SC2Mapster

You're right, but I feel that the mission reduces importanly its difficulty since the moment you get to the base. I want it to be a tutorial, but I want it to be a little challenging too.

When I made this map I was trying to make it feel like missions 1 and 2 of WOL. Is very hard to lose in both of them, but you have to be a little careful: in the first mission you have to micro Raynor to tank damage; and in the second one some basic macro is needed or you can die.

Since it's on brutal, it should punish poor micro. Still, I don't find much things to be done against critical mass. Your gameplay gave have some ideas, though. I'll tweak some things here and there soon(TM).

Well, I've made the last update for a long time...

I haven't modified everything I've said I was going to, but I will come back to the map later and review those things. I'm going to start working on the layout and terrain for the next mission now (this reply has attached a screenshot with a WIP capture).

Thank you all for the help guys! You made me want to keep working on the project, and I can also see a noticeable growth in the first map quality (I hope you do too).

I strongly encourage you to submit your maps to these threads, they're really useful. I'll be coming back to play yours.

@Trieva: Go

Hi. Thanks for coming back to review the map!

• The buttons are placeholders. I haven't implemented the mission linking nor most of the banking yet, since there is just one map. My idea is to build 3-4 missions before having the bank system fully working.
• Well, since it's a campaign map, my main interest is to tell a story and create some kind of immersion. The briefing room achieves that, and it also shows the player what to expect in the mission. Still, I believe that I give enough tools for those who just want to play the game. I can highlight the "Start mission" button, so those who just want to kill banelings can start right away without having to look for it.
• having to wait until a cinematic ends is kind of annoying , mainly when you're replaying a map. I consider that the player has to be allowed to skip any situation where his only task is to watch.
• Well, the amount of transmissions are placed for the same reason that the briefing. If there weren't there, the mission will feel like empty: there wouldn't be any immersion, and I couldn't develop the characters nor the story.
• I can add that, it doesn't sound hard.

Of course it was useful. Actually, I haven't considered that someone would like to play the game not paying attention to the context at all, and the perspective you used allows me to think how to please those kind of players too.

@R0binicus: Go

Nah, just kidding.

@deltronLive: Go

Thanks for the playthrough!

You're playing the second version. In the third one the transmissions last longer and there is a new section under the main base, with mineral pallets to pick up. That reduces considerably the time spent in the macro part.

I took note about the removing objectives idea, I'm removing the main ones, but leaving the caves because if the player fails should know it.

The significance of SC2bis is that I couldn't get a better name... But it's kind of a paralel lore for SC2.

@R0binicus: Go

Shh! That shouldn't be known! :P

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These are the things I'm going to fix in the next update/s:

Mod:

• Achievements sheet will be added to the briefing screen - it can replace the "skip" button, now that the subs display acts as a button, but I'm not sure yet, there have been several reports of people who liked that the achievements weren't shown.
• Zerg units have campaign abilities - I'll remove them via triggers or requirements, just in case I want to use them later.

Map:

• Zerg units will expand towards the player base.
• Some enemies will come from the unexplored areas of the map instead of unburrowing in front of the player.
• Minerals in the base will be less.
• Rocks will become unselectable after dying. The units trapped in the caves will be killed.
• First part main objectives will be removed after reaching the second part.
• There's a strange bug where enemy doesn't start building its base - I can't seem to replicate it, I would love to know in which context it happens.

@TChosenOne: Go

I would prefer not to, it wouldn't look clean. I might use a scrollbar, tough. It's that or making the space bigger.

@EDHRIANO: Go

Thanks for your time EDHRIANO.

• I haven't published the new version with a darker background. It will surely fix all the issues.
• Oh, those are copied from standard blizzard maps, I might make my own for the following missions.
• The area is supposed to be hidden, that's why the path is narrow.
• Thanks!

Oh, I can see in your screenshot that the enemy didn't start building the base. That's really strange, I'll have to check it out, but I'm kind of blind with this bug.

