- Joined
- Aug 23, 2008
- Messages
- 16
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Please take your time to read through before commenting, sorry for the length but I think these informations were mundane. Thanks 
The Lore
In the time when the defenders were to be selected to guard the world from future threats two clans of wise, powerful and pure in mind martial warriors decided to put their best students on a trial. Dragon, the Defender and the Tiger, the Aggressor. The Arena, the Symbol where the Dragon and the Tiger face off has been designated for this occasion. Many martial artists come together to face off in this showdown, depending on their style of art, they fight either on the side of the Dragon Clan or the Tiger Clan.
- Virtue -
- Duty and responsibility
- Proper behavior, or right attitude -
- Compassion -
- Reliability and loyalty -
- Duty and responsibility
- Proper behavior, or right attitude -
- Compassion -
- Reliability and loyalty -
The Main Skill Styles:
The White Tiger:
According to Legend, the white tiger carries yin energy. This animal has always represented the admirable qualities of courage and patience. After all, the tiger must stalk its prey secretly and steadily in order to avoid scaring away its dinner. Tigers know when to lay low, but they can also spring into action when it's beneficial to reveal themselves. White Tiger element is west and it represents Power.
The Butterfly:
The Legendary style of Butterfly represents love, specifically young love. Happily flitting from flower to flower – it signifies a powerful art of unpredictable challenge. Legend has it that the Butterfly symbolizes an undying bond between souls. Representative of the Yang energy, this style can energize, it carries the element of the pure energy of love.
The Crane:
The Crane is legendary for being the prince of all feathered creature on earth. Next to the Phoenix, the Crane is the most favored all bird styles amongst those that wish to take part in the art of life. The Crane is the ancient style for longevity because of its exceptionally long life span. By the legends, the spirits ride on cranes, which are also said to bear the souls of the departed to the heavens. The Crane's element is supportive power.
The Phoenix:
A celestial sign in the art styles, the Phoenix is the king of the winged kingdom. Magnificent and legendary, this bird is synonymous with good fortune, opportunity, and luck. It also conveys strength and resilience in the symbolic rising from its own ashes and soars to greater heights. On its own, the Phoenix is a Yang symbol and is associated with fire energies and the four winds. Combined with the Dragon, the Phoenix represents Yin energy. As a point of spiritual focus, the Phoenix evokes in us the five human qualities of good cosmic energy.
The Five Dragons
The Wood Dragon:
The Wood Dragon is creative, imaginative, and inquisitive. He is both a thinker and a doer and is capable of brilliant new concepts. His every move is guided by sound logic. His drive and ambition allow him to put many of his ideas into practice, nevertheless this Dragon is capable of concealing his domination and tries not to offend. He will even compromise if it is advantages. Although not as self-centered as other Dragons, he is still outspoken and fearless when challenged.
The Earth Dragon:
The Earth Dragon is a quieter, more reflective Dragon, He will be appreciative of other's opinions even if he fails to agree with them. He is reasonable in his approach to problems and his leadership is less dictatorial. He is not given to outbursts of temper, but at the same time demands respect. He knows the value of cooperation and is more diplomatic than the other Dragons. He is ambitious, but his initiatives are less hurried and more carefully thought out.
The Fire Dragon:
The Fire Dragon is the most extroverted and competitive Dragon. He tends to push too hard and expects a lot from everyone. His criticisms are objective and he has the ability to arouse massive popular support. His insatiable ambition can make him short-tempered and intolerant. He is an empire builder who needs to master his less favorable traits and learn how to communicate more humbly with people as individuals.
The Metal Dragon
The Metal Dragon is the most strong-willed Dragon. He is inflexible, unbending and combative. He gives little regard to the feelings of others. This ruthlessness can result in a rapid rise to a position of authority, but often at the cost of destroying important relationships. It is futile to attempt to convince him that certain things are simply undoable. He will go it alone if he can't gain support. He succeeds because he refuses to accept failure.
