Spell Contest - Themes

[Accname]

> maybe devine magic? given by a god? with a background story involved?
See 'healing magic'.

i didnt meant "divine magic" like in regular games, like WoW. but spells which are given by a god to a shaman kind of unit or the god is casting this spell if the shaman is able to perform a certain task/ritual/summoning.

how about spells which need player skill, which force the player to do something.
some examples:
a projectile which is moved via arrow keys after its summoned (while moving the caster is paused)
or
a voodoo spell where you need to type in some kind of magic formula in order to make it work right. one part of that spell formula is the name of the target or maybe the position where the spell effect should take place.

could be interesting.

 

[Romek]

> Check my (slightly neglected) Bittersweet Spell Pack submission
As interesting as those spells are, they're not particularly interesting for a spell contest. Spell contests need to be flashy.

> Aura
Never for a contest.

> channeled, range-limited, caster-damaging version of Mirror Image I'm making for my own project...
Also an interesting idea, though once again, not particularly good for a contest.

> Yes, still all I think of are blink-strikes or dashes or omnislashes or backstabs or bleed effects or DotA ripoffs
You need to be more imaginative then. Physical spells allows for much more than that. Just think outside the box.

> Of course, that's just the way my imagination tends, toward magic and away from physical. Don't let me stop you.
You won't stop me, don't worry.

> The guys above almost talking about damaging enemy, how about manipulating an enemy?
That's quite interesting.

> Valentine
Lol, no. Manipulating in other ways though.

> I say physics. It'll make for interesting spells.
I had that idea a while back too. It'll make interesting spells for sure, though it'll leave GUI-users at a huge disadvantage, as physics are a pain to code in GUI.

> Illusion - Charm, conceal, create light, silence, paralyze.
See buffs/debuffs.

> Mysticism - Absorb, reflect, dispel, move objects/units, sense life, bind souls.
We've had 'Forbidden Arts', which seems similar to that.

> Animals - Summon, animal attacks, etc. (Things to do with animals)
We've had summon, and animal themed attacks just seems like a much more limited version of 'physical'.

> btw blink or any other type of teleportation is magic
I wouldn't be so strict if the theme was physical. 'Blink' could be explained by very fast movement or something.

> How about power of stacked abilities for a theme?
I think we've had a combo-spell themed contest before, though it's certainly a good idea, and I'd completely forgotten about that.

> i didnt meant "divine magic" like in regular games, like WoW. but spells which are given by a god to a shaman kind of unit or the god is casting this spell if the shaman is able to perform a certain task/ritual/summoning.
Hmm, I guess that's not a bad idea.

I know I seem very picky with my replies. Feel free to discuss anything. I could pick any of these ideas, mix them up, or be inspired by them.

 

[RangerX]

1>High-tech spells [Railgun era]
2>Black Powder spells like
3>reproduction of an Superhero [Marvel.DC.or any other manga/comicbook] ability

 

[HeX.16]

I liked

2>Black Powder spells like

 

[CrazedPyscho]

Skillful spell theme
in the sense that abilties hav no base power or effect by themselves
like a spell has more power or stronger effect based on the range, application of its usage, certain properties of the caster or target unit
this way its 'not the amount of power one possesses but how they use that power to connect with others'
clap 2 any1 who tells me wheres that from

 

[NeuroToxin]

Do the spells have to have a theme? Have you ever done an unthemed contest where everyone just makes spells, anything goes, just like no packs? If the spells HAVE to have a theme, how about, Mischievous or Clever, spells that require some thinking before using. Like an only invisible when within trees, but first attack does extra damage, but don't use that, that'd be too simple.

 

[Accname]

@CrazedPsycho: as you might read from my previous post, i would gladly see a contest with such a theme.

[...]
how about spells which need player skill, which force the player to do something.
some examples:
a projectile which is moved via arrow keys after its summoned (while moving the caster is paused)
or
a voodoo spell where you need to type in some kind of magic formula in order to make it work right. one part of that spell formula is the name of the target or maybe the position where the spell effect should take place.

could be interesting.

Do the spells have to have a theme? Have you ever done an unthemed contest where everyone just makes spells, anything goes, just like no packs? If the spells HAVE to have a theme, how about, Mischievous or Clever, spells that require some thinking before using. Like an only invisible when within trees, but first attack does extra damage, but don't use that, that'd be too simple.

because if no theme is given it is way too hard to justify the amount of points given by the jury. its much harder to say "this spell is better then the other" as to say "this spell suits theme XYZ more then that spell". it helps the judges to make the contest more "fair", at least a little bit.

 

[Romek]

I seem to have forgotten to reply to your post about spells which require user input, Accname. I don't think a spell should require anything from the player other than casting it. Otherwise it becomes more of a minigame. I don't think CrazedPsycho had that in mind either; I believe he meant that the spell effects/damage varies depending on the environment and things that are happening whilst the spell is being cast.

Also, in addition to what Accname said about the theme being there (keeps the spells comparable), it gives people something to base their spells on. I personally can't think of a random idea for any spell, though if someone gave me a strict theme, I'd be able to think of an idea without much problem. That's less important than the former point though.

> High-tech spells [Railgun era]
That's not bad.

> Black Powder spells like
?

