[Warcraft III][Necro] Custom Games - the Troll Campaign!

[Erstwhile]

I've been fiddling with the World Editor for a while and, while I am still learning some functions* I figger I'm about ready to tackle a custom campaign.**

* Including how to get a custom level to run like a mission rather than a multiplayer melee - y'know, the really arcane and complicated stuff...

** I am in no way ready to tackle creation of a custom campaign.

This is, in essence, Warcraft wanking. I will never complete even the first mission, but I have the storyline in my head so I am writing it out just for the hell of it; it's basically a story-writing exercise for me.

So, without further ado...Chapter 1 of the Troll Campaign!

CHAPTER ONE: TROLLWOOD

(WARNING: SPOILERS...this takes place after Frozen Throne)

The Horde having left the shores of Lordaeron, and with most of the Blood Elves fled with their Prince, the Trolls of Trollwood find themselves hard-pressed by the Undead.

Now, Troll Scouts have located an Undead outpost harvesting lumber.

Shial-Zin the Shadow Hunter rules that this outpost must be destroyed before the Undead move any further into the Trollwood. To this end, the Death Knight commanding the outpost must be slain.

TILESET/SETUP: Lordaeron Autumn. Mostly wooded, with paths and clearings. The Troll Village is in the North; the Undead are in the Southeast, with two bridges leading to the woods. The Undead are mostly passive, concentrating on harvesting lumber. However eventually small groups of Ghouls and Meat Wagons will attack the Troll encampment.

REQUIRED QUEST: Slay the Death Knight

OPTIONAL QUEST: There is an outpost of Blood Elves nearby, the remnants of the Trolls' rivals, the High Elves. They no doubt have weapons and magics that could prove useful. Receive on completion: Claws of Attack +6

NEW UNITS: Prole Troll (the Forest Troll figure, modded to be the new Peon, and still use the "P" hotkey)

OTHER UNITS AVAILABLE: Troll Headhunter, Troll Witch Doctor, Shadow Hunter Hero

NEW BUILDINGS: Troll Hut (Neutral Troll Hut, modded to act like a Farm that provides 10 food.)

BUILDINGS AVAILABLE: Great Hall, Barracks, Lumber Mill, Spirit Lodge

ENEMY UNITS AVAILABLE: Death Knight Hero, Ghouls, Meat Wagons, Crypt Fiends

More to come...

E.

[Erstwhile]

CHAPTER TWO - FLIGHT TO THE COAST

The Undead outpost is successfully destroyed, but now Undead reinforcements force the Trolls to flee deeper into Trollwood. Shial-Zin decides that the Trolls will follow their former Orcish comrades, and orders his Trolls to march to the coast. But this takes them through territory once held by the Elves...

This mission is set up much like the second Orc mission from RoC. The caravan itself is made up of Giant Spiders (modded to act like the Kodos in that mission) and Prole Trolls.

TILESET/SETTING: Again, wooded Lordaeron Autumn. Night Elf village in the north part of the map. The winding path starts in the east, then meanders west. Periodic attacks by the Blood Elves (much like the Centaurs in Orc 2) but the village itself is passive.

REQUIRED QUEST: Escort the Troll caravan to the coast. (Circle of Power.) Shial-Zin must survive. At least 2 (of 4) Spiders must survive.

OPTIONAL QUEST: Kill the Blood Elf Captain (Blood Mage). The Elves attack periodically and they must be driven off.

NEW UNITS: Giant Spider; Troll Elfhunter (Forest Troll Berserker; tougher ranged unit, modded to be intermediate between a HeadHunter and the melee units.)

E.

[Erstwhile]

CHAPTER THREE - BLOOD AND BONES

Attacked at the coast by Elves, the Trolls must flee south into the hills. But the Undead have pursued them and now the Trolls find themselves fighting both the Elves and the Undead...

The Elves and the Undead are, of course, also fighting each other. The Undead swiftly set up a base to the East of the map; the Blood Elves have an outpost to the North. In the Southwest, among the hills, the Trolls must quickly create defences. Scouts are desperately seeking a path through the mountains to the south; but the Trolls' enemies are near!

TILESET/SETTING: Lordaeron Autumn. Raised terrain to the south; deep water to the west.

