Winter is Coming

[Atreides]

This is a map based off of a Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. The plot, in short, is that the king is dead, and war has begun (takes place roughly near the end of the first book if you've read them-if you haven't read this far in the series, there might be spoilers ahead).

You take control of one major House of the continent (2 possible exceptions), and try to destroy your enemies, though I'm not sure what the ultimate victory condition will be. Each faction is unique-some Houses are much more powerful than others, however, the weaker ones are going to have some other advantages to make it possible for them to succeed. And, like in the books, straight up power won't be the only way to win. You can ally or declare war with anyone, so for weaker Houses especially, backstabbing will be a good way to get power. Several factions also start out at war, some with allies, but for the most part you start out neutral.

There will also be some special events/findables, but not too many that it interferes with gameplay.

Factions:
House Stark-House Stark starts out with the most heroes, demis, and cities, but controls the largest area of land (meaning that it's the hardest to defend. Although their "deathtrap" at Moat Cailin defends from landbased attacks, House Stark is vulnerable to attack from the water. The Starks' northern castles and cities provide some of the best cavalry and melee infantry. House Stark starts out allied with House Tully and at war with House Lannister and King Joffrey.
House Frey-One of the weaker factions, House Frey controls a main river crossing connecting the north to the riverlands. House Frey also controls a decent amount of wealth, and a sizable army for it's small territorial holdings. Their best chance lies in the fact that their position makes them a useful ally both to the Starks and Tullys, or enemies of the Starks and Tullys.
House Tully-The main House of the riverlands, this faction is one of the major Houses, although they are weaker than the nearby Lannisters. They start out allied to House Stark, and at war with the Lannisters and the King.
King Joffrey of the Seven Kingdoms-Technically the king, Joffrey's reign is plagued by rebellion. King's Landing is one of the largest cities on the continent, and the master of coin, Petyr Baelish, ensures that the King will have plenty of gold to spend on crushing his enemies. The King is allied with House Lannister, and at war with Houses Tully, Stark, Tyrell, and Baratheon (both brothers) at the start.
House Lannister-One of the strongest Houses, the Lannisters control the westerlands. The Lannisters are the only faction at the start that can field longbowman, which are the most powerful (and one of the best) archers. The Lannisters are also the richest House with the most starting gold income. They start out in position to attack the riverlands, which they are at war with. The Lannisters also start out allied with King Joffrey, and at war with Houses Stark, Tyrell, and Baratheon as well as House Tully.
House Martell-House Martell controls Dorne at the southern end of the continent. Although their army is small compared to that of most major Houses, they have excellent cavalry and excell at ambushes. At the start, they are one of the major balancing factors in the game as they stand ready to attack House Tyrell or Renly Baratheon if those two immediately attack the Lannisters and King.
House Tyrell-House Tyrell controls the reach and has the largest army of any House. They are also one of the richest, but the Greyjoys and Martells are poised to attack if their borders are left unguarded. House Tyrell starts out at war with House Lannister and the King, and is allied with Renly Baratheon.
Renly Baratheon-Renly Baratheon conrols the stormlands, which can field a moderate army. Renly starts out allied with House Tyrell, and at war with the Lannisters and King.
House Greyjoy-The resident pirate faction, the Greyjoys homeland is the Iron Islands, off the coast of the Westerlands. They also have the strongest navy, and excell at attacking coasts and pillaging, although alone they cannot stand up to most houses in a full scale battle.
House Arryn-House Arryn controls the Vale of Arryn, and has several excellent defensive positions and strong cavalry. They are one of the most powerful neutral factions at the start, and could easily decide starting conflicts. They start out at war with the Mountain Clans.
Stannis Baratheon-Stannis Baratheon controls Dragonstone and several nearby islands. His army is relatively small and his navy only decent. However, the hero Melisandre has several nasty powers. Stannis starts out at war with the Lannisters and King.
Mountain Clans-The mountain clans in the Mountains of the Moon have been the enemies of House Arryn for ages, and only survive by hiding and avoiding open conflict. However, as scavengers, they excell at pillaging and their units will improve the more that they kill. With their allegiance bought with promises of weapons, the clans have agreed to follow Tyrion Lannister and aid his family in their struggles. The Mountain Clans start out allied with the Lannisters and King Joffrey and at war with House Arryn and all the other enemies of the Lannisters and Joffrey.

