So, I really enjoyed the WoL and HotS campaigns, gameplay-wise (don't care too much about the story). I am thinking about creating a campaign for the Protoss in the same style, meaning unique mission design, upgradeable units between missions, probably a hero unit to develop, additional research etc etc.
I have a couple of ideas for possible units and upgrades, also some game mechanics that could be used in missions, probably nothing too unique, but I think it could play out to be fun.
For now, this is just brainstorming. I will probably work on creating some maps for this, but I am not sure, if I am actually going to start a serious project just yet. Also, this post mainly focuses on mechanics and gameplay, I am really bad with story, so I won't mention it.
Update: Hero Spells
Some Hero Spells I am playing around with
Careful: Big Wall of Text incoming
Alright, first paragraph would be:
Useable units
We have quite a lot of potential units to pick from, including all multiplayer units from WoL and HotS, as well as the Broodwar units we have access to, either because they exist in one of the campaigns or in the editor already (scout), or we have access to imported models (dragoon, reaver). Also, we have quite a good amount of variations for these in the form of Dark Protoss and Hero Protoss units to potentially use heroes and/or mercenary-like units. However, we cannot just use every single unit there is, we have to set some limits.
So, first a list of mandatory units:
Zealot
Stalker
High + Dark Templar and Archon
Immortal
Colossus
Carrier
Void Ray
Probe (duh)
Warp Prism
Observer
and optional units I could potentially use:
Mothership Core/Mothership: Probably as a summon for the hero or something (and definitely with Planet Cracker and Time Bomb in this case :p)
Scout/Phoenix: Well, one of them definitely, not sure if both should be included.
Dragoon: Overlaps with stalkers, but too cool not to add imo ;)
Reaver: Everyone's favourite, will probably make it.
Sentry: Well, since everyone uses it in multiplayer and Forcefield is one of the most iconic spells for Protoss, probably. I don't feel like it fits so well in a campaign, though.
Oracle: Gimmicky. I like the model, but I don't feel the unit is very useful in a campaign, without a massive overhaul of the spells.
Tempest: Not my favourite unit, however probably useful in the campaign. Kinda fits the same role as the carrier, though.
Arbiter: Another gimmicky unit. I liked them in SC1, not sure, if they have a place in the campaign, though.
Dark Archon: One of the coolest units from SC1, no doubt. However, could be out of place in a campaign. If I allow mindcontrolling a worker, it might be grossly overpowered. I would probably heavily modify the unit if I end up using it.
Twilight Archon: Archon from one High Templar and one Dark Templar. Original name for the Archon in the SC2 Beta. Could be some sort of hybrid between normal and dark archon, not as beefy and as much damage as normal archon with a few spells, but not a pure caster like dark archon.
Shuttle: Completely obsolete, due to Warp Prism. Could maybe be used as a heavy alternative dropship with massive amounts of space and tankiness, similar to the WoL Hercules.
Shielt Battery: Not really a unit, but could be useful. Not as important as in BW, though, due to increased shield regeneration rate
Replicant: From early HotS versions. One could use it, but I don't feel, its that useful in the campaign, also it doesn't seem like the model is available.
Upgrade System
For the small upgrades available to units, stuff like 20% more hitpoints or a little more damage, I prefer the WoL system over the HotS one. Earn funds by playing missions, additional ones for side objectives, spend them on your units as you see fitting. 2 upgrades per unit, both of which can be purchased at the same time. This allowed you to focus on the units you liked the most.
The HotS system felt a little too restrictive for me here. I want Zerglings with speed And attackspeed And hitpoints. Not choose one of these. It had the advantage to not make all units you didn't spend money on feel useless, though. Regardless of your choices, all your units had their maximum amount of upgrades, so you could always use any unit you liked, while in WoL, you would only use units you upgraded, naturally. Still, I prefer the upgrade system from WoL.
However, the mutations from HotS were quite nice. While also mutually exclusive, they didn't just provide a little upgrade, but created whole new ways to play with the unit. I agree, that the choice for such a meaningful evolution had to be mutually exclusive, and I would like to use something similar as well. What I didn't like was, that some units didn't have a mutation for themselves, they just could choose another unit to morph into, while the base unit remains unaffected. This basically takes away the potential mutations for base unit and both evolutions (Mutalisk into Viper or Broodlord means that we don't have stronger versions of Mutalisks, Vipers Or Broodlords). Of course, it would be way more work to add mutations to every single unit, but hey :)
So, what could we do here? I would probably use a combination of the WoL upgrades and the HotS mutation system. Units get 2-3 basic upgrades you can get with some kind of currency (psi power, protoss relics, khaydarin crystals, whatever), also each unit can choose one out of 2 advanced "mutations". Obviously we call it differently, some higher plane of existence or higher rank in the Khala or whatever. Upgrades should probably be refundable, so you can change your upgrades between missions, while the "mutations" stay locked.
Quick example for the Zealot (made up in about 10 seconds):
Upgrades:
Movespeed/Charge
Bonus armor
Shield regeneration in combat or HP regeneration out of combat
"Mutations":
Berserker: For every attack, increases attackspeed by a percentage. Stacks a few times (similar to one of Kerrigan's abilities in the HotS campaign)
Protector of Aiur: Instead of charging, the Zealot warps right in front of the enemy instantly. Has increased range, can warp up cliffs. Replenishes all shields when warping. Can be used on air units, will attach the Zealot to the air unit and allow them to attack. When air unit dies, Zealot is warped back to ground.
Feel free to suggest similar abilities for other units. They are allowed to be a little imbalanced, as long as they don't feel mandatory.
Mercenaries
I liked the mercenaries in WoL, I was really disappointed when the Zerg didn't have any possibility to recruit some troops with a little more power (like the squad of Hunter Killers in SC1). However, I don't feel like just copying Mercenaries from WoL is the way to go here, that would be not very protoss.
Instead, I would probably use the whole Hero mentality. Lets call it Champion for now, to avoid confusion with the next chapter. For example, if you enable the Zealot champion, the first zealot you warp in will be a Zealot Champion instead, which is a lot more powerful than the usual zealots. If the champion dies, the next Zealot warped in will be a champion again. In missions with limited troops, one of them will be a champion, if you researched the champion for that unit, which could potentially be very helpful.
The Hero
This chapter is also about a hero, but this time, we will also call him hero :). I am talking about you, the player; your alter ego in the campaign. I liked the focus on Kerrigan in HotS. Leveling up and adding more powerful spells to your hero felt a lot like WC3 and is a ton of fun. So yes, I would use a main hero unit as well, however, I would refrain from just using Zeratul or any other known Protoss hero. Instead, I would just use a generic hero, called the Executor (if you don't know, in SC1 you were the Executor, everyone referred to you by that name/title/rank).
