Report, edit, etc...Posted by linux_junkie on 2004-07-25 at 22:44:22
I have to admit, I think most RPG maps out there suck 
. They either have a point in them that is cheap or impossible, or start off good, but look hastily rushed at the end, or just suck straight through. So I got to thinking how I would fix those things if I was making an RPG, and I jotted them all down. Then I figured, why not ACTUALLY make an RPG, and prove that my ideas rock 
. So here is a rough sketch of my ideas in action:
As a change of pace, the computer will NOT be the enemy. The plotline of the game is thus: You and your 5 teammates (6 allied players) are international agents, and after a lengthy investigation into the activities of Zentech (human opponent), your orders have been sent in, with the objectives of bringing Zentech down. At the start of the game, both teams can set their difficulty level, based on their skill. When the Zentech team (white) sets his difficulty, from beginner, novice, or master, it will affect his minerals and number of units at the start. When the agents (red is leader) choose their difficulty, from trainee, agent, and secret agent, they set the number of objectives they must accomplish before they achieve victory.
I will be using installation terrain, mainly because this most closely resembles a corporate headquarters. Because of this setting, it has almost a cyberpunk theme to the world, which is somewhat rare in most a (in fact, I've seen none with this theme).
I want the building to be designed realistically, and I've done a pencil sketch of the terrain to ensure that it somewhat models a real building. Because of this, there will always be multiple paths to most any destination, ensuring a challenge for the Zentech player to defend, and ensuring no cheap tactics can be effective (i.e. ridiculous massing of units in a chokehold). This will force the Zentech player to think cleverly when setting up the building's security, since there will be few chokeholds that a player MUST pass through. Also, since the Zentech player will not know which objectives the players choose (he won't know their difficulty setting is), he won't even know the sector of the building to concentrate his efforts on. At his disposal are, a small number of scattered Technicians (SCVs), which are primarily used to build Security Cameras (Turrets), and Ventilation Covers (Supply Depots). Also, he'll have a number of Security Guards (marines) and Elite Guards (ghosts) scattered about. He will also have a few Sensor Sweeps (Sci Vessels) and a few Security Mecha (Goliaths) and Tanks (uh, Seige Tanks). Lastly, he'll also have the company's CEO (civilian).
The player's get to choose one of six possible characters. Only one of each character type is allowed per game, so in a full house, every character will be used. Each character can accomplish his missions through different methods, based on their particular strengths. Following is a description of each character:
Special Forces (Jim Raynor (marine)) - Second best at taking hits and second best at dishing them back out, the Special Forces unit is not your typical grunt. With finesse, style, and heavy weaponry, the marine has a number of tools at his disposal to carry out his well-planned slaughter and infiltration.
Spy (Sarah Kerrigan (ghost)) - Can accurately fire her weapon from an admirable distance, but not overly capable of dishing out enough damage to scare her jaded opponents. She makes up with this through stealth and cunning. And she needs every bit of trickery she can think up, because it doesn't take much to finish off this lovely killer.
Stealth Assassin (Devouring One) - This formidable killing machine flies past his enemies, killing them midstride. Deadly, efficient, and quick, this guy is up for most any task. He needs every bit of speed to help him though, since only a few hits will bring his career to a final halt.
Munitions Expert (Guy Montag) - A walking tank, the munitions expert takes the hits and dishes them back out tenfold. His knowledge of explosives helps him deal with dangerous situations, and pass through previously impassable barriers.
Psy Ops (Tassadar (templar)) - At an early age, the Psy Ops learned to focus his mental energies and manifest them in the physical. For one who focuses so much on the mind, it's amazing how resiliant he is incombat. Capable of projecting his mental energies into a sharp attack, and using those same energies to block incoming strikes, he can hold his own in battle. With his additional psychic powers, he is capable of wreaking havoc on his opponents.
