New Faction

[AladorIsithir]

Hi, I'm thinking about creating a new era called something like "The Dark Brotherhood"
It's going to have a lot of the mainline units with a faction included. I like assassins and ninja like units so I'm posting to see if this idea has any support. These are some off the units i'm thinking about making. (oh,yah-I'm not so great with making 2D units so if any one wants to help, I'd like that a lot.) Also I need some more ideas for units

Martial Artist-1
HP:32
Evasion:Something around 50-60% defense in woods/castles ect.
Movement:6
Advances to:Ninja,Dark Assassin,Sensi
Attacks:4-6 Fist 5-3 Knife Ranged

Sensi-2
HP:42
Evasion:Something around 60-70% defense in woods/castles ect.
Movement:7
Advances to:Master
Attacks:6-6 Fist 7-1 Jump kick
Skirmisher

Ninja-2
HP:45
Evasion:Something around 60% defense in woods/castles ect.
Movement:6
Advances to:Dark Brother
Attacks:9-4 Katana 7-3 Knife Ranged

Dark Asssassin-2
HP:38
Evasion:Something around 70% defense in woods/castles ect.
Movement:7
Advances to:Night Stalker
Attacks:8-3 Assassins Blade Backstab 6-4 Knife Poison Ranged
Skirmisher

Master-3
HP:47
Evasion:Something around 60-70% defense in woods/castles ect.
Movement:6
Advances to:null
Attacks:8-6 Fist 9-1 Jump kick 42-1 Nerve strike
Skirmisher

Dark Brother-3
HP:55
Evasion:Something around 60% defense in woods/castles ect.
Movement:6
Advances to:null
Attacks:11-4 Katana 8-3 Knife Ranged

Night Stalker-3
HP:38
Evasion:Something around 70% defense in woods/castles ect.
Movement:7
Advances to:null
Attacks:10-3 Assassins Blade Backstab 8-4 Knife Poison Ranged
Skirmisher/Night Stalk

[michchar]

Umm...yay, another bunch of ideas? I doubt that anyone would help you with your faction unless they are really interested (interested as in "Oh, hey, I always wanted to make a ninja faction!" kind of interested) or if you put considerable effort into it. Well, good luck, I suppose.

[Zerovirus]

I don't know 'bout other people, but I usually don't really get interested in an addon unless it has epic graphics or is really original. And ninjas have been seen before.

[Aethaeryn]

(oh,yah-I'm not so great with making 2D units so if any one wants to help, I'd like that a lot.)

Sorry, but it's a lot easier to do unit code than unit art. Artists usually go for their own ideas or projects that look promising. Just a bunch of unit stats aren't going to get anyone to join. Probably 95% of factions die because of lack of art.

[thespaceinvader]

And most of the other 5% die for lack of code. Just posting stats and ideas is easy. Doing the work is hard.

[firefox]

if you don't want to draw new unit sprites, you can cut, copy, change, and puzzle with existing unit sprites. (i think the best program is "gimp")

here is an example:
(i made it by myself)

(i think your units are a bit to overpowered)

[Aethaeryn]

if you don't want to draw new unit sprites, you can cut, copy, change, and puzzle with existing unit sprites.

The problem with these "frankensteins" is that they can look really poor if not done properly. Even if done properly, if they look too much like a familiar unit (i.e. just giving a white mage a sword and shield, even looking decent), it can also be confusing to veterans and newbs alike. A bad frankenstein might be worse than a merely okay sprite, because the latter implies you put more effort into it.

One issue with yours specifically: they all look like they're in a middle of an attack sequence, rather than a standing base frame. They all have effects and stances that would only be comfortable or make sense for a few seconds.

EDIT: I personally think most people play add-ons for their art, not any other factor. If your art looks too much like mainline or isn't that good, they won't play it as much as if it is just pure awesomeness. Your best bet if you frankenstein is to hope a sprite artist likes your faction concept sometime later and redoes most of the sprites, which is what happened to most of Era of Myths.

(i think your units are a bit to overpowered)

Based on my work with eras: The best you can do when making draft stats is to lift the total damage from a similar mainline unit, and remove damage if you add a powerful special to your new unit. Balance will come after you have a complete product, which means it's a chicken-and-egg problem. You need (balanced) stats in order to get a fun faction, but you need a faction working (and a lot of people playing it) in order to get balanced stats. It's best not to put too much work into hypothetical, pre-playable stats, since they're probably going to change in the balancing phase anyway.

[firefox]

you could try to draw parts of units and combine them with parts of existing units, like in the era of magic.

look at this:

warbanner.png

protector.png

cavalryarcher.png

coldmatriarch.png

[AladorIsithir]

Ok, alter units, got that... Gimp is nice, isn't it? As for over powered units, it makes sense, i mean someone with a 12 anything attack with a high evasion is a force worth reckoning with.

Down to work!

(Hey firefox, i like you're drawings, but that banner is really kinda BIG"

[firefox]

i didn't deaw the banner, its from inferno 08. (the creator of the "era of magic")