Arena Map Idea - Micro Wars

[veepee]

Basically the idea is Micro Wars with depth.

At the start of the game the players would have a certain amount of "Points" which would be used to "purchase" units for the battle. The player is, however, restricted to perhaps one main race and two sub races in selection. Also, the stronger the unit, the more points it costs. I was thinking the Hero would be given free or standardized at a fixed cost.

Obviously the strategies and combinations are pretty much endless.

In addition, the player would be given a certain amount of gold with which to purchase items for the hero. "Points" left over after unit selection could also be converted into gold or something to that effect.

The battles themselves (depending on the gamemode, obviously) would perhaps be 2 or 3 rounds of 2 or 3 battles, ie. in a normal game my ideal match would be 9 rounds, every 3 rounds players start over and select new units/heroes. No points/gold/exp/etc will be carried over between any rounds though, I think that would simply give the winner more of an advantage.

Let me know what you guys think, and if the feedback is positive I might just have something to do with WE again. It's been sitting on my HDD collecting digital dust for 2 years...

P.S. To be honest, I'm not much of a JASSer, so if I do start this map I will need assistance in the form of a real JASSer (albeit an unrenumerated one).

 

[UndeadDragon]

I quite like the idea. I think it has potential :thup:

 

[veepee]

Off to a good start then, but my main reason for replying: Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

 

[UndeadDragon]

>Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

^^

 

[LurkerAspect]

Damn, latin is the only language my translator doesn't detect ^^

Sounds like a good idea, however, to have 'unlimited strategies and options', you'd first need to acheive balance between the different races and units. That will be your hardest task, and should take the most time.

How many players would play at the same time in a round? I think it would be a fun idea to have 1v1s every round, sort of like a 'duel' system between players.
Or even better, different modes where you can select how many players play in a round. It just seems to me that having 12 players fighting at the same time is quite chaotic, unless it's a big map.

 

[veepee]

Sigh, just typed about 4 paragraphs and firefox decided to close. Here we go again...

1) Balance - Of course balance must be achieved. Isn't that what makes a game awesome? StarCraft, for example, had such immense diversity and yet retained balance. And it remains a cut above todays RTS in my book. I cannot wait for StarCraft 2. Ahem, I digress... Balance might take the longest, but by using an open beta/testing/feedback system, it should come right eventually. I do understand it's a never-ending, ongoing process however.

2) I designed the map (in my head) to be played in a 1v1 format, although I love your "Duel System" idea. I might even toy with the idea of a 2v2 format. But that's all up to game modes I think.

3) You mentioned 12 players being chaotic, unless it's a fairly large map. Obviously (I hope) my map is rather small so that wouldn't work with the idea of the map itself.

Speaking of maps and races...

The map that will be designed (not necessarily by me) will have different types of interactive terrain. When I say interactive I mean that in a forest area my Wood Elves would have better regeneration, gain a small % chance to do crit/evasion, seeing as they are accustomed to that type of area. The same would go for naga in a shallow water zone, the same for undead in a blighted area. That itself will add another level of depth and strategy. That's my idea anyway.

Another thing, the races I've thought of (and may have started already...)

*Wood/High Elves (unsure on which, but definitely not both)
*Dark Elves (essentially night elves)
*Orcs (Think Warhammer Orcs
*Naga
*Dwarves (Pitty there are so few Dwarven models/skins... hint hint)
*Human (only because they're expected)
*Undead

That's it for now. Sorry about long posts...

 

[LurkerAspect]

The map that will be designed (not necessarily by me) will have different types of interactive terrain. When I say interactive I mean that in a forest area my Wood Elves would have better regeneration, gain a small % chance to do crit/evasion, seeing as they are accustomed to that type of area. The same would go for naga in a shallow water zone, the same for undead in a blighted area. That itself will add another level of depth and strategy. That's my idea anyway.

THIS I like! That would force players to take that into consideration when going into a battle. However, there should be a neutral zone, where nobody gets any benefits or detriments.

Also, don't worry about the length of your posts. This is your project thread, after all.

As for races, I have a few more exotic ideas for:
Demon, Ghosts, Murloc, Troll, Tauren, Goblins.

