except the reward part... You dont actually need any reward, Evolves, Bunker wars, DBZ tribute, civ wars and dota, none of which had prizes I think a game can do well just off the first 2. Though rewards dont hurt.
...The reward is actually the most important part! If the player does this for nothing, he'll just quit (and probably never come back). In DOTA, an example of reward is leveling up to learn new or stronger abilities. It's also the case when you reach the enemy base and are able to put a tower down by cooperating with your teammates. An example of challenge would be when you're facing a player from the opposing team, and the fun part is pretty much anything else. And I'm not even talking about the mobs you can attack all around the map...
I don't know the other maps except Bunker Wars, but I honestly don't like this one. It's basically just about positioning your army to get rid of someone else's army with minimal loss... The "fun-challenge-reward" loop is still there though, it's not always literally about earning resources or upgrades... The reward can simply be the victory itself, while the challenge is to get rid of an opponent. Trust me, there is ALWAYS a fun-challenge-reward somewhere. What makes casual players "casual" though, is precisely the fact that they don't care about beating the challenge. They just play for fun, and if the challenge is too tough they'll just skip it and do something else, no matter how good is the reward.
In Diablo 3 (which is A-W-E-S-O-M-E by the way, in case someone here missed the open beta weekend and was wondering), you keep killing mobs for fun, then fight a strong opponent or a boss (challenge), and you get a rare item as a reward... The fun-challenge-reward loops in Diablo 3 are particularly well done in my opinion, the level up system makes you want to keep playing for hours until you get all the powers for your character...
The funny thing is you can pretty much say the same about FarmVille or Angry Birds or any game on Facebook and the likes, except the "challenge" part is voluntarily extremely simple ("Oh no, my flowers are dying from a spreading disease! Sadface! I need to buy this extremely expensive medicine to save them!"). Casual players absolutely love these games with almost no challenge at all, while hardcore gamers just find them boring as hell... Hardcore players will play games mostly for its challenges (which is why multiplayer games are so popular among hardcore players, facing a real opponent makes the victory/reward worth it).
Not entirely true. It's not just a matter of fun or not. It's a matter of how frustrating your gameplay is. Some games are not fun at all, and yet you'll keep playing till the end. It's basically a loop including 3 simple things: fun, then challenge, and finally reward. Rinse and repeat. Fun alone is not enough... and that's what a huge majority of mappers don't even know, because they're basically players more than designers.
Unfortunately, the sad truth is that the majority of people won't bother reading a tooltip.
I agree, and I confess I'm also one of them. I don't really like to spend 10 minutes just to understand what the map I'm playing is about... I take the time to read when I'm playing against the AI, but let's be honest, maps with complicated gameplay mechanics (ie. complicated enough to require tooltips for explanations) are often 100% made for multiplayer with human players only. In my humble opinion, the main reason why these maps are awful is because they're just a succession of bad decisions in term of design. Making a game with 3 pages of information to read is just a pain, no matter what.
I'd rather put the player directly into the game and let him figure out what he must do rather than popping a tooltip every 10 seconds to tell him "hey look, this unit can do that!". It's true that players are not designers, but they're not dumb enough to be unable to figure how a game has to be played on their own. The worst thing to do is to spam them with confusing tips they don't need, just to let them understand the basics of your gameplay.
It's not the player who's supposed to adapt to the map (if you expect players to choose a confusing map when there are dozens of fun and easy to play maps available everywhere, trust me you'll lose this battle)... It's the role of a designer to think his map ahead and make sure everything is easy to understand without tons of instructions, no matter how complicated the gameplay of the map is in the end. Design (especially Game Design) is not an easy job at all, I've said this many times on SC2Mapster already and I'll keep saying it until people understand that it's not something anybody can do.
I just discovered a massively multiplayer RTS game entitled End of Nations.
I watched an interview which was quite interesting, revealing interesting facts such as:
asymmetrical gameplay (factions) just like SC2
can be played with +/-50 players at the same time!
customization of your units (not only skins but also their abilities and such)
some people in the design team previously worked on the Command & Conquer series
this game is free to play
teamwork is highly encouraged (some objectives rely on your synchronization)
The official website offers to subscribe to the beta version in case you're interested. I just thought it was an interesting game to share, I think I'm not the only fan of RTS games around here who could be interested in playing this game.
I don't have the editor opened to check, but I think there is an action that can actually do this. Search your triggers for a "show/hide minimap terrain" action somewhere, I bet that's your problem. Either that, or you modified the default Game UI in the Data window and something is not displaying properly anymore.
