[Aeon of Strife] Stones of Magic (BETA)

[Pebble]

Stones of Magic
by Pebble

Stones of Magic is a 3-Player Custom Map for Warcraft III that I've been working on for a few months now. It's finally at a point where I feel I can release it and hopefully get some feedback.

Up until now, only myself and a few of my friends have played the map. There is currently no AI, but fortunately the Map only requires 3 players. I would love to hear about your experience on the map, as well as any questions or criticisms about the gameplay.

NOTE: this is a majorly untested map, so please expect some issues and take them in stride. Please let me know what issues you find.

Stones of Magic is a AoS/DotA-type map, but with some notable differences. You still pick a Hero, push lanes, kill minions and eventually try to destroy your Opponent's base, but the following features
will hopefully give Stones of Magic a unique style of gameplay:

1: Choose from 3 distinct Classes. Each Class has 3 unique Heroes, with each Hero having different strengths and weaknesses.
2: Magical Stones periodically spawn randomly throughout the Map. These Stones are crucial for victory in Stones of Magic.
3: Using Stones, your Hero can summon an array of powerful Creatures to join the ranks of your units and attack your opponents.
4: Collect Gold to purchase upgrades for both your Hero and your Summoned Creatures. Gold is obtained from killing Units in the various 'Jungle' areas throughout the Map.
5: Protect your base, notably your Prime Stone, while simultaneously assaulting your opponents' bases. Losing your Prime Stone results in Defeat.
6: 1 v 1 v 1 Gameplay keeps things exciting.

- See below for details -

Classes

	Necromancer Masters of Undeath, Necromancers can summon vile Creatures to assault their foes. With Bone and Blood, Necromancers utilize the dark power of Bloodstones to twist the very fabric of life and death.
	Spiritspeaker Hailing from the Spirit Realm, Spiritspeakers shepherd souls to the afterlife. In exchange for this service, they often will call Lost Souls to battle using mysterious Soulstones.
	Druid Protectors of the wild, Druids reject the dark magics of Necromancers and Spiritspeakers. They work to preserve the world of the living, and utilize Runestones to amplify their natural power.

Stones

	Bloodstones Bloodstones are used to summon Undead monstrosities. Skeletal Warriors and Archers make up the bulk of a Necromancer's Army, while Flesh Golems and Blood Wyrms can devastate enemy structures.
	Soulstones True to their name, Spiritspeakers use Soulstones to summon Spirits. But they also can call forth Soul Wardens, Wraithlords and powerful Revenants, among others.
	Runestones Calling forth the forces of nature, Druids use Runestones to summon creatures of the wild. Spiders, Wolves and Bears are aided by more powerful constructs such as Oaken Defenders and Spider Queens.

There are also 2 types of Stones that are available for all Classes. Etherstones and Powerstones spawn much more rarely than Basic Stones, and are much more valuable. Etherstones allow the player to summon Rare Creatures, and Powerstones allow Players to summon Legendary Creatures. Anyone can pick them up, so if you see one, be sure to grab it quick!

Useful Tips and Info

While I have included the Gameplay basics in the Map Info section in the map, there are certain things that I feel I should include here.

To set the Camera to the intended view for the map, type "camera" without quotes into the chat. sometimes it might not reset properly, or when the game starts and you've selected a Hero, you might need to reset it.

Using Hotkeys will vastly improve your gameplay experience. Summoning creatures in particular has been designed to be as efficient as possible (I hope).

To open your Creature Summons, press G. then select a Creature to Summon using the corresponding hotkey. The keys are set up to mimic a typical qwerty keyboard. so the summons for the Necromancer are as follows:
Q W E R (these are the Basic Creatures, summoned using only Bloodstones)
A S D F (The first 2 are Rare Creatures, the 3rd is your Legendary Creature, and the 4th is your Teleport Ability)

Finally, pick a lane to summon the selected Creature in. These keys are meant to resemble the lanes if you were to look at them from a birds eye view:
Q (North Lane)
A S (A = Upper Middle, S = Lower Middle)
Z (West Lane if you are playing Necromancer, East if you are Spiritspeaker)

For the Druid, it is slightly different, because of their position on the Map:
Q W E R
(Q = West, W = Left Middle, E = Right Middle, R = East)

Upgrades for your Creatures and your Hero are bought at your Prime Stone, using Gold.

Your Summoning Stones are the Structures from which your Creatures are Summoned. If you lose one, you can no longer summon Creatures in that lane, putting you at a huge disadvantage. Currently there is no way to get a Summoning Stone back.

Certain Creatures counter other Creatures. I haven't included a direct guide in the Map, but maybe learning the right counters and strengths/weaknesses of each Creature is part of the fun? I'd like to know your guys' thoughts.
EXAMPLE: Large Creatures are resilient against Heroes, but take extra damage from Units with Piercing Attacks, such as Spiders.

I hope to expand upon this system in the future.

Stones of Magic currently uses very few custom Models and Skins. I have been working on reskinning a lot of the units myself, as well as modifying the models, and you can see several of those below in the Screenshots. Feedback on these Textures would be appreciated, and ideally I would like to reskin/remodel all the Creatures/heroes, to give the Map a unique and cohesive look/feel.

There is also currently no Loading Screen or Map Selection Image. I hope to create one soon, but as I will be doing the art personally, like with the skinning and models, it might be a while.

Thanks for taking the time to read through this and if you decide to give the Map a try I would be beyond excited to hear your thoughts. You can contact me at [email protected] or here on the Hive Workshop.

Screenshots

Spoiler: Map Screenshots

 

[Pebble]

The Map is now available on MakeMeHost. The Map name is the same as it is here, OptimizedStonesofMagic.w3x

I've been hosting and playing a few games, feel free to try it out.

Please let me know if you'd like to play with me and give some feedback.

 

[stein123]

Cool project!

 

[Pebble]

Cool project!

Thanks! Would love to hear some thoughts and feedback if anyone's given it a try.