The Abyss

[agentx]

I've started this map in parallel with the bot a few alphas ago before even thinking about triggers, nomad mode and glowing textures. Now I have to rearrange priorities and decided to give up the map. My hope is someone takes care and finishes the quest.

The Story:

The map is about a lost civilization and a few survivors. Aeons ago on an island deeply hidden in a vast ocean the Chulthians uncovered the secret of unlimited resources. At some point in time the gods didn't like it any longer and a massive earthquake shattered and nearly destroyed the island. After the catastrophe the island was almost split in three separate parts by a deep abyss reaching the Earth's mantle, frequently spitting lava to decimate the Chulthians back to a minimum the gods deemed acceptable. The reminiscent now forever divided accused each other of blasphemy and never reached their former level of civilization again.

The gods tried to keep their failed experiment a secret, but on several occasions dauntless sailors slipped through their deadly net and eventually three ancient civilizations thriving in distant regions heard the rumors promising endless richness. Naturally each launched an expedition to exploit the resources despite the curse. They build their biggest ship equipped it with food and water, selected a dozen of their most daring fighters, a group of adventurous females and a healer. With the promise of never be forgotten on return the chosen ones started a months long journey through uncharted water and like if the gods still play their game they - unknowingly from each other - arrived at the same time at the forgotten Island...



The Island:

Two or three player can play the map. At start they may use the ship again and and settle somewhere else. There are three obvious places to land and three hidden ones. The players start with 1000 of each resources. There is enough place for a settlement and barracks and around 5000 wood/stone to gather, no metal. Some shipwrecks near the cliffs also provide some resources, whales and fish help too. The choice now is to either rush to the unlimited resources or attack the other players by ship or via land. The natives have about 10 units each and a powerful tower.



The Strategic Dilemma:

The challenge is the abyss as all player can shoot with ranged weapons at each other while gathering. However using healers and lots of cheap units the players should be able to amass a decent amount of resources to build an unbeatable army and finally conquer the other sides. The dilemma is to choose a good point in time, because the opponent may have the same idea at the same time and both leaving their home base more or less defenseless they effectively just rotate forces on the map.



The Look:

I planned the map to look like a beautiful mediterranean island with a touch of surrealism. The ocean is slightly tinted in red and there are a few strange artefacts. The idea was to theme the three parts towards a) female artefacts and old but usable fields and a farm with sheeps, b ) warriors with more easy stone, but also a forest with dangerous animals and c) gods with a healing temple ruin, but also a slowly shooting tower in the bay.



Download: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/354885/0ad/abyss/theabyss.zip

[wowgetoffyourcellphone]

This make me curious. Can game give lava terrain glow effect seen with other material like that one guy modding that sci-fi mod? Probably new material "terrain_lava" for lava terrain?

Edited March 15, 2015 by wowgetoffyourcellphone

[Stan`]

This make me curious. Can game give lava terrain glow effect seen with other material like that one guy modding that sci-fi mod? Probably new material "terrain_lava" for lava terrain?

We can