I tried implementing a one second delay to the ability (Unit uses ability, does burrow animation, disappears. One Second later unit appears, and unburrows at the ability target location).
When I try to create the actors upon the start or stop of the teleport effect (Which occurs one second after the Persistent effect which is launched from the ability), it says that I cannot create an Actor outside of a unit's actor scope (Oh you silly silly editor).
When I try to use a Timer (With a one second delay) upon Ability.FinishStart and a Create upon TimerExpired (With the TimerName term with the correct timer name), the actors (Unit models) never appear again.
Does the actor editor not work for abilities? I have no idea what I am doing wrong.
Basic problem I had when fiddling around with actors. (I think I am starting to get the hang of actors, now I know you can't manipulate an actor without adding events to THAT specific actor)
But the problem is this:
I have an ability that is basically a copy of blink (Not a duplicate, I made a clean flawless copy using add object and using the "copy from" field), and added it to a NON ZERG unit. The ability's name is "Quick Tunnel" (It's basically blink, but different actor animations, so it looks like the unit is burrowing instantly).
Since my unit isn't zerg (No burrow animation, I opted to make a duplicate of the roach model (Called it "BurrowDouble") and created its events so that it creates itself upon "QuickTunnel.CastStart" and plays the burrow animation, creates itself and plays unburrow upon "QuickTunnel.FinishStart". And it is destroyed whenever it is finished playing an animation. The purpose of this dummy model is to let the unit "visually burrow" even if it turns into a roach while it burrows XD. It is working beautifully as intended.
My problem is with the NON ZERG actor, the actual unit. Since it does not contribute to the burrow animation, I set up events to destroy it upon "QuickTunnel.CastStart" and to create it upon "QuickTunnel.FinishStart". Problem is that if I interrupt the ability (During its 0.5 cast time), the ability never gets to the FinishStart phase and if the unit is unselected after that without recasting the ability completely, there is no way to reselect it (Effectively disappearing).
I tried to fix this by adding an event which creates the actor upon "QuickTunnel.CastStop", but while this fixes the disappearing issue...it creates a model every time the ability begins being casted, not only when it is interrupted (So I end up with extra actors which looks weird).
How do I create and destroy an actor without having to end up with more actors than just one?
The reason I don't use autocasting is because I want autocasting to be initially off for players, are you saying it is possible to toggle on/off autocasting for specific players? (I have no idea how to do that) Another weakness of using autocast is that I INTENTIONALLY have set the auto-cast radius to a small 2.5 unit distance (So players have to do some work in commanding their monsters, and so the monsters don't wander off too far), and I'd like the AI controlled units to be able to detect food from a longer distance.
By the way, I downloaded April's map and after 8 iterations (Demo was superb, its just me being dumb/slow), I managed to duplicate it using a persistent effect middleman, and the little runts are feasting like rats (That's a good thing). Thanks Aptril.
Would be much more elegant. Just use the ability auto-cast validators, filter and range to find the units you want to target.
What do you mean by elegant? Is it because it is an easier method (Can't argue with that) or because it consumes more power and would contribute to lag?
@april9: Go
i dont get it, autocast works but you don't want to use it for no reason. just turn it on for your neutral units and you have no problem. there is no persistant needed for order effect. it's only needed if the target is a point and not a unit.
I don't want to risk screwing up the setup I have right now (Using persistent effect as April suggested). Especially because I have no idea how to link Source/Target units and the other fields if there were no persistent effect in the chain. Maybe you could make April's demo cleaner (Not that I need another demo, I don't mind using the persistent effect).
Also, also, also, also, I am interested in this suggestion by Glorn, is it possible?
@april9: Go
I also think you can use an effect to change the owner of the unit as well; rather than a trigger.
I was thinking of maybe creating a Behavior for the "Food" which changes ownership and removes it after 2 seconds. Or maybe I could add an additional effect to my "Eat" ability which changes ownership of the target.
Problem is I can't find an effect which can change a unit's ownership or alter any of its flags (Like turn off that individual unit's "worker" flag which is one of the requirements for the "Eat" ability to target it).
I guess I could experiment in using data to avoid double eating, but as you can see I am all thumbs when working with data. I will not do so until I fix my current problem using data. (Data editor keeps convincing me that I shouldn't use it)
if autocast already works and you only need a buff for tutorial reasons i would use a trigger to issue the order instead of having a periodic buff. or even just toogle autocast on and tell something like hey you are eating, congrats.
btw instead of changing the owner you could add a buff to the target unit to avoid 2 players eat from the same unit and also remove the unit with an effect.
