The height of a unit is set according to its Origin attachment point. The Origin point is a point remaining in the center of the selection circle, at height 0 of the current cliff level. When your unit moves between the cliffs, its Origin point goes down because the cliff level is lower in-between. The only way to prevent your unit from moving down between the cliffs is to force the Origin point to stay at the same height during the jump, regardless of which cliff level it passes over. It could lead to weird effects though, if the height of the cliff on the other side of the gap is higher or lower than where you started the jump... Your unit will probably warp to reset its height when the jump is finished.
Sorry if I can't help you more... I'm pretty sure there is a way to force the height of the Origin point though, probably by adding a movement modifier, or an effect setting the Origin height to the height at which the jump started...
I'm not sure it will be of any help here, but there is a "Magazine Count of Unit" function in the Units category. I don't know if it counts the ability charges left, but it is worth a try.
There is also a "Catalog Field Value Count" which will be harder to set correctly, but could get pretty much any value from any field, as long as you know where to look.
Tell me if I'm wrong, but you're trying to create a unit which loses life over time and can heal by killing units, is that it?
If that's the case, it's quite simple:
- In your Unit data, instead of a positive value in the "Stats - Life Regeneration Rate" field, set it negative. Setting it to -1, for example, will make your unit lose 1 life point per second. You'll just have to do the math to make it lose all its life points in 30 minutes.
- You will also need a buff on your unit (Behavior - buff) which will modify the "Combat - Modification - Vital leeched from Damage dealt - Damage kind" field.
Change the amount of leeched life to a certain amount of your unit's life (leech set to 1 means 100%). Ex: A unit with 200 max life, and a leech of 0.1, will regain 5 life points per kill. Set this value in the Life - Melee field if the weapon used by your unit is melee, Ranged if it's a projectile, Spell if it's an ability, or Splash if you want it to only count the damage done by Areas of Effect. You can also leech shields and/or energy the same way.
It requires a little math, but this is the simplest way I can think of. You can check my Sand Worm Survival map, the Sand Worm uses the exact same method and it works great. :)
Actually, I'm aiming for Canada. My motivations are mostly for work, I'm not sure to stay for long yet but I sure hope so.
Anyway, yes, I assume it would lag a bit more. But I don't know if it's worth buying another copy just to get rid of it...
I started being interested in map making by the age of 10. I can't remember for sure which game it was on, probably Lode Runner on Game Boy...
My maps were kind of lame most of the time, I was sort of playing in a sandbox without any real goal except having fun with my own maps.
At the age of 12 I started making more interesting maps, like scenarios and minigames with specific rules... I started learning the Unreal Engine and more complicated editors (like SC1) at that time.
Around 15-16 I tried modding, especially in NeverWinter Nights. I knew way better how to build interesting maps, so I started making my own campaign in NWN1... I even made a trailer but let's be honest, if I were to play this mod now I think I woudn't enjoy it. It's also at 15 that I decided to become a pro level designer.
At 19, I started studies to become pro, which helped me to know what you can and can't do (you don't think much about that when you do maps for your own pleasure, do you?). I already had lots of maps, projects, and campaigns made on my own at that time. Most of them were on WarCraft 3, NWN1, or the Unreal Engine. I had to drop my most advanced mod when NWN2 came out though... :(
At 21, well... I knew the Unreal Engine well enough to give lessons to my classmates... And I did. A few years ago, I also did my first TD map in Frozen Throne. It isn't at all like the usual load of crappy TD maps we can find, I wanted to make a real map, following TD rules, but with some sort of storyline. Actually, now that I think about it, I really should have made this map public. Sumo's TD kind of reminds me of it... Aaaah, good times... I also started another TD map last year, following the same idea, but it was only a few weeks before SC2 came out so... I kind of dropped it. :)
During all these years, I used (at least once) the following games and editors:
Commander Keen (can't remember which one, there were so many!)
