Let's make a map! (Forum Game idea)

[Cokemonkey11]

I think it would be appropriate to move discussion about a new forum-game map into a new thread.

I posted here because I contributed to the thread's map. I'll unsubscribe if necessary.

 

[Knight of Arsford]

@pick-a-chew About the LOAP idea, I was thinking of a Single/Multiplayer RPG with a branching storyline that we can all contribute to. It has some LOAP elements such as buying houses, finding jobs.

Let's say, half of the game is about the heroes fighting monsters and completing quests...

while the other half of it is about the heroes just relaxing in a safe haven while doing some minor tasks, and just taking a break from all those fights.

Idk about it, but I'll happily work on an idea that everyone agrees on.

 

[pick-a-chew]

@pick-a-chew About the LOAP idea, I was thinking of a Single/Multiplayer RPG with a branching storyline that we can all contribute to. It has some LOAP elements such as buying houses, finding jobs.

Let's say, half of the game is about the heroes fighting monsters and completing quests...

while the other half of it is about the heroes just relaxing in a safe haven while doing some minor tasks, and just taking a break from all those fights.

Idk about it, but I'll happily work on an idea that everyone agrees on.

Sounds like putting those two halves might require a bit of effort and planning...

I think some sort of map that doesn't last long game-wise is a good idea, and something that has high replayability (random elements)... like a good old simple TD or some kind of RPG-hero-escape map (similar to Jack's)

i may just mush something together, post it here, and see if anyone interested in contributing

 

[apsyll]

So is something in work or can i throw my idea also in the hat?
when yes! A longe time ago I build some fun little games that was conected just that they are all the smallest mapsize and all have 12 players. Maby this could be fun. Utherparty-esk minigames that has many players on the smallest area.
I created an aos that was really cool because the mainbuilding was a barrel and every time you die you gut a level up, so you need to think if you kill your enemy you got the time he is out of the game but when he comes back, he is much stronger and can kill you easyer.
-Hide and seek where everything was black and you can place lightspots on the floor to see the enemy and catch them.
-A TD could be done too where some people play the creeps and some build the towers.
That can also go with the LOAP idea.

 

[pick-a-chew]

So is something in work or can i throw my idea also in the hat?
when yes! A longe time ago I build some fun little games that was conected just that they are all the smallest mapsize and all have 12 players. Maby this could be fun. Utherparty-esk minigames that has many players on the smallest area.
I created an aos that was really cool because the mainbuilding was a barrel and every time you die you gut a level up, so you need to think if you kill your enemy you got the time he is out of the game but when he comes back, he is much stronger and can kill you easyer.
-Hide and seek where everything was black and you can place lightspots on the floor to see the enemy and catch them.
-A TD could be done too where some people play the creeps and some build the towers.
That can also go with the LOAP idea.

Could go for an Uther Party clone, would be quite simple to trigger/create (as in, people add their own games). Would either need to be different/unique in some way. Could hybrid Pyramid Escape (PvE mini-games) and Uther Party (PvP/FFA mini-games) in some way... something like Team vs Team/5v5 mini-games. I think there's probably always an audience for Pyramid Escape because it's a teamwork game, and as such i still see it played quite frequently. Uther party less so. As for themes instead of Pyramid or Uther (well, Uther party is generally just a Wc3 theme), could go for something like Dalaran&Stratholme(city-themed)/Hyjal(forest) escape, or any other areas that suit an escape. Could always opt for the sports/olympics route too.

Barrel AoS sounds quirky, tho i think in the end, if you just tunnel vision the barrel and die lots of times, you'll get uber leveled whilst your opponent stays quite weak

Hide and Seek sounds fine

A TD like that is prone to problems where people hoard their creeps and then send them all at once!

 

[StoPCampinGn00b]

@pick-a-chew Dude, an Uther Party / Pain's Party / Pyramid Escape type seems like a perfect choice. Subscribed to this thread just for that idea!

 

[pick-a-chew]

So it sounds like we have something agreeable to work on! I'm going to start drafting some sort of prototype which will hopefully give us something to think about and work upon if we like it. Check back soon!

I present to you the fruit of an hour and a bits worth of work...

Went for the Stratholme theme, maybe you'll buy the story/theme , can be adjusted if necessary; i have made most of the backbone of the trigger work which should allow easy transition from game to game, assuming editors can wrap their heads around what i've done. All in GUI of course.

The first mini-game is nothing special, i created it in about ~45 minutes just to demonstrate the theme and set out the structure of the map. Everything on that map is very rough. Providing people are interested, feel free to edit it or raise points!

Note: didn't bother with leaks; i'll chop those out if we decide we can move on with this

Edit: Move into the circle of power to trigger game 1

 

[apsyll]

Sweet, didn't thought that the idea will get that much welcoming but nice that!
I will soon add the aos like game to the map but i have no time now, so if someone want to add something, go for it. I will make it clear when i work on the map.
untill then: "keep calm and make cool maps"

 

[pick-a-chew]

Sweet, didn't thought that the idea will get that much welcoming but nice that!
I will soon add the aos like game to the map but i have no time now, so if someone want to add something, go for it. I will make it clear when i work on the map.
untill then: "keep calm and make cool maps"

Well... we have been trying to start a new one but have had minimal input in regards to ideas, so probably best at this point in time to start something and see how it goes!

