- Joined
- Jan 17, 2008
- Messages
- 65
Map name: The Glory Age of Undan [Premiere]
Name of the creator: JediOfTheShire::aka::GloryBlade
Current stage of the map: Early Alpha
Progress: Currently i have finished all of the major trigger-intensive systems required for my game. The first race is in the middle of construction, and after its completion i will give my map a basic terraining job. Ideally i will not have to get outside help to complete it, but a terrainer (and i mean an amazing terrainer) may end up being a necessity, but, as the availability of such skilled workers is probably low, i will be attempting the work myself for now.
Edits on existing data/descriptions will be colored magenta so it's easy to find what has recently changed. I will revert all magenta text to the standard color when there seems to be too much magenta.
Adressing the Spelling/Grammar Problem: I know I can't stand reading something that has grammatical and spelling errors that make sentences confusing or completely incomprehensible. If you find any serious grammar or spelling errors please feel free to PM them to me. I would greatly appreciate any help in keeping this as neat as possible both for ease of reading and because this will end up being the 'manual' for my game once it is complete! Thank you, and happy reading!
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Map features (etc.):
Summary of the map gameplay/objectives: A reconstruction of WC3 as an RTS. I'll adress gameplay changes below (there's a lot of them). I'm basically trying to create a new game through the WC3 engine. It's ambitious, i know, but i think it'll be worth it in the end- especially if people like it.
Story Behind the Mapmaking: I've started this map a few times in the last couple years, each time starting over from scratch and getting a tiny bit done before abrubtly stopping. I'm suddenly blessed with an excess of time, so i've decided to create my map- and this time i'm not stopping until it's finished. My social skills will suffer- but hopefully what I set out to accomplish will be what I want it to be.
I want to create a new RTS with the WC3 engine. With so much versatility provided by the Map Editor that came with the game i feel that i have the necessary tools to make my dream become a reality. This RTS will be totally unprotected so that good map-makers will be inspired and take my map and just re-design the terrain so that people can play the game on many different maps. The entire system, which includes standard unit veteran status, a randomized weather cycle with 15 variant weather conditions, and a refitting of the weapon/defense types promises to be totally compatible with any terrain reconstruction that might take place.
I understand that the success of my map (or new game?) will hinge hugely on the whim of the WC3 community. It seems to me that the community base for WC3 is primarily under the ages of 16, which is discouraging because i do not intend for my map to be excessively simple- and i wonder whether the younger ones will be able to grasp my game, or if they will dismiss it as "something stupid." My perception of the WC3 community could, however, be incorrect, and i may be misjudging the < 16-ers so we'll see.
I suppose it's rather assumptive <--(i might be making up words here, but just go with it) of me to think that i can change BNet, all i can really hope for is that my map will be a success.
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Heroes: Heroes have been drastically changed in my game. They no longer gain experience from combat, but through the use of their abilites and items, and through taking part in combat. Not all of the xp triggers are in place yet (because i'm unsure of exactly how all of my hero types are going to work) but this is what i've got so far.
Strength---------> Valor: adds 250 to hp
Valor is a more general term that implies great skill in combat instead of just being strong. A bull of a man with an amazing-quality sword could easily be taken out by a skilled swordsman with a rusty knife if the swordsman's skill outweighed the big mans combination of strength and skill. This stat is simply balancing the both. Since HP now represents a units ability to fight, even the skilled swordsman would have more HP because he would be able to block more attacks than the normal man, just as the beastly warrior could take more hits.
Agility-----------> Tactical Mind: adds 10% to attack speed and 1 to armor
Tactical mind makes more sense to me because agility is a very narrowly defining word for adding attack speed and armor. A soldier with a keen tactical mind would know the right point in an opponents swing to strike, and when the left flank should push, and when it should reinforce the right flank. A tactical mind makes helps a soldier react quickly (the +10% in attack speed) and helps him know which soldiers will prove to be easier marks (the +1 in defense represents his ability to be knowledgeable about his own survival on the battlefield)
Intelligence------> Ingenuity: adds 250 to mana pool
For those on the battlefield, but also for those off of the battlefield, ingenuity can be very important. Ingenuity represents the ability of an individual to think outside the box, to be creative, and the depth to which they can be cunning. Intelligence is very confining, i've known plenty of brilliant people that can't wrap their minds around any idea that isn't based in science and mathematics, and so i think that a wizard would be helped more by ingenuity than intelligence, because the clever wizards are the ones that create new spells, find new ways to use them, and- ultimately -can cast more because the mind has limits- we can all remember many spells, but to be able to cast many spells you have to have a kind of knowledge that is beyond simply knowing and understanding facts.
Stat gains for heroes: Heroes will gain stats EXTREMELY slowly- seeing as a single stat gives such large bonuses. But this will also make finding a +1 valor item actually worthwhile.
Officers: Begin as a simple soldier and work their way up the ranks of hero-hood. They are identicle, at level one, to the units that they are based off of, except with the bonuses of having 1 stat of each type
Master Builders: Your most powerful builders will be hero-builders that gain XP by constructing buildings and repairing damaged structures.
