I'm going to try my best not to be an asshole, but here's what I think (It's bridled):
I also think that you guys (dogmai and dryeyce), should read this post, as it's unbiased and gives constructive criticism (Although I felt that the main con should be stated aggressively, so you do not do that again).
Criticism (Cons and how-to-fix):
This is also based on what I've read on the first 3 posts of this thread, and on this page.
The video was very confusing. The majority of what I saw involved psi storm, although I did see some spell that created a blue circle.
The song was also ill-picked - It adds to the chaos because of the high-and-random notes.
"Unique Game Modes"
Team Deathmatch
Team Survivial
Bounty Hunters
Capture the Flag
Bomberman
FFA Phantom
FFA Survival
Under the title, I think that only Bomberman (Not really sure what It does, but it at least sounds unique), and FFA Phantom fit that category, excluding any others you will release. All of the others have been featured by hundreds of games many times, and I'm not only talking about SC2.
I have nothing to say against or for the items and power-ups, since they have not been disclosed yet.
In my opinion, the Rock/Paper/Scissors mechanic has worked out well for few games, but this is not a flaw. If you can get this to work, then, obviously, it will complement the game.
Portals an GCD - Nothing new, and I see portals as a problem maker which would lead to frustration (I reccomend replacing them with ramps, because what happens if you're about to kill, and walk on a portal? No coming back for ten seconds, and even if you could, your enemy is gone or dead from another. The same goes for catching enemies, you are chasing them, they turn a corner.. And there are 2 portals.. Which do you pick? (This may not happen due to the level design, but the first still applies, and portals generally do not fit hero arenas).
Why is the quick-shield a game feature? It seems to be more like an escape ability (Unless it took so much work as to call it a feature?)
Heroes, (In my opinion) are oversized. I recommend lowering the scale by .2 - .4, dependent on the model.
In the pyro video, I saw that the ability researching was done through very small "Buttons" (Not sure, couldn't see). If you're in a fight, and you gain a level, you have to click on that small section (Assuming that's what upgrades the abilities), and misclicking could potentially lose the fight for you.
Create a custom dialog, and a custom message system. Not only will you be bringing in new features, SC2's system cuts off text very quickly.
Change the colors for floating text dependent of the damage type (In the videos you have numbers spamming, and I couldn't tell where the damage stemmed from).
I watched the other hero video, Morbius, and here's some feedback:
Fix the numbers under each requirement, if you don't know how to do that, you're free to pm me @5pm - 9pm est (The reason I assume you don't know how to do that is because many map-makers have that bug in their maps, so don't worry - you're not the first, nor the last).
"Water Globes", "Combo Points", "Swords", whatever you want to call them. They're (In my opinion) very overused. There are many unexplored fields with rogue-styled characters, and I recommend you find an alternative to combo points. I won't give out any ideas, because I'm using them in my map, but it only took me and my friend 2 hours of brainstorming to find a very good alternative.
The abilities don't fit to him. Where does water go in conjunction with Zeratul?
Dreyeyce, assuming you do have a degree in game design, why would you create water abilities and choose the Zeratul model?
In every game, character actions should fit the model and the theme of the game.
Zeratul is more suited to have stealth-based abilities, stemming around his blade and face-mask.
Pros:
The ui looks pretty damn good (Nothing unique though, but that's thanks to the hundreds of RPGs and Hero Arenas, both in WC3, SC-SC2, and independent games).
The icons look good too.
Main Cons:
The pre-release was a bad choice. Had the presentation been better (Bad music choice, bad video orientation, you guys being very cocky (This is not in my opinion, many people feel similarly)), then people would be kinder to you.
By creating all this fuss, you gave people an expectation (and a lot of speculation) about the map, and how good it's going to be.
This is obviously NOT the case, as stated in the Cons and by the other 50 posts that feel the same way on this thread.
There are also an EXTREME amount of poor game-design choices, and that is only from watching 3 2-minute videos and reading two posts.