Edit: Updated map. Removed most leaks on first map and changed the way units worked. Pick area is now more obvious. Will do some more adding to my first game at some point... to tired today from work (need to sleep!)

 

[Mr.Goblin]

goldmine for newbs in programming! keep it up ladies and gents!

 

[apsyll]

Is this stll a thing to post the ideas in the thread to get the same understanding of the future of the map?

If yes:
I thought of a force splitt system where the player has to walk to an area to join the force and when all players are ready they kill say a sheep that is in the middle of each area than then every group became allies inside and enemies with the other groups.
So befor every game where are pvp they come to a room with the areas in the corners and they can just walk in one corner, when everyone are in one corner they kill the sheeps and the game starts.

 

[pick-a-chew]

Perhaps. At the moment all players are allied. Could change the map into two teams versus (but no more since that restrains the types of mini-games you can make).
Can also go for FFA.

At the moment it's similar to Pyramid Escape.

 

[apsyll]

Ok build the force system extern will implement it tomorrow its to late for now.
It is dynamic so befor every game the amount of teams can be set.
edit:
-Implemented the force splitt system.
It creates in an area for each team a circle where you can move in to join the team and an avatar for every player.
It is easy to set up, just set the amount of teams in the variable and run the start choose trigger.
At the moment is no ending system because i don't know what kind of ending would be the best(time runs out, ready-skill for every player/chatcomand, killing sheeps...).
For testing type -start as player1 to end the choose mode.
-Added a arena like minigame where you have to destroy the barrel of the other team. This game shows now how to use the force splitt system.
-Created an array for the player colour in strings to add them faster to messages.
-Stored the picking and added sensor areas in an array to run one start trigger instead for every game an extra trigger. text can be includet.

 

[xXAgeofComedyXx]

You guys still working on this? Sorry, been away from a while due to schooling. I've just had an idea for a potential new custom campaign for a future project. Basically a normal Blizz-like campaign but set during the events of WoW.

EDIT: Played Stratholme Escape. So far it is really impressive. Hope to see you guys work on it a bit more! I'm gonna edit the thread.

Double Edit: URGENT URGENT URGENT! I will proceed uploading of Jack's Adventure and the original Create a map defense map. I'm going to play through the last update of Jack's Adventure and then write a description.
Anyone willing to help me write the description or anything else?

 

[pick-a-chew]

So this is dead again... anyone up for starting something new?

Or continuing the uther-party style one?

Or doing more on Jack's?

 

[King Tidus]

I like this idea

 

[apsyll]

I would be in as well
just started a poll for the map type:
What map -type / -style (multiple answers allowed)

I also started a map recently maybe as a little inspiration.
The idea is a tabletop style game I just liked the idea that the terrain is on a table I would add some player elements to the terrain like token, pen and paper, dices ect to create more imersion but I have no idea what kind of system the game should have...

 

[pick-a-chew]

Ooo interest!

So we want to start a new project? I agree!

@apsyll Nice idea on the poll. I think we should stick to an idea relatively adaptable for multiple editors. I'll look at your tabletop idea when I get on my PC; sounds interesting!

One idea I've been bouncing around is the idea of a Warchasers-style map, but to have the map sort of segregated in zones (e.g. Cave, forest, plains, urban) interlinked by portals or cave entrances or whatever - that way people can add content without stepping on others toes.

 

[apsyll]

Similar to jacks adventure?
Dungeoncrawler esk?
I like the idea with the multible layers...

Now "THE QUESTION"
multyplayer or singelplayer?

I actual like the idea of an asymetrick gameplay, one controls the rooms but just the ones where the heros are inside. and few(say 3 to say a number) playing heros who walk through...
Maybe the dungeonmaster can't control the units but the buildings what type will be trained and he can place some traps or has some over room skills.

edit:

Ha just got an idea for the tagsystem/background story.
The adventurer got a quest to get a item but the item is cursed and gives the hero who carries it lots of negative effects and causes damage the goal is to take this item out of the dungeon.
So the player have to swap rhe item between heros.

Also when you die on the curse you could became an enemy...

 

[pick-a-chew]

It would be similar to Jack's but it'd be heavily based on actual PvE content.

Having a "Dungeon Master" sounds cool. Like they could set traps, control bosses or modify dungeon creatures. I wouldn't let them place mobs though since they could make things impossible.

I think having multiplayer would be important. First you can test it with others, secondly it's more fun.

Having a cursed item sounds fun, but might be imbalanced for games with fewer players .

You could however say, zone 1 is a forest area, and your mission is to kill all enemies inside it, which spawns a boss when you do, and the boss drops the key to the next area. I think this idea gives flexibility as you could have an area where you need to kill all enemies, or defend a base, or build towers against waves of enemies, or a hide and survive type. Yada yada.

