Hey again folks, and welcome to the second edition of the Bi-Weekly Testing Thread!
As per an initiative from JayBorino and me, we've set up the Bi-Weekly Testing Thread, or BWTT, with the purpose of testing specific maps made by community members. What does this mean? Simple: editors in need of feedback suggest their own maps (either via PM to me or JayBorino, or by posting it in the intro thread), and we'll pick one that will be used for the BWTT.
For this first week, the map we've picked is "Last Remnant", by EDHRIANO. Note that this is the sixth map in the 'Hammer of Dawn' campaign. While it's always worth checking out the rest, this thread is specifically for feedback on the sixth map.
So for the next two weeks, see if you can take the time to download this map, give it a go, and post your detailed feedback here. What did you like, what did you not like? What could be improved, and possibly: how?
This thread will stay up for two weeks, until tuesday, May 17, at which point I'll upload thread #3. Up until that point, all suggestions for maps that require testing are welcome - please put them in the general thread found here.
For anyone curious, you have to download this map and mod and play it offline via the editor, not the Arcade. Put the Mod file into the Mods folder in your Starcraft install directory (the one in Program Files, NOT the one in My Documents). If you don't have a Mods folder here, then just make one.
Now you can simply double click the map file where ever it may be. If the editor spews out some missing dependency junk, just click 'No', then drag the map file into the editor again and it will work (this is a Blizzard issue that they need to fix btw). Click the green Test Map button near the top right and the map will launch.
This is how you play pretty much anything offline (most campaigns) in case you never knew. Make sure to use Quicksaves (Ctrl+Q)!
Visit my channel where I showcase custom content! Send me a PM or respond to my YouTube thread if you'd like to see your map/s on my channel (eventually!)
Check out my YouTube channel for test playthroughs of custom campaigns as well as editor tutorial videos. Mapmakers, don’t hesitate to PM me if you would like me to test your campaign.
I can't speak for Mozared, but I am under the assumption that they are looking for 1 map every 2 weeks.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Check out my YouTube channel for test playthroughs of custom campaigns as well as editor tutorial videos. Mapmakers, don’t hesitate to PM me if you would like me to test your campaign.
So this is an interesting mission to play. While I was playing mostly blind, I did get a good look at the terrain before I played. I made good use of that knowledge on my second attempt at the macro section. Just watch the video to find out what I did. Edhriano, since I know you're watching, I hope my strategy amuses you. Get to work on fixing that.
Next up is the micro section. Fairly easy, but mostly because I was playing on normal. My biggest gripe with this section is the hotkeys. They're all on different buttons. While I am completely fine with hotkeys being different between individual macro units, having heroes with weirdly placed hotkeys really fucks me up. I had to switch to grid to even be able to play. Honestly, it would have been easier if all of them were mapped to the Z, X, C, V, B keys. It'd be so much more convenient.
Another little inconvenience is that Hydralik hero's model. Sometimes I'm clicking right on it but it won't select. I have to click a little bit lower or to the side to be able to select it. I have the same problem when targeting Void Trashers in the LotV Epilogue. If there is a way to fix that, please do so.
Minor gripe, lots of vertical and horizontal terrain. Starcraft's aesthetic design favors isometric terrain more. You some how make it work but I do believe that angling your cliffs will make your maps look better.
The boss fight is a memorization boss which I don't like. Luckily, it goes by fast.Once you get the pattern down, it's not much of a bother.
I got really lost during the micro section but it's more my problem than the map's or mapmakers. It was a matter of observation and the way to go was right under my nose.
Overall, pretty fun map. I'm probably the first person to break this map. Granted, I go out of my way to break them so it's not surprising. In any case, good job Edhriano. Very clean
That was very clever, lifting the factory and just siege everything from afar. I will have to find a way to prevent that. Also prevent player to kill the girl they suppose to rescue.
About hydralisk model the model author already made very clear NO TAKE REQUEST, including request to fix their model. Soo there is really nothing I can do about that.
Actually the boss fight use random integer. If the integer is 1 boss do this, if integer is 2 boss do that etc. To be able to memorize all variation in just 9 retry waw really is something.
Thanks for the playthrough and the feedback redlerred7.
The factory thing, you can make the cliffs unpathable or just remove the lift-off ability entirely. As for me killing those NPCs, it's just the Half Life 2 dilemma. I had control during a cutscene and got bored of the dialogue. Next time, just don't give the player control.
No fix for that Hydralisk model, huh? That's unfortunate.
