I don't know that much pro editors around here... Actually, I only know of one beside myself. I don't remember saying to a newbie "learn by yourself you dumb shit" or anything meaning he's not good enough to use/learn the editor (though I am very harsh when it comes to people who think they can handle an entire mod/conversion with no professional background/experience in game design whatsoever). I try to help people whatever is their problem, even if the question has been asked multiple times or I don't have an accurate answer. And I know for sure there are lots of people here ready to help. I asked for help a few times (especially the first weeks I started using the editor) and every member answered politely and accurately.
You have to admit though, whether you're pro or not, it's kind of boring to give an answer that has already been given 10 times, if not more. People should learn to read and browse, search on their own... SC2Mapster forums are a real gold mine, I found 95% of my answers by just searching for topics about the issues I had. Newbies also tend to think we're going to tutor them, asking one question after another about (again) things that were already answered everywhere. I'm not trying to defend those who take newbies for pieces of trash, but you have to admit some newbies are just taking advantage of our kindness sometimes...
There is no instructions manual for level editors (and creative content in general), so you'll have to learn on your own at some point. I'm trying to make newbies understand this as well when I answer them, because we all have better things to do than just teaching them how it works. The only difference is I try to do it as politely as I can, and I know most of us are not being aggressive/impolite towards newbies either. We're saints compared to the TL forums ([TROLL]and the quality of our maps is way better overall[/TROLL]), if you ask me...
Bumping this thread shamelessly. I just noticed APB Reloaded is now Free-to-play (available on Steam). This game is a MMOG in a urban environment and uses the Unreal Engine, as mentioned in . It could be interesting to give it a try and check how it's done thoughtfully. Hopefully you'll find more information while browsing the internet, maybe even contact the team to get answers from the horse's mouth.
Unless I'm not understanding what you're asking for correctly, I think you're looking for a revolving effect, actually... which means the projectiles will rotate around themselves while moving. Set a revolution speed on the Z axis and it should work fine.
I'm thinking...
Couldn't you manage to get a real "cloud effect" by editing the water square model into something with particles? (custom model, of course)
I think adding mist doodads manually underwater is good enough (I did it in Ikari Warriors and it looks great), as long as you don't put too much of them (would cause memory issues, and it looks ugly anyway). If you really want to edit the water tiles, I guess you can try editing lava and modify the attached effects models to its surface (bubbles, rocks jumping, etc...). I'm not sure it's how the lava tiles are done but it's worth trying, I'm pretty sure the creeped water is made that way (ie. a water tile + a model/VFX/doodad on top of it...) and I remember you can change the models used on the surface. I haven't tried though.
There is a function "Convert integer to text" which can be used as a part of the Combine text or Combine Text (multiple) actions. Just create the sentence as usual, and use the function "convert integer to text" to display the value where you need it. If the value of your integer is dynamic (its value changes during the game), you will need to refresh the whole sentence by using a "set WHATEVER text to..." action somewhere in a trigger. The action must be triggered either periodically, or each time an important event occurs (unit dying, ability used, or whatever you want).
Have you tried setting your unit's deceleration to 0? I'm not sure it will work, but if you want to make it using Data, I'd probably try that first as zjat suggested. I think setting it to 0 will not work alone though, because I guess when the unit reaches its destination it stops anyway (ie. it won't keep moving beyond the target waypoint, no matter what, because it doesn't know where to go next). I suppose if you want the unit to keep moving beyond the targeted point, you need to assign a waypoint further, so that the unit knows where it has to go. I remember trying to do that with my sand worm, I wanted it to keep moving endlessly in front of him as soon as it is spawned... It failed, I was unable to figure how to do it (without triggers I mean, because it's lame IMHO). If you succeed, let us know. Maybe using a dummy could work, but I'm not sure exactly how they work, I haven't tried yet.
