First things first, I expect that if you're reading this, you're clueless when it comes to beams. Why? Because you saw beginner and came to this tutorial. That being said, my job is to help you no longer be clueless and show off your awesome beam weapons and abilities in your future maps :D This will also help to prepare you for my more advanced beam tutorial.
The Basics
Beams are nothing more than models. They can't do anything on their own and unlike missiles they aren't a physical unit that travels from point A to B. In order to get a Beam to do anything you must rely on actors and effects. Thus every proper Beam is made up of the following parts:
Models
Actors (Control everything from size to location to whether or not your beam will crash the game)
Effects (This is how you shoot at units and do damage)
We will be spending all of our time in these 3 tabs. If you have to go to another tab for any reason other than to make a turret, weapon or unit, you're in the wrong place. This is going to be all about the simple mechanics behind how beams work.
Goals
No introductory learning tool is complete without laying out goals. So we're going to make 3 of them:
A Unit that fires a beam weapon
A Vehicle that fires a beam that shoots 2 additional beams in a burst
A Non-Combat Structure that fires a beam that bounces twice
Let's get started!
Testing My Map
Before you create the beams it's important that you see what it is they do in game. Look at the terrain before you Test Document (Ctrl + F9). In the middle are the two units that shoot beams and in the NE corner is the tower that shoots lightning. All the other zerg units are stock. Now test the document. It's going to say it's tied (I ignore triggers in example maps) so click "Return to game."
Start by attack-moving all the Lancers (Marines) into the SW corner. Pew pew pew! Lots of dead zerg by colossi beams.
Now attack-move all the Ionic Splitters (Hellions) into the SE corner. Notice that it shoots a green void ray beam (instead of blue) that forks. This is done using Actor Events. If you pay close attention, you'll also notice that the forks will almost always hit the Ultralisks. This is done using Target Sorts
Now take both groups and attack-move into the NW corner. Again, notice that Ionic Splits will hit their target and then fork to the Ultralisks until they are almost dead.
Lastly, take everything and attack-move into the NE corner. Uh oh, massive lightning tower! If you've played any TD maps prior to this, you might notice that the lightning beams aren't coming from the very top. Instead they're coming from the rod slightly below that. It looks more realistic. This is done using Site Operations. Also, the beams are brighter/thicker than they normally would be (you might not notice this if you haven't seen them as they normally are). That's more Actor Events.
Everything you see was done with Models, Actors and Events.
The Lancer
Make sure your Data Editor (F7) is open and ready to go. You can either open the Previewer (Ctrl + Shift + V) to select the beams you want or you can use the sames ones I did. If you choose your own beams it will be up to you to swap them in where I place my beams and match their animations when we go into Actor Events. I will give reminders along the way to help those who want to do this.
Effects Tab
Open with Data Type menu if needed
We've only got one effect to make: damage. Click on the effects tab. The effects will show up on the upper left box, it's links (objects that are tied to it) will show up in the bottom left box and the entire right hand area is the data editing field. Make sure all 5 buttons (ignore the 6th on the other side of the divider) left of the search bar are pressed. This will allow you to follow my "short hand."
Create a new effect (upper left box) named Lancer (Damage) with Effect Type: Damage
set (right side) AI - AI Notify Flags to Hurt Enemy
set Combat - Amount to 20
set Effect - Flags to Notificatin
set Effect - Kind to Ranged
set Effect - Response Flags to Acquire, Flee
AI Notify Flags, Flags and Response Flags are VERY important to apply to every damage effect you make. If you don't, the AI won't know what to do when attacked by them which will prevent units you attack from returning fire if your units aren't within their proximity auto-acquire range. In my more advanced tutorials I won't include these as I expect experienced mappers to know this and apply it on their own as needed. Additionally it can help to NOT have units return fire if you need them to hold still long enough to see what happens visually. Keep this in mind when testing abilities. The rest of this tutorial will have these included to help you get acquainted with these fields, however.
