Ship Ahoy RPG Development Progress

[AbstractCreativity]

The 'Ship Ahoy! RPG' project has finally begun!

Concept:
A multiplayer RPG where the players sail the seven seas in search of gold, pleasure and treasures... "A pirate's life for me!"
Once the map begins, the players will choose from a selection of different pirate ships, which will be your 'character'. (Players can also switch ship type later on in the game.)

Story:
Haven't thought of that further than this: The players are a bunch of random pirates, who sails the ocean for treasure and remarkable experiences. The enemies will probably be things like... Fishies (and other water creatures), island natives, and the Imperial Navy. ("In the navy! You can sail the seven seas!...)
Friendly non-player creatures will be different pirate ports, black markets and travelling pirate ships.

Islands:
We can't have a sea without islands. But we can't have a bunch of islands that are EMPTY either! So players can send a part of their ship's crew to shores in order to interact with... Well, whatever they encounter on ground. Here, the pirates will trade, search for buried treasure, solve puzzles, fight epic battles, but most important - PLUNDER AND HOARD!

RPG Aspects:
If you were stuck with your starting boat, then this would just like every other multiplayer for WC3. And to prevent that, players will be given the ability to swap ships. This can be done in two different ways:
1. Trade: Buy a new ship. There will be several ports and shipyards where you can spend your gold on ships, anything from the Viking Longboat of the savage norsemen, to the Gnomish Submarine!
2. Hijack: Any ship you encounter at sea can be taken command of. Board the ship, capture the crew, and enjoy your new ship!
There are loads of ships to choose from, and every one of them will be distinct from the others, in some kind of way. Here's a list of ships planned:

-Frigate
-Battleship
-Cruiser
-Imperial Shuttle
-Interceptor
-Fireship
-Galleon
-Galley
-Pirate "Plunderer"
-Ghost Ship
-Haunted "Destroyer"
-Gnomish Steamboat
-Gnomish Submarine
-Viking Longboat / Drake Ship
-Orc Catapult Cruiser
-Orc Juggernaught
-Elven Arrow Boat
-Elven Volley Ship
-Elven Ballista Shuttle
Any ship name may be changed during the development process.

In addition, you will be able to obtain different parts for your ship, such as cannons, hulls, sails, etc...
Allowing players to capture towns and ports might also be added, but it's still under consideration.

Screenshots

Terrain

All areas will most likely be changed, as they are all in a sort of... Alpha phase.
More screenshots will be added later on, so stay tuned!

Starting Port / Island

Viking Village

Tiny Island

"Gold Rush" Island

Desert Isle

Tropical Island w/ Volcano

Jungle Island

"Madness" Isle

Another tiny island

Random Screenies

 

[Aesthetics]

Hey AbstractCreativity, could you describe the spell you wanted me to do again? And very detailed also please.

 

[AbstractCreativity]

The one for switching ships?
Okay, I'll send you a very detailed PM concerning the spell.
Soon enough.

 

[theHunt_errr]

My Terrain

This is my idea of a Pirate RPG terrain. I didnt add custom models yet bu this is what i got soo look at over and tell me if ya like it ^_^
Islands (most names are the regions but here they are): Great Apes Isle of Terror (bot left+Portal), Volcano(a volcano), Isle of the Cult(Dungeon/Cave), Treasure Cove(Dungeon/Cave), Yota Isle (portal), Hota Isle (Portal), Hokly (How to say: Hawk-ly) isle (Starter island), Port Renais (Friendly), Port Codo (Unfriendly) (portal)
# of Water falls: 2
# of Islands: 8 (so far)
# of Dungeons/ portals: 6

IDK what this is:
--------------------------------------------

 

[Blaxor]

We're currently terraining (hopefully some triggering if Aesthetics is working) If you want a more info you'll have to wait for AbstractCreativity since he has the latest map (i think)

 

[Aesthetics]

Greetings mortals, I have "Capture Ship" ready as AC wanted.

EDIT: Updated the spell to AC's request; now assuming it's completely stable. Map is now attached.

