The Original DotA and Other Custom Game Modes

[Pike]

All sorts of people are into MOBAs these days but remember when DotA was just a custom Warcraft 3 map (which itself was based off of some custom StarCraft map?) I recall wandering into the Warcraft 3 lobby and playing a few DotA games, and it certainly was a fun diversion although I'm still kind of shocked that it would spawn a whole new genre.

I recall all types of fantastic custom Starcraft games, including Golem Madness (where you had one unit that you could upgrade into more powerful units), Hydra Ranchers (giant killfest), and Turret Defense (Tower Defense before Tower Defense was even really a thing.) People even figured out how to make RPGs. It was really impressive what people could make.

Anyone else remember playing some of these sorts of things?

[Mirage]

i remember playing a killer sheep in wc3

but my memory is fuzzy

[Slothy]

I played a trout ton of custom games in Brood War and WC3. Stopped playing DotA after a while though because the community was as bad as people say. To the point of banning you from a lobby if you didn't have the latest version of the map and you started to download it upon joining.

But there was something about turret defense games back in the day. Those Starcraft turrets, cannons, etc. made it more fun for reasons I don't quite understand. I assume the explosions were more satisfying than shooting arrows and stuff at squishy things. This is probably the only time I will ever speak ill of firing arrows at squishy things.

[Aulayna]

People still do these types of things with the SC2 map editor, and they can all be played for free - you don't even need to purchase SC2.

http://us.battle.net/arcade/en/

[Dat Matt]

I recall playing Dota for the first time. I was so confused and had no idea what I was doing. I was so pissed off that the other guy had minions and I didn't. I wanted to know where I got minions too. I ended up just running into his towers and rage quitting after about 5 minutes of playing.

It's only till much later and playing league of legends I understood what I was doing wrong xD

[Bolivar]

I only played Dota with dorm buddies in college, we had a lot of fun but I didn't play with the same religious intensity I do now with Dota 2. I think it's pretty amazing that they found a way to combine WC3's mechanics in a game more suited to them than the vanilla RTS was.

I also played Counter-Strike when it was just a Half Life mod. It was crazy to see how that took off years later. It's surprising how both these games rose from humble beginnings, both under Valve's tutelage.

[Mirage]

The gamer hipster:

I played CS before it even was a game.

[Pike]

People still do these types of things with the SC2 map editor, and they can all be played for free - you don't even need to purchase SC2.

http://us.battle.net/arcade/en/

This is super cool!

[Spuuky]

I stopped playing other custom maps when DotA was created. It was a revelation, and I would have been surprised if it had NOT spawned a genre.

I am pretty sure that no one who gives MOBAs the time they need to ascend the initial learn curve ever stops loving them.

[Bolivar]

The gamer hipster:

I played CS before it even was a game.

Don't front on my Hip!

Did anyone ever play this one:



It was called Graal, now called Graal Online Classic. Basically, some dude hacked the Zelda: A Link to the Past rom, recreated his own game with the assets and put out user-friendly tools for anyone who wanted to do the same. You create your own sprite using available heads, choose your tunic colors, and away you go on what is essentially a multiplayer Zelda 3.

The best part was that you could host your own servers, create your own worlds, and import any art assets and midis you wanted. A whole art community existed around just making free art assets for the game.It was awesome. I used to mess around with it with very close irl friends. It was probably also my introduction to programming, as it had a Java/C++ interface for scripting NPCs and events.

I couldn't imagine what would happen if Nintendo made something like this themselves...

[Pike]

My brother made a Graal server that eventually became super popular. It was called Graal 3000.

Wow that was a long time ago. Like 1998 I think? I played around with it a little but mostly my brother hogged the computer for it.

[escobert]

I play the DayZ Mod. I never got into the custom games much on SC and was never a big WC fan. I don't really like DoTA 2 either though. My roommates love it and play all the time.

[Aulayna]

People still do these types of things with the SC2 map editor, and they can all be played for free - you don't even need to purchase SC2.

http://us.battle.net/arcade/en/

This is super cool!

There's a Bomberman variant on there where you play as a Probe, SCV or Zergling. It's ridiculously fun. I can't remember the name of it off the top of my head though.

[Karifean]

I played a ton of Warcraft III custom maps back in the day. Hell, I'm still developing a map for it.