Unreal 1, 2, Unreal Tournament, UT 2003, UT 2004, UT3
NeverWinter Nights 1 & 2
Fallout 2 (not sure about this one, I think it was an amateur unofficial editor) & Fallout 3
Half-Life 1 & 2, Gunman (HL1 mod)
Daggerfall, Morrowind & Oblivion
Line Rider (flash game) & LR2
Get Medieval (Gauntlet look-alike)
The Incredible Machine 1, 2, 3 & Sid and Al's Incredible Toons
Fury of the Furries
Descent 2 (not sure about this one)
Lode Runner (Game Boy)
Skynet (Terminator thingy)
Titan Quest
Farcry 1 & 2, Crysis
Worms Armaggeddon & Worms 3D
...That's a lot and I'm pretty sure I forgot about a few. Anyway, it was just to show that you should really be curious about the various game engines and editing tools if you plan on improving your skills, even amateur ones. It also helps you understand that you can't become a map maker in a day. Even though you obviously can't master all those, you still can learn the basics and it will help you understand a lot. Now go, mapper wannabes! :)
As far as I can tell, map makers work alone. There could be a team of map makers, but each one of them have a different map to do. They do not share the making of a map so that one will do heights, one will place doodads, and so on... That's pretty much the same for any artist, they hardly share the work because they're all "specialists" in their own way. I can't tell the reason for sure, but I think it has to do with the fact that it's easier for a map maker to know every aspect of its map, so that it will be of the best quality possible in the end.
Doing a map as a team, we would have to wait for the other mappers to complete their part before making any further progress... which is kind of annoying. The experience level is also important, I'm pretty sure mixing young mappers and pros will give something that isn't really, let's say, homogeneous.
Knowing that, we still could do a project together... Something like a "SC2Mapster single player campaign" where each member wishing to join the project will have to do his map from A to Z, following a storyline we all agreed for... :)
I plan to move from EU to NA in the next few weeks/months, and was wondering about a few things concerning my BattleNet account and such:
Will I still be able to create/join a game with the maps I already have uploaded in EU?
Will I need to upload my maps again in NA? ...and can I upload them to EU servers as well?
Can I upload my maps in NA without a "you already uploaded that map in EU" kind of error?
Can my account be blocked/banned for some reason (new IP or something like that)? If so, what can I do to prevent this?
What about my SC2 friends list? Are they still able to chat with me, and join/be invited in a game I'm hosting? Can they invite me too?
I haven't read any official FAQ about this yet, I think I pretty much know the answers to these already but I'm not really sure about being banned or not...
I create this thread to gather all the maps I have made (or will), and I wish I could get feedback here as often as needed be. If you happen to play any of these, please take some time to come back here and give your ideas, thoughts, feelings or whatever, so that I can improve my maps in later versions. Thanks!
Ikari Warriors
Ikari Warriors is a top-down shooter for 1 or 2 players.
Current version (v2.0) includes 2 levels and dozens of improvements were added since v1.0.
You can find the map on BattleNet (EU) under the name "Ikari Warriors".
The Last Hour offers a gameplay pretty similar to Left 2 Die, for up to 4 players.
Current version (alpha) includes most of the objectives, but the terrain is far from being done (which obviously reduces the amount of possibilities).
You can find the map on BattleNet (EU) under the name "The Last Hour" in the Tower Defense category.
Sand Worm Survival is a minigame for up to 8 players.
Current version (v0.8b) is unpolished and might contain a few bugs.
You can find the map on BattleNet (EU) under the name "Sand Worm Survival".
Nerf the Riders ability somehow (limited duration, only target worms under 20% HP,...)
Hear sounds when camera is far away
Longer games, objectives harder to achieve (for Riders mostly)
Paparazzi
Paparazzi (temporary name?) is a minigame for lots of players.
Current version is not beta, so it isn't released yet.
SC2Mapster page (with screenshots)
None yet
Ideas, bugs and feedback gathered so far
Completely devoid of any feedback whatsoever.
Rooftop Gardens
Rooftop Gardens is a melee map for 1v1, 2v2, or FFA.
Current version (v1.0) was not yet tested online with all races, so it might be imbalanced.
You can find the map on BattleNet (EU) under the name "Rooftop Gardens".
Flooded Slums is a melee map for 1v1, 2v2, or FFA.
Current version (v1.0) was not yet tested online with all races, so it might be imbalanced.
You can find the map on BattleNet (EU) under the name "Flooded Slums".
BorgDragon was right about the ownership and it worked perfectly... I already saw the field once or twice but didn't dare to modify it, because I thought you needed to add a "Player - Effect" to make it work.
Uiasdnmb, my bad... I forgot I had put my validator in the effect too, which was exactly done the way you describe. I played with the different validator fields a bit today, but whatever I tried never worked.
I found the solution however, by checking how the neural parasite ability is done. It seems like instead of checking for an effect on the target, it just checks for markers (I don't know what they are exactly but I assume it's something that defines whether a unit receives/sends a "cast" order or not). I replaced my custom validator by "No Markers" (the validator used in neural parasite) and it works perfectly. So... For anyone wishing to know, if you want to limit the use of a spell to one caster per target, use marker counts instead of behavior counts!
You're only using target filter's on the ability itself?
