I'm trying to recreate the Proton Charge ability that was cut before SC2 got into beta.
References here.Photo
The ability created a "boosted" zone that modified boosted probes in that area, allowing them to carry 1 more mineral per trip. Luckily, we have the effect models in the editor.
I've tried to found it into the forums, because I think it's really weird that no one has achieved to recreate it completely. However, I haven't had success finding a complete recreation. There's one post about it, but the guy who tried it simply set a behavior to enchance shileds in the area and using copies of multiple abilities, oddly animated, and I think that is far simpler to achieve from the start since it is quite simple.
As I'm not really experienced, I want to ask you to resolve a few doubts I have to recreate that ability the simplest way possible. I'm describing the process I want to do.
First, I have to create a Behavior (Buff) for the extra mining. Then, from what I've seen, I have to do a modification under the Resources tab.
Does this boost the Minerals behavior or the Probe ability? What should I do if I want to modificate each one of them or both? Wiki is not specific.
Then, I have to create the Periodic Effect and the Search Effect that uses Apply Behavior, making it be working for 30s, like Viper cloud. Is it correct?
Is there a way to set AoE effects that applied in a line around a centric point? For exemple, I would like to know how to apply the effect in an selectable AoE rotating around the nexus, and animate it correctly. Like line-shots in Mobas.
Does anyone know the editor name of that splat cursor that appears in the source photo?
Any help you could bring is very welcome. Thanks for your time!
EDIT: Data part done, having trouble at animating and messing with actors. Following points below.
How do I crate a permanent Splat? I would like to use the cursor splat (see photo below) as a visual indicator of the boosted area (this one feels perfect).
From what I know Proton Charge was only a "click once, buff Probes" type of deal. Fungal Growth does that, and Psi Storm is the "pulsing field" variety. For the actual effect, there's a "harvest amount bonus" array on buffs which just adds the value to the amount gathered by that unit. I doubt Proton Charge buffed mineral fields separately, but the best option might be to just put an aura on the mineral field that spreads the same "harvest amount" buff to nearby probes.
True "line" AoE doesn't exist, you approximate it by firing circular AoEs along the line, check the Hellion weapon for that. With HotS you have Guide/Quad actors for the targeting cursor.
From what I know Proton Charge was only a "click once, buff Probes" type of deal. Fungal Growth does that, and Psi Storm is the "pulsing field" variety. For the actual effect, there's a "harvest amount bonus" array on buffs which just adds the value to the amount gathered by that unit. I doubt Proton Charge buffed mineral fields separately, but the best option might be to just put an aura on the mineral field that spreads the same "harvest amount" buff to nearby probes.
True "line" AoE doesn't exist, you approximate it by firing circular AoEs along the line, check the Hellion weapon for that. With HotS you have Guide/Quad actors for the targeting cursor.
It was an aura around a special type of pylon, I linked reference for that.
Thanks for poining out that linear AoE
Could you please detail how that actors work? I'm unfamiliar with them.
That reference doesn't really imply the complexity you're talking about, to me it sounds like a Fungal Growth-type ability that increases gather amount instead of rooting+damaging targets. Click once, anything under the cursor gets buffed for 30s, anything outside is out of luck. Since the description specifically mentions "enhancing Probes' Proton Cutters" I sincerely doubt it affected the minerals provided by fields in the AoE and only boosted the harvester units themselves.
Everything you stated is perfectly doable though.
Quad actors are used by Kerrigan's Psionic Shift (dash) ability from HotS campaign if you need a copy source. For the most part they work like regular AoE cursor/range actors: specify an ability to draw the guide for, specify secondary properties like width, use regular actor stuff to adjust the visuals further (tint color, opacity etc.) Note there are 2 basic versions, one's name ends with "Attached" and always draws from the caster unit in the direction of the target point, the other always draws with the tip at the target point in the direction of the casting unit. These match the "get in range first" option for abilities, and for a stationary structure you'll want the "attached" version.