If you need models, look in The Hive Workshop. They have a huge selection of the most insane models ever! I could build an entire custom race of goblins or dwarves using the custom models there...

 

[veepee]

1) I'm glad you like the terrain idea - it'll take a bit of scripting (which won't be done by me) but it would be a good idea. You mentioned neutral zones...

It would basically work like this:
*Naga GAINS in water
*Naga LOSES on sand/dirt
*Naga is neutral everywhere else

And it would go like that for every other race. Of course there would be places where no race gains/loses, as you say.

I like the Ghosts race idea, you don't see that often . I have actually added a unit to the Undead named simply Ghost, but now I think I might make an entire race.

The Murloc I have also thought of as an alternative to Naga if you prefer to have your skirmishes in the ocean.

Believe me, I love Hive Workshop and some of the artwork done there is fantastic, but for 2 reasons I won't be able to use models in the map (yet)...

A) Until I release the map (which will be a while, if at all), I'm going to stick to basics so I can get to a point where the map is playable. Importing custom models/skins/buttons doesn't take much effort, so it's no big deal.
B) In my country, we have a problem with international cap. Literally every bandwidth internet package available here (excluding some wireless offerings) gives you 10% international cap and 100% local, e.g. 1gb international and 10gb local. It's also one of the most expensive countries in the world (when it comes to bandwidth and computer technology in general)

But I will eventually do that, thanks for mentioning it.

Edits again... When I said "hint hint" I meant a few original models (solely for the purpose of this map) wouldn't be a bad thing, and modellers/skinners always get so little exposure, which I think is quite unfair. But anyway.

 

[Bloodcount]

Sounds... I don't know.... pretty good actually!

Just... watch how you will make the nuits ok ? They are very important for this type of maps.

 

[veepee]

What do you mean when you say "how" i make the units?

I was thinking that the units' (as with everything else in the game) statistics will be minimal.

E.g. Your average unit will have roughly 50 HP, meaning micro management is even more important. I don't know, it's actually tough to decide. Having units with 300 HP average would just drag the thing out. Then again 50 HP might make it too quick. This is all obviously dependant on damage and skills... Although they would be scaled as well.

 

[Yoshii]

looks interresting; btw where are you from; you said your bandwith is one of the highest, I can only think its in austria or somewhere in africa.

Internet Access Prices Per Megabit Country or Region US$ Per Megabit
Japan 0.70
Korea (Rep.) 0.80
Taiwan, China 1.80
Iceland 2.00
Sweden 2.50
United States 4.90
Netherlands 7.30
Finland 7.30
Hong Kong, China 8.30
Canada 10.50
Macao, China 11.60
Belgium 12.20
United Kingdom 13.50
Singapore 15.90
Israel 32.50
Denmark 32.70
Switzerland 33.50
France 36.70
Norway 62.60
Austria 65.10
Source: ITU Internet Reports 2005

 

[veepee]

I'm from South Africa actually, nice guess.

The most "respected" ISP in South Africa gives us 30gb LOCAL Cap for R130, thats about $17, but it's local, which is pretty much *almost* useless. The same company offers a prepaid service which gives you 1gb's worth of unshaped data for R130 as well.

The international cap skyrockets, we pay about R200 for 100megabytes (megabytes, not megabits), thats about $25 for 100mb. Note that this is all package dependant, but that's about the average.

Not only that, the service itself is pathetic. A company here called Telkom has a monopoly over the entire country's telephonic and ADSL line system, thus they don't ever need to drop their prices. This is obviously due to lack of competition.

Also, your report is from 2005 - DSL was only introduced in my city in 2003...

I refer you to - http://www.businessleadership.org.za/documents/12568Telecomm_web.pdf - see Page 2 and have a look.

31 times more expensive than the cheapest country in that list, and 3 times more expensive than the most expensive one. That's for international leased lines. Oddly enough, the first figure (31 times more expensive) excludes Canada, which is in the list of compared countries You lucky bugger you.

 

[Bloodcount]

by maiking good units I mean that you shloud try to make them usefull.

