Getting Started
Before we get started with creating the unit, first you should check and make sure your data editor's settings are similar so you go through this guide with ease.
What You Will Learn
How to create a unit
How to create an actor
How to associate the actor with a unit
How to create shooting animations for your unit
How to add sound to your unit
How to create a weapon and effect for your unit
Information
This post will be updated later with a library of field values in the data editor for you to work with.
Creating The Unit
To begin the tutorial, you're going to need to open your Data Editor and open the Units data type. Next, click the data dropdown menu (or right click in the data list), and add a new object. The unit for this tutorial will be based off of a Marine.
Be sure your fields match the image above, if you wish to choose another unit change the field values setting to whichever unit you would like to base your new unit off of. Hit OK and your new unit will be created.
There is no model or sound information for your unit now, so that will be done in the next step.
Creating The Actor
Open the Actors data type, and now add a new object again.
Be sure your fields match the image above. Hit OK.
Now that you created the actor, you will need to link your actor to your newly created unit. As before, the unit in this tutorial was called UnitTest and it is based off of the Marine.
Change the field value for the unit name to your newly created unit, and scroll down to Art - Model, and adjust the model to the unit you chose. If you chose the Marine like I did, choose Marine and set it for Art - Model, Art - Model (Build), and Art - Model (Placement).
This is optional, but your unit does not have any sound. So scroll down to Sound - Group Sounds and Sound - Sounds and adjust your unit's sound to the unit you chose just like you did for the model. In this case, I set it to the marine.
Now to move on to creating new weapon for your unit!
Creating The Weapon
This part of the tutorial will teach you how to create a weapon and adjust the damage of your weapon. Go to the Weapons data type, add a new object.
Be sure your field values match the image above.
Next, go to the Effects data type, and add a new object. You can name them the same if you want, it doesnt really matter what any of the objects are named.
Be sure your field values match the image above.
Now go to your newly created effect and set the damage for your weapon at the Combat - Amount field value. You can choose any number you wish, and remember all units affiliated with this weapon will deal that much damage.
Now we're going to go back to our weapon, so go to the Weapons data type. Go to your weapon you created earlier, and adjust the Effect - Effect field value to your newly created effect. This will change the damage your unit deals. Afterward, change the UI - Damage Display Effect field value to your newly created effect also. This shows the damage your unit deals on the user interface in the game. You can use the image below as a reference.
Weapon Attack Animations
Your weapon does not have an attack animation, so if your unit fights with their weapon it wont show any shooting even though they are shooting.
Go to the Actors data type, and add a new object. I chose the Marine earlier so I will base the attack animation off of Marine Attack.
Be sure your field values match the image above.
Now we need to change the Attack Effect field value to the weapon we created earlier. My weapon was called WeaponTest, so the linked weapon will be WeaponTest. Afterward, your unit will have shooting animations and will actually look like they are firing their weapon and not moving their gun around. Use the image below as a reference.
The End
That is the end of the tutorial, if you have any questions feel free to ask. I am willing to update this post with more information and add more than just creating a unit. I will probably slowly turn this into an overall unit creation guide in time. Feel free to post feedback and ask questions. Thanks for reading.
Nice guide, i have question though, how does the unit know to use the weapon you create. From what I see here, only the attack actor and attack effect are linked to the weapon. Does it do it automatically?
Thanks, I was able to add new weapons, but the old ones are still there. I'm not refering to this unit though, I duplicated just a hydra's actor, and i want add a different weapon for it. I tried duplicating the weapons too but it kept crashing, so i'm trying it this way.
im looking under the Units tab. In there you can't directly remove anything, that's not related Units. I think i didn't link an actor to the new attack or something.
Nice guide, i have question though, how does the unit know to use the weapon you create. From what I see here, only the attack actor and attack effect are linked to the weapon. Does it do it automatically?
You change the weapon on the unit/hero itself. Should be something similar to Combat - Unit as said above in a previous reply. Be sure you link the attacks to an actor for animations. You shouldn't have to when you apply the weapon to a unit though.