I'm not sure each of them can be considered "metal" so to speak, but here's my current playlist:
3 doors down ; Apocalyptica; Dragonforce; Evanescence (...what a joke compared to Nightwish!); Iron Maiden; Marilyn Manson (not fond of it); Metallica; Muse; Nightwish; Nirvana; Offspring (I think I haven't listened to them since I'm 16... but it's still there!); Powerman 5000; Pro-pain; Puddle of mud; Static X; Sum 41 (not listening to them anymore either); System of a Down
...And I also have some albums from Rammstein (German group), Noir Désir and Lofofora (French groups, but Noir Désir can't be considered metal). My favorite at the moment is Dragonforce and I always enjoy listening to Metallica a bit. I used to have some albums from A Perfect Circle as well as Cradle of Filth, Disturbed, Slipknot, Korn, Godsmack (prince of persia soundtrack), Lacuna Coil, Fear Factory (messiah soundtrack), Rob Zombie, Pantera, Sepultura,...
It can probably work if the caster of the instant effect is the building itself, and the created unit inherits the move order from the instant effect. I don't have the editor opened right now, but I'd check the "rally point" ability and see how it gives the order to move units. There has to be an effect which assign a target according to where the rally point is, I'd start with searching for either an "issue order" ability being cast when the "load/unload" ability ends, and/or a parameter in the "load/unload" ability that inherits a parameter from the "rally point" ability.
I don't have the exact numbers but my Ikari Warriors map is around 2Mb (including 3 imported sounds)... I also uploaded a private version with imported soundtracks (in a single file), which is around 13Mb (8 tracks total). It's very modest compared to all the projects above, but I just wanted to make my point and say I don't see the point in making a map that large.
In my opinion, there is enough data in SC2 (and its official mods) to make an interesting map without importing hundreds of models, sounds, soundtracks, textures and such. The mod file for StarJeweled is around 3Mb, and this map is more popular than the other official Blizzard maps (Left 2 Die and Aiur Chef) respectively with 32Mb and 28Mb mod files. 70Mb for a single map is insane, and not in a good way (the conversion of the SC1 campaign uses a mod that size... for the whole thing!). You're just being too greedy. And besides, if your map fails to be popular this was all done for nothing...
We definitely need more of these... and actually, there is a channel on Youtube about kids reacting to various internet memes (and teens reacting about trailers and such) right here: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheFineBros?feature=watch
It's not about Starcraft 2 but it's still funny. I guess your video is strongly inspired by them.
I also know of a few videos about seniors trying to identify consoles, pads, mobile phones, computer mouse and such (and guess what it's used for), but it's in French though... The same was done with kids trying to guess how old console games cartridges, floppy disks, or even vinyls were used:
...or a division by zero. If the formula determining damage reduction includes the damage value, you could end up with a division by zero at some point which is mathematically impossible. By default it would generate an error, probably resulting in the unit being destroyed.
Tu me rappelles étrangement quelqu'un que je connais... et qui a d'ailleurs Nemo pour pseudo, mais lui est suisse! ;)
Anyway, I'll take some time later to gather all names in the original post. Just in case I'm not around here in the days to come and/or some moderator wants to do it himself:
ZealNaga (forums) ZealNaga#252 Available in EU (maybe NA?)
Map slots left: 10 (70MB)
Sharing conditions:
will only accept finished maps (beyond beta version)
will upload and take care of updates in EU
IF you can do the same for me in NA (I usually try to upload major updates only)
I was wondering if anyone would agree on creating a list of "trustable" people ready to share someone's map from a server to another. Let's just say you have a map on a server, and guys from another server are looking forward to play it but you can't afford (or just don't want) to get access to other servers. We should gather a few names of active members from our forums (preferably the notorious and active ones we can trust, obviously) that people can contact if they need their map shared worldwide. We already have that kind of list for feedback and testing, I just though it's also a great idea for anyone willing to share maps worldwide. It should contain a few things just like this:
Pseudonym (SC2Mapster)
Pseudonym (ingame) #BNet Code
Available in Region(s):
Map slots left (in publish window) & Capacity left (MBs in publish window)
Sharing conditions (if you want your name included in credits, won't accept people as friends in the game, will only share a map in exchange for help/feedback/favor returned, won't share maps higher than 10MB, or whatever...)
I like the engine, but I don't like the fact that they're making yet another FPS out of it. Something tells me it will just be another multiplayer game with CTF, KotH, and the likes... So basically, the game will be boring anyway.
But I wonder if the same applies to video gaming. While is "entertainment", it is nothing like the larger entertainment business.
Maybe I'm just misunderstanding what you're trying to say, but video games are pretty close to being the #1 entertainment business worldwide. I just found a source to have some kind of proof:
http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/Video_game_industry
Quote:
It surpassed the U.S. movie and music industry in 2005 and 2007 respectively. In the 2008, the UK industry blew past the music industry and is expected top DVD sales in the near future.
