Mercenary Wars

[Japut3h]

Hello everyone...Ive been working a while on this project although im not even close to finishing it...just thought id post the info on the map,and hope that ill get some feedback and helpfull advice on what i should improve,what to do,and what not to do....

Mercenary Wars

- Story
This is not an RPG map,so making a deep storyline is useless.
The main point of the map is;two factions are at war.Both of seek champions to represent their side,offering a large reward.

When picking Heroes at the beggining,both teams will pick from the same taverns.The map's name will probably be Mercenary Wars because none of the Heroes has a determined side at the beggining(Like the good and evil Heroes in DoTA),they are Mercenaries,and they will fight for the cause of the highest bidder.

- Gameplay
This is mainly a 5v5 arena-styled map,128x128 or 160x160 sized,with a number of events to spice up the game.There are two main bases,one on each side of the map.Gold and XP will be the two main factors on the map.Both will be obtainable by killing creeps scattered across the map.As you delve deeper into the map,and as the game time passes,the creeps will grow stronger,offering the players balanced leveling.On the beggining,you will be able to choose a Hero that you will control through the whole game.Level cap should be around 25-30-35.Of course,PvP will be an improtant factor of the map,but more about that later.

- Heroes
The most important thing in a map with a high replay value is probably the multiple choice system.If the map can offer a lot of choices to the players,they most certainly wont get bored with it quickly.When you choose your Hero at the beggining,it will be one of the rare units that you will be able to control(the others are summons and a small number of mercenaries),so i have decided to make a large number of Heroes(About 50 at the beggining,and as the map is updated,im planning to add more),with custom spells made in JASS and GUI.I believe that a map can achieve high quality if its spells are original and different from what the players usually see when playing WC3.So far i have made about 12 - 13 Heroes,some of them need to be reworked though.Each Hero will be unique in his own way.

- Modes
The goal of the map will be determined by the mode which the host player can choose at the beggining.

-Normal mode;the goal is to destroy a certain building in your enemy's base;and to defend the building in your base at all costs.(also there will be modes such as Fast Mode with increased xp and gold rates)

-Deathmatch;the first team to get a certain number of kills wins.

-Capture The Flag;the name says it all.

There will probably be a lot more modes added,since they are irrelevant at this stadium of the project.


- Events
The thing that should distinguish this map from all the other Creep Around Then PvP arena maps is the large number of events;yet i will do my best to keep the map simple,without unnecessary additions.Some event examples are:

-Raids;there will be a Dungeon or two on the map,with stronger creeps and a Boss in the end.Bosses will drop usefull items and give rewards to the team that kills them,although the items will mainly be one-use,or reagents for some good item recipes.

-Merchants;im planning on making a number of goblin merchants that will travel freely across the map,selling various goods and usefull items.

-AoS action;if the players clear out all the creeps in an area,just running around waiting for respawns would be useless.Thats why every once in a while,each faction will send some of their warriors to attack the other faction's base,although,the rate at which they spawn will be slower than the one seen in most AoS styled maps.

-Runes;runes with various effects will be spawned randomly across the map.Rune examples are:

Thundergod's Rune
-Strikes all enemy Heroes on the map with bolts of lightning,dealing minor damage.

Invisibility Rune
-Turns all friendly Heroes on the map invisible.

Trick or Treat Rune
-When picked up,you have a 50% chance to gain increased damage for 30 seconds,and a 50% chance to get turned into a random critter for 30 seconds.

There are much more runes i had in mind,but ill talk about them later.

- PvP
One of the most important aspects of my map.What fun is it if you cant kill,camp,and gang the crap outta your friends,right?By killing enemy Heroes you will gain additional Gold,XP,and Reputation that can be exchanged at your base for some interesting stuff.Most of them will be intended for one-use,like a +30 Agility potion,that lasts 60 seconds.Considering that the map size is not that large,there will be a lot of PvP.Upon death,the Heroes will have to wait to be revived,or alternatively,pay for revival to one of the spirit healers scattered across the map.


