Res Magica development thread. [Update 19/06]

[mehmode]

This is for units, art and campaign development of the Res Magica project.
For now, I'll be uploading unit concepts and race fluff in txt format.

Done: faction concept and fluff, all unit concepts, campaign storyline, most descriptions and dialogue.
To do: art, animations, coding.
WIP: Coding, campaign maps, unit balancing and stats, some descriptions.

Team:
mehmode: concept, text, maps, some coding.
styles1005: art, coding.

As of 26/05 looking for one coder and one artist.

[styles1005]

Mmkay. I'll get to work on art for the Golem; I might be a while forever though.

[mehmode]

Today's update: the homunculi, part one.


->Homunculus L1 light unit.
Crafting a homunculus is an important event in every alchemist's life: successfuly animating such a servant signifies the end of apprenticeship, thus leaving the prospective alchemist free to do his own research and offer his services independently to whomever he wishes.
Most homunculi are used to carry messages for their creators and stand watch, as they're small of stature, very quick and don't need to sleep, eat or rest. Their only requriement is a drop of blood from a sentient being, preferably their master, every nine days. With it, they grow stronger. Without it, they wither and cease to function. In the Towers' armies, homunculi are used to carry orders, spot for enemies and care for weapons and equipment. [Cheap, weak and fast infantry with high rough terrain defense and a low damage, high strikes impact attack.]

Can advance to:

->Bloodbound, L2 skirmisher.
Some homunculi are fed much more blood than they need to survive, in order to further their growth. Roughly human-sized, Bloodbound are those that have reached their limits in strength and stature. With their artificial quickness and inhuman reflexes, they make excellent additions to the militia. Some are trained as scouts, able to traverse every type of terrain as quickly as a horseman riding through open plains. Some are watchmen, needing no sleep or rest and gifted with excellent vision. Most, however, retain their stations as couriers, able to slip through heated battle unharmed and relay their creators' orders. [Quick light infantry with skirmish and improved terrain defenses. Retains the attack type, with slightly increased damage.]

-Advances into:

->Mimic, L3 counter assassin unit.
These are the pinnacle effect of the same processes that create Bloodbound. Mimics' bodies grow to look exactly like their creators', making them invaluable both on the battlefield and in the city. Many an assassin has found his untimely end at the hands of those creatures, since they retain both their lightning quickness and enhanced senses. [Light infantry with excellent terrain defense and solid first strike impact melee. Looks like an Alchemist unit. If I find a way to do this, will bring up the Alchemist's description if clicked on by the opponent.]

->Eldritch Servant, L2 ambush unit.
When their services are no longer needed, most homunculi are left to expire. Some, however, are simply entrusted with another task. And another. And another. Along the way they tend to pick up some of their masters' magic: simple cantrips that allow them to go about their work in a more efficient manner. As most homunculi are couriers, those spells frequently deal with stealth and movement. A homunculus that attains a measure of mastery over those magics in known as an Eldritch Servant and trusted enough to carry secret orders, research reports and all manner of vital information. [Very light, extremely quick infantry with a slowing, weak magical attack, ambush and nightstalk.]

-Advances into:

->Eldritch Envoy, L3 ambush mage.
Many wizards choose to employ the talents of Eldritch Servants in a more direct manner. After their creations prove to be capable of using minor magic, they are taught another incantation: one that allows to store and deliver a spell cast by another. Armed with this knowledge, they make assassins supreme, carrying murderous curses instead of messages. [Same as Eldritch Servant but the magical attack gains poison and the unit gains another attack: single strike, extreme damage fire magical.]

And that would be all full progression units in the 'construct' branch.

Next up:
The final construct unit and MERCENARIES. Give me two days.

[styles1005]

I may not be able to do much for you in the way of art after all. It's been two days and all I've been able to get on the Golem is a horrible head. I feel guilty about it, and I'll keep trying, but don't be surprised if I haven't managed a thing by the time all the coding is ready. I will keep trying to help in other stuff if you want though, and I may be able to scout out placeholders from the Graphic Library or other such places if you want.

