Topic
[Beta] Mad Scientist Wars (Updated 5/14)
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Edited by Khalanil on 5/14/12 8:02 PM (PDT)
Latest update:
New achievement system! Mad Scientist Wars Stimmed zerglings? Check. Blinking marines? Check. Zealots that explode in bursts of acid? Check. Mad Scientist Wars provides you with the tools to overrun your opponents with your most monstrous creations. Combine a variety of hand-picked specimens with specially-researched upgrades, then send waves of your handiwork against those who dare to challenge your title as the maddest scientist. Each of the 24 available specimens can be given one of 10 enhancements and one of 8 modifications. The possibilities are literally finite! This map is still in development, with many additional changes and improvements to come. Feedback is always welcome. Try out Mad Scientist Wars by yourself, or with others. You can find it on the front page of the Tug of War map section on Battle.net. |
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Edited by Khalanil on 5/14/12 5:04 PM (PDT)
Specimens
Enhancements
Modifications
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Edited by FruitNinja on 12/26/11 12:15 PM (PST)
This map is brilliant. It does need some more balancing, though, because it's fun to play but frustrating at times. Also, I'd like to see interchangeable weaponry. At the very least, could we disable talons on the queen and allow them to use only their anti-air against ground units as well?
If we could switch weapons, then I'd love to have firebreath zerglings :) Some things I noticed and felt like sharing: -Zerglings wear combat shields on their backs. Nice ;) -Zerglings are mostly useless. Use anything but metabolic boost and they die in a pinch. Use metabolic boost and firebats still kill them before the firebats can be killed. There is a reason why firebats weren't included in the multiplayer. In starcraft 1, firebats had around as much health and armor as marines, so zerglings, while not standing a chance due to the aoe, could still kill a firebat if microed exceptionally well to surround the firebat. Now, one firebat will kill many, many zerglings, rendering all zerglings completely useless once firebats are in play. -Only protoss seem to have detection. This is alright, but I'd like to see a raven or overseer specimen. Perhaps a fatty specimen or an infestor that can spray fungus in a distance to reveal cloaked? -There is no refund for switching unit production. This might be intended, but right now if you want to switch units it really kind of punishes you, especially since there is a low supply limit at the start. -I'd make unit spawners 1x1. This way you can fit more without cluttering the spawn. -The acid death ability thing doesn't really make it clear what enemies have been hurt. It also seems to be kind of weak. If we could use zerglings with BOTH metabolic boost AND acid death, that would be awesome :) Anyway, as a suggestion I'd like to see the damage scaling based on the unit's health, but I'm not sure if it's like that already. |
Thanks. It's been a lot of work, and I'm glad that it's appreciated. I haven't started serious balancing of units and upgrades just yet, but I'm happy to get any feedback on what you think might need changing. I'd also appreciate any feedback on what aspects of the map are currently frustrating. One aspect I'm working on currently, is figuring out research mineral costs/research times which encourage training of additional SCVs and scientists without making the player wait for too long without being able to do anything.
I had to drop Queen health initially as they were too powerful en masse with their heal ability. Increasing their range, especially from 3 to 7, might be too much of a boost at this time.
That would be a fun addition, and I'll look into implementing some weapons that won't cause unit balancing issues.
Once I've finished implementing more functional updates, I'm planning on adding more fun cosmetic features like this one.
Have you tried using Zerglings with Blink or Void Channeling? I'm fine with there being good unit counters as long as that doesn't result in useless units. That said, I'll keep an eye on Firebats and see whether their health might need some lowering.
Actually, each racial tree has a single detection upgrade. Terran can research Disruption Mines (unlocked after researching Reapers) and Zerg can research Exude Creep (unlocked after researching Queens). Neither of them result in simple detection, but they counter cloaked units in more interesting ways.
That's somewhat intended in order to provide a mineral sink and prevent minerals from becoming meaningless later in the game due to their prevalence. I may add a partial refund at some point if necessary once I've played around more with the research cost/time balancing.
I'm trying to maintain aesthetic integrity for the time being. I realize that larger units like Ultralisks and Queens are already larger than the current unit spawner size, but smaller unit spawners would make the problem even worse. The map in general is somewhat crowded right now, and I'd like to increase space in certain areas at some point. Also, if you realize that you've built yourself into a corner with spawners, you can get a full refund (minus unit production costs) with salvage.