That reference doesn't really imply the complexity you're talking about, to me it sounds like a Fungal Growth-type ability that increases gather amount instead of rooting+damaging targets. Click once, anything under the cursor gets buffed for 30s, anything outside is out of luck. Since the description specifically mentions "enhancing Probes' Proton Cutters" I sincerely doubt it affected the minerals provided by fields in the AoE and only boosted the harvester units themselves.
Everything you stated is perfectly doable though.
Quad actors are used by Kerrigan's Psionic Shift (dash) ability from HotS campaign if you need a copy source. For the most part they work like regular AoE cursor/range actors: specify an ability to draw the guide for, specify secondary properties like width, use regular actor stuff to adjust the visuals further (tint color, opacity etc.) Note there are 2 basic versions, one's name ends with "Attached" and always draws from the caster unit in the direction of the target point, the other always draws with the tip at the target point in the direction of the casting unit. These match the "get in range first" option for abilities, and for a stationary structure you'll want the "attached" version.
Thanks for source, I will try it!
The lost ability was an aura enchancer, so probes only got buffed if they were inside the aura range. (If not, you could stack probes 1 second, buff them all, and reesplit). There are more references, but it's tricky to find a live use of this other than 2009 showmatches.
I want to recreate the ability but also create an alternative version with a linear AoE so it affects a limited number of probes in a mining location to make it viable in a mod.
AoE of 3-4 mineral patches or so.
I'll try this afternoon. Thanks for your answers!
I hope that more people helps this since all you know a lot more than me.
The "pulsing field" variety is called Psi Storm. You can create one at each offset of a line AoE chain, with the buff capped at 1 stack they won't pile up either. Circles, rectangular lines and cones are the only shapes with direct actor support, and overlapping multiple guide actors might be tricky.
Stacking up Probes would probably equate to a net loss as they sit idle, and if you look at the cursor image on the wiki the AoE is easily large enough to cover an entire mineral line anyway. A properly rendered "boost lane" would definitely look better than "plop, now go mine for 30s" though...
The "pulsing field" variety is called Psi Storm. You can create one at each offset of a line AoE chain, with the buff capped at 1 stack they won't pile up either. Circles, rectangular lines and cones are the only shapes with direct actor support, and overlapping multiple guide actors might be tricky.
Stacking up Probes would probably equate to a net loss as they sit idle, and if you look at the cursor image on the wiki the AoE is easily large enough to cover an entire mineral line anyway. A properly rendered "boost lane" would definitely look better than "plop, now go mine for 30s" though...
Thanks for your help, I have the ability going almost perfectly, even with probe model attachment.
I only need to have the Area Splat displaying correctly (I want to use the a cursor as a permanent visual that lasts 30s, indicating the area affected)
Actual ability in use is photo #1, while what I want to achieve is to create is number 2 and 3. (Notice that I was targeting, probes are highlighted)
How do I get a cursor to display permanently until destroyed? I haven't achieved it.
I tried to use a Create actor linked to the Create persistent effect of the ability and a Destroy in the end, but it simply doesn't display.
Use either a Splat or Model type actor set to the cursor model. View the cursor in the Cutscene module and make sure the desired animations are being played by the actor, the standard is Birth-Stand(loop)-Death. Depending on the model and desired visual you might need some SiteOps (SOpShadow should be enough for a ground-level effect, if any) or some additional animation work, but for most things I'd expect them to simply work when copied into the Psi Storm actor (good test if you don't trust your own ability to create an actor from copy/scratch, just hit Undo after the test)
If the "Stand" animation doesn't loop by default replace the standard BSD bracket events with the following:
ActorCreation->AnimPlay Birth Birth
AnimDone->AnimName Birth->AnimPlay Stand Stand PlayForever
"kill message"->AnimPlay Death Death
AnimDone->AnimName Death->Destroy
Where "kill message" is your destruction trigger, such as Effect.Persistent.Stop. Note animations have two "name" options, the first is an editor-only tag to reference in other events, the second is the actual animation key sent to the model itself (and can only be selected from a loooooong dropdown list).