REQUIRED QUEST: Hold off the Elves and Undead for 30 minutes, to allow the Scouts time to find a pass.

NEW UNITS: Giant Spider (modded now to be a medium melee unit, built at the Bestiary; has poisoned attack, can research Web); Troll Elfhunter (as before, now modded to be built at the Barracks; medium ranged unit)

NEW BUILDINGS: Bestiary

OPTIONAL QUEST: Among the Hills are bat caves, but it appears that Black Dragons are hunting the giant bats for sport. Slay the Dragons. Receive on Completion: the ability to build Batriders.

ENEMY UNITS: Dragon hawks, Footmen, Archers, Priests, Sorceresses, Spell Breakers; Ghouls, Crypt Fiends, Gargoyles, Necromancers, Meat Wagons

E.

[Erstwhile]

That's all I'm gonna post for now, but I'll no doubt restart this wankfest later on...You are warned! :)

E.

[Whollyrandom]

It's sounding pretty good to me, Big E (and heck, I know nothing about building WC3 campaigns but I'd be interested in helping).

You would need to make sure that there are some decent tank melee units for the trolls to hide behind, since the Headhunters are the weakest ranged units in the game and while Witch Doctors are very cool, they also can't take a lot of damage. That or build encounters such that the trolls are usually fighting smaller groups of reasonably tough units - that way they can win while losing only a few of their own troops and letting the rest regenerate.

[Erstwhile]

Good points, 'Random - I was looking at the modded "Elfhunter" and "Giant Spider" to toughen up the troll ranks. Mebbe they need to be introduced earlier.

In any event, Chapter Four will re-introduce the Orcs (holdovers from Thrall's Horde who fled into the mountains to escape both Humans and Undead), so Grunts and Raiders will be added to the mix. No Tauren, though, for obvious reasons, so I'll probably need to come up with an upper-tier melee unit.

Perhaps an option is to re-introduce the two-headed Ogres into the Horde as heavy melee units, like in Warcraft II. An Ogre Magi could be modded to be an Ogre Hero, so you'd have the Shadow Hunter, a Far Seer or Blademaster, and an Ogre Magi as the three Horde heroes?

E.

[Simulacrum]

that sounds like a great idea

[Proteus]

This does sound cool.

If you don't mind, I'm making some of this stuff to help develop my mad world editor skillz.

I'm nowhere near good enough to make a campaign yet, but I'm working on modding the units.

I've started with the Ogre Magus hero. I've based him loosely off the Farseer (it seemed to me to be a good stat progression).

As for abilities, I've given him

Chaos Blast - Essentially storm bolt with a different graphic. Launches a bolt of chaos which damages and stuns the opponent.

Bloodlust Aura - A slightly re-tooled Endurance Aura, made to be more attack-focussed than movement.

I'm at a loss as to what to make his last normal ability and his Ultimate. I designed an Ultimate called Ogre Legion which summons a few Ogre warriors, but it's very naff.

Any ideas?

-Proteus

[Erstwhile]

Originally posted by Proteus
This does sound cool.

If you don't mind, I'm making some of this stuff to help develop my mad world editor skillz.

I'm nowhere near good enough to make a campaign yet, but I'm working on modding the units.

I've started with the Ogre Magus hero. I've based him loosely off the Farseer (it seemed to me to be a good stat progression).

As for abilities, I've given him

Chaos Blast - Essentially storm bolt with a different graphic. Launches a bolt of chaos which damages and stuns the opponent.

Bloodlust Aura - A slightly re-tooled Endurance Aura, made to be more attack-focussed than movement.

I'm at a loss as to what to make his last normal ability and his Ultimate. I designed an Ultimate called Ogre Legion which summons a few Ogre warriors, but it's very naff.

Any ideas?

-Proteus

Hey, cool!

For the Ogre mage I was considering going off the Ogre Magi from Warcraft 2; their abilities were (and my thoughts on conversoin):

- Eye of Kilrogg (basically a fast, summoned scouting unit) - maybe mod the Beastmaster's Hawk?

- Bloodlust (as the Shaman ability, but an Aura works too)

- Runes (kinda like the Goblin Land Mines. I was considering trying to create a spell that would create an invisible Rune that would act like a land mine but that seems like an awful lot of work.)

