Brent (0.1.7) – for 1.9
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Brent (0.1.7) – for 1.9
Brent (current version 0.1.7)
An experiment in extended character advances, cross-scenario questing, and fun
The basic principle of this campaign is to use primarily mainstream units in essentially non-mainstream ways - specifically, to play with the way that a character advances and to allow a number of choices that drastically affect the general outcome of the campaign.
The main features that let (or will let) this happen are:
1. Treating unit advancement as an AMLA that has prerequisites (you need the reading prereq before you can become a mage, or you need nightstalk to become a thief.)
2. A system of cross-scenario quest lines that will allow the players to have multiple goals (if they choose to) in addition to scenario objectives.
3. Variables keeping track of the character's alignment and favor with various factions.
If you want to try it out, even at this early stage, it's on the Add-On Server. Have fun!
(Note: it actually isn't on the Add-On server at this point, but you can download the latest development version from http://github.com/melinath/brent)
What should I post in this thread?
Problems you're having with the campaign (bugs, etc.), of course.
Also, suggestions for quests, plot features, character development directions, maps you'd like to see, etc. If you feel inspired to code or create artwork for Brent, cool! PM me.
Make-Your-Own-Hero
If you're bored with playing as Brent, feel free to make a character of your own and post it here. If it seems interesting and fairly balanced, I may add it as an alternative. If it's really good, it may someday get its own quests!
Guidelines:
My general thoughts on long-term development (Farther down the list=more long-term):
-- Using very customized difficulty levels to let players use different characters and start at different places in the world (though not anywhere that the original campaign doesn't extend.)
-- Expanding the AMLA systems for the characters
For a more practical organization of my plans, I've drafted a short summary of future versions. If you think I should do this differently (say, make a bunch of potentially buggy levels first, then go back and revise them all at once) lemme know.
An experiment in extended character advances, cross-scenario questing, and fun
The basic principle of this campaign is to use primarily mainstream units in essentially non-mainstream ways - specifically, to play with the way that a character advances and to allow a number of choices that drastically affect the general outcome of the campaign.
The main features that let (or will let) this happen are:
1. Treating unit advancement as an AMLA that has prerequisites (you need the reading prereq before you can become a mage, or you need nightstalk to become a thief.)
2. A system of cross-scenario quest lines that will allow the players to have multiple goals (if they choose to) in addition to scenario objectives.
3. Variables keeping track of the character's alignment and favor with various factions.
If you want to try it out, even at this early stage, it's on the Add-On Server. Have fun!
(Note: it actually isn't on the Add-On server at this point, but you can download the latest development version from http://github.com/melinath/brent)
What should I post in this thread?
Problems you're having with the campaign (bugs, etc.), of course.
Also, suggestions for quests, plot features, character development directions, maps you'd like to see, etc. If you feel inspired to code or create artwork for Brent, cool! PM me.
Make-Your-Own-Hero
If you're bored with playing as Brent, feel free to make a character of your own and post it here. If it seems interesting and fairly balanced, I may add it as an alternative. If it's really good, it may someday get its own quests!
Guidelines:
- Heroes should start at level 0 and go to level 3 or 4.
- A level advancement should have at least three prerequisites.
- I recommend starting with two branches per level. If you stop at level three, you'll then have 15 possible unit advancements and likely around 42 AMLAs.
- Heroes need at least one intro scenario that functions as a tutorial.
My general thoughts on long-term development (Farther down the list=more long-term):
-- Using very customized difficulty levels to let players use different characters and start at different places in the world (though not anywhere that the original campaign doesn't extend.)
-- Expanding the AMLA systems for the characters
For a more practical organization of my plans, I've drafted a short summary of future versions. If you think I should do this differently (say, make a bunch of potentially buggy levels first, then go back and revise them all at once) lemme know.
Future Versions:
Changelog:
Known Bugs/things to be corrected:
Last edited by melinath on March 28th, 2011, 2:20 pm, edited 36 times in total.
Re: Extended unit development campaign: Brent
Sounds cool man! Kindly proceed that we can enjoy more 
-WAR- Wesnoth Allied Rebels
Re: Extended unit development campaign: Brent
I just went through the forest killing everything on sight 
Nicely done.
Could be used for some hero characters in UMC's
Nicely done.
