I'm currently in my first year of my integrated masters degree in Computer Game Design. For my final year project, I've decided to create a playable 3rd person action-RPG using the SC2 galaxy editor. The game revolves around the player taking the role of one of 3 playable characters and using them to progress in the story. I won't bore you with the synopsis (unless you're interested. If so, I'd be more than happy to explain the story/characters. Please feel free to PM me).
What I'm currently looking for from the community is any help or guidance some of you more experienced modders can offer. Although fairly new to the editor, I've been following a lot of onetwo's youtube tutorials and have since learned the basics of how the editor works and am relatively confident in what I'm doing.
I figured the best and simplest way to express what help I need would be to list what I've currently got working in my level and then list what I need some help on. I know SC2mapster has some really great members and any help you guys could offer would be much appreciated.
So far my map has working:
* WASD and free camera movement (WoW style)
Healing fountains
Character/Hero selector
Working and responsive HP bar
I know it's fairly simple stuff compared to what the editor is capeable of, but Its a starting point.
Areas where Help is needed
**
Displaying Buffs while in WASD camera movement (Obviously the UI is normally hidden)
Health and Energy Bars visible on screen (Preferably in the lower left corner, but I'm sure that can be tweaked)
Creating action bars for use of Hero abilities (once again, a UI issue)
Keeping the Camera fixed behind the players shoulder (Gears of war style)
The use of a camera Zoom and crosshair when aiming (AC130K - Ruins style. Major props to Malu05 for that map)
Projectiles that damage enemies (Essentially, how would I create bullets? Once again, a nod to Malu05's amazing map)
I apologize if this seems ignorant on my part because I'm sure there are tutorials on probably everything I've mentioned, but as the title suggests, this is for a university project and I've been very busy and haven't been able to do as much tutorial searching as I'd like. Hence why I'm turning to you, the community, for support.
I appreciate this is quite the essay and I sincerely thank you if you took time to read. All and any help, advice or feedback is more than welcome, even if it's just posting a link to a good tutorial.
I'll post videos of my progress when I can to help you guys see where I'm at. Once again, thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing your ideas :)
If I were to re-learn the editor, I would start small. I would pick an old, simple game like Tetris or Pong and work from there. This would also have the advantage of learning you how to use the editor properly and giving you a chronicle of events for your project. You're also going to be very frustrated if you aim high to start with. I appreciate you probably already have significant coding experience, but the most difficult parts of the editor are the terraining aspect and data editing aspect, neither of which involve any coding from the user.
Displaying Buffs while in WASD camera movement (Obviously the UI is normally hidden)
You will need to get information from Data Editor with Catalogs. Functions will be needed to show all buffs and debuffs.
Quote:
Health and Energy Bars visible on screen (Preferably in the lower left corner, but I'm sure that can be tweaked)
Easy. You can do that with life bars or with your custom dialog.
Quote:
Creating action bars for use of Hero abilities (once again, a UI issue)
If you want to do that, don't forgot one thing : you cannot ask to the player to select one target for your spell. If you want targeted spells abilities, try to make a target system (per example the last hit ennemy is your target). Create targeted point area of effect abilities is impossible for the moment...
Quote:
Keeping the Camera fixed behind the players shoulder (Gears of war style)
Easy, but some tests will be needed to have the best immersive camera. Be carreful, the camera is always trying to adjust this position with the doodads and the terrain. You will need to apply a Z value each time you want to move the camera (without that your camera can go too high or too low).
Quote:
The use of a camera Zoom and crosshair when aiming (AC130K - Ruins style. Major props to Malu05 for that map)
The camera zoom is a single property to edit in Starcraft 2 Editor. This will be easy.
Quote:
Projectiles that damage enemies (Essentially, how would I create bullets? Once again, a nod to Malu05's amazing map)
This is the most annoying system, but you have many examples and tutorials about to do that. Annoying, but easy to understand.
About your project, don't forgot to test your map with the Galaxy Editor and not directly ingame. If you upload your map, this will add some laggy problems.
Hey, thanks for the reply and the advice. Really appreciate it.
