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| Thread: Faction Makers Guide to Heroes 5 |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 3 · NEXT» |
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alcibiades
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
of Gold Dragons
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posted January 21, 2007 10:38 PM |
bonus applied. |
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Faction Makers Guide to Heroes 5
Introduction
Through the history of Heroes of Might and Magic, a lot of fans have found it fun to develop suggestions for new Town (Factions) that they would like to have in the game. It should be said right away that there is no single way to make a good faction, and neither is what is good for one necessarily good for everybody. Therefore, this is not considered as a guide that will guarantee you to make “good” factions, whatever that means – but is considered to be a way for me to express what I think is important in the developing process – and as an opportunity for others to add their thoughts.
Part 1 – Background
1.1 – Main Race – the Heroes 3 vs. Heroes 5 schism
One of the major differences between Heroes 3 and Heroes 5 is the way the Towns (Factions) are created: Heroes 3 worked with a town theme where Heroes 5 works with a town race. The difference might seem subtle but is in fact crucial. Heroes 3 towns represented a collection of beasts and creatures grouped together by their habitual properties or type. Heroes 5 towns on the other hand more represent humanoid societies, where one race dwells with a selection of associated beasts. The picture is not die-cut – there are grades between these two extremes in both games, but the tendency is clear.
Thus, the H3 Rampart has developed from a mix of Centaur, Dwarves and Dwarves into a society of Sylvan Elves in Heroes 5, where the line-up is formed by three elven units accompanied by various magical beasts (Unicorn, Treant, Dragon). The H3 Dungeon has evolved from a mix of Troglodytes, Medusa, Beholders and Minotaurs into a Dark Elf society where Dark Elves fight with the enslaved Minotaurs and the associated Hydras and Dragons. The Dwarfs have formed an entire faction of their own allied with the Thanes and the Dragons.
On the other hand, some factions haven’t changed much – the H3 Castle followed the principles of the H5 factions (and is in fact identical to the H5 Haven) and the Inferno and Necropolis lies in the undefined area between the two extremes where the town is made of one creature type rather than a race. The H5 Academy in fact falls closer to the H3 concept, by mixing a Human unit with Animates and Magical Spirits and then the Gremlin.
Conclusion: To make a faction suitable for Heroes 5, one should have as primary main focus to centre the town around a primary race and their lifestyle, and from this find suitable allied beasts. Towns based on collections of beasts selected by for instance where they live (e.g. “swamp creatures”) are ill suited for Heroes 5, whereas a town can be centred around a race that lives in a particular environment (e.g. Lizardmen), and then include some beasts from this environment to be allied with the race (e.g. Wyvern, Basilisk).
A town can also be focused on a certain lifestyle of its inhabitants. Thus, the Necropolis consists entirely of Undead creatures, because Necromancy is the core of the Necromantic society. There are no humanoids in the armies of the Necromancer, and their Hero’s don’t necessarily belong to any single race. This approach can also be used for forming a faction (e.g. “lycanthropes”).
1.2 – History
The Faction should have some sort of History on Ashan. The choice of race might relate to the mythological aspects of the game, because the Myth Of Creation tells us about the creation of the major races, their religious believes and general relations to each other. The Myth Of Creation is not confirmed official, and thus can be disregarded in the developing, but so far, the information in the MOC has been in very good agreement with everything in the game. Consulting the MOC might therefore be a good move when considering the history of your faction. In the same way, the official timeline will provide a framework in which the events of the faction has happened, and it will make the story more believable if you try to tie the faction up on the events of the other factions – and you might contemplate on why the faction hasn’t shown up in the game so far!
The tricky part with writing history is making it believable. For instance, a new kingdom placed right inside the other kingdoms might be ok, but explaining its former invisibility in the game with the fact that it “remained neutral” will probably seem less believable to the reader. Also remember that an official map of Ashan exists, along with a map that is probably a map of future Ashan (post Heroes 5), though the latter is yet unconfirmed – and this defines some of the physical frames within which you should place your faction.
