New web site

Hey all, seeing StarCraft Remastered is now out and more people are getting onto bnet, I'm thinking to revive the cat n mouse jungle community. I have created a new forum located here: catnmousejungle.forumotion.com. Head over there for the latest maps.

New Jungle - Build 160

I've just uploaded a new beta build of Classic Cat n Mouse Jungle. This build addresses some Mice exploit game play which affects primarily other Mice players. I've also added some mechanism to purposely delay the first unit purchase for Mice player (meaning you'll find the triggers running slower for the first purchase. Any subsequent, consecutive purchases will not be affected).

Download here.

Post on SCMapTest forum here.

Classic Cat n Mouse Jungle Unit Stat Spreadsheet

Originally I was only sharing it with t(u.ut), but figured you guys might be interested in the stats as well.

This spreadsheet contains all stats for buildings, units, upgrades, and technology researches.
Preview:


Download here.

Map Test Forum and new build!

I have set up a forum primarily for map test posts. The forum is at:

http://scmaptest.freeforums.org/viewforum.php?f=4

In there you'll find 2 sections: Bugs, and Suggestions. Feel free to sign up and start new topics/replies.

Also, a new build of Classic Cat n Mouse Jungle can be downloaded here (build 157).

updated: July 27, 2008

Classic Jungle reaches milestone 2

Milestone 1 of the new Jungle is done. The planned Milestones are listed below:

Milestone 1 = Replicate Random Jungle 2.2 with new triggers and new spells
Milestone 2 = Add in new features such as the ability to trade in units for secret/hero units

After these milestones, the map will enter Beta phase for testing and fine-tune balancing.

Download build 0113 (updated on June 26, 2008) here.

Known issues/bugs:
- Game may end with Defeat for Mice.
- Player may be dropped at game start. There has been report that players are being dropped at the beginning of the game. I'm trying to fix this but so far I don't see how my triggers would drop some (but not all) players.
- The "Unable to place unit" errors are intended and is required for the map to work, and will not be removed/fixed.

more Jungle?

Jungle has been around for quite sometime already. While more and more versions are made, the version that ppl plays the most is still 2.2. Cuz of this, I've decided to make an update to this version and branded it separately from the Random Cat n Mouse Jungle brand.

I'll call it "Classic Cat n Mouse Jungle". Everyone now expects it does randomly choosing Cat so I guess it's okay to drop the word "Random" in it.

This map will have roughly the same spells in 2.2 except a few updates + changes, but rather have a new underlying enginee that runs it. This map will run in full-hyper trigger (rather than conditional-hyper trigger I put in 2.2).

Planned changes/new features are:
- BS'ing buildings and other units now counts as BS'ing. If BS'ing too much, the game will brand a player as BS'er even the player didn't kill a Mouse.
- BS'ing now no longer gives Cat a DT
- BS punishment is different as follows:
- kill 1 probe within first minute => forcefully put into Observer Mode
- kill 1 probe after first minute => lose its own Chooser (DT) and able to get banned by 1 DT rather than 2.
- kill 2 probes => forcefully put into Observer Mode
- More accurate Anti-FEED on judging whether Cat is sitting or moving
- Yellow can also be Mouse (so having a full house with a randomized Cat) or Cat (Yellow get to choose at game start).
- Sunken's damage increases significantly
- More Sunken spawn places in case of spawn places being blocked
- More in-game prompts such as when a player dies, when SCV dies.
- Replace "Lock Mice" spell with a more lethal spell called "Haunt Mice" (similar to 5.1).
- Replace "Death God" unit with "Rigged Ball" (a Dark Archon with free Mind Control) (similar to 5.1).
- Reduce cost for "Monkey Vessel" (similar to 5.1).
- Reduce cost for "Infested Terrans"
- A more accurate Restore Minerals spell for Mice (similar to 5.1).
- New spell for Mice - Second Probe (similar to 5.1).
- Ability for Mice to transfer money to any desired player (similar to 5.1).
- Brown's Mouse Holes now move back to position if moved (similar to 5.1).

Jungle 5.1 Finalized

At last, Jungle 5.1 has been finalized. Download here.

