-RPG questions and ideas needed-

Hey, have been a bit "inactive" a while (WoW ruined my Wc3 playing).
and now I was thinking of a dungeon rpg or something like that, what things and ideas I need help with is(some questions may b stupid but please answer anyway);

-Group xp;
how to make that all players share xp from the mobs?

-Spell Casting time;
how to make a "nice" casting-time function for spells? I mean, usually if u add a casting time the unit just stands there and do nothing while he waits for spell to come, (I find that a bit boring)

-Class ideas;
the players shall b able to choose the class they wanna play, what classes shall there be? and also, what type of spells abilities shall there be?

-Map Ideas;
if anyone have been sitting on good dungeon ideas and stuffs like that, share your thoughts, I want the map to be a funny, not to hard or easy, multiplay map.

-Mob Ideas;
"my" idea about mobs is that they r mostly undead, maybe some elementals and/or demons. Anyone got any good ideas for a mob? know any cool model I can use(ofc credit'll b given)? any ability/spell ideas?

-Item/equipment Ideas;
all players can choose a hero, well, and all heros got a 6slot backpack, is it possible to do "pop-up bags"? (click on spell/item and then a small window (maybe 6slot or something) appears and there u can use/draw/put items, how to do a system like that?

-Cool "secret & bonuses" Ideas;
a map can b funny with or without secrets/bonuses, but there would always b fun with a secret area or a treasure room or something, or just some odd or extremely funny event that take place when something happends.

-More Map/Puzzle Ideas;
there will NOT only be a map where u kill mobs and then bosses, the dungeon maps shall ofc got some puzzle areas, to make map harder, ofc if u play the map alot u'll surley know the puzzles, but it would b fun with many ideas and especially some puzzle ideas that are very hard even if you've played the map many times be4.

-Special Items/Shrines;
got any cool ideas for a cool but not overpowered item?
would also need some idea for shrines(like those in Diablo 1 and 2)
that gives some sort of buffs, ("maybe" double xp over time, some permanent buffs such as maximum mana and stuffs)

-Map end;
how shall the map end? just a gigantic impossible boss that shall slay all? or a gigantic boss that maybe dies and then map is completed? shall the boss be an ugly but odd bunny? when boss dies, shall the map b ½ finished(they gotta fight their way back)? or something like that, POST YOUR IDEAS!

<Credit will ofc be given, but to make it easier; try to write what name the credit shall be given to>

If u wanna chat via MSNM or mail me, mail to: [email protected] (can't promise to b online often)
[edit: was wrong email]

Group XP: I haven't tried, but shouldn't be too hard. Just set Hero XP range in gameplay constants to a very large number and it should cover the entire map.

Spell Casting time: I don't get you. Do you mean you want to add a different animation to the unit when he is still casting? I believe the top few boxes in the object editor have the field Casting Animation or something along those lines.

Class Ideas: Err... I think you should do these yourself no? My suggestion is use what's available in the models provided, use hero models if you want a greater variety of animations, and then look at the hero model and think what class it should be. E.g. the tauren can be a umm... tree hugger or something.

Map/Mob/Item ideas: Seriously... it's better if you start up on your own. Start on something first then come for suggestions, it's better so those giving suggestions as well as you know more the direction you're headed in. What kind of dungeon? Is there a theme? Is there a level of technology? Of magic? What kinds of opponents are you facing? Humans? Undead? Generally ugly looking things? Are items random drops, specific drops, or bought? How long is playtime meant to be? How long is each individual fight? What should be the general feel? How much combat is there?
Also, unless you're planning it to be a single player thing, it's better to use the provided models. There are more than enough.

Map end: Make a boss that's possible to kill, but not the hardest enemy in the game. By possible to kill I mean something like no matter what bad luck or bad combination the players have, they will always be able to kill the boss, even if it takes half an hour of whacking and healing. If you're going to make it long, there's nothing more frustrating then reaching the very end and being completely unable to kill the final boss.
Then you can make a "boss" after that which is so powerful it's completely impossible to kill, and after killing all your party members but one, a meteor falls on it (or insert some other deus ex machina) for dramatic effect! Woooo.

Nice that u answered 'Ant'
U have absolutely right, maybe should write everything more detailed how I want it and also try making different mobs, classes and stuffs like that. Anyway, I like to have the "ideas" be4 I cr8 the map, just a little habit I got, well, maybe shall try some more things.

Little more detailed Description:

-Items; there will ofc b random drops, items of different values, and there will also be a "friendly" area somewhere inside or at the beginning of the dungeon, where the players can purchase and sell items, and also buy potions or special items.

-Mobs; as I wrote there are mostly undead, and elementals and maybe demons. The undead are the main mobs, elementals are alternative mobs and bosses, while the demons are powerful mobs located here and there I guess.

-Heroes; I'll do as u said Ant

-Map type; dungeon =), what tileset it'll b I am unsure, but it shall be like a maze and still not, different rooms, halls, alternative paths, and stuffs.

