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13 years ago
Listen to it with headphones and tell me it doesn't crunch your ears into a state of....Rock Ability.
This will be the only post regarding my latest SCII map; Warp. (Just as a side-note; One Ruler has been discontinued due to irreversible Blizzard UI bugs causing the mini-map to be all sorts of fucked up, among other things.)
All pertinent information will be located in what I am posting below. Note that it is HUGE because there is a lot of ground to cover.
Before getting to that, let me just add what I would add at the end. Just so those that don't really care about the detail can understand how I'll be doing updates to the game this time around:
Firstly and most importantly, all update notices will be posted exclusively on a new FA account (
Yaks_Maps_Updates). Also "updates" will no longer be referred to as "patches" because I have since kicked my WoW addiction and no longer need to speak like a Blizzard employee. Also note that no information on the update will be released via this account, just notices. All information regarding will be available on http://yaksmaps.freeforums.org . Which brings me to my next point:
All information on updates will be available to be seen by guests. To post you must be logged on. This means that the forum that housed updates from One Ruler will be moved into a public area.
Finally and less importantly, anyone who would like to become a beta tester can ask me via my FA account (Yak's Maps) or on the forum (THAT MEANS BUGGING ME ON THIS ACCOUNT OR MY MAIN WILL BE IGNORED!).
===============================================================================
Now, on to the stuff very little people will care about! Weeeeee! :D
Note that this has not been modified for viewing by people playing the game yet. It was meant mainly for my eyes only.
Pick a mastermind and/or warp in units to take the artifact that will help your race thrive on the planet; each of the 2 pieces are in the islands on opposite sides of the map. Your job is to overtake the island by getting close enough to the artifact.
Each base is protected by a force field. To take down this force field, you must capture every Central Point (Flag) on the map.
To capture a point that is already contested, you need to remove the unit currently taking the point and then reenter or enter with a heroic-type unit after the taking unit has left.
Some points give special buffs for owning them. Some only give radar of the area surrounding them. But if you own all the Central Points you get the "Domination" buff, which seriously increases health and energy.
Only Masterminds and other Heroic-type units can take a Central point. (From this point forward when I mention masterminds taking a CP I mean these units as well.)
The first mastermind on your team to enter a Central Point is the one that will begin to take the point; protect them!
While capturing a Central Point, you must stay within it's bounds.
After a point is taken, the opposing team will need 30 extra seconds to overtake it. This extra time is only added over the original time, not every time the point is retaken.
Once you own all the Central Points, the force field for the opposing team is taken down.
Your units can warp to in at any point in the map.
There are some restrictions however:
1. There are 4 types of areas: Green, Yellow, Red, and Grey.
a. Green areas have a 100% chance to spawn a unit dependant on other effects currently on the land you're warping to.
b. Yellow: you have a 70% chance to spawn a unit dependant on other effects currently on the land you're warping to.
c. Red: You have a 50% chance to spawn a unit dependant on other effects currently on the land you're warping to.
d. Grey: If it's a grey area only your team can spawn units there. You have a 200% chance to spawn in this area, E.G. you spawn 2 units instead of 1, along with other benefits. (Grey area also encompasses the entire team's main base [everything in Base Stone])
Certain types of land give different benefits or curses. Be sure to know which ones before spawning!
Here's a rundown:
Base Stone: Any unit that is in this area gains 15 damage. However, if it is your side of the map you gain 1% maximum health and 5 extra armor. Lasts 15 seconds and refreshes every 10 seconds while on the Stone. (It's magical)
Base Rock: Because of it's hard to walk on, any unit that enters this will lose 1 movement speed for 20 seconds. Refreshes every 1 second while on the Rock.
Air units aren't effected by hard to walk on land. However, when the shields are brought down, air units are effected by the lingering remnants of the shield. That is;
Warp Shield Current: The Force Field created an unstable air current where it used to be when it was brought down. Air units lose 1 movement speed for 20 seconds which refreshes every 1 second while in the base rock area. This will dissipate if the Force Field has been down for 1 minute or longer. Likewise, If the effect has already had time to dissipate, this effect will return in 1 minute once the Force Field has been brought back up.
Grass/foliage: The only normal land type. Does nothing.
Crops: Food! You regenerate 15 health, 3 shields, and 5 energy every second while you're in this area per stack for 10 seconds. Stacks gained every 1.5 seconds. You can gain up to 6 stacks. If you reach 6 stacks you lose the stacks you have and get the "eaten too much debuff". If you get this debuff, You cannot eat any more food for 120 seconds, as well as you lose 10 maximum health and all stacks of the "Crops" buff due to being sick. To be warned before reaching the maximum amount of stacks, at 5 stacks you will get a warning debuff (does nothing but warn you).
1 vespene gas and 2 minerals is given to players every 90 seconds of the game.
Players start with 1 vespene gas and 5 minerals.
At least 1 vespene gas is required to warp a unit in. Each tier of units adds an amount of vespene gas to the required amount to warp in a unit from that tier.
Each tier of units is unlocked by buying that tier. This costs a great deal of minerals and gas per-teir so there is only one way to bypass it:
You can unlock certain units after getting to a certain level on your mastermind. This will unlock a structure that you can build, albeit slowly, in order to use the unit. However this takes up a lot of room as no unit will ever require the same building as another. This building, however, also unlocks upgrades for the unit you would otherwise need a tier appropriate upgrading building for.
