"Aranthia" - Successor the Orc Campaign

For those of you who browse the forums regularly, I'm sure you remember me from droning on and on about the Save/Load triggers in 1.13. If you remember back further, I had an old project called "Aranthia" that was based in one huge RPG map with several satellite maps the be accessed via game cache like the Orc Campaigns.

Well, now that the triggers work, I look at the old map and realize that it's nothing to really look at, so I decided to completely face-lift the project. The goal of Aranthia now is to provide an RPG with a level of environmental detail currently absent from many WC3 playable mods. (This of course excludes cinematic mods, you devious detailers! :foot: )

That said, I present some preliminary screenshots of a map called "Scenery Expo" which demonstrates some of the level of detail we're shoting for:

-Uses the "Aragorn" skin by KDEWolf
-Uses the tree model extracted and popularized by eXN for COTN / COTD, etc.



-My favorite shot out of the three, this is "through the trees" from the southwest corner looking northeast. The hill may look abnormally steep, this was done to cover up the black hole left by the sky box. (Bad angle)



-This is a ground-level shot in the southeast corner of the map showing our "hero" standing on the road with a fallen tree.

The only real problem I have with these maps (other than the lighting) is that the tree model is a solid color. I intend to have several different variations, but I just didn't get around to it yet.

This campaign will feature dozens of "transition points" or areas that you cross to take you to another map. The loading screens between these maps will be actual screenshots, properly Photshopped to make them look like old paintings or something

I am furiously working

-Bejoty

Nice tutorial but I have a question. When you are talking to the npc in the tutorial if you ask him what his job is he says he wants you to ask him how to leave. I typed exit and he says that I am not a moron and I follow the road out of this town. Problem is I can't get out of the tuturial town.

That is because . . . I AM THE MORON.

When I was debugging parts of the map I accidentally disabled the region that gets you out of the tutorial town. I didn't even realize it when I posted the map until you reminded me now.

My bad, my bad.

-Bejoty

Ok good. Is youre map protected? Can I enable the reagion? If so what editor did you use for it?

Jeez, it's been a while since I've worked on it. The map's not protected. I figure if it's good enough for me, it's good enough for anyone. I'm no big innovator, that's for damn sure.

The debugging was done to test the "waypoint" system. To get out of the tutorial town, just bring up your chat window and type the name of the city to travel to. I've listed them in order of the game's progression:

1. seelys bay (nifty little seaside town w/2 cinematics)
2. waystruck (boring)
3. corsotha (pretty cool, small port city)
4. riverwatch (boring)
5. kingsport (arrr! pirate city from above)
6. newboro (boring)
7. arland (interesting "young city" urban design)
8. secheron (boring, on top of a hill)
9. overland (super-boring)
10. dark city (a dead, hollowed out town)

Don't expect anything more than some average scenery. The map is no longer being worked on. If there's anyone out there who wants to take this giant map and spice it up some, be my guest.

I think I just used the standard World Editor since I'm pretty sure I'm still within the terrain tile limit. When I made the map I wasn't aware of UMSWE.

-Bejoty

Ok thanks.:foot:

Good day, all.

Here's a bit of an update on the Aranthia project for anyone interested. I've started work on the Act I "Overmap" where most of the action takes place. There are 4 Towns on the map itself:

1. Seely's Bay
2. Waystruck
3. Duskhart Hollow
4. Corsotha

Here's a few random screenies I picked off:



This is an overhead shot of the left half of Seely's Bay. There are a few more houses hidden behind the trees. This is a small port town on Corsotha Lake. We're not to the oceans yet.



Finally today this is a simple shot of the "main road" looking backwards. You can barely see Seely's Bay through the trees. In the foreground is a dilapidated footbridge made from the "Ruined Pier" doodad. It may become part of a quest.

So that's it for today. I've got the WC3 bug again and I'll be posting more screenshots sometime later.

-Bejoty

Here's a few more screenshots from my project. I should have ACT I done by sometime in the middle of the month.



-Here we have the lovely loading screen for ACT ONE of my project. God bless Photoshop.



-Terrain and detail play huge roles in my project, and as such, almost everything is properly to scale. This includes the trees, so your hero can wander between the massive trunks of the "Lordaeron Summer" and "elveswood_1" trees all day if he pleases.



-This is a shot from a very early cinematic in the game. I'm not a cinema genius, but this part is pretty funny to watch. This Coldrick guy basically unloads that Frost Wolf on you, and it becomes part of your adventuring party.

Hope you enjoy the eye candy and forgive the load times.

-Bejoty

Dude.. how did you make that loading screen look so... cool? It looks comicy... HOW DID YOU DO THAT MAN!!

Nvm, it was Poster Edges, right? :P

Aye, Poster EDGES! (In the voice of that old guy from Pirates of the Caribbean)

Photoshop is a wonderful thing.

I'll take some more screenshots tonight sometime, be prepared.

-Bejoty

Act I is so very close to completion. The cinematics are all but done, now I just need to populate it with appropriate creeps and code the quests and we'll be set.

Here's a few screenies:



-This is a shot of the first sizeable town you encounter. It's called Corsotha. The picture doesn't really do it justice as it is mostly mean to be viewed from above in the standard WC3 isometric view. Still, it's a nice place.



-This is a shot from a cinematic about 1/3 of the way through Act I where you pick up your first NPC, Freiloch. This guy is quite the character. Think rugged old english explorer meets Keith Richards.

That's it for now, expect some more later.

-Bejoty

Greetings all. This is some info for anyone who still cares about this project I'm working on. ACT ONE will be completed probably at the end of the month. Terrain, cinematics and quests are done on the Main Map. The only thing left to do is to create the satellite maps used for transitions. (Like the Orc Campaign)

So, I present to you my Features for ACT I:

ACT I - The Road to Corsotha
-----------------------------------
-Full Storyline
-Full set of Side-Quests (Roughly 12)
-Several Transition Points including caves, tombs, and a customary underground Dwarven community.
-New heroes, items, and abilities
-New skins for important characters
-New enemies inluding Wraiths and Mimics (w/new models)
-Voice acting for all major characters
-New loading screens for all areas
-Resurrection Stones
-Random encounters (no respawning)

I'll edit this message a little later and add a few screenshots. Rock on.

-Bejoty