Staredit Network > Forums > SC2 Custom Maps > Topic: Infiltration RPG
Infiltration RPG
Aug 22 2010, 11:48 pm
By: payne
Pages: 1 2 34 >
 

Aug 22 2010, 11:48 pm payne Post #1

:payne:

I'm starting a 4 players Co-Op RPG.
The theme: Infiltration.


This is a Community Project, and I am simply acting as the Project Manager. Please contribute! :)

CURRENT "NEED HELP" LIST:
-> Find nicer names for nearly everything (heroes, abilities, enemies, items, etc.).
-> I need feedbacks over some "questions" I asked in the "General Ideas" section, at the very end of this post.
-> Any ideas on how to logically not categorize the Tank unit as Mechanical? I don't want players to use "Magnetic Field" on them.
-> Searching for Boss and Puzzle ideas.
-> Please help out figuring a good Custom UI Design.





Abilities (names are subject to change):
- Deviate: Prevents a unit from getting hit by redirecting the damage on the caster. Lasts a certain amount of time and cannot be cancelled. (Very useful to save a player from death, though could be lethal against yourself too since you cannot cancel the spell)
- Mind Control: Temporary mind control, works on allies too. Drains energy over time, player can decide to cancel. Once the the spell has ended, enemies gain vision over caster's position. Caster cannot move when using this. (Allowing it to be casted on allies too gives me some great puzzle/boss/situation ideas)
- Magnetic Field: Creates a very intense field of magnetism which would attract any metal source. (Could be used to crush a guard with a metal box if the guard is between the box and the spell. Take care when using near your allies, some of them contain metal ;))
- Cloak: Cloaks the caster. Drains energy very fast. When stealthed, the caster cannot see anything and cannot move.
- Push: Pushes all units away from the target point, including allies. Doesn't deal any damage. No cooldown. Doesn't consume a lot of energy.
- True Blood: Takes away life from the caster to give it to the target.
- Twin: Creates an allied replicate of the target unit owned by the caster. This 'clone' cannot deal any damage.
- Speed Boost: See this.
- Blink: Stalker's Blink ability.
- Pierce: Shoots a quick bullet toward the selected unit/point target. Has a fixed range (this means even thought you aim at range 1 from your unit, it'd continue further, until it reaches it's set range). Bullets deal damage to anything it encounters, including allies. Deals great amount of damage.
- Maelstrom: Stuns biological units in a small AoE for a short time. Can stuns allies too.
- Release: Without requiring any activation, the unit that has this spell will gather up to 50 damages. The more damage it gathers, the more powerful the energy-release will be. When the ability is triggered, it releases the energy in an arc progressing toward the point the caster was facing. Deals damage to any unit it encounters (allies as well).
- Lure: Forces the target unit to attack the caster. Very useful to save an ally from the death. Cannot be stacked (two casters cannot aim at the same target). Cannot be cancelled. The target unit will have increase damage and speed.
- Scan: Reveals the selected area (which has to be within a certain range). No cooldown.
- Aura: Has a low range. Must be canceled. Drains mana over time. Is centered on caster. Increases attack/defense points to all units within the aura. (Will force the caster to micro the units inside the aura)

- Communicate (Guard): Enemy spell. Only certain guards must be able to use it. Activated only when the Guard sees a player. Triggers a visual effect on the unit that is casting it. It should take about 6 seconds for a guard to be able to communicate to the HQ the players' position.
- Communicate (Buzzer): Enemy spell. All Buzzers have this ability. Activated as soon as the unit sees a player. Triggers a visual effect on the unit that is casting it. It should take about 6 seconds for a guard to be able to communicate to the HQ the players' position.

- Shield Wall: The caster can place 2 points on the field. In between those, a cloaked wall will appear and block any attack from passing through it. Any unit passing through it will see its life being diminished by 5% of its maximum health value.
- Disruption Field: AoE that disables spells and communication within its range for a certain amount of time.