Only worker-type masterminds can get tiers above 2. However, if you have a worker-type MM on your team that will unlock 2 extra tiers of units.
If you're a MULE, you must have the required amount of vespene gas to randomly spawn that unit. However, you will not be forced to use vespene gas once spawning a unit.
You can use masterminds in place of, or in conjunction with, warped units. Masterminds are just like normal units only they level up and generally have abilities. Leveling up causes you to gain a small amount of each of your attributes and 1 Skill Point if the mastermind has skills.
All masterminds are unique. While some might have upgrades that are alike, abilities and what the mastermind can do overall will be different for each one.
There are many different Masterminds:
(All masterminds can create workers to harvest vespene gas and minerals unless otherwise noted.)
Easy:
SCV: This mastermind provides an aura that gives a defensive buff to all structures within it's range for 15 seconds when activated (the buff itself lasting 45 seconds), as well as it can build buildings to make special workers that can increase income, up to a maximum of +5 minerals and gas per 30 seconds.
Ultralisk: This unit has 1000 health to start, it's only drawback being that it's damage output is poor. Can cast some abilites. Once it grows strong enough, this unit will become immune to all stuns and slows. And if it grows its strongest, it becomes immune to mind control! Can be upgraded to attack faster, up to +1.5 attack speed.
Reaper: Can jump up and down cliffs to avoid damage, and has a small range to take advantage of the cliffs even further. This mastermind's only drawback is that it attacks rather slowly. Can be upgraded to move faster, up to a maximum of +3 movement speed
Zergling: Can run rather fast and is small so it can use trees and other environmental things to it's advantage, as well as burrow. As it grows in power, it also grows in size. However, once it grows it's strongest it becomes immune to the effects of "Memory Dump". Can be upgraded to make movement while burrowed faster, up to a maximum of 90% normal movement speed.
Void Ray: Moves moderatly fast and deals damage to both ground and air via a beam. Deals 20% more damage to massive units. Can be upgraded to deal more damage at more range, up to +25 base` damage and +2 range.
Changeling: Can become any other mastermind in the game currently by targeting them with a spell that steals their identity momentarily. Can be upgraded to make the change permanent as well as make the cooldown and cast time shorter, to a minimum of 10 second cooldown and 0 second cast time.
Medium:
Ghost: Can become invisable for a short time and while invisable can build and move, however if it does anything else it becomes visable again. While cloaked this unit becomes untargetable as well. Cloak lasts for 15 seconds, but can be upgraded to a maximum of 50 seconds.
Banshee: Can fly and therefore can only be attacked by units that can target flying. It can only target ground units, however, and it deals splash damage. further, it has a slow movement speed and certain units can buy items to damage air units. can be upgraded to attack air units as well as cast hallucination; creating copies of the unit that are weaker, but deal 50% of it's attack damage and move significantly faster than the original. These units can do everything the original can except capture Central Points or the artifact. Cannot create workers.
Hellion: Moves fast to avoid damage and deals damage in a line. however it's health is not great. Can cast some abilites. The stronger this mastermind gets, the longer it's range. Can be upgraded to deal more damage, up to 40 extra damage. Can build copies of itself using vespene gas. These copies start off as very bad units, but get stronger over time, however their supply cost also increases likewise. For these units to grow stronger, they need the required amount of supply they will need once grown to be available. These units will only be able to attack; they cannot cast abilities, create units, or capture Central Points. Only one of these units can reach the maximum strength. When it does, it can capture the Artifact.
Mastermind Headquarters: This unit has 3 Forms, all of which do different things. If the Headquarters dies it will lose all effects gained while in it's current state, unless otherwise mentioned. Can be upgraded to make it's mobile form flying as well as reducing the time it takes to switch froms to a minimum of 5 seconds. This will make your mobile form slower.
If the Headquarters reaches it's maximum number of Sentries and Bunkers, and it's maximum strength (Health, Shields, AND Attack Power) and the maximum strength of it's aura, it can cast an ability that will make it gain the maximum effects of all of it's states all at once and become the "Walking Fortress". This effect will persist through one death. After which You will be weaker than before. if you die again you will revert to level 1 and lose all of the effects, bunkers, and sentries. Once you cast the ability to morph into this form, you can never morph out again until you die the second time.
1) Defense Form: In this form the unit will be unable to move, attack, or cast abilities. It will start out as a weak wall but as time goes on it will grow and thus increase health and shields. As it grows you can use abilities to add bunkers to the unit. These bunkers can be filled only by "Bunker Goblins". Bunker Goblins can be trained via this unit while it is in this form. If the unit dies in this form it will revive in this form weaker than before it died. If this unit grows to it's maximum strength while in this form it will gain the ability to move, however very slowly. This unit will retain it's stats when it switches forms but it will lose what it gained over time, fast, until it's at it's original stat values. Bunkers will remain indefinitly, however in different forms bunkers may be less useful. Sentries in this form work as intended.
