Need help with 1 mission short campaign

[Standhaft]

I've been working on a short 1 mission campaign just to do something simple/fun and practice/re-learn some mapmaking stuff as I'm interested in trying to make campaigns again when reforged comes out.

I'd love if I could get some help learning how to do some of the more complicated stuff and things I am just ignorant about such as making quests and cutscenes.

So far I think I've got the map itself done and the overall concepts. Map terrain is just an edited version of the TirisfalGlades melee map. The concept is for a low tier early campaign mission. Trying to keep it simple but palatable.

The essential premise is that a backwater village/island has become overrun with bandits and beasts. A Captain (the player) has been sent with soldiers to reinstate the rule of law. Due to storms, the Captain's ships are thrown off course and shipwrecked.

The main quest (1) Reach the village --> build your base --> destroy the bandits

Secondary essential quest (2) Defend the surviving villagers

Optional quests

(3) Destroy the gnolls (gnoll attacks against village cease)

(4) Destroy the trolls (troll attacks against village cease)

(5) Destroy murloc (there are no murloc attacks, but some kind of reward)

(6) Find other ship of soldiers (shiprecked, all dead, destroy undead to complete objective)

Currently, I need to learn how to implement quests, how to do the cutscenes (looking to do pretty basic stuff), and the ai for the factions.

I want the bandits, trolls, and gnolls to train units and attack the village. I also want the villagers to defend their base. Critically, I want the chaplain to return to the center of the village after combat/healing. I found that it is really easy to accidentally drag him out of the village because he will follow around friendly units to heal them and then just stop in the middle of nowhere.

Any and all help/comments are appreciated.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I'm not particularly great with AI, so I will leave that for people who are better at this than I am, but...

As for quests and cutscenes - is it fine if I just make a quick map to show you how it's done? Because it is kinda a lot of writing to explain everything.

 

[Warseeker]

There are plenty of tutorials here and on other Warcraft 3 sites that may help you with what you want, you should look for them. Here's a few examples :
Exploring Quests
Cinematics
Tutorial: Using the AI Editor

 

[MasterBlaster]

Yeah, on a second thought - it's best you just go read some guides, just like @Warseeker recommended and then just experiment a bit to get a grasp on things.

 

[Standhaft]

Cool, thanks. I will take a look.

I think I will try to implement it in this order. Cutscenes -> quests -> ai.

I think only 2 or 3 cutscenes are needed maximum.

(1) Mission Start

*Captain and survivors make landfall after their ship wrecks.*

Captain: Curse that blasted storm. But we've arrived, at least. Healer, report!

Priest: No losses from our squad, but everyone was hurt. I recommend we avoid any serious fights for now, sir.

Captain: Hopefully our other ship had better luck escaping the storm. We'll head for the village and plan our next move from there.

*end cutscene, player regains control*

(2) Interlude with Jacobstown refugees

*Player reaches the Jacobstown camp, triggers 2nd cutscene*

*Militia leads Captain to the village's leader, a chaplain*

Chaplain: I am Chaplain Gregory. I lead the surviving townsfolk in these dark times. Have you come to free Jacobstown?

Captain: Yes, I am Captain Mattheus. I have been sent by Baron Bryland to restore order to this isle by hunting down the bandits that have been sowing chaos here.

Chaplain: Bless you and your men for coming, Captain. We would not have held out much longer. Many lives were lost when the bandits first raided Jacobstown. And more than that, many beasts arrived recently as well. The isle is infested with trolls, gnolls, and murlocs.

Captain: Are we the first to arrive? We set sail from the main land with two ships, but we were caught in a powerful storm that separated us. Our ship was wrecked on the coast north of here and I do not know what happened to the other ship.

Chaplain: No, I am sorry Captain, but I don't know anything about any other soldiers. I pray they did not meet an ill fate.

Captain: Don't worry. They are trained soldiers, I am sure they will be fine.

Captain: Our first course of action must be to set up a base of operations.

Chaplain: There is a bandit outpost occupying a gold mine just west of here.

Captain: Thank you for the information. We will seek out this gold mine. Once our base is established, we will eradicate these outlaws.

Chaplain: Light bless you, Captain.

*end cutscene, player regains control*

That's more or less all I need from the cutscenes.