This thread will be used for updates and calls for feedback. At the moment, I'm requesting feedback on Mission 1: Turahnas Stand.
You can post here or on the project page. Thanks!
== INTRODUCTION ==
Hello,
My name is John Webb. I've been playing strategy games since I was a child and have always been fascinated with map editors. My most successful career as a mapmaker were with the castle-sim games, Stronghold, and its sequel, Stronghold: Crusader. On Stronghold Heaven (community site for the Stronghold mapmaking community) I was consistently one of the highest rated creators, and still hold a few spots on the top 100 under the username Captain Diablo (a username that serves as an antique from my childhood spent playing--you guessed it--Diablo 2).
As a mapmaker, I developed a personal style of scripting that emphasized high difficulty and narrative. My Stronghold maps are some of the most challenging maps ever made--but not to the point of frustration. I designed each scenario based on the assumption that the player would learn as she went, finding the solution at every step until the map was beaten. Once figured out, my maps are quite easy; it's the learning curve of the scenario that I focused on, which in my experience with strategy games is the hallmark of single-player gameplay.
I also happen to be a published writer (disclaimer: in non-pro markets), and was always rated highly for narrative as a mapmaker.
=== STARCRAFT ===
And now we arrive here, in the present, where I recently became semi-obsessed with the intricacies of the Starcraft II editor. Stronghold's editor is relatively inflexible; Starcraft II's Galaxy Editor is something I can really sink my teeth into.
And here's what I spat out, my "Naked Lunch" so to speak. I had zero working knowledge of the editor when I began. By creating the first mission, I learned a lot, but it's far from perfect. I've made these files public domain because I think they can be improved upon by those willing and more able. For instance, by digging into the triggers, a more experienced mapmaker can probably condense multiple lines of scripting into one. There are also some things that I couldn't get to work (like making multiple probes build things, or having a warp prism drop multiple units), but for these issues I created a workaround, or abandoned entirely.
==== SINS OF THE FATHER ====
[This section is reserved for future updates of the campaign]
This campaign focuses on a small mining colony called Turahnas, where a marine sergeant (Rastlin Duvall) has returned home to attend the funeral of his late father. Rastlin takes over as the commanding officer (analogous to Raynor's sheriff status in the old Confederacy) and begins to oversee the colony. However, his late father's station in life isn't the only thing he's inherited...
Prologue (In production): This will be a short cutscene of the funeral, and the subsequent taking-over of Rastlin; this cutscene will also introduce key characters in the narrative.
Mission 1 - Turahnas Stand
-An unidentified contingent of Protoss forces has swept over the planet, boxing the Terrans into a corner. They seem hellbent on destroying the colony, but why?
This map is a timed defense mission, similar to a lot of Terran missions in Wings of Liberty. Initially, you're building bunkers and training marines. Completing bonus objectives will make the mission significantly easier; you'll gain access to Marauders in the tech tree and rescue a few tanks with siege mode. I dare say that these objectives aren't really a "bonus," but a necessity to beating the map. You have very little time in between waves, so everything you do counts. Losing three marines in the beginning might doom you later, for instance. Design-wise, it's very similar to my Stronghold maps: attacks are timed and sometimes announced; you as a player must learn the best way to deal with it.
MUSIC CREDIT: Final Assault Extended - Mass Effect 1 Soundtrack
Sometimes when I'm bored I take other people's maps and play around with their terrain. Your map is the first I actually show to the original creator. My first changes were solely for the purpose of improving gameplay by changing the textures.
I made the roads a lot brighter, so the player knows better where he should or should not go. Brighter areas look friendlier and are more welcoming.
I Increased the map bounds without increasing the camera bounds. It looks really ugly when you move to the edge of the camera. I replaced the cutscene camera that plays at the end.
I also placed some doodads (mostly trees and rocks) to make the map a bit tighter and easier to navigate.
You can see I changed the ground textures at the player base and the siege tank base. I didn't go into much detail here, I simply like it when spots on the map look as unique as possible so the player has an easier time to navigate.
I removed the foliage from any base because, small as they are, they are often irritating.
