As you may know already, I have been working on a Civilization map, but with a D&D (Dungeons and Dragons) theme. It is about 75 - 80 percent complete so I guess I should post it here so you can wait for me to finish it in a few years, or maybe not. Anyway, there are many aspects of the game that I would like to release to the community about this scenario, some of which I almost certain half of you will not care about.

- Races -
As you may know, if you play Civilization (the actual game or SC version), there are multiple races/ civilizations to play as. This scenario will have 12 races as opposed to the 11 in the other SC Civilization. The 12 races I have picked to be a part of this game are...
- Elves - Unique units are the War Eagle (Wraith) to replace the Frigate (Valkyrie) and the Elven Archer (Sarah Kerrigan) to replace the Archer (Marine) and Ranger (Ghost).
- Drow (Dark Elves) - Unique units are the Drider (Dragoon) to replace the Cavalry (Vulture) and the Priestess (Infested Kerrigan) to replace the Mage (High Templar). The Drow also get the spell ability, Darkness (Defiler).
- Dwarves - Unique units are the Arcane Ballista/ Black Powder Mortar (Siege Tank) to replace the Scorpion/ Catapult (Siege Tank), the Battlerager (Zergling) to replace the Warrior (Zergling) and Fighter (Zealot) and the Sniper (Ghost) to replace the Ranger (Ghost).
- Duergar (Dark Dwarves) - Unique units are the Firepot Hurler (Firebat) to replace the Ranger (Ghost) and the Balhannoth (Guardian) to replace the Frigate (Valkyrie). The Duergar also get the spell ability, Invisibility (Arbiter).
- Illithid (Mind Flayers) - Unique units are the Mind Flayer (Dark Archon) to replace the Mage (High Templar), the Stormcloud (Overlord) to replace the Divine Eye (Observer) and the Shadow Flayer (Dark Templar) to replace the Assassin (Dark Templar).
- Kuo-Toa (Fish/ Frog People) - Unique units are the Exalted Whip (High Templar) to replace the Mage (High Templar) and the Leviathan (Reaver) to replace the Scorpion/ Catapult (Siege Tank).
- Kobolds (Draconians) - Unique units are the Dragonwrought Kobold (Mutalisk) to replace the Dragon (Wraith) and the Skirmisher (Marine) to replace the Archer (Marine) and the Ranger (Ghost).
- Githyanki (Planar Beings) - Unique units are the Dragon Rider (Scout) to replace the Dragon (Wraith) and the Silver Swordsman (Zealot) to replace the Fighter (Zealot).
- Humans - No unique units.
- Warforged (Constructs) - Unique units are the Titan (Goliath) to replace the Scorpion/ Catapult (Siege Tank) and the Charger (Vulture) to replace the Cavalry (Vulture).
- Yuan-Ti (Snake People) - Unique units are the Ignan (Firebat) to replace the Mage (High Templar) and the Malison (Hydralisk) to replace the Ranger (Ghost).
- Orcs - Unique units are the Raider (Ghost) to replace the Ranger (Ghost) and the Banebreak Rider (Ultralisk) to replace the Cavalry (Vulture).

- Wonders -
Just like other Civilization games, you can build/ buy wonders for your civilization that will provide you with a bonus. There are 8 wonders that are able to be built anlong with 2 secret wonders that you must do things on the map itself to get them. The wonders in this scenario are...
- Mithral Hall - Gives you an extra 5 minerals every second.
- Herald's Holdfast - Gives you an extra 5 gas every second.
- Hosttower of the Arcane - Allows you to buy the Golem (Reaver) and Arcane Orb (Science Vessel) units.
- Cryshal Territh - Allows you to buy the Taer (Archon), Demonthorn Mandrake (Lurker) and Siege Beetle (Ultralisk) units.
- Elder Brain - 5 random units owned by other players convert to your side every minute and a half.
- Demonweb Portal - Allows you to sacrifice units in order to summon the Yochlol (Goliath) unit.
- Broken Demongate - Allows you to sacrifice units in order to summon the Lemure (Broodling), Remmanon (Scout), Balor (Battlecruiser), Marilith (Hydralisk), Draudnu (Dragoon), Gelugon (Archon), Adaru (Defiler), Chasme (Mutalisk) and Solamith (Queen) units.
- Temple of Xorvintaal - Allows you to buy the Chorranathau (Battlecruiser), Morlicantha (Carrier) and Singh (Scout) units. These units are unique and can only be purchased once.
- Secret Wonder A - Not telling but it does have something to do with seals and a goddess.
- Secret Wonder B - Not telling but it does have something to do with old guys and a downpayment.

I'm tired of typing all of this stuff, so I'm going to stop and continue this tomorrow (or maybe later tonight). So for now, enjoys this lovely snapshot that looks like its been digested. Any questions, I'll see them and answer them eventually.



Attachments:

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Jul 31 2008, 12:07 pm by DevliN. Reason: Added screenshot to post, and changed filetype.

Just a reminder, when opening the attachment, go to Open and then use Paint to view it.

Looks like a cool map. I'm wondering though, if the Humans have no special units, how will that be balanced out?

Why didn't you just convert the BMP to a JPEG or PNG? It's easier to view that way.

Very nice-looking. I was wondering if someone was going to make a civilization map. Is it going to feature the same gameplay (real-time turn-based gameplay) as the real civilization games?

Oh, and you better finish this.

