Techtree Contest #7 - Super Unit[Optionally Paired]

[Pharaoh_]

Super Unit


The contestants must create a race centred around a "Super Unit", which can have unique functionalities, or just be super powerful (of course not forgetting balance), etc. The unit can be a hero, unit or building, it is up to you.
Paired teams are allowed, but not mandatory.

• No submission may violate any of the site rules.
• If a submission does not follow the map submission rules the creator will be disqualified.
• Your submission must be posted before the deadline. The post containing your final submission must also contain the following:
  • Several screenshots of race in action.
  • The file in the appropriate format.
• You must show at least one unfinished preview of your submission, before the deadline, as proof that its yours.
• Your final submission must be bug free enough to test and play.
• The features that may be edited are:
  • Gameplay constants
  • Game interface
  • Object editor
  • Trigger editor
  • Sound editor
• The map's terrain may not be edited. The current four melee races may not be edited; copy and paste the default units you are about to edit.
• Participants must download the (to be provided) template map, edit it and then resubmit it as their entry.
• Your submission may not be started before the official launch of the contest.
• The final submission must bear the contest's number and type, along with your nickname, e.g. Techtree Contest 7 - [Nickname]

• First Place: 50 reputation points and your entry on the award icon
  
• Second Place: 35 reputation points and an award icon
  
• Third Place: 20 reputation points and an award icon

None yet! If you are interested in judging, please contact me.

Gameplay	How fun the gameplay is; does the race itself offer various features to experiment with?	/15
Balance	How easily can the race stand against the default races? Is it particularly easy to wipe out or too hard to confront?	/10
The Legion	Are the roles of the warriors shared in a flat manner, are they getting too repetitive or each of them plays a unique and significant role in the battlegrounds?	/10
Originality	How creative is the idea of your special "Super Unit". Does it have an interesting and fun concept and is the whole race centred around it?	/10
Appearance	How does the final output look? Did it achieve to surpass the common appearance that the contestant had to suffer?	/10

Total Score/55

• 70 % of the winner shall be determined by the contest's appointed judge(s).
• 30 % of the winner shall be determined by the results of a public poll.

• The contest shall begin on 22nd of July, 2012 and conclude on 22nd of August, 2012 +3 (2012 Event) = 25th of August + 4 (Extension) = 29th of August GMT

Map File

(8) Twilight Runes (by Vengeancekael)
(8) Twilight Runes [Race Selector included] (by Wazzz)

 

[Skycraft]

Cool, glad to see this one is going now.

 

[Vengeancekael]

The map file with the race selector is by Wazzz actually.

 

[Pharaoh_]

Okay, thanks for letting me know. ;]

 

[Panda]

Id judge! but im judging the icon contest :/ Haha!

 

[Dr.Killer]

If that damn time-consuming Zephyr allows I'll probably join. My first techtree contest ever, hopefully.

 

[boomwolf]

Thought the arena was frozen?

Good to see it isn't.

DO NOTE PEOPLE-this theme is MUCH harder then if first appears to be! just having an uber unit won't do, the entire race should be somehow based around that unit.

 

[Pharaoh_]

The event has not started yet, how would it be frozen?
Plus, if it gets frozen, you'll know it

 

[Jazztastic]

Subscribing. I hope to compete in this.

 

[Asomath]

Yep, I'll bite.

~Asomath

 

[boomwolf]

I hope the entire "frozen arena" thing will be dismissed anyway, why should our own contests be put aside in favor of the event that we don't necessarily going to/want to/capable of participating at.

 

[Pharaoh_]

People don't seem to be understanding the meaning of the Frozen Arena.

boomwolf, you can still work on your submission in any contest, while the event lasts. Frozen Arena allows the contests to be extended by half for as long as the event lasts, so that people that joined the event have the time to still participate in general contests. It's good for both yourself and the event's entrants. As long as the Arena is frozen, the countdown to the deadline will be slowed down, until it goes out of this state. ;]

 

[Asomath]

So could I just clarify that? If there are 15 days left until this contest is supposed to end, but then the arena gets Frozen, then when the Legendary Fight is over there are still 15 Days left before the end of this contest?

~Asomath

 

[Pharaoh_]

If there are 15 days left until this contest is supposed to end, but then the arena gets Frozen, then when the Legendary Fight round is over there are still 15+8= 23 Days left before the end of this contest.

There, I fixed your quote to affirmative with the proper answer

 

[Asomath]

Sounds lovely, thank you ^_^

~Asomath

 

[boomwolf]

So every round will make the deadline even further away?

