Crowing Kings

[Skyler]

Crowning KingsSynopsis

The realm of Blackgard is at total war. Three kingdoms (Gundar, Zaki, Giza) fight for land, resources, and power, and a conclusion to the conflict is nowhere in sight.

You, a sellsword from a distant continent, fight for either gold or for your country. You can either accept contracts from one single kingdom of your choosing if you remain loyal to a particular noble, or accept them from any of the three to keep the war alive, along with the flow of coin to your purse.

However, darker forces appear to be at work as well, and shadows threaten to swallow Blackgard whole. Dark times are fast approaching, and the clouds of death linger above with absolute resolve. Watch your back.

Overview
The basic rules to this game start with a unique system; each skirmish will feature a mercenary from each of the three kingdoms. This means that battles would be 1vs1vs1. Depending on the type of battle the characters are taking part in, objectives and character loadouts will vary. There will be three Command Posts (CP), each representing their respective faction, on the field, and that is where every battle will begin. There are smaller Outposts (OP) located throughout the field that grant bonuses to troops and Hero Characters, as well as allow faster spawn times and the luxury of spawning closer to the objective. An entire Theater would take multiple battles throughout the entire realm, and depending on the players' skill, could be very quick or very long grueling conflicts. Each faction also bestows different bonuses to your character, further increasing replayability and catering your playstyle.

Each battle will also have a bunch of systems running in the background:
-A Traitor System: Someone in your group has been given a hefty sum of Crowne to stab you in the back and betray their country. One very powerful assassin will take the field as the battle draws to a close and it appears that you have won. To be killed by the Traitor would mean instant defeat.

-A Monster System: If you thought the only enemies you had were in the command posts across from you, you were wrong. Vile creatures are drawn to the scent of blood, with an unrelenting lust for its taste. Almost always in large numbers, these monsters will terrorize the battlefield until everyone is dead or they draw their last breaths.

-A Weather System: Rain will slow your movements, snow will decrease your will to carry on. Blazing heat will reduce your stamina faster, and storms can carry you away to your doom.

-The 4th Faction: Without revealing too much, an otherworldy faction may join the fray if the proper conditions are met. They may choose to help one or two factions, or destroy all three simultaneously.

Game ModesFor now, there are only a few game modes planned to be included in Crowning Kings

> The Sacred One: There is a wise sage located at the Monastery, praying to the Gods of Old. The Sacred One holds powers beyond belief, but has chosen a path of righteousness and decided against using them to kill others. You must bring the Sacred One to your CP before the other factions do. The faster you do so and the better you protect him, the better the bonuses will be upon completion.

> Assault: The objective here is simple; defeat the other two factions by any means necessary by infilitrating their CP and killing their Hero.

> Siege: There are two altars on the map that are vital to the war effort. The longer you hold them for your faction, the more bonuses you get. The first to summon the War God, Calus, by controlling the two points the longest would be victorious.

As of now, I am planning for this to be a multiplayer game, but am working on it as if it were only to be singleplayer. There are still many things that I'd like feedback on before I work on other things.

-Would you rather create a custom character (or several), or choose from a list of preset characters with their own backstory and set of skills/strengths/weaknesses?

-Would you like to have a customizable squad of officers with you? (Think Dynasty Warriors)

-Would you rather play this game as a top-down strategy game, or 3D real-time action game?

-Would a crafting system be interesting? Collecting resources on the field and making weapons/armor for that battle in your CP could change the tide of a battle.

Please leave as much constructive feedback as possible. Thank you!

 

[coyotecraft]

I've never played Dynasty Warriors. The only RTS games I've played are Command and Conquer, Majesty, Black and White.
The concept of control a single character seems odd to me. I'm used to manipulating many units. Managing money to build a base/kingdom while destroying someone elses.

I don't get what you mean by 'Theater' or spawn times. What kind of control do you have over a character. What's the strategy.

 

[Ellie]

Crafting systems take a lot of work to get right, if it's tailored to the game and each battle it could be good, as long as it's not an afterthought and is nerfed/buffed as needed. You don't want every battle to end up relying on what you've crafted as that makes a one-trick game.

 

[Skyler]

I've never played Dynasty Warriors. The only RTS games I've played are Command and Conquer, Majesty, Black and White.
The concept of control a single character seems odd to me. I'm used to manipulating many units. Managing money to build a base/kingdom while destroying someone elses.

I don't get what you mean by 'Theater' or spawn times. What kind of control do you have over a character. What's the strategy.

The idea behind this game is that you are much stronger than the regular joe. Your Hero Character starts off weaker than his potential, but a bit stronger than the grunts of the game. In Dynasty Warriors, you control one character and basically go around the battlefield and kick small-time enemies' ass with virtual ease, then you face officers that are much stronger, then you face captains and other named characters who are way stronger until you defeat the main boss of that stage, who's usually ridiculously powerful and surrounded by a bunch of dudes. Essentially it's a MOBA in the likes of League of Legends with a brawler/RPG feel to it and several nods to JRPG crafting systems. You'll start the battle off by killing weaker enemies to get stronger while collecting resources to make your character and also allied troops stronger. Though you will only control one character, you will have grunts of your own mindlessly attacking enemy command posts, and if you capture an Outpost, your reinforcements will head from said outpost to the enemy command post, which will mean they will arrive faster to assault the enemy and will usually have more health/survive the trip to actually deal damage. Spawning was just another word for reinforcements, I suppose.

"Theater" is just another word for battle area, combat zone, battlefield, etc.

Crafting systems take a lot of work to get right, if it's tailored to the game and each battle it could be good, as long as it's not an afterthought and is nerfed/buffed as needed. You don't want every battle to end up relying on what you've crafted as that makes a one-trick game.

Very true. Each of the maps will have different resources, and thusly different things that you can craft to give you certain bonuses. Still definitely in the planning stages. I want people to have the freedom to do as the please, whether they focus solely on crafting, combating enemy troops/Heroes, or exploring and finding treasures or items that bestow bonuses they couldn't get any other way.