Use either a Splat or Model type actor set to the cursor model. View the cursor in the Cutscene module and make sure the desired animations are being played by the actor, the standard is Birth-Stand(loop)-Death. Depending on the model and desired visual you might need some SiteOps (SOpShadow should be enough for a ground-level effect, if any) or some additional animation work, but for most things I'd expect them to simply work when copied into the Psi Storm actor (good test if you don't trust your own ability to create an actor from copy/scratch, just hit Undo after the test)
If the "Stand" animation doesn't loop by default replace the standard BSD bracket events with the following:
ActorCreation->AnimPlay Birth Birth
AnimDone->AnimName Birth->AnimPlay Stand Stand PlayForever
"kill message"->AnimPlay Death Death
AnimDone->AnimName Death->Destroy
Where "kill message" is your destruction trigger, such as Effect.Persistent.Stop. Note animations have two "name" options, the first is an editor-only tag to reference in other events, the second is the actual animation key sent to the model itself (and can only be selected from a loooooong dropdown list).
After many tries, I got it to work by replicating the Blinding Cloud actor.
However, now i have the simple problem that the decal doesn't scalate with the AoE size of the ability automatically.
Do I have to set the size manually or I am doing something wrong?¿?
I have linked it to the CP (Create persistent) of the ability.
I can create a parallel effect that creates an empty zone for 30s with one or two periods with the right AoE size to avoid problems if needed.
You have to edit the size manually, as far as I know only "targeting guide" actors can auto-scale to actual effects. Unless other actors inherit the parameters the Scale fields on Actors and Models are essentially equivalent. If the AoE changes continuously the SetScale actor event might have sufficient timer options, anything more you have to do manually with multiple actors or Timer events.
You have to edit the size manually, as far as I know only "targeting guide" actors can auto-scale to actual effects. Unless other actors inherit the parameters the Scale fields on Actors and Models are essentially equivalent. If the AoE changes continuously the SetScale actor event might have sufficient timer options, anything more you have to do manually with multiple actors or Timer events.
Thanks for all!
Then I assume it's done and solved.
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Hi guys!
I'm trying to recreate the Proton Charge ability that was cut before SC2 got into beta. References here. Photo The ability created a "boosted" zone that modified boosted probes in that area, allowing them to carry 1 more mineral per trip. Luckily, we have the effect models in the editor.
I've tried to found it into the forums, because I think it's really weird that no one has achieved to recreate it completely. However, I haven't had success finding a complete recreation. There's one post about it, but the guy who tried it simply set a behavior to enchance shileds in the area and using copies of multiple abilities, oddly animated, and I think that is far simpler to achieve from the start since it is quite simple. As I'm not really experienced, I want to ask you to resolve a few doubts I have to recreate that ability the simplest way possible. I'm describing the process I want to do.
Any help you could bring is very welcome. Thanks for your time!
EDIT: Data part done, having trouble at animating and messing with actors. Following points below.
From what I know Proton Charge was only a "click once, buff Probes" type of deal. Fungal Growth does that, and Psi Storm is the "pulsing field" variety. For the actual effect, there's a "harvest amount bonus" array on buffs which just adds the value to the amount gathered by that unit. I doubt Proton Charge buffed mineral fields separately, but the best option might be to just put an aura on the mineral field that spreads the same "harvest amount" buff to nearby probes.
True "line" AoE doesn't exist, you approximate it by firing circular AoEs along the line, check the Hellion weapon for that. With HotS you have Guide/Quad actors for the targeting cursor.
It was an aura around a special type of pylon, I linked reference for that. Thanks for poining out that linear AoE Could you please detail how that actors work? I'm unfamiliar with them.
