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WARDEN General Discussion

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Level 26
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Well, I have been thinking a lot of the main story, and may now have a viable main-quest.
However, I have enjoyed creating those other maps a lot, and I didn't want to force myself to create somethig that I wasn't inspired by until I got a really nice idea. :)
 
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Hi Rufus, it is a pleasure to see how your project gets more and more elaborated. It really looks like a professional game to me in many aspects.
I was quite surprised on the number of maps, you included since I have seen your maps the first time.
Especially, the documentation with these walk-throughs and how-to-plays looks really neat.
Overall, this is amazing! :)

By the way, is there a bug, that prevents one to advance past the big goblin room in "Dark Depths"? I am just asking, because I have not been able to beat this map, because I cannot think of any way how to "solve this riddle"... Just asking because I dont want to spoiler myself by reading a walk-through.
 
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Glad to hear it! :)
The walkthroughs and the descriptions could really use an update after being introduced to Hive 2.0.

Development is slow now though, as I am working and hanging out with friends a lot. Additionally I don't have loads of inspiration.
I'm gonna wait to continue until I get some more ideas, cause just mass-producing them won't make them as good. :)

Although, the tropic Tomb is almost finished! :D

In version 1.08 and 1.09 there was a bug with the rocks blocking the way from the cave, but the bug caused them to be removed, not being unable to be removed. So yeah it is possible to get past it.
You need a lot of gold (obtained by killing all creeps, and collectin all 8 gold coins) to talk to the kobold leader, and make him open a path for you.

Ask again if it didn't help! :)
 
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Well it's a very classic puzzle. I am not a big fan of it, but I guess it's because I am more trying to breakforce it than solving it.
In my opinion, in Warcraft 3 puzzle should take advantages of the 3D environment as you did with the words of power.
Though, good job on making this puzzle work in Warcraft 3 (fun fact: you can move the circle of power too).
 
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fun fact: you can move the circle of power too
Oh... :D
I better change that.

Yeah, this was a challenge to myself to see if I could make it work in WC3, and it did!
Not at all as hard as I imagined actually, it just took a long time.

Hmm, since it is a rather hard and (might be) frustrating puzzle, It might be good to be able to skip this one, as other hard puzzles in earlier stages.

Thanks for your input!
 
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I think it was pretty cool.

But I am still not sure, if the skull picture fits in or not.
On the one hand, it looks out of place but on the other it looks very neat..
Also, I would change the texttag 0 to a little shiny effect.

I would agree on making this one a bonus puzzle, that is hard to find in an optional room maybe. Like this it would be only for motivated players anyway.

There is a mouse cursor in there by the way. Did you intend to make it appear again? :)
 
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I'm cosidering having the skull replaced with this: Arcane 3

This is a much easier shape to recreate and understand, while the skull is a little messy, making it a lot harder to solve. I will however save the skull for a future puzzle when you are supposed to fot 9 pieces together by rotating and moving them.

The 0 is a remnant trigger from the first version of the puzzle, and is not supposed to be there at all, actually. :D

Having the puzzle kinda hidden is a good idea. With solving this you get some pretty awesome upgrades for the boss fight to come, perhaps. I consider having a 3x3 puzzle that is not optinal though, as it is much easier to solve.

Yes, the cursor is supposed to be there now. I had to activate it again since it was very troublesome going through your settings otherwise. I made it however, so that if you touch the edge of the screen, it disappears completely.
It would have been cooler having none at all, but this works too. :)
 
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I'm cosidering having the skull replaced with this: Arcane 3
This is a much easier shape to recreate and understand, while the skull is a little messy, making it a lot harder to solve. I will however save the skull for a future puzzle when you are supposed to fot 9 pieces together by rotating and moving them.
both look very nice. The arcane thing may fit in better at a first glance in my opinion. It looks like a wc3 rune aura.