I need the ability for an AI controlled monster which players don't control, so using triggers would consume too much power (I heard that I should use data for events that happen super often). I'll try your second suggestion as soon as I can manage to order nonplayer units to eat.
If you are using a validator for unit type in the search area effect it will most likely be validating the caster. Try using the search area effect filter field instead (only neutral, requiring worker).
I did as you said and removed the validator as well as indicating neutral workers in the search field. But it still doesn't work XD (Data is so much harder than triggers, I wish it worked like triggers where functions make sense).
If your requirement is just to auto-target neutral units, the auto-cast suggested by @Photoloss would be the way to go, and definitely the simplest. If you could elaborate on what exactly are you trying to do and what are your requirements, I am sure I could help with that.
I'll try to be as specific as possible :3
The Unit I want to give the order has the "Eat Food" ability.
The "Eat Food" ability is a targeted ability which can only target "Neutral" Units (Player 0) which have the "worker" flag (All "Food" units have this flag exclusively so that units won't try to eat neutral units that are not "Food", such as rocks).
The "Eat Food" ability is a melee range spell. When the ability targets a "Food" unit, it applies a buff type behavior to the caster (The "Currently Eating" behavior). The "Currently Eating" behavior lasts 2 seconds and disables the unit's Move and Attack abilities while active.
I have one trigger that detects when a unit literally "casts" the "Eat" ability, detects what unit type the target is, converts the ability's target to the player's team immediately (To avoid having more than one unit eat from the same "Food" unit), and after two seconds removes the ability's target from the game and modify's a variable (Adding Score Points).
The ability is a dummy spell that needs a target but only disables the monster while my "Eat" trigger does everything else.
What I want to achieve: I want to have the ability start with autocast off with the option to toggle it on (This is already done and functioning) (Human players and "Neutral" use this ability).
The reason why I want the auto-cast initially off is because units cannot attack while eating and might confuse the player if they act on their own without the player fully learning it is an autocast which can be toggled off (The "Eat Food" spell can be used by autocasting, targeting manually or right clicking (Smart Cast).
I Used a search effect which looks for 1 unit (Using a validator in the search effect to make sure it targets the correct unit type), the search effect launches the Issue Order to use ability effect (Issues order to source unit to use "Custom Ability" on "Target Unit" of "Search Area" effect).
I'd rather avoid getting super complex validators.
There can be more than 1 player 0? (Neutral player)
I have no idea how effects work (The fields in persistent, search and issue order are too vague and don't seem to have anything to do with each other), all the combinations I tried didn't seem to make the unit do anything (Plus I can;t find a tutorial which properly explains how things work).
Hi, I have a unit type which I want to order to use a "custom" ability I made (Which targets "Player 0 Neutral" units only), it is a target unit ability.
I wanted to do this through behaviors which launched an effect of type "Issue Order" which orders the caster (Unit with the behavior) to look for nearby valid targets and to use this custom ability on the first one it finds. After 5 hours of no luck I'd like to ask for help on HOW EXACTLY can I make this work.
Not any that I remember. As far as I know, the only triggers I have made concerning abilities simply modify variables and create units when abilities are cast.
UPDATE: I disabled "Hides for Simple Text" field on the ability button, and the ability now seems to show up for other players. Maybe that was the problem.
Thanks for the suggestions, I did what you recommended and it seems the map doesn't lag horribly right now (Hopefully it will stay that way).
But now I have a problem that is just as important.
My map has a custom ability called "GatherFood", which units use to "Eat" meat units and red berry bush units.
For some RANDOM reason I can see the ability button, BUT NO ONE ELSE CAN.
I have done tests and found out that it is not the host who can see buttons, but me specifically. If I play as the host only I can see the ability button, if I don't play as host, I am still the only player who can see the button for the "GatherFood" ability.
I really need to have the players see the button (So that they may toggle it for autocast). What is wrong with my setup that it hides the "GatherFood" ability button on the command card?
(My Map is posted in my first reply to this thread, all my data entries have the "Monster-" prefix for easy locating on the search bar.
i cannot correctly open the map due to hots depencies but from what i see i would say it's the terrain. pathfinding isn't easy and yolu have lots of different layers. using the "painting" i would try to avoid difficult geometrical objects, just plain and straight rectangles ( you have quite complex ones)
I actually do have a lot of paths in the map. The reason why I have a lot of them is that I wanted to make a layout I could follow when making the terrain so I know where a corridor continues and where there are walls (Yellow paths for low ground and blue paths for high ground as well as green paths for starting areas.
