Hunter and Prey

[Arcane]

Hunter and Prey​

In this deadly game of hunting, are you the hunter? Or are you the prey...​

Basically just a game of hunting with two teams, the Hunters and the Creatures – the Hunters have much better equipment, base, and numbers, but the Creatures each have a unique ability that aids them and they are very strong individually. The game ends when either all the Hunters or all the Creatures die.

Right now it's six hunters and two creatures. The creatures are randomly picked and both creature players will always be the same.


Hunters

Haven't really thought about this, any ideas? BTW, I want each Hunter to have a 'role' in the hunt...

Creatures

Werewolf - Can morph into a very powerful wolf at nighttime.
Demon - Super fast health regeneration rate.
Ghost - Cannot be killed without destroying tomb and resistant to physical attacks.
Vampire - Can convert enemy heroes into vampires and suck blood. Requires blood to survive and burns slowly in the sunlight unless in coffin.
Dragon - Can fly.
Spider Queen - Can inject eggs into a victim (unit) to spawn a spider minion.
Succubus - Can charm enemy units.
Lost Soul - Permanent Invisibility and resistant to physical damage.


So the Hunters should have a base in the middle with shops, healing fountains, and CPU controlled guards, along with outposts scattered throughout the map... While the creatures, have to choose their own 'den' somewhere in the wild and have to attack guarded healing fountains to restore lost health. There should also be villages in various places on the map so the creatures can gain some experience or gather minions.


What I really need help on right now is ideas, and terraining... so if anybody could contribute some ideas or help out with the terrain...

 

[Arcane]

^B^u^m^p^ - so many views and no replies?

 

[stavious]

Hunter Ideas

Well can't hunters have different types too? Some can be rangers, and some can use swords while others bows (not all hunters use bows you know ).
Few Examples for Hunter Units maybe:
Scout - which is just for looking around, but basically a very weak melee unit.
Ranger - probably an arrow shooting one (like an elf or something).
Spearman - donno probably like the trolls.
Beastmaster - the best one, who has around the same thing as the one in the game (so he uses beasts against beasts )
Also the might go by animal type, for example, maybe one hunter unit is stronger against Demons, but can't attack Vampires at all (or so).
That's my ideas for now, if I think of more I'll let you know.
And by the way: are you going to have Hero units or this one of those maps where you control only one hero and no units?

 

[Arcane]

Yeah, I was actually thinking of different Hunter types too, but since I had very few ideas...

Also the might go by animal type, for example, maybe one hunter unit is stronger against Demons, but can't attack Vampires at all (or so).

I've thought about that too, but it seems a bit... unbalanced, cause if one team (somehow) managed to all pick Vampire Hunter let's say, and the creature team was (somehow) randomly picked as Vampires...

Another situation: if the enemy was Demons, and four of the Hunters picked Exorcist, then the other two Hunters would be kind of useless wouldn' t they? And the Demons would get owned by those four exorcists alone.


I want the Hunters to have to work together to defeat the Creatures - one Hunter should never be able to defeat a creature - so each Hunter should have a 'role', healer, slower, or whatever.

And by the way: are you going to have Hero units or this one of those maps where you control only one hero and no units?

Um, I might add some mercenaries that you could hire, I'm not really sure right now, but most likely, yes, there will be units you can control.

 

[stavious]

OK sounds very nice so far.
The whole effective or not thing though - if you decide to add it to the map it would put a lot more importance on scouting, so you know what units to hire to defeat your enemy's units. And isn't that half of the hunt actually? - the scouting for the 'weaker' animals and knowing how and when to attack?

I want the Hunters to have to work together to defeat the Creatures - one Hunter should never be able to defeat a creature - so each Hunter should have a 'role', healer, slower, or whatever.

I think you're right. It would be extremely cool if you could get players to actually really affect the work of the team (each one in their personal way). So for example on can gather resources and the other tie the rope or set the trap. I mean real team work.
Keep up the work and let me play when you got it going.

 

[Arcane]

Well, scouting will still be very important, since the map will be pretty big, it'll be really hard to find them without scouting abilities such as Sentry Ward, or Reveal... (Especially if the enemy is Ghost.)


Before I 'get going' I really need to know what tileset I should use... I'm not sure if a dark, foresty/plains environment is good, or desert/barrens.

 

[SFilip]

so since you have 8 creep types i suggest that you only make 4 hunter classes.
something like this
class 1: strong vs Werewolf and Vampire, weak vs Dragon and Spider Queen
class 2: strong vs Ghost and Lost Soul, weak vs Werewolf and Vampire
class 3: strong vs Demon and Succubus, weak vs Ghost and Lost Soul
class 4: strong vs Dragon and Spider Queen, weak vs Demon and Succubus

you can also make something like...if class 2 kills a dragon for example he will get the bounty, but the dragon will revive and it will not count as a valid kill. however if class 4 kills it, the dragon will die (lose life or w/e) and only then the kill counts.
however this is probably a bad idea because the game would get pointless if someone leaves...

 

[Arcane]

so since you have 8 creep types i suggest that you only make 4 hunter classes.
something like this
class 1: strong vs Werewolf and Vampire, weak vs Dragon and Spider Queen
class 2: strong vs Ghost and Lost Soul, weak vs Werewolf and Vampire
class 3: strong vs Demon and Succubus, weak vs Ghost and Lost Soul
class 4: strong vs Dragon and Spider Queen, weak vs Demon and Succubus

you can also make something like...if class 2 kills a dragon for example he will get the bounty, but the dragon will revive and it will not count as a valid kill. however if class 4 kills it, the dragon will die (lose life or w/e) and only then the kill counts.