Having the puzzle kinda hidden is a good idea. With solving this you get some pretty awesome upgrades for the boss fight to come, perhaps. I consider having a 3x3 puzzle that is not optinal though, as it is much easier to solve.
I am all for hard games! also, warden is hard as [insert some swear word here] compared to most fun maps, so I think, you should not fear of putting in harder games like these at all. I just wanted to contribute and I am happy that you liked my suggestion.

I made it however, so that if you touch the edge of the screen, it disappears completely.

which is a very good thing! Seriously, that is a pretty good solution! ;) i did not recognize it in game. maybe add a little tipp somewhere, because this is a cool thing.
 
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Somebody feel like testing out the new map? :)
Download it here.

It has a quite low amount of enemies: there might be added more, or it might stay as it is in that aspect. It felt nice to have a pretty peaceful map though. At least in that manner...
A small story for the map is going to be added too, as one that can be read about the other maps.

Any tester will get a cookie!
 
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A new puzzle has been created for a future map!
It is quite unique, this one, and I'm happy with how it turned out.

Download

boxpuzzle-png.247852


You need to push the boxes around in order to sweep the dust of the floor.
When all patches of dust is gone, you win.

You can push a box into the hole in the middle to enable the other box to slide over.
You can unlock bonuses by placing the boxes on their colored platforms.


Try to break the game, and report the bugs to me! :)
 
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Hi Rufus, so I tested your new puzzle, and I have to say that you are really designing games really great :)

The puzzle creates and interactive environment, it is fun and one is able to reset the boxes, which minimizes frustration - still it is not too easy. It took me something between 5 to 10 mins to complete it by the way. I especially like the fact, that you have to use one box to stop the other one in order to be able to win!

There is some behaviours of the boxes, I would consider bugs though. Sometimes they do not move or stop moving, if close together, and sometimes they seem a little bit out of place. Please take a look at the screenshots. Usually I was able to get them moving in the end by hitting them multiple times but I think it is not supposed to be like this?

Actually I did forget to try out the bonuses, and I did not have to use the rewind ability by the way.

Edit: Oh, one thing, I forgot: Will there be a reason in the later map, why players have to wipe the floor?
 

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Level 26
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It is good that it is not totally bugging out, making the game unable to be finished, but you shouldn't have to struggle at all.
The out of place one, when they are a bit on a platform, doesn't amtter a lot, since it doesn't impact on the game at all. I'll fix this if I find a an easy solution.
The close together thingy I will try to fix. It is irritating having there.
The rewind ability is not supposed to be used either. I should probably disable it for that room as you can rewind behind a box and push it in a new direction without it stopping first. Actually, I think I'll make the box being unable to pe pushed when already moving.

Well, there is no good eason yet... :D
However, I have a few ideas. For example, revealing runes hidden beneath the dust.

Thanks a lot for testing it! :)
 
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You are welcome.

it did not bug out at all, it just felt a bit unfinished, that's all. I would be happy to test the final version :)

I should probably disable it for that room as you can rewind behind a box and push it in a new direction without it stopping first.
I actually tried that a few times but I guess I was not fast enough ... but if it is possible, it would be cool to include skill as well. On the other hand, there might be some glitches possible, if you do not disable rewind ...

For example, revealing runes hidden beneath the dust.
I had the same idea, but then you have to show them in some kind of random way, and make sure that the last rune will only be shown if all sand was wiped away, otherwise, there would be no reason to finish the puzzle.
 
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I agree. It has more to be done before it is finished. I'll let you know when it is! :)

Yeah, having rewind as an option will make it too easy at times, and glitchy at others.

Well, the way I am checking if the dirt is wiped away is actually with dummy units that are removed when the box slides over them. I have placed them at all the possible finish outcomes in the puzzle, and then, when all are removed, a trigger opinging the northern forcefield is run. I could easily replace those with runes instead of being removed.
 
