The Shards; Development Stage: On Hold

It's not easy creating an entire faction or era. Post your work and collaborate in this forum.

Moderator: Forum Moderators

Weeksy
Posts: 1017
Joined: January 29th, 2007, 1:05 am
Location: Oregon

Re: The Shards; Development Stage: Coding and Frankensteining

Post by Weeksy »

for some reason I was under the impression that this was a revival of Qes' shard faction. :oops:
If enough people bang their heads against a brick wall, The brick wall will fall down
User avatar
scienceguy8
Posts: 226
Joined: June 27th, 2007, 2:54 pm
Location: Middle of Nowhere, U.S.A.
Contact:

Re: The Shards; Development Stage: Coding and Frankensteining

Post by scienceguy8 »

More on appearance. I was hoping that I could try to draw portraits of all the units and have spriters make sprites based on those, but for now, there just isn't enough time.

Fighter, Male:
About 5.5-6 feet tall. No visible muscle. Brown boots, brown pants, white, long-sleeved shirt with rolled up cuffs underneath a blue sleeveless shirt. Brown belt, brass buckle, hanging from it on the right side is a sheath full of throwing knives. Quarterstaff approximately 6 feet in length. Hair is relatively short, straight, dark brown. Head covered by a brown slouch hat. Has mustache.

Fighter, Female:
Same as male, except hair is shoulder-length and tied back by a blue ribbon. No hat or mustache.

Creature, Male and Female:
About 5.2-6 feet tall, yet hunched over, making them appear shorter. Dark robes, shadow from the hood obscures the face. What little we see of the face and fingers should look malformed and painful. If the eyes are seen they should look sad/pained. Walking staff.

Pathfinder, Male and Female:
About 4-4.7 feet tall. More muscularly toned than the fighters. Black boots, brown pants. Blue sleeveless shirt. Brown belt and bandoleer secured with brass buckle. Machete sheath secured to the back via the bandoleer. Two or three throwing hatchets suspended from the belt on the right side. Hair style similar to that of the dwarves, yet the beard is a little shorter (no beard on female). Once again, dark brown hair. Wears bandanna on head.

Rocketeer, Male and Female:
About 4-4.7 feet tall. Very similar in appearance to the pathfinder except where noted. White long-sleeved shirt underneath blue sleeveless shirt. Front of the bandoleer holds a sheath for a dagger and a pouch for a flint. Three or four rockets strapped to back. No machete or throwing hatchets. Maybe a pair of goggles on the person, either covering eyes, on forehead, or hanging around neck.

Spellspinner, Male and Female:
About 5.2-6 feet tall. Not quite so sure about the dress on this one. Thinking about a dress similar to the fighter and pathfinder lines, with a brown cloak thrown over it. Hair is shoulder-length for both male and female variants. Pointed, elf-like ears as opposed to the rounded ears of the other units. Holding hammer in right hand. Hammer kind of looks like this:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... 3/Thor.jpg

All ideas subject to change. Also, do not make any portraits right now. I still can't get the code working and can't find the time to fix it. You wouldn't want to put all that effort into a project that may go nowhere, now would you?

[EDIT]: Wikipedia recently changed the dimensions of the photo that I originally had here using the [img] tag. Too big for these boards, so I changed it to a url link.
"You can't kill an unarmed, upside down man!"
Dr. Rodney McKay
Stargate Atlantis
Runner

Gilberti Industries
scienceguy8
Proud Member of the Marching Salukis
User avatar
scienceguy8
Posts: 226
Joined: June 27th, 2007, 2:54 pm
Location: Middle of Nowhere, U.S.A.
Contact:

Re: The Shards; Development Stage: Coding and Frankensteining

Post by scienceguy8 »

This project has recently taken a back seat to another Wesnoth project of mine: a basic unit file creator written in C/C++. I will return to the Shards once the program is working well enough to help me produce the unit .cfg files.
"You can't kill an unarmed, upside down man!"
Dr. Rodney McKay
Stargate Atlantis
Runner

Gilberti Industries
scienceguy8
Proud Member of the Marching Salukis
User avatar
scienceguy8
Posts: 226
Joined: June 27th, 2007, 2:54 pm
Location: Middle of Nowhere, U.S.A.
Contact:

Re: The Shards; Development Stage: On Hold

Post by scienceguy8 »

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Unit Descriptions

Chilling Spellweaver
Commander
Creature


The Bloodlines of the shards are for the most part compatible with each other. Still, there are those who are born into a life of pain and suffering due to incompatibilities of the Bloodlines. These so called “Creatures” are no less deserving of the rights and respect any other intelligent being is afforded, but are so horribly malformed that outsiders are sometimes at first confused upon seeing one of these healers at work. They have taken up the healing arts out of necessity and have studied since they could first speak. Needless to say they have a strong will and desire to keep anyone else from knowing their pains firsthand.

Dancer

Earning their name from their ability to dance about their enemies with such grace and agility, these soldiers have devoted themselves to the study of the Edge, an invisible force emanating from all living things, giving clues to their intentions. While practically all shards can make use of the Edge from birth, a result of the mixing of the Bloodlines, and all receive some basic training in its use, the Dancers look to perfect the art of Edge-Reading. This quest for perfection eventually results in a warrior who can strike fear in even the most battle-hardened of soldiers, including allies.

