Just so i don't get people's hopes up too much, i have not actually begun to make this game yet, nor am i really sure i will make it. i am posting this in order to get feedback to see if it seems like a good idea since i don't wanna put a lot of time and effort into it to just have people shrug it off as just another DotA clone or think the game systems suck (what happened to my last map 
). That being said, ill start with the description.
Story
Two lords of great empires are fighting for control of each others lands... Yeah, i know its not much, but i haven't put much thought into the story and I'm sure i can get it to sound cool and add a lot of detail before its done.
Main Goal
Like any AoS the goal will be to fight along side waves of units to destroy a central target in your opponents base. a slight difference is that the target will be a computer controlled hero that, though he will stay in the back of the base, will level and be able to defend himself.
Heroes
I will be doing the heroes in a style similar to an MMORPG. the game will start with 16 heroes. There will be 2 tanks (heroes made specifically to get hit instead of the weaker units/heroes. i will make each of them actually WANT to get hit as well). 2 melee damage dealers. 2 ranged damage dealers, and 2 support heroes for each team.
The heroes will have 50 levels, it will be quite easy to level, though you wont get a very large boost each level, and exp will be globally distributed.
Abilities
Unlike the traditional way of doing abilities, i will have a unique system. every hero will have a number of specialization, or "spec", lines. each time a hero levels they will gain a certain amount of "spec points" depending on there level. For example, if a Mage hits level 2, it may gain 3 spec points, or at level 10, it may gain 15 spec points.
In order to level up a spec line, you must put enough spec points into it to equal the level you want to get. so to get your Fire spec line from level 2 to level 3, you need to spend 3 spec points, or from level 3 to level 5, you need to spend 9 spec points.
Each time you level a spec line, you will either gain a new ability from that line, or strengthen an already known ability from that line.
Lanes
There will be two lanes going between the two main bases, however, unlike the normal towers to slow progression, the game will have 2 to 3 "keeps", which will be small bases, between the bases, or "castles" as ill be calling them. these keeps can be fortified with guards and weak towers. there wont be any really strong units or buildings, instead it will just be a number of units and weak towers guarding these keeps. Castles will be the same but with more guards in a larger area.
Players will be able to build buildings and additional unit spawners, but you can only build in keeps and castles, and there will be limited locations to do so.
Items
In order to keep the focus on specing your hero. the items will be pretty basic, mostly stat boost.
Exact Details
Exact details on the maps systems that i have worked out so far are here and if your interested with the above description, i suggest you read them (Warning, TL;DR imminent):
Also, feel free to use any ideas suggested here for your own maps, but please do give credit.
). That being said, ill start with the description.Story
Two lords of great empires are fighting for control of each others lands... Yeah, i know its not much, but i haven't put much thought into the story and I'm sure i can get it to sound cool and add a lot of detail before its done.
Main Goal
Like any AoS the goal will be to fight along side waves of units to destroy a central target in your opponents base. a slight difference is that the target will be a computer controlled hero that, though he will stay in the back of the base, will level and be able to defend himself.
Heroes
I will be doing the heroes in a style similar to an MMORPG. the game will start with 16 heroes. There will be 2 tanks (heroes made specifically to get hit instead of the weaker units/heroes. i will make each of them actually WANT to get hit as well). 2 melee damage dealers. 2 ranged damage dealers, and 2 support heroes for each team.
The heroes will have 50 levels, it will be quite easy to level, though you wont get a very large boost each level, and exp will be globally distributed.
Abilities
Unlike the traditional way of doing abilities, i will have a unique system. every hero will have a number of specialization, or "spec", lines. each time a hero levels they will gain a certain amount of "spec points" depending on there level. For example, if a Mage hits level 2, it may gain 3 spec points, or at level 10, it may gain 15 spec points.
In order to level up a spec line, you must put enough spec points into it to equal the level you want to get. so to get your Fire spec line from level 2 to level 3, you need to spend 3 spec points, or from level 3 to level 5, you need to spend 9 spec points.
Each time you level a spec line, you will either gain a new ability from that line, or strengthen an already known ability from that line.