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WIP WALKTHROUGH FOR TROPIC TOMB:

  1. Find all rune pieces on the island. Positions can be seen here:
  2. Once all rune pieces have been collected, they will fuse, creating one big runestone. Put it somewhere close to the temple. We'll get back to this soon.
  3. Enter the temple on the western part of the island, and clear all the vegetation.
  4. Then get out, and get to the top of the temple.
  5. Here you'll find five obelisks. You need to activate them in the right order to complete the puzzle. From right to left, the correct order of activatyion is: 1, 3, 5, 2, 4.
  6. When the puzzle is solved, the gate on the level under will open. Collect your runestone, and enter the temple itself.
  7. Once you are inside, put the runestone on a circle in the room. Then go north to the water stream leading west. Cross it, and you'll find yourself in a library.
  8. Pick up the boxes around the room, and place them on their respective colored circles.
  9. Two new circles have now been revealed close to the magical pen. Put the purple box on its circle, and put both the red and the green one in the yellow circle.
  10. Now, collect the runic box and bring it to the edge of the waterstream end.
  11. Run back through the stream, and avoid the pulses of water by using rewind.
  12. Once out on the other side, Use rewind, go back and pick up the runestone, and rewind back again. Place the runestone on a circle.
  13. Use the catapult to remove the rock chunks close to the east wall, revealing two switches.
  14. Stand on top of one of the switches, use rewind, and run to the second switch, then use rewind again, and the door will open.
  15. Once on hte other side, run up the stream, dodge the missiles coming down, and get out in the next room.
  16. Use the catapult to clear the skeletons out of the way, make it to hte end of the room, and pick up the runestone.
  17. Bring the runestone back to the main chamber, and place it on another circle.
  18. Now, direct the catapult to the very center of the room, to the red circle in the middle.
  19. Stand ontop of the circle yourself, and use rewind.
  20. Run to the catapult and activate it, hten instantly use rewind to make the catapult projectile kill you. A bloodoffering have been made.
  21. A wall will open behind the catapult. Go there, and go through the teleport.
  22. You'll end up in a room with a circular stream, swirling into its center. You need to position the boxes and yourself over the three switches simultaniously to open the northern gate.
  23. Once you have cleared the water swirl, go through the gate, and you'll run into a crab. He'll hunt you down, going faster and faster the less health he has.
  24. Kite the crab into certain positions in the room, and use the catapults to damage him. When all catapults have hit him succesfully, he will die, leaving another runestone.
  25. Go back with the runestone to the main chamber and prepare for the bossfight.
  26. When all runestones have been placed, a cutscene will follow, revealing the boss.
  27. Run around the room, hit the elemental whenever he is not channeling too many abilities.
  28. Once the boss is defeated, you need to escape the collapsing tomb. Remember to use dash as much as possible.
  29. Run back to the crab room, and enter the newly revealed entrance to the west.
  30. In the first room, remember the order of the levers!
  31. Go east in the crossroad.
  32. Balance on top of the ledge to get to hte other side of the room.
  33. Take the northern corridor.
  34. Go down the waterstream, and try to avoid getting caught in the pockets of rocks,
  35. You'll enter a room with two gates and two switches. Use rewind in fornt of the first gate, run to the other switch, and use rewind again to get through the now open door.
  36. Follow the corridor to the west, and enter the waterfilled room.
  37. Go straight out into the middle, use the cataputle to destroy the western, and the southern rockchunks.
  38. Follow the ledge and enter another corridor.
  39. Go east, and you'll see a lots of levers. Activate the levers taht you saw was activated in the first room, and the rockchunks will be destroyed.
  40. Go through, and you'll enter the room that you cleared much earlier. Go up the ramp, and you'll be done.
 
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Glad you thought about that!
That means you liked the project in itself? :)

However, I have had a few ideas for arenas and such, using the same movement an combat system.
Feel free to post ideas for things like that! :)
Yup,I like it very much!This is one of the most original systems as for me!:)
But,if this will be as the arena,it'll be hard to create different heroes I think.
 
