Project Hybrid
Part 1
The First Recon


Overview
Map Dimensions: 256x256
Tileset: Installation
Genre: RPG, Survival


Introduction
Secret Base 2 is an RPG set in future. It's actually a second version of another map.
I made this map, because I've gotten back to StarCraft after some time, and just wanted to make something.
The idea for this map was inspired by the film "Alien" (but it was only inspiration, you fighting vs. Aliens).
I tried to incorporate atmosphere, for example, by turning off vision between players and adding sound effects.


Screenshots



Core Breakdown

You are given two buildings to serve as controls: A robotics facility and a gateway.

Robotics Facility:
Shuttle: Interact
Reaver: Plant C4
Observer: Detonate C4

Gateway:
Zealot: Reload (Possible even if clip is not empty)
Dragoon: Medkit
Templar: Plant Mine


Footnotes
There is no level progression or anything as such. I intended it to be science fiction, not fantasy.
I tried to force players to co-operate. For example, you will have multiple chances to use C4, but with only a few charges.
There is no complicated story at the start, but as players progress, they will find notes and access computers to continue the storyline.

I finished work on this map, download it here: Link.

I changed topic name to currently name of the map.

PS. there's 1 secret character ^.~

Post has been edited 11 time(s), last time on Dec 8 2009, 10:48 am by ShadowDancer.

First off, give us more information about the map and make us actually want to play it. Second off, I'd advise in using correct grammar and spelling. Take a look at this guide.

Didn't complete the demo, but your screenshot says "informations", and that word's plural form doesn't change. I'm not even sure if you could say it has a plural form at all. You would need to change your sentence to "It can give you a lot of useful information!"

Anyways, you need more information about your map if you don't want this topic deleted. Good luck

As already stated, most people will ignore your map if:
1. You don't give almost any information about it in the post
2. The only screenshot given shows several errors in the displayed message

Your screen shot really doesn't make me want to play this

Now better?

No.

TassadarZeratul what's wrong?

Maybe somebody can help me? I know that i'm not good, but i can't do anything with it.

OK, if you're not very good at English, you should just use MS Word to at least help you spot mistakes. Then there's the issue of style that no program will understand. The message should be "Use your shuttle to examine the objects around you, like corpses, gates, etc. It can give you useful information."

Also, please post more information about the map.

JaFF - thanks for help, 1st i need download language for my word.

Tileset - installation.
Players - 4.
Story: Military base on small planet not respond, so your force must go there.

This map is something like tech-demo, i want to show my rpg system(with ammo etc.).
Idea for map is inspired by film "Alien". I tried to make atmosphere for example with turning off vision between players, adding sounds etc.
Someone said this game needs a lot of teamplay, and maybe it's true.
Map is too quite survival like, because you can find not much ammo and medkits.

Great. That's a start. Now, divide the info into paragraphs:

Specifications: size, tileset, style

Intro: What is it like, what's your general goal with this map? Is it just for practice? Or for fun?

Story: More about the story please! Characters? Do they have specific names and backgrounds? What are you fighting exactly? Same "xenomorph" from "Alien" or is it something else?

Gameplay: More info about how you play the map. You said you have ammo and medkits. How do you use them? Automatically on pickup, or through some inventory system? Are there any other items? Does your character have 'experience' and 'levels'? Are there any other interactions with the environment?

About grammar/spelling: try to find some free checker i nthe internet, perhaps? Do it any way you want it, but good spelling and grammar are essential to a decent map. Once you've fixed those, I (any perhaps others, too) will be happy to help you with the writing style.

Oh, and put the map info in the first post and use some easy-to-read bbcode on it.

EDIT:
I played it. The biggest bug is that I could not manually attack the zerglings - as if they're constantly allied to me. I was playing for Kerrigan Ghost, if that helps.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Nov 26 2009, 2:40 pm by JaFF.

I didn't noticed it(that bug).

Did you reloaded your gun(zealot in gateway)?

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Nov 26 2009, 4:00 pm by ShadowDancer.

Ah, yes, I didn't reload. You should tell the player that the zealot is the reload function, though.

I put named units at south from gateway(and inside objectives), but i think players arent hm accustomed(?) to tutorial like this :S

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Nov 27 2009, 3:28 am by Mini Moose 2707. Reason: Slightly dickish.

