As someone who likes TD makes in general i have to put my two cents into this thread.
For me i havent come across a TD ive enjoyed in over a year. In fact they were never many that i truly thought hit a point where the TD became great rather than just ok/fun. Whatever anyone else likes is their opinion and can't possibly be disputed seeing as how no matter how logically you make an argument you cannot beat simple opinion with logic, if they like it they will like it and you cant talk them out of it.
That being said ill get to the main point of this post: TDs i like.
There was a TD in WC3 called "Dixel's TD." it was very simple, each player has a lane and the bad guys move from left to right while you try to stop them, but unlike most TDs you have just a single life. You couldnt let a single mob get through or you lost. I tried it hundreds of times literally and only ever beat it after hundreds of tries. You had to find out how to make a maze efficient enough to ultilize every last resource you had.
There was a bonus wave and you had to figure out how you could build just the right amount of towers to have enough money to buy that one extra AA tower that would get you enough to cash to get to the last levels. In conclusion, heres the main point: it was hard. It was scientific, you had to think out your strategy, plan it well, and test just how much you could get away with and when. Thats what makes a TD game great: it can be scientifically balanced.
The element of luck can be as little as the designer makes it. So the best player wins. Two other things about dixel's TD made it great: there were very few towers so it wasnt finding out what you can use, but using what was obvious and also the farther left you put your towers, the more hp the mobs had going through your maze. So again that make it competitive and challenging.
No other TD i have ever played has reached that point of scientific balance, and completing in the first time starting all the way to the right made the hundreds of hours playing all worth it. For me the fun in a TD is directly related to the skill:victory ratio, getting rewarded for playing well is the best thing about them.
And just because i know that there are going to be posts telling how stupid this post is: this is my opinion, nothing some random person on the internet says will ever affect what i think about this subject. And i understand that alot of people wont agree with me on this either, and i understand that too.
For the relativity to this thread: I dont think TD as a genre is too old or too generic or too anything for anyone to make a fun TD map, I think its the mapmakers making the maps rather than the genre (not meaning you guys are bad, i do have fun with alot of the current TDs, they just dont match up to older ones if you ask me, you just happen to be making games in a different style than i like.)
Sorry for the grammar and the length :P
Wall of text crits you for 1000000000000.
Edit: Made it a tad bit easier on the eyes so people are more likely to read your post (didn't change any of the content though, don't worry), hope it's ok /Z
Ill certainly play the maps and get my friends to play them, so you can add me to the list if you want :D Also, I have a map I've been working on that's not really close to release at this point, but sometime in the next 6 months it should be ready and id love to add it to the pool then.
You could do it with triggers, calculating the speed of the unit as it enters the icy region and then use move unit instantly commands in quick succession to move it, using the speed that to set how far each move sends the unit.
Thats where I started, if your a beginner that tutorial was a great help to me. For this thread, im currently working on another map but i do have alot of work done on a TD that i hope to finish someday if that counts.
For the triggers you could just have a trigger-only point that is controlled by W and S and use a seperate trigger for the graphics. I'd rather not go into great detail unless you really want me to. In other words if you dont know what im talking about id rather not explain it :P.
For the Oblivion spell editor you have different effects you can add to the spell. Just a few for example:
Frost Damage
Fire Damage
Light
Agility Buff
So you could have a spell::
70 Light-target=Self (lights you up so you can see in dark places)
50 Agility buff-target=self (Gives you more agility)
The numbers are the power of the spell, from 1-100 increasing the effect (More distance on the light or more agility on the buff)
For damage spells you can have the damage be ranged or melee or self, and you can adjust the range/damage or the damage type (immediate or over time)
Everything you do that makes it more complex adds mana cost, for instance 5 fire and 5 frost damage to self costs less than 5 fire and 5 frost ranged 10 which costs less than 5 fire and 5 frost ranged 20 which costs more than 10 frost ranged 20, because the damage isnt split (which would make it more complex/higher mana cost), etc.
Also, the mana cost of the spell often makes a higher spell-casting stat required to be able to use the spell.
On a different note, good luck with your map, sounds like a great idea, let me know if you need testers or ideas :D. Also, if your interested in some really nice, clear, understandable tutorials check out OneTwoSC on youtube (not sure the name is exactly that but its OneTwoSC something.)
