All turrets now have increased range (+2).
Mega Nodes now have at least 10 additional range (Dynamo is now 25).
Price increases for squadrons per upgrade level have been reduced to offer more solo play options.
The base price for fighter squadrons may need to be increased at some point.
The Corona encounter is incomplete, but I will try to flesh it out further soon.
Hopefully fixed all the problems with alliance, ownership and hidden states for the Antiga Shipyard encounter.
Overlord trigger is now deactivated properly.
Most turret tooltips were adjusted yesterday and are now much more informative!
The Truck Stop will indeed have Stardock-only upgrades available. Soon! You can see now that the 'hammerhead' on the front of the ship appears the first time you visit here, and the right 'fin' on the rear of the ship appears the second time. These are new areas where structures will be able to be built.
Space Worm will have spawns coming out of the Nydus Worms soon that will provide mineral income.
The button for commandeering vacant Command Centers does say in big red letters that it increases the difficulty 100% for each active Command Center... but I will probably increase the price, maybe add a prohibitive Vespene cost to further draw a distinction. A new, more unique button icon may also help.
The Medivac Bay is for landing on the enemy ship - it played (or plays) a more prominent role in 2-ship mode. It can also serve as a healer, or a bunker for infantry, on the Corona or Space Worm levels for instance. Units inside will not take damage. I am thinking of how to make this more useful for 1-ship mode, and the current idea is to allow a ship full of infantry to be launched, to become an aerial 'bunker' essentially that will attack-to your Stardrive, and then follow your currently selected Squadron route.
You can now take a loan for more resources earlier on to modify the initial game difficulty.
Nope, that is unintended behavior. Debris Field spawners should be moving from the front of the ship to the rear and then to the Stardrive. This change is live now. There are also some enemies that spawn from the rear and move back and forth between the rear areas, but depending on the new difficulty their spawn rate will likely be reduced.
New destination 'Stardock' has been added. This is a neutral destination with no enemies that you can go to where all destroyed Stabilizers and Engines will be rebuilt and all units will have their health restored. This destination costs vespene to go to and all active players can contribute towards the cost.
I don't think I'll be adding turrets near the Stardrive since that's what infantry are for, they can be moved right up next to it. Infantry not being very good will be addressed with more upgrades.
RE: running out of nodes - I've got about 30 more defense nodes that will show up on the 'hammerhead' section of the ship at the front once it is built. Still trying to figure out where to plug all that in though, if it can be built from the start, or only at a new 'Space Station' or Shipyard type destination. (I think the cheat 'hammerhead on' will still work if you try it in a solo game. It has also been included by default in a few past publishes on accident, so if you saw that - that's the plan for it.
RE: relentless attack waves - I kind of like that behavior from the Zerg, but I would definitely like to make the Protoss and Pirate waves less of an all-out swarm and more about strategy and 'smarter' spawns. I think I may have found a way to hide the second ship though so (if successful) that will open up a lot of space for more interesting encounters instead of just having all the objectives directly in front of you all the time.
New version on NA (EDIT: all regions) now, partial changelist:
1) Values for damage, life, etc all need to be updated for pretty much every unit, but if you find a tooltip that is clearly wrong in its content or description (like it lists a manifest for a Banshee squadron even though it is on a turret or something) those are helpful to have reported.
3) No hydralisks will spawn at the Stardrive for Braxis Alpha and fewer will spawn now for Asteroid Belt. Mini Banelings now spawn on Asteroid Belt instead of the full size ones. Ultralisks no longer spawn.
4a) Command Center and Starport now have a 1 queue instead of a 5 queue, which should address this. Good find.
4b) Fighters now cost less to upgrade but spawn slightly less frequently. Should also help with framerate on later stages.
7) Yeah, the Pirate spawners were bad. Debris Field has been reworked a bit, but will likely need additional changes. Diamondback range reduced by 1, health reduced, damage bonus against heroic units cut in half.
9) Destination-specific route paths for objectives that don't neatly fit onto one of the 4 paths is likely. To be able to direct the fighters over to the Starbase on Debris Field for example.
11) Battlecruisers no longer lose a level when destroyed unless level 4 or higher.
12) Just for vision of the asteroid belt, but a revealer could work just as well I suppose. More will be happening there eventually.
13) Losing an engine or a Stabilizer will now deal some damage to the Stardrive. Additionally, during mobile phases your Stardrive will take periodic damage that scales with the number of missing engines (10 /sec per missing engine).
14) Will be changed at some point to prevent griefing.
Going to work on a separate tutorial level this weekend which should help to get new users up to speed. I already have the 'training ship' competed, just need to hook up all the triggers and cameras.
I agree that the difficulty could use some tightening up. The boss on the 2nd level is insane. Far, far more difficult than the waves before him.
