Team Rush

[JRPereira]

MAP NAME
====================
Team Rush

CREATOR
====================
JRPereira
lead testers: UberMasterII, Auraiken

MAIN TESTERS
====================

• Kite253
• Neobezo
• Senas
• Tr1xx
• GhostWitTheMost
• Pure-THC
• Genso
• Giga
• L33tCurry

WEBSITE
====================

http://www.jrpereira.com/warcraft3/team_rush

CURRENT MAP STAGE
====================
Late Beta. Current to-do is below:

• Add item recipes
• Further balance heroes
• Polish up map

CURRENT VERSION/DOWNLOAD
====================

0.98s - most features complete. Original plan for the map is fully implemented.

http://www.hiveworkshop.com/resources_new/maps/5567

WEBSITE
====================

http://www.jrpereira.com/warcraft3/team_rush


GAMEPLAY/OBJECTIVES
====================

Team Rush is a control point assault map where two teams compete to capture and hold territories which eventually lead up to capturing the enemy team's base to win. Gameplay on the map is fast-paced and teamplay-oriented. Each hero fills a specific role - from healing, to tank/meatshield, to both area effect and single target damage dealer, area defense and team support, etc.

Gameplay on Team Rush is divided up into up to 10 rounds (depending on the skill of the teams and the initial vote for total rounds. After a team captures the enemy base, the map is reset and the next round begins - each team starts fresh, starting out equally once more and with the ability to select a new set of heroes.

The main goal of Team Rush is to have your team capture control points on the map - eventually leading to capturing the enemy base. The control points are as follows:

• Red Base
• NorthWest/SouthWest
• Central
• NorthEast/SouthEast
• Blue Base

To capture one of these control points, position your hero at the center of a point. After a small period of time, your team will have captured the control point. To view your progress, see the multiboard at the topright of the screen. Each control point held or captured by your team contributes gold to all players on that team.

FEATURES
====================

• Coded from the ground up in JASS - map performs very well - no apprecible lags or memory leaks.
• 10 unique heroes to choose from, each with strong roles.
• Very teamplay oriented.
• No heavy penalty for dying.
• Fast gameplay - divided up into rounds (you can vote for the total rounds played).
• Detailed map.
• Random creep item drops.
• Charged items automatically stack to save inventory space.
• Rounds system - don't always have to rehost to play more rounds.
• Not protected - feel free to create derivitive maps and gameplay modes.

SCREENSHOTS
====================

The Team Rush website has a MediaRSS feed that you can use to view these screenshots as part of a gallery using a firefox and safari plugin called piclens.

http://www.jrpereira.com/warcraft3/team_rush/media.php

http://www.piclens.com



TERRAIN OVERVIEW
====================



LOADING SCREEN
====================



GAMEPLAY VIDEO
====================

The gameplay video showcases terrain and features from 0.98j. I'll be posting a new video in the future.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7423176610357831962&hl=en
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-PgFEYN97k (same as above)

HEROES
====================

Team Rush is geared around team vs team play with a large varied group of players. The heroes work best together, with each filling in specific roles.

Hero Information

• Scholar - The scholar acts as the battery for the team - stealing mana from the enemy and providing mana for his team. Scholars can also steal certain buffs and debuffs, further gathering mana for the team.
• Scout - The scout is the fastest class and has the largest sight radius (which also isn't affected by the time of day). The scout is great for observing the battlefield. The scout can also see invisible units, making it great for detecting assassins. The scout's summon allies ability allows her to bring allies to her location.
• Assassin - Master of stealth, the assassin can creep up to enemies and do massive damage. The assassin is adept at dodging in and out of battle, taking down enemies and preventing them from using abilities.
• Priest - Priests help to keep a team in fighting shape - healing players and shielding them from harm. Priests can also revive teammates, keeping them in the battle.
• Mage - The mage is adept at dealing damage to a wide area from a distance, making it great for assaults against swarms of targets and laying siege to enemy structures - especially when it's too dangerous to close in on enemy targets.
• Berserker - Berserkers can get up close to groups of enemies and dish out lots of damage.
• Brute - Best at the front of any assault, the brute is adept at absorbing damage and pushing through to capture points. The brute also can control combat through his taunts and stuns.
• Necromancer - The necromancer is a master of the dead - summoning hordes of skeletons and even reanimating the corpses of his enemies.
• Builder - Builders can put up base defenses and plant fountains and banners to heal and buff the team.
• Ranger - Rangers are adept at picking off targets from a distance. Their high damage and ability to use their abilities from extreme range means that they can comfortably sit back and pick away at enemies without fear of retaliation. However, the ranger is pretty much defenseless up close.