Thanks for the feedback. I'll definitely improve the visual at some point. I might also bump up the damage.
I've contemplated adding an upgrade that allows use of two unit upgrades at a time, but I'm not sure if/how I'll do it just yet.
It currently doesn't scale, although it's arguably stronger on larger units since you can affect more enemies with a single death. If it seems too weak, even if I buff the damage slightly, that will definitely be the next step. Again, thanks for taking the time to provide all the feedback. |
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Recent Changes
Added more helpful tips at the beginning of the map. Added 2 more upgrades:
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Just wanting to provide an update, and announce an improvement that was made a few days ago.
Recent Changes
Upcoming Changes
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Recent Changes
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Edited by GeneralLyote on 3/8/12 8:09 AM (PST)
Awesome game, me and a few friends have been playing it a lot. Sudden cloaked immortal transitions, ultralisks that are secretly banelings, scouts dropping mines over enemies, practically unkillable queen medic ultralisk compositions with rapid regen. It is still in beta so any errors or imbalances we've come across have usually been noted and promptly ignored, but here are a few things that we've collectively noticed.
Mechanics issues: - Hero's need to scale better, not to the point where the hero is the only unit that matters but enough that the hero is actually helpful. - Hero's need path finding priority over friendly units, I think hero attack is the best example of this mechanic. - The map is a little too small for the game, it's almost impossible to prepare for some transitions before they are at your front door. - 4v4 seems like a few too many players, 2v2 or at most 3v3 seems far more reasonable. -Base air defenses need to be added, I love the seige breakers and I think mines are a great alternative to a boom, but air can be in your base before you can do anything about it. -Archons are in need of a buff, perhaps reduced supply cost or increased damage. They just don't hold up very well for the amount of your army they take up. Bugs: -Medics don't heal, preservers don't restore shields, and changelings don't morph until they go to their rally point forcing players to manually set the rally points in front of their base upon adding these units. -Air units in particular can be rallied around the other players forces and in some cases into the other players mineral lines. Perhaps making the com center and SCVs untargetable would be best. -The mad physicists chrono ability doesn't appear to have any effect. Compliments: -The map architecture is great. It gives an almost constant defenders advantage so that just because an opponent has balled up a bit of an army it doesn't snowball like happens on most Tug-Of-War style maps. -Zerglings with combat shields are adorable! -I like the mostly buff based heroes, it really reinforces the feel of the game. -Mines are a great alternative to a boom, I think after seeing how well you've gotten them to work I'd prefer them in every way. -The whole concept of the game is amazing and absurd. I love it and will certainly continue to play. |
Awesome game, me and a few friends have been playing it a lot. Sudden cloaked immortal transitions, ultralisks that are secretly banelings, scouts dropping mines over enemies, practically unkillable queen medic ultralisk compositions with rapid regen. It is still in beta so any errors or imbalances we've come across have usually been noted and promptly ignored, but here are a few things that we've collectively noticed. Thanks for the feedback. It's always great to hear that other people are enjoying my map. Hopefully queens aren't as unkillable as they used to be since I dropped their health a few patches ago. Your list is well-taken and I hope to address the bugs and issues you've brought up in the next update. It clears all of the mad physicist's other cooldowns and restores a bit of energy and health. I'm planning on making its effects a bit more evident. |
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Recent Changes
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Just wanting to provide an update:
I'm currently working on a major update for my other map (Rooftop Snipers). After that, I'll begin to develop some additional updates for Mad Scientist Wars. These will include:
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Update:
I haven't updated the map in a week or two, so I just wanted to take the time to thank everyone who has been playing Mad Scientist Wars and keeping it on the first page of the Tug list. Mapping time has been limited lately, and I've been finishing up a large update on my other map. Take heart, however. The Mad Psionicist and Mad Pathologist are both ready to be implemented with 4 fun abilities already planned out. An additional, larger arena (name will be a surprise) is planned and will be published as soon as it is implemented. I hope to have a nice map update for everyone sometime in the not-too-distant future. |