To fix the main cons, you should:
1 - Fuck the release date, do what blizzard does. Don't announce any release date. People will criticize you for announcing the map (something NO game company or indie modders should do more then a month from release, but they still do), but people will criticize you MUCH MORE, if you release a game that doesn't live up to the advertising (Which you guys spent a LOT of time on, from convincing the mods to news your images periodically, to creating videos and this thread).
2 - Stop acting cocky. You may be thinking, I don't act cocky, what is this guy saying?
A few examples:
Notably, in the video, near to the end, it says "Impressed?", and, quite frankly, I wasn't.
The whole of post #113.
I am sure that there are several more posts of that sort on this thread, but I am not going to go through and look for them, for my time and your pride.
Act modest, and react kindly when people appreciate your map.
I still hope it comes out just so it can knock sotis down. This is more traditional dota compared to smashcraft so more people would be willing to pick it up. Is 40 items and 18 heroes that much? Look at LoL.
well 18 heroes , when its a 4v4 map . its ogna be hard to get good balancing strat going with your team mates no and as for 40 items . well i dunno how many people are willing to sit there and read over 40 stats on a item.
hell i have 10 items and 7 heroes in my map so far , and i find its alot . lol
Will it be better then SOTIS... Perhaps. I can't wait to see the heroes ;D. As for smashcraft... it's pretty neat but after a few games I quitted. I am interested in seeing the capture the flag aspect as well.
Always excited to see a new game on the map pool. I have been developing my map on and off for like a year on and off too. Hopefully time = quality.
Congratulations on being featured on the arcade. I have not attempted a multi player yet but I went through the tutorial. I am a little confused as to why the loading screen is as disturbing as it is, but that is my only comment for now lol.
Congrats, Least you fixed one of its 3 major problems (the arena). I know its going to drop down your rating though due to lack of substance and Room temp IQ Battle.net players but I hope it doesnt though.
After playing it a little bit, I can say that the UI is overall pretty nice, though the terrain could definitely be better. It feels very small and cluttered with lights, but without much detail of any kind. Also, it would be good if the arena had a different overall colour scheme than the UI. It makes the whole screen feel very cluttered and can be hard to tell what's what at a quick glance.
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I'm going to try my best not to be an asshole, but here's what I think (It's bridled):
I also think that you guys (dogmai and dryeyce), should read this post, as it's unbiased and gives constructive criticism (Although I felt that the main con should be stated aggressively, so you do not do that again).
Criticism (Cons and how-to-fix):
This is also based on what I've read on the first 3 posts of this thread, and on this page.
The video was very confusing. The majority of what I saw involved psi storm, although I did see some spell that created a blue circle.
The song was also ill-picked - It adds to the chaos because of the high-and-random notes.
"Unique Game Modes"
Team Deathmatch
Team Survivial
Bounty Hunters
Capture the Flag
Bomberman
FFA Phantom
FFA Survival
Under the title, I think that only Bomberman (Not really sure what It does, but it at least sounds unique), and FFA Phantom fit that category, excluding any others you will release. All of the others have been featured by hundreds of games many times, and I'm not only talking about SC2.
I have nothing to say against or for the items and power-ups, since they have not been disclosed yet.
In my opinion, the Rock/Paper/Scissors mechanic has worked out well for few games, but this is not a flaw. If you can get this to work, then, obviously, it will complement the game.
Portals an GCD - Nothing new, and I see portals as a problem maker which would lead to frustration (I reccomend replacing them with ramps, because what happens if you're about to kill, and walk on a portal? No coming back for ten seconds, and even if you could, your enemy is gone or dead from another. The same goes for catching enemies, you are chasing them, they turn a corner.. And there are 2 portals.. Which do you pick? (This may not happen due to the level design, but the first still applies, and portals generally do not fit hero arenas).
Why is the quick-shield a game feature? It seems to be more like an escape ability (Unless it took so much work as to call it a feature?)
Heroes, (In my opinion) are oversized. I recommend lowering the scale by .2 - .4, dependent on the model.
In the pyro video, I saw that the ability researching was done through very small "Buttons" (Not sure, couldn't see). If you're in a fight, and you gain a level, you have to click on that small section (Assuming that's what upgrades the abilities), and misclicking could potentially lose the fight for you.