2) Mobile Form: In this form the unit can move, and cast evasive/support abilities, but not attack. The longer this unit remains in this form the faster it can go. However if you die or switch forms you will lose all of your movement increasing effects immediatly. If this unit reaches it's maximum speed it will start to gain sentries on it's body. These sentries persist through state changes, but not death. Bunkers in this form slow the unit significantly and have less heath. Sentries cannot attack until you switch forms. Any already active sentries can attack in this form.
3) Assault Form: In this form the unit can move, cast offensive abilities, and attack. The longer this unit is in the form the better it's attack becomes. If this unit's attack reaches it's maximum it will gain an aura that persists through state changes, but not death. The buff from the aura will increase the attack of units. Over time, while in this form, this effect will grow stronger. Sentries in this form may malfunction and either stop working or start attacking you. Bunkers in this state slow the unit only slightly and remain at the same amount of heath.
Stalker: Mostly a supportive unit, this unit can blink onto cliffs or just away from enemies to avoid damage. Is ranged. Can cast abilites. Has a moderate amount of energy to start but not too much attack damage. can be upgraded to have more energy, up to +5% maximum energy. Every 30 seconds, you can use 50% of your energy and store it in energy cells. Too much energy will bring on bad side-effects, however the more energy is stored the better your abilities become and the more abilties you can use. You can also drain all this excess energy with a spell that gets stronger based on how much energy you have stored.
Overlord: Fully a support unit, this unit cannot attack. Instead, it can cast an arrey of support spells and abilities as well as it's an air unit! Only has one attacking ability. Can be upgraded to move faster, up to a maximum of 150% normal movement speed (or a +50% speed increase). Cannot create workers. Mutates over time. With each mutation comes something good, but also something bad. You can revert mutation completely by using a special ability that drains all your energy at once. This will remove all mutations be they good or bad with no side-effects.
Hard:
Zealot: This unit can only build. However it makes up by being able to place a special building "The Accelerator". The Accelerator increases time in a medium area by 10%. Any unit or structure in this area will be effected. Can only build one Accelerator. Can be upgraded to reduce the cost of building, "The Accelerator", down to a minimum of 50 minerals and 100 gas. This building acts like a unit that cannot move so it can be warped into and/or placed anywhere on the map. Can upgrade workers to harvest faster, down to a minimum of 5 seconds-per-harvest per worker.
Hydralisk: This unit has a long range and high attack power to deal heavy damage at a far distance. However it's attack speed is poor and health is very poor. Can be upgraded to use the ability Envenom: "When this ability is cast it causes a poison to stack on units that are attacked by this unit, dealing 5 damage per 2 seconds per stack. Holding a maximum of 3 stacks. stacks last a total of 6 seconds." Can be upgraded to a maximum of 10 damage per 2 seconds can also be upgraded to make stacks last 2 seconds longer.
Archon: This unit has a moderate amount of all attributes, attack power, health and energy. The most..."normal" unit in the game. This unit cannot be upgraded, cannot create workers, and cannot use abilities.
Immortal: Starts with 1000 health. Deals low damage at a moderate rate. Cannot regenerate energy. Moves rather slowly. This unit can be upgraded to increase health slightly, up to +.8% maximum health. For a Minimortal, this upgrade; fully upgraded, will reduce the debuff that drains your stats to .1% per second.
It has an alternate evasive state: a Minimortal.
A Minimortal cannot attack, cast abilities, capture Central Points, or capture the Artifact. However it is significantly smaller and slightly more fast than the original. While in this state your stats will drain by .5% per second until you are dead or have switched back. This is excluding energy, which will actually increase by 1 per second.
To switch states costs 45% of your energy and 10% of your health.
Corruptor: this unit can only target air units. Moderate amount of damage at a slow rate. Can cast some abilites (Only on air units). can be upgraded to allow this unit to cloak itself. Can attack, move, or build for 5 seconds while cloaked; it also increases movement speed by 5 for the duration. Cannot create workers. Can be upgraded to allow it to attack more than one unit at a time. Up to 3 units.
Extreme:
Dark Templar: This unit can only attack other masterminds, or other units marked as "Heroic". Can target air and ground units. Starts with very poor base stats as well as it is NOT CLOAKED. Can be upgraded to give more shields, heath, armor, and attack power. Up to a maximum of +500, +1000, +35, and +155 respectively. Cannot create workers, cannot level up. After 3 upgrades, this unit will be able to make itself invisibile every 60 seconds for 25 seconds. If it becomes fully upgraded, it will become permanently invisable. If this unit is fully upgraded for 8 minutes, it can choose from a list of abilities and upgrades to copy and make it's own, as long as it can make use of it. Anything from faster attack speed to the passive mutation ability the Overlord gets and anything in-between. It can only choose once, and depending on what you choose it may or may not lose stats or get debuffs. The Mastermind HQ form changes are not available but the buffs they give are.
MULE: This unit can do nothing. Every 15 seconds it will randomly spawn a unit (still restricted based on which colored area type it is in currently.) Can be upgraded to reduce this time to a minimum of once every 2.5 seconds. This unit is also unique in that you get extra supply for having it! +19 supply. If this unit reaches it's supply limit it lose the ability to move every 30 seconds, lasting 10 seconds.