Like Kerrigan, I would allow the hero to "die" in missions where you control a base, probably by adding an emergency recall passive ability to the nexus. So you don't really die, the nexus recalls you when you would receive fatal damage and then you take some time to heal. Also, you would get some more or less powerful abilities, of course, have a couple of ideas for this as well. Feel free to suggest ;)
Missions
Probably the hardest part. I definitely want them to feel somewhat unique, to have some kind of twist in the gameplay like the Blizzard missions (not exactly like them, there were a couple of things I disliked about them as well, for example the increased amount of missions putting short time constrains on you, generally the time it takes to finish a mission should be a little longer).
I Have a couple of ideas for this as well, nothing too special (need to break heavily guarded terran entrance, has snipers, minefield, autoguns and automated air defense. Can just bruteforce through with a huge force, or can deactivate defenses one by one by destroying adjacent terran bases, completely shutting down the defense for easy access, or can just deactivate specific bases, for example air defenses, then take out everything else from air; in a later mission you would need to defend a constant swarm of zerg with hardly any way to push out on your own, until you can set up your terran allies defenses, including the same minefields, snipers etc, so you can use a lot more army to push out... something like that)
Feel free to suggest, I could use the inspiration for this one ;)
Well. Liked what you read? Have some suggestions or criticism? Or an opinion? Did I forget a unit? Feel free to post.
While i would love to see a great storyline with unseen twists i think some beginning basis that you almost having to start along would the simply recovering the lost forces of the protoss while actually discovering the true source of their power.
Its funny but i see the majority of the units you listed a potentionally useful to be the most useful. I think having to choose between the pheonix or scout is a great idea. For some other mission ideas revolving around particular units why not something like a single lost mega mothership that you have to find and then escort back through enemy territory that despitely want to destroy it (the ship would slowly move on its own on a course that can't control but you can use only the abilities as well as rescue fleet). Dragoons could be a side mission and with some funky stripes could be a rogue platoon of mercs to use. The senties could be used in a mission we're you've recovering something like some important psi article and you have to hold the again forces fromm mulitple entrances while you wait for extract.
While im not totally famaliar with the lore, i think a more general theme thats interesting and would be possible would be something alongs the lines of choosing the normal or dark side of toss which the beginning of course showing the possible options and then after getting you to choose between winning by remaining to be the passive traditional normal side where you support the other races in winning again the bad guys, or you cherish the dark avenue and use your new-re-found powers to defeat them yourself while sacrificing the past ways of the toss. Now hows that for a start.
You have some nice ideas, like the hero spawning ( I would make it so you could only have one hero), but the overall wc3 direction turns off people like me in a pretty big way, the Warcraft series is going to be continued eventually, by that point sc2 will just seem like a weird knockoff if it keeps this up.. where is the RTS focus?
Over the past weeks I have been working on putting together a campaign, built around a mod which I've been hacking on over the past 5 months. Ive been thinking about creating a Protoss campaign too! They are really hard to write for though: the Kahla is making them all think the same. How can you have conflicts when everyone thinks the same?
Anyway. Some concept ideas for storyline i've been having are:
Female protoss breaking out of their patriarchal structures. Read up on womens rights to get inspiration. I think this could be a very interesting story which I doubt Blizzard would ever consider. You can have domestic violence, complicated relationships, females turning into dark templars to get rid of their problems... strong stuff, but on a small scale!
A campaign about the struggle of a group of Protoss warriors who decide to leave the way of the Zealot and join the ranks of the Dark Templars. This brings up a lot of thoughts about identity and self.
The collective against the individual
Even inside the Khala there must be conflicts. Perhaps not armed ones. But surely there must be conflicting priorities of some form.
To rebuild their forces they need a lot of Kahdarian (?) chrystals. Perhaps you could make some kind of story about them trying to harvest and protect these resources.
My first story plot was very bombastic. I tried to make use of _all_ units in the editor. After having this commented I realized that the alternative was what I was after. A small story that is trafing the sidelines of the universe. If you zoom in enough - its just as epic.
I reached out to story writers in Joyrays bar and people here for help with the story writing. Its hard when you have different visions and ideas about how to tell a story. After a couple of chaotic days of experimenting with communication, I think I have found a process that works. In the beginning of each map I will show a series of self-painted or concept art images. To this I write some text and later do voice-over. The story writers can pitch in on this dialog and do what they do best. You can get as theatrical, philosophical or "lore-ical" as you want (to a very cheap cost, not limited by the cut-scenes editor etc). After the "simplified" cutscene the normal melee gameplay continues, which I would have complete control over.
One last thing: if you want to reuse already existing code you could have a look at my HercMerc system (EU servers). The version out there right now is a bit old. But it is built to support campaign making with tech-tree, special forces guys, custom tech and items. My own idea was to replace all the UI-textures with Protoss stuff (its terran now) and then use it for a Protoss special forces campaign too :D Time is limited though, so that will never happen. I'd love to support you in your project though!
While im not totally famaliar with the lore, i think a more general theme thats interesting and would be possible would be something alongs the lines of choosing the normal or dark side of toss which the beginning of course showing the possible options and then after getting you to choose between winning by remaining to be the passive traditional normal side where you support the other races in winning again the bad guys, or you cherish the dark avenue and use your new-re-found powers to defeat them yourself while sacrificing the past ways of the toss.
Thats the longest sentence I've seen in many weeks! :D
You've certainly got some interesting and cool ideas :) two things I would suggest for the 'Merc Heroes' though:
I wouldn't make it so the first of a unit you train is automatically the hero - what if you want your first Zealot to go out scouting or some other purpose with a high chance of death, you won't want to use your hero and with this system you'd have to wait for your second Zealot to be trained. Granted in a campaign you'd probably have some Zealots already but I still feel having their training seperate would be better personally.
Also to avoid confusion, perhaps name these heroes as 'Champions' otherwise it'll get very confusing when you refer to these heroes and the other, XP gaining kind ^_^
Just my thoughts, hopefully it will be helpful in some way.
While i would love to see a great storyline with unseen twists i think some beginning basis that you almost having to start along would the simply recovering the lost forces of the protoss while actually discovering the true source of their power.
I am really bad with storys, and I don't really care too much about them when I play myself. Thats why I didn't even mention the story in the main post. If this should become a serious project, I would get other people for the story (same for the terraining xD).
You have some nice ideas, like the hero spawning ( I would make it so you could only have one hero), but the overall wc3 direction turns off people like me in a pretty big way, the Warcraft series is going to be continued eventually, by that point sc2 will just seem like a weird knockoff if it keeps this up.. where is the RTS focus?
Well, there will of course be RTS elements, but like the HotS campaign, gameplay will definitely be a lot different from melee maps. I like the WC3 direction, and I think it can feel just as great in SC2. If you don't like it, well, maybe this campaign just isn't your cup of tea then.
