Some of you may have already seen bits of 'Shortlegs' - a few years back I shared a first demo, as proof of concept.
Since then, have continued tinkering with it quite profoundly, and with the opportunity of this new project feature, I want to share with you what is basically a complete reboot of the project, with considerably more models, sub-factions, reworked and more complex mechanics. It is a modern(ish)-warfare reskinned Melee, so you'll be familiar with the basic gameplay from vanilla warcraft, but it comes with lots of extra features.
'Shortlegs - Eastern Hemisphere' is released as a singular map including all assets and gameplay features.
The complete Eastern Hemisphere map with all units, triggers and biomes. Additional maps may be tinier sections of this one, for shorter melee games, or proper "Zoom Ins".
In the future, one of my bigger ambitions is to create a full single-player campaign on this foundation. The first fully playable test version is available here, as an attachment.
Status
Playable (with all features and assets), feedback appreciated especially regarding balancing, possible bug- and crash reports and gameplay suggestions. Among the Triggers, there is still a "Test" folder for things like changing camouflage and subfaction (nation) at will, and you will find lots of disabled triggers that show previous steps in development.
MAP IS IN THE ATTACHMENTS BELOW!!! since apparently I can't put the map in downloads unless it's already officially posted to the 'Resources' section! (I could theoretically post it there but I would very much prefer to reserve that for the final polished version post-feedback.)
Lore
Shortlegs is set on a fictional world that has gone through massive and cataclysmic changes over the last few centuries, with its reborn nations now struggeling to cobble together a new era with whatever they can grab. What have once been tribal people and backwater kingdoms now have to learn how to fly planes and drive battle tanks, trading outposts will create ruthless empires, and the maps of entire continents are waiting to be redrawn. Across mountains and oceans, through icy tundras and steamy rainforests, territories must be explored, cities need to be rebuild, outrageous mutants and primordial beasts cleared out of cabbage patches, natural disasters survived, invaders pushed back - or unruly locals persuaded to, let's say, broaden their horizons.
There is so far to go, and your legs are so short.
Some of the new Mechanics you may encounter:
Cities, grown and rebuilt
The provinces that make up your realms feature cities that are waiting for you to bring out their full potential, many having fallen to ruin and neglect. While the city centers provide treasure and industrial zones give you crucial building materials, empty terrain slots in your city can be upgraded to bonus structures such as hospitals, markets, or residential districts that keep taxes flowing to the city center and thus preventing city collapse. The bigger your city becomes, the greater value your province will have. You get to designate one province as your Capital, for an extra bonus of 5 province points.
(Tip: During playtests, you can enter "score" to see how far along you are in points; you will need over half as many points as there are provinces on the map in total.)
Victory will not just depend on defeating your enemies - what is crucial is the extend of your realm. More provinces under your control get you more points, and more prosperous provinces get you more points a piece. A local hospital sponsored at the right time can mean the difference between victory and defeat.
Flowers of Resistance
Annexing new provinces comes at a price - local resistance. If you think you can just march your army across the map flipping flag after flag to your colors, think again. Or rather, you CAN, but the longer a place has been under the control of another nation or neutral city-state, the more likely it is for native militias to spawn at the flag pole and reclaim their land, possibly at the most inconvenient time for you. Be ready to pacify, or win the favour of the locals by demonstrating the merits of your patronage through local construction projects. Or straight-up pay them to enjoy your presence. Conversely, a province lost to you might not be gone for long, as the local militias might very well pick up arms against the new rulers, just to fly your colors again, maybe for sentimental reasons.
Experience not optional
It's not just your "heroes", your troops will have their own experience system as well. Veteran troops will be marked with star symbols, gaining HP and a higher chance to dodge attacks. Let's not look too closely at the things your troops will need to experience for that experience, right now.
Into the Wilds
At your faction's armory, you get to choose a camouflage pattern tailored to a specific set of biomes. Your armor bonus will depend on what kind of terrain you are operating on.
Snow camo might be a handicap in the equatorial jungles, but in the icy north or south, it might make the difference between safe travels or freezing to death. Choosewildly wisely!
Roads and other asphalt areas are the domain of the urban default armor, and give every unit a speed bonus; your workers can build new sections of road, or demolish old ones.
It's the Logistics, silly
Your guys and gals don't come with infinite ammo. Make sure your troops are well-supplied - and your war machines fueled - with mana, or you will see planes falling out of the sky, and infantry platoons forced to improvise cannibalising their own HP.
National Character (or lack thereof)
Every faction comes with 3 alternate skins for subfactions. The general faction you choose when you start the game - Citadel, Fort or Dungeon - determines your tech tree, but your national culture determines the appearance of your army and unlocks subfaction-exclusive bonuses. NOTE: Especially in regards for balancing, this is one area in which feedback would be welcome - so far the actual differences between the subfactions are almost exclusively aesthetic, very little in terms of actual mechanics. That's one thing I want to change for the final version. Any ideas what I could implement here without creating major imbalances would be highly appreciated.
Across the Seas
Seize control of a port, and your faction will have access to a Flagship, an admiral-type hero what serves as a powerful artillery platform. Every Flagship comes with a fleet of smaller vessels under its command, which can be upgraded at the port to become frigates, battelships or even submarines.
The Flagship's range is limited to deepwater navigation, but those canons shoot far, and resourceful admirals will find that many major city centers are located near coastlines and navigable rivers...