Models Tab
Open with Data Type menu if needed
Create a new model named Lancer Beam with Model Type: Generic
set Model to ColossusBeam.m3
Actors Tab
Open with Data Type menu if needed
Create a new actor named Lancer Beam with Actor Type: Beam (Simple) and Based On: BeamSimpleAnimationStyleOneShot (Unknown)
set Model to Lancer Beam
set Art - Scale to (0.5, 0.5, 0.5)
open Event - Events + and create the following events:
If you are using a different model, make sure you set Animation Properties to whichever animation actually shows up such as Birth or Stand. Some models don't have more than one animation. For example most impact models just have a Death animation.
Create a new actor named Lancer Beam Attack with Actor Type: Action and Based On: GenericAttack
set Art - Beam to Lancer Beam
open Combat - Launch Assets + and change sound to Colossus_AttackLaunch
open Event - Events + and create the following event:
Effect - Lancer (Damage) - Start
Create
open Target - Impact Map + and select the 1st row and set sound to Colossus_AttackImpact
Now your beam will show up every attack and make the proper sounds.
Units Tab
Open with Data Type menu if needed
Duplicate Marine and check the following boxes:
Start by renaming the Marine model Lancer. Go on to rename the actors Lancer and Lancer_Death and the weapon Plasma Lance ("Lancer -" in the Editor Prefix field). Now delete any abilities, command card buttons or behaviors you don't want and decide on your structure stats (HP, armor etc). Finish by renaming the unit Lancer.
Go to the weapon
set Effect - Effect to Lancer (Damage)
set Stats - Period to 1.5
set both Random Delay Maximum and Minimum to 0
set Stats - Range to 7
set UI - Damage Display Effect to Lancer (Damage)
set UI - Icon to btn-upgrade-protoss-extended-thermallance.dds
set Weapon - Target Filters to exclude[Dead/Hidden/Invulnerable/Missile/Resource(both)/Self/Stasis] and require [Visible]
Now you have a beam weapon :D
The Ionic Splitter
Effects Tab
Create a new effect named Splitter (Damage2) with Effect Type: Damage
set AI - AI Notify Flags to Hurt Enemy
set Combat - Amount to 30
set Effect - Flags to Notificatin
set Effect - Kind to Ranged
set Effect - Response Flags to Acquire, Flee
Create a new effect named Splitter (Search) with Effect Type: Search Area
set Search - Areas + to (Arc: 360; Effect: Splitter (Damage2); Maximum Count:2 and Radius: 4)
set Search - Exclude + to Target
set Search - Search Filters to exclude[Dead/Hidden/Invulnerable/Missile/Resource(both)/Self/Stasis] and require [Visible] and uncheck ally/player
set Target - Target Sorts + to TSLifeLargestFirst(Unknown)
Return to Splitter (Damage2)
set Target - Launch Location + to Splitter (Search) at Target Unit/Point
This will cause the damage to originate from the search allowing your beams to connect from this impact as opposed to your unit. This is VERY important if you want your beams to chain in any capacity.
Create a new effect named Splitter (Damage) with Effect Type: Damage
set AI - AI Notify Flags to Hurt Enemy
set Combat - Amount to 15
set Effect - Flags to Notificatin
set Effect - Kind to Ranged
set Effect - Response Flags to Acquire, Flee
Create a new effect named Splitter (Set) with Effect Type: Set
set Effect - Effects to include Splitter (Search) and Splitter (Damage)
set Effect - Maximum Count to -1
This should allow you to shoot a target and have two more beams shoot from that target to units close to it. If you find that not all of your effects are landing, there is a chance that Effect - Maximum Count<</color>> on the Effect - Set<</color>> is set to 1 instead of -1. This field sets the maximum number of effects the set can create at once. Thus -1 is infinity and 1 is only a single effect.
If you want more beams, set a higher Maximum Count on the Effect - Search Area. The Target Sort will also cause the forking beams to hit beefier targets first. You could even add bonus damage against armored/massive targets if you want the bounces to be extra effective against larger targets.