@Monkalizer: Go
You obviously gave a lot of thought to the story, and I apprechiate you sharing the ideas :)
You've certainly got some interesting and cool ideas :) two things I would suggest for the 'Merc Heroes' though: I wouldn't make it so the first of a unit you train is automatically the hero - what if you want your first Zealot to go out scouting or some other purpose with a high chance of death, you won't want to use your hero and with this system you'd have to wait for your second Zealot to be trained. Granted in a campaign you'd probably have some Zealots already but I still feel having their training seperate would be better personally. Also to avoid confusion, perhaps name these heroes as 'Champions' otherwise it'll get very confusing when you refer to these heroes and the other, XP gaining kind ^_^
Yes, a different name was planned, changed to Champion in the post for now, to avoid confusion. I don't think first to train would be a bad thing, you can still go scout with the hero, since losing him wouldn't be a huge loss, the next unit you train would become the next hero. Well, for now its all theory anyway, the fine-tuning will be done, if it ever gets to playtesting :D
I think Story is the most important element which allows everything else to fall into place. It should be the first priority. HoTs is rpg stlyed because the campaign story is focused entirely on Kerrigan.
Anyway. Some concept ideas for storyline i've been having are:
Female protoss breaking out of their patriarchal structures. Read up on womens rights to get inspiration. I think this could be a very interesting story which I doubt Blizzard would ever consider. You can have domestic violence, complicated relationships, females turning into dark templars to get rid of their problems... strong stuff, but on a small scale!
A campaign about the struggle of a group of Protoss warriors who decide to leave the way of the Zealot and join the ranks of the Dark Templars. This brings up a lot of thoughts about identity and self.
The collective against the individual
Even inside the Khala there must be conflicts. Perhaps not armed ones. But surely there must be conflicting priorities of some form.
To rebuild their forces they need a lot of Kahdarian (?) chrystals. Perhaps you could make some kind of story about them trying to harvest and protect these resources.
I think Story is the most important element which allows everything else to fall into place. It should be the first priority. HoTs is rpg stlyed because the campaign story is focused entirely on Kerrigan.
True. I agree that story is important for many people, its just that I don't care too much about it, and I have no ideas in this department. So I just play around with mechanics and gameplay elements, until I am satisfied ;)
Yes, a different name was planned, changed to Champion in the post for now, to avoid confusion. I don't think first to train would be a bad thing, you can still go scout with the hero, since losing him wouldn't be a huge loss, the next unit you train would become the next hero. Well, for now its all theory anyway, the fine-tuning will be done, if it ever gets to playtesting :D
I was thinking about another way of setting up the heroes. Maybe something alone the lines of advanced wars were you have several difference heroes each with unique super abilities and each have an overall "stadium" effect that benefits units (ie maybe a range heroes that greatly increases the range of all ranged units while a melee heroes shortens all ally range but with increase damage or maybe can only ever use melee units.) That way you can get and pick a hero specific to the mission at hand.
For Champions, I think you should use a Merc Compound type building like in WoL, but maybe allow a higher squad count than normal (Protoss don't have Medics / Medivacs or SCVs to heal and repair the mercs) because having the first trained unit become a Champion seems like it could mess up the balance quite badly. And for background on Champions, maybe make them legendary Protoss warriors whose bodies were preserved, and brought back for this war? (Like soldiers from the Aeon of Strife for example).
Ok, only skimmed over the other posts in this thread so excuse me if I mention something you guys already went over.
Dark Archon: Either remove the submenu buttons from the drone and SCV or add a requirement that hides them if the mind control behavior is placed on them. Problem solved :p
Someone mentioned Twilight Archons in the IRC.
Shuttle: Someone said something about hercules as well. So yeah, higher cargo space, quick unload and maybe give it really good loading speed as well? Add a cloak upgrade! Make it an actual "drop"-ship, and the warp prism a "Warp" related ship. Possibly make the player decide between one of the two (Like Ghost/Spectre in WoL)
Warp Prism: In a forum rpg I played in once I liked to abuse the idea of being able to warp units to and from any warp matrix - Adding such an ability/upgrade to the wrap prism could be really cool, allowing you to just move units anywhere you've got power (Like the nydus worm). Could give it an ability that accelerates warp ins as well (Would have to add really quick regeneration as well since increasing time scale of units makes them finish "constructing" at lower than max health iirc)
"Mutations": Could make the player choose between "Nerazim" and "Khalai" units (i.e. normal or dark templar units). For units that already have an alternative (Stalker vs Dragoon), you could start with one and the "evolution mission" would make you either pick a powerful upgrade for the one you started with or give you a different unit (Let's say reduced blink cooldown and shield restore on blink for stalkers, or you get to grab dragoons which will have some special upgrade compared to original dragoons). Could do the same for Void Ray vs Scout/Phoenix, Carrier vs Tempest. Other units would just work the same way as mutations: Get a powerful "normal" upgrade or a dark-templar upgrade, the dark ones usually being more stealth/speed/damage oriented and the normal ones being survivability/utility oriented. I've got a mod file with most of the silver textures needed for nerazim (Similar to stalker and void ray textures)
Mercenaries: Your Champions idea sounds nice. But if you wanna try going with something more similar to WoL, you could allow players to warp in specialised "squads" of normal units with an extra ability and better stats (Like an "Infiltration Squad", 4 cloaked stalkers (With blink ofc) and 2 DTs with Blink (And cloaked ofc)), Leroy Jenkins Squad (Zealots with Charge, Hardened Shields and higher health/armor), Artillery Squad (Immortals that can sort of anchor themselves and become something similar to Siege Tanks), and things like that.
Hero: I liked having Kerrigan as well, so having a hero is something I definitely support :) Maybe add multiple skill trees with different focuses? One could be offensive abilities/passives, another could be defense/tanky, a third could be support (Heal/Shield units, increase attack/move speed, mass blink, temporary cloak, etc.) and the fourth could be more of a "commander" role and have buffs to macro oriented things (Double probe production, auto gas, more gas, faster pylons and warp ins and more abilities that can speed up the process of getting a massive ball of death)
For Champions, I think you should use a Merc Compound type building like in WoL, but maybe allow a higher squad count than normal (Protoss don't have Medics / Medivacs or SCVs to heal and repair the mercs) because having the first trained unit become a Champion seems like it could mess up the balance quite badly. And for background on Champions, maybe make them legendary Protoss warriors whose bodies were preserved, and brought back for this war? (Like soldiers from the Aeon of Strife for example).
there can only be one Tainted, you gunna have to do SOMETHING.
Killing AA in order to let a large slow ground siege ship advance, kinda like reverse 'Bone Trench'.
Something I missed in HotS, finding a maybe gamechanging 'mutation' on a actual mission. Like what if your doing a good ol' holdout mission and then they tell you to find some crystal and instead of a instant win you get this upgrade that allows you to push the enemy back and win instead.
Mandatory purification mission, it's what the protoss do. On a smaller scale you could go AVP style and have a squad of elite Nerazim Zealots with cloak, blink and high damage trying to take out an terran installation that a parasitic Zerg larva slipped into, hell that would make an awesome custom map on its own.