-Gameplay; amount of players should be 1-6 I think, the amount of players will set the difficult I think, but there will still be possible to increase the difficult I think, and maybe also decrease it, the Gameplay should be like 1 hour maybe, some games end to fast while some are FAR to long.

-Inventory; I really need some sort of bag that aren't too advanced for both editor and players.

I thank you for answering, and hope that many more does, dunno if this new post helped alot

Post your ideas or comments here!

wow.. that's funny i came back from WoW and started working on an RPG too.. lol anyways.. to answer your question about casting time being boring... all you need to do is attach a special effect to say.. left, hand. Hope that gives you a general idea. If not i'll make the exact trigger. And since codes don't work anymore i'll do it the best i can

Here's the trigger just in case.

1) set up a variable for your special effect named after your spell such as Fireball

Fireball

Events

Unit - A unit Begins channeling an ability

Conditions

(Ability being cast) Equal to Fireball

Actions

Special Effect - Create a special effect attached to the right,hand of (Casting unit) using Abilities\Weapons\RedDragonBreath\RedDragonMissile.mdl

Set Fireball = (Last created special effect)

Wait 2.00 seconds

Special Effect - Destroy Fireball

group exp - be sure you check "global distribution" in the game constants.

for the casting time - use a channeling spell like big bad vodoo and set up a trigger when a unit finishes channeling an ability, do these actions, etc. etc.

mob ideas - hmm, how about giving them random AIs, just a hint. :)

for the expanded inventory - you can just add a no model hero unit then order it to follow the hero constantly. (Be sure to make it a hero, so that you can easily check it with F2, F3, etc..

and of course lots of triggered spells.

the only thing about the expanded inventory is say if you wanted to have 12 ring of protections +1.. then you would need to do several triggers to back that up...

1)- you would need WEU
2)- make a variable called player_1_extra_slots
3)-

shoot gotta run the bus is here i'll finish the rest later

Thanks finally some replies, (the RPG thinggy surley comes because of WoW ) Well, I now got some things and ideas about casting, gonna try some mutliple ways and also those you told/shown me The extra bag idea can work, keep on writing in this thread! Still need more and as many ideas as possible!

There are many already made expanded inventory systems (weaddaar's and Lord Vexorian's, for example), although they may seem intimidating, it's definitely easier to use them than to make your own.

the only thing about the expanded inventory is say if you wanted to have 12 ring of protections +1..

1)- you would need WEU
2)- make a variable called player_1_extra_slots (unit)
3)- another variable called player_1_main (unit)
4)- begin trigger

Events:

Unit- a unit aquires an item

Condtion:

Unit= to player_1_extra_slots

Actions:

If:

Item= to ring of protection +1

Then:

Increase player_1_main's defense by 1


Lose

Events:

Unit- a unit loses an item

Condtion:

Unit= to player_1_extra_slots

Actions:

If:

Item= to ring of protection +1

Then:
Decrease player_1_main's defense by 1

NOTE: The increase trigger is an advanced trigger that you can only find in the WEU Enhacer

sorry for dobule posting but it's clearer to write a new post.. i found out that there will be a problem when you want items added such as scourge bone chimes... i'm still trying to figure out how you can add the effects.. if i firgure it out i'll let you know

I haven't tried this one out, this one is just a theory, but each hero only has 8 modifiable stats which might have items which stack. Mana, Health, Attack speed, Damage, Armor, Agil, Strength, Intel. Create an ability for each modifiable aspect, with different levels, with the increment between levels as the smallest increase an item of its type gives. Store them in a spellbook, hide the spellbook.

Have 8 item-type arrays and 8 corresponding integer arrays, one for each aspect. If you acquire an item of one type, increase the level of the ability related to the aspect by the corresponding integer. If you lose it, decrease the ability's level.

For aura abilities and the like, you can make a 9th item-type array for it and a corresponding ability-type array. When the item is acquired, add the ability into a spellbook (not sure how, is this possible?) and hide the spellbook. Likewise, remove the ability when the item is dropped. For non-stackable auras, I think the game might take the one with the highest value. To make auras stackable, just remove the buff (although you'll get an ugly icon at the bottom of the unit).

I haven't touched spellbooks in my life so feel free to point out how wrong I am.

The theory is sound, but it needs some more tweaks to work in practice.

Most passive item abilities don't show icons anyway, so you don't need to put them in hidden spellbooks. However, most of those abilities refuse to level up properly (unless they fixed that in the last patch). It is therefore advised you use a bonus mod, which is the best choice anyway unless you like to have abilities with hundreds of levels.

As far as any additional abilities go, if it's an activated ability, the item itself can have it, but if it's a passive, then indeed you have to add it to the hero inside a disabled spellbook, unless it's a triggered passive.

Okay, gonna try the things you have told me

I got WEU I think, not using it much though, and the "passive ability thingy", well, abilities that are Item Abilities not used to show any icons. But as Anitarf said, some of the itemm abilities wont level up, experienced this when I tried to make a summoning ability (50 levels, very much wasted time to cr8 50 different spawn units xP)

Well, I thank you for ur answering! Love when I c that new posts have been posted!