Quote from Cardinal

Quote from Cardinal

Edit: The general idea is that the river (running East to West in the middle of the map) starts off with Agria Foliage (left-most blend) and blends towards Dirt (middle two blends), the desert areas are reserved for the 'wasteland' in which neutral creeps are found and stretches towards the teams two opposing bases which are made completely from Concrete. I am also considering putting in a sort of 'oasis' in two locations, middle of a desert patch with grass blend coming out.

I still want feedback on this terrain tileset! Or should I just go ahead and continue terraining?

Champion Idea: Elemental Archon

My idea for a hero will be similar to my idea for the SEN Arena project. And this is basically a versatile Archon hero who has elemental abilities. Fire, Wind/Storm/Ice and Earth. One thing I was hoping to play off was this Shatter mechanic (stolen from Dragon Age: Origins) in that, when a creature is frozen, certain spells or abilities can 'Shatter' them dealing 2x damage.

• Spell 1: Cold of the Void [Activated Aura] - When active, units in 4 range of the Archon are slowed by 5% for each second they remain in this range. Units are slowed to a maximum of 50%. For each second that ticks, a unit inside the aura has a % chance to become Frozen Solid. Effectively a stun-effect for 2 seconds. Leveling this ability increases the Range and % chance to freeze. Drains energy at increasing amounts towards later levels.
  
• Spell 2: Anger of the Khala [Activated on Target Point] - Launches a fiery ball of energy which explodes at the target point. Units hit by this effect are knocked away from the impact location and take x damage immediately with y damage being dealt over z seconds. Leveling this ability increases the range, knockback and immediate damage inflicted.
  
• Spell 3: Gauntlet of the Gods [Activated on Target Unit] - This ability summons a chunk of earth which gets launched at the target unit in a 'mortar-like' trajectory. This deals moderate damage and stuns the target unit for up to 2 seconds. If the target is Frozen Solid, the damage inflicted is tripled.
  
• Ultimate: Earth, Storm and Fire! - This ability causes the Archon to begin channelling. Random 'frost novas', 'fireballs' and 'meteors' will land in a 6/8/10 radius around the Archon. The effects of these three elements is scaled in accordance to the respected levels your Archon has in Spells 1, 2 and 3.
  

My methodology behind this hero is to create versatility. This rough draft however leans toward disabler/ganker. You could either go Cold & Earth for insane nuking damage, capitalising on the Frozen Solid & Shatter effect. Alternatively Fire and Earth specialising with items geared toward spell-casting can make your hero a solid early-
game support nuker.

Alternative ideas revolve around Earth being defensive, Fire being offensive and Ice/Wind/Storm being more tactical. I am open to evolution on this idea.

While I love having someone willing to take a dive on terrain, I am currently looking at it with this perspective: Actual jungles and such, with a lot of green and blue, have been over-adapted into the genre. Why don't we take fire, structures, destroyed cities... Make it look like actual battling has happened and is happening? Besides, StarCraft is a dark game with technology and is generally about destruction. Here is a good image to look at, but don't think that is what I want done. It's just the general theme of the map.



Also, came up with a random idea for a story:

Welcome to Shangri-La, the world where it's people have reached a state of immortal beings. They are willing to share their powers, but they require something in return: Blood. Gladiators from all over the universe have come to Shangri-La, destroying it's once beautiful features and turning it into a war zone. Different alliances have been formed under the different beings of Shangri-La, fighting for their name in order to receive what they have to offer. Even when the Gladiators die, the astral beings revive them to continue battle for their amusement and pleasure, where the Gladiators seek unlimited immortality. Some have become so accustomed to the war, that they now just do it for pleasure themselves.

Instead of gold, we can call them Blood Points or something. This would help people who think, "Why do these little bastards have gold? Why am I getting experience? etc." You are killing units and in essence, taking their blood, so that your faction's Shangri-La being grants you more power and crafts you mystical items.

This is how I feel the map should be made, to include how the river and lanes are designed. They are this way for a reason, to make the "safer" route with towers long, but you can cut down the time drastically by running through the debris of the map. This could cost you if any heroes went missing though, because they could come grab you up for a nasty surprise. Please design around this basic template if you are wanting to add to the terrain pool.

We really don't need champion or item ideas at the moment

A more efficient background story. I like the idea of the whole Shangri La, so let's run with it. Multiple people should submit their ideas.

Massive arena set up for gladiatorial combat. Members and combatants of hundreds of different races all travel from far and wide to participate. They fight not only for the glory of their race, country and brotherhood but also for the divine glory of victory in hand-to-hand / spell-to-spell combat.

The original story was somewhat along the lines of:

Quote from Paraphrased

Massive arena set up for gladiatorial combat. Members and combatants of hundreds of different races all travel from far and wide to participate. They fight not only for the glory of their race, country and brotherhood but also for the divine glory of victory in hand-to-hand / spell-to-spell combat.

This generic back-draft of a story is far less limiting in terms of content creation for the final product of the game. We can have limitless races (Terran, Psionics, Hybrids, Zergs, Critters even)... And we can mould different races characteristics and play-style into the overall plot and storyline of the game.

Only the bravest of souls have ever been tagged with the Ressurector.

The first thing Shangri-La made me think of was the anime Noein...

But anyway, I like the story, as it also seems to keep away from the general "these guys are fighting to protect both their homelands, one good and one evil" idea. Very creative.