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Hi!
This project was hosted!
I'm really happy about it, and just wanted to tell all of the people that have posted here or in the map thread that I am really thankful for all your encouraging comments, feedback and generally helpful attitudes.
THANK YOU! :D

This thread will go pretty inactive now, since there is a forum for this project now.
Feel free to post new threads to discuss any project related matters. Go wild! :)

Project Forum: Warden
 
Level 26
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Story time!
I have stuggled a long time to create a fitting story for this project.
I think the story turned out fine, but it barely touches the concept of the main character being a Warden. It makes sense she bcomes one after it though, so I'm happy.

This story takes place at an unknown time before the happenings of RoC, sometime in the eternity of the Night Elves.

Here is the rough storyline:

-Shalis and Willow Windborn are living in peace in a remote part of silverpine forest. They are lovers.
-Something is approaching from beyond the treeline, and the couple gets to their feet ready to fight.
-Demons reveal themselves, and a wild brawl results in the capture of Willow, as Shalis is left for dead.
-Shalis struggles to get to a nearby eternal fountain, healing her wounds.
-As soon as she is healed up, she hurries to the Temple of Elune, in order to seek the priestess council.
-The priestess, Felore Moonray, tells her about the burning legion, and its due invasion.
-"The legions invasion will come eventually, there is no stopping it, but before it does, you may have a chance to save your beloved Willow." Felore said.
-Felore further advices you to recieve a scroll from her library, which contain the instructions to summoning a small impling.
-The impling will be able to provide you with valuable information about how you can travel to the outland and find Willow.
-Shalis sets out to find the neccesary materials for the summoning, and returns to the temple.
-Felore brings Shalis to her private chambers and revelas a passage to an underground cave, where the summoning will take place, out of harms way for anyone else, in case something woud go wrong.
-The summoning is completed, and the imp Nox appears. Before Shalis and Felore have time to react, he breaks free, and disappears through a small hole in the wall.
-Felore tells Shalis to catch him swiftly, before he brings havoc to the lands above. Felore grants you what she belives is an essence cage to imprison him in. SHe also sens out her owls to search the area for Nox.
-An owl locates Nox, and Shalis hurries to the location to find Nox torturing a racoon, and she swiftly moves to imprision him in the essence cage.
-Nox laughs, as he sees what she tries to do, and does not make a move to avoid being captured.

