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| Thread: GK's HotA Maps |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 3 4 · «PREV / NEXT» |
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bluebird
Tavern Dweller
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posted January 10, 2022 10:40 PM |
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Mortarial said:
Did you check starting towns? There is an AI boosting event in each of them.
Cheers, I see that now (new to mapmaking).
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gnollking
Supreme Hero
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posted January 10, 2022 10:41 PM |
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It's been actually some years since I've worked on the Doomsday map, and I was close to not even releasing it, feeling it's no longer up to date. So all the comments liking it makes me glad not to have scrapped it in the end. There's quite a few things about the map that I don't really like, but that's fine, I kinda like leaving it as it is to be able to compare newer maps with.
bluebird said:
It says in the description that the "AI is boosted", how did you do this? I had a quick peek in the Hota map editor and didn't see anything.
Yeah the boost seems to be just some gold and specific creatures for each town every month, which to me now looks very low. But I will not touch that map unless people want a more updated version. (Seems the map in it's current version was "finished" in 2018  )
bluebird said:
ps. looking forward to the release of the XL map and I have watched on github so I will hopefully get a notification.
Please don't mind the non-descriptive descriptions for my updates in github . Speaking of that, I have also been working on the EdObjts text file based on my needs while working on the XL map, and will release an updated version of it with its own readme describing most of the map-making principles and changes I've made on github when it is ready.
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Centurion
Hired Hero
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posted January 10, 2022 11:40 PM |
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gnollking said:
Please don't mind the non-descriptive descriptions for my updates in github . Speaking of that, I have also been working on the EdObjts text file based on my needs while working on the XL map, and will release an updated version of it with its own readme describing most of the map-making principles and changes I've made on github when it is ready.
Epic! Looking forward to the readme. Some of the stuff in your maps I haven't been able to replicate and they add a lot of scenery
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FdgK
Known Hero
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posted March 13, 2022 11:21 PM |
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Hi gnollking,
After downloading your maps at the end of last year, I finally got around to playing the first of them (Breaking Point). Congratulations for this all around beautiful and well put together map. It was an enjoyable experience playing it and I love your way of laying out and decorating the map.
I myself am not a competitive player but rather one who cherishes some laid back singleplayer campaigns or single scenarios, so the following was perfectly fine for me. I just want to add it as a little extra feedback for your: I got the ’Boots of Levitation‘ on week two which was a huge game changer as it let me pick up the ’Crown of the Supreme Magi‘ for free and it made my main hero much more agile. I don't know, maybe I was just lucky with the random resource piles and the windmill (gems in week one and week two) which made me have 30 gems at 1-2-6 but to avoid that maybe the cost of the artifacts can increase from purchase to purchase.
Anyway, I was happy with my game experience, so for me that is fine and a none issue.
Congratulations again and I am looking forward to trying out the other three maps — and hopefully also the new one on which you are working.
Cheers,
FdgK
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gnollking
Supreme Hero
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posted March 14, 2022 05:50 PM |
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FdgK said:
...
Thanks for the feedback, glad you enjoyed it!
Those gems are indeed quite lucky (if you played on the intended 200% difficulty), but that's a part of the game I really like! All resource piles in that map are hand-placed to make replaying the map and coming up with specific strategies a bit better, meaning you can only get random gems from the windmill and the few campfires on your island. The Crown was pretty free to pick up anyways, I have now updated the map to have it a little more "hidden"
In regards to the big map, sadly I have no updates to give. Been busy with a new job lately and other hassles, but the map has been on my mind, will try to get back to it soon-ish.
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FdgK
Known Hero
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posted March 14, 2022 06:46 PM |
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Yes, I indeed also got gems in at least one campfire if I remeber correctly but I have to say that I played on 160% so that I had got 4 extra gems. Anyway, even without those 4 gems I would have lacked only 2 for the last artifact which I could have easily traded for some other resources I had got at that point. But like you said, this little bit of luck and randomness in Heroes is part of the game and I like it that way.
