SC2Mapster

Hey,

So I'm making an ability that creates a dummy unit (for display/effect purposes), and targets a random unit in the area around the created unit dealing damage. Ive set up a beam for the attack actor, but the beam attaches to the casting unit, not the created unit. How can I fix this?

Sorry if that doesnt make any sense, ask if you need clarification

@Grasshopper721: Go

try to change the actor event. i would use unit birth.dummy

The Create Unit effect has a "spawn effect" field, if you put the Search effect in that field the dummy should register as the Target of the search and as the Source of the effect applied by the Search.

Not sure which fields you have to adjust for Action actors, but with standalone beams you can define the Launch and Impact hosts through "Actor Find+Scope(Target/Source)+Reference(_Unit etc.)" as long as the creation event is tied to an Effect (check the Medic Heal Beam or MedivacHealBeamRev1)

Have you tried changing the creation event for the Action actor? By default they have an "At: Caster" Term which is probably passed on to the beam. Try replacing that with "At: Source" (making sure the actor is tied to the Damage effect and the effect chain is Create dummy->Search on dummy->Damage)

I'm not sure what the alpha colossus is >.>

Basically the ability causes x number of bolts to strike units in the area. I'm trying to get these x bolts to originate from a unit creates by the ability instead of the caster.

I have the ability effect create a unit, the effect that happens to the spawnd units is a persistent, who's periodic effects are an area search, which picks one random unit in the area and does a damage effect. Everything works fine except I can't get the beams to attach to the dummy unit.

(Btw if there is a simpler way please let me know XD )

So, standard split-beam/chain lightning setup, you should be able to find some tutorials on that.

I haven't managed to get consistent results with Action actors, but standalone beams can be attached to Point type scopes such as the epicenter of your search and you can tag on Local Offset SiteOps to adjust the height. That would cut out the dummy unit, and if you want a central effect use a Model type actor, which can also be used to host the beam. (I'm guessing this is supposed to be some sort of lightning ball which zaps nearby units?)

Action actors are needed to synch up beams with other impact visuals (usually explosions) and to show shield flashes. If you're content with the beam always hitting e.g. the center of its target you can detach the Action actor to handle only shields, like Siege Tanks and Colossi do.

The WoL alpha Colossus used to attack a single target with a continuous beam and would sweep it across the ground towards its next victim when the previous target died. Horrible to implement, especially if you want to redirect the beam more than once and allow manual redirects before the current target is dead. Not related to your problem though, getting the correct target for the beam visual is the least of your worries on that one.

ok. so i make an ability whose effect is create persistant. I create a model actor that is created when the persistant ability starts, host site ops is moveUp9 or whatever (i have the height working). how do I get the model actor to be created at the target point?

then the period effects are a search effect, and the search effect picks one random unit in its area (centered on the ability target point) and deals damage to it. I then create an action effect, that is created when the damage effect is played I then create a beam actor, associate the beam with the damage impact how do I make the beam attatch to the search area, or the persistant model actor?

Im kinda new at the whole actor details thing.

Effect.Persistent.Start>At Target>Create and Effect.Persistent.Stop>Destroy are the events for the central model. Always try to tie spell actors to effects if possible, unless you have a proper reason not to (e.g. cast indicators, debuffs; if your setup needs a dummy unit anyway you might as well put its Unit actor to good use...)

For a standalone beam check MedivacHealBeamRev1, it uses an Actor Find setup which acts on the same logic as Effect scopes. You'll probably want the Source of the Damage effect as the launch point and its Target as the impact point. You can also specify an actor ID to tack it onto the central model. Effect.Damage.Start>Create should work as the creation trigger, if not play around with the "At" Term.

If you want an Action actor I'm not sure what currently works. Go through chain lightning tutorials, there were several setups in the past. If you have HotS check Kerrigan's Chain Reaction actors from the campaign ability. In that one the previous attack sets a Site actor as a dummy (Impact Site on the Action actor) which the next chain link latches on to via Actor Find (Launch Request+ on the next Action actor). That setup might require a dummy unit as you had originally and may additionally require you to create a Site actor on said dummy.

There may be a bug with the Action variant as I have two identical setups and in one of them the beam attaches to the caster unit if the central target dies while the other one launches from the killed unit. In the past there was a problem where if the beam actor came before its intended hosts in an alphabetically sorted list it would attempt to create itself before said hosts and fail, this plagued copies of the original Medivac heal beam for instance.

Excellent : ) I got it working. Now I just need to figure out why the central actor jumps up on the last 2 periods of the persistant