-When the essence cage fails to imprison him, he tells her that an essence cage cannot imprison anyone unless its target have agreed to it. "I will agree to be captured, if you best me in a contest. If you win, my soul will be bound to your little trinket there. However, if you lose, you are the one who will be imprisoned. Deal?"
-Shalis agrees to the deal, and asks what the contest shall be.
-"I will best you in any area for sure, little Night Elf. Take your pick! You've already lost."
-Shalis thinks about his words, and realizes that the demon is indeed much stronger than her in many ways. However, she comes up with a plan.
-"There is a grand silvery oak in the east of those lands. The one who touches it first will be victorios, and the loser shall be imprisoned in the essence cage."
-"Very well."
-Nox reach out to touch the essence cage, and spoke a few demonic words. The cage lit up with a green glow.
-"The cage have now been infused with the rules. Its magic will make sure the loser will be imprisoned.
-"When the racoon here (Nox indicated to his claw where the racoon was still hanging helplessly) reaches the treeline after I release it, the race shall start, alright?"
-"Let's get this over with, Demon."
-The race begun and Shalis dashes away with her night elven nimbleness. Nox on the other hand, did nothing. Arrogant, and confident in his speed, he gave Shalis a big headstart. Just as Shalis had thought he would. She had an ace up her sleeve. The special technique she was taught by Willow, allowed her to move faster than the wind, and she intended to keep that secret as long as possible.
-Drawing closer to the tree, she saw that Nox lift off from the cliff where they started. He kept a calm pace, but he was moving way faster than Shalis had anticipated. She focused on her breathing, and kept her gaze focused in front of her. The wind felt lighter and less dense around her, and her steps quickly picked up speed.
-Nox, watching from the air, saw this, and felt a small pike of fear pierce his stomach. He started beating his wings all he could, and booms of broken air echoed over the forests.
-Shalis, not taking her focus away frm the path ahead, felt her heart race, and was carful not to lose her flow. She was going to make it!
-Not ten seconds later, she leaped through the treeline surrounding the great tree, looking upon it. She gasped. Just next to the tree, Nox was floating in the air. He taunted her, holding one finger a few centimeters away from the stem. An extreme grin twisted his face into a grotesque grimace.
-Nox watched as Shalis shrunk to her knees with tears in her eyes. "Forgive me Willow..." She lay down on the ground, elbows supporting her upper body frfom touching the earth, but with her head hanging low. Nox watched her sob, and felt joy twirling inside his stomach at great speed. Success! "Oh, you little pathetic waste of matter, did you bring the essence cage? It will certainly be interesting to see how we can fit that fat body into no more space than an owls beak."
-Nox listened to her sobbing, capering at its sound, a melody for his ears, soft and beautiful. Suddenly, the music changed, and a grim tone of laughter broke the sobbing.
-"Hey! What are you laughing about, Night elf?"
-Shalis laughter grew louder and more joyful.
-"She's lost it for sure." Nox thought ot himself.
-Shalis craned her head upwards to look at Nox with a baleful gaze. A wide smile was dancing across her lips. Nox looked at her, intrigued by her strange reaction to her soon to be loss. She put her right arm to the ground, and lifted herself to stand at all four.
-Nox eyes nearly popped as he saw, that with her left hand, she was patting a root. She had won.
-Nox flew anxiously from side to side through the air, watching as Shalis raised the essence cage. What was he going to do? Without a second thought, he flew away from Shalis as fast as he could, but his efforts was no use. Pulsating tendrils of green magic lashed out from the essence cage at Nox, who screamed in pain as they latched to his body. He struggled for a few seconds, but was then merciessly pulled into the small essence cage.

-Shalis returns to Felore with Nox safely imprisoned.
-Felore tells Shalis to step outside, as she is going to "do things" to tun Nox into somthing more friendly.
-As much as Shalis would like to see the little imp suffer, she stepps out as she is still recovering from her almost loosing to Nox.
-After a day and a night, Felore emerges from her temple, with Nox floating gently by her side.
-"He is kind as a lamb now Shalis, and ready to serve to your hearts content. Find Willow and bring him back! I'll always be here if you need me."
-"Thank you Priestess. I am forever in your debt. Now, Nox, tell me what I need to open a portal to the outland."
-"Opening a portal is easy. A portal for a non-demon however, will not be a walk in the forest. First you'll need the Runes. Six runes should be enough, and you need to place them in a circle to create the boundaries for the portal. Next, You'll need a key. A key can be anything really, but it needs to be infused with the correct incantations in order to call the portal in the first place. And lastly, the most important part: you'll need a great amount of souls.
-"Souls?"
-"Yes. In order to open the portal, some kind of fuel is needed. Demonic magic runs on souls. This is needed for all portals between this world and the Outland. How do you think Felore managed to summon me? Bingo. The portal clamied a part of her soul! I must say she looked surprisingly healthy for reducing it like that."
-"Felore... I didn't know!"
-"Yes, yes. Her sacrifice was grand and all that. Now first of all, you need a container for the souls. A soul gem. It is a glowing blue crystal witch feeds of the death of nearby beings. They can be found everywhere about a trees length below the earth. However, Most are microscopic, so we need to go somewhere where a lot of blood have been spllied. A battlefield for example!"
-Shalis face went pale. "Would a graveyard do?"
-"No you dummy. That's where people are taken after they die, not when they die. Now, that battlefield..."
-"Shut up, demon. This is a place where animals of silverpine go when they are old, and die in peace. All beings who dies here are dying within the distance you can throw a rock."
-"That... should probably do it!"
-"Good. Let us be on our way."
-What Shalis had in mind, was a sacred grove in the east of Silverpine. She had heard about a soul gem being there before, and that it was guarded there by a handful of druids. Getting it would be a desecration for sure, but she could not stand the thought of not seeing Willow again. She was willing to do anything.