GUI

• Capture Ship
  • Events
    • Unit - A unit Starts the effect of an ability
  • Conditions
    • (Ability being cast) Equal to Capture Ship (Dummy)
    • ((Target unit of ability being cast) has buff Board Ship ) Equal to True
    • ((Owner of (Target unit of ability being cast)) Not equal to Player 1 (Red)) and ((Owner of (Target unit of ability being cast)) Not equal to Player 9 (Gray))
    • (((Owner of (Target unit of ability being cast)) controller) Not equal to User) and (((Owner of (Target unit of ability being cast)) slot status) Not equal to Is playing)
  • Actions
    • Set Capture_Ship_Chance = (Capture_Ship_Chance - ((Integer((Percentage life of (Target unit of ability being cast)))) + 10))
    • Set Capture_Ship = (Random integer number between 0 and 100)
    • If (All Conditions are True) then do (Then Actions) else do (Else Actions)
      • If - Conditions
        • Capture_Ship Less than or equal to Capture_Ship_Chance
      • Then - Actions
        • -------- Set the Item Variables --------
        • Set Player_Items[1] = (Item carried by (Casting unit) in slot 1)
        • Set Player_Items[2] = (Item carried by (Casting unit) in slot 2)
        • Set Player_Items[3] = (Item carried by (Casting unit) in slot 3)
        • Set Player_Items[4] = (Item carried by (Casting unit) in slot 4)
        • Set Player_Items[5] = (Item carried by (Casting unit) in slot 5)
        • Set Player_Items[6] = (Item carried by (Casting unit) in slot 6)
        • -------- - --------
        • Unit - Add Inventory (Hero) to (Target unit of ability being cast)
        • Player - Add Player_Ship_Worth[(Player number of (Owner of (Casting unit)))] to (Owner of (Casting unit)) Current gold
        • Unit - Change ownership of (Target unit of ability being cast) to (Owner of (Casting unit)) and Change color
        • Unit - Remove (Casting unit) from the game
        • -------- Give the Items --------
        • Hero - Give Player_Items[1] to (Target unit of ability being cast)
        • Hero - Give Player_Items[2] to (Target unit of ability being cast)
        • Hero - Give Player_Items[3] to (Target unit of ability being cast)
        • Hero - Give Player_Items[4] to (Target unit of ability being cast)
        • Hero - Give Player_Items[5] to (Target unit of ability being cast)
        • Hero - Give Player_Items[6] to (Target unit of ability being cast)
        • -------- Now for some Eyecandy... --------
        • Set Temp_Point = (Position of (Casting unit))
        • Special Effect - Create a special effect at Temp_Point using UI\Feedback\GoldCredit\GoldCredit.mdl
        • Special Effect - Destroy (Last created special effect)
        • Unit - Set life of (Target unit of ability being cast) to 100.00%
        • Unit - Set mana of (Target unit of ability being cast) to 100.00%
        • Game - Display to (All players) the text: Ship boarding succe...
        • Custom script: call RemoveLocation (udg_Temp_Point)
      • Else - Actions
        • Game - Display to (All players) the text: |cFFFF0000Ship boar...
        • Unit - Kill (Casting unit)

 

[theHunt_errr]

GJ on teh Spell Aestetics.
Idk if anyone else is active atm but i geuss we could make the other spell: Negotiator
ill make the basic spell if you want to make it more Professional =P

 

[Aesthetics]

GJ on teh Spell Aestetics.
Idk if anyone else is active atm but i geuss we could make the other spell: Negotiator

Describe negotiator and I'll get to work.

ill make the basic spell if you want to make it more Professional =P

What?

EDIT: I'm also going to try a pathetic attempt to write "Capture Ship" in vJass just for the hell of it.

EDIT #2: I tried writing "Capture Ship" in vJass, and failed miserably. I stopped at returning integers. The horror!

 

[AbstractCreativity]

Yep, like the evil clown D) said, you can find the screenshots here.
And remember: Most of the landscapes you see are subjects to change. Most of them are in a sort of alpha-phase shape.

 

[Aesthetics]

Yep, like the evil clown D) said, you can find the screenshots here.
And remember: Most of the landscapes you see are subjects to change. Most of them are in a sort of alpha-phase shape.