Probes harvest all resources 25% faster (5 Gas per return and 10 Minerals per return respectively).
Repair Sequence
Probes can now repair damaged Protoss structures (maybe "Mechanical" Protoss units as well?)
Stalker
Stalkers are a mix of basic frontline troops and tactical harassers, so I had one "Mutation" for the tactical aspect, and one for the frontline aspect.
Cloaking Systems
Stalkers can now temporarily cloak, but in exchange give up their Blink. (I'd say maybe like 10-15 second cloak. 60 second cooldown?). Or keep Blink but increase it's cooldown substantially.
Reinforced Shielding
Increases Stalker Shield Defense by 1.
Immortal
Since the Immortal is used as an Anti-Siege Tanker, the "Mutations" I thought of are to patch up the main weakness of the Immortal, mobs of light infantry (e.g. massed Marines with Stim Packs).
Hadron Cannon
Gives the Immortal a small AoE attack which uses up Energy (think Thor's cannon in terms of energy usage, 175 energy out of 250?), dealing 50 damage.
Xel'Naga Cuirass
Increases Shield Armor by 2 (Increase Shield Armor instead of just directly increasing the reduction of Hardened Shields because that wouldn't effect most light infantry). Also +75 normal HP to help last longer once shield goes down.
Void Ray
For Void Rays, since their main weakness was massed small anti-air, I figured one "Mutation" to shore up their weakness and one to strengthen their capability when used as intended.
Diffracted Beams
Instead of firing a single powerful beam, the Void Ray now fires 5 weaker beams at 5 separate targets. Reduce damage from 6 (+4 vs Armored) to 4 (+4 vs Armored) to main target and say 2 (+2? vs Armored) to secondary targets.
Electron Neogenesis Generator
Void Ray beams are strengthened, now dealing 6 damage (+6 vs Armored), and leaving residual electricity in their targets (disables buildings being attacked, kinda like that one Zerg in Left2Die. Also slows attack / move speeds of enemy units if a unit is the one being attacked.) As a result however, energy normally being used to power the Void Ray's shield is siphoned off to the cannon, resulting in -50 shield capacity. So Void Ray's only have half the shield capacity.
Carrier
Advanced Interceptors
Increases Carrier Interceptor capacity to 12 instead of 8. Also increases Interceptor damage by 1 each.
Akilae Destruction Cannon
(The Akilae Tribe of Protoss is known in the lore as the strongest fighting force in the Protoss Race, also having the strongest Psionics)
Gives the Carrier an autoattack while keeping it's 8 Interceptors. 30 damage with a 1.5 second cooldown, bonus vs Massive / Armored.
Just make sure to have at least half the mod done before starting on missions, because it can be difficult to redesign missions to fit updates.
Also make sure to have an almost perfectly equal number of missions vs each race.
Example: Hots had 11 missions against terrans, 4 against protoss, 4 against zerg, and 1 against zerg and terrans.
Not Balanced...
I'd suggest 15 missions, 5 against each race, or something along those lines.
I've been designing missions for my own campaign, but I decided against working on it, if you want some ideas, I can write some down for you, I'll probably post them here.
Just make sure to have at least half the mod done before starting on missions, because it can be difficult to redesign missions to fit updates.
Since mission design would involve terraining and story, I will probably do those later on anyway, if the mod happens to turn out well and I am still motivated to continue.
@TaintedDreams: Go
For probes, I wanted to have an option to make the probes flying units, and some opportunities to abuse that, like inaccessible high ground ledges easily reachable with flying probes, or close naturals by air so you can almost regularily mine of them with an air probe. However repairing is very nice as well.
For stalkers, I think I want a bouncing attack somewhere, thought about the cloaking field as well.
Happily playing around with some units, I will probably use the champions and one upgrade that benefits the champions, for example by providing an aura to their unit type or a special ability to support their type. Zealot Champions for example would receive an armor aura affecting nearby Zealots only; Dragoon Champions could get a Mass Recall-like teleportation ability, except it works only on Dragoons but can teleport anywere you have power.
I decided that I needed more room for typing, so I made this a separate post, I know I can edit, don't yell at me!
Versus Terran Level Designs
"Cloud Station Invasion Title Thingy" (Cloud Terrain)
In this level, your hero is now a flagship, abilities are similar, but modified to work better for a ship.
Also, this is probably a later level where you've already unlocked most of the ships.
The objective of the mission is to strategically use different types of ships or ground units to attack different locations of a cloud station. Destroying generators will disable defenses, allowing you to access more areas. There was a similar mission back in brood war where you get artanis and a few shuttles with hit squads in them.
Some features of the mission are reinforcements can't join you until you complete certain objectives, like destroying generators, defeating the captains, and so on.
"Prison Escape" (Prison-like Terrain)
In this level, your hero has been captured for whatever reason and you have to try and get him/her out.
Once you have made your final decision on what units will be in the game, pick whatever non-dark templar covert unit you want to have in this level. (Replicant, dark archon, etc)
The idea in this one is to use your new unit to rescue your hero and once you have your hero, you can use him/her to assist you.
The first objective is to get inside. To do so, you may either attack a convoy to release protoss prisoners or stealthily take control of it somehow. Then you either fight or sneak your way inside. As long as you remain stealthy, you will earn an extra bonus, perhaps experience for your hero? If you desire fighting or you get caught, you have the opportunity to get things you normally couldn't while beign stealthy, including extra units.
Once you free your hero, you will notice that the hero can't attack, but can use some abilities, maybe all. That's because you need to get your hero's equipment. Once you do so, your hero can attack. Your final objective is to escape.
"Tactical Siege" (Korhal or something Terrain)
In this mission, you have set up a hidden base outside a terran fortress and you want it to stay hidden until your forces can finish warping in. Scouts will appear sometimes and you will have to kill them before they can get away. At the same time, you will have to expand so you can get more money to warp in troops, but doing so will mean expanding your defenses to kill scouts that find those expansions. Every time a scout escapes, a small army will attack you. You must do your best to grow your army for 10-20 minutes or once you max out. After time is up, your hero decides you have enough troops and we can't wait any longer. At that point, your enemy is completely alert and will attack you with everything they have. Your mission is to destroy their base. You can still expand and build, but it'll be much harder.
Versus Zerg Level Designs
"Cerebrate Remains" (Jungle Terrain)
The idea behind this mission is to unlock dark templar, but how to make them the main idea? Cerebrates...
Since there are no more cerebrates, in this level, there just so happens to be cerebrate remains in the way of an item you are trying to collect. Just for this mission, dark templar can attack invulnerable units and the cerebrate remains are invulnerable. There is a zerg brood mother between you and the remains as well and she has a lot of detection and defenses. Your mission is to push out and destroy the remains with your cerebrates. Each hit from a dark templar deals 1% damage to it and there'll be a countdown timer showing you how much hp it has left. The brood mother will try to protect it and you must continue to try and destroy it until it's destroyed. Doing so will win you the level.