-Shalis approached the glade, with the plan to quietly go in, recieve the soul gem, and get out.
-She is discovered, and she is forced to kill the druids, in order to not be branded a desecrator, and banned from silverpine. "Don't worry." Nox grinned "The Soul gem will only grow slightly larger now."
-She goes underground, and finds the mountain chamber where the crystal have grown. It is much bigger than they aticipated, and she breaks a piece from it, and wears it around her neck.
-Shalis hurried out of the sacred grove, collecting the bodies of the druids with the soul gem. "Handy clean-up tool, isn't it?" Nox taunted her.
-With a heavy heart, Shalis return to her home in Silverpine, and collapses, crying over her crimes. "No time to rest, Shalis! Time to collect souls! With the four you have in there already being petty as they are, I'm pretty sure they won't do any difference. Worthless pieces, if you ask me" Shalis ground her teeth.

This is where all the submaps will take place. Shalis travels to various locations, collecting grand souls.

-When the soul gem is finally filled to the brim with pulsating soul energies, it is almost time to open the portal. The last thing that is needed to be done, is to recieve the key.
-Nox tells Shalis of a mighty warlock, that keeps the key as a collection item. He also tells her that his specialty is toxic words that corrupts and spellbinds any listener, so Shalis needs to cover her ears before engaging combat.
-After defeating the Warlock, and recieving the key, Shalis returns to Felore, where she offers her the soul gem. Felore realizes that Shalis is the one who killed the druid guarding it, but accepts the soul gem anyway, on the condition that she will Give up her moonblade, so she vcan never do something like that again.
-Shalis accepts, and a spell is placed upon her weapon, that when she returns to Silverpine from the outland, her blade will be teleported into Felores possesion for safekeeping.
-The portal is now opened, and Shalis goes through, guided by Nox.
-She arrives somewhere in the outland, and she manages to locate Willow by sending Nox to find him for her. He returns shortly, and tells her that he is imprisoned in Hellfire Fortress.
-She defeats the keeper of the prison and goes to release him, and they return to the portals location.
-Upon returning form the outland, they find themselves standing in the burning woods of silverpine, with demons running everywhere, and infernals descending upon the earth from rifts in the sky.
-Sneaking through the ranks of the demons, she makes her way to the Temple of Elune in order to find Felore, and retrive the moonblade so she can help get rid of the curse she brought upon them.
-Felore reveals herself to be the one who orchestrated the entire thing, making Shalis a puppet to carry out her tasks. Her goal was to open a portal all along, and bring the glory of the Burning Legion to Azeroth.
-Hunt down Felores four generals, to anger her, and fight her yourself as a final battle.

Those are the different gameplay moments:
-Fight demons alongside Willow.
-Travel to the Temple of Elune to see Felore.
-Find a scroll in a library.
-Gather ingredients for the summoning of an imp, Nox.
-Put the ingredients into the circle at the righ moment?
-Locate Nox, and kill animals and creatures that have been corrupted by him.
-Race Nox to a tree.
-Return to Felore.
-Travel to the grove.
-Infiltrate the temple of the grove.
-Accidently get caught, and kill four druids.
-Locate the soul gem chamber, and take a piece.
-Return to your home.
-Collect souls in submaps. (This is where the player will go through all (or a few at least) of the submaps I already created for the project.)
-Travel to the warlocks tower
-Climb the warlocks tower (dungeon), and defeat the warlock.
-Return to Felore, and the portal is created.
-Travel through some outland.
-Clear Hellfire Fortress.
-Return to the portal.
-Locate and kill four of Felores Generals
-Kill Felore.