Thanks for the tutorial, this is really something a nub that's more familiar with WC3 needs. But how do I set up the data editor to show besides units / actors / weapons the other tabs that u have there aswell? mine only shows those three and I have it set up the way u explained in the beginning of the tutorial.
hey thanks man for this tutorial. i think i tried 5 like this, but none of them was without mistakes or not bring all together (maybe from the beta time?).
in the last tutorial i had no sound effect and the marines just moved there weapons and telicenical killed the units :-D
yours is the first one which really showed me how to to that, thank you ;)
SO here is a question.. i modded a protoss unit called the "preserver" this unit has no attack. what do i need to do to get him to shoot void seeker blasts? i got its name changed and picture etc.. just cant attack.. he has the symbol for an attack but it says scan area when i hover over it. Any ideas?
TerranApocalypse's question is excellent and I don't want to overqueue that, but when I got to the final step with the actor and the tokens for the weapon, the tokens did not show up without me using display Raw Data, and following the tutorial to the letter, I cant get tokens to appear and and be modifiable. Even in raw data, they are unmodifiable, only viewable o.o???
edit: Well one thing, I did use the sentry disruptor beam instead of the marine weapon, but I did follow everything so it all corresponded to the letter :S
Thank you so much. Great tutorial. Every step was explained very clearly. In data editor you have to check very carefully that you have right settings that you can find all fields. I have seen some posts that tell people to duplicate things and it is so wrong way to do things. I appreciate alot people who spend lot of time and really think and check what they are writing to tutorials. Once again big thank you :)
Wonderful tutorial. Learned to make some great units this way, but I'm still stumped on two major points:
If the unit I am copying does not initially have a particular stat, is there any way to add it to the new unit? For instance, if I use your tutorial to make a custom unit based off the hydralisk, I cannot find any option in the data editor to set its initial Life Armor Value. To get a hydralisk-type unit with non-zero starting armor, I end up having to copy values from something WITH nonzero starting armor, such as an Ultra, and then change a lot more. That can't be the easiest way to do it, is there a better way?
Second, and more importantly, I am absolutely vexed by missile attacks. Non-missile ranged attacks such as the marine in your tutorial work fine, but if I follow the above steps (again) with a hydralisk, I cannot get an attack animation to function. The unit hisses and deals the appropriate damage to target, but there isn't any attack animation or flying-spines graphic.
SO here is a question.. i modded a protoss unit called the "preserver" this unit has no attack. what do i need to do to get him to shoot void seeker blasts? i got its name changed and picture etc.. just cant attack.. he has the symbol for an attack but it says scan area when i hover over it. Any ideas?
You should try basing the unit off of the original unit that actually shoots void seeker blasts, I don't know too much about missle actors..etc (but i'm familiar with them) and it can be difficult to make your unit shoot void seeker blasts.
As for the scan-move issue, edit the unit's command card and change "Scan Area" with "Attack". If necessary (necessary meaning it's not seen in the abilities command), add "Attack" to the unit's abilities too.
Not very great tutorial. Its basically like you just copied all the stuff and didn't explain much. Could have simply put "duplicate" or something. For those who say wanted a medic to shoot ray beams, or a hydralisk to shoot medivac beams, this tutorial serves no purpose. The unit doesn't attack, get attacked, or do much of anything. Thumbs down sry.
Not very great tutorial. Its basically like you just copied all the stuff and didn't explain much. Could have simply put "duplicate" or something. For those who say wanted a medic to shoot ray beams, or a hydralisk to shoot medivac beams, this tutorial serves no purpose. The unit doesn't attack, get attacked, or do much of anything. Thumbs down sry.
What are you talking about? The unit does attack and get attacked. If it's an actor on the playing field and it's flagged properly it WILL be attacked. When you read a tutorial you read it to learn, but not everything can be taught. It's just a starting point for people, if they take a closer look at the editor and break everything down and how it works, they won't need a tutorial. This is just a starting point.
Duplicating is a mess too; by the way before you say what the unit doesn't do, why don't you try it. Clearly it has worked for other people.
Hey. I'm trying to do firebat that has different weapon than Devildog and Firebat. I did everything as in tutorial but unit's weapon is still same Devildog's and Firebat's. So how I can change my new units weapon to be the new weapon I created. (from blue color to green)? Problem might be in "Effect" part, some values are not copied such as Actor and Models.
