I need a way to actively alter the target filters and range of an ability through either data or triggers.
Catalog field values do not work to alter either of these fields.
upgrades cannot upgrade either of these fields.
Using upgrades/ability levels wouldn't work, because the index's increase equally with the level. If I were to set index 1 for target filters to target only allies; and for range to be 5; then i could not say, have a range 8 ability which targets allies only. Well; I could, with a hundred index's, which would ruin the entire concept anyway.
As a background, I am trying to have a single base ability, which can be modified in-game by the player into a long list of abilities. I have all of it figured out except for the range and target filters issue; which is kinda a deal breaker.
i don't think you can set them dynamically, but you could add a big validator for the first effect in the effect chain (target: bio and casterBuff1 = 1 or target: mechanic and casterbuff2 or ...).
are you 100% sure you cannot change the range with catalogs? (thought you can change range with upgrades and therefore also with catalogs)
Sadly, range cannot be changed with either catalogs or upgrades.
Upgrades can alter the Autocast range; but not the affect range. Catalogs return the error "we dont support this".
A validator wouldnt be able to do much, because it is the skill itself that needs to be changed; not the target, or based on the target.
A few years ago someone was telling me that it was possible to run as many skills as needed from 2 base skills (instant, and target). No one ever commented on how to get around this problem though; and I cannot find anything on it through our 5 star search system.
i really remember this different, therefore i opened the editor, added a trigger to set range and it works without errors CatalogFieldValueSet(c_gameCatalogAbil, TimeWarp, Range[0], 1, "5")
you can do all abilities by just using these 2 abilities by starting any effect chain in triggers registering the abilities as events and then using
UnitCreateEffectUnit((target), effect, caster)
you could (never tried it) try to overwrite the mouse icons on wrong targets to the NotTargetable icon, setting all targets as valid and filter with validators (prolly the same needed in actors), but setting the target filters dynamically seems to be impossible.
Hmm, man i hadn't any issues with catalog range change. Press "W" key in my map to lower range of marine's abil. You probably forgot that Range field is an array. You can probably change TargetFilters of abil in similiar way but i can't figure out how to do it cuz i'm complete zero in XML editing. Anyway this pain-in-ass workarounds for complex systems may even not worth it. I completely removed my custom attack system from my RPG map cuz it was too much work for every unit type to make it looks viable. Anyway your choice. Also not to mention that editor is still unfinished product and we will have some major update with Legacy of the Void, and if they will add some skill in Heroes of the Storm like Rubick's Ultimate from dota 1, which steal the other unit's ability, then they will 100% add function for adding ability to unit like WC3 had. In this case all your hardwork will be multiplied by 0 immediately.
Im headed outta town on work for 3 days; I will check it out when I return, thanks.
I was attempting to set the array for range to a different array, something along the lines of, "set EffectRange[0] = EffectRange[1]"
This is the same thing I was attempting with the target filters; then i could cycle through the arrays.
Yeahhh, I was using "EffectRange" rather than "range" and "EffectRange" cannot be altered. Range is working with catalogs; yey!
target filters are still a no-go though. I guess I could stick with a few base abilities with filters; which is kinda lame; but, "ehh" it isnt too badl I can most likely get by with a handful.
thanks guys! I will bring it up to blizz, see if it is something they can include in a patch sometime.
That is kind of my plan; except there is a cap of 32 abilities on a unit; and I am trying to work around this. I use upgrades and catalog sets to change the tooltip, button, ect of an ability, so it looks like a new ability. The base ability is always a buff-behavior added to the target with an initial effect, and a duration of .1. this is because through upgrades; i can change the initial affect of behaviors. This allows me to swap through any of the abilities I have created, in-game.
My current work around is to have duplicate "target-affect" abilities, with different target filters set on each one. Because there can be 5 abilities active at once though; this only allows 6 possible target filters per ability "slot" before I reach 30 abilities on the unit. this isnt a huge problem, since I wont be using too specific cases of target types. I was just hoping that there was a much easier way to go about altering the filters than making 30 dummy abilties and cycling through them.
Nope :( my last big accomplishments were in my dungeon runners video (in my sig). I am using/enhancing those systems to allow for a greater expanse of customization; which is pretty much always my goal. Eventually I will have a hero system worked out which allows you to fully customize everything about your hero and abilities.
I kinda share my resources between my projects to fiddle with systems (limiting data specifics). I am currently taking my Dungeon Runners setup and trying to flop it back onto a classic wc3 style hero arena setting; which will allow for a lot of it to be tested much sooner than the massive undertaking which is Runners. So far, the alterations havent been too bad. Once I get this skill stuff worked out; I plan to forward it back onto Runners, which in the long run will save me a good deal of time with character creation (allowing players to build their characters from scratch, rather than forcing me to create titles, roles, synergistic skills, ect)
As i saw from your last vid you over complicate the ui (lots of dialog windows, numbers, etc). Are you considering making it more minimalistic and less overwhelming? Cuz basicaly every 2nd map on arcade suffering from this problem ( too much info in dialogs + default ui) so much info, still the gameplay itself is uninspiring and not rly impressive. I think people like to relax instead of like working in Excel ingame. Just thoughts, cuz i know how much time it takes to create the UI and then redo it.
