Lordaeron Past Day 3: New Areas, New Names

The Valley of Colors, one of the routes to the Elder Forest.

Welcome to Lordaeron Past (Soon Mythrin) map development: Day 3.

I haven't updated for a while due to their being no major additions. Lately I've been working hard on balancing encounters and drop rates. I think I've reached a good point, so I can continue with new stuff.

I'm still undecided on whether or not to change make the map take place in an entirely different universe lore wise, but it might as well be. There's probably 5% map accuracy when you compare what I'm doing here to actual Lordaeron in Warcraft 3.

I've been working on finishing up the River Forest and Southern Plains recently! Many new encounters were added as endgame for the area. I also added more hidden crates that could be destroyed for bonus gold, wood, or items. Some of the new areas exist for pure challenge and loot, without opening new routes, like the area below:

This is Tahnos Rise, a tree-covered hill in the middle of the Southern Plains. Filled with medium-level and high health rogues and bandits ready to deal some damage to your team.

The 'final' encounter in the area is Hidden Ridge, the center for Troll movement in the area by Capital City. It's also your first chance at an Artifact Item. Artifacts in Warcraft 3 are the highest quality gear in the game, they're permanent and have powerful passives or actives.

I want to remind everyone real quick: You can go about this map in any order you want. You don't need to 'finish' an area to move on to the next, you can move freely between any part of the map and it's encounters at any time!

Lordaeron Past: Day 2 - Mechanics, new name

This is Day 2 of the development of Lordaeron Past, my Warcraft 3 map.

Before I start, I want to say I'm thinking up some new names for the map. I'll also be developing some lore and background, as well as real location names. Expect something official tomorrow! Current name: Mythrin. Something with Myth in the name.

First thing I did today was expand the map. First, I extended the city and added a Park area, that happens to be filled with bandits and rogues. 

Next I built up on some land south of the River Forest. This is the Southern Fields, home of 3 key areas: The first village you should encounter, Stone Springs, and the nearby Quarry. When you arrive, this quarry will be taken over by Kobolds, and the lake west of town is occupied by Murlocs.

In the town of Stone Springs, you'll find two things that matter to you: A barracks to train more soldiers without heading back to the city, and a Healing Fountain in a grove north of town.

Alright, now that new area discussion is over with. Mechanics!

• I modified many 'creeps' attack speeds and damage to make them more of a challenge.
• A whole lot of loot table balancing has been done today, but this is something I doubt will ever by solid. It'll likely change in every patch.
• I added a Night Elf and Orc hero spawn, so you can choose between Human, Night Elf, or Orc. There are some major issues, though. One Night Elf hero has the ability to turn Trees into Treants, in this map Trees themselves act as natural boundaries rather than normal Warcraft 3 black boundaries. This hero can be used to cut through a forest and get around the map. Peons can't cut down trees, heroes shouldn't either.
• Hero move speeds have been balanced out. No more extremely slow Mountain King.

My Warcraft 3 Map: Lordaeron Past

About two years ago I had this big project in the Warcraft 3 map editor. It wasn't a plain RTS map, it was a "RPRTS",  a roleplaying real time strategy game. Anyways, I lost it when my computer was sent in for repairs. Today, I'm starting it back up and I'll be writing about it on my blog here.

Let me explain it a bit more.

• The main character is a Hero, like a normal Warcraft 3 game. These heroes level up, can carry items and equipment, and have stats and spells.
• The map is single player. You command your hero around the map, killing monsters and looting their stuff in typical RPG format. You'll collect sums of the Gold resource during your travels.
• You use this gold to purchase units such as; footmen, riflemen, healers, spell casters, mortar teams and more. You can also purchase upgrades for your troops, or some items for your inventory.
• Your goal is to create an army. Units travel with you to various Raids a-la World of Warcraft.
• These raids provide challenge and more loot, you have to strategically prepare your units, attack priority targets, and use your items and spells to their maximum potential to survive.
• The main focus of the game is raids, and the map is huge. There'll be plenty of them, in my first revision there was over 4, not counting smaller enemy hideouts of course.
• It uses pretty much every enemy 'creep' available, dragons, demons, trolls, murlocs, they're all in the map, it doesn't use many custom models or entities, though

So I'll be keeping you guys up to date with progress throughout the following week or so. Here are some screenshots.

Your first challenge will be to push back a band of trolls right outside Capital City, where you start.
It's designed to ramp up rater quickly, so you must head back to town to order more troops to defeat the tribe.

This is City Center, where you first choose your hero, order troops and upgrades, or heal at the Mana and Health fountains. There might be additional barracks/fountains in other villages in the future.

The trolls are situated across the river in the nearby forest. There is also a hidden area, and a few hidden destructible objects you can scour for additional loot.

Next up: The big Square Trail update!