Merchants: Much like builders, except that they will run trade routes with the Neutral villages for xp. (Neutral villages act like gold mines, item shops, and mercenary recruitment centers, each with their own unique units)
Political Heroes: The implementation of these heroes would undoubtedly help economies- and potentially the military, but i'm not sure exactly how i'm going to work this hero type yet, or if i even will.
-Races: My races are very loosely based on the standard WC3 races. It is one of my intentions to later implement a version of the game that has a system of triggers that allows players to choose their race pre-game. But as for now that would disrupt the lore of the game so i will not implement it yet, although for the sake of playability and appeal it seems that i may need to put this system in because i know that i HATE the many join-and-upgrade-one-of-your-castles-while-you-get-automatically-spawned-units-to-fight-with-at-three-places games, and i don't want my game to seem like that on the surface, i feel that it would drive people away.
Humans - "Kingtruce Alliance" : In the name of their respective kings, the two 'human' players are allied (as are their rulers) and expand through building colonies and professional armies. This is the first race that will be completed. Preliminary balancing will begin with the completion of the Humans.
Orcs - "Battalions of Legend" : The two clans consist of all manner of orc, goblin, and ogre. The more beast-like races of the land come together to bring brutal control to the lands they once held domain over. When the gods brought the younger races to the land these ancient dominators were pushed back by the powerful metal weapons that the gods taught elves and men to forge. Now, after mastering the art of metallurgy themselves, the ancient armies of violence are ready to reassert themselves as the rulers of Undan.
Night Elf - "Forest Protectorate" : As protectors of the forest these two players share complete unit control forcing them to work together to return the land to its former natural glory.
Undead - "Legion of Undeath" : when the demons left the world they took their burning armies and left behind the rotted remains of the undead that they raised in servitude to build their fortresses. The undead have returned to their graveyards and now dream of grandeur. To expand their reach to the lands of the living they have begun to erect massive flying fortresses in the style of their former overlords to carry them from their secluded isle of death. They construct graveyards as bases of operation to swiftly grow their landed forces.
Combat Mechanics Changes:
All attack/defense types have been changed [Look for the table at the end of this post, i will add it there later when i have a ton of time to waste being tedious] And to get rid of the look-i-can-reduce-this-castle-to-rubble-by-shooting-it-with-arrows-or-hitting-it-with-my-sword-enough-times phenomena all units except seige units cannot even attack buildings. All buildings will also have a once-a-day spell that will summon militia (whose armament and number is determined by the tier of their town hall (there's 9 tiers of town halls, a Small/Medium/Large colony, then a city, and finally a castle))
All units have a crit/block chance, the % chance is the same for both and is determined by their level of training (it's pre-determined and based off of their tier level (loosely, it's really determined by how skilled those kinds of soldiers would be in real life)
the crit multiplies their damage by 100. All weapons have different damages, like this:
Swords: (1-Hand: 1-5) (2-Hand: 2-10) (Heavy: +4 damage)
Spears: (1-Hand: 3-6) (2-Hand: 6-12) (Heavy: +3 damage)
etc.
every attack represents a swing, and HP represents a units ability to fight. Every swing takes a toll on their ability to fight because they have to move out of the way, or block it (represented by the damage the unit takes on a non-crit) and when they actually get hit/stabbed/cut they take meaningful damage (for a 1-Handed Sword they'd take 100-500 damage) representing different degrees of the severity of wounds, a minor cut would be 100 while a vicious gash could be 400 or 500.
Melee Skill Table: These are the six different skill levels and their % chances to block/crit. These melee skills will only apply to the humans for right now, but may (for balancing purposes) apply to every race in the end. I'm currently considering changes for each race like 'Orcs: -1% to hit/level and +25 multiplier' or vice-versa for the elves. But this is the human table as of right now:
(Crit/Block % chance is the same)
0 - Untrained - 2.5%
1 - Basics - 5%
2 - Trained - 8%
3 - Well-Trained - 12%
4 - Semi-Professional - 18%
5 - Professional - 20%
6 - Masterful - 25%
As you can see the success of your units in combat will be won through superior training. If you think of similarly equipped militia and professional soldiers their stats would BOTH look like this:
HP: 1000
Armor: Heavy* (1)
Attack: Normal* (1-6)
Attack Speed: 1.0
But the professionals would strike wounding blows (for an average damage of 300) four times as frequently, and basically tear through the militia- that makes a lot of sense realisticly.
Arrows have a 1% chance to instantly kill, while usually dealing 100-400 damage on a hit. All arrow units use the same skill set, which is identical to the human melee table (but of the ranged variation obviously) with the percentages changed to reflect on the lethality of an archer against an opponent at a distance, and the difficulty to avoid a well-aimed arrow (many units are often without shields). The change is percentages go from skill levels 0-6 respectively (2.5% / 5% / 15% / 25% / 40% / 50% / 75%)
Important Note: Heroes recieve no special skill-boost. If you have an officer at level 1 then he is only as good as the unit he is based off of, with the bonuses of 1 stat point in each stat. Only through leveling (the gaining of experience) can a hero actually gain combat skills that will be greater than his peers.)
All units are slowed (for a few seconds) when attacked in melee, representing their need to move slowly to still be able to fend off blows.
