Profundum Nefas: Profundum means deep or depth, Nefas means sin or crime

I have decided to start work on my last project for SCBW. I know that there is just not enough motivation for me to do anything more than one last map, so I am using that to give me a push into finishing it. This will be the culmination of many of the RPG projects I have been working on in the past few years that I just never continued to work on. This map will most likely require EUDEnabler, not entire too sure if I want to go vHP or something more fluid and direct so that the player has more information. The concept of forcing EUDEnabler on players is something I am debating about internally, since it would allow for a lot more flexibility with the game. The game will have a retarded amount of EUDCs however, so for those of you non-humans with Macs, this map will not work for you at all.

I will be focusing on keeping the map closed in and cluttered, I really like how it ended up feeling with the enemy spawn system I am using. Items and gold will be a pretty big part of this map since it will have durability for your equipment, two/three slots for you to equip items in and a large inventory. I will most likely end up using a text heavy inventory system though I really don't want to, any other way would be too restricting for the system I have planned.

The map will also be using a heavy leveling system to give you dozens of different combinations of abilities, strengths/weaknesses and a heavy emphasis on teamwork. Spells will range from status effects to healing and towards the ends of just pure utility. If you and your allies do not try to support eachother by focusing on one aspect of fights, you will not get very far into the game.

I have no ETA on this project, but it will be finished.






Update June 10th 2016

Decided to fully implement EUDs into the map since making this map accessible to all of the dozens of people that still play UMS is a joke. This means quite a few of the systems I had completed will be reworked and replaced with new elements that will not only be far more intuitive, but graphically better. Since I have last shared my plans of the map, levels have been thrown away. Instead, the game focuses more on crafting and gambling if you choose to do so. You can craft items in town with resources you locate on your journey, recieve from quests, and find on fallen enemies last of all. Rather than equipment being purely incremental, I have decided to go with more dynamic weapons that can be crafted with special effects that you could not foresee when you started making it. Things like increase damage, attack speed, armor, health, mana, magic power, etc.

Providing players with three sources of damage they can use as they please: Sword, Bow, and Magic. Using the sword is obviously the simplest method and can still achieve good results, it puts you in the most danger. Bows can be used from a distance but require you to time attacks, aim, and have a unique combat style in their own regard. Spells are similar to Bows in practice, but are far stronger due to their reliance on mana. They can be offensive or defensive, shielding allies or chasing down enemies. The map still uses vHP because this is the best way to make a very engaging combat system. Enemies will not just stand there attacking you until they die, instead they actually have some unique behaviors.

Pretty sure I am done working with sound, I have personally made all of them similar in volume level to avoid deafening blasts and believe they will help bring the game alive alongside my other focuses in the aesthetics department. Currently at 53 sounds, but they are mostly 2-4 seconds long, and add just enough atmosphere to the game that I feel content. Currently unknown if I will add the next 11 sounds which are purely ambient background noise for each area.

Post has been edited 6 time(s), last time on Jun 11 2016, 7:09 am by LoveLess.

I'd say go for the method that is easiest to use. EUD actions might be easier to use for you in controlling HP than vHP. For myself, I'd stick with vHP as I feel more in-control of everything.

It's smart of you to stick with simplistic terrain. Artistic features like terrain and such should always come last, as they are very likely to change when creating something.

Units don't die when you subtract/set their HP to zero, so I'd be interested if you find an elegant way to handle deaths.

Sounds like you already have a good start on the project; have any screenshots to show off?

"do not expect this map to have a lot of good terrain"

"Good" terrain isn't necessarily something that is a perfect blend that belongs in the Terrain Hall of Fame here on SEN, but rather something that helps create a good game. Square terrain can be just as effective as the flowy blendy stuff, if it suits the map better.

I'm pleased to see this, and I challenge you to honor your last statement:
as I have so far honored my commitment to my own last RPG.

GL with this. I can test on donuts.

I wanted to see some triggers Loveless D:

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Jul 29 2012, 10:46 am by NudeRaider. Reason: cleaning up

Glad to see you're workin on something lovel. Get on MSN, I wanna talk maps and shit.

Reworking a lot of the aspects for this map. No longer planning to utilize the EUDEnabler, going full out legit on the map.

Good choice

Alright, so the EUD/vHP battle system works like a charm, with absolutely no need for any outside programs of any sort. The system could theoritically support as many units as I want, each with it's own vHP and damage if necessary, but will sit at a maximum of maybe twenty enemy units at once. I would like to extend a special thank you to Lethal_Illusion who helped me with this system and gave me the basis off which it runs.

The terrain and story have been completely changed, though some of you might notice a few things from old projects of mine that have influenced the current design. What I am doing with it now goes far beyond a map that was just going to have cool features and triggers, it will give you a good story and hopefully some great dialogue from memorable characters in the game.

I am currently working how my next two giant systems are going to work: Spells and Inventory. While Spells will be very intuitive in use and you will feel a lot of customization without suffering through endless options, it is relatively simple to the player, which means a lot of work on my end to get it there. Inventory will be massive, most likely eating up every DC and Switch that is left available. It is planned to boast consumables, crafting/alchemy ingredients, weapons, and armor, with the numbers sitting at 40+ unique items that may end up increasing or decreasing in size.

I like my maps to be as simple as possible, but offer a ton of features to the player so they can play the way they want and not be forced to fight over a small selection of units. I am proud to say that my last map will offer this in many forms, giving you guys a meaty RPG within a fourteen year old game.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Aug 17 2012, 2:53 pm by LoveLess.

I am excited.

Loveless, can you PM me or explain here how the vHP system works? I want to see if it's similiar to what I'm using.

Doubt it. You'll see soon enough.

Map is back in progress. Going to be a while however as I did not save the map when I moved (oops).

This looks promising. How many players will it support? If you want I could download sc1 again and help you test it, pm me anytime. Good luck!

Two and the reason for it is that the terrain I want to use is really confined, it works amazing with the spawn system so I definitely want to keep it two players at most.

I might end up using EUDAs again because having the ability to change a unit's attack cool down is too awesome to pass up.

...yeah right.

Work has resumed on this project... From scratch.

If you're only supporting two players, don't bother with EUDs. Just use mods. It really makes no sense to limit your creative output to what you can do with maps.

Extremely tentative where I am going from here, the player count could increase from 2 to 4 and I am straying back towards avoiding EUDAs. Mostly because I want people to be able to play the game on battle.net freely, which is also why I will be reducing the imported sounds down.