All fair. I think you and your mates did some really cool stuff, had some super hot ideas, but nailing the sweet spot isn't there yet. maybe next year.
Good luck finding a job. Put this game in your portfolio. Lots of people out there that use their leisure time far less constructive than you. Should give you a competitive edge! :)
I've recently played your map with a friend of mine. We both enjoyed playing MCpsycho's The last stand and I am referring to this latter game, because there are similarities with your map. I also think that a comparison will help me identify strong points and weak points [from my pov!]:
What I believe is good about 'the last stand':
- the heroes themselves can be played in multiple ways depending on what selection of skills you take. Though there is a promise of 432 combinations, in practise, there are a lot less, but still there are some real awesome combinations that make playing heroes in multiple ways incredibly funny. The heroes are also very diverse to one another. What is really good is that the early abilities are still very useful in some builds. In that sense, it is more about the combination, than simply picking the latest and greatest.
- the levels themselves are 7/10 in terms of fun. Some are very tedious, some are real fun. overall it is still a 7 though. The good thing about the levels is, that there are some tactics involved to beat them. This aspect should however be improved still as overall the feeling is that you simply stand still and beat the hell out of things.
- overall the levelling process gives you a sense of involvement. You learn to play your hero better, you master it, the hero grows stronger after beating certain bosses, you get to select a wider range of abilities, etc. It works out really well.
- I also liked to get the achievements, which made playing the game after a certain point still fun to do to some degree.
- Throughout the levelling process, difficulty is determined by your level of play (how well you understand and control your heroes) and the combination of heroes/abilities.
Your map also has some lovely aspects:
- multiple lvl characters can play 'together' in the same map, which is a smart innovation
- very well polished map. things look great, interface is gorgeous
However, there are some downsides:
- the levels themselves are quite boring: you get a wave of monsters to beat and that's it. You either kill them or not, there is not a sense of genuine strategy. Also if your dps is too low you simply get overwhelmed after a while.
- despite the fact that you can manipulate levels (fewer difficult monsters vs a lot of weaker ones), that difficulty is determined by the number of players, etc, this is immensely difficult to balance properly. I think it would be better to make things less flexible and put effort in creating interesting levels (e.g. monster combinations) that force you to play your character good rather than simply level the character to a point where the content becomes trivial.
- the heroes are also too linear.
From a development perspective I'm guessing you put in too much too soon. I think it will help the map a lot if you take out a lot of stuff and start smaller and build onwards from that. It takes a lot of time developing good heroes and levels. Though you developed a fantastic system, it feels too much like a create units at position Y and be done with it. I don't think that will generate a lot of involvement. At least not for me.
I realize I've been rather critical, but hopefully in a constructive manner. I also have n 8 month old baby on my lap, which doesn't help concentrating either.
Just wanted to compliment you on a lovely map that has great potential! :D
Hello, thank you for the work on this map. I've played the beta with some friends a couple of times. The most recent version I played had two teams battling against one another. I'm guessing you are experimenting a lot with the map. Not sure of the team thing works out.
The map in itts current incarnation felt a little bit to easy. I was able to complete levels 1-19 with my marauder, which I in fact was able to level solo. The last level? (20) is a tad too difficult to solo.
Not sure if you should have the artifact at the bottom, not sure if it should fire.
In general, make the levels more diverse, have random spawn point, dunno, make things harder when the averege level of characters is harder, make it so selecting different items has an impact on playing style. I think this latter remars is why the last stand is so good, you are able to play the same hero in multiple ways allowing some levels to be easier and others more difficult.
Good luck, I'll keep on playing the map from time to time to see how things are progressing.
0
@Nashadun:
All fair. I think you and your mates did some really cool stuff, had some super hot ideas, but nailing the sweet spot isn't there yet. maybe next year.
Good luck finding a job. Put this game in your portfolio. Lots of people out there that use their leisure time far less constructive than you. Should give you a competitive edge! :)
0
Hello Nashadun,
I've recently played your map with a friend of mine. We both enjoyed playing MCpsycho's The last stand and I am referring to this latter game, because there are similarities with your map. I also think that a comparison will help me identify strong points and weak points [from my pov!]:
What I believe is good about 'the last stand':
- the heroes themselves can be played in multiple ways depending on what selection of skills you take. Though there is a promise of 432 combinations, in practise, there are a lot less, but still there are some real awesome combinations that make playing heroes in multiple ways incredibly funny. The heroes are also very diverse to one another. What is really good is that the early abilities are still very useful in some builds. In that sense, it is more about the combination, than simply picking the latest and greatest.
- the levels themselves are 7/10 in terms of fun. Some are very tedious, some are real fun. overall it is still a 7 though. The good thing about the levels is, that there are some tactics involved to beat them. This aspect should however be improved still as overall the feeling is that you simply stand still and beat the hell out of things.
- overall the levelling process gives you a sense of involvement. You learn to play your hero better, you master it, the hero grows stronger after beating certain bosses, you get to select a wider range of abilities, etc. It works out really well.
- I also liked to get the achievements, which made playing the game after a certain point still fun to do to some degree.
- Throughout the levelling process, difficulty is determined by your level of play (how well you understand and control your heroes) and the combination of heroes/abilities.
Your map also has some lovely aspects:
- multiple lvl characters can play 'together' in the same map, which is a smart innovation
- very well polished map. things look great, interface is gorgeous
However, there are some downsides:
- the levels themselves are quite boring: you get a wave of monsters to beat and that's it. You either kill them or not, there is not a sense of genuine strategy. Also if your dps is too low you simply get overwhelmed after a while.
- despite the fact that you can manipulate levels (fewer difficult monsters vs a lot of weaker ones), that difficulty is determined by the number of players, etc, this is immensely difficult to balance properly. I think it would be better to make things less flexible and put effort in creating interesting levels (e.g. monster combinations) that force you to play your character good rather than simply level the character to a point where the content becomes trivial.
- the heroes are also too linear.
From a development perspective I'm guessing you put in too much too soon. I think it will help the map a lot if you take out a lot of stuff and start smaller and build onwards from that. It takes a lot of time developing good heroes and levels. Though you developed a fantastic system, it feels too much like a create units at position Y and be done with it. I don't think that will generate a lot of involvement. At least not for me.
I realize I've been rather critical, but hopefully in a constructive manner. I also have n 8 month old baby on my lap, which doesn't help concentrating either.
Just wanted to compliment you on a lovely map that has great potential! :D
0
Hello, thank you for the work on this map. I've played the beta with some friends a couple of times. The most recent version I played had two teams battling against one another. I'm guessing you are experimenting a lot with the map. Not sure of the team thing works out.
The map in itts current incarnation felt a little bit to easy. I was able to complete levels 1-19 with my marauder, which I in fact was able to level solo. The last level? (20) is a tad too difficult to solo.
Not sure if you should have the artifact at the bottom, not sure if it should fire.
In general, make the levels more diverse, have random spawn point, dunno, make things harder when the averege level of characters is harder, make it so selecting different items has an impact on playing style. I think this latter remars is why the last stand is so good, you are able to play the same hero in multiple ways allowing some levels to be easier and others more difficult.
Good luck, I'll keep on playing the map from time to time to see how things are progressing.
0
He's looking for help: http://forums.sc2mapster.com/general/team-recruitment/21917-psycho-mc-s-the-last-stand/#p2
Btw, I enjoy the map a lot. Shame not everyone logs in to the TLS channel as it makes finding people that want to beat 35 a little bit harder.