Heroes (all have high sight range):
- [Probe] Hares (semi-ranged, healer, drifts, quick life regeneration): Cloak, Aura, True Blood, Twin.
- [Dark Templar] Pralid (melee, high attack, low HP, splash damage, gains life when dealing splash damage): Cloak, Blink, Push, Speed Boost.
- [Zealot] Xoffa (ranged, high attack rate): Cloak, Mind Control, Pierce, Maelstrom.
- [Immortal] Krusii (ranged, custom hardened shield, weaponry knowledge): Scan, Blink, Lure, Release.


Enemies:
- Guard: Normal stats, ranged. Most of them have a walky-talky to communicate with the base HQ.
- Butcher: Fast, very low hp, high damage, melee. Only sent when players' position is known by the HQ.
- Pounder: Slow, high damage, ranged, average hp. Found pretty randomly around. Has no walky-talky.
- Buzzer: Average speed, no damage, low hp. Flagged as Mechanical and Biological (it's basically a dog with a communication tower). Automatically contacts the HQ via a slow-connection communication device to call in reinforcement. Runs away as soon as you see him, while trying to establish communication.
- Combat Bot: Slightly boosted stats. Flagged as Mechanical. Mostly here to make players use the Magnetic Field ability more often. :P
- Tank: Heavy unit, long range, splash damage, high damage. Encountered only when reaching the core of the HQ. Recommended strategy: DT Blinks while Immortal Deviates.
- Shadow Ghost: Low hp, ranged, normal attack. Flagged as Biological and Mechanical (Terran unit wearing a cloaking suits). Use this for the Cloak.
- Suicide Beast: Normal hp and speed, high damage. It's a Baneling.


Items (some can only be carried by the Immortal hero):
- Rage Bomb: A grenade like device thrown that sticks to the floor where it lands. After it is secured, it begins emitting psionic energy in all directions over an area of x meters for y seconds. Any unit caught inside goes berserk, gain increased health, attack speed and damage output and attack the nearest moving target.
- Smoke Grenade: Similar to a SC1 Dark Swarm. Other effects: the screen of the players should become extremely blurry and players should not be able to look at their allies' life, and not even their own.
- Sound Emitter: Brief sound at desired location. Distracts very briefly the enemies, some times merely even make them turn around.
- Interference Device: Disturbs any communication device such as a camera. Also disables some abilities (including yours!) within a certain range. (This last part would for example put the players in trouble if they use it too often because they could end up turning a corner and face a big problem which they can't escape from because of their ability being disabled)
- Scaner: Reveals everything (cloaked, burrowed, behind wall, etc.) within a certain range from the user. (Could allow the team to by-pass certain locked doors by allowing the Immortal to Blink on the other side)
- Walky-Talky: Allows the user to communicate with the HQ in order to reveal, for example, the position of intruders. The players' team can carry up to one at a time and will receive the communications from the HQ until they find out they have access to their communication line (either by letting a Guard see you have one of their walky-talky or over time, seeing the guard that had this tool does not answer when he is asked to report his situation).


General ideas:
- Enemy placement randomization
- Difficulty levels?
- PvP?
- Open world vs Linear path... ?
- It could be a race between different teams of the 4 same characters. Every team would start at similar spots, but at different places. Would probably make the map symmetrical.
- Guard's AI: Each Guard have their individual alert level. If it is to the red and they succeed at alerting the Base itself, which isn't always the case, the Base's alert turns red to.
Basically: have 2 separate Alert levels.
- Players enter a room, it goes all dark, they talk about opening their flashlights... but one of them forgot his at home and an other character's batteries are down, thus leaving the players to manage to fight incoming swarm of nocturne-animals with only 2 flashlights. (Use Roy's Sight Concept map.)


Boss:
Empty so far.


Puzzles:
- Combo "Cloak-Push": One player Cloaks, another uses Push to send him past a camera (since he can't move independently).
- Laser Room + Smoke item: http://www.staredit.net/254791/


Custom UI:
- The Minimap is disabled. Little (45x45) square will show units' portrait, followed by the units' absolute HP value and, in parenthesis, the %HP.
- A little button to the right-most of this Dialog box will also be colored based on the units' conditions (red = low hp, blue = under the effect of a spell, green = alright, etc.).
- Players will be able to cast a spell on their allies with this Dialog box (since it can be hard to target on field).


