I'm thinking of making another map soon with the Starport launcher system. This one will be based on an idea I used in an old map of mine called Cannonballs. However, rather than copypasta the idea, I'm going to personalize it into my own unique design to both try something new and see if I'm starting to figure out how to make original ideas into fun ones.


Here's how it'll work:

• Each player starts off with one Starport at a random part of the terrain.
  
• The "terrain" will be a grid of buildings positioned in 3x3 spaces filling up most of a 128x128 map.
  
• Different parts of the terrain will have different elevations. You'll be able to identify elevation by the minimap colors of the terrain buildings.
  
• Players' Starports launch projectiles by building and aiming units (via. Rally point).
  
• Players must destroy all enemy Starports via. projectile attacks to win (obviously).
  
• "Projectile" types will include:
  • Cannon Ball - No cost, medium cooldown. Travels in an arc to its target. Player has to use careful timing and estimation to adjust the projectile's "powder" to control its arc trajectory to ensure it clears terrain obstacles and lands on an its target. Hits targets at its point of impact and lowers (craters) terrain slightly in a small radius.
    
  • Mound Maker - Low cost, low cooldown. Arcs similar to the cannon ball. Causes all terrain in a small radius to increase in altitude. Does not hurt targets at its point of impact.
    
  • Crater Maker - High cost, medium cooldown. Travels in an arc. Lowers all terrain at its hit location in a wide area. Does not hurt targets at its point of impact.
    
  • Mine Shot - Low cost, medium cooldown. Arcs. Places an explosive on the terrain that, if hit, will in turn hit other things within a medium radius. Explosion lowers terrain slightly.
    
  • Rocket Shot - High cost, medium cooldown. Travels at a constant altitude from the launcher's current elevation to its target. Explosion has no affect on terrain.
    
  • Teleport Shot - Very high cost, high cooldown. Arcs. Teleports the player's cannon itself to shot's hit point.
• The "lowest" terrain is water. Player cannons lowered to this terrain immediately drown.
  
• Certain items can be exposed when terrain is turned over through projectile hits. Items include:
  • Gold Chests - Additional money for projectiles.
    
  • Mines - Blow up when hit.
    
  • Fumeroles - Raise up the terrain substantially when hit after being uncovered.
    
  • Grotto Holes - Lower the terrain substantially when hit after being uncovered.
    
  • Strange Orbs - Teleports the player's cannon when hit.
    

Keeping it simple. Not gonna add randomized terrain. Not gonna add 50 types of shots. Players only get 2 lives each and a moderate amount of starting cash. No turn-based nonsense.

I WILL add full terrain vision (Black Sheep Wall mode) as a setting, though, in case players wanted the game to be more Battleship-like.


My theory with this simplified approach is that:

1. Easier for me to make.
   
2. Limiting the duration and length of the game is better for low attention span players and forces the map to get hosted more frequently on bnet.
   
3. Other mappers could, if interested, add or change the base map with their own crap if they really wanted. Simplicity makes this easier.
   

Ideas and feedback welcome.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on May 21 2008, 8:54 pm by Tuxedo-Templar.

Sounds really interesting. Reminds me of the old game 'scorched earth'.

Shouldn't this go in Maps In Production?

Sounds fun.

IT NEEDS LOTS OF CRAZY FX. LIKE RIDICULOUSLY CRAZY AND INSANE.

Alluring concept. I would definitely play it... I like the idea of using the mini map for gameplay.

My questions are: Is the terrain viewed top-down, as in a topographical map, or from the side, like in scorched earth?

If it's from the side, then will there be angled shots and trajectories? This seems really complicated for such a small project... If there are no trajectories, then blasting through the same mountain every time you play before being able to hit your opponent could get really monotonous.

If it's top-down, will players have to blast away terrain higher than their starport first before being able to shoot past it? I'm assuming this is how it works... I think it would work well this way.

The only potential problem I see: If the players start out with one starport each, and the only thing the players have to destroy is each other's starports, how will they ever get more money to buy more weapons and more starports? Can they kill each others' projectiles? Do they get points for taking out terrain?

I haven't started it yet.

Top down. But I could do scorched earth style, too.

Read the above post completely. Blasting craters out of the terrain unearths items (including gold chests), which are activated/gained by being shot directly. There is no way to gain more starports than the one you begin with, though. Lives are your only protection.

Tux, make this map actually downloadable You might have a popular defense map yet!

It's not a defense map.

Will you be able to get more than one starport?
Not even a little?
OIC

No. More than one starport changes the core gameplay. That too would be a variation of the core gameplay that I'd leave open to explore if anyone finds the base gameplay satisfying in its basic form, though.

Basics first.

I'm assuming that if you're able to destroy terrain, either high terrain blocks projectiles, or projectiles have a range limit. Without either of those two things, I think the game would be short and monotonous. The players would have no reason to find hidden items if they can already blast the enemy directly, unless it's impossible to kill a starport with low-level weapons.

High terrain blocks shots. If you've played Cannonballs, you'll have an idea how this works. Shots travel in an arc-like trajectory, so the higher the "terrain", the higher the arc needs to be to clear it. The higher the arc, the further the shot.

However, because rally points target specific points, the old system won't necessarily work as well. What I'm thinking of doing, without the ability to predict the shot's length (without some silly EUD thing that picks up rally point coordinates or something... meh), is to simply use the first "shot" to set the length and end point, and then to use another function (either liftoff or a subsequent shot) to actually fire the shot. A back and forth sliding bar indicates the powder amount of the shot, and careful timing and estimation with the subsequent shot is needed to set the amount of powder to get the shot to its intended target.

I'm still working out the precise details of this function as I speak, though. Ideas welcome, of course.


I may also throw in wind direction as a factor for shot paths, for shits and giggles.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on May 23 2008, 3:29 am by Tuxedo-Templar.

Nice idea
Instead of predicting the shot's length you can make subsequent building units in a row in starport increasing the 'strength' of the hit which is indicated by HP bar of the starport (or by special text message). When units stop building the projectle is actually hit or something like that...

Hmm. That's an idea too.


Problem is, I need that prediction in order to trace out the trajectory arc for the projectile. Otherwise I'd consider that idea.

In fact, now that I think about it, I wonder if a better gameplay approach than shot trajectories doesn't exist...

What about using a defiler to set the direction of the shot with dark swam, then burrow and unburrow? (the intensity of the shot would be the amount of time that it has been burrowed, you can display it using the HP or energy bars).