Gladiators' Requiem 2.6

[deepstrasz]

1. The terrain could be improved. Use more tiles, doodads and maybe some height difference.
2. Could add some text along the expiring timer in the board.
3. Gold gathering seems a bit slow.

Set to Awaiting Update.

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EDIT:
1. There are icons like the ones on the Acolyte with no DISBTN (green square on F10/pause); use these programs to create disabled icons:
Button Manager v1.8.2
BLP Lab v0.5.0
Complete Icon Tutorial - All About Icons
How to Make an Icon
2. The terrain problem has been solved as it can be changed by the director at will.
3. You could differentiate copycat icons by either using custom icons or editing the original's hue. For instance, all items in the Two Handed Sharp Weapons shop have the same icon as the ones in The Branded Blade shop. Or spells that have the same icon like Doom and Impending Doom.
4. Weird thing that Ogre Warrior has a longer stock fill time than other units like the Ogre boss unit.
5. Not sure if Herald of Apocalypse's Pocket Factory should be named so.
6. So some units have a classification in their description while other do not like the Crypt Lord.
7. Coroz's Disease Cloud description says it deals 0 damage and lasts 0 seconds.
8. You could make Serena's Multiple Arrows icon look like a passive ability's using the programs mentioned above.

 

[Teld]

Thanks, I'll look into making some of these changes, I'm just hesitant because ive had an issue with ridiculous map load times (it would take a full minute to load the lobby when selecting the map in browser, almost 5 mins to load the map itself) I found that this is due to a vast number of custom content (over 1000 units, and 1200 abilities) with multiple levels. I also found that strings seem to take up the most space (the descriptions on the custom content) so I've been resetting to default and shortening them, on non-essential items

I'll replace the icons with ones that have dis and I'll see how many of the repeat icons I can change around before the lag comes back

 

[deepstrasz]

I'll replace the icons with ones that have dis and I'll see how many of the repeat icons I can change around before the lag comes back

Yeah, the DISBTNs are basically the thing keeping the map hanging on a cliff's edge (it's in the rules).
Loading time is quite OK for me.

 

[Teld]

Yeah, the DISBTNs are basically the thing keeping the map hanging on a cliff's edge (it's in the rules).
Loading time is quite OK for me.

Yeah I spent a lot of time sorting through all the issues with lag to get it to where it's at now, I did a whole lot so I should have enough space to make these changes before it comes back

Super Long Load Times

 

[deepstrasz]

What did you change for this version? Please write a changelog...

 

[Jew'o'Famine]

Well, the map doesn't work for me (probably something with the new update, I dunno).

And... I don't like to accuse people of anything, plus I only have one Screenshot to work with... but are you 100% sure this map was made by you? Cause I'm pretty sure there was this Nintendo Gladiator game with the same premise that looked quite similar...

 

[Teld]

This map is based off the old legendary gladiator's map using the same premise;

Search Results for Query: Legendary Gladiators | HIVE

but the only thing I kept the same is the terrain and enemy theme, all data / trigs are new.

Edit: yeah it seems the new update messes things up with JNGP, I'll look for a fix

 

[Jew'o'Famine]

Very well then, I still feel like you should at least mention that in the description, but whatever. Luck with your fixing.

 

[Teld]

I tweaked around with some of the build settings and seem to have solved the no load issue, also added the link to the other glad maps in description as suggested

 

[Demonex]

Hi. Shadow hunter is bugged : summoned units don't disappear and they're super strong : maybe you should remove their multishot.

 

[deepstrasz]

Although this version is a considerable improvement, what about the permission to edit this work?

 

[LordTalbot]

I have tested your map with my fellow oldschool friend Shadow[4.2-ar], we played for an hour or a bit more until the game crashed with an "unexpected error".

We played with 2 players vs an AI director. I played Strength and my friend played agility. I'll try to describe our experience by listing positive and negative points:

Positive:
-The idea of the map is nice and the implementation is promising!
-The Attribute system is very satisfying and looks good as well, altough I don't think the option to spend single points is very helpful, because this barely has any impact. I think you could improve the way of distributing points. For example: give 6 points each level and give the option to distribute them in steps of 3 each, then you could also get rid of the option to use single points because the split option of 1-1-1 also uses 3 attribute points.
-Many satisfying items! Maybe you can add even a little more variety to their functionality
-It's nice that you can play vs an AI director but the waves can be problematic (-fc didn't work as intended, more that later)