EDIT: I had to duplicate all firebat's actors to make it work.
Getting Started
Before we get started with creating the unit, first you should check and make sure your data editor's settings are similar so you go through this guide with ease.
What You Will Learn
Information
This post will be updated later with a library of field values in the data editor for you to work with.
Creating The Unit
To begin the tutorial, you're going to need to open your Data Editor and open the Units data type. Next, click the data dropdown menu (or right click in the data list), and add a new object. The unit for this tutorial will be based off of a Marine.
Be sure your fields match the image above, if you wish to choose another unit change the field values setting to whichever unit you would like to base your new unit off of. Hit OK and your new unit will be created.
There is no model or sound information for your unit now, so that will be done in the next step.
Creating The Actor
Open the Actors data type, and now add a new object again.
Be sure your fields match the image above. Hit OK.
Now that you created the actor, you will need to link your actor to your newly created unit. As before, the unit in this tutorial was called UnitTest and it is based off of the Marine.
Change the field value for the unit name to your newly created unit, and scroll down to Art - Model, and adjust the model to the unit you chose. If you chose the Marine like I did, choose Marine and set it for Art - Model, Art - Model (Build), and Art - Model (Placement).
This is optional, but your unit does not have any sound. So scroll down to Sound - Group Sounds and Sound - Sounds and adjust your unit's sound to the unit you chose just like you did for the model. In this case, I set it to the marine.
Now to move on to creating new weapon for your unit!
Creating The Weapon
This part of the tutorial will teach you how to create a weapon and adjust the damage of your weapon. Go to the Weapons data type, add a new object.
Be sure your field values match the image above.
Next, go to the Effects data type, and add a new object. You can name them the same if you want, it doesnt really matter what any of the objects are named.
Be sure your field values match the image above.
Now go to your newly created effect and set the damage for your weapon at the Combat - Amount field value. You can choose any number you wish, and remember all units affiliated with this weapon will deal that much damage.
Now we're going to go back to our weapon, so go to the Weapons data type. Go to your weapon you created earlier, and adjust the Effect - Effect field value to your newly created effect. This will change the damage your unit deals. Afterward, change the UI - Damage Display Effect field value to your newly created effect also. This shows the damage your unit deals on the user interface in the game. You can use the image below as a reference.
Weapon Attack Animations
Your weapon does not have an attack animation, so if your unit fights with their weapon it wont show any shooting even though they are shooting.
Go to the Actors data type, and add a new object. I chose the Marine earlier so I will base the attack animation off of Marine Attack.
Be sure your field values match the image above.
Now we need to change the Attack Effect field value to the weapon we created earlier. My weapon was called WeaponTest, so the linked weapon will be WeaponTest. Afterward, your unit will have shooting animations and will actually look like they are firing their weapon and not moving their gun around. Use the image below as a reference.
The End
That is the end of the tutorial, if you have any questions feel free to ask. I am willing to update this post with more information and add more than just creating a unit. I will probably slowly turn this into an overall unit creation guide in time. Feel free to post feedback and ask questions. Thanks for reading.
Nice guide, i have question though, how does the unit know to use the weapon you create. From what I see here, only the attack actor and attack effect are linked to the weapon. Does it do it automatically?
under unit there is a spot where you can add weapons
called combat - weapons if i'm right
Thanks, I was able to add new weapons, but the old ones are still there. I'm not refering to this unit though, I duplicated just a hydra's actor, and i want add a different weapon for it. I tried duplicating the weapons too but it kept crashing, so i'm trying it this way.
Insom89, to remove the old weapons, you select them, and hit the little "x" or remove button next to the area.
im looking under the Units tab. In there you can't directly remove anything, that's not related Units. I think i didn't link an actor to the new attack or something.
You change the weapon on the unit/hero itself. Should be something similar to Combat - Unit as said above in a previous reply. Be sure you link the attacks to an actor for animations. You shouldn't have to when you apply the weapon to a unit though.
