User:Rhuvaen

I like trying new ideas with WML for multiplayer Wesnoth, and here's a collection of links to things I've made. Some of those could be made into something better with a lot more polish, but it takes a lot of time writing and testing the WML.

If you find any of these aren't working with today's version of Wesnoth and you would like to play them, then contact me about it.

MP Generator Pack (version 0.8 - today)

The random generator is a clumsy tool. I was dissatisfied with the unbalanced maps of clumped terrain that I got with the packaged generator scenarios, so I made these - WML files that break and mix the terrains a bit more. Made in the 0.8 days but still working today.

As a second idea, I used tournament-style maps often found in 2v2 and 1v1 play, made a "template" from those maps specifying which terrains should get randomised and applied that template over the generator. The result is tournament maps which have their terrain randomised somewhat.

It's all in the MP Generator Pack

Random Tiled Maps (version 0.9 - today)

These are maps using the PSEUDORANDOM WML function to apply pre-designed "Tiles" (i.e. map pieces) to a map, replacing many hexes at once. The result is still random, while the "tiles" are actually designed by hand. Sometime in version 0.9, the code was changed to use the [terrain_mask] functionality, which was a great aid here.

I only made one scenario to date as a proof-of-concept, but this is definitely an idea I need to come back to! I have already worked on a generalised tile-based map generator, and plan to use it to make a random dungeon scenario one day. Random Tiles Maps

Temples and Villages and Dominions

This was an attempt at altered victory conditions, specifically conquering a certain number of locations (villages and/or temples). A different gameplay from simply killing all enemy leaders. There were a number of other gimmicks, such as tunnels and temple experience awards (the latter were broken in later version of Wesnoth), but the integration of these game elements into the whole wasn't perfect.

Here you'll find Temples and Villages and Dominions. They are pretty similar to some of Hieronymus' Scenarios, which were developed around the same time.

Borderland Wars (version 1.0.2 - 1.2+)

Temples and Villages and Dominions were decent ideas. But why not base that gameplay on the more professional maps that come with the game (and not just rely on my own map-making skills)? Borderland Wars does just that - it takes standard MP maps and adds altered victory conditions and gameplay. A number of villages are converted into "towns" that need to be captured for victory. Leaders get reassigned after death (no kill-all-leaders victory condition).

You'll find this at Borderland Wars Revisited.

Multi-Player Campaigns (version 1.1.14ish - today)

Multiplayer Campaigns are currently broken (both in stable and dev versions). Check the forum for more information.

A much asked-for feature, yet something few people tried to do. The beginnings were hacky workarounds trying to recreate the single-player scenario-to-scenario features in multiplayer. Some experimentation around version 1.1.14ish revealed that the basics were actually there, it was possible to set up MP scenarios so that you start with a recall list from the last scenario. It was just still incredibly fiddly!

So I wrote a Multi-Player Campaigns HOWTO, which is probably better summarised in the wiki page on Multiplayer Campaigns. There are a lot of things that still need to be tested outside of simple proof-of-concepts, and yet so few people are working on MP Campaigns (who else is?).

The question is... what is a multiplayer campaign? There's so many more possibilities that in single player. Is it cooperative, or is it set-up player-vs-player? If it is cooperative, how can it be designed that the players don't just compete indirectly for villages, xp and so on? So that actually, those people work together and are presented with scenarios that challenge their skills at cooperation?

I'm still continuing work on...

Unnatural Winter (Multiplayer Campaign)(version 1.1.18 - 1.2+)

This started out to become a showcase multiplayer campaign - similar to the single-player campaigns in terms of story, where all the player cooperatively solve the missions. The scenarios are designed in a way that the players are tested in their skills to work together strategically - presenting them with a number of simultaneous objectives between which they need to split up their resources and attention.

The only problem was that development took so long. For over a year, only the first scenario was available, which didn't help testing or proving the MP campaigns concept! There were complicated parts in the WML that dealt with difficulty levels, for instance. Finally, in March 2007 Truper and jb ventured to join the team and with their help, a first development version of the second scenario was developed.

You'll find the campaign here: An Unnatural Winter

Dark Forecast (Multiplayer Random Survival)(version 1.3.3+)

A cooperative project with jb

This combines the popular idea of cooperative Survival games with replayability and unpredictability. I really liked the basic idea of Survival-type scenarios, but hated the deja-vu effect and the benefit a player had who remembered exactly which spawns appeared where and when.

In Dark Forecast, the waves are randomly determined groups that appear at regular intervals in random locations. Also, the weather changes at times which changes the map. The players need to be on their guard since they never fully know what to expect.

You'll find Dark Forecast here Dark Forecast - 2-p Co-Op survival (or on the campaign server)

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Trove of Unfinished Ideas...

- Map Generators: with the WML nowadays it would be possible to include a standard mp inside a [terrain_mask] on top of a randomly generated map, and with some smart rules create a Map Generator that always stays up-to-date with the latest changes of the standard mp maps (just like Borderland Wars does).

- Random Tiles Map Engine: I really want to make a generalised version of the tile laying WML. This could be so good when used in dungeon/rpg scenarios - or to create random but structured maps for things like MP Survival.

- Borderland Wars Generator: merge the Borderland Wars and Map Generator concepts into one (randomised map _and_ Borderland Wars gameplay). But I yet have to see that there's any interest in the Borderland Wars concept...

- Diplomatic/Epic game: this is an idea that I see some similarity to Becephalus' Westeros Map idea, just with more gameplay changes to favour the diplomatic / grand-strategic game. There would be four AI sides representing grand powers. The players could ally with these (and so, indirectly, with or against each other), and then be the active pawns of the struggle. There would be locations granting units to your recruit lists, and possibilities for changing alliances based on actions ('kill my enemy and you can become my friend').

- Dungeon Crawl RPG: something akin to Dwarvish Treasure, but players start out cooperatively, and can then become "traitors" that serve the forces of darkness...