New UMS from old pro's revival

[DeaneGainey]

I'm BACK and I want to make a SMASH TV MAP!

*yawn* I wanna make a SMASH TV Map.

So, beforez I get started, let's go over some basics.

I want recounts of any memorable Smash TV map, good or bad. If you can remember the map, post what you remember about it.

How do YOU stay alive in a Smash TV map? Are there strats you always use? Exploits you always try for? The more you tell me, the more I will account for (I may not block them, but I won't be ignoring them)

What are some of the coolest mechanics you've seen?

More req's in a minute--gotta shift comps.


The more feedback I get, the better this map gets. Suggestions, warnings, etc.

-Deane

 

[DeaneGainey]

Continued

Where was I?

Now, in my opinion, some of the best Smash TV maps have been very difficult. And there's a limit to the amount of strategy you can use in the average Smash map.

In this, don't worry about my skills in implementing any of this. I've composed complex trigger systems you wouldn't imagine - I created a psychology test from Starcraft once, and once I made a set of 8 teams of magic units on a Chaos map I called 'Magecraft' - unfinished and never published, right before I lost my comp.

Now I'm BACK. And I want a warmup. A Smash TV map will do nicely.

Here are some questions-

What is your favorite starting unit?

A - Marine.
B - Firebat.
C - Ghost.
D - Zergling.
E - Zealot.

If you like being able to choose, please mention it along with your favorite starting units.

In Smash TV, if you are given each of these units, how do your strategies differ?

Do you like being able to level up units / get elite units? How much stronger do you like your elites?

A. 1 Elite = 20 Norms (In another league)
B. 1 Elite = 10 Norms (The next level of power)
C. 1 Elite = 5-6 Norms (Hero)
D. 1 Elite = 2 Norms (Skilled)
X. I don't like all this leet nonsense.

When you handle elite units, do you like units that -

A. Are Tougher, But Do Similar Damage
B. Hit Harder, But Die Just As Easily
C. Have New Abilities, But Are Just As Frail
D. Are Better All Around

Balance Wise, they
A. Are a Worthy Improvement, But Totally Unnecessary To Win.
+. Make It Easier And In The End, Are Pretty Necessary To Win.
S. Ramp Up So Much, They Are Required Early On To Keep Going


Do your strategies change/fail/arise if you are facing
- Broodlings?
- Zerglings?
- Hydralisks?
- Zealots?
- Air Units?
- Cloaked Units?
- Units with Very Tough Hides, But Minimal Damage?
- Units that Do Tons of Damage, But Gak Very Quickly?
- Units that Are Evenly Balanced?
- Units With Strong Shields?
- An Overflow Of Weak Units?
- One Hulking Disaster of a Challenge?

Do you like the idea of -
Buying Units?
Buying Buildings Onto the Field?
Buying a Home Unit and Making a Base On-Map?
Buying Resources to Spend on this Base?
Collecting Resources straight from the Map?
Buying Flying Units?
Buying Cloak/Burrow Units?

Do you like -
A. A very large, clear, very well explained upgrade trigger system?
B. A more compact but somewhat mysterious trigger system, where things are explained as you progress?
C. A totally unexplained but advertised trigger system to experiment with?

Do you like -
A. The idea of taking out loans?
B. The idea of aggressing against the sponsors?
C. The idea of choosing the stage/difficulty of the next round?
D. Moving from room to room to face enemies?
E. Taking up position on a single tactical map to fight battles?
F. Taking on supposed allies?
G. Getting moved automatically to the buying region/having to travel there?

On a more open-ended note, tell me about your most memorable victories on a Smash TV map...
your most memorable losses...
The time your best friend scrapped you...
The time you scrapped him back...
The time everyone worked together to win the game...
The time everyone worked together except that one lame guy, and how he ruined everything...
The time nobody worked together and the game was a wash...

Ok. These are my requests. Tell stories, bring advice, and I'll start on my warmup.

The Map is coming out. Whether it is a thing of beauty and a joy forever, or one more junk for the pile, that's up to my skills and your feedback.

Thanks. So start to it. If you've read this it's time to put in your two cents.

-Deane

 

[Renzokuken]

Dude. You can make a Smash TV map. But there already are some out there. I've already played the best (in my mind). Smash TV EX Final. It rocked. I just think there is no need for another one.

 

[DeaneGainey]

I'm *aware* there are other maps out there. I was testing a bunch of Smash TV maps just last night. They all use the same layout... boring...

