I will edit for readability in the coming week or two
Hey, been a while. Decided to get back into modding and mapping for SC2.
I'd like to pitch my current concept to you all as a means of discussion, ideally to highlight potential issues, flaws and general things you would like or wouldn't like.
If I had to sum up Kingdom of Strife (name subject to change) in one sentence, I would say it plays like a: "Mixture of Civilisations V, a handful of Risk and Diplomacy maps, with a touch of Zone Control". That is the aim anyway.
It is a medieval themed real time, yet somehow turn based strategy game. There is emphasis on strategic 'areas' of the map, certain capture points, towns, bridges etc, as well as definite terrain bonuses for your units. The biggest issue I have to overcome is converting SC2's futuristic theme and feel into one more reminiscent of Heroes of Might and Magic / Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, yet retaining efficiency and visual appeal. This includes 100% custom models and textures.
I'll run through the units now:
Skirmishers (Ranged)
Warriors (Melee)
Archers (Ranged)
Swordsmen (Melee)
Crossbowmen (Ranged)
Knights (Melee)
In order to field units (create them, ie: bring them into play/produce them), you require a mixture of resources and strategic structures.
I'll run through the strategic structures here:
Forge (Melee Weapons and Armour)
Fletchers Workshop (Ranged Weapons and Armour)
Tower of Som (Clerical Upgrades and Spells)
Hideout (Stealth Upgrades and Techniques)
White College (Magical Upgrades and Spells)
Alongside these structures, there are 'Civic' structures which are as follows:
Hovels/Farms (Increase supply)
Lumber mills (generate Wood per turn)
Gold Mines (generates Raw Gold per turn)
Mint (converts Raw Gold into usable Coins)
Iron Mines (generates Iron Ore per turn)
Smelter (converts Iron Ore into Iron Ingots)
Note: You do not 'build' anything. All structures are placed at map start (randomly). You capture them and hold them to gain their bonuses.
The map size will vary between 128x128 to 256x256 (player defined).
The map will be randomly generated due to democratic variables
(Percentage Forests/Woodlands)
(Percentage Hills)
(Percentage rivers/lakes)
(Density of structures)
(Town sizes - villages, to metropolises)
And last but not least, how combat will actually work:
Each unit has Action Points. These define how many 'actions' that unit can under take per turn. Anything from moving, attacking to using special abilities will drain Action Points. So, Ranged Units gain the advantage in that they may deal damage from afar, and keep 'afar'. Whereas Melee units have the disadvantage of having to be in their opponents faces to deal damage.
This seemingly obvious differentiation adds scope and strategy. It is possible to overwhelm a number of vastly superior Crossbowmen, by a larger force of weaker Warriors - simply by chasing the Crossbowmen into marshy/river terrain, or into a forest. Other such terrain subtleties include Ranged units gain increased attack range when upon Hilly Terrain and reduces Range when in Wooded Terrain. Another example, all units gain a defensive bonus to incoming Ranged attacks whilst in Wooded Areas. Units who enter Wooded Areas - unseen by enemy troops - and remain there for one full turn, become 'Hidden'. These 'Hidden' units gain a massive attack Ambush bonus on their next attack, as well as the tactical advantage of, y'know, being unseen.
Thieves and Assassins represent the first type of specialist units in the game. They can become invisible (ie: hidden) and travel past enemy encampments. The Thief can target enemy owned buildings to steal resources and add them to your own war-chest. The assassin is a weak front line troop, but gains an insane damage bonus when attacking a unit from behind whilst stealth-ed, almost always instant-killing an individual.
Did I mention that each unit tracks its experience gain separately? Upon reaching level milestones, you may allocate 'Perk Points' for your units who qualify. Archers can attack faster, thieves can steal more, warriors gain extra action points, swordsmen can adopt offensive or defensive stances depending on their combat situations, knights can dismount and turn into Swordsmen when on low health.. And so on, and so forth.