Mothership: This unit cannot use anything offensive. Instead, it cloaks units on it's team in a small area around, and directly below, it. This unit will level up very slowly over time. If it reaches it's maximum level it can cast Vortex. This will kill all masterminds on the field, while you hover at a safe altitude. At max level it can be upgraded to actually attack. This will remove it's ability to cloak units, but as well as being able to attack it will gain the ability "Mass Recall".
Now the Q&A trigger which explains but a few more things not explained here:
What kind of game is this?
There are two primary modes, "Capture the Flag" (regular mode) and "Mastermind Game" (auxiliary mode). All settings of this game can be voted on. Feel free to take your time if you're new, but you only have 25 seconds to make up your mind!
How do I play?
Capture the Flag really speaks for itself, but there are a few things both game modes have in common:
1. Masterminds are the key to pretty much everything, and every mastermind has one mastermind it is very strong against, and one it is very weak against. Not including any in-between units. Most balancing of masterminds will be done using this bit of information. Basically what you want to do is keep leveling your mastermind. Units are also useful, however most units' health and shields will not be upgradable.
2. Upgrades are also a big part of the game. Whether you've picked a builder and are unit heavy or picked an assault Mastermind and are unit weak, you always need to keep upgrading. Masterminds always have a cap to their upgrades, which is when items come into play, but units can be upgraded much, much farther (not into infinity) and this can add to your strategy.
3. The third and final key which is constant no matter what game mode, is that strategy is vital to a game win. Even if you follow the other keys to success, you cannot just blindly run into combat. This is a (partly) risk vs. reward game. As such, if you mess up too much you will easily lose. This is not to penalize dieing, it's just the way the game is build.
Why are you telling us how to win?
I most certainly am not. I am giving you the keys that are fundamental and constant, however you will need to make it work with your play style. And everyone has a different play style so you'll need to figure out how your play style can be used in the game to be victorious. Simply put: you can have the keys, but you need to find the lock and turn the keys before opening the lock. A little less simple than I had hoped when first typing it out, but hopefully you understand.
Why is this game any different than all those other Domination/Risk vs. Reward games?
The last game I had under production (One Ruler, if you've heard of it.) was a colossal failure for a few reasons. It, was hard to follow, was too complex, and was balanced very badly. Thus, I've learned from my mistakes and improved the way I am creating maps (even terrain!) to give a map that, while the basic idea has been used, is unique in many, many ways while still keeping itself rather simple to understand, simple to execute, and balanced better to begin with.
All feedback should be posted on my website "http://yaksmaps.freeforums.org/index.php";. If you feel like using the forum as your own little forum talk-y place...I know -_-; you can. Just please:
Follow the posted rules<n/>Keep all non-feedback posts in their intended forum areas
and be respectful of your other forum goers.
Okay, why is this game unique compared to the litterally thousands of others?
The first and most unique aspect of the game is it's colored zones. These zones, depending on color, increase or decrease the chance to spawn in that area.
While units are the lesser part of the game, they are still vital when your mastermind is elsewhere or needs assistance. With the added chance of the colored zones and the fact units ARE important, this makes it so each spawn needs to be thought out. And while spawning in the base may provide a bigger yield, remember that any unit that passes through the choke-point is slowed....
The second and more interesting unique feature of the game are the artifacts. Each artifact has a completely unique ability that uses chance to decide upon two or more outcomes. Each of these two abilities are completely unique to the artifacts in that they will never be replicated in any way/shape/form in any other ability any other unit uses. And while Memory Dump may not have a vote now, it may have one if I hear enough people say they want one. Don't be afraid to give me negitive constructive feedback! I may just implement changes accordingly.
The third and, in my opinion, most interesting unique aspect of the game is the "unit stacking" if you will. You see the farther into the game you get the higher tier/better units you can afford, and each tier is designed to have 3 units which are balanced in a rock-paper-scissors-like way, This is a little less relevent so I'll skip any more conversation in that direction.
Simply put, the better the units get, the more complex/better they get. And one of the ways I plan to make them complex is by stacking them. For example:
Mastermind Headquarters is the perfect embodiment of this. It starts as a command center on a tank, and over time it adds to itself and becomes what is basically a fortress.
So, if you haven't already guessed, some units may have sentries attached to them, some may have more than one weapon. the basic concept is the "more than one" part of the sentence.
And the final way it's unique is it's settings. You can have a game with no units and only ground masterminds for a challenging but simple game. Or you can have a mastermind game with random masterminds for a less challenging complex game. Along with anything inbetween that is allowed. Feel free to experiment!
Anything else?
Yes, just that I CANNOT stress enough that feedback is what will keep this game alive past beta. If I can be convinced that enough people are enjoying the game, I will keep up with production and updates for as long as it needs to be updated or developed. So, PLEASE, tell me what you thought! I don't want "o wow that waz bad >(" just please be constructive and state WHAT you didn't like and WHY. If you need help, here's a handy-dandy guide:
1. Did you like or dislike the game?
A. Why?
2. Is there anything besides bug and balancing fixes you think should be added to the game?
(optional)
3. Would you recommend this game to others?
A. If not, why not?
While I am in-game, you may not see me do much talking past the very start. I am not much of a talker while I game. So it is better if you leave all feedback on my forum. Not just for this purpose, but also so I can keep track of all the feedback I receive.
