Tag: map

Game Development

Blog 809: Raiding the Datavault

Rao Dao Zao

I was starting to flesh out the third section of the tutorial when I realised I was missing a screen. (What do you mean, I keep getting distracted from the minimum shippable vertical slice level?) One of the primary ways you’ll be able to get into places you’re not supposed to be is by finding the codes to keypad locks, except… well, then you need somewhere to store those codes, so you don’t forget them. You need a Notepad.

Then I realised that there was another missing piece of the datavault: the area map. How can you find your way around without a map? (Quite easily, my levels are not going to be particularly large, but indulge me, please.)

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Warcraft III

Blog 795: This Wreckage Gold

Rao Dao Zao

Luckily This Wreckage is much better built than When the Freedom Slips Away, so it’s much less buggy on the scripting level. Unluckily, it contains a whole heap of custom models and data that Reforged doesn’t seem to like. Sigh. No rest for the wicked, huh?

This is a bit overdue because I was sort-of waiting for Reforged to stabilise a bit and… uh… well, since the dev team has apparently been dismantled, I guess this is as stable as it’s going to get! So behold: This Wreckage Gold with a load of fixes and small tweaks! … and a whole heap of unfixable “known issues”. Double sigh.

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Warcraft III

Blog 783: When the Freedom Slips Away: Gold

Rao Dao Zao

When the Freedom Slips Away is almost half as old as me — I finished it in 2006, making it 14. I was 16. I was still in school!

Time makes fools of us all, and much as I don’t like what Blizzard have done with Warcraft III: Reforged, I have to concede that it is now the “official” way to play maps and, since I’m still alive enough to deal with the situation, I feel compelled to do what I can to keep my seminal works in good order.

So I give to you: When the Freedom Slips Away Gold, a huge raft of bug fixes, a few compatibility tweaks, and some Known Issues that I can’t touch.

Head over to the download page to get it!

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Gaming, Warcraft III

Blog 774: The SPRPG Diaries: Warcraft Rogue

Rao Dao Zao

This one is going to be controversial, because this map is not a dedicated singleplayer map: it’s co-op, for up to 7 players (odd number, but who am I to complain?). However, it can be played quite happily alone, and I do, with potentially shocking regularity. Why? Because it’s procedurally generated, that’s why! Every play-through is different!

… Ahem.

So while this does not strictly qualify for the SPRPG Diaries by being a dedicated singleplayer map, it is a map that’s stayed with me and that occupies much more of my brain than it should. I think, therefore, it deserves some attention and discussion.

Today: the endlessly varied Warcraft Rogue by Polaris0082.

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Modding, Warcraft III

Blog 547: Back to Basics: The Oasis

Rao Dao Zao

While revisiting material for the SPRPG Diaries, I’ve ended up replaying as many unsavoury maps as I have classy ones that I’ve eventually presented to you. Even so, some of these have got me to thinking that I do actually enjoy the very basics of WC3 RPGs: RTS controls on a single hero with a pleasant suite of abilities. (By the way, if you’ve spotted something that might be worth a punt for the Diaries, do drop me a line.)

I attempted to play a very recent RPG campaign release a couple of weeks ago, and I was struck by how… Well, crap it was. It had lavish terrain, all the HD imported art you could imagine — but the game itself was pretty much nonexistent, even in terms of attack-move-and-unload-spells-to-win. How difficult can it be to set up a compelling little hero with meaty abilities and set him loose on a world of creeps? Apparently too difficult for some. (I guess “don’t fill him up with passives” is a good start. Critical Strike and Evasion may make for a “realistic” combat system, but it’s hella boring to operate.)

So I got to thinking about going back to basics, stripping away all the weapons systems, backpacks and triggered knockbacks, to see if WC3 can actually stand on its own out-the-box RPG-lite hind legs.

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Gaming, Warcraft III

Blog 546: The SPRPG Diaries: Rise of the Lich King

Rao Dao Zao

Right from the beginning, I was all up in Warcraft III‘s singleplayer RPG scene; a combination of a long attention span (which, I have to admit, has since diminished) and limited internet access made it the natural choice. We might have exhausted the supply of maps that defined my own works, but there is still plenty of interesting stuff out there to have a go at…

Today: the indefatigable Rise of the Lich King by Armelior

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Gaming, Warcraft III

Blog 545: The SPRPG Diaries: The Troll War

Rao Dao Zao

Right from the beginning, I was all up in Warcraft III‘s singleplayer RPG scene; a combination of being competitive but terrible and limited internet access made it the natural choice. We might have exhausted the supply of maps that defined my own works, but there is still plenty of interesting stuff out there to have a go at…

Today: the curious The Troll War by Makuza

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Gaming, Warcraft III

Blog 535: The SPRPG Diaries: The Devil Made Me Do It

Rao Dao Zao

Right from the beginning, I was all up in Warcraft III‘s singleplayer RPG scene; a combination of a love for romance sub-plots and limited internet access made it the natural choice. So in this series, I’m finally going to discuss some of those maps that had a big impact on the way I do things…

Today: the venerable The Devil Made Me Do It by nightingale

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