Jungle 5.1 Release Candidate

Jungle 5.1 is nearly finalized. It has entered the Release Candidate stage. I'm also beginning to post the specs of spells at the right-side panel of the homepage. So far I have a few of them up and running. I will write up some more during this week.

You can download the release candidate build here.


Current build is 5.0.5099d-lab6-2008-0523-2315
updated: May 23, 2008 11:15pm

Below is the build history of Release Candidates:



Version 5.1 Release Candidate 3 build 5099d.lab6 - May 23, 2008
- (bug) fixed a bug that if Cat got Mind Controlled, the game should end.
- (bug) fixed a bug that an incorrect unit spawned in Zealot Buying Place, which trigger an endless unit recreation.



Version 5.1 Release Candidate 2 build 5099c.lab6 - May 20, 2008
- (bug) fixed bugs that Observer Modes for P2 - P7 don't move DTs away from Beacon
- (feature) added codes to show instructions on choosing game mode
- (feature) modified codes for Cat's Refund DT so it gives $400 first, then gives Cat $30 per second (needs 20 seconds to fully refund a DT)



Version 5.1 Release Candidate 1 build 5099b.lab6 - May 20, 2008
- (feature) added codes to remove unspent Creep Infestation after 30 seconds
- (balance) increased manual feeds for Cat which negate the change in build 5099
- (balance) reduced DT requirement for Cat's Monkey Vessel from 2DTs to 1DT with another existing DT in posession
- (balance) increased DT requirement for Cat's Refund DT from 1DT to 1DT with another existing DT in posession
- (balance) reduced Stupid Rodney (Scourge)'s HP in order for Devourer to be able to 1-hit-kill Scourge, HP from 25 to 12.



Version 5.1 Release Candidate 5099 - May 16, 2008
- (bug) fixed Mice Buy Stupid Jeremy sound back to Templar
- (balance) reduced manual feeds for Cat on Civilians, Lings, Zealots, Cannons
- (balance) reduced Cat's feeds from Razing, increased razing score requirement from 500 to 600.
- (bug) modified codes to change ownership from Player 6 to Current Player for Creep Infestation to fix problem with creep not extending when placed.

Ideas and Suggestions are always nice

Just finished a game in the new beta. There was a noob that not only couldn't get his own base, but he built his nexus way far and mine with 1 probe. On top of that, all he was getting are Dark Archon, and chase the cat to Maelstorm regardless what the cat was doing. The cat got annoyed and said "I wish I could ban Dark Archon in the game!!!", and then I thought, this would be a nice idea...~

Yup, so I've decided to try that and replace Ghost with it. Not too sure how it'll turn out but oh well, let's just try.

I wanted to credit that cat for this but forgot his screen name. So yah, suggestions or ideas are always good.

Jungle 5.1 is in BETA!

The alpha stage of the map is officially ended!!! You can download the beta map here

------------
Jungle 5.1
------------
! Default mode changed to Hard Mode
! Implemented better AntiFEED based on cat's movements near the safe
! Removed "Freeze Mouse" spell, as it's buggy and hard to use (ie: timing)
! Removed "SCV Board", "Money Board" spells, they're really something extra to be there... I'm thinking something more offensive~
! Removed "Mice Poison" spell, not so powerful compare to spells we have now...
! Removed refunds for Cat's spells
(not done) Implement better AntiBS trigger so that BS'ing Mice would not give Cat DTs
! Implemented a switch for Cat to control visioning to prevent cheesy tactics involving lifted buildings covering ground buildings.
! New spell for Cat: temporary invincibility for Cat and Kitties for 1 dt for 10 seconds.
! New spell for Cat: Haunt Mice (a combined spell of Lock Mice and Mice Poison), which kills the targetted Mice's buildings one by one, then units one by one, until the probe is killed. The targetted Mice woud have a bird following the probe. The haunting would stop if the bird is killed. This spell cost 6 DTs.
! New spell for Cat: MindControl surroundings. What it does is to take control of anything that's immediately next or above Cat (including lifted buildings). This spell cost 1 DT. All mind controlled units would be killed after 6 seconds.
! Replaced Templar with Infested Kerrigan. This unit will feature Storm and Ensnare!!
! Special unit for Mice - a second Probe for Mice for an initial price of $400, with an increase factor of $65.
! Reduced SCV's attack from 20 damage to 18.
! New spell for Mice: to blind (turn off light) for Cat for 2 seconds for $50 with no increment on price. I'm not sure whether this spell would really help Mice to run away. This also does not affect Cats with map hacks so...