They are basically placeholders so I don't make a mistake in the terrain in the future when I get around to editing the terrain (If that is the case I can remove a major portion of it while I'm still working on it). So should I remove these placeholder paths?
I also have a consistent perimeter of red pathing (No walking on it) around the whole map about 16 units wide (To avoid having a player wander off the map), would that be the reason why my map might be reducing frame rate around the edges? (That would make sense if it is true since it is the only thing I have on the edges) Would having downward/upward cliffs around the edges be less laggy or would those lag the map too?
I actually feel the map is pretty small for what I want, can't imagine working with anything smaller than that (Is 256 X 256 too large for a lag free map?, that would stink if its true XD).
Judging from the Zergling/Hydralisk HP change, somethign is possibly changing the HP field of a category of units to 2/5 of their original HP, have you tried checking the HP of other Zerg units and units of other races?
@Mille25, I actually have around 60 doodads around the center of the map (None at the edges), 1 lighting, and around 30 squares of water.
__
I have read your replies, thanks for the advice. Whenever I playtest the map in the editor, no problems show up.
I feel that the possible problem might be in the triggers (Specifically the periodic events being too short).
Since I want to make sure what the problem is (If there is any) I'd like to ask you to check the map if you have the time (I worked hard on it but there is not much content to analyze).
I'd try to playtest it online a few more times, but finding people in chats willing to help me fill the player 2 spot is really hard.
0
Now I have a new problem.
I tried implementing a one second delay to the ability (Unit uses ability, does burrow animation, disappears. One Second later unit appears, and unburrows at the ability target location).
When I try to create the actors upon the start or stop of the teleport effect (Which occurs one second after the Persistent effect which is launched from the ability), it says that I cannot create an Actor outside of a unit's actor scope (Oh you silly silly editor).
When I try to use a Timer (With a one second delay) upon Ability.FinishStart and a Create upon TimerExpired (With the TimerName term with the correct timer name), the actors (Unit models) never appear again.
Does the actor editor not work for abilities? I have no idea what I am doing wrong.
0
Basic problem I had when fiddling around with actors. (I think I am starting to get the hang of actors, now I know you can't manipulate an actor without adding events to THAT specific actor)
But the problem is this:
I have an ability that is basically a copy of blink (Not a duplicate, I made a clean flawless copy using add object and using the "copy from" field), and added it to a NON ZERG unit. The ability's name is "Quick Tunnel" (It's basically blink, but different actor animations, so it looks like the unit is burrowing instantly).
Since my unit isn't zerg (No burrow animation, I opted to make a duplicate of the roach model (Called it "BurrowDouble") and created its events so that it creates itself upon "QuickTunnel.CastStart" and plays the burrow animation, creates itself and plays unburrow upon "QuickTunnel.FinishStart". And it is destroyed whenever it is finished playing an animation. The purpose of this dummy model is to let the unit "visually burrow" even if it turns into a roach while it burrows XD. It is working beautifully as intended.
My problem is with the NON ZERG actor, the actual unit. Since it does not contribute to the burrow animation, I set up events to destroy it upon "QuickTunnel.CastStart" and to create it upon "QuickTunnel.FinishStart". Problem is that if I interrupt the ability (During its 0.5 cast time), the ability never gets to the FinishStart phase and if the unit is unselected after that without recasting the ability completely, there is no way to reselect it (Effectively disappearing).
I tried to fix this by adding an event which creates the actor upon "QuickTunnel.CastStop", but while this fixes the disappearing issue...it creates a model every time the ability begins being casted, not only when it is interrupted (So I end up with extra actors which looks weird).
How do I create and destroy an actor without having to end up with more actors than just one?
0
The reason I don't use autocasting is because I want autocasting to be initially off for players, are you saying it is possible to toggle on/off autocasting for specific players? (I have no idea how to do that) Another weakness of using autocast is that I INTENTIONALLY have set the auto-cast radius to a small 2.5 unit distance (So players have to do some work in commanding their monsters, and so the monsters don't wander off too far), and I'd like the AI controlled units to be able to detect food from a longer distance.
By the way, I downloaded April's map and after 8 iterations (Demo was superb, its just me being dumb/slow), I managed to duplicate it using a persistent effect middleman, and the little runts are feasting like rats (That's a good thing). Thanks Aptril.
What do you mean by elegant? Is it because it is an easier method (Can't argue with that) or because it consumes more power and would contribute to lag?