 

[Spellbound]

I think what Warcraft 3 needs is an RPG with a dynamic combat system. The problem I have with pretty much any RPG is that the combat is just a game of you hit me, I hit you, I use spell, I wait for cooldown, repeat. There's practically no strategy involved other than some of the better-scripted boss battles, and even then it's mostly a matter of walking out of the telegraphed attack and waiting on cooldowns/mana regen. What if you could have a Warchasers, but all heroes have a dedicated dodge ability? Most abilities would be skillshots and have upsides and downside to casting them. Imagine, if you will, Battlerite, but PvE.

That being said, I think some sort of hybrid Defense/Life of Peasant game would make for interesting gameplay as well. You start out and build your 'home' that slowly grows as you explore and level up. You become a hero and make enemies, and now you have to defend your home, turn it into a fort. This escalate and an hour later you have a fledgling castle underway. That kind of stuff.

Mash a few genres together, I say.

 

[pick-a-chew]

I think what Warcraft 3 needs is an RPG with a dynamic combat system. The problem I have with pretty much any RPG is that the combat is just a game of you hit me, I hit you, I use spell, I wait for cooldown, repeat. There's practically no strategy involved other than some of the better-scripted boss battles, and even then it's mostly a matter of walking out of the telegraphed attack and waiting on cooldowns/mana regen. What if you could have a Warchasers, but all heroes have a dedicated dodge ability? Most abilities would be skillshots and have upsides and downside to casting them. Imagine, if you will, Battlerite, but PvE.

That being said, I think some sort of hybrid Defense/Life of Peasant game would make for interesting gameplay as well. You start out and build your 'home' that slowly grows as you explore and level up. You become a hero and make enemies, and now you have to defend your home, turn it into a fort. This escalate and an hour later you have a fledgling castle underway. That kind of stuff.

Mash a few genres together, I say.

I think the RPG difficulty problem comes mainly from the fact that 99% of your enemies will only have auto-attacks, or other generic non-threatening abilities that you can ignore. But you can solve that by giving enemies priority (e.g. a mob that causes all other nearby enemies to take 0 damage) OR abilities that require some kind of player skill check (e.g. summon an egg that turns into a powerful mob after 10 seconds, gain 100% damage reflection for 4 sec, gain 100% attack speed when reduced below 20% health). Such skill checks will result in heavy losses to health/mana and/or death if you fail them!

I don't know Battlerite, but a dedicated dodge ability reminds me of Impossible Bosses where each class had "D" for a 2 sec invulnerability. Something like that to avoid big spikes of damage? May be awkward to use if there are many enemies throwing attacks at you .

I like the idea of a "Home". Could easily work with a Warchasers themed map. Have a central hub that upgrades as you clear areas? Could grant access to shops/auras/troops/upgrades and be attacked or the site of boss fights or something.

But idea needs to be kept relatively basic to begin with since we want to attract people to work on it; no point thinking big at the start.

 

[Spellbound]

You could also for a skillshot like Carrion Swarm whenever a mob attacks. Not all mobs, but those would be high damage attacks or cause a lot of debuffs. How I do it is to use a DDS to nullify attacks, then use lightning effects to trace a path on the ground. After X seconds a missile system throws out a line attack or lobs a 'grenade' type missile.

A base that upgrades as areas are unlocked is a cool idea.

 

[apsyll]

You could be shop keepers, who opened a shop in a dungeon and you wander around to get material to upgread and items you can sell.
This spawns some heros who come to your shop and bring some atention of enemies with them.

So we want uniq enemie types with different behaviors.
Every type got its own way to get killed?
This sounds system heavy but for me actually fun to create some ideas...
But we would have to cut down the amount per room.

@pick-a-chew yes the dungeonmaster shouldn't place or control the units but should be able to interact with them like give every for x sec a buff, upgread attack-types, chose what type will be spawned around the nests.

I also thinking of a diablo-ish kind of fight system, where you have to rightclick an unit to do a attack, for the heros/shop keepers.

 

[pick-a-chew]

You could be shop keepers, who opened a shop in a dungeon and you wander around to get material to upgread and items you can sell.
This spawns some heros who come to your shop and bring some atention of enemies with them.

So we want uniq enemie types with different behaviors.
Every type got its own way to get killed?
This sounds system heavy but for me actually fun to create some ideas...
But we would have to cut down the amount per room.

@pick-a-chew yes the dungeonmaster shouldn't place or control the units but should be able to interact with them like give every for x sec a buff, upgread attack-types, chose what type will be spawned around the nests.

I also thinking of a diablo-ish kind of fight system, where you have to rightclick an unit to do a attack, for the heros/shop keepers.

I think i played a game like that on Steam once. Sounds fun, but might be restrictive if everyone was doing the same kind of thing. Tho i don't see why you can't design a Hero who specialises in finding items and owning a shop at the base camp, who's then good at making gold/crafting powerful items. Maybe it could even be a profession?

Regarding enemies, i don't think things have to be *that* complicated. You could for example make a priest-type unit with a really powerful auto-cast heal; but that unit can only heal its allies and not itself. Or an enemy that explodes upon death, thus requiring you to kill it from a distance. I don't think you would necessarily have to cut down on the enemies per room; but you would have to be careful to make things not too hard for the player.