Income will depend mostly on the amount of cities/castles controlled, and unit spawns will be customizable (you get to choose what you spawn).

Screenshots:
Torrhen's Square

Bear Island

Moat Cailin

 

[WindexGlow]

wow, very nice choice of models (all default I believe?) and placing them, very good looking terrain.
First part of your post could use alittle working on, instead of a blob of text. But the terrain is 100% awesome.

 

[NWG_Jonas]

Yeah Really nice Terrain on some pics, just i found they first one kinda lonley they barrack in middle need somthing more so the town(or what i shall call it) looks more nice, else good work

 

[Atreides]

The Spawning System:

The spawning system used in this map is pretty unique (I can only think of one other map that uses it). You have complete control (except for at the start) of what units you spawn. Each city has 2-4 different units that it can spawn. All cities/castles are capturable, although their max spawning is reduced with each change of ownership. Cities/Castles are also the source of food-the more cities you have, the larger your army can be. Gold Income also depends on how many cities you control, although there will be some alternative ways to get it.

For a better look at this I'll make an example using Winterfell. Winterfell is a strong castle and as such has a maximum spawn of 5 units the start of the game (indicated by 5 max mana). Its starting spawn is 1 swordsman and 1 spearman, so it's starting mana is 3/5. Say at the start I decide to train a Knight of Winterfell. It's added to the spawn, and the mana becomes 2/5. When Winterfell has 0 mana it can't add any more units to its spawn. Now say that the forces of the North are fighting in the riverlands, and House Greyjoy decides to invade. They attack Winterfell, and by reducing its health to 500 hit points, capture it. Winterfell's spawn is reset, and its mana restored. However, due to the nature of war Winterfell will no longer be able to field as many units, and the mana is reset to 4/5. From there it spawns and provides income to the Greyjoys, unless... The forces of the North return home and retake Winterfell. The max spawn would now be 3. As of now income does not get reduced with each change of ownership. Each time a city is captured its max spawn is reduced by one, until its max spawn becomes zero and it is destroyed. There are only a couple exceptions to this system (such as Moat Cailin). Also, like in Broken Alliances (King_Leopold's map), there will probably be an option to destroy cities for gold instead of just capturing them.

Ships will not be spawnable, but will be buildable at shipyards. Also, mercenaries will be hireable. Gold will be used for ships, mercenaries, and to add units to cities and castles spawns. Lumber will be used in buildings, ships, and siege weapons. As of now, lumber will be given at regular intervals like in most maps, and possibly acquirable through other means.

More Screenshots:
White Harbor:

Last Hearth:

The Dreadfort:

Winterfell:

 

[WindexGlow]

Oh my; those are amazing. Probably one of the best terrains I've seen for along time on this forum D:

 

[Kershbob]

Never read the books but I love these kinds of map. Look forward to playing.

 

[Atreides]

More screenshots:
Revamped Last Hearth:

The Twins:

Wayfarer's Rest:

Acorn Hall:

Seaguard:

 

[ArmedCitizen]

I personally don't see why it is "amazing" terrain it just looks like a bunch of walls to me but whatever. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." I guess.

You should try using the smooth tool. Your terrain is kind of jagged. I'm looking forward to the final outcome but that is mostly to critique the terrain.

 

[WindexGlow]

second picture in your last batch looks pretty compared to the others =[

 

[elmstfreddie]

second picture in your last batch looks pretty compared to the others =[

Do you mean petty? Because the second last one looked miserably bad to tell you the truth lol
Walls higher than the keep, huge wooden fence... Looks really out of proportion.

 

[Atreides]

thanks for the input, I'll fix those walls around the keep. And for the jagged terrain-was that water? I prob should've mentioned it but right now I'm pretty much showing the bases-outside terrain hasn't been attended to much yet.

 

[Demon-Spawn]

O.M.G.
One look at the screenshots I wanted to play it.
Looks very nice I cant wait to try it

 

[WorldEditor]

Do you mean petty? Because the second last one looked miserably bad to tell you the truth lol
Walls higher than the keep, huge wooden fence... Looks really out of proportion.

well heroes shhouldnt be half the size of lumbermills either. but we still understand .

 

[Atreides]

more screenshots:

Casterly Rock:

Lannisport:

Ashemark:

The Banefort:

Golden Tooth:

Crakehall:

 

[WindexGlow]

I'm beginning to think those are photoshopped. They're that good.

