hey guys just working thru the basic's over here at the moment ( i saw beginner in the title :D ) and this tutorial is kicking my ass
for the first step, the Lancer
im having trouble when i get to configuring the events
open Event - Events + and create the following events:
Actor Creation
Animation Play: (Name: Beam1; Animation Properties: Death; Flags: [empty]; Blend In: -1.0; Blend Out: -1.0; Time Variant 1.0; Time Type: Duration)
Animation Done
AnimName: Beam1 (Custom)
Destroy
when i try to add in the AnimName Beam1 i cant pick beam1 from a list if i click custom and enter Beam1 with text it dosent seem to save beam1 in the text field is there something that this is referencing that i have forgot to link?
also im assuming that i need to delete all the events that are already in this actor when it is created.
edit
kk i found a workaround, i downloaded the tutorial map and converted that whole event tab into raw data, copy pasted the text into my beamtesting map and it works.
still no idea why i couldnt choose AnimationName Beam1 in the first place however, i think ima run thru the whole process again
You have to add that name to the list. So when you enter the name in the text field there is a button that adds it to the list. THEN you can select it for Animation Name. The benefit of this list is that it saves all of the names you add to it so that you can create your own labels to use over and over again.
I have a question that's a bit on the complicated end of things for me, but will hopefully be a bit more doable to someone who has more experience with these things.
I have a unit that has two void rays attached to it. The unit attacks with the void rays, the same way normal void rays attack - they open up, fire the beam, charging up through three levels of beam 'power', retain the charge for a little bit as normal, the works. All this works, and the beams fire correctly from the void ray to the target.
However, I would like the impact points of the two beams to be the same, and currently, the two beams pick target impact attachments more or less randomly, and thus almost never hit the same point on the target at the same time.
On the technical side, this is how I have things implemented.
A copy of the void ray weapon.
A copy of all the Prismatic Beam Effects and Actors from the normal void ray (not the hero void ray, whose attack effects are made differently).
A second copy of all the Effects and Actors save for the "(Initial Persistent)" one. This is done so that the second void ray and its beam fires properly. At first I spent some time trying to copy just the effects I thought I needed to get the second void ray beam's actors working right, but I must have been missing something since I never got it working that way, so eventually I just copied the entire thing again, which got it working.
The way I combined the two copies is as follows - [void ray weapon copy name] has "[prismatic beam copy name] (Initial Persistent)" as the effect.
"[Prismatic Beam Copy Name] (Initial Persistent)" effect (which was already a set effect) has "[Prismatic Beam Copy Name] (Charge Persistent)" AND [Prismatic Beam 2nd Copy Name] (Charge Persistent)" as the effect.
From there, the two (Charge Persistent) effects proceed from there as normal, with their respective copies of the subsequent effects. (If you just look at the normal Void Ray Prismatic Beam weapon and its effects, this makes sense.)
Anyway, since the attack action Actors for each beam are linked to the "(Charge Persistent)" effects, each one fires of their respective (Charge Persistent) effect, using its own copy of the void ray beam actor. What I don't know is how to get one of those beams to use the impact attachment of the other beam as its own impact attachment, always. I know I could check the Force Impact Site action flag in its action actor, but I don't know how I could actually make a site actor at the impact attachment of one of the beams.
You need to change Impact Attachment Query (IAQ) for the attack actors. There is a long list of alternatives, so start with center and then try others if that one isn't quite right.
Right now they're picking random locations because of the IAQ's default settings.
I spent a couple days (in between university classes and sleep, of course) altering and experimenting with different Impact Attachment Query combinations already, before posting that question.
Now, the void ray attack is a bit messy-er because it has that one action flag set (I don't remember the name off the top of my head, but it's in essence 'align impact to damage' or something like that) and this causes the damage attachment query field to effect the impact attachment locations in some almost-direct-but-not-quite way - I messed around with IAQs both with and without that action flag checked. "center" will cause the beams to hit the 'center' of the target for sure, but the problem is that for large targets - say, the Command Center - the beams shoot 'inside' the building (the void ray beam, as you probably know by memory, has a noticeable ball-like 'end' where it impacts the target - when the IAQ is Center, this ends up being 'inside' the target', instead of where the beam is making contact with it).
From there, just about every combination of IAQs I've tried has either done the above, hitting 'inside' the unit where the beam model goes noticeably 'through' the outside of the target when hitting large targets, or gotten stuck to the ground where the target unit's origin attachment was at the moment when it was fired upon, or, it will pick some target or another, but again, it'll pick them randomly and the two beams rarely ever converge.