I also suspect that there's something odd going on with player balancing. I've tried it with 2 of us for every match so far, and we've consistently failed to beat the 3rd boss (the space whale).
However, we joined a public game with 2 randoms. They did nothing, and quickly left. We went on to easily beat the 3rd boss without any effort.
I think the fault lies with Point Defense Drones. They're very important for taking down the bosses, and when you have 4 bcs, you just plain get more of them.
Perhaps making it so that when you claim an empty command center, you also gain access to an empty battlecruiser too?
Which boss, which wave? Since you can choose where to go in which order it can vary which boss is #2. Keep in mind that the bosses are active the entire anchor phase but only move towards the Stardrive near the end... you can direct your fighters to attack near them earlier on and whittle them down if you have trouble killing them after they start moving.
Balancing goes off of the number of active CCs, 1 set of spawns per CC, so you will have 4x as many units being spawned if there are 4 active CCs. Boss life is also determined by the number of active CCs. Off the top of my head I believe the formula is something like: Number of active CCs * (number of phases seen * 2000). Those extra BCs for players that leave the game should be getting despawned, and will be in a future update.
-onw more type of worker (lightning projector) harvests minerals without having to return to cc ( 0.5 mins per second - or 0.25)
-being able to build shrike turrets on bunkers
-having the barracks deploy reapers like the truck shop did in factory ships- except with an upgrade system like fighters with reaper recruits,reapers, and merc reapers
reaper recruit could use the reapernojet model
overrall gameplay is fun - but could be better with a dificulty option
I could probably add another mineral harvesting upgrade (another vespene upgrade is going to happen for sure), although there are some phase-specific harvesting units planned for future destinations.
Bunkers won't be getting Shrike turrets since the model doesn't face the correct direction when the bunkers on the sides of the ship fire (it looks really dumb), but there will be another bunker addon similar to the shrike soon, possibly something that fires a beam.
Good idea - I had been considering adding Reapers, but not sure if it will be part of the infantry yet, or a special 'wave' of (flying) Reapers that you can launch from the shipyard. I may just make it so that you can upgrade your infantry like you mentioned though...
I have been toying with ideas of how to give players an 'easier' mode, the most simple being that if selected you would just start with additional resources.
Woohoo! Looks like people are liking it, even if there are still bugs and placeholders.
I've made a lot of changes recently and will continue to do so over the next few months - if anyone else has more feedback I'd love to hear it. Suggestions for balance tweaks, new encounters, etc. I'm open to it all. Especially things you dislike about the map.
Which destination were you going to those first 5 times you were getting slaughtered? The Zerg stages ramp up slower than the other ones.
Re: feedback
1 ) Why 3 econ units? Each unit returns a different amount of minerals, the SCV is 5, Nomad is 10 (just fixed), and the Crazyhorse is 15. The longer term idea with the Nomads is that they will also be used for long-distance harvesting of special wave resources, but for now they are essentially just a SCV+.
2 ) Healing Priority: This was recently fixed, healing turrets will now only autocast on structures. Fighters and your Battlecruiser may be healed manually. This should help with Protoss and Space Pirate waves especially.
3 ) Gauss Rifle damage now mentioned on the tooltip (8 dmg).
4) Shrike Turret upgrade is now more modestly priced to encourage use. Mine Nodes too.
5 ) Dopey Hydralisks: The Zerg wave drop pod spawners aren't fixed yet but the Primal Zerg wave now has a first pass at a replacement drop pod spawner that scales with the number of active CCs.
6 ) Why Vespene? The costs could just as easily be baked into minerals like you said, but I do like the idea of two resources. Vespene costs have been reduced all around until it is a little easier to acquire.
7 ) Cutscenes: yeah, I see how they can become tiresome the 10th, 40th time you see them... my immediate plan is to make the cutscenes shorter and shorter the deeper into destination depth you get, meaning later stages would generally just be an establishing shot of a few seconds and then back into gameplay. Do you mean specifically having your zoom level readjusted each time? I'm not sure how but I could probably save that via trigger.
8 ) The Stardrive already gets temp invulnerability during cutscenes. Now that healing turrets are more effective this may not be much of an issue anymore, but I could just give everything invulnerability if it is really a problem.
9 ) Maybe with an upgrade at some later stage, but probably not by default.
I've uploaded a new map called STARDRIVE. Available in all regions.
If you've played my previous project, Factory Ships, much of this will be familiar to you. Here's the blurb:
Defend your capital ship from attackers by constructing defensive turrets, garrisoning shipboard infantry and launching attack squadrons. A choose-your-own adventure game with many different paths and ways to play.
Please leave bugs, feedback, suggestions, ideas, etc. This map is a work in progress.
This map can be played solo if you wish, so learn/play at your own pace! Separate tutorial level coming soon.