- Terrain
I want my map to be a true eye-candy.I want the terrain to be as good as possible,yet ive noticed that some people prefer regular wc3 doodads and trees than the ones from the UTM.Dunno why it is like that,but ill have to make a couple of polls before i start seriously working the terrain.(I already did 50% of it,but it seems unpractical,so ill probably do it again)

- Items
Ill try to make it as simple as possible,yet fun.So 100 vendors,each with 10 recipe combinations wont do.Recipes usually lead to imballance.Then a certain item gets bought all the time while the others never get sold.So there will probably be about 80-90 stat boost items in your base,categorized by the vendors(level 1 shop,level 2 shop,level 3 shop),and about 10 stat boost items sold by the goblin merchants.only 10-20 out of all the items will be recipes,and they will give the biggest bonuses,but will also be quite expensive.Of course there will be about 20 one-use items sold by the vendors,and about 10 obtainable by raiding.



If you have ANY advice,ANY tips to give out,they are more than welcome.So dont be lazy and give me some feedback

I will update this as the project develops,God help me,and give me the strenght to finish it.

 

[Maddawg101]

I read your whole post and I honestly don't see how it is unique in any significant way from any other AoS I've seen.
You say events differs your game from the others but for example, DotA, don't they have merchants away from the starting points, different kinds of runes, and a boss too?
I'm not trying to tell you this is a bad idea, I just don't see it as original and would like to hear your take.

 

[Japut3h]

I probably made a mistake.By presenting the map in a form of text,people can possibly see whats in my head.But let me assure you,its nothing like DoTA.

Of course,it cant be 100% original.There isnt such a map.As soon as an original idea comes out,it gets ripped off.DoTA is a pure rip-off with a ton of make-up.

Im not trying to make a 100% original map.Im trying not to make a rip-off.Im trying to add so much additions that you wont be able to connect it with an another map,yet keep things simple.

And its not an AoS.The gameplay is supposed to be way different from an AoS.

And as for the events,im not comparing the map with DoTA,since its not an AoS styled map.There are no lanes.The creeps that spawn once every 20 seconds in an AoS spawn once every 3 minutes here,and they will probably spawn in different periods,so they wont clash in the middle like it happens in AoS.They will attack your base,and you have to stop them when that happens.

I was comparing it with Arena-style maps where you gain gold and xp by farming gold from creep camps.

And doing a raid will most certainly differ from killing Roshan.

You probably have a 3-laned map that looks a hell lot like DoTA in your head,but ill do my best not to make it like that.I cant really describe all the details with words.When i go further with the project,ill post some screens though.

 

[Maddawg101]

Ok that clears some stuff up. It sounds like you've got a lot of ideas already, I would just suggest staying away from the generic AoS and arena styled maps.
If it doesn't stand out from the other games, people won't be interested. Keep it simple but reward those who play again and again.

Good luck!

 

[Japut3h]

Thanks,i do hope that i will manage to make something that stands out from all the typical genres out there.

Again,this is also an thread open for other people's oppinions.If anyone has any hero ideas,event ideas,gameplay ideas,or you just wants to say what he thinks,he should know that his oppinion will be appreciated.

 

[WeZurii]

I dunno maddawg sometimes people enjoy playing solid maps , like Arena , AoS, after all the did become that way because everyone loved them. Often its the Small things that make a map such as its reputation, Gameplay , Competetiveness. For Example i think why Dota Was so succesful is because it had a lvl cap of 25lvls right , thus it made it more competetive i.e if your a higher lvl you wont win the battle , all so dota's Heroe's Spells are well made thus you can make startegies from them , again adding to the competitiveness. But then Again on the other hand

You want some spice in your map just to urg people to want to play it, and keep on playing it.

Anyways i think its a good concept keep working towards it and ill look forward to playing it. You never know it might be the next DotA.