The unique units for each of the races are not over powered compared to the units they replace, so the balancedness is not thrown of by much, if at all. Also I didn't even want the Humans in this scenario so I made them more as a choice for an intermediate - expert player.

I was thinking about adding this in, but when I do play Civilization 4 (the actual game), I feel that the Simultaneous Turns works better than actual turns for each player. Therefore the scenario is more or less equivalent to the Simultaneous Turns option in the actual game.

You also mentioned converting the image of the map from a BMP to a JPEG, How would I go about doing that? I had meant to do that when I had posted the image, but did not know what to do at the time.

Will the movement system be tile-by-tile like in the other Civ games?

Unfortunately not. It will be a lot like the Civilization maps that are already out when it comes to movement style and gameplay.

I know the quality isn't great, but I changed the screenshot from a bitmap to a jpeg for you.

Thanks. I just figured out how to do it myself. If you haven't noticed, I suck at file extensions

Just wondering, but what kind of techs are you going to put in?

someone plays DnD

I recommend Rectangular "Non-Isometric" terrain for the area where you research technology or advance your civilization, tribute, etc
It saves space so you can fit more on the map. Still, it looks pretty aesthetic as is. Is the bottom left area like a cave/underworld?

And I'm finally back. How nice. Due to my old computer dying and my needing to get a new one (which is beautiful), my absence is now over and my map shall continue to inch closer to the finishing. I also noticed some more questions that I will proceed to answer now.

Right about now I have a few techs (about 10) which include some techs taken from the actual Civilization series (Horseback Riding, Construction, Sailing, Gunpowder, ect.) and some of my own creation, also very cliche to the setting of the map (Dragon Taming, Arcane Magic, Divine Magic, etc.).

I thought about using the Non-Isometric terrain, but then I realized that it looked a bit... modern. So I used the Isometric for most of the map to give it that fantasy-ish feel. And yes, the bottom left area is the Underdark, an area of underground caverns where the Drow and Duergar races start. It can be entered and exited via cave entrances (Assimilators). There is one on the actual continent and one in the Underdark itself.

Well that wraps up the questions so I will now go back to work fixing some balancing issues (not with the humans) and some last minute "extra" triggers. I predict that i will be done with this map by Valentine's Day (or earlier), so the wait is almost over! Anymore questions you have will be answered promptly.

Elder Brain as a Wonder? o.o And I doubt elves and stuff would use one of those Demonic Gate things... The demon things could just be renamed and it would be fine... But it doesn't make sense for anything except the Illithids to have an Elder Brain, or anything with that effect.

Looks nice otherwise. I like the Underdark, it's always seemed like a cool but under-used concept in D&D.

I'm curious as to how you plan to trigger the Elder Brain.

You'd be surprised. In every single D&D rulebook dealing with demonic creatures, there's always an elf somewhere in the picture

If you play the PC game Neverwinter Nights (also where I got a lot of my ideas) you can pay the Illithid Elder Brain to do stuff for you, so I figured that it wasn't choosy as long as you paid it enough (one of the most expensive wonders).

Staying on topic with the Elder Brain, its triggers were actually somewhat easy to write. Every few minutes, 5 random units will be brainwashed and join your side. Of course, there are some units on the map that belong to a neutral player and cannot be brainwashed by the Elder Brain, so I had to write specific triggers for the units. Originally, the Elder Brain would give you 3 Mind Flayers that would fight with you, but my friend brought me to my senses and I realized that it was a bad idea since it completely violates the Illithid race by stealing one of their unique units.

In my first post, I stated that there were two secret wonders that CANNOT be bought, but must be either found or captured. Since we are talking about units on the map belonging to neutral players (and that's what the wonder has to deal with), i'll reveal one of the two secret wonders.

This secret wonder is not a building, but 6 units that must be found a held until all of the units are recovered. The units are sages (High Templar) that are named after the six main skills in D&D (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma). The sages are hidden in places that SOMEWHAT (not exactly) coordinate with their skill. If you play D&D as much as I do, you may have an advantage though. I have arranged so that the sages may even become an objective in the war (capturable), so prepare to defend your sage(s) if multiple players are collecting them. If you do collect all six, you will gain a large amount of minerals and a smaller amount of gas. Depending on the age that you are currently in, the amount of minerals could bump you into the next age and give you the ability to to surprise your opponent with a fast advance.

Hm, really? The only picture I've seen of an elf using a summoning spell in a D&D sourcebook is an illustration of the Summmon Monster 1 spell, and she was summoning a good-aligned monster. Also, in the Player's Handbook, it says that summoning/calling spells have the alignment of the creature summoned/called, and you can't cast spells with an alignment that oposes yours, so good-aligned characters couldn't summon/call evil monsters. But w/e, it's your map.

Btw, I think Moose was asking how you intended to select five units at random.

What edition of D&D are you using as a reference 3, 3.5 or 4?
Edit : It's also being assumed that all of the races are neutral. I know that some races (Drow, Duergar) are almost always evil, but I have definately seen my share of evil races being good.

And the selection of the units to be brainwashed is completely random (as of right now) so any unit anywhere could become yours (as long as it isn't yours to begin with. I hope I answered the question correctly this time, if not please elaborate a bit more.

They want to know how you are doing this.

No... I (and probably Moose) meant from a technical perspective. As in, how does the code that randomly selects the units work?

Btw, I play on v3.5, so yah some of my facts might be wrong now that it's in 4.0...

Edit: Darn, post collision.