You will have to register, but I am hoping that doesn't discourage people. If it does, please just take 5 minutes to register and tell me so. Enough people who are discouraged because of this will result in the site being moved.
Again, feeback on ALL FRONTS is CRUCIAL!!!!
All pertinent information will be located in what I am posting below. Note that it is HUGE because there is a lot of ground to cover.
Before getting to that, let me just add what I would add at the end. Just so those that don't really care about the detail can understand how I'll be doing updates to the game this time around:
Firstly and most importantly, all update notices will be posted exclusively on a new FA account (
Yaks_Maps_Updates). Also "updates" will no longer be referred to as "patches" because I have since kicked my WoW addiction and no longer need to speak like a Blizzard employee. Also note that no information on the update will be released via this account, just notices. All information regarding will be available on http://yaksmaps.freeforums.org . Which brings me to my next point:All information on updates will be available to be seen by guests. To post you must be logged on. This means that the forum that housed updates from One Ruler will be moved into a public area.
Finally and less importantly, anyone who would like to become a beta tester can ask me via my FA account (Yak's Maps) or on the forum (THAT MEANS BUGGING ME ON THIS ACCOUNT OR MY MAIN WILL BE IGNORED!).
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Now, on to the stuff very little people will care about! Weeeeee! :D
Note that this has not been modified for viewing by people playing the game yet. It was meant mainly for my eyes only.
Pick a mastermind and/or warp in units to take the artifact that will help your race thrive on the planet; each of the 2 pieces are in the islands on opposite sides of the map. Your job is to overtake the island by getting close enough to the artifact.
Each base is protected by a force field. To take down this force field, you must capture every Central Point (Flag) on the map.
To capture a point that is already contested, you need to remove the unit currently taking the point and then reenter or enter with a heroic-type unit after the taking unit has left.
Some points give special buffs for owning them. Some only give radar of the area surrounding them. But if you own all the Central Points you get the "Domination" buff, which seriously increases health and energy.
Only Masterminds and other Heroic-type units can take a Central point. (From this point forward when I mention masterminds taking a CP I mean these units as well.)
The first mastermind on your team to enter a Central Point is the one that will begin to take the point; protect them!
While capturing a Central Point, you must stay within it's bounds.
After a point is taken, the opposing team will need 30 extra seconds to overtake it. This extra time is only added over the original time, not every time the point is retaken.
Once you own all the Central Points, the force field for the opposing team is taken down.
Your units can warp to in at any point in the map.
There are some restrictions however:
1. There are 4 types of areas: Green, Yellow, Red, and Grey.
a. Green areas have a 100% chance to spawn a unit dependant on other effects currently on the land you're warping to.
b. Yellow: you have a 70% chance to spawn a unit dependant on other effects currently on the land you're warping to.
c. Red: You have a 50% chance to spawn a unit dependant on other effects currently on the land you're warping to.
d. Grey: If it's a grey area only your team can spawn units there. You have a 200% chance to spawn in this area, E.G. you spawn 2 units instead of 1, along with other benefits. (Grey area also encompasses the entire team's main base [everything in Base Stone])
Certain types of land give different benefits or curses. Be sure to know which ones before spawning!
Here's a rundown:
Base Stone: Any unit that is in this area gains 15 damage. However, if it is your side of the map you gain 1% maximum health and 5 extra armor. Lasts 15 seconds and refreshes every 10 seconds while on the Stone. (It's magical)
Base Rock: Because of it's hard to walk on, any unit that enters this will lose 1 movement speed for 20 seconds. Refreshes every 1 second while on the Rock.
Air units aren't effected by hard to walk on land. However, when the shields are brought down, air units are effected by the lingering remnants of the shield. That is;
Warp Shield Current: The Force Field created an unstable air current where it used to be when it was brought down. Air units lose 1 movement speed for 20 seconds which refreshes every 1 second while in the base rock area. This will dissipate if the Force Field has been down for 1 minute or longer. Likewise, If the effect has already had time to dissipate, this effect will return in 1 minute once the Force Field has been brought back up.
Grass/foliage: The only normal land type. Does nothing.
Crops: Food! You regenerate 15 health, 3 shields, and 5 energy every second while you're in this area per stack for 10 seconds. Stacks gained every 1.5 seconds. You can gain up to 6 stacks. If you reach 6 stacks you lose the stacks you have and get the "eaten too much debuff". If you get this debuff, You cannot eat any more food for 120 seconds, as well as you lose 10 maximum health and all stacks of the "Crops" buff due to being sick. To be warned before reaching the maximum amount of stacks, at 5 stacks you will get a warning debuff (does nothing but warn you).
1 vespene gas and 2 minerals is given to players every 90 seconds of the game.
Players start with 1 vespene gas and 5 minerals.
At least 1 vespene gas is required to warp a unit in. Each tier of units adds an amount of vespene gas to the required amount to warp in a unit from that tier.
Each tier of units is unlocked by buying that tier. This costs a great deal of minerals and gas per-teir so there is only one way to bypass it:
You can unlock certain units after getting to a certain level on your mastermind. This will unlock a structure that you can build, albeit slowly, in order to use the unit. However this takes up a lot of room as no unit will ever require the same building as another. This building, however, also unlocks upgrades for the unit you would otherwise need a tier appropriate upgrading building for.