 

[Gilles]

Sounds kind of cool. I'll check it out sometime soon.

 

[JRPereira]

Thanks!

Just a quick update: turns out all of the screenshots I captured earlier came out as blank images. I figured out the problem and will record some new screenshots in the near future.

HOWEVER, I did have a lot better luck with fraps (after figuring out some video settings wonkeyness). I'm currently working on getting a 10-minute gameplay video onto both youtube and google video. Hopefully they'll take videos in xvid.

The video is probably a better description of the gameplay anyways.

 

[ragingspeedhorn]

Seems interesting even though the name is a downer. "Team Rush" makes me think of a poorly made map by a random bnet moron

 

[JRPereira]

The video has been approved on google. Check out the update on the OP.

The youtube one will probably come up later today.

 

[Jacek]

Seems interesting even though the name is a downer. "Team Rush" makes me think of a poorly made map by a random bnet moron

still better name than "Pirate Tag" (rofltag), "Dodge the Wisp Wheels" (wtf random bnetter), "Escape the Ogres" (escape the lol)

 

[Mini-Me]

Seems interesting even though the name is a downer. "Team Rush" makes me think of a poorly made map by a random bnet moron

Must agree with this. The map name could use a lot of work. You shouldnt also think something like "I'll let the game do the talking", with name like this not many people will give your map a chance. Anyway, the map does seem bit interesting, I think I'll give this map a try when I find the time.

 

[JRPereira]

Yea, the name definitely isn't so hot at all. I spent a while trying to come up with something that accurately described the map, and pretty much decided that I might as well just set it to something simple and try not to change it for fear of confusing players.

Because I'm so far into this map with its current name, I'll probably just focus on getting a better name ready for my next map. It may significantly cut into the attractiveness factor of this map, but I figure I'm cutting my losses at this point.

BTW, for those who missed it and hate google, the youtube video is up and linked on the OP.

 

[JRPereira]

Version 0.98s is out!

Version 0.98s is out!

Below is the changelist (since 0.98j)

Until I can get the map updated in the various map download sites, you can get the latest version here (or just check the OP, which has the latest ver):

http://www.jrpereira.com/warcraft3/team_rush/downloads/Team Rush (Beta 0.98s).w3x

Also, check out the downloads page at the Team Rush website to get the latest updates on the download mirrors.

http://www.jrpereira.com/warcraft3/team_rush/downloads.php

===========================================

Miscellaneous Changes

• Control points no longer have brilliance and damage bonus auras.
• Furbolg creep sight radius reduced.
• Furbolg ursa warrior creep sight radius reduced.
• Furbolg creep bounty reduced.
• Updated map updates information quest.
• Added periodic text notification of current round/rounds required to win.
• Updated map filename to be less cryptic.
• Added floating text above all shops to indicate items sold (ease of use).
• Updated all hero tooltips to reflect ability additions and changes.
• Destroying buildings now grants hero experience.
• Heroes now gain experience past level 5 for creep kills.
• Fixed respawn timers to reset on revive and round start. This prevents the extra hero bug/revive camera bug.
• Added kickass new loading screen.
• Updated preview image to be equally kickass.
• Hero stock counts changed to 1 at a time, 30 second cooldown.

Item Changes

• Stasis trap item duration increased to 300 seconds from 150.
• Shop item and hero icon locations updated to be more organized, hopefully more intuitive.
• Runed bracers spell damage reduction reduced.
• You now get 75% of an item's cost for selling it rather than 50%.
• Removed claws of attack +6
• Removed crown of kings +5
• Removed slippers of agility +3
• Removed gauntlets of ogre strength +3
• Removed mantle of intelligence +3
• Added slippers of the ninja +2 str/+2 agi
• Added battlemage gauntlets +2 str/+2 int
• Added mantle of wit +2 agi/+2 int
• ITEMS NO LONGER DROP ON DEATH.

