Sending an email now with a zip file. I did multiple lines and I tried Zolthanon's voice two different ways. I might be able to convince my wife to try for Lorie, but she's kind of nervous.
Image Requirements: Some of my favorite girls from anime (Onodera Karen, Tenjo Utena, Lucy Maria Misora, Mikoto Misaka, this chick, and my own crappy drawing.)
Short Explanation: I love the animes and I like being silly, so I was thinking possibly of having the sentence "Anime Girls: Just because they're not real doesn't mean they're not pretty.
I was helping someone figure out an issue they were having with their triggers and after much playing, it turns out that the triggers wouldn't run because they all were triggered by the same key press, even though the conditions would immediately narrow it down to only one. I crammed all of their triggers into an if/then chain (since they wanted a single button to swap through multiple units) and it solved their problem.
Just wanted to put the word out there that this might cause issues.
I actually just made a tutorial on Unit Groups today; however it really depends upon how you have your units being spawned. If they're already preplaced them on your map then select your first hero and hit Numpad 0 Then hit Alt A then G You should now be in the Object Groups window and you should have an untitled Unit Group with only your first hero in it. Rename that to Heroes or something. Now when you're working with triggers and need to recall a Unit Group, you can find that entry in the Variables
If the heroes are spawned via triggers, it's almost just as easy. Go to the Object Group window and create an empty Unit Group and name that Heroes. Right after you spawn your 1st Hero run a trigger like this:
Add Unit (last spawned unit) to Unit Group: Heroes.
When it comes time for the 2nd hero, just do the same thing like you did for the first. If they maintain a distance from each other and you have the camera set to follow the Unit Group, it should be in the middle of them.
If I wasn't quiet clear, just follow this link to my tutorial
If you haven't already, check out Hib's Hero Selection. I'm currently using it for my Nova map and it works great; I have a little bug with it, but it's not game breaking so I can still develop my map. I actually need to let him know about it.
Good question and I look forward to the answer. Right now I'm designing multiple levels of an ability because I want to increase things like range and AoE radius as it levels. If I could handle that with some attributes or variable changes - rather than making multiple copies of the ability and modifying them - that would be perfect.
I would like to add more cliff levels. Right now you have nothingness, level 1, level 2, and level 3. Being able to modify the number of those possible would help greatly with custom maps and being able to build walls and such that don't look like garbage.
Yea, I know the thing is a work in progress and that your main priority is getting it to work the way you want it for your map. I just wanted to kick a couple of ideas around.
For the animated portrait, I could probably nuke the whole dialog box up there, including the HP and Energy Bar and remake one sized properly with the animated portrait.
I totally agree with you, I love the windshield feel the HUD has, which is why I think being able to minimize the attributes listed there would make it look cleaner.
As for the exp bar, I've seen some stuff out there for progress bars before and I'm not sure if the trigger editor can handle it, but you could make that dialog box have a mouse-over tooltip that just shows something basic like 999/1000 using variables to recall those numbers.
I love the idea of having a diverging story, based on your choices, and the fact that your abilities reflect that is even better. I think that's one of the reasons I'm really looking forward to SW:ToR and was tempted to make a Mass Effect inspired map.
Okay, so in one of the long tutorials, they kind of glanced over object groups, so I figured I would cover them more in detail because they are a beautiful thing and they make life so much easier. This is on my list of things I new before I started making my first map.
Object Groups
How are Object Groups Going Help Me?
Object Groups are a great way to manage units you already have placed on your map. When it comes to working with triggers, which I'll show you later, the Object Groups get saved as variables, so you don't have to try and find some clever way to add units to a unit group and try to recall that value later with a data table. While the general term for what we're working with is "Object Group" when we're handling units we're actually dealing with Unit Groups.
Making your first Object Group
A lot of people like to create a new map, usually with the default Agria settings to demonstrate what they're talking about, I'm going to use my current map in progress.