Lanes
There will be two lanes going between the two main bases, however, unlike the normal towers to slow progression, the game will have 2 to 3 "keeps", which will be small bases, between the bases, or "castles" as ill be calling them. these keeps can be fortified with guards and weak towers. there wont be any really strong units or buildings, instead it will just be a number of units and weak towers guarding these keeps. Castles will be the same but with more guards in a larger area.
Players will be able to build buildings and additional unit spawners, but you can only build in keeps and castles, and there will be limited locations to do so.
Items
In order to keep the focus on specing your hero. the items will be pretty basic, mostly stat boost.
Exact Details
Exact details on the maps systems that i have worked out so far are here and if your interested with the above description, i suggest you read them (Warning, TL;DR imminent):
Two large castles are placed at opposite ends of the map. The map is as large width-wise as possible and height-wise as needed. There will be 3 to 4 entrances to each castle near each lane to keep the bottlenecking to a minimal amount. Each castle has a Lord at the top of it, which will level as the two sides fight. When one of these Lords dies, the killing team wins. There will be a constant flow of NPC controlled units heading down two paths branching from these castles. Along the roads between the castles there will be 3 to 4 keeps. Each keep will have one entrance on each end of it allowing it to work for either team. There will be portals heading in and out of the keep, allowing the units controlled by the team that controls the keep to enter it easily, and any unit, friend or foe, to leave via teleporting. The only places to build anything in the game are in pre-placed areas in the castles or keeps. Each keep and castle will have a number of auto-spawning and respawning NPC controlled guards with respawn times of around 5 minutes, which are just as strong as normal units. There is a central object in each keep that, when killed, gives control of the keep to whichever team killed it, instantly spawning the team’s guards for the keep and allowing that team to enter the keep via the teleporters. These objects will have a decent amount of health. Each keep taken will obviously provide more areas to build immobile siege weapons (stationary weapons with VERY long range but low damage, but still able to help at extreme range) as well as unit spawners and areas at the openings for player-built walls.
Each team will have 5 players controlling 1 hero each and an NPC controlling the units. Each hero will have a max level of 50, and exp will be distributed globally for each team. For the skills, unlike the normal way of doing it, each hero will have a number of different specialization, or “spec”, lines which they can put points they gain from leveling in. Every time a hero levels they will get a number of spec points based on their level. So at level 2 a hero might get 3 points, or at 10 they might get 15 points, it will vary from hero to hero depending on the number of spec lines required to have a working hero, but will never be enough to allow the hero to max out all spec lines, or even come anywhere close. Each spec line will have 50 levels with costs equal to the level being trained. So to get one line from level 1 to level 2, you will spend 2 spec points. Every level gained in a spec line will give a new ability, weather it’s a completely new ability or a new level of an old ability. This allows you to try a different spec every time you play.
Each hero’s spec lines will look something like; a mage will have a fire, ice, wind, and lightning spec line. Each line will have a number of spells for that particular element. The mage will gain 1.5X there level in points, and each line will be strong enough to be usable on its own without any other line being needed, but still be effective with points spread between them. Each line will have something like; Lightning will have a few damage abilities for single target and AoE damage, a few utility abilities such as increased run speed, and a few defensive abilities like a shield which causes damage to anyone that hits you, where fire line will have the same type of single and AoE damage abilities, but have something like melting the persons shoes to the ground to slow them instead of speeding you up, and have something like lighting your armor on fire for the defensive ability. However, a knight’s lines would have a line for swords, maces, shields, offensive tactics, and probably alternatives to those lines such as other weapons or different tactics. Knights will gain 3X their level in points because they will require at least 1 line of weapons, 1 line of tactics, and 1 line of a defense such as shields or armor. There lines will be something like; weapons in general will be filled mostly with damaging abilities, but a few utility abilities. Tactics will be filled with a number of different utility abilities like a way to raise run speed for a short time or dodge certain attacks. And defensive lines like shield or armor will be filled mostly with passive bonuses like a chance to block certain attacks or raised armor, but will also have some utility abilities like the ability to throw your shield for a ranged attack or adding a hidden weapon to your armor you can swing out for a quick finishing move.
