Hey guys. Let me get you all inside information on something special in W3
There's a little inside group called RPers. They play games like SotdRP (Secrets of the Depths Role Play).
Before you point to games like Eclipse RPG, or something like that, allow me to point out something that you must understand.
There are
RPGs and
RPs, both crucially different. Rpgs give you a guy and tell you to go kill the world. RPs give you nothing but the tools to create a world.
RP Synopsis: you are given a blank map (usually with terrain) and the tools required to build that map into something great (whatever you want!). It doesn't require as much skill as making the map itself, and it allows you to make dynamic builds to "RP" with. More on RPing later. You can scale objects to hundreds of times their size, modify existing units (pimp my peon, only for everything), build armies, cities, countries. Then clash with your opponents.
"RP" ~ Role Playing Synopsis: As a player in an RP, there is no goal. You build and have fun. Much like Dwarf Fortress, there are no ways to win. But many fine demises waiting for you. In this open environment, the goal is to have fun. A cornerstone of RPing is actual role playing, in which you act out whatever character(s) you have. You interact with other players a lot.
Another way it is like dwarf fortress is that it is fairly difficult to get into. The host will probably boot any super-noobs. And if you start, rest assured you will be a super noob.
However, RPing is rewarding, fun, and if your good at it, it will stroke your pride. When people say your construction is orgasmically good, you feel like you've accomplished something. And if you like to RP, feel free to role play.
Why, you can even role play a group of seven dwarfs setting out into the wilderness to build a new colony. Its been done (and its fun, believe me...
fun)
Now, in my amazing kindness (read: desperateness to get more players in the RP community) I will make a super-duper-noober-guide for newcomers to the amazingness that is RP.
The Noob Guide:
First a few things you should know= Your first game will likely be short and uneventful, but it will be a large learning experience. Don't worry if you decide to experiment and you are promptly kicked. Typical host behavior. Luckily, if you play it right you may be able to skip that stage.
Your first game:
You've just joined up on SotdRP and the first thing you will probably hear is "CMD [Your name] or BOOT"
You would normally be confused, and all hope would be lost as you were promptly removed from the game. To prevent this, you must simply give a CMD, or command.
Some easy commands are=
'nc
@nc
spawn 01 footman
'fs
'fa 90
Just say these when asked for a command. The questioning will most likely end there. If you're really worried, say "going afk for a few"
Eventually the game will start. There may or may not be a theme. For now, know the theme at least.
You will see the map, usually tastefully done terrain, with a large blocky area in one of the corners.
First, go to your chat menu (towards the top) and switch your preference to "send to Observer", to catch any accidental commands.
The reason you must do this is because most of the game uses chat commands, and if everyone sends to all, everyone is flooded with commands. Likewise, if you talk in all and aren't the host (or the game isn't lagging), you are considered noobish and subject to boot.
IMPORTANT: To communicate, place a period before every message, in case you want others to hear you. eg= ".Hello World" This will make a message into the script for your message.
Second, observe the "spawner", that is, the floating spikey circle in the middle. This will be your best friend.
Select it, move it around (see that it moves wherever you ask it to instantaneously.
This unit is god. There is a god for every player, and the host's god is true god. Moving on.
After you have acquainted yourself with the spawner, move to the blocky corner of the map (just look to minimap). It will usually be top right. If you are on the map Yag Sinekas (an inside joke, but developer drama is really something that should be ignored), the area you are looking for is at the top right of the terrained area. Ignore the open space for now.
You will be met with a large number of buildings that use unit models. Simply click on one of them. Do not press any buttons in its screen yet.
This is a "spawn building". It has a list of units in its screen. If you click on one, that unit will spawn under your spawner under your command.
Just a note: people who spawn random stuff in random places are considered noobs unless you can explain what you're doing.
You can also spawn via the command "spawn[space][number 1-12][space][unitname]" The unitname has to be in its singular form. It has to be spelled correctly too. replace "spawn" with "mnstr" and the same units will spawn as hostile.
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You may wish to observe the rest of the game. Feel free to, and remember theres a command that allows you to see what commands other people make: "cmdlog". In case you want to see what other people do. You can also look at the quests.
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If you want a hands-on approach with no limits, you can exit the game and play it on your own.
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If you want the full risk approach, I will detail what you can do in your first game.
First, remember the theme. If its "no future", "Medieval fantasy" or "no theme", which covers most games, you should be fine building whatever. If its themed, see below.
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Building your first town
An easy approach to this game is to build something everyone can use. A town. First, you must choose a spot. Find an area that no one is using. ping it (alt click on the area your building). If no one contests, begin! (and move your spawner to that spot.
Now you must build a builder. In the area with the spawn buildings we talked about earlier, there should be a builder spawner. This is usually represented by large floating question marks. There will normally be four.
Browse through the builders. What kind of town are you building? Humans? Elves? Dwarfs? Choose a builder that builds the approprait building set (chances are it will be humans or elves).
Hit the button of the unit. It will spawn under your spawner. Use that builder to build buildings. Some houses is a good start. Maybe a smith, or tower, or keep.
You may wish to fiddle with the buildings. To do so, use ([Size (1-999)] 100 is default), (['fs] to make the building face your spawner (changes direction))([color (insert color)] will change the color of the building). Just remove the brackets.
Once you're done building, you have to populate. Go back to the spawn buildings and choose appropriate units to inhabit the town. Villagers do nicely. Scatter them so that they appear normal. Maybe set a few on patrol.
Congratulations. You've constructed your first town. By no means is it perfect, and there are likely a million ways it can be improved, but you have ascended from noobsauce to... better than noobsauce noob.
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Building a theme build.
Depending on the theme, this could be tricky. You really have to just build whatever it asks for, so I'm just going to make a blunt outline.
If it requires a hero (your main unit), Send your spawner to the blocky area with the spawn areas. There should be an open area next to a lot of item-selling areas. THere should also be a shittone of hero spawning buildings (a hero out of most units in the game.
Choose your hero, and click to spawn. You now have a hero. If your host has a level set up, you may want to raise the level of your hero [level (insert level, max set by host)]. Now you have a hero. Walk to the various shops. There will almost allways be a "realistic invintory rule" meaning that you may only get items that would be realistically carried. No stacking six swords. One weapon, depending on what your hero model actually carries. A set of armor (breastplate, greaves, gauntlets, boots, helmet) and you should be set.
Now you must add spells. Most custom heroes don't start with any. ['(spellname)] adds a spell. ['hero(spellname)] for spells found only on heroes. It should be noted that you can repeat ['hero(spellname)] over and over to get a higher level of that same spell. These commands work for normal units too. ['superblink] is fairly useful in transportation, but it isn't an RP spell.
Now you must give your hero a name. Use the command [setnameXY] X should be replaced with "-", "_", "+", "=", "[", "]", and others. This shows what key you are using to use this name. Y should be replaced with the desired name. It can be anything, short or long.
This command should be used for any entity that you want to communicate.
Then, to use the name, use the character you replaced X with, and then your message.
"setname-Urist"
"-Aye need some boose"
=
Urist I need some boose - in the messages on screen to everyone.
Now you have a hero.
Townbuilding goes generally in the same way as the above guide. Replace the town buildings with orc/murloc/etc tribe buildings and the people with normal guys and you got a tribe.
Truthfully, this game doesn't have a lot to teach, only a lot to learn. I suggest giving it a try. You learn a lot fast.