okay, ready for a wall of text? Its not easy explaining this thing... I hope I do it justice. But hell, could suck to everyone else. I wasnt trying to hype it up at all. Btw, ill post it in portions. Ill start with the player roles..
Okay the basics of the map go like this...
Two player teams(both Terran) and one AI (Zerg). Each player has a castle like base, one on the bottom left, one on the bottom right. I envisioned this as a medieval map so a lot of the comparisons and terms resemble that but can be changed of course.
The team on the left, we will call team 1, can collect minerals; while team 2 can collect gas. The object is to either destroy the other team or capture a point deep within the zerg's base to the north. This is a game of war or diplomacy. Neither team will have flying units or the ability to see what the other team is doing. Players are also limited in what they are able to do, which is determined by their role on the team. The mechanics here could be tricky.
ROLES
Here are the list of roles and a brief description of their duties. Each player, except the commander, has a command center and (minerals or gas) to collect. More on resources in the resouce section.
Seargent – This player will have full control over the Barracks within the base. This means he is the only player capable of producing bio units. Infantry, archers, calvary... etc. His control over these units means combat is his thing.
Tech Engineer – This player will have full control over the factories within the base. This, like the Seargent, is a combat role. He will be able to produce seige weapons and battle machines. (ex. Battering ram, catapult, rolling towers, etc.)
Commander - Can convert the teams main resource into the scarse resource at a rate of 2 for 1. The commander has no resouce income except for what the other members of the team donate to him. This could be looked as a tax. Because the players need the scarse resource to build their units. (For example, the engineer tech on team 1 cannot build a 'catapult' unit without gas, but since he cannot collect gas he has to rely on the commander to convert his minerals into gas. ) The commander pools everyones minerals and gas and distributes according to what he feels is neccessary for the team.
Diplomat – The mechanics here are interesting. I intended on ALL TALK being disabled. So that neither team could speak to the other. Except for the two diplomats. So the team 1 diplomat could talk only to the team 2 diplomat and vice versa. (This creates and interesting decision for the diplomat, you could convince the other team that you are not building an army to take on the other team and instead are racing for the zerg control point, but secretly massing an army within your walls to take them out.) Also the diplomat can discuss and organize trade with the other team. The description of trade will follow below.
Spy – This role is very unique. The spy is the only player that controls a single unit. From the beginning this player is in a third person view, which limits his scope of vision drastically. His job is to sneak into the other teams base and see whats going on. The spy can choose different disguises and can cloak for a short duration. Each 'castle' has a population of unit that arent player controled and it is smart for the spy to disguise himself as one of these and conceal his identity. The opposing team can pay expensive resources to use an inspect ability on any 'neautral' unit in order to find the spy. If found the spy will die and respawn back at his teams castle.
Royal Guard - This player is the defensive person. The role is to beef up the defenses of the castle buy building defensive structures around the walls. These should be few and far between and expensive, also weak to seige weapons and strong versus bio. The guard also controls the gates around the castle (open/close). He has control of the engineering bay and armory for upgrading armor and weapons of the units. The expense of all these things requires alot of help from the commander.
So far youve heard of the roles that the players would be able to play. Alot of mechanics are mentioned but not explained so if you have a question just ask.
Before I continue Id like to add that roles can be changed/swapped. Also, consider having the commander position chosen via vote. idk, the commander has alot of power. lol
RESOURCES and its mechanics
Costs here are examples only.
Team 1 can collect minerals. But the seargent can only make an infantry unit if he has 50 minerals and 50 gas. So he must donate his collected minerals to the commander for conversion. So really if we go with the 2:1 ratio, 100 minerals sent should be 50 gas returned. But if the commander feels the Guard needs to add a tower then he may decide to give the gas to him instead.
Adding a tech lab or reactor to barracks and factories also is an expensive investment, costing gas. The upgrades in the tech labs are controled by the seargent/engineer, not the guard like the bay/armory.