Those were just preliminary thoughts, though. Other options if you want to go the Chaos route is the Rain of Fire (from the Pit Lord Neutral Hero), or for the "tough as nails" Hero type perhaps Resistant Skin (as the Mountain Giant), or Bash (Mountain King).

I like the Chaos Blast, and the Ogre Legion sounds like a good idea as the Ultimate; or maybe even a Summon Demon kind of thing, again to emphasize the Chaos ties.

For the Prole Troll, I was considering basically Peon stats but without the Burrow ability, and with the ability to attack air units (for what it's worth - at Peon-level damage the Proles aren't going to be doing any major damage), plus they'd be affected by the Regeneration upgrade.

Let me know how it works out! :)

E.

[Erstwhile]

CHAPTER FOUR - ALLIES REUNITED

Scouts return to report that the mountains are inaccessible, but they have located an encampment of the Trolls' erstwhile allies, the Orcs - a band that did not flee to Kalimdor with Thrall. Though cut off from both the Burning Legion and Thrall's new vision, these Orcs have held out against Humans, Elves and Undead for some time. But they are weakening.

The Trolls head into the hills to meet with Grul Runestorm, an Ogre Magus and leader of the encampment, and his lieutenant, Kaztrul, an Orcish Wolf Rider. Grul welcomes Shial-Zin's trolls into the encampment but warns that since the Humans were wiped out by the Scourge the Undead have become more and more aggressive - something has happened far to the North that seems to have re-invigorated the Undead. Grul warns that the Human town to the east has been "assimilated" into the Scourge.

The Orcs have only recently fought off an Undead assault but another one will come soon. Shial-zin says they will fight beside the Orcs and reunite the Horde.

TILESET/SETTING: Lordaeron Autumn, hilly terrain. Contiguous Orc and Troll bases in the southwest; Undead base (with human village doodads/buildings and Zombies (i.e. free but weak units) within and around) in the East. The Orc Base has some defences but they are damaged. The Orcs will operate independently, but the human player has access to the Trolls and to Grul and Kaztrul.

REQUIRED QUEST: Destroy the Undead base. The Orc base must survive.

OPTIONAL QUEST: Golems have been sighted in the hills. They seem to be guarding an old mine; there may be old Human equipment there that could be useful. Destroy the Golems. Receive on completion: 2 Siege Engines, Orb of Fire.

NEW UNITS: Ogre Mauler, Grunt, Raider, Peon (not usable by player); Kaztrul (unique; tough Raider); Troll Ballista (like Glaive Thrower, but can get Poison Cloud upgrade, not Piercing Bolt, built at Mill rather than Barracks); Ogre Mage Hero; Spider Brood Mother (heavy melee unit; poison attack, create broodlings).

NEW BUILDINGS: None.

ENEMY UNITS: Ghouls, Crypt Fiends, Gargoyles, Necromancers, Meat Wagons, Abominations, banshees, Zombies (zombies are not built, they are passive within the base).

[Proteus]

I've been working on it . . .

For the Ogre mage I was considering going off the Ogre Magi from Warcraft 2; their abilities were (and my thoughts on conversoin):

Yes, I can remember. I thought Bloodlust was a good idea, so I aura'd it to make a Hero ability. Eye of Kilrogg seems a little . . . naff and plus I'd have to figure out a graphic for it (a wisp might work . . .).

Runes is just no-go. I hesitate to say anything is 'impossible' on the world editor, but Runes is certainly far beyond my ability!

As for Ogre Legion, I can get it to look OK. How many Ogres and of what type (Warrior, Mauler, Lord) would you suggest? Also, I can't get the summoning bar on the unit to change to the actual name of the spell. Meaning that they say 'water elemental' at present so I think I'll rejig the spell and base it off Feral Spirit, since that sounds a little more reasonable!


For the Prole Troll, I was considering basically Peon stats but without the Burrow ability, and with the ability to attack air units (for what it's worth - at Peon-level damage the Proles aren't going to be doing any major damage), plus they'd be affected by the Regeneration upgrade.

I've modded a Prole Troll simply as a peon with the Forest Troll model. Making it attack air would likely be easy. Upgrades I haven't figured out yet.