But basically, yeah, i think having a RPG-style dungeoncrawl WarChaser thing with simple mobs that do basically nothing but auto-attack should be avoided.

I like the Dungeon Master idea. Could be like an Eredar Hero or something that can cast global-range spells from his final boss room, like e.g. heal a target over time, transform a lesser mob into something scary, give creeps in an area speed etc. Sounds quite fun actually.
I think it would also be "optional", e.g. you can play without there being a human dungeonmaster, or the game goes on if they leave/disconnect etc.

A diablo-ish fight system *could* work, but it sounds a bit sophisticated, and might not be necessary? You could make auto-attacks on heroes less meaningful and instead make their ability damage/cooldowns better to get a similar effect.

I could start prototyping map once we have some kind of story. Have an Expedition Base in Northrend (snow/ice), Ashenvale/Felwood (foresty), Outland (different world), Dalaran Ruins (urban), Sunken City (ruins) or Underground (caves) that's trying to find/kill/achieve something?
Probably should choose a versatile tileset regardless. I'd go for a forest or underground theme personally.

 

[apsyll]

A mysteries guy with the name of sindi amar johnes told some adventurer about a mighty artefakt of doom, so they started an expedition in a jungle/ forest first with some tents but nearby are some materials and food ressources the adventurer can harvest.
Also close i the entrance of the dungeon, where the item is burrowed.
As more you explore in the dungeon, more people get to notice your adventure and you can place every time one building out of a pool, that supports you like a lumbermil, itemshop, forge ect.

That would be my idea.
I would like to have the item cursed so they can't take them out as soon as they reached the treasure room.

And maybe we could make the night also more dangerous or different units/abilities can be used from the dungeonmaster.

Also a hero who is dying while carrying the item makes you a champoin of doom your hero becames undead and you fight on the side of the dungeonmaster if one exist else you just respawn like normal.
And the dungeonmaster wins when all heros died influenced by the item.

When you droped the item you still have for 20sec the debuff that you transform, to stop player droping the item on the last second.

 

[Leo Akastenix]

Why not base the dungeon as "hell" with different biomes and the heroes there are in the dungeon were sinners? They do not know it until the end that that was hell and that they were paying for their sins.

 

[Spellbound]

I like where this is going. Discarding auto-attacks may not be entirely necessary - you could keep them but make the enemy throw out skillshots instead. This can be achieved with a DDS and a custom missile system. Heroes could do the same. The Piest character can also attack, but his projectile will heal allies on impact and deal half damage to enemy mobs.

Sample Ideas:


HEROES

Artificer
The Artificer does not fight but instead bolsters his allies and manages encampments for them. Artificers can offer help in combat through traps and automated sentries, as well as healing stations and portals that can take her allies to safety.

Alchemist
The Alchemist fights with potions and explosives and can transmute the fallen into raw materials. He excels at inflicting punishment, but if caught undefended will go down fairly quickly.

Templar
The Templar abhors corruption and makes it his duty to cleans it. His defense is his greatest strength and his ability to purge affliction makes him a valuable member of any team.

Shadowdancer
The Shadowdancer knows the darkness intimately and understands those that dwell within it. His can see then unseen from all directions and can strike with vicious lethality when the enemy is caught unawares.


MOBS

Mobs can come in all shapes and sizes. Some could be permanently invisible - all heroes can see invisible units that are directly ahead of them, but the Shadowdancer can detect in an area. Some mobs can have the ability to leap to weaker heroes, so some heroes could have some ways to potect them, like a smoke bomb, or the templar rushing to an allies' aid similar to how the templar companion does it in Diablo 3.

 

[pick-a-chew]

A mysteries guy with the name of sindi amar johnes told some adventurer about a mighty artefakt of doom, so they started an expedition in a jungle/ forest first with some tents but nearby are some materials and food ressources the adventurer can harvest.
Also close i the entrance of the dungeon, where the item is burrowed.
As more you explore in the dungeon, more people get to notice your adventure and you can place every time one building out of a pool, that supports you like a lumbermil, itemshop, forge ect.

That would be my idea.
I would like to have the item cursed so they can't take them out as soon as they reached the treasure room.

And maybe we could make the night also more dangerous or different units/abilities can be used from the dungeonmaster.

Also a hero who is dying while carrying the item makes you a champoin of doom your hero becames undead and you fight on the side of the dungeonmaster if one exist else you just respawn like normal.
And the dungeonmaster wins when all heros died influenced by the item.

When you droped the item you still have for 20sec the debuff that you transform, to stop player droping the item on the last second.

A good starting point for a story

Will probably be possible to make it so the artefact is always encountered last, and it could possibly be defended by the dungeon master himself.

You have raised an interesting point; how does the dungeon master win? Kill all heroes? WarChasers only Ankhs save you from death... we could do the same or have a triggered life system. Heroes who have permanently died could become a spirit/ghost or an agent for the dungeon master?
Maybe have a resurrection mechanic so that death is not always permanent?

Why not base the dungeon as "hell" with different biomes and the heroes there are in the dungeon were sinners? They do not know it until the end that that was hell and that they were paying for their sins.