Thanks for the tutorial, this is really something a nub that's more familiar with WC3 needs. But how do I set up the data editor to show besides units / actors / weapons the other tabs that u have there aswell? mine only shows those three and I have it set up the way u explained in the beginning of the tutorial.
hey thanks man for this tutorial. i think i tried 5 like this, but none of them was without mistakes or not bring all together (maybe from the beta time?).
in the last tutorial i had no sound effect and the marines just moved there weapons and telicenical killed the units :-D
yours is the first one which really showed me how to to that, thank you ;)
So you are FORCED to base unit on another unit ?
SO here is a question.. i modded a protoss unit called the "preserver" this unit has no attack. what do i need to do to get him to shoot void seeker blasts? i got its name changed and picture etc.. just cant attack.. he has the symbol for an attack but it says scan area when i hover over it. Any ideas?
TerranApocalypse's question is excellent and I don't want to overqueue that, but when I got to the final step with the actor and the tokens for the weapon, the tokens did not show up without me using display Raw Data, and following the tutorial to the letter, I cant get tokens to appear and and be modifiable. Even in raw data, they are unmodifiable, only viewable o.o???
edit: Well one thing, I did use the sentry disruptor beam instead of the marine weapon, but I did follow everything so it all corresponded to the letter :S
Thank you so much. Great tutorial. Every step was explained very clearly. In data editor you have to check very carefully that you have right settings that you can find all fields. I have seen some posts that tell people to duplicate things and it is so wrong way to do things. I appreciate alot people who spend lot of time and really think and check what they are writing to tutorials. Once again big thank you :)
Wonderful tutorial. Learned to make some great units this way, but I'm still stumped on two major points:
If the unit I am copying does not initially have a particular stat, is there any way to add it to the new unit? For instance, if I use your tutorial to make a custom unit based off the hydralisk, I cannot find any option in the data editor to set its initial Life Armor Value. To get a hydralisk-type unit with non-zero starting armor, I end up having to copy values from something WITH nonzero starting armor, such as an Ultra, and then change a lot more. That can't be the easiest way to do it, is there a better way?
Second, and more importantly, I am absolutely vexed by missile attacks. Non-missile ranged attacks such as the marine in your tutorial work fine, but if I follow the above steps (again) with a hydralisk, I cannot get an attack animation to function. The unit hisses and deals the appropriate damage to target, but there isn't any attack animation or flying-spines graphic.
Any assistance would be much appreciated!
To change unit's life and armor select Data type: Units - choose your unit - Stats tab.
This way to you can add energy to any unit too.
I agree with HaifischSC2, missile attacks lack an attack animation. I'm thinking that I might have to copy the missile's actor/unit, too?
I just stumbled across this post again, haha. Yeah, that's pretty much it.
If you're missing anything just try adding it by basing it off of the unit's missle actor, sounds are in the main unit's actor too.
You should try basing the unit off of the original unit that actually shoots void seeker blasts, I don't know too much about missle actors..etc (but i'm familiar with them) and it can be difficult to make your unit shoot void seeker blasts.
As for the scan-move issue, edit the unit's command card and change "Scan Area" with "Attack". If necessary (necessary meaning it's not seen in the abilities command), add "Attack" to the unit's abilities too.
Not very great tutorial. Its basically like you just copied all the stuff and didn't explain much. Could have simply put "duplicate" or something. For those who say wanted a medic to shoot ray beams, or a hydralisk to shoot medivac beams, this tutorial serves no purpose. The unit doesn't attack, get attacked, or do much of anything. Thumbs down sry.
What are you talking about? The unit does attack and get attacked. If it's an actor on the playing field and it's flagged properly it WILL be attacked. When you read a tutorial you read it to learn, but not everything can be taught. It's just a starting point for people, if they take a closer look at the editor and break everything down and how it works, they won't need a tutorial. This is just a starting point.
Duplicating is a mess too; by the way before you say what the unit doesn't do, why don't you try it. Clearly it has worked for other people.
Hey. I'm trying to do firebat that has different weapon than Devildog and Firebat. I did everything as in tutorial but unit's weapon is still same Devildog's and Firebat's. So how I can change my new units weapon to be the new weapon I created. (from blue color to green)? Problem might be in "Effect" part, some values are not copied such as Actor and Models.
EDIT: I had to duplicate all firebat's actors to make it work.