Dragon Blood

 DeFaCeR


Posted 11 January 2013 - 11:22 pm
Hello everyone, I've made a new blood called Dragon Blood. It is for AoFE. The best way I can describe it is paat blood with a dragon instead of a khan and a path razing store. My goal was to integrate the best elements of many blood games into one game, and to overcome some common pitfalls of AoC blood games. The game is only 4 players right now, because I can't get a scenario editor to work
with AoFE. So the entire thing has to be done by hand in the normal scenario editor for each player (>700 triggers for 4 right now). Nonetheless, I like how it plays with 4, and 1v1 and 2v2 are also pretty fun.

The problems with AoC scenarios that I have tried to fix in this game include:
1) it is very difficult for players to win if they do not get ahead early due the way unit paths work (paat, path, chaos, CBA)
2) even if there are choices, many of them are useless for good players (TD, path, RTD, RCB)
3) heavy dependence on chance (CBA, old RTD)
4) too complicated for new players to jump in and play (new RTD)
5) almost every blood game is defend your tower, castle, etc.
6) almost every game has pretty similar razing and unit upgrades (except RTD, which is exceptionally unique and excellent).
7) almost every ffa blood games are played such that there are multiple 1v1s going on (which basically involve farming a noob at the spawn point), and then the first person to get harold/khan tries to kill the person in second place. This makes for long, repetitive, boring games.

In Dragon Blood, I have tried to solve these problems as follows:

1) Prior units can sometimes counter 'better' units if used properly. So rather than having a set path for units with 3 good units in each path (like in path blood), players are expected to actively counter depending on the units their enemies are using. Importantly, I designed the bases and building orientations so that it is very difficult to 'farm the spawn' like what always happens in paat blood.

2) The razing store has 3 paths, Base upgrade, Dragon upgrade, and Unit upgrade. I have tried very hard to balance these. I use every path all the time, and although I've played dozens of games, I've failed to figure out which is best. It always depends on what your enemies are doing. Also, there are 3 kinds of dragons, and they each have their own advantages/disadvantages. Lastly, certain kinds of dragons work better with certain razing paths (for example, high HP dragon works very well with Base upgrades, while high AP dragon tends to just destroy everything in the base.)

3) No civ bonuses, no randomness. The game scales well with skill since it's very fast-paced, requires knowledge of paths (and how they work with each other, with different kinds of dragons and at different stages of the game). Also, there are some nuances. For example, dragons cause splash damage, so if you time it right you can raze your own buildings. Etc. An important part of the game is being able to micro your dragon while doing other things with your units at the same time.

4) The nuances aren't visible on the surface and the game can be played by new players as easily as paat blood (and they don't get farmed as easily).

5) If your dragon dies, you lose. No main tower. Dragons play very differently from khans since they are slow and cause splash damage.

6) Razing store has mostly new kinds of upgrades. All non-heroes except 4 are new AoFE units. Each type of dragon gains special abilities as it upgrades, such as regen (high HP dragon) and critical strike (high AP dragon).

7) The razing system is set up so that all 4 players tend to interact. The map is small enough that any base is easily accessible from any other. Normal units can kill dragons, especially when the dragons are outside the base. So games often end wayyyy before khan. Games take on average 30 minutes (fast speed, usually around 1000 kills). Some games take as little as 15 minutes, but it is not uncommon for a game with good players to last an hour.

The current version is final 8,5.

I hope you like the game! I would appreciate anyone's feedback.
Attachments:
Dragon Blood final 85.scx (file size: 501.7 KB)
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 [BalaaM_]CaNeK


Edited 12 January 2013 - 12:54 am by [BalaaM_]CaNeK
AOK tigger studio with AOFE data
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edit:
testing


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