Clerics specialist in protecting and recovering your wounded and injured troops. All attacks inflict certain debilitating effects, a swordslash might slash a hamstring imposing a movement speed penalty. An Arrow might puncture a vital tendon, causing your lance-arm to be weaker than a Copper-Leagued Random player. Simply remaining hidden, neglected and forgotten in a forest might induce hypothermia and muscular atrophy. Untreated wounds can fester and become infected, spelling out certain death for the poor individual... or worse, spreading infection to the healthier ranks of your army. In cases like this, a bit of friendly fire is the best medicine.
Magi are extremely vulnerable long range units. Once purchased/created, they begin the game with two 'Perk Points' to allocate. You choose a school of magic, of which there are currently 3, and a beginning spell, of which there are currently planned 4 per school.
An Acolyte of Destruction can set fire to and electrocute ranks of enemies. Burning through wooded areas to be sure no-one is hidden. Or, channeling an electrocution spell upon a river to ensure no one may safely cross.
A Learner of the Abyss calls upon dark magics to hasten disease and pestilence among enemy ranks and civilians. Causing extra damage to units which have already suffered damage, or simply raising the dead as Skeletal Effigies to bolster your own ranks.
Finally, a Bender of the Mind relies upon ancient trickery to subdue enemy units into peacefulness. Or, alternatively creates violent night-terrors and fearful hallucinations rendering enemy troops unable to partake in combat.
Phew. I hope you had as much fun as I had bashing the keyboard for the past 20 minutes. Sorry for the massive wall of text. Progress commences tomorrow as soon as I finalize the Actors and custom Models for the ten units.
(Things I didn't mention)
Each unit has its upgrade path fully planned.
Templars (magical knights), Griffons (flying ranged units), Trebuchets (extremely long range siege weapons) and Flying Machines (aerial troop transports) were all cut from the initial concept.
Similarly, Workshops - for creating Trebuchets and Flying Machines were also cut.
Ports and Nefarious Harbours existed as a means for trading resources and hiring pirate mercenaries respectively - also cut.
A separate 'Food' resource was planned alongside the implemented 'Supply' as a way of keeping combat small and army sizes trimmed.
Similarly, 'Gold Coins' were planned to function both as resource and upkeep cost for more advanced units.
Leather, as a resource, exists slightly. Planned for early units to kill wild beasts for Pelts and Leather. Late game, enemy units would supply this leather.
A Salvager unit, hybrid of a Thief and a Swordsman was planned - each unit he killed would return a % of the gold and resources used in that units cost.
[b] Thoughts, support, criticism, claims of plagiarism, pure seething hatred and fellatio are all welcome.
The biggest issue I have to overcome is converting SC2's futuristic theme and feel into one more reminiscent of Heroes of Might and Magic / Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, yet retaining efficiency and visual appeal. This includes 100% custom models and textures.
You wont be able to overcome that issue. Believe me when I say that...
You wont be able to overcome that issue. Believe me when I say that...
Will you ever overcome your negativity? :3
I'm pretty shit hot in 3DS Max, MudBox and Photoshop - so the custom content creation is no problem. Editing the SC2Layout files and creating an entirely new UI is well within my ability, the only issue is time. It is surprisingly easy to create a cuboid with a pyramidal roof, a chimney, some stone and thatch materials and a smoke particle emitter for a Hovel object - maybe 10 to 30 minutes depending on complexity.
My initial goal is to release a pre-alpha on EU servers within the time frame of the next 3 months. It will contain the initial 10 units, 3 upgrades per unit, 3 perks per unit, the initial 12 structures. Capturing and combat mechanics, alongside terrain dynamics and the elaborate 'initial map generation' and voting system. The priority is balance. Conveying the feel and atmosphere of the map is secondary.
With the release of pre-alpha, design will become as iterative as possible. Implementing better models, more animations, better textures alongside the inevitable bug fixes, balance changes, nerfs and buffs. A beta release will contain some more fleshed out ideas and mechanics for further testing, with the graphics/content being improved constantly also. Once everything is as I wish it to be, I will publish the final release across EU and NA and advertise it to hell in the hopes that kiddies can tear their zombie-like eyes from Nexus Mass Wars V.x2041 or Marine Arena v80429 Deluxe Elite Edition.