I have (for the arena version of the game) dumbed it down a bit; so that there is less requirement on the players part to maintain their hero. I have attempted to keep descriptions within tooltips, and the hero creation dialog has arrows to alter initial stats and stat gains, with minimal text. IMO, it is about as intuitive as it can be for the level of player customization. I feel as though without custom stat allocations as a hero levels (something I still intend for the craweler, as it is intended to have 50+ hours of play time) players will have 1 less thing to worry about. For the arena, there will not be specific item slots (as the crawler has) but simply 6 item slots for an inventory, and 6 for a backpack. there will be no item drops in the arena, rather a currency which allows the creation of whatever items I would intend to have dropped. All items will be dialog/trigger based; and not randomly generated (as with the crawler). The item situation I am on the fence between having item recipes (combine these 3 items into this 1) or allowing for a high resale value, and skipping that, in favor of "Ease-of-Use"
With MOBA style games; a game where you will sit down and play through it in 20-40 min; intuitivity is important. With an RPG that you will be playing for countless hours on the same character; I think sometimes you need all that text and stuff available. To add to the intuitivity, i have removed most of my custom UI from the RPG (custom life bars, boss bars, threat meters, hero UI, ect) in favor of the basic sc2 UI; because people know it, and are used to it. Rather than having 8 stats, I have reduced it to 3 (strength, agility, intelligence). Really, trying to hold to the mechanics of wc3; which is really where hero arena's made their stand, and were very intuitive, due to the fact that wc3 created the "hero" unit.
Once I get the rest of the basic framework in order; I will upload some pictures or a video.
I need a way to actively alter the target filters and range of an ability through either data or triggers.
Catalog field values do not work to alter either of these fields.
upgrades cannot upgrade either of these fields.
Using upgrades/ability levels wouldn't work, because the index's increase equally with the level. If I were to set index 1 for target filters to target only allies; and for range to be 5; then i could not say, have a range 8 ability which targets allies only. Well; I could, with a hundred index's, which would ruin the entire concept anyway.
As a background, I am trying to have a single base ability, which can be modified in-game by the player into a long list of abilities. I have all of it figured out except for the range and target filters issue; which is kinda a deal breaker.
Skype: [email protected] Current Project: Custom Hero Arena! US: battlenet:://starcraft/map/1/263274 EU: battlenet:://starcraft/map/2/186418
@GlornII: Go
i don't think you can set them dynamically, but you could add a big validator for the first effect in the effect chain (target: bio and casterBuff1 = 1 or target: mechanic and casterbuff2 or ...).
are you 100% sure you cannot change the range with catalogs? (thought you can change range with upgrades and therefore also with catalogs)
Sadly, range cannot be changed with either catalogs or upgrades.
Upgrades can alter the Autocast range; but not the affect range. Catalogs return the error "we dont support this".
A validator wouldnt be able to do much, because it is the skill itself that needs to be changed; not the target, or based on the target.
A few years ago someone was telling me that it was possible to run as many skills as needed from 2 base skills (instant, and target). No one ever commented on how to get around this problem though; and I cannot find anything on it through our 5 star search system.
Skype: [email protected] Current Project: Custom Hero Arena! US: battlenet:://starcraft/map/1/263274 EU: battlenet:://starcraft/map/2/186418
@GlornII: Go
i really remember this different, therefore i opened the editor, added a trigger to set range and it works without errors
CatalogFieldValueSet(c_gameCatalogAbil, TimeWarp, Range[0], 1, "5")
you can do all abilities by just using these 2 abilities by starting any effect chain in triggers registering the abilities as events and then using
UnitCreateEffectUnit((target), effect, caster)
you could (never tried it) try to overwrite the mouse icons on wrong targets to the NotTargetable icon, setting all targets as valid and filter with validators (prolly the same needed in actors), but setting the target filters dynamically seems to be impossible.
Hmm, man i hadn't any issues with catalog range change. Press "W" key in my map to lower range of marine's abil. You probably forgot that Range field is an array. You can probably change TargetFilters of abil in similiar way but i can't figure out how to do it cuz i'm complete zero in XML editing. Anyway this pain-in-ass workarounds for complex systems may even not worth it. I completely removed my custom attack system from my RPG map cuz it was too much work for every unit type to make it looks viable. Anyway your choice. Also not to mention that editor is still unfinished product and we will have some major update with Legacy of the Void, and if they will add some skill in Heroes of the Storm like Rubick's Ultimate from dota 1, which steal the other unit's ability, then they will 100% add function for adding ability to unit like WC3 had. In this case all your hardwork will be multiplied by 0 immediately.
Im headed outta town on work for 3 days; I will check it out when I return, thanks.
I was attempting to set the array for range to a different array, something along the lines of, "set EffectRange[0] = EffectRange[1]"
This is the same thing I was attempting with the target filters; then i could cycle through the arrays.
