New NESes, ideas, development, etc

[Freemanuncg]

Did anyone ever play Heroes of Might and Magic? I Loved that game back in the day

 

[Starlife]

Did anyone ever play Heroes of Might and Magic? I Loved that game back in the day

Hell yeah. Another awesome one! Haven't played any of the new ones, though. MoM preceded it, IIRC...

 

[Freemanuncg]

yea the third one was the best one, the fourthone had this crappy system where the heroes could fight and the fifth one was pretty cool i heard but i never got a change to play it.

I loved building up Huge armies of different Dragons and raping any troops who challeneed me

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Also if you were interested in playing but didnt have time to read the books you could read the short stories they have a pretty cool view of the world from a shorter (less than 900 pages) view

 

[Birdjaguar]

Yeah Birdjaguar!

It was for PC. But I still play it because I got an application to play classic games. That and Masters of Orion. But I always liked Masters of Magic more. I loved the different spells and how you choose what class of magic you prefer and that alters your abilities/stats. MoO had good features, too, of course - but I don't know. Something about MoM I loved. Good times!

Is it available?

 

[Adrogans]

I think you can find it as freeware. Been awhile since I have looked.

 

[Starlife]

Is it available?

@Birdjaguar: do you have Mac or PC? I use a Mac, and I can find Freeware of old games all over the place. I could provide a link for you. But I'm sure it exists on PC somewhere, as well. Haven't checked though.

 

[Starlife]

So me being a total gamer and just wanting to make something, I came up with a pretty cool way to do fantasy/steampunk/whatever hex-based mapping using a freeware program and a set of cool brushes (been thinking about MoM and have been playing the freeware on my Mac). Here is the result, a blank hex map. You can't see the hex borders because there are no terrains placed on them. But each one is numbered, making navigation easy.

I wrote up some "rules" for a NES based on Master of Magic when I was bored on the train. Here is the result, though keep in mind it's totally a work in progress! I probably can't completely finish up these rules until summer or something, but thought I'd share what I had written so far:

Spoiler :

The Years of the Wizard have ended. In their pride, the Light-Killers took over the Great Realms, outcasting our kind. We are now scattered across the Nether Sphere, lonely in our own portals. But even though dimensions separate us, we are ready to reunite and take back the land of Ethereal with all of our might and magic. We are the masters of magic.

Welcome to the Nether Sphere. The Nether Sphere is a universe filled with wonders. It spans several dimensions, connected through magic portals. There was once a time when people could freely travel between the portals from dimension to dimension, unhindered. This was the golden age of the land of Ethereal, the land that binds all of the dimensions together. Yet some did not want it this way. Some wanted to seize the portals. In their greed, these Light-Killers launched a powerful campaign to take over and permanently guard the portals. They wanted to push magic out of Ethereal for good, forcing it through the portals and keeping it trapped in other dimensions. They banished the Wizards, a group of magic-users responsible for maintaining the mysteries of the universe. You will play as one of those Wizards.

After taking over Ethereal, the Light-Killers completely destroyed that world, disfiguring it, wiping it free of most pure, good life - but leaving plenty of monsters and other unsightly foes. There were no wizards around to stop them. The Light-Killers transcended good and evil. They were pure darkness and destruction. They used the energy from this destruction to leave Ethereal, finding a higher plane of existence, a feat of great magic that you do not know much about at this point.

What is a dimension?
A dimension is not an entire planet or world, but is rather the size of a large city. The borders of a dimension fade out into what is called The Nether, a substance similar to space, but without any substances within it and void of anything tangible. It is impossible to travel through the Nether itself, though in the past some Wizards have achieved the ability to both walk into the Nether and trap enemies in the Nether. As one of the Lost Wizards, you are lord of a single dimension. This is the dimension that you were banished to, and it has since become your own. You have citizens/subjects, and you rule over them. They view you as god. Each dimension also has a unique society. The Wizards were a group of magic-users, and within this group there is one wizard from every society/dimension within the Nether Sphere.

Then what is Ethereal?
Ethereal is, or was, the "main world". It is the crossroads of all dimensions. Its beauty and its hold over all beings in the Nether Sphere is greater than all of the dimensions combined. It is where, traditionally, societies from their respective dimensions permanently settled, only returning to their dimension during times of crisis. Without access to Ethereal, you have been stuck in your own dimension. Now the portals to each wizard's dimension have opened, and you have emerged from your portal finding that Ethereal is in ruin and no longer has the same geography.

