I also didn't know, I just saw it on the link you posted haha.
Although I have not seen the single lane in action yet, I have many thoughts about it. I'm sure you may have though of many of these already, but just to throw things out for consideration and in case someone has not considered them yet. Of course, this will be given with my amount of knowledge on HLW War3, but I think almost all of it probably applies here as well.
Good things about the single lane:
Great for 1v1, almost undoubtedly. This will remove all luck factors as of which side the creep comes on, such as when I kill a hydra (not sure of equivalent of that yet), and the next hydra comes on the same side, so I can kill it faster too, and get income when my opponent does not. This is just 100% luck. Also the same principal applied in late game, mostly with avatar or doom. One time I wanted to send a couple avatars spaced out and on each side so he would need to avoid them at all costs, but instead I ended up sending all of my money on 8 avatars which spawned on the same side. Extremely bad luck for me. Of course, I did not adapt to this well and I should have changed my strategy after all the avatars were coming on same side, but still, the side which it comes on is just luck -induced. Also, will speed up game in the beginning, and allow the hero to fight all the way to the left side to try to help income more. This is good.
For team games, it requires MUCH more teamwork for big teams to work together especially in like a 4v4 or 5v5, to make sure not everyone is using their most powerful spell at same time as a waste, and not kill stealing too much, etc. Also they can all move forward to the left side as usual and still all gain EXP and not worry about well my partner died so i have to run all the way back to the end of the line. I think it will require more team work which is a good thing.
Bad things about the single lane:
May be more difficult to avoid some creeps that you need to (not sure the impact of a killer-creep style monster in this game, but I imagine there is some you would rather let through). If an avatar would just walk straight down the middle of the map in HLW RoC, then you would be pretty screwed because you would have to run behind the circle in order to dodge it, with probably many creeps on you as well. Being able to run from lane to lane made it better to avoid small groups of killer creeps with a hero that isn't meant to engage them in a fight (any spell hero without an attack skill pretty much).
I think this will hurt the pub-style massing games in 4v4. They won't be able to establish any kind of team work and they will be forced to work together, probably wasting spells right after the other's spells, killstealing, etc. While I don't care too much about this style (fun for a bit but not challenging and lasts too long usually), it is why HLW RoC became popular for the casual player, with hardstyle games being for only the hardcore players who would love to challenge themselves a lot.
--
Finally, I am pretty torn on this right now. It would be great to remove luck factor in hardstyle games, but also it would be asking a lot for players to try to avoid the killer creeps (also am a bit worried about this due to lack of vision of even your own side - perhaps some sort of scouts could be bought if you wanted to keep using the fog of war, and you have to pay for protoss observers to scan the rest of the map - or something neat like this). If there is some items or methods of dodging that wasn't made apparent to me, then I'd be all for it, but again I think that the mass-style games would suffer a bit.
Not sure if it is possible, but perhaps this could be made into a game option at some point in the process.
And of course, I understand that I am talking about this map as if it were HLW RoC, and it of course is NOT HLW RoC. Perhaps if you have made killer creeps in a fashion that they are more killable, or less deadly, or have already implemented a way to avoid them even in a single lane, or maybe not have a creep like that at all, that portion of thoughts may be completely irrelevant. This is a new game and not everything from HLW RoC will be applicable here, but I think many thought processes will probably stay similar.
First off, US is currently at v.04 so hopefully we can get an update soon ! :D
I think that the lack of a help system was hurting a lot. I messed around with it a bit with just a computer to see what it was like, but couldn't find a game at the time. Looking forward to this release and hopefully can find people to play with now that there is a help system in place too :D. Also, I have not been playing much because I have been trying to help the HLW community grow a bit on War3 again. Anyone who would like to play with us come to Clan Girl @ useast, we have the best remaining players (AvengingAeris/Eliza, Baku/XChiChi, SkillzofGod, Carolena). I almost always have my bot in there or am on War 3 so if you drop by i'll see your message eventually when I read the chat log.