Yep.
Quote:
Maybe you should try checking the very effect (the one ability is linking to) that causes the controll effect and (from you videos i saw you apply behavior to the unit), you should easily be able to create validator for it (validator type - Unit Compare Behavior Count) then and add it to the effect.
I thought so too, that's the first thing I tried but it doesn't seem to work... I just tried putting the validator elsewhere right now (I wasn't sure if it needs to be in the "disable" or "remove" validation field), but it doesn't seem to work either. Maybe my validator itself is wrong though, I'm not sure anymore...
Quote:
Also, is your ability flagged for Best Unit? (or sth like that), if it is only one unit from selected will use the ability.
Yes, but it doesn't help much. There are 2 players using these units, so if Player 1 casts the spell on a worm while Player 2 does the same, the problem remains. Actually, if you order a unit to cast the spell and the target dodges it and flee (it happens a lot because the worm is very fast), you often end up sending multiple units against the target and a few of them may eventually cast the spell at the same time, even with the Best unit flag checked... I also have a fake AI which sends all the units on a target at the same time, so it happens very often that they cast the spell together (this is how I detected it could be done, to begin with).
Anyway, just in case it could help, here's how the ability is made:
First, a spell requiring a target... It applies a buff to the target (the negative buff you see on the worm in the video), and a buff to the rider (because the caster needs to be hidden and set to invulnerable)
The rider does not actually move on the head of the worm, it is faked via Model Additions. The caster is just hidden and left aside until something happens to the worm (ie. death, mostly)
I have a few triggers to make sure the caster unhides when the worm is either killed or captured, then it is moved where the worm just died (and a few other actions but it doesn't matter here)
The ownership of the worm is changed via triggers (couldn't find how to do it via data), I actually check whenever a worm receives the negative buff to change its owner
The "ride" ability is disabled for the casting player via trigger when he already controls a worm, and it is enabled again when he controls no worm
If I could think of a solution, it has to do with the ownership modification. I'm pretty sure it would be safer to do it via data instead of using triggers, but I haven't found a way... I did search in the forums, I checked the neural parasite ability too, but couldn't find anything of help so I decided to go for triggers.
Here, this is how the ability behaves normally. It works in that case, just because I did not order 2 units at once to cast the spell:
In the following video, it does not work:
As you can see, ordering more than one unit to cast the spell leads to a giant mess where all casters disappear as if they mounted the worm. I want something to cancel the spell if any unit already started to cast it on that unit, to prevent many huge bugs with my triggers... I'm pretty sure it's easy to fix (with validators or whatever) but I already spent hours trying to figure it out (meaning I had to upload my map dozens of time) and I'm getting bored to see I'm doing it wrong, whatever I try...
0
@gl0ckage: Go
Thanks for your feedback, I'll look into it.
If you can be a bit more specific about the balance issues though, it would help.
0
The height of a unit is set according to its Origin attachment point. The Origin point is a point remaining in the center of the selection circle, at height 0 of the current cliff level. When your unit moves between the cliffs, its Origin point goes down because the cliff level is lower in-between. The only way to prevent your unit from moving down between the cliffs is to force the Origin point to stay at the same height during the jump, regardless of which cliff level it passes over. It could lead to weird effects though, if the height of the cliff on the other side of the gap is higher or lower than where you started the jump... Your unit will probably warp to reset its height when the jump is finished.
Sorry if I can't help you more... I'm pretty sure there is a way to force the height of the Origin point though, probably by adding a movement modifier, or an effect setting the Origin height to the height at which the jump started...
0
@cinicraft: Go
I'm not sure it will be of any help here, but there is a "Magazine Count of Unit" function in the Units category. I don't know if it counts the ability charges left, but it is worth a try.
There is also a "Catalog Field Value Count" which will be harder to set correctly, but could get pretty much any value from any field, as long as you know where to look.
0
@Reaper872: Go
Tell me if I'm wrong, but you're trying to create a unit which loses life over time and can heal by killing units, is that it?
If that's the case, it's quite simple:
- In your Unit data, instead of a positive value in the "Stats - Life Regeneration Rate" field, set it negative. Setting it to -1, for example, will make your unit lose 1 life point per second. You'll just have to do the math to make it lose all its life points in 30 minutes.
- You will also need a buff on your unit (Behavior - buff) which will modify the "Combat - Modification - Vital leeched from Damage dealt - Damage kind" field.