[mehmode]

In that case, I would appreciate your help in the coding department. I still have a long way to go with units, maps and campaign dialog, so that would probably be the best you could do at the moment.

I will start adding proposed stats to txt files to that end, starting tommorow.

[styles1005]

Yeah . . . I'm probably not that much better than you in the coding department, but I'll help where I can. *scurries off to look at files*

[wesfreak]

You could create placeholder art using frankenstiened sprites, at least until your era is popular enough to attract good artists. The lvl 2 earth elemental from era of myths looks like a golem and can be used as one, for example.

[styles1005]

Actually, that was exactly what I was thinking of, and I was actually frankie-ing the Elemental with an axe when Paint.NET crashed and I went off to play Wesnoth for a little while.

EDIT: I went back to work on it . . . Paint.NET has never had a blinking crash before now, and suddenly it's had two in one day! I'm getting frustrated now.

EDIT 2: M'kay.

This is a golem.

earth_gollum.png (3.44 KiB) Viewed 3564 times

I believe this is by artisticdude. It's probably not ideal, but it was already on there for some reason, so I'm throwing it out here for ya.

EDIT 3: Once again, really quick work, and the axe is definitely at the wrong angle, and it (the axe, not the golem) looks too small, and . . . and . . . and . . .

Here it is.

golemwithaxe.png (1.38 KiB) Viewed 3564 times

EDIT SPREE!: Finally noticing the new homunculi, just on initial inspection the Eldritch line seems overpowered considering that it advances from what essentially seems to be a scout, and a cheap one at that. At the very least hold the nightstalk until level 3.

WASCOFFEEINTHECUP?: Getting ahead of myself, but I found something perusing the Graphic Library that might be helpful.

Might this be of use?

human.png (2.85 KiB) Viewed 3563 times

EDIT 6: It looks bad on a white background, apparently. Would be better on terrain.

[mehmode]

They have basically no attack, though. I'm thinking something like 1 or 2 damage, four or five strikes, so they can reliably slow but do negligible damage.

On the sprites: the golems are a nice fit, it seems. And I agree, the axe needs to be bigger. A LOT bigger.
As for the humans, I imagine grey being the primary colour on most human units, with yellow, red or white as secondary, so the humans blend with the constructs well.

[styles1005]

Okay then. That would make the Envoy less overpowered too - it'd be hard to get the killing blow with those stats, though the experience would still need to be fairly high. Also, I might be able to find a huge axe - if I can remember where it is. Might be a bit too big though; how much weight can a golem lift, anyway? It also looks to be stone, not metal, if I remember right.

[mehmode]

How much weight a golem can lift... that IS a good question. As it's magic, let's go with something simple: a golem can lift as much as it weights. This would make heavier golems stronger, which works well with the progression, as we have clay->stone->stone with metal. To clarify further: an anima has no telekinetic ability and can not lift anything per se.

Also, the advanced homunculi are supposed to be rare, so yes, high XP is a must.

[styles1005]

Ok then. I couldn't find what I was looking for, but I'll do a search and see if I can find anything suitable.

EDIT: Bah! Couldn't find anything. On the coding side though, I just remembered that the Lightshifter unit from the Steelhive faction does something similar to the Mimic. I wonder if it's possible to reuse some of the code?

EDIT 2: Okay then! *reveals just how little he knows about coding beyond basics* I'm utterly befuddled. It's like knowing the words of a foreign language, but not the syntax; if I dissect it part by part, they sort of make sense to me, but as a whole I don't understand how it works.

[mehmode]

Just stick with the basics for now. A 'golem' race and a 'homunculus' race (since all other units save maybe two will be human) and units with vanilla abilities. We'll deal with more complicated stuff once evereything else is done.

[mehmode]

Today's update: the Iron Lancer, third and final construct unit, and a premier mercenary unit, the Freeblade.