1.3 – Miscellaneous
You might want to consider other facts as background information for your faction – what are the relations to the other factions, which types of magic does your faction favour, what’s their motto and core philosophy, etc.
Part 2 – Creatures
2.1 – Humanoids vs. Beasts
Like mentioned in the previous section, most of the Heroes 5 towns feature a line-up consisting of a number of humanoid creatures from the faction race (typically 4 or 5), and then a couple of allied beasts. This is in contrast with the Heroes 3 towns, where most of the races were just represented in one unit (Grand Elf, Battle Dwarf, Ogre Mage, Orc Chieftain, Hobgoblin, Centaur Captain, etc.), many of which were grouped together in the same town (particularly Rampart and Stronghold!). You should try to aim for this composition in order to give the town a Heroes 5 feel, and make it fit into the game – the exception being towns consisting of “unusual” create types like Undead and Demons.
2.2 – Creature Types
The creatures in the game can be divided into the overall groups Walkers (offensive and tanks), Shooters, Casters (offensive and defensive), and Flyers. You should aim for a representation of all groups in the line-up and avoid over-representation – thus, as a rule of thumb, no more than 3 of one kind, and generally separate creatures of same type by 3 levels (this is especially relevant for Shooters and offensive Casters). A town consisting of 4 or 5 Shooters and offensive Casters is going to be out of balance, as is a town without any. The units of the same kind should be spread over the levels to give a varied game play in early as well as late game.
In order to make your primary race units seem different, you might also want to make these belong to the different groups. Thus, if you choose to have 4 units of your primary race, it would be an obvious choice to make one a Caster, one a Shooter, one a Tank, and one an offensive Walker (some sort of cavalry, for instance) (making one of them a Flyer will usually not be an option). This will also be an obvious way to make the different units represent different groups in the society they represent. Flyers will typically come in the form of (magical) beasts allied with the faction, because humanoid units normally don’t fly.
If you want to deviate from the norm, do it only if there’s a reason for it, and be sure that the deviations are balanced by other properties. For instance, the Inferno and Dungeon are relatively weak in ranged power. This is compensated by the Inferno gating skill, that will allow to summon in enforcements anywhere on battlefield (thus constituting a form of “ranged” attack), whereas the Dungeon has the Blood Fury, whose strike-and-return ability essentially is a limited ranged attack, and furthermore a Hero Class that focuses strongly on Destructive Magic, thus making up for the lack in powerful Shooters. Academy has three ranged units, which is unusual, but is compensated by the generally very slow units, as well as that factions lack of affinity for Destructive Magic. The Sylvan faction has two very powerful shooters at mid-level, but is compensated by generally fragile units and a very defensive level 6 Tank unit.
2.3 - Theme and Strategy - after ActionJack
Before you start the real sculpturing of your units, you should consider a Theme Strategy for your faction. It's not that hard to create a faction that is similar in creature line up to another faction, and one thing you should aim for is a theme strategy that is differnt from the factions. This means each of the faction should have a playing-style and strategic usage that is differntly from one to another.
This is achieved throught the synergy between the creature line up (their stats and abilities), and the hero and faction's special ability. So when making your own faction, try to tailor it to a more specific strategy or playing style, and add strengths and weaknesses to better make it something unique, and not just another generic faction with an alternative skin (looks).
2.4 – Creature Stats and Balancing
Before you assign creature stats, you should consider which type of creature you are making. The stats should fit the creature – thus, a tank unit will typically have a combination of high Defence and HP with low Attack, Damage and Speed – the inverse will be the case for an offensive unit. Shooters typically have lower HP and speed to compensate for their ranged ability. Be careful not to make combinations that will be of little use in the game – like offensive creatures that are really slow, or high Defence but low HP.
Creating Stats for creatures in a balanced way is no easy feat. A good place to start is to acquire a spreadsheet with stats for the existing units and averages for each level to have a reference. This will help you assign numbers that don’t fall completely outside the “normal” range for that property for units of that particular level. Next step might be to check for Power rating, which is an approximate measure of the creature’s strength including all stats and abilities. The formula Nival have used for calculating Power Rating is not completely understood, however, and though attempts at approximations have been moderately successful, it’s still far from perfect.
