(6) Warlords

**Captain Griffen** · 04-30-2007, 08:36 PM

Warlords

By Captain Griffen

Story:
A kingdom lies broken. Leaderless, divided - weak. Hordes gather beyond the Heathen Wall, ready to strike. The Canith Empire has no desire to takes these lands, but the best chance of stopping the barbarian hordes is at the Wall. Imperial forces are dispatched, establishing a fort on the only pass though the wall in the area. Meanwhile, three warlords descend like vultures onto the striken lands. Only one may victor - but only if the barbarians are stopped.
Summary:
- The three warlords gain spawns and gold from villages and towns. By taking over other towns they can become more powerful. They gain victory by defeating the other two warlords and the barbarians.
- The barbarians start off in a strong defensive position, with a large number of towers, but penned in by the Wall and the Imperial fort. In order to win, they must break out and defeat the three warlords and destroy the other less well defended Imperial barracks. As time goes on, they become stronger and gain more income, meaning that if they are not dealt with then they eventually becoming overpowering and unbeatable.
- The Imperials must defeat the barbarians to win. Their income is at a fixed level.
- Each unit takes up upkeep, which equates to a reduction in gold income.
Features:
- Fast paced combat, and generally a quick game.
- Some thought and guile required for the warlords to win. If they decide to fight amongst themselves, they strengthen the hand of the barbarians. But if they decide to fight together against the barbarians, how can they know one won't hold back and backstab them?
- The Imperial forces cannot takes towns, but could intervene into the warlord's struggle to ensure one person takes rapid dominance. Though if the other two realise the plan, it would be in their interest to unite.
- Special buildings such as the blacksmith. Whichever warlord controls the blacksmith gains +1 damage to any units trained.
- Rebuildable towers, though they cannot be rebuild during combat easily, and only on designated and pre-selected areas.
- Barbarians can portal to anywhere on the map, enabling them to turn the tide by sneak attacks or attacking from multiple locations.

Change Log

Rao Dao Zao · 04-30-2007, 09:54 PM

Full import credits in your post there, Griffo?

I thought not.

Dis-proven

darkwulfv · 05-01-2007, 12:38 AM

Wow. That's Irony to the maximum.

Mezzer · 05-01-2007, 01:01 AM

I'd say revenge.

Anyway, will take a crack at it tomorrow and I'll get back to you with my 2 dimes (I'm rich! ^^).

Daxtreme · 05-01-2007, 02:16 AM

Unapproved

Fundamentally flawed.

------------------------------------------------

Kidding :P

I played this map full house, good stuff.

Pros:

Complex (and not complicated :P) gameplay which involves partial teamplay and taking the right decisions.
Every faction has its pros and cons.
Custom spells (Probably all are triggered).
Fast-paced and easy to understand.
Fairly balanced.

Cons:

Many tooltips contain errors. Missing letters, wrong spelling/grammar, etc.
Too many messages when game begins. We got a leaver just because of those :P Said it was "too damn confusing".
The portal for Barbarians sometimes not teleports units. Like a bugged waygate :P Units Cluster around and don't get teleported.
I didn't notice items. Are there items in this map? If yes, I'm sorry but I saw none :P

Overall, nice map. One can really enjoy it. The fact that you never walk around in pure boredom is nice. Ogres are a bit overpowered though ;)

**Captain Griffen** · 05-01-2007, 06:29 AM

Glad you liked it, thanks for the feedback.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daxtreme

Custom spells (Probably all are triggered).

Nah, hardly any are triggered, but they're all interesting, no?

Quote:

Many tooltips contain errors. Missing letters, wrong spelling/grammar, etc.

Sometime soon I'll go through them all fix them and harmonise the style.

Quote:

Too many messages when game begins. We got a leaver just because of those :P Said it was "too damn confusing".

I've been thinking about this. I think I'll move the background stuff to quests, and some of the info to the loading screen.

Quote:

The portal for Barbarians sometimes not teleports units. Like a bugged waygate :P Units Cluster around and don't get teleported.

I think I need to add in a check to stop you portalling where it is blocked by pathing.