Could be used for some hero characters in UMC's
You are an Orcish Grunt: cheap, powerful, but effective.
Re: Extended unit development campaign: Brent
Keep in mind you could just direct us to debug our way through advancement trees. All that's required is giving us something to hit.
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CountPenguin
- Posts: 132
- Joined: May 25th, 2007, 1:13 am
- Location: USA
Re: Extended unit development campaign: Brent
i like it so far, make more!
and im assuming that you're going to add more advancement options after level 1
and im assuming that you're going to add more advancement options after level 1
CountPenguin
Currently working on Siege of Soradoc. Except not anymore, but you can take over if you want!
Currently working on Siege of Soradoc. Except not anymore, but you can take over if you want!
Re: Extended unit development campaign: Brent
Hmm. Yes, I could. However, although I'm using the campaign to test the possibilities for complex unit advancement, I also want it to be interesting in and of itself.Keep in mind you could just direct us to debug our way through advancement trees. All that's required is giving us something to hit.
Did you find a bug?
@count_penguin: Yes, I am planning on that. Eventually, there could also be more possibilities for level one, but if I did that now, the exponential expansion of possibilities would make me, and by extension the project, implode. :-p
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kyi_the_bard
- Posts: 102
- Joined: October 24th, 2008, 2:41 am
- Location: Dungeons of Doom; Floor 23
Re: Extended unit development campaign: Brent
Hmmm...
So the advancements I took follow in this order...
Movement/defense in the forest.
Ambush.
Reading.
Magic Missile.
Improved Magic Missile.
Mage Advancement path. (At which point I lost my movement/defense, but kept Ambush
)
Then after much "Hunting"...
+1 ranged damage. (That didn't increase the damage on my Missile attack...
)
So were my smiley marked choices supposed to that?
So the advancements I took follow in this order...
Movement/defense in the forest.
Ambush.
Reading.
Magic Missile.
Improved Magic Missile.
Mage Advancement path. (At which point I lost my movement/defense, but kept Ambush
)Then after much "Hunting"...
+1 ranged damage. (That didn't increase the damage on my Missile attack...
)So were my smiley marked choices supposed to that?
Meow
Re: Extended unit development campaign: Brent
I admire your dedication! Thank you! I'll look into the issues you've mentioned.
Especially the ambush/movement thing. The idea is supposed to be that you lose the advancements slowly as you get farther away from when you got them.
The ranged advance for the mage shouldn't have been an option. That's a problem. Will be fixed. I'm fleshing out the quests a bit first, but I'll get to that soon. Thanks again.
Especially the ambush/movement thing. The idea is supposed to be that you lose the advancements slowly as you get farther away from when you got them.
The ranged advance for the mage shouldn't have been an option. That's a problem. Will be fixed. I'm fleshing out the quests a bit first, but I'll get to that soon. Thanks again.
Re: Brent: Campaign w/ extended char advances, cross-scen quests
So.
I tried this out yesterday and everything worked fine. I updated it to the latest version and now Brent has 70 mp requires 1xp to advance and none of the enemy's take their turn.
I tried this out yesterday and everything worked fine. I updated it to the latest version and now Brent has 70 mp requires 1xp to advance and none of the enemy's take their turn.
Re: Brent: Campaign w/ extended char advances, cross-scen quests
Yes... that would be with my quick-test settings. I had them turned on and had just finished debugging when I had to rush off to class and accidentally uploaded without switching those back. :-p Apologies. It's now corrected + I'll try not to do it again.
EDIT::
@ kyi_the_bard: I can't reproduce the problem you had (having the option as a lvl 1 mage to get ranged attack +1.) I get the (presently) expected lvl 1 behavior: that the mage only has access to the default AMLA. The abilities are all now (once gotten) available to all of Brent's forms, until I go back and limit some. For example, a mage with faster forest movement makes more sense than a mage with Ambush.
EDIT::
@ kyi_the_bard: I can't reproduce the problem you had (having the option as a lvl 1 mage to get ranged attack +1.) I get the (presently) expected lvl 1 behavior: that the mage only has access to the default AMLA. The abilities are all now (once gotten) available to all of Brent's forms, until I go back and limit some. For example, a mage with faster forest movement makes more sense than a mage with Ambush.