Terrain Updates

• Destructable gates removed.
• Small modification to the buildable areas inside control points.
• Terrain changed to cityscape.
• Zombie creeps removed.
• Furbolg creeps moved.
• Dark troll creeps moved.
• Control points closer - evenly spaced.
• Map is easier to read (visually).
• All shops accessable from hero spawn locations.
• Less wasted playable area.
• Indestructable control point defense towers removed.
• Destroyable control point defense towers now spawn around each team-owned control point at the start of each round. (100 gold bounty each)

Heroes
Builder

• Health Increased
• Banner no longer has auras. Instead will autocast bloodlust on nearby allies.
• Arrow tower damage reduced
• Arrow tower health increased
• Repair healing increased
• Added devotion aura (+4 armor)

Scout

• Health increased
• Attack damage increased
• Attack speed reduced slightly
• Added movement speed aura (5%)

Scholar

• Health increased
• Attack damage increased
• Feedback damage reduced
• Anti-magic shell damage absorption increased
• Added brilliance aura (+2 mana per second)
• Armor type changed to normal.
• Mana boost modified to be like rejuvenation - single target, long duration.
• Siphon mana can now give bonus mana.

Ranger

• Health increased
• Attack damage reduced
• Minimum range reduced back to 0 (can fire at any range).
• Ranger's mark cooldown reduced
• Ranger's mark mana cost reduced
• Ranger's mark duration reduced
• Snipe cooldown increased
• Snipe mana cost reduced
• Crippling shot mana cost reduced
• Crippling shot DOT increased
• Crippling shot duration reduced
• Crippling shot cooldown reduced
• Added trueshot aura (10%)

Assassin

• Health increased
• Attack damage reduced
• Armor increased
• Poison damage reduced
• Added vampiric aura (5%)

Brute

• Health reduced
• Mana regeneration increased
• Mana increased
• Storm bolt damage increased
• Taunt radius increased
• Taunt mana cost removed
• War stomp damage increased
• War stomp cooldown increased
• War stomp mana cost increased
• Shockwave damage increased
• Shockwave mana cost increased
• Added command aura (10%)

Berserker

• Health increased
• Mana increased
• Mana regeneration increased
• Attack damage increased
• Fan of knives cooldown increased
• Fan of knives damage increased
• Fan of knives mana cost increased
• Cleaving attack damage reduced
• Cleaving attack area of effect slightly increased
• Immolation damage increased
• Immolation mana use increased
• Immolation initial mana required increased
• Acid bomb duration increased
• Acid bomb damage reduced
• Acid bomb mana cost decreased
• Added attack speed aura (10% - nearby allies)

Necromancer

• Skeleton archer now has 20% spell damage reduction (currently has no icon on unit)
• Skeleton warrior attack damage reduced
• Skeleton warrior now has 20% spell damage reduction (currently has no icon on unit)
• Removed vampiric aura
• Added Summon Tentacles
• Added disease cloud (2hp/second)

Mage

• Health increased
• Flame strike damage reduced
• Tornado building damage reduced
• Added thorns aura (5%)

Priest

• Health increased
• Refresh cooldown reduced
• Refresh mana cost increased
• Removed heal
• Added rejuvenation ability.
• Revive cooldown reduced
• Revive mana cost increased
• Sanctuary mana cost increased
• Sanctuary duration increased
• Added healing aura (20% increase)

 

[valkemiere]

you must edit your first post

 

[JRPereira]

To put the changelist there?

I've already updated it with some screenshots and some other things.

Or do you mean just don't post with updates at all as replies, and keep it all to the first post?

 

[valkemiere]

yup, by edit the first post.
this map look great, i like the job, n the place look good
n you can use strategy to face the enemy.

 

[ragingspeedhorn]

You can update however you like to, JRPereira.

 

[Serbianbeast]

looks very funny to play, video shows that. i hope i'll get the same impression playing it.

 

[raft_pl]

Map looks really interesting, you have some great ideas, that ive never seen before (mini-faq, etc.). Terrain seems a bit too tidy, but its a city-based scenery, so it looks good... And you should do some custom spells, because these that are shown on screenshots/movie are not looking interesting, and would make people feel bored of looking at original, Blizzards spells

Some time ago i was thinking about similar map, but i didnt know how to make triggers to take control of bases... ;P

 

[JRPereira]

Thanks! I've been looking into doing some spelltriggers but I haven't decided upon the best way to do fast-interval MUI spelltriggers yet. I don't want to use a prepackaged system, so I'm looking into the best way to do it myself.

The last system that I've done was MPI, but a system like that is really limiting when you're intending to add an alchemy system for crafted charged item spells.