Only worker-type masterminds can get tiers above 2. However, if you have a worker-type MM on your team that will unlock 2 extra tiers of units.
If you're a MULE, you must have the required amount of vespene gas to randomly spawn that unit. However, you will not be forced to use vespene gas once spawning a unit.
You can use masterminds in place of, or in conjunction with, warped units. Masterminds are just like normal units only they level up and generally have abilities. Leveling up causes you to gain a small amount of each of your attributes and 1 Skill Point if the mastermind has skills.
All masterminds are unique. While some might have upgrades that are alike, abilities and what the mastermind can do overall will be different for each one.
There are many different Masterminds:
(All masterminds can create workers to harvest vespene gas and minerals unless otherwise noted.)
Easy:
SCV: This mastermind provides an aura that gives a defensive buff to all structures within it's range for 15 seconds when activated (the buff itself lasting 45 seconds), as well as it can build buildings to make special workers that can increase income, up to a maximum of +5 minerals and gas per 30 seconds.
Ultralisk: This unit has 1000 health to start, it's only drawback being that it's damage output is poor. Can cast some abilites. Once it grows strong enough, this unit will become immune to all stuns and slows. And if it grows its strongest, it becomes immune to mind control! Can be upgraded to attack faster, up to +1.5 attack speed.
Reaper: Can jump up and down cliffs to avoid damage, and has a small range to take advantage of the cliffs even further. This mastermind's only drawback is that it attacks rather slowly. Can be upgraded to move faster, up to a maximum of +3 movement speed
Zergling: Can run rather fast and is small so it can use trees and other environmental things to it's advantage, as well as burrow. As it grows in power, it also grows in size. However, once it grows it's strongest it becomes immune to the effects of "Memory Dump". Can be upgraded to make movement while burrowed faster, up to a maximum of 90% normal movement speed.
Void Ray: Moves moderatly fast and deals damage to both ground and air via a beam. Deals 20% more damage to massive units. Can be upgraded to deal more damage at more range, up to +25 base` damage and +2 range.
Changeling: Can become any other mastermind in the game currently by targeting them with a spell that steals their identity momentarily. Can be upgraded to make the change permanent as well as make the cooldown and cast time shorter, to a minimum of 10 second cooldown and 0 second cast time.
Medium:
Ghost: Can become invisable for a short time and while invisable can build and move, however if it does anything else it becomes visable again. While cloaked this unit becomes untargetable as well. Cloak lasts for 15 seconds, but can be upgraded to a maximum of 50 seconds.
Banshee: Can fly and therefore can only be attacked by units that can target flying. It can only target ground units, however, and it deals splash damage. further, it has a slow movement speed and certain units can buy items to damage air units. can be upgraded to attack air units as well as cast hallucination; creating copies of the unit that are weaker, but deal 50% of it's attack damage and move significantly faster than the original. These units can do everything the original can except capture Central Points or the artifact. Cannot create workers.
Hellion: Moves fast to avoid damage and deals damage in a line. however it's health is not great. Can cast some abilites. The stronger this mastermind gets, the longer it's range. Can be upgraded to deal more damage, up to 40 extra damage. Can build copies of itself using vespene gas. These copies start off as very bad units, but get stronger over time, however their supply cost also increases likewise. For these units to grow stronger, they need the required amount of supply they will need once grown to be available. These units will only be able to attack; they cannot cast abilities, create units, or capture Central Points. Only one of these units can reach the maximum strength. When it does, it can capture the Artifact.
Mastermind Headquarters: This unit has 3 Forms, all of which do different things. If the Headquarters dies it will lose all effects gained while in it's current state, unless otherwise mentioned. Can be upgraded to make it's mobile form flying as well as reducing the time it takes to switch froms to a minimum of 5 seconds. This will make your mobile form slower.
If the Headquarters reaches it's maximum number of Sentries and Bunkers, and it's maximum strength (Health, Shields, AND Attack Power) and the maximum strength of it's aura, it can cast an ability that will make it gain the maximum effects of all of it's states all at once and become the "Walking Fortress". This effect will persist through one death. After which You will be weaker than before. if you die again you will revert to level 1 and lose all of the effects, bunkers, and sentries. Once you cast the ability to morph into this form, you can never morph out again until you die the second time.
1) Defense Form: In this form the unit will be unable to move, attack, or cast abilities. It will start out as a weak wall but as time goes on it will grow and thus increase health and shields. As it grows you can use abilities to add bunkers to the unit. These bunkers can be filled only by "Bunker Goblins". Bunker Goblins can be trained via this unit while it is in this form. If the unit dies in this form it will revive in this form weaker than before it died. If this unit grows to it's maximum strength while in this form it will gain the ability to move, however very slowly. This unit will retain it's stats when it switches forms but it will lose what it gained over time, fast, until it's at it's original stat values. Bunkers will remain indefinitly, however in different forms bunkers may be less useful. Sentries in this form work as intended.
2) Mobile Form: In this form the unit can move, and cast evasive/support abilities, but not attack. The longer this unit remains in this form the faster it can go. However if you die or switch forms you will lose all of your movement increasing effects immediatly. If this unit reaches it's maximum speed it will start to gain sentries on it's body. These sentries persist through state changes, but not death. Bunkers in this form slow the unit significantly and have less heath. Sentries cannot attack until you switch forms. Any already active sentries can attack in this form.