I get the Nether, but what is the Nether Sphere?
The Nether Sphere is the universe. It includes Ethereal and all dimensions within the Nether.

Who are these Wizard people? I am one of them?
Yes, you are one of the Wizards. The Wizards, now called the Lost Wizards, are a group of magic-users who were banished from Ethereal by the Light-Killers. For each society, there is one wizard. Each Wizard essentially represents one of the Nether Sphere's societies. Wizards are incredibly powerful. You are god to your race.

Why were the Wizards banished?
Ah, the question of all questions. The Wizards were banished by a group of priests called the Light-Killers. The Light-Killers espoused a religious doctrine which proclaimed the coming of a purified Ethereal. Within this pure land, the Wizards could not exist. They had too much power and too much sway over all of the living creatures of Ethereal, and the Light-Killers saw them as a threat. Combining their own magics, the Light-Killers joined forces from all over Ethereal, channeling a long-lost Nether Magic and flinging the Magi into their respective home dimensions. After this, they arranged to have the portals blocked and guarded by powerful agents. Now those agents are gone or scattered, the Light-Killers have destroyed and disfigured Ethereal, and you are free to move through your portal between Ethereal and your dimension.

Who were the Light-Killers and why were they so powerful?
The source of the Light-Killers' power is unknown. What is known is that they were dark beings disguised as priests. When they took over Ethereal, they enslaved many citizens to build massive cities and demolish much of the natural world. Any rebellion within Ethereal was easily crushed. The motives of the Light-Killers was to completely destroy all life on Ethereal and disfigure the world. With the energy from this destruction, they could reach a higher plane of existence. Not much is known about how they achieved their goals or where they are now.

So is Ethereal lifeless now?
Not quite. You see, the Light-Killers attempted to destroy all life, and while they destroyed plenty, many creatures survived. Yet they are struggling because the world has changed so much now. Old creatures are adapting to the blighted terrain that has replaced their mountains, forests, and other realms. As you use your powerful geomancy, you will find that "normal" animals and creatures will return to the changed land. In addition, one sinister result of the Light-Killers' actions was that many new types of monsters and strange creatures began to roam Ethereal. These monsters, some more intelligent than others, will be an obstacle as you try to re-establish your society and kingdom within Ethereal.

What are the available races / societies in the Nether Sphere?
Ethereal and the Nether Sphere contain a variety of traditional fantasy races (Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, Humans, Goblins, Orcs, Halflings, Half-Elves, and Half-Orcs). It is societies that separate dimensions. Societies are made up of a single race, but there can be many different societies of the same race. Basically, the goal of this NES is to make your piece of Ethereal look as much like your dimension as possible. To do this, you will settle different lands within Ethereal, change the terrain, and make it so your society is comfortable in the main world of Ethereal so that your people can forever migrate from the confines of your small, limiting dimension. It is your responsibility to create your own unique fantastic society using the following profile. The name of your society should be _____ Elves. For example, the Highwood Elves would inhabit the terrain type Mountainous Deciduous Forests. There cannot be more than one similar race/terrain/alignment societal combinations (for example, if someone chooses Elves, Desert, Chaotic Evil, this exact combination cannot be picked by another player).

Name of Society (Example: Highwood Elves) / Player Name
Wizard: Name of your Wizard, who is the god/ruler of your society/kingdom.
Race: (choose one) Elf, Dwarf, Gnome, Human, Goblin, Orc, Halfling, Half-Elf, Half-Orc
Terrain: (choose one) Grasslands, Plains, Deserts, Swamps, Winterlands, Deciduous Forests, Coniferous Forests, Deadwoods, Mountains, Hills, Mountainous Deciduous Forests, Mountainous Coniferous Forests, Mountainous Deadwoods, AridMountains, Winterland Hills
Alignment: Lawful Good, Lawful Neutral, Lawful Evil, Neutral Good, Neutral, Neutral Evil, Chaotic Good, Chaotic Neutral, Chaotic Evil
Government: Describe your society's government and how this government will evolve in Ethereal.
Culture: Describe your society's unique culture compared to other societies and how this culture will evolve in Ethereal.
Dimension: Describe the dimension that your society hails from. What does it look like? This information should give an insight as to what your lands on Ethereal will look like, as well. What will your settlements look like?
Background/History: Tell us about your society. Give a history. What were they like before the Cataclysm? How have they fared in their own dimension?