"Epic Battle" (Whatever Terrain)
I've always wanted this since sc brood war on the first protoss mission, a massive scale battle between protoss and zerg.
In this mission, 2 protoss allies are constantly sending forces to attack the zerg and the zerg constantly attack them and you as well. Sometimes, the protoss allies will send you soldiers that are given to your control but stay their color, which looks cooler, I think. Why are they sending some to their death and some to you? They need some to protect themselves, but they know you are a better executor or whatever rank you are and so they are sending everything they can. Once they mine out their bases, they will send you a bunch of the new unit you are supposed to unlock for that level. They then get invaded and the map opens up to show several expansions and the zerg base. By this time, you have finally built your base and built some form of production. Your mission now is to expand and grow your army and destroy the zerg base.
Versus Protoss Level Designs
"Nightfall" (Temple Terrain)
This is one of the first missions. In this one, you unlock a gateway unit, probably stalkers or dragoons. In this one, you start off with your hero and a few zealots. This is a night time wave based mission with a twist. You will have to hold off 2 entrances from protoss cultists who want to take the temple, not for learning, but for growing an empire to eliminate the dark templar. While defending, you must also send probes to open gates into the temple. The more probes, the faster it will open. Each door you open will make the cultists send more powerful waves of units. Unlocking all the doors will summon several immortals that you will start mass producing several levels later. This plays some cinematic where the immortals don't die, so they run away or something...
"The Mothership" (Jungle Terrain)
This is a later mission where you unlock the mothership. In this mission, you must defend your base fromt he Taldarim until the mothership finishes warping in. Once it's here, you have to try and use it to destroy the enemy's bases. Doing so will summon the Taldarim mothership. You will then destroy the enemy mothership and win the level.
These are my ideas for some levels, I'm tired of typing now, so I'm going to post other designs later. Enjoy the long read.
For many years, ultralisks have been fighting for power on this icy world ever since the overmind was destroyed and one was victorious. This one evolved over it's battles to become a torrasque, an infinitely reviving monster. Your forces arrive to find a long lost artifact, but this wakes the torrasque.
In this mission, you can't really kill the torrasque, he's just like your hero, infinitely reviving and super powerful. He consistently attacks your base and you must try to hold it off and build a strong army. Once you do so, you must push against a zerg base and reach the torrasques lair (a cave) and plant a device there. You must kill the torrasque one last time and when the torrasque revives, it is now under your control. That's the end of the level.
Versus Terran Level Design
"Shield of the Swarm" (Ice Terrain)
This is level following the one above. In this one, some of duran's remaining forces including ex-dominion ex-UED and hybrid are trying to destroy the torrasque using hybrid powers to subdue the torrasque's reviving capabilities. In this level, you realize that the artifact you are looking for is contained within the torrasque. You goal is to keep the torrasque from being destroyed by hybrid. You also get control of some zerg and the torrasque. When the torrasque is killed, it turns into an egg and takes a minute to revive into a torrasque again. The torrasque is really powerful, but you have to try and keep it from being killed again while it's in an egg. Destroying the dominion (mech based army) and the UED (air based army) will result in victory.
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Hey.
So, I really enjoyed the WoL and HotS campaigns, gameplay-wise (don't care too much about the story). I am thinking about creating a campaign for the Protoss in the same style, meaning unique mission design, upgradeable units between missions, probably a hero unit to develop, additional research etc etc.
I have a couple of ideas for possible units and upgrades, also some game mechanics that could be used in missions, probably nothing too unique, but I think it could play out to be fun.
For now, this is just brainstorming. I will probably work on creating some maps for this, but I am not sure, if I am actually going to start a serious project just yet. Also, this post mainly focuses on mechanics and gameplay, I am really bad with story, so I won't mention it.
Update: Hero Spells
Some Hero Spells I am playing around with
Careful: Big Wall of Text incoming
Alright, first paragraph would be:
Useable units
We have quite a lot of potential units to pick from, including all multiplayer units from WoL and HotS, as well as the Broodwar units we have access to, either because they exist in one of the campaigns or in the editor already (scout), or we have access to imported models (dragoon, reaver). Also, we have quite a good amount of variations for these in the form of Dark Protoss and Hero Protoss units to potentially use heroes and/or mercenary-like units. However, we cannot just use every single unit there is, we have to set some limits.
So, first a list of mandatory units:
and optional units I could potentially use:
Twilight Archon: Archon from one High Templar and one Dark Templar. Original name for the Archon in the SC2 Beta. Could be some sort of hybrid between normal and dark archon, not as beefy and as much damage as normal archon with a few spells, but not a pure caster like dark archon.
Upgrade System
For the small upgrades available to units, stuff like 20% more hitpoints or a little more damage, I prefer the WoL system over the HotS one. Earn funds by playing missions, additional ones for side objectives, spend them on your units as you see fitting. 2 upgrades per unit, both of which can be purchased at the same time. This allowed you to focus on the units you liked the most.
The HotS system felt a little too restrictive for me here. I want Zerglings with speed And attackspeed And hitpoints. Not choose one of these. It had the advantage to not make all units you didn't spend money on feel useless, though. Regardless of your choices, all your units had their maximum amount of upgrades, so you could always use any unit you liked, while in WoL, you would only use units you upgraded, naturally. Still, I prefer the upgrade system from WoL.
However, the mutations from HotS were quite nice. While also mutually exclusive, they didn't just provide a little upgrade, but created whole new ways to play with the unit. I agree, that the choice for such a meaningful evolution had to be mutually exclusive, and I would like to use something similar as well. What I didn't like was, that some units didn't have a mutation for themselves, they just could choose another unit to morph into, while the base unit remains unaffected. This basically takes away the potential mutations for base unit and both evolutions (Mutalisk into Viper or Broodlord means that we don't have stronger versions of Mutalisks, Vipers Or Broodlords). Of course, it would be way more work to add mutations to every single unit, but hey :)
So, what could we do here? I would probably use a combination of the WoL upgrades and the HotS mutation system. Units get 2-3 basic upgrades you can get with some kind of currency (psi power, protoss relics, khaydarin crystals, whatever), also each unit can choose one out of 2 advanced "mutations". Obviously we call it differently, some higher plane of existence or higher rank in the Khala or whatever. Upgrades should probably be refundable, so you can change your upgrades between missions, while the "mutations" stay locked.
Quick example for the Zealot (made up in about 10 seconds):
Upgrades:
"Mutations":
Feel free to suggest similar abilities for other units. They are allowed to be a little imbalanced, as long as they don't feel mandatory.
Mercenaries
I liked the mercenaries in WoL, I was really disappointed when the Zerg didn't have any possibility to recruit some troops with a little more power (like the squad of Hunter Killers in SC1). However, I don't feel like just copying Mercenaries from WoL is the way to go here, that would be not very protoss.