All units are hastened (for 5 seconds) when they attack another unit, representing the adrenaline of battle. This helps their ability to chase down fleeing units and to maneuver in combat effectively.
Walking units move at a speed of 50 (normal WC3 footman movespeed is 270) so armies cannot sweep across the map too quickly. In a lot of the real WC3 games i've played if the enemy kills your attacking army you can't rebuild enough to defend yourself before they get all the way to your main base, even if you have 2000 gold and 1500 lumber. I've never been too happy with "rushing" and the cut in movespeed will cut down on both rushing and the ability to "tactically withdwraw" your army across the ENTIRE map to your main base while having my army chase you the entire way and never get a hit.
The haste when a unit attacks will (as i mentioned before) let them maneuver more quickly in combat (it's a 100% haste) so you don't have a soldier moving around a friend to attack the same unit taking too long and having the friend take 3 hits while he's slowly marching around him. The slow rate for being hit in melee is 50% so the combat haste and slow negate each other. The slow lasts for a very short amount of time though, it's usually 1 second more than the attack delay on the attackers weapon (more for heavier weapons) it is mainly to keep units from retreating, as afore mentioned, all the way across the map.
The big picture about all of this combat slowing and hasting is that i want to bring realism to my game like you've never seen it in WC3. I want players to commit their forces to a battle and let them die when things start looking bad. Anyone can have a good run of crits and win a battle, or lose the same battle if they have a drought of them! A lot in medieval battles was left up to how well your soldiers fought that day, and my overhauled combat system will help that i think.
A set of mage combat skills has been created. Mages fuction exactly as archers do except that they hit 10% more often at every tier of training because the nature of their ranged attack is much closer to point-and-shoot and would require much less skill to perform just as well.
I have also edited all combat skills (melee/ranged/mage) to include multiple levels of proficiency. It's hard to explain, but i'll do my best. Basically you have the 7 skill levels as separate abilities. What i've done is altered each ability so it can be trained UP to the more proficient levels of expertise. This will allow even an untrained soldier to (through intense training that will cost quite a bit of both time and money (maybe just money, time is difficult to work with)) eventually become a master of fighting. I'm working on the assumption that every man can become a master of his art. Because of the way abilities default a soldier can never become UNtrained to a lower skill level than he started, although i do intend to have certain circumstances where a soldier may lose the benefits of his training. (but i may take the "UNtraining" out, i really don't know yet)
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Weather (Briefly): Weather will be simple from unaffecting rain and fog, to global winds that reduce arrow damage by a certain percent depending on the feriocity of the storms (25%/50%/75%) and ice that chills and slows units down. There is also a "plague" weather, and occasionally the Moon Goddess will come during the night and bless every unit on the map with permenant magic damage reduciton.
Roads (Briefly): Two kinds of roads exist, and they are different sizes as well.
1. Highways: Very wide: give 150% haste to units on them, fairly expensive
2. Roads: Rather narrow: give 125% haste to units on them, fairly cheap
The exciting thing for me about the roads has been that i figured out a trigger that will change the terrain so your roads really do look like dirt roads!
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Update One:
More i've remembered since the first post
Battle Plans: Every unit has a 1/1000 chance to drop the battle plans for his army (heroes have a much increased chance, something like 1/50 or 1/100). The "Battle Plans" item can be destroyed (it has lots of hitpoints though, how can you really destroy a piece of parchment while fighting so that it can't be pieced back together?) and the carrier drops it on death (maybe not?), but when it's used by a hero it reveals all current buildings/units of the player whose unit dropped them and reduces all of their armor by -1 for 5 minutes. This is meant to be a momentous occasion- actually being able to seize the enemy's battle plans! Being able to see an enemy's battle plans is a huge advantage. They wont be able to ambush you, and you will know all of their secrets! If this game does become the staple of BNet that i dream it to be then i want people to listen in awe to the story of "that time when i got their battle plans and totally destroyed them!" That's how epic i want the battle plans to be.
Reconstruction (Repair): I liked the sound of 'reconstruction' better than the sound of 'repair' so i changed it. It's not a big deal, but i've created two new forms of reconstruction to fit with different styles of play. They are as follows
-Efficient Reconstruction: For those economically-minded person who prefer to save as much money as possible while repairing and using multiple workers to build. Efficient reconstruction lets the workers make use of the debris from damaged buildings and the natural building supplies around them to repair a building at no addditional cost (that is, it costs nothing to repair). This complicated, and often labor-intensive, process will usually take twice as long as a normal repair job. When they powerbuild (that's what the editor calls using multiple peasants to build one structure) they contribute much less building speed, but they use so few resources (1%) that they might as well be helping for free.
-Inefficient Reconstruction: For those with money to burn or defenses they need built fast. Inefficient reconstruction lets workers use the supplies meant for other projects to help in their own construction or rebuilding. This incurs a hefty cost since they use all brand new supplies, but this also speeds up the building process quite significantly.