The easiest way I could see to make the army is by having custom buildings. Hence I've created the Troll Great Hall, Troll Barracks, Troll Beastiary, etc with all the same models but now they train what I want them to. Plus the troll hut, which provides 10 food.

I modded a unit called 'Spider' to be trained from the beastiary. I made the Elfhunter using the Dark Troll model. They came out pretty powerful, so I made them tier 2 (ie: requires Troll Stronghold). The beastiary can also train troll batriders.

-Proteus

[Erstwhile]

Originally posted by Proteus

As for Ogre Legion, I can get it to look OK. How many Ogres and of what type (Warrior, Mauler, Lord) would you suggest?

Well, the Dreadlord can summon an Infernal, and Infernals are durned tough - what, 1800 h.p. and magic immunity? Maybe two Ogre Maulers (lvl 5, I think)? They're not that tough so maybe make 'em invulnerable (hell, Raise Dead units are now invulnerable, as are the Vengeance spirits raised by the Spirit of Vengeance, so it's not totally out of line). But they'd probably need to be modded so they don't blend in with the Ogres created from the Orc Barracks?

EDIT: Or just summon one Ogre Lord - the Lord has an Aura so he's a good unit to have in an army.

This is so cool. Glad you're on the job, Proteus - I suck at this kinda stuff.

E.

[Proteus]

Hmm.

Something about an Ogre summoning an ogre strikes me as boring. Especially when Ogre units can be trained from the barracks . . .

I've been looking at Creeps he could summon. Possibly an enhanced Sludge Monstrosity or even a Dragon. I could also call the ultimate 'Animate Earth' and have it summon a Granite Golem.

Ah, choices, choices.

-Proteus

[Erstwhile]

Originally posted by Proteus
Hmm.

Something about an Ogre summoning an ogre strikes me as boring. Especially when Ogre units can be trained from the barracks . . .

I've been looking at Creeps he could summon. Possibly an enhanced Sludge Monstrosity or even a Dragon. I could also call the ultimate 'Animate Earth' and have it summon a Granite Golem.

Ah, choices, choices.

-Proteus

A Granite Golem would be cool, and I think it would suit the theme of Orcs/Ogres as melee gawds too. A Dragon (probably a lvl 6 Drake?) would enhance their air/anti-air forces, especially since according to Reign of Chaos, the Orcs didn't have Wyverns until they reached Kalimdor. Of course with the Trolls being the stars of the show, it's not like the Horde is lacking for missile units.

The Sludge Monstrosity isn't a bad idea either. :) I'm no help at all, am I?

But for a Summoning Ultimate, I think I like the Granite Golem idea. Would have to see how that compares to an Infernal, though. (I think they're comparable hit points, plus the Infernal stuns surrounding units when it's summoned and it has Immolation, so again I think a golem's not out of line.)

E.

[Madcow81]

Hey that sounds like an awesome campaign if you want any help with
custom unit ideas i'll make some and send you the programming, with orc horde
idea that's alright but it's kinda repetitive, i mean you do the same thing in the prologue
but from the orcs point of view, you could try having the ogres as the team they join up
with or you could base it in draenor like the blood elf campaign and have the draenei as your allies cause they get the storm wyrms and some heavy duty melee units which the
trolls need.

[Erstwhile]

Wow - that's a necro and a half! :eek:

I'm afraid this project, like most of my bright ideas, lasted about a week and then I got distracted by something shiny. :)

[Madcow81]

Pity

WTF does necro and a half mean?

[Calculon]

This thread is five years old and should be in a different forum, essentially.

Currently, the "Video Games Open" forum is used for electronic games discussion, while "Other Games Open" is used for board games, miniatures games, card games and such.

Welcome, Madcow, and please note this site will take a *bit* of getting used to, but not too much!

[dandrake]

hi there guys...i'm new here.. i just registered to send a reply!
:p hey anyway if any of you guys wanna know how to edit maps,i can TYpe you the secret! just send me a post at dandrake47@gmail.com and i'll send you a link that will GIVe you the campaign maps of warcraft iii:ROC! and don't worry! i am a human and not a virus or a troll hunter!:D:o

[dandrake]

oh and yeah when you send a reply please send type if you want a megaupload link or rapidshare link or a mediafire link...ok? and also those campaigns you're talking about!....i can make it possible..wait ! even send you a file that i made!:cool::D;)