Models Tab
Create a new model named Splitter Beam with Model Type: Generic
set Model to WarpRayMissile.m3
Create a new model named Splitter Beam 2 with Model Type: Generic
set Model to SoulHunterBeam3.m3
Actors Tab
Create a new actor named Splitter Beam with Actor Type: Beam (Simple) and Based On: BeamSimpleAnimationStyleOneShot (Unknown)
set Model to Splitter Beam
set Art - Scale to (0.75, 0.75, 0.75)
open Event - Events + and create the following events:
This will make your void beams a similar shade of green as their forking beams.
Create a new actor named Splitter Beam Attack Launch with Actor Type: Action and Based One: GenericAttack
set Art - Beam to Splitter Beam
open Combat - Launch Assets + and change sound to VoidRay_WeaponStart
open Event - Events + and create the following event:
Effect - Splitter (Damage) - Start
Create
Notice that I didn't put an impact sound. This is because we're going to attack it to the forking beams instead. This is because you don't want the impact sound to play if the forking beams aren't actually hitting anything. If you want a separate noise for the void beam itself, you can, however, add that. I left it out to avoid sound clutter.
Create a new actor named Splitter Beam 2 with Actor Type: Beam (Simple) and Based On: BeamSimpleAnimationStyleOneShot (Unknown)
set Model to Splitter Beam 2
set Art - Scale to (0.5, 0.5, 0.5)
open Event - Events + and create the following events:
Create a new actor named Splitter Beam 2 Attack with Actor Type: Action and Based One: GenericAttack
set Art - Beam to Splitter Beam 2
open Event - Events + and create the following event:
Effect - Splitter (Damage2) - Start
Create
open Target - Impact Map + and select the 1st row and set sound to Stalker_AttackImpact
Units Tab
Duplicate Hellion and check the following boxes:
Start by renaming the Hellion model Ionic Splitter. Go on to rename the actor Ionic Spliter, the turret Ionic Splitter and the weapon Ion Cannon ("Ionic Splitter -" in the Editor Prefix field). Now delete any abilities, command card buttons or behaviors you don't want and decide on your structure stats (HP, armor etc). Finish by renaming the unit Ionic Splitter.
Go to the weapon
set Effect - Effect to Splitter (Set)
set Stats - Period to 2.0
set bothRandom Delay Maximum and Minimum to 0
set Stats - Range to 8
set UI - Damage Display Effect to Splitter (Damage)
set UI - Icon to btn-techupgrade-terran-particlecannon.dds
set Weapon - Target Filters to exclude[Dead/Hidden/Invulnerable/Missile/Resource(both)/Self/Stasis] and require [Visible]
Actors Tab
Because we have a turret, we need to enable it before it will be able to fire properly.
Create a new actor named Ionic Splitter Turret with Actor Type: Turret
open Event - Events + and create the following event:
Turret Enable - Ionic Splitter
Create
Now you have a forking beam weapon :D
The Lightning Tower
Effects Tab
Create a new effect named Beam Bounce 3 (Damage) with Effect Type: Damage
set AI - AI Notify Flags to Hurt Enemy
set Combat - Amount to 30
set Effect - Flags to Notificatin
set Effect - Kind to Ranged
set Effect - Response Flags to Acquire, Flee
Create a new effect named Beam Bounce 2 (Search) with Effect Type: Search Area
set Search - Areas + to (Arc: 360; Effect: Beam Bounce 3 (Damage); Maximum Count:1 and Radius: 4)
set Search - Exclude + to Target
set Search - Search Filters to exclude[Dead/Hidden/Invulnerable/Missile/Resource(both)/Self/Stasis] and require [Visible] and uncheck ally/player
set Target - Target Sorts + to TSLifeLargestFirst(Unknown)
Return to Beam Bounce 3 (Damage)
set Target - Launch Location + to Beam Bounce 2 (Search) at Target Unit/Point
Create a new effect named Beam Bounce 2 (Damage) with Effect Type: Damage
set AI - AI Notify Flags to Hurt Enemy
set Combat - Amount to 45
set Effect - Flags to Notificatin
set Effect - Kind to Ranged