Surprisingly though, the book industry is the real #1 and I didn't expect that at all... I was convinced the video games industry was #1 until I checked this page. Even though it's 4 years old now (more or less), I assume it's still pretty accurate.
0
...The reward is actually the most important part! If the player does this for nothing, he'll just quit (and probably never come back). In DOTA, an example of reward is leveling up to learn new or stronger abilities. It's also the case when you reach the enemy base and are able to put a tower down by cooperating with your teammates. An example of challenge would be when you're facing a player from the opposing team, and the fun part is pretty much anything else. And I'm not even talking about the mobs you can attack all around the map...
I don't know the other maps except Bunker Wars, but I honestly don't like this one. It's basically just about positioning your army to get rid of someone else's army with minimal loss... The "fun-challenge-reward" loop is still there though, it's not always literally about earning resources or upgrades... The reward can simply be the victory itself, while the challenge is to get rid of an opponent. Trust me, there is ALWAYS a fun-challenge-reward somewhere. What makes casual players "casual" though, is precisely the fact that they don't care about beating the challenge. They just play for fun, and if the challenge is too tough they'll just skip it and do something else, no matter how good is the reward.
In Diablo 3 (which is A-W-E-S-O-M-E by the way, in case someone here missed the open beta weekend and was wondering), you keep killing mobs for fun, then fight a strong opponent or a boss (challenge), and you get a rare item as a reward... The fun-challenge-reward loops in Diablo 3 are particularly well done in my opinion, the level up system makes you want to keep playing for hours until you get all the powers for your character...
The funny thing is you can pretty much say the same about FarmVille or Angry Birds or any game on Facebook and the likes, except the "challenge" part is voluntarily extremely simple ("Oh no, my flowers are dying from a spreading disease! Sadface! I need to buy this extremely expensive medicine to save them!"). Casual players absolutely love these games with almost no challenge at all, while hardcore gamers just find them boring as hell... Hardcore players will play games mostly for its challenges (which is why multiplayer games are so popular among hardcore players, facing a real opponent makes the victory/reward worth it).
0
@Taintedwisp: Go
Not entirely true. It's not just a matter of fun or not. It's a matter of how frustrating your gameplay is. Some games are not fun at all, and yet you'll keep playing till the end. It's basically a loop including 3 simple things: fun, then challenge, and finally reward. Rinse and repeat. Fun alone is not enough... and that's what a huge majority of mappers don't even know, because they're basically players more than designers.
0
I agree, and I confess I'm also one of them. I don't really like to spend 10 minutes just to understand what the map I'm playing is about... I take the time to read when I'm playing against the AI, but let's be honest, maps with complicated gameplay mechanics (ie. complicated enough to require tooltips for explanations) are often 100% made for multiplayer with human players only. In my humble opinion, the main reason why these maps are awful is because they're just a succession of bad decisions in term of design. Making a game with 3 pages of information to read is just a pain, no matter what.
I'd rather put the player directly into the game and let him figure out what he must do rather than popping a tooltip every 10 seconds to tell him "hey look, this unit can do that!". It's true that players are not designers, but they're not dumb enough to be unable to figure how a game has to be played on their own. The worst thing to do is to spam them with confusing tips they don't need, just to let them understand the basics of your gameplay.
It's not the player who's supposed to adapt to the map (if you expect players to choose a confusing map when there are dozens of fun and easy to play maps available everywhere, trust me you'll lose this battle)... It's the role of a designer to think his map ahead and make sure everything is easy to understand without tons of instructions, no matter how complicated the gameplay of the map is in the end. Design (especially Game Design) is not an easy job at all, I've said this many times on SC2Mapster already and I'll keep saying it until people understand that it's not something anybody can do.
0
I just discovered a massively multiplayer RTS game entitled End of Nations.
I watched an interview which was quite interesting, revealing interesting facts such as:
The official website offers to subscribe to the beta version in case you're interested. I just thought it was an interesting game to share, I think I'm not the only fan of RTS games around here who could be interested in playing this game.
0
I don't have the editor opened to check, but I think there is an action that can actually do this. Search your triggers for a "show/hide minimap terrain" action somewhere, I bet that's your problem. Either that, or you modified the default Game UI in the Data window and something is not displaying properly anymore.