Instead, I would probably use the whole Hero mentality. Lets call it Champion for now, to avoid confusion with the next chapter. For example, if you enable the Zealot champion, the first zealot you warp in will be a Zealot Champion instead, which is a lot more powerful than the usual zealots. If the champion dies, the next Zealot warped in will be a champion again. In missions with limited troops, one of them will be a champion, if you researched the champion for that unit, which could potentially be very helpful.
The Hero
This chapter is also about a hero, but this time, we will also call him hero :). I am talking about you, the player; your alter ego in the campaign. I liked the focus on Kerrigan in HotS. Leveling up and adding more powerful spells to your hero felt a lot like WC3 and is a ton of fun. So yes, I would use a main hero unit as well, however, I would refrain from just using Zeratul or any other known Protoss hero. Instead, I would just use a generic hero, called the Executor (if you don't know, in SC1 you were the Executor, everyone referred to you by that name/title/rank).
Like Kerrigan, I would allow the hero to "die" in missions where you control a base, probably by adding an emergency recall passive ability to the nexus. So you don't really die, the nexus recalls you when you would receive fatal damage and then you take some time to heal. Also, you would get some more or less powerful abilities, of course, have a couple of ideas for this as well. Feel free to suggest ;)
Missions
Probably the hardest part. I definitely want them to feel somewhat unique, to have some kind of twist in the gameplay like the Blizzard missions (not exactly like them, there were a couple of things I disliked about them as well, for example the increased amount of missions putting short time constrains on you, generally the time it takes to finish a mission should be a little longer).
I Have a couple of ideas for this as well, nothing too special (need to break heavily guarded terran entrance, has snipers, minefield, autoguns and automated air defense. Can just bruteforce through with a huge force, or can deactivate defenses one by one by destroying adjacent terran bases, completely shutting down the defense for easy access, or can just deactivate specific bases, for example air defenses, then take out everything else from air; in a later mission you would need to defend a constant swarm of zerg with hardly any way to push out on your own, until you can set up your terran allies defenses, including the same minefields, snipers etc, so you can use a lot more army to push out... something like that)
Feel free to suggest, I could use the inspiration for this one ;)
Well. Liked what you read? Have some suggestions or criticism? Or an opinion? Did I forget a unit? Feel free to post.
I think there is some potential in the idea.
While i would love to see a great storyline with unseen twists i think some beginning basis that you almost having to start along would the simply recovering the lost forces of the protoss while actually discovering the true source of their power.
Its funny but i see the majority of the units you listed a potentionally useful to be the most useful. I think having to choose between the pheonix or scout is a great idea. For some other mission ideas revolving around particular units why not something like a single lost mega mothership that you have to find and then escort back through enemy territory that despitely want to destroy it (the ship would slowly move on its own on a course that can't control but you can use only the abilities as well as rescue fleet). Dragoons could be a side mission and with some funky stripes could be a rogue platoon of mercs to use. The senties could be used in a mission we're you've recovering something like some important psi article and you have to hold the again forces fromm mulitple entrances while you wait for extract.
While im not totally famaliar with the lore, i think a more general theme thats interesting and would be possible would be something alongs the lines of choosing the normal or dark side of toss which the beginning of course showing the possible options and then after getting you to choose between winning by remaining to be the passive traditional normal side where you support the other races in winning again the bad guys, or you cherish the dark avenue and use your new-re-found powers to defeat them yourself while sacrificing the past ways of the toss. Now hows that for a start.
You have some nice ideas, like the hero spawning ( I would make it so you could only have one hero), but the overall wc3 direction turns off people like me in a pretty big way, the Warcraft series is going to be continued eventually, by that point sc2 will just seem like a weird knockoff if it keeps this up.. where is the RTS focus?
Prepare for a wall of text in responsse!
Over the past weeks I have been working on putting together a campaign, built around a mod which I've been hacking on over the past 5 months. Ive been thinking about creating a Protoss campaign too! They are really hard to write for though: the Kahla is making them all think the same. How can you have conflicts when everyone thinks the same?
Anyway. Some concept ideas for storyline i've been having are:
I reached out to story writers in Joyrays bar and people here for help with the story writing. Its hard when you have different visions and ideas about how to tell a story. After a couple of chaotic days of experimenting with communication, I think I have found a process that works. In the beginning of each map I will show a series of self-painted or concept art images. To this I write some text and later do voice-over. The story writers can pitch in on this dialog and do what they do best. You can get as theatrical, philosophical or "lore-ical" as you want (to a very cheap cost, not limited by the cut-scenes editor etc). After the "simplified" cutscene the normal melee gameplay continues, which I would have complete control over.
One last thing: if you want to reuse already existing code you could have a look at my HercMerc system (EU servers). The version out there right now is a bit old. But it is built to support campaign making with tech-tree, special forces guys, custom tech and items. My own idea was to replace all the UI-textures with Protoss stuff (its terran now) and then use it for a Protoss special forces campaign too :D Time is limited though, so that will never happen. I'd love to support you in your project though!
Good luck anyways!
Thats the longest sentence I've seen in many weeks! :D
@Kueken531: Go
You've certainly got some interesting and cool ideas :) two things I would suggest for the 'Merc Heroes' though: I wouldn't make it so the first of a unit you train is automatically the hero - what if you want your first Zealot to go out scouting or some other purpose with a high chance of death, you won't want to use your hero and with this system you'd have to wait for your second Zealot to be trained. Granted in a campaign you'd probably have some Zealots already but I still feel having their training seperate would be better personally. Also to avoid confusion, perhaps name these heroes as 'Champions' otherwise it'll get very confusing when you refer to these heroes and the other, XP gaining kind ^_^
Just my thoughts, hopefully it will be helpful in some way.
I am really bad with storys, and I don't really care too much about them when I play myself. Thats why I didn't even mention the story in the main post. If this should become a serious project, I would get other people for the story (same for the terraining xD).
Well, there will of course be RTS elements, but like the HotS campaign, gameplay will definitely be a lot different from melee maps. I like the WC3 direction, and I think it can feel just as great in SC2. If you don't like it, well, maybe this campaign just isn't your cup of tea then.
@Monkalizer: Go You obviously gave a lot of thought to the story, and I apprechiate you sharing the ideas :)
Yes, a different name was planned, changed to Champion in the post for now, to avoid confusion. I don't think first to train would be a bad thing, you can still go scout with the hero, since losing him wouldn't be a huge loss, the next unit you train would become the next hero. Well, for now its all theory anyway, the fine-tuning will be done, if it ever gets to playtesting :D
@Kueken531: Go
I think Story is the most important element which allows everything else to fall into place. It should be the first priority. HoTs is rpg stlyed because the campaign story is focused entirely on Kerrigan.
Eh..
