[Campaign] Synergix, the Lost Souls - Idea -

[BossMaker]

Storyline:
Souls are the purest forms of energy that is embedded in each and every living thing. Everytime someone dies, their physical manifestations are destroyed and the souls are set free, then they are naturally imported to the Ouranium, a haven for souls to reawaken and are chosen to manifest into the world again. However, some souls that have been slain by the hands of the tainted creatures cannot transcend into Ouranium. They are left out into the world, eventually increasing in number and called the Synergix. Though lost and wandering, they have the mindset in their subconscious to find the physical gate to Ouranium. Many Synergix just give up, fading away into nothingness, but one soul found hope. Symvolus was a soul that had formulated a hidden power that few Synergix can unlock: the power to repossess. With this newfound ability, Symvolus lived for thousands of years switching from vessel to vessel in order to find and reach Ouranium. But none of those vessels had the strength to conquer the great obstacles that lies ahead. This legend was passed on to many Synergix, harnessing the power to repossess.

Slain by the hands of the vile Tartaros, you are now free from your body, and came to identify yourself as one of these lost souls. Will you be the first Synergix to reach and enter Ouranium, or are lost souls really locked up by fate to be forever lost?

Game Features:
- Open world, highly destructible and free to roam environment(leading to secrets)
- Unique soul levelling system
- Allows you to possess units that are the same or lower level as your soul and using them to level up your soul.
- If you have the requirements, you can even possess a boss!
- You are temporary as a soul; if you don't find a vessel soon enough you will fade like the others!
- Dungeon-crawling areas accessible from any time.
- Open your soul-chamber to stock Physical Forms, so you can summon a vessel and possess it at your convenience!
- Some vessels have expiration time, while some are permanent (until death).

Objective:
- Reach Ouranium Gates
- Or not, it's free to roam and endless possibilites!

Mechanics:

You start off as a lost soul, a Synergix. You are given the liberty to choose your first vessel in the nearby area.
But first, you are given a choice to pick what soul-type you are.
1. Soul of Greed - starts off as soul lv 3, which allows you to possess lv 3 and/or below at the first time. You have increased gold gain, soul exp gain, but your soul's life and vessel depletes faster.
2. Soul of Sin - starts off as soul lv 2, and already has the ability to possess hostile enemies(which is something to be learned later on by other soul-types. Since you have this at an early stage, you can pick off dungeons with ease.) Normal gold and exp gain.
3. Soul of Purity - starts off at soul lv 1, and has increased vessel life. Normal exp gain, 150% gold gain.

After choosing your vessel, you can now roam the world. You can take quests to gain rewards and earn more gold, or straight dungeon crawl to gain soul EXP.

SOUL LEVEL - the level of your soul. This determines what level of units you can possess. To possess a boss, you must be 5 levels higher than the boss itself and the boss must have 10% HP or less. This also determines the level of dungeons you can enter.
SOUL LIFE - the lifespan of your soul. It will decrease over-time and replenish as you possess a vessel.
SOUL CHAMBER - your collection of Physical Bodies.
PHYSICAL BODY(ITEM) - can be obtained through monster drops or certain quests. Transcend to your Soul Chamber in towns in order to pick up extra bodies or stock them there. Once activated, the physical body is dropped and you can possess it if it is your level.

How to attack:
Units have their own kind of attacks:
1. Hack - attacks the front radius by pressing "A". Cannot attack one unit.
2. Normal - right-clicks a unit to attack that target.
3. Artillery - right-clicks a unit or an area to strike that area.
4. Wave - targets a point where you fire an attack that deals damage to that line by pressing "A". Cannot attack one unit.

Q: If the possessed vessel dies, what will happen?
A: Your soul will be released into the world.

Q: Can you use two physical bodies and switch from time to time?
A: Yes, and if you leave your physical body it can still attack units if it has normal or artillery.

Q: Are items passed on from vessel to vessel?
A: No, you must repossess a previous vessel to give it to the new vessel. (But beware, some vessels are weak enough and die if you leave their bodies.)

Q: If you possess a boss, will the dungeon be completed?
A: Yes, the requirements for the dungeon is to either kill or possess a dungeon boss. Dungeon bosses, unlike normal ones, do not respawn and can only be possessed once in a decision. The level of the Dungeon Boss is the same level as the dungeon entrance which you need 5 levels above to possess(and 10% HP)

Q: Will I really reach Ouranium?
A: I don't think you have the time and patience to do so; other Synergix for centuries have failed miserably. (Yes, reaching the goal area will be difficult and is even questionable to do.)

Q: Can I attack NPC's? (wut)
A: Yes, it's a free world and a highly destructible one. However, killing them may give you disadvantages as they will lose their shop or quests. Some towns tend to treat you as a threat if you attack their people.


*This is a big, main project for me. If you are willing to lend a hand, please do so. I haven't started yet as it's still an idea so I'd like its critique first. On the other hand, I have a side-project that you may be interested as well: Revival of the Lich Bossfight(Map Development Forums)

Looking for:
- possible mappers who can help with the minority of the map(I can map out the whole "world", just need helpers who can modify or add more spice to what I will do.)
- possible triggerers (for some occasions, I can handle most things myself)
- possible loyal testers(will be included in credits and +rep)
- in general, +rep to any useful comment

 

[pick-a-chew]

Seems very ambitious and has some original concepts.