Do you by any chance know if periodic events, left to repeat indefinately, on a very quick interval (.05-.10 seconds), will cause lag issues [keeping in mind that I'm making sure to eliminate any and all leaks that I can].

The other method I'm aware of would use timers, which are probably harder to stop from leaking than the aforementioned method, and I'm not really too sure how to reassociate them with the casting unit upon expiring.



I was thinking of doing a system where any time you casted a trigger spell, a trigger dummy unit would appear and have its custom integer set to some number which would represent which spell instance was being cast.

There would be arrays corrosponding to that which would contain the spell being cast, the triggering unit, target unit (when applicable), target location (when applicable), current step in the spell, etc.

The periodic event would loop through all of the dummy units, read their custom id, and iterate the spell based on the spell type, triggering unit, target unit/loc, etc.

 

[mrchewy]

Wow, it's nice to see a highly polished and enjoyable map around here . Overall, the gameplay is generally very enjoyable; I haven't managed to get a full house of players but from what I've played so far it has been quite fun. I've got a few suggestions, should you care to embrace them:

• Reducing the amount of players is something that seriously should be considered. Not only can it be difficult to find many players for an upcoming map, but since there are only a few heroes cutting down the player limit means that there is a less chance of half the players choosing the same hero.
• Consider adding more custom and dynamic abilities to Heroes, which gives much more room for strategies to be used.
• Adding more interesting items might also be a good idea. I don't know, perhaps some unpredictable concoctions or summoning tokens might make things more interesting
• Being a little bit nit picky here, but maybe maker the control points unelectable
• The terrain is the only thing that really needs work here. I understand that you aimed for the symmetrical and neat city theme, but the terrain adds nothing to the gameplay and it's a bore to look it. It definately needs to be spiced, and/or the tileset changed to something a little less bland

But yeah, overall, very impressive. I'm particularily impressed at the website; being a web designer myself. Keep up the good work; I hope down the track this becomes a popular choice for B.Net players .

Oh, and +REP

 

[JRPereira]

Thanks! I've spent a lot of time just planning out the map to make sure it's relatively clean and coherant.

You've pretty much summed up my concerns for the next version.

• I seriously need to reduce at least the amount of players required to have a good quality game. I've been looking at things such as minor army spawns to give the game a more actioney warlike feel and give each player a bigger influence on the battle without reducing the bonus of having a larger team. If I do the army spawns, I need to remove at least one slot from each side to make way for the computer players.
• More custom abilities are coming, as soon as I determine the best way to do it. I may end up just going with the system from my old maps - which was a bit more limited in functionality but at least worked and did everything I needed timing-wise.
• More items are planned, most likely in the form of special equipment recipes and 1-charge crafted alchemy spells.
• The control point structures could stand to be made unselectable - there's no reason for them to be selectable as far as I can tell.
• The terrain is definately going to get some manner of visual improvement. I think what I might do is give a worn battlefield type look back to the center of the map, in such a way that it doesn't compromise the readability of the map. Other things need to be done as well but I haven't really come up with anything concrete yet.

I'm really glad you like the website. I really wanted to put forth something impressive that would get players' attention to hopefully try the map.

 

[valkemiere]

i see the youtube, nice game!

 

[JRPereira]

Just wanted to post an update as to the status of the map.

I probably won't be posting a new version for at least a couple of weeks (although you might be able to find me testing on bnet earlier than that). I need to find the time to gut out all of the code in the map that handles player ranges (aka 0-5, 6-11) and get it all into groups (or something else?) instead (if you check out the map's code, you'll see that references are everywhere and this is a daunting task).

Once I've gotten the players into forces [or something else? I'm starting to have my doubts] I can add in automatic team balance, which will prevent stacked teams if players leave.

I'm pretty confident that army spawns are the way to go to smooth out smaller games (the map should play pretty well in a 2v2 after the update), and I've already implimented the basics required to have them in the game. Necromancers in particular will delight in the army spawns as they'll be able to make good use of animate dead. Everyone else will be able to use them for various things such as gold/xp farming, cover/meatshields, extra targets to keep enemies at bay, distractions, etc. etc.. The heroes' auras will all have better use now too.

The maximum players on the map is going down from 12 to 10 in order to fit the two computer-controlled army players (and also to fix some things such as one player exclusively getting the bounty earned by the point defense towers and even the army units.

Other than the necromancer (who needed a couple of fixes and nerfs for animate dead), there probably won't be a lot of balance changes in the upcoming version.

