So I decided I would like to try my hand at modding. One thing that I thought could improve the game is creating more interesting characters that you could come across in the world. I have a couple problems with the current champions that are in the game:
1. Generic level ups - Every character can level in any direction they want and often there is a distinct better pick for each character archetype that you are working with.
2. They are mercenaries - There is no back story for whoever you come across in the world, it's just a race to pay the champ's recruiting fee.
In order to add some flair into worlds I want to create some champs that cause a little bit more of an attachment. To do this I am planning on a couple things:
-Each character created will have abilities, completely distinct to them that they can select on certain level ups(currently set up to be at 4, 7, and 10.)
-Each character will have both strengths and weaknesses to make them more unique.
-All are recruited in more immersive ways than walk up next to them and right click.
It is very important to note that this is the first mod I have ever created.
Currently, I have created 4 different champs and their recruiting quests. I won't ruin their (pretty basic) quest lines but they are:
Mouse - A diminutive archer who has situational abilities to aid her allies.
Brashear - A large man, dominated by rage. Hard hitting abilities that leave him quite vulnerable.
Rachel - A healer who uses her abilities by manipulating the power of crystals.
Boldin - A man who is focused on defense more than offense.
You can download what I've done so far here - https://dl.dropbox.com/u/33772936/Heroes.zip
Most recent version is compatible with the mod manager and Stormworld. Ignore the configuration.femm in the zip and just extract the folder to your mods directory if you arent using the mod manager.
I would appreciate any and all feedback. If this is something that people are interested in my goals are to create full quest lines for each character to further develop each character as well as adding new characters of course.
Current known issues:
-On the level ups at 4, 7, and 10 I would like to make their abilities the only choice. As of now they show up first because it an alphabetical listing and I named them with "Ability - xxx"
-I have no artistic abilities so all icons, characters, and images will only be from the game files.
-Hard to properly balance on theory alone. Will probably need to adjust numbers/skills based on user feedback.
Will be trying shortly
nice idea, I'll give it a try.
Looks great, I'll add it to my next game and see how it goes. I love quests that give champions as rewards so this is right up my street - particularly if they have unique abilities.
Nice to see a couple people interested. Anyone run into any of the quests yet?
I should be able to update later tonight when I get home from work with another quest/champ. I am considering trying to make these quests automatically get spawned for now so people can better test/provide feedback. Anyone know if the <triggerchance> works for quest locations and not just random event quests?
No idea I'm afraid.
Have started a game but not yet encountered them, crossing my fingers...
EDIT: Spotted a bug just as I posted - the traits Brashear and Mousy are available for designed units.
They're working! Karavox grabbed Mouse from right under my nose.
Awesome! Feels good to see my work in action. Thanks a ton for testing it out!
Allthough I have no idea how the a.i. is going to handle Mouse's abilities....(Actually they might not even pick the abilities on level up now that I think about it.)
I will fix the trait bug when I post the newest version(hopefully tonight.)
I'm letting Karavox level her up for a bit before fighting him, to see how it goes - but it's a small map and he insists on sending her around in a pack of four heroes so I'm not sure how much XP she's actually getting.
Great mod, really glad to see more interesting ways of acquiring heroes.
File has been updated in first post:
- Added Rachel - A healer who uses her abilities by manipulating the power of crystals.
- Fixed the traits being available for designed units
- Adjusted a.i. priority settings on certain abilities to mimic priority settings of other spells that fulfill similar roles.
- Changed a.i. priority settings to 6 on the level up abilities in the hopes that the game prioritizes them over the other abilities on level up(all others are set to 5.) Not sure if the game uses this at all for choosing level ups but I figure it can't hurt.
Sounds like a good mod I'll have to give it a whirl, I like that they will be unique and different, how many more hereos are you planning on adding?
Hey Fireonk, I really like the idea of having more nuanced heroes.
If you wish to make the mod compatible with Stormworld, you need a few extra stats for the heroes. They change nothing if the player doesn't use Stormworld, but if the player does it needs these extra stats to make them work right. They are used as flags for various abilities and effects (for example the Boots of a Forgotten Memory only impact female wearers negatively).