And I meant 'pretty bad' sometimes I skipped a few words that make confusing .

 

[emjlr3]

very neat, looking forward to how this turns out, keep me updated

btw, love the books!

 

[ArmedCitizen]

Seriously, lol, what makes these stand out compared to others' terrain? They look the same to me. Only difference is things are proportional and there are lots, and lots, of walls.

Anyways. When I said you should smooth it, I wasn't referring to only ones with water. Where you have any raised or lowered terrain you have it all jagged. (At least it looks like it to me.) Use the smooth tool and go over that so it blends into each other more. (You might want jagged for some of the mountains but there are still other areas with this problem.)

It wasn't like that in the latest screenshots so it looks like you fixed that problem though.

 

[Atreides]

Well eventually I'll get to posting some of the terrain outside castles, but that won't be for a while because I find terraining the castles and cities more fun. And well, about there being a lot of walls-lots of castles+limited map size=lots of smallish castles with walls being the main thing. And castles always have walls. Also, number of doodads is a problem, as in with over 50 castles and cities, I can't make each one that doodaded, so I'm trying to make each one stand out through its walls. Not to mention I'm hellishly uncreative with buildings, which is why I go for making the walls special in the first place. And I'll go back back and look at the other areas and see if I can see any jagged spots I didn't fix.

And for any of you that have read the books and might be able to give input, here's what I have for the House Stark heroes and demi-heroes: (yes I know theres a lot of em, but 2 are only acquired through special events)

Heroes:
Robb Stark: Frost Wave (breath of frost), Inspiration Aura (vampiric aura), Stark Honor (bonus armor and return damage), Will of the North (AoE restore health and temp armor bonus)
Catelyn Tully Stark: Healing Arts (holy light), Tully Devotion (devotion aura), Mother’s Protection (spirit link), Second Life (reincarnation)
Grey Wind: Leap (blink strike), Bite (aerial shackles), Direwolf Howl (decreases enemies attack damage), Terror Aura (negative devotion aura)
Ser Rodrik Cassel: Healing Arts (holy light), Command Aura, Sunder (thunder clap), Resurrection (resurrection))
Maege Mormont: Mace Blow (melee damage+stun), Cleaving Attack (cleaving), Chilling/Winter Aura (negative endurance, maybe damage too, maybe make it ultimate), Bear Island Hardiness (400% life regen bonus)
Arya Stark (findable): Needle Stab (melee damage+stun), Ferocity (berserk), Sneak (wind walk), For Winterfell! (roar)
Jon Umber: Battlefury (aoe damage), Heavy Blow (bash), Shockwave (shockwave), Greatjon’s Fury (roar),
Roose Bolton: Piercing Look (fairie fire), Summon Dreadfort Men (summon hawk), Endurance Aura (endurance), Eviscerate (melee damage+stun)
Eddard Stark (findable): Power of Ice (frost waves in several directions), Eddard’s Command (command aura), Stark Honor (bonus armor and return damage), Winter is Coming (mass anti-magic shield or mass frost armor)

Demis:
Dacey Mormont: Cleaving
Maester Luwin: Council (aoe mana regen), Healing Arts (demi version)
Bran Stark: Warg (summons a random dog, wolf, bear, or eagle for a time)
Summer: Leap (blink strike)
Howland Reed: Poisoned Arrow (shadow strike)
Johen Reed: Green Dream (far sight)
Meera Reed: Net (ensnare)
Nymeria: Bite (melee damage + stun)
Smalljon Umber: Sunder (thunder clap)
Wyman Manderly: (mirth-restore health and mana)
Rickard Karstark: Northern Fury (bloodlust)
Ramsay Bolton: Summon Dreadfort Men, Flay (aerial shackles)


And about progress, I'll try to keep this thread updated from time to time with new screenies/events etc, but don't expect the release for a long time. The amount of triggers and variables involved with the spawn system is staggering, and I expect that by the time I get to the Dorne spawn triggers half my time will be spent wading through variables lol.

 

[emjlr3]

...learn jass....

 

[Atreides]

I think I looked at a jass tutorial once, and didn't understand a thing of it. I'm taking some computer science course in the fall so that might help me understand programming a little...but until then, I think I'll just have to slog it through with GUI.