For example, a unit who can ensnare oponents will be a lot more useful then a very strong, unit with no abilities. Still, try not to overdo the abilities, because you will get too many hero-like units, who need a lot of attention.

 

[Yoshii]

damn thats pretty expensive veepee, even in canada its still pricy compare to alot of countries and also our wireless rate(cell phone,blackberry etc) is among the highest in the industrial world.I For one wish I was living in Japan its way cheaper and the speed is about 10x what I can get here.(aside from company line which cost thousand per month)

 

[veepee]

I love Japan - it's my dream to live there one day. And it's got nothing to do with Anime. No, I lie, it's got alot to do with it Haha.

I see what you mean Bloodcount. No, each unit should and would be balanced and versatile. Every unit will have a use or purpose in it's race. Thanks for your input, any more would be appreciated.

 

[veepee]

Ok, here's my idea for the first race. It's very basic but the units should work well together. Obviously these figures have to be balanced, and I haven't included regen as all the units (with a few exceptions) will have the same base regen.

I haven't included a Hero in this although I have ideas on a few. Simply because heroes are a different kettle of fish all together. They will compliment their races though.

******
High/Wood Elves (name undecided)

GAINS: Forest Areas
LOSES: Barren Areas (Dead trees, sand, etc)

Swordsman [warrior-type]

ATK DMG 10
ATK SPD 1.2
ATK TYP NORMAL
HP 50
MP -
DEF BSE 2
DEF TYP Heavy
MOV SPD 300

POINT COST 7

Abilities:
Night Vision (basically ultravision)
Sprint (increases movespeed for a short period)

Archer [archer-type]

ATK DMG 12
ATK SPD 1.1
ATK TYP PIERCING
HP 40
MP -
DEF BSE 1
DEF TYP Light
MOV SPD 310

POINT COST 8

Abilities:
Night Vision

Forestmage [caster-type]

ATK DMG 7
ATK SPD 1.8
ATK TYP MAGIC
HP 40
MP 40
DEF BSE 0
DEF TYP Unarmoured
MOV SPD 290

POINT COST 10

Abilities:
Heart of War (Think Faery Fire) [7 Mana]
Entangle (A very nerfed version) [10 Mana]
Displace (Easily made trigger-enhanced spell, sends a single unit [enemy, non-hero]
to a random point on the battlefield - could be anywhere. Great for saving allies or
disrupting an enemy force. Would cost a large amount of mana) [22 Mana]

Ent [tank-type]

ATK DMG 20
ATK SPD 2.2
ATK TYP NORMAL
HP 70
MP 20
DEF BSE 3
DEF TYP Heavy
MOV SPD 250

POINT COST 13

Abilities:
Sprout (Summons 2 Sproutling from trees, summoned Sproutlings are permanent) [11 Mana]
*Note - will have double regen during the day

Ent Sproutling [special]

ATK DMG 8
ATK SPD 1.1
ATK TYP NORMAL
HP 35
MP -
DEF BSE 1
DEF TYP Medium
MOV SPD 290

POINT COST 7

Abilities:
Slow Poison (not too sure about this yet)
*Note - will have double regen during the day

Treetop Drake [flyer-type]

ATK DMG 15
ATK SPD 1.2
ATK TYP Normal
HP 55
MP -
DEF BSE 2
DEF TYP Medium
MOV SPD 310

POINT COST 15

Abilities
Flyer (can fly over terrain etc)
Slow Poison (not too sure about this)

*****

Let me know what you think, and any suggestions would be welcome of course.

 

[LurkerAspect]

Did you say SOUTH AFRICA!!?? I'm from South Africa too! There's a third member here who's also south african, his name's Gtam!

Nice to meet you

I use an ISP called Axxess DSL, which charges me R60 a gig, so that's R300 for a 5gb cap per month, which is moer than enough for me

I see you also love Japan... do you watch any anime

 

[veepee]

The map has completely changed from my original idea - although the premise stays the same.

I'll post it when it's finished, and I'm about to start beta testing on the South African server...

 

[Bloodcount]

that is a start. You need atleast 2 more races done before we can start maiking them unique with interesting abilities though