Trading
The idea I have for trading is kind of sinister. The trade is down on the open field in between the two 'castles'. There is a middle zone which is as far as the diplomat can move his unit. The resource, wether it be minerals or gas, is in the form of a caravan unit. Once in the middle, the diplomat unit can use an ability to make this unit his. Returning the newly controlled caravan to the stable in his own base gives the resource to the commander. The fun here is, killing an enemy teams caravan also rewards the resource. So... you could essentially double cross the team. call for a trade and just show up with infantry and archers. mwuaha ha. Again, only the diplomats can talk to one another. Also consider making special units for each side, like a fire archer for one and not other. Or a grenader for one not the other, so that the teams can trade specialty units.
Like I mentioned before, the opposing team wont be able to see what you have going on, except for a spy. But the castle is pretty big for a third person view player to catch all the details. To each teams northern from is a passageway into zerg territory. This path is closed off from outside the castle, so basically here, you can attack zerg north of you, but the opposing team wont be able to see this unless they go through you whole castle to the top of it, or battle through all the zerg to meet you on the other side.
The zerg enemy will have spine crawlers and spore colonys(repurposed as splash damage towers) that the team will need seige weapons for; and zerglings, roaches, and hydras that you will need bio for. So fightning north isnt easy. But the hidden resource caches are well worth the find.
Your castles defenses are neccessary, but cannot hold off a well prepared army. So dont imagine defense towers being all that strong. Imagine them as slow and fall back help. Having an army posted out front of the castle would be a good idea if you know you are about to defend and attack.
Upgrading at the bay/armory shouldnt be limited to 3 tiers, but instead maybe 5 or more. consider putting upgrades in for individual units rather than all bio, or all mech. (like for infantry; bronze sword to iron to steel to diamond (minecraft anyone? ^_^) and archers; stone arrows, bronze arrow, ... you get the idea)
Ill probably get to posting more stuff this weekend, but until then, has anyone actually read through my description? Even though it doesnt look nice, it has some good details to it.
The base concept sounds passable, with a few changes perhaps. I'll just throw out some ideas;
Relying on other people really sucks. I'd get rid of the commander and diplomat entirely, as they look boring to play and irritate the game experience.
Centurion
Creates melee infantry. Controls a powerful melee hero with strong melee range spells and auras that buff melee units. Infantry gain a bonus vs cavalry.
Bowmaster
Creates ranged non-siege units such as archers and crossbowmen. Controls a powerful ranged hero with a high damage, mid range attack but poorly armoured. Archers gain a bonus against infantry.
Cavaleer
Creates fast moving, mounted soldiers. Controls a fast hero with a strong melee attack, but weak defence. Has auras that buff cavalry and speed. Cavalry gain a bonus against archers.
Magistrix
Creates supporting units such as priests and sorcerers, which heal, buff and debuff units. Has no hero, but instead has a mage tower which grants new spells to units as it levels up. The mage tower has it's own selection of spells that can be cast anywhere on the map, but typically not dealing enough damage to kill anything alone.
Siegesmith
Creates mechanical siege units. Has a weak, ranged hero that can repair units and auras that buff siege units. Siege units can't attack close units.
Spymaster
Cannot build units, instead controls a unique unit. Has the ability to modelswap into anything it targets, assuming the target's model and team colour. When assuming an enemy unit, the spy becomes neutral with his real team, preventing other players from seeing what the spy sees. He also becomes neutral with the enemy team. Attacking any unit will revert the spy to his real form and team. This attack will kill anything that isn't a hero and put his modelswap ability on cooldown. Due to the long, expensive build time of siege machines, the spy is adept at dealing with them.
The spy may also sabotage buildings. Sabotaged structures operate at half speed (0.5 timescale). He may also plant a bomb on a mechanical unit. Bombs are only visible to spies and siegesmiths, and only those classes may disarm them. Bombs deal massive damage when detonated (when the unit is attacked), enough to 1-shot siege units and heavily damage structures. He may also steal resources if he gets far enough into the enemy castle, granting the resources to his team if he makes it back to base.
After Pshyched's response I just posted the idea below. ^_^
People really would want to just see the idea, you dont post up a good map idea for free title and theres no idea there..
@Pshyched: Go
+1
okay, ready for a wall of text? Its not easy explaining this thing... I hope I do it justice. But hell, could suck to everyone else. I wasnt trying to hype it up at all. Btw, ill post it in portions. Ill start with the player roles..