Spelltriggers are still planned but probably not a chance that will be coming right away.

 

[JRPereira]

Some misc updates coming in the next version (I've been cleaning up as much as possible -before- recoding the map to allow auto team balance) ::

• Hero experience carries over to the new hero when you repick (not between rounds though). I'm debating between either having items on the hero automatically sold or just traded in for full cost. Keeping the items between heroes puts you at a disadvantage if you're switching between primary stats, and if you want the items so terribly you could just leave them on the ground before you go to repick.
• Heroes are now cleaned up properly between rounds (no more reviving heroes at the hero shop to carry over experience and items)
• Army spawns have been added
• Terrain has been updated to have more detail (mostly more doodads). See images:
  (Before) (After)

I'm also looking at adding player stashes (6 extra inventory slots) along with the ability to press the escape key to instantly swap out a hero's items for what's in the stash (so, for example, you could carry potions/etc in one set of 6 slots and your equipment in another, and battle with the equipment and instantly swap out to your potions/etc to heal up before going back to battle with your equipment). I've done this in a previous map, so it's no sweat to add. It should help alleviate the concerns that a) there aren't enough inventory slots and b) there's too much gold and nothing to spend it on.

 

[HeretoDLstuff]

Looks like a great game, Ill try it out soon!

How many people do you know that host this, btw? (I can host myself, though.)

 

[JRPereira]

I've been hosting it somewhat often, but not as much lately. At least one odwc member has hotsed it, I've seen a guy named supercan host pretty often (even download-only games), one other guy on my friends list (but I can't remember his name off the top of my head) who recently started hosting the map. Auraiken reports a lot of random hostings but I haven't seen many.

I'm within a day or so of releasing the next major version. I'm just getting the last few changes out of the way.

The gameplay on the new version is -significantly- improved. It's a lot better paced and more interesting.

 

[Auraiken]

Stop talking about me seeing the game hosted as if I'm crazy! I'm not crazy! You and the rainbow coloured penguins can go to hell! No jesus, I won't be silenced, the people need to know!

 

[HeretoDLstuff]

Its a pretty good map.

1: A bunch of people though the builder was imba. I dont.
2: There need to be more items, and more original ones.
3: Spells should get better as you level up.
4: I dont know if this can be fixed, But I stale mated with my enemys. Neither of us could kill each other. They all teamed and my allies didnt much, so maybe thats the reason.
5: When I repicked it removed all my items & XP... Sucks
6: VERY hard to get a full game becuas of slow download. Gamenames I used: TEAM RUSH!!!. ==TEAM RUSH!== ||||||TEAM RUSH!|||||.

Then I tryied "BASE CONTROL!!! GREAT NEW GAME!" That got me a 5vs5.
7: Pretty simple map... Maybe make heros have better more complex abilitys, add a way to get units?
8: Make killing a hero give gold?

 

[JRPereira]

It looks like the next version is going to improve most of that.

1) The builder is heavy rebalanced (as are pretty much all of the heroes now). All of the heroes are harder to abuse now, and probably easier to use as well.

2) There are a few more items, and a reduction of some of the redundant ones. More will come eventually, once some of the other basic stuff (mostly balance and polish) is taken care of.

3) I'm still looking into it - it probably won't occur for a major version or two. Huge balance issues to worry about when I do.

4) The balance is easier to tip in the new version - if a team gets a push going, it's easier to keep the momentum, but there's still a lot of openings for the enemy to come back if you slip up. One thing that really helps is that the new army units spawn from every control point you own, and each control point gives you a trickle of gold and experience (more for the points farther from your base).

5) You're going to keep experience between repicks. I'm going to figure out something for the items as well (probably auto-sell).

6) The download speed is an unfortunate side effect of being pretty much required to have a quality loading screen and preview image. I'm not sure I can improve it. With a good connection, a host can upload the map to a player in 20 seconds or less. Failing that, at least there's the website and these forums.

7) While I will be adding some more to the map such as stashes/upgrades/item recipes/trigger spells (somewhere down the line), the map was made to be pretty simple and easy to pick up. I don't want a map that's full of so many items, heroes, skills, etc. that your success is more based on memorization of the map (dota comes to mind).

8) Killing heroes should yield 100 gold. I'll doublecheck that before the release just to make sure that I hadn't somehow broken that.