????
????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Since then, have continued tinkering with it quite profoundly, and with the opportunity of this new project feature, I want to share with you what is basically a complete reboot of the project, with considerably more models, sub-factions, reworked and more complex mechanics. It is a modern(ish)-warfare reskinned Melee, so you'll be familiar with the basic gameplay from vanilla warcraft, but it comes with lots of extra features.
'Shortlegs - Eastern Hemisphere' is released as a singular map including all assets and gameplay features.
The complete Eastern Hemisphere map with all units, triggers and biomes. Additional maps may be tinier sections of this one, for shorter melee games, or proper "Zoom Ins".
In the future, one of my bigger ambitions is to create a full single-player campaign on this foundation. The first fully playable test version is available here, as an attachment.
Status
Playable (with all features and assets), feedback appreciated especially regarding balancing, possible bug- and crash reports and gameplay suggestions. Among the Triggers, there is still a "Test" folder for things like changing camouflage and subfaction (nation) at will, and you will find lots of disabled triggers that show previous steps in development.
MAP IS IN THE ATTACHMENTS BELOW!!! since apparently I can't put the map in downloads unless it's already officially posted to the 'Resources' section! (I could theoretically post it there but I would very much prefer to reserve that for the final polished version post-feedback.)
Lore
Shortlegs is set on a fictional world that has gone through massive and cataclysmic changes over the last few centuries, with its reborn nations now struggeling to cobble together a new era with whatever they can grab. What have once been tribal people and backwater kingdoms now have to learn how to fly planes and drive battle tanks, trading outposts will create ruthless empires, and the maps of entire continents are waiting to be redrawn. Across mountains and oceans, through icy tundras and steamy rainforests, territories must be explored, cities need to be rebuild, outrageous mutants and primordial beasts cleared out of cabbage patches, natural disasters survived, invaders pushed back - or unruly locals persuaded to, let's say, broaden their horizons.
There is so far to go, and your legs are so short.
Some of the new Mechanics you may encounter:
Cities, grown and rebuilt
The provinces that make up your realms feature cities that are waiting for you to bring out their full potential, many having fallen to ruin and neglect. While the city centers provide treasure and industrial zones give you crucial building materials, empty terrain slots in your city can be upgraded to bonus structures such as hospitals, markets, or residential districts that keep taxes flowing to the city center and thus preventing city collapse. The bigger your city becomes, the greater value your province will have. You get to designate one province as your Capital, for an extra bonus of 5 province points.
(Tip: During playtests, you can enter "score" to see how far along you are in points; you will need over half as many points as there are provinces on the map in total.)
Victory will not just depend on defeating your enemies - what is crucial is the extend of your realm. More provinces under your control get you more points, and more prosperous provinces get you more points a piece. A local hospital sponsored at the right time can mean the difference between victory and defeat.
Flowers of Resistance
Annexing new provinces comes at a price - local resistance. If you think you can just march your army across the map flipping flag after flag to your colors, think again. Or rather, you CAN, but the longer a place has been under the control of another nation or neutral city-state, the more likely it is for native militias to spawn at the flag pole and reclaim their land, possibly at the most inconvenient time for you. Be ready to pacify, or win the favour of the locals by demonstrating the merits of your patronage through local construction projects. Or straight-up pay them to enjoy your presence. Conversely, a province lost to you might not be gone for long, as the local militias might very well pick up arms against the new rulers, just to fly your colors again, maybe for sentimental reasons.
Experience not optional
It's not just your "heroes", your troops will have their own experience system as well. Veteran troops will be marked with star symbols, gaining HP and a higher chance to dodge attacks. Let's not look too closely at the things your troops will need to experience for that experience, right now.
Into the Wilds
At your faction's armory, you get to choose a camouflage pattern tailored to a specific set of biomes. Your armor bonus will depend on what kind of terrain you are operating on.
Snow camo might be a handicap in the equatorial jungles, but in the icy north or south, it might make the difference between safe travels or freezing to death. Choose
Roads and other asphalt areas are the domain of the urban default armor, and give every unit a speed bonus; your workers can build new sections of road, or demolish old ones.
It's the Logistics, silly
Your guys and gals don't come with infinite ammo. Make sure your troops are well-supplied - and your war machines fueled - with mana, or you will see planes falling out of the sky, and infantry platoons forced to improvise cannibalising their own HP.
National Character (or lack thereof)
Every faction comes with 3 alternate skins for subfactions. The general faction you choose when you start the game - Citadel, Fort or Dungeon - determines your tech tree, but your national culture determines the appearance of your army and unlocks subfaction-exclusive bonuses. NOTE: Especially in regards for balancing, this is one area in which feedback would be welcome - so far the actual differences between the subfactions are almost exclusively aesthetic, very little in terms of actual mechanics. That's one thing I want to change for the final version. Any ideas what I could implement here without creating major imbalances would be highly appreciated.
Across the Seas
Seize control of a port, and your faction will have access to a Flagship, an admiral-type hero what serves as a powerful artillery platform. Every Flagship comes with a fleet of smaller vessels under its command, which can be upgraded at the port to become frigates, battelships or even submarines.
The Flagship's range is limited to deepwater navigation, but those canons shoot far, and resourceful admirals will find that many major city centers are located near coastlines and navigable rivers...
????
????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
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