In regards to starting small, I think you have a good point. However do to time constraints it wouldn't be responsible from a design schedule perspective to spend time remaking smaller, simpler games. Although, I totally agree with you. When I was learning the UT3 editor, I started by remaking simple gameplay mechanics and playing with terrain.
Tbh, with the work ive done so far, I feel confident in that I can make fairy interesting Terrain that, at least, looks presentable. I understand the data editor and triggers through OneTwo's tutorials, although not to the point where I could just figure things out for myself, if that makes sense. I need some form of rough guide to follow.
Thanks again for reading and I'll definitely consider what you've said :)
For the buff display - if you have a limited amount of buffs just check: unit has behavior (or stackcount of behavior on unit for stacking buffs) and then display the ones you find using a dialog shouldnt be too difficult.
you can actually display almost every UI element inside of a dialog with the action "Create dialog item from template", here is a library someone else made that includes presets to make this alot easier:
if the Behavior bar doesnt work tell me, i had to add that myself and it might be the wrong UI path i put in. (never tried it)
Hey guys, thanks again for your responses. Really appreciated. I tend to say thank you to an excessive amount I'm sure you'll find lol
Its good to know that what I'm looking to accomplish isn't too ambitious so sincere thanks for the reassurance. I'll link a video of my current progress once I get it on youtube, that way if you guys have any questions or what to know anything about what im up to, you'll have somewhere to look.
If anyone knows of any good tutorials or resources for the aforementioned mechanics, please feel free to post a link. Guidance is always welcome. Also, I'm very open to suggestions, if anyone can think of something they'd like to see in a 3rd person SC2 mod, I'm all ears. At the end of the day, fun is the number 1 priority so please, brainstorm the crap out of me if you feel so inclined :)
Here's the first quick prototype video
I know the 3rd person cam hasn't been implemented, but it will be once I get around to redoing the triggers.
By the way Eiviyn, I had a look at your catalyst map. Really impressed. Not only is the sheer amount of choice and customization available really inspiring, but what you mentioned about wanting to eliminate the "best" strategy or "best" vehicle and just focus on unique play styles and balanced gameplay was really refreshing. SC2 gets a bad rap because of SOME players elitist attitude towards the way some people play, and It's nice to hear someone understand what it means to make something fun to play.
If I could be so bold as to make a small suggestion, have you considered maybe spicing up the gameplay with some sort of 3rd party interference? What I mean by that is, add in a gameplay element that would alter the game for both players simultaneously, similar to the devil's playground in the campaign.
For example, you could drop in a small group of hostile units in one of the outposts every 3-5 minutes. That way, any player units within the outpost would have to worry about defending that outpost from, potentially, two threats. Also, it works from a strategic perspective, if the red player sees that one of the blue outpost is being attacked by the hostile units, he/she could use that opportunity to mount an attack to steal that outpost. But, obviously, the hostile units would attack them as well, so they would have to weigh up the pros of spending more units on capturing an outpost, or allowing the opposing team to keep control of the map.
Just something I thought would be cool. But seriously, well done :)
Projectiles that damage enemies (Essentially, how would I create bullets?)
First step, you will have to edit/create a mover for your projectile in the Data Editor.
You must edit the Motion Phase(s) so that:
-Arrival Test Type is set to Never
(the collision will not be done through the Mover itself, but through a behavior applying various effects including death of the projectile)
-Guidance is set to either Ballistic or Throw
(depends on how you want it to behave... ballistic is the most obvious choice for a standard bullet/rocket)
-Tracking is set to No Hook
(prevents the projectile from dodging/running into anything that comes in range... or so I guess)
Modify the Acceleration, Speed, and Timeout to your convenience, and you should have your projectile going in a straight line. To make it collide properly though, you will need to add a behavior to your Launch Missile actor, so that it will check every 0.xx seconds if there is something to collide with around the projectile. To have a better idea about how to create such a behavior (which is a pain in the you-know-where to explain in a forum, but I remember someone did a tutorial somewhere already), I'd suggest you check how the projectiles -and everything else- from the Lost Viking are done (Data Editor > search for any Behavior starting with SS_ and ending with CollisionCheck... SS_ScourgeCollisionCheck is a good example).
