Because of some issues with how the story plays out in the novel I was on the verge of changing the gameplay again to accomodate the story. In the end I decided not to do it because, quite honestly, I have become exhausted of all these reiterations, and never being really happy with the outcome. So now I decided to stop all gameplay changes (except for more balancing and bug fixing). The map layout basically looks the same as in the previous shot.
Talking about iterations I'd like to show you some pictures of the Alien Artifact/Xel'Naga Temple, and how it changed with almost every map it appears.
Screen 1 is from map 1 (with some updated texture work to ad more contrast). Here it's basically just a hole in the ground. I added Rich Mineral Fields to indicate that they appeared when all these Xel'Naga Temples appeared, as Blizzard never really explained them lore-wise.
Screen 2 is from map 2. The hole is a little bit bigger now as some sort of boss fight is supposed to happen there. You can also see the old textures (more red than black).
Screen 3 shows a very different Temple and area. I wanted to create something that was closer the the description in the book. I also knew I would need more space for the 7th map.
Screen 4 shows the current design of the Temple. I replaced the Rich Minerals with Huge Crystals that look more like the Khaydarin Crystals as described in the book. For gameplay reasons I also had to furher increase space and add more entrances. The red buildings are placeholders.
Naturally I'll go back to the previous maps and add the newst iteration, although it will probably receive some additional texture work for those maps as it's not supposed to be a war zone before map 7.
Of course the terrain isn't finished and I'm always looking for feedback.
Just a minor update: The temple now Looks as in the image below. I'm currently working on the final cinematic and I'm about 1/3 done with it (longest and most complicated of all). Afterwards I'll work on the credits and terrain for the gameplay areas (it has to be this way around because the cinematics need a lot of space and I'm still moving around terrain because of it). Map should be finished within 10 days.
When Blizzard announces the release date of LotV (and hopefully more details about the Editor) I'll be able to say more about the release timeframe of this campaign (Damn, it's been 5,5 years already since its start).
Currentyly at work with not much to do, so time it's to spam the forum :D
Final cinematic almost completed. Only some minor tweaks to camera and unit movement left. Also music in all 3 cinematics for this chapter need to be looked at. Also started on terrain and finished around 40% (About 1/3 of the terrain is reserved for cinematics). I guess the map will be finished (beta) sometime during the following weekend.
In light of the recent announcement of the LotV release date (November 10) I can say that I'll work on optimizing all chapters until then. When LotV is released give me a week or so to play through it, and then another 1-3 weeks to apply more improvements based on the LotV map-editor/battle.net improvements for SC2.
I'll contact anyone who told me they want to test; still undecided about how testing is going to be though. Some options:
You friend me on battle.net. I watch you play with a friend (preferred method)
You friend me on battle.net. I watch you play solo
You friend me on battle.net. We play together
I give you the map. You upload it yourself (private!) and play with a friend. You send me the replay or invite me to watch
I give you the map. You start the map via editor (adjust difficulty via a trigger I'll tell you about. Campaign won't have a campaign loader). You send me the replay
I publish all maps publicly on battle.net and whoever wants can write feedback on the maps arcade info or send me a replay (least preferred as publich exposure will feel like the actual release and barely anyone will give useful feedback)
You can now find ingame screenshots and a video of chapter 7 on the project page. Will run some more tests on the map later but officially it's finished.
I took a look at your teaser for chapter 6. It looked fantastic.
Loved the mechanics you added with units being promoted. The terrain were superb and that Battery fight. Wow!
Really looking forward to this.
One suggestion for your project page though. There is a lot of images and they all look good but it becomes a bit overwhelming and takes a long time to scroll down. How about having the very best screenshot image + the teaser video for each of the maps and perhaps give us a link to a gallery for the others?
Ideally they should have been under a hide/expand button but I dont think sc2mapster support those.
I really liked that you gave a description for each mission though. Seems very varied. :)
Thanks for the feedback. I've reduced the number of screenshots from 70 to 42 (6 per map). Still a lot of scrolling to do. Will probably reduce it to 4 per map and rearrange some of the "features" that every map has.
