TheHelper Mapping Projects
Hosted Projects and Completed Maps.

The Village

...It's bad enough that villagers have been going missing lately, pirates & sea-monsters roam the shipping lanes, and dragons terrorize the town from the nearby mountain. But now, two great opposing armies aim to use this peaceful community as their battleground! The townspeople have had enough and are prepared to defend their little village...

The best way I can summarize this map is as a "Melee / RPG Hybrid." The game starts as a basic 3v3 melee (for reasons of balance). However, as each team explores the town, the seas, Dragon Mountain, & the two ancient forests that flank the mountain, they'll encounter tough creeps (including boss characters), find unique, powerful, & even funny items, and they'll have opportunities to acquire many very special heroes, units, and even other races (such as Naga and "Dark Elves"). The idea is that the more active team will acquire the best items, units, and heroes and thereby gain the advantage.

I didn't mess too much with the underlying melee engine (other than that build times are cut in half, 105 food limit (any more would cause game lag), and each race's shop now has a Tiny Shipyard in it)... So the game starts and ends as a melee, but I messed with just about everything else in between.

There are tons of special items hidden throughout the map, including (but not limited to) the Aura Orb, Demonic Dog Whistle, the Scepter of Uber-Mastery, Pipe of Mushroom Smoking, Dr. Frankenstein's Journal, Dr. Frankenstein's Lab Blueprints, the Asmodeus Amulet, Dr. Jekyll's "Health Tonic," Jello-Shots (from the Tavern called The Wet Dog), Midas' Magical Mining Tool, and many more! There are also 3 types of battle armor: Infantry Armor, Officer's Armor, & Mage Armor (in order of good, better, best); plus many other defensive & offensive items (Tracey's Armory sells some of these, Bob's Guns sells others, & still others must be ripped from the cold dead hands of your enemies).

There are many new heroes in The Village. In addition to each race's basic 4 heroes, there are at least 16 others which could theoretically be acquired and added to your army (though I've never seen that many acquired by a single player during actual gameplay). Some of these heroes can simply be rescued from the magical pens where they are being held captive. Others must be trained from special buildings, summoned with special items, or mind-controlled using the Scepter of Uber-Mastery. Heroes to keep your eye out for include: the Summoner, the Elementalist, "Smiley" the Pit Demon, "Jolly" the Demon Assassin, the Pirate, a White Magus, a Black Magus, Jack The Ripper, the Town Drunk, plus many more!

In addition to your initial race, you can also acquire and build Naga (which are slightly different from what you might be used to), as well as Dark Elves. You acquire Naga by rescuing a Murgul Slave with one of your heroes. You acquire the Dark Elves by rescuing a Corrupted Tree of Eternity with one of your heroes . The Dark Elves are more difficult to get, but well worth the trouble. Some Dark Elf units include Basilisks, Gremlins, and Assassins; plus many more!

Even though the game is technically a melee (i.e. - you win by pummelling the other team into a bloody pulp), the key to having fun in this game, as well as winning, is to think like an RPG player... Go everywhere; try EVERYTHING ! The Village is very customized; so just because an item looks like a Rusty Mining Pick, it doesn't mean that's what it is; just because an ability looks like Barrage, it doesn't mean that's what it does; and just because a unit looks like an ordinary chicken, it doesn't mean it won't toast your hide into charcoal like your father's Memorial Day hamburgers!

The F9 menu has plenty of good info if you have the time to read it all. Also be sure to visit the town's tavern, "The Wet Dog." It's a good place to recruit new help and hear local rumors, as well as find a stout ale!

By Theurg on Apr-22-09

By Sirroelivan on Aug-26-06