So what's left are here:
- Redo the whole map from scratch as the map base are barely function (ie: Probe/SCV run to bottom middle weirdly. They take detour and go left even I told them to go right).
- Beta stage testing and balancing.

current build: 5090
final build number: 5100 (ack isn't this obvious?)

revised: April 15, 2008

Visions

I always wanted to express the differences between major versions (v1, v2, v3, v4, v5).

Version 1.x were nothing other than adding the ability to randomly choose cat, to ban people with 2 DTs, Anti-BS (even though it was broken), and a few changes in attempt to balance the game. Back then there weren't many cheesy tactics so the gameplay was vastly the same. The DarkArchons and Bunkers were way over-used, thus leading to v2.

Version 2.x focuses on controlling the number of units allowed in the map at a time, in order for people not to overly use certain units/spells. However, limiting is simply go beyond control, and for an one-sided game (in mice favor), it wont hurt to allow mice to mess with cat a little since cat clearly loses the game. People were asking, "Why limiting the fun?", so it leads to v3.

Version 3.x has its control set on the income (or the amount of $$ mice has) based on the units/buildings the player owns at any given time (aka Tax or Upkeep). This system doesn't forcefully limit Mice to massively get certain units, but rather, own them with a price. This version is the least welcomed version due to the active deduction of $$.

Version 4.x introduces the level/age system, along with the tax system. Also to losen the drawback of the tax. Version 4.3 also introduces the Hard and Easy mode, to let people play with the new spells and features without the new level/tax system.

Version 5.x replaced level/tax system with a tax-upon-purchase system. This system is much easier and transparent. When building/buying things, a score system will keep track of a total so upon reaching certain "limits", a surcharge will apply after building/buying new things. This system places less burden on Mice, while being inevitable for Mice to have some $$ deducted throughout the game.

I haven't planned the focus for Version 6. But one thing is certain that, I'll be putting some transitional but yet revolutional changes in versions like 5.1 or 5.2, so stay tuned. I also want to hear more voices from the general public to make this game even better.

Legacy.... Jungle 2.3?

I was doing Jungle 5.1 and wanted to look back what I did for the older versions, and check what I found when I check the Version 2 log...



Now how come I don't see any version 2.3 around? After checking my files I found that, I never publish that version before I move on.... =.=" Oh well!

Plans for minor revisions to both Jungle and Winter

Alright, Jungle 5.0 is out of door, now what?

A list of things to add to both Jungle and Winter and here's the list:
------------
Jungle 5.1
------------
I have started a new post for this as the development has started.


------------
Winter 3.0
------------
- Easy mode and Hard mode, just like in Jungle.
- Better AntiFEED based on cat's movements near the safe
- Removing both "Confused Dog" and "Confused Bull Dog" spells in favor to a new transformation ability of Cat's ultralisks
- Medics at safe to heal cat, just like in Jungle 5.0.
- New God unit to replace DeathGod (Wraith)
- Possibly new creative spells
- Probably a better AntiBS trigger
- AntiFEED codes that kills obvious feedages like afk'er at start/safe.

I'm still dropping and gathering ideas so nothing has been done to either of the maps. I'm currently working on a Macro/Micro map, using Python as basis, and I'll probably start the jungle/winter projects soon after.

:edit Mar 12,08: I gave up on the Macro/Micro map as I couldn't fix the Protoss Upgrade issue when the Forge/CyberCore is disabled and enabled. And guys, any ideas that you would like to drop in? Make a comment~

Jungle 5.0 is Released

Jungle 5.0 is finally DONE!
It's now named as Random Cat n Mouse Jungle50.scx

Just fyi, 5.1 has started so put your comments here with all your crazy new ideas that would make this map better. Hey, no "make mice invincible" or all these junks, k?

edit: thx to Potatoe Man on this, I have this file hosted in megaupload. Click here to download the map.

