Light and Shadow – Fortress Frenzy
(Castle Dash?, Quick Castles?, Other ideas welcome)
Last Friday in IRC we discussed a new possible game mode for Light and Shadow. This new game mode is highly influenced by the capability and potential of our minion AI. The game will be for two players or for the player vs. an enemy AI. This definitely has potential for more than two players, but for the time being, this is not under consideration.
The basic premise is this that the player will work to defeat his opponent (AI or player) by building and completing a castle for his King. This will be accomplished in three phases.
Personally, I think this idea should supplant the previous “Kill the King” game mode since it is a bit more unique and hopefully more interesting / challenging. This would still be a step toward the ultimate version of Light and Shadow.
Phase 1: Capture Territory (aka Painting the Roses Red).
In order to build the castle, the player must claim territory. Players may only build structures on territory they “own”.
To begin, the player picks a side, red or black. The player starts on a grayscale map. The player opponent or enemy AI opponent starts at a moderate distance away. Players start by “tagging” territory around them with a paintbrush. This will turn the terrain from grayscale to the color of the player’s team. Once a certain amount of terrain is obtained the player can begin to build on that territory.
Notes on Tagging:
· Tagging involves using the paint brush to “spray” an area of voxels with a particular color.
· A specified number of voxels will be required to build something.
· Each thing that is built will require its own unique amount of territory to build.
· Ideally, tagging territory will also cause flora/fauna to grow that is unique to that team’s color.
Notes on gameplay during this phase:
· Players may turn the opponent’s territory to his own, and vice versa – not just empty, unclaimed territory.
· Players may attack/kill each other. Death will result in a “time out” for the entity that dies. Respawn after X seconds. Respawn will be near, but not precisely on, the original spawn point.
· Players may attack/kill each other’s King. The King will respawn after X seconds near his original spawn point.
· Kings must remain in their own territory once territory is claimed and will NOT move to unclaimed or enemy territory. They cannot be commanded to attack, but will defend themselves if attacked.
Phase 2: Create Your Army (of workers and soldiers)
One enough territory is acquired players may then harvest material to build a Toy Box. The Toy Box is a minion spawner. Players may choose to build Knight Box or Pawn Box. Pawns can both build and defend themselves and can be commanded to attack. Knights cannot build and can actively seek out enemies or structures to destroy or guard areas.
Notes on Toy Boxes:
· Players must harvest X amount of wood and X amount of stone in order to build a Toy Box.
· Toy Boxes are specific to minion type – Knight or Pawn.
· An equal amount of resources are required to build both types – leaving the choice as a strategic one to the player, as to whether they should build worker types or fighter types first and in what quantity.
· The number of Toy Boxes created is up to the player.
- Once a structure is created, the land under it cannot be tagged by an opponent. The structure must first be destroyed.
-Toy boxes can be destroyed by opponents.
Notes on Pawns:
· Primary “builders” of the Castle and the only pieces that can build structures
· Slower movement than Knights
· Weaker attacks than Knights
· Will defend themselves if attacked
· Will not attack on their own, but can be directly commanded to attack
· Pawns cannot attack enemy structures
Notes on Knights:
· Faster movement than pawns
· Stronger attacks than pawns
· Will defend themselves if attacked
· Will attack on their own if allowed and can be commanded to attack
· Knights can attack enemy structures
Phase 3: Build the Castle
As long as the player has the required amount of territory and at least one pawn available to build, he can direct his pawn(s) to begin building the castle. The pawns will actively harvest nearby stone resources and use the blocks gathered to begin construction of a castle according to a pre-defined blueprint. Once the castle structure is completed, the King will enter the castle. The King must remain alive in the castle for X seconds and then the player wins.
Notes on gameplay during this phase:
· Players and Knights may always attack an opponent’s castle, brick by brick, slowing the building process of the enemy.
· Players and Knights may also attack Toy Boxes to slow the enemy.
· Players can create defensive structures, such as walls, to impede enemy AI.
· Pawns will always work as quickly as they can to build the castle. If a brick or bricks are damaged or destroyed, they will repair or replace the bricks in the order of creation according to the blueprint, meaning earlier destroyed bricks will have priority.
· A completed castle brick should be somewhat more durable than a standard Terasology brick, allowing the player more time to defend the castle.
Parts needed:
Character Models:
1. Red/Black Pawns
2. Red/Black Kings
3. Red/Black Knights
4. Red/Black Fool (Likely Player Character)
Animations for Pawns, Kings, Knights, Fools:
1. Take Hit
2. Swing weapon
3. Move
Additional Animations for Pawns, Fools:
1. Dig
2. Build (Hit with Hammer or Trowel)
3. Pick up/place? (Thinking of block stacking for the Castle)
Additional Animation for Fools:
1. Paint (This could be in the form of waiving the brush, using it like a mop, or "shooting" with it)
Minion AI:
1. Build a structure
2. Defend Self
3. Attack structure
4. Attack player or opponent
Player Tools:
1. A digging tool (trowel or shovel in the shape of a spade or reversed heart)
2. A paint brush tool (brush tip in the shape of a spade or diamond)
3. A building tool (hammer, in the shape of a club, or heart)
4. A killing tool (sword, an elongated spade or diamond)
Terrain / World:
1. Black/ Red checkerboard tiles for terrain
2. Black /Red flora
3. Black /Red fauna
Toy Boxes
(Alpha stage these are likely blocks)