Also consider whether you want the creature to be in the “extreme” end for its type, or whether it should be more on the average. “Extreme” creatures are units that take their properties (for instance, Tank or Offensive) to the extreme for their level – for instance, Treant, Hydra and Gargoyle are extreme Tanks for their level, whereas the Djinn and Blood Fury are examples of extreme Offensive units. An extreme unit typically has its significant stats considerably higher than the norm of its level, but will have this compensated by having the stats of its weak properties significantly below average. Before you make an “extreme” creature, check if there is already an “extreme” creature of the same kind of that level – if that’s the case, you should not make an “even more extreme” creature of that kind – that will probably end up being unbalanced (thus, making a level 6 creature with even more HP than the Treant would be absurd!). Rather aim for a different kind of creature, or model your stats after the existing creature, and separate it by different Abilities. Always think twice before you apply a number that is outside the range of the existing creatures of that level.
2.5 – Creature Abilities
Creature Abilities is one of the best chances to make your creature stand out from the rest of the units in the game – so aim for creativity and innovation here! Of course, balance should not be sacrificed, but new abilities add to game play, which means more fun. When you apply abilities – again consider what type of creature you are working on. A Tank unit is not going to have much use of the Double Strike ability – but might have huge advantage of the Unlimited Retaliations ability. The inverse obviously is true for an offensive unit. Try if possible to match the Abilities to the creature type – that gives coherence. Thus, a Thunderbird with Lightning Strike and a Phoenix with Fire Breath and Rebirth makes good sense, and thus makes for an overall better creature.
Part 3 – The Town and The Hero
3.1 – The Town – physical properties
As part of the general work on the faction and in the general attempt to make a coherent faction, one should give some thought to the physical environment one chooses for the faction. This includes the following things:
Geographical Setting: Placing an Elven faction in the desert or a Dwarven faction in the woods will probably go against most peoples notion of how it “should” be. Of course, since these creatures are fantasy creatures there are no “right” and “wrong”, but tradition nonetheless holds strong on many points in fantasy, and one should decide whether one will go for a more conservative approach (which will be most likely to go down well with the other fans) or a more innovative approach (which will probably cause controversy). Heroes 5 has taken a pretty traditional approach at most of their factions in this respect (albeit moving the Tower from the snow to the desert was pretty radical!).
Architectural Style: The visual properties of the town is less important, but should as far as possible be in harmony with both the faction type and the geographical setting. Good examples of this are selecting the Arabian style for the Academy in the desert and the Gothic style for Necromancers.
Building Tree: The Building Tree is pretty similar between most of the cities, so if you aim for a conventional town, there’s not too much you need to consider here. There should be a level 1-7 dwelling (basic and upgraded), defensive and economical building, and mage guild, that’s essentially the same for all factions. Your town should have one special building that relates to your racial skill, however, so you might want to give some though on that (like Avengers Guild, Arcane Workshop, etc). There should also be one growth booster (typically), and two special building besides this, that will be more general in character (Library, Altar Of Elements, Stables, Mystic Pond, etc.). The overall number of buildings (including upgrades) ought to be 30-32.
3.2 – The Hero Class and Class Skills
In Heroes 5, the Class is not only a title – it now defined a unique skill that will separate your faction’s heroes from the other factions’. You should therefore give thorough thought to which type of Class Skill you select for your faction – whether it be might or magic, offensive or defensive – and as far as possible match the class skill to the properties of the Race you chose for your faction. Halfling Barbarians and Orc Engineers are good examples of race-and-skill combinations that will go down poorly with most long-time fantasy fans! You have your freedom to be innovative, but some things are better not tampered with, if you want the support of the masses.
The Class Skill and Abilities should offer the Hero a tactical advantage that will match his Primary Stats and the properties of the aligned creatures. The Class Skill should also be believable in terms of the society and lifestyle you have envisioned for your faction, and thus even connects to the geographical location and history of the faction. Again, coherence is essential.
