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Post by Julius CMXCIX on Mar 23, 2009 18:44:52 GMT
A Call To Arms You might remember this from the Work in Progress Spotlight. Plot Outline:The story starts with the country of Crevatska; the expanding kingdom is a powerful sight to behold, drunk with power and eager for conquest. Enter the small but prosperous country of Cariona, which proves to be a very tempting target to their bulky neighbor. Within a few weeks, the armies of Cariona are absolutely decimated by the Crevatskan forces. With the scent of victory in the air, the powerful King of Crevatska hands over the crown of Cariona to his idle art-loving son, Prince Stovold, to prepare him to one day inherit the entire Kingdom. Many Lords in Cariona were murdered during the struggle, as well as countless civilians; the invaders would show no mercy to those who resist their control. Thankfully, not all is lost; our hero, the son of one of those lords, was abroad when the Crevatska armies struck, and after being informed by an urgent message calling him back from his travels, he immediately sets off to his homeland! By the time he returns, however, his father and countless others lie dead, with the family estate almost completely deserted. Patrols roam the countryside, every town and village is under Crevatskan control and the army has been crushed. With his father dead, Lord Davrel rallies the handful of keen patriots who were brave enough not to desert his ancestral manor. They embark on a journey to meet up with the only other pocket of resistance, Lord Jannoth, evading or killing enemy patrols along the way. After that, the two lords must lead the struggle to win back their country. Features:- Tactical challenges, with difficulty dynamics
- Mostly Fixed Force
- Some defend-the-spot gameplay
- Lay siege to a town held by the enemy
- Lots of action, less talking
- Prevent an assassination attempt
- Carry out assassination of your own
- Use combat engineers to blow up bridges, destroy walls and clear paths.
Screenshots:A fortified town held by CrevatskaA bloody fightVictory! The closing stages of the siegeA camp at night
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Sissi
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Post by Sissi on Mar 23, 2009 19:01:06 GMT
YEEEEESSSSS !!! With great pleasure ! Ready, whenever you want .
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Jatayu
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Post by Jatayu on Mar 24, 2009 10:55:38 GMT
screenshots please
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Sissi
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Post by Sissi on Mar 24, 2009 11:07:04 GMT
You've got already some in the WIP archives, remember !
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Post by Julius CMXCIX on Mar 24, 2009 15:41:21 GMT
You will have more shortly, but not today.
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Matt
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Post by Matt on Mar 25, 2009 22:50:56 GMT
Definite lack of tildes to make that a true features list Sounds great though, much more of a focus on playability than the usual. I would offer to playtest, but Friday is my 'ring ceremony' (no not getting married, it is for Uni). I will be doing...stuff all weekend. Probably would get to look at it till next weekend.
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Post by Julius CMXCIX on Mar 26, 2009 7:57:03 GMT
Next weekend would be fine, I won't have it ready before then.
~~-~ Julius ~+~
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Post by Julius CMXCIX on Mar 27, 2009 22:44:48 GMT
New screenshots. All three are from a single objective, where you have to capture a fortified town. The player has to knock down all the defensive towers (or face being shot to pieces) before attacking. You can also choose to attack the military buildings, which will break the back of the enemy but will mean fewer people join you at the end (because you levelled chunks of their town).
Please bear in mind that the map design in this area is not yet finished.
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Post by jon. on Mar 28, 2009 2:01:55 GMT
Good luck on the project, Julius.
In your opinion, how will this compare with, say, Shadows After Sunset (in terms of quality)?
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Post by Julius CMXCIX on Mar 28, 2009 11:23:41 GMT
The playable one? Much, much better (although very different). And probably equal or marginally better quality than the cutscene.
I've put up another new screenshot. This is an effect that's been around for a long time but I've never seen it used.
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Sissi
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Post by Sissi on Mar 28, 2009 16:30:38 GMT
Jaysus Lord, how do you do that ? (the camp at night, I mean). Fantabulous !
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Post by Julius CMXCIX on Mar 28, 2009 17:35:54 GMT
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Sissi
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Post by Sissi on Mar 28, 2009 17:43:34 GMT
Oh, Thanks Hon', I already know that and even use it in my own cpx, but it doesn't look as fine as yours. see...Your's so well done I thought it was sth else. At least you use and improve that trick in a perfect way !
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Post by Julius CMXCIX on Mar 28, 2009 18:08:20 GMT
I suggest you try and get it so only slivers of the map are visible through the fog, otherwise it's really hard to cover them up.
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Sissi
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Post by Sissi on Mar 28, 2009 18:16:09 GMT
Yes,you're right, problem is I didn't want to cover eveything in flowers.
I even added a small trick of mine to give the illusion of some light coming from the windows of the illuminated church... Bad idea apparently.
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Post by Julius CMXCIX on Mar 31, 2009 16:00:17 GMT
This coming weekend I should have something ready for playtesters. I estimate it to last about 3 hours (without reloads), but if you don't have time you can report on just the first few sections. Is anyone interested?
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Sissi
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Post by Sissi on Mar 31, 2009 21:50:59 GMT
I already told you yes. Send it.
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Matt
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Post by Matt on Apr 1, 2009 13:33:19 GMT
I can do a few hours this weekend. Report should be back to you on Monday at the latest.
