Dec 7th, 2009:
PEAI Beta v1.1couple critical updates + some general bug squishing
PEAI v1.1
November 27th, 2009:
YEAH! It has arrived!
Download at Files page OR direct link: PEAI.zip
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couple critical updates + some general bug squishing PEAI v1.1
Download at Files page OR direct link: PEAI.zip  
What is Planar Erratus?Planar Erratus is a celebration of the classic rpg games of the not so distant past. Fantastic adventures such as Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Torment, Arcanum, and yes even the click fest that was Diablo. It is not a recreation of any one of these games, but rather a collective gathering of bits and pieces of these classics twisted into a dungeons and dragons fantasy theme.Reference:The world of Planar Erratus revolves around a small realm called Wyrmspear. It is here in Wyrmspear that a managerie of races call home. While things aren't always harmonious among the various groups, there exists equilibrium. And until recently all was just dandy in Wyrmspear. The sudden and mysterious arrival of a dark lord however now threatens the very existance of Wyrmspear. All tribes regardless of past histories now find themselves united in a joint campaign to defeat Lord Erratus.Turning a Sci-fi GUI into a fantasy theme can't be too easy?Very few Scraft mods stray from the sci-fi universe and the ones that do seem to still feel very much like Starcraft. A lot of energy was put into the small details that make up the PEAI universe. The changes are insignificant in themselves, but as a whole, they help convey a total new mood.Planar Erratus ButtonsOne of the first attempts to alter this sci-fi mood, was to allow for very colorful buttons. PEAI buttons still possess on/off characteristics (represented by a red background), but better convey a fantasy world than the default monotone yellow. PEAI buttons are also categorized. Green, yellow, and blue frames for instance represent buildings, units, and spells respectively. There are other combinations as well. Lord Aga Wireframes?Creating wireframes is no easy task and is extremely time consuming. Luckily, a clever modder by the name of Lord Agamemnon came up with a wireframe concept that is far less taxing than the traditional and painstaking process. LordAga wireframes fit perfectly with PEAI's colorful buttons and so his idea lives on here as well and finalizes the GUI. GUI looks great. What about gameplay?Planar Erratus is a middle ground of new graphics and some additional modding trickery. PEAI's main focus is stability and a FAST paced game. The mod doesn't stray too far from the norm in terms of the mechanics. There are minerals to mine and troops to build as with most RTS designs. The game is atypical in that more emphasis is placed on the micro management of smaller forces and the use of advanced magic to penetrate enemy lines, rather than huge recyclable armies and brute force. Large base building is also quelled by additional upkeep and supply costs.Not everything in PEAI is combat based. Several Doctrine combinations provide variety in the means of unique units, upgrades, tax evasion, sabatoge, and other strategic choices/spells that profoundly effect you, your enemies, and everyone in general. What about the AI?Until now I have not been able to demonstrate the benefits of reserving default spellcasters for the computer because I have only converted other modders works and have been somewhat limited to their tech tree and unit characteristics. With PEAI, every default spellcaster has been carefully managed and preserved for the cpu. The result is the most hardcoded-spell-intensive M.U.A.I ever built! With PEAI, you will be wrestling a computer opponent that has access to the complete Protoss, Terran and Zerg tech tree. Nukes, Stasis, DMatrix, Heal, Storm, Hallucination, Restoration, Maelstorm, MindControl, Plague, Spawn Broodlings, Lockdown, Scanner Sweep, Carriers w/ interceptors, Seige tanks, Reavers, Observers.. etc etc! All of this in one single computer opponent.Misc Game DetailsStarting with game creation, as seen in the picture below, you'll notice the absence of race selection drop down boxes. There's nothing to choose, nobody to wait on, and yet 3 races to choose from. Similar to "random", your race selection is hidden from the game creation menu and fellow competitors. Only once the game has launched, do you select your race. Just gogogogogo! Sounds interesting. So how do I choose my race?Upon game's launch, you will be greeted by the Dolgar's Great Vault. However, the vault and its buttons aren't accessible due to a large aura that clouds the monument. Clicking on this aura reveals that you must align with one of the 3 races as well as select 2 of 3 available doctrines. The race selection is straight forward, and the doctrines represent special skills and additional game options accessible from the Vault. The 3 race choices are: Elerans, Gorgons, and the Undead. The doctrines are represented as Salvations, Oracles, and Sacrifices. How many races are there?There are 3 playable races and one computer only race the Erratum led by Lord Erratus. Each race is composed of a unique melee fighter, ranged unit, mage, rogue, cleric, and 3 different planars. Erratum? The conatation leads me to believe this race will be of chaotic nature.The Erratum began with an idea called Zbath Heros for Clan[MM]'s Summer Modding Contest II. The mod would be based entirely on the Diablo universe and show off extensive use of the now perfected M.U.A.I. concept. This mod would feature a computer only demon race. However the talented modder IskatuMesk has since expanded on that theme with the spectacular light show that is AO and so PEAI changed courses. PEAI is now 3 playable races + a mirrored 4th computer race instead of one huge computer force. The Erratum however is still demonic, chaotitc, and of dark intent of course!My race and doctrine selections took no time at all. In fact a lot of things in PEAI don't require much time?Yes, PEAI is designed to be fast paced. Unit training and base construction times have been sped up considerably. Times are about half that of Starcraft's counterparts. Not all things come quick though. Schools of magic that allow advanced units increase in research time as you progress along the tech tree.There appears to be more than one supply type?You will be controlling 3 supply types with each game; Neutral, Military, and Planars. Neutral supply consists of all buildings and common units. Military supplies military units and Planar supply allows the use of special spells + the creation of planars. What is the total supply then?You are allowed 150 of each for a total of 450 supply. It must be noted that every building supplies full neutral supply. Supply "depots" are not used for the production of neutral units. At the same time, nearly every building in PEAI requires a caretaker and thus eats up a bit of supply. This is by design and puts a ceiling on how many buildings you can build. One must decide whether another barracks, more workers, or tower will be worth the supply costs.Occasionally my units display an icon above their heads when attacking? PEAI units employ random attack loops designed to represent the D&D combat system. Units have a random chance to land a critical strike represented by the combat icon or a critical miss represented by the doom icon. Critical strikes are typically a second weapon or some kind of improved attack resulting in considerably more damage dealt to target. The unit's animation will very often be very different as well. Critical misses on the other hand do no damage and typically last one attack cycle. Units suffering from a critical miss are stunned and suffer a small delay before resuming normal tasks. Critical misses occur less frequently than critical strikes.