Ghostman you download it over SC2, as with the usual way to DL sc2 maps. Also Ghostman check your PM.
As for Kueken, again the heros seem awesome but I just haven't played with anyone yet. The only things I'd say is it is weird how the shops are on the top and there's only one lane, kind of makes it seem like it should not be HLW, but I probably just need to get used to it more. Also the terrain looks nice but there's a little too much clutter right now IMO. Could cut down on some of all that crap that's all over the ground, makes it a bit hard to see. I LOVE the Diablo-styled hotkey belt, such an amazing feature. I hated to have to always click potion on War3 rather than have a hotkey ~!!!
For the people asking about Kueken's spells, I would not worry about this at all if I were you. Kueken has been working on HLW for years and years and the farther he went on the more and more imaginative he got with his spells. Of course, each hero would have some sort of AoE spell as expected, but there would be some unique stuff too. This really became apparent in his later versions of HLW RoC, just an amazing job. Even when he already had like 36 heros, he was still making new heros that were completely unique and different from the rest. Have faith in everything that Kueken does. :)
Hopefully will find people to play with soon. Anyone on US server feel free to add me to play some games of this sometime. CrazyCarl with character code 661.
Man - feels weird being so excited and interested in a map I have not even played with another person yet haha =D
Obviously one should strive for balance over just forcing people to play the same heros on both sides, but it is so hard to have it perfectly balanced when you start getting so many different heros with so many different types of spells, it's pretty impossible I think. For competitive matches, -st would be preferred, although this probably won't be needed on the game's initial release.
For example on balance, even games like Diablo and WoW struggle. I haven't played WoW or fought in the arenas there, but from what I hear, it's pretty much just a few different types of heros that are effective.
Thought I'd check in. AvengingAeris here.
Hit me up if you see this ghostman.
Still working on this, Kueken?
@Kueken531: Go
I also didn't know, I just saw it on the link you posted haha.
Although I have not seen the single lane in action yet, I have many thoughts about it. I'm sure you may have though of many of these already, but just to throw things out for consideration and in case someone has not considered them yet. Of course, this will be given with my amount of knowledge on HLW War3, but I think almost all of it probably applies here as well.
Good things about the single lane:
Great for 1v1, almost undoubtedly. This will remove all luck factors as of which side the creep comes on, such as when I kill a hydra (not sure of equivalent of that yet), and the next hydra comes on the same side, so I can kill it faster too, and get income when my opponent does not. This is just 100% luck. Also the same principal applied in late game, mostly with avatar or doom. One time I wanted to send a couple avatars spaced out and on each side so he would need to avoid them at all costs, but instead I ended up sending all of my money on 8 avatars which spawned on the same side. Extremely bad luck for me. Of course, I did not adapt to this well and I should have changed my strategy after all the avatars were coming on same side, but still, the side which it comes on is just luck -induced. Also, will speed up game in the beginning, and allow the hero to fight all the way to the left side to try to help income more. This is good.
For team games, it requires MUCH more teamwork for big teams to work together especially in like a 4v4 or 5v5, to make sure not everyone is using their most powerful spell at same time as a waste, and not kill stealing too much, etc. Also they can all move forward to the left side as usual and still all gain EXP and not worry about well my partner died so i have to run all the way back to the end of the line. I think it will require more team work which is a good thing.
Bad things about the single lane:
May be more difficult to avoid some creeps that you need to (not sure the impact of a killer-creep style monster in this game, but I imagine there is some you would rather let through). If an avatar would just walk straight down the middle of the map in HLW RoC, then you would be pretty screwed because you would have to run behind the circle in order to dodge it, with probably many creeps on you as well. Being able to run from lane to lane made it better to avoid small groups of killer creeps with a hero that isn't meant to engage them in a fight (any spell hero without an attack skill pretty much).
