The Dead Crucible V1.02 (DoGMelee)

[Darkfang]

When you get 100 War Points you get 1 extra shipment point, :v

 

[TheLightbringer]

I love it, dat IA.

 

[Rheiko]

Quick Review by: Rheiko The Terrain - It is quite decent, I must say. Nothing much to criticize on this one. Though, adding some more doodads would probably make it look even better. The Gameplay - I personally like the feature you made that allows player to pick race in-game. Because that way, I can understand the pros for each race. The Government System is also useful for it can give the player a little advantage by choosing their preferably playstyle. Though the AI is very hard to be taken down (especially the undead one), It is still a fun game to play and worth the time. Bugs & Issues - I experienced a huge lag spike whenever a battle occurs. Other than that, it isn't a very big deal. But it is still a little laggy even if the situation is pretty quiet and no battle occurs. Titanic Forces didn't work for me and I didn't understand why, I was using Human forces (Xenocracy) and by training Titanic Forces, some Stone Golems should be summoned. But when it finished training, there isn't any of them. Suggestions - I suggest that you should add some description about your features in the quest log. This will be helpful for the starters to understand the game mechanics easier. Lower the AI difficulty a little if possible and of course if you are okay with that. Because I think it is very hard, I had to restart several times to be able to be on par with the AI.

This is just a quick review, I might give full review when I have tried all the races and faced more situations that I haven't previously faced.

 

[Darkfang]

Quick Review by: Rheiko The Terrain - It is quite decent, I must say. Nothing much to criticize on this one. Though, adding some more doodads would probably make it look even better. The Gameplay - I personally like the feature you made that allows player to pick race in-game. Because that way, I can understand the pros for each race. The Government System is also useful for it can give the player a little advantage by choosing their preferably playstyle. Though the AI is very hard to be taken down (especially the undead one), It is still a fun game to play and worth the time. Bugs & Issues - I experienced a huge lag spike whenever a battle occurs. Other than that, it isn't a very big deal. But it is still a little laggy even if the situation is pretty quiet and no battle occurs. Titanic Forces didn't work for me and I didn't understand why, I was using Human forces (Xenocracy) and by training Titanic Forces, some Stone Golems should be summoned. But when it finished training, there isn't any of them. Suggestions - I suggest that you should add some description about your features in the quest log. This will be helpful for the starters to understand the game mechanics easier. Lower the AI difficulty a little if possible and of course if you are okay with that. Because I think it is very hard, I had to restart several times to be able to be on par with the AI.

This is just a quick review, I might give full review when I have tried all the races and faced more situations that I haven't previously faced.

Thanks, I will add an easy mode for the AI, a Quest Log and fix the Golem Bug.

 

[Rheiko]

You should mention the version of your map so people will know whether they have the newest or not.
Write a changelog for each version as well. Anyway, I would love to test it again when I have time.
Keep it up!

 

[Darkfang]

You should mention the version of your map so people will know whether they have the newest or not.
Write a changelog for each version as well. Anyway, I would love to test it again when I have time.
Keep it up!

Yeah sorry I haven't updated it yet, my conection only works well at night so I will be updating it in an hour or two.
I will after this update xD

 

[Kino]

The criteria for an altered melee map has always been rather vague. Users most often add new races/units but otherwise stick with how the base WC3 game operates. This map on the other hand goes out of the way to reinvent many of the core systems, especially allowing for more customisation within the 4 melee game races.
There are no custom races here, simply a reinvention of the 4 basic races with the option to further customize the way you approach the long term game; be it in terms of base building or units you wish to specialize in.
In doing so, it interestingly solves one of the issues altered melee maps have traditionally faced; that is balancing any custom content against the four base races.

If I were to name my favourite thing about this map, is that it makes the economic element to RTS fun and engaging. Many buildings have been modified to have base management functions such as acting as secondary resource drop offs or healing up units after battle.

The shipment mechanic does allow one to speed a lot of the early game humdrum usually associated with the RTS genre; such as building up the first combat ready force. Though on the other hand, it also enables some pretty awful rush strats.
I also liked how each hero grants a specific bonus to its corresponding race, hence making hero choice also a choice toward what units to specialise in further.

That said, one rather odd feature was how you can lose certain tech requirements by upgrading your item shop building. For example, when an Ancient of Wonders upgrades to a shipment building, you lose access to the tech unlocked by the Ancient of Wonders.
While it does make strictly logical sense, it is also very bizarre to upgrade a building and then lose on tech.

If I were to gripe on anything, it would how I think some of the features might be a tad too complex for the game type (ie. Altered melee). I mean this both in terms of ability calculations/functions as well as some of the shipment options; for example you can customise into serious detail the ghoul/acolyte ratio a worker shipment brings.
On one hand I like how almost everything is featured, on the other hand it might be excessive.
But hey it’s your map, I can’t tell how to dev it.

Lastly, I am also a sucker for well formatted tooltips, and this map has those in droves. Absolutely love how upgrades have their affected units highlighted and displayed separate from the rest of the tooltip, actually listing the stat bonuses was nice as well.

Minor Gripes
- Would be nice if there was a message to indicate when a shipment completes
- The current indicator for Elite units is a rather minimal glow, would be nice if there was a passive ability that indicates that a unit is an elite.
- Would be nice if the map file had the version number on it.