What the fudge? When I click on the link, it says: "Invalid Link"

{EDIT}
I hereby announce that my self assigned vacation starts today (been working on first solo project with a crap-load of work and structuring to do). School didn't pull me down as much as I expected, yet I've been spending more time discussing or making Wc3 Maps instead of enjoying them (I will still read my PMs and threads frequently but no work).

I'll see you all in a few days.

 

[AbstractCreativity]

What the fudge? When I click on the link, it says: "Invalid Link"

Hmm... Sounds strange. Anyways, you can click yourself into my Public Profile, and you'll find the album there.

I hereby announce that my self assigned vacation starts today (been working on first solo project with a crap-load of work and structuring to do). School didn't pull me down as much as I expected, yet I've been spending more time discussing or making Wc3 Maps instead of enjoying them (I will still read my PMs and threads frequently but no work).

I'll see you all in a few days.

Yep, see you in a couple of days. A break could do you some good I guess.

sounds like a great map, nice signature too

Hell yeah it'll be awesome, I tell you! If everything works out as planned, anyways. But there's still a lot to be done, so don't expect it to be out in public anytime soon. Stay tuned for more information, though

 

[Aesthetics]

Back from vacation; gonna work on the spell eventually (perhaps tomorrow).

 

[AbstractCreativity]

Nope. This ain't dead.

Blax and I are working on the terrain.
You just haven't noticed since it's gone quite a bit over PMs lately.
But I'll be popping out new screenshots before you know it. ^^

 

[Blaxor]

Any ideas when we can expect some screenshots? I know I've seen most of it all ready but it's allways fun to see what's been edited after I last saw it.

EDIT: 400th post :3

 

[Aesthetics]

So I decided to work on the spell; will update within a couple minutes...

EDIT: Got the spell; I require our map file to properly implement the spells. Please attach it to your next post, and don't make any changes until I finish planting the spell (unless you love re-doing your work) I will not do anything else before then.

 

[Vosty]

This looks nice!
I'm glad to see it be made. How will the ship fire? Straight on, or from the side like Trillium suggested?

 

[Blaxor]

Abstract when you need me to do some terraining (anytime is good) just tell me since I'll be working on my own private project I've been having on hold for god knows how long. Just write a pm, vm or in this thread (I'm checking it at least once each day)

 

[AbstractCreativity]

Okay guys I haven't checked in on this thread for a little while. I see it's 'bout time I did so...

@ Vosty: Currently, I have no idea how to make the ships fire sideways, although that would be awesome. We'll look into it.

@ Blaxor: Hehe I'll tell you when I'd like some terraining done from your part. Glad you asked, though, shows you're still interested

@ Aesthetics: I'll send you the map, if you'd like?

 

[Vosty]

You have no idea?
Same here. I wouldn't even be sure. Maybe like some projectile system or something?
Or maybe a unit that is moved to the location of the unit, facing 90 degrees off the unit (MoveUnitBJ is no gonna cut there. You'll need jass.)
Why don't you try asking a higher power? There are all sorts of wise/smart people here.

 

[Aesthetics]

@ Aesthetics: I'll send you the map, if you'd like?

Yes, I would like a copy of the map. Also, I stated in an earlier post that the map should be edited one at a time as not to repeat work.

So, everyone would stop working for a while, I would paste the triggers and stuff in, make a couple small edits, then send you all the map.

P.S. RPGs take dedication, you should be more active.

 

[AbstractCreativity]

RPGs take dedication, you should be more active.

Yeah, I know... It's just I'm getting a lot of work at school and stuff, so I haven't had much time lately.
But that will be picked up

 

[Blaxor]

For the ship fighting we should make so it shoots from the sides, it wouldn't be that hard.. just make a dummy ability, trigger the spell where you do something like

Event - Unit starts effect of an ability
Condition - Ability Being cast equals to Shoot
Actions - TempLoc[1] = position of triggering unit
-TempLoc[2] = Temploc[1] with offset of 250 towards (facing of triggering unit degrees + 90)
etc.etc.

it wouldn't be that hard, even I could do it but I don't have my own comp (it's away for repairs) and would need to use the family laptop (that everyone besides me is regulary using) if I'm going to be on the WE. So if I would do it could take some more time than usually (even terraining can take more time than usually) depending on how much access I have with the family laptop.