All that being said (gems or no gems, artifact or no artifact), I enjoyed the map and that's what counts in the end.
Take care and good luck with your new job!
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FdgK
Known Hero
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posted July 19, 2022 08:32 PM |
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Hey gnollking, do you have any news about your XL map project? Can't wait to see and play it.
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gnollking
Supreme Hero
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posted July 21, 2022 11:11 PM |
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FdgK said:
Hey gnollking, do you have any news about your XL map project? Can't wait to see and play it.
Thank you so much for asking. The map is pretty damn close to being finished, I just need to find some motivation to finish the last parts and spend some hours on it. The major thing I want to do with the release of the map is to share the Map Editor text file guide I've been working on. When I find the time to get these two things finished I will also share my maps on Maps4Heroes.com. The most difficult part for me are the things that are yet left to create, like balancing monsters, resources, artifacts, etc. I might post a "pre-release" version of the map here for those who would like to play the map before the initial release and help with testing a little bit. Will see.
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FdgK
Known Hero
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posted July 23, 2022 12:01 PM |
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These are great news! Thank you so much for your work. I'm sure the result will be awesome with all the time and energy you spent on it. I'm going to keep an eye on this thread so that I don't miss the release. 
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gnollking
Supreme Hero
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posted August 01, 2022 04:47 PM |
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FdgK said:
These are great news! Thank you so much for your work. I'm sure the result will be awesome with all the time and energy you spent on it. I'm going to keep an eye on this thread so that I don't miss the release.
To tell you the truth, I rarely find the motivation to continue working on the map. Right now the last things to finish are writing quests and finishing designing the heroes of the map. My plan is to have 8 possible unique starting heroes per faction, and several heroes available in prisons, each with their good starting bonuses, completely new from the basic game. Which means I have to design about 90 heroes with their own biographies and everything. Each and every post in this thread is a massive boost for me to work on the map.
A thing I've been working on is playing maps made by other people and having the heroes from those maps being playable in this map. The map is shaping up to be a massive XL adventure with so many quests it's impossible to keep track of and having each and every hero be new and as viable as possible for replayability it's crazy.
I cannot overstate the importance of feedback here that has pushed me to work on my maps, I want to finish this map along with all the stuff I've promised. I am leaving for a 2-week holiday tomorrow, and I really want to publish my text-file guide for map-making during that time, but will see if I have the time to finish it.
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FdgK
Known Hero
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posted August 02, 2022 01:43 PM |
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Edited by FdgK at 13:44, 02 Aug 2022.
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Wow, what an endeavour. I can see why the workload is huge with that scope which makes your work all the more impressive.
I'll be waiting patiently and I'm happy that my interest in your map/maps helps you stay motivated.
In the meantime, enjoy your holiday!
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gnollking
Supreme Hero
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posted February 09, 2023 06:19 PM |
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I have continued finishing the XL map in the past few months, but a massive slowdown has been due to my insistence of creating a completely new "map editor" for HotA. There are many functions that would be amazing to have when working on maps, and the only way to implement those is to understand how the map files work and edit that data directly. My plan right now for the map is to finish what I have and release it as a closed beta version for testing, waiting for the new HotA update with all of its features that I want to take advantage of before a full release.
I know I've promised a lot when it comes to my stuff, but I really do want to finish what I've started, even if it's just for a few people to enjoy.
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FdgK
Known Hero
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posted February 09, 2023 11:36 PM |
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Edited by FdgK at 23:37, 09 Feb 2023.
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Hey gnollking,
That is great news. I am happy that you are still working on this project and I cannot wait to see what you have up your sleeve for us.
Thanks for your work!
Best,
FdgK
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ceceron
Tavern Dweller
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posted February 10, 2023 08:44 AM |
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Edited by ceceron at 08:45, 10 Feb 2023.