The first thing you need to do is select the units one you map that you want to create an Object Group out of. Once you have a few of them selected, you can either go do Edit in the menu bar and then select Merge Selected or you can just hit Numpad 0. Because I have different plans for these units here, I'm going to select what I call my robots and use Numpad 0 to make them into an Object Group
If you're not happy with the units you selected you can delete the Unit Group by selecting one of the units, which will select them all and then going to Edit in the menu and selecting Split Selected or by pressing Ctrl + Numpad 0. While it might be called "Split Selected" it should really be called "Destroy Selected" as it completely destroys the unit group. It's the same thing with "Merge Selected" it actually creates a new Unit Group rather than adding the selected units to the Unit Group of other selected units.
Lets take a loot at how we can actually add or remove individual units to and from the group without having to nuke the whole thing.
Managing Your First Object Group
After that, you want to go to Map and select Object Groups... or hit Alt + A and then G to open up the Object Window.
Here you can see our new Unit Group. I'm going to make a couple more unit groups and start giving them names. Lets call the one we just made "White Robots"
These are the different fields that we have to play with when it comes to managing our Unit Group.
Group Name: Normally we can hit F2 to rename something like a trigger in the Galaxy Editor, unfortunately that doesn't work here and we actually have to go to the name field.
Icon: We can give our little Unit Group a cool little icon. I however have yet to find a use for this icon.
Loot: This field lets us bring up a menu in which we can select what loop the members of this Unit Group will drop. This allows us to handle loot in a more regional manner rather than based on the actual unit, like in the data editor. This does require; however, that you have set up loot because the only available loot is all test data.
Patrol Pathing: While this box has amazing prospects, because you can set up different points as patrol points, and even add wait timers for said points, I've yet to find a way to get the units to actually execute the path we set for them.
Units: This box is very important as it is the only way to manage the membership of your unit group without the use of triggers. Once you've merged your group together, to change what units are in the group you have to either use the red or green x under this box or right click and select add or remove unit.
Okay, now that we've gone over the functions in this window, lets see how we can plug these guys into a trigger. I'm going to make an empty unit group and name it White Zone before we head to the Trigger Manager.
Using Your Unit Group in a Trigger
Okay, for our first trigger, lets set it to kick off when the game starts and we'll skip right down to actions. We're going to use one of the actions I was recently introduced to, "for each Unit in Unit Group do Action." Since the Galaxy Editor is not consistent on what actions can be executed on groups versus single units, we have to use a trigger like this to get around actions that can only be done on a sole soldier. Basically we're doing an action on each and every unit in our group, one at a time.
If you click on the Unit Group variable hyperclick, and then click on Variable to take us to that tab, you'll see all of the Unit Groups that were in the Object Manager, including the empty one, and a count of the number of units that belong to each group. Lets select White Robots and then create another action to set the color of "Picked Unit" to White. Our next action is that we're going to combine all of the unit groups that reside in the White Zone into a single Unit Group, that way we can set triggers for the little Unit Groups or all of the units in that region at once.
This is what our final trigger looks like. What should happen is that all of the 'robots' that player 3 owns become colored white while their humans stay red, but an action can bet set to befall all of the units in that zone at the same time.
The End
I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and I hope it makes handling Unit Groups in your triggers easier. If you see something I've missed, or would like me to expound upon something with a little more detail and/or a picture, let me know. Also, for those of you gurus that might be reading this, I would appreciate you adding to any deficiencies I may have had, such as if you've managed to actually find a use for the Icons or managed to get a Unit Group to follow through with the patrol set forth in the Patrol Pathing.
0
@DJBaker: Go
Sending an email now with a zip file. I did multiple lines and I tried Zolthanon's voice two different ways. I might be able to convince my wife to try for Lorie, but she's kind of nervous.
0
@Beasttamer: Go
Oh crap. I've been so busy I think I haven't read the manga in the last two weeks.
0
Theme: Character mashup
Image Requirements: Some of my favorite girls from anime (Onodera Karen, Tenjo Utena, Lucy Maria Misora, Mikoto Misaka, this chick, and my own crappy drawing.)