 

[Handycombinder]

I can't see the screenshots

BTW, what should a player do after he's been hijacked?

 

[AbstractCreativity]

I can't see the screenshots

BTW, what should a player do after he's been hijacked?

Can't see the scrshots? Now that's weird.
Try to wait a little while. It could use some time to load, I guess.
If that's not the issue, you could go to my profile, and click yourself into the 'Ship Ahoy! Screenshots' album. All the screenshots are there.

And Blax, you'll be happy to know that more screenshots are coming in shortly.
I'll send you the map when I upload the next screenshots, Aesthetics. Just want to finish off making what I'm working on right now before I send it away, k?

 

[Vosty]

MY screens aren't working either, to tell the truth.
What album. I see nothing of Ship Ahoy.

 

[Blaxor]

http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/members/167459-albums2235.html there you can find the screenshots that are uploaded

 

[Handycombinder]

"Invalid Album specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator" it says

 

[Vosty]

Same as Handcombinder.

 

[AbstractCreativity]

Hmm that's strange. :0
It is open to public and everything, not a 'private album'. 100% Sure about that.

Anyways new screenshots'll come along pretty soon now, for you who can see them :O

 

[Blaxor]

You could try attaching them to the first post? it might work even though it wouldn't be as pretty

{EDIT}
This might be a stupid question but I havn't thought about it earlier and well I don't think it has come up yet but will you be able to choose diffrent race captains (heros)? If this is the case we should make it so that diffrent races have diffrent bonuses.
Examples:

Humans gets better steel to create durable weapons.

Orcs gets better physical strenght so they'll be stronger and more enduring in hand to hand combat.

Gnomes gets cannons with better accuracy, better shaped projectiles for some armor penetration (on ships) etc. because of their enginuity

Goblins gets stronger explosions (meaning longer range cannons, explosive projectiles, weaker cannon barrels that is a consequence of the strong explosions etc.) because of their addiction to different explosives.

Elfs gets faster movement speed on land and has longer sight range than other on the open sea.

Undead gets ships that doesn't go down as easy as others and can cannibalize on dead units (doesn't matter if it's a dead enemy or friend) which will lead to increased health regen for a short time.

These are all rough ideas/examples

 

[AbstractCreativity]

Well, I've thought about that.
Sure, we can have some kind of different race stuff, if Aesthetics can implement it into the summoning spell.

:]

I'll post new screenshots right now :]

{EDIT}
I am working on it dumbass

Had to crop out some stuff and upload them to my album and stuff
... STUFF

EDIT: Arhrrrhrrhrhrhr me hearties! New screenies!
And by the way, I found out what had gone wrong with the screenshots, so you couldn't see them. My album was tagged 'Private Album - Only visible to contacts and moderators'. I wasn't aware of it, and I thought it was public. I apologize for the inconvenience, and now you can view the screenshots!

{EDIT}
I'm gonna make a pastebin so Aesthetics can go get the map to implement the spells now.

[he r gon get dat map nao]

 

[Aesthetics]

I'm gonna make a pastebin so Aesthetics can go get the map to implement the spells now.

[he r gon get dat map nao]

I'm carry a load of @#$% right now, over my head, which means I'm busy with school. Crap!

3 projects and one takes 3 weeks to finish... I won't be able to complete the spell(s) yet, so feel free to continue development.

 

[RED BARON]

Okay.
No problem.
I'm also following those priority settings... School first, THEN games & stuff... ^^

How is things going? Looks interesting at the moment, although I still feel the islands to clean for my taste. I would love to be able to dive into the forest on an island without having any idea whats in there. (That would also require a different cam angle though.)

Tell if you require some pirate music (as in pirate songs, not illegal stuff) or need some kind of art done for ye like a map preview or a model.

 

[Rui]

Please avoid unnecessary messages. Make sure you read the Map Development's guidelines if you haven't.