Computer Hacker (Alexei Stukov (ghost)) - A shoddy shot, and a man with a glass jaw, the hacker is no warrior. He can, however, prove himself to be an elite killing machine: to computers. With a sharp wit, and dexterous fingers, the hacker can bring entire networks down to their knees.
I'm going to use a rather handy skill system in this, which I believe I saw mentiond in another forum, although I got the idea before hand from another map. Basically, certain units will represent certain skills, and when unloaded from the bunker they sit in (may also use a transport instead), the spell/skill will be activated. I saw this system used in the Worms map, using shuttles to unload spells, and it worked great. I figure, this should sure as hell beat moving civilians to beacons to activate skills, which requires that a player draw his focus from battle, since now all you'll have to do is hotkey your bunker/shuttle and press the appropriate hotkey. Because, let's face it, pressing a mere 2 keys to cast a spell rocks. All characters will get 3 different skill types, with an as yet undermined number of each to cast. For example, one of the marines skills will be a grenade. When activated, an observor appears over him, and he can move it around. When it leaves his grip, a 3 second timer is activated, and once the time runs out, BOOM! Skills like this will allow some additional strategy, I think, and keep things from becoming another kill/upgrade/kill/upgrade cycle.
One thing worth mentioning is the hacker. To keep his part from becoming boring, when he sits at a terminal to hack, he is teleported to the system, and must infiltrate through "firewalls", "security protocols", and avoid "scans", all the while weakening the system with "viruses", and attempt to temporarily seize root access to execute the desired function. So, in essence, the hacker has a different kind of battle to face, a much more dangerous one at that. Obviously, if his character dies within the system, he doesn't die in real-life, just gets denied access from that terminal. He has to be very careful when hacking, though, because if he damages the infrastructure too much, it will become inoperative, disallowing him to make use of the system. His role is very important in the infiltration, since he is capable of unlocking doors without keycards, deactivating security cameras in certain sectors, and locking enemies into rooms, or out of them for that matter.
There are three objectives for the agent's to accomplish (less if an easier difficulty setting is chosen). One is to destroy the labratory, where illegal products are being tested and developed (possibly genetic weaponry... RE anyone?). Another is to disable the company's main infrastructure, which can be done by destroying the power generators and external links (this can be made INFINITELY easier through the help of the hacker). And finally, to assassinate the well-protected and corrupt CEO.
I'm a firm believer in giving people options, so there will be at least 3 ways to do any particular task. This way, it forces players on both sides to think quickly and cleverly, and keeps things fresh and interesting. Anyways, that's about everything, and I see I've rambled on for way too long, so, tell me what you guys think. I should have a demo ready within a week. Won't be much, since I want to take my time with this and make sure it's done right, but it should at least have the terrain finished and all of the skills and characters set up, as well as some of the game's main triggers. Thanks for reading this (if you actually finished it)!
. They either have a point in them that is cheap or impossible, or start off good, but look hastily rushed at the end, or just suck straight through. So I got to thinking how I would fix those things if I was making an RPG, and I jotted them all down. Then I figured, why not ACTUALLY make an RPG, and prove that my ideas rock . So here is a rough sketch of my ideas in action:As a change of pace, the computer will NOT be the enemy. The plotline of the game is thus: You and your 5 teammates (6 allied players) are international agents, and after a lengthy investigation into the activities of Zentech (human opponent), your orders have been sent in, with the objectives of bringing Zentech down. At the start of the game, both teams can set their difficulty level, based on their skill. When the Zentech team (white) sets his difficulty, from beginner, novice, or master, it will affect his minerals and number of units at the start. When the agents (red is leader) choose their difficulty, from trainee, agent, and secret agent, they set the number of objectives they must accomplish before they achieve victory.
I will be using installation terrain, mainly because this most closely resembles a corporate headquarters. Because of this setting, it has almost a cyberpunk theme to the world, which is somewhat rare in most a (in fact, I've seen none with this theme).