> reproduction of an Superhero [Marvel.DC.or any other manga/comicbook] ability
Not enough room for creativity.


Anyhow, I'll make the contest shortly after the Tower Contest results are posted. I still haven't decided on a theme, but I've got more than enough options.

 

[tommerbob]

> I say physics. It'll make for interesting spells.
I had that idea a while back too. It'll make interesting spells for sure, though it'll leave GUI-users at a huge disadvantage, as physics are a pain to code in GUI.

That's kinda what I meant by "manipulating space/time" and a cosmological theme. Stuff dealing with the physical nature of the universe.

 

[RangerX]

when i said Black Powder spells i was thinking of Spells that use black Powder like some mortar spells cannon or anything that has to do with BlackPowder

 

[Weep]

Spell contests need to be flashy.

> Aura
Never for a contest.

not particularly good for a contest.

Pffff. :thdown:

 

[CrazedPyscho]

yea Romek i kinda agreed with him i guess while i also want variables such as the environment and unit properties considered

offtopic, ihve been thinking of my previous post mentioning projectiles n i think i will create a pvp based on that
watcha think?
Pls read the post if u hve forgotten pg2 thnkx

 

[sylvannis mb]

Chaos Spells?

what about making the theme spells based on creating chaos or anarchy, such as like "fear" spells, or anything that would make the outcome of a battle totally unpredictable. I dont really wanna say to many ideas in case i ruin all of the good ones but like an area of damage randomising, where everyone does a random amount of damage inside it, etc.
I think that chaos would be a good theme because then everyone can have their own concept of what makes the game their playing into chaos, or what really ^#%$'s them, and then design a spell that does that.
I'd love to enter the spell contest as well, im not great at the coding, but i do think im pretty creative so i could make interesting spells.

 

[XeNiM666]

1. Why not do a spell olympics like in wc3c.net?
2. Manipulating the terrain to your advantage in a certain way (say damage, escape, support and/or initiate)?
3. Using the concept of ladder skills (like storm bolt) and creating a spell that uses that concept (ladder storm bolt = DotA Sven's storm bolt for example)

IDK but that would be up to you Romek..

 

[Sajin]

Yea im with terrain deformation skills not so much for the olympics part though

 

[Weep]

What about "non-triggered spells"? Ever since that was suggested in the tower contest thread, I've been conceptualizing unique object editor spells...

 

[HeX.16]

What about "non-triggered spells"? Ever since that was suggested in the tower contest thread, I've been conceptualizing unique object editor spells...

Wow thats accually a cool idea =/
I support it completely, i would like to see what could be done through object editor alone. Although its going to be more a SFX contest then.

 

[Sajin]

I love weeps idea im with it 100%

 

[Sim]

Let's draw some inspiration off D&D.

Maybe the theme could be to choose a school of magic from this universe, and build a mage around it.

School 1, Evocation: “Evocation spells manipulate energy or tap an unseen source of power to produce a desired end. In effect, they create something out of nothing. Many of these spells produce spectacular effects, and evocation spells can deal large amounts of damage.”

School 2, Necromancy: “Necromancy spells manipulate the power of death, unlife, and the life force. Spells involving undead creatures make up a large part of this school.”

School 3, Illusion: “Illusion spells deceive the senses or minds of others. They cause people to see things that are not there, not see things that are there, hear phantom noises, or remember things that never happened. Illusions come in five types: figments, glamers, patterns, phantasms, and shadows.”

School 4, Enchantment: “Enchantment spells affect the minds of others, influencing or controlling their behavior. All enchantments are mind-affecting spells. Two types of enchantment spells grant you influence over a subject creature.”

School 5, Conjuration: “Each conjuration spell belongs to one of five subschools. Conjurations bring manifestations of objects, creatures, or some form of energy to you (the summoning subschool), actually transport creatures from another plane of existence to your plane (calling), heal (healing), transport creatures or objects over great distances (teleportation), or create objects or effects on the spot (creation). Creatures you conjure usually, but not always, obey your commands.”

School 6, Abjuration: “Abjurations are protective spells. They create physical or magical barriers, negate magical or physical abilities, harm trespassers, or even banish the subject of the spell to another plane of existence.”

School 7, Divination: “Divination spells enable you to learn secrets long forgotten, to predict the future, to find hidden things, and to foil deceptive spells. Many divination spells have cone-shaped areas. These move with you and extend in the direction you look. The cone defines the area that you can sweep each round. If you study the same area for multiple rounds, you can often gain additional information, as noted in the descriptive text for the spell.”

School 8, Transmutation: “Transmutation spells change the properties of some creature, thing, or condition.”

Dunno.
Could be cool.

 

[Necrach]

What about some kind of abstract word, that you can use for quite different ideas, like DIVINE or something

I liked the contest connected to icons a couple of years ago

Other than that, maybe a auto-cast spell? (where you can activate continual spellcasting, like slow, frost shield, etc)

One last thing; wouldn't it be quite nice with a "spellcaster contest"? Where you should create a 3 level spellcaster (like Necromancer, Shaman, Banshee, Priest, etc) with 3 different spells, balanced special adds like the two forms of Spirit Walker would be allowed

EDIT: And also, I like the non-triggered idea and the D&D one!