Interested on Collaborating on a Map

Dear Forum-Goers,

I desire to collaboratively create a WarCraft 3 map.

At this point the only information that I will provide is that this map, whatever it ends up as, will not have any new skins, models or other alterations of the basics found on the WarCraft 3 map editor (the .exe that unlocks the Orc Juggernaut and others is the exception).

Again, right now, I'm just seeing who is interested.

Hmmm... i may be, i could edit terrain or unit editor. I'm not too bad with triggers either, however i disagree i think you should allow skinning and spell editing because if you are doing custom heros you DEFINETLEY need a spell editor, you dont want to have a unit called Giant Demon or something, and have the description be gives the Mountain king.........

Dear Master-Mune and other interested parties,

As mentioned above, it is my intention that this map not have any custom spell, skins or whatever else. Everything we need will be in the WarCraft 3 Level-Editor.

That being said, I'd like now to jump into dealing with the pre-production of this map. First, what is the nature of this map? Is it a multiplayer map, for use on Battle.net? Is it a single-player campaign? Or what?

Now, I've provided an illustration as an example of how we might proceed. Let's say we decide to make a single-player campaign. The scenario is basic and story-driven. A horde of Murlocs has been terrorizing the town of Falmouth. A military unit, led by the player, is sent to deal with the threat. The objectives are 1) to defend Falmouth and, 2) defeat the Murlocs.

Obviously, with this much information, as well as a planned out map, it would be easy enough to begin to move toward the actual production phase.

That's a cool 'map'. If this was a 'modded' campaign that would make a great loading screen.

I am very useful when it comes to map making, terrain wise. I could whip something up fast if needed, but i am not very interested in making triggers, i am a skinner at heart but i can also do well designed terrains. In conclusion i would be glad to help but i will not be doing any triggers only terrain design. If my expertise is unneeded ill go make some more skins for my MOD so its no loss to me.

I have one question with the pre-design of the layout of the map. It seems that the 'Muloc encampment' is in the middle of a body of water. I could do that but that would take editing (floating base, etc.) which im sure you dont want to do so i recommend that your revise that part of the design.

Dear Omnipotent and other interested parties,

To answer your question, the river would be shallow so units could feasibly move on it. But, the above map description is only and example and is by no means what we should intend to create. Could we do this map? Yes. If we decided to have no side-quests and a straight-forward mission then one of us could do it by themselves.

But, rather than go with this, somewhat simple, idea for a map, I was hoping to get some feedback and ideas from you for a map.

I've given some thought to a possibility and would appreciate some feedback on it.

The possibility is, what if we did a map (or a series of maps) about a town in Lordaeron during the Reign of Fire? Demons and Infernals walk about the once peaceful countryside and now, one town stands amidst a sea of destruction. The first waves of Undeads are defeated, but the local Paladin, sensing a serious threat, orders the towns-people to retreat to a old fortress in the mountains (not unlike Helm's Deep). There, the worn and weary villagers of the small Lordaeron town make their stand against a tide of evil.

Dear Omnipotent,

I am glad to see someone volunteer to take part in a collaborative creative process. You may, of course, say your share during pre-production. And, during actual production, I would be honored to rely on you for part of the mapping process.

Also, since you said you were a devote skinner, we may be able to make use of you. I have given thought to modifying this map and have come to the conclusion that it might be possible as long as we stay within our bounds. If you're fimiliar with the alternate Paladin skins in the game (Lord Nicholas Buzan and Sir Gregory Edmunson), than you have a picture of what I am thinking of. Rather than create a whole new model we should aim to create a whole new character.

For example, we could take a Mountain King, and you could make him have a black beard and hair, instead of the typical blonde. Then all we would have to do is rename him to something like Fundin Ironforge. We might even take the extra step of creating a new sound set for him so we could have direct access to the voice actor.

Dear Omnipotent,

I am sorry I did not include this with the last post. But, here is an example to show what I was speaking of.

Yo!
http://savage.samods.com

I'm sure I recognise your typing style, Undertow. Do I know you? :P

Well ... sorry to hear that we will not need that map you posted because i had already begun production of it. So far it looks good. Maybe a possible first mission? For example : the main base and its outpost (falmouth) are in peace until the Undead attack and the first wave is defeated (if not the mission is failed) then the outpost gets slaughtered by this "evil force" u speak of and scares the main base and this new character paladin to the stronghold to make their last stand.

Also, if we were to make a series of maps, that would require much editing and the making of a full MOD with starting screens, etc. Which is not a bad idea but is not what you said you wanted.

Dear Omnipotent and Magic,

This post is to answer some of your questions.

First, Magic, to be honest I don't think I know you. However, if you ever played NWN and took part in a forum for a particular server, Lands of Lore, my typing style may be familiar, as my handle there was "Fundin".

Also addressing Magic, I would love to incorporate custom dialogue. Since there are those out there who would make themselves available to us, I would like to provide the opportunity for them to show their skill. That being said, I'm afraid that the majority of the sound track will have to wait until the production and the post-production stages. However, if you are interested in editing or writing dialogue, then, please, express your interest in doing so.

Next, I am glad to see such enthusiasm Omnipotent. I also began to work on a small map for the example shown above. However, that example is a bit too unrefined and simplistic. Nor do I think that it could be incorporated to the other idea about the lone Lordaeron town. But, do not delete your map. I would like to see what you have done. You may send it to me via e-mail. My address is [email protected]

Moving along, for now, I'd like to try to work more on the idea of the lone Lordaeron town (of which I'll provide some illustrations the next time I post). Before we go any further we ought to discuss whether or not this will be a single map, or a campaign. Omnipotent, you noted that a doing an entire campaign might require some real modifications and I'd appreciate it if you went into detail about that. But, what I'd like to focus on is the story and simply doing whatever it takes to tell the story. If we can do it in one map. Let's do it. If we need two maps, then we need two maps to tell the story.

Having said that, let's remember that this is for fun and not get in over our heads.

I agree completely. But im almost positive that you can not make the final 'stronghold' and the town on the same map. It wont come out right at all. Also, for more detail on the campaign part : first you would have to edit every loading screen unless you want the old WC3 loading screnes which would make no sence to the storyline and you would have to run your campaign off of the WC3 basis. For example you would have to have each map or mission or whatever you want to call it to load after each other which i do not know how to do. This would require additional team members and a lot of scripting. So for what your looking for would have to be contained on one map. Thus, you would have to find a way to tone your storyline to where it is contained on only one map.

Dear interested parties,

Here is a map proposal for a collaborative project. By no means are the contents set in stone. I simply wish to expose you to what I am thinking of doing. This file should convey the story-line as well as bring up some crucial factors that need to be considered before we proceed.