Music (?):
+ Any Colour You Like - Pink Floyd
+ The Feeling Begins - Peter Gabriel
+ The Great Escape - Patrick Watson (perfect for a Trailer!)
+ Gealman - Patrick Watson
+ Wilderness - Matt Uelman
+ Into Town - Matt Uelman
+ Rising - Lhasa De Sela
+ In My Time Of Dying - Led Zeppelin
+ Pastime With Good Company - Jethro Tull
+ Moya - Godspeed You! Black Emperor
+ Sleep - Godspeed You! Black Emperor
+ The Sad Mafioso... - Godspeed You! Black Emperor
+ Brothers In Arms - Dire Straits
+ Apadooraï





Credits:
Temp - Designed all the abilities in the Data Editor
DavidJCobb - Gave AI and enemies ideas as well as other general ideas
ImagoDeo - Gave abilities and items ideas
Roy - Gave abilities ideas
shmeeps - Gave an item idea
StormTemplar - Gave a puzzle idea
Roy - Created a neat 'Flashlight trigger'
Mozared - Making the Terrain


As you can see, I really want the abilities to have side-effects that could act against the players at some point of the game.

DOWNLOAD (to help): Swarmed Heroes


- Screenshots -


- Class Selection Menu's Custom UI -


Ending note:
- Thank you so much for all your help with this Community Project -
:wub:


Post has been edited 50 time(s), last time on Nov 14 2010, 1:41 pm by payne.



None.

Aug 23 2010, 12:09 am ImagoDeo Post #2



Psi Takeover - allows you to take over an enemy or ally temporarily. Only lasts a few seconds and as soon as it's over, the target knows it was mind controlled and gets a read on your location. The psi link takes time to sever, and so your location will be broadcasted to the target unit for a period of time. (Minutes? Seconds? idk.)

Distract - makes a sound at the target location, distracting enemy units. The distraction is brief, but it has a chance to make enemy units investigate.

Stealth - hides you in a camouflage cloak for a moment, enabling you to escape detection. You are immobile and cannot see anything while stealthed. The cloak drains energy quickly and will run out in seconds. Best used if an enemy thought he saw something, or to avoid a patrol's watchful gaze.



None.

Aug 23 2010, 12:13 am Roy Post #3

An artist's depiction of an Extended Unit Death

Alright, don't yell at me or anything, but here's a few ideas I had while making dinner:

Push - Basically forces all units to slide away from the target point, including allies. This would be useful to spread out your opponents, or separate your allies from enemies, if you get the positioning right. On the reverse side, you could just make one of your allies slide off into an ambush, or push enemies behind your group, making yourself surrounded.

Piggyback - one player gets on top of another player to reach higher things, or maybe even to climb up on a higher level of terrain. The person on top can use abilities, but cannot control movement. The person on the bottom controls movement, but cannot use abilities.

Plateau - Raises terrain for a certain period of time. The top of the plateau would be a combat advantage, just as being on a higher level of terrain is. However, when the ability ends, those on the raised terrain fall and take damage. Therefore, you could use it either to gain advantage while shooting enemies, or lure them onto the terrain when it's ready to collapse. Obviously, poor timing or coordination for this ability would hinder the players more than help them.




Aug 23 2010, 1:35 am payne Post #4

:payne:

Great ideas. I updated the OP.
Don't forget: I am not only searching for spell/ability ideas, but really anything.
If you have a good idea for a great UI interface, or some kind of map design, or how to increase the replayability, or [...], please share! :awesome:



None.

Aug 23 2010, 1:50 am Ultraviolet Post #5



You should make like 8 different playable characters, and none of them start out aligned, but through out the course of the game, they have the opportunity to meet with each other and ally and shit. It would be kind of GTA-ish. And epic.




Aug 23 2010, 3:55 am DavidJCobb Post #6



My advice with regards to the implementation of efficient AI:

Have two "alert levels": an "alert level" for the whole complex and a per-actor "alert level".