The total slate time frame for development is about 6 months. Obviously real life and other commitments can stretch or contract this - but from everything I have conceptually hashed out, and theoretically planned (how it will function in editor and in game), 6 months is as realistic as I can go from concept, through development, to final release.
edit: I would also like to document a lot of the creation process, design techniques and methods into a sort of tutorial. But this is maybe just tertiary. I might devote time later to document the process as opposed to doing it alongside the actual development.
4 out of the 10 planned units are implemented:
Skirmishers, Warriors, Longbowmen and Swordsmen are all in game with custom models and textures working 100%.
Begun work on the movement system.
When a unit is given a 'move' order, the distance between the unit and the point of order is calculated. The correct Action Points (Energy) cost is calculated through Distance multiplied by Unit Mobility Value and correctly diminishes steadily from the unit until it reaches its target, or is ordered to stop or hold position.
Can anyone point me to a decent tutorial for FRAPSing SC2 running maps? And, ideally, video codecs, compression and uploading to youtube? Might as well learn these things too :)
Looking forward to seeing your map finished, but I think it would take much longer than mine @_@ I intentionally set the story inside the SC2 universe so that the setting and units would make sense by default.
I think it's completely reasonable to go for a medieval theme as long as you're prepared for a really long road to map development. You'll be spending a lot of time fighting against the futuristic theme for something that is only relevant to the context of the game. Now, context is very important, and it sounds like you've decided the extra work is worth it.
So many projects fail when people spend too much time on high-tech visual elements of the game, and then the gameplay suffers or the map maker gets burned out and quits. If you think there is a reasonable risk that you'll get burned out on the project before you can turn it into a complete game, then I think you should stay within the futuristic setting and worry about getting a game made.
It also depends on what you want out of mapping. Is this a hobby for you? Or are you in it to make a final product?
And yes, game play comes first. I'm implementing the raw mechanics, economy and combat systems first. Simply using custom models for now. Editing the layout, music and ambient soudns - as well as custom recordings for unit noises will come at a much later time :)
6 days have passed, so I am bumping for some more feedback. Hope that's okay.
Also, totally do not remember replying to you SkrowFunk. Must've been in a rush or something hehe.
To elaborate, it is a hobby for me but I am determined, on an almost psychotic level, to complete this project. It is a concept I have had lying around for ages and various limitations surrounding StarEdit and WorldEdit had stopped me from implementing it to the level I would call satisfactory. Other engines such as the UDK and Unity are simply too vast to contain what is ultimately a simple design.
The alpha and beta testing will contain:
Combat System at 100%
Economy System at 100%
Gold Ore, Gold Coins, Iron Ore, Iron Ingots, Leather, Wood and 'Supply'.
Between 7 and 10 fully functioning units, each with 4 Perks and 3 Abilities
Combat System at 100%
Turn based, strategic deployment, buff/debuff critical thinking, experience led, etc.
Random terrain generation System at 100%
In terms of custom content, alpha and beta will only contain custom models for units, structures and projectiles. All sounds, and UI Layout will very much represent Starcraft 2. During balancing, fixing bugs and implementing changes - I will gradually add more custom content, sort of as a incentive for people to keep playing up until release. This will 'attempt' to remove a Starcraft 2 map as far away as possible from 'Starcraft 2' as the editor will allow.
I am also toying with a bank system that allows Beta Testers, Developers etc to unlock specific skins or models for their armies when they play on Battle.net. Not 100% on the feasibility of this yet, but, will keep everyone posted.
On to general updates:
Movement and combat (attacking / defending / retreating) is at about 80% complete. I hit a roadblock in using CatalogueFieldValueGet to return the Range[0] attribute of an attacking units' weapon. It simply refused to work, so I implemented a work-a-round validating an attacking units' type and then referencing a custom value stored, per unit, to represent the range of current weapon.
I will be adding the Crossbowman and the Knight over the next week (most likely a few days after New Years Eve...) Along with the (created, textured, modelled) civic/economic structures in the game.
