Status update on map, among other things

[ThE-eNiGmA]

After about a week of lethargy and three days of my DSL going down, I have resumed progress on my map, BattleShips Melee. A couple ideas came to me on how to fix certain problems, but thats like step 3421, while I am on step 400. Anyway, I have some "hopefully" interesting questions.

One of my ideas was making roving mines. Have a mine layer ship disperse little mines that float on the water, gradually drifting closer to a target. The trick is pulling it off. One idea involves very little in the way of trigger work. Just set the combat acquisition range to as high as it will go, and give the mines an attack that requires it to get withing 50 range. Then, Kaboom! When not acquiring a target, the mines would have the wander ability. I don't know if this will work though.

Another way is using a complicated trigger setup that gradually moves the mines closer to a random target. Hm... what would be interesting is if the mines dont actually move themselves. That is, you set up regions, where a "current" flows between. Mines would tend to follow the current....along other things...like ships...

I decided to save myself alot of headaches and ripped ability, buff, and item settings from an old Bships map. Its alot easier to tweak than it is to start over from scratch, my thanks to Sked.

So far, the map hasn't progressed much in a while. Added some ships, and I am writing out the stats for more. I figured out how to solve the admiral ships dilemma, but I cant do anything about it until I a.) have admirals; b.) have a decent repertoire of ships in the first place. Any suggestions for either is appreciated.

I think I have an idea on how to refine my ultimate comp ability. On other notes... the new environment options look sweeet on water...using those for spawns at the middle of the map. Thinking of putting in dedicated docks, instead of hastily built ones.

 

[BrokenX]

You, should make some kind of submarine that would be sweet, if possible, or if you even wanted to do it. Oh insted of calling your "mines" "mines", call them depth charges.


brokenX

 

[ThE-eNiGmA]

no, mines. Ever see spikey-ball mines on cartoons? the ones that bob up and down...up and down... those weren't depth charges...

As for the sub, I am already putting in amphibious troopers...they can submerge and even attack...at the cost of DRASTICALLY reduced speed. Great for ambushes, since 1 attack does 100 dmg.

Not sure how many people would want to play this. I don't actually have something even close to playable, but I can see it in my mind's eye. Too bad there is just so much to do.

 

[BrokenX]

Actually, depth charges are barrels, that roll off a boat and sink making an explosion, used for attacking submarines mostly, because you can't see them... when there submerged...



BrokenX

 

[Shadowy Fear]

Maybe you could add the Gnomish Aircraft Carrier Imagine: your hero is dead, the naga are using the bloody tides on your traders, so no gold, and your enemy's armada has just sunk your last battleship when DUM DUM. DA DUM DE DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM! Your gnomish aircraft carrier is finished, and right away it sends out little flying ... things ... dropping bombs and sinking your enemy's entire armada single handedly! Of course, then your ENEMYS aircraft carrier comes along and lol game over

Maybe you could make part of the terrain on the map an underwater volcano as well LOL just put a volcano and a bunch of bubbles with a periodic chance to burn ships near it. Could even put this on land . Maybe the volcano could be secret, or even a whole nother land section (or water) where you could fight the enemy over lava

 

[ThE-eNiGmA]

The map is not THAT big. It probably should be bigger, because the water is a bit... ahem, congested, but it makes for control of routes possible. As for the carrier...unless you have a custom aircraft carrier model you can refer to me, im going to use the Jugg model as the carrier. It is certainly big enough, and ill pretend it catapult-launches...old-school style. The carrier is already part of the map, just not developed.

Btw, I solved the admiral loading into ships problem. Give the admiral a dummy ability. What happens is that when the admiral targets an appropriate ship, the ship is replaced with a hero ship with equal exp and lvls. the admiral is removed, and skills are placed on the ship depending on the admiral. Everytime the admiral moves to another ship, he has to reset the skills (every ship is different, right...?) Getting out would involve another dummy ability. Oh, just to make sure there are no abuses, when a hero ship replaces the normal ship, the ship stats are the same, exactly, down to the number of hp it had. Too bad i havent even started on the triggers yet, or the heroes, or the hero ships, or the abilities. I just know i can do it.

