I'm hoping someone can give me some more clarity about the game's weapon attack mechanic. After looking at the map editor, I'm pretty confused about what point in time each event happens and what certain things mean.
For instance, what do the "Backswing" and "Damage Point" values indicate? Which events are fired throughout the duration of the attack period? Do units really have a random delay that causes them attack sooner or later, and how is this calculated?
Yes, there is a random delay that makes units either fire a little bit sooner or a little bit later. The delay is added to (or subtracted from) the base attack speed and it's a random number between the minimum and the maximum.
Damage point is a time delay in between the WeaponStart.AttackStart actor event firing and the weapon effect being triggered. Its used mainly for syncing attack animations, so the projectile leaves at the right point in the animation, for example. I believe backswing is the opposite, it's the delay in between the effect occuring and the WeaponStop.AttackStop actor event firing. (I could be wrong on this one, it's just a guess.)
A random delay in between random delay minimum and random delay maximum is added to the period each time you attack. The main reason here is so if you have a huge group of, say, marines, their attack sounds and animations don't sync up perfectly, which looks unnatural.
Reload period is the minimum time after one attack stops before the next can start. Its mostly useful if you have a channeled attack and you want a delay between stopping the attack on one target and attacking the next (because the period probably expired while channeling.)
@RileyStarcraft: Go
Thanks for the info. The random delay also makes sense for two identical units encountering each other, now that I think about it.
Assume a Marine is on a leisure stroll across the map. Suddenly a Zealot appears at 6 range, so the Marine begins to attack. Since the Marine's damage point value is 0.05, the damage effect would appear on the Zealot 0.05 seconds after the encounter/attack begins. Depending on what the random delay comes out to (lets use 0.1), that would be added to the overall period of attack (which is 0.8608), making the attack period longer or shorter (in this case longer, making it 0.9608).
After that time has expired, a new attack period begins.. repeat until someone is dead.
I still am curious about the backswing value, though.
I'm hoping someone can give me some more clarity about the game's weapon attack mechanic. After looking at the map editor, I'm pretty confused about what point in time each event happens and what certain things mean.
For instance, what do the "Backswing" and "Damage Point" values indicate? Which events are fired throughout the duration of the attack period? Do units really have a random delay that causes them attack sooner or later, and how is this calculated?
Any help is appreciated. Thanks
Also, what about units like Zealots or Banshees that have multiple attacks per period? I'd really like to understand how it all works :D
@gerphimum: Go
Yes, there is a random delay that makes units either fire a little bit sooner or a little bit later. The delay is added to (or subtracted from) the base attack speed and it's a random number between the minimum and the maximum.
Damage point is a time delay in between the WeaponStart.AttackStart actor event firing and the weapon effect being triggered. Its used mainly for syncing attack animations, so the projectile leaves at the right point in the animation, for example. I believe backswing is the opposite, it's the delay in between the effect occuring and the WeaponStop.AttackStop actor event firing. (I could be wrong on this one, it's just a guess.)
A random delay in between random delay minimum and random delay maximum is added to the period each time you attack. The main reason here is so if you have a huge group of, say, marines, their attack sounds and animations don't sync up perfectly, which looks unnatural.
Reload period is the minimum time after one attack stops before the next can start. Its mostly useful if you have a channeled attack and you want a delay between stopping the attack on one target and attacking the next (because the period probably expired while channeling.)
@RileyStarcraft: Go Thanks for the info. The random delay also makes sense for two identical units encountering each other, now that I think about it.
Assume a Marine is on a leisure stroll across the map. Suddenly a Zealot appears at 6 range, so the Marine begins to attack. Since the Marine's damage point value is 0.05, the damage effect would appear on the Zealot 0.05 seconds after the encounter/attack begins. Depending on what the random delay comes out to (lets use 0.1), that would be added to the overall period of attack (which is 0.8608), making the attack period longer or shorter (in this case longer, making it 0.9608).
After that time has expired, a new attack period begins.. repeat until someone is dead.
I still am curious about the backswing value, though.