So summer has pretty much started and the Lone and Prologue mini-updates have hit, here are some of my goals for this summer.

1. Get the next Square Trail update, version 2, pushed out in the coming weeks.
2. Get some levels done for Prologue, revise gifting system.
3. I doubt I'll be able to get Outskirts part 2 for Lone this summer, SO I'M MAKING IT A 4 PART UPDATE WOOO. parts 2 and 3 will probably come out next month. Finishing the forest area and adding more to the Pier. Actual ferry would be in part 4.

Pretty much: Big updates for all 3 games. But Square Trail will be my main focus. I had to revise my goals for it a bit, but here's what I want as of now:

• Complete UI overhaul, big enough to fit...
• New customization tools!
• Credit system, points are aggregated with bonuses to create Coins each round.
• Coins are spent on items and skins for your Square.
• Items give small "mini-abilities" such as a bomb. They are not limited to your ability choice. You can use Ghost as your ability and carry a few Bomb items. Items are ALWAYS weaker than Abilities.
• Abilities will most likely not be locked out. You won't have to buy them with Coins.
• Skins are different, completely cosmetic designs for your Square. They always have the same size and speed.

A while back I talked about a Ranking system, where you can level up and such. While this seems like a good idea and all, I fear it's a bit overused. Leveling puts interesting RPG aspects into non-RPG games nowadays. Look at Call of Duty (4 and up) and Battlefield 3. Square Trail is not supposed to be an RPG, and I will leave this out until I can come up with an idea better than simple Levels. For now, it'll play similar to Prologue's "MyPro". Collect credits -> buy items for new gameplay -> earn more credits.

Minor lone update!

Here's the update!
Now, the changelog.

• Sound-related bug fixes.
• Sound files compressed to take up less space.
• A few changes to the interface, specifically startup.

Back to development! Prologue prerelease2.1! (ToT 6/6/12)

I finally got the new computer I needed, so I can safely resume development projects without worrying about losing everything again. Anyways, here's the latest revision of Prologue, to prove I do want to get back to work on it! Download from my Dropbox here.

The changes are mostly to ProPoint rates, you'll earn a bit less now. This might get nerfed even more in upcoming versions, too.

1.4 is a pain. (ToT 2/29/12)

Well, Square Trail 1.4 is huge if I want to fulfill as many of my expectations as possible. So I plan on breaking it up into two updates, 1.4 and 1.5 so I can divide the work up a bit. There's a lot of new graphics and programming work going into this, but it'll be worth it!

Today I put in a death screen, Coin collection system... 

score+(kills*2)

And a frame of the new main menu. A lot has to be done, ohhhh boy. In the coming days I'll be working on UI stuff. A lot of UI stuff.

Square trail 1.4, balance issues, and a Prologue hiatus (ToT 2/14/12)

Okay, so 1.31 of Square Trail is out, with it some performance tweaks and balancing... however it didn't end up well, and is worse off than before! Shield is now really weak, and Ghost is too strong... so 1.32 will be out tonight fixing those issues.

BUT ONTO 1.4 WOO!
This introduces too 2 main new things: Coins, and Skins. You earn coins from your Score + Square Kills, then you can buy new Square Skins with these coins. It might also have a Hardcore mode... but that might come even earlier... or later, I don't know yet. Hardcore mode will bring faster Red Square spawns, and faster movement.

Prologue? Development is on break due to the success of Square Trail. One at a time, one at a time. I'm really happy with PR2 so it can stay this way for a while.

Square Trail 1.3, and a new host!

Square Trail is now on Kongregate!

Now, probably Friday or Thursday, SqTr on DeviantArt, Kongregate (and soon Newgrounds) will be updated to 1.3, this is whats in the new version!

• Wave gets a big buff. It's larger and works correctly.
• New Ability: Laser! It works like a small, continuous Wave.
• New Ability: Shield! Quicker drain than Ghost, but surrounds you with spikes that kill Squares you touch.
• Bigger playing area!
• Some framework for the next patch, v1.4...

1.4 will bring one big thing with it: Skins. You'll be able to change your Square skin, and maybe the background too - with Coins earned by collection or destroying Squares.

Q&A: Better graphics in Prologue, Points.ini editing, Bugfixes

Editing the Prologue Points.ini file.
Eventually I'll release a mini app (probably bundled with Prologue) that'll let you create your own Points.ini's. It'll be simple and user friendly, letting you give yourself weapons, gear, propoints, etc. I'm considering it as part of an app called "tae.OPEN" I want in the future, it'll allow editing of this, and all games running tae (Reminder: Trevor's Advanced Engine) that support it. Which will hopefully be all.


Is there any chance of better graphics in Prologue?
Probably not. I'm talking about taeHD's High Res Display feature, it won't be in Prologue any time soon, if ever.