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Update Two:
Introduction of 'Base Camps'
Base Camps Theory: The idea behind base camps has its roots in having two distinct structure types. The first structure type are the normal buildings that you build, so basically every building in normal WC3 games would fall into this category. I made this category unattackable by everything but seige to eliminate the problem most RTS' have with soldiers leveling a castle with nothing but daggers, arrows, and a little time (i've explained that above i believe) But base camps will serve as deployable "in the field" bases. These will be the only 'structures' that units can attack, seeing as an army really could ransack an opposing army's camp. Military units can construct Base Camp structures, but cannot aid in the construction of 'real' buildings because they lack the required skill set.
Base Camp 'Structures':
-Main Tent: This is the only structure aside from your cities (town halls) that can revive heroes, making them key to have close to the enemy if you plan on making many assaults (remember that retreats are very difficult to make effectively, most often they are impossible after you become engaged with the enemy) And main tents also employ engineers to strengthen nearby buildings armor (+10). Main tents cannot be built close enough to each other that their Auras (1000 range) would touch.
-Campfire: Campfires warm the hearts of the weary and provide 5 hp/second regeneration to soldiers within a range of 500. The soldiers that (you can't see them, use your imagination) stoke the fire will also repair the nearby buildings in their free time, giving buildings within 500 range 5hp/second regeneration as well. The campfire also has a large vision radius at night.
-Well: Unlike the fountains of towns, the only water source in the field is water taken from the ground by digging a well. Water refreshes the troops and hydration fortifies and replenishes their minds. Soldiers standing near a well recieve 5 mana/second regeneration.
-Armor Rack: By providing your camp with an armor rack you give nearby soldiers (1000 range) a +2 armor bonus because while stationed at the camp they are allowed to use the high-quality goods crafted in your nation's capital. The improved metal resources also aid in the reinforcement of base camp structures (giving them the +2 armor bonus as well)
-Weapon Rack: Like the armor rack, the weapon rack will keep the base's soldiers equipped with sharp and high-quality weapons. All soldiers near an armor rack (1000 range) recieve a +2 bonus to damage.
-Camp Tower: A very basic, and quite rickety, tower than can be build by military units. This serves as the main defense of a base camp and also as its eyes- especially at night. The tower attacks at a range of 750 and can see 1000 during the day, but only suffers a 20% penalty at night instead of the standard 80% penalty.
-Siege Tent: A massive town-hall-sized tent that takes a long time to build and is quite expensive but, since building siege weapons in the field is a huge convenience, it's worth it.
-Recruitment Officer: Built like a building, but really is a living person, the recruitment officer can construct a few mercenaries. Being a real, yet immobile, unit the recruitment officer can defend himself with a melee attack, but is not allowed to leave his post. Ever.
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Update Three:
Magic System Skeleton:
I would like to begin by saying thank you to those of you that keep up with the updates i make, your input is greatly appreciated. I know that that basically means my two buddies that don't have THW accounts and therefore cannot post. Thanks Shawn and Alex! >< Anyways, it's just good to know that someone keeps checking up on the progress!
Divergant Tech Trees: My decision on how magic will work has come at last! At town center tier 6 (for humans, the equivalent respective tier for other races with a different tier structure) You will be able to construct the first 'caster' building, the Temple of Light (name still in consideration). That building acts as the town hall for the magic tech tree. Building a temple of light will unlock the Arcane Study and Arcane Observatory and make available mages and machines from their respective buildings.
-Temple Of Light: The place of worship for humans, and the training grounds for those who contemplate holy magic and matters of the mind. The units that will be trained here are: Priests, Alchemists, and Mind Warriors (2nd tier only)
-Priests: As men of the cloth priests are sworn to use their magic to preserve and never to harm, and such is the nature of holy magic that
-Alchemists: The first to question the laws of magic and to delve into the unexplored regions of knowledge that will later become the study of students of the arcane, Alchemists brew many kinds of potions that they use to aid and harm warriors on the battlefield.
-Mind Warriors: Naturally skilled at manipulating mystical forces, mind warriors embody both physical and mental perfection. These sagacious warriors can manipulate the blessings and spells cast upon both friends and enemies. (heavily based off of spell-breakers)
-Arcane Study: The Arcane Study is the first place devoted to the study of what priests are calling 'wild magic.' The students of these arts learn to manipulate, and even create, flame, ice, and other elemental forces. [This structure upgrades a number of times. Its final form is a Tower of High Sorcery]
-Arcane Observatory: Used to gaze at the stars and as a laboratory to study the strange objects that occasionally fall from the sky, the Arcane Observatory serves as a hub for the development and construction of impossibly complex steamwork machines.
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Please try to read it all before you judge/give me your opinion.
Thank you for your time!
Attatched Map Updates/Current Notes: The map will NOT be updated every time i update the text- i update the text too often! I will try and post a new version as often as possible. Text explanations of each existing trigger is complete. The new map has been posted!
I know my map isn't anywhere NEAR playable- but everything i've seen says to attatch your map, so i did. And i don't have screenshots because it's all in the testing stages unit-wise and i haven't started on terrain. I had so many of the major systems implemented i just HAD to put it up before it got too big
I'M BAAAAAAAACK!
I'm finally back to working on this thing, although i lost my most recent copy (the one with wall the combat ability work
) but i had sent a friend a relatively recent copy so i haven't lost too much work! I'm almost done with the basic terraining and i'm not sure i'm going to do much more than that, but i've added a snapshot of the map's overhead view. The NW corner and the SE corner are the only parts that still need significant work.