 

[ThE-eNiGmA]

(this is a bump, i'd rather not post in another thread)
I seem to be having trouble coming up with a class of ships. I have a hierarchy of ship types, but the one class, the Cruiser class, is empty. Here is what I have so far....
Light boat class
Sailboat: Comes armed with 1 arrow cannon, and one inventory slot , good for blockading
Frigate: Comes armed with 1 basic cannon, 1 AA Mult-rockets , 1 inventory slot, good for defending against air (only ship besides carrier with built-in AA capability)
Destroyer Class
Interceptor:Comes armed with 1 cruiser cannon, 2 inventory slots, and the ability to temporarily increase it's speed. It's use is obvious...
Sea Dog: Comes armed with 2 basic cannons, 2 inventory slots, and a healing ability.
A hard ship to kill for its size, and stronger than the interceptor.
Cruiser Class
(Edit) Came up with this one. Harasser: Comes with 1 Cruiser cannon, 2 rocket cannons. Good for stand offs, though the rockets only do 3 damage. May improve the damage.
[Empty] (edit) May add a standard combat ship.
Big Bad Ships Class(just kidding, but I dont really have a name for it)
Battleship: Comes armed with 4 cruiser cannons, 6 inventory slots, and it is the king of the seas.
Carrier:Has NO weapons, is unable to equip them, but then, it doesnt need them. Has 3 inventory slots, and has a bunch of air related abilities. Contains a cargohold for air units...they dont last forever. Can summon 3 different types of aircraft, and has a swarm ability. Slowest ship on the seas, though.
Anyway, I need ideas to round out the list. Try to keep it reasonable, and it would be nice if you have played Battleships before. Start thinking

 

[Shadowy Fear]

Well lets see first off YOU FORGOT THE SUBMARINE CLASS! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT MAN I MEAN I TRUSTED YOU! Lol Just kidding; well about the capital lock part anyways . . . you need a good submarine class

And for the carriers, who says they ALL have to be about airplanes? One could be air, and the other could be for submarine launches. It would have, for instance, Launch Minisub, an uncontrollable untargetable invisible scout sub, Launch Omega Sub, an average submarine with surface and dive abilities. Tiger Shark Swarm, which would release either a pack of tiger sharks if you can find a good skin or a bunch of small subs with minimal hp but a good attack ( because a shark's teeth >wood ) and then maybe Depth Charges and a special upgrade - research ability Swingering Sub Launch, launching a pair of the best subs in the game with above average hp, high attack, etc.

For the crusier class you could have the Ocean Dweller, a medium type ship that had minimal weapons but could release various ocean dwellers (thus the name ) upon its enemies; could also be a special ship.
And then theres the Torquedor Torpedeoer, a medium ship with a torpedo attack (maybe make negative missle arc?) and the Torpedo Blast ability, launching a ton of torpedeos at a target and stunning it. An upgradeable ability would be mini launcher, firing a salvo of small, low damaging but fast attacking torpedoes at enemies, great for stopping mines and the like, maybe even able to target subs or do bonus damage against them

A big bad boat class boat could be the decimator; it would have a medicore range but highly damaging heavy cannons ability, a pretty much battle - ending Target Masts ability (blasting the masts of ships; random chance to break mast on ships, if it DID break, the ship would lose all movement and turning ability as well as take uber damage), and the No Survivors ability, which would simply involve coming right next to another ship (only works on light class or smalls ships) and boarding it, killing all on board and giving the ship to your control

You also forgot the tugboat lol It would be very cheap and come with the Tug Ship ability, meaning following another ship and givng it 20 - 50 % increased speed, and maybe the lightest weapon in the game, as well as the Dangerous Slower ability, which would be the opposite of Tug Ship ability an only work on enemies (DUH ).

You could also have an anti minelayer; im calling mine Detonater Deluxe. It would be a small ship, specilizing in explosives and counter explosives; lob grenades, tossing grenades and dealing light damage but setting ships ablaze (and setting off mines early --- hopefully -_-_-_-), its own anti minelayer ability called Ultimate Detonation (sailing with 50 of a minelayer, burning through its hull [10 seconds maybe] and lighting a flare and tossing it into the hold, detonating all the mines within 5 seconds, giving the Detonater just enough time to sail away) The detonater itself would be weak and slow, like the minelayer, and absolutely suck against other ships. However, its last ability would be Final Act --- when the ship was mortally wounded (???) the crew would courageously detonate all of their explosives ----------- ALL of them --------- Jaboom, Mon! Pretty much obliterates everything with 450 of the detonater.

