Behold:
Working title - 'Short Legs'.
Inspired by 'Advance Wars'.
-
Even though it's been a year, 'Bugface' is still very much a thing.
Bugface was originally supposed to be a short project as I work on a bigger project.
This? this is an even "shorter" project as I work on Bugface
.
Seriously though, this is something I actually hope to finish in less than a few months, something simple, compact, but fun.
To do this, I will replace the original units of the factions so that the basic AI can still play with them- though I hope to make something like 12+ nations through customization options.
Then it's a basic campaign and a few melee/multiplayer capable maps.
SO.
Here it is.
I finally got 3 playable maps for you now.
Now when I say "Advance Wars", I mean a general art style and aesthetic, also to be found in things like 'Battalion Wars' and that tabletop game 'Rivet Wars'. Mechanics-wise, it maps almost completely onto the Warcraft 3 base, so you need no new AI to run this even against computer players.
Some development stuff can be found here.
All 3 main factions are playable, there is also a bonus faction that can be played but isn't really developped.
Each faction is supposed to come with at least 3 alternate "cultures" (randomly generated at the beginning of each game), though so far I only got that working for the first faction.
I'd say just set your race to "random" and let yourself be surprised!
I originally planned to just let you go in more or less blind to discover the various features for yourself, but it's probably best if I introduce at least SOME things that are different from regular Warcraft 3.
Resources
Trees don't do anything- you need "Industrial Production" that is found near Industrial Zones.
Production destructibles regenerate in regular intervals as long as the industries are intact.
Wealth does not come from Goldmines, but Cities, but it's otherwise the same principle. Except...
City Districts
Each City allows you to buy "Districts" - neutral structures that will spawn on empty "City Tiles".
You can thus upgrade your base with hospitals, more industries, and taxpayers that will make your city live longer.
Naval Units
Each standard faction has one hero unit that spawns as a battleship. It can obviously only move on water, but each map has enough naval passages to make this a useful feature.
To summon a battleship hero, you need to first explore the map's coastlines for a "Port" structure, which is usually neutral hostile (or already taken by another player) and must first be conquered so you can use it. Use too much artillery, and the port is just destroyed. This of course can also be a valid option if you just want to deny this feature to your enemies.
With that being said
Please give it a try and tell me what you think!
I tested this literally hundreds of times, but there is always the possibility that you find a glitch (though there might be things that LOOK like glitches to you and are really work-arounds that were simply the closest way I found to get this to do what I want).
Even if you find everything running smoothly, there might be features and tech tree decisions that don't really do it for you.
Either way, if you find anything to say, please feel free to share!
Where it goes from here
Depending on what feedback I get, I will continue working on the mod and ideally make a whole campaign.
It took me from Febuary to September this year to get this far, however, working on this basically non-stop, and now I need to take care of ~ my family and my day job ~ again. So let's see what can be done here.
So one of the core aspects of my altered melee project 'Shortlegs' (hope to make a new thread soon for the reboot, got map ready in principle but still tinkering before proposing it for playtesting) is that players interact with neutral structures in a bigger way.
Goldmines are replaced with neutral cities that can be expanded with "Districts". The cities and districts remain nominally neutral passive, but you get their advantages by building your military base close to them (hospitals that heal, markets that sell items, Garrisons where you can recruit militias, etc.).
View attachment 555227
Also at the center of the game are flagpoles, which symbolize control over the province. They are neutral hostile by default, but if you control the area, they flip allegiance to you and fly your color.
Flagpoles give extra supply, restore mana, have support auras, allow you to buy extra units. They upgrade as you increase the value of the province by expanding cities.
Also there is the teeny tiny detail that in the default game mode, you win the game by controlling more than 1/4th of all provinces (still workshopping that condition).
The way you expand the civilian cities is by "buying" expansions at the city (goldmine) and the new district (sold unit) takes up a free slot in the area of the province. Each city has place for 5 districts, though there are also bigger and smaller ones.
Again, the structures are neutral passive, but you gotta 1) pay for their construction and 2) protect them with your military if you don't want your enemies to use them. Flipside is that if you conquer a city, you get the spoils of all the investments your defeated foe has made. In the same spirit, you can flip flagpoles and gain or lose all the advantages that come with flying your color.
All that as background for my question:
How much would you pay, as a player, to optimize your cities? Theoretically, you could speedrun the whole thing by just conquering as many flags as possible and don't give a second thought.
You have incentive to guard the flags so the other players don't grab them right back behind your back, plus there is a "resistance" mechanic where rebels (for the last faction that held the flag) will spawn in recently conquered provinces. But even with that in mind, what would the pleasure/benefit of fully developped cities be worth to you in game resources.
A quick overlook:
So far, all Districts cost a default cost of 250 gold and 250 lumber. Consider that all other costs are like in a standard melee game.
Residential District - Upgrades Flagpole (more supply, more abilities); periodically regenerates gold to city so it doesn't collapse, decreases likelihood of rebellion
Market District - Marketplace for items
Hospital - HP regeneration aura, decreases likelihood of rebellion
Industrial District - Continuously regenerates "lumber" that can be harvested
Glacis - Garrison where you can buy extra military units
Business District - regenerates gold to city so it doesn't collapse, trade gold for lumber and vice versa (pending)
Public Park - positive buffs, decreases likelihood of rebellion (pending)
Metropolis District - combined effects of Residential, Commercial and Business (pending)
What would it be reasonable to charge players, for that?
Personally I just find it a very fun thing to do, but as my map moves from construction and worldbuilding to getting it ready for players, I need to figure out the hard gameplay value.
