This is a difficult task to do with only data. You can create any number of build methods, but many need triggers to back them up. Making buildings through dialogs is a good example.
One method of building I've always liked is using a movable unit (I used Colossus a while back for this) as an energy source. It works great as a form of maintenance, where you need support workers to keep a building functioning. Similarly, it could work for buildings that require higher energy outputs. So if a building needs to be placed in an area with 7 power, you need seven workers (I think you can stack like that? If not, the multiple power levels can still be used in other ways).
Are people interested but just not posting? I'm getting concerned that I'm putting alot of effort in and nobody thinks this idea's any good. Obviously I know the getting it really popular part is hard. But If I can get around ten people who think I've got a good idea going, I'll feel more confident that this'll work at all? :-/
I'd say keep going. Most people get very few responses (myself included) when asking for feedback, yet their games are played ALOT online. My own personal project 'Formation Defense' is played 20+ hours everyday (sometimes considerably more than that), yet I've only heard from about four people who have played it.
Even if it doesn't get played, it's still map-editing experience.
Videos and/or screenshots will often draw a crowd.
Whether or not you can pull this off depends on how advanced you are with data editing.
Zealot passive/active ability - the zealot has a shield that grows stronger the longer he's out of combat (up to a certain maximum). Activating the ability destroys the shield, but deals area of effect damage based upon how full the shield was.
Well, my original plan for this game was a different style of MOBA. I dislike that in a lot of hero games, you're left with one tank hero, one range hero, etc; so even if you really, really like the tank, you need to go for the only support hero to keep your team afloat.
My plan was to implement 'crystals of power', which you would choose at the beginning of the game alongside your hero. The map would involve capture and hold objectives where these crystals sprout. People with control of the territory would get bonuses while this area was held, based upon the types of crystals there.
The crystal you get at the start of the game would alter your character so a tank doesn't always have to be a tank, and a squishy caster can go in up close and personal if he likes. They'd also each come with an ability (which would occupy the far left of the spell bar and cost experience instead of mana). Three crystals were implemented: Vitality, Fury, and Caster.
The reason I typed '-caster' in the video, was that it enabled the 'caster stone' for my character, which allows him to chain abilities together (like I demonstrated with the leap).
I even had some basic lore :P. The crystals feed off of the energy produced by combat (explaining experience), and bestow benefits to their holder as they gain more power. It was a way of explaining the level up process using cheesy game logic. They could also unleash some of the power they held (hence the experience cost for the crystal abilities).
I dunno, for the latest version of Formation Defense, I implemented the ability to cast 'leader powers' through a dialog. In other words, you could use a hotkey or dialog button to target an AoE spell. It worked flawlessly in single player (slightly less optimized than the 'real' AoE cursors, but that's to be expected), but as soon as I tried it online with 2 players, it became incredibly difficult, if not downright impossible, to target properly, due to significant delays in 'mouse moved' events.
[Edit]: Read the thread. That would suggest that the battlenet delay, regardless of your method, makes competitive games (or finger-twitch gameplay) impossible, which is a difficult pill to swallow. Quite unfortunate if true.
Quote:
My approach for abilities is usually: If you read the tooltip once, and casted the ability once, you should be able to exactly tell, what it does. If you cannot, it is probably too complicated or too confusing in either graphics or effects or probably both.
You do not need to get all the possible uses for the ability, or the perfect situation to use it yet (easy to learn, hard to master for the win :) ), but you should be able to at least use it decently.
Yup, that's the ideal situation, but I also like to think of the other side of things. How many times does somebody need to get hit by an ability to figure out how it works and how to avoid/deflect it? If a random nuke drops out of nowhere and insta-kills your hero in a game, the person who launched the nuke might understand, but the guy who's hit is still confused.
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Out of interest (not guaranteeing anything here), if I made a MOBA out of this and simply removed the mouse events so it could be played competitively, do you think it could survive the popularity system? Would you be interested in helping/testing/playing?
The systems in place were designed with a proper game in mind. It's quite simple to add additional heroes through my custom actions.
My concern is that DOTA2 will be arriving from both Valve and Blizzard, plus there are already great f2p MOBA's out there like LoL. Anybody who's interested in a MOBA for SC2 is probably going to stick with Smashcraft, Project Tofu, or SOTIS
I believe firmly in using more discreet effect simply because if everything looks over-the-top, nothing does. If you have some more mild (yet fitting) ability sounds and effects, then the one you intentionally make look epic stands out more. Plus, as I said, alot of larger effects tend to just confuse users. Make the character show what he's doing. Ideally, you shouldn't even need to see a tooltip to know what an opponent is sending your way.
The one interesting thing to keep in mind is that this system I created only has issues with the mouse. I actually got keyboard events working flawlessly. The hotkeys that switch abilities actually use a dummy control unit that's constantly selected, to use an ability via command card hotkeys. The command card isn't hidden, it's beneath my dialogs so the hotkeys still directly call to it, instead of a trigger.
