TheHelper Mapping Projects
Hosted Projects and Completed Maps.

Ice Kingdoms 6.3.0

Ice Kingdoms is based on Footmen vs Grunts by newbie-w3. Veterans of the FvG series know that it's a fairly simple game to play: research lots of soldiers, wait for them to spawn, and attack in force in an effort to destroy the enemy Heart. However, in my days of hosting various Footmen vs Grunts maps, I noticed several recurring issues that people had with it.

- If you join the game late, you rarely get the race you want, or at the very least, get a 50/50 chance at it.
- Imbalance between sides due to aforementioned conflict
- Multiple (literally dozens) of modified versions that look pretty much the same, but contain some homebrew attempt at adding new features
- Lack of advanced features (this one's probably just me)

These issues are what started the IK engine: people that enjoy an old classic but want something new; a more powerful map, and therefore a more enjoyable gaming experience.

Features:

When Ice Kingdoms and Footmen vs Grunts are compared side to side, they look very similar. Similar setup, similar objectives. However, most of what makes these two maps different is the underlying code that most players take for granted.

1: Optimized Triggers

Footmen vs Grunts 9.2 (Edited by PiSSy and CDRbaby) contains 527 individual triggers, of which 480 control the unit recruitment/spawning of units. 480 triggers - just to recruit and spawn 24 different units for 10 people. Now, same situation with Ice Kingdoms. Ice Kingdoms 6.3.0 has 244 triggers, roughly half those needed by FvG. Of that 244, only 92 control the same system of recruiting and spawning units. See the difference? 91% of FvG's triggers are used to control the same system that IK does with 38%.

2: Advanced Unit Control

Footmen vs Grunts veterans know that to win the game, you have to be two things: more powerful and more cunning than your enemy. But how easy is it to do either when your entire battle plan revolves around either mass-sending units in a do or die mission to hell or manually controlling squads of 12 soldiers at a time. Add a full house game with some lag and you have a pretty messy battle on your hands.

Ice Kingdoms is here to, once again, save the day. The first thing that got replaced is that annoying unit circle. Remember all those times you accidentally had a unit trip over that thing, forcing you to either continue your accidental attack, or spend precious time recalling your troops? Ice Kingdoms players take advantage of a 100% text-based unit command system with no less than 15 individual and unique commands that give you a far superior tactical advantage.

3: Updates

FvG has become a hit-and-miss system of what different version numbers are worth playing. Ice Kingdoms has a single developer, TechGeek001, who maintains and constantly updates the IK series. This means that if there is a problem with the map, you can complain directly to him, and expect to see results on every official release thereafter.

If you actually got to the bottom of this, you need to find yourself something to do - like going outside ;)