Unit Specials: Skirmisher

Demolisher

While the shards do have an immense respect for those who can create, they also recognize the need to remove the old to make way for the new. The name “Demolisher” is not really appropriate for these troops, as they are truly amongst the best of the Shard School of Engineering. In times of peace, these are the architects of castles, bridges, tunnels, irrigation canals, roads, and all manner of devices and structures that make civilized life possible, all built on time and under budget. In times of war, however, they are the most deadly of the rocketeers, having perfected the construction and use of the most powerful rockets. More importantly, they have added yet another weapon to their arsenal: a metal ball that explodes into a thousand tiny, sharp fragments.

Dwarvish Diplomat
Dwarvish Envoy
Elvish Diplomat
Elvish Envoy
Engineer


As their skills with the rocket and the strange knowledge that allows the shards to build complex and sturdy devices grow, the students of the Shard Republic School of Engineering begin to find new ways of increasing the effectiveness of their weapons. One of the first devices they build is a tube that can be used to contain and launch a rocket. When placed across the shoulder, a unit can direct the rocket in the direction he or she faces with ease. While their rockets have become even more powerful and accurate, preparing another rocket to be fired remains cumbersome.

Field Medic

The years of study and practice are beginning to pay off for these angels of the battlefield. By breaking and resetting their own limbs they have healed the crippling pain that has held them back, and with the careful application of knife and bandage now have faces that are bearable to look at. However, these units have still not reached their greatest potential. They still have much to learn and much of their own bodies to mend.

Fighter

Shards have a natural grace and agility that lends itself well to armed combat. With but a simple stout staff and a handful of throwing knives, often made by the unit in question, the fighters who make up the bulk of the Shard’s military arm can hold their own against supposedly better equipped, better trained, experienced units.

Firey Spellweaver
Flaming Spellcaster
Freezing Spellcaster
General
Hero
Human Diplomat
Human Envoy
Huntsman
Knell


Death comes for the wicked, leaving only the sound of a solemn bell in its wake. Thus is the way of the Knell Warriors, the masters of the Edge.

Unit Specials: Skirmisher, Nightstalk

Legend
Lieutenant
Lifesaver


Finally, free of their pains and no longer mistaken for terrifying beasts, these healers can keep up with the rest of the Shard’s military forces and keep them in fighting trim. The scars that adorn their bodies are the only reminder of their painful youth.

Orchish Diplomat

While such stories cannot be confirmed, it is said that some Shards have taken Orcs as spouses. While mating with the Orcs seems truly distasteful to most, it cannot be denied that there are some definite advantages to having even small amounts of Orchish blood in one’s lineage. The Orchish Diplomats have made a few alterations to their fighting style, focusing more on brute force with each strike.

Orchish Envoy
Pathfinder
Rocketeer


In times of peace, these are the students of the Shard Republic School of Engineering; students who train to build the machines and structures that make life possible for all members of the shard race. In times of strife, however, their lessons begin to focus more on practical application. Armed with devices known as rockets, wooden tubes that fly upon a tongue of flame and explode when they strike their target, these soldiers and their weapons are truly dangerous in ranged combat. Of very little comfort to attackers is the fact that preparing a rocket attack is time consuming.

Rune Crafter
Rune Forger
Spellspinner
Student of Diplomacy


With their bloodlines extending into the major races of Wesnoth and the surrounding lands, it should be no surprise that the Shards are often called in as moderators for disputes. The job of a diplomat is one looked upon by Shards as one of the most important, yet hardest to obtain. What makes the job of diplomat so difficult and respected is the fact that each diplomat trains him- or herself to totally immerse him- or herself in the culture and thought process of the species they shall cater to, adopting a style of dress and combat accepted within the culture being served. These students are just about ready to graduate from the Academy of Diplomacy and go forth to do the work they were trained to do.

(Note: this unit will remain unrecruitable in most situations and will only be seen during dialogue scenarios or will be given to the player as a hero unit.)

Tracker

Potential Unit Traits

Dwarvish Lineage

This unit has a very pronounced dwarvish Bloodline, increasing its health by three points and granting it the ability to recover 2 health points if it does not attack or is attacked. However, he or she also has one fewer movement point.

Elvish Lineage

Of all the Bloodlines that make up this unit, the elvish one is the most pronounced. This unit gains an extra hit point to its ranged attack, if applicable, but has 10% less resistance to arcane damage.

Human Lineage

This unit’s human Bloodline is the strongest of all, granting him or her the ability to adapt to almost anything. This unit needs 10% less experience in order to advance.

Orchish Lineage

This unit doesn’t just have extra hair. He or she also has a strong orchish Bloodline. The unit in question has two additional hit points added to its melee attack(s), but also has an additional 5% experience required to advance.

(Note: for purposes of storyline, the Orchish Lineage trait will only be used by one character in the scenario that will introduce the Shards. It will be available in future scenarios and multiplayer.)

Why?

Why post this all up here? Backup in the unlikely event I loose the work on my machine. Also, in the unlikely event I log off and never return, someone will have the basics if they feel so inclined to complete my work.
Attachments
Shards.doc.zip
Last updated March 1, 2009. Contains contents of this post and a unit map.
(10.26 KiB) Downloaded 175 times
"You can't kill an unarmed, upside down man!"
Dr. Rodney McKay
Stargate Atlantis
Runner

Gilberti Industries
scienceguy8
Proud Member of the Marching Salukis
Post Reply