This is the method I use on my own project (search for Ikari Warriors here), you'll see on my latest video how it works ingame. It has its flaws obviously, but this is the closest to a "straight line projectile" I've been able to achieve. It seems not to behave the same with buildings as it does with units, somehow the targeted building destroy the projectile a bit too early (even though damage is still applied correctly). I don't know if it's my work that is responsible or if it's the whole method, though... Anyway, in case you still need help search for tutorials here, I remember at least 2 or 3 topics about this matter which were quite well done.
Hey fellow mapsters!
I'm currently in my first year of my integrated masters degree in Computer Game Design. For my final year project, I've decided to create a playable 3rd person action-RPG using the SC2 galaxy editor. The game revolves around the player taking the role of one of 3 playable characters and using them to progress in the story. I won't bore you with the synopsis (unless you're interested. If so, I'd be more than happy to explain the story/characters. Please feel free to PM me).
What I'm currently looking for from the community is any help or guidance some of you more experienced modders can offer. Although fairly new to the editor, I've been following a lot of onetwo's youtube tutorials and have since learned the basics of how the editor works and am relatively confident in what I'm doing.
I figured the best and simplest way to express what help I need would be to list what I've currently got working in my level and then list what I need some help on. I know SC2mapster has some really great members and any help you guys could offer would be much appreciated.
So far my map has working:
* WASD and free camera movement (WoW style)
I know it's fairly simple stuff compared to what the editor is capeable of, but Its a starting point.
Areas where Help is needed **
I apologize if this seems ignorant on my part because I'm sure there are tutorials on probably everything I've mentioned, but as the title suggests, this is for a university project and I've been very busy and haven't been able to do as much tutorial searching as I'd like. Hence why I'm turning to you, the community, for support.
I appreciate this is quite the essay and I sincerely thank you if you took time to read. All and any help, advice or feedback is more than welcome, even if it's just posting a link to a good tutorial.
I'll post videos of my progress when I can to help you guys see where I'm at. Once again, thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing your ideas :)
If I were to re-learn the editor, I would start small. I would pick an old, simple game like Tetris or Pong and work from there. This would also have the advantage of learning you how to use the editor properly and giving you a chronicle of events for your project. You're also going to be very frustrated if you aim high to start with. I appreciate you probably already have significant coding experience, but the most difficult parts of the editor are the terraining aspect and data editing aspect, neither of which involve any coding from the user.
You will need to get information from Data Editor with Catalogs. Functions will be needed to show all buffs and debuffs.
Easy. You can do that with life bars or with your custom dialog.
If you want to do that, don't forgot one thing : you cannot ask to the player to select one target for your spell. If you want targeted spells abilities, try to make a target system (per example the last hit ennemy is your target). Create targeted point area of effect abilities is impossible for the moment...
Easy, but some tests will be needed to have the best immersive camera. Be carreful, the camera is always trying to adjust this position with the doodads and the terrain. You will need to apply a Z value each time you want to move the camera (without that your camera can go too high or too low).
The camera zoom is a single property to edit in Starcraft 2 Editor. This will be easy.
This is the most annoying system, but you have many examples and tutorials about to do that. Annoying, but easy to understand.
About your project, don't forgot to test your map with the Galaxy Editor and not directly ingame. If you upload your map, this will add some laggy problems.
@Eiviyn: Go
Hey, thanks for the reply and the advice. Really appreciate it.
In regards to starting small, I think you have a good point. However do to time constraints it wouldn't be responsible from a design schedule perspective to spend time remaking smaller, simpler games. Although, I totally agree with you. When I was learning the UT3 editor, I started by remaking simple gameplay mechanics and playing with terrain.
Tbh, with the work ive done so far, I feel confident in that I can make fairy interesting Terrain that, at least, looks presentable. I understand the data editor and triggers through OneTwo's tutorials, although not to the point where I could just figure things out for myself, if that makes sense. I need some form of rough guide to follow.