Tell me what ya think!
 

deepstrasz

Map Reviewer
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-The priestess, Felore Moonray, tells her about the burning legion, and its due invasion.
Just a minor thing: there were no known demons on Kalimdor before Kel'thuzad summoned the rest of them (actually, we only see Dreadlords in Azeroth before that). Howevah, Satyrs on the other hand...
Is she a far seer? I don't remember night elves foreseeing the future. I may be wrong, of course. Well, it shouldn't be impossible. Shalis would wonder: "How does she know?"
Felore grants you what she belives is an essence cage to imprison him in.
Wait, what? She doesn't even know that it'll work? Then, why did she even considered summoning the imp if she had no control over it!? I mean Shalis would have wondered...
He started beating his wings
OK, an imp with wings :D
This is needed for all portals between this world and the Outland.
So, here the demons come from Outland? Actually in the pre-WoW games they came from the Twisting Nether.
She had heard about a soul gem being there before, and that it was guarded there by a handful of druids.
Yeah, there's no actual backstory for the Soul Gem, else than that Jaina had one and gave it to Thrall to use it on Grom.
-She is discovered, and she is forced to kill the druids, in order to not be branded a desecrator, and banned from silverpine. "Don't worry." Nox grinned "The Soul gem will only grow slightly larger now."
Did she actually kill all of them, none to tell the tale? Her exile, punishment whatever at the end of the story :D?
Willow Windborn
This is a night elf? Why would demons capture him and get him all the way to Outland and keep him alive too?
Felore reveals herself to be the one who orchestrated the entire thing, making Shalis a puppet to carry out her tasks. Her goal was to open a portal all along, and bring the glory of the Burning Legion to Azeroth.
This twist is kind of forced. How did Felore know that Shalis would be so desperate to just do anything to get Willow back even though Shalis couldn't have known where he was and if he was still alive?
And now that means there were demons in Kalimdor before RoC or at least before they got from Azeroth with the Scourge to Kalimdor.
-Return to the portal.
Why wouldn't Felore close it and have Shalis and Willow die in an ambush or trap? Even if Shalis would return through another opened portal, that would mean her being detected by the demons that are keeping a watch on said portal and who use it. What about, Shalis sacrificing Willow or something to get back to Kalimdor through a way/portal unforeseen by Felore?
Tell me what ya think!
It's OK given the fact that the levels were made first.
 
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Thanks for your input Deep!
I would love to hear if you have some good story ideas!
As you mentioned in your last quote, it is quite hard to create a story using the maps I've already created... :D

@Rence Kristoff, yeah the demon will have the role of a dark humour-relief. :)
I have a quite good idea of how Nox will be as a charcter, and I like him already. He might follow Shalis around on her adventures, commenting on her progress.

Glad you like the story!
I'm not sure what you mean by he soul gem system though?
 
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Thanks!
I might rewrite the entire thing once again, but elemnts that are pretty certain are
-Shalis Darkhunter, as either predecessor and founder of Barrow Deeps, or successor of Maiev Shadowsong.
-The soul gem trapping powerful beings (and perhaps smaller ones as special payment method).
-Nox as a companion of Shalis.

I might also go for having main maps of the campaign being very different from the dungeon kind I already made.
 

deepstrasz

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I would love to hear if you have some good story ideas!
You could have this happen early after the War of the Ancients. Felore would be a highborne and play a role similar to Medivh preRoC (a respected good character with an evil agenda).

Satyrs would kidnap Willow (while alone hunting?) without Shalis knowing (,she being in the Warden's quarters/at her job?). She then would seek help from the village's elder/wise representative (Felore) and she would show her through magic in a crystal ball (or a cauldron with liquid or whatever) a vision with Willow being taken by the Satyrs to a cave or somewhere dark.