If I removed the mouse effects and simply made the hotkeys fire abilities, there'd be no online issues at all. It might be worth looking into.
Lol. I'll consider making the Zeratul video. The only problem I have is that I actually created Zeratul before I made the UI and level-up system, so his abilities don't have upgrades. I'd have to do a bit of work on him to make him presentable as-is, for that reason.
Sadly a map cannot be made with this system due to Blizzard's netcode, which prevents mouse clicks and keyboard events from being feasible.
Yea, i don't think it would work very well in hero arenas, but its absolutely perfect for RPGs and stuff. I also agree with the thoughts about the 'not being able to tell where an attack was coming from' and 'not very cool upgrades.'
Also, why dont you think anyone wants to see zeratul? of course more heroes are better~
I wasn't expecting such a quick (and positive) response.
It all depends on how it's balanced of course. The only thing that could prevent these from being used in a hero arena would be the camera locking to your character. Aside from that, I think just about anything in the video could probably be tweaked/adjusted for something like a hero arena.
I'm also interested to hear what you guys think of the level-up system and UI, since that was a ton of work.
@zenx1: I quite like your video. What the heck is the music from? Sounds like a Pikmin soundtrack or something :P.
I love your use of trails (the semi transparent copies left behind)...let's just say my Zeratul hero does something similar ;). I don't see anything wrong with your abilities, but I do agree that the standard tints don't look great. You need to find a nice combo of HDR and a colour and it has to be complimentary to the character or it just doesn't work.
Hey guys, here's a video I uploaded to youtube today. It's a video of a map I made months ago, but I thought I'd get some feedback on it anyway.
Enjoy!
Also, sorry about the volume...it was my first time trying my new microphone and it was WAY quieter than intended...you might need to crank the volume.
Out of interest (not guaranteeing anything here), if I made a MOBA out of this and simply removed the mouse events so it could be played competitively, do you think it could survive the popularity system? Would you be interested in helping/testing/playing?
The systems in place were designed with a proper game in mind. It's quite simple to add additional heroes through my custom actions.
My concern is that DOTA2 will be arriving from both Valve and Blizzard, plus there are already great f2p MOBA's out there like LoL. Anybody who's interested in a MOBA for SC2 is probably going to stick with Smashcraft, Project Tofu, or SOTIS
The latest version is ready to go. My main tester is on vacation. Once he's back, I'll do some private tests. If all goes well, the new version should be released shortly afterward.
0
This is a difficult task to do with only data. You can create any number of build methods, but many need triggers to back them up. Making buildings through dialogs is a good example.
One method of building I've always liked is using a movable unit (I used Colossus a while back for this) as an energy source. It works great as a form of maintenance, where you need support workers to keep a building functioning. Similarly, it could work for buildings that require higher energy outputs. So if a building needs to be placed in an area with 7 power, you need seven workers (I think you can stack like that? If not, the multiple power levels can still be used in other ways).
Mess around with it, it's fun! :)
0
I'd say keep going. Most people get very few responses (myself included) when asking for feedback, yet their games are played ALOT online. My own personal project 'Formation Defense' is played 20+ hours everyday (sometimes considerably more than that), yet I've only heard from about four people who have played it.
Even if it doesn't get played, it's still map-editing experience.
Videos and/or screenshots will often draw a crowd.
0
Lots of awesome changes in there. I'm particularly excited about attaching dialogs to units...opens up a whole new world of options.
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:O, well don't I feel like a noob.
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Necropost.
So what happened to the trailer?
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It's been on EU for some time now :).
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Whether or not you can pull this off depends on how advanced you are with data editing.
Zealot passive/active ability - the zealot has a shield that grows stronger the longer he's out of combat (up to a certain maximum). Activating the ability destroys the shield, but deals area of effect damage based upon how full the shield was.
0
Well, my original plan for this game was a different style of MOBA. I dislike that in a lot of hero games, you're left with one tank hero, one range hero, etc; so even if you really, really like the tank, you need to go for the only support hero to keep your team afloat.
My plan was to implement 'crystals of power', which you would choose at the beginning of the game alongside your hero. The map would involve capture and hold objectives where these crystals sprout. People with control of the territory would get bonuses while this area was held, based upon the types of crystals there.
The crystal you get at the start of the game would alter your character so a tank doesn't always have to be a tank, and a squishy caster can go in up close and personal if he likes. They'd also each come with an ability (which would occupy the far left of the spell bar and cost experience instead of mana). Three crystals were implemented: Vitality, Fury, and Caster.
The reason I typed '-caster' in the video, was that it enabled the 'caster stone' for my character, which allows him to chain abilities together (like I demonstrated with the leap).