That's just making contests last forever, it will lose the aspect of "doing what you can under the time limit"

 

[Jolly_jumper]

And it adds the aspect of "having enough time to make great stuff for both contests"

 

[snowman990]

I'll try this out, count me in!
Edit :
Is it allowed to ask some people for the super unit idea?

 

[Freyleyes]

Ooooh, I think I am gona try goblins

 

[-Derp-]

I have the dial on a cattle race.

 

[Freyleyes]

I have gotten an Epiphany, to go pandas... Will see what hapens

 

[MetalKing1417]

I'm in.

 

[boomwolf]

I think I'll use the Giant Sand Worm as the super-unit, with the rest of the race based around controlling the damn thing (because it will not obey direct orders)

 

[overcold_ice]

i'm in

the arena can freezes anytime from now ^.^
cold

 

[kari0003]

Count me in too!

I'll work offline at the beginning my theme contains dwarf-like units in case you want to know.
And if I can do the coding part, it will be awesome! ^^

Any pairs yet?

OOC: In my opinion if we start a contest, a notification, and the official thread should be up for not-everyday-active members few days before the contest starts. This way people could start together, there would be less contestants who rush at the end because they joined 1 week later...

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE

 

[snowman990]

I've started making the first tier unit, but heck, I think they look so not interesting._.

 

[Nromk]

I have an idea and want to try this...
Hopefully I'll find enough time

Edit: Do we have to use the race selector provided or can we use any?

 

[Vengeancekael]

Has a notification been created for this? Cuz I can't see one.

 

[Pharaoh_]

So you're sure that you read every one of them?

 

[Vengeancekael]

Yeah. :S I haven't been seeing any new notifications for a few months now.
(You don't by any chance edit the old notifications, do you? Cuz I close those ones after a while)

 

[Skycraft]

Has a notification been created for this? Cuz I can't see one.

Yep.

show

 

[Pharaoh_]

Yeah. :S I haven't been seeing any new notifications for a few months now.
(You don't by any chance edit the old notifications, do you? Cuz I close those ones after a while)

Well don't, cause I edit them.

Meh, that's why people have been complaining. Don't close them, people!

 

[Skycraft]

I always close notices that don't appeal to me.
Why don't you remove old ones and replace them with new ones? Wouldn't that be better?

 

[Jolly_jumper]

^Agree I also remove notifications i don't have any interest for(anymore) so i guess after a while i would not have any notifications left at all if you just edit the old ones instead of making new

 

[Pharaoh_]

Okay okay, I'll make sure to create a new one in the future )

 

[boomwolf]

Dear god I just realised something.

Due to the nature of "Super" units, it has to be a tier 3, and the entire army must be based around somehow assisting said "Super" unit, yet must maintain relevance and be capable of fending for itself in tiers 1-2.

This is a balancing nightmare!

 

[MetalKing1417]

Question! Is it ok to modify the Tavern so that the Fire Lord and goblin Heroes are available?, because they aren't otherwise.

 

[boomwolf]

I dont think you are allowed to change the map itself.

But why would you need to do it?

 

[Skycraft]

Question! Is it ok to modify the Tavern so that the Fire Lord and goblin Heroes are available?, because they aren't otherwise.

You can't edit any of the original content; so I think it would be no.

 

[MetalKing1417]

Edit: Do we have to use the race selector provided or can we use any?

Wazz's version was orginally suposed to do that, but it didnt work right so Ghost Thruster presented his own right here:

http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/...t-7-super-unit-218629/index7.html#post2180097

 

[snowman990]

Is it okay if I does not use ghostruster nor wazzz race selector and use someone race selector with their permission?

 

[Astaroth Zion]

Great that this has started, I'm joining. My initial concept is about a futuristic/robotic race that has a godly unit as "ally" been hard to control but very rewarding if done right.

Dear god I just realised something.
Due to the nature of "Super" units, it has to be a tier 3, and the entire army must be based around somehow assisting said "Super" unit, yet must maintain relevance and be capable of fending for itself in tiers 1-2.

Well I don't think that it has to be tier 3, I mean that you could have it almost form the start and have each tier unlocks more abilities and substantial power boosts.
If the race is centered on one unit, I don't want to wait 10-15 minutes to even be able to use it, and then by lacking the super unit your early game could be weak.

 

[-Derp-]

Well I don't think that it has to be tier 3, I mean that you could have it almost form the start and have each tier unlocks more abilities and substantial power boosts.
If the race is centered on one unit, I don't want to wait 10-15 minutes to even be able to use it, and then by lacking the super unit your early game could be weak.

Hey Astaroth, guess what? They both work.

boomwolf's idea of a 'final unit' is quite similar to the Mothership in Starcraft 2 or the Titan unit in Age of Mythology. End game unit, super OP, super hard to get. This idea is difficult if you have to base the entire techtree around it, but then again, you could just have buffs and what not affect the unit more. Or have researches give the super unit an ability as well as a normal unit an ability. This is actually easier to balance as you already know it'll be a late-game army vs army smashing delight.