3) Assault Form: In this form the unit can move, cast offensive abilities, and attack. The longer this unit is in the form the better it's attack becomes. If this unit's attack reaches it's maximum it will gain an aura that persists through state changes, but not death. The buff from the aura will increase the attack of units. Over time, while in this form, this effect will grow stronger. Sentries in this form may malfunction and either stop working or start attacking you. Bunkers in this state slow the unit only slightly and remain at the same amount of heath.
Stalker: Mostly a supportive unit, this unit can blink onto cliffs or just away from enemies to avoid damage. Is ranged. Can cast abilites. Has a moderate amount of energy to start but not too much attack damage. can be upgraded to have more energy, up to +5% maximum energy. Every 30 seconds, you can use 50% of your energy and store it in energy cells. Too much energy will bring on bad side-effects, however the more energy is stored the better your abilities become and the more abilties you can use. You can also drain all this excess energy with a spell that gets stronger based on how much energy you have stored.
Overlord: Fully a support unit, this unit cannot attack. Instead, it can cast an arrey of support spells and abilities as well as it's an air unit! Only has one attacking ability. Can be upgraded to move faster, up to a maximum of 150% normal movement speed (or a +50% speed increase). Cannot create workers. Mutates over time. With each mutation comes something good, but also something bad. You can revert mutation completely by using a special ability that drains all your energy at once. This will remove all mutations be they good or bad with no side-effects.
Hard:
Zealot: This unit can only build. However it makes up by being able to place a special building "The Accelerator". The Accelerator increases time in a medium area by 10%. Any unit or structure in this area will be effected. Can only build one Accelerator. Can be upgraded to reduce the cost of building, "The Accelerator", down to a minimum of 50 minerals and 100 gas. This building acts like a unit that cannot move so it can be warped into and/or placed anywhere on the map. Can upgrade workers to harvest faster, down to a minimum of 5 seconds-per-harvest per worker.
Hydralisk: This unit has a long range and high attack power to deal heavy damage at a far distance. However it's attack speed is poor and health is very poor. Can be upgraded to use the ability Envenom: "When this ability is cast it causes a poison to stack on units that are attacked by this unit, dealing 5 damage per 2 seconds per stack. Holding a maximum of 3 stacks. stacks last a total of 6 seconds." Can be upgraded to a maximum of 10 damage per 2 seconds can also be upgraded to make stacks last 2 seconds longer.
Archon: This unit has a moderate amount of all attributes, attack power, health and energy. The most..."normal" unit in the game. This unit cannot be upgraded, cannot create workers, and cannot use abilities.
Immortal: Starts with 1000 health. Deals low damage at a moderate rate. Cannot regenerate energy. Moves rather slowly. This unit can be upgraded to increase health slightly, up to +.8% maximum health. For a Minimortal, this upgrade; fully upgraded, will reduce the debuff that drains your stats to .1% per second.
It has an alternate evasive state: a Minimortal.
A Minimortal cannot attack, cast abilities, capture Central Points, or capture the Artifact. However it is significantly smaller and slightly more fast than the original. While in this state your stats will drain by .5% per second until you are dead or have switched back. This is excluding energy, which will actually increase by 1 per second.
To switch states costs 45% of your energy and 10% of your health.
Corruptor: this unit can only target air units. Moderate amount of damage at a slow rate. Can cast some abilites (Only on air units). can be upgraded to allow this unit to cloak itself. Can attack, move, or build for 5 seconds while cloaked; it also increases movement speed by 5 for the duration. Cannot create workers. Can be upgraded to allow it to attack more than one unit at a time. Up to 3 units.
Extreme:
Dark Templar: This unit can only attack other masterminds, or other units marked as "Heroic". Can target air and ground units. Starts with very poor base stats as well as it is NOT CLOAKED. Can be upgraded to give more shields, heath, armor, and attack power. Up to a maximum of +500, +1000, +35, and +155 respectively. Cannot create workers, cannot level up. After 3 upgrades, this unit will be able to make itself invisibile every 60 seconds for 25 seconds. If it becomes fully upgraded, it will become permanently invisable. If this unit is fully upgraded for 8 minutes, it can choose from a list of abilities and upgrades to copy and make it's own, as long as it can make use of it. Anything from faster attack speed to the passive mutation ability the Overlord gets and anything in-between. It can only choose once, and depending on what you choose it may or may not lose stats or get debuffs. The Mastermind HQ form changes are not available but the buffs they give are.
MULE: This unit can do nothing. Every 15 seconds it will randomly spawn a unit (still restricted based on which colored area type it is in currently.) Can be upgraded to reduce this time to a minimum of once every 2.5 seconds. This unit is also unique in that you get extra supply for having it! +19 supply. If this unit reaches it's supply limit it lose the ability to move every 30 seconds, lasting 10 seconds.
Mothership: This unit cannot use anything offensive. Instead, it cloaks units on it's team in a small area around, and directly below, it. This unit will level up very slowly over time. If it reaches it's maximum level it can cast Vortex. This will kill all masterminds on the field, while you hover at a safe altitude. At max level it can be upgraded to actually attack. This will remove it's ability to cloak units, but as well as being able to attack it will gain the ability "Mass Recall".