Short Explanation: I love the animes and I like being silly, so I was thinking possibly of having the sentence "Anime Girls: Just because they're not real doesn't mean they're not pretty.
0
Woot, thanks for this collection.
That reminds me...
0
I was helping someone figure out an issue they were having with their triggers and after much playing, it turns out that the triggers wouldn't run because they all were triggered by the same key press, even though the conditions would immediately narrow it down to only one. I crammed all of their triggers into an if/then chain (since they wanted a single button to swap through multiple units) and it solved their problem.
Just wanted to put the word out there that this might cause issues.
0
@Sevenspeed: Go
I actually just made a tutorial on Unit Groups today; however it really depends upon how you have your units being spawned. If they're already preplaced them on your map then select your first hero and hit Numpad 0 Then hit Alt A then G You should now be in the Object Groups window and you should have an untitled Unit Group with only your first hero in it. Rename that to Heroes or something. Now when you're working with triggers and need to recall a Unit Group, you can find that entry in the Variables
If the heroes are spawned via triggers, it's almost just as easy. Go to the Object Group window and create an empty Unit Group and name that Heroes. Right after you spawn your 1st Hero run a trigger like this: Add Unit (last spawned unit) to Unit Group: Heroes.
When it comes time for the 2nd hero, just do the same thing like you did for the first. If they maintain a distance from each other and you have the camera set to follow the Unit Group, it should be in the middle of them.
If I wasn't quiet clear, just follow this link to my tutorial
0
@Beasttamer: Go
I'm currently watching Bleach, High School of the Dead, and K-On!!. It's all about the English fansub and Japanese dialog.
0
I love debating, especially topics that most people don't enjoy talking about, so right away this sounded interesting, will have to check this out.
0
@Sweepingzero: Go
If you haven't already, check out Hib's Hero Selection. I'm currently using it for my Nova map and it works great; I have a little bug with it, but it's not game breaking so I can still develop my map. I actually need to let him know about it.
0
@Sevenspeed: Go
I would add both of those Heroes to a unit group and use the action "Follow Unit Group with Camera"
0
You're welcome. I had fun playing with it since it was actually my first time handling an array after learning about them.
Yes, it can be a bit rough and sometimes inconsistent.
0
@insom89: Go
Good question and I look forward to the answer. Right now I'm designing multiple levels of an ability because I want to increase things like range and AoE radius as it levels. If I could handle that with some attributes or variable changes - rather than making multiple copies of the ability and modifying them - that would be perfect.
0
I would like to add more cliff levels. Right now you have nothingness, level 1, level 2, and level 3. Being able to modify the number of those possible would help greatly with custom maps and being able to build walls and such that don't look like garbage.
0
@Sweepingzero: Go
Yea, I know the thing is a work in progress and that your main priority is getting it to work the way you want it for your map. I just wanted to kick a couple of ideas around.
For the animated portrait, I could probably nuke the whole dialog box up there, including the HP and Energy Bar and remake one sized properly with the animated portrait.
I totally agree with you, I love the windshield feel the HUD has, which is why I think being able to minimize the attributes listed there would make it look cleaner.
As for the exp bar, I've seen some stuff out there for progress bars before and I'm not sure if the trigger editor can handle it, but you could make that dialog box have a mouse-over tooltip that just shows something basic like 999/1000 using variables to recall those numbers.
I love the idea of having a diverging story, based on your choices, and the fact that your abilities reflect that is even better. I think that's one of the reasons I'm really looking forward to SW:ToR and was tempted to make a Mass Effect inspired map.
0
Okay, so in one of the long tutorials, they kind of glanced over object groups, so I figured I would cover them more in detail because they are a beautiful thing and they make life so much easier. This is on my list of things I new before I started making my first map.
Object Groups
How are Object Groups Going Help Me?