I think this will hurt the pub-style massing games in 4v4. They won't be able to establish any kind of team work and they will be forced to work together, probably wasting spells right after the other's spells, killstealing, etc. While I don't care too much about this style (fun for a bit but not challenging and lasts too long usually), it is why HLW RoC became popular for the casual player, with hardstyle games being for only the hardcore players who would love to challenge themselves a lot.
--
Finally, I am pretty torn on this right now. It would be great to remove luck factor in hardstyle games, but also it would be asking a lot for players to try to avoid the killer creeps (also am a bit worried about this due to lack of vision of even your own side - perhaps some sort of scouts could be bought if you wanted to keep using the fog of war, and you have to pay for protoss observers to scan the rest of the map - or something neat like this). If there is some items or methods of dodging that wasn't made apparent to me, then I'd be all for it, but again I think that the mass-style games would suffer a bit.
Not sure if it is possible, but perhaps this could be made into a game option at some point in the process.
And of course, I understand that I am talking about this map as if it were HLW RoC, and it of course is NOT HLW RoC. Perhaps if you have made killer creeps in a fashion that they are more killable, or less deadly, or have already implemented a way to avoid them even in a single lane, or maybe not have a creep like that at all, that portion of thoughts may be completely irrelevant. This is a new game and not everything from HLW RoC will be applicable here, but I think many thought processes will probably stay similar.
@Kueken531: Go
Well, by saying no, you are also saying yes, as SC based the hero off of it =P.
SC2 Wiki (the one you linked): Guy Montag is a "fireman" in Ray Bradbury's novel, Fahrenheit 451, tasked with burning books.
First off, US is currently at v.04 so hopefully we can get an update soon ! :D
I think that the lack of a help system was hurting a lot. I messed around with it a bit with just a computer to see what it was like, but couldn't find a game at the time. Looking forward to this release and hopefully can find people to play with now that there is a help system in place too :D. Also, I have not been playing much because I have been trying to help the HLW community grow a bit on War3 again. Anyone who would like to play with us come to Clan Girl @ useast, we have the best remaining players (AvengingAeris/Eliza, Baku/XChiChi, SkillzofGod, Carolena). I almost always have my bot in there or am on War 3 so if you drop by i'll see your message eventually when I read the chat log.
Ghostman you download it over SC2, as with the usual way to DL sc2 maps. Also Ghostman check your PM.
As for Kueken, again the heros seem awesome but I just haven't played with anyone yet. The only things I'd say is it is weird how the shops are on the top and there's only one lane, kind of makes it seem like it should not be HLW, but I probably just need to get used to it more. Also the terrain looks nice but there's a little too much clutter right now IMO. Could cut down on some of all that crap that's all over the ground, makes it a bit hard to see. I LOVE the Diablo-styled hotkey belt, such an amazing feature. I hated to have to always click potion on War3 rather than have a hotkey ~!!!
For the people asking about Kueken's spells, I would not worry about this at all if I were you. Kueken has been working on HLW for years and years and the farther he went on the more and more imaginative he got with his spells. Of course, each hero would have some sort of AoE spell as expected, but there would be some unique stuff too. This really became apparent in his later versions of HLW RoC, just an amazing job. Even when he already had like 36 heros, he was still making new heros that were completely unique and different from the rest. Have faith in everything that Kueken does. :)
Hopefully will find people to play with soon. Anyone on US server feel free to add me to play some games of this sometime. CrazyCarl with character code 661.
Man - feels weird being so excited and interested in a map I have not even played with another person yet haha =D
Is there a way to release it to US as well? I really wanna play this!
Obviously one should strive for balance over just forcing people to play the same heros on both sides, but it is so hard to have it perfectly balanced when you start getting so many different heros with so many different types of spells, it's pretty impossible I think. For competitive matches, -st would be preferred, although this probably won't be needed on the game's initial release.
For example on balance, even games like Diablo and WoW struggle. I haven't played WoW or fought in the arenas there, but from what I hear, it's pretty much just a few different types of heros that are effective.
Will all of the game settings be available still? -arstns is a must!