Change the amount of leeched life to a certain amount of your unit's life (leech set to 1 means 100%). Ex: A unit with 200 max life, and a leech of 0.1, will regain 5 life points per kill. Set this value in the Life - Melee field if the weapon used by your unit is melee, Ranged if it's a projectile, Spell if it's an ability, or Splash if you want it to only count the damage done by Areas of Effect. You can also leech shields and/or energy the same way.
It requires a little math, but this is the simplest way I can think of. You can check my Sand Worm Survival map, the Sand Worm uses the exact same method and it works great. :)
0
Actually, I'm aiming for Canada. My motivations are mostly for work, I'm not sure to stay for long yet but I sure hope so. Anyway, yes, I assume it would lag a bit more. But I don't know if it's worth buying another copy just to get rid of it...
0
@Vexal: Go
It could be, indeed. ;)
0
I started being interested in map making by the age of 10. I can't remember for sure which game it was on, probably Lode Runner on Game Boy... My maps were kind of lame most of the time, I was sort of playing in a sandbox without any real goal except having fun with my own maps.
At the age of 12 I started making more interesting maps, like scenarios and minigames with specific rules... I started learning the Unreal Engine and more complicated editors (like SC1) at that time.
Around 15-16 I tried modding, especially in NeverWinter Nights. I knew way better how to build interesting maps, so I started making my own campaign in NWN1... I even made a trailer but let's be honest, if I were to play this mod now I think I woudn't enjoy it. It's also at 15 that I decided to become a pro level designer.
At 19, I started studies to become pro, which helped me to know what you can and can't do (you don't think much about that when you do maps for your own pleasure, do you?). I already had lots of maps, projects, and campaigns made on my own at that time. Most of them were on WarCraft 3, NWN1, or the Unreal Engine. I had to drop my most advanced mod when NWN2 came out though... :(
At 21, well... I knew the Unreal Engine well enough to give lessons to my classmates... And I did. A few years ago, I also did my first TD map in Frozen Throne. It isn't at all like the usual load of crappy TD maps we can find, I wanted to make a real map, following TD rules, but with some sort of storyline. Actually, now that I think about it, I really should have made this map public. Sumo's TD kind of reminds me of it... Aaaah, good times... I also started another TD map last year, following the same idea, but it was only a few weeks before SC2 came out so... I kind of dropped it. :)
During all these years, I used (at least once) the following games and editors:
...That's a lot and I'm pretty sure I forgot about a few. Anyway, it was just to show that you should really be curious about the various game engines and editing tools if you plan on improving your skills, even amateur ones. It also helps you understand that you can't become a map maker in a day. Even though you obviously can't master all those, you still can learn the basics and it will help you understand a lot. Now go, mapper wannabes! :)
0
As far as I can tell, map makers work alone. There could be a team of map makers, but each one of them have a different map to do. They do not share the making of a map so that one will do heights, one will place doodads, and so on... That's pretty much the same for any artist, they hardly share the work because they're all "specialists" in their own way. I can't tell the reason for sure, but I think it has to do with the fact that it's easier for a map maker to know every aspect of its map, so that it will be of the best quality possible in the end.
Doing a map as a team, we would have to wait for the other mappers to complete their part before making any further progress... which is kind of annoying. The experience level is also important, I'm pretty sure mixing young mappers and pros will give something that isn't really, let's say, homogeneous.
Knowing that, we still could do a project together... Something like a "SC2Mapster single player campaign" where each member wishing to join the project will have to do his map from A to Z, following a storyline we all agreed for... :)
0
Thank you all for your answers... I'll probably ask to Blizzard directly sooner or later, and will bump the thread to tell.
@Vexal: Hmm, why do you ask?
0
I plan to move from EU to NA in the next few weeks/months, and was wondering about a few things concerning my BattleNet account and such:
I haven't read any official FAQ about this yet, I think I pretty much know the answers to these already but I'm not really sure about being banned or not...
0
I create this thread to gather all the maps I have made (or will), and I wish I could get feedback here as often as needed be. If you happen to play any of these, please take some time to come back here and give your ideas, thoughts, feelings or whatever, so that I can improve my maps in later versions. Thanks!
Ikari Warriors
Ikari Warriors is a top-down shooter for 1 or 2 players.
Current version (v2.0) includes 2 levels and dozens of improvements were added since v1.0.
You can find the map on BattleNet (EU) under the name "Ikari Warriors".
Official page
http://www.sc2mapster.com/maps/ikari-warriors/
Ideas, bugs and feedback gathered so far
The Last Hour
The Last Hour offers a gameplay pretty similar to Left 2 Die, for up to 4 players.
Current version (alpha) includes most of the objectives, but the terrain is far from being done (which obviously reduces the amount of possibilities).
