Ok, so I tried to make the map very interactive. Like, for example, say you pick up a powerful item that just happens to be laying on the map for any travelers to use. The item (you should know this beforehand, but if not it's not important) gives you the ability to attack certain units, and gives you a boost to attack damage. When you put the item in your inventory, that certain unit will spawn and begin attacking you. It ends up working in your favor, because you need the experience from fighting the monster for a later event.
Next event. Let's say, hypothetically speaking, you come across a graveyard. There is a ghost in the center of the graveyard of neutral, uh, persuasion. You decide to kill her, because you're ruthless like that, and all of a sudden 30 skeletons appear in random areas around you and begin attacking your party. It's manageable, sure. Just keeping you on your toes.
Oh, here's a good one. At one point you reach a Mercenary Shop. Typically in Warcraft 3 you are able to purchase mercenaries from the shop to fight for you. These are standard units that have the ability to heal, attack, buff, whatever. But not this time; there's a twist. When you click on the shop it triggers a message explaining what's going on, and you are able to choose one of the Mercenaries to fight against. It's a boss event, and you get to choose who you fight! But it's not easy. The bosses fight differently, and you have to learn to work together and use your abilities strategically. I'm telling you, these bosses are HARD!
Let's continue. Ok, so that Merc boss laid waste to your party the first time, but you were finally able to get it under control after reviving your heroes and discussing tactics. When the boss dies, he leaves behind a unique item. You can use the item to summon the Mercenary again, but this time he fights FOR you! You can control him (he is a mercenary after all) ! And, get this! You will need him for the next event, because THOSE bosses are just too difficult to beat without one of the mercenaries.
So what is this next event, you ask. The next event you will find yourself fighting, well, yourselves. When you chose your heroes at the beginning of the game, a script was triggered. The script, basically, creates a copy of those chosen heroes, and gives them powerful items and makes them much higher level than you are (even at the point when you encounter them). The script even goes so far to add unique custom-made abilities to the heroes to make them even more powerful. Yeah, it's pretty rough.
All of these events are tailored to the players. I wanted to create an immersive and interactive map that requires coordination from everyone. The gameplay is less about button smashing and more about strategy. The bosses are difficult, but not impossible. They are also unique. One boss might exploit one Hero's ability, while another boss is manipulated by the same ability. The heroes' abilities were deliberately chosen, and each event is triggered around those abilities. I also designed each Hero to have the same level of input by the player. No one hero will be doing more fighting or casting than another, they all fight/cast equally. I also changed some of the Hero's abilities. Like the Paladin, for example. Since he's the healer, he gets to keep Holy Light, but everything else has been changed. He can no longer attack, but he can Dispel and Banish. He also carries Brilliance Aura, increasing the parties mana regeneration. When those abilities are combined, he becomes an incredibly powerful Hero. Each heroes' abilities effect the integrity of the group, and the heroes' roles are defined more specifically.
I hope you enjoyed some of these little treats. There's a lot more to bad had in-game! I look forward to you, hopefully, playing the map in the future!