You do not have to give us history of your race. All races are considered divine in Ethereal and all are equally respected by other races. What matters is your alignment and your society. An Elf and Orc society can get along just fine and form an alliance if they wish, just as two Human societies can go to war with one another.

There are terrain types with two-in-one (example: Mountainous Deciduous Forests). What does this mean?
Good question. It is true that there are dual terrain types. However, you can still only settle in your specific terrain type. So even if your terrain preference is Mountainous Deciduous Forests, you cannot settle in Mountains or Deciduous Forests. In addition, your troops fight their best in only your specific terrain choice. Then there is a cyclical chart below to indicate how well your troops will fight in other terrains. The further a terrain type is from your terrain type, the more difficult it will be to fight there (remember this list is cyclical, so Grasslands is connected to Swamps in this cycle):

Grasslands
Winterlands
Winterland Hills
Hills
Plains
Deserts
Arid Mountains
Mountains
Mountainous Deadwoods
Deadwoods
Coniferous Forests
Mountainous Coniferous Forests
Mountainous Deciduous Forests
Deciduous Forests
Swamps

What happens in a turn?
Within a turn you are able to perform a series of actions. Here are those actions:

+ Geomancing: (100 mana to change blighted land / 1,000 mana to change major terrain types) The most important activity throughout this game. This is the changing of terrain to suit your society. All terrain of Ethereal begins as a single-continent world surrounded by a great sea. The land is the blight, something that cannot be settled or built upon and is inhabited by monsters. Your Wizard can perform spells as a geomancer and effectively change the blighted terrain. It costs # mana points per transformed hex. The only way your society can develop and expand is by changing the blighted terrain. You may change terrain that has already been changed, though it costs more mana to change already transformed hexes. Rivers can run through any terrain type and are beneficial to all societies, but you cannot create rivers (they occur naturally as seas, mountains, and other terrains are created through geomancy around Ethereal). You cannot change terrain that has a city (or adjacent hexes around a city) or road constructed on top of it, unless you have captured that terrain. You can also not create seas or coastal regions - these will occur naturally and some will exist at the beginning of the game. You can only use geomancing on terrain connected somehow to your Wizard's Citadel (and subsequently connected to that terrain, and so on).

+ Build City: (1,000 mana) To propagate your society, you should build cities. Cities can only be built on your terrain type. Each player begins with one main citadel, which is their Wizard's tower. This is the location of your portal, and is also the location of your capital city. Cities grow naturally to the hexes around them over a period of time. However, you must geomance the terrain around your city hex so that those hexes will generate more mana. Citizens from your dimension will come through the dimensional portal located at your Wizard's Citadel to settle in the newly built cities. A new city can only be built for every 20 hexes of your terrain type (that have been geomanced by you). Cities must be at least two radius levels away from each other.

+ Construct Roads: (250 mana per hex) Roads connect your cities, speed movement of troops, and enhance your economy. Roads between your cities can be built on any terrain type, but there will be more benefits if you happen to construct roads on your terrain type.

+ Develop Resources: (500 mana per hex) This is agriculture or mining based on your society and its settlements. The Highwood Elves, for example, would not farm in the sense that Greengrass Humans would. They would harvest berries, hunt, or collect other goods. Meanwhile, mountain societies will most-likely mine. Resource hexes can only be created on your terrain type (obviously), and they can only be created to hexes adjacent to roads or the double city radius hexes (so farms cannot be made on the city hex or the hexes surrounding a city, but they can be made on the hexes surrounding the adjacent city hexes).

+ Train Troops: (250 mana per company/ship) Your army consists of troops well-adapted to fighting in your terrain type. These troops can be whatever description you wish to give to them. For example: The Highwood Elves have mostly archers and some short swordsmen. 1 company is roughly 250 soldiers. You can also construct ships of war and transport. 1 ship costs the same as 1 company. Ships are either in good condition or destroyed completely, whereas land companies have "hit points", which is basically how many soldiers out of 250 are still alive and fighting well (example: 125/250 is 50%). There are some spells that will enhance your companies, making them something like 300/250 for a single turn (for example). When troops are trained, they begin in a city of your choosing.