Thanks again for reading and I'll definitely consider what you've said :)
For the buff display - if you have a limited amount of buffs just check: unit has behavior (or stackcount of behavior on unit for stacking buffs) and then display the ones you find using a dialog shouldnt be too difficult.
you can actually display almost every UI element inside of a dialog with the action "Create dialog item from template", here is a library someone else made that includes presets to make this alot easier:
if the Behavior bar doesnt work tell me, i had to add that myself and it might be the wrong UI path i put in. (never tried it)
Hey guys, thanks again for your responses. Really appreciated. I tend to say thank you to an excessive amount I'm sure you'll find lol
Its good to know that what I'm looking to accomplish isn't too ambitious so sincere thanks for the reassurance. I'll link a video of my current progress once I get it on youtube, that way if you guys have any questions or what to know anything about what im up to, you'll have somewhere to look.
If anyone knows of any good tutorials or resources for the aforementioned mechanics, please feel free to post a link. Guidance is always welcome. Also, I'm very open to suggestions, if anyone can think of something they'd like to see in a 3rd person SC2 mod, I'm all ears. At the end of the day, fun is the number 1 priority so please, brainstorm the crap out of me if you feel so inclined :)
Here's the first quick prototype video
I know the 3rd person cam hasn't been implemented, but it will be once I get around to redoing the triggers.
@Eiviyn: Go
By the way Eiviyn, I had a look at your catalyst map. Really impressed. Not only is the sheer amount of choice and customization available really inspiring, but what you mentioned about wanting to eliminate the "best" strategy or "best" vehicle and just focus on unique play styles and balanced gameplay was really refreshing. SC2 gets a bad rap because of SOME players elitist attitude towards the way some people play, and It's nice to hear someone understand what it means to make something fun to play.
If I could be so bold as to make a small suggestion, have you considered maybe spicing up the gameplay with some sort of 3rd party interference? What I mean by that is, add in a gameplay element that would alter the game for both players simultaneously, similar to the devil's playground in the campaign.
For example, you could drop in a small group of hostile units in one of the outposts every 3-5 minutes. That way, any player units within the outpost would have to worry about defending that outpost from, potentially, two threats. Also, it works from a strategic perspective, if the red player sees that one of the blue outpost is being attacked by the hostile units, he/she could use that opportunity to mount an attack to steal that outpost. But, obviously, the hostile units would attack them as well, so they would have to weigh up the pros of spending more units on capturing an outpost, or allowing the opposing team to keep control of the map.
Just something I thought would be cool. But seriously, well done :)
First step, you will have to edit/create a mover for your projectile in the Data Editor.
You must edit the Motion Phase(s) so that:
-Arrival Test Type is set to Never
(the collision will not be done through the Mover itself, but through a behavior applying various effects including death of the projectile)
-Guidance is set to either Ballistic or Throw
(depends on how you want it to behave... ballistic is the most obvious choice for a standard bullet/rocket)
-Tracking is set to No Hook
(prevents the projectile from dodging/running into anything that comes in range... or so I guess)
Modify the Acceleration, Speed, and Timeout to your convenience, and you should have your projectile going in a straight line. To make it collide properly though, you will need to add a behavior to your Launch Missile actor, so that it will check every 0.xx seconds if there is something to collide with around the projectile. To have a better idea about how to create such a behavior (which is a pain in the you-know-where to explain in a forum, but I remember someone did a tutorial somewhere already), I'd suggest you check how the projectiles -and everything else- from the Lost Viking are done (Data Editor > search for any Behavior starting with SS_ and ending with CollisionCheck... SS_ScourgeCollisionCheck is a good example).
This is the method I use on my own project (search for Ikari Warriors here), you'll see on my latest video how it works ingame. It has its flaws obviously, but this is the closest to a "straight line projectile" I've been able to achieve. It seems not to behave the same with buildings as it does with units, somehow the targeted building destroy the projectile a bit too early (even though damage is still applied correctly). I don't know if it's my work that is responsible or if it's the whole method, though... Anyway, in case you still need help search for tutorials here, I remember at least 2 or 3 topics about this matter which were quite well done.