Life of a Marine V1.7 FIXED

[Moderator]

VGsatomi: Approved. An SC themed Loap-style map. Although I think the action starts more quickly then the quests

Deskalada: Removed Melee tag for revelecence

 

[Omniferous]

Recommendation: Approval
Rationale: A good new spin on an old concept.
Pros:
[x] An effective and cool new spin-off
[x] Provides a goal-based basis for a "LOAP"
[x] Functions very well with a variety of missions
[x] Is an excellent Starcraft map in a large absence of then.
[x] It was actually fun, unlike many LOAP maps.
[x] Far more than a spin-off.
[x] An actually good map to RP on if you want to RP in a "future" map.
Cons:
[x] Zerg players get far less of an "rpg" element. They are mainly just warfarers.
[x] Game tends to be a bit slanted for Terran victory.
[x] Like all LOAP maps, there is no victory condition. This was surprising because after you kill the enemy command center/overmind it says "The (Zerg/Terran) have won! The (Terran/Zerg) were defeated!", but the game continues.
[x] After victory, there is little left to do.

 

[Kildare]

Version Update!

Sorry about the victory conditions. I thought that the winning players might want to continue playing after victory.

Anyway, this map isn't done yet! I'm still receiving feedback and updates/fixes are continually being made. I'll try to fix those "cons" in your list there as soon as i can!

 

[Gath_Stormer]

Sould be good I will try it out

 

[Steel_Stallion]

This is pretty cool, it has my thumbs up. I like the concept, and the gameplay, but your going for a bit mystery terroritory here.

I mean, its an AoS, an RPG, A hero war, and an RP. Its a bit Odd. My suggestion is focus less on all elements, and more on one. Despite how unique many elements make a map, its never succesful if its weak in all of them. Like, its half an AoS, you cant RP much more in it then you can in Loap (Loap offers more to RP with actually) and its a bit of a limited RPG.


But, in general this is a fine map. I see it hosted occasionally and for good reason, i played it a few times, its pretty fun. Jeebus, the reaver is addictive. I love flying around.

 

[Kildare]

Actually...This isn't all that's supposed to be in the map. In fact, i have been adding more and more features into the map, but unfortunately, they are not yet stable enough to be released into a newer version. But IT will come soon though. And more things in the future too. So don't worry about it being "weak" in any element. If there's a weak point, i'll fix it. XD

 

[Asme]

nice map, its fun to play. when is next version comming?

 

[Kildare]

Lol...i'm not sure. Due to a busy schedule, the many bugs afflicting the new version, and several other map projects i'm working on, i'm currently thinking of postponing this until SC2 gets out, and then make the SC2 version for this map.

Who knows, maybe i'll have time to complete the map sometime this year.

 

[GreatOne]

I'm getting a bit annoying with the question

Is it playadble with single player?

 

[Kildare]

Err there are teams....so while technically you CAN "play" it on your own...but with no opponent, what's the poiint? -_-

 

[Ice_Eagle]

I'm getting a bit annoying with the question

Is it playadble with single player?

Yes it is possibile, but not very fun. Get the map ready in SP mode and make the other side comps.

Oh and Kildare, why are the tips coming every 1 second??

 

[Kildare]

lol it is? every second? That can't be right. I didn't mess with the hints triggers. I'll give it a check.

 

[Ice_Eagle]

Heh yep... It may also be my bro's screwy comp... Anytime we play a map with hints and spawn triggs they go haywire 0.1 sec waits...

 

[Kildare]

are u sure it's the hints? Coz one of the Zerg Missions spawns a notification every time you kill a refugee. Some other missions give notifications too.

Either way, i've checked the hints triggers and it was fine. So it can't be the map.

 

[Ice_Eagle]

Heh yep... It may also be my bro's screwy comp... Anytime we play a map with hints and spawn triggs they go haywire 0.1 sec waits...

That may be the problem then.

 

[schielman]

First I would like to say the concept of the map is great. However there are a few things I don't like. First my problems with the Terrans.
It is very difficult for the standard marine player to get minerals, so then why does everything cost minerals for the terrans? Also the ammo system for the terrans. Honestly, I hate it because ammo is hard to get and everyone gets 16 shots no matter how much damage they do or how fast they fire.
Also, after the psi emitter is planted it doesn't disappear from your inventory. Now for the zerg. I like the way you did the zerg, but I would make it so there is no overmind (considering it was never on any terran world) replace it with a powerful cerebrate. Also I dislike the fact that there is no roleplaying for the zerg. I would change the cerebrates into zerg heroes (hunter killer, devouring one, unclean one, etc.) and make a big hive complex, like the terran command center, only more zerglike. This way both sides are relatively equal (a troop commander and a bunch of heroes.). Other than that, I liked the map.

 

[Kildare]

Lol. Well to be honest i already knew about the things you've mentioned above. It is simply just that i dun have the time nor leisure atm to fix them.

Anyway, i'd also like to address some of the issues u raised:

First my problems with the Terrans.
It is very difficult for the standard marine player to get minerals, so then why does everything cost minerals for the terrans?