I actually had 14 retries. I stopped commentating after the first few deaths and really analyzed the boss. I regularly play bullet hell games and recognizing and exploiting patterns has been hammered into my brain at this point. Your boss's attack were fairly simple all things considered. I only really needed to deal with one projectile at a time as opposed to a screen full of them.
Edit
Just to add, maybe make the tech lab upgrades for the Widow Mine available for research? And possibly some of the campaign upgrades for the Medic, Vulture and Goliath as well?
Next up is the micro section. Fairly easy, but mostly because I was playing on normal.
I just watched some of your playthrough and noticed that you kept mentioning the difficulty. I could be wrong but I believe the only differences in the difficulties are the starting number of units you get and the boss' HP. I don't think the difficulty selection affects anything else. Edhriano, it would be good to know if this is correct or not. If it does affect enemy AI in any way it might be a good idea to mention that in the difficulty selection screen.
Check out my YouTube channel for test playthroughs of custom campaigns as well as editor tutorial videos. Mapmakers, don’t hesitate to PM me if you would like me to test your campaign.
If that's the case then my strategy doesn't really work with the difficulty. I killed the Hives before pushing into the bases so there was no way they could rebuild.
Edit
Earlier into the video I said I had a strategy I wanted to try but that wasn't the factory lifting that I ended up doing.
The planned strategy was actually using 4-6 reapers to lure a bunch of zerg in range of 6 or more Widow Mines. I realize that Vultures are also a viable option for this strategy so I might end up doing that instead once that factory thing is fixed
I could not click enemy units to see their stats. I wanted to decide what would be a more optimal army so I can do more damage to certain attributes
I can't click the mineral patches to see the amount remaining
Many of your gameplay settings might have gotten reset when you tested the map. It's a common that people will have to re-toggle Enable Enemy Unit Selection and untoggle Enable Simple Command Card in their gameplay options. This has been a problem since the start and doesn't seem like it can be fixed. The weird thing is sometimes it resets, some times it doesn't. It's really annoying like that.
Also, this mission is part of a campaign whose primary draw is challenging micro-intensive missions with boss fights. This mission is literally the only one with a macro section that's currently released. All the others were micro missions. That being said, the use of hotkeys is kinda necessary for all of them.
Your suggestions for making it easier aren't unfounded, though. Casual difficulty should be easier. Having the boss be just as micro intensive on easy as it is on hard makes the difficulty selection kinda pointless.
Glad you find it enjoyable Trieva. I tried to make them as balance ,as simple and as fun as possible.
Well actually you can use the quick safe [CTRL+Q] just like JayborinoPlays and DeltronLive mention in their post.
You can quick safe before and after you defeat a hybrid, that way you won't have to start everything from the beginning.
But I do understand sometimes people forget to save, soo yeah maybe I'll add a pop up message to remind the player to safe their game when they reach certain point in the game.
Ahh custom skill bar? sorry I am not in that level of scripting yet, but perhaps in the future.
For now you can try to hot key the units to CTRL+1 etc that way you don't have to constantly click on them.
Really? Well I'd recommend to take the time and read the tips , that way you'd know that the health pack heals all biological units. Including the boss, sooo you will have to decide is it worth to pick it up.
Hey again folks, and welcome to the second edition of the Bi-Weekly Testing Thread!
As per an initiative from JayBorino and me, we've set up the Bi-Weekly Testing Thread, or BWTT, with the purpose of testing specific maps made by community members. What does this mean? Simple: editors in need of feedback suggest their own maps (either via PM to me or JayBorino, or by posting it in the intro thread), and we'll pick one that will be used for the BWTT.
For this first week, the map we've picked is "Last Remnant", by EDHRIANO. Note that this is the sixth map in the 'Hammer of Dawn' campaign. While it's always worth checking out the rest, this thread is specifically for feedback on the sixth map.
So for the next two weeks, see if you can take the time to download this map, give it a go, and post your detailed feedback here. What did you like, what did you not like? What could be improved, and possibly: how?
This thread will stay up for two weeks, until tuesday, May 17, at which point I'll upload thread #3. Up until that point, all suggestions for maps that require testing are welcome - please put them in the general thread found here.
Good luck and have fun to all!
Thank you for picking my map for Bi-Weekly Testing Thread #2,
And like Mozared said have fun to all.
[Edited]
The newer version 6.4 is up, thanks to the feedbacks.
Last Remnant 6.4
My projects : The Hammer of Dawn, Noir : Automata, Noir : Evolution, Noir : Ascension, Hammer of Dawn Revamp
Many awesome projects : Custom Campaign Initiative
Something for the community : A Small Letter of Thanks, SC2mapster Classic Skin - Alevice
For anyone curious, you have to download this map and mod and play it offline via the editor, not the Arcade. Put the Mod file into the Mods folder in your Starcraft install directory (the one in Program Files, NOT the one in My Documents). If you don't have a Mods folder here, then just make one.