set Effect - Response Flags to Acquire, Flee
Create a new effect named Beam Bounce 2 (Set) with Effect Type: Set
set Effect - Effects to include Beam Bounce 2 (Search) and Beam Bounce 2 (Damage)
set Effect - Maximum Count to -1
Create a new effect named Beam Bounce 1 (Search) with *Effect Type: Search Area**
set Search - Areas + to (Arc: 360; Effect: Bounce Beam 2 (Set); Maximum Count:1 and Radius: 4)
set Search - Exclude + to Target
set Search - Search Filters to exclude[Dead/Hidden/Invulnerable/Missile/Resource(both)/Self/Stasis] and require [Visible] and uncheck ally/player
set Target - Target Sorts + to TSLifeLargestFirst(Unknown)
Return to Beam Bounce 2 (Damage)
set Target - Launch Location + to Beam Bounce 1 (Search) at Target Unit/Point
Create a new effect named Beam Bounce 1 (Damage) with Effect Type: Damage
set AI - AI Notify Flags to Hurt Enemy
set Combat - Amount* to 60
set Effect - Flags to Notificatin
set Effect - Kind to Ranged
set Effect - Response Flags to Acquire, Flee
Create a new effect named Beam Bounce 1 (Set) with Effect Type: Set
set Effect - Effects to include Beam Bounce 1 (Search) and Beam Bounce 1 (Damage)
set Effect - Maximum Count to -1
It might not make complete sense working backwards, but this is how the series works:
Weapon Fires > Set 1 [Search 1 + Damage 1] > Search 1 Impact: Set 2 [Search 2 + Damage 2 (Launches from Search 1)] > Search Impact 2: Damage 3 (Launches from Search 2)
Following this pattern you can make the chain as long as you want :)
Models Tab
Create a new model named Bounce Beam with Model Type: Generic
set Model to ArchonBeamSuper.m3
Actors Tab
Create a new actor named SOpLowerBy1p25 with Actor Type: Site Operation (Local Offset)
set Actor - Local Offset to (0.0, 0.0, -1.25)
This actor is what is going to allow us to adjust where the beam chain shoots from on our structure.
Create a new actor named Bounce Beam 1 with Actor Type: Beam (Simple) and Based On: BeamSimpleAnimationStyleOneShot (Unknown)
set Model to Bounce Beam
open Event - Events + and create the following events:
Create a new actor named Bounce Beam 3 Attack with Actor Type: Action and Based One: GenericAttack
set Art - Beam to Bounce Beam 3
open Event - Events + and create the following event:
Effect - Beam Bounce 3 (Damage) - Start
Create
Units Tab
Duplicate Sensor Tower and check the following boxes:
Start by renaming the Sensor Tower model Lightning Tower. Go on to rename the actor Lightning Tower. This structure doesn't have a weapon so you'll have to add one. Hop over to the Weapons Tab and make a new weapon named Energy Coil using the default settings. Add "Lightning Tower -" in the Editor - Editor Prefix field. Now return to the unit to delete any abilities, command card buttons or behaviors you don't want and decide on your structure stats (HP, armor etc). Finish by renaming the unit Lightning Tower and adding a new weapon to Combat - Weapons + using the Ionic Splitter turret and your newly created weapon.
Go to the weapon
set Effect - Effect to Beam Bounce 1 (Set)
set Stats - Period to 3.0
set bothRandom Delay Maximum and Minimum to 0
set Stats - Range to 10
set UI - Damage Display Effect to Beam Bounce 1 (Damage)
set UI - Icon to btn-ability-terran-protoss-psistorm.dds
set Weapon - Target Filters to exclude[Dead/Hidden/Invulnerable/Missile/Resource(both)/Self/Stasis] and require [Visible]
Now you have a beam chain weapon :D
If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to post them here. Especially if you see typos or possible errors. I'll do my best to keep to correct such issues ;)
If you'd like to learn a more advanced method of beam chaining, see my Dynamic Beam Chains tutorial.
It's most likely due to the other tutorial I previously made of a similar nature. Those who were first looking already saw that. No biggie, I just know some asked for a more accessible version.