Hovels (increase supply)
Lumber Mills (generate wood)
Gold Mines (generate raw gold ore)
Iron Mines (generate raw iron ore)
Mint (converts gold ore into gold coins)
Blacksmith (converts iron ore into iron ingots)
And I'll also be busy actually creating the models/textures for the military structures in the game:
College - Enables magical specialists, upgrades spells and advanced researches
I will also hopefully be creating a more 'readable' Project page with images of custom assets, models, icons, textures etc and more detail on actual unit abilities and gameplay mechanics.
Woodland, Forest and Vegetation generation is complete:
For each nearby tree to your unit, incoming ranged damage is reduced by 2 points. Might tweak this further so that the trees have to be between your unit and the incoming ranged attacker, and increase the reduction to reflect this. Perhaps even trees growing, being chopped down - over time...
Enough speculation, on to cold hard facts:
Combat system and movement are now fully operational :)
Next on the to-do list:
Rivers, Lakes, Towns, Villages, Settlements and Hill generation. Should be easy now that the base algorithm and generation system is done.
Also, I have started an EU only Alpha recruitment thread. check it out!
I'd imagine for the other terrains you were just iterating whatever algorithms on a flat landscape, but I'm curious how you plan to actually alter cliff levels and stuff. I'd thought of one way to do it but it would be a real pain.
The trees are actual units with an aura which applies the ranged damage reduction buff to nearby units.
I designate random points on the map, grant them a size variable, and then create x to y amount of trees scaled between 80 and 120% at each point.
Depending on the level of woods/forests chosen, I merely repeat this loop anywhere between 40 and 130 times.
As for hills, I will create this in the exact same fashion except using Terrain Deformation actors, with invisible units to grant the Attack Range Bonus and Sigh Bonus buffs.
Rivers will be the most tricky as I will need to designate a random path starting in a hill, and meandering, twisting, turning off a random distance and either ending at a sea, edge of the map, or a lake. I will periodically create Terrain Deformation actors along the path as it is created, perhaps spawning other random paths off the main river to serve as tributaries.
The creation of settlements will be more or less identical to the current tree spawning algorithm, except factoring in the size of settlement and variety of industries available.
Sadly, it is impossible to modify cliffs in-game. But hopefully when the entire terrain generation system is complete, the terrain will have enough obstacles to not require cliffs, as trees, structures and hills will obscure vision.
@ScorpSCII: Go
Thanks. Be sure to check out the Alpha test recruitment thread and sign up (unfortunately, it is EU only right now).
Okay I have the base algorithm down for river generations.
I can currently set the amount of meanders, the number of sources, the bendyness and the % of map coverage each river should take up.
I will fine tune this alongside adding the Hills generation, and then hopefully combining the Tree's, Hill's and rivers into a 'terrain generation'. Then it is a simple case of adding the Settlements, Towns, Villages and Villagers, AI's, behaviours, jobs etc...
Merry Christmas Mapsters! And have a happy new year, if I survive the next 72 hours of partying my ass off, I'll complete this map sometime in February :D
In game screenshots will be arriving in January when the open alpha goes live. For now, all I can do is tease you with minimaps :p
World Generation is completely ready for the Alpha tests.
Oops, just realised resources (Iron and Gold) do not show up on the minimap.
The blue is rivers
The green are trees
And the white are the various NPC controlled structures which you fight over to gain power.
Time to finish the rest of the units and economy :D
(edit: yes hehe, I forgot to enable the other spots when grabbing those minimap images)
I have one river generation script completed which is more or less as follows:
A up to three letters from (a to i) are designated. So there could be three rivers spawning at separate points, or two rivers at one point and one at another, or, as in the above images, one point spawning all three rivers.
There are two more planned generation scripts which will include rivers spawning in hills, generating tributaries, and ending in lakes. As well as a sort of 'island' type map where there is lots of boggy marshlands and lakes dotted around the place with maybe 1 or 2 rivers.
Also, just more or less completed the Tower model, where Clerics are recruited from as well as researching basic upgrades and spells.
Another teaser: This is the Windmill, a generic structure that gives no actual bonuses... the towns were looking pretty bland with just houses etc.