Now you can simply double click the map file where ever it may be. If the editor spews out some missing dependency junk, just click 'No', then drag the map file into the editor again and it will work (this is a Blizzard issue that they need to fix btw). Click the green Test Map button near the top right and the map will launch.
This is how you play pretty much anything offline (most campaigns) in case you never knew. Make sure to use Quicksaves (Ctrl+Q)!
Visit my channel where I showcase custom content! Send me a PM or respond to my YouTube thread if you'd like to see your map/s on my channel (eventually!)
You will need it!
Check out my YouTube channel for test playthroughs of custom campaigns as well as editor tutorial videos. Mapmakers, don’t hesitate to PM me if you would like me to test your campaign.
I never save. I only win.
I've also include a read me file inside the mission 06 .zip [attachment].
My projects : The Hammer of Dawn, Noir : Automata, Noir : Evolution, Noir : Ascension, Hammer of Dawn Revamp
Many awesome projects : Custom Campaign Initiative
Something for the community : A Small Letter of Thanks, SC2mapster Classic Skin - Alevice
damn i gotta find time to play this! so. freaking. COOL
Hammer of Dawn? that sounds like the most badass title ever!
KSNumedia's Assets: Custom Models for campaigns and mods!
@Mozared: Go
Sorry if I'm in the wrong thread, but how does one submit a map to be showcased for this?
Follow up question: can I submit a short campaign (4 missions)? Or is the limit 1 map?
<Click Here> To See My Epic Single Player Campaign (LifeForceCampaign.com)
Hey Bilxor, I think the thread you are looking for is here: http://www.sc2mapster.com/forums/player-zone/map-review/117006-bi-weekly-mapster-community-testing-intro/
I can't speak for Mozared, but I am under the assumption that they are looking for 1 map every 2 weeks.
Check out my YouTube channel for test playthroughs of custom campaigns as well as editor tutorial videos. Mapmakers, don’t hesitate to PM me if you would like me to test your campaign.
@deltronLive: Go
Cool man good lookin out. Even though I'm like 3+ weeks out from finishing my next mal
<Click Here> To See My Epic Single Player Campaign (LifeForceCampaign.com)
@Bilxor: Go
Bil, as always want to work slow and fix all bugs :p
Feedback
So this is an interesting mission to play. While I was playing mostly blind, I did get a good look at the terrain before I played. I made good use of that knowledge on my second attempt at the macro section. Just watch the video to find out what I did. Edhriano, since I know you're watching, I hope my strategy amuses you. Get to work on fixing that.
Next up is the micro section. Fairly easy, but mostly because I was playing on normal. My biggest gripe with this section is the hotkeys. They're all on different buttons. While I am completely fine with hotkeys being different between individual macro units, having heroes with weirdly placed hotkeys really fucks me up. I had to switch to grid to even be able to play. Honestly, it would have been easier if all of them were mapped to the Z, X, C, V, B keys. It'd be so much more convenient.
Another little inconvenience is that Hydralik hero's model. Sometimes I'm clicking right on it but it won't select. I have to click a little bit lower or to the side to be able to select it. I have the same problem when targeting Void Trashers in the LotV Epilogue. If there is a way to fix that, please do so.
Minor gripe, lots of vertical and horizontal terrain. Starcraft's aesthetic design favors isometric terrain more. You some how make it work but I do believe that angling your cliffs will make your maps look better.
The boss fight is a memorization boss which I don't like. Luckily, it goes by fast.Once you get the pattern down, it's not much of a bother.
I got really lost during the micro section but it's more my problem than the map's or mapmakers. It was a matter of observation and the way to go was right under my nose.
Overall, pretty fun map. I'm probably the first person to break this map. Granted, I go out of my way to break them so it's not surprising. In any case, good job Edhriano. Very clean
@redlerred7: Go
That was very clever, lifting the factory and just siege everything from afar. I will have to find a way to prevent that. Also prevent player to kill the girl they suppose to rescue.
About hydralisk model the model author already made very clear NO TAKE REQUEST, including request to fix their model. Soo there is really nothing I can do about that.
Actually the boss fight use random integer. If the integer is 1 boss do this, if integer is 2 boss do that etc. To be able to memorize all variation in just 9 retry waw really is something.
Thanks for the playthrough and the feedback redlerred7.
