In this game, your objective is to escort the helpless spirit of your dead sister through a dark path in Hell known as the Way of Desolation. Your sister's spirit is, however easily distracted, being drawn to any nearby light source. You can, however, use this to your advantage, by selectively destroying light sources along the path to guide your sister's spirit towards the Soulgate that leads out of Hell.

Your four living sisters and you have made this dangerous journey, knowing that the odds are against you. If your sister's spirit is lost, along with it goes all hope for your clan of ninjas - she must pass through the Soulgate at all costs.

You, along with three companions, have an arsenal of powerful kicks, jumps, and cuts at your disposal. You wield a sword in each hand and are capable of amazing leaps, powerful kicks, and even a little magic. Beware, however, many of your attacks will not discriminate between your sister's spirit, your companions, and enemy demons, which are constantly swarming around you in an attempt to destroy any spirits attempting to leave Hell and return to the living and you must recover health and mana by collecting the energies of enemies and obstacles that you destroy.

Recommended for 3 or 4 players who are willing to work together.

3 levels of difficulty, defined by how many hit points your sister's spirit starts with: Student (1500 hp), Master (1000 hp), and Grandmaster (500 hp).

The map was designed to be a hybrid game, inspired by the console actions games Ninja Gaiden and Otogi.

Note: All of the custom models in this map were downloaded from www.wc3sear.ch (defunct) - proper credit for all of these incredible models, many of which are essential to the theme of this map (particularly those of the Ninja and Spirit designed by Black_Stan), has been given in the map's directions (F9). Special thanks to Clan TDG members KrewL RaiN for the terrain touch-up and Shvegait for additions to the combat system.

The Way of Desolation (alternate download link) began as an entry in the Clan TDG Mapathon contest series based upon the word 'Escort'. The prototype of this map, which was essentially the same with fewer features and abilities, was designed for this contest in one (long) night.

Feel free to direct comments and report bugs to Clan TDG forum

Patch notes for The Way of Desolation
Changelog for Version 1-19
• Fixed issues caused by patch 1.24
• Modified two abilities
• Minor terrain and balance changes

Changelog for Version 1-13[ul]
· Changed the Guard ability to draw nearby orbs towards the hero when used
· Changed the Guard ability so attacking units continue to attack the hero but deal no damage
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Changelog for Version 1-12

· Fixed an issue with Kunoichi dying after Spirit dies but before voting is completed
· Fixed some minor spelling errors and added a few more hints to the in-game hints
· Made some very minor optimization adjustments to gameplay triggers
· Fixed a respawn between rounds bug

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Changelog for Version 1.9
· Compressed the models and art a bit to make the file smaller
· Fixed some minor issues with buff effects

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Changelog for Version 1.8
· Fixed a minor problem with rematch dialogs

Changelog for Version 1.7
· Added a quick-rematch option that will allow players to play again without remaking the game.
· Added more compensation for fewer players (level adjustments)
· Added a quick-click tooltip functionality to all objects in the game (click on them and they will explain what they do)

Changelog for Version 1.6
· Fixed an issue that stopped the playtest mode from being instituted.

Changelog for Version 1.5
[Atmosphere]
· Female ninja names changed from ninja to kunoichi (a female ninja)
· Hero names changed to historical/traditional names for female ninjas
· Difficult menu names changed to japanese martial art names for student, master, grand master
· Hotkeys added to the voting dialog
· Color changes for many unit/ojbect names

[Gameplay]
· Solo gameplay - CHEAT MODE instantly activated if only 1 player is in the game at start
· Orb models added for yellow and purple orbs (my mdl edits)
· Orb release triggers changed to adjust to number of players
· XP Orb bonus (xp value) changed to adjust to the number of players
· Orb behavior changed to follow units that responsible for killing the target
· Killing unit mechanics changed to compensate for orb new behavior
· Type of orbs released (or potentially released) changed for some elements

[Abilities]
· Color changes for hotkeys, right-click listed for Attack
· Diving Slice mechanics changed to action script to allow hotkey queue in mid-air and allow the diving unit to be hit while airborn

The Way of Desolation, archived on 06/08/08
The Way of Desolation, archived on 31/08/08
The Way of Desolation, archived on 22/09/09