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Post by Julius CMXCIX on Apr 1, 2009 16:25:03 GMT
That would be good. How was the ceremony by the way?
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Matt
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Post by Matt on Apr 2, 2009 0:37:23 GMT
Really long and over the top. It is a (mostly Canadian) tradition to give engineers a ring worn on the pinky finger made of iron (or steel). I only wanted the ring, I got a huge ceremony and pomp added on. EDIT: it looks like this, ringAlso, the ceremony is called Kipling, as it was written by the author of said name. Most people know him for the Jungle Book
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Post by Julius CMXCIX on Apr 3, 2009 18:46:56 GMT
Interesting. Is the ring worth it?
I'm sending out the file very shortly. At present there is no music or sound, and most of the map design is not finished, but most objectives are playable.
File sent.
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Matt
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Post by Matt on Apr 6, 2009 3:32:55 GMT
I've started playing through it, am stuck atm. Do you want the comments here or by email? Also, I was very nit picky while writing as I played, but I am enjoying it so far.
Either way, I will give you what I got so far, then continue playing and writing down comments.
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Post by Julius CMXCIX on Apr 6, 2009 9:18:02 GMT
Comments wherever is easier for you. Nit-picking is good, I expect nothing less from you matty! Glad you're liking it so far. If you get permanently stuck, tell me and I'll help you out. It might be necessary to expand the hints and instructions if people are getting stuck.
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Matt
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Post by Matt on Apr 6, 2009 13:32:43 GMT
Just copy pasted from my txt file of comments: First few chats seem a bit forced and weak. Maybe rewrite a few of the lines to have more feeling or character. Castle of Lord Jannoth is supposed to be marked with map revealer but is not. Perhaps a chat or two from the dock workers in Aldero when I commandeer their ship would be appropriate Going by ship or road seem to be of similar difficulty so that is good. I need to liberate two villages, some sort of directional info would be a good addition here. Once I found them finally the actual balance is very good for this part though. Now I must do three things, blow up a bridge, protect a farming town, defend my own village. Again, I haven't a clue where this bridge is. Perhaps including a map the player can alt tab into would help? If you don't want to use map revealers then I would say you would have to be more specific with directions at a minimum. This is as far as I've got, the enemy pours in terribly fast and I am off on a journey to find said bridge, so I am still trying to win this part. Any tips? General observations: the map is very flat and green in many locals, I suppose these areas are to be still spruced up a bit? Also, as mentioned before the scenario is confusing, there are a zillion towns and villages that are hard to distinguish. Either the objectives need to give very explicit direction on how to get to places, or map revealers need to be used, or maybe as mentioned before a nice map would help. Failing all that, the player needs more units as he will be stumbling about constantly fighting unnecessary enemies. I will try to finish it up this week. A few tips for the part I am on would help
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Post by Julius CMXCIX on Apr 6, 2009 14:13:57 GMT
Most dialogue at the moment is just a placeholder. I'm adhering to my plan to get gameplay done first. Yeah, sissi also pointed this out. It's fixed now. This is planned, but is not integral. I like having peasants with inane dialogue, so you can rest assured there will be plenty. Good point. Also a good point. The map in the version you have is maybe 25% complete. A map is planned. It will also be the bitmap. But yes, you're right about the directions. I guess it's something the designer doesn't think about so much, as they know where everything is. I like making towns and villages. Yes. Treat it as basically a defend-the-spot section for the first while. You should send some spearmen to the farming village (and probably the two lords as well) to defend it. Your first priority though is to demolish the bridge. You can find it almost due North of the little abandoned village, so somewhat North East of your town. Use light cavalry to draw away some of the troops defending it, and then hurry the saboteur (along with an escort) across the bridge - it will then blow up. From there just defend your town (block the entrance, stand ground formation, protect your archers... normal story) until the attacks relent (it will be a few minutes), and then go and destroy them. That's one of my favourite parts actually. But then I have the advantage of knowing what to do. Thanks for the testing, it's very useful.
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Post by Julius CMXCIX on Apr 6, 2009 17:25:16 GMT
And now a little poll, about what the last section should be like. At this point the player will have to fight the enemy across the country, with the ultimate aim of driving them out. However I'm not 100% sure how I want to set this up.
Option 1: A traditional Risk setup (like Crusader and Hundred Years' War), as I originally planned. This would be similar to King Bob's scenarios, but not identical. Option 2: A cross between Risk and B&D. This will allow for more variety, and would be fresher than the plain Risk concept. I see this playing out more like Sabato than Crusader.
What do you think? I don't promise to go with the option you prefer, but I'm interested in your opinions.
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Sissi
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Post by Sissi on Apr 8, 2009 10:49:29 GMT
I'm not too sure, but option 2, though more appealing for me, doesn't keep pace with the previous parts of the gameplay, I think. (Slower rythm, I reckon).
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Post by Julius CMXCIX on Apr 8, 2009 10:54:51 GMT
Well I've gone for option 2 anyway. My main problem with the option 1 by the way is that it didn't seem to keep to the pace of the earlier parts!
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Sissi
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Post by Sissi on Apr 8, 2009 11:22:25 GMT
This shows once more how stupid I am... ;D
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Post by Julius CMXCIX on Apr 8, 2009 15:55:22 GMT
Not at all. You've barely had time to make a judgement.
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