Okay the basics of the map go like this... Two player teams(both Terran) and one AI (Zerg). Each player has a castle like base, one on the bottom left, one on the bottom right. I envisioned this as a medieval map so a lot of the comparisons and terms resemble that but can be changed of course. The team on the left, we will call team 1, can collect minerals; while team 2 can collect gas. The object is to either destroy the other team or capture a point deep within the zerg's base to the north. This is a game of war or diplomacy. Neither team will have flying units or the ability to see what the other team is doing. Players are also limited in what they are able to do, which is determined by their role on the team. The mechanics here could be tricky.
ROLES
Here are the list of roles and a brief description of their duties. Each player, except the commander, has a command center and (minerals or gas) to collect. More on resources in the resouce section.
Seargent – This player will have full control over the Barracks within the base. This means he is the only player capable of producing bio units. Infantry, archers, calvary... etc. His control over these units means combat is his thing.
Tech Engineer – This player will have full control over the factories within the base. This, like the Seargent, is a combat role. He will be able to produce seige weapons and battle machines. (ex. Battering ram, catapult, rolling towers, etc.)
Commander - Can convert the teams main resource into the scarse resource at a rate of 2 for 1. The commander has no resouce income except for what the other members of the team donate to him. This could be looked as a tax. Because the players need the scarse resource to build their units. (For example, the engineer tech on team 1 cannot build a 'catapult' unit without gas, but since he cannot collect gas he has to rely on the commander to convert his minerals into gas. ) The commander pools everyones minerals and gas and distributes according to what he feels is neccessary for the team.
Diplomat – The mechanics here are interesting. I intended on ALL TALK being disabled. So that neither team could speak to the other. Except for the two diplomats. So the team 1 diplomat could talk only to the team 2 diplomat and vice versa. (This creates and interesting decision for the diplomat, you could convince the other team that you are not building an army to take on the other team and instead are racing for the zerg control point, but secretly massing an army within your walls to take them out.) Also the diplomat can discuss and organize trade with the other team. The description of trade will follow below.
Spy – This role is very unique. The spy is the only player that controls a single unit. From the beginning this player is in a third person view, which limits his scope of vision drastically. His job is to sneak into the other teams base and see whats going on. The spy can choose different disguises and can cloak for a short duration. Each 'castle' has a population of unit that arent player controled and it is smart for the spy to disguise himself as one of these and conceal his identity. The opposing team can pay expensive resources to use an inspect ability on any 'neautral' unit in order to find the spy. If found the spy will die and respawn back at his teams castle.
Royal Guard - This player is the defensive person. The role is to beef up the defenses of the castle buy building defensive structures around the walls. These should be few and far between and expensive, also weak to seige weapons and strong versus bio. The guard also controls the gates around the castle (open/close). He has control of the engineering bay and armory for upgrading armor and weapons of the units. The expense of all these things requires alot of help from the commander.
So far youve heard of the roles that the players would be able to play. Alot of mechanics are mentioned but not explained so if you have a question just ask.
Before I continue Id like to add that roles can be changed/swapped. Also, consider having the commander position chosen via vote. idk, the commander has alot of power. lol
RESOURCES and its mechanics
Costs here are examples only. Team 1 can collect minerals. But the seargent can only make an infantry unit if he has 50 minerals and 50 gas. So he must donate his collected minerals to the commander for conversion. So really if we go with the 2:1 ratio, 100 minerals sent should be 50 gas returned. But if the commander feels the Guard needs to add a tower then he may decide to give the gas to him instead.
Adding a tech lab or reactor to barracks and factories also is an expensive investment, costing gas. The upgrades in the tech labs are controled by the seargent/engineer, not the guard like the bay/armory.