Hell-themed could be good too. Problem with trying to use different biomes is the tileset restriction which would limit how many different biomes you could have. With hell-themed we could be old school and go for a Dungeon tileset that's pretty bricky/stony with lava, and we could maybe add a grass tileset for treesy/outdoory areas.
Felwood could also be used for underground/cavey areas with an undergrowth kind of feel.

Before i start making something as a starting point; how do the heroes progress through the map?

Is the hub surrounded by entrances/portals that lead to areas? Or do the heroes travel through areas linearly and can "hearthstone" to and from the base when needed?

 

[Leo Akastenix]

How about randomly generated terrain?

We could have a central "hub"

 

[apsyll]

@Leo Akastenix:
Sadly ingame generated terrain causes desyncs, because it is a multyplayer map its not possible :/

@pick-a-chew:
I would like to have a rescue system so a fallen hero(who are not carrying the holy artefact of doom) transforms in a soulstone/item this can be picked up and the hero can revived by using the soulstone in the base.
This gives the players to think about what they going to do, drop an important item for a friend and go back or let them dead until they got the next keyroom.
When they carrying the holy artefact of doom on death they will move to the dungeonmaster side and he becames an undead hero of choise on spot.
Undead heros revive after x sec in the treasure room.
And with this I would say the dungeonmaster wins when he killed all heros.

I would go with a kind of both progressions, you travel through the dungeon linear/branching which are conected with keyrooms like bossroms where portals to the base will be created by completation.

        /   room A \
entrance - room B  - key room - room A  -  key room...
        \  room C   /         \ room B /

The portals can't be used when you carry the holy artefact of doom so you have to go through the whole duneon again backwards and of cause the monster respawn.. less then before but the respawn.

 

[pick-a-chew]

Maybe. The only issue i have with a design like that is if that you choose Room B, you don't play Room A or C which wastes a lot of content, especially if those rooms are fairly big with big objectives/puzzles etc.

I'd say, conceptually, lets imagine between us we make 5 rooms, and at the start of the game, the "pathway" is randomized and is 4 rooms long. The pathway between rooms wouldn't be physical; you'd have teleporters/cave entrances/gateways to achieve the transition. I prefer this simply because it randomizes gameplay. You can use Upgrades to scale/balance enemies as the game progresses/hero power increases.

For a quick example: Room 1 (kill all enemies), Room 2 (defend a building), Room 3 (trap maze), Room 4 (tank room), Room 5 (TD-style)
And have keys drop from mini-bosses at the end of these rooms (which the dungeonmaster can control directly)

Game at start decides to assign this pattern randomly:
Base --> Room 2 --> Room 1 --> Room 4 --> Room 3 --> Dungeonmaster Room
(where base is always 1st, and dungeon master is last)
Some rooms could offer a choice, e.g. Room 2 offers Room 1 AND Room 5, but i'd say stay simple for now.

I only like randomization because it makes each game different, but that's just a preference

Soulstone idea sounds cool. Maybe make soulstones also slow the holder down to make reviving dead allies hard if they died somewhere stupid.

I don't think carrying the artefact of doom requires that penalty; if players die they WILL change sides. I'm not sure if having enemy/antagonistic heroes running around rooms makes sense though... i can totally see a dungeonmaster casting spells from his sanctuary, but having turned players actually hindering the heroes trying to progress probably wont be *that* fun.
I'd say dead players just turn into soulstones. Dungeonmaster wins if all heroes are soulstones.

Edit: maybe have scrolls of townportals as loot which allow you to traverse between your current location and base?

EDIT 2: MAKING A PROTOTYPE!

 

[apsyll]

I explained it a bit wrong I see it now
The idea is that you have to solve room A, B and C to get in the next key room fight the boss get to next layer then you have to solve room A and B to get further
The key rooms are indicator of the level how far you are in the dungeon and a help to travel between the base and your last progession, so you don't have to start every time new but also are not able to just get back whenever you want so you have to think about risk and rewards/ ressource cost between the safe zones.
The roomes of each layer could be conected by a hub room so I could create 2 rooms interacting with each other in the same layer so you have to get something from one room to finish another one. Every one could add his room to the level where he thinks it fits the best
The group itself can deside wich room they want to solve first.

I think you are right with the transformation i just wanted to add it because tag/ vampirism was voted high aswell and this would be my idea to throw it in
but i think no one is offended when we don't implement it as a core feature could be maybe used for a room if some one is really in to it.

 

[pick-a-chew]

I see, that makes more sense.
I think unlike Jack's where A, B and C might be pretty short, i think in this project A, B and C should take at least 5 minutes to complete.

Problem with people going back to base, and then making them kill a few measly respawns on the way back, is that it takes time, isn't very challenging and is probably boring.
I'll grant you it's not very immersive (how many dungeons let you go back to sanctuary when you want? )

I'd say, make your rooms hard-ish, and either:

(1) Have a teleport/passage at the end which lets you go back to the base (similar to your key room idea); or
(2) Have an item/ability that lets you travel between your location and base (should have a high cost, like a big cooldown, long cast-time etc.)​

Don't forget if people turn into soulstones when they die, and these soulstones can only be redeemed at the base, then you might make things hard if people who die early on a mission cannot be resurrected.