19.9 - 16.10: Finished single-player beta fixing for maps 1-6
17.10 - 25.10: Single-player beta fixing for map 7
26.10 - 8.11: Multi-player beta fixing for all maps
9.11 - 15.11: Break from mapping, play through LotV
16.11 - 22.11: Additional bug fixing and optimizations based on LotV
23.11 - ??: Beta test of some sort (atm. leaning towards open beta test) and testing/fixing release candidates
??: release
Initially I was against an open beta but the more I think about it the more sense it makes: I want to create the best possible experience right from the get-go, without the need for additional patching. This can only be provided by exposing the campaign early to as many people as possible. In the end it would be no different from holding closed tests, then releasing it, and then getting feedback and having to patch it after a few weeks.
This is kind of spam but... I just played through the sixth map and I just whispered to myself "man, this is so cool. " :D I'm getting a very good feeling about the entire campaign. Just a couple more things to do...
Please keep in mind that the version you can get there is relatively outdated. If you write me a PM I can send you the newest version and you might also play all following maps if you provide feedback. If you don't want to give feedback I'd advise you to just wait a few more weeks. The campaign should be free to play on the arcade in around 2-4 weeks.
Just played the first mission with my brother. It was awesome!! Herding cows and mowing over karaks was a lot of fun! The build-up to the ending cinematic scene was well-done and your terraining skills are bad ass!! I will be sure to leave a review on the Arcade!!
The only bug I found was that our vehicles spawned at a different entrance once you killed the Karak(sp?) boss. Anyways, my brother had no idea what he was getting himself into and he was like...this is fan-made? The quality is spectacular and we look forward to playing the rest.
You should post on Starcraft Reddit occasionally letting people know about this campaign. I think people are hungering for this type of campaign.
Lol just saw the post that you no longer use this thread. Sorry.
We went back the way we came in so we were like wait a minute didnt we leave our vehicles at the place we started...didn't realize we could go out the back.
It took us about 40 minutes and we lost a cow in the beginning trying out all our abilities and goofing around. So glad you have hero revive so we don't have to restart. We got swarmed by the karaks when we were sealing the caves. Pretty embarrassing death.
Also the automoton with the turrets was such a cool game design!! I love that part of the mission.
People often post on reddit and the Sc2 forums about wanting more coops and campaigns...so I always try to jump on their thread and showcase Mapster and recommend campaigns. I'll keep at it, but the more advertising our stuff the better!!
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Because of some issues with how the story plays out in the novel I was on the verge of changing the gameplay again to accomodate the story. In the end I decided not to do it because, quite honestly, I have become exhausted of all these reiterations, and never being really happy with the outcome. So now I decided to stop all gameplay changes (except for more balancing and bug fixing). The map layout basically looks the same as in the previous shot.
Talking about iterations I'd like to show you some pictures of the Alien Artifact/Xel'Naga Temple, and how it changed with almost every map it appears.
Screen 1 is from map 1 (with some updated texture work to ad more contrast). Here it's basically just a hole in the ground. I added Rich Mineral Fields to indicate that they appeared when all these Xel'Naga Temples appeared, as Blizzard never really explained them lore-wise.
Screen 2 is from map 2. The hole is a little bit bigger now as some sort of boss fight is supposed to happen there. You can also see the old textures (more red than black).
Screen 3 shows a very different Temple and area. I wanted to create something that was closer the the description in the book. I also knew I would need more space for the 7th map.
Screen 4 shows the current design of the Temple. I replaced the Rich Minerals with Huge Crystals that look more like the Khaydarin Crystals as described in the book. For gameplay reasons I also had to furher increase space and add more entrances. The red buildings are placeholders.
Naturally I'll go back to the previous maps and add the newst iteration, although it will probably receive some additional texture work for those maps as it's not supposed to be a war zone before map 7.
Of course the terrain isn't finished and I'm always looking for feedback.
Just a minor update: The temple now Looks as in the image below. I'm currently working on the final cinematic and I'm about 1/3 done with it (longest and most complicated of all). Afterwards I'll work on the credits and terrain for the gameplay areas (it has to be this way around because the cinematics need a lot of space and I'm still moving around terrain because of it). Map should be finished within 10 days.
When Blizzard announces the release date of LotV (and hopefully more details about the Editor) I'll be able to say more about the release timeframe of this campaign (Damn, it's been 5,5 years already since its start).
Currentyly at work with not much to do, so time it's to spam the forum :D
Final cinematic almost completed. Only some minor tweaks to camera and unit movement left. Also music in all 3 cinematics for this chapter need to be looked at. Also started on terrain and finished around 40% (About 1/3 of the terrain is reserved for cinematics). I guess the map will be finished (beta) sometime during the following weekend.