0
All turrets now have increased range (+2). Mega Nodes now have at least 10 additional range (Dynamo is now 25). Price increases for squadrons per upgrade level have been reduced to offer more solo play options. The base price for fighter squadrons may need to be increased at some point.
0
New build uploaded.
-New icons for the submenus at the CC.
-Corona encounter has been updated. Environmental damage cut in half.
-Loan now available to help reduce initial difficulty.
-Mechanical infantry can now repair themselves and increase max health.
-Photon Cannon now a Structure type unit (will be autohealed).
0
The Corona encounter is incomplete, but I will try to flesh it out further soon. Hopefully fixed all the problems with alliance, ownership and hidden states for the Antiga Shipyard encounter. Overlord trigger is now deactivated properly. Most turret tooltips were adjusted yesterday and are now much more informative!
The Truck Stop will indeed have Stardock-only upgrades available. Soon! You can see now that the 'hammerhead' on the front of the ship appears the first time you visit here, and the right 'fin' on the rear of the ship appears the second time. These are new areas where structures will be able to be built.
Space Worm will have spawns coming out of the Nydus Worms soon that will provide mineral income.
The button for commandeering vacant Command Centers does say in big red letters that it increases the difficulty 100% for each active Command Center... but I will probably increase the price, maybe add a prohibitive Vespene cost to further draw a distinction. A new, more unique button icon may also help.
The Medivac Bay is for landing on the enemy ship - it played (or plays) a more prominent role in 2-ship mode. It can also serve as a healer, or a bunker for infantry, on the Corona or Space Worm levels for instance. Units inside will not take damage. I am thinking of how to make this more useful for 1-ship mode, and the current idea is to allow a ship full of infantry to be launched, to become an aerial 'bunker' essentially that will attack-to your Stardrive, and then follow your currently selected Squadron route.
You can now take a loan for more resources earlier on to modify the initial game difficulty.
0
Nope, that is unintended behavior. Debris Field spawners should be moving from the front of the ship to the rear and then to the Stardrive. This change is live now. There are also some enemies that spawn from the rear and move back and forth between the rear areas, but depending on the new difficulty their spawn rate will likely be reduced.
New destination 'Stardock' has been added. This is a neutral destination with no enemies that you can go to where all destroyed Stabilizers and Engines will be rebuilt and all units will have their health restored. This destination costs vespene to go to and all active players can contribute towards the cost.
0
Duplicate post.
0
I don't think I'll be adding turrets near the Stardrive since that's what infantry are for, they can be moved right up next to it. Infantry not being very good will be addressed with more upgrades.
RE: running out of nodes - I've got about 30 more defense nodes that will show up on the 'hammerhead' section of the ship at the front once it is built. Still trying to figure out where to plug all that in though, if it can be built from the start, or only at a new 'Space Station' or Shipyard type destination. (I think the cheat 'hammerhead on' will still work if you try it in a solo game. It has also been included by default in a few past publishes on accident, so if you saw that - that's the plan for it.
RE: relentless attack waves - I kind of like that behavior from the Zerg, but I would definitely like to make the Protoss and Pirate waves less of an all-out swarm and more about strategy and 'smarter' spawns. I think I may have found a way to hide the second ship though so (if successful) that will open up a lot of space for more interesting encounters instead of just having all the objectives directly in front of you all the time.
0
New version on NA (EDIT: all regions) now, partial changelist:
1) Values for damage, life, etc all need to be updated for pretty much every unit, but if you find a tooltip that is clearly wrong in its content or description (like it lists a manifest for a Banshee squadron even though it is on a turret or something) those are helpful to have reported.
3) No hydralisks will spawn at the Stardrive for Braxis Alpha and fewer will spawn now for Asteroid Belt. Mini Banelings now spawn on Asteroid Belt instead of the full size ones. Ultralisks no longer spawn.
4a) Command Center and Starport now have a 1 queue instead of a 5 queue, which should address this. Good find.
4b) Fighters now cost less to upgrade but spawn slightly less frequently. Should also help with framerate on later stages.
7) Yeah, the Pirate spawners were bad. Debris Field has been reworked a bit, but will likely need additional changes. Diamondback range reduced by 1, health reduced, damage bonus against heroic units cut in half.
9) Destination-specific route paths for objectives that don't neatly fit onto one of the 4 paths is likely. To be able to direct the fighters over to the Starbase on Debris Field for example.
11) Battlecruisers no longer lose a level when destroyed unless level 4 or higher.
12) Just for vision of the asteroid belt, but a revealer could work just as well I suppose. More will be happening there eventually.
13) Losing an engine or a Stabilizer will now deal some damage to the Stardrive. Additionally, during mobile phases your Stardrive will take periodic damage that scales with the number of missing engines (10 /sec per missing engine).