Quote:

I didn't notice items. Are there items in this map? If yes, I'm sorry but I saw none :P

No items, not really much need.

Quote:

Ogres are a bit overpowered though ;)

They are expensive and powerful, but not amazing in combat. More of them means less arcane elementals being summoned behind your lines.

**Captain Griffen** · 05-01-2007, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rao Dao Zao

Full import credits in your post there, Griffo?

I thought not.

Dis-proven

Rao, you know damned well it's the map it needs to be in, not the submission post.

Anyway, new version out. 0.1.9l.

> Fixed memory leak in portaling.
> Fixed portal error for areas that aren't pathable.
> Made portal errors display to ally when the portaling player leaves.
> Fixed portal to use location of the teleportation node, rather than the casting.
> Nerfed Nature's Retribution.
> Fixed several tooltips, especially spearman tooltip.
> Changed messages at start; moved background to quests.
> Added About section to quests.
> Changed quest strings to be correct for information.
> Changed to loading screen with basic info.
> First Imperial trebuchet cost up to 6, from 0.
> Monk's heal range increased and cooldown reduced.
> Revive cooldown and mana cost down.
> Fixed Restore (was healing too efficiently, due to weird Blizzard labeling).
> Ability tooltips changed to have short, non-necessary messages on them.

**Captain Griffen** · 05-01-2007, 06:53 PM

New emergancy version released due to major bug caused by unitilialised variable killing off a thread.

> Fixed tower ownership switching and resetting of spawns on capture of control points.
> Fixed slowing effect of Battle Cry.
> Removed mana from Elven soldiers.
> Fixed level requirements for store/release energy.

Rao Dao Zao · 05-02-2007, 12:50 PM

Triple posting, absolutely shameful.

Graveyarded

**Captain Griffen** · 05-05-2007, 09:35 PM

New version released. Sort of untested, and the Fire Pot ability is a semi-placeholder, since I'll be triggering it in future (if it stays). I've left up 0.1.9m, as well as the new version, for those reasons.

Chriz. · 05-13-2007, 05:20 PM

Here we go.

Pros:
Beautiful terrain, and very playable.
Good model choice, the custom ones I mean, they all fit very well with the style of the Warcraft standard units and each other, making the armies as a whole feel that much more complete.
Interesting abilities on heroes.
Interesting concept.
Complex strategy is involved, and teamwork.
No visible bugs or spelling/grammatical errors.
Has my Trebuchet in it (^_^)

Cons:As I noticed early on, it's not the most new player friendly game. This might have been because I went against you and Anitarf both times, perhaps if it was equal newness on both sides, the game would have been more equal.
Teleport seemed too imbalanced, it allowed way too many problems on the Warlord side of the map when abused. I know this is the aim of the game, but to this extent it seemed unfair.
Lag. I don't know if it was just the host, which it most likely is, but both games had a lot of lag. I won't hold this against your approval, but it's something to look into, maybe memory leaks or something.

In conclusion, I approve this map. It is balanced (I saw both sides win just as easily), very easy on the eyes, and challenging. A very different game than one usually finds on Battle.net.

Even though I approve, please go back and look into any issues I have addressed, because the map can only be made even better.

**Captain Griffen** · 05-13-2007, 05:30 PM

Thanks for the feedback (and the approval).

*gives cookies*

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chriz.

As I noticed early on, it's not the most new player friendly game. This might have been because I went against you and Anitarf both times, perhaps if it was equal newness on both sides, the game would have been more equal.

Aye, this is a bit of a problem. Mainly it comes down to noticing new ways to apply the tools (units and abilities) - I aim to make it easy to play, hard to master.

Quote:

Teleport seemed too imbalanced, it allowed way too many problems on the Warlord side of the map when abused. I know this is the aim of the game, but to this extent it seemed unfair.

I must say that was the most dominating usage of it I've seen. I'll probably reduce the effective cooldown, or maybe reduce the range. Hmm...I'll think on it.

Quote:

Lag. I don't know if it was just the host, which it most likely is, but both games had a lot of lag. I won't hold this against your approval, but it's something to look into, maybe memory leaks or something.