Sorry, wall of text. Please be patient and read
I will edit for readability in the coming week or two
Hey, been a while. Decided to get back into modding and mapping for SC2.
I'd like to pitch my current concept to you all as a means of discussion, ideally to highlight potential issues, flaws and general things you would like or wouldn't like.
If I had to sum up Kingdom of Strife (name subject to change) in one sentence, I would say it plays like a: "Mixture of Civilisations V, a handful of Risk and Diplomacy maps, with a touch of Zone Control". That is the aim anyway.
It is a medieval themed real time, yet somehow turn based strategy game. There is emphasis on strategic 'areas' of the map, certain capture points, towns, bridges etc, as well as definite terrain bonuses for your units. The biggest issue I have to overcome is converting SC2's futuristic theme and feel into one more reminiscent of Heroes of Might and Magic / Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, yet retaining efficiency and visual appeal. This includes 100% custom models and textures.
I'll run through the units now:
Skirmishers (Ranged)
Warriors (Melee)
Archers (Ranged)
Swordsmen (Melee)
Crossbowmen (Ranged)
Knights (Melee)
Thieves (Stealth Specialists)
Assassins (Stealth Specialists)
Clerics (Magic Specialists)
Magi (Magic Specialists)
In order to field units (create them, ie: bring them into play/produce them), you require a mixture of resources and strategic structures.
I'll run through the strategic structures here:
Forge (Melee Weapons and Armour)
Fletchers Workshop (Ranged Weapons and Armour)
Tower of Som (Clerical Upgrades and Spells)
Hideout (Stealth Upgrades and Techniques)
White College (Magical Upgrades and Spells)
Alongside these structures, there are 'Civic' structures which are as follows:
Hovels/Farms (Increase supply)
Lumber mills (generate Wood per turn)
Gold Mines (generates Raw Gold per turn)
Mint (converts Raw Gold into usable Coins)
Iron Mines (generates Iron Ore per turn)
Smelter (converts Iron Ore into Iron Ingots)
Note: You do not 'build' anything. All structures are placed at map start (randomly). You capture them and hold them to gain their bonuses.
The map size will vary between 128x128 to 256x256 (player defined).
The map will be randomly generated due to democratic variables
(Percentage Forests/Woodlands)
(Percentage Hills)
(Percentage rivers/lakes)
(Density of structures)
(Town sizes - villages, to metropolises)
And last but not least, how combat will actually work:
Each unit has Action Points. These define how many 'actions' that unit can under take per turn. Anything from moving, attacking to using special abilities will drain Action Points. So, Ranged Units gain the advantage in that they may deal damage from afar, and keep 'afar'. Whereas Melee units have the disadvantage of having to be in their opponents faces to deal damage.
This seemingly obvious differentiation adds scope and strategy. It is possible to overwhelm a number of vastly superior Crossbowmen, by a larger force of weaker Warriors - simply by chasing the Crossbowmen into marshy/river terrain, or into a forest. Other such terrain subtleties include Ranged units gain increased attack range when upon Hilly Terrain and reduces Range when in Wooded Terrain. Another example, all units gain a defensive bonus to incoming Ranged attacks whilst in Wooded Areas. Units who enter Wooded Areas - unseen by enemy troops - and remain there for one full turn, become 'Hidden'. These 'Hidden' units gain a massive attack Ambush bonus on their next attack, as well as the tactical advantage of, y'know, being unseen.
Thieves and Assassins represent the first type of specialist units in the game. They can become invisible (ie: hidden) and travel past enemy encampments. The Thief can target enemy owned buildings to steal resources and add them to your own war-chest. The assassin is a weak front line troop, but gains an insane damage bonus when attacking a unit from behind whilst stealth-ed, almost always instant-killing an individual.
Did I mention that each unit tracks its experience gain separately? Upon reaching level milestones, you may allocate 'Perk Points' for your units who qualify. Archers can attack faster, thieves can steal more, warriors gain extra action points, swordsmen can adopt offensive or defensive stances depending on their combat situations, knights can dismount and turn into Swordsmen when on low health.. And so on, and so forth.