~WeZ~

 

[hellclown]

nice idea let me know if there is any thing I can do to help oh and BTW that avatar is kinda creepy *shudder*

 

[Japut3h]

Help would be appreciated and credited,i only need to know what are you best at,for example,a skilled triggerer with a sense of quality would do good for making Heroes....Of course,fresh ideas,or a couple of good hero ideas would be great help.

And yeah,Michael Jackson is creepy as hell xD

 

[Japut3h]

*bump*

Gawd damn 15 char limit...

 

[Rakdos Defiler]

uh yeah... sounds good, but as for going to the highest bidder... whos bidding? lol I was thinking it be a good idea for like 2 ppl to play the forces of the mercenary owners, so they actually bid on heroes with their starting gold, but at the same time make it equal amount of heroes for each side and would make it so they can't spend all their money on 1 hero then pay the last pick 1 gold.
Maybe they could be there only in a certain mode. The mercenary leaders are the ones who pay for the forces being sent, maybe pay for differet merchants to come to their base(npc merchants of course) and also had their own hero, but it has to stay at the base giving "orders" so to speak while the mercenaries you hired and your units go out and fight.

 

[Japut3h]

Hmm that could be done.....

Although i was thinking of lets say,6 taverns,2 of each.

Tavern of Mind
Tavern of Agility
Tavern of Force

Strenght,Intelligence and Agility Heroes would be arranged in those taverns.

My original idea was,that every Hero is a solitary mercenary.You have 45 seconds to pick a hero.The starting Hero price is,lets say,200 gold.When you pick a Hero,the message will appear "Player 1 has bid 200g on Arcanist"

If someone else clicks on the Hero,players will get a message "Player 2 has outbid Player 1 on Arcanist with 250g"...and so on,and so on,untill the timer expires.Whoever has the largest bid when the timer expires,he will get the Hero's alliance.

 

[WeZurii]

Just a quick question , when you releasing these ?

 

[Japut3h]

Sadly,the project is still in its early stage.I want it done properly,so im constantly replacing Hero spells with more suitable ones.Ive done 50% of the terrain,but it was pretty poor,considering that i want to make something good.So im reworking it now.Ive been looking for a skilled terrainer for a while now,but no one seems interested or free.

About 12 Heroes out of 50 are done now.

Out of boredom,and to fill those interested in on how spells will look,ill present some of the completed Heroes.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Assassin

-Vanish
Throws a smoke bomb on the ground,hiding the Assassin and emiting a smokescreen that will cause enemy units caught within it to miss on their attacks.Turns the Assassin invisible for x seconds.Smokescreen lasts x seconds.

-Binding Trap
Places a binding trap on the ground.If an enemy steps on it,the trap will activate,ensnaring him for x seconds.

-Create Decoy
Summons an indentical trap replica of the Assassin.If attacked,the trap will trigger,destroying the replica and damaging all units within 350 AoE for x damage.

-Heightened Senses(Ultimate)
The Assassin has an uncanny knack for escaping danger.Whenever his life drops below 30% he will gain a X% chance to evade enemy attacks.(Large Evasion,mostly due to the fact that it only triggers when the Hero is low on life.)

Lich
-Frostbite
Surrounds a target enemy unit with damaging frost,making it very vulnerable to enemy attacks.Deals X damage per second.If the target is attacked while under the effect of Frostbite,it will be stunned for 0.35 seconds.Lasts 5 seconds.

-Dark Ritual
Drains the life of a target enemy unit,converting it into mana for the Lich.

-Ice Block
Encases the Lich in a block of ice,turning him invulnerable,but disabling movement.Lasts x seconds.

Frost Nova(Ultimate)
Emits a wave of frost around the Hero's body,damaging and freezing enemy units within 700 AoE.

Demon Hunter

-Manaburn
Sends a bolt of negative energy,burning up to X of a target enemy unit's mana.The burned mana combusts,dealing an equal amount of damage to the target.

-Blink
Instant short-distance teleportation.

-Shadowform
Assumes a Shadowform,increasing the Demon Hunter's base life and giving him a ranged attack.