RedKatana is coming back?

Yes, RedKatana is coming back into the development, after leaving us for so long due to not having Internet!!! He is, however, only available after 11pm so the development will be slow as hell.

5.0 is still in BETA

I'm happy that people started hosting Jungle 5.0

Just a friendly reminder that, the map is still in BETA phrase, meaning it could:
- contains bugs that I don't know of
- not necessary to be perfect balance
- the map you have might not be the newest

Please note that the filename for the beta map is RCNMJ5-BETA.scx. I will have another filename for the final version, so to separate it from the BETA map.

As for the schedule of the final version, I'm still balancing the spells as discussions are still going on.

Thanks for the support from you all~ *wave my hands*

Jungle 5.0

(last updated: January 1, 2008)

As Jungle 5 enters beta stage, I thought I might as well post the specs as well. Here are the highlights:

(updated) Easy mode is the good-old-days version 1.0 behaviour. Items listed below only apply to Hard mode.

No Tax... is not true. There's a new "invisible" tax which applies on how many things you build/buy. Also, when you buy something at top-right corner, the price of that item increases, for example, SCV increases $1 each time, up to $55 each (original cost is $25).

Cat will also get more cash if they kill more. So take advantage on killing things.

Cat feedages - same as the old ones, such as nexus feed $12, dark archon feed $17, etc... Here are some new feedages:
- Zergling now feeds about $6
- Stargate now feeds about $6
- Zealot now feeds about $6
- Civilian now feeds about $6

Spells for Cat:
[new] Freeze Mouse - freeze a specific mouse for 1 or 3 seconds with 1 or 2 dts respectively.

[new] Mouse Magnet - moves all mice' units in arena towards the Cat, in particular, move the probe behind the civilian towards the cat. Cost=1dt

(updated) [new] Base Raider - this gosu ling rips all walls in its way, but is vulnerable after 3 seconds (ie: it has only 2hp!), dies in 5 seconds after being vulnerable. Cost=2dts and have a $45 refund upon its death.

[new] Acidic Slaughter - a "kill air" unit. It cannot be killed by Scourge, but definitely killable especially to Storm (*this is a hint there!). Cost=1dt. $50 refunds will be given once the unit dies.

[new] Mind Control GOD - a godly unit with the ability to Mind Control indefinitely. Yes, you can mind control SCVs and probes, but probes die automatically, and SCVs can't mine minerals. Cost=14dts.

Cloaked Ghost - a cloaked unit that has a specific role on locking down probes for an extended period of time. While ghost does 0 (zero) damage, you can use it to block exits so to "trap" the mouse or anything. Also it can be uncloaked just to save energy. Cost=3dts. $100 refunds will be given once the unit dies.

Monkey Vessel - a Science Vessel with Irradiate, EMP, and D-matrix for 2 dts. Classic unit.

Queen - a Queen with Ensnare, Broodling (cost 200+ mana), and best of all -> the ability to infest Command Center (it's not an easy task). Cost=2dts.

Kitty - a kitty with no base attack. But it has 2x attack upgrade rather than 1x for the big Cat. Cost=4dts.

Mice Poison - a poison to apply on a specific mice player. It will random an action every second, ranging from doing nothing, to kill one of your unit (meaning your probe if it's the only thing you have). Cost=2dts.

Infested Terrans x2 - a classic bombing spell with 2 bombing units. In the old days people would put a Zergling near the spawn so the bombers will "self-destroy". Now the Infested Terrans spawn 1 second apart, thus the suicidal Zergling could only get 1 bomber to suicide. Cost=3dts.

Rob Money - rob all mice players' cash by $1000 for each dt.

Get $100 for 1 dt - this is a trading mechanism between dt to $100. There is an option for you to set as automatically getting a dt once you have $100, or to leave the $100 unchanged.

SCV/Money Score Board - displays statistical chart at top-left corner.

Probe Locator - repeatedly pings the designated player's probe in the minimap.

As you could guess, I'm quite focusing on Cat's playing experience on this one. I hope the removal of tax and the inclusion of some lethal spells for Cat would do some justice to this wonderful (or would-be-wonderful) map. Any suggestions would be appreciated unless I heard of it before.