That reference doesn't really imply the complexity you're talking about, to me it sounds like a Fungal Growth-type ability that increases gather amount instead of rooting+damaging targets. Click once, anything under the cursor gets buffed for 30s, anything outside is out of luck. Since the description specifically mentions "enhancing Probes' Proton Cutters" I sincerely doubt it affected the minerals provided by fields in the AoE and only boosted the harvester units themselves.
Everything you stated is perfectly doable though.
Quad actors are used by Kerrigan's Psionic Shift (dash) ability from HotS campaign if you need a copy source. For the most part they work like regular AoE cursor/range actors: specify an ability to draw the guide for, specify secondary properties like width, use regular actor stuff to adjust the visuals further (tint color, opacity etc.) Note there are 2 basic versions, one's name ends with "Attached" and always draws from the caster unit in the direction of the target point, the other always draws with the tip at the target point in the direction of the casting unit. These match the "get in range first" option for abilities, and for a stationary structure you'll want the "attached" version.
Thanks for source, I will try it! The lost ability was an aura enchancer, so probes only got buffed if they were inside the aura range. (If not, you could stack probes 1 second, buff them all, and reesplit). There are more references, but it's tricky to find a live use of this other than 2009 showmatches.
I want to recreate the ability but also create an alternative version with a linear AoE so it affects a limited number of probes in a mining location to make it viable in a mod. AoE of 3-4 mineral patches or so.
I'll try this afternoon. Thanks for your answers! I hope that more people helps this since all you know a lot more than me.
The "pulsing field" variety is called Psi Storm. You can create one at each offset of a line AoE chain, with the buff capped at 1 stack they won't pile up either. Circles, rectangular lines and cones are the only shapes with direct actor support, and overlapping multiple guide actors might be tricky.
Stacking up Probes would probably equate to a net loss as they sit idle, and if you look at the cursor image on the wiki the AoE is easily large enough to cover an entire mineral line anyway. A properly rendered "boost lane" would definitely look better than "plop, now go mine for 30s" though...
Thanks for your help, I have the ability going almost perfectly, even with probe model attachment.
I only need to have the Area Splat displaying correctly (I want to use the a cursor as a permanent visual that lasts 30s, indicating the area affected)
Actual ability in use is photo #1, while what I want to achieve is to create is number 2 and 3. (Notice that I was targeting, probes are highlighted)
How do I get a cursor to display permanently until destroyed? I haven't achieved it. I tried to use a Create actor linked to the Create persistent effect of the ability and a Destroy in the end, but it simply doesn't display.
Use either a Splat or Model type actor set to the cursor model. View the cursor in the Cutscene module and make sure the desired animations are being played by the actor, the standard is Birth-Stand(loop)-Death. Depending on the model and desired visual you might need some SiteOps (SOpShadow should be enough for a ground-level effect, if any) or some additional animation work, but for most things I'd expect them to simply work when copied into the Psi Storm actor (good test if you don't trust your own ability to create an actor from copy/scratch, just hit Undo after the test)
If the "Stand" animation doesn't loop by default replace the standard BSD bracket events with the following:
Where "kill message" is your destruction trigger, such as Effect.Persistent.Stop. Note animations have two "name" options, the first is an editor-only tag to reference in other events, the second is the actual animation key sent to the model itself (and can only be selected from a loooooong dropdown list).
After many tries, I got it to work by replicating the Blinding Cloud actor. However, now i have the simple problem that the decal doesn't scalate with the AoE size of the ability automatically. Do I have to set the size manually or I am doing something wrong?¿? I have linked it to the CP (Create persistent) of the ability.
I can create a parallel effect that creates an empty zone for 30s with one or two periods with the right AoE size to avoid problems if needed.
You have to edit the size manually, as far as I know only "targeting guide" actors can auto-scale to actual effects. Unless other actors inherit the parameters the Scale fields on Actors and Models are essentially equivalent. If the AoE changes continuously the SetScale actor event might have sufficient timer options, anything more you have to do manually with multiple actors or Timer events.
Thanks for all! Then I assume it's done and solved.