The Class Skill and Abilities – including the Ultimate Ability – is probably the greatest opportunity for your faction to stand out from the other factions – so this is definitely a place where you want to be creative. Balancing is of course difficult, and first approaches might sometimes need adjusting (case of example: Haven Training), but always try to aim for the perfect balance between offering something exciting and useful, that will offer a unique style of game play, without being all-dominant.
3.3 – Common Skills and Abilities
The faction should also offer a couple of unique Abilities in the common skills, although developing this has lower priority for most developers. Only advanced abilities vary between the factions: Thus Attack have the common abilities Archery, Tactics and Battle Frenzy, whereas examples of advanced abilities are Retribution, Power Of Speed, Excruciating Strike, Cold Steel, and Flaming Arrows. Notice that some advanced abilities are unique to one faction, whereas others are shared by several factions. When developing advanced abilities, remember that some skills for each faction only has one advanced ability, whereas others have two – and not all skills have advanced abilities that are unique for the faction.
For those who really wants to go into details with the skills, it should be added that the ultimate ability draws on 4 common skills besides the class skill. Each faction also has a sub-ultimate ability placed in one of the common skills, which requires abilities tied to 3 other skills (none of which overlap with the four skills required for the ultimate ability). Generally, if the ultimate ability is related to might, the sub-ultimate ability will be related to magic, and vice-versa, but that’s not always true.
3.4 – Primary Stat and Skill progression
You can define the properties of your class more precisely by defining the Primary Stat progression – this means the percentage chance you have of increasing Attack, Defence, Spell Power and Knowledge, respectively. The factions from the original H5 game have chance distributions 45 % / 30 % / 15 % / 10 % whereas the expansion Fortress factions has distribution 30 % / 30 % / 20 % / 20 %, thus opening for this more balanced option as an alternative to the very biased distribution of the original factions. All Heroes have a start Stat combination determined by their class. Base Stats are 0 / 0 / 1 / 1 plus 3 stat points distributed depending on how likely the Hero is to increase in the various Stats.
You can also define the Skill progression, which is the chance of the Hero being offered a specific secondary Skill on level-up. Most classes have 10 % in their Class Skill (Necropolis is an exception with 15 %), and have the remaining 90 % distributed as 2 skills with 15 %; 2 skills with 10 %; 4 skills with 8 % and 4 skills with 2 %. Obviously, the skills that have only 2 % chance of occurring will be difficult to obtain for the Class.
Part 4 – Miscellaneous
4.1 – Conservatism vs. Innovativeness
Making factions is a balance between satisfying your own wishes and meeting the acceptance of others. You may of course develop a faction that no others will like, if you feel like it, but that is likely to mean that it would be ill suited for the game. I personally recommend that you strive to keep within the general frames of the current game – thus, futuristic “Star Wars” factions are in my opinion ill suited for the game, to give an example.
About finding inspiration
Looking to other peoples work is always a great way to find inspiration. That might either be other faction developers (like other HC users) or it might be other games or books. In either case, if you take inspiration from someone, it’s good courtesy to refer to the source – and if you implement other’s ideas directly, make sure to have their assent before you does so.
The Web is an almost endless source of inspiration. A good way to find inspiration is to ‘google’ for some keywords (search the web with the site google.com for the keywords) – both the web part of google and the image part can be extremely useful in this context. Wikipedia is another treasure throw for trivia knowledge and background information – google “wikipedia” + keyword if you want to see what others have found relevant about this specific topic.
Have fun
Version 1.0 / Alcibiades
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Daystar
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Back from the Dead
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posted January 22, 2007 02:35 AM |
bonus applied. |
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EXCELANT WORK ALC! BRILLIANT!
Mind if I help?
Cheers 
Part 2.5: Creating Creatures
2.5.1: Things to watch out for
There are some creatures that recently have been thuroughly over used. They will generally turn people off if they see them as the primary focus in a short post.
Orcs/Goblins/Ogres: There are at least 37 different versions of this faction. They go something like this:
2 Orcs/Goblins/Ogres
Wolf Rider
Tank Orc/Goblin/ogre
Roc
Cyclops
Behemouth/Wyrm/Air Dragon.