Read read read... *nods*

however this is probably a bad idea because the game would get pointless if someone leaves...

Um... :nuts:


@SFilip: This is just a 'small' project I'm working on besides TDA, need some yes-you-can-finish-a-map encouragement.

 

[stavious]

OK. I think you should use a forest terrain, like Ashenvale or Felwood for the map, since they fit in best with hunters, creatures and scouting. Also it is easier to add a fog in those regions (just cause it'll look more natural than a fog in the barrens).
Also, are you going to put all the bases in asymetrical form like in a melee map? Cause then there's no 'real' scouting. Maybe you can give a player a few building units to start with and let them decide where to put up a base.
What do you think?

 

[Arcane]

Also, are you going to put all the bases in asymetrical form like in a melee map? Cause then there's no 'real' scouting.

Nope, definitely not.

Maybe you can give a player a few building units to start with and let them decide where to put up a base.

Um... Hunters already have a 'base' made for them in the center of the map. The Creatures however, can pick where they want their base. (Some Creatures might not have bases though...)

 

[stavious]

How would it work with creatures not having a base?
Don't you need resources, or mining in this game? Or are they going to find items around the place that add to their gold/lumber resources?

 

[SFilip]

Um... :nuts:

when i said bad idea i was reffering to the second part of my post...still think the rest of it is a nice idea though.

 

[Arcane]

How would it work with creatures not having a base?
Don't you need resources, or mining in this game? Or are they going to find items around the place that add to their gold/lumber resources?

Well, some of the Creatures just... wander... they don't have a base, simple. Resources? Mining? Nope. At least, not for the Creatures. In fact, I don't think Creatures need gold at all, unless I make humanoid ones that can disguise themselves as villagers and buy/use Hunter equipment...

@SFilip: Uh huh.

 

[SFilip]

how about making them look for food...sort of like in troll tribes.
they need a goal. something to keep them busy until the hunters find them.

 

[stavious]

Right I agree with SFilip. Maybe the creatures can have a different resource gathering system than the normal one; also with different resources. Then they could go and search out for them instead of mining or something. The only problem that I can think of with that is that the hunters might find the other resources and use them too, but of course some trigger can make it so that they don't.

 

[Arcane]

I'm pretty sure the Creatures will be fairly busy... if they know how to play that is. Because Creatures should strike as early as possible - before the Hunters level up - to gain levels or conquer important places such as fountains or whatnot...

But... let's just say I DO give Creatures some kind of resource they could gather - what could they do with it? I'm pretty sure Dragons don't/can't buy Claws of Attack or even build a shop to buy one... As for Vampires and Werewolves... hmm... They could just gain resources through killing and conquer an outpost or something to reach a shop...

they need a goal. something to keep them busy until the hunters find them.

Your saying the Creatures are going to sit there and wait for the Hunters to find them? The Creatures win by killing the Hunters, the Hunters win by killing the Creatures - so of course the Creatures don't WAIT for the Hunters...


Edit: I've just thought of something... At the start of the game, the Hunters need to level up on creeps or something, but... the Creatures will also be attacking outposts, destroy villages, murdering innocent bystanders... etc.. So... Are the Hunters to just, ignore the Creatures in the beginning?

Edited Edit: Maybe Creatures - though stronger by default - would have to creep a little in the beginning too before they are poweful enough to attack towns and outposts... hm...

 

[stavious]

I got an idea.
The creatures can use resources for upgrades. Give them a build (that looks like a tree ) in which they can research upgrades with the resources that they gathered.
About the villages and posts, well maybe the creature's second mission can be to kill all the 'scattered' human village buildings and posts of the hunters, and if they do that they win. So the hunters must defend that too. And the creatures will never be able to be as strong as the hunters (as in real life ) so when they decide to hide when the hunters have become too strong they can make a strike on the scattered village building and thus have a REAL IMPORTANCE to scouting and hiding for the creatures.
Good?

 

[Arcane]

I got an idea.
The creatures can use resources for upgrades. Give them a build (that looks like a tree ) in which they can research upgrades with the resources that they gathered.

I've thought of that - not quite sure about it yet though, just leave out the Creature resources for now.

About the villages and posts, well maybe the creature's second mission can be to kill all the 'scattered' human village buildings and posts of the hunters, and if they do that they win. So the hunters must defend that too.

You mean an alternative way for the Creatures to win? That might work... hmm...

And the creatures will never be able to be as strong as the hunters (as in real life )

We're talking about Dragons and Werewolves here .

so when they decide to hide when the hunters have become too strong they can make a strike on the scattered village building and thus have a REAL IMPORTANCE to scouting and hiding for the creatures.

The Creatures should ALWAYS strike the scattered villages first for leveling up, or they could creep... not sure. So you mean, when the Hunters are too strong, the Creatures just avoid them and aim for the alternative victory path of destroying all villages/bases etc - in effect, making scouting more useful?

Good?

:shades: Great. :shades:

 

[stavious]

That's exactly what I mean, on both things: the alternative way for creatures to win, and the destroying villages part.
I'm glad you like it.

 

[Arcane]

Screenshot!

A screenshot of the Hunter's main base! Buildings and other details haven't been put in yet - so it's just a rough copy I suppose. (This is my first time using Ashenvale tileset, turned out pretty good I think ) So... any comments?