A direct engagement (warriors, druids, more than 1 person) would be risky as the Satyrs might kill Willow (there is no certainty that he will survive if they try to rescue him) or use him as a hostage and more night elves might die. Thus, Felore being a highborne (and "former" dark magicks user) has some relations to the demonic forces. She would offer herself as the mediator (in secret she is the brother of the leader of the said Satyr gang although she hasn't been corrupted like them and kept her "humanity").

The two brothers want the druids dead to gain some ground for a future Burning Legion return. Felore is basically a spy amidst the said elven village.
Seeing how desperate Shalis is to gain her loved one (or whatever Willow is) back, Felore further puts the plan in motion. She will fool Shalis into thinking that she will aid her by summoning the familiar that is actually the
creature/entity to permanently watch Shalis' moves (Nox would try to stop Shalis before striking Felore in the end?). Of course, Nox will have to teach Shalis some things in order for her to fulfill Felore's plan before that.

So, after her return from her "diplomatic" trip to the Satyrs, Felore tells her that the Satyrs want the soul gem that the druids hold. She abides without question and goes in to kill most druids. They weren't expecting such a thing from one of their kin (night elf). She starts the conflict while inside. Guards are alerted too late. She steals the gem and runs out (with the druid souls inside the gem). Because of this the druid souls cannot enter the Emerald Dream and tell of what has transpired. After getting to a safe zone, she realizes what she has done and starts to doubt not only Felore but herself as well.

She decides to tag along a little longer to see if she can find an opportune moment to strike at Felore for what she made her do at the same time hoping she would see Willow again. She is sent to the Warlock without the soulstone to get a dark dagger from him. Said dagger is used for demonic rituals and by piercing the gem, the souls contained in it could be used for whatever reasons (power, curses, necromancy, summoning etc.; remember that the soul gem in RoC had no other function than to capture and release the captured).

After getting back with the dagger, Felore tells Nox to fetch it from Shalis (she did not find the opportune moment to strike and did not want to give the dagger to the witch; Felore prepared a sort of trap/ambush instead). Meanwhile Felore's brother and his lackeys make an entrance to cut any escape chances for Shalis. Nox takes the dagger from Shalis and while slowly flying towards the witch, Felore tells Shalis what actually happened to Willow. His soul was used to summon Nox (she lied about using part of herself to do it). Nox hastily steals the gem from Felore and gets back to Shalis with both the dagger and the gem. Nox casts a temporary fog while he and Shalis make an escape killing few of the lackeys on the way.

Shalis will hunt the rest and most important of the demonic/corrupted forces (one by one or something). After finally reaching Felore, who was, of course, prepared for Shalis' arrival, the Warden fueled by the hatred of the souls kept within the gem, enchanted by Nox and wielding a dark magick dagger will defeat the witch and stab her heart with the dagger. Her blood will be spilled on the gem along with some of her own (Shalis'). This will release the spirits and leave a stigma on Shalis. Thus she will be looked down by her kin so she will have a hard time living well afterwards, thus she'll mostly live as a hermit far from civilization.

Nox will remain with her as the only thing left of Willow (since the imp was summoned using Willow's soul).
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I hope this helps a little. It's nothing special, actually kind of mediocre.
 
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Felore tells Shalis what actually happened to Willow. His soul was used to summon Nox (she lied about using part of herself to do it).
This is real good. I like it.
I'm not a fan of Willow living on in Nox though. Nox should have no such "weaknesses". Maybe only that he is a little more prone to help her thanks to willows soul. Perhaps that is what you meant. :D

Thus she will be looked down by her kin so she will have a hard time living well afterwards, thus she'll mostly live as a hermit far from civilization.
I also like that she will be looked down upon. Then it makes sense she will live far outside civilization, founding the Barrow Deeps.

I am very grateful for the story, and I will surely be inspired by it. It might also help me in the direction of the final story, which is still far away. Thanks!


If you have more ideas, please, start a thread in the hosted forum, so that we can keep it a little organized. :)
 
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