-Nether Storm(Ultimate)
Sends down a wave of negative energy that deals X damage to all enemy units within 450 AoE.The damage will be divided and dealt equally to the units caught within the Storm.

Crusader

-Release Seal(Normal ability,hero gains it the moment he is picked.)
Releases a stored seal upon a target enemy unit.Seal effects will vary depending on the stored seal type.Only one seal can be stored at a time.

-Seal of Fury
Fills the Hero with a holy spirit,increasing his base damage.Upon releasing,the Seal will stun the target for 2 seconds.

-Seal of The Crusader
Fills the Hero with a spirit of the crusader,increasing his movement speed.Upon release,the Seal will slow the target for 5 seconds.

-Seal of Salvation
Fills the Hero with a soothing spirit,increasing his life and mana regeneration rates.Upon release,the Seal will reduce the target's damage for 7 seconds.

-Fist of Heavens(Ultimate)
Summons a bolt of lightning from the sky,dealing damage to a target enemy unit.Has a range of 3500.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[WeZurii]

Thanks

Thanks for the Update man i appreciat it , i will keep a eye out on this forums for new updates!

 

[Japut3h]

I will make new updates once every new 8 - 10 heroes are created,and ill describe about 4 - 5 of them every time i update,just for examples of what people should expect,and in hope that someone will feedback and give spell suggestions...

So far,2 new heroes are done.
1 Hero added.(Update)

Dread Knight


-Bone Spirit
Sends out an unholy spirit that will charge forward,damaging enemy units in a line.

-Revive
Raises a random corpse in an area to serve the Dread Knight.Cooldown decreases and duration increases with levels.

-Curse of Terror
Inspires terror and void into the heart of an enemy,giving it a chance to miss on an attack.

-Second Breath(Ultimate)
The unholy forces protect the Dread Knight from death itself.Gives a % chance to revive upon dying.


Shadow Mage


-Shadowraze
Instanly blasts enemy units within 200 AoE with dark energy,consuming X% of their max life.

-Mind Flay
Exposes a target enemy unit's mind to the Shadow Mage,allowing him to drain magical energies out of it.Drains X mana per second and greatly slows the target as long as the channeling is uninterrupted.

-Summon Void Walker
Summons a Void Walker to serve the Shadow Mage.Lasts X seconds.

-Soul Rip(Ultimate)
Rips away a piece of a target enemy unit's soul,creating a dark replica out of it.The replica will deal a percentage of damage equal to the amount of the extracted soul.Lasts 45 seconds.

(Consumes X% max life and mana,and creates a shadowy creature that deals X% of the target's base damage)

Pyromancer


-Meltdown
Causes a target enemy unit to burst in flames,dealing damage and reducing its base armor.Enemy units near the primary target will take minor damage and have their armor reduced as well.

-Molten Armor
Creates a shield of fire around a target enemy unit,increasing armor and dealing X damage to attackers.Lasts 20 seconds.

-Warmth
Passively increases mana regeneration of all nearby allied units.

-Flame Dance(Ultimate)
Creates multiple rings of fire that will circle around the Pyromancer,scorching enemy units for X damage per second.Lasts X seconds.

 

[Japut3h]

Heroes updated.

 

[Japut3h]

Allright,most of the Heroes are done,enough for the Beta version at least.I am working on the terrain now,which means i will be able to provide some screens soon enough.

BTW if there are skilled terrainers out there,i could use the help.

 

[Lord_of_sausage]

I once had an idea for a RPG/AoS, maybe you could use it?

-Bosses are scattered around the map, if a hero kills him, his clan/race will fight for the mercenarys team.
example:
In a forest, the Gnoll Overseer is roaming, kill him, and every 60 seconds a gnoll warrior will spawn for your team!
now, another boss is placed at the old boss point, this guy, is like the first boss, but is owned by the team who killed it, if the other team kills him, he will not anylonger spawn for the first team, but the new one!
also, his base will be controlled by the team.