My projects : The Hammer of Dawn, Noir : Automata, Noir : Evolution, Noir : Ascension, Hammer of Dawn Revamp
Many awesome projects : Custom Campaign Initiative
Something for the community : A Small Letter of Thanks, SC2mapster Classic Skin - Alevice
@EDHRIANO: Go
The factory thing, you can make the cliffs unpathable or just remove the lift-off ability entirely. As for me killing those NPCs, it's just the Half Life 2 dilemma. I had control during a cutscene and got bored of the dialogue. Next time, just don't give the player control.
No fix for that Hydralisk model, huh? That's unfortunate.
I actually had 14 retries. I stopped commentating after the first few deaths and really analyzed the boss. I regularly play bullet hell games and recognizing and exploiting patterns has been hammered into my brain at this point. Your boss's attack were fairly simple all things considered. I only really needed to deal with one projectile at a time as opposed to a screen full of them.
Edit
Just to add, maybe make the tech lab upgrades for the Widow Mine available for research? And possibly some of the campaign upgrades for the Medic, Vulture and Goliath as well?
I just watched some of your playthrough and noticed that you kept mentioning the difficulty. I could be wrong but I believe the only differences in the difficulties are the starting number of units you get and the boss' HP. I don't think the difficulty selection affects anything else. Edhriano, it would be good to know if this is correct or not. If it does affect enemy AI in any way it might be a good idea to mention that in the difficulty selection screen.
Check out my YouTube channel for test playthroughs of custom campaigns as well as editor tutorial videos. Mapmakers, don’t hesitate to PM me if you would like me to test your campaign.
@deltronLive: Go
If there is literally no difference between the difficulties except for starting units and boss health then consider it a placebo. A confidence boost.
@deltronLive: Go
If you remember from your video (i think it was around 39:15) a huge wave attack you. Not only you but dudkisc2 and ksnumedia also experience it.
So I decide to try to fix it, after several trial and error I decide to scrap the AI and just make stukov army periodically replenish lost units.
Soo yeah, maybe I should've mention that in difficulty screen.
Thanks for the input Deltronlive.
My projects : The Hammer of Dawn, Noir : Automata, Noir : Evolution, Noir : Ascension, Hammer of Dawn Revamp
Many awesome projects : Custom Campaign Initiative
Something for the community : A Small Letter of Thanks, SC2mapster Classic Skin - Alevice
@EDHRIANO: Go
If that's the case then my strategy doesn't really work with the difficulty. I killed the Hives before pushing into the bases so there was no way they could rebuild.
Edit
Earlier into the video I said I had a strategy I wanted to try but that wasn't the factory lifting that I ended up doing.
The planned strategy was actually using 4-6 reapers to lure a bunch of zerg in range of 6 or more Widow Mines. I realize that Vultures are also a viable option for this strategy so I might end up doing that instead once that factory thing is fixed
Many of your gameplay settings might have gotten reset when you tested the map. It's a common that people will have to re-toggle Enable Enemy Unit Selection and untoggle Enable Simple Command Card in their gameplay options. This has been a problem since the start and doesn't seem like it can be fixed. The weird thing is sometimes it resets, some times it doesn't. It's really annoying like that.
Also, this mission is part of a campaign whose primary draw is challenging micro-intensive missions with boss fights. This mission is literally the only one with a macro section that's currently released. All the others were micro missions. That being said, the use of hotkeys is kinda necessary for all of them.
Your suggestions for making it easier aren't unfounded, though. Casual difficulty should be easier. Having the boss be just as micro intensive on easy as it is on hard makes the difficulty selection kinda pointless.
@Trieva: Go
Glad you find it enjoyable Trieva. I tried to make them as balance ,as simple and as fun as possible.
Well actually you can use the quick safe [CTRL+Q] just like JayborinoPlays and DeltronLive mention in their post.
You can quick safe before and after you defeat a hybrid, that way you won't have to start everything from the beginning.
But I do understand sometimes people forget to save, soo yeah maybe I'll add a pop up message to remind the player to safe their game when they reach certain point in the game.
Ahh custom skill bar? sorry I am not in that level of scripting yet, but perhaps in the future.
For now you can try to hot key the units to CTRL+1 etc that way you don't have to constantly click on them.
Really? Well I'd recommend to take the time and read the tips , that way you'd know that the health pack heals all biological units. Including the boss, sooo you will have to decide is it worth to pick it up.
Thank you for the feedback Trieva.
My projects : The Hammer of Dawn, Noir : Automata, Noir : Evolution, Noir : Ascension, Hammer of Dawn Revamp
Many awesome projects : Custom Campaign Initiative
Something for the community : A Small Letter of Thanks, SC2mapster Classic Skin - Alevice