Units enter your formation slower. Purchased units (except mercenaries) now have a cool 'fade-in' effect when being added to your defensive formation. This delays combat for that unit for 0.7 seconds (roughly). Civilians no longer have temporary immunity after creation.

- A new specialty has been added to competitive mode: the Splitter! Splitters break into two smaller versions of themselves when they die.

More coming.