Hope you appreciate these ideas!

 

[ThE-eNiGmA]

Wow....you did it again. I hate to waste those ideas, but these ships... are just fodder. They dont actually have abilities. The special ships will prob be bought elsewhere. Dont worry, ill include subs and some others. There is no need for a tug boat, though I can already see how it could be done... a really short range massive speed aura. Btw, i have already thought up the negative arc, but i have not tried it. Right now, i just want to make standard ships that form the backbone of the game. No special abilities. *btw, the minelayers serves dual function... it not only lays mines, but destroys them. Really, i just want to get the basics of the map down, something playable, before i start messing with the really difficult stuff. Maybe later, I
will add the fun stuff.

Btw, i decided to make the Nightmare tides completely dependent on triggers. That is, there will be a timer, and it will pick a player that meets certain criteria, not yet determined, and that player will be...doomed. Well, certainly it will take a massive force to stop it, and the opposing team will certainly try to take advantage of it. Though what would be funny is if all teams were attacked, making things.... fair.

 

[Shadowy Fear]

But what if all the teams were destroyed lol? Maybe you could make a cutoff trigger so that if all a players ship were destroyed then the naga would turn around and leave lol? And maybe if you want to make an upgradeable trader ship you could upgrade it to galleon lol

For cruiser ----- hmmmm ..... how bout the Murader? three inventory slots, two and a half basic cannons, sleek design, fast with average hp

Maybe you could make the Coastal Fearstriker too, relatively large ship with three arrow cannons and three inventory, effective against smaller ships and land troops

 

[Marksman]

du dum....du dum...du dum du dum du dum du dum dumdumdumdumdumdumDA DU DUMMMMM!!!!! Make a shark hero, named jaws. He can smash ships, stunning them for a time and making them lose hp over time. And he can devour units not in ships, MMMM TASTY!!! Also, he would have a submerge move, where he would be invisible under water and move faster. The players would only be able to see, you guessed it, the dorsel fin.

 

[Bartuc08]

ooh and give the shark the ability too shoot lasers from his eyes

 

[ThE-eNiGmA]

The reason i have inventory is so that if you want to, you can upgrade the ship. The cruiser cannon is the most powerful weapon im including in the map (i dont want overpowered players) so, if you want to, you can have a Bship with 10 cruiser cannons. If every shell hit the same target, thats 300 damage every 1.5 secs. That may seem like alot, but its not, really...battles are going to be long and drawn out. Which is my intention, hehe. Personally, anybody who puts 6 more cannons on the ship is an idiot. Leave at least 1 slot for armor or something.

2 and a half basic cannons? Btw, all ships in the same class have the same inventory.
An anti infrantry ship? Jeez, why bother. The ships do enough damage to infrantry as it is. The only thing that saves their lives are numbers and medics. To be honest, the infrantry, with the exception of amphibious troopers, arent meant to engage ships. They are used to storm a base after the landing sites have been bombarded. To finish the job that ships can't do. Oh, and there is mine capturing. There is going to be some VERY bitter fighting over the mines...only theres just 4 mines...and atm they dont provide all that much in the way of resources. Gold is going to be the great limiter on this map...being proficient at getting every scrap of gold when possible will definitely help. Not a bad ship idea...but there is relatively little coastline. The landing spots are not that wide. They can even be blocked.
(edit) A SHARK? lets be reasonable here. i already have a unit that serves that purpose. All you can see...are the bubbles... and a impaling spear going up through your ship when it does 100 damage.
(edit, again)
I made some tweaks, finished up the ships. I borrowed the marauder's name, made it a combat ship with 3 cruiser cannons. Downloaded a minigun effect, looks
SWEET, just like machinegun fire ripping the poor marines up. The ships are slower than in Battleships, in order to give a sense of distance. For now, i have finished with the basic ships, except for transport, and all the tooltips...I am not that great with em. This is an important step, to have finished the basic ships. While i still dont have something fully playable, it is much closer. I now have to tweak the docks, trading...today's work. Unfortunately, i have to fix the bunkers before i get to that...accidently made all the mine bunkers vulnerable...i was going to delete them..but wait...its not that hard to just swtich the stats. Oh well. I have my work cut out for me.