When a guard sees something suspicious, their own alert level rises. They can raise the alert levels of nearby guards to a level just below their own. Certain circumstances will prompt them to communicate their alert level to the facility as a whole, but they may not necessarily succeed, hence its separation.

If a guard sees a dead body, his personal alert level goes to red. He'll try to pull an alarm. If I blow his brains out before he does, the facility's alert level remains at green, assuming I haven't done anything else to create suspicion.

A guard may communicate his alert level by radioing to other guards, or using gestures when in the presence of another guard. The facility can communicate its own alert level to the guards using sirens and other features.

In other words: treat the facility as you would a guard. It has its own alert level, much like a guard's. It even has its own sensory awareness, through things like laser grids and motion sensors.



None.

Aug 23 2010, 4:56 am payne Post #7

:payne:

Quote from DavidJCobb
My advice with regards to the implementation of efficient AI:

Have two "alert levels": an "alert level" for the whole complex and a per-actor "alert level".

When a guard sees something suspicious, their own alert level rises. They can raise the alert levels of nearby guards to a level just below their own. Certain circumstances will prompt them to communicate their alert level to the facility as a whole, but they may not necessarily succeed, hence its separation.

If a guard sees a dead body, his personal alert level goes to red. He'll try to pull an alarm. If I blow his brains out before he does, the facility's alert level remains at green, assuming I haven't done anything else to create suspicion.

A guard may communicate his alert level by radioing to other guards, or using gestures when in the presence of another guard. The facility can communicate its own alert level to the guards using sirens and other features.

In other words: treat the facility as you would a guard. It has its own alert level, much like a guard's. It even has its own sensory awareness, through things like laser grids and motion sensors.
I like this. Realism is -always- a must for a map.

Keep going, guys! :)



None.

Aug 23 2010, 5:01 am Alzarath Post #8

Praetor

Eye-poke: Pokes a targets eyes, making them lose all vision radius and slowly returning their vision over time.

Or something like that... Maybe just a flash-bang grenade for anyone in an area. :\



None.

Aug 23 2010, 5:04 am payne Post #9

:payne:

Quote from name:Artanis186
Eye-poke: Pokes a targets eyes, making them lose all vision radius and slowly returning their vision over time.

Or something like that... Maybe just a flash-bang grenade for anyone in an area. :\
You display it as an Ability. If it is, I can easily see it blinding everyone except the caster (so its allies are blind).
Though it looks like it could be an Item too. ;o

At least, it made me think about the fact I hadn't think of any item yet. Added the category to the OP. :)



None.

Aug 23 2010, 5:17 am DavidJCobb Post #10



With regards to guard cooperation and low-level decision-making, the basic AI system used in Halo 3 may be a useful thing to emulate. Alert levels would determine which task trees are executed.

The CornerShot would be an excellent weapon for the infiltrators.



None.

Aug 23 2010, 5:20 am ImagoDeo Post #11



A few item ideas

Smoke Bomb - Essentially smoke for those who don't have the ability.

Pebble - The quintessential distraction tool. Toss down a corridor to make the guards investigate, then slip by or assassinate while their backs are turned.

Itch Powder - A pinch of this down a guard's back from a high platform or something will lower his alertness and potentially even send him on a trip to the medic's room - which could cause an alarm if the medic figures out what happened. Be cautious using it.

Sleep Drug - Drop this in a guard's coffee before he heads out and he'll get a court martial for falling asleep on post. Too bad the facility already blew up, and him with it - hee hee.

Blackjack - KO that guard and stuff him in a nearby closet. Just make sure there aren't any janitors doing the rounds. :sly:

Stealth Camera - The smallest camera on earth. Stick these in cracks, crannies, and shadows around the facility - they're wireless and you can have up to [insert number here] of them scattered around to watch for patrols and such. Pull out your handy iPad-like device that links to every camera and you can monitor anywhere you've been and some places you haven't.