I just tried it out, upgrading would require me to change pretty much everything. All objects look to small with HRD on, All UI elements are intended for the current screen size... which means I'd have to redo all of that. It's just too much at this point, so don't expect High Res Display in Prologue.

Any PR2 bugfixes coming soon?
There are a few bugs I found fixed. Probably will be in the next nightly, and then the next Prerelease. This includes:

• Super Shield doesn't show up as equipped in the home screen.
• Super Shield is too weak (too much drain)
• Recieving gift codes multiple times (expect Gift changes in PR3)
• Survival STILL doesn't reward enough points for the effort.
• Some badges aren't giving notifications.

Let's go into tae.OPEN details!

For Prologue it'll be a Points.ini editor. Hopefully for lone it'll be a user content creator (SHHHHH, more on that after Outskirts is done...) and in the upcoming Square Trail v1.3 (I'm trying to upgrade it to tae for better playability) some sort of game editor.

CSI Prologue: Prerelease 2!

HERE IT IS: [LINK] Please uninstall your old Prologue Prerelease!

You can transfer your Save File by going to C:\Users\yourname\AppData\Roaming\MMFApplications then copy the contents of the Points.ini. Install Prerelease 2, run it once, and paste the copied text into the newer Points.ini

Known Bug:

Super Shield isn't shown as currently equipped gear, even though it is (fixed in next nightly)

IN THIS VERSION

• New, consistent interface across all menus.
• SAVE THE GAME BY PRESSING "IN-GAME MENU" THEN SAVE GAME.
• Introducing MyPro
• Use the ProPoints you earn from playing any mode to buy new weapons, gear, gadgets, items, and badges in the ProShop
• Manage and equip all your new items in the new Inventory screen.
• Send Points to friends with the Gift Codes system.
• Customize your game.
• Two new badges earned by using ProShop or getting a Gift Code.
• Super Shield gadget (replaces Turret if you want)
• Rifle must be bought.
• Turret must be bought.
• Various bugfixes from PR1 (Maximize still not fixed)
• Introducing CSI NIGHTLY - more on it below.
• Two more levels of Survival Mode.
• Survival mode gives more points.
• Changes to ProPoint income - you earn slightly less than before.
• You can now press Escape or F2 to return the main menu.
• Tweaks to the points.ini (manages save files)
• Both Legacy badges now work.
• Story Mode scene 2 is 1/4ths the way done.

What is CSI NIGHTLY? 

• An up to date build of Prologue that is updated almost every night, it is very experimental but can contain critical bug fixes the moment they are implemented, new content or badges, and entirely new features. Test the next Prerelease before it's even released!

The first Nightly will be released later tonight. You'll be able to download it at anytime using the sidebar on the right.

Today on Trevdev 2/3/12

Welcome to the first Today on Trevdev! It'll be a wrapup of stuff I did in game development today - a summary post pretty much. On to the content!

• Square Trail 1.2 update due today on DeviantArt
• Larger play area.
• New "Wave" ability.
• New graphics.
• New Previous score and Session's Best score display.
• More information on how to play.
• Polished interface.
• Abilities guide.
• Prologue - has some new stuff ready for PR2...
• Gifting system - buy ProPoints codes to give to people - and send your PP to your friends!
• New Super Shield gadget (equipment), fast health regen, but with ammo drain.
• Shopper and Gifter badges for buying something, and buying a Gift.

Updating...

Mission accomplished!

Alright, awesome news!

• ProShop is IN! So far you can buy the Turret, Rifle, or Quick Heals.
• Inventory is IN! From MyPro you can see all the Gear, Equiptment, or Weapons you've purchased.
• New interface is IN! It looks and works great, too.

Also...

• Improved saving - you have to do it manually by opening up the "In-Game Menu", but it works much better.
• A new gadget like the Turret might be added before Saturday/Sunday.
• ProShop Gift Codes will be added. I'll post some on my blog and in physical cases, giving you some free PP. Eventually, Code purchasing will be added - for a PP price you can get a code to transfer PP to someone else.
• Earn more points in Survival mode, making it on par with Legacy.

Introducing Square Trail.

Play it here: http://magecandy.deviantart.com/#/d4obuob

It's small, and I made it only in two half-class periods. But it's pretty enjoyable. Imagine a mix of Centipede and Tron/Lightbikes. Codenamed, Square Trail, it's going to be a flash exported game and probably playable on my DeviantArt tonight. You're a square that can't stop moving, and constantly gains speed, but little deadly squares always appear behind you. You can drop bombs to destroy the little squares to clear space, but you'll run out eventually - how long can you survive?

Big changes with PR2.

ProShop is implemented. Potential purchases are sorted by "Badges" "Equipment" and "Items".

Badges all part of the ProShop series, just expensive things you can buy to collect and finish your Wall.
 
