Undocumented, Sun, Frenzy Madness, WTE #7, Warhammer Models, Path of Power

The WoW Boss Contest is getting a lot of hype! I really hope you are going to make cool bosses :)

Undocumented Changes

Some Undocumented Changes has been discovered.

• You can get a diff of all the text files if you want to dig yourself!
• SEA players can now play on NA servers. It should help you play more maps :) Source

Bank Size Limit Increased

Mille25 made some tests with the bank limits and he has been able to successfully load 30 000 characters (was previously about 400). This is really awesome! If you are breaking this new limit, you can still use StarCode to store even more things :)

New Natives

+native void     GameSetMissionTimePaused (bool inPaused);
+native bool     GameIsMissionTimePaused ();
+native fixed    GameGetMissionTime ();
+native playergroup  GameAttributePlayersForTeam (int team);
+native bool     GameCheatIsAllowed (int cheat);
+native fixed Floor (fixed x);
+native fixed Ceiling (fixed x);
+native fixed Trunc (fixed x);
+native fixed Round (fixed x);
+native fixed Pow2 (fixed x);
+native fixed Log2 (fixed x);
+native int FloorI (fixed x);
+native int CeilingI (fixed x);
+native int TruncI (fixed x);
+native int RoundI (fixed x);
+native int SquareRootI (fixed x);
+native int Pow2I (fixed x);
+native int Log2I (fixed x);
+native int PowI (fixed x, fixed power);
+native void TriggerAddEventPlayerEffectUsed (trigger t, int player, string inEffect);
+native int      EventPlayerPropertyChangeInt ();
+native fixed    EventPlayerPropertyChangeFixed ();
+native string   EventPlayerEffectUsed ();
+native point    EventPlayerEffectUsedPoint (int inLocation);
+native unit     EventPlayerEffectUsedUnit (int inLocation);
+native int      EventPlayerEffectUsedUnitOwner (int inLocation);
+native string   EventPlayerEffectUsedUnitType (int inLocation);
+native int      EventPlayerEffectUsedAmountInt (int inAmount, bool total);
+native fixed    EventPlayerEffectUsedAmountFixed (int inAmount, bool total);
+native void     UnitDamage (unit inAttacker, string inEffect, unit inVictim, fixed inBonus);
+native int      EventUnitProperty ();
+native int      EventUnitPropertyChangeInt ();
+native fixed    EventUnitPropertyChangeFixed ();
+native void     TriggerAddEventUnitChangeOwner (trigger t, unitref u);
+native int      EventUnitOwnerOld ();
+native int      EventUnitOwnerNew ();

New Colored Icons

Tutorial: Sun by obliviron

I've been very impressed by this tutorial. obliviron explains to you how to create a sun in your map. This is a clever use of game mechanisms :)

Tutorial: Frenzy Madness by OneTwo

You are new to the map development but you want to do some great maps? OneTwo just completed a 30 minutes tutorial on how to make a basic Frenzy Madness map. It will guide you through all the triggers involved :)

WTE #7 - A place of Worship by Mozared

The WTE #7 - A place of Worship is over and again some really great stuff were done. WTE #8 - Mar Sara Blues is running :)

Warhammer Models by iWann

iWann just made new models of some Warhammer units. Using marauder animations this makes importing new models easier :) Take a look at those 2 units!

Path of Power Trailer by Klishu

Klishu is still working on the map Path of Power and wants to show off the battleground :)

1. 3 comments

Contest, Sentry Scramble, CRC, Ghoul vs Peacebloom

Patch 1.1 is coming in few hours. We will cover the editor changes when it is available :)

WoW Boss Contest

This contest is about gameplay! I've seen a lot of maps that are based on the concept of "Heroes against waves of enemies". This is a viable solution but sadly most of the monsters are basic. We are going to explore a way to make your map a lot better: creating Bosses!

What to do?

You have 10 days to complete this contest.

• Create a boss fight
• The boss must be scripted (eg: aoe every 1 minute) and the user has to react on it (eg: move out of sight).
• You can use WoW models to help you make it epic :)
• You have to provide a youtube video. If you can't record, post the map and find someone to do it for you
• You have to attach the map used to take the video

Ideas

If you don't understand what the contest is about, just look at that Thaddius fight made by rrowland.

Reward

The main goal of the contest is to further community development within GalaxyEdit. The rewards can be see as follows:

• First: 1-year Curse Premium
• Second: 6-month Curse Premium
• Third: 3-month Curse Premium
• Everyone else: 1-month Curse Premium

Sentry Scramble by RedWraith

I'm hosting the map Sentry Scramble on Europe and I've been congratulated many times about it (that's kinda odd since I am not the author). This is why I decided to feature it :) The map is using special effects very nicely!

Central Review Conglomerate by DarkRevenantX

DarkRevenantX has been reviewing many custom maps the last few weeks. The reviews are very detailed, with screenshots and improvement ideas. If you don't know what to play or want to know some do's and don'ts about map making, this is your chance!

• Debates
• Haunted Temple

• THE Card Game
• Nexus Wars
• Golem Wars Classic
• Level Up Bound

WoW - Pumpkin vs Zombie by TotalBiscuit

When I first saw this video I said myself, this is a nice map but I wonder why the author decided to recreate the WoW minimap. And then I realized this was not Starcraft 2 but World of Warcraft! Blizzard is adding minigames that could easily be custom maps :) For those who wonder, this game is a remake of Plants vs Zombies.