Each hero will start with 30 stat points distributed between the possible stats differently for each hero and will gain 3 stat points per level. Health per strength and mana per intelligence gains will be 20 per point while spell’s costs will be 75% of the damage they deal or 50% of the health they heal and possibly extra for certain effects. Summoning spell’s costs will be determined by the average damage the summon will cause over 15 seconds and the utility of its abilities. The damage stat for all heroes will be agility and the speed boost granted by it will be reduced. All heroes will have a base of 2.0 attack speed, 0 damage base, hero attack and defense types, 270 movement speed, 100 health, 0 mana, 0.300 back swing, 0 defense, 0.50 health regeneration always, and 0.01 mana regeneration. Ranged heroes will have 1000 range and 1-12 dice while melee have 100 range and 2-12 dice. This should keep the game easy to balance.
All abilities will strengthen at a rate of 10% (of their current amount) per level gained. All units will strengthen at the same pace. Melee unit starting stats will be 2.0 attack speed, 9 base and 1-16 dice damage, 2 defense, 500 health, and 0.25 health regeneration. Ranged units will have the same stats except 1000 range, 250 health, and 0 defense. And support units will have the same stats as ranged units except 4 base and 1-11 dice damage, 500 mana, and 0.50 mana regeneration. All units will also have, at least, 1 ability complimentary to there jobs.
To start, the game will have 16 heroes. 2 tanks, 2 melee DPS, 2 ranged DPS, and 2 healers for each team. 1 tank will focus on tanking a single target, such as a hero. 1 tank will focus on tanking large numbers of smaller units. 1 melee dps will focus on single target dps. 1 melee dps will focus on AoE dps. 1 ranged DPS will focus on direct ranged combat. 1 ranged DPS will focus on summoning ranged combat. 1 healer will heal from range. And 1 healer will heal from melee. More will be added later, and every hero will be completely original, hopefully with very creative abilities such as those used by heroes in my game Apocalyptic Battle such as the Weaver, Paladin, Felhound Master, Viral Zombie, Blood Shadow, and Pyromancer, as well as others. You can download and look at them here: http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/resource.php?t=97333
The average range in the game will be 1000, but there will be some things, such as purchasable, immobile, siege weapons with longer range, and others with shorter range. All melees will have at least 1 ability to get to the ranged units.
There will be no “ultimate” abilities in the game. There will be practically no stuns or roots. And there will be VERY few slows in the game. Most abilities, though having some form of a side effect from just damage, will not contain CC.
Between the 2 paths that connect the castles there will be a number of different areas to creep for extra exp or money. The unit spawns in these areas will strengthen as the heroes level.
There will be buyable items, but they will be rather weak, mostly limited to stat boosts. This keeps the focus more on specing your hero rather than gearing it up. There will also be a number of buyable siege weapons to build in keeps and castles for better defense, or offense if you place them in enemy keeps. You can also purchase unit spawners to place in keeps and castles to spawn more units each wave, however, there will only be a very limited number of areas to build a unit spawner in each keep or castle, most likely only 2. And finally, you can purchase individual units to help you fight, however, you can only have a total of 11 units or less depending how strong they are. Some units will cost more food, especially mobile siege weapons such as rams, which can cause massive damage against enemy buildings. There will also be several levels of units you can buy that vary in price depending on how strong and useful they are.
Each team will have 5 players controlling 1 hero each and an NPC controlling the units. Each hero will have a max level of 50, and exp will be distributed globally for each team. For the skills, unlike the normal way of doing it, each hero will have a number of different specialization, or “spec”, lines which they can put points they gain from leveling in. Every time a hero levels they will get a number of spec points based on their level. So at level 2 a hero might get 3 points, or at 10 they might get 15 points, it will vary from hero to hero depending on the number of spec lines required to have a working hero, but will never be enough to allow the hero to max out all spec lines, or even come anywhere close. Each spec line will have 50 levels with costs equal to the level being trained. So to get one line from level 1 to level 2, you will spend 2 spec points. Every level gained in a spec line will give a new ability, weather it’s a completely new ability or a new level of an old ability. This allows you to try a different spec every time you play.