I want the building to be designed realistically, and I've done a pencil sketch of the terrain to ensure that it somewhat models a real building. Because of this, there will always be multiple paths to most any destination, ensuring a challenge for the Zentech player to defend, and ensuring no cheap tactics can be effective (i.e. ridiculous massing of units in a chokehold). This will force the Zentech player to think cleverly when setting up the building's security, since there will be few chokeholds that a player MUST pass through. Also, since the Zentech player will not know which objectives the players choose (he won't know their difficulty setting is), he won't even know the sector of the building to concentrate his efforts on. At his disposal are, a small number of scattered Technicians (SCVs), which are primarily used to build Security Cameras (Turrets), and Ventilation Covers (Supply Depots). Also, he'll have a number of Security Guards (marines) and Elite Guards (ghosts) scattered about. He will also have a few Sensor Sweeps (Sci Vessels) and a few Security Mecha (Goliaths) and Tanks (uh, Seige Tanks). Lastly, he'll also have the company's CEO (civilian).
The player's get to choose one of six possible characters. Only one of each character type is allowed per game, so in a full house, every character will be used. Each character can accomplish his missions through different methods, based on their particular strengths. Following is a description of each character:
Special Forces (Jim Raynor (marine)) - Second best at taking hits and second best at dishing them back out, the Special Forces unit is not your typical grunt. With finesse, style, and heavy weaponry, the marine has a number of tools at his disposal to carry out his well-planned slaughter and infiltration.
Spy (Sarah Kerrigan (ghost)) - Can accurately fire her weapon from an admirable distance, but not overly capable of dishing out enough damage to scare her jaded opponents. She makes up with this through stealth and cunning. And she needs every bit of trickery she can think up, because it doesn't take much to finish off this lovely killer.
Stealth Assassin (Devouring One) - This formidable killing machine flies past his enemies, killing them midstride. Deadly, efficient, and quick, this guy is up for most any task. He needs every bit of speed to help him though, since only a few hits will bring his career to a final halt.
Munitions Expert (Guy Montag) - A walking tank, the munitions expert takes the hits and dishes them back out tenfold. His knowledge of explosives helps him deal with dangerous situations, and pass through previously impassable barriers.
Psy Ops (Tassadar (templar)) - At an early age, the Psy Ops learned to focus his mental energies and manifest them in the physical. For one who focuses so much on the mind, it's amazing how resiliant he is incombat. Capable of projecting his mental energies into a sharp attack, and using those same energies to block incoming strikes, he can hold his own in battle. With his additional psychic powers, he is capable of wreaking havoc on his opponents.
Computer Hacker (Alexei Stukov (ghost)) - A shoddy shot, and a man with a glass jaw, the hacker is no warrior. He can, however, prove himself to be an elite killing machine: to computers. With a sharp wit, and dexterous fingers, the hacker can bring entire networks down to their knees.
I'm going to use a rather handy skill system in this, which I believe I saw mentiond in another forum, although I got the idea before hand from another map. Basically, certain units will represent certain skills, and when unloaded from the bunker they sit in (may also use a transport instead), the spell/skill will be activated. I saw this system used in the Worms map, using shuttles to unload spells, and it worked great. I figure, this should sure as hell beat moving civilians to beacons to activate skills, which requires that a player draw his focus from battle, since now all you'll have to do is hotkey your bunker/shuttle and press the appropriate hotkey. Because, let's face it, pressing a mere 2 keys to cast a spell rocks. All characters will get 3 different skill types, with an as yet undermined number of each to cast. For example, one of the marines skills will be a grenade. When activated, an observor appears over him, and he can move it around. When it leaves his grip, a 3 second timer is activated, and once the time runs out, BOOM! Skills like this will allow some additional strategy, I think, and keep things from becoming another kill/upgrade/kill/upgrade cycle.