What happened to 4.4 beta?

It seems that 4.4 beta has been tested for so many times and it's pretty much finalized... While that's the case, I do think the map itself has some fundamental problems. Such as:

- Does Tax/Upkeep justify the balance of Cat force (a single player) and Mice force (a team of players)?
- How many times have you seen cats use the following listed spells on Mice:
1. Area No Shield / Mana
2. Meltdown
3. Lock Mice
4. Sunken (Mouse Trap)
- How many games you play in Jungle without seeing a Mice get massive Cannons at late game and wall himself in a base, and continuously restoring the base's minerals?
- How many times have Mice players use massive Zerglings (Stupid Devin) against Cat?
- How many times have Mice use tons and tons of Stargate (Hard Cheese) for defensive and offensive (ie: trap cat)?
- How many times have you seen Infested Terrans blow up upon spawning at middle because a Mice player purposely put a Zergling there in advance?

To address the above questions, I completely give up Tax/Upkeep and plan to "correct" the above-mentioned problem in terms of game play in a new version - Jungle 5.0.

Jungle 4.4 beta

Well I've idled this site for quite some time so here's the update.

I'm making Random Cat n Mouse Jungle 4.4 and here's the differences from 4.3

NEW Cat spells: SCV Board (1 DT), Money Board (1 DT), Probe Locator (2 DTs)
Removed Cat spell: Creep Infestation Builder (1 DT) (the drone!!!)

Minor Tweaks are as follows:
- Any probe kills during the process of meltdown are now accounted for.
- Removed all firebats (LockMice) for all mice players from the map to give out space for new cat spells.
- added a trigger to stop cat's units at Save beacon when it is in Easy Mode
- limited Anti-Feed to function only in Hard Mode (so cat will get feeds if some noobs go save in Easy Mode).
- Stable Mode will no longer prevents Move-all-units-to-middle cat spell to function. For info about Stable Mode.



For those who don't know what is Stable Mode. StarCraft has a bug that allows players to mine minerals away from the mineral chunks. As some of you know this bug could be done by using Arbiter with recall on workers when it goes to mine, there's another way to trigger this bug, and this is what Stable Mode is.

Stable Mode allows a player to build a nexus anywhere, and mine any minerals in vision without actually going to the minerals. The draw back is that it stops all your units every second. So you better use it when you're walled in, or at least when you are not in danger to run around. A side note: Stable Mode works only in Hard Mode.

Jungle Q&A

Here are answers for some commonly asked/wondered questions:

Version 5.0
Q: It seems Protoss armor upgrade is faster than shield upgrade, is it true?
A: Yes it is true. Armor upgrades are faster than shield upgrades.

Q: What's the differences between Easy and Hard Mode?
A: I wont go into too detail, but the punch line is that Mice will end up getting more $$ in Easy Mode, thus ended up having an easier game.

Version 3.0 to 4.4
Q: What are taxes? What is the numbers on units' names?
A: Taxes is a map balance technique for Mice to balance out the inability of Cat to gather minerals. The number (example: tax 3, 5) implies after which point of time you will get taxed off every second. In the example shown above, having 3 or more of the unit will started getting taxed off, while having 5 or more of that unit will get taxed off even more.

Version 1.5 to 2.2
Q: Wow all of the sudden all my buildings die, what is this gayness?
A: There's a unmarked/hidden spell for cat that does this with 3 DTs. This is a spell that inspires Area Meltdown spell.

Version 1.0
Q: Wow my (Cat's) DTs are dying to cannons, why aren't they invincible?
A: It's me and RedKatana's fault. It's fixed in Version 1.1

General questions
Q: Where is RedKatana, how come I don't see him?
A: RedKatana seldomly gets online nowadays, that's why he is not in development of version 2 and 4.

Q: What is AntiFEED?
A: That goes to what is FEED. FEED refers to avoidable advantage to Cat caused by Mice. Usually it refers to Cat killing Nexus, Command Center, Dark Archon, Templars, and worst of all, Mice dying. AntiFEED only prevents Mice from saving other dead Mice when Cat is nearby (ie: right at its tail).