Equipment: There are two classes to this, gadgets like the Turret, used with X and Z - one can only be equipped at any time, your Inventory in MyPro is used for selecting your Equipment. There's also Gear like your main weapons - Pistol, SMG, Rifle.

Items like equipment, re used in-game, with the V key. They're one-time use, sometimes stackable items with a specific use, like the Quick Heal that fully restores your health, but you can only have 5 at any given time.


Oh, and uh... Equipment in PR2

• Turret will become the first piece of equipment you can buy, for 100,000 ProPoints.
• The Rifle might be the first purchasable piece of Gear. Meaning you start with just the Pistol and SMG, but have to buy the Rifle for 250,000 PP

Items... only the Quick Heal.

Baadges... might not be in PR2.

Where's the points.ini file?

Right here.
Open up My Computer, make sure you have Show Hidden Files on...

C:\Users\yourname\AppData\Roaming\MMFApplications

Look for points.ini.

Tuesday Progress Update (1/31)

So far, the new Interface is functional. Just need to re-size and move some boxes, and it's done.
Which means today, I'm starting on putting the store in. Here's what it'll feature!

Badge Series: Plenty of Points

• [Back to Square One]: 1,000,000 points.
• [That's it?] 1,500,000 points.
• [You win?] 2,000,000 points.

The cost is so huge for these just to be long term goals, versus the just "collect points" series (Over 9000-My Little Million) since you're spending the points and have to collect it all over again. My goal is for at least a few hours of playtime to get 100% in the game -- all badges, all briefcases.

Items 

• [Quick Heal]: 250,000 points. 1 time use, can hold 5 at once. Press F to fully restore your health.

Equipment / Upgrades

• [Gun Turret]: 500,000 points. Unlocks the Turret ability (same as before, tap X.) permanently.
  I wanted at least one ability unlock... so this is it. You can get this many points in like 2 runs of the East Gate chain.

Now for some stuff about Story Mode:
Scene 2 is awesome. It's very cinematic, compared to all of my previous games. First few seconds are calm, but then you're sent running away, and you have to run fast. You don't have any of your guns here either, but you can pull off Stealth Kills. You'll be running away trying to escape a huge house, and taking down the enemies in your way. There'll also be a badge you can earn in this level from SK'ing enough of the enemies, as well as a hidden briefcase.

Awesome news in 3, 2, 1...

In my last post, the new iteration of the Main Menu was shown off. Well it's evolving forward a bit more, you see...

I got ideas for the Shop!


First of all, the "Badges" tab you see in the picture will be renamed to something more universal, currently I'm thinking "MyLog", "MyPro" or something along those lines. In that tab, you'll be able to go to the Badge Wall, see some stats, and access the ProShop.

Inside the ProShop you'll be able to buy stuff like...

• Buy a new set of Badges (Meant to be earned after My Little Million)
• Buy a new medkit to be placed in Survival Mode.
• My favorite so far... Purchase a Quick Heal, for 500,000 ProPoints you can tap "F" to use it and instantly fill your health, it's a one time use thing, so you should buy one in preparation for a hard level or long Survival run.

With the introduction of the new Quick Heal item, I'm adding tougher death penalties for Legacy Mode (when you tagged a checkpoint), you'll lose 10,000 of your points in that current stage each time you die.

You'll be able to carry multiple Quick Heals. You can track your inventory in "MyLog", and with this new feature introduction, I might go for more Items in the future - I'm even thinking about making it so you have to buy Ammo, or at least ammo boosts.

Another idea I'm thinking of is a "Extended Mag" upgrade. You'll be able to use it to boost your current clip by 15.

With all these upgrades and items though - I'm starting to think about adding an in-game Inventory screen, but this is looking a bit too far ahead.

CSIP: New Menu Interface

Here's a concept of the new interface I'll try to put into Prerelease 2.

Quick note: The right area will be vertically aligned and not low like it is here!

Clicking "Badges" might bring up  new tab, with stats such as how many briefcases you found - and later on, possibly your highest score achieved in any stage - and of course access to the Badge Wall.

It'll work like the current one, just better.

With this, badges are a bit more obvious thanks to the glow, and there's a lot more room for text, stats, and future game modes. Plus, with the black borders it's consistent with the Badge Wall, I'm going to shoot for putting this in-game today so it's ready for PR2.

Progress - and my first deadline.

Okay, deadline for Prerelease 2 is superbowl sunday, Feb 5th. I gotta have a good build ready to show my cousins.

Here's a bit of a checklist of what's been done so far, keep in mind I've had a lot of schoolwork since Thursday! If it's not on the list, it's not in this build.

• Story Mode Scenes 1 and 2 complete (2 is in progress)
• Legacy tweaks.
• More badges, working Legacy Badges
• Fixes from PR1
• Foundations of a storefront for spending points.
• Hubs for Story, Survival, and an improved Legacy hub.
• ProPoint income toned down.