I didn't exactly document what combinations I have tried so far, but it was a mix of the IAQs used by the Void Ray attack's beam normally, the IAQ "ClosestToCaster", "ClosestToTarget", and a generic one like "AMFilterTarget" or something like that that isn't one of the Void Ray's default ones. I also tried some direct methods, Like Target 0, but this doesn't really yield consistent results either.
I appreciate the suggestion, and if you can think of other IAQs that could possibly result in what I'm trying to achieve, I'm happy to try them. (I should've specified I had already tried a LOT of IAQ fiddling when typing my question originally.)
If you're open to it, toss your map up. It would be easier for me to change the IAQ to something that works and then let you know what that value was than to run through the list of them :)
You could also try to use a custom Site actor for the beam. Create it at the damage point the main attack uses and attach both of the beams to it, or something similar.
The easiest solution would obviously be to attach all 3 beams to a fixed attachment, for example Center, but thats probably not, what you want.
Sorry I took over two days to respond. Yeah, I'm open to it, it's a testing/development map for me, not an actual project, so I wouldn't be giving up anything other than possible knowledge on how to make some quasi-basic things happen with data/triggers (most of which was acquired at least in part from tutorials here, a lot of them yours). Map is attached to post ( I hope - first time attaching something on this site). The unit in question is called Armageddon, and everything related to it in the Data Editor has that at the beginning of the name, so that should help you find everything. The way the unit is set up the attached-void-rays attack fires only on massive units and structures, so I have placed a bunch of massive units and just about one of each non-campaign building on the map to hopefully make testing more convenient.
Friendly warning: since my last post I have made some significant additions to the attached-void-rays attack - these changes do NOT at all effect how the attack action actor and the beam actor for each beam work in so far as impact/damage/launch attachments go (the beam actors just got some extra events dealing with animation changes and model swaps) - but just in case you do go rummaging through the attack's effects, bear in mind that the effects that use "Armageddon Target" and "Caster is Attacking" validators can freeze SC2 in its entirety if you remove those validators. As far as I know, with those validators in place there's no such game-freezing side effects under any circumstances, but it's possible some corner case slipped past my testing.
If anyone's interested, feel free to look at anything in the map (there isn't much, other than an 'overchargeable' void ray -style attack that when overcharged charges up twice as fast and has a fourth charge level that changes beam color, and a flight-capable melee unit whose only interesting feature is a set of triggers that adjusts his height to his target's height when he's attacking something when flying. The only request I have is that people don't just blatantly copy all or most of the two developed custom units in there.)
Yeah, that was actually exactly what I was asking about in my first post in this thread - how to do what you just suggested.
- Edit -
I also reset the IAQs to the defaults on the void ray beam actors in question before saving and uploading, so you can start from the defaults and work from there.
Firstly, I'd like to thank you for this tutorial, as it's helped me learn a lot so far. I followed your chain lightning tutorial very strictly in order to add a new chain lightning tower to my Tower Defense. However, after testing my map through about 30 or so waves, I find that the animation often gets bugged. It shoots fine, jumps fine, and the damage and everything works. The animations work properly about 90% of the time, but every now and then there will be a constant beam shooting toward the ground after a wave is finished, coming from the tower.
I'm wondering if I did something wrong, or if it isn't properly destroying the beam animations?
EDIT: Also, if I build multiple Lightning Towers, then I get all kinds of beams everywhere, creating a bright "spider web" effect. :/
I'm going to be spending the next month systematically replacing my tutorials (as needed) with updated versions and videos as time permits now that I've finally finished updating them. This update should fix several of the more recent problems you guys have encountered as a result of patches.
Hi I want to know, is it possible to modify the chain lightning effect so that it hits an enemy and to make so that 2 beams appear and each one chains outward for example:Weapon fires > Beam 1 > enemy 1 > 2 beam 2 > 2 enemies > 4 beam 3 > 4 enemies > finish.
How to make an aura which constantly takes away energy and the button switches to let you stop it? LOL, by the way, I never updated my signature so it looks like I suck.
Hey thanks for that nice tutorial.
I was able to create the Lancer Marine.
But since 2 days i am sitting on a problem with the Splitter Beam.
The Model: WarpRayMissile.m3 (and no other model) is not shown if my weapon is fired. I see the second effect with the spreaded lithnings but cant see the primary effect that void ray one. (I also hear the launching sound and the impact sound.)