Clerics specialist in protecting and recovering your wounded and injured troops. All attacks inflict certain debilitating effects, a swordslash might slash a hamstring imposing a movement speed penalty. An Arrow might puncture a vital tendon, causing your lance-arm to be weaker than a Copper-Leagued Random player. Simply remaining hidden, neglected and forgotten in a forest might induce hypothermia and muscular atrophy. Untreated wounds can fester and become infected, spelling out certain death for the poor individual... or worse, spreading infection to the healthier ranks of your army. In cases like this, a bit of friendly fire is the best medicine.
Magi are extremely vulnerable long range units. Once purchased/created, they begin the game with two 'Perk Points' to allocate. You choose a school of magic, of which there are currently 3, and a beginning spell, of which there are currently planned 4 per school.
An Acolyte of Destruction can set fire to and electrocute ranks of enemies. Burning through wooded areas to be sure no-one is hidden. Or, channeling an electrocution spell upon a river to ensure no one may safely cross.
A Learner of the Abyss calls upon dark magics to hasten disease and pestilence among enemy ranks and civilians. Causing extra damage to units which have already suffered damage, or simply raising the dead as Skeletal Effigies to bolster your own ranks.
Finally, a Bender of the Mind relies upon ancient trickery to subdue enemy units into peacefulness. Or, alternatively creates violent night-terrors and fearful hallucinations rendering enemy troops unable to partake in combat.
Phew. I hope you had as much fun as I had bashing the keyboard for the past 20 minutes. Sorry for the massive wall of text. Progress commences tomorrow as soon as I finalize the Actors and custom Models for the ten units.
(Things I didn't mention)
Each unit has its upgrade path fully planned.
Templars (magical knights), Griffons (flying ranged units), Trebuchets (extremely long range siege weapons) and Flying Machines (aerial troop transports) were all cut from the initial concept.
Similarly, Workshops - for creating Trebuchets and Flying Machines were also cut.
Ports and Nefarious Harbours existed as a means for trading resources and hiring pirate mercenaries respectively - also cut.
A separate 'Food' resource was planned alongside the implemented 'Supply' as a way of keeping combat small and army sizes trimmed.
Similarly, 'Gold Coins' were planned to function both as resource and upkeep cost for more advanced units.
Leather, as a resource, exists slightly. Planned for early units to kill wild beasts for Pelts and Leather. Late game, enemy units would supply this leather.
A Salvager unit, hybrid of a Thief and a Swordsman was planned - each unit he killed would return a % of the gold and resources used in that units cost.
[b] Thoughts, support, criticism, claims of plagiarism, pure seething hatred and fellatio are all welcome.
You wont be able to overcome that issue. Believe me when I say that...
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Curse Premium@EternalWraith: Go
Or he can grab models from WoW. That works too. Potentially incredibly time consuming
@PirateArcade | I make games | Ask me things on Discord
Will you ever overcome your negativity? :3
I'm pretty shit hot in 3DS Max, MudBox and Photoshop - so the custom content creation is no problem. Editing the SC2Layout files and creating an entirely new UI is well within my ability, the only issue is time. It is surprisingly easy to create a cuboid with a pyramidal roof, a chimney, some stone and thatch materials and a smoke particle emitter for a Hovel object - maybe 10 to 30 minutes depending on complexity.
My initial goal is to release a pre-alpha on EU servers within the time frame of the next 3 months. It will contain the initial 10 units, 3 upgrades per unit, 3 perks per unit, the initial 12 structures. Capturing and combat mechanics, alongside terrain dynamics and the elaborate 'initial map generation' and voting system. The priority is balance. Conveying the feel and atmosphere of the map is secondary.
With the release of pre-alpha, design will become as iterative as possible. Implementing better models, more animations, better textures alongside the inevitable bug fixes, balance changes, nerfs and buffs. A beta release will contain some more fleshed out ideas and mechanics for further testing, with the graphics/content being improved constantly also. Once everything is as I wish it to be, I will publish the final release across EU and NA and advertise it to hell in the hopes that kiddies can tear their zombie-like eyes from Nexus Mass Wars V.x2041 or Marine Arena v80429 Deluxe Elite Edition.