Your idea seems quite similar to a hero-type unit. Slowly curves up to being a very formidable foe. The problem? Making it different from a hero. Giving it more abilities when teching up is a start, but then you have to balance that. 'Cause smart Sally is going to rush you with it if it's too OP. Too weak and there's no point in focusing on it and it'll turn into a mid-late game unit. What makes this difficult is balancing the million and a half scenarios whereas boomwolf's issue is pretty much making the unit worthwhile and integrated in the race.

My personal idea? Make the unit part of your base - literally. I've been looking at something similar to a floating farm that can pick up your structures, use that as weapons, or gain considerable bonuses from them. (Like health) Upgrades - like ones similar to Improved Masonry - affect the structures picked up and in turn increase the effectiveness of the super unit. The super unit is attackable by both Air and Ground (assuming I can get that to work), making it extremely vulnerable. Integrate it into the army? Give it a mana regeneration aura and have other units in the army degenerate mana when not near the aura. How do you balance that? Give all of your structures that aura as well, and add a spell that allows a unit to carry that aura for a short duration. With this the super unit starts off early game as more of a support unit and evolves into an offensive unit mid-late game.

 

[Jazztastic]

Brainstorming my idea. I want to get this idea down in writing and ask you guys what you think.

My super unit is a massive tank. It serves for all intents and purposes as a mobile town hall (although the movespeed would be very low). Units could be built within the supertank, and some researches could be bought from within. The buildings would all be mobile, so you could literally bring your unit spawns right to the fight.

There would be 3-4 captain units, of which you could only have 1 of each. These captains would have the ability to call in special support from the supertank. Support would range from artillery fire to launching special units directly into the battle.

The supertank itself would be without an attack. Only by calling in strikes and support would it be of effect. The heroes could tell it to use a short range low cooldown attack spell though.

The heroes spells will be amplified when within a certain range of the supertank. While the heroes should be useful on their own, they really shine when paired with the supertank.

Goldmines would work similar to the Undead goldmine. Lumber would be harvested by peon-type units and returned to either the supertank or a gatherer vehicle.

Of course there would be your default melee and archer unit. But then it gets weird. Since the spawning units are moving around, I would try to cram more units into fewer units, so there would be probably a vehicle for ranged, melee, then support. The units themselves would contain the researches to upgrade themselves, their vehicles, and the supertank. Basically your supertank spawns vehicles which are weaker which spawn even weaker infantry units. Although the upgrades work from the bottom up, the infantry boost themselves and the vehicles, the vehicles boost the super tank. The infantry would also be the only way to repair the supertank, so the supertank needs to make sure the infantry don't die, and the infantry needs to make sure the supertnak doesn't die.

 

[Astaroth Zion]

@-Derp- well my idea is quite different. It's stated in the top part of my last post what I am planning to do XD.
It's about a super unit witch you don't fully control, yet with your heroes and buildings you manage to get the unit do the fighting for you. Or if done wrong you could get the super unit enraged, and I will attack you as long as its berserker state lasts.

 

[boomwolf]

Sounds a bit similar to my idea.

In my concept you have a single superior unit type (extreme cost-power ratio), but cant control at all, with other units busy "motivating" the supers to actually do what you want them to (attract them with a "lure" spell, make them target specific enemies with some sort of bait, that kind of stuff.)

I think I found some sort of a weird way to get around the issue of "tier 3 focused" by having the superunit itself available at the very start, but completely out of control, and you set up ways to control it more and more as you tech up.

Not sure if I want a one-off epic unit, or multiple superior ones yet, but I am tending towards the single epic one.

 

[-Derp-]

-snip-

Yeah, I read it. It's an interesting take; I'm curious on how you'll avoid the rushing scenario with it.

Good luck with it though, I'll look forward to your results.

 

[67chrome]

Looks like a lot of you are having some cool ideas on this. I might join in, wish i checked the arena frequently enough to see the last contest :O (having my computer's power supply explode on me and take a month to repair probably didn't help XD)

If time allows I think I'll join in on this

Though the theme does strike me as remarkably similar to the 2nd Race Building Contest over at WC3C

The super unit is attackable by both Air and Ground (assuming I can get that to work).

Check both "air" and "ground" under the Combat - Targeted As field, that should work (inversely un-checking everything there is a handy way to make casting dummies invulnerable).

 

[Lordkoon]

I am joining this one. Nature race with big ass tree incoming.

 

[-Kobas-]

PROXY accepted my invite and we will join this together as team.