In light of the recent announcement of the LotV release date (November 10) I can say that I'll work on optimizing all chapters until then. When LotV is released give me a week or so to play through it, and then another 1-3 weeks to apply more improvements based on the LotV map-editor/battle.net improvements for SC2.
I'll contact anyone who told me they want to test; still undecided about how testing is going to be though. Some options:
Release of the campaign should be December 2015.
Finally created a project page: http://www.sc2mapster.com/maps/sotx/
You can now find ingame screenshots and a video of chapter 7 on the project page. Will run some more tests on the map later but officially it's finished.
You can also find everything on my portfolio website: http://www.outsiderxe.campaigncreations.org/sotx07.php
I'll take another break form mapping for a few weeks before I start fixing all old maps.
I took a look at your teaser for chapter 6. It looked fantastic.
Loved the mechanics you added with units being promoted. The terrain were superb and that Battery fight. Wow!
Really looking forward to this.
One suggestion for your project page though. There is a lot of images and they all look good but it becomes a bit overwhelming and takes a long time to scroll down. How about having the very best screenshot image + the teaser video for each of the maps and perhaps give us a link to a gallery for the others?
Ideally they should have been under a hide/expand button but I dont think sc2mapster support those.
I really liked that you gave a description for each mission though. Seems very varied. :)
Thanks for the feedback. I've reduced the number of screenshots from 70 to 42 (6 per map). Still a lot of scrolling to do. Will probably reduce it to 4 per map and rearrange some of the "features" that every map has.
Timetable:
Initially I was against an open beta but the more I think about it the more sense it makes: I want to create the best possible experience right from the get-go, without the need for additional patching. This can only be provided by exposing the campaign early to as many people as possible. In the end it would be no different from holding closed tests, then releasing it, and then getting feedback and having to patch it after a few weeks.
New videos:
Chapter 5:
Chapter 7:
This is kind of spam but... I just played through the sixth map and I just whispered to myself "man, this is so cool. " :D I'm getting a very good feeling about the entire campaign. Just a couple more things to do...
@OutsiderXE: Go
where I could I play this exactly ?!
Hello. There is a link where you can DL chapter 1 here: http://www.sc2mapster.com/forums/player-zone/map-feedback/84682-co-op-campaign-shadow-of-the-xel-naga/#p3
Please keep in mind that the version you can get there is relatively outdated. If you write me a PM I can send you the newest version and you might also play all following maps if you provide feedback. If you don't want to give feedback I'd advise you to just wait a few more weeks. The campaign should be free to play on the arcade in around 2-4 weeks.
To everyone, I'll no longer update this thread and all discussions should be moved to the thread in the feedback section: http://www.sc2mapster.com/forums/player-zone/map-feedback/84682-co-op-campaign-shadow-of-the-xel-naga/
Just played the first mission with my brother. It was awesome!! Herding cows and mowing over karaks was a lot of fun! The build-up to the ending cinematic scene was well-done and your terraining skills are bad ass!! I will be sure to leave a review on the Arcade!!
The only bug I found was that our vehicles spawned at a different entrance once you killed the Karak(sp?) boss. Anyways, my brother had no idea what he was getting himself into and he was like...this is fan-made? The quality is spectacular and we look forward to playing the rest.
You should post on Starcraft Reddit occasionally letting people know about this campaign. I think people are hungering for this type of campaign.
Thank you. i wrote a post once but only 4 comments or so. i'll leave another one in the future. thanks for the advice!
the vehicles moving isnt a bug, its a feature so you dont have to walk too far.
Lol just saw the post that you no longer use this thread. Sorry.
We went back the way we came in so we were like wait a minute didnt we leave our vehicles at the place we started...didn't realize we could go out the back.
It took us about 40 minutes and we lost a cow in the beginning trying out all our abilities and goofing around. So glad you have hero revive so we don't have to restart. We got swarmed by the karaks when we were sealing the caves. Pretty embarrassing death.
Also the automoton with the turrets was such a cool game design!! I love that part of the mission.
People often post on reddit and the Sc2 forums about wanting more coops and campaigns...so I always try to jump on their thread and showcase Mapster and recommend campaigns. I'll keep at it, but the more advertising our stuff the better!!