Name of the creator: JediOfTheShire::aka::GloryBlade
Current stage of the map: Early Alpha
Progress: Currently i have finished all of the major trigger-intensive systems required for my game. The first race is in the middle of construction, and after its completion i will give my map a basic terraining job. Ideally i will not have to get outside help to complete it, but a terrainer (and i mean an amazing terrainer) may end up being a necessity, but, as the availability of such skilled workers is probably low, i will be attempting the work myself for now.
Edits on existing data/descriptions will be colored magenta so it's easy to find what has recently changed. I will revert all magenta text to the standard color when there seems to be too much magenta.
Adressing the Spelling/Grammar Problem: I know I can't stand reading something that has grammatical and spelling errors that make sentences confusing or completely incomprehensible. If you find any serious grammar or spelling errors please feel free to PM them to me. I would greatly appreciate any help in keeping this as neat as possible both for ease of reading and because this will end up being the 'manual' for my game once it is complete! Thank you, and happy reading!
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Map features (etc.):
Summary of the map gameplay/objectives: A reconstruction of WC3 as an RTS. I'll adress gameplay changes below (there's a lot of them). I'm basically trying to create a new game through the WC3 engine. It's ambitious, i know, but i think it'll be worth it in the end- especially if people like it.
Story Behind the Mapmaking: I've started this map a few times in the last couple years, each time starting over from scratch and getting a tiny bit done before abrubtly stopping. I'm suddenly blessed with an excess of time, so i've decided to create my map- and this time i'm not stopping until it's finished. My social skills will suffer- but hopefully what I set out to accomplish will be what I want it to be.
I want to create a new RTS with the WC3 engine. With so much versatility provided by the Map Editor that came with the game i feel that i have the necessary tools to make my dream become a reality. This RTS will be totally unprotected so that good map-makers will be inspired and take my map and just re-design the terrain so that people can play the game on many different maps. The entire system, which includes standard unit veteran status, a randomized weather cycle with 15 variant weather conditions, and a refitting of the weapon/defense types promises to be totally compatible with any terrain reconstruction that might take place.
I understand that the success of my map (or new game?) will hinge hugely on the whim of the WC3 community. It seems to me that the community base for WC3 is primarily under the ages of 16, which is discouraging because i do not intend for my map to be excessively simple- and i wonder whether the younger ones will be able to grasp my game, or if they will dismiss it as "something stupid." My perception of the WC3 community could, however, be incorrect, and i may be misjudging the < 16-ers so we'll see.
I suppose it's rather assumptive <--(i might be making up words here, but just go with it
) of me to think that i can change BNet, all i can really hope for is that my map will be a success.--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heroes: Heroes have been drastically changed in my game. They no longer gain experience from combat, but through the use of their abilites and items, and through taking part in combat. Not all of the xp triggers are in place yet (because i'm unsure of exactly how all of my hero types are going to work) but this is what i've got so far.
Strength---------> Valor: adds 250 to hp
Valor is a more general term that implies great skill in combat instead of just being strong. A bull of a man with an amazing-quality sword could easily be taken out by a skilled swordsman with a rusty knife if the swordsman's skill outweighed the big mans combination of strength and skill. This stat is simply balancing the both. Since HP now represents a units ability to fight, even the skilled swordsman would have more HP because he would be able to block more attacks than the normal man, just as the beastly warrior could take more hits.
Agility-----------> Tactical Mind: adds 10% to attack speed and 1 to armor
Tactical mind makes more sense to me because agility is a very narrowly defining word for adding attack speed and armor. A soldier with a keen tactical mind would know the right point in an opponents swing to strike, and when the left flank should push, and when it should reinforce the right flank. A tactical mind makes helps a soldier react quickly (the +10% in attack speed) and helps him know which soldiers will prove to be easier marks (the +1 in defense represents his ability to be knowledgeable about his own survival on the battlefield)
Intelligence------> Ingenuity: adds 250 to mana pool
For those on the battlefield, but also for those off of the battlefield, ingenuity can be very important. Ingenuity represents the ability of an individual to think outside the box, to be creative, and the depth to which they can be cunning. Intelligence is very confining, i've known plenty of brilliant people that can't wrap their minds around any idea that isn't based in science and mathematics, and so i think that a wizard would be helped more by ingenuity than intelligence, because the clever wizards are the ones that create new spells, find new ways to use them, and- ultimately -can cast more because the mind has limits- we can all remember many spells, but to be able to cast many spells you have to have a kind of knowledge that is beyond simply knowing and understanding facts.
Stat gains for heroes: Heroes will gain stats EXTREMELY slowly- seeing as a single stat gives such large bonuses. But this will also make finding a +1 valor item actually worthwhile.
Officers: Begin as a simple soldier and work their way up the ranks of hero-hood. They are identicle, at level one, to the units that they are based off of, except with the bonuses of having 1 stat of each type
Master Builders: Your most powerful builders will be hero-builders that gain XP by constructing buildings and repairing damaged structures.