Re: Brent: Campaign w/ extended char advances, cross-scen quests
Love the work you've done so far! Indeed, many people make RPG-ish type maps on a number of different games, and choosing to make one on a turn based strategy would indeed be a challenge. I played the earliest version, and I love the events and thorough planning you've done. However, as a side note, you may want to make those rabbits in the forest have 60% defence or 50% defence in forest tiles instead of that annoying 70% chance. It took me 10 turns to chase down and kill a single level 0 rabbit...
Might also want to consider to add in random spawning for all the units on this first map to make it enjoyable- it's annoying chasing down only rabbits, and having conflicting sides (I.E. more wolves and bobcats) would let characters level up easier.
Might also want to consider to add in random spawning for all the units on this first map to make it enjoyable- it's annoying chasing down only rabbits, and having conflicting sides (I.E. more wolves and bobcats) would let characters level up easier.
Re: Brent: Campaign w/ extended char advances, cross-scen quests
I lowered rabbit defense and tried it out, but then it occured to me that that's not necessarily the problem. It's part of the problem, sure, but the other thing is they are relatively strong. How many rabbits in the real world can survive getting shot with three or more arrows? So I've reraised their forest defense and lowered their hitpoints drastically. (normal rabbits: 6. White rabbits: 10) It seems manageable enough, especially since the baby tuskers often take out 4 of the 6 hitpoints for you. (The newest version includes the addition of tuskers as a new monster faction. I have information/images for bears, sheep, and cows on hand as well, should it be necessary, but those don't really fit in a forest setting. Potentially bear cubs, but I think that would be too many big predators.)
Let me know what you think!
Let me know what you think!
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CountPenguin
- Posts: 132
- Joined: May 25th, 2007, 1:13 am
- Location: USA
Re: Brent (0.0.6): extended char advances, cross-scenario quests
I have a question, are the quests actually achievable? I accepted the pixie quest and the bones request, but when I went to the city on the northern river, I walked all around and nothing happened. And I couldn't even get Pia since I didn't have gold to recruit her with. I also tried going to the Port city for the bones quest, but I didn't even go to another map. Am I missing something or have you just not gotten that far with the campaign yet?
CountPenguin
Currently working on Siege of Soradoc. Except not anymore, but you can take over if you want!
Currently working on Siege of Soradoc. Except not anymore, but you can take over if you want!
Re: Brent (0.0.6): extended char advances, cross-scenario quests
You are correct. It is impossible to complete the quests at the moment. However, I will be adding two or three more steps to the faerie quest later today. After that, I'm adding the port city and the next part of that quest. I got a bit distracted with graphical issues this week.
EDIT:: The faerie quest is now completable.
EDIT:: The faerie quest is now completable.
Re: Brent (0.1.0): extended char advances, cross-scenario quests
I'm guessing the Water Sprite being only 2 turns away from the great tree is supposed to be there as a placeholder until you can move her to the north river, right? Because I gotten kinda confused as to why a Dryad would send you to find a Water Shyde that was that nearby...
Might want to consider bumping up some of the available choices for ALMAing, too... +1 Ranged attack seems rather pitiful when you can get that awesome Missile spell after Reading. +1 Melee Attack, +1 Melee Damage for Melee Attack bonus and +2 Ranged Attack for Ranged Attack bonus would be better, because at the current, I always go for Forest Movement/Defence to Reading, just because of how useful they both are in the long run. Since you said a while back that you were planning a Rogue advancement, you might want to give Concealment a side boost, too... Rather useless when the first map is a villageless (except for one) forest. Nightshift + Concealment in one upgrade might be a bit extreme, but...
Might want to consider bumping up some of the available choices for ALMAing, too... +1 Ranged attack seems rather pitiful when you can get that awesome Missile spell after Reading. +1 Melee Attack, +1 Melee Damage for Melee Attack bonus and +2 Ranged Attack for Ranged Attack bonus would be better, because at the current, I always go for Forest Movement/Defence to Reading, just because of how useful they both are in the long run. Since you said a while back that you were planning a Rogue advancement, you might want to give Concealment a side boost, too... Rather useless when the first map is a villageless (except for one) forest. Nightshift + Concealment in one upgrade might be a bit extreme, but...