To those having problems with the album viewing, try going to AbstractCreativity's profile and manually accessing the albums from there.

~Thread cleaned

 

[Gyrosphinx]

I find this looking promising, tried to make one such map once, but it failed, I liked the name though, raftcraft. This looks rather good, I like the idea. And for the love of my heritage and ancient culture, please don't underestimate the longship, its in fact one of the most seaworthy vessels ever made my mankind!

 

[ikillforeyou]

I've always wanted to work on a ship map, count me in (if you want =o) =D

I'm a debugger, i have trigger/jass knowlege, i can model pretty well, and i can optimize models and textures.

 

[Peter Canvis]

The best pirate RPG around.

My suggestions :

1. Make some larger hills on the islands if possible.
2. Make enemies respawn.

Problems (May be just me)

1. In-game I don't see any skybox.
2. Sometimes I don't see the custom trees.

 

[AbstractCreativity]

Arrh me hearties!
Wow, lots of new comments since last time I checked in here.

@ Rui: Thanks for cleaning the thread up a bit. Yessir, we will attempt to avoid unnessescary messages from now on.
Yep, I've read the guidelines, but it's been a while, so I may consider refreshing my memory a bit.

@ Red Baron: Well, it's going pretty good, really. Haven't heard from Aesthetics for a while (but then, I haven't contacted him for a while either, hehe)...
I am (at the moment) not quite satisfied with certain islands (the jungle-like place, for instance), and I will be making thicker forests, and more detailed terrain. The terrain is in a sort of... Pre-alpha phase, and many of the areas you currently get to see in the Screenshots will see some (minor or major) changes. We're also trying not to have way too many doodads to make 100% sure we don't make stuff laggy, but when we've implemented the gameplay features after completing more of the terrain, and get to test the map, we will pick that thread up, and see how dense vegetation we can have before lagging the game too much.

Yes, we just might be interested in some pirate music, if you have any. Don't think it's that hard to obtain some by ourselves, though..?
About a map preview or models, any help would be greatly appreciated. If you really feel like helping out, I suppose we can take that over PMing? So we don't mess up the thread too much, or eventually spoil anything related to the map that we don't intend to let out just yet... Anyways, we can talk about that later. This post is getting pretty long, and I've still got a big bunch of letters to type in...

@ Gyrosphinx: Hehe, Raftcraft sounds like a clever name.
On your request, we will make sure the Longboat is incredibly overpowered, and can not be matched by any other ship (Duh, no, just kidding). All ships shall be balanced, and they all have their strengths and weaknesses.

@ ikillforeyou: We appreciate that you show as much interest as to ask for joining this ship's crew, and we shall take the matter into consideration. I'll ask Aesthetics if he wants any triggering help. And like I told Red Baron, we may be interested in some models (or eventually skins, now that I think about it), but we can talk about that later. You'll hear from us soon enough.

@ Peter Canvis: Please excuse me, but I am a bit confused by your post. In-game I don't seeany skybox. Sometimes I don't see custom trees. Uhm, we haven't released any map version yet? The only thing you've seen so far should be the screenshots?
Anyways, about your suggestions... OF COURSE we will have respawning enemies. I don't think we intend to have taller hills, but the terrain is still not finished.


Alright, that's all I've got to say for now. Everyone, remember to stay tuned! Blaxor is currently taking care of all the terraining while I'm using nearly all my spare time on school projects and tests and homework and blablabla... If anyone will be posting screenshots anytime soon, it will probably be him.

Anyways, we'll keep this thread up-to-date about the map progress as good as we can, so keep taking a look over here every once in a while!

-A.C. & Ship Ahoy crew

EDIT:

I'm still ALIVE!

Anyways, the terrain looks great. Still no time to work on anything Warcraft related right now, so bear with me.

No worries Aes

 

[RED BARON]

@ Red Baron: Well, it's going pretty good, really. Haven't heard from Aesthetics for a while (but then, I haven't contacted him for a while either, hehe)...
I am (at the moment) not quite satisfied with certain islands (the jungle-like place, for instance), and I will be making thicker forests, and more detailed terrain. The terrain is in a sort of... Pre-alpha phase, and many of the areas you currently get to see in the Screenshots will see some (minor or major) changes. We're also trying not to have way too many doodads to make 100% sure we don't make stuff laggy, but when we've implemented the gameplay features after completing more of the terrain, and get to test the map, we will pick that thread up, and see how dense vegetation we can have before lagging the game too much.