14) Will be changed at some point to prevent griefing.
0
@caparosmith: Go
Shit, I know exactly what that is. Fix will be deployed tonight.
@Trieva: Go
Going to work on a separate tutorial level this weekend which should help to get new users up to speed. I already have the 'training ship' competed, just need to hook up all the triggers and cameras.
0
Which boss, which wave? Since you can choose where to go in which order it can vary which boss is #2. Keep in mind that the bosses are active the entire anchor phase but only move towards the Stardrive near the end... you can direct your fighters to attack near them earlier on and whittle them down if you have trouble killing them after they start moving.
Balancing goes off of the number of active CCs, 1 set of spawns per CC, so you will have 4x as many units being spawned if there are 4 active CCs. Boss life is also determined by the number of active CCs. Off the top of my head I believe the formula is something like: Number of active CCs * (number of phases seen * 2000). Those extra BCs for players that leave the game should be getting despawned, and will be in a future update.
0
I could probably add another mineral harvesting upgrade (another vespene upgrade is going to happen for sure), although there are some phase-specific harvesting units planned for future destinations.
Bunkers won't be getting Shrike turrets since the model doesn't face the correct direction when the bunkers on the sides of the ship fire (it looks really dumb), but there will be another bunker addon similar to the shrike soon, possibly something that fires a beam.
Good idea - I had been considering adding Reapers, but not sure if it will be part of the infantry yet, or a special 'wave' of (flying) Reapers that you can launch from the shipyard. I may just make it so that you can upgrade your infantry like you mentioned though...
I have been toying with ideas of how to give players an 'easier' mode, the most simple being that if selected you would just start with additional resources.
0
Has anyone confirmed with Blizzard that maps that were previously featured or highlighted on the Arcade are eligible for consideration?
0
@TyaStarcraft: Go
Woohoo! Looks like people are liking it, even if there are still bugs and placeholders.
I've made a lot of changes recently and will continue to do so over the next few months - if anyone else has more feedback I'd love to hear it. Suggestions for balance tweaks, new encounters, etc. I'm open to it all. Especially things you dislike about the map.
0
Which destination were you going to those first 5 times you were getting slaughtered? The Zerg stages ramp up slower than the other ones.
Re: feedback
1 ) Why 3 econ units? Each unit returns a different amount of minerals, the SCV is 5, Nomad is 10 (just fixed), and the Crazyhorse is 15. The longer term idea with the Nomads is that they will also be used for long-distance harvesting of special wave resources, but for now they are essentially just a SCV+.
2 ) Healing Priority: This was recently fixed, healing turrets will now only autocast on structures. Fighters and your Battlecruiser may be healed manually. This should help with Protoss and Space Pirate waves especially.
3 ) Gauss Rifle damage now mentioned on the tooltip (8 dmg).
4) Shrike Turret upgrade is now more modestly priced to encourage use. Mine Nodes too.
5 ) Dopey Hydralisks: The Zerg wave drop pod spawners aren't fixed yet but the Primal Zerg wave now has a first pass at a replacement drop pod spawner that scales with the number of active CCs.
6 ) Why Vespene? The costs could just as easily be baked into minerals like you said, but I do like the idea of two resources. Vespene costs have been reduced all around until it is a little easier to acquire.
7 ) Cutscenes: yeah, I see how they can become tiresome the 10th, 40th time you see them... my immediate plan is to make the cutscenes shorter and shorter the deeper into destination depth you get, meaning later stages would generally just be an establishing shot of a few seconds and then back into gameplay. Do you mean specifically having your zoom level readjusted each time? I'm not sure how but I could probably save that via trigger.
8 ) The Stardrive already gets temp invulnerability during cutscenes. Now that healing turrets are more effective this may not be much of an issue anymore, but I could just give everything invulnerability if it is really a problem.
9 ) Maybe with an upgrade at some later stage, but probably not by default.
Edit: Oh yeah, thanks for the feedback!
0
Hello -
I've uploaded a new map called STARDRIVE. Available in all regions.
If you've played my previous project, Factory Ships, much of this will be familiar to you. Here's the blurb:
Defend your capital ship from attackers by constructing defensive turrets, garrisoning shipboard infantry and launching attack squadrons. A choose-your-own adventure game with many different paths and ways to play.
Please leave bugs, feedback, suggestions, ideas, etc. This map is a work in progress.
This map can be played solo if you wish, so learn/play at your own pace! Separate tutorial level coming soon.
Game Link:
starcraft://map/1/214245
0
Hi,
I've uploaded my new map 'Stardrive' to Battle.net. You can check it out at: starcraft://map/1/214245
I'm looking for an expert data editor to create some abilities and custom weapons for the various ships.
You can e-mail directly to: [email protected] or PM me here.