0
I'm not sure each of them can be considered "metal" so to speak, but here's my current playlist:
3 doors down ; Apocalyptica; Dragonforce; Evanescence (...what a joke compared to Nightwish!); Iron Maiden; Marilyn Manson (not fond of it); Metallica; Muse; Nightwish; Nirvana; Offspring (I think I haven't listened to them since I'm 16... but it's still there!); Powerman 5000; Pro-pain; Puddle of mud; Static X; Sum 41 (not listening to them anymore either); System of a Down
...And I also have some albums from Rammstein (German group), Noir Désir and Lofofora (French groups, but Noir Désir can't be considered metal). My favorite at the moment is Dragonforce and I always enjoy listening to Metallica a bit. I used to have some albums from A Perfect Circle as well as Cradle of Filth, Disturbed, Slipknot, Korn, Godsmack (prince of persia soundtrack), Lacuna Coil, Fear Factory (messiah soundtrack), Rob Zombie, Pantera, Sepultura,...
0
It can probably work if the caster of the instant effect is the building itself, and the created unit inherits the move order from the instant effect. I don't have the editor opened right now, but I'd check the "rally point" ability and see how it gives the order to move units. There has to be an effect which assign a target according to where the rally point is, I'd start with searching for either an "issue order" ability being cast when the "load/unload" ability ends, and/or a parameter in the "load/unload" ability that inherits a parameter from the "rally point" ability.
0
You can also do that in only one trigger:
Event: Map init
Conditions: None
Actions:
Repeat forever:
0
True enough, but something tells me that when you make a map worth 70Mb of data, you want it to become popular...
0
I don't have the exact numbers but my Ikari Warriors map is around 2Mb (including 3 imported sounds)... I also uploaded a private version with imported soundtracks (in a single file), which is around 13Mb (8 tracks total). It's very modest compared to all the projects above, but I just wanted to make my point and say I don't see the point in making a map that large.
In my opinion, there is enough data in SC2 (and its official mods) to make an interesting map without importing hundreds of models, sounds, soundtracks, textures and such. The mod file for StarJeweled is around 3Mb, and this map is more popular than the other official Blizzard maps (Left 2 Die and Aiur Chef) respectively with 32Mb and 28Mb mod files. 70Mb for a single map is insane, and not in a good way (the conversion of the SC1 campaign uses a mod that size... for the whole thing!). You're just being too greedy. And besides, if your map fails to be popular this was all done for nothing...
0
We definitely need more of these... and actually, there is a channel on Youtube about kids reacting to various internet memes (and teens reacting about trailers and such) right here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheFineBros?feature=watch
It's not about Starcraft 2 but it's still funny. I guess your video is strongly inspired by them.
I also know of a few videos about seniors trying to identify consoles, pads, mobile phones, computer mouse and such (and guess what it's used for), but it's in French though... The same was done with kids trying to guess how old console games cartridges, floppy disks, or even vinyls were used:
0
...or a division by zero. If the formula determining damage reduction includes the damage value, you could end up with a division by zero at some point which is mathematically impossible. By default it would generate an error, probably resulting in the unit being destroyed.
0
Attention.
Tu me rappelles étrangement quelqu'un que je connais... et qui a d'ailleurs Nemo pour pseudo, mais lui est suisse! ;)
Anyway, I'll take some time later to gather all names in the original post. Just in case I'm not around here in the days to come and/or some moderator wants to do it himself:
ZealNaga (forums)
ZealNaga#252
Available in EU (maybe NA?)
Map slots left: 10 (70MB)
Sharing conditions:
IF you can do the same for me in NA (I usually try to upload major updates only)
0
I was wondering if anyone would agree on creating a list of "trustable" people ready to share someone's map from a server to another. Let's just say you have a map on a server, and guys from another server are looking forward to play it but you can't afford (or just don't want) to get access to other servers. We should gather a few names of active members from our forums (preferably the notorious and active ones we can trust, obviously) that people can contact if they need their map shared worldwide. We already have that kind of list for feedback and testing, I just though it's also a great idea for anyone willing to share maps worldwide. It should contain a few things just like this:
EUROPE
* (optional) Promote RuneCraft on your loading screen
* Will take care of updates without conditions
* Share his maps in NA
NORTH AMERICA
* crazy.478 (SEA)
SOUTH-EAST ASIA
* crazy.106 (NA)
0
@Hookah604: Go
I like the engine, but I don't like the fact that they're making yet another FPS out of it. Something tells me it will just be another multiplayer game with CTF, KotH, and the likes... So basically, the game will be boring anyway.
Maybe I'm just misunderstanding what you're trying to say, but video games are pretty close to being the #1 entertainment business worldwide. I just found a source to have some kind of proof: http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/Video_game_industry
Surprisingly though, the book industry is the real #1 and I didn't expect that at all... I was convinced the video games industry was #1 until I checked this page. Even though it's 4 years old now (more or less), I assume it's still pretty accurate.