Thanks for the explaination I've not played DotA, so after reading about it on all the different threads it really helped to get this explaination about DotA and the differences between DotA and Demigod.

Thats awesome, I've played DotA a bunch, and I've always loved it, so it's cool to hear where there inspiration came from.

I have not played it also and look forward to this game

Having not played DotA, this explains a lot.

Yay for more gameplay info!   

The basic idea of DotA for those who haven't played is pretty simple. As said, there are two opposing teams of up to 5 players each. Both teams have a base at opposing corners of the map with 3 lanes exiting along the two sides of the map and the middle. 6 "unit" buildings (two per lane) serve as protection for the main objective, the World Tree (for Sentinels) or the Frozen Throne (for the Scourge). Marring passage to destroy these unit buildings and eventually the goal are 3 towers per lane, and wave after wave of minor enemies rushing to their eventual demise, or victory, at the other end of the map along each lane.

The central focus of the map is to help your waves of allies (henceforth named creeps) push towards the enemy base, through all three towers on a lane (you can destroy all 9 towers if you like), destroy the unit buildings on that lane (which give your creeps on that lane a power boost), and then take out the World Tree or Frozen Throne. It's a simple premise, but the practice of a game is rarely as simple. Initially every hero starts at level 1 and has a modest stipend of gold to buy gear with (gear will improve your attributes, provide modest healing, or other combat advantages). You gain levels by killing enemy creeps, and enemy heroes. Primarily your skills are focused on dealing with enemy heroes or aiding allies, though at times skills can have other purposes*.

The exciting portion of DotA's game play comes from the player versus player aspect. While your objective is always to progress towards the enemy base, rest assured they're after the same thing, so much of the game is spent actually beating each other up rather than helping the creeps all that much. With carefully laid out terrain blocking movement and sight, it's possible to lead ambushes on enemy heroes progressing into your territory, or even as you progress into theirs. Chases can lead through these wending passes and often times amazing victories are just as common as narrow escapes. For more info I direct you to Youtube. As grainy as those videos are, you'll see many videos on Pudge, the Goblin Techies, and Axe describing vicious and decisive victories.

--------

It's nice to hear that Demigod won't be just a DotA clone. I had my suspicions that there would be something more, but I'm glad it's confirmed. Now I'm eager to see what you guys have in store for us.




* Some attack skills like Rexxar, the Beast Master's Wild Axes can remove trees from the map while damaging enemies they come in contact with in their travels, creating new passages to attack enemies. Other skills like Furion, the Prophet's Sprout skill will restrict enemy movement for several seconds. Some skills will also charm units into following you, like Chen, the Holy Knight's Persuasion skill which allows him to control up to 3 creeps (neutral creeps found throughout the forests of the map can be quite powerful if used properly, but even charming enemy creeps can make enemy heroes nervous in the early game)

I would hope that Demigod isnt a dota clone, DotA had overpowered heroes and some items were greatly outbalanced. I like the fact that you can command the creeps on demigod and you have a persistent level. I just want beta! I have had experience with beta before and I can find even the smallest of errors. It is fun doing this for companies and helping them out , I wished I would get paid for it.

This is great news, in that it also confirms the fact that maps may have custom game play effects in them (something I was very much hoping for)

So again, THANK YOU!

Awesome. I love DotA but always thought that there should be more to it then just fighting each other back and forth. To hear that Demigod will add something to the mix is a great thing. Looking forward to it more then ever!

As a Dota player looking to Demigod for some new innovation on an original genre crossover, this part has me excited:

"That is, there are certain parts of the Arena that you can control that give your side significant advantages. Hence, there are multiple strategic objectives."

Questions to the Devs:

A) What are your favourite Dota Heroes?

Do any Demigods draw inspiration from these heroes?

a) Razor maybe?

I can't really answer that, I don't really see that much resemblance.  The gameplay is significantly different in some respects.

One of the things that I think people will find once they play the betas (not beta 1 which, like I mentioned earlier is purposely set up not to be very good) is that a lot of the game mechanics will seem obvious in hindsight.  Some of the things we're adding woudl even have made sense being added to Dota even (like influencing where creeps go, controlling points that give you access to super powers, etc.).

is an incredibly clever game concept

Dota is hardly clever nor a concept. It's an old, wore down idea that is played mostly by 7 year old ADD players with no friends.

My experiance in playing dota was not a good one. I've tried on 3 separate occasions to play a game of it;
First game I was kicked in the first 10 minutes because I didn't choose the right item. Even though I was kicked, everyone left the game shortly afterwards because of how I had ruined it.

Second game I was a melee hero and I killed 2 creeps; the game was than abandoned because that's not what pros do.

Third game (and the last) I got about 20 minutes into the game before being kicked for having the lowest score.


Even trying to have fun, the game was horribly boring to me. It was predictable, nothing special.
Dota is a half decent game, but it's overplayed and overhyped.

EDIT: Also, their triggers are horrid to look at. I've seen some bad jass, but still.

That's really a community issue more than anything.  One of the things I always hear about is "don't split the multiplayer community" by having non-ranked games and such. But splitting the multiplayer community to me, is a feature.  Let those who are hard core tournament guys play ranked games and let others play normal skirmish games or participate in the persistent tournament in which you're battling for a greater good -- to get your Demigod (as in, everyone who has chosen a particular Demigod) up the ladder.

I know precisely what you're talking about though. But Dota is a mod and hence doesn't have the kind of resources a stand alone game would/should have in terms of providing rewards for many different ways to play the game (getting personal achievements, having strong single player features, having different types of multiplayer).

 

I think as well that it is mainly a community thing, normal warcraft III isn't much better when it comes to this ( to be fair I noticed that its alot better than it was a few years ago at least in normal Warcraft).

having non-ranked game modes doesn't split the community, its 2 different types of experience which attracts 2 different type of players, also it isn't an either/or decision but most will play some games of both type probably.

What could split the community is having too many different ranked game modes, so we end up with 7 Teams in 7 different game modes waiting for an opponent via automatch, I would hate to see 1vs1 or 2vs2 becomes the standard ranked game mode because of this.

To me, I also see a lot of an old old old game called Sacrifice in Demigod.  The premise is very similar, God has been killed, and you play a mercenary wizard who the 5 younger gods entice into their service in a war to take the supreme title of God.  Over time, you complete missions for the gods, and they grant you unique spells and monsters to summon, and you learn more about what is really happening behind the scenes of the war.  It was a really groundbreaking game, mixing a third person action game with RTS.  You choose a god for each mission, gaining faction with some while losing lots with others, taking the battle across small aerial islands to control the souls of the folk (so you can turn them into monsters to support your cause) and the mana of the land.