True. I agree that story is important for many people, its just that I don't care too much about it, and I have no ideas in this department. So I just play around with mechanics and gameplay elements, until I am satisfied ;)
I was thinking about another way of setting up the heroes. Maybe something alone the lines of advanced wars were you have several difference heroes each with unique super abilities and each have an overall "stadium" effect that benefits units (ie maybe a range heroes that greatly increases the range of all ranged units while a melee heroes shortens all ally range but with increase damage or maybe can only ever use melee units.) That way you can get and pick a hero specific to the mission at hand.
Like I said: its hard to come up with story for the Protoss :P
I suggest you should check out the storywriting for games section at gamedev.net.
For Champions, I think you should use a Merc Compound type building like in WoL, but maybe allow a higher squad count than normal (Protoss don't have Medics / Medivacs or SCVs to heal and repair the mercs) because having the first trained unit become a Champion seems like it could mess up the balance quite badly. And for background on Champions, maybe make them legendary Protoss warriors whose bodies were preserved, and brought back for this war? (Like soldiers from the Aeon of Strife for example).
Ok, only skimmed over the other posts in this thread so excuse me if I mention something you guys already went over.
Dark Archon: Either remove the submenu buttons from the drone and SCV or add a requirement that hides them if the mind control behavior is placed on them. Problem solved :p
Someone mentioned Twilight Archons in the IRC.
Shuttle: Someone said something about hercules as well. So yeah, higher cargo space, quick unload and maybe give it really good loading speed as well? Add a cloak upgrade! Make it an actual "drop"-ship, and the warp prism a "Warp" related ship. Possibly make the player decide between one of the two (Like Ghost/Spectre in WoL)
Warp Prism: In a forum rpg I played in once I liked to abuse the idea of being able to warp units to and from any warp matrix - Adding such an ability/upgrade to the wrap prism could be really cool, allowing you to just move units anywhere you've got power (Like the nydus worm). Could give it an ability that accelerates warp ins as well (Would have to add really quick regeneration as well since increasing time scale of units makes them finish "constructing" at lower than max health iirc)
"Mutations": Could make the player choose between "Nerazim" and "Khalai" units (i.e. normal or dark templar units). For units that already have an alternative (Stalker vs Dragoon), you could start with one and the "evolution mission" would make you either pick a powerful upgrade for the one you started with or give you a different unit (Let's say reduced blink cooldown and shield restore on blink for stalkers, or you get to grab dragoons which will have some special upgrade compared to original dragoons). Could do the same for Void Ray vs Scout/Phoenix, Carrier vs Tempest. Other units would just work the same way as mutations: Get a powerful "normal" upgrade or a dark-templar upgrade, the dark ones usually being more stealth/speed/damage oriented and the normal ones being survivability/utility oriented. I've got a mod file with most of the silver textures needed for nerazim (Similar to stalker and void ray textures)
Mercenaries: Your Champions idea sounds nice. But if you wanna try going with something more similar to WoL, you could allow players to warp in specialised "squads" of normal units with an extra ability and better stats (Like an "Infiltration Squad", 4 cloaked stalkers (With blink ofc) and 2 DTs with Blink (And cloaked ofc)), Leroy Jenkins Squad (Zealots with Charge, Hardened Shields and higher health/armor), Artillery Squad (Immortals that can sort of anchor themselves and become something similar to Siege Tanks), and things like that.
Hero: I liked having Kerrigan as well, so having a hero is something I definitely support :) Maybe add multiple skill trees with different focuses? One could be offensive abilities/passives, another could be defense/tanky, a third could be support (Heal/Shield units, increase attack/move speed, mass blink, temporary cloak, etc.) and the fourth could be more of a "commander" role and have buffs to macro oriented things (Double probe production, auto gas, more gas, faster pylons and warp ins and more abilities that can speed up the process of getting a massive ball of death)
there can only be one Tainted, you gunna have to do SOMETHING.
Some ideas for missions:
Here's the Mutations I've come up with so far.
Mutations
Probe
Resource Efficiency
Probes harvest all resources 25% faster (5 Gas per return and 10 Minerals per return respectively).
Repair Sequence
Probes can now repair damaged Protoss structures (maybe "Mechanical" Protoss units as well?)
Stalker
Stalkers are a mix of basic frontline troops and tactical harassers, so I had one "Mutation" for the tactical aspect, and one for the frontline aspect.
Cloaking Systems
Stalkers can now temporarily cloak, but in exchange give up their Blink. (I'd say maybe like 10-15 second cloak. 60 second cooldown?). Or keep Blink but increase it's cooldown substantially.
Reinforced Shielding
Increases Stalker Shield Defense by 1.
Immortal
Since the Immortal is used as an Anti-Siege Tanker, the "Mutations" I thought of are to patch up the main weakness of the Immortal, mobs of light infantry (e.g. massed Marines with Stim Packs).
Hadron Cannon
Gives the Immortal a small AoE attack which uses up Energy (think Thor's cannon in terms of energy usage, 175 energy out of 250?), dealing 50 damage.
Xel'Naga Cuirass
Increases Shield Armor by 2 (Increase Shield Armor instead of just directly increasing the reduction of Hardened Shields because that wouldn't effect most light infantry). Also +75 normal HP to help last longer once shield goes down.
Void Ray
For Void Rays, since their main weakness was massed small anti-air, I figured one "Mutation" to shore up their weakness and one to strengthen their capability when used as intended.
Diffracted Beams
Instead of firing a single powerful beam, the Void Ray now fires 5 weaker beams at 5 separate targets. Reduce damage from 6 (+4 vs Armored) to 4 (+4 vs Armored) to main target and say 2 (+2? vs Armored) to secondary targets.
Electron Neogenesis Generator
Void Ray beams are strengthened, now dealing 6 damage (+6 vs Armored), and leaving residual electricity in their targets (disables buildings being attacked, kinda like that one Zerg in Left2Die. Also slows attack / move speeds of enemy units if a unit is the one being attacked.) As a result however, energy normally being used to power the Void Ray's shield is siphoned off to the cannon, resulting in -50 shield capacity. So Void Ray's only have half the shield capacity.
Carrier
Advanced Interceptors
Increases Carrier Interceptor capacity to 12 instead of 8. Also increases Interceptor damage by 1 each.
Akilae Destruction Cannon
(The Akilae Tribe of Protoss is known in the lore as the strongest fighting force in the Protoss Race, also having the strongest Psionics) Gives the Carrier an autoattack while keeping it's 8 Interceptors. 30 damage with a 1.5 second cooldown, bonus vs Massive / Armored.
Sounds like fun.
Just make sure to have at least half the mod done before starting on missions, because it can be difficult to redesign missions to fit updates.
Also make sure to have an almost perfectly equal number of missions vs each race.
Example: Hots had 11 missions against terrans, 4 against protoss, 4 against zerg, and 1 against zerg and terrans.
Not Balanced...
I'd suggest 15 missions, 5 against each race, or something along those lines.
I've been designing missions for my own campaign, but I decided against working on it, if you want some ideas, I can write some down for you, I'll probably post them here.