Erm...i believe u're refering to vespine gas? Coz the standard resource for terrans are minerals. The ones you need to "earn" are the vespine gas. The reason why u need gas to purchase things i because i want the marine players to "work". No work, no money.

Honestly, I hate it because ammo is hard to get and everyone gets 16 shots no matter how much damage they do or how fast they fire.

Yes, i knew about the inconveniences regarding the ammo system. I hope u'll pardon me on this case because this map was the first map where i started dealing with an ammo system. I will improve it in due time.

Also, after the psi emitter is planted it doesn't disappear from your inventory.

Yes i know about this bug. I have yet to fix it. Sorry about that.

Now for the zerg. I like the way you did the zerg, but I would make it so there is no overmind (considering it was never on any terran world) replace it with a powerful cerebrate. Also I dislike the fact that there is no roleplaying for the zerg. I would change the cerebrates into zerg heroes (hunter killer, devouring one, unclean one, etc.) and make a big hive complex, like the terran command center, only more zerglike. This way both sides are relatively equal (a troop commander and a bunch of heroes.).

Actually, i did thought of making the zergs similar to the terrans, but if i did that, then this map can no longer be called "Life of a Marine". It would have to be called "Life of a Marine/Zerg", and that would be ridiculous now, wouldn't it?

Perhaps, as a compromise, i can add a purchasable zerg "hero" into the game.

 

[schielman]

Erm...i believe u're refering to vespine gas? Coz the standard resource for terrans are minerals. The ones you need to "earn" are the vespine gas. The reason why u need gas to purchase things i because i want the marine players to "work". No work, no money.

I'm talking about the Marine Hero Players, not the Base Commander or the Captain. The standard Marines start out with 1500 Vespine gas and their missions give them gas, but as they have no SCVs they can't harvest minerals, so the Marine players cannot get minerals unless the Captain or Base Commander give them Minerals. And yes, all of the Items cost Minerals, I just checked. My solution, make jobs give both minerals and vespine gas in equal amounts. (ie. the player earns 250 gas, give them 250 minerals too.)

 

[RexxarFTW14]

AI Defence

Please make the AI spawn a ling of Hydraliska or Zerglings every few minutes and meake them attack the base. This would be much funner for singleplayer.
Thanks.

 

[Riptokus]

We played in a game with a full house, and after about 30 minutes the lag was unbearable. I believe you may have a memory leak somewhere in your map. It might be worthwhile to check your triggers for leaks.

Also, the terrain didn't look right. I loved how zerglings could come pouring out of the woods, but the corridor feel of it, how thin the treelines were, it just didn't reach the effect it could have been.

Additionally, schielman raises a great point. I was out of ammo and had to beg my base commander to get a few measly minerals for more ammo. Why are quest rewards in vespine gas anyway? Vespine gas in Starcraft was for advanced units. Vespine gas should be a special reward for players, or something that is begged for from the base commander. Small things should cost only minerals.

Finally, you can keep it called life of a marine whatever you do. The name doesn't have to change just because it doesn't accurately describe every element of gameplay.

If your map was open source I'd look through it for leaks myself. I found the map very entertaining as a whole, and would probably play it again. The lag though, that can be a gamebreaker. Check for ways to streamline your triggers. 3/5 rating for me.

Considerations that dropped the map's score:
Lag
Bad choices in shop pricing
Terrain

Good luck with your map. Drop by the Chatroom to try to get some people willing to streamline your triggers, it'll help this map out greatly. In fact, it'd probably rate a 5 with the shop pricing done more reasonably and the lag eliminated.

Reason I think that the lag may be caused by your map:
The map started off fairly responsive and got worse as time goes on.

 

[Kildare]

Additionally, schielman raises a great point. I was out of ammo and had to beg my base commander to get a few measly minerals for more ammo. Why are quest rewards in vespine gas anyway? Vespine gas in Starcraft was for advanced units. Vespine gas should be a special reward for players, or something that is begged for from the base commander. Small things should cost only minerals.

Ermm...this is partly caused by the reason that the way the resources are mined are SWAPPED in WCIII than what it should have been in SC. The "gold"(minerals) have become like the vespene gas while the "wood"(vespine gas) has become the minerals. So it was either a choice between keeping to SC realism(minerals are "chopped" and vespine gas are "mined") or making the shop prices more logical.

As for the other bugs, the problem now with this map is that i accidently "lost" the source file after screwing the map up when i tried to revamp the whole game's system. Now the only way to revert is to delete a hell lot of stuff and do over from scratch....something which i'm not really inclined to do with the other more interesting map projects i could be working on.

That plus i'm just waiting for SC2 to come out.

 

[Swift9001]

Horribly Imbalanced.

 

[clockwork2]

i'll try it as i want try out starcraft maps atm..

 

[microlabbb]

Why map has been aproved? where screenshots??

 

[TG:Amtelvidia]

Its a really good map in any little or big details of it.

still its quite good.