TLDR Version
- Altered melee with a focus on economy/government systems
- Excellent presentation
- AI fully featured
~ Map Approved

 

[Darkfang]

The criteria for an altered melee map has always been rather vague. Users most often add new races/units but otherwise stick with how the base WC3 game operates. This map on the other hand goes out of the way to reinvent many of the core systems, especially allowing for more customisation within the 4 melee game races.

If I were to name my favourite thing about this map, is that it makes the economic element to RTS fun and engaging. Many buildings have been modified to have base management functions such as acting as secondary resource drop offs or healing up units after battle.

The shipment mechanic does allow one to speed a lot of the early game humdrum usually associated with the RTS genre; such as building up the first combat ready force. Though on the other hand, it also enables some pretty awful rush strats.
I also liked how each hero grants a specific bonus to its corresponding race, hence making hero choice also a choice toward what units to specialise in further.

That said, one rather odd feature was how you can lose certain tech requirements by upgrading your item shop building. For example, when an Ancient of Wonders upgrades to a shipment building, you lose access to the tech unlocked by the Ancient of Wonders.
While it does make strictly logical sense, it is also very bizarre to upgrade a building and then lose on tech.

If I were to gripe on anything, it would how I think some of the features might be a tad too complex for the game type (ie. Altered melee). I mean this both in terms of ability calculations/functions as well as some of the shipment options; for example you can customise into serious detail the ghoul/acolyte ratio a worker shipment brings.
On one hand I like how almost everything is featured, on the other hand it might be excessive.
But hey it’s your map, I can’t tell how to dev it.

Lastly, I am also a sucker for well formatted tooltips, and this map has those in droves. Absolutely love how upgrades have their affected units highlighted and displayed separate from the rest of the tooltip, actually listing the stat bonuses was nice as well.

Errors
- Sacrificial pit has an ability with no icon/tooltip
- The Blighted Ground ability on the Scourge Town Hall has an incomplete tooltip, its cut-off halfway.
- The Destroyer form upgrade doesn’t actually unlock the associated ability.

Minor Gripes
- Would be nice if there was a message to indicate when a shipment completes
- The current indicator for Elite units is a rather minimal glow, would be nice if there was a passive ability that indicates that a unit is an elite.


TLDR Version
- Altered melee with a focus on economy/government systems
- Excellent presentation
- AI fully featured

Errors withstanding, this map can easily be approved.

~ Reviewed, Kino

Hey! Thanks for the review, glad you liked the map, I am gonna fix the errors and going to add the equivalencies for racial shop buildings. I didn't add a passive to indicate that a unit has glow because it could make a mess over some units ability kits, I wanted to create like a "ring" glow for Elite units but it wasn't possible, so I had to go with the minimal glow. I am also going to add new races as well.

 

[Kino]

Map approved.

 

[Emm-A-]

Man, I really liked your map from the beginning, unfortunately, when I play against several AI enemies, there is an incredible lag occuring after 20 mins. It is really unplayable, which is a shame, because otherwise the game would be great no doubt..

 

[Darkfang]

Man, I really liked your map from the beginning, unfortunately, when I play against several AI enemies, there is an incredible lag occuring after 20 mins. It is really unplayable, which is a shame, because otherwise the game would be great no doubt..

Oh, sorry, I will try to fix that, it is kinda weird I thought I had fixed the lag problems.

 

[Emm-A-]

Oh, sorry, I will try to fix that, it is kinda weird I thought I had fixed the lag problems.

sry might be just me .. It happened 3 times out of 3 times, I tried to play, always around 20 mins ... Thats why I thought I should post it.

 

[Darkfang]

sry might be just me .. It happened 3 times out of 3 times, I tried to play, always around 20 mins ... Thats why I thought I should post it.

was there any point in common in the 3 games? like a repeated hero? unit or race or something? besides the 20 min mark.

 

[Emm-A-]

Now that you ask, in 2 cases I remember that I was clicking on the elite upgrade as human, but now I cant reproduce it anymore, sry ...
Actually played a lag-free game, until some critical error shut down the game when my hero (palladin) got killed, but it was really awesome. Such a great melee game!

 

[Darkfang]

Now that you ask, in 2 cases I remember that I was clicking on the elite upgrade as human, but now I cant reproduce it anymore, sry ...
Actually played a lag-free game, until some critical error shut down the game when my hero (palladin) got killed, but it was really awesome. Such a great melee game!

Thanks, I will check the Elite Upgrade triggers, and check the Paladin triggers!

-I already checked all of the other timed trigger events again anyways-

 

[A]mun]

Also: The more ai the more lag.

A full game became unplayable after 10 minutes already.

 

[Darkfang]

Also: The more ai the more lag.

A full game became unplayable after 10 minutes already.

Ok, sorry for that, I seriusly gotta check the AI triggers once again.

 

[Emm-A-]

aaaaah yep thats it. After I saw that post, I retried and found the thing. It is indeed the AI. Last time I tested, I was lazy and did not fill in as much players, but before I played against almost full house.

sry to report annoying stuff, your map is really well made, Darkfang. I hope you are able to improve it in this case
Also, the good news is, that there is no lag against 1 enemy