Sure Sure, just pm when you need something.. and I'll see what I can do.

Anyway yea you most likely can obtain the music your self.. What I was considering giving you I dunno if you can obtain though... But then again everything can be found on the Internet

Good luck with it - Looking forward to future updates

 

[Vosty]

Now that I can finally see the terrain, it is pretty nice, but not the most detailed thing I have ever seen.
The current theme almost makes the game seem cheery and fun. Leave it the way it is for that reason.

 

[Aesthetics]

I'm still ALIVE!

Anyways, the terrain looks great. Still no time to work on anything Warcraft related right now, so bear with me.

 

[Alfagar]

This looks like a fine project ye got there, arghhh...
The pics made good thoughts about this RPG, This will be definetly a great RPG

 

[Blaxor]

@Death_Minion_
Thanks for the kind word

@Everyone
This project is not dead! I'm currently working on the map (terraining) since AbstractCreativity has somewhat much to do in school. There is a long way to go before we are even near testing-stage but hopefully both AC and Aes gets some more time and can start working more Stay tuned for the next batch of screenshots!

 

[Gyrosphinx]

Longship: It is light and extremely seaworthy, but it only has light hulls and light armament, arrows mostly. It is (this is infact true) extremely hard to sink, even in bad weather conditions, and since its laying very low in the water line, its hard to hit with large weaponry. Advantages: Speed, Hard to hit, Seaworthy to the extreme. Disadvantages: Light hulls, Light Weaponry, Little cargo room, no crew compartments.

Matter of interest: This was tested by danish scientists in -15 degrees celsius (Thats pretty cold). The outfit that the vikings used when they were travelling by sea is infact warmer, dryer and stays so longer than the modern clothes used by the seafarers today! It was made in wool and goat hide cooked in oil to make it water proof.

And I'm really looking forward to this, it seems so awesome

 

[AbstractCreativity]

Hehe, you most obviously are interested. Which is nice. :]

Thanks for the...err.. Detailed description of the Longboat. I knew some of it before, although I never really thought about some of those things. For instance that it's harder to hit due to its low position. That's useful to know when we get to the statistics part. (Guess I'll make sure we give the Longboat an Evasion-like ability )

Anyways, like Blaxor said, Aes and I are rather busy for the time being, but it's nice to see you're making progress, Blax

 

[Peter Canvis]

OK I re-analyzed the screenshots and I have one more suggestion.

Add more buildings to villages and cities for more realism, a few houses there and there don't look very nice, even for a village

 

[AbstractCreativity]

Hi there! Nice to see our thread isn't all forgotten.

We haven't really started on the larger villages. The only place where there are supposed to be more than like... 4-5 houses is the starting port, which I personally think looks pretty much like what I wanted it to be. Of course there's polishing, though.

You'll see more houses when we get to the larger ports. No worries
Anyways, thanks for the advice. I will consider putting more houses in the current ports as well.

 

[Peter Canvis]

Hi there! Nice to see our thread isn't all forgotten.

We haven't really started on the larger villages. The only place where there are supposed to be more than like... 4-5 houses is the starting port, which I personally think looks pretty much like what I wanted it to be. Of course there's polishing, though.

You'll see more houses when we get to the larger ports. No worries
Anyways, thanks for the advice. I will consider putting more houses in the current ports as well.

If you can't put more and want less, then you could make the scale of the buildings larger, that way they are more realistic, cover up more space and don't have to put more buildings

 

[AbstractCreativity]

That could work too.
I will look into it once Blaxor finishes his latest work on the map.

 

[Blaxor]

Sorry to be a major dissapointment but I can't open the map anymore it's gotten corrupted for some reason

The one "good" thing is that I only managed to complete one major thing, but it's still bad news because of the time I've put in to it I've got one wip screen of that major island/port before I added any buildings and now it's all gone