Control The Ball!

Players: 7
Computers: 1

Goal:
In this map you attempt to control a "Ball" (scourge) which will follow you once picked up. The other players are also trying to control the Ball. After controlling the Ball for 100 seconds a specified amount of time you win. You have a few spells at your disposal to help you come out on top against the other players.

Spells:
Freeze - Mana Cost: 30 - This spell gives you an arbiter for 5 seconds which you can use to stasis once. It also cloaks you for the duration of the spell.
Steal - Mana Cost: 60 - This spell gives you the Ball regardless of who controls it or where you are. Quite powerful, but may end up being useless if someone else kills you after you cast it.
Psionic Storm - Energy Cost: 85 (you spawn with 64) - This is a 1 hit kill if you can actually hit a person with it. Pretty good, but a lot of the time you don't live long enough to get to use it.
Upgrades - Mana Cost: 60 - This is just a normal StarCraft upgrade. With only 1-2 upgrades over another person you can quickly become way more powerful than them.
New! Charge - Mana Cost: 45 - Gives you 150 energy. Allows you to cast one storm, and have enough energy to cast another within 20 seconds.

Download.

Other Information:
I was bored last night and made this map in about 90 minutes. It isn't protected, I don't mind if you look at the triggers to learn or anything, but I'd rather you not edit it. I may did make additional changes (such as adding different amounts of points to win, more spells, etc.) but I'm not sure yet.

The most significant change to this version is the implementation of a system to be able to change the amount of rounds played and the amount of time to win each round. I believe this will help expand gameplay in new ways.

Pictures:













Whatchu think?

In other news: A guy attempted to steal this map. He renamed it to Capture The Ball and made some shitty changes that as far as I can tell only involve undoing things I already did or creating annoying messages that spam at you. The guy's name is Dark(DvS). I created this version in part to combat the shitty version he released, and in part to add some much needed new features. Because of what he did the map is now protected. Obviously the latest version of OSMap can still open this, so it's more of a precaution against newbs. I'd still prefer you all leave it locked.

Post has been edited 3 time(s), last time on Aug 27 2008, 2:59 am by NerdyTerdy.

I think the whole scourge as a ball and following the player is overused and unnecessary in this particular map. Could have been replaced with something more original while keeping the same gameplay.

What did you have in mind?

I think the scourge is fine. It's small, easily visible, not restricted by terrain, and speedy.

Well if I told you then it wouldn't be original.

Edit: Honestly, I haven't played any map remotely like this. I think I'm going to add a few more spells and maybe tighten up the arena. Imo, it's decent work for less than 2 hours

Version 1.02 created! Exciting changes, most notably a customizable rounds + points system.

Cool map! I don't know what Donkey Punch was saying about the Scourge being overused, I haven't seen any maps like this either.

Just out of curiosity, do you have any code to stop Battle.net noobs from Stasis Fielding the Scourge? (Or non-noobs from doing it by mistake.)

Also just out of curiosity, are you planning to add more spells? Or is this map more unit-based with the spells only being there to help?

Also also just out of curiosity, how does the player control four spells if he can only build two units at the Spellbook/Starport? (I know that Psionic Storm is cast by the player-unit, but that still leaves Charge...) (Or did you add a new spellbook unit in the current version?)

EDIT: Customizable rounds and points... Nice feature, and one that is sadly lacking in many UMSs. (What is the plural of UMS, anyway?) Hopefully, more people (including me) will take your example, and it will become as common as ban systems. *takes example*

Also also also just out of curiosity, are all my questions annoying you? (I am asking this seriously, I have a tendency to ask way to many questions and/or make way to many suggestions. I am trying to stop doing this, which is why I asked.)

Scourge is invincible so it can't be stasised.

I plan on adding more spells, I just don't know what to add yet.

Starport is now capable of building Valkryie for Charge. It has 5 buildable units and I may end up using all of them.

I was really excited about the customizable rounds and points feature as well. It leaves so many options for gameplay that aren't usually there.

The questions don't bother me.

Normally, most of the people do NOT include systems such as in-game 'rm' because it affects the spread of the map.

Ah. I hadn't known you couldn't Stasis invulnerable units.

As for more spells, I think a teleport spell might be cool. You can create a Corsair and tell the player to use Disruption Web where they want to teleport to. (I am also working on a method to detect where a Scanner Sweep goes off, which might be more effective than a Corsair.I have the basic idea, but there are a few glitches and it's taking a lot more time to finish than it should because my brother tends to play StarCraft for seven hours a day.)

If you do end up using all the Starport units: *epic win*

Okay, thanks. I'm really trying to be less (read "not") annoying, so I get nervous when I say a lot of stuff at once.

It's not actually a 'rm' system, it's just a system to extend or shorten gameplay at the very beginning. After that you can't edit it.


Yeah, I considered the teleport spell. Only problem is that if multiple people cast it at once it could glitch and people could be teleported to the wrong area That's not a huge deal though, so I might end up adding it.

How would it glitch... Oh, wait, Disruption Webs are owned by P12... And my ComSat system would have the same problem... Still, I think it would make things more interesting for the players.

Maybe you could 'queue' the spell, so that only one person can have a Corsair at a time? Or maybe set it up so that if you cast it while someone else has a Corsair, you get a Defiler instead and aim with Dark Swarm? *random ideas* Or aim it with Observers: When the person casts it, they get an Observer, and in a few seconds (or something) they teleport to where ever the Observer is?

Hey, I haven't played 1.02, but I thought I'd take a second to think of a new spell. I came up with the Fake Ball. you cast it, and it chooses approximately nearest player (with a max range) and gives them a fake ball (probably only if they don't have it, or that can be up to the players to handle). I also thought this map could benefits from team play, perhaps 2-3. That way, you could even cast fake ball on your teammate while you run with the real one. In that light, I'd suggest to make each player on a team the same color, but then that wouldn't really allow custom team sizes, so it's not too necessary.

i'd still also consider maelstrom over stasis. my thoughts.

Control The Battlecruiser!

Now that is at least, somewhat original.

I'm having trouble posting in this topic. I have had a lot of responses (which unfortunately did not post and I lost them), and the map's development has been super charged ever since Wing-of-no-Wing and I started discussing ideas for it and whatnot. 1.03 is released and will be uploaded to the database sometime soon. 1.04 is in the making, and will hopefully be much more balanced for spellcaster type players.