Hey, im interested in saving integer values potentially in the thousands. I was wondering just how many integers can you save in a bank file using this compression? There is probably an answer in the 135 posts but im too lazy to look through them all so i made this post.
Terrain looks great. Add a few hero descriptions and gameplay descriptions with screenshots and you'll get more responses. Anyway ill be looking foward to this one let me know if you need testers!
Thanks for the reply, this will be the last here and ill make sure to make a new post on the new thread right after this. About the ending cutscene, i mentioned it because i played a game with 4 players including myself (the marine used the medic and firebat as well) and after we finally went through the huge grind of units it just ended :(. Everyone stuck around a few minutes and made a few comments especially about the lack of an ending :P. Anyway ill be watching your next map and thanks again for such a detailed response :D.
Hey i just got your map on fun or not, and its the best custom map ive played yet. With a bit more work it could be even better, but great game :D
A few extra chats and abilities and a little bit more interesting terrain/enemies and it would be even better. And the most important part: an ending. AND THEN A SEQUEL! :D
If you want to do it with triggers its much easier. For instance if you want to have a tank shoot 3 times you can just create 3 random invisible units in a radius and use a damage trigger on them to have the tank shoot AoE blasts with the main target being the proxy targets. If you want it for a non-area-of-effect attack you can just spawn an appropriate number of proxies and randomly hit any unit including the proxies.
If you look on youtube, OnetwoSC has some great tutorials, he speaks clearly and you can see whats going on. The tutorial is going to be alot of trial and error, and when i started i made alot of stuff that i found out later was uneffecient and cumbersome and i had to throw it out. It took me a long time to even get a basic grasp of the editor, so expect a large learning curve. Those tuturials are where i started, its best just to stick mostly to tutorials and look up what you want here on SC2mapster, there are alot of great tutorials.
0
Which maps are worth paying for? Hopefully the next 20 posts will reflect the topic more than the last 20.
0
As someone who likes TD makes in general i have to put my two cents into this thread.
For me i havent come across a TD ive enjoyed in over a year. In fact they were never many that i truly thought hit a point where the TD became great rather than just ok/fun. Whatever anyone else likes is their opinion and can't possibly be disputed seeing as how no matter how logically you make an argument you cannot beat simple opinion with logic, if they like it they will like it and you cant talk them out of it.
That being said ill get to the main point of this post: TDs i like.
There was a TD in WC3 called "Dixel's TD." it was very simple, each player has a lane and the bad guys move from left to right while you try to stop them, but unlike most TDs you have just a single life. You couldnt let a single mob get through or you lost. I tried it hundreds of times literally and only ever beat it after hundreds of tries. You had to find out how to make a maze efficient enough to ultilize every last resource you had.
There was a bonus wave and you had to figure out how you could build just the right amount of towers to have enough money to buy that one extra AA tower that would get you enough to cash to get to the last levels. In conclusion, heres the main point: it was hard. It was scientific, you had to think out your strategy, plan it well, and test just how much you could get away with and when. Thats what makes a TD game great: it can be scientifically balanced.
The element of luck can be as little as the designer makes it. So the best player wins. Two other things about dixel's TD made it great: there were very few towers so it wasnt finding out what you can use, but using what was obvious and also the farther left you put your towers, the more hp the mobs had going through your maze. So again that make it competitive and challenging.
No other TD i have ever played has reached that point of scientific balance, and completing in the first time starting all the way to the right made the hundreds of hours playing all worth it. For me the fun in a TD is directly related to the skill:victory ratio, getting rewarded for playing well is the best thing about them.
And just because i know that there are going to be posts telling how stupid this post is: this is my opinion, nothing some random person on the internet says will ever affect what i think about this subject. And i understand that alot of people wont agree with me on this either, and i understand that too.
For the relativity to this thread: I dont think TD as a genre is too old or too generic or too anything for anyone to make a fun TD map, I think its the mapmakers making the maps rather than the genre (not meaning you guys are bad, i do have fun with alot of the current TDs, they just dont match up to older ones if you ask me, you just happen to be making games in a different style than i like.)
Sorry for the grammar and the length :P
Wall of text crits you for 1000000000000.
Edit: Made it a tad bit easier on the eyes so people are more likely to read your post (didn't change any of the content though, don't worry), hope it's ok /Z
0
@RodrigoAlves: Go
Ill certainly play the maps and get my friends to play them, so you can add me to the list if you want :D Also, I have a map I've been working on that's not really close to release at this point, but sometime in the next 6 months it should be ready and id love to add it to the pool then.
