3ICE.HU

This is an old (only 2 years) map that I created for my old hero line wars clan (Clan Fu, Fighters United). That clan no longer exists, so the map name may change.

This is a link to the Beta map:
http://www.epicwar.com/maps/103300/

The 1.0 test map can be downloaded at the bottom of this post.

It was released in early 2009, and now I'm revisiting the project to improve it.

Despite its similarity to Castle Fight for TFT, it was really suppose to be an updated Battlefield map for RoC. If you're unfamiliar with Battlefield, you can find the map at epicwar.com: http://www.epicwar.com/maps/13408/.
After playing Castle Fight, I changed the general layout of the map and added the Rescue Strike ability.

I just started over with it for the third time last week due to various things I learned between August 2010 and April 2011, and also because of many testing sessions ranging from 1v1's to 6v6's (most of them bot matches unfortunately, getting friends together can be difficult). The map script needed to be updated, and several balancing changes were needed for all races.

I opened this topic so that anybody that wants to play and contribute to this map is able to. One thing that I've noticed is that many people are bored by the slow start for these types of maps. The open war game mode was suppose to encourage more aggressive tactics which makes the start a little less boring when both teams can use the game mode to its fullest.

Some information on the old 1.0 test map:
-12 Players (6v6)
-Optional Game Modes
----(-fw) Fog of War
----(-nb) No Bounty
----(-nu) No Upgrades
----(-nl) No Lumber
----(-sl) Single Lane
----(-ow) Open War
-Up to 5 rounds per game with AR/AP
-Anti-Micro scripts for spawned units.
-Simple Bots
-5 Races
----Human
----Orc
----Night Elf
----Undead
----Coalition (a group of races)


New 1.0 Progress:

Complete:
----Basic map systems

Incomplete:
----Human Units
----Orc Units
----Night Elf Units
----Undead Units
----Coalition Units
----AI Script
----Anti-Micro Script
----General Unit Effects
----Map Presentation (Things like loading screen, map preview, user interface, general color themes for tool-tips, appropriate icon imports, etc.)

Downloading the map now, will post review after playing (with bots).

In editor:

• Drastically changing War3mapmap.blp ruins the minimap's usability in game. Putting art or your logo over unused areas is fine, but don't replace the whole minimap. Never mind, that is exactly what you did. Good work.
• Your imported UI/Triggerdata.txt is not different from the official Triggerdata.txt in any way, except for two extra (empty) lines. (And it lags behind by a version, has no hashtable support.) Delete it to reduce map size.
• Is it safe to use Barrage and Phoenix Fire (two TFT abilities) in a RoC map? I have not tested this myself, but I am sure we would have seen more TFT-only abilities in converted maps if it was possible to use them safely.
• Tranquility icon should be BTNTranquility.blp instead of BTNPillage.blp

In game (Playtesting):

• The multiboard does not properly resize until closing and reopening it. Can be fixed via triggering.
• Game modes are not listed in the quest beyond the first two. (Longer quests are a pain to maintain in GUI, I suggest using JASS for them. Because JASS doesn't cut your text off, no matter how long it is.)
• Game modes don't seem to work. (I tried -nl and -ow) Well they work now. Maybe I waited too long.
• Blast Gems are awesome!
• Artillery Cannons don't hit the HQ, is that intentional?
• I can't get bots to work. Playing alone is not enough to test.
• You can hide the 100% text from the upkeep tooltip by coloring it gray. (Background color) Not many people know this trick.

Multiplayer:

• Won a 2v3 with mass archers. My ally left half way into the game, (because he thought we were losing) two more players left after round 1, and the fourth player went AFK with auto repair on... Defeat detection should be implemented to prevent games from drawing out. (The HQ takes a long time to kill and even longer when repaired.)
• In round two it was quite hard to manage my leaver ally because I never knew how much gold he had. Resource sharing or resource display is required. I still managed to hold a tri-rax tier 2 push (from the now not so AFK opponent) with moon wells and got the win. And he pulled the plug. 2-0 Game over.
• The game should end automatically after the last round.

Ian wrote:I'm unwilling to post my old test map for this game right now due to several things that need to be fixed, but I'm going to post it soon. Until then, view the beta map as an example of what the map is like.

I guess I should make that bigger.

UI/Triggerdata.txt isn't in the 1.0 test map I have. I only imported things that are required for the TFT features I use. When the beta map was created, I was using Kueken's method of converting TFT maps into RoC maps. UI/Triggerdata.txt is one of the items on his list.
TFT abilities are perfectly safe (I have NEVER seen an ability that could not be used, but I also haven't tested all of them).
Tranquility Icon? Now I'm confused.

The 1.0 test map uses a leaderboard.
There are only 2 optional game modes in the Beta.
Blast gems are awesome!
Artillery cannons target a random spot in the enemy area with each attack. It was just chance that they never hit the H.Q.
The Beta doesn't have bots.
Good to know. That pesky 100% text has been an issue for years.

Repairing the H.Q in the 1.0 test map restores less life, and repairing spawn buildings and towers restores more (in comparison with the Beta). Edit: I've also never had a tie in the Beta before, and I have played MANY games.
The 1.0 test map uses Blizzard's method of displaying gold and lumber for leavers (via multiboard).
I've never thought of a good reason why it should. Pressing alt + q + q is easy enough when people are ready to leave the game. Besides, it gives a message which clearly says a side has won the game. If a person doesn't feel like taking a few seconds to read that, then he/she can stay in the game until they figure it out. I believe the message stays up for an hour.

Updated my first post. The old 1.0 test map can be downloaded now.

Some things that I'll probably change in the new 1.0:
-Round time limit that is selectable by the host.
-Some sort of surrender and/or tie command that each team can use as a vote.
-Selectable income timer interval.
-Same teams mode (each team has the same races as the other team).
-The rescue strike ability will target enemy buildings in your area.
-Some upgrades will be more effective and their effects will be based on percents.
-Each race will have about the same number of spawn buildings (upgrades included).

Edit: I'm also working on solutions for masses of units and building effects that look odd against cliffs.