What is there that gives the game high replayability? I assume it'll be the same map, same mobs etc. every time. Will there be unpredictable elements?

I'm also guessing the game speed will be ultra slow, RPG speed almost, i.e. a game takes an hour to two hours

Will there be save/loading of your Soul level?

Do you have a demo of the soul/possession system? It does seem like a novel idea and at the heart of your concept, so it would be good if you had a small map playable with this to make sure it works how you envisage.

Is having a destructible world really necessary? If by destructible you mean rock chunks/gates/crates, that's fine, but not things flying around everywhere due to collateral damage from attacks/spells.

Elaborate on the combat system? It sounds different from the Warcraft 3 combat. Do things still have spells and such? What do you think your attacking types achieves? If the game revolves around different Vessels, you will probably be able to bring in great combat strategy merely by using the attack and armor types already in the game (e.g. a Vessel with Siege Damage and Heavy armor would be good against one that has Fortified Armor and Piercing damage).

Sort of sounds like it would make a better mini-game than a massive RPG-styled map, e.g. having a medium-sized map filled with different areas/monsters and having an objective to get to the most soul level by X minutes (or some sort of final showdown). I fear your current format is overly ambitious and lacks no real game objective/direction (even you doubt if the objective is even necessary); there's no point playing a map for ages if you're not compelled to finish it/reach some sort of goal.

I hope my ramblings are useful!

 

[BossMaker]

Seems very ambitious and has some original concepts.

What is there that gives the game high replayability? I assume it'll be the same map, same mobs etc. every time. Will there be unpredictable elements?

The game is highly replayable in my terms. You have almost a lot of options. It's a free to roam world, immerse yourself in secrets within! There are many different ways to complete your objectives and many many vessels(ranging from wandering dogs, villagers, mayors) and within each vessel is a new opportunity/quest!

I'm also guessing the game speed will be ultra slow, RPG speed almost, i.e. a game takes an hour to two hours

by game speed, you mean the time it takes to finish the game? It's up to you if you want to speed run it. More of like a Dark Souls kind of thing, so if you speedrun it would take estimated 1hr to 1 and a half. It's not the type of campaign to be done in one sitting.

Will there be save/loading of your Soul level?

I don't know yet how to do that with hash and game caches, but I'll work it out.

Do you have a demo of the soul/possession system? It does seem like a novel idea and at the heart of your concept, so it would be good if you had a small map playable with this to make sure it works how you envisage.

Yes I'm preparing to add it in Map Development once I finish my side-project. It's really simple: as a soul, you can leave/enter units to take control of them.

Is having a destructible world really necessary? If by destructible you mean rock chunks/gates/crates, that's fine, but not things flying around everywhere due to collateral damage from attacks/spells.

By highly destructible world I won't mean the destruction of villages or anything. Just trees, rocks for secret items, crates, more of those so it's even more mysterious to look around.

Elaborate on the combat system? It sounds different from the Warcraft 3 combat. Do things still have spells and such? What do you think your attacking types achieves? If the game revolves around different Vessels, you will probably be able to bring in great combat strategy merely by using the attack and armor types already in the game (e.g. a Vessel with Siege Damage and Heavy armor would be good against one that has Fortified Armor and Piercing damage).

Same for the attack and armor types. Different attack types will make you think which vessel would be optimal for boss monsters, mobs(artillery), and such.

Sort of sounds like it would make a better mini-game than a massive RPG-styled map, e.g. having a medium-sized map filled with different areas/monsters and having an objective to get to the most soul level by X minutes (or some sort of final showdown). I fear your current format is overly ambitious and lacks no real game objective/direction (even you doubt if the objective is even necessary); there's no point playing a map for ages if you're not compelled to finish it/reach some sort of goal.

The objective is to reach Ouranium. I'm just saying that it's impossible for the theme. It won't actually be THAT difficult to reach there, it's that there's many ways.

I hope my ramblings are useful!

Yes they are very much appreciated. Just now you've pointed out the flaws in my idea that I have recently realized. I'll still keepsake this idea in my stash, in hopes of vacant time. In the meantime, I'm going to work on another campaign. +rep to you, sir!

 

[pick-a-chew]

Glad to be of help! One last bit of wisdom i'd say is that when you do bring this concept to life, is to start small and basic. Conceptually the soul system is the basis of the map, and once you have that and a few Vessels, fleshing out the game should be relatively easy.

Good luck with your mapping endeavors!

 

[BossMaker]

Glad to be of help! One last bit of wisdom i'd say is that when you do bring this concept to life, is to start small and basic. Conceptually the soul system is the basis of the map, and once you have that and a few Vessels, fleshing out the game should be relatively easy.

Good luck with your mapping endeavors!

Yes, thank you. I've remade my decision of a campaign and decided to start off with a simpler, more basic idea but still has that thrill of originality to it. Mind if you check it out?http://www.hiveworkshop.com/threads/the-ascendant-idea.285934/