Since mission design would involve terraining and story, I will probably do those later on anyway, if the mod happens to turn out well and I am still motivated to continue.
@TaintedDreams: Go For probes, I wanted to have an option to make the probes flying units, and some opportunities to abuse that, like inaccessible high ground ledges easily reachable with flying probes, or close naturals by air so you can almost regularily mine of them with an air probe. However repairing is very nice as well.
For stalkers, I think I want a bouncing attack somewhere, thought about the cloaking field as well.
Happily playing around with some units, I will probably use the champions and one upgrade that benefits the champions, for example by providing an aura to their unit type or a special ability to support their type. Zealot Champions for example would receive an armor aura affecting nearby Zealots only; Dragoon Champions could get a Mass Recall-like teleportation ability, except it works only on Dragoons but can teleport anywere you have power.
I decided that I needed more room for typing, so I made this a separate post, I know I can edit, don't yell at me!
Versus Terran Level Designs
"Cloud Station Invasion Title Thingy" (Cloud Terrain)
In this level, your hero is now a flagship, abilities are similar, but modified to work better for a ship. Also, this is probably a later level where you've already unlocked most of the ships. The objective of the mission is to strategically use different types of ships or ground units to attack different locations of a cloud station. Destroying generators will disable defenses, allowing you to access more areas. There was a similar mission back in brood war where you get artanis and a few shuttles with hit squads in them. Some features of the mission are reinforcements can't join you until you complete certain objectives, like destroying generators, defeating the captains, and so on.
"Prison Escape" (Prison-like Terrain)
In this level, your hero has been captured for whatever reason and you have to try and get him/her out. Once you have made your final decision on what units will be in the game, pick whatever non-dark templar covert unit you want to have in this level. (Replicant, dark archon, etc) The idea in this one is to use your new unit to rescue your hero and once you have your hero, you can use him/her to assist you. The first objective is to get inside. To do so, you may either attack a convoy to release protoss prisoners or stealthily take control of it somehow. Then you either fight or sneak your way inside. As long as you remain stealthy, you will earn an extra bonus, perhaps experience for your hero? If you desire fighting or you get caught, you have the opportunity to get things you normally couldn't while beign stealthy, including extra units. Once you free your hero, you will notice that the hero can't attack, but can use some abilities, maybe all. That's because you need to get your hero's equipment. Once you do so, your hero can attack. Your final objective is to escape.
"Tactical Siege" (Korhal or something Terrain)
In this mission, you have set up a hidden base outside a terran fortress and you want it to stay hidden until your forces can finish warping in. Scouts will appear sometimes and you will have to kill them before they can get away. At the same time, you will have to expand so you can get more money to warp in troops, but doing so will mean expanding your defenses to kill scouts that find those expansions. Every time a scout escapes, a small army will attack you. You must do your best to grow your army for 10-20 minutes or once you max out. After time is up, your hero decides you have enough troops and we can't wait any longer. At that point, your enemy is completely alert and will attack you with everything they have. Your mission is to destroy their base. You can still expand and build, but it'll be much harder.
Versus Zerg Level Designs
"Cerebrate Remains" (Jungle Terrain)
The idea behind this mission is to unlock dark templar, but how to make them the main idea? Cerebrates... Since there are no more cerebrates, in this level, there just so happens to be cerebrate remains in the way of an item you are trying to collect. Just for this mission, dark templar can attack invulnerable units and the cerebrate remains are invulnerable. There is a zerg brood mother between you and the remains as well and she has a lot of detection and defenses. Your mission is to push out and destroy the remains with your cerebrates. Each hit from a dark templar deals 1% damage to it and there'll be a countdown timer showing you how much hp it has left. The brood mother will try to protect it and you must continue to try and destroy it until it's destroyed. Doing so will win you the level.
"Epic Battle" (Whatever Terrain)
I've always wanted this since sc brood war on the first protoss mission, a massive scale battle between protoss and zerg. In this mission, 2 protoss allies are constantly sending forces to attack the zerg and the zerg constantly attack them and you as well. Sometimes, the protoss allies will send you soldiers that are given to your control but stay their color, which looks cooler, I think. Why are they sending some to their death and some to you? They need some to protect themselves, but they know you are a better executor or whatever rank you are and so they are sending everything they can. Once they mine out their bases, they will send you a bunch of the new unit you are supposed to unlock for that level. They then get invaded and the map opens up to show several expansions and the zerg base. By this time, you have finally built your base and built some form of production. Your mission now is to expand and grow your army and destroy the zerg base.
Versus Protoss Level Designs
"Nightfall" (Temple Terrain)
This is one of the first missions. In this one, you unlock a gateway unit, probably stalkers or dragoons. In this one, you start off with your hero and a few zealots. This is a night time wave based mission with a twist. You will have to hold off 2 entrances from protoss cultists who want to take the temple, not for learning, but for growing an empire to eliminate the dark templar. While defending, you must also send probes to open gates into the temple. The more probes, the faster it will open. Each door you open will make the cultists send more powerful waves of units. Unlocking all the doors will summon several immortals that you will start mass producing several levels later. This plays some cinematic where the immortals don't die, so they run away or something...
"The Mothership" (Jungle Terrain)
This is a later mission where you unlock the mothership. In this mission, you must defend your base fromt he Taldarim until the mothership finishes warping in. Once it's here, you have to try and use it to destroy the enemy's bases. Doing so will summon the Taldarim mothership. You will then destroy the enemy mothership and win the level.
These are my ideas for some levels, I'm tired of typing now, so I'm going to post other designs later. Enjoy the long read.
Nevermind, I had another idea...
Versus Zerg Level Design
"The Torrasque" (Ice Terrain)
For many years, ultralisks have been fighting for power on this icy world ever since the overmind was destroyed and one was victorious. This one evolved over it's battles to become a torrasque, an infinitely reviving monster. Your forces arrive to find a long lost artifact, but this wakes the torrasque. In this mission, you can't really kill the torrasque, he's just like your hero, infinitely reviving and super powerful. He consistently attacks your base and you must try to hold it off and build a strong army. Once you do so, you must push against a zerg base and reach the torrasques lair (a cave) and plant a device there. You must kill the torrasque one last time and when the torrasque revives, it is now under your control. That's the end of the level.
Versus Terran Level Design
"Shield of the Swarm" (Ice Terrain)
This is level following the one above. In this one, some of duran's remaining forces including ex-dominion ex-UED and hybrid are trying to destroy the torrasque using hybrid powers to subdue the torrasque's reviving capabilities. In this level, you realize that the artifact you are looking for is contained within the torrasque. You goal is to keep the torrasque from being destroyed by hybrid. You also get control of some zerg and the torrasque. When the torrasque is killed, it turns into an egg and takes a minute to revive into a torrasque again. The torrasque is really powerful, but you have to try and keep it from being killed again while it's in an egg. Destroying the dominion (mech based army) and the UED (air based army) will result in victory.