 

[ThE-eNiGmA]

Today I am going to work on the little bugs that pop up, polish some of the standard stuff, finish the carrier and transport. I might get started on the heroes. Oh, lol, before I do all that, I should develop and implement the trader aspect...I have kinda left it out so far. Shouldn't be too hard, All you have to do is get near an Allied dock. You then get an item depeding on what ally you went to. If you go back to your own dock, you then cash in the item. I might make it so that trading is mutally beneficial. If you trade with an ally, they get money as well (maybe just not as much) Trading should become the backbone of the game.

 

[Marksman]

hmmm this game is starting to sound too much like Battleships (they have traders too). How do you plan to make it stand out?

 

[Bartuc08]

battle ships was pretty good but once one team gains the uper edge it was over,

engima i lov eur avatar it looks kewl

 

[ThE-eNiGmA]

Well, as i have said, it is Battleships Melee. I borrowed from Bships 3.33 (it was unprotected) and saved myself alot of effort in making the abilities, items, and buffs. Everything else was either made by me, or edited to such a point that it might as well have been (I'll confess, the map i started with was originally Mur'gul Oasis, liked the design, and I hate creating from scratch. I just modified the terrain and cliffs to such an extent, you cant tell it was from that map at all. ) How is it supposed to be different? In almost every way possible. I made the ships myself, worked on the balance, I am adding Admirals, trading is NOT the trading in Bships. Every player gets 1 trader. There are 2 teams of 4, and each player is sandwhiched between 2 players. When I finish this map, i might make a larger version, so that there are more islands to fight over, or something. Anyway, its about getting resources. I put wood in, after all, ships are made of wood but wood is limitless. The problem is, GOLD. There are only 3 ways to get gold. Capture control of a mine island, one of 4 which each give gold to every player on the team, endlessly. Mines are relatively easy to capture, with the right planning. Just lure the guarding fleet away and start a massive troop invasion. The second way to get gold is to kill units. But you don't make much from this. The most important way, I figure, will be trading. That involves running the gauntlets and blockades. Either you can try to go to the allies closest to you, which means you have to bypass an enemy either way, or you can go through the center...which has its own terrors, like naga, roving pirates (just thought that up, would be cool) and of course, other players. A trading boat will have to be a hero that can be revived, I guess. I want each player to have ONE trader. So, in a full house, there will be 8 traders scooting around, sinking like crazy. You dont earn all that much money from trading, but its more than the other two.

More ways it will be different, it will have air units, ground units, buildings, hopefully a tech tree. Mine layer ships, subs, amphibious troops, driftmines, weird stuff, etc. Figured out how to make a bomber chopper do a dive bomb, though i havent actually tried to code it yet.

So how is this going to be different than Bships? Want to mount land invasions, control a fleet, actually have to strategize? There are no uber weapons. Repeat, no uber weapons. None. Nada. Not even bowmen crews. Options are limited. The good news is that every ship you buy can be customized. Want to give a sailboat a cruiser cannon? Cant say its a good idea, but go ahead. Want to give your ships rocket cannons? I do believe it be raining on my head.

As for the avatar, thanks, but I cant take credit for it. Just look in the avatar list. It is hypnotizing, isn't it?

 

[Marksman]

So it's like a modification of Battleships, new version sorta? Hmmm, unless the games are radically different you may want to change the name or ask BShips creator for permission, it may not fly so well with him. Yeah, the items in BShips really need to be fixed, some were just way to good (bowmen crews).

 

[ThE-eNiGmA]

You know, there is a battleships command...had nothing to do with BShips *its actually older, lol* yeah, i did copy some of the stuff. I do plan on crediting him. Sides, no offense to anybody, but what can he do? He has an AOS style map. My map is MELEE. A radically different map. His map inspired mine, and I borrowed the ability and item data. That is not to say i could not have done it completely by myself.
I tried, but it was taking too long to do simple things. What can i say, i am lazy that way. Sides, when i release this, people are free to create thier own version...Ill prob make 2 versions, open-source and protected. But it really is different. Some basic concepts are borrowed, but I can argue that I have seen them elsewhere. Heck, my version of trading comes straight from Age of Empires II, with a bit of simplification.

 

[Shadowy Fear]

So if your done with all the basics, am I no longer needed ?

...........................

Lol just joking let me know when you need more ideas thats my specialty