Tried EX too. Good map, doesn't start too hard but slopes up quickly.

BTW, thanks for killing the topic by making the first post a negative one.

Anyway, I've got a new idea for a map. Came to me last night. I really should warm up first, but I'm feeling gung-ho. I've made a snow map with lotsa nasties, I'm warm. Let's get on with the REAL fun stuff.

Eh, I gotta shift comps. BRB.


-Deane

 

[DeaneGainey]

(I have to occasionally scoot computers since I am using public ones.)

Idea: Each player(out of 6) starts off with a base that has 8 switches in it. They move a civilian onto a switch to elect which team they want. Then they get a bunch of starting units. Based on the team they chose and their current kill score, they are awarded new units at your gate. The battle escalates over time. If all your units die, you are outta there.

But the real unique part about this map is the ubiquitous 8 triggers that remain in your base. If you move a unit onto one of the 8 pads, the unit will be removed, the pad will deactivate (vanish) and something will happen to the game. Different units cause different effects.

Pads can upgrade your units, activate new unit trickles (adding to your 60 second bundle), give you a sudden boost of units, cause universal bad guys to appear in the arena (en masse in some instances) etc.

More details later. Must finish a test.

-Deane

 

[DeaneGainey]

So each team gets a gate and 8 pads.

Bash the gate, and a team stops getting units. Plus there are 8 pads, which exhaust to ?never return?, allowing you to pick and choose which disasters you enact. Scrutinous use of some pads will possibly make other pads reappear(cycling down to nothing), slaughter all units of a certain type, cause buildings to appear, grant resources + builder, or perform various other powerful effects.

There's one more twist.

Occasionally pads will appear around the central battlefield (at random) Tag one of these, and one of the pads in your base will rematerialize!

The 8 pads need practice to get used to. You can cause a lot of bungling effects by misusing the units. The 8 teams (plus 24 secret) will introduce the effect of the units upon the pads, but it is up to the wise player to form an effective strategy.

However you choose to spend your pads, once you run out, you are out of trump power and must work with your incoming unit flow, unless you can reactivate them from the battlefield. Not all pads are created equal... quite the opposite. Some pads are cheap and easily activated by others. Some burn up, never to return.

List some effects you would want to see from the pads. I got very little response last time and so I am not expecting much feedback this time... mostly, this is just a notification that the fun is on its way.

 

[DeaneGainey]

The Gates

The 8 pads.

DUPLICATOR - Provides (1000+2x Invested) of Dropped unit.
50 points are spent providing a second type of new unit, save Marines/Lings/Zealots, the base units. Remember that the Duplicator pad itself is LOST upon making any of these transactions.

TERRAN
- Produces 22 Marines or SCVs from 1
- Produces 15 Firebats, Vultures, or Medics from 1
- Produces 12 Ghosts from 1
- From a Goliath, produces 8 Goliaths and a Marine
- Produces 7 Transports from 1
- Produces 6 Siege Tanks or Wraiths from 1
- Produces 5 Science Vessels from 1
- From a Valkyrie, produces 4 Valkyries and a Transport
- From a Battlecruiser, produces 3 BattleCruisers and a Wraith.

ZERG
- Produces 82 Broodlings from 1
- Produces 42 Zerglings from 1
- Produces 22 Drones or Scourges from 1
- Produces 12 Hydralisks or Overlords from 1
- Produces 7 Mutalisks or Defilers from 1
- Produces 6 Queens or Lurkers from 1
- From a Guardian, produces 4 Guardians and a Queen
- From an Ultralisk, produces 4 Ultralisks and 8 Zerglings
- From a Devourer, produces 4 Devourers and 2 Scourges

PROTOSS
- Produces 22 Probes from 1
- Produces 12 Zealots or Observers from 1
- From a Dragoon, produces 7 Dragoons and 1 Zealot
- Produces 7 Shuttles or High Templars from 1
- Produces 6 Dark Templars and a Zealot from a Dark Templar
- Produces 6 Corsairs from 1
- From a Reaver, produces 4 Reavers and a Dragoon
- From an Archon, produces 4 Archons and a Dragoon
- From a Scout or Arbiter, produces 4 Units and an Observer
- From a Dark Archon, produces 4 Dark Archons and a Zealot
- Produces 3 Carriers from 1

Comment on the Duplicator pad. Be sure to mention you are commenting on the duplicator pad. Mention balance issues, how you think, etc.