Brown Note Emitter - Emits a sound in a specific direction that causes a bowel movement in human beings. Be really careful that you don't hit one of your own with this, or wear diapers on the mission. Your choice. :lol:




None.

Aug 23 2010, 12:55 pm payne Post #12

:payne:

Quote from DavidJCobb
With regards to guard cooperation and low-level decision-making, the basic AI system used in Halo 3 may be a useful thing to emulate. Alert levels would determine which task trees are executed.

The CornerShot would be an excellent weapon for the infiltrators.
I personally know nothing about AI, so for this part, you'll have to wait ;)
As for the Corner Shot, it looks interesting, but do you have any ideas on how to implement it? ;o


Quote from ImagoDeo
A few item ideas

Smoke Bomb - Essentially smoke for those who don't have the ability.

Pebble - The quintessential distraction tool. Toss down a corridor to make the guards investigate, then slip by or assassinate while their backs are turned.

Itch Powder - A pinch of this down a guard's back from a high platform or something will lower his alertness and potentially even send him on a trip to the medic's room - which could cause an alarm if the medic figures out what happened. Be cautious using it.

Sleep Drug - Drop this in a guard's coffee before he heads out and he'll get a court martial for falling asleep on post. Too bad the facility already blew up, and him with it - hee hee.

Blackjack - KO that guard and stuff him in a nearby closet. Just make sure there aren't any janitors doing the rounds. :sly:

Stealth Camera - The smallest camera on earth. Stick these in cracks, crannies, and shadows around the facility - they're wireless and you can have up to [insert number here] of them scattered around to watch for patrols and such. Pull out your handy iPad-like device that links to every camera and you can monitor anywhere you've been and some places you haven't.

Brown Note Emitter - Emits a sound in a specific direction that causes a bowel movement in human beings. Be really careful that you don't hit one of your own with this, or wear diapers on the mission. Your choice. :lol:
Funny ideas, though I am not sure I will implement any of these. :S
Still, it remembered me I had to think of a Corpse system.

EDIT: I'd like to distribute the abilities listed in the OP over the 4 characters. Some are unique (only one character has it), some should be available to all players.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Aug 23 2010, 5:51 pm by payne.



None.

Aug 23 2010, 6:45 pm shmeeps Post #13



Rage Bomb - A grenade like device thrown that sticks to the floor where it lands. After it is secured, it begins emitting psionic energy in all directions over an area of x meters for y seconds. Any unit caught inside goes berserk, gain increased health, attack speed and damage output and attack the nearest moving target.[/b]

Would be nice to use if there is a group of guards, so you can make them take each other out. Advanced uses could include making guards re-target a different infiltrator to tank damage if the original infiltrator was close to death. Would also be possible to enrage yourself to give a combat boost over a group of enemies (assuming you are alone). Of course, has the side effect of giving the enemy a higher combat advantage, with unpredictable targeting, and has the possibility of enraging your own team which can them turn on you.



None.

Aug 23 2010, 8:55 pm payne Post #14

:payne:

Quote from shmeeps
Rage Bomb - A grenade like device thrown that sticks to the floor where it lands. After it is secured, it begins emitting psionic energy in all directions over an area of x meters for y seconds. Any unit caught inside goes berserk, gain increased health, attack speed and damage output and attack the nearest moving target.

Would be nice to use if there is a group of guards, so you can make them take each other out. Advanced uses could include making guards re-target a different infiltrator to tank damage if the original infiltrator was close to death. Would also be possible to enrage yourself to give a combat boost over a group of enemies (assuming you are alone). Of course, has the side effect of giving the enemy a higher combat advantage, with unpredictable targeting, and has the possibility of enraging your own team which can them turn on you.
That idea is... :wtfawesome: !

EDIT: What do you guys think of a "realist" flashbang item which would actually take in count the point surrounding units are facing, blinding them or not based on it? Would evidently include allies. >:D

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Aug 23 2010, 9:15 pm by payne.



None.

Aug 23 2010, 9:25 pm Undead-Fox Post #15



How about some sort of poison cloud effect... something like your smoke, but much smaller, tinted some other color, and any units within it get damage over time and perhaps an attack speed decrease or somethin', with a short lingering effect afterward?