I have excactly followed the tutorial but cant see what i did wrong.
The funny thing is that your map is working great but my created weapon isnt.
I tried to make a automatic turret with this weapon. It worked but no primary effect.
Then i tired to make the Hellion duplicate. It worked again but i still dont see the primary efffect.
I know this is not really detailed descripted but i hope you can help somehow. (And sry for my bad eng.)
I attempted to turn the Viper's Consume in to a Beam using your tutorial and I had two problems. The sound, using your method, just played for the rest of eternity. I had to go elsewhere to figure out how to kill it when effect ends.
The other problem is that the Consume model wouldn't play and I'd get this error in the test map.
Could not reattach beam during modelswap to ViperConsumeStructureTentacle.
Model created via Cache; ModelLink {ViperConsumeStructureTentacle} Failure to initialize.
(Why can't I just paragraph things once? Why must everything be spaced?)
I'm having the same issue at Air101 I Followed this to the T,but the only difference was i didn't do the third one and put the first two weapons on a marine, and like what happens with everything i follow, the units damage, but doesn't show the projectile fire the primary or secondary projectile....i cant figure it out ...pm me with reply please
Odds are you are using a default Site actor for your Action actors so it is hosting on the wrong actor. Also if you duped anything odds are the action actor has gotten messed up under the events, beam or missile fields.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Contribute to the wiki (Wiki button at top of page) Considered easy altering of the unit textures?
Odds are you are using a default Site actor for your Action actors so it is hosting on the wrong actor. Also if you duped anything odds are the action actor has gotten messed up under the events, beam or missile fields.
I haven't used the editor in a long time, but I'm saddened to know that the duplication process hasn't been refined.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Great to be back and part of the community again!
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hey guys just working thru the basic's over here at the moment ( i saw beginner in the title :D ) and this tutorial is kicking my ass
for the first step, the Lancer im having trouble when i get to configuring the events
open Event - Events + and create the following events: Actor Creation Animation Play: (Name: Beam1; Animation Properties: Death; Flags: [empty]; Blend In: -1.0; Blend Out: -1.0; Time Variant 1.0; Time Type: Duration) Animation Done AnimName: Beam1 (Custom) Destroy
when i try to add in the AnimName Beam1 i cant pick beam1 from a list if i click custom and enter Beam1 with text it dosent seem to save beam1 in the text field is there something that this is referencing that i have forgot to link?
also im assuming that i need to delete all the events that are already in this actor when it is created.
editkk i found a workaround, i downloaded the tutorial map and converted that whole event tab into raw data, copy pasted the text into my beamtesting map and it works. still no idea why i couldnt choose AnimationName Beam1 in the first place however, i think ima run thru the whole process againYou have to add that name to the list. So when you enter the name in the text field there is a button that adds it to the list. THEN you can select it for Animation Name. The benefit of this list is that it saves all of the names you add to it so that you can create your own labels to use over and over again.
oh yup i found the sneaky blighter. I get how that works now. Thanks for the tut's ProzaicMuze :D
I have a question that's a bit on the complicated end of things for me, but will hopefully be a bit more doable to someone who has more experience with these things.
I have a unit that has two void rays attached to it. The unit attacks with the void rays, the same way normal void rays attack - they open up, fire the beam, charging up through three levels of beam 'power', retain the charge for a little bit as normal, the works. All this works, and the beams fire correctly from the void ray to the target.
However, I would like the impact points of the two beams to be the same, and currently, the two beams pick target impact attachments more or less randomly, and thus almost never hit the same point on the target at the same time.
On the technical side, this is how I have things implemented.
A copy of the void ray weapon. A copy of all the Prismatic Beam Effects and Actors from the normal void ray (not the hero void ray, whose attack effects are made differently). A second copy of all the Effects and Actors save for the "(Initial Persistent)" one. This is done so that the second void ray and its beam fires properly. At first I spent some time trying to copy just the effects I thought I needed to get the second void ray beam's actors working right, but I must have been missing something since I never got it working that way, so eventually I just copied the entire thing again, which got it working.
The way I combined the two copies is as follows - [void ray weapon copy name] has "[prismatic beam copy name] (Initial Persistent)" as the effect.
"[Prismatic Beam Copy Name] (Initial Persistent)" effect (which was already a set effect) has "[Prismatic Beam Copy Name] (Charge Persistent)" AND [Prismatic Beam 2nd Copy Name] (Charge Persistent)" as the effect.