Negative:
-it feels like most of the abilities that can be picked from, summon units. More variety would be nice. Maybe sort them in different groups for picking too.
-We felt like having a lack of information. It was only after the first 2 fights or so that we figured that it isn't enough to have the items in your inventory, but that you need to eqiup them additionally. Also, what do the "accept challange" circles and some other, vaguely descriped, things do? The circles for example didn't seem to do anything, except printing the number of living enemies on the screen.
-Many things didn't seem to work:
1. The cosmetics from the "cosmetics shops" were not applied when used.
2. Also the "accept challange" circle of powers didn't seem to work.
3. -fc command finishes the wave and announces that living enemies are 0 but they actually still live and must be killed to proceed. It looked like the next wave was spawned additionally. However once one or both of us died we had to use -fc because that was the only way we found to enter the arena again after reviving (unless a remaining player killed all living enemies).
4. We had one major freeze lag and then later again another freeze lag which closed wc3 with an unexpted error for both of us (both on the orc waves)
-More powerful items than the first of their kind maybe get expensive to fast. Also the ankh is probably never an option.
- Can you only get one ability per hero?
- Balance: My strength hero nearly didn't do any damage at all though I put many points in strength and had a decent weapon. My ability, healing wave, was quite rewarding yet.
My friend had an agility hero, he had about as many points in agility as I had in strength, with a weapon that focusses on splash damage, his ability to get super fast attack speed for a short period of time and the item that heals 10% of your life on each kill, he could nearly take on any army at the end (even more OP with a potion of invulnerability)
- The life concept felt a little demotivating. Maybe you can find other ways of getting new lives, or maybe add the ability to revive friendly players? We were nearly game over (1 and 2 lives). This could also come from the stacked unit waves though.
- The terrain looks boring. I don't know yet in how far the director can influence the terrain but I think an upgrade to the default terrain would be a good idea still, an own loading screen would also add to the appearance of the map. The terrain beeing exchanged when the race of the waves changes is a very nice feature however.

Please don't be offended by the count of negative points, we actually had a good time with your map. When the the technical issues are solved and the map is more informative it probably deserves 4 stars. And maybe we get some cooler abilities? I'll wait with the rating until a few are made.
Your map has even more potential, because the implementation of the attribute system, the item inventory and the basic concept are very enjoyable. If you make the abilities, units and items more creative, increase the visual quality and make other small improvements this map can also be a candidate for 5 stars sooner or later. Have a colorful day!

 

[Teld]

Hey thanks for the review! I have several hint displays when first acquiring items that say things like how to equip them, and where to get the cosmetics, but I'm aware the chat messages aren't the most noticeable / helpful, I'll take a look at the -fc issue.

The freeze lag, I assume, is when the terrain was first changed from the norm to the orc one, unfortunately this is a bit of a restriction with the editor I'm afraid, but should clear up after the initial (it shouldnt do it again on the other races) I don't know what caused the second crash but I'll look into it

The cosmetics seem to work fine for me, it might be a bug with double equipping an item or something, do you have further information on what you were trying to do? The cosmetics present require a specific equipment slot to be filled, for example, customisation to plate armour will only be applied if you're wearing plate armour.

The "accept challenge" circles are mostly for the director, as a player run director can use these circles to split teams, or have duels between players, these are explained in text when the director initiates them, but I can hide them when there is no player director to ease access a bit.

The idea behind the item's quick gold escalation is I want to discourage buying them before having that income from the higher levels, it's to encourage players to buy a wider range of items and to make smaller purchases early, like potions.

As for balance, the game is situated around team comps, as several of the abilities combo between each other, that being said, agility is meant to have higher dmg output, but what you're describing seems to be above what's intentional

You can get a second ability at level 3, a third at 6, and so forth, up to a max of 7 abilities. Step on the big circle of power by the obelisk to learn a new one when the level is achieved, there's a text message notification, but again, obviously not the most noticeable

The terrain is as intended, as it's meant to mimic the original Legendary Gladiator's feel, and with all the extra options available to the director, a more complex base terrain would take away from the customisation. I'm slowly working to improve the race preset arenas however.

The life concept is more just there for players who want the challenge, as when playing vs AI, you can dynamically change it's difficulty (which increases / reduces rewards) and handicap (set their hp to 50% if you'd like!)

I'm looking to add more to the waves than just "stack units in mid" but that's pretty far down the list, eventually I'd like them to use tactics like pincer attacks, and shield wall formations. I'd also like to add random encounters, like a whole bunch of peasants carrying gold / items, or a horde of zombies from all sides while the gladiators are trapped in a circle in the middle.