Hub rooms could work. The base could be a giant hub room that's a cave or portal network or something.

On the tag; maybe if soulstones aren't redeemed quickly enough, then players become evil?

Annnnnnnyway

I spent about 2 hours+ on this "prototype"

• I used to Felwood tileset (IF WE LIKE THE PROTOTYPE BUT DONT LIKE THIS TILESET, SAY SO, AS IT'D BE EASIER TO CHANGE NOW!)
• I have created 1 Room that's functional
  • At the moment, the game starts here (i.e. i haven't triggered it yet to start after starting its entrance
  • It's called Satyr Forest
    • Objective: Kill all enemies
    • Defiled Relics: Grants damage immunity to nearby monsters
    • Satyr Worshippers: boring auto-attacking enemy (goes with the defiled relics)
    • Satyr Scythmasters: Has 100% IAS if not damaged within the last 3 sec
    • Satyr Corruptor: Will cast a 60% Cripple at a target it attacks
    • Satyr Lord spawns when all enemies are dead; has no abilities yet; Dungeon Master will control this himself once he's implemented
    • There's 1 trap in the area
• In the middle of the map is the "base"
  • Literally all i have done is designated an area and put a town hall, someone needs to work on it!
• There is no Hero selection area
• Many default elements of the map haven't been touched
• There is one Hero in the map
  • Huntress
    • Has Lunar Glaive: throws a glaive that bounces between enemies
    • Has Elune's Grace: 3 second Divine Shield
• Bribe's DDS is on the map

Let me know what you think! Huntress/Room 1 in top left.

​

 

[apsyll]

Nice I think no one is working on it so...

€:
Ok I finished for the first I have not implementet a lot of stuff for gameplay more in the dev direktion.
my part is now...
Finished:

-add the soulstone system.
-created and moved the base to the bottom left corner.
-the base has 3 different entrances for the dungeonsystem.
--every tent should be able to be upgreadable to a usefull building when a "layer" was solved.
--will add ressources around the base that can be harvested to upgread the base.
-overworked some trigger.
-overworked some areas.

Now I will think a bit more about the system of the dungeonmaster how he will be intercat ingame...
map is attached.

 

[pick-a-chew]

So it begins! Can't wait to get my hands back on it

Edit: Nice work! Good work on the base.

Just a few questions that are popping up whilst i'm doing an edit...

With the SS system: would you not need to make an item for every player (e.g. Player Red's Soulstone) so the game can know whose hero to revive? (and so the holder knows whose it is?)

EDIT:

My work is done! Map is up for grabs!

• Did some more work on Room 1 (terraining, triggering, unit balance)
  
• Reworked the Huntress' "D"odge skill
• Have added a Town Hall plot to the base
  • Costs 200 lumber to upgrade; any players can purchase this, lumber can be obtained from the first Room as loot.
  • Triggers: Tent is destroyed and a hidden builder will start building the Town Hall (works smooth so far; don't think it's possible to bug it out).
  • Only used Town Hall as an example. So far the building does nothing /
• Smoothed out the transition from base to room 1.
• FOR NOW lumber is the currency used to upgrade the base and i made a quick little system; "lumber" drops from enemies. Picking this up will share 100 lumber amongst all playing players, with a small bonus depending on the number of playing players.

 

[apsyll]

I will look at it tomorrow is already early here.

For the soulstones: thought about to make for each hero type one with the description of the hero.
I created the system so dynamic that you can use every usable item for reviving, is no work to add the different stones later

I like the lumber drop idea shall we still add a ressources gather system or should it be collected from drops?

One of the tents was already teleportable to, dunno if you saw this.

 

[pick-a-chew]

Ah that's probably even better to have a Soulstone for each hero. Good thinking.

The drops don't have to be the *only* way; how do you imagine this resource gather system? Find things you can turn into resources?

I did see the teleportable tent. I think Scrolls of TP should be triggered system too though and do something like this:

1. Click scroll of TP
2. Hero starts to channel for ~6 seconds
3. Hero teleports back to Base
4. Hero can use scroll again to return to where they were

Vanilla scrolls make you invuln and you have to click the map and then you'd have to walk all the way back anyhow

Maybe Town Halls could sell 'em?

Who knows. We'll design as we go

Edit:

Implemented TP system. It's a bit rushed at the moment but works!

 

[Spellbound]

Okay, so a few posts back I mentioned a 'dynamic' combat system with skillshots and stuff. I've been sitting on test map I made a while back and this discussion gave me the impetus to go back and re-tinker with it now that I've gotten a bit better with vJASS and I'm actually starting to use structs now (that took me way to long @_@). Ahem, anyway, I made a video demoing it in action:

I'm not saying implement this in the map (the integration could be a bit of a pain since there are a million things to import) but this is mostly food for thought.

------------------------------------

Back on topic, what is the plan for the base?