You can find the map on BattleNet (EU) under the name "The Last Hour" in the Tower Defense category.
Official page
http://www.sc2mapster.com/maps/last-hour/
Ideas, bugs and feedback gathered so far
Sand Worm Survival
Sand Worm Survival is a minigame for up to 8 players.
Current version (v0.8b) is unpolished and might contain a few bugs.
You can find the map on BattleNet (EU) under the name "Sand Worm Survival".
Original thread (with videos)
http://forums.sc2mapster.com/resources/project-workplace/15761-minigame-sand-worm-survival/
SC2Mapster page (with screenshots)
http://www.sc2mapster.com/maps/sand-worm-survival/
Ideas, bugs and feedback gathered so far
Paparazzi
Paparazzi (temporary name?) is a minigame for lots of players.
Current version is not beta, so it isn't released yet.
SC2Mapster page (with screenshots)
None yet
Ideas, bugs and feedback gathered so far
Rooftop Gardens
Rooftop Gardens is a melee map for 1v1, 2v2, or FFA.
Current version (v1.0) was not yet tested online with all races, so it might be imbalanced.
You can find the map on BattleNet (EU) under the name "Rooftop Gardens".
SC2Mapster page (with screenshots)
http://www.sc2mapster.com/maps/rooftop-gardens/
Ideas, bugs and feedback gathered so far
Flooded Slums
Flooded Slums is a melee map for 1v1, 2v2, or FFA.
Current version (v1.0) was not yet tested online with all races, so it might be imbalanced.
You can find the map on BattleNet (EU) under the name "Flooded Slums".
SC2Mapster page (with screenshots)
http://www.sc2mapster.com/maps/flooded-slums/
Ideas, bugs and feedback gathered so far
0
v0.8 (beta) is out!
You can watch the 3 videos added in the first post (one for each team) to catch the idea much better now!
Anyone wishing to help balancing and/or testing this minigame is welcome to add me on BNet:
ZealNaga.252 (EU)
Feedback is strongly required and I need lots of players if I want to successfully balance the game.
0
Thank you both!
BorgDragon was right about the ownership and it worked perfectly... I already saw the field once or twice but didn't dare to modify it, because I thought you needed to add a "Player - Effect" to make it work.
Uiasdnmb, my bad... I forgot I had put my validator in the effect too, which was exactly done the way you describe. I played with the different validator fields a bit today, but whatever I tried never worked.
I found the solution however, by checking how the neural parasite ability is done. It seems like instead of checking for an effect on the target, it just checks for markers (I don't know what they are exactly but I assume it's something that defines whether a unit receives/sends a "cast" order or not). I replaced my custom validator by "No Markers" (the validator used in neural parasite) and it works perfectly. So... For anyone wishing to know, if you want to limit the use of a spell to one caster per target, use marker counts instead of behavior counts!
Problem solved! :)
0
Yep.
I thought so too, that's the first thing I tried but it doesn't seem to work... I just tried putting the validator elsewhere right now (I wasn't sure if it needs to be in the "disable" or "remove" validation field), but it doesn't seem to work either. Maybe my validator itself is wrong though, I'm not sure anymore...
Yes, but it doesn't help much. There are 2 players using these units, so if Player 1 casts the spell on a worm while Player 2 does the same, the problem remains. Actually, if you order a unit to cast the spell and the target dodges it and flee (it happens a lot because the worm is very fast), you often end up sending multiple units against the target and a few of them may eventually cast the spell at the same time, even with the Best unit flag checked... I also have a fake AI which sends all the units on a target at the same time, so it happens very often that they cast the spell together (this is how I detected it could be done, to begin with).
Anyway, just in case it could help, here's how the ability is made:
If I could think of a solution, it has to do with the ownership modification. I'm pretty sure it would be safer to do it via data instead of using triggers, but I haven't found a way... I did search in the forums, I checked the neural parasite ability too, but couldn't find anything of help so I decided to go for triggers.
0
I uploaded videos to show the problem...
Here, this is how the ability behaves normally. It works in that case, just because I did not order 2 units at once to cast the spell:
In the following video, it does not work:
As you can see, ordering more than one unit to cast the spell leads to a giant mess where all casters disappear as if they mounted the worm. I want something to cancel the spell if any unit already started to cast it on that unit, to prevent many huge bugs with my triggers... I'm pretty sure it's easy to fix (with validators or whatever) but I already spent hours trying to figure it out (meaning I had to upload my map dozens of time) and I'm getting bored to see I'm doing it wrong, whatever I try...