Merchants: Much like builders, except that they will run trade routes with the Neutral villages for xp. (Neutral villages act like gold mines, item shops, and mercenary recruitment centers, each with their own unique units)
Political Heroes: The implementation of these heroes would undoubtedly help economies- and potentially the military, but i'm not sure exactly how i'm going to work this hero type yet, or if i even will.
-Races: My races are very loosely based on the standard WC3 races. It is one of my intentions to later implement a version of the game that has a system of triggers that allows players to choose their race pre-game. But as for now that would disrupt the lore of the game so i will not implement it yet, although for the sake of playability and appeal it seems that i may need to put this system in because i know that i HATE the many join-and-upgrade-one-of-your-castles-while-you-get-automatically-spawned-units-to-fight-with-at-three-places games, and i don't want my game to seem like that on the surface, i feel that it would drive people away.
Humans - "Kingtruce Alliance" : In the name of their respective kings, the two 'human' players are allied (as are their rulers) and expand through building colonies and professional armies. This is the first race that will be completed. Preliminary balancing will begin with the completion of the Humans.
Orcs - "Battalions of Legend" : The two clans consist of all manner of orc, goblin, and ogre. The more beast-like races of the land come together to bring brutal control to the lands they once held domain over. When the gods brought the younger races to the land these ancient dominators were pushed back by the powerful metal weapons that the gods taught elves and men to forge. Now, after mastering the art of metallurgy themselves, the ancient armies of violence are ready to reassert themselves as the rulers of Undan.
Night Elf - "Forest Protectorate" : As protectors of the forest these two players share complete unit control forcing them to work together to return the land to its former natural glory.
Undead - "Legion of Undeath" : when the demons left the world they took their burning armies and left behind the rotted remains of the undead that they raised in servitude to build their fortresses. The undead have returned to their graveyards and now dream of grandeur. To expand their reach to the lands of the living they have begun to erect massive flying fortresses in the style of their former overlords to carry them from their secluded isle of death. They construct graveyards as bases of operation to swiftly grow their landed forces.
Combat Mechanics Changes:
All attack/defense types have been changed [Look for the table at the end of this post, i will add it there later when i have a ton of time to waste being tedious
] And to get rid of the look-i-can-reduce-this-castle-to-rubble-by-shooting-it-with-arrows-or-hitting-it-with-my-sword-enough-times phenomena all units except seige units cannot even attack buildings. All buildings will also have a once-a-day spell that will summon militia (whose armament and number is determined by the tier of their town hall (there's 9 tiers of town halls, a Small/Medium/Large colony, then a city, and finally a castle))All units have a crit/block chance, the % chance is the same for both and is determined by their level of training (it's pre-determined and based off of their tier level (loosely, it's really determined by how skilled those kinds of soldiers would be in real life)
the crit multiplies their damage by 100. All weapons have different damages, like this:
Swords: (1-Hand: 1-5) (2-Hand: 2-10) (Heavy: +4 damage)
Spears: (1-Hand: 3-6) (2-Hand: 6-12) (Heavy: +3 damage)
etc.
every attack represents a swing, and HP represents a units ability to fight. Every swing takes a toll on their ability to fight because they have to move out of the way, or block it (represented by the damage the unit takes on a non-crit) and when they actually get hit/stabbed/cut they take meaningful damage (for a 1-Handed Sword they'd take 100-500 damage) representing different degrees of the severity of wounds, a minor cut would be 100 while a vicious gash could be 400 or 500.
Melee Skill Table: These are the six different skill levels and their % chances to block/crit. These melee skills will only apply to the humans for right now, but may (for balancing purposes) apply to every race in the end. I'm currently considering changes for each race like 'Orcs: -1% to hit/level and +25 multiplier' or vice-versa for the elves. But this is the human table as of right now:
(Crit/Block % chance is the same)
0 - Untrained - 2.5%
1 - Basics - 5%
2 - Trained - 8%
3 - Well-Trained - 12%
4 - Semi-Professional - 18%
5 - Professional - 20%
6 - Masterful - 25%
As you can see the success of your units in combat will be won through superior training. If you think of similarly equipped militia and professional soldiers their stats would BOTH look like this:
HP: 1000
Armor: Heavy* (1)
Attack: Normal* (1-6)
Attack Speed: 1.0
But the professionals would strike wounding blows (for an average damage of 300) four times as frequently, and basically tear through the militia- that makes a lot of sense realisticly.
Arrows have a 1% chance to instantly kill, while usually dealing 100-400 damage on a hit. All arrow units use the same skill set, which is identical to the human melee table (but of the ranged variation obviously) with the percentages changed to reflect on the lethality of an archer against an opponent at a distance, and the difficulty to avoid a well-aimed arrow (many units are often without shields). The change is percentages go from skill levels 0-6 respectively (2.5% / 5% / 15% / 25% / 40% / 50% / 75%)
Important Note: Heroes recieve no special skill-boost. If you have an officer at level 1 then he is only as good as the unit he is based off of, with the bonuses of 1 stat point in each stat. Only through leveling (the gaining of experience) can a hero actually gain combat skills that will be greater than his peers.)
All units are slowed (for a few seconds) when attacked in melee, representing their need to move slowly to still be able to fend off blows.
All units are hastened (for 5 seconds) when they attack another unit, representing the adrenaline of battle. This helps their ability to chase down fleeing units and to maneuver in combat effectively.