From there, the two (Charge Persistent) effects proceed from there as normal, with their respective copies of the subsequent effects. (If you just look at the normal Void Ray Prismatic Beam weapon and its effects, this makes sense.)
Anyway, since the attack action Actors for each beam are linked to the "(Charge Persistent)" effects, each one fires of their respective (Charge Persistent) effect, using its own copy of the void ray beam actor. What I don't know is how to get one of those beams to use the impact attachment of the other beam as its own impact attachment, always. I know I could check the Force Impact Site action flag in its action actor, but I don't know how I could actually make a site actor at the impact attachment of one of the beams.
Thanks in advance.
You need to change Impact Attachment Query (IAQ) for the attack actors. There is a long list of alternatives, so start with center and then try others if that one isn't quite right.
Right now they're picking random locations because of the IAQ's default settings.
@ProzaicMuze: Go
I spent a couple days (in between university classes and sleep, of course) altering and experimenting with different Impact Attachment Query combinations already, before posting that question.
Now, the void ray attack is a bit messy-er because it has that one action flag set (I don't remember the name off the top of my head, but it's in essence 'align impact to damage' or something like that) and this causes the damage attachment query field to effect the impact attachment locations in some almost-direct-but-not-quite way - I messed around with IAQs both with and without that action flag checked. "center" will cause the beams to hit the 'center' of the target for sure, but the problem is that for large targets - say, the Command Center - the beams shoot 'inside' the building (the void ray beam, as you probably know by memory, has a noticeable ball-like 'end' where it impacts the target - when the IAQ is Center, this ends up being 'inside' the target', instead of where the beam is making contact with it).
From there, just about every combination of IAQs I've tried has either done the above, hitting 'inside' the unit where the beam model goes noticeably 'through' the outside of the target when hitting large targets, or gotten stuck to the ground where the target unit's origin attachment was at the moment when it was fired upon, or, it will pick some target or another, but again, it'll pick them randomly and the two beams rarely ever converge.
I didn't exactly document what combinations I have tried so far, but it was a mix of the IAQs used by the Void Ray attack's beam normally, the IAQ "ClosestToCaster", "ClosestToTarget", and a generic one like "AMFilterTarget" or something like that that isn't one of the Void Ray's default ones. I also tried some direct methods, Like Target 0, but this doesn't really yield consistent results either.
I appreciate the suggestion, and if you can think of other IAQs that could possibly result in what I'm trying to achieve, I'm happy to try them. (I should've specified I had already tried a LOT of IAQ fiddling when typing my question originally.)
If you're open to it, toss your map up. It would be easier for me to change the IAQ to something that works and then let you know what that value was than to run through the list of them :)
You could also try to use a custom Site actor for the beam. Create it at the damage point the main attack uses and attach both of the beams to it, or something similar.
The easiest solution would obviously be to attach all 3 beams to a fixed attachment, for example Center, but thats probably not, what you want.
@ProzaicMuze: Go
Sorry I took over two days to respond. Yeah, I'm open to it, it's a testing/development map for me, not an actual project, so I wouldn't be giving up anything other than possible knowledge on how to make some quasi-basic things happen with data/triggers (most of which was acquired at least in part from tutorials here, a lot of them yours). Map is attached to post ( I hope - first time attaching something on this site). The unit in question is called Armageddon, and everything related to it in the Data Editor has that at the beginning of the name, so that should help you find everything. The way the unit is set up the attached-void-rays attack fires only on massive units and structures, so I have placed a bunch of massive units and just about one of each non-campaign building on the map to hopefully make testing more convenient.
Friendly warning: since my last post I have made some significant additions to the attached-void-rays attack - these changes do NOT at all effect how the attack action actor and the beam actor for each beam work in so far as impact/damage/launch attachments go (the beam actors just got some extra events dealing with animation changes and model swaps) - but just in case you do go rummaging through the attack's effects, bear in mind that the effects that use "Armageddon Target" and "Caster is Attacking" validators can freeze SC2 in its entirety if you remove those validators. As far as I know, with those validators in place there's no such game-freezing side effects under any circumstances, but it's possible some corner case slipped past my testing.
If anyone's interested, feel free to look at anything in the map (there isn't much, other than an 'overchargeable' void ray -style attack that when overcharged charges up twice as fast and has a fourth charge level that changes beam color, and a flight-capable melee unit whose only interesting feature is a set of triggers that adjusts his height to his target's height when he's attacking something when flying. The only request I have is that people don't just blatantly copy all or most of the two developed custom units in there.)
