(10) Fate - AoS

[Mezzer]

Well, i finally gave up and decided to ask for help . Ok, here's a general overview of the map:
The map features 2 team (up to 5 players each) on opposite sides of the map connected by 5 main paths. Creeps spawn regularly along these paths for both teams. Each pair of paths (the outer two and inner two, the middle is singled out) has it's own type of creeps. The paths to each base are protected by a series of towers that vary in strength.

Each player controls a hero he selects at the begging of the game from one of the 4 hero halls (2 on each team). There are (or will be, seeing as how this version is missing 7 heroes that im still working on ) 48 heroes to chose from, each as unique as possible, and all made by me.

The only resourse used is gold, which you acquire by killing enemy units. You can then use it to buy various items for your hero (well over 100 items, this version lacking, of course ). The items can also be combined to form new, stronger items, socketed, to add different abilities to existing items, or combined into sets (not implemented in this version) to gain additional bonuses when you posses the entire set.

Ok, thats enough general. Here's what i want ():
- You to look at the map and tell me what you do or do not like (please?)
- Some terrainers to give me some tips on improving the aesthetic part of the map
- You to ask question about stuff, so i can answer them and gain insight into the fuzzier section of the map (was that a coherent thought? )
- A ton of feedback

Anyway, i put a lot of love and time into the map, and its nearing completion. I just wanna make it as good as possible, so people can have fun playing it. Im gonna post screenshots as soon as i get the opportunity, but right now, i just need some oppinions (please?)

Ok, thx! (having read this, i find myself sounding misserable worried and very apologetic, i apologise sincerely and ask your forgiveness )

[Whitehorn]

This sounds exactly like every other AOS map out there.

[Mezzer]

Ok, try it. It just might be, but then again, i sincerelly hope that it's got enough good stuff to distinguish it from the rest. I wasnt going for originality, i was trying to do something with quality

[SeasonsOfLove]

The 5-lane design is severely flawed, because it makes switching lanes a living hell (huge map size + no easy way to switch lanes). It also isn't clear where the paths are, to switch lanes in the middle. The terrain is overbearing, too dark, so it's hard to distinguish well between trees and pathing.

If you want to do 5 lanes, please make a way to get around easier. And the spells leave much to be desired. 48 heroes means spells get really lame, like DotA Allstars. They repeat a lot. That sort of thing. Less heroes and better spells is a much better alternative. And the spell effects even leave much to be desired.

[Hyarion]

Ahh.
Identikit AoS #98124

[Mezzer]

Actually, swithching between lanes shouldnt be a problem, there are paths that connect the lanes in the middle diagonal and halfway up each path. The current version, however, has some creeps in those paths that need to be removed. And i wanted it to look dark

[Fulla]

Sigh, another map protected :-(

[Fulla]

Ok I had a quick look>

Cons
- Hero abilities seemed very basic, I only tried 2 heroes the warrior princess and the female archer.
- I thought u'd atleast have each hero with a cool ultimate but most seemed to be basic warcraft abilities or your average joe passive ability.
- Maybe I missed it but it doesnt seem ure able to upgrade your teams units? research a few spells for them or buy more units to be spawned?

Pros
- Map/Terrain looked pretty good but perhaps a little bit big (Id recommend some teleport beacons or something)
- I liked the units, such as knight vs non hero deathknights =D
- Item recipes looked good as well

[Mezzer]

Try some more intresting heroes, the undead side has much more intresting heroes (working on fixing that), i recomend the guardian of the depths for flashy, the undead panda (cant remember the name ) for appeal and, um, just try some of the undead heroes. The heroes you tried are both very basic. Oh, and no, i didnt want to include anything that lets you tamper with your team's creeps, except maybe to give each side's units a bonus based on how they're going against the other team. Like some little damage and armor bonus foe every creep or something like that. But that aint in there yet

[Hyarion]

Having looked at it:
It sucks, but not as badly as I'd imagined.
The Flavour Tooltips for the heroes are a nice touch; do more of those for the items. Also: Towers are FAR too powerful. They can kill you in two hits at level one; as soon as you go within range, you're doomed. They should take at least five hits to kill you.
The terrain is nice. Remove the Howl of Terror SFX from undead towers though, and remove the Wisps from the undead half of the terrain. Give each hero a free teleport staff, so they can get around the large map easily, though make sure it has a long casting time, so it isn't just an escape tool.

The problem is, the AoS genre has already been perfected. Those who want an AoS with complexity and depth have Eve Of The Apocalypse (The SECOND map to be spotlighted by Blizzard!), and those who want a quick bash that requires lots of memorising have DotA (The FIRST map to be spotlighted by Blizzard, because it's popular.)

[Mezzer]

Ok, thx for the input. In case you missed it, there are more kinds of towers, Lv1 towers on the outer paths and lv2 towers everywhere else, save the main structure. You are intentionally meant to be wary of lv2 towers, since they're all that can really stop a ton of rampaging creeps. And not being hit by a tower doesnt take much practice. And apparently, a lot of people think the map size is to big, ill have to put some thought into that.

[Fulla]

Originally Posted by Mezzer

Ok, thx for the input. In case you missed it, there are more kinds of towers, Lv1 towers on the outer paths and lv2 towers everywhere else, save the main structure. You are intentionally meant to be wary of lv2 towers, since they're all that can really stop a ton of rampaging creeps. And not being hit by a tower doesnt take much practice. And apparently, a lot of people think the map size is to big, ill have to put some thought into that.

You could just have a mini base at the start of each path with "waypoints" so you can teleport around a bit for easy access.

[Mezzer]

Hm, true enough, but i still aint certain that it needs something like that. There are two items that you can buy to speed your hero up significantly, and there's one that teleports you. Donno, will have to see. Did you try any more heroes Fulla?

[erwtenpeller]

Originally Posted by Hyarion

The problem is, the AoS genre has already been perfected. Those who want an AoS with complexity and depth have Eve Of The Apocalypse (The SECOND map to be spotlighted by Blizzard!), and those who want a quick bash that requires lots of memorising have DotA (The FIRST map to be spotlighted by Blizzard, because it's popular.)

and those who want to play an AoS that is actually good play tides of blood.

5 lanes is flawe for more then one reason, the game will become too solo. AoS is supposed to be a team effort right? with 5 lanes and 5 heros, you'll have each hero have a whole lane to itself the first half of the game, wich is boring.

also, too many items and heros to choose from. this way you'll never have something that sticks. As said before, better have a couple of heros that oooze character and have nice looking original abilities without going overboard on trigerred effects, the a bazillion corny heros. Same with items.

Also, make the map as small as possible. If you want tactics in it, you'll have top be able to move heros around easely without stupid gimmicky tricks like teleport staves. Teleporting should be for that one or two heros that can.

[Mezzer]

erwtenpeller, did you try the map or? The point of 5 lanes is to devert from massive gang-bangs every 2 minutes. A variety of heroes and items helps diversify the game, making things more intresting, and i agree about the teleporting, thats why it aint there.