Ooooh, clever! Never thought of that, thanks, I'll give it a try. Can I make it so that the force intensity is linked to the speed of the unit? I know for sure you can have effects work only when the unit is actually moving at speed X (I used it in a validator for an AoE once), but I'm not sure you can change the amplitude of a force effect according to the current speed of a unit. I'll probably need another periodic effect to check either the distance to the destination point, or the current speed, right?
It's just an editor; engines are so much more complicated
Most of the time, editors are running the engine in real-time. When you edit a map in SC2, you actually run the engine AND edit the content of a file while the engine is running. It's even more obvious when editing a map in a 3D editor (Unreal, Half-Life, Farcry,...). WoW doesn't have a real-time editor as far as I know... I assume they use a completely different process, one that you can see very often in the video games industry (unfortunately, I might add):
Sometimes the editor interface is very limited and you barely have any preview of what you're doing, it's all about lines of code to add references, handling timelines and such, using only scripts. When you have to deal with this kind of level editor, you're glad the SC2 editor is so well-done, easy-to-use and so open to modding. It's a walk in the park, you don't have to directly edit lines of code everywhere and you have access to much more features than you need to (as a level builder, that is). If you want to edit more content from SC2 than what's already available in the actual editor, you'll probably be looking for the SDK. But it's completely another matter, you're not making maps anymore when you have to come to this degree of editing. You're actually modding the game, modifying the core itself, it's more about programming than level editing. Remember that the level editor is just, as the title says, a LEVEL editor. And as such, I think the SC2 editor is already way more advanced than it needs to be. You just need to know how to use all the tools efficiently.
I'm trying to create a mover that will make a custom unit move pretty much like a snake, swinging left and right instead of going in a straight line from point A to B. I have tried making a mover from scratch, tried to copy the zig-zag missile mover from the advanced movers tutorial, but none of them worked for some reason. I always ended up with my unit warping out of the map bounds (bottom-left corner) and I'm unable to move it. Any chance someone already managed to do a "drunken marine" mover or something? I even tried to change my unit type to a projectile, the problem remains. Any idea how we could do that?
Anyone feel like running some statistical analysis on the Galaxy rand()? :)
When I select "random race" in melee, I end up with the Zerg race 75% of the time. I can't tell if their algorithm is the same with custom triggers using random calculations, but I find this kind of self-explanatory...
As far as I can tell though, using a range from 1 to 4 or a range from 1 to 100 gives pretty much the same result. I usually use percentage only for convenience.
You can take your time making the maps, but when you do release them, I'd be interested in trying them :D
I wish I could... I quit 3D modeling years ago, so if I ever make a map with a gameplay similar to Syndicate, I'll need a good team (for modeling, animation, textures and so on)... or damn good tutorials! There is no unit in SC2 even remotely close to the Syndicate cyborgs, and you can't enter buildings either. It means a lot of extra work, and I'm not sure my love for SC2 will remain intact long enough to finish this. I'm not even sure all my current projects will be finished one day, my personal life is taking a huge turn lately. But I'll look into it, it's been years since I wanted a sequel to Syndicate, I'm pretty sure I'll do something about it at some point. :)
"Pardonnez mon ignorance crasse, monseigneur"... but what's Runling Run? I never had the chance to play this map (not even sure it's available on EU servers), and never heard of it. Anyway, I like the idea of streaming your mapping/editing sessions, and I think a similar project was set in place by the SC2Mapster team already. I don't know how popular their streaming is (was?), but I think I remember they broadcast their own tutorials and editing sessions, live for hours and hours... What makes your broadcast unique? Is it for advanced users, or newcomers? Do you plan on streaming other projects? Why choosing Runling Run in the first place? And more importantly, who are you? What's your background (video games professional, early fan of the Blizzard games,...)?
(good luck with translating my first sentence in English, by the way... :D )
EDIT: Who that "Game Host" is in the game lobby is not retrievable.
Actually, maybe you can retrieve who it is. If the first player that joined the lobby is to become player 1 in the game (which is absolutely sure, by the way), even if he quits the lobby and another player takes his place, the new host will still gain control of units of player 1 when entering the game... I totally agree with you on that, I tested it for days when releasing each of my maps.