Skype: [email protected] Current Project: Custom Hero Arena! US: battlenet:://starcraft/map/1/263274 EU: battlenet:://starcraft/map/2/186418
Yeahhh, I was using "EffectRange" rather than "range" and "EffectRange" cannot be altered. Range is working with catalogs; yey!
target filters are still a no-go though. I guess I could stick with a few base abilities with filters; which is kinda lame; but, "ehh" it isnt too badl I can most likely get by with a handful.
thanks guys! I will bring it up to blizz, see if it is something they can include in a patch sometime.
Skype: [email protected] Current Project: Custom Hero Arena! US: battlenet:://starcraft/map/1/263274 EU: battlenet:://starcraft/map/2/186418
@GlornII: Go
Have you tried creating duplicate abilities and just enabling/disabling them on the unit as needed?
That is kind of my plan; except there is a cap of 32 abilities on a unit; and I am trying to work around this. I use upgrades and catalog sets to change the tooltip, button, ect of an ability, so it looks like a new ability. The base ability is always a buff-behavior added to the target with an initial effect, and a duration of .1. this is because through upgrades; i can change the initial affect of behaviors. This allows me to swap through any of the abilities I have created, in-game.
My current work around is to have duplicate "target-affect" abilities, with different target filters set on each one. Because there can be 5 abilities active at once though; this only allows 6 possible target filters per ability "slot" before I reach 30 abilities on the unit. this isnt a huge problem, since I wont be using too specific cases of target types. I was just hoping that there was a much easier way to go about altering the filters than making 30 dummy abilties and cycling through them.
Skype: [email protected] Current Project: Custom Hero Arena! US: battlenet:://starcraft/map/1/263274 EU: battlenet:://starcraft/map/2/186418
Any video on how's your map going?
Nope :( my last big accomplishments were in my dungeon runners video (in my sig). I am using/enhancing those systems to allow for a greater expanse of customization; which is pretty much always my goal. Eventually I will have a hero system worked out which allows you to fully customize everything about your hero and abilities.
I kinda share my resources between my projects to fiddle with systems (limiting data specifics). I am currently taking my Dungeon Runners setup and trying to flop it back onto a classic wc3 style hero arena setting; which will allow for a lot of it to be tested much sooner than the massive undertaking which is Runners. So far, the alterations havent been too bad. Once I get this skill stuff worked out; I plan to forward it back onto Runners, which in the long run will save me a good deal of time with character creation (allowing players to build their characters from scratch, rather than forcing me to create titles, roles, synergistic skills, ect)
Skype: [email protected] Current Project: Custom Hero Arena! US: battlenet:://starcraft/map/1/263274 EU: battlenet:://starcraft/map/2/186418
As i saw from your last vid you over complicate the ui (lots of dialog windows, numbers, etc). Are you considering making it more minimalistic and less overwhelming? Cuz basicaly every 2nd map on arcade suffering from this problem ( too much info in dialogs + default ui) so much info, still the gameplay itself is uninspiring and not rly impressive. I think people like to relax instead of like working in Excel ingame. Just thoughts, cuz i know how much time it takes to create the UI and then redo it.
I have (for the arena version of the game) dumbed it down a bit; so that there is less requirement on the players part to maintain their hero. I have attempted to keep descriptions within tooltips, and the hero creation dialog has arrows to alter initial stats and stat gains, with minimal text. IMO, it is about as intuitive as it can be for the level of player customization. I feel as though without custom stat allocations as a hero levels (something I still intend for the craweler, as it is intended to have 50+ hours of play time) players will have 1 less thing to worry about. For the arena, there will not be specific item slots (as the crawler has) but simply 6 item slots for an inventory, and 6 for a backpack. there will be no item drops in the arena, rather a currency which allows the creation of whatever items I would intend to have dropped. All items will be dialog/trigger based; and not randomly generated (as with the crawler). The item situation I am on the fence between having item recipes (combine these 3 items into this 1) or allowing for a high resale value, and skipping that, in favor of "Ease-of-Use"
With MOBA style games; a game where you will sit down and play through it in 20-40 min; intuitivity is important. With an RPG that you will be playing for countless hours on the same character; I think sometimes you need all that text and stuff available. To add to the intuitivity, i have removed most of my custom UI from the RPG (custom life bars, boss bars, threat meters, hero UI, ect) in favor of the basic sc2 UI; because people know it, and are used to it. Rather than having 8 stats, I have reduced it to 3 (strength, agility, intelligence). Really, trying to hold to the mechanics of wc3; which is really where hero arena's made their stand, and were very intuitive, due to the fact that wc3 created the "hero" unit.
Once I get the rest of the basic framework in order; I will upload some pictures or a video.
Skype: [email protected] Current Project: Custom Hero Arena! US: battlenet:://starcraft/map/1/263274 EU: battlenet:://starcraft/map/2/186418
just for the sake of searching. changing range of item abilities is bugged. range actors are updated but the range stays the same.