0
@HamsterBoo: Go
You could do it with triggers, calculating the speed of the unit as it enters the icy region and then use move unit instantly commands in quick succession to move it, using the speed that to set how far each move sends the unit.
0
@TacoManStan: Go
Thats where I started, if your a beginner that tutorial was a great help to me. For this thread, im currently working on another map but i do have alot of work done on a TD that i hope to finish someday if that counts.
0
@DarlD: Go
I'd play it :P
For the triggers you could just have a trigger-only point that is controlled by W and S and use a seperate trigger for the graphics. I'd rather not go into great detail unless you really want me to. In other words if you dont know what im talking about id rather not explain it :P.
0
@JoBoDo: Go
For the Oblivion spell editor you have different effects you can add to the spell. Just a few for example:
Frost Damage
Fire Damage
Light
Agility Buff
So you could have a spell::
70 Light-target=Self (lights you up so you can see in dark places)
50 Agility buff-target=self (Gives you more agility)
The numbers are the power of the spell, from 1-100 increasing the effect (More distance on the light or more agility on the buff)
For damage spells you can have the damage be ranged or melee or self, and you can adjust the range/damage or the damage type (immediate or over time) Everything you do that makes it more complex adds mana cost, for instance 5 fire and 5 frost damage to self costs less than 5 fire and 5 frost ranged 10 which costs less than 5 fire and 5 frost ranged 20 which costs more than 10 frost ranged 20, because the damage isnt split (which would make it more complex/higher mana cost), etc. Also, the mana cost of the spell often makes a higher spell-casting stat required to be able to use the spell.
On a different note, good luck with your map, sounds like a great idea, let me know if you need testers or ideas :D. Also, if your interested in some really nice, clear, understandable tutorials check out OneTwoSC on youtube (not sure the name is exactly that but its OneTwoSC something.)
0
Hey, im interested in saving integer values potentially in the thousands. I was wondering just how many integers can you save in a bank file using this compression? There is probably an answer in the 135 posts but im too lazy to look through them all so i made this post.
0
@Kafoso: Go
If you need beta testers let me know :D
0
@TheJumJum: Go
Terrain looks great. Add a few hero descriptions and gameplay descriptions with screenshots and you'll get more responses. Anyway ill be looking foward to this one let me know if you need testers!
0
@Nashadun: Go
Thanks for the reply, this will be the last here and ill make sure to make a new post on the new thread right after this. About the ending cutscene, i mentioned it because i played a game with 4 players including myself (the marine used the medic and firebat as well) and after we finally went through the huge grind of units it just ended :(. Everyone stuck around a few minutes and made a few comments especially about the lack of an ending :P. Anyway ill be watching your next map and thanks again for such a detailed response :D.
0
Hey i just got your map on fun or not, and its the best custom map ive played yet. With a bit more work it could be even better, but great game :D A few extra chats and abilities and a little bit more interesting terrain/enemies and it would be even better. And the most important part: an ending. AND THEN A SEQUEL! :D
0
@Claymuffin: Go
If you want to do it with triggers its much easier. For instance if you want to have a tank shoot 3 times you can just create 3 random invisible units in a radius and use a damage trigger on them to have the tank shoot AoE blasts with the main target being the proxy targets. If you want it for a non-area-of-effect attack you can just spawn an appropriate number of proxies and randomly hit any unit including the proxies.
0
@Biophysicist: Go
BUMP! whats going on with this? large discussions and in detail details and then nothing? let me know :D
0
@FuzzYD: Go
If you look on youtube, OnetwoSC has some great tutorials, he speaks clearly and you can see whats going on. The tutorial is going to be alot of trial and error, and when i started i made alot of stuff that i found out later was uneffecient and cumbersome and i had to throw it out. It took me a long time to even get a basic grasp of the editor, so expect a large learning curve. Those tuturials are where i started, its best just to stick mostly to tutorials and look up what you want here on SC2mapster, there are alot of great tutorials.
Once you've put in at least 30 hours or so i would recommend this tutorial as a good way to start expanding into advanced triggers and whatnot: http://forums.sc2mapster.com/resources/tutorials/17969-dialogs-really-great-looking-dialogs-part-1/#posts