The stats vary depending on the unit.
For example, Rachel would have the following extra stats
<UnitStat_BG_IsChampion>1</UnitStat_BG_IsChampion> <UnitStat_BG_IsHumanoid>1</UnitStat_BG_IsHumanoid> <UnitStat_BG_IsRace_Amarians>1</UnitStat_BG_IsRace_Amarians> <UnitStat_BG_IsKingdom>1</UnitStat_BG_IsKingdom> <UnitStat_BG_IsFemale>1</UnitStat_BG_IsFemale>
All the champions have IsChampion=1.
IsHumanoid=1 most likely unless you create monster champions, in which case you remove IsHumanoid and replace it with IsMonster=1.
IsRace_*=1 is a custom unitstat for every racetype. It is IsRace_Amarians=1 for those with RaceType=Race_Type_Mancers. And IsRace_Amarians=1 for those with racetype Race_Type_Amarians. And so on.
IsKingdom=1 is for those who belong to a Kingdom race (determined by the original factions for each race). If it's an Empire champion, use IsEmpire=1 instead.
And last, IsFemale=1 for females and IsMale=1 for males. If they are "genderless" (neutered/sexual identity) leave both tags out.
HF, I guess you'll also have to add support for this in SW itself like you did for female henchmen?
There's no need to as long as they use standard UnitModelTypes. And there's no good reason to come up with new ones for custom champions.
good to know!
michaelms, no real plans on a certain number of heroes.
Heavenfall, next update will be Stormworld compatible. One question, since the heroes are obtained through quests either Kingdom or Empire can pick them up, will the iskingdom or isempire tag cause any issues if the other side picks them up through the quest?
It is intended to cause issues like that. If an empire can recruit kingdom champions, then the whole point is that they should be neutral/"not empire". What matters is that you give them the right allegiance from the start, ie the one their race is expected to have.
Right, but as far as I know you can't set a quest to kingdom or empire specific, so both sides will have access to the quests and the reward is the champion. If the champ is given as a reward I don't think it checks the kingdom/empire tag and puts them in the party automatically. For compatibility purposes I guess the question is would you prefer the tags for now(and presumably allow the champs to take advantage of your specific kingdom/empire traits, abilities, and items) or leave them as neutral.
Or I guess, if people are more interested in the champions themselves, I can try eliminating the quests completely and just make them recruitable in the normal fashion.
Give them the allegiance, since they belong to a race. It doesn't have to fit perfectly, and more importantly you shouldn't feel the need to think about it too much. I don't want this to become a hassle for modders.
I like the idea of quests introducing the champions.
Another way could be to give these champions an item to start a quest. If the player recruits it normally and feels they "want to learn more" they can use the item and go on the quest. Just a thought.
Haha, you beat me too it. I had already planned on playing around with giving each champ a book to spawn their next quest in the questline so people can choose to read it or ignore as they please.
Newest file up. Added compatibility for the mod manager and Stormworld.
Ok I'm working on the next hero and I am running into an issue. I am trying to cause the hero to take damage from his target and I have this:
<GameModifier> <ModType>Unit</ModType> <Attribute>CurHealth</Attribute> <ApplyToCaster>1</ApplyToCaster> <IsForFormattedDescription>1</IsForFormattedDescription> <Calculate InternalName="Calc" ValueOwner="TargetUnit"> <Expression><![CDATA[[UnitStat_CombinedPhysicalAttack] * -1]]></Expression> </Calculate> <Calculate InternalName="Value"> <Expression><![CDATA[[Calc]]]></Expression> </Calculate> <Calculate InternalName="ValueForFormattedDescription"> <Expression><![CDATA[[Calc]]]></Expression> </Calculate> </GameModifier>
Even though I have the value owner set to target unit it is taking the casters attack number. Also having the same problem if I try and use the targets level. Anyone able to see what I'm doing wrong here?
When you use ApplyToCaster you can't fetch stats from the true target. The TargetUnit effectively becomes the spellcaster for that modifier.
Bah, I was afraid of that. This next hero just doesn't want to work. Was playing around with a knockback ability also and no matter what i set the value as it only knocks the target back 1 tile.
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