Hope you get it

 

[Japut3h]

Nice idea,thank you for sharing it...

I will probably implement it,or at least something very similiar...when im done with the terrains

 

[Japut3h]

Added some screenshots.

1)A goblin encampment that i am currently working on.An another merchant that sells equipment will be added.Also more items will be added to the 1st goblin.

2)Just a screenshot of a Hero channeling a spell.

3)A screen of a Hero creeping.

4)Same.

Much more will be added later.

 

[Anachron]

Umm the naga is like in ...^^ lol I would like to change it a bit.

 

[Japut3h]

Hmmz?

I dont know what you are thinking about.

Please be more specific.

 

[Anachron]

Ever played Defense of the Ancients? oÔ ^^

 

[Japut3h]

Ah

The icons may seem the same but the spells are different.

It has nothing to do with DoTA

Actually ive spent hours removing coincidental similarities to DoTA just to achieve some originality ^^

 

[Anachron]

Oh ok thats good

 

[Rakdos Defiler]

Lookin good, friend! Lots of imports lol, but good thing their mainly icons and efx, haha everything on the screenshots look good but looks a little barren on minimap =P but who cares it's a WIP!?

 

[Japut3h]

Thanks for the support

Yeah,im trying to reduce the imports as much as possible,i would love to use the UTM for this,but i dont want the map to load too long so im only using imported icons,and one model(Voidwalker).

Yeah,the minimap is way too barren but im almost done with the bottom half of the terrain now...

I will update this thread often.As soon as i finish the terrain i will do more heroes(15 out of 50 are done),systems and items.

I apologize to all the storywriters in my team for waiting so long,but i have a lot of things to do first,so ill send pms as promised as soon as i finish the terrains.

 

[Rakdos Defiler]

just export stuff you want from utm and check paths.

 

[Japut3h]

By the way;im looking for a different name for this project.

Mercenary Wars doesnt seem catchy enough,if anyone has an idea for the map name,please let me know.

 

[Rakdos Defiler]

Death for Hire
Heads for Money
Warriors of the Coin

also just edit previous post haha thought ya knew

 

[Japut3h]

Fuck.

I didnt even see there were two posts,one after another.

Well thanks for the ideas anyway ^^

I might just use them

BTW the ideas dont necessarily have to be related to mercenaries...

For example,Clash of Heroes,(only itd be nice if it had originality,Clash of Heroes is a cliche name.)

 

[Rakdos Defiler]

i know but i love the mercenary aspect lol
if i knew how i'd love to become one myself some day, obviously continue to play WC3 at same time ^.^

 

[Anachron]

Maybe add an system that allows you to upgrade attribute with fighting etc? xD

 

[Japut3h]

How?

You mean,like 0.1 agility bonus per kill?

 

[Anachron]

For example. I really like those fight bonusses.

 

[Japut3h]

I might just add those.Ill think about it more when im done with the terrain.

 

[Anachron]

Cool I really would like to help terraining is so many fun

 

[Rakdos Defiler]

I'll be mascott ^.^

 

[Japut3h]

Cool I really would like to help terraining is so many fun

Well,the terrains are halfway done,so i dont think ill need a terrainer,even though ive seen your terrains and they ae quite good.

However,you can still apply,there is a link on my sig.

 

[Japut3h]

Sprees added.

-Killing Spree-

-Dominating-

-Rampage-

-Monster Kill-

-Unstoppable-

-Godlike-

-The Master-

Heres a sound example of the sprees(Not like DoTA!!!)

 

[Anachron]

Well,the terrains are halfway done,so i dont think ill need a terrainer,even though ive seen your terrains and they ae quite good.

Cool thanks, I really like terraining, look at the signature link I posted also there.