Ive used the lancer beam for my 'Icebat'. However, my beam doesnt appear, even though i followed the actor instructions perfectly :/. After messing around with some other fields, i did get it working, but the beam went above the targets head, so i changed it back. :(
You can follow my tutorial perfectly and still not get it "right" if you're using the specified values on a different unit as your description sounds like. Depending on the actor/model you might need different values for where the beam is going to fire from and to. So what unit are you using this beam weapon with?
Also, if your beam isn't showing up that's usually a sign that either your Effect - Damage isn't starting at the unit (Source Unit) and ending at the target (Target Unit), preventing the beam from connecting the dots. Possibly one of the actors doesn't have the beam creating when the Effect - Damage is firing. The other most common reason is that you took a beam model other than the one I was using and didn't specify the right animation in Animation Properties. So your beam could actually be successfully created, but if you're telling it to use the animation "Stand" and it only has the animation "Birth," it won't show up at all.
So double check all of these and if that doesn't fix it, let me know what unit and beam model you are using and we'll go from there :)
Im using a maraurder copy as my unit, and i haven't changed the targets etc for the damage effect. I just assumed they would've been correct. The beam im using is 'Tractorbeam.m3' because it looks quite ice-like. However, when i was using the collossi beam, it still didn't show up.
Also, i want to make this apply a stackable slowing debuff. I would do this via a set. Would i change the animation play to be when the set starts, or stay with damage/ debuff?
Hey, i was wondering if i am doing something wrong or if anyone else is having issues. When i go to open the example map in the SC2 Map editor i get an error that sias "Dependency data could not be loaded. Continue anyway?" When i do so the map is solid black and there are little grey balls all over. If i test the map then i just get a black screen that will do nothing. Any ideas?
It sounds like you don't have the latest patch OR your editor isn't loading the SC2 Standard Mod files correctly. Have you tried loading maps from other tutorials?
I tried to open your other 2 maps from your other beam tutorials but same thing, no luck. On the other hand i had a friend send me a map he was working on and that opened up just fine, so now i am really confused.
My units end up with beams that shoot THROUGH their targets rather than stop at them?
I followed the entire tutorial and recreated the unit on your map and it worked perfectly. On a fresh map though, I ended with units firing through their targets.
Really nice tutorial. I especially liked how you included a map with the finished products so I could check mine against that if I got confused.
My only suggestion would be that, since it is a tutorial for beginners, it would be nice if you included an explanation for some of the steps/values.
For example:
Create a new effect named Beam Bounce 2 (Set) with Effect Type: Set
set Effect - Effects to include Beam Bounce 2 (Search) and Beam Bounce 2 (Damage)
set Effect - Maximum Count to -1
I have no idea what setting the maximum count to -1 does or why it is important 8P.
Still, all in all an excellent tutorial. Thanks for taking the time to make it.
Prozaic - for the Lightning Tower tutorial, it seems like there's no included step to add the Model "Bounce Beam" to the actors "Bounce Beam 1", "Bounce Beam 2", and "Bounce Beam 3" - which is necessary for the beam to actually show up.
Thank's for the tutorial. You need to fix a copy and paste error in the Ionic Splitter 'models tab' section. Also, the boxes checked for copying the hellion do not match up with the text below it (death model).
Question: I have a beam that is created by event: unit birth and is supposed to connect two attachment points on _Unit, so I put the two attachment points into host launch ops and host impact ops. However, while this works, the beam doesn't move with the attachment points (which bob up and down) if the unit is stationary. It works fine when the unit is moving! What gives?
Thank you for the typo comments. I've gone through and fixed a number of issues :)
@BrotherLaz can you be a little more specific? What beam model, unit model, actor animation (Birth, Stand, Spell, Channel etc) and what attachpoints are you using on this unit?
Depending on what animation it is and what attachment point you used, some anchors don't move with various animations. In other words, while the unit is moving, all anchor points are moving, but if you've got the unit playing it's "Spell" animation, the point you used could be stationary during it. You can check this by looking at the anchor points on a unit in the previewer. Pick your animation, press "A" and then watch the point to see if it is bobbing.
Not a spell anim, just a regular stand anim. :( It even happens during a fidget and is very noticable then.