So you can assume that the host, whenever someone quits the lobby or not, will ALWAYS be the owner of the units controlled by player 1 unless you set it otherwise yourself in a trigger during map init. As long as you store the information in a variable during the map initialization, you can retrieve it later.
You can also assume the player who joined the lobby after the host will take control of units from player 2, and so on for each player... So basically, if you want to know who joined the lobby and when, you'll have to look for who controls which units, store it in a variable, and only then can you do your usual alliance attribution/player slot recognition in a map init trigger (if and only if you have multiple teams or the need to know who chose which parameter in the lobby).
Might be tricky, but I'm guessing you could do something like this:
Each time a player presses CTRL + a digit, store his unit(s) selection in a variable ("unit group" type). You'll probably have to use an array of 2 for this variable, the first one to store which player owns the group, and the other to know which control group the units are stored into.
Then, you'll have to display the information to the other player(s). You'll need to play with UI a bit (actually, A LOT) to create buttons looking just like the usual UI for control groups, and containing:
A - the icon of the first unit in the control group
B - the total number of units in the control group
Not sure if the unit icon usually shows the strongest unit in the group, or the first, or the last selected, or whatever... Anyway, you'll have to set a "rule" of which icon is displayed and stick to it. The rest is just about storing the info into values, retrieving the info whenever you need it, and displaying tiny buttons (or hiding them whenever the group is empty). That's a pain to do it that way, but I can't think of an easier way to get it to work since it's not supposed to be trigger-based.
I'll even add a bit more explanation to it. Using "random integer" in the triggers condition is not optimal at all. Once the value is set to a value between 1 and 4, it won't be changed again. Chances are it will even be set to 0 by default, if "random integer" is not valid (I'm not sure, but I think conditions are not able to take "decisions" like that. It just checks values, it won't set them).
So basically, do as Trieva said, and remove the condition which is not relevant anymore. To sum this up:
Set value = random integer between 1 and 4
If value == 1 then apply both effects
else nothing
Now, each time your character will use its ability (and the process finishes), it will have 25% chances of applying the designated effects.
0
I don't know that much pro editors around here... Actually, I only know of one beside myself. I don't remember saying to a newbie "learn by yourself you dumb shit" or anything meaning he's not good enough to use/learn the editor (though I am very harsh when it comes to people who think they can handle an entire mod/conversion with no professional background/experience in game design whatsoever). I try to help people whatever is their problem, even if the question has been asked multiple times or I don't have an accurate answer. And I know for sure there are lots of people here ready to help. I asked for help a few times (especially the first weeks I started using the editor) and every member answered politely and accurately.
You have to admit though, whether you're pro or not, it's kind of boring to give an answer that has already been given 10 times, if not more. People should learn to read and browse, search on their own... SC2Mapster forums are a real gold mine, I found 95% of my answers by just searching for topics about the issues I had. Newbies also tend to think we're going to tutor them, asking one question after another about (again) things that were already answered everywhere. I'm not trying to defend those who take newbies for pieces of trash, but you have to admit some newbies are just taking advantage of our kindness sometimes...
There is no instructions manual for level editors (and creative content in general), so you'll have to learn on your own at some point. I'm trying to make newbies understand this as well when I answer them, because we all have better things to do than just teaching them how it works. The only difference is I try to do it as politely as I can, and I know most of us are not being aggressive/impolite towards newbies either. We're saints compared to the TL forums ([TROLL]and the quality of our maps is way better overall[/TROLL]), if you ask me...
0
Bumping this thread shamelessly. I just noticed APB Reloaded is now Free-to-play (available on Steam). This game is a MMOG in a urban environment and uses the Unreal Engine, as mentioned in . It could be interesting to give it a try and check how it's done thoughtfully. Hopefully you'll find more information while browsing the internet, maybe even contact the team to get answers from the horse's mouth.