I even had some basic lore :P. The crystals feed off of the energy produced by combat (explaining experience), and bestow benefits to their holder as they gain more power. It was a way of explaining the level up process using cheesy game logic. They could also unleash some of the power they held (hence the experience cost for the crystal abilities).
0
I dunno, for the latest version of Formation Defense, I implemented the ability to cast 'leader powers' through a dialog. In other words, you could use a hotkey or dialog button to target an AoE spell. It worked flawlessly in single player (slightly less optimized than the 'real' AoE cursors, but that's to be expected), but as soon as I tried it online with 2 players, it became incredibly difficult, if not downright impossible, to target properly, due to significant delays in 'mouse moved' events.
[Edit]: Read the thread. That would suggest that the battlenet delay, regardless of your method, makes competitive games (or finger-twitch gameplay) impossible, which is a difficult pill to swallow. Quite unfortunate if true.
Yup, that's the ideal situation, but I also like to think of the other side of things. How many times does somebody need to get hit by an ability to figure out how it works and how to avoid/deflect it? If a random nuke drops out of nowhere and insta-kills your hero in a game, the person who launched the nuke might understand, but the guy who's hit is still confused.
-Out of interest (not guaranteeing anything here), if I made a MOBA out of this and simply removed the mouse events so it could be played competitively, do you think it could survive the popularity system? Would you be interested in helping/testing/playing?
The systems in place were designed with a proper game in mind. It's quite simple to add additional heroes through my custom actions.
My concern is that DOTA2 will be arriving from both Valve and Blizzard, plus there are already great f2p MOBA's out there like LoL. Anybody who's interested in a MOBA for SC2 is probably going to stick with Smashcraft, Project Tofu, or SOTIS
0
Praise from Kueken. Awesome :).
I believe firmly in using more discreet effect simply because if everything looks over-the-top, nothing does. If you have some more mild (yet fitting) ability sounds and effects, then the one you intentionally make look epic stands out more. Plus, as I said, alot of larger effects tend to just confuse users. Make the character show what he's doing. Ideally, you shouldn't even need to see a tooltip to know what an opponent is sending your way.
The one interesting thing to keep in mind is that this system I created only has issues with the mouse. I actually got keyboard events working flawlessly. The hotkeys that switch abilities actually use a dummy control unit that's constantly selected, to use an ability via command card hotkeys. The command card isn't hidden, it's beneath my dialogs so the hotkeys still directly call to it, instead of a trigger.
If I removed the mouse effects and simply made the hotkeys fire abilities, there'd be no online issues at all. It might be worth looking into.
0
Lol. I'll consider making the Zeratul video. The only problem I have is that I actually created Zeratul before I made the UI and level-up system, so his abilities don't have upgrades. I'd have to do a bit of work on him to make him presentable as-is, for that reason.
Sadly a map cannot be made with this system due to Blizzard's netcode, which prevents mouse clicks and keyboard events from being feasible.
0
Ooops, yeah I meant Zenx :P (editing)
I wasn't expecting such a quick (and positive) response.
It all depends on how it's balanced of course. The only thing that could prevent these from being used in a hero arena would be the camera locking to your character. Aside from that, I think just about anything in the video could probably be tweaked/adjusted for something like a hero arena.
I'm also interested to hear what you guys think of the level-up system and UI, since that was a ton of work.
0
Glad you both liked it.
@zenx1: I quite like your video. What the heck is the music from? Sounds like a Pikmin soundtrack or something :P.
I love your use of trails (the semi transparent copies left behind)...let's just say my Zeratul hero does something similar ;). I don't see anything wrong with your abilities, but I do agree that the standard tints don't look great. You need to find a nice combo of HDR and a colour and it has to be complimentary to the character or it just doesn't work.
0
Hey guys, here's a video I uploaded to youtube today. It's a video of a map I made months ago, but I thought I'd get some feedback on it anyway.
Enjoy!
Also, sorry about the volume...it was my first time trying my new microphone and it was WAY quieter than intended...you might need to crank the volume.
Other abilities by me: http://www.sc2mapster.com/forums/resources/data-assets/16059-wingednoserings-data-assets/
Out of interest (not guaranteeing anything here), if I made a MOBA out of this and simply removed the mouse events so it could be played competitively, do you think it could survive the popularity system? Would you be interested in helping/testing/playing?
The systems in place were designed with a proper game in mind. It's quite simple to add additional heroes through my custom actions.
My concern is that DOTA2 will be arriving from both Valve and Blizzard, plus there are already great f2p MOBA's out there like LoL. Anybody who's interested in a MOBA for SC2 is probably going to stick with Smashcraft, Project Tofu, or SOTIS
0
The latest version is ready to go. My main tester is on vacation. Once he's back, I'll do some private tests. If all goes well, the new version should be released shortly afterward.