 

[pick-a-chew]

@Spellbound
It looks like a nice idea. How much hassle would it be to implement that kind of system? Will it be easily use for total newbs in map maing, or GUI-only users like myself?
You could try sharing a demo map of the system with us so we can see how versatile/easy to use it is.
Could also look for ones on the Hive?
Bribe's DDS makes making simple skillshots fairly easy with spells like Carrion Swarm (the only caveat being you can't have a sexy projectile).

Currently we think of the base as a hub for the Heroes to rest/stash stuff/buy stuff/sell stuff/possibly recover. We touched on the possible idea of it being attacked at some point.

The current idea we're going with is that the base has tents (aka "plots) that can be upgraded into base buildings using lumber. Each building is supposed to provide a unique benefit to the players.

Just as a quick example of ideas, we could have...

• Town Hall: Enables visitors to the base. Sells scrolls of Town Portal.
• Warden Lodge: Killing a mini-boss provides a gold bonus.
• Blacksmith: Sells weaponry. All heroes gain bonus attack damage.
• Fountain: A place for heroes to recuperate health and mana.
• Chapel: A place for Heroes to be revived from Soulstones. Sells scrolls.
  
• Market: Sells consumables and other items.
• Barracks: Sells troops.
• Guard Towers: Multiple ones around the base. Will defend the base automatically from minor threats.

Each building should offer something that players will want a lot. Ideally by the end of the game, all buildings will be constructed.

 

[Spellbound]

Hmm, sounds like it will require a lot of thought for the buildings. The hub could come under fire if it expands too much and gets noticed by the enemy. It might be a 'do you want more bonuses/aid but risk getting attacked, or would you rather focus entirely on your hero?' Could be interesting. Maybe one building could be Mystical Beacon: passively boosts all spell damage your hero inflicts, but increases the Hub's awareness by 10%. Something like that.

As for the system, it's entirely in vJASS. It's still a WIP - the telegraphed attacks have not been integrated into the onDamage events yet, so I'll have to do that before I can share anything. If you're worried about implementing it, have no fear, I'll handle that myself if it ever comes to this. Although, how easy it is to use, I'm not sure yet. I haven't made the API for the telegraphed attacks, and the attacks the Huntresses use takes a little while to configure the first time around. I'll post again here if I ever do manage to finish it, but thanks for taking an interest

 

[pick-a-chew]

I think for now the hub will be good with a handful of different kinds of buildings; they don't particularly need to be fully fleshed out, but provide something basic for the players. They can be refined as the map progresses to sell specific items, or provide other benefits, or to interact with rooms and so on.
Probably wise to not make the base *too* big since the map will be designed to be played for what: 40 mins like vanilla WarChasers?

Base awareness sounds like it could be cool, but could end up being a hindrance if you have a massive base that gets besieged all the time whilst you try to move thru the map
I'd be tempted to do something like:
Random time between 5 and 10 mins: send random base attack
Random time between 15 and 20 mins: send random base attack
Random time between 25 and 30 mins: send random base attack
Or they could be triggered. Like for every X enemies you kill, a base attack is triggered.
Try to keep how they trigger descrete so players can't predict/work around it.

But i think base invasions are a later idea, for now we need a hero selection area and the dungeon master for minimal multiplayer testing

Also an afterthought: Tents/Plots could offer a choice of buildings to make things interesting, e.g. plot turns into Market OR Blacksmith. Could help keep base small whilst offering different possibilities.

 

[apsyll]

@Spellbound this looks great keep up the good work! Maybe I think if I could add a lite version of this in Gui/Jass so that we actually could use it in the map. What do you used for the borders of the indicator mask?
I would like to use some indicators for the skills position and progress...
I thought about the base that is stays much about the same size so you just upgread the tents in usefull buildings how pick-a-chew already described but you should be able to defend it with walls and towers. I also thought about a awarness system of course the enemies don't like it when a big base is build just next to them and the heros of the base slauter their way through their friends.
So awarness is influensed with the progress of the base and the progress of the dungeon. It could be also a skill of the dungeonmaster to send a wave to the base with a long cooldown and as longer he waits to activate as more enemy will attack...

Ps: I sneaked some update to the map because no one was claiming to work next.
-added a more multieplayer friendly way of the townscroll to the map but doesen't changed the one from pick-a-chew if people like this more...
-added the herospecific soulstone system
-orderd and reworked some triggers with fokus of removing leaks, optimisation and creating standards for development(but will work more on it)
forgot last to mention:
-added the -kill comand, it kills the selected unit to test the soulstone system.

If someone has some ideas for the role of the dungeonmaster or the indication system please let me know here in the thread or via PM.
also opend a discord server for this thread nothing in the rules speaks againsed it but wait for a official aprove from a mod to share the link so we can talk and chatt a bit more easy.

 

[Spellbound]

It certainly could be simplified, but that's a headache I'm not willing to touch with a ten foot pole after spending all day trying to integrate telegraphed attacks into my existing custom attack system. I still have a bunch of issues to iron out so it could take a while. As for what I'm using for the borders, it's just a custom lightning effect.