In both cases the spell starts at the proper attachment point but doesn't move with the model. It only snaps back to the attachment when the unit moves.
Beam: new generic BeamContinuous. Point is the broodlord head but it happens with any attachment point.
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First things first, I expect that if you're reading this, you're clueless when it comes to beams. Why? Because you saw beginner and came to this tutorial. That being said, my job is to help you no longer be clueless and show off your awesome beam weapons and abilities in your future maps :D This will also help to prepare you for my more advanced beam tutorial.
The Basics
Beams are nothing more than models. They can't do anything on their own and unlike missiles they aren't a physical unit that travels from point A to B. In order to get a Beam to do anything you must rely on actors and effects. Thus every proper Beam is made up of the following parts:
We will be spending all of our time in these 3 tabs. If you have to go to another tab for any reason other than to make a turret, weapon or unit, you're in the wrong place. This is going to be all about the simple mechanics behind how beams work.
Goals
No introductory learning tool is complete without laying out goals. So we're going to make 3 of them:
Let's get started!
Testing My Map
Before you create the beams it's important that you see what it is they do in game. Look at the terrain before you Test Document (Ctrl + F9). In the middle are the two units that shoot beams and in the NE corner is the tower that shoots lightning. All the other zerg units are stock. Now test the document. It's going to say it's tied (I ignore triggers in example maps) so click "Return to game."
Start by attack-moving all the Lancers (Marines) into the SW corner. Pew pew pew! Lots of dead zerg by colossi beams.
Now attack-move all the Ionic Splitters (Hellions) into the SE corner. Notice that it shoots a green void ray beam (instead of blue) that forks. This is done using Actor Events. If you pay close attention, you'll also notice that the forks will almost always hit the Ultralisks. This is done using Target Sorts
Now take both groups and attack-move into the NW corner. Again, notice that Ionic Splits will hit their target and then fork to the Ultralisks until they are almost dead.
Lastly, take everything and attack-move into the NE corner. Uh oh, massive lightning tower! If you've played any TD maps prior to this, you might notice that the lightning beams aren't coming from the very top. Instead they're coming from the rod slightly below that. It looks more realistic. This is done using Site Operations. Also, the beams are brighter/thicker than they normally would be (you might not notice this if you haven't seen them as they normally are). That's more Actor Events.
Everything you see was done with Models, Actors and Events.
The Lancer
Make sure your Data Editor (F7) is open and ready to go. You can either open the Previewer (Ctrl + Shift + V) to select the beams you want or you can use the sames ones I did. If you choose your own beams it will be up to you to swap them in where I place my beams and match their animations when we go into Actor Events. I will give reminders along the way to help those who want to do this.
Effects Tab
Open with Data Type menu if needed
We've only got one effect to make: damage. Click on the effects tab. The effects will show up on the upper left box, it's links (objects that are tied to it) will show up in the bottom left box and the entire right hand area is the data editing field. Make sure all 5 buttons (ignore the 6th on the other side of the divider) left of the search bar are pressed. This will allow you to follow my "short hand."
AI Notify Flags, Flags and Response Flags are VERY important to apply to every damage effect you make. If you don't, the AI won't know what to do when attacked by them which will prevent units you attack from returning fire if your units aren't within their proximity auto-acquire range. In my more advanced tutorials I won't include these as I expect experienced mappers to know this and apply it on their own as needed. Additionally it can help to NOT have units return fire if you need them to hold still long enough to see what happens visually. Keep this in mind when testing abilities. The rest of this tutorial will have these included to help you get acquainted with these fields, however.
Models Tab
Open with Data Type menu if needed
Actors Tab
Open with Data Type menu if needed
If you are using a different model, make sure you set Animation Properties to whichever animation actually shows up such as Birth or Stand. Some models don't have more than one animation. For example most impact models just have a Death animation.
Now your beam will show up every attack and make the proper sounds.
Units Tab
Open with Data Type menu if needed
Duplicate Marine and check the following boxes:
Start by renaming the Marine model Lancer. Go on to rename the actors Lancer and Lancer_Death and the weapon Plasma Lance ("Lancer -" in the Editor Prefix field). Now delete any abilities, command card buttons or behaviors you don't want and decide on your structure stats (HP, armor etc). Finish by renaming the unit Lancer.