+ Go to War: You might need to attack another player or defend yourself against another player's attack.

What are mana points? Do I have an economy?
Mana points are points that you obtain from your terrain types. They are the building blocks of your economy. However, to generate mana, your terrain type hex must have a city or road on it (constructed by you). City hexes and their surrounding hexes all generate extra mana. Everything you can build must be built on your terrain type (geomanced by you or conquered from another player).

+ Terrain Type: Your terrain type will not generate mana unless it is adjacent to a city hex or has a road built on top of it.

+ Wizard's Citadel: All citadels will generate 1,000 mana per turn. Your citadel is not like a city, but all terrain adjacent to the citadel will be your terrain type and can never be changed or conquered.

+ City Hex: A city hex itself generates 100 mana per turn.

+ Adjacent City Hexes: All hexes around the city generate 25 mana per turn (250 mana). These are basically extensions of the city (hamlets, towns, agriculture, and so on). Note: Sea hexes (for coastal cities) are neutral hexes and will generate 25 mana for every player.

+ Rivers: Rivers occur naturally and are put on the map by referees. River hexes will generate an extra 10 mana if they are on your terrain type (even deserts, which are dried or low-depth rivers, and even winterlands, which are frozen rivers). To receive that extra mana, the river must also be within your kingdom's borders.

+ Resource Development: Farms/agricultural areas (mines for mountain players) can be created adjacent to roads or within the "double radius" of a city (not immediately surrounding the city or the city itself, but the hexes surrounding the adjacent city hexes). Each developed resource hex generates 50 mana.

+ Roads: A hex that has constructed a road will generate an extra 25 mana per turn. Roads can be constructed on adjacent city hexes, but not on city hexes themselves.

+ Connected Cities: City hexes connected by road to your Wizard's Citadel (including a city connected to a city connected to the citadel, for example) will generate an extra 200 mana per turn.

Hold on a second here. I am a Wizard, and all I can do is change terrain? What kind of Wizard is that?
Actually, the answer to that question is: no! You can cast all kinds of other spells. Your spellbook depends on what type of magic you wish to employ. The spell system in this game is largely, if not completely, based on Master of Magic, an awesome old computer game. The system works really well for turn-based play!

Arcane: A general school of magic.
Chaos: Warps subjects and spews forth destructive energies.
Death: Drains life forces and raises undead.
Life: Heals and protects.
Nature: Turns the weather against foes.
Sorcery: Bends air to its will and seeks to subvert other magics.

All Wizards are capable of learning spells for each of these magic types (you don't have to choose one or anything like that). However, you must research a spell before it can be put into your spell book, and rarer spells require other more common spells to have been researched beforehand (so it might be wise to pick a magic type and stick with it for a while). Researching spells costs mana over time, and using a spell from your spell book is a one-time mana cost. Some spells will shatter terrains, cause rebellion in other players' cities, create forest fires, and so on. Other spells will heal your companies or protect them. Others will damage enemy companies. And some spells can even summon creatures to serve as temporary units for your growing kingdom.

There are four classifications of spells depending on their value and mana cost: Common (500 mana to cast), Uncommon (1,000 mana to cast), Rare (2,000 mana to cast), and Very Rare (5,000 mana to cast). Then there are 6 categories of spells within each Magic Type: Summoning, City Enchantment, Unit Enchantment, Global Enchantment, Combat, and Special.

Blah blah... more to come on this, yeah!

Is this a "story NES"?
Yes and no. You can write stories if you want. I will award extra mana to interesting, well-written stories.

Turns
blah blah blah

Orders
blah blah blah

Then I made this (it is just an example):

Spoiler :

The mountainous deciduous forests are home to the Highwood Elves. Here is their economy in mana:
1,000 (Wizard's Citadel)
350 (City 1 + adjacent hexes)
200 (8 road hexes)
200 (4 developed resource hexes)
200 (City 1 connected to Wizard's Citadel)
= 1,950 mana

And then there are the Steepmountain Dwarves. Here is their economy in mana:
1,000 (Wizard's Citadel)
175 (City 1 + adjacent hexes)
50 (2 road hexes)
50 (1 developed resource hex)
= 1,275 mana

And finally, the weakest on this tiny example map, the Hollowtree Half-Elves.
1,000 (Wizard's Citadel)
= 1,000 mana

(just some examples, and this map is tiny compared to what I'd have in mind)

All with this freeware software called GIMP. It's really cool.