 

[pick-a-chew]

@Spellbound this looks great keep up the good work! Maybe I think if I could add a lite version of this in Gui/Jass so that we actually could use it in the map. What do you used for the borders of the indicator mask?
I would like to use some indicators for the skills position and progress...
I thought about the base that is stays much about the same size so you just upgread the tents in usefull buildings how pick-a-chew already described but you should be able to defend it with walls and towers. I also thought about a awarness system of course the enemies don't like it when a big base is build just next to them and the heros of the base slauter their way through their friends.
So awarness is influensed with the progress of the base and the progress of the dungeon. It could be also a skill of the dungeonmaster to send a wave to the base with a long cooldown and as longer he waits to activate as more enemy will attack...

Ps: I sneaked some update to the map because no one was claiming to work next.
-added a more multieplayer friendly way of the townscroll to the map but doesen't changed the one from pick-a-chew if people like this more...
-added the herospecific soulstone system
-orderd and reworked some triggers with fokus of removing leaks, optimisation and creating standards for development(but will work more on it)
forgot last to mention:
-added the -kill comand, it kills the selected unit to test the soulstone system.

If someone has some ideas for the role of the dungeonmaster or the indication system please let me know here in the thread or via PM.
also opend a discord server for this thread nothing in the rules speaks againsed it but wait for a official aprove from a mod to share the link so we can talk and chatt a bit more easy.

I really like what you did with the portals! The system reminds me of Diablo II . Should we designate an area where portals in the home can pop up? Have a spot for each player?

I think for the Dungeon Master, he should either:

Be a single hero who can customise his abilities OR there should be multiple heroes for him to choose from, which have various dungeon master abilities.

I think THE/ALL Dungeonmasters should have this general ability:

• Dark Command: Take control of a (lesser) creep until it dies. Can only be active once at a time.

OR another kind of ability that lets him directly interact with players via a creep/summon.
Unlimited range (cast from his room).
It could give the unit new abilities (e.g. a skillshot), or improve its fighting ability slightly (e.g. 20% more attack speed and movement, regenerates life, more armour etc.).
Cannot be used on "powerful" creeps (else he could control something big that's far in the current level, and bring it forward and roflstomp with it).

And then have other abilities, which we've already brainstormed a bit, like:

• Reconstitution: Heal a creep X over 6 seconds.
• Incite: Give creeps in area attack and movement speed.
• Collapsing Void: Area explodes after 3 seconds, dealing damage.
• Rain of Fire: Rains down fire in the area for 10 seconds.
• Death's Advance: Reduce target armour and gain vision of it.
• Shadow Spawn: Summon an extra creep at the target location that lasts 10 seconds.
• Besiege: Summon creeps to attack the Hero's base.

All of these have an unlimited range.

Discord server would be really awesome! I like THW, but things feel a bit slow on here. Should also get someone to advertise this to see if we can get any interest.

Edit: Did about ~50 mins of work on it (all i had time for). Added the Blacksmith and Fountain to the base. Map attached.

Base needs some NPCs to make it feel alive i think .

 

[Leo Akastenix]

Whos editing? If no, im editing next

 

[apsyll]

Sweet got my go for the discord server here is the link:
Discord - Free voice and text chat for gamers

@Leo Akastenix: go for it! just make it visible for every one that you working on it.

 

[Leo Akastenix]

FINISHED EDITING, SOME (1.5)HOURS WORK

NEW AREA: DEFILED LAKE

The area has a lot of weak units but new units called Agents boosts their hitpoint regen by A LOT, which makes them quite hard to kill.

NEW MOBS:
Mutant Murlocs(Typical weak melee units)
Defiled Elementals(Ranged units)
Mad Elementals(Chaos-type ranged unit)
Agent(Similar to Defiled Relics, except gives massive regen bonus to nearby enemy units.)
"SECRET WEAPON"(BOSS, no skills yet. Im a poor boss designer so anybody GO FUR IT)

Map is attached.
Defiled Lake has some empty areas so others can also add some uniqueness into it. ALSO as i mentioned before ,the boss fight has no fancy spells or phases yet so anybody, feel frre to add them!

 

[pick-a-chew]

Nice to see we have a second room to play with!

Good work Leo!

Will test it when i get a chance. I would say that with your mobs, one of them should have another interesting skill (otherwise its simply kill agent, then kill rest).

MAP UP FOR GRABS AGAIN!

Did about 1 hour on the map. Leo, i recategorized/renamed some of your things so they read easily with the other stuff (e.g. i moved your mobs into the undead race and renamed your triggers). I haven't had time to test your area yet (or the changes i just did :S)
I also reorganized the triggers a bit e.g. put all of bribe's DDS trigs into 1 folder.
Did a small retouch of the terrain in Room 1.

Made 1 ability for the Satyr Lord (Room 1 mini-boss).

• Dark Rapture: Marks the target area. After 2.5 seconds, it explodes for 150 spell damage.

Have put a Satyr Lord in the base so you can test him out and see what you think.

 

[apsyll]

Ok then will...
Ok then I added the random room pathing system so every time you start the map the rooms will be visited in random order.
you have to add 4 areas to work with it
room1 leave area -> room2 arrive area
room2 back leave are -> room 1 back arrive area
not much more I'm a bit out of ideas :/