1. 1 comment

Bounty Hunters, Typing, ModCraft, Compendium

Update!: Blizzard just made a post on Battle.net that will interest you!

Quote:

As part of our preparation for patch 1.1.0, we wanted to quickly highlight for map creators an upcoming change to the way custom game starts will function after the patch is released.

Currently, when launching a custom game, players in the game lobby are allotted a certain amount of time, specified by you, the map's creator, to make adjustments to their team and race compositions. After this, a three-second lockdown will occur and, during this time, no adjustments to teams or races can be made. This means that if you were to select a seven-second countdown for your custom map, players would actually be required to wait for a total of ten seconds.

In patch 1.1.0, we will be amending this structure slightly so that the final three-second lockdown will be properly deducted from the creator-defined time instead of being added to it. This means that if you select a seven-second countdown for your custom map after the patch, players will only be able to adjust their races and teams for four seconds and then, at three seconds remaining, all of their selections will be locked.

As a result of this change, custom maps that you've created and published may need to be altered and then re-published if you want to keep the countdown your map currently has, post patch 1.1.0.

Bounty Hunters by Tenshi

During the first Custom Live we've played the map Bounty Hunters published on EU and were really impressed by the quality of the gameplay. This is a sniper-type of game with fast action and a nice amount of skill required :) Since then, Tenshi kept improving the map and you really should give it a shot! If you are german and can't see the video, use this alternate link!

Typing of the Zerg by Halohalo

I'm pretty sure you have all played once those games where you have to type as fast as you can to see your awesome e-peen skills. Halohalo took this concept and implemented it inside Starcraft 2. This results in a really crazy map that you will love :) It's called Typing of the Zerg and is released in the US!

ModCraft

If you missed yesterday ModCraft you are not lost! You can still watch it :) It was really impressive to see what's possible to achieve when you are skilled with 3dsMax!

Quote:

Highpoly modelling, Visual Tricks, Lowpoly Reverse-engineering, Meaningful Choice, Modelling a tophat (Baking normals and basic diffuse map), Attaching the tophat, Designing hero roles.

Compendium on Map Creation and Design by EternalWraith

EternalWraith has spent a great time analysing the process of making maps and extracted many important points on how to succeed in creating a great map. He also interviewed renowned map makers and sc2mapster moderators to get their advice. The result is a must-read!

Quote:

2. What would you say are some of the elements that make a good and fun map?

Sixen : A big part of a fun map is the ability to play through it once and be amazed... But then the rest of it is replayability. Maps that are just good when played once are not good maps. This is why DotA got as big as it has.

Bibendus : The most important elements of a game are the amount of possible customizations and replayability. A game is fun when you can choose different strategies to achieve the victory and you can replay it making different choices. Look at the SC2 campaign, isn't that funnier then WC3 now that you can upgrade units and buildings? Another important element is the graphical aspect of the game. A good terraining and different ambients are more appealing that a single room with a low quality terrain. Last but not least the game must be easy to understand, the majority of players leave a game after 1 minute if they don't understand how to play it.

b0ne123 : Balance and challenge. A nice looking map and a bunch of new units are fun two but they can't make up for imbalance and a to easy or to hard map. Balance is important in nearly every kind of maps. If one unit or tower or spell is enough to win the game players are not going to play it a lot of times.

Malu05 : I think that all depends on what gametype/mode we are talking about. Some maps are good when they are repetetive some must be evolving. But the single most importaint thing is gameplay. A map developer can spend weeks on making some great terrain but if the gameplay is not fun noone is going to play it anyway. Rather a flat empty map with good gameplay then a heaven with rainbows that suck.

s3rius : Easy understandable gameplay. Not much to say about it. However, at the moment people tend to neglect eye candy. For a map to be great everything needs to fit together. Adding sounds, special effects and other nuances is what makes the difference between a good map and a great map.

Mozared : Balance, looks, pacing and lore. Maps are in every circumstance better if one of these points are improved, and it's really hard to do any of these elements completely wrong if you just pay some attention to them. Lore and looks might argueably be the most important ones in the list - any map that has some kind of background and interesting terrain will immediatly draw somebody's attention.

Bifuu : Well that depends on the map, but generally game play, which is also based on the map haha. an RPG Map should have an engaging storing line, while an action game should have awesome controls.

progammer : Mainly gamplay make the map/game fun. Just like what blizzard has done to their campaign. The core game is no different but the catch/rush/defense/upgrade mechanics made it fun. A little bit polished on the art department wouldnt hurt either, but that's not my concern.

Karawasa : This can perhaps be summed up by the "easy to learn but hard to master" concept. A good map should be accessible to new players, but should also not be lacking in depth. There must be a reason to come back. I also can't stress polish enough. The right models/icons/effects, proper tooltips without spelling mistakes, quality terrain that fits the game etc. all add up to deliver an experience.

Alcoholix : A good fun map is a map that has it's objectives and controls clear from the start. And this doesn't mean a loading screen full of instructions on how to play. It actually needs to be intuitive or made clear in some easy to digest way during gameplay.

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1. 7 comments