@DuckyTheDuck: Go

• Taking note of it!

• Alright, I'll make the briefing tests with that resolution, it should work with all the others if it works with it.

• Yes, I was going to correct that, my plan was to enable auto-replaying and suggesting to continue from the replay.

• It's possible, it's the campaign mod so those annoying bugs can happen, I'll take a look. EDIT: I believe that that's just the custom skin for the zerglings, I'll try removing the actor message from it.

• That's because I haven't worked in the core of the campaign yet, my plan was to build 3-4 missions and start with the rewards, upgrades and the history between missions afterwards if I was still motivated (I have to confess that I wasn't until this thread was started).

• Nice idea, I'll include it.

• I believe that there are less minerals in higher difficulties, I'll have to decrease them even more. EDIT: I noticed they weren't decreasing, I'm fixing it.

• Yes, I was just answering him when you posted.

• It's OK, ghosts now when to run. I don't know if it's still visible, but in the cinematic he decloaks and is picked up by a dropship safely.

• I was planning some kind of sheet mode, where you click and it expands, right under the intelligence report.

Thanks for your time (wow, 3 recordings!) and positive review.

You all are giving me the motivation to keep going with the next mission, I've already planned a mechanic to spice it up a little.

@GlornII: Go

Since it's the easy difficulty, and its aim is to enjoy the story, I can add an upgrade for it increasing the scan range of all units.

I've made the first update. I haven't fixed all the bugs reported, but squashed a good amount. Thanks!

@GlornII: Go

Thanks for the feedback!

• I've changed the colors to select the difficulty in the briefing screen, that should be enough to distinguish them.

• I've copied the difficulties from the official campaigns: easy is just like normal but without attack waves and with a handicap of 50%, hard adds some enemies and reduce the delay between attack waves, and brutal adds even more units reducing the delay too.

• I could make the zerg slowly expand to the player's position to make the macro section more challenging.

• I have to find a way of including the available achievements in the briefing room.

• I haven't altered the default marines in any way, that's the way they work in Starcraft.

@R0binicus: Go

Can you tell me if you do not mind your screen resolution? I want to replicate the issue in order to avoid having it in the next missions.

@TChosenOne: Go

• I didn't understand what you meant with more banelings to connect.

• I moved a line to the intro cinematic. I believe that they don't overlap.

• I moved the camera a little to have the brighter section outside the box. I'll take the screenshot and add it to the mission tonight.

• Oh, I didn't get what you've said before. You meant that would be better having some enemies coming from outside the player's vision range instead of from off the ground. I could make some of them spawn like that in the hallway area, or the space before the base.

EDIT: I couldn't upload it to Europe yet, I believe that I have a latency issue. I'll try again later.

@TChosenOne: Go

I've noticed some extra bugs in the video. Watching the mission being played by another one is really helpful. It's not intended to have the ambience sound in the briefing room, and I have to add that missing crow to the achievement.

I don't remember completely, but I believe that the baneling achievement was for the first part only. I'll fix the description.

Now to the suggestions:

• Fitting the text in the sections and making it flow through the mission fwas really difficult, I'll have to cut some lines to make the others last longer.
• Do you mean in the briefing room? I'm going to reduce the alpha in the text boxes to make them more readable.
• "Details" will now be "start meeting".
• How's that? if you know a baneling is there, you can just stand right outside its scan range and kill it easily.
• That secret unit was meant mainly as an easter egg. I've added it to the achievements to have 5 in total. Sure, I can make it even more OP. There are 2 more easter eggs that don't give any achievement.

Well, that's a lot of grammar issues, I'll take a look at them.

@R0binicus: Go

• Do you mean that I could give generic sounds to some lines? I feel that if I do it then the lines without sound would feel strange. I prefer to wait until more missions are completed to decide how to work with the sound.
• I might have missplaced the dialog items, I'll look into that.
• I was sure I had tested that! There's always something that slips away.
• Got it.

@TChosenOne: Go @R0binicus: Go

Thank you both for your time!