Moving on.
-Deane

 

[DeaneGainey]

SPAWNER PAD
Takes unit, and activates trickle source, adding the unit to the per-minute gift you get at the gate. (1/2 Invested + 250)

TERRAN
A Marine or SCV will yield 5/Minute.
A Vulture, Medic, or Firebat will yield 4/Minute.
A Ghost will yield 3/Minute.
A Goliath will yield 2/Minute.
A Transport will yield 1/Minute, and also 3 Marines/Minute.
A Siege Tank or Wraith will yield 1/Minute, and also 2 Marines/Minute.
A Science Vessel will yield 1/Minute, and also 1 SCV/Minute.
A Valkyrie will yield 1/Minute, and also 1 Marine/Minute.
2 BattleCruisers will yield 1/Minute, and also 1 Wraith/Minute.

ZERG
A Broodling will yield 20/Minute.
A Zergling will yield 10/Minute.
A Drone or Scourge will yield 5/Minute.
A Hydralisk or Overlord will yield 3/Minute.
A Mutalisk will yield 1/Minute, and also 1 Overlord/Minute.
A Defiler will yield 1/Minute, and also 5 Zerglings/Minute.
A Queen or Lurker will yield 1/Minute, and also 4 Zerglings/Minute.
A Guardian will produce 1/Minute, and also 3 Zerglings/Minute.
An Ultralisk will produce 1/Minute, and also 2 Zerglings/Minute.
A Devourer will produce 1/Minute, and also 1 Scourge/Minute.

Must move Comps. Protoss next, then the other 6 Pads (Activator, Cascader, Destructor, Transmogrifier, Summoner, Structurer)

-Deane

 

[DeaneGainey]

PROTOSS
A Probe will yield 5/Minute.
A Zealot or an Oberver will yield 3/Minute.
A Dragoon will yield 1/Minute, and also 1 Zealot/Minute, and 1 Probe/Minute.
A High Templar will yield 1/Minute, and also 1 Dragoon/Minute.
A Shuttle will yield 1/Minute, and also 1 Observer/Minute, and 1 Probe/Minute.
A Dark Templar will yield 1/Minute, and also 1 Zealot/Minute.
A Corsair will yield 1/Minute, and also 1 Observer/Minute.
An Archon or a Reaver will yield 1/Minute, and also 1 Probe/Minute.
An Arbiter, a Dark Archon, or a Scout will yield 1/Minute.
2 Carriers will yield 1/Minute, and also 2 Corsairs/Minute.

Time to go home and build.
The concepts for the other 6-
Cascader - Turns large units into many smaller units.
Destructor - Kills units mapwide.
Transmogrifier - A favorite, gives you an unpredictable array of units in another race. Practice only will tell.
Summoner - Causes a mass force of generic aggressive enemy units to appear on the map, twice as big as you could call to yourself.
Structurer - Causes structures and supplies to pour into your base.
Activator - Used properly, will reactivate some of your deactivated pads. Easily the most powerful Pad.

Sleep needed. Code first.

I estimate hundreds of triggers and near 100 locations, not to mention the Doodads and touches, and goodies...

... so this will be quite a labor of love.

THEREFORE I am expecting to see some love for my baby when she is done. The work will be progressive, I try to work evenly.

By disaster, I don't have a personal net connection. *sniff* I will never get to play the map I make with others! *bawls* I want some people to help me test the growing map, recount problems and situations, etc.

Time to volunteer. Post your name as a volunteer by Monday, that's when I come back with Build One.

-Deane

 

[DeaneGainey]

If anyone is watching this thread, I'm pretty much DONE looking for OUTSIDE input. There is no support to speak of. There is no opinion, no communication, no ideas or suggestions to speak of.

I'm starting an ADVERTISEMENT thread now. Not one looking for ideas, but one showing off the game as it develops.

I DON'T WANT ANYONE spamming the Advertisement thread with ideas! I have been ASKING for ideas and opinions and I got jack in response. No one but ME now has ANY input in this game, for NOW and ALL TIME. You are all official spectators.

When I do my next map (a competitive, randomized rescue-the-idiots-and-survive map set in snow) I'll ask for input again. Maybe, if I am lucky, I will get a more active response. Time will tell.

SO. No ideas here. I'll open the Ad thread for 'Magecraft'. No ideas there.

-Deane