Other visual changes include more detail to the cliffs, and more doodads. I simply copied the Mine Lift and other dooadads from campaign map 2. I just thought in fit in there nicely. I hope it doesn't impact gameplay. I added some terrain height.
Terrain is nowhere near finished. I would add a lot more doodads and work a lot more with the textures. You should checkout blizzard maps to see how they do things.
If you like it you can use it. No credit needed.
I also reduced the filesize for the music file. Might not be used in game anymore. You should check.
Gameplay:
I just played it for 5 mins until I lost. The map is way too hard in my opinion. This may be intented, but maybe you should think about the following:
Alsmost any player who isn't you and starts the map for the first time doesn't know anything except that this big protoss force is attacking the huts and he has to protect them. A player barely has any time to scout the map (I don't mean send out units, I mean simply looking at what's there), let alone improvie his economy or build enough troops for the oncoming waves.
There are a lot of transmissions that simply get lost in the action. The intro is very short, maybe you can add some of the transmission text there), or find a way that transmissions play only when the player hasn't been in combat for a couple of seconds.
If I were you I would cut the number of protoss forces per wave by at least half. It's the first map of a campaign. It should be as easy as possible (still my opinion).
Add a counter so we can see how many colonist huts are left. Add visual markers on top of them so we can identify them more easily.
You say the optional quests are a neccesity to beating the map. Maybe they shouldn't be optional then. You know every detail of the map. If it's hard for you it's impossible for anyone else. Most people don't want to be frustrated.
Hero could be stronger/have more abilities or be revivable. It's not good if you are just afraid for him to die.
Cutscenes: Don't move back and forth with the camera as quickly as you do. Either use clean cuts or move very slowly. What I would do: Use a slow moving camera in the beginning to move from the civilian to the outpost. The player can familiarize himself a bit with the map. Don't cut back to the base until the civilian goes away and the marine comes out. Don't go back and forth between cameras.
(Link to the project page: http://www.sc2mapster.com/maps/sins-father-campaign/)
This thread will be used for updates and calls for feedback. At the moment, I'm requesting feedback on Mission 1: Turahnas Stand.
You can post here or on the project page. Thanks!
== INTRODUCTION ==
Hello,
My name is John Webb. I've been playing strategy games since I was a child and have always been fascinated with map editors. My most successful career as a mapmaker were with the castle-sim games, Stronghold, and its sequel, Stronghold: Crusader. On Stronghold Heaven (community site for the Stronghold mapmaking community) I was consistently one of the highest rated creators, and still hold a few spots on the top 100 under the username Captain Diablo (a username that serves as an antique from my childhood spent playing--you guessed it--Diablo 2).
As a mapmaker, I developed a personal style of scripting that emphasized high difficulty and narrative. My Stronghold maps are some of the most challenging maps ever made--but not to the point of frustration. I designed each scenario based on the assumption that the player would learn as she went, finding the solution at every step until the map was beaten. Once figured out, my maps are quite easy; it's the learning curve of the scenario that I focused on, which in my experience with strategy games is the hallmark of single-player gameplay.
I also happen to be a published writer (disclaimer: in non-pro markets), and was always rated highly for narrative as a mapmaker.
=== STARCRAFT ===
And now we arrive here, in the present, where I recently became semi-obsessed with the intricacies of the Starcraft II editor. Stronghold's editor is relatively inflexible; Starcraft II's Galaxy Editor is something I can really sink my teeth into.
And here's what I spat out, my "Naked Lunch" so to speak. I had zero working knowledge of the editor when I began. By creating the first mission, I learned a lot, but it's far from perfect. I've made these files public domain because I think they can be improved upon by those willing and more able. For instance, by digging into the triggers, a more experienced mapmaker can probably condense multiple lines of scripting into one. There are also some things that I couldn't get to work (like making multiple probes build things, or having a warp prism drop multiple units), but for these issues I created a workaround, or abandoned entirely.