Now the Q&A trigger which explains but a few more things not explained here:
What kind of game is this?
There are two primary modes, "Capture the Flag" (regular mode) and "Mastermind Game" (auxiliary mode). All settings of this game can be voted on. Feel free to take your time if you're new, but you only have 25 seconds to make up your mind!
How do I play?
Capture the Flag really speaks for itself, but there are a few things both game modes have in common:
1. Masterminds are the key to pretty much everything, and every mastermind has one mastermind it is very strong against, and one it is very weak against. Not including any in-between units. Most balancing of masterminds will be done using this bit of information. Basically what you want to do is keep leveling your mastermind. Units are also useful, however most units' health and shields will not be upgradable.
2. Upgrades are also a big part of the game. Whether you've picked a builder and are unit heavy or picked an assault Mastermind and are unit weak, you always need to keep upgrading. Masterminds always have a cap to their upgrades, which is when items come into play, but units can be upgraded much, much farther (not into infinity) and this can add to your strategy.
3. The third and final key which is constant no matter what game mode, is that strategy is vital to a game win. Even if you follow the other keys to success, you cannot just blindly run into combat. This is a (partly) risk vs. reward game. As such, if you mess up too much you will easily lose. This is not to penalize dieing, it's just the way the game is build.
Why are you telling us how to win?
I most certainly am not. I am giving you the keys that are fundamental and constant, however you will need to make it work with your play style. And everyone has a different play style so you'll need to figure out how your play style can be used in the game to be victorious. Simply put: you can have the keys, but you need to find the lock and turn the keys before opening the lock. A little less simple than I had hoped when first typing it out, but hopefully you understand.
Why is this game any different than all those other Domination/Risk vs. Reward games?
The last game I had under production (One Ruler, if you've heard of it.) was a colossal failure for a few reasons. It, was hard to follow, was too complex, and was balanced very badly. Thus, I've learned from my mistakes and improved the way I am creating maps (even terrain!) to give a map that, while the basic idea has been used, is unique in many, many ways while still keeping itself rather simple to understand, simple to execute, and balanced better to begin with.
All feedback should be posted on my website "http://yaksmaps.freeforums.org/index.php";. If you feel like using the forum as your own little forum talk-y place...I know -_-; you can. Just please:
Follow the posted rules<n/>Keep all non-feedback posts in their intended forum areas
and be respectful of your other forum goers.
Okay, why is this game unique compared to the litterally thousands of others?
The first and most unique aspect of the game is it's colored zones. These zones, depending on color, increase or decrease the chance to spawn in that area.
While units are the lesser part of the game, they are still vital when your mastermind is elsewhere or needs assistance. With the added chance of the colored zones and the fact units ARE important, this makes it so each spawn needs to be thought out. And while spawning in the base may provide a bigger yield, remember that any unit that passes through the choke-point is slowed....
The second and more interesting unique feature of the game are the artifacts. Each artifact has a completely unique ability that uses chance to decide upon two or more outcomes. Each of these two abilities are completely unique to the artifacts in that they will never be replicated in any way/shape/form in any other ability any other unit uses. And while Memory Dump may not have a vote now, it may have one if I hear enough people say they want one. Don't be afraid to give me negitive constructive feedback! I may just implement changes accordingly.
The third and, in my opinion, most interesting unique aspect of the game is the "unit stacking" if you will. You see the farther into the game you get the higher tier/better units you can afford, and each tier is designed to have 3 units which are balanced in a rock-paper-scissors-like way, This is a little less relevent so I'll skip any more conversation in that direction.
Simply put, the better the units get, the more complex/better they get. And one of the ways I plan to make them complex is by stacking them. For example:
Mastermind Headquarters is the perfect embodiment of this. It starts as a command center on a tank, and over time it adds to itself and becomes what is basically a fortress.
So, if you haven't already guessed, some units may have sentries attached to them, some may have more than one weapon. the basic concept is the "more than one" part of the sentence.
And the final way it's unique is it's settings. You can have a game with no units and only ground masterminds for a challenging but simple game. Or you can have a mastermind game with random masterminds for a less challenging complex game. Along with anything inbetween that is allowed. Feel free to experiment!
Anything else?
Yes, just that I CANNOT stress enough that feedback is what will keep this game alive past beta. If I can be convinced that enough people are enjoying the game, I will keep up with production and updates for as long as it needs to be updated or developed. So, PLEASE, tell me what you thought! I don't want "o wow that waz bad >(" just please be constructive and state WHAT you didn't like and WHY. If you need help, here's a handy-dandy guide:
1. Did you like or dislike the game?
A. Why?
2. Is there anything besides bug and balancing fixes you think should be added to the game?
(optional)
3. Would you recommend this game to others?
A. If not, why not?
While I am in-game, you may not see me do much talking past the very start. I am not much of a talker while I game. So it is better if you leave all feedback on my forum. Not just for this purpose, but also so I can keep track of all the feedback I receive.
You will have to register, but I am hoping that doesn't discourage people. If it does, please just take 5 minutes to register and tell me so. Enough people who are discouraged because of this will result in the site being moved.
Again, feeback on ALL FRONTS is CRUCIAL!!!!