The Water Dragon:
The Water Dragon is less selfish and opinionated than the other Dragons. He is more inhibited and less power-hungry. He can accept defeat without recriminations. He makes a good negotiator as he knows when, where, and how to apply pressure. He has a tendency to be over-optimistic and needs to learn how to relinquish what is unfeasible so that he can concentrate his energies on the most rewarding endeavors.
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Introduction
Who are behind the map?
- Azarthian (a.k.a. TripX) - I'm handling the gameplay design, story, background elements, lore, scripting (triggers), object edition, 2D art and Terrain art within the map. This map is also my Exam Entry for my year final as Game Design, but also my example work to DigiPen's Bachelor of Arts - Game Design course. So yea... This map will be finished.
- Mr.Goblin - Mr.Goblin is taking part in terraining, 2D art and partially object editing, but as well taking part at some gameplay suggestions here and there.
What's the aim of the map?
The Art of Shadows is a Warcraft III map project that is based mainly on team play and character focus. The aim of the project is to bring a new style of hero battling other than the usual run, stab and cast spells. Beside the skills and styles the player will have to explore and examine, each character will have it's advantages and disadvantages both team, enemy and environment vise.
In order to win the match, a team has to score a number of kills together. Similar to a "Team Deathmatch". In the future, different modes are in plan to be implemented.
What's the Current Stage?
Terrain : 90%
Triggers : 5%
Object Editor : 40%
Story : 80%
Heroes : 20%
Items : 15%
Overall Status : 40%
A Quick Rundown of Features:
- Health Bar above head is disabled, minimap icon display, as well as drag selection - The Characters will be able to use the environments to hide without the need of additional hiding skills that make a character invisible. Just by standing into a proper angle, the player will be able to disguise and dissolve into it's surroundings. The Terrain quality and style will accompany this feature.
- Items vs Skills - There will be a large focus on the actual items the characters will carry/use overall the game. It's important to note that heroes will have different inventory capacities (exp. A Swift Butterfly Styled hero will be fast and agile, therefore he will not be able to carry the amount of items as others, while a character of the White Tiger will be strong and have lots of free slots; but his speed will be significantly reduced: But again, speed will be a major issue all over the battle). Beside the fact of different inventory slot count, items will take a major role in the game. Items such are poison darts, snares for disabling, shurinkens for causing bleeding damage or various traps are part of the vast arsenal of tools the player will have access to.
- Hero Abilities - Each hero will have a set of abilities already granted that they will level up as by the standard Warcraft III leveling mechanics provide, however the characters will be limited down to often 2+1 ability per hero (as for the starting skills). These specific skills are granted when selecting the hero, according to it's style. However, once the characters reach a certain level, they will be able to select two more additional skills (from which at least 1 has to be a passive characteristic) according to the Dragon Syle they choose to follow. Later on, these new skills level along the lines of the standard leveling mechanics.
- Terrain - As noted before, the terrain and the environment will take a major role in the actual game-play. Higher grounds grant significant power against those below, or trees or bushes grant important concealment. Beside the features of hiding and advantages & disadvantages of the terrain, the environments will be also quite open for the players to explore, setup small camps or patrol routes.
- Balance - Another important thing to note, would be the fact that there will be no real opportunities for a character to boost himself up to a level where he'll get to be almost invincible. This is a major feature that will amplify team-play in a great deal.
- Custom UI, Icons and Custom Art Style - As you can see in the screen shots, we use the Pandaren UI as it really fits our style (which might change in the future to something similar, and also use an icon style which will follow for any other icon in-game: The icons will look like hand drawn images with ink on canvas in a martial art style, mostly with symbols and some style fitting letters.
- And Many More - Attacking from behind always grants bonus damage. Who does the first hit - grants a bonus if it's done from an ambush. Speed is a major feature, so is the ability to blink. Items will be the major skills, mostly items that are charged and are used to negate an encounter or improve allied statistics.
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Screenshots
~click on the thumbnails for full view~
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Credits
Credits go to any resource used in the map such are models, skins or UI art, and will be noted accordingly within the Quest Log menu of the map, but as well at the end of the match too.
Recruitment
I am looking for a good triggerer who thinks he can work with MUI spells in GUI, JASS or vJASS. Any of these can come, if the spells are done well. Contact me for more details.