0
Unless I'm not understanding what you're asking for correctly, I think you're looking for a revolving effect, actually... which means the projectiles will rotate around themselves while moving. Set a revolution speed on the Z axis and it should work fine.
0
I think adding mist doodads manually underwater is good enough (I did it in Ikari Warriors and it looks great), as long as you don't put too much of them (would cause memory issues, and it looks ugly anyway). If you really want to edit the water tiles, I guess you can try editing lava and modify the attached effects models to its surface (bubbles, rocks jumping, etc...). I'm not sure it's how the lava tiles are done but it's worth trying, I'm pretty sure the creeped water is made that way (ie. a water tile + a model/VFX/doodad on top of it...) and I remember you can change the models used on the surface. I haven't tried though.
0
There is a function "Convert integer to text" which can be used as a part of the Combine text or Combine Text (multiple) actions. Just create the sentence as usual, and use the function "convert integer to text" to display the value where you need it. If the value of your integer is dynamic (its value changes during the game), you will need to refresh the whole sentence by using a "set WHATEVER text to..." action somewhere in a trigger. The action must be triggered either periodically, or each time an important event occurs (unit dying, ability used, or whatever you want).
If that's not what you meant, I don't get it. :)
0
Have you tried setting your unit's deceleration to 0? I'm not sure it will work, but if you want to make it using Data, I'd probably try that first as zjat suggested. I think setting it to 0 will not work alone though, because I guess when the unit reaches its destination it stops anyway (ie. it won't keep moving beyond the target waypoint, no matter what, because it doesn't know where to go next). I suppose if you want the unit to keep moving beyond the targeted point, you need to assign a waypoint further, so that the unit knows where it has to go. I remember trying to do that with my sand worm, I wanted it to keep moving endlessly in front of him as soon as it is spawned... It failed, I was unable to figure how to do it (without triggers I mean, because it's lame IMHO). If you succeed, let us know. Maybe using a dummy could work, but I'm not sure exactly how they work, I haven't tried yet.
0
Ooooh, clever! Never thought of that, thanks, I'll give it a try. Can I make it so that the force intensity is linked to the speed of the unit? I know for sure you can have effects work only when the unit is actually moving at speed X (I used it in a validator for an AoE once), but I'm not sure you can change the amplitude of a force effect according to the current speed of a unit. I'll probably need another periodic effect to check either the distance to the destination point, or the current speed, right?
0
Most of the time, editors are running the engine in real-time. When you edit a map in SC2, you actually run the engine AND edit the content of a file while the engine is running. It's even more obvious when editing a map in a 3D editor (Unreal, Half-Life, Farcry,...). WoW doesn't have a real-time editor as far as I know... I assume they use a completely different process, one that you can see very often in the video games industry (unfortunately, I might add):
Sometimes the editor interface is very limited and you barely have any preview of what you're doing, it's all about lines of code to add references, handling timelines and such, using only scripts. When you have to deal with this kind of level editor, you're glad the SC2 editor is so well-done, easy-to-use and so open to modding. It's a walk in the park, you don't have to directly edit lines of code everywhere and you have access to much more features than you need to (as a level builder, that is). If you want to edit more content from SC2 than what's already available in the actual editor, you'll probably be looking for the SDK. But it's completely another matter, you're not making maps anymore when you have to come to this degree of editing. You're actually modding the game, modifying the core itself, it's more about programming than level editing. Remember that the level editor is just, as the title says, a LEVEL editor. And as such, I think the SC2 editor is already way more advanced than it needs to be. You just need to know how to use all the tools efficiently.
0
I'm trying to create a mover that will make a custom unit move pretty much like a snake, swinging left and right instead of going in a straight line from point A to B. I have tried making a mover from scratch, tried to copy the zig-zag missile mover from the advanced movers tutorial, but none of them worked for some reason. I always ended up with my unit warping out of the map bounds (bottom-left corner) and I'm unable to move it. Any chance someone already managed to do a "drunken marine" mover or something? I even tried to change my unit type to a projectile, the problem remains. Any idea how we could do that?