Create a custom dialog, and a custom message system. Not only will you be bringing in new features, SC2's system cuts off text very quickly.
Change the colors for floating text dependent of the damage type (In the videos you have numbers spamming, and I couldn't tell where the damage stemmed from).
I watched the other hero video, Morbius, and here's some feedback:
Fix the numbers under each requirement, if you don't know how to do that, you're free to pm me @5pm - 9pm est (The reason I assume you don't know how to do that is because many map-makers have that bug in their maps, so don't worry - you're not the first, nor the last).
"Water Globes", "Combo Points", "Swords", whatever you want to call them. They're (In my opinion) very overused. There are many unexplored fields with rogue-styled characters, and I recommend you find an alternative to combo points. I won't give out any ideas, because I'm using them in my map, but it only took me and my friend 2 hours of brainstorming to find a very good alternative.
The abilities don't fit to him. Where does water go in conjunction with Zeratul?
Dreyeyce, assuming you do have a degree in game design, why would you create water abilities and choose the Zeratul model?
In every game, character actions should fit the model and the theme of the game.
Zeratul is more suited to have stealth-based abilities, stemming around his blade and face-mask.
Pros:
The ui looks pretty damn good (Nothing unique though, but that's thanks to the hundreds of RPGs and Hero Arenas, both in WC3, SC-SC2, and independent games).
The icons look good too.
Main Cons:
The pre-release was a bad choice. Had the presentation been better (Bad music choice, bad video orientation, you guys being very cocky (This is not in my opinion, many people feel similarly)), then people would be kinder to you.
By creating all this fuss, you gave people an expectation (and a lot of speculation) about the map, and how good it's going to be.
This is obviously NOT the case, as stated in the Cons and by the other 50 posts that feel the same way on this thread.
There are also an EXTREME amount of poor game-design choices, and that is only from watching 3 2-minute videos and reading two posts.
To fix the main cons, you should:
1 - Fuck the release date, do what blizzard does. Don't announce any release date. People will criticize you for announcing the map (something NO game company or indie modders should do more then a month from release, but they still do), but people will criticize you MUCH MORE, if you release a game that doesn't live up to the advertising (Which you guys spent a LOT of time on, from convincing the mods to news your images periodically, to creating videos and this thread).
2 - Stop acting cocky. You may be thinking, I don't act cocky, what is this guy saying?
A few examples:
Notably, in the video, near to the end, it says "Impressed?", and, quite frankly, I wasn't.
The whole of post #113.
I am sure that there are several more posts of that sort on this thread, but I am not going to go through and look for them, for my time and your pride.
Act modest, and react kindly when people appreciate your map.
That's pretty much it.
Edit: Morbius has a blink bug
well 18 heroes , when its a 4v4 map . its ogna be hard to get good balancing strat going with your team mates no and as for 40 items . well i dunno how many people are willing to sit there and read over 40 stats on a item.
hell i have 10 items and 7 heroes in my map so far , and i find its alot . lol
any updates on this? is it dead?
@saltygrapes: Go
No, I think they're continuing to work on it, just without so much publicity.
Will it be better then SOTIS... Perhaps. I can't wait to see the heroes ;D. As for smashcraft... it's pretty neat but after a few games I quitted. I am interested in seeing the capture the flag aspect as well.
Always excited to see a new game on the map pool. I have been developing my map on and off for like a year on and off too. Hopefully time = quality.
Congratulations on being featured on the arcade. I have not attempted a multi player yet but I went through the tutorial. I am a little confused as to why the loading screen is as disturbing as it is, but that is my only comment for now lol.
Congrats, Least you fixed one of its 3 major problems (the arena). I know its going to drop down your rating though due to lack of substance and Room temp IQ Battle.net players but I hope it doesnt though.
After playing it a little bit, I can say that the UI is overall pretty nice, though the terrain could definitely be better. It feels very small and cluttered with lights, but without much detail of any kind. Also, it would be good if the arena had a different overall colour scheme than the UI. It makes the whole screen feel very cluttered and can be hard to tell what's what at a quick glance.