I have a great idea for an SC2 mod/map but i'm at an impasse as to which direction to take it. After getting flamed into oblivion on the SC2 forums, i attracted some more interested help in SC2 on bnet itself. He pointed me to this website here. Basically the idea to spare all of the details is a modified version of SC2 where all the patches and overpowered things people whine about i can attempt to fix. I don't expect it to be popular, i just wanted to get my foot in the door with some modding as my life is pretty dull atm.
So he recomended creating a Mod and saving it in XML as to increase its portability. Being somewhat of a programmer myself (know 4-5 languages) that made sense to me but then i had some questions...
What is the difference between a Mod and a Map?
-In my mind atm it seems Mods should be more portable however when he tried to explain the process of launching a Mod in SC2 it seemed as though it was just a modified rules set that you could apply to a map. Not an actual modified game, as it what im used to when it comes to SC2.
How do i export all the changes i make to XML?
And the last question i can come up with, If i have trouble getting an idea to work, what forum on this website is best to place my questions in?
To Give you guys an idea of what the big plan is... These are some of the things i'm not sure i have a plan on how to get going. If there are any tutorials out there that would help with one of these topics, could you link them. If anyone is interested in helping me please let me know below...
-Creating a new upgrade for a unit
-Giving a unit a Cone based AoE attack
-Creating new Units (specifically Turrets that behave like the autoturret)
-How to morph a unit (ex. Zergling > Baneling)
-Is there a built in Variable for if a Unit is, or is not, on Creep?
-Decreasing a Unit's speed on the fly?
-Moving a Unit from within 1 Unit to a target position? (like the spell Infested Terran only unloading a unit inside say an overlord)
-Adding "Bounces" (mutalisk(ish) attack)?
-Giving a building a 2nd Health Bar?
-Increase the Number of Charge States for Void Rays.
-Decrease the Current Charge State for Void Rays.
-Disabling Charge unless Deployed. (similar to a siege tank)
-Spells/Abilities that have a vs type bonus
Welcome to mapster then. I believe you'll find us more hospitable than the regular bnet forums :)
Well, the different between a map and a mod.. You know what a map is. A mod is basically an addon for maps. It cannot run alone (unlike what you normally call mods) but needs to be "attached" to a map. A mod is an archive of game information. You can create or change units, spells, sounds, etc inside a mod and then tell a map to use this mod. The map will then use the mod's units and modifications instead of it's own (I believe changes done in the map will override the mod's information).
In your case that's good for one thing: If you want to have several maps with your changed game balance, then you can make them all draw their information from one single mod file instead of having to change every map on it's own everytime you change something.
It's basically what #includes or imports are to other languages.
I'm not sure what your friend meant by exporting it to XML.. internally all data is stored as XML files, yes.. but there's no reason to work with the raw format, when you can use the Galaxy Editor for more convenience.
Regarding where to place your questions: In our Development forum we have a subsection for Data editing. http://forums.sc2mapster.com/development/data/
This is the best place for the type of questions you're asking.
But beware - the Data Editor can be a pain. Some of these things you were asking for can be done rather easily, but others (like the Void Ray charges) are pretty nasty to deal with.
I have a great idea for an SC2 mod/map but i'm at an impasse as to which direction to take it. After getting flamed into oblivion on the SC2 forums, i attracted some more interested help in SC2 on bnet itself. He pointed me to this website here. Basically the idea to spare all of the details is a modified version of SC2 where all the patches and overpowered things people whine about i can attempt to fix. I don't expect it to be popular, i just wanted to get my foot in the door with some modding as my life is pretty dull atm.
So he recomended creating a Mod and saving it in XML as to increase its portability. Being somewhat of a programmer myself (know 4-5 languages) that made sense to me but then i had some questions...
What is the difference between a Mod and a Map?
-In my mind atm it seems Mods should be more portable however when he tried to explain the process of launching a Mod in SC2 it seemed as though it was just a modified rules set that you could apply to a map. Not an actual modified game, as it what im used to when it comes to SC2.
How do i export all the changes i make to XML?
And the last question i can come up with, If i have trouble getting an idea to work, what forum on this website is best to place my questions in?
To Give you guys an idea of what the big plan is... These are some of the things i'm not sure i have a plan on how to get going. If there are any tutorials out there that would help with one of these topics, could you link them. If anyone is interested in helping me please let me know below...
-Creating a new upgrade for a unit
-Giving a unit a Cone based AoE attack
-Creating new Units (specifically Turrets that behave like the autoturret)
-How to morph a unit (ex. Zergling > Baneling)
-Is there a built in Variable for if a Unit is, or is not, on Creep?
-Decreasing a Unit's speed on the fly?
-Moving a Unit from within 1 Unit to a target position? (like the spell Infested Terran only unloading a unit inside say an overlord)
-Adding "Bounces" (mutalisk(ish) attack)?
-Giving a building a 2nd Health Bar?
-Increase the Number of Charge States for Void Rays.
-Decrease the Current Charge State for Void Rays.
-Disabling Charge unless Deployed. (similar to a siege tank)
-Spells/Abilities that have a vs type bonus
Welcome to mapster then. I believe you'll find us more hospitable than the regular bnet forums :)
Well, the different between a map and a mod.. You know what a map is. A mod is basically an addon for maps. It cannot run alone (unlike what you normally call mods) but needs to be "attached" to a map. A mod is an archive of game information. You can create or change units, spells, sounds, etc inside a mod and then tell a map to use this mod. The map will then use the mod's units and modifications instead of it's own (I believe changes done in the map will override the mod's information).
In your case that's good for one thing: If you want to have several maps with your changed game balance, then you can make them all draw their information from one single mod file instead of having to change every map on it's own everytime you change something.
It's basically what #includes or imports are to other languages.
I'm not sure what your friend meant by exporting it to XML.. internally all data is stored as XML files, yes.. but there's no reason to work with the raw format, when you can use the Galaxy Editor for more convenience.
Regarding where to place your questions: In our Development forum we have a subsection for Data editing.
http://forums.sc2mapster.com/development/data/
This is the best place for the type of questions you're asking.
But beware - the Data Editor can be a pain. Some of these things you were asking for can be done rather easily, but others (like the Void Ray charges) are pretty nasty to deal with.
If you have a different question, which isn't exactly related to Data/Triggers then you can also post them in the misc subsection:
http://forums.sc2mapster.com/development/map-development/