If you can't give us something new, please don't make yet another Orc/Goblin/Ogre town. You could slip them in, Eg, nomads to the East thing, but that's been done a lot too.
Nagas: While not used quite as much, they still have a great history of attempts. It goes something like this:
3-4 Nagas, much with the Magic
Some form of Octapus
Sea Serpent/Dragon/Leviathan
Siren/Merperson
Coatl
This is a faction that we will probobally see at some point in Heroes V, so see previous thing.
Dragons: Don't make a faction of dragons. It'll be over powered. Don't bother. even if you really wanna. Make 7 other factions and put one dragon in each of them.
Futuristic: If you have flying saucers, everyone but KD will think you are an imbecile.
Renegades:
For the love of Syllana, don't make renegades of (alright) Wood Elves/Acadamy/Dwarves (Not good) Necropolis/Demons/Dark Elves (PLEASE NO) Haven/Haven Renegades
Nomads: these have kind of been done, but they do have a great deal of possibility.
There are some creatures that can do the opposite: Spark Intrest
Werewolves As long as you don't have a whole faction of them, or have
Werecat
Werebear
Werewolf
raven
etc.
you should be fine. the trick is to make them work well in the faction.
Centaurs
Suprisingly, few people have tried to make a whole centaur faction. Grab it while it's there!
The same applies to Harpies
gnolls
trolls (not the big ugly ones, the ones from Norse Mythology)
2.5.2: The smurf
The smurf is the weak unit that all facitons have that can't really do much except in large numbers. it generally has only one or two stats that go for it, where most units have at least 3. It's the unit that the walkthroughs say "...which are pretty much usless anyway..." about.
Examples:
Necropolis: Zombie
Haven: Footman
Acadamy: Gargoyle
Your smurf will generally be low level, (1-3) and will be the unit that you have to put in if your faction has any precedence, and are generally ugly.
It can be fun to make a smurf, though, because if you smurf hard enough, you can give it a really good ability and it will still be bad. (Eg: the Zombie's Weakening strike) In the Hobbit example, the Smurf could be a rabbit that has the combat ability of multiplying.
2.5.3: The Legend
Every faction has them: the legendary unit that the faction has had in the past that must be there again. For the Orc town, it's the cyclops. For the existing towns, it's the Cavalier, the Skeleton, the Devil and the Pixie. They were there long before the begining, and they will be there long after the end.
If your faction has a precedent, you kind of have to put in the legend, or have a really good explanation for why it's not there.
2.5.4: Spell and Arrow, Mount and Boot
The Rider: Every faction has a horse or a rider of some kind in their town, or atleast a unit that is fast and generally not human. (Nightmare, Dark Raider, Unicorn) It's important to put in a rider, especially since they can easily be just a smaller version of the hero. 
The Shooter: This is your ranged unit. It should be placed in a middle position, or if you have two major shooters, place one level 1-3, and another 5-7. It's not a bad idea to give them a fun ability too. (Chain Shot, Scatter Shot, Poison)
The Walker: You will have a low level walker who will probobally be your smurf. Accept this, and then move on.
The Caster: The caster is the fun unit that can cast spells! Be sure not to over power him/her. Casters should, like shooters, have a low attack/defense. There should be at least one spell to prevent/deal out damage and at least one to power up/weaken.
That's all I've got to say on that topic.
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KnightDougal
Bad-mannered
Famous Hero
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posted January 22, 2007 09:02 AM |
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Quote:
Drumm and he did it - again
by alcibedes
LOL
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KnightDougal
Bad-mannered
Famous Hero
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posted January 22, 2007 09:38 AM |
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But take it to that things (futurisch, nomads, renegades, etc.) : Clans.
Clans desprection: Some factions live in clans. But if you msut have clans make them not too much becuse not too many non-camping heroes are per each faction.
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alcibiades
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
of Gold Dragons
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posted January 22, 2007 10:16 AM |
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Quote:
EXCELANT WORK ALC! BRILLIANT!
Mind if I help?
