I was thinking about ways to add a little more depth to games(no particular game or type in mind) and then i realized how plain and boring 'researching' and 'upgrading' was. I thought up the idea of having a physical tech tree(i think this is pretty self explanatory). The basic idea is that the player could buy a tech unit which he would use to complete 'impossible scenarios'-like obstacles or tech levels in order to gain upgrades. However, these obstacles would use triggers to achieve desired levels of difficulty. The dificulty would steadily increase and there would be 'technology' branches that the player would have to research to complete a 'higher' technology(this is to reduce the linear-ness). After each tech level, the player might gain a building or be allowed to mind control a unit to get a certain technology.
This 'tech tree' could be used in many different types of games and for a variety of purposes.
I don't have a fully working model of this 'tech tree' yet, but i can provide you a demo map if you guys want to see one. Anyways, i want to see some of your ideas for tech levels if you wouldn't mind sharing them, the ones i am THINKING about(so don't bug me if they don't work out completely):
lvl 1
your zergling(6 hp, 2 attack) VS a marine(40 hp, 1 attack)
Challenge: your zergling's hp is too low(even though it has a better attack) to kill the rine
Solution: the marine will kill the ling without too much difficulty if the ling attacks outright, the trick is to do as much dmg as possible but retreating before the ling dies, after it heals to full health and then attack again - repeat as necessary. An exploit would be to let one ling die, and then make another one - my solution, restore the health of the rine whenever a ling dies.
lvl 2 - secondary branch
a zergling + a rine VS a dark archon + some ghosts infront of the archon + a timed kill-trigger
Challenge: You must kill the dark archon before the kill trigger finishes counting down(slightly longer than the maelstrom duration) but the dark archon's maelstrom will easily ruin your plans
Solution: very easy - the ghosts are simply hallucinations meant to encourage you to send your marine first, to take the dmg so your ling will do some dmg. However, since your ling will get in range before your rine, the DA will maelstrom it and take away your damage dealer and your DA will be strong enough to last till the kill-trigger. The solution is to jsut straightforward attack with your rine first, then your ling.
lvl 2 - primary branch
DA(if you did that tech for it) + goliath(50 hp / 20 attack) VS Ghost(50 hp / 100 attack) + a bunker
Challenge: The ghost just has too much range and damage for your goliath. And when you bring your DA over, the ghost will tuck itself into a bunker.
Solution: Simple lure the ghost away with the gol and then feedback it.
note: i wanna make this one harder.
lvl 3
One ghost(w/ cloak- 242energy-and lockdown- 2) vs a couple of tanks(strong enough to kill the ghost in two volleys) in a line + a science vessel moving back forth perpendicular to the tanks
Challenge: I think you know what it is.
Solution: this one will be a test of 'dexterity'? and reflexes. The high cost of the initial cloak and the science vessel will force the player to time when to cloak and decloak to regain much needed energy for lockdown.
Your map idea is just tedious. Too much thought involved. Most of the fun maps have no technical mechanics like your map does solely because they sacrafice game mechanics (some maps don't even begin with mechanics) for simple clean fun.
Theres an asian map that sorta has this kind of play, only the units are both owned by computer players. Each army stands on each side, and you select which side you think will win. Now thats entertainment. Muahahahaha.
I can post the map for inspirational ideas if you want.
well, this idea wasn't meant to be a map all by itself, rather it was supposed to be an addition to a map, just to add some substance. For an RPG map, the hero would have to fight to gain experience points, and when he has enough, he would them to 'buy' units to do the obstacle. If he fails, he would have to fight for the experience to buy another unit. If he wins, he will gain a level. I thought by adding something like this, it would add more depth to a game because not only do you have to gain experience, you have to have the skill to complete obstacles.
ps. can you post that asian map.
Hm, i didn't download it but it sounds like impossible scenarios and control is like impossible scenarios anyway. In fact, imp. scen. kinda inspired this idea. Unlike impossible though, the challenges will involve triggers due to space limitations.
my idea isn't for a whole map, but it would simply be a feature to in a map. I'll try to explain my idea more simply:
in a map, there would be a fairly large portion of it devoted to a "tech tree"(64 x 256 on a 256 x 256 map).
my idea would involve having the terrain look like those "tech tree" reference sheets they give you for a game.
The unit would start off at the bottom of the tech tree. Of course, it would steadily complete challenges to reach the top of the tech tree, occasionally, you would need two technologies(on the same level) to get to the next higher technology, much like an actual tech tree.
Like I said before, these tech trees could be used in many games. In an rpg, they could be a like a final test before the hero levels up, after he gains all the necessary experience