Each hero’s spec lines will look something like; a mage will have a fire, ice, wind, and lightning spec line. Each line will have a number of spells for that particular element. The mage will gain 1.5X there level in points, and each line will be strong enough to be usable on its own without any other line being needed, but still be effective with points spread between them. Each line will have something like; Lightning will have a few damage abilities for single target and AoE damage, a few utility abilities such as increased run speed, and a few defensive abilities like a shield which causes damage to anyone that hits you, where fire line will have the same type of single and AoE damage abilities, but have something like melting the persons shoes to the ground to slow them instead of speeding you up, and have something like lighting your armor on fire for the defensive ability. However, a knight’s lines would have a line for swords, maces, shields, offensive tactics, and probably alternatives to those lines such as other weapons or different tactics. Knights will gain 3X their level in points because they will require at least 1 line of weapons, 1 line of tactics, and 1 line of a defense such as shields or armor. There lines will be something like; weapons in general will be filled mostly with damaging abilities, but a few utility abilities. Tactics will be filled with a number of different utility abilities like a way to raise run speed for a short time or dodge certain attacks. And defensive lines like shield or armor will be filled mostly with passive bonuses like a chance to block certain attacks or raised armor, but will also have some utility abilities like the ability to throw your shield for a ranged attack or adding a hidden weapon to your armor you can swing out for a quick finishing move.
Each hero will start with 30 stat points distributed between the possible stats differently for each hero and will gain 3 stat points per level. Health per strength and mana per intelligence gains will be 20 per point while spell’s costs will be 75% of the damage they deal or 50% of the health they heal and possibly extra for certain effects. Summoning spell’s costs will be determined by the average damage the summon will cause over 15 seconds and the utility of its abilities. The damage stat for all heroes will be agility and the speed boost granted by it will be reduced. All heroes will have a base of 2.0 attack speed, 0 damage base, hero attack and defense types, 270 movement speed, 100 health, 0 mana, 0.300 back swing, 0 defense, 0.50 health regeneration always, and 0.01 mana regeneration. Ranged heroes will have 1000 range and 1-12 dice while melee have 100 range and 2-12 dice. This should keep the game easy to balance.
All abilities will strengthen at a rate of 10% (of their current amount) per level gained. All units will strengthen at the same pace. Melee unit starting stats will be 2.0 attack speed, 9 base and 1-16 dice damage, 2 defense, 500 health, and 0.25 health regeneration. Ranged units will have the same stats except 1000 range, 250 health, and 0 defense. And support units will have the same stats as ranged units except 4 base and 1-11 dice damage, 500 mana, and 0.50 mana regeneration. All units will also have, at least, 1 ability complimentary to there jobs.
To start, the game will have 16 heroes. 2 tanks, 2 melee DPS, 2 ranged DPS, and 2 healers for each team. 1 tank will focus on tanking a single target, such as a hero. 1 tank will focus on tanking large numbers of smaller units. 1 melee dps will focus on single target dps. 1 melee dps will focus on AoE dps. 1 ranged DPS will focus on direct ranged combat. 1 ranged DPS will focus on summoning ranged combat. 1 healer will heal from range. And 1 healer will heal from melee. More will be added later, and every hero will be completely original, hopefully with very creative abilities such as those used by heroes in my game Apocalyptic Battle such as the Weaver, Paladin, Felhound Master, Viral Zombie, Blood Shadow, and Pyromancer, as well as others. You can download and look at them here: http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/resource.php?t=97333
The average range in the game will be 1000, but there will be some things, such as purchasable, immobile, siege weapons with longer range, and others with shorter range. All melees will have at least 1 ability to get to the ranged units.
There will be no “ultimate” abilities in the game. There will be practically no stuns or roots. And there will be VERY few slows in the game. Most abilities, though having some form of a side effect from just damage, will not contain CC.
Between the 2 paths that connect the castles there will be a number of different areas to creep for extra exp or money. The unit spawns in these areas will strengthen as the heroes level.
There will be buyable items, but they will be rather weak, mostly limited to stat boosts. This keeps the focus more on specing your hero rather than gearing it up. There will also be a number of buyable siege weapons to build in keeps and castles for better defense, or offense if you place them in enemy keeps. You can also purchase unit spawners to place in keeps and castles to spawn more units each wave, however, there will only be a very limited number of areas to build a unit spawner in each keep or castle, most likely only 2. And finally, you can purchase individual units to help you fight, however, you can only have a total of 11 units or less depending how strong they are. Some units will cost more food, especially mobile siege weapons such as rams, which can cause massive damage against enemy buildings. There will also be several levels of units you can buy that vary in price depending on how strong and useful they are.
Also, feel free to use any ideas suggested here for your own maps, but please do give credit.