The total slate time frame for development is about 6 months. Obviously real life and other commitments can stretch or contract this - but from everything I have conceptually hashed out, and theoretically planned (how it will function in editor and in game), 6 months is as realistic as I can go from concept, through development, to final release.
edit: I would also like to document a lot of the creation process, design techniques and methods into a sort of tutorial. But this is maybe just tertiary. I might devote time later to document the process as opposed to doing it alongside the actual development.
@Nardival: Go
Progress update:
4 out of the 10 planned units are implemented: Skirmishers, Warriors, Longbowmen and Swordsmen are all in game with custom models and textures working 100%.
Begun work on the movement system. When a unit is given a 'move' order, the distance between the unit and the point of order is calculated. The correct Action Points (Energy) cost is calculated through Distance multiplied by Unit Mobility Value and correctly diminishes steadily from the unit until it reaches its target, or is ordered to stop or hold position.
Can anyone point me to a decent tutorial for FRAPSing SC2 running maps? And, ideally, video codecs, compression and uploading to youtube? Might as well learn these things too :)
@Nardival: Go
Looking forward to seeing your map finished, but I think it would take much longer than mine @_@ I intentionally set the story inside the SC2 universe so that the setting and units would make sense by default.
@Nardival: Go
I think it's completely reasonable to go for a medieval theme as long as you're prepared for a really long road to map development. You'll be spending a lot of time fighting against the futuristic theme for something that is only relevant to the context of the game. Now, context is very important, and it sounds like you've decided the extra work is worth it.
So many projects fail when people spend too much time on high-tech visual elements of the game, and then the gameplay suffers or the map maker gets burned out and quits. If you think there is a reasonable risk that you'll get burned out on the project before you can turn it into a complete game, then I think you should stay within the futuristic setting and worry about getting a game made.
It also depends on what you want out of mapping. Is this a hobby for you? Or are you in it to make a final product?
@SkrowFunk: Go
Hobby. But there will be a final product.
And yes, game play comes first. I'm implementing the raw mechanics, economy and combat systems first. Simply using custom models for now. Editing the layout, music and ambient soudns - as well as custom recordings for unit noises will come at a much later time :)
@Nardival: Go
6 days have passed, so I am bumping for some more feedback. Hope that's okay.
Also, totally do not remember replying to you SkrowFunk. Must've been in a rush or something hehe.
To elaborate, it is a hobby for me but I am determined, on an almost psychotic level, to complete this project. It is a concept I have had lying around for ages and various limitations surrounding StarEdit and WorldEdit had stopped me from implementing it to the level I would call satisfactory. Other engines such as the UDK and Unity are simply too vast to contain what is ultimately a simple design.
The alpha and beta testing will contain:
In terms of custom content, alpha and beta will only contain custom models for units, structures and projectiles. All sounds, and UI Layout will very much represent Starcraft 2. During balancing, fixing bugs and implementing changes - I will gradually add more custom content, sort of as a incentive for people to keep playing up until release. This will 'attempt' to remove a Starcraft 2 map as far away as possible from 'Starcraft 2' as the editor will allow.
I am also toying with a bank system that allows Beta Testers, Developers etc to unlock specific skins or models for their armies when they play on Battle.net. Not 100% on the feasibility of this yet, but, will keep everyone posted.
On to general updates:
Movement and combat (attacking / defending / retreating) is at about 80% complete. I hit a roadblock in using CatalogueFieldValueGet to return the Range[0] attribute of an attacking units' weapon. It simply refused to work, so I implemented a work-a-round validating an attacking units' type and then referencing a custom value stored, per unit, to represent the range of current weapon.
I will be adding the Crossbowman and the Knight over the next week (most likely a few days after New Years Eve...) Along with the (created, textured, modelled) civic/economic structures in the game.
And I'll also be busy actually creating the models/textures for the military structures in the game:
I will also hopefully be creating a more 'readable' Project page with images of custom assets, models, icons, textures etc and more detail on actual unit abilities and gameplay mechanics.
