Straight from my dreams...landmines!

[Glowing Fish]

So, I don't usually post my ideas to this forum, but if I come up with an idea in a dream, I do, because perhaps my subconscious knows more about Wesnoth than I do.

So, in a dream last night, I was playing a Colosseum like mod, and one of the options was "purchase landmines", and when you did, random landmines would pop up around the map. They were all Level 0 units, but if an opponent stepped on them, they would take away 10 points of damage.

So, how dumb is my sub-conscious?

[Velensk]

I have not played the colosseum, but it would not be hard to implement, just give it ambush for all terrains, give it a 0% defence and 1 HP but for both range and melle give it a first strike magic attack for the desired amount of damage. Giving the unit a chance not to get hurt. For this to work it would have to have a ZOC prehaps you can figure out a way to make it not give much xp but still have a ZOC.

I have no idea what it would do to colossem someone else will have to tell you that.

[zookeeper]

Well, why not. In some special scenario. I'd have them be called "magic runes" or something like that though instead of landmines.

If someone implements FR 8166, this would be feasible to do properly.

[Blarumyrran]

"magic runes"

eh... this warcraft copying will never end... tho it would be cool addition.

[zookeeper]

"magic runes"

eh... this warcraft copying will never end... tho it would be cool addition.

Luckily I didn't copy the idea from Warcraft then. Only now that you mentioned it, I vaguely remember Warcraft II having some rune-magic type of thing, I think (or maybe it was just the berserking effect, wouldn't know since it was so long ago).

[Woodwizzle]

I dont think ambush would quite work, after all you don't fight a land mine, you step on it. Both units would have to occupy the same hex. Also thhttp://www.osnews.com/e land mine must be destroyed when it is stepped on too. Cool idea though. It would be even cooler if some dwarven unit could plant them.

[Blarumyrran]

yup, ogre magi could cast Runes, which acted exactly as land mines (iirc). but Naga Myrmidon disturbed me much, what has naga got to do with some ant-people in any other setting? thats straigthly from wc, i think. copying other games isnt bad, copying over-rated-and-massively-known-already-games is really cliche, (there was some discussion on lvl3 naga name, but nothing was really done. grrrr.)

tho im glad orc names arent like Gr'othf'r'mfh'aghr.

EDIT: hmm, i got seriously off topic. must stop now.

[Stilgar]

It could be worse, at least our units don't have an irrepressible urge to speak every time they are clicked or moved.

Anyways, it's an idea with potential, and I would like to see that "moveover" thing implemented. And if it seems too copycat to have it be an exploding rune, it could always be some other trap like the hidden pit with spears or something.

[Viliam]

It could be worse, at least our units don't have an irrepressible urge to speak every time they are clicked or moved.

Is it possible to implement in WML? AFAIK, there is a "select unit" event. But I do not know if we have a command to play sound...

[Tux2B]

This would be a great idea... And it doesn't have to be a landmine : it can be a simple trap that would fit more in the Wesnothian world (landmines is more something for Spacenoth IMHO)

[zookeeper]

But I do not know if we have a command to play sound...

But of course we do. So yes, it would be simple to do unit selection sounds in WML.

[davypi]

While I will concur that it is sounds like a cool idea, I do have some reservation.

1) The introduction of a "landmine" type feature instantly makes me want to have a unit who can detect and disarm them as well. This adds another level of weapons and features to the game which, IMHO, goes against the philosophy of simplicity the game is trying to achieve (but then again, I'm not a dev.)

2) My gut tells me that this is a feature that, in the end, really wouldn't be very useful. Nearly every Wesnoth map I've seen is pretty large in scale. Unless you have a natural bottleneck caused by mountains or water, getting somebody to step on a specific hex is pretty hard.

JMHO
Davy

[irrevenant]

While I will concur that it is sounds like a cool idea, I do have some reservation.

1) The introduction of a "landmine" type feature instantly makes me want to have a unit who can detect and disarm them as well. This adds another level of weapons and features to the game which, IMHO, goes against the philosophy of simplicity the game is trying to achieve (but then again, I'm not a dev.)

I agree this has the potential to become an 'arms race' power. OTOH, we already have "Ambush", "Nightstalk" and "Submerge" and have resisted the urge to add detectors. I don't see why this special is any different.

2) My gut tells me that this is a feature that, in the end, really wouldn't be very useful. Nearly every Wesnoth map I've seen is pretty large in scale. Unless you have a natural bottleneck caused by mountains or water, getting somebody to step on a specific hex is pretty hard.

This really comes down to how populous (ie cheap) the unit is. If you can afford to scatter a dozen of them over an area, it might be worth doing so.

BTW, I assume the intent is that the 'landmine' dies when it attacks, yes?

It might be interesting (and make the ability a less direct landmine analogue) if it didn't.

[Jetrel]

yup, ogre magi could cast Runes, which acted exactly as land mines (iirc). but Naga Myrmidon disturbed me much, what has naga got to do with some ant-people in any other setting? thats straigthly from wc, i think. copying other games isnt bad, copying over-rated-and-massively-known-already-games is really cliche, (there was some discussion on lvl3 naga name, but nothing was really done. grrrr.)

Actually, it was half from WC, and half from bungie's (yes, the "Halo" Bungie) Myth: The Fallen Lords, wherein the myrmidons were a caste of undead warriors, like our "deathblades", but far more resilient. Unlike our deathblades, they were not the creations of a necromancer, but a group that willingly gave themselves up to unlife, serving under the fallen lords in return for this.

[Stilgar]

Last I checked, "Myrmidon" was just a semi-generic way to say "Great Warrior", though it was originally from Greek legend if I recall correctly. For example, in the book series I've been reading recently, "Myrmidons" are people who ride pteridons [sic] and have "sky-lances" that act more or less like a laser weapon. A far cry from ant-people or skeletons.

To keep something on topic here, I'd point out that I believe the OP was writing about using the "land mine" ability for a special game style, not for general use in the standard Wesnoth gameplay. So some of the concerns brought up might not be as bad in that context.