Object Groups are a great way to manage units you already have placed on your map. When it comes to working with triggers, which I'll show you later, the Object Groups get saved as variables, so you don't have to try and find some clever way to add units to a unit group and try to recall that value later with a data table. While the general term for what we're working with is "Object Group" when we're handling units we're actually dealing with Unit Groups.
Making your first Object Group
A lot of people like to create a new map, usually with the default Agria settings to demonstrate what they're talking about, I'm going to use my current map in progress.
The first thing you need to do is select the units one you map that you want to create an Object Group out of. Once you have a few of them selected, you can either go do Edit in the menu bar and then select Merge Selected or you can just hit Numpad 0. Because I have different plans for these units here, I'm going to select what I call my robots and use Numpad 0 to make them into an Object Group
If you're not happy with the units you selected you can delete the Unit Group by selecting one of the units, which will select them all and then going to Edit in the menu and selecting Split Selected or by pressing Ctrl + Numpad 0. While it might be called "Split Selected" it should really be called "Destroy Selected" as it completely destroys the unit group. It's the same thing with "Merge Selected" it actually creates a new Unit Group rather than adding the selected units to the Unit Group of other selected units.
Lets take a loot at how we can actually add or remove individual units to and from the group without having to nuke the whole thing.
Managing Your First Object Group
After that, you want to go to Map and select Object Groups... or hit Alt + A and then G to open up the Object Window.
Here you can see our new Unit Group. I'm going to make a couple more unit groups and start giving them names. Lets call the one we just made "White Robots"
These are the different fields that we have to play with when it comes to managing our Unit Group.
Group Name: Normally we can hit F2 to rename something like a trigger in the Galaxy Editor, unfortunately that doesn't work here and we actually have to go to the name field.
Icon: We can give our little Unit Group a cool little icon. I however have yet to find a use for this icon.
Loot: This field lets us bring up a menu in which we can select what loop the members of this Unit Group will drop. This allows us to handle loot in a more regional manner rather than based on the actual unit, like in the data editor. This does require; however, that you have set up loot because the only available loot is all test data.
Patrol Pathing: While this box has amazing prospects, because you can set up different points as patrol points, and even add wait timers for said points, I've yet to find a way to get the units to actually execute the path we set for them.
Units: This box is very important as it is the only way to manage the membership of your unit group without the use of triggers. Once you've merged your group together, to change what units are in the group you have to either use the red or green x under this box or right click and select add or remove unit.
Okay, now that we've gone over the functions in this window, lets see how we can plug these guys into a trigger. I'm going to make an empty unit group and name it White Zone before we head to the Trigger Manager.
Using Your Unit Group in a Trigger
Okay, for our first trigger, lets set it to kick off when the game starts and we'll skip right down to actions. We're going to use one of the actions I was recently introduced to, "for each Unit in Unit Group do Action." Since the Galaxy Editor is not consistent on what actions can be executed on groups versus single units, we have to use a trigger like this to get around actions that can only be done on a sole soldier. Basically we're doing an action on each and every unit in our group, one at a time.
If you click on the Unit Group variable hyperclick, and then click on Variable to take us to that tab, you'll see all of the Unit Groups that were in the Object Manager, including the empty one, and a count of the number of units that belong to each group. Lets select White Robots and then create another action to set the color of "Picked Unit" to White. Our next action is that we're going to combine all of the unit groups that reside in the White Zone into a single Unit Group, that way we can set triggers for the little Unit Groups or all of the units in that region at once.
This is what our final trigger looks like. What should happen is that all of the 'robots' that player 3 owns become colored white while their humans stay red, but an action can bet set to befall all of the units in that zone at the same time.
The End
I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and I hope it makes handling Unit Groups in your triggers easier. If you see something I've missed, or would like me to expound upon something with a little more detail and/or a picture, let me know. Also, for those of you gurus that might be reading this, I would appreciate you adding to any deficiencies I may have had, such as if you've managed to actually find a use for the Icons or managed to get a Unit Group to follow through with the patrol set forth in the Patrol Pathing.