None.

Aug 23 2010, 9:31 pm UnholyUrine Post #16



I also wanted to do an infiltration RPG map too..

The one thing I had going was that the more exploration a player or the player(s) do, the more good things they get, but obviously the more dangerous/taxing it is.

anyways, i'll elaborate later ^.^



None.

Aug 23 2010, 9:39 pm payne Post #17

:payne:

I updated OP (again ^^).

I need:
-> To make Zealot and Immortal unit look... nicer to play? It doesn't look as if they could be really thrilling/micro-intensive or anything. None of their passives/actives abilities look very exciting, imo.
-> To find good names (for spells and characters).




None.

Aug 24 2010, 12:34 am DavidJCobb Post #18



Quote from shmeeps
Would be nice to use if there is a group of guards, so you can make them take each other out.
Singularity already did it. Try double-tapping RB over a human hostile after getting a certain TMD upgrade... Heheh.

Quote from payne
EDIT: What do you guys think of a "realist" flashbang item which would actually take in count the point surrounding units are facing, blinding them or not based on it? Would evidently include allies. >:D
Flashbangs are sufficiently bright enough that your facing direction is irrelevant. SWAT teams and similar police organizations would be much less effective if flashbangs could be withstood simply by looking away. You're also not taking the "bang" into account: they emit an extremely loud sound to temporarily disable hostiles' hearing, and this can't possibly be avoided by simply looking away.

Speaking of which, put a megaphone up to your ear and have someone shout into it. Gotta get that ringing-ear sound juuust right for maximum realism. :awesome:



None.

Aug 24 2010, 12:38 am Generalpie Post #19

Staredit Puckwork

Make a spell to summon my Dole Probe I'm currently working on :wtfawesome:
http://www.staredit.net/?p=shoutbox&view=1079



None.

Aug 24 2010, 3:58 am payne Post #20

:payne:

Quote from name:Zilean
Make a spell to summon my Dole Probe I'm currently working on :wtfawesome:
http://www.staredit.net/?p=shoutbox&view=1079
Sux.

Quote from DavidJCobb
Quote from shmeeps
Would be nice to use if there is a group of guards, so you can make them take each other out.
Singularity already did it. Try double-tapping RB over a human hostile after getting a certain TMD upgrade... Heheh.
Didn't understand half of what you said...




Anyways, feel free to help me out with this project!
Share your knowledge.



None.

Options
Pages: 1 2 34 >
  Back to forum
Please log in to reply to this topic or to report it.
Members in this topic: None.
[2024-4-14. : 9:21 pm]
O)FaRTy1billion[MM] -- there are some real members mixed in those latter pages, but the *vast* majority are spam accounts
[2024-4-14. : 9:21 pm]
O)FaRTy1billion[MM] -- there are almost 3k pages
[2024-4-14. : 9:21 pm]
O)FaRTy1billion[MM] -- the real members stop around page 250
[2024-4-14. : 9:20 pm]
O)FaRTy1billion[MM] -- look at the members list
[2024-4-12. : 12:52 pm]
Oh_Man -- da real donwano
da real donwano shouted: This is the first time I've seen spam bots like this on SEN. But then again, for the last 15 years I haven't been very active.
it's pretty common
[2024-4-11. : 9:53 pm]
da real donwano -- This is the first time I've seen spam bots like this on SEN. But then again, for the last 15 years I haven't been very active.
[2024-4-11. : 4:18 pm]
IlyaSnopchenko -- still better than "Pakistani hookers in Sharjah" that I've seen advertised in another forum
[2024-4-11. : 4:07 pm]
Ultraviolet -- These guys are hella persistent
[2024-4-11. : 3:29 pm]
Vrael -- You know, the outdoors is overrated. Got any indoor gym and fitness equipment?
[2024-4-10. : 8:11 am]
Sylph-Of-Space -- Hello!
Please log in to shout.


Members Online: MetalGear, otorusvgjq, Oh_Man