Walking units move at a speed of 50 (normal WC3 footman movespeed is 270) so armies cannot sweep across the map too quickly. In a lot of the real WC3 games i've played if the enemy kills your attacking army you can't rebuild enough to defend yourself before they get all the way to your main base, even if you have 2000 gold and 1500 lumber. I've never been too happy with "rushing" and the cut in movespeed will cut down on both rushing and the ability to "tactically withdwraw" your army across the ENTIRE map to your main base while having my army chase you the entire way and never get a hit.
The haste when a unit attacks will (as i mentioned before) let them maneuver more quickly in combat (it's a 100% haste) so you don't have a soldier moving around a friend to attack the same unit taking too long and having the friend take 3 hits while he's slowly marching around him. The slow rate for being hit in melee is 50% so the combat haste and slow negate each other. The slow lasts for a very short amount of time though, it's usually 1 second more than the attack delay on the attackers weapon (more for heavier weapons) it is mainly to keep units from retreating, as afore mentioned, all the way across the map.
The big picture about all of this combat slowing and hasting is that i want to bring realism to my game like you've never seen it in WC3. I want players to commit their forces to a battle and let them die when things start looking bad. Anyone can have a good run of crits and win a battle, or lose the same battle if they have a drought of them! A lot in medieval battles was left up to how well your soldiers fought that day, and my overhauled combat system will help that i think.
A set of mage combat skills has been created. Mages fuction exactly as archers do except that they hit 10% more often at every tier of training because the nature of their ranged attack is much closer to point-and-shoot and would require much less skill to perform just as well.
I have also edited all combat skills (melee/ranged/mage) to include multiple levels of proficiency. It's hard to explain, but i'll do my best. Basically you have the 7 skill levels as separate abilities. What i've done is altered each ability so it can be trained UP to the more proficient levels of expertise. This will allow even an untrained soldier to (through intense training that will cost quite a bit of both time and money (maybe just money, time is difficult to work with)) eventually become a master of fighting. I'm working on the assumption that every man can become a master of his art. Because of the way abilities default a soldier can never become UNtrained to a lower skill level than he started, although i do intend to have certain circumstances where a soldier may lose the benefits of his training. (but i may take the "UNtraining" out, i really don't know yet)
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Weather (Briefly): Weather will be simple from unaffecting rain and fog, to global winds that reduce arrow damage by a certain percent depending on the feriocity of the storms (25%/50%/75%) and ice that chills and slows units down. There is also a "plague" weather, and occasionally the Moon Goddess will come during the night and bless every unit on the map with permenant magic damage reduciton.
Roads (Briefly): Two kinds of roads exist, and they are different sizes as well.
1. Highways: Very wide: give 150% haste to units on them, fairly expensive
2. Roads: Rather narrow: give 125% haste to units on them, fairly cheap
The exciting thing for me about the roads has been that i figured out a trigger that will change the terrain so your roads really do look like dirt roads!
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Update One:
More i've remembered since the first post
Battle Plans: Every unit has a 1/1000 chance to drop the battle plans for his army (heroes have a much increased chance, something like 1/50 or 1/100). The "Battle Plans" item can be destroyed (it has lots of hitpoints though, how can you really destroy a piece of parchment while fighting so that it can't be pieced back together?
) and the carrier drops it on death (maybe not?), but when it's used by a hero it reveals all current buildings/units of the player whose unit dropped them and reduces all of their armor by -1 for 5 minutes. This is meant to be a momentous occasion- actually being able to seize the enemy's battle plans! Being able to see an enemy's battle plans is a huge advantage. They wont be able to ambush you, and you will know all of their secrets! If this game does become the staple of BNet that i dream it to be then i want people to listen in awe to the story of "that time when i got their battle plans and totally destroyed them!" That's how epic i want the battle plans to be.Reconstruction (Repair): I liked the sound of 'reconstruction' better than the sound of 'repair' so i changed it. It's not a big deal, but i've created two new forms of reconstruction to fit with different styles of play. They are as follows
-Efficient Reconstruction: For those economically-minded person who prefer to save as much money as possible while repairing and using multiple workers to build. Efficient reconstruction lets the workers make use of the debris from damaged buildings and the natural building supplies around them to repair a building at no addditional cost (that is, it costs nothing to repair). This complicated, and often labor-intensive, process will usually take twice as long as a normal repair job. When they powerbuild (that's what the editor calls using multiple peasants to build one structure) they contribute much less building speed, but they use so few resources (1%) that they might as well be helping for free.
-Inefficient Reconstruction: For those with money to burn or defenses they need built fast. Inefficient reconstruction lets workers use the supplies meant for other projects to help in their own construction or rebuilding. This incurs a hefty cost since they use all brand new supplies, but this also speeds up the building process quite significantly.