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Hi @gnollking! I just have looked at your repo and the maps look amazing. The [WIP]XL is already one of the most beautiful maps out there and does exactly suit the way I love to play HoMM3*. I'm writing to let you know your work is highly appreciated
* large FFA maps focused on exploration with strong enough AI players to keep me on my toes, e.g. BiskupKonrad's creations.
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gnollking
Supreme Hero
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posted February 10, 2023 11:09 AM |
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ceceron said:
Hi @gnollking! I just have looked at your repo and the maps look amazing. The [WIP]XL is already one of the most beautiful maps out there and does exactly suit the way I love to play HoMM3*. I'm writing to let you know your work is highly appreciated
Thanks! Yeah, that's the map that I've been talking about so much in here. I think the first commit where I just designed the ground is almost 7 years old now, and then years between any changes . I just have to finish adding the rest of the monsters, resources and artifacts, come up with some heroes to replace the remaining default ones, and redo some quests and I'll be quite happy with it.
ceceron said:
* large FFA maps focused on exploration with strong enough AI players to keep me on my toes, e.g. BiskupKonrad's creations.
I love maps like that as well, with many starting options for replayability and ideally a special victory condition that you can focus on when it gets boring to just chase down and defeat the remaining players. Also fun to race against friends or see how fast you can win with the other players/AIs in your way. So basically, I'm just making the map that I would personally find the most fun to play .
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gnollking
Supreme Hero
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posted June 10, 2023 04:13 PM |
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And Now for Something Completely Different
Skill Arena (S) - Download
Recently, a type of map I've been having lots of fun with are so-called "skilltest" maps. Fast PvP Arena maps that pit two completely random heroes, with random armies, artifacts and skills against each other. They provide some fun, unpredictable games, while coming up with (occasionally) very interesting fights. So, naturally, I wanted to create my own version .
Some major differences to other skilltest maps I've played:
- No dead heroes, skills, spells or artifacts.
- Each random starting option should be at least somewhat meaningful.
- Slightly more army, to nerf damaging spells just a little (they're still very strong).
- Some actual choices to make while preparing for the fight.
- An actually decorated map, just to be pretty .
As an Arena scenario, both players spend one turn collecting their artifacts, armies, and leveling up, and when they end their turns, the game automatically places them on a random arena and starts the fight. It's a majorly underused type of map from HotA, and I hope to see much more of these in the future. Try it out with a friend!
Example arenas.
Example final armies.
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FdgK
Known Hero
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posted January 08, 2024 01:40 AM |
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Hey gnollking,
How is your XL map project coming along now that HotA 1.7.0 with it's new features is here? I'm curious!
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gnollking
Supreme Hero
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posted January 08, 2024 03:23 AM |
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FdgK said:
Hey gnollking,
How is your XL map project coming along now that HotA 1.7.0 with it's new features is here? I'm curious!
Thanks for asking! The map was actually in testing phase for a while before the big HotA update, but I have to change quite a lot of stuff now that we got all the new fancy options to play around with. I finished updating my own map editor a couple days ago, so I could do mass edits to objects with simple scripts, so that's nice. Been working on the map pretty much non-stop for some days now, currently implementing all the new heroes we got into the map. After that I have to write a bunch of events still to explain the story. I don't want to promise any release date, there's still a lot of polishing I want to do .
Also remaking some areas with all the sick new objects:
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FdgK
Known Hero
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posted January 08, 2024 10:20 AM |
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It looks fantastic, that's for sure! High quality visuals as always in your maps. I'm happy that you are still working so diligently on the project and I'm looking forward to trying the map out once you are happy with it.
Good luck with the rest of the work and most important: Have a great start of the year!
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yogi
Promising
Famous Hero
of picnics
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posted January 08, 2024 10:49 PM |
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really impressive work gnollking!
im looking forward to your xl map too, keep up the good werk, and thank you
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yogi - class: monk | status: healthy
"Lol we are HC'ers.. The same tribe.. Guy!" ~Ghost
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