Game Editor - Suggestions

Suggestions - Game Editor

from Stardock Forums

As I have looked through these forums one thing has become increasingly apparant to me, the community wants More.

Now to me, I reckon good ole Stardock will give us that, why? well lets have a look:

Ever noticed that when you go to select a map, there is space for a Lot more? Noticed how you already have to scroll for the hero menu? Noticed (I can't remember where from) It mentions the first eight? Ever played any other stardock games?

The only thing that I worry about is that Stardock will not manage this properly. I don't mean they are useless, as we know for sure they aren't, I mean I can see some things that I reckon would ruin the experience. So here are some of MY (they are my current opinions at the time of posting, not to represent the opinions of anyone else and certainly not to force these opinions upon anyone else) suggestions for what we should see:

A Map editor

-This would be great fun. I dont know if we could have multi-level maps (height) or maps with objects that affect line of sight (I think these should only be things not on the path btw) but I would love to create my own maps, my own tournamounts and my own creep sets (see below). But I want it to be complete. I want to be able to to build my maps, build the 3D objects in them (say change what a tower looks like, but not what it does, or give towers more health, or health crystals that heal Everyone or areas where only one team or character can enter) If it was complete I wouldn't mind paying for it, although I would only want to pay around £10 with £15 as an upper limit or £20 if boxed and with a comprehensive instruction manual and carefully trimmed forum and answerbase (which would spring up anyway I guess).

Demigod Creation

-Demigod creation would be a long process, it would start off with an idea that people like, and would gradually mould (with the intervention of professionals) into a Skill Tree, History and Appearance for the Demigod. I saw a thread where this had started to happen in a way... it would be cool, so long as it was managed.

-Demigods realeased in packs. I am against having to pay for more demigods, but I don't want there to be unofficial, non-balanced ones. I don't think an expansion pack is the way to go, I reckon you develop this game for free then release Demigod 2. With all the previous demigods, but any problems/improvements tackled from the bottom up (like with the game engine).

Creep Creation

-I reckon you should be able to change some of the citadel upgrades in certain maps, so you could change the creeps in your own map. A central database of approved creep lines would be cool, ones that are created by the community would be good, with comments on being balanced. I would love to see light and dark having vastly different but balanced creeps.

 

Well thats all I can think of for now, what do you guys think?

demigod
5,996 views 4 replies
Reply #1 from Demigod Forums Top

Well, of course we want more - we're gamers, you can never satisfy us :)

However, most of your ideas have already been covered before and have been addressed.
The maps are made in 3DSM, not an in-house tool set - like World Editor for Warcraft and Starcraft games. The locations of the towers, the health crystal and the creep lines are all controlled via additional files that add these things onto the maps. In fact, I believe one such forum goer has already created his own modified creep lines on Cataract by editing these files.

We're receiving two new Demigods for free, however after that they may be released as paid content per Demigod as unlike DotA or such, the models for the Demigods are fairly complicated. Again, several people have already taken steps to creating their own Demigods - in fact, I've seen a SPORE game model being used in Demigod, so we're well on our way.

With 1.2 we'll see the offical mod support we need to begin rolling out new content on our own, and as always there's going to be good and there is going to be bad. Over time, it will self sort based on the community's reactions to it, and I expect we'll see things like community map packs or Demigod additions that are balanced and creative.

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

I appreciate what your saying about being able to mod demigod already, and the need for 3DS Max to produce a map is hardly economic, even if your buying education.

What I am talking about is how I think (and want to hear how you think) it should be handled by stardock.

I want to see stardock creating an editor for demigod, it can be 3ds max with loads of unused feature ripped out and therefore cheaper with the ability to edit things in reference to the game itself (all the files editable through one place). Now to my mind this kind of thing would either be easy to get done (make a deal with autodesk for a cheaper version and an upgrade deal) or would be far enough out to require it to only be released with Demigod 2/Expansion.

community map packs or Demigod additions that are balanced and creative.
End of quote

Yes, community map packs would be good, and I would expect them to be free, or come with new maps aswell if they are going to charge. With a map I'm not so bothered about control, as people won't play the unbalanced ones but its not the same with demigods...

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Reply #3 from Demigod Forums Top

I don't think Stardock are going to be releasing copies of 3DSM - even stripped down versions -  mostly for legal reasons. What we're most likely to see are plugins, addons and a patch released that allow us to use our own versions of 3DSM to interact with the models and save in the file format needed for Demigod to use them correctly, as well as some kind of basic documentation. The problem with how Demigod was created was that it really wasn't created with large scale modding in mind - it's kind of an after thought that has been given priority based on the communities reactions to the content Demigod has already; basically, we're asking for more than is realistically financially possible from GPG or SD so they're giving us the tools so that the dedicated or educated can make the content for the rest of the community free of charge.

As for the balance concerns; being as a modded Demigod would need to exist on all people's computers for the game to launch successfully, what we'll see is people not using particular Demigods if they're not balanced to the liking of the community. The well balanced and designed ones will be very popular - you won't join a game where some guy has made himself a Demigod that passively deals 1,000,000 mitigated points of damage in a aura with a radius the size of Snipes Range, because you'd have to download it and put it into your game first. Obviously, the community would reject such a clearly unbalanced and unfun Demigod. As with SPORE, the popularity of content basically self-sorts it out. The smaller the amount of content - which is generated by a smaller community like ours - the easier it is to sort out the trash from the good.

Reply #4 from Demigod Forums Top

I believe ZehDon is probably right about the modding.  Addding additional, quality content to Demigod is going to be a slow, painful process, lots of trial, error, and false starts.  It's not like adding a new Warcraft 3-style model to DOTA.  When it comes to modding, Demigod's strength (the gorgeous, showy presentation) is its greatest limitation.  Only the most committed and talented of modders are going to take up the challenge, and chances are they are going to have to have some expensive software to make convincing assets. 

Personally, I don't really see GPG/Stardock adding much additional content after the 2 free demigods.  Just reading Brad's latest developer journal is a bit depressing in this regard (http://forums.demigodthegame.com/362335).  He is more or less saying demigods and maps cost money--> we don't have money--> if the players are not prepared for microtransactions--> don't expect new official content.  If there is a silver lining, it sounds like Stardock at least is willing to help "officially" add high-quality player-made content into the game, I suppose after doing their own quality-control process.   But this is probably the best official support that we'll get for new content. 

A lot really depends on whether Stardock/GPG provide strong support for a modding community and whether the game still has the attention of people who are willing to invest their time and effort in expanding it.