Good sirs, I am both outraged and disgusted with your behavior towards ShadowDancer. It is apparent that he is not a native speaker of English. Your chastising of him is superfluous, and to an extent ridiculous. If you do not wish to the play map because of it, that is fine. However, little good will come of you nitpicking his speech when you pay no regard to his work.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Nov 27 2009, 3:31 am by Mini Moose 2707. Reason: Excessive swearing.

I corrected his English to make it aesthetically pleasing.
However, what was more important were the titles and colouring.

Edit:
Whats funny is how Moose mocked KK with effective use of the English language.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Nov 27 2009, 3:37 am by Vi3t-X.

Symmetry - Of course It's true(I'm not a native speaker of English), but if someone want help me I'm so glad.

[Vi3t-X]:] - Tanks for your help.

If this is Secret Base 2, where is Secret Base 1?...

I played the map by myself as far as I could. I got past the part with the Ultralisk and then wasn't able to open the door the next area. I assume this is because you haven't finished the map yet. I like it overall but I encountered a number of problems and bugs. Here are my suggestions:

- Detailed notification when you pick stuff up, telling you what you picked up. It would be nice to have a sound effect, possibly a different one for each kind of item.
- Players should either start with full clips or be informed that they need to reload before they even start. You could even work this into the plot, having the APC say something like "lock 'n' load, boys" to give players a heads-up so they know to load their weapons before going into the base.
- For that matter, you could work the notification about how strong the enemies are, etc. into the plot as well, having the APC give that information as a mini briefing before the players go into the base.
- Wider corridors, unless this conflicts with the atmosphere. There were a couple of times when I got stuck and had to backtrack to find hallways that led to the rooms where I could find the equipment I needed to proceed. You have to go further into narrow corridors for them to be illuminated as the fog of war parts, however, which might add to the suspense.
- Notification when your clip is empty and you need to reload, unless this conflicts with the atmosphere. Not having the notification might add to the suspense, with players sometimes getting into "oh, shit, I forgot my clip is empty" situations. In that case you should say at the beginning of the game that there won't be reload notifications and players need to pay close attention to how much ammo they have left in their clips.
- Generic notification for the "interact" function when there's nothing with which to interact. Something like "you see nothing of importance here".
- Running short on supplies from the very start doesn't make sense if you're on a military operation. I think you should be able to return to the APC for supplies during the first part of the map. At some point you could have the players be ordered to search deeper in the base but then lose contact with the APC. This is where the short-on-supplies survival aspect could kick in.
- Separate the "interact" function into a "use" function and an "examine" function so that the notifications don't get mixed up. Or maybe only allow players to "examine" something when there is nothing to "use". In other words, prioritize "use" over "examine". This would mean that players would have to run the "interact" function twice to do both in the same area.
- The C4 explodes funny. When I first had to use it to get through the first door, even though I was quite a ways away when it exploded, I got killed. There was also a burrowed Zergling or something that got killed during the explosion. Was it supposed to have attacked me earlier? Or was it there for some reason? Later when I tried to use the C4 on the Ultralisk, neither it nor the Zerglings that were starting to swarm around it got killed.
- Notifications before players enter an area swarming with enemies, unless this conflicts with the atmosphere. This could add or detract from the suspense, depending on how you look at it. You could work it into the plot, having the notification say something like "you have a really bad feeling about this".
- Have items on the ground spaced further apart from each other so you can pick them up one at a time. This would reduce the need for trading items. (I saw what looked like an inventory trading system but, of course, I couldn't test it on my own.)
- You lose ammo even when enemies step on your mines. I assume this is because the ammo reduction is tied to enemy deaths. You're gonna have to be creative with the triggers to work around this.
- Even though killing a certain enemy uses up a certain amount of ammo, you can attack that enemy even when you have less ammo than that amount. For example, even though killing a Zergling uses up 50 ammo, you can attack Zerglings even when you have less than 50 ammo. Dunno if this is important enough to bother you.

There were quite a few grammatical mistakes and poor stylistic choices. If you compile a list of all the text you're going to use in notifications, I'd be willing to help you with grammar and style. (As I'm sure others would be as well.)

By the way, I was impressed by the use of buildings to make certain actions (units to train in the factories for the selection system) available or unavailable instead of the typical attempt to carry out the action followed by an error notification.

I hope that's helpful. Good luck with your map and keep us informed of your progress.