My vampire died in battle, but nothing seemed to kill it?Vampires, Shadow Thieves, and Widowmakers are rogues and represent the gambling that is involved in the typical rpg. Rogues typically have an attack or some attribute that makes them extremely powerful. Vampires being extremely "scary" with their lockdown effect. Similar to Planars, such powerful units must not be allowed free reign and so all rogues suffering from a critical miss are penalized by immediate death. This may happen on the first attack or the 60th attack. The random chance a rogue will roll a critical miss is also considerably higher than the standard unit.How do player colors work for units like the Shapeshifter Bear or Diablo?There are a lot of creatures in PEAI that would look silly with player colors added to them. Plus a shit load of extra work which in the end would probably only do more damage than good. Diablo, Bears, Claw Vipers, Dolgars, Pixies, and Firkraag are good examples of units that will not have player color schemes integrated into the physical unit.Won't units without player colors be confusing tho? No, a special multipurpose "shadow disk" makes its debut in PEAI. The PEAI shadow disk is integrated directly into the .grp similar to an underlay of sorts and boldly displays the player's color. This disk also voids the need for a second shadow sprite which means more units available before the sprite limit maxes out. As with anything NEW, these disks will take some getting used to. Without them, the game will be utterly confusing.
What are planars?Planars are gods or heroes. They represent the final tier of the tech tree and are noticably larger in size than their standard counterparts. These titans do considerable damage, have larger hitpoints, and are everything you would expect from a superunit. Naturally their production is limited. Just how many planars am I limited to?The planar tech tree consists of 3 tiers and each race controls distinctly different planars. Tier1 planars typically are melee in nature and require 21 planar supply each. Remember, there is a 100 supply cap for each supply type, so 4 tier1 planars would max out planar supply. Tier2 planars are always fliers AND represent your only air force. At 28 supply each, this equates to a max of 3 tier2 planars at any given time. Tier3 planars are Super Planars! Super Planars cost a whopping 51 supply and you are thus mathematically restricted to a single tier3 planar. Planars rely on Familiars for their existence both in terms of mobility and support. Familiars can ferry 6 of any ground unit including the massive T3 Planar.And Neutrals?Neutrals are made up of Dolgar Bokis, Pixies, Familiars, and Wanderers. These units are common to all 3 playable races.What about Economy?I loved Ad Astra's currency cycle and have woven a similar concept into PEAI as well. All players receive a bonus of $1500 gold and 750 ferillium per 1:30 min cycle for the entirety of the game. Don't get too excited tho. This extra income is taxed based on the number of key structures you have created. Some structures are more cost effective than others and generally speaking military buildings are levied the most. A player with a large income can afford the taxing of more military buildings, while a weaker player will benefit from the added income. Basically a smaller empire will receive more bonus cash and can stockpile income but will be vulnerable to attack. Heavy fortification (Tesla Sentrys and Globes) will be the most taxing and will nullify your bonuses if too many are built. Additionally, various civics buildings can be built depending on the doctrine path you choose. Some doctrines will reduce your taxes as well as those of your allies. Other doctrines can actually penalize your foes. Civics also act as a market place and one can trade gold for ferillium or even give money to an ally in need.When will this be released?The mod has now been released and can be downloaded from the files page. New updates will be announced in the news section at the top of this page as well as in the forums here.Can I help?The mod is too complicated (*read highly disorganized) for any type of team and the graphics are now for the most part done. There is some plugin work that would allow for some nifty features, but this is only icing on the cake if it should happen. A small mini-campaign is in the works and this defiinitely would be one area where outside help would be most welcome.I am in dire need of someone who can help disassemble SCraft so that the starting races in the selection boxes are all terran rather than "random". BWAI Launcher, PEAI and AI scripters!Our resident SCraft developing guru, poiuy_qwert, has recently built a nifty program that allows users to easily inject scripts into various mods. What this means is you too can easily modify your own PEAI script AND share it with others.Can I host your mod on my website?You most certainly can link to these pages, but would prefer that you link directly to any file/s here on this site rather than upload a local one. This saves future troubles dealing with outdated versions for all of us. I won't be making a big hoopla over this mod even though it will be my biggest production. Ppl who know me, this site, and have enjoyed my past work will find this. While I will gladly respond to any posts on other forums, this will be official PEAI's website and I feel no need to make a thread/announcement anywhere else.To be continued |
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