SC2Mapster

Hello. I am new to these forums and hoping to get some direction with the map editor. I've used the original StarCraft's editor extensively back in my junior high school days and experimented quite a bit with the WarCraft III editor as well. But now I seem to be a bit lost on this first map of mine.

I am trying to make an ability with the Graviton Beam as a base. The idea is that the caster will still be able to perform actions, as well as casting the ability on several units at once. There will be no beam that connects from the caster to the target, just the Graviton Beam's effect and impact model. I do not want to touch any of the original abilities/actors/effects, etc., so I am duplicating these elements instead of altering them.

How do I attach these duplicated elements to my custom ability? How do I remove the defaultly-linked original elements from the custom ability? I understand how to link actors to custom units, for example, but I cannot figure out how to do it for abilities. I know how to add an ability like the Seeker Missile to the Marine, as that tutorial goes, but I'm looking to create a somewhat new ability and link all of the proper elements to it, not modify the already existing elements.

If you duplicate the actor, make sure you update all the ability references in the Events list. That's all you need to do to link an actor to an ability.

Thanks for the reply.

What is the "events list"? Where do I find it? I cannot find a reference to it anywhere except the trigger editor. It's also not just actors. I do not know where to update/link/unlink the effects, behaviors, models, etc., as I see very few references to only some of these elements within the ability's data fields.

I'm going to experiment a bit more and see what happens.

By the way, if I make a custom ability with new effects, should I have the "raw data" option enabled so that I can modify the items in that field under "token"? I know that we have to do it for custom units (changing the unit to the custom one and then changing its models, sounds, etc. so that it actually shows up) so I'm wondering if custom effects follow the same procedure as custom units.

Also, what's the difference between duplicating an object and basing a new one on it if all data ends up being the same?

Thank you for all of the help.

I seem to be understanding the editor a bit better. I now know how to remove/unlink individual models, effects, etc.

One of the new problems that I am having with the Graviton Beam is being unable to remove the effect of disabling the caster unit while it is being channeled. I cannot seem to find the field anywhere. Would it be a behavior or effect object? I removed the "disablepheonixweapons" effect, but that does nothing, and only points to Phoenix's weapons specifically, anyway (my custom unit is not based on the Phoenix). When I uncheck "channeled" in the "anti gravity (persistent)" effect-flags field, I am able to control my unit, but the lifting-up height effect stops being applied.

Also, since I duplicated the ability and everything that is associated with it, everything is named "... copy." When I change the ability's name, it loses many of its effects, actors, etc. How would I go about renaming the ability and its linked objects without losing those links?

Thank you, DrSuperEvil, that was very helpful. I must have been changing the IDs in addition to the names.

I do have channeling flags. When I have the ability on "cast," it lasts for ten seconds as long as I do not move. I'd like this to be an ability in which I can cast it on several units, one right after the other, while moving my caster around.

Should I be looking at one of the effects? The ability itself?

EDIT: Actually, I got it. In the "anti-gravity (persistent)" effects object, I unchecked the "channeled" flag. In the "anti gravity height" behavior object, I unchecked the "channeling" buff flag. It seems to be working fine now. I'm now just wondering exactly where the "duration" field is so that I can input a number other than 10.

Searching for "duration," I found it in one of the behavior objects. I will have to edit some other fields to make the animations, etc. coincide with the time change. Thank you for all of your help.