Cheers
Thanx - and the idea was to have people throw in their additions - to make this more complete and multifaceted.
And thanx for the input. I particularly agree with your part about the Smurf! 
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Ted
Promising
Supreme Hero
Peanut Exterminator
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posted January 22, 2007 10:32 AM |
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well alc, so far not many people can comment on this thread its too ..... perfect (   ) Daystars bit was good too, keep it up
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baklava
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Mostly harmless
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posted January 22, 2007 11:01 AM |
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Alc, dude, that's jsut awesome. Now we can look forward to quality fan-made towns, not tons of same ones. Respect.
@ Daystar, you said footmen were the smurfs of haven. That is SO wrong. Footmen kick ass, especially if you play with Laszlo. Although they're vulnerable to spells and have low HP, their great defense, coupled with shield bash and protecting units rocks.
Actually, peasants and conscripts are basically haven's smurfs. Other level ones can be useful for something later in the game (familiars drain mana, sprites cleanse, assassins poison, master gremlins repair...).
Conscripts simply suck.
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Gnoll_Mage
Responsible
Supreme Hero
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posted January 22, 2007 06:15 PM |
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Absolutely fantastic, quality work from you as ever Alc! (But have you finished that judging sheet yet...?  )
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Yann
Adventuring Hero
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posted January 23, 2007 12:17 AM |
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Edited by Yann at 00:17, 23 Jan 2007.
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That 1.1 section killed my hopes of ever bringing back Heroes III. I can't wait till Heroes VI discusions start although it will probably follow the same faction creating guidelines. Nice job though. This is perfect for Heroes V and will clear up a few things for many new people that are unfamiliar with making factions but are highly interested.
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Daystar
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Back from the Dead
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posted January 23, 2007 04:42 AM |
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so, if you do some thing, everyone else obviously does it too.
[ROLLS EYES]
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actionjack
Promising
Famous Hero
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posted January 23, 2007 08:26 AM |
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One thing I would recomand (base on a personal preference atleast), it to consider about a Theme Strategy for your faction. Its not that hard to create another faction that is a similar creature line up as another faction. But one thing I hope to see more is a greater emphasis on a theme strategy that is differnt for each factions. This means each of the faction should have a playing-style and strategic usage that is differntly from one to another. (think of how Warcraft II, Orc and Human are almost mirror of one another, verus Starcraft, where the 3 race play lot more differntly)
This is achieve throught the snergy between the creature line up (their stats and abality), and the hero and faction's special ablality.
So when making your own faction, try to tailor it to a more specific strategy or playing style, and adding and taking away its strength and weakness to better mode it to something more unique, and not just another generic faction with an alternative skin (looks).
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alcibiades
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
of Gold Dragons
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posted January 23, 2007 09:57 AM |
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Excellent point Actionjack!
To both you and Daystar: Can I add appropriate sections to the masterpoint with your credits, or should we rather leave it as it is?
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Ted
Promising
Supreme Hero
Peanut Exterminator
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posted January 23, 2007 11:37 AM |
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you should ask a moderator to make this a sticky, its good, quick (when i say quick, i mean as breif as possible) and factuale
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Daystar
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Back from the Dead
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posted January 24, 2007 12:47 AM |
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I agree with AJ's post.
Alc, you can put my section in, feel free to reformat anything/make changes.
And AJ's Idea:
5: Strategy
It is important to consider what strategy will be employed when making your faction. If your faction is basically the same as another faction, your faction will seem like a "New creatures in the old town" type of thing.
Let me give an example
5.1: Examples
Let's take the Necromancers. Their creatures are weak. they die worryingly easily. So their strategy is to get to the enemy quickly, with big creatures, and prevent damage to skeleton archers and liches.
Then there's the Academy. They have a lot of ranged units, so if they are not facing speedy creatures, they will generally wait for a turn or two, and let their ranged attackers do their thing before sending in their walkers/flyers.
So, what if you were creating a faction where...  With every strike the creature has a chance to give the enemy creature so many Conversion Counters. If a creature has a number of conversion counters equal to it's level, it changes sides. However, it takes a while to build up the counters, and creatures generally die first. So the player would purposefully have small stacks of some creatures that give a lot of conversion counters, and then big tanks and heavy fliers to take out level 7s and so on.
