StarCraft: Subjection

[TheEconomist]

Support for campaigns? Saves are already there. It was just removed. WTF?

[Eivind]

VoK - I've added an updated FAQ.


It's up on EU now.


If it doesn't work out, yeah. My plan is to get the gameplay to where I want it, and Arcade makes it really easy to update the map for everyone without you all having to redownload it and set it up in the correct directories. Anybody who has SC2 is pretty much forced to play online. But for those that don't I posted that giant machinima covering the entire story.


The story was meant to be barebones/simple. Here is my own little analysis of it (spoilers):

Hidden Content:

Telios is the character that changes the most over the course of the game. He changes his opinion on: vengeance, the an'aleem, how to use the zerg, etc. He has a soft spot for terrans, and this is what screwed him over in the end. If he didn't warn Logan about the incoming attack, then Logan wouldn't have come back, and Telios would have survived.

Meliak is a protoss of action. He's a sneaky bastard and likes to manipulate people, and so he pretty much drives the plot.

Things I could have done better:
1) Parker is probably the worst character in here. He isn't good for much besides being a generic ally that tags along with you. I poked fun at this in mission 5. :P
2) The bombs that Meliak set up kind of went nowhere story wise. He just sets them up and then uses them later. He should have used it as blackmail, or done something else with it that would really shaft the An'Aleem more than it did.
3) Too much of people interrupting your battle at the last second. Right before you destroy your foe, somebody else swoops in and ruins everything. Don't know if that's good or bad.
5) I should have put more thought into the matchups and tilesets. I didn't mean to have the whole campaign take place mainly on one planet, but somehow I wrote myself into a corner there.
6) Pretty much everything regarding the campaign itself. I don't recommend making campaigns if you're a perfectionist. I've been working on this for like 3 years on & off, and I could have taken 3 more, but it was high time to release this.

This is an interesting post. I like that you actually gave some thought to your story in a way not too dissimilar to what I did (I took the story of my campaigns very seriously). I was inspired by you and wrote a similar write-up on sc2mapster.

I also like that you admit your flaws. It's honest, but also revealing of how much can change when creating a campaign. You mention writing yourself into a corner by having the action being set on one planet, which is a feeling I recognize. Alhough I avoided that exact problem by allowing planets to have more than one type of climate, there were many times where I couldn't implement a certain idea because of restrictions I put on myself. One such example could be that I had to drop many cool mission mechanics because they didn't fit the story, which isn't necessarily a bad thing (because the story is king), but it shows how hard it is to marry gameplay and story sometimes. When I write the story around the gameplay, the story is often jeopardized, and vice versa.

I played through the entirety of Subjection, and it's a great undertaking. Can I expect another campaign? Trust me, it's easier the second time around. Now you've done it, and you know what mistakes you commit.

[Gradius]

The machinima just passed 50000 views: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_IEGhZdeFM

This is an interesting post. I like that you actually gave some thought to your story in a way not too dissimilar to what I did (I took the story of my campaigns very seriously). I was inspired by you and wrote a similar write-up on sc2mapster.

I also like that you admit your flaws. It's honest, but also revealing of how much can change when creating a campaign. You mention writing yourself into a corner by having the action being set on one planet, which is a feeling I recognize. Alhough I avoided that exact problem by allowing planets to have more than one type of climate, there were many times where I couldn't implement a certain idea because of restrictions I put on myself. One such example could be that I had to drop many cool mission mechanics because they didn't fit the story, which isn't necessarily a bad thing (because the story is king), but it shows how hard it is to marry gameplay and story sometimes. When I write the story around the gameplay, the story is often jeopardized, and vice versa.

I played through the entirety of Subjection, and it's a great undertaking. Can I expect another campaign? Trust me, it's easier the second time around. Now you've done it, and you know what mistakes you commit.

Thanks man. Yeah there's a fine line between being your own biggest critic and just getting the damn thing released. I went into more details about things I would have changed at another forum:

My biggest problems with Subjection:

1) Since Subjection was a learning experience, it was poorly planned out. I didn't intend for 6/8 missions to take place on one tileset.
2) Again, mission 1 was poorly planned. I originally made the map as a standalone, and then incorporated it into a campaign. Mission 1 is way too long and verbose. Way too many characters are introduced too fast. Cinematics in general are too long. Not good pacing for a campaign.
3) Subjection has a couple messages it conveys, but not any real symbolism or themes.
4) Protoss dialog was over the top. If you replay SC, most of the time Protoss just speak plainly, whereas I ransacked the thesaurus while making my dialog.
5) Logan and Parker's arcs were a tad superfluous. Really, Parker sort of disappears in the middle act only to rejoin forces with the heroes at the end again (which I poked fun at with his deja vu comment). He's too easily-gained of an ally.
6) Voice acting. I suck at it. Period. Need to hire professionals. Guess it's a symptom of having no budget though. :P
7) Every mission basically consists of the same concept of "we're about to wipe these guys out, but oh wait, before we can win something else swoops in and prevents us from doing so, further prolonging this conflict".

I could go on forever really. It's a miracle that I released the thing at all in the state it was in. Mostly I was just burned out and wanted to get it out there. Making maps in SC2 is time-consuming. But I'm happy with the reception.

I've got a new campaign in the planning stages, but this time I've got some people (Fanatic, Turalyon & VoK) to bounce ideas off of and co-write with. This time I'm putting much more effort into the planning stages, as well as the synergy between story/gameplay. It's unbelievable how much more the creative process gets streamlined when it's not just you by yourself. Likewise, if you're working on anything else, I'm always here for input.

(because the story is king)

Absolutely. In my opinion, this is the best attitude to have when crafting a campaign.

[Dexter]

I love you Avatar!