Iron Lancer, L1 striker.
The Republic's 'nobility' are mages rather than knights, and it is a rare militiaman that can afford a warhorse and plate armour. This has led to a lack of heavy cavalry in the militia. A wizard's solution to any problem is a spell, and thus one was devised to cover for this weakness: a simplistic version of a golem anima, animating a suit of plate armour: the Iron Lancer. They lack their golem cousins' capacity for thought or self-preservation, but are able to follow complex commands. An Iron Lancer hovers about a meter above ground and can propel itself to dazzling speeds for a short time. Armed with a cavalry spear, the Iron Lancer delivers a devastating charge, without fear, hesitation or lack of discipline that plague most knights. [Tough, expensive quasi-cavalry, piercing attack with charge.]

Advances to:

Iron Charger, L2 striker
Most Iron Lancers are good for only one charge, despite their heavy armour. Lancer anima are relatively easy to cast, and their armour can be recovered and repaired. Thus, they are considered expendable and frequently assigned suicide missions. Those that survive several such assaults are considered especially well-made and outfitted with sturdier plates and a backup mace. Dubbed Iron Chargers, they form the first line of attack, as after breaking their lances they are able to engage in melee. [An even tougher charger, with a stronger piercing attack and an average impact melee.]

That concludes the construct section. Now, for the mercenaries. There are three human mercenary units: the Freeblade, the Sellstaff and the Reiter, and two monsters: the Chimera, a versatile heavy land unit, and the Manticore, a heavy flyer akin to the Gryphon.


Freeblade, L1 infantry.

Freeblades are rank-and-file mercenary troops, usually on their first tour with the company. They come from diverse backgrounds: shipless pirates, adventure seekers, peasants hoping for an extra gold piece, minor nobles looking for military experience.. the list goes on. Typically armed with a polearm of some type and a longsword and lightly armoured, Freeblades fulfill a variety of roles on the battlefield, from static defense to storming fortifications. To become a Freeblade, a man must be skilled with both spear and sword and exhibit a good degree of discipline. This, coupled with very good pay and a tyrannical drill regimen, makes Freeblades on par with any professional soldiers. [Rather expensive versatile medium infantry. Two average damage melee attacks: blade and first strike piercing.]

There are three advancement paths for this unit:

Tenente, L2 leader path.
A Freeblade who has served with his company for two campaigns and exhibited both leadership and skill at arms can be elevated to the rank of Tenente, equivalent to a lieutenant. The duties of a Tenente are threefold: to lead his troops on the battlefield, to oversee their training and to make sure they recieve their pay. Most arm themselves in a typical Freeblade fashion: a polearm, usually a partisan, and a longsword. ercenary companies have little in the way of uniforms, s6 Tenenti use feathers tacked to their hat or helmet as a badge of rank. [Similar to Freeblade, blade attack gains one strike, unit gains leadership and hp.]

-Advances to:

Condottiere, L3 leader.
Condottieri are supreme commanders of mercenary companies. They are able leaders, brilliant organizers and terrifying warriors, forged through decades of warfare. Most Condottieri offer their services to the masters of various Towers, since the constant infighting going on in the Republic provides endless business opportunites. Some have long-term contracts with the Doge or the Republic itself, fulfilling the role of a standing army. Others yet travel abroad, offering their services to the highest bidder on world-spanning campaigns. Whatever their obligations, Condottieri are regarded as folk heroes, and many a youth aspires to become a mercenary captain some day. [Loses piercing attack, blade attack gains another strike, more damage and the first strike ability. Unit gains resistances and hp.]


Mercenary Archer L2 heavy archer.
Every soldier in a mercenary company is required to serve for a set term as Freeblade. Usually, this term encompasses one contract or a single campaign. After completing this assigment, the trooper has four choices: remain a Freeblade and try to advance to Tenente, become a Twinblade or join the archers. The latter is quite a popular choice: archers recieve increased sold and are relatively safe during battle, at least when compared to their Freeblade compatriots. Mercenary archers are usually more heavily armoured than their equivalents in regular armies, and well acquainted with melee combat, but not as dedicated or practiced. [Armoured archer unit, average ranged attack and solid impact melee.]

Gah, more tommorow. Sorry but this takes a load of time to type in.

[styles1005]

M'kay. I'll be working on coding when I can, as I piece together the bits and fragments I can understand. That might not be much, though - I have to take a trip to Georgia, and all sorts of other stuff. Anyway, the Condotieri violates RIPLIB, just so you know.