Go to the weapon
Now you have a beam weapon :D
The Ionic Splitter
Effects Tab
This will cause the damage to originate from the search allowing your beams to connect from this impact as opposed to your unit. This is VERY important if you want your beams to chain in any capacity.
This should allow you to shoot a target and have two more beams shoot from that target to units close to it. If you find that not all of your effects are landing, there is a chance that Effect - Maximum Count<</color>> on the Effect - Set<</color>> is set to 1 instead of -1. This field sets the maximum number of effects the set can create at once. Thus -1 is infinity and 1 is only a single effect.
If you want more beams, set a higher Maximum Count on the Effect - Search Area. The Target Sort will also cause the forking beams to hit beefier targets first. You could even add bonus damage against armored/massive targets if you want the bounces to be extra effective against larger targets.
Models Tab
Actors Tab
This will make your void beams a similar shade of green as their forking beams.
Notice that I didn't put an impact sound. This is because we're going to attack it to the forking beams instead. This is because you don't want the impact sound to play if the forking beams aren't actually hitting anything. If you want a separate noise for the void beam itself, you can, however, add that. I left it out to avoid sound clutter.
Units Tab
Duplicate Hellion and check the following boxes:
Start by renaming the Hellion model Ionic Splitter. Go on to rename the actor Ionic Spliter, the turret Ionic Splitter and the weapon Ion Cannon ("Ionic Splitter -" in the Editor Prefix field). Now delete any abilities, command card buttons or behaviors you don't want and decide on your structure stats (HP, armor etc). Finish by renaming the unit Ionic Splitter.
Go to the weapon
Actors Tab
Because we have a turret, we need to enable it before it will be able to fire properly.
Now you have a forking beam weapon :D
The Lightning Tower
Effects Tab
It might not make complete sense working backwards, but this is how the series works:
Weapon Fires > Set 1 [Search 1 + Damage 1] > Search 1 Impact: Set 2 [Search 2 + Damage 2 (Launches from Search 1)] > Search Impact 2: Damage 3 (Launches from Search 2)
Following this pattern you can make the chain as long as you want :)
Models Tab
Actors Tab
This actor is what is going to allow us to adjust where the beam chain shoots from on our structure.
Units Tab
Duplicate Sensor Tower and check the following boxes:
Start by renaming the Sensor Tower model Lightning Tower. Go on to rename the actor Lightning Tower. This structure doesn't have a weapon so you'll have to add one. Hop over to the Weapons Tab and make a new weapon named Energy Coil using the default settings. Add "Lightning Tower -" in the Editor - Editor Prefix field. Now return to the unit to delete any abilities, command card buttons or behaviors you don't want and decide on your structure stats (HP, armor etc). Finish by renaming the unit Lightning Tower and adding a new weapon to Combat - Weapons + using the Ionic Splitter turret and your newly created weapon.
Go to the weapon
Now you have a beam chain weapon :D
If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to post them here. Especially if you see typos or possible errors. I'll do my best to keep to correct such issues ;)
If you'd like to learn a more advanced method of beam chaining, see my Dynamic Beam Chains tutorial.
((This post is reserved for modifications and other such purposes))
bummer nobody replied here yet, but this tutorial is just the thing I had been looking for, thanks!
It's most likely due to the other tutorial I previously made of a similar nature. Those who were first looking already saw that. No biggie, I just know some asked for a more accessible version.
Glad I could help! :D
Ive used the lancer beam for my 'Icebat'. However, my beam doesnt appear, even though i followed the actor instructions perfectly :/. After messing around with some other fields, i did get it working, but the beam went above the targets head, so i changed it back. :(
You can follow my tutorial perfectly and still not get it "right" if you're using the specified values on a different unit as your description sounds like. Depending on the actor/model you might need different values for where the beam is going to fire from and to. So what unit are you using this beam weapon with?