0
When I select "random race" in melee, I end up with the Zerg race 75% of the time. I can't tell if their algorithm is the same with custom triggers using random calculations, but I find this kind of self-explanatory...
As far as I can tell though, using a range from 1 to 4 or a range from 1 to 100 gives pretty much the same result. I usually use percentage only for convenience.
0
I wish I could... I quit 3D modeling years ago, so if I ever make a map with a gameplay similar to Syndicate, I'll need a good team (for modeling, animation, textures and so on)... or damn good tutorials! There is no unit in SC2 even remotely close to the Syndicate cyborgs, and you can't enter buildings either. It means a lot of extra work, and I'm not sure my love for SC2 will remain intact long enough to finish this. I'm not even sure all my current projects will be finished one day, my personal life is taking a huge turn lately. But I'll look into it, it's been years since I wanted a sequel to Syndicate, I'm pretty sure I'll do something about it at some point. :)
0
"Pardonnez mon ignorance crasse, monseigneur"... but what's Runling Run? I never had the chance to play this map (not even sure it's available on EU servers), and never heard of it. Anyway, I like the idea of streaming your mapping/editing sessions, and I think a similar project was set in place by the SC2Mapster team already. I don't know how popular their streaming is (was?), but I think I remember they broadcast their own tutorials and editing sessions, live for hours and hours... What makes your broadcast unique? Is it for advanced users, or newcomers? Do you plan on streaming other projects? Why choosing Runling Run in the first place? And more importantly, who are you? What's your background (video games professional, early fan of the Blizzard games,...)?
(good luck with translating my first sentence in English, by the way... :D )
0
Actually, maybe you can retrieve who it is. If the first player that joined the lobby is to become player 1 in the game (which is absolutely sure, by the way), even if he quits the lobby and another player takes his place, the new host will still gain control of units of player 1 when entering the game... I totally agree with you on that, I tested it for days when releasing each of my maps.
So you can assume that the host, whenever someone quits the lobby or not, will ALWAYS be the owner of the units controlled by player 1 unless you set it otherwise yourself in a trigger during map init. As long as you store the information in a variable during the map initialization, you can retrieve it later.
You can also assume the player who joined the lobby after the host will take control of units from player 2, and so on for each player... So basically, if you want to know who joined the lobby and when, you'll have to look for who controls which units, store it in a variable, and only then can you do your usual alliance attribution/player slot recognition in a map init trigger (if and only if you have multiple teams or the need to know who chose which parameter in the lobby).
0
Might be tricky, but I'm guessing you could do something like this:
Each time a player presses CTRL + a digit, store his unit(s) selection in a variable ("unit group" type). You'll probably have to use an array of 2 for this variable, the first one to store which player owns the group, and the other to know which control group the units are stored into.
Then, you'll have to display the information to the other player(s). You'll need to play with UI a bit (actually, A LOT) to create buttons looking just like the usual UI for control groups, and containing:
A - the icon of the first unit in the control group
B - the total number of units in the control group
Not sure if the unit icon usually shows the strongest unit in the group, or the first, or the last selected, or whatever... Anyway, you'll have to set a "rule" of which icon is displayed and stick to it. The rest is just about storing the info into values, retrieving the info whenever you need it, and displaying tiny buttons (or hiding them whenever the group is empty). That's a pain to do it that way, but I can't think of an easier way to get it to work since it's not supposed to be trigger-based.
0
@Trieva: Go
I'll even add a bit more explanation to it. Using "random integer" in the triggers condition is not optimal at all. Once the value is set to a value between 1 and 4, it won't be changed again. Chances are it will even be set to 0 by default, if "random integer" is not valid (I'm not sure, but I think conditions are not able to take "decisions" like that. It just checks values, it won't set them).
So basically, do as Trieva said, and remove the condition which is not relevant anymore. To sum this up:
Set value = random integer between 1 and 4
If value == 1 then apply both effects
else nothing
Now, each time your character will use its ability (and the process finishes), it will have 25% chances of applying the designated effects.