Working title - 'Short Legs'.
Inspired by 'Advance Wars'.
-
Even though it's been a year, 'Bugface' is still very much a thing.
Bugface was originally supposed to be a short project as I work on a bigger project.
This? this is an even "shorter" project as I work on Bugface
.Seriously though, this is something I actually hope to finish in less than a few months, something simple, compact, but fun.
To do this, I will replace the original units of the factions so that the basic AI can still play with them- though I hope to make something like 12+ nations through customization options.
Then it's a basic campaign and a few melee/multiplayer capable maps.
SO.
Here it is.
I finally got 3 playable maps for you now.
Now when I say "Advance Wars", I mean a general art style and aesthetic, also to be found in things like 'Battalion Wars' and that tabletop game 'Rivet Wars'. Mechanics-wise, it maps almost completely onto the Warcraft 3 base, so you need no new AI to run this even against computer players.
Some development stuff can be found here.
All 3 main factions are playable, there is also a bonus faction that can be played but isn't really developped.
Each faction is supposed to come with at least 3 alternate "cultures" (randomly generated at the beginning of each game), though so far I only got that working for the first faction.
I'd say just set your race to "random" and let yourself be surprised!
I originally planned to just let you go in more or less blind to discover the various features for yourself, but it's probably best if I introduce at least SOME things that are different from regular Warcraft 3.
Resources
Trees don't do anything- you need "Industrial Production" that is found near Industrial Zones.
Production destructibles regenerate in regular intervals as long as the industries are intact.
Wealth does not come from Goldmines, but Cities, but it's otherwise the same principle. Except...
City Districts
Each City allows you to buy "Districts" - neutral structures that will spawn on empty "City Tiles".
You can thus upgrade your base with hospitals, more industries, and taxpayers that will make your city live longer.
Naval Units
Each standard faction has one hero unit that spawns as a battleship. It can obviously only move on water, but each map has enough naval passages to make this a useful feature.
To summon a battleship hero, you need to first explore the map's coastlines for a "Port" structure, which is usually neutral hostile (or already taken by another player) and must first be conquered so you can use it. Use too much artillery, and the port is just destroyed. This of course can also be a valid option if you just want to deny this feature to your enemies.
With that being said
Please give it a try and tell me what you think!
I tested this literally hundreds of times, but there is always the possibility that you find a glitch (though there might be things that LOOK like glitches to you and are really work-arounds that were simply the closest way I found to get this to do what I want).
Even if you find everything running smoothly, there might be features and tech tree decisions that don't really do it for you.
Either way, if you find anything to say, please feel free to share!
Where it goes from here
Depending on what feedback I get, I will continue working on the mod and ideally make a whole campaign.
It took me from Febuary to September this year to get this far, however, working on this basically non-stop, and now I need to take care of ~ my family and my day job ~ again. So let's see what can be done here.
So one of the core aspects of my altered melee project 'Shortlegs' (hope to make a new thread soon for the reboot, got map ready in principle but still tinkering before proposing it for playtesting) is that players interact with neutral structures in a bigger way.
Goldmines are replaced with neutral cities that can be expanded with "Districts". The cities and districts remain nominally neutral passive, but you get their advantages by building your military base close to them (hospitals that heal, markets that sell items, Garrisons where you can recruit militias, etc.).
View attachment 555227
Also at the center of the game are flagpoles, which symbolize control over the province. They are neutral hostile by default, but if you control the area, they flip allegiance to you and fly your color.
Flagpoles give extra supply, restore mana, have support auras, allow you to buy extra units. They upgrade as you increase the value of the province by expanding cities.
Also there is the teeny tiny detail that in the default game mode, you win the game by controlling more than 1/4th of all provinces (still workshopping that condition).
The way you expand the civilian cities is by "buying" expansions at the city (goldmine) and the new district (sold unit) takes up a free slot in the area of the province. Each city has place for 5 districts, though there are also bigger and smaller ones.
Again, the structures are neutral passive, but you gotta 1) pay for their construction and 2) protect them with your military if you don't want your enemies to use them. Flipside is that if you conquer a city, you get the spoils of all the investments your defeated foe has made. In the same spirit, you can flip flagpoles and gain or lose all the advantages that come with flying your color.
All that as background for my question:
How much would you pay, as a player, to optimize your cities? Theoretically, you could speedrun the whole thing by just conquering as many flags as possible and don't give a second thought.
You have incentive to guard the flags so the other players don't grab them right back behind your back, plus there is a "resistance" mechanic where rebels (for the last faction that held the flag) will spawn in recently conquered provinces. But even with that in mind, what would the pleasure/benefit of fully developped cities be worth to you in game resources.
A quick overlook:
So far, all Districts cost a default cost of 250 gold and 250 lumber. Consider that all other costs are like in a standard melee game.
Residential District - Upgrades Flagpole (more supply, more abilities); periodically regenerates gold to city so it doesn't collapse, decreases likelihood of rebellion
Market District - Marketplace for items
Hospital - HP regeneration aura, decreases likelihood of rebellion
Industrial District - Continuously regenerates "lumber" that can be harvested
Glacis - Garrison where you can buy extra military units
Business District - regenerates gold to city so it doesn't collapse, trade gold for lumber and vice versa (pending)
Public Park - positive buffs, decreases likelihood of rebellion (pending)
Metropolis District - combined effects of Residential, Commercial and Business (pending)
What would it be reasonable to charge players, for that?
Personally I just find it a very fun thing to do, but as my map moves from construction and worldbuilding to getting it ready for players, I need to figure out the hard gameplay value.
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