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Update Two:
Introduction of 'Base Camps'
Base Camps Theory: The idea behind base camps has its roots in having two distinct structure types. The first structure type are the normal buildings that you build, so basically every building in normal WC3 games would fall into this category. I made this category unattackable by everything but seige to eliminate the problem most RTS' have with soldiers leveling a castle with nothing but daggers, arrows, and a little time
(i've explained that above i believe) But base camps will serve as deployable "in the field" bases. These will be the only 'structures' that units can attack, seeing as an army really could ransack an opposing army's camp. Military units can construct Base Camp structures, but cannot aid in the construction of 'real' buildings because they lack the required skill set.Base Camp 'Structures':
-Main Tent: This is the only structure aside from your cities (town halls) that can revive heroes, making them key to have close to the enemy if you plan on making many assaults (remember that retreats are very difficult to make effectively, most often they are impossible after you become engaged with the enemy) And main tents also employ engineers to strengthen nearby buildings armor (+10). Main tents cannot be built close enough to each other that their Auras (1000 range) would touch.
-Campfire: Campfires warm the hearts of the weary and provide 5 hp/second regeneration to soldiers within a range of 500. The soldiers that (you can't see them, use your imagination
) stoke the fire will also repair the nearby buildings in their free time, giving buildings within 500 range 5hp/second regeneration as well. The campfire also has a large vision radius at night.-Well: Unlike the fountains of towns, the only water source in the field is water taken from the ground by digging a well. Water refreshes the troops and hydration fortifies and replenishes their minds. Soldiers standing near a well recieve 5 mana/second regeneration.
-Armor Rack: By providing your camp with an armor rack you give nearby soldiers (1000 range) a +2 armor bonus because while stationed at the camp they are allowed to use the high-quality goods crafted in your nation's capital. The improved metal resources also aid in the reinforcement of base camp structures (giving them the +2 armor bonus as well)
-Weapon Rack: Like the armor rack, the weapon rack will keep the base's soldiers equipped with sharp and high-quality weapons. All soldiers near an armor rack (1000 range) recieve a +2 bonus to damage.
-Camp Tower: A very basic, and quite rickety, tower than can be build by military units. This serves as the main defense of a base camp and also as its eyes- especially at night. The tower attacks at a range of 750 and can see 1000 during the day, but only suffers a 20% penalty at night instead of the standard 80% penalty.
-Siege Tent: A massive town-hall-sized tent that takes a long time to build and is quite expensive but, since building siege weapons in the field is a huge convenience, it's worth it.
-Recruitment Officer: Built like a building, but really is a living person, the recruitment officer can construct a few mercenaries. Being a real, yet immobile, unit the recruitment officer can defend himself with a melee attack, but is not allowed to leave his post. Ever.
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Update Three:
Magic System Skeleton:
I would like to begin by saying thank you to those of you that keep up with the updates i make, your input is greatly appreciated. I know that that basically means my two buddies that don't have THW accounts and therefore cannot post. Thanks Shawn and Alex! >< Anyways, it's just good to know that someone keeps checking up on the progress!
Divergant Tech Trees: My decision on how magic will work has come at last! At town center tier 6 (for humans, the equivalent respective tier for other races with a different tier structure) You will be able to construct the first 'caster' building, the Temple of Light (name still in consideration). That building acts as the town hall for the magic tech tree. Building a temple of light will unlock the Arcane Study and Arcane Observatory and make available mages and machines from their respective buildings.
-Temple Of Light: The place of worship for humans, and the training grounds for those who contemplate holy magic and matters of the mind. The units that will be trained here are: Priests, Alchemists, and Mind Warriors (2nd tier only)
-Priests: As men of the cloth priests are sworn to use their magic to preserve and never to harm, and such is the nature of holy magic that
-Alchemists: The first to question the laws of magic and to delve into the unexplored regions of knowledge that will later become the study of students of the arcane, Alchemists brew many kinds of potions that they use to aid and harm warriors on the battlefield.
-Mind Warriors: Naturally skilled at manipulating mystical forces, mind warriors embody both physical and mental perfection. These sagacious warriors can manipulate the blessings and spells cast upon both friends and enemies. (heavily based off of spell-breakers)
-Arcane Study: The Arcane Study is the first place devoted to the study of what priests are calling 'wild magic.' The students of these arts learn to manipulate, and even create, flame, ice, and other elemental forces. [This structure upgrades a number of times. Its final form is a Tower of High Sorcery]
-Arcane Observatory: Used to gaze at the stars and as a laboratory to study the strange objects that occasionally fall from the sky, the Arcane Observatory serves as a hub for the development and construction of impossibly complex steamwork machines.
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Please try to read it all before you judge/give me your opinion.
Thank you for your time!
Attatched Map Updates/Current Notes: The map will NOT be updated every time i update the text- i update the text too often! I will try and post a new version as often as possible. Text explanations of each existing trigger is complete. The new map has been posted!
I know my map isn't anywhere NEAR playable- but everything i've seen says to attatch your map, so i did. And i don't have screenshots because it's all in the testing stages unit-wise and i haven't started on terrain. I had so many of the major systems implemented i just HAD to put it up before it got too big
I'M BAAAAAAAACK!
I'm finally back to working on this thing, although i lost my most recent copy (the one with wall the combat ability work
) but i had sent a friend a relatively recent copy so i haven't lost too much work! I'm almost done with the basic terraining and i'm not sure i'm going to do much more than that, but i've added a snapshot of the map's overhead view. The NW corner and the SE corner are the only parts that still need significant work.Attachments
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