 

[Gausslander]

The map looks quite interesting, the hero names and descriptions aren't very interesting or advanced though, I very much dislike that. But, as far as your signature, it looks awesome. And if that's the actual mini-map, that's cool too.

 

[JRPereira]

Thanks! I've purposefully kept the names and descriptions simple (and descriptive) in order to make the learning curve a little smoother. With the map being of a relatively unique gametype (as a whole, as it mixes a variety of concepts), I don't want plays to have a large barrier to cross before being able to play with some competance.

The ingame minimap looks close to that, but without the target-like control point indicators and the shop icons look a bit diffrent. If it's possible to change that, I might.

The terrain currently looks like this:
http://www.jrpereira.com/warcraft3/team_rush/images/teamrush_overview_098t.jpg

 

[HeretoDLstuff]

1) The builder is heavy rebalanced (as are pretty much all of the heroes now). All of the heroes are harder to abuse now, and probably easier to use as well.

Ok. In my opinion is you just target the towers its not too bad.

2) There are a few more items, and a reduction of some of the redundant ones. More will come eventually, once some of the other basic stuff (mostly balance and polish) is taken care of.

Ok. Maybe with each versions just slowly add one or 2 untill you have a good selection, theres no real hurry..

3) I'm still looking into it - it probably won't occur for a major version or two. Huge balance issues to worry about when I do.

Yeah, I suppose balance would be hard if you did it..

4) The balance is easier to tip in the new version - if a team gets a push going, it's easier to keep the momentum, but there's still a lot of openings for the enemy to come back if you slip up. One thing that really helps is that the new army units spawn from every control point you own, and each control point gives you a trickle of gold and experience (more for the points farther from your base).

Ok, goody.

5) You're going to keep experience between repicks. I'm going to figure out something for the items as well (probably auto-sell).

Allright. Make it SAY what it does on the tooltip, too.

6) The download speed is an unfortunate side effect of being pretty much required to have a quality loading screen and preview image. I'm not sure I can improve it. With a good connection, a host can upload the map to a player in 20 seconds or less. Failing that, at least there's the website and these forums.

It depends, some people download it really fast. Others, it gets to about 20 pretty fast and they leave.

7) While I will be adding some more to the map such as stashes/upgrades/item recipes/trigger spells (somewhere down the line), the map was made to be pretty simple and easy to pick up. I don't want a map that's full of so many items, heroes, skills, etc. that your success is more based on memorization of the map (dota comes to mind).

Well, if it was a faced paced game simple would be fine, but it lasted half a hour and we were STILL not going anywere, so I just left... Stale matted, pretty boring..

8) Killing heroes should yield 100 gold. I'll doublecheck that before the release just to make sure that I hadn't somehow broken that.

It does? Well, in the message that says hero death it should say +100 gold as well, so people know that.

 

[JRPereira]

What I'm probably going to do is add a decent chunk of items all at once, in some future version simply dedicated to adding those items plus taking care of whatever balance issues are present at the time. That version will likely add the item recipes plus maybe some more item drops (creep-style drops from the army guys, most likely).

The multiple levels of abilities is just something I find it really hard to get behind, simply due to the balance issues. Instead of balancing 5-7 abilities on a hero which are always there, against the other groups of ever-present unchanging abilities, I'd end up trying to balance heroes that could have between 1 and 7 different abilities at differing levels.

Because of the unique roles and functions of the heroes and their abilities, you can't easily balance the total of 120-280 ability levels + heroes against each other (assuming 3-7 levels for 4 of the abilities across 10 heroes). Trying to make that balance perfect is overwhelming and nigh impossible.

Because the map is somewhat organized and is open source/unprotected, I might end up leaving the idea of leveling abilities to the people who do their own versions/spinoff maps.

If I do go ahead with ability levels for the heroes, then I'd have to put off everything else for at least a month, just to get some semblance of balance, and there would be cries for months after of nerf this and buff that cause unless everyone played max-level heroes with all of the abilities maxed all the time, they wouldn't really have a sense of how their hero fares against another.

The purchasable upgrades on the other hand, will all be available to every hero (moreso just to every player, and they pick what hero plus upgrades they want). The upgrades will be purchasable on the player stash structures, when I add them. They'll fit in upgrades for health, damage, armor, attributes, etc. - whatever makes sense and can be done.

I'll make sure to update the repick tooltip so that it reflects exactly what it does.

People that would leave before the map downloads or before the game starts probably aren't going to enjoy the map, nor would they stick around for a full round, let alone a full game.