@Kueken531: Go
Yeah, that was actually exactly what I was asking about in my first post in this thread - how to do what you just suggested.
- Edit - I also reset the IAQs to the defaults on the void ray beam actors in question before saving and uploading, so you can start from the defaults and work from there.
Hello there.
Firstly, I'd like to thank you for this tutorial, as it's helped me learn a lot so far. I followed your chain lightning tutorial very strictly in order to add a new chain lightning tower to my Tower Defense. However, after testing my map through about 30 or so waves, I find that the animation often gets bugged. It shoots fine, jumps fine, and the damage and everything works. The animations work properly about 90% of the time, but every now and then there will be a constant beam shooting toward the ground after a wave is finished, coming from the tower.
I'm wondering if I did something wrong, or if it isn't properly destroying the beam animations?
EDIT: Also, if I build multiple Lightning Towers, then I get all kinds of beams everywhere, creating a bright "spider web" effect. :/
Any ideas?
I'm going to be spending the next month systematically replacing my tutorials (as needed) with updated versions and videos as time permits now that I've finally finished updating them. This update should fix several of the more recent problems you guys have encountered as a result of patches.
Hi I want to know, is it possible to modify the chain lightning effect so that it hits an enemy and to make so that 2 beams appear and each one chains outward for example:Weapon fires > Beam 1 > enemy 1 > 2 beam 2 > 2 enemies > 4 beam 3 > 4 enemies > finish.
Yes, you simply need to add multiple beam chains to one of the Sets in the current chain.
Right now it's Beam > Set > Beam > etc.
You would change it to Beam > Set > 2 Beams > 2 Sets > 2 (4 if you want it to double each time) Beams > etc.
I'm having a slight problem with the beam I'm using.
I'm trying to use the archon beam model, however the model doesn't show up and I cant seem to figure out for the life of me how to get it to work.
I'd also like to be able to tint it as well if possible but I'd like to see it first.
I tried it the way your tutorial set it up then copied the attack bit for the archon's attack to try getting the animation bit right but no luck.
How to make an aura which constantly takes away energy and the button switches to let you stop it? LOL, by the way, I never updated my signature so it looks like I suck.
Hey thanks for that nice tutorial. I was able to create the Lancer Marine. But since 2 days i am sitting on a problem with the Splitter Beam.
The Model: WarpRayMissile.m3 (and no other model) is not shown if my weapon is fired. I see the second effect with the spreaded lithnings but cant see the primary effect that void ray one. (I also hear the launching sound and the impact sound.)
I have excactly followed the tutorial but cant see what i did wrong. The funny thing is that your map is working great but my created weapon isnt.
I tried to make a automatic turret with this weapon. It worked but no primary effect. Then i tired to make the Hellion duplicate. It worked again but i still dont see the primary efffect.
I know this is not really detailed descripted but i hope you can help somehow. (And sry for my bad eng.)
I attempted to turn the Viper's Consume in to a Beam using your tutorial and I had two problems. The sound, using your method, just played for the rest of eternity. I had to go elsewhere to figure out how to kill it when effect ends.
The other problem is that the Consume model wouldn't play and I'd get this error in the test map.
Could not reattach beam during modelswap to ViperConsumeStructureTentacle.
Model created via Cache; ModelLink {ViperConsumeStructureTentacle} Failure to initialize.
(Why can't I just paragraph things once? Why must everything be spaced?)
I'm having the same issue at Air101 I Followed this to the T,but the only difference was i didn't do the third one and put the first two weapons on a marine, and like what happens with everything i follow, the units damage, but doesn't show the projectile fire the primary or secondary projectile....i cant figure it out ...pm me with reply please
@Mitch8778: Go
Odds are you are using a default Site actor for your Action actors so it is hosting on the wrong actor. Also if you duped anything odds are the action actor has gotten messed up under the events, beam or missile fields.
Contribute to the wiki (Wiki button at top of page) Considered easy altering of the unit textures?
https://www.sc2mapster.com/forums/resources/tutorials/179654-data-actor-events-message-texture-select-by-id
https://media.forgecdn.net/attachments/187/40/Screenshot2011-04-17_09_16_21.jpg
I haven't used the editor in a long time, but I'm saddened to know that the duplication process hasn't been refined.
Great to be back and part of the community again!