Runs fine on my really old computer that bugs out on many maps. I blame the upload capacity of my broadband. Normally it's fine, but sometimes it's a bit variable I think.

Quote:

Even though I approve, please go back and look into any issues I have addressed, because the map can only be made even better.

Thank you, always nice to have more angles.

SeasonsOfLove · 05-17-2007, 01:10 AM

Pros:

Beautiful terrain
Interesting and useful abilities on the heroes
Requires complex thinking and strategy
Interesting gameplay: Competition/cooperation with the warlords/imperial, fighting against the barbarians.
As Chriz. said, no visible issues with grammar/spelling/credits (except that I wasn't in it :P)

Chriz. has my major concern (the first), but another concern I noticed: Why are the tower foundations left after a player is left with nothing else? Also, why does a player continue to get income at this point?

Overall, I approve of this map.

**Captain Griffen** · 05-17-2007, 10:07 AM

Thank you for the comments, and of course the approval.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeasonsOfLove

Why are the tower foundations left after a player is left with nothing else?

Scenery? And it doesn't affect anything really (though warlord ones can be captured, and at some point I ought to make it so warlords can rebuild the Imperial's towers at the fort if the Imperial player isn't there).

Quote:

Also, why does a player continue to get income at this point?

Again, it has no effect. I could make it stop giving income, but since they can't transfer it anyway, it makes no difference. They cannot transfer because Imperials can use gold much more effectively, etc., and issues like that due to asymetric design.

SeasonsOfLove · 05-17-2007, 09:20 PM

The only thing is: If a player stays in, with the foundations left, said player is able to use the income to upgrade the foundations, which can help a fair amount if the other barbarian is still alive.

05-01-2007, 01:01 AM	#4
Mezzer :emote_grin: Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 841 Submissions (1)	I'd say revenge. Anyway, will take a crack at it tomorrow and I'll get back to you with my 2 dimes (I'm rich! ^^). __________________ And once again, Probability proves itself willing to sneak into a back alley and service Drama as would a copper-piece harlot.

05-01-2007, 02:16 AM	#5
Daxtreme Wc3Helper Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 199 Submissions (2)	Unapproved Fundamentally flawed. ------------------------------------------------ Kidding :P I played this map full house, good stuff. Pros: Complex (and not complicated :P) gameplay which involves partial teamplay and taking the right decisions. Every faction has its pros and cons. Custom spells (Probably all are triggered). Fast-paced and easy to understand. Fairly balanced. Cons: Many tooltips contain errors. Missing letters, wrong spelling/grammar, etc. Too many messages when game begins. We got a leaver just because of those :P Said it was "too damn confusing". The portal for Barbarians sometimes not teleports units. Like a bugged waygate :P Units Cluster around and don't get teleported. I didn't notice items. Are there items in this map? If yes, I'm sorry but I saw none :P Overall, nice map. One can really enjoy it. The fact that you never walk around in pure boredom is nice. Ogres are a bit overpowered though ;) __________________ www.thehelper.net Last edited by Daxtreme : 05-01-2007 at 02:16 AM.

05-17-2007, 01:10 AM	#13
SeasonsOfLove A Nitpicky Map Reviewer Official Map Reviewer Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 257	Pros: Beautiful terrain Interesting and useful abilities on the heroes Requires complex thinking and strategy Interesting gameplay: Competition/cooperation with the warlords/imperial, fighting against the barbarians. As Chriz. said, no visible issues with grammar/spelling/credits (except that I wasn't in it :P) Chriz. has my major concern (the first), but another concern I noticed: Why are the tower foundations left after a player is left with nothing else? Also, why does a player continue to get income at this point? Overall, I approve of this map. __________________ Clan TDG - Quality mapmaking, dedicated playtesting.

05-17-2007, 09:20 PM	#15
SeasonsOfLove A Nitpicky Map Reviewer Official Map Reviewer Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 257	The only thing is: If a player stays in, with the foundations left, said player is able to use the income to upgrade the foundations, which can help a fair amount if the other barbarian is still alive. __________________ Clan TDG - Quality mapmaking, dedicated playtesting.

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