Trading
The idea I have for trading is kind of sinister. The trade is down on the open field in between the two 'castles'. There is a middle zone which is as far as the diplomat can move his unit. The resource, wether it be minerals or gas, is in the form of a caravan unit. Once in the middle, the diplomat unit can use an ability to make this unit his. Returning the newly controlled caravan to the stable in his own base gives the resource to the commander. The fun here is, killing an enemy teams caravan also rewards the resource. So... you could essentially double cross the team. call for a trade and just show up with infantry and archers. mwuaha ha. Again, only the diplomats can talk to one another. Also consider making special units for each side, like a fire archer for one and not other. Or a grenader for one not the other, so that the teams can trade specialty units.
next on the list is Combat and Defense. ^_-
Combat and Defense
Like I mentioned before, the opposing team wont be able to see what you have going on, except for a spy. But the castle is pretty big for a third person view player to catch all the details. To each teams northern from is a passageway into zerg territory. This path is closed off from outside the castle, so basically here, you can attack zerg north of you, but the opposing team wont be able to see this unless they go through you whole castle to the top of it, or battle through all the zerg to meet you on the other side.
The zerg enemy will have spine crawlers and spore colonys(repurposed as splash damage towers) that the team will need seige weapons for; and zerglings, roaches, and hydras that you will need bio for. So fightning north isnt easy. But the hidden resource caches are well worth the find.
Your castles defenses are neccessary, but cannot hold off a well prepared army. So dont imagine defense towers being all that strong. Imagine them as slow and fall back help. Having an army posted out front of the castle would be a good idea if you know you are about to defend and attack.
Upgrading at the bay/armory shouldnt be limited to 3 tiers, but instead maybe 5 or more. consider putting upgrades in for individual units rather than all bio, or all mech. (like for infantry; bronze sword to iron to steel to diamond (minecraft anyone? ^_^) and archers; stone arrows, bronze arrow, ... you get the idea)
So I have more but am tired of typing. Any feedback would be great, some questions too. Im hoping someone shares my enthusiasm on this idea.
Almost all mechanics are thought out very well in my head, I work 12 hour shift of mindless labor so I have sat on this idea for a while now. =p
I would prefer better presentation like using headers
Title
title 2
title 3
and pictures too perhaps. Even simple paint pictures could to the trick.
I find it awfully hard to read this kind of stuff it you dont make it easier to read (more interesting looking)
Sure, can do. ill jump on gimp later and scribble some concept art. Especially the map.
Ill probably get to posting more stuff this weekend, but until then, has anyone actually read through my description? Even though it doesnt look nice, it has some good details to it.
The base concept sounds passable, with a few changes perhaps. I'll just throw out some ideas;
Relying on other people really sucks. I'd get rid of the commander and diplomat entirely, as they look boring to play and irritate the game experience.
Centurion
Creates melee infantry. Controls a powerful melee hero with strong melee range spells and auras that buff melee units. Infantry gain a bonus vs cavalry.
Bowmaster
Creates ranged non-siege units such as archers and crossbowmen. Controls a powerful ranged hero with a high damage, mid range attack but poorly armoured. Archers gain a bonus against infantry.
Cavaleer
Creates fast moving, mounted soldiers. Controls a fast hero with a strong melee attack, but weak defence. Has auras that buff cavalry and speed. Cavalry gain a bonus against archers.
Magistrix
Creates supporting units such as priests and sorcerers, which heal, buff and debuff units. Has no hero, but instead has a mage tower which grants new spells to units as it levels up. The mage tower has it's own selection of spells that can be cast anywhere on the map, but typically not dealing enough damage to kill anything alone.
Siegesmith
Creates mechanical siege units. Has a weak, ranged hero that can repair units and auras that buff siege units. Siege units can't attack close units.
Spymaster
Cannot build units, instead controls a unique unit. Has the ability to modelswap into anything it targets, assuming the target's model and team colour. When assuming an enemy unit, the spy becomes neutral with his real team, preventing other players from seeing what the spy sees. He also becomes neutral with the enemy team. Attacking any unit will revert the spy to his real form and team. This attack will kill anything that isn't a hero and put his modelswap ability on cooldown. Due to the long, expensive build time of siege machines, the spy is adept at dealing with them.
The spy may also sabotage buildings. Sabotaged structures operate at half speed (0.5 timescale). He may also plant a bomb on a mechanical unit. Bombs are only visible to spies and siegesmiths, and only those classes may disarm them. Bombs deal massive damage when detonated (when the unit is attacked), enough to 1-shot siege units and heavily damage structures. He may also steal resources if he gets far enough into the enemy castle, granting the resources to his team if he makes it back to base.
Infantry > Cavalry > Archers > Infantry
Spy <-> Siegesmith