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Fofa
Famous Hero
Famous? Me?!
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posted January 24, 2007 02:32 AM |
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You covered almost everything, which is amazing. I'm surprised this thread hasn't gotten a quality point! *hint hint*
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Creator of the Guild and Prison towns for ICTC.
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Ted
Promising
Supreme Hero
Peanut Exterminator
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posted January 24, 2007 09:16 AM |
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alcibiades
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
of Gold Dragons
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posted January 25, 2007 02:28 PM |
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@ ActionJack and Daystar:
Action Jacl> I added your comment to the masterpost (new point 2.3 I think). Hope that's ok.
Daystar> Since your reply is first in line below the masterpost, and it would take a lot of editing to fit it in, for now I just let your post stand for itself.
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GenieLord
Honorable
Legendary Hero
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posted January 25, 2007 04:42 PM |
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That's amazing what you did here, Alc and Daystar. You really deserve those QP.
Edit:
I added this thread as recommended guide of advanced details about faction creation, in the master post of the ICTC2.
If you have any problem with that, just tell me, okay?
I hope it will help new creators to create better factions. Actually, I'm quite sure it will.
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Fofa
Famous Hero
Famous? Me?!
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posted February 03, 2007 04:37 AM |
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What if you're able to make music for the town? Not that I'm a musical genius, mind you, but if I could make the music for my towns, I would.
For the town screen, you have to match it to the location and the actual race itself, as well as their attitudes. Easier said than done. Putting a forest theme in a snowy area just doesn't work, and neither does an active theme in an quiet setting (i.e. a war oriented town music for the Academy, consisted of scholars and magicians and not intended toward physical combat, would give off the wrong impression).
For the battle, it has to be something that will attract the player into the fight, and it is usually similar to the town's screen music. The same rules in the town screen apply here too, as well as the other themes with the town in mind.
Guess that just about wraps it up. . . .
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Creator of the Guild and Prison towns for ICTC.
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Daystar
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Back from the Dead
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posted February 03, 2007 05:18 AM |
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mind if I despool?
On music:
The first thing to think about is what your town is about. Where it comes from, where it's at, and where it's going. Look at the Haven: There's a lot of bad stained glass, so everyone sings opera really loud to try to break it. Well, okay, it's a rather religeous place, and thus religeos music.
Necropolis: The music is dark, sinister, and calls to mind a factory creating dark machines, which is basically what a Necropolis is for.
Now, let's look at some other (Dreamed Up) Examples:
Dragon Knights: (For refference, they were a misterious cult that went into hidings and were almost wiped out by the Demons. their units are strong, but not in abundance) The kind of music you would want would need to inspire a feeling of Loneliness, and the best way to do this is by having few instruments. A solitary Flute, Clarinet, French Horn or Oboe creates a sad, echoing emptiness, and if you want to show the direction the faction is going, you can do some of the following:
If the faction is gaining strength, growing numerous: Start with few instruments, at best one, then come in with another instrument, again alone, then another. They would need to come in slowly, and gain speed of adding, until it is a full symphony. Speed should start slow, then become either noticablly Faster or with more feeling.
If the faction is dying: Put in just a few instruments, scattered, not coordinated that well, and have them fade out. Speed should stay at a slow throughout.
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Here's more: The orcish faction: Orcs, if you go for tradition, are basic creatures: Their philosophy is: Want, Take, Have. Instruments that inspire the classic warlikeness are of course drums, both deep, resounding beats and light, small wardrums, plus those nifty African ones. Also, a blaring trumpet at high speed invokes a feeling of CHARGE!
A good style would be to start out with steady beating of the Deep Drum, and then introduce the lighter drums, trumpet, and possibly a violin into the mix, with a steady, driving charge. This is always good for war. It might be a good idea to throw in a French Horn sounding a battle note just before you start anything.
I hope this mini guide helps!
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How exactly is luck a skill?
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