@Nardival: Go
Woodland, Forest and Vegetation generation is complete:
For each nearby tree to your unit, incoming ranged damage is reduced by 2 points. Might tweak this further so that the trees have to be between your unit and the incoming ranged attacker, and increase the reduction to reflect this. Perhaps even trees growing, being chopped down - over time...
Enough speculation, on to cold hard facts:
Combat system and movement are now fully operational :)
Next on the to-do list:
Rivers, Lakes, Towns, Villages, Settlements and Hill generation. Should be easy now that the base algorithm and generation system is done.
Also, I have started an EU only Alpha recruitment thread. check it out!
How are you planning to generate Hills?
I'd imagine for the other terrains you were just iterating whatever algorithms on a flat landscape, but I'm curious how you plan to actually alter cliff levels and stuff. I'd thought of one way to do it but it would be a real pain.
Looks pretty sweet. I'll be sure to check it out once it is finished :)
@megabuster33: Go
The trees are actual units with an aura which applies the ranged damage reduction buff to nearby units.
I designate random points on the map, grant them a size variable, and then create x to y amount of trees scaled between 80 and 120% at each point.
Depending on the level of woods/forests chosen, I merely repeat this loop anywhere between 40 and 130 times.
As for hills, I will create this in the exact same fashion except using Terrain Deformation actors, with invisible units to grant the Attack Range Bonus and Sigh Bonus buffs.
Rivers will be the most tricky as I will need to designate a random path starting in a hill, and meandering, twisting, turning off a random distance and either ending at a sea, edge of the map, or a lake. I will periodically create Terrain Deformation actors along the path as it is created, perhaps spawning other random paths off the main river to serve as tributaries.
The creation of settlements will be more or less identical to the current tree spawning algorithm, except factoring in the size of settlement and variety of industries available.
Sadly, it is impossible to modify cliffs in-game. But hopefully when the entire terrain generation system is complete, the terrain will have enough obstacles to not require cliffs, as trees, structures and hills will obscure vision.
@ScorpSCII: Go Thanks. Be sure to check out the Alpha test recruitment thread and sign up (unfortunately, it is EU only right now).
Okay I have the base algorithm down for river generations.
I can currently set the amount of meanders, the number of sources, the bendyness and the % of map coverage each river should take up.
I will fine tune this alongside adding the Hills generation, and then hopefully combining the Tree's, Hill's and rivers into a 'terrain generation'. Then it is a simple case of adding the Settlements, Towns, Villages and Villagers, AI's, behaviours, jobs etc...
Merry Christmas Mapsters! And have a happy new year, if I survive the next 72 hours of partying my ass off, I'll complete this map sometime in February :D
wow nice pretty sick, i would like to see some actual gameplay shots :D looks cool
@ricklypop: Go
Thanks :D
In game screenshots will be arriving in January when the open alpha goes live. For now, all I can do is tease you with minimaps :p
World Generation is completely ready for the Alpha tests.
Oops, just realised resources (Iron and Gold) do not show up on the minimap.
The blue is rivers
The green are trees
And the white are the various NPC controlled structures which you fight over to gain power.
Time to finish the rest of the units and economy :D
intersting, do the rivers always come out of that one piont on the left side of the minimap?
@ricklypop: Go
(edit: yes hehe, I forgot to enable the other spots when grabbing those minimap images)
I have one river generation script completed which is more or less as follows:
A up to three letters from (a to i) are designated. So there could be three rivers spawning at separate points, or two rivers at one point and one at another, or, as in the above images, one point spawning all three rivers.
There are two more planned generation scripts which will include rivers spawning in hills, generating tributaries, and ending in lakes. As well as a sort of 'island' type map where there is lots of boggy marshlands and lakes dotted around the place with maybe 1 or 2 rivers.
Also, just more or less completed the Tower model, where Clerics are recruited from as well as researching basic upgrades and spells.
Another teaser: This is the Windmill, a generic structure that gives no actual bonuses... the towns were looking pretty bland with just houses etc.
awesome models :)
awsome quality of the models, looks very midevil. In the map are you going to use custom made textures or the same texture pallets that sc2 gives you?