 

[Zack1996]

OMG! The godlike sound is so mad! I recommend something, well, more decent, cos that sounds like someone singing when the person doesnt kno wats singing.....
Anyway, map seems nice, i could help with ideas but i bet my spell making isnt as good as yours.....
BTW, just some alternative names for your map
The Final Clash
Destiny of All
Clash of Destinies
The War at the Dusk of Time (TWatDoT)
The War of Fate
Hire and Destroy
War of War End (i like this )

 

[Zack1996]

And a hero idea
The 13th Messenger: Helliax

Look of Death: Passive
The look of Death himself creates fear in the oppenent, decreases armour by a small amount and causes all units facing the direction of the messenger a small chance to miss on an attack.

Hand of Death: Active
The 13th Messenger was granted the power of Death's Grasp, when cast, disables the attack and movement of a unit for a short duration. The target will also lose a small amount of its hp which will then be transferred to the messenger. Learns Soul Crystal.
Soul Crystal: Subskill, passive
A powerful crystal used to collect the souls of Death's victims, the soul crytal gathers soul with each casting of Hand of Death. Gathers more souls per leveling of Hand of Death. Maximum of 100 souls.

Deathly Touch: Passive
Gives a percent chance to kill a lesser unit (creep) instantly on an attack and cause a soul explosion, dealing damage to enemy units in an area and and healing allied units in an area.

Final Warning: Active, Ultimate
Marks a point for Death's appearance, catastrophes will appear at the point, the worst the catastrophe, the nearer Death draws, when Death appears, he will replace the messenger. Death will have the same spells, stats and items as the messenger, but will receive one additional spell depending on the number of souls. The duration Death stays increases per level.
0-25 souls: Aura of Decay, passively deals minor damage to nearby enemy units.
26-50 souls: Reign of Terror, when cast on a specific aoe, creates a place where Terror Reigns, makes Death Stronger, attack and move faster.
51-75 souls: Unholy Blade, when cast on a unit, slashes it with deadly strength, crippling it and dealing massive damage. Melee cast range.
76-99 souls: Hellfire, makes an area alight with hellfire, meant for tormenting souls, deals moderate damage per second to a large area, also makes Death strike with extra force, increasing damage.
100 souls: Eternal Catastrophe
Causes all hell to break loose, summoning spirits and causing pillars of fire to "erupt" from the surrounding, makes all units within Death's presence to decay and makes Death's hero kill during the duration increase his stats temporarily.
Upon returning to the messenger, all souls disappear.

This hero is made for fun, so its okay if you don't like it

 

[Rakdos Defiler]

TWatDoT lets use that -.-
Let me build onto that what I think is good
The Battle at Dawn
Market Opens at Dawn (mercenary market)
Pillaging Never Ends (random haha)

 

[Japut3h]

The Hero seems nice.I might use it,after im done with the current hero tweaking.Thanks for the suggestion.

Some of the map name ideas you guys gave me caught my eye,i will probably use those,thanks again for your suggestions.

As for the sprees,its kinda hard to find any decent sprees around.Actually there are two spree types i found after searching for 48 hours,and those were the DoTA ones,and these.

 

[Rakdos Defiler]

I wish I could record my voice, it isn't that great when just making little sounds like that but atleast it'd be original lol. Have headset/mic thing but no recording program.

 

[Japut3h]

You get a sound recording program with Windows.

By the way,i don't think id need any custom voices,the map isn't really focused on sprees,and its too troublesome to go through all that...

The only thing important about sprees is that they differ from DoTA.I really want to avoid noobs saying "OmG LoLz Th1s 1s a RiPoFF of DOTA!!1111"

 

[Rakdos Defiler]

I know... main reason I said I'd make it for you because I fucking hate Dota and would help get it far away from Dota as possible.

 

[Zack1996]

hmm.... i have this map where there are spree sounds, but i'm not sure if the map is protected... it is quite nice, i think there is a spree sound "ludicrous kill" or something like that.

 

[Japut3h]

Yeah i know,i got those on my PC.Basically the same voice like in dota,only with 3-4 additional sprees.I could make something out of it,but maybe later,when im done with the other stuff.Although its not a bad idea to recombine those.Ill give it some thought.