I don't want to risk screwing up the setup I have right now (Using persistent effect as April suggested). Especially because I have no idea how to link Source/Target units and the other fields if there were no persistent effect in the chain. Maybe you could make April's demo cleaner (Not that I need another demo, I don't mind using the persistent effect).
Also, also, also, also, I am interested in this suggestion by Glorn, is it possible?
I was thinking of maybe creating a Behavior for the "Food" which changes ownership and removes it after 2 seconds. Or maybe I could add an additional effect to my "Eat" ability which changes ownership of the target.
Problem is I can't find an effect which can change a unit's ownership or alter any of its flags (Like turn off that individual unit's "worker" flag which is one of the requirements for the "Eat" ability to target it).
0
I guess I could experiment in using data to avoid double eating, but as you can see I am all thumbs when working with data. I will not do so until I fix my current problem using data. (Data editor keeps convincing me that I shouldn't use it)
I need the ability for an AI controlled monster which players don't control, so using triggers would consume too much power (I heard that I should use data for events that happen super often). I'll try your second suggestion as soon as I can manage to order nonplayer units to eat.
I did as you said and removed the validator as well as indicating neutral workers in the search field. But it still doesn't work XD (Data is so much harder than triggers, I wish it worked like triggers where functions make sense).
0
I'll try to be as specific as possible :3
The Unit I want to give the order has the "Eat Food" ability.
The "Eat Food" ability is a targeted ability which can only target "Neutral" Units (Player 0) which have the "worker" flag (All "Food" units have this flag exclusively so that units won't try to eat neutral units that are not "Food", such as rocks).
The "Eat Food" ability is a melee range spell. When the ability targets a "Food" unit, it applies a buff type behavior to the caster (The "Currently Eating" behavior). The "Currently Eating" behavior lasts 2 seconds and disables the unit's Move and Attack abilities while active.
I have one trigger that detects when a unit literally "casts" the "Eat" ability, detects what unit type the target is, converts the ability's target to the player's team immediately (To avoid having more than one unit eat from the same "Food" unit), and after two seconds removes the ability's target from the game and modify's a variable (Adding Score Points).
The ability is a dummy spell that needs a target but only disables the monster while my "Eat" trigger does everything else.
What I want to achieve: I want to have the ability start with autocast off with the option to toggle it on (This is already done and functioning) (Human players and "Neutral" use this ability).
The reason why I want the auto-cast initially off is because units cannot attack while eating and might confuse the player if they act on their own without the player fully learning it is an autocast which can be toggled off (The "Eat Food" spell can be used by autocasting, targeting manually or right clicking (Smart Cast).
0
I Used a search effect which looks for 1 unit (Using a validator in the search effect to make sure it targets the correct unit type), the search effect launches the Issue Order to use ability effect (Issues order to source unit to use "Custom Ability" on "Target Unit" of "Search Area" effect).
It didn't work.
0
I'd rather avoid getting super complex validators.
There can be more than 1 player 0? (Neutral player)
I have no idea how effects work (The fields in persistent, search and issue order are too vague and don't seem to have anything to do with each other), all the combinations I tried didn't seem to make the unit do anything (Plus I can;t find a tutorial which properly explains how things work).
0
Hi, I have a unit type which I want to order to use a "custom" ability I made (Which targets "Player 0 Neutral" units only), it is a target unit ability.
I wanted to do this through behaviors which launched an effect of type "Issue Order" which orders the caster (Unit with the behavior) to look for nearby valid targets and to use this custom ability on the first one it finds. After 5 hours of no luck I'd like to ask for help on HOW EXACTLY can I make this work.
0
I want to display the Crabeetle portrait on top of the dialogue (For a unit selection menu), but the portrait is always displayed behind the dialog (Why would Blizzard even allow that to occur?). I tried following the instructions here http://www.sc2mapster.com/forums/development/triggers/15823-dialog-overlaps-portraits/ but it didn't work.
My triggers do this in order: Create Dialog Create Portrait Set Portrait to LDR Set Portrait Place Set Portrait Size
Ingame the portrait appears behind the dialog. I can't fix this by myself, help.
0
@Spoolofwhool: Go
Not any that I remember. As far as I know, the only triggers I have made concerning abilities simply modify variables and create units when abilities are cast.
UPDATE: I disabled "Hides for Simple Text" field on the ability button, and the ability now seems to show up for other players. Maybe that was the problem.
0
Thanks for the suggestions, I did what you recommended and it seems the map doesn't lag horribly right now (Hopefully it will stay that way).
But now I have a problem that is just as important.