Also, if your beam isn't showing up that's usually a sign that either your Effect - Damage isn't starting at the unit (Source Unit) and ending at the target (Target Unit), preventing the beam from connecting the dots. Possibly one of the actors doesn't have the beam creating when the Effect - Damage is firing. The other most common reason is that you took a beam model other than the one I was using and didn't specify the right animation in Animation Properties. So your beam could actually be successfully created, but if you're telling it to use the animation "Stand" and it only has the animation "Birth," it won't show up at all.
So double check all of these and if that doesn't fix it, let me know what unit and beam model you are using and we'll go from there :)
Im using a maraurder copy as my unit, and i haven't changed the targets etc for the damage effect. I just assumed they would've been correct. The beam im using is 'Tractorbeam.m3' because it looks quite ice-like. However, when i was using the collossi beam, it still didn't show up.
Also, i want to make this apply a stackable slowing debuff. I would do this via a set. Would i change the animation play to be when the set starts, or stay with damage/ debuff?
If you're comfortable with it, toss me a PM to your map or attach it to your post and I'll take a closer look at it.
Hey, i was wondering if i am doing something wrong or if anyone else is having issues. When i go to open the example map in the SC2 Map editor i get an error that sias "Dependency data could not be loaded. Continue anyway?" When i do so the map is solid black and there are little grey balls all over. If i test the map then i just get a black screen that will do nothing. Any ideas?
It sounds like you don't have the latest patch OR your editor isn't loading the SC2 Standard Mod files correctly. Have you tried loading maps from other tutorials?
I tried to open your other 2 maps from your other beam tutorials but same thing, no luck. On the other hand i had a friend send me a map he was working on and that opened up just fine, so now i am really confused.
Do you, by chance, know what version he (and yourself) are patched to?
My units end up with beams that shoot THROUGH their targets rather than stop at them?
I followed the entire tutorial and recreated the unit on your map and it worked perfectly. On a fresh map though, I ended with units firing through their targets.
Any ideas?
Problem solved via IRC ;)
Really nice tutorial. I especially liked how you included a map with the finished products so I could check mine against that if I got confused.
My only suggestion would be that, since it is a tutorial for beginners, it would be nice if you included an explanation for some of the steps/values.
For example:
Create a new effect named Beam Bounce 2 (Set) with Effect Type: Set set Effect - Effects to include Beam Bounce 2 (Search) and Beam Bounce 2 (Damage) set Effect - Maximum Count to -1
I have no idea what setting the maximum count to -1 does or why it is important 8P.
Still, all in all an excellent tutorial. Thanks for taking the time to make it.
Prozaic - for the Lightning Tower tutorial, it seems like there's no included step to add the Model "Bounce Beam" to the actors "Bounce Beam 1", "Bounce Beam 2", and "Bounce Beam 3" - which is necessary for the beam to actually show up.
Am I wrong in saying that got left out?
Thank's for the tutorial. You need to fix a copy and paste error in the Ionic Splitter 'models tab' section. Also, the boxes checked for copying the hellion do not match up with the text below it (death model).
Question: I have a beam that is created by event: unit birth and is supposed to connect two attachment points on _Unit, so I put the two attachment points into host launch ops and host impact ops. However, while this works, the beam doesn't move with the attachment points (which bob up and down) if the unit is stationary. It works fine when the unit is moving! What gives?
Thank you for the typo comments. I've gone through and fixed a number of issues :)
@BrotherLaz can you be a little more specific? What beam model, unit model, actor animation (Birth, Stand, Spell, Channel etc) and what attachpoints are you using on this unit?
Depending on what animation it is and what attachment point you used, some anchors don't move with various animations. In other words, while the unit is moving, all anchor points are moving, but if you've got the unit playing it's "Spell" animation, the point you used could be stationary during it. You can check this by looking at the anchor points on a unit in the previewer. Pick your animation, press "A" and then watch the point to see if it is bobbing.
Not a spell anim, just a regular stand anim. :( It even happens during a fidget and is very noticable then.
In both cases the spell starts at the proper attachment point but doesn't move with the model. It only snaps back to the attachment when the unit moves.
Beam: new generic BeamContinuous. Point is the broodlord head but it happens with any attachment point.