One thing worth mentioning is the hacker. To keep his part from becoming boring, when he sits at a terminal to hack, he is teleported to the system, and must infiltrate through "firewalls", "security protocols", and avoid "scans", all the while weakening the system with "viruses", and attempt to temporarily seize root access to execute the desired function. So, in essence, the hacker has a different kind of battle to face, a much more dangerous one at that. Obviously, if his character dies within the system, he doesn't die in real-life, just gets denied access from that terminal. He has to be very careful when hacking, though, because if he damages the infrastructure too much, it will become inoperative, disallowing him to make use of the system. His role is very important in the infiltration, since he is capable of unlocking doors without keycards, deactivating security cameras in certain sectors, and locking enemies into rooms, or out of them for that matter.
There are three objectives for the agent's to accomplish (less if an easier difficulty setting is chosen). One is to destroy the labratory, where illegal products are being tested and developed (possibly genetic weaponry... RE anyone?). Another is to disable the company's main infrastructure, which can be done by destroying the power generators and external links (this can be made INFINITELY easier through the help of the hacker). And finally, to assassinate the well-protected and corrupt CEO.
I'm a firm believer in giving people options, so there will be at least 3 ways to do any particular task. This way, it forces players on both sides to think quickly and cleverly, and keeps things fresh and interesting. Anyways, that's about everything, and I see I've rambled on for way too long, so, tell me what you guys think. I should have a demo ready within a week. Won't be much, since I want to take my time with this and make sure it's done right, but it should at least have the terrain finished and all of the skills and characters set up, as well as some of the game's main triggers. Thanks for reading this (if you actually finished it
)!Report, edit, etc...Posted by mobomojo on 2004-07-25 at 22:55:55
I only glimpse through some of it, but my eyes caught 'installation terrain' and 'build' turrets and depots. Clarify that a bit for me..?
Report, edit, etc...Posted by assassin_498 on 2004-07-25 at 22:58:11
sounds very interesting...and long
EDIT: I got a great idea for a mission. Disarm nukes and conventional missiles in a large lab, with heavy security that requires lots of hacking and stuff.
EDIT: I got a great idea for a mission. Disarm nukes and conventional missiles in a large lab, with heavy security that requires lots of hacking and stuff.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by linux_junkie on 2004-07-26 at 01:19:09
Sounds like a very cool possibility, assassin_498. I might have to add that one .
And to respond to mobomojo's question: Since you can't build on installation terrain, I'll be using a trigger system to create the buildings when the Technician's "build" ability is activated. Hope that cleared things up for you.
.And to respond to mobomojo's question: Since you can't build on installation terrain, I'll be using a trigger system to create the buildings when the Technician's "build" ability is activated. Hope that cleared things up for you.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by Paella on 2004-07-26 at 06:17:26
I like you ideas, and it sounds like this is very well planned, but be careful. Don´t make one of those maps that has 1650 units on it and is hard to understnd. Make people think, and get some new ideas out there for them.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by assassin_498 on 2004-07-26 at 13:46:38
Btw, how can linux_junkie and Paella get more posts a day than they ever posted?
Report, edit, etc...Posted by mobomojo on 2004-07-26 at 14:22:18
I guess they posted a lot in a short period. Like if you had 1 post in 24 hrs, thats 1/day. If you did 1 in 4 hrs, thats 6/day. Im only guessing though..
Report, edit, etc...Posted by PCFredZ on 2004-07-26 at 17:46:45
this sounds more like an "Assassinating {insert president's name here}" map... do remember that you can't build buildings on installation maps. your post looked more like a story than a map idea... learn C++ and create it there, i can't say honestly that your idea will catch the eyes of everyday sc gamers.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by Oo.Kevjak.oO on 2004-07-27 at 13:26:52
Methinks you are going to be forced to use a dropship rather than a bunker. Seeing as only a handful of units actually can load into a bunker (12 different terran infantry/heros); and most of the units that can seem to be in use as heros/security in your map. Sounds good but also sounds like it can turn into a really bad map if your not careful.