So what do people think about this general idea? Again, it's a work in progress. More of a "board-game" NES idea, I guess, but I am more going for a PerfNES type of thing but fantasy-oriented (so orders can be kinda detailed and in-character, as can diplomacy, and stories can be written and maybe give bonuses!). Remember it is just an idea, and I'm not looking to start this up anytime soon at all (I don't have that much time to referee 2 distinctly different games and play in another one!). So it's for the future.

As you can tell, I am often bored and have lots of free time, so write this idea. Also been playing way too much Masters of Magic recently. Whewww. that game is wonderful. I recommend it to anyone!

Hm, also, I might use this GIMP software to re-make the maps of colonies on Mars and Venus for Tales from the Ether!! It is excellent shareware.

EDIT: Or, instead of doing these pen-and-paper like hexmaps with this concept, we could just have a map with mostly fog of war, and like in Civ / MoM, you just start out with a single city (Wizard's Citadel) and you build other cities each turn (but no hex-tinkering or hexmap). And eventually you build up your fantasy society away from your dimension.

 

[Adrogans]

Uuhhh I don't know why but hexmaps generally are turnoffs for me.

 

[Kozmos]

It might have to do with Civ 5 being an Abomination.

 

[Starlife]

Oh I forgot. This is for Freemanuncg.

@Freemanuncg... I haven't read the series, but damn the maps are beautiful! here you go

 

[SKILORD]

Well, there goes my Civ 5 NES idea with a bunch of dumb city states and erratic NPC's....

 

[Starlife]

@Adrogans: Well, the official maps in the Space 1889 rulebook are hex-based for ease of movement calculations and such. For "world-building" type pen-and-papers, there's really no other way.

@Kozmos: Hexmaps were used far before Civ5 in fantasy/sci-fi pen-and-paper settings, but I haven't played Civ5 (nor will I). seems bad for civ for some reason?

 

[Starlife]

Well, there goes my Civ 5 NES idea with a bunch of dumb city states and erratic NPC's....

What's wrong with you people? Hex maps were around long before the lameness that is Civ5. At least read what I wrote... the hexes have a specific purpose in what I wrote.

 

[Adrogans]

Naw the hexes in games don't bother me its just in NESes, and yes Civ V is a pile of rancid fertilizer.

 

[Starlife]

Naw the hexes in games don't bother me its just in NESes, and yes Civ V is a pile of rancid fertilizer.

Yeah, from what I've read it just seems so terrible. It makes me sad.

Ah, I see. Well, I guess in NES they would be weird unless they had a specific purpose. Because it's not like we're all sitting around a table.

 

[SKILORD]

I posted that first!

-

I know that hexmaps have been around forever, and I never have liked them, and it is unrelated entirely to the latest and most disappointing installment of a franchise I have found myself, some might say 'fanatical' about. I just think that they put emphasis on the aspects of such games that I find least appealing.

 

[Freemanuncg]

I've never actually played a whole game of civ lawl

That is a pretty awesome map when I get to my pc I'll post one that'll blow your mind its hella detailed and it has each houses arms and colors

 

[Starlife]

I posted that first!

-

I know that hexmaps have been around forever, and I never have liked them, and it is unrelated entirely to the latest and most disappointing installment of a franchise I have found myself, some might say 'fanatical' about. I just think that they put emphasis on the aspects of such games that I find least appealing.

Gotcha. But it's a shame to generalize. There are some really great fantasy tabletops that use hex maps, and they don't necessarily cause focus on unappealing elements. Just gotta pick and choose, really.

But yeah, I don't see how they could easily be used for nES. Since we all aren't sitting around a table with little figurines. Ha!

Civ2 is still my favorite. But I liked 4 all right, I guess.

 

[Starlife]

Ah, but I guess my point was to have a Masters of Magic kind of game at some point in the future. Hex or not, it'd be pretty cool I think.

What I wrote above wouldn't change at all, really, if we took out hexes. I'd just have to change it from hexes to regions or something. And then we'd just use Paint or GIMP to edit the map over time (so it would be kind of like MoM, where you reveal fog of war and what not as you explore...)

 

[Haseri]

@all the hexhate - Well, there goes my idea for a Traveller-style game...

Starlife, this site may help with mapping (well, part 1 might), just get rid of the hex borders.