==== SINS OF THE FATHER ====
[This section is reserved for future updates of the campaign]
This campaign focuses on a small mining colony called Turahnas, where a marine sergeant (Rastlin Duvall) has returned home to attend the funeral of his late father. Rastlin takes over as the commanding officer (analogous to Raynor's sheriff status in the old Confederacy) and begins to oversee the colony. However, his late father's station in life isn't the only thing he's inherited...
Prologue (In production): This will be a short cutscene of the funeral, and the subsequent taking-over of Rastlin; this cutscene will also introduce key characters in the narrative.
Mission 1 - Turahnas Stand
-An unidentified contingent of Protoss forces has swept over the planet, boxing the Terrans into a corner. They seem hellbent on destroying the colony, but why?
This map is a timed defense mission, similar to a lot of Terran missions in Wings of Liberty. Initially, you're building bunkers and training marines. Completing bonus objectives will make the mission significantly easier; you'll gain access to Marauders in the tech tree and rescue a few tanks with siege mode. I dare say that these objectives aren't really a "bonus," but a necessity to beating the map. You have very little time in between waves, so everything you do counts. Losing three marines in the beginning might doom you later, for instance. Design-wise, it's very similar to my Stronghold maps: attacks are timed and sometimes announced; you as a player must learn the best way to deal with it.
MUSIC CREDIT: Final Assault Extended - Mass Effect 1 Soundtrack
Sometimes when I'm bored I take other people's maps and play around with their terrain. Your map is the first I actually show to the original creator. My first changes were solely for the purpose of improving gameplay by changing the textures.
http://www.file-upload.net/download-9269097/1_-_Turahnas_Stand--_v2.SC2Map.html (download button in the blue in the center)
I made the roads a lot brighter, so the player knows better where he should or should not go. Brighter areas look friendlier and are more welcoming.
I Increased the map bounds without increasing the camera bounds. It looks really ugly when you move to the edge of the camera. I replaced the cutscene camera that plays at the end.
I also placed some doodads (mostly trees and rocks) to make the map a bit tighter and easier to navigate.
You can see I changed the ground textures at the player base and the siege tank base. I didn't go into much detail here, I simply like it when spots on the map look as unique as possible so the player has an easier time to navigate.
I removed the foliage from any base because, small as they are, they are often irritating.
Other visual changes include more detail to the cliffs, and more doodads. I simply copied the Mine Lift and other dooadads from campaign map 2. I just thought in fit in there nicely. I hope it doesn't impact gameplay. I added some terrain height.
Terrain is nowhere near finished. I would add a lot more doodads and work a lot more with the textures. You should checkout blizzard maps to see how they do things.
If you like it you can use it. No credit needed. I also reduced the filesize for the music file. Might not be used in game anymore. You should check.
Gameplay:
I just played it for 5 mins until I lost. The map is way too hard in my opinion. This may be intented, but maybe you should think about the following: Alsmost any player who isn't you and starts the map for the first time doesn't know anything except that this big protoss force is attacking the huts and he has to protect them. A player barely has any time to scout the map (I don't mean send out units, I mean simply looking at what's there), let alone improvie his economy or build enough troops for the oncoming waves.
There are a lot of transmissions that simply get lost in the action. The intro is very short, maybe you can add some of the transmission text there), or find a way that transmissions play only when the player hasn't been in combat for a couple of seconds.
If I were you I would cut the number of protoss forces per wave by at least half. It's the first map of a campaign. It should be as easy as possible (still my opinion).
Add a counter so we can see how many colonist huts are left. Add visual markers on top of them so we can identify them more easily.
You say the optional quests are a neccesity to beating the map. Maybe they shouldn't be optional then. You know every detail of the map. If it's hard for you it's impossible for anyone else. Most people don't want to be frustrated.
Hero could be stronger/have more abilities or be revivable. It's not good if you are just afraid for him to die.
Cutscenes: Don't move back and forth with the camera as quickly as you do. Either use clean cuts or move very slowly. What I would do: Use a slow moving camera in the beginning to move from the civilian to the outpost. The player can familiarize himself a bit with the map. Don't cut back to the base until the civilian goes away and the marine comes out. Don't go back and forth between cameras.