once a god - now seeking for a more exciting live as human.
Published on June 30, 2008 By TheBigOne In Demigod

Random Heroes, Random Maps, Random Teams, Random Rules, Random everything.

You may ask "why?" now, here is the totally random answer : it's fun , see below.

 

We need an incentive to use Random Heroes , be it just that the opponent doesnt know what hero you have (like in Starcraft/Warcraft with the Races) or that you get a small bonus like a bit extra money as in Dota or even just special awards for playing random (which supcom failed to have).

Whats so cool about Random Heroes?

Random Heroes make for a more flexible and dynamic gameplay on the one side on the other side, people using random will whine alot less over pretended imbalances as they have a more unbiased point of view (won't stop them to complain about the real ones though - they will become more apparent even that way). 

Now the Problem is that humans are lazy per definition and usually will stick to what they know and have mastered but humans are also opportunists who will happily take every small, even meaningless advantages/rewards. (ofc the higher the advantage the more humans will take the advantage over their lazyness).

Whats so cool about Random Maps ?

Random Maps can have 2 meanings:

1) Randomly generated Maps, like in all those Age of *someword* games. While not that suited for competitive game it increases the replayability alot and forces the players to adapt alot more. While I am totally sure that Demigod won't have a random map generator, given the nature of Demigod Maps being flat, not using tiles and probably not that complex at all (aside from the artistical stuff) it should be fairly easy to write a random map generator (like Warmaker for Warcraft II) and maybe even integrate it into the game itself as mod.

2) meaning that instead of picking a certain map in the game lobby you have some filters (size, type, maybe even a list) you can apply and the game is played on a randomly picked map which pass those filters. This will lead to a bigger variability in  custom games (even if only some use it) - Automatch will pick a random map anyways I guess.

 

Whats so cool about Random Teams?

I always liked the concept of the RT ladder in WC3 as you needed adapt alot how to play depending on your ally and got to play together with players you normally would play (because they are either too good or too bad). And if you lose you can always say it's been the fault of the ally - with an fixed Team this causes controversies, I tried it often enough.

I'd like to have a random team option in custom games as well, you could argue that the nature of custom games itself results in being teamed up with random guys, but that is only true if you play "public customs". Would be cool to play a custom with friends and mix the teams up randomly without much effort (and even in Publics there is a tendency people will try to get on the team with the best player - especially the host as he has all the power^^).

 

Whats so cool about Random Rules?

If Demigod features different game modes (like the dota game modes or things like capture the flag, King of the Olymp or Free for all) I would totally like to have a button which says "random game mode". Different game modes are fun and if you have a random button nobody can argue which mode to pick in the game lobby.

Whats so cool about Random Everything?

if I tell , you will randomly forget to breath and thats something I don't want to happen.

 

I have no clue if that is a proper blog article , never written one before.

TheAurelOne

 

 

 


Comments (Page 5)
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on Aug 18, 2008
Random everything? No way.
Adding some random is good.

Random Heroes - I can't see more then a very small number of people ever using it. If you gave strong enough incentives for using it then people would just drop out of games where they didn't get one of the heroes they wanted.

Totaly random maps are no good. They are not fair in Multi and getting a computer AI to play them well sucks. Having SOME randomness in the maps would rock. For example if you broke the standard small two player map down into a 3 X 3 grid and had 4 choices for each of the 9 map sections you would have a manageable number of map sections to create and test but a large enough varity to the map to keep the players on thier toes.

I like Chosen and Random team ladders. No need to only have one or the other.

I am not a fan of Random game modes. I want to decide if I am playing Free for all or King of the hill.

Sammual
on Aug 18, 2008
regarding my post

Host chooses map choice in a custom match for example. He wants a named map and chooses it but I on the other hand would rather choose random small map if I was to host.

Random Demigod would be and individual choice not a host decision. Instead of picking your demigod you choice the big question mark.

Random teams would also be a host decision in a custom match.

The ladder should be 1v1 random map.
on Aug 18, 2008
I really like the suggestions on how to handle leavers but more so I really agree with having different random aspects for the game.

When gaming I love a good gamble. Here's a couple completely NOT thought out ideas on random things.

1) A potion or some other item which when used grants a 90% chance to instantly give you a temporary buff like the runes in Dota. Haste, regen, double damage, etc. And a 10% to give you a debuff like a snare, or get stunned or something to that effect.

As I said this hasn't really been thought out but I would personally enjoy the game element change in a situation where you're being chased down by another demigod. You use your random potion and what happens? Do you get haste and make an easy get away, do you get regen or double damage and decide to turn around and confront your attacker? Or do you shoot yourself in the foot and stun yourself for 2 seconds giving them the chance to finish you off?

Same thing for the guy chasing. Your prey is about to get away, your only chance is if you roll the dice and get that haste buff to catch him. But what if you snare yourself for 5 seconds and you go from hunter to prey because they know they can kite you for a few hits and maybe change the outcome?



2) This one really isn't thought out! What if there were a demigod whose skill tree was generated randomly at the start of the match? Throw your regular builds out the window because now you really need to think on your feet!
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