My primary concern for the game right now (aside from balance) is to get it to where the games are fast and over quickly, with everyone having a good idea of what happened during the game (winners know what they did right, losers know what they did wrong).

I'll incorporate some manner of notification that the player has received gold for killing an enemy hero.

 

[JRPereira]

0.99b is out!

Version 0.99b is out!

Another mass of changes here. The OP should be updated with the new version of the map by the time you read this. You can also download at the link below:

http://www.hiveworkshop.com/resources_new/maps/5567

Below is the changelist (since 0.98s)

================================

Miscellaneous Changes

• Fixed bug where dead heroes weren't cleaned up on round reset.
• Hero experience is now preserved when you repick.
• Army units now spawn from control points.
• Reduced point defense tower health to 250.
• Control point capture time now down to 10 seconds (for a single hero; more heroes still reduce the time required).
• Spawn defense tower damage increased significantly (should not affect normal gameplay).
• Gold gain per control point (earned every second) is now based on the distance from your base point. The base point no longer gives gold.
• You now gain experience every 5 seconds for each control point you own - with more experience coming from farther control points. The base points do not give experience.
• Reduced maximum rounds vote from 6 to 3. Can now vote for a single round.
• Items are now removed between rounds.
• Players on the killing team are now notified when a teammate kills an enemy hero.
• Items are now transferred to the new hero when repicking.
• Fixed typo in loading screen.
• Increased the health and mana regeneration from the fountains at each base.
• Dynamic music has returned.
• Point defense towers can now target structures (bug fix).
• Added player stashes.
• Players can now press escape to swap items between their hero and stash.
• Spawn-in time when choosing a hero has been reduced by 3 seconds

Upgrades added (available at player stashes)

• Attack range bonus.
• Movement speed bonus.
• Maximum health damage.
• Attack damage bonus.
• Maximum mana bonus.
• Summoned unit damage bonus (necromancers and builders).

Terrain Changes

• Terrain now has much more detail.
• Removed dark troll creeps.

Item Changes

• Potion of healing price increase from 100 to 200 gold.
• Potion of mana price increase from 100 to 150 gold.
• Potion of healing cooldown increase from 10 to 30 seconds.
• Potion of mana cooldown increase from 10 to 30 seconds.
• Ankh of reincarnation cost increase from 750 to 1500 gold.
• Ankh of reincarnation now revives a hero with full mana and health.
• Ankh of reincarnation tooltip fixed.
• Potion of invisibility cost increased from 250 to 500 gold.
• Potion of invisibility duration reduced from 60 to 30 seconds.
• Potion of invulnerability cost increased from 500 to 750 gold.
• Scroll of speed cost increased from 150 to 200 gold.
• Stasis trap cost reduced to 400.

Class Changes

Builder

• Arrow towers now have 1hp/second health regeneration.
• Repair down from 250 health to 175. Tooltip finally fixed (previously said 150 when the repair was 250).
• Attack damage reduced
• Health reduced.
• Arrow tower health reduced.
• Arrow towers now attack 3 units at a time.
• Place land mine mana cost increased.
• Place land mine cooldown reduced.
• Banner bloodlust cooldown reduced.

Berserker

• Now an agility hero.
• Movement speed increased.
• Health decreased.
• Berserker base attack damage decreased.
• Immolation damage increased.
• Immolation mana usage increased.
• Mana regeneration increased.
• Mana reduced.

Brute

• Hitpoints decreased.
• Armor decreased.

Assassin

• Attack damage increased.
• Sneak duration increased.
• Sneak cooldown increased.
• Poison damage increased.
• Health reduced.

Necromancer

• Animate dead cooldown reduced.
• Animate dead mana cost reduced.
• Summon skeletons cooldown reduced.
• Spawn tentacles cooldown reduced.
• Spawn tentacles mana cost reduced.

Ranger

• Attack range reduced.
• Attack acquisition range inreased.

Scout

• Slow mana cost reduced.

Scholar

• Devour magic now provides health in addition to mana.
• Mana burn now destroys less mana.
• Mana burn cooldown increased.
• Mana burn mana cost decreased.
• Siphon mana overfill decay reduced (can now hold more excess mana for longer).

Mage

• Chain lightning mana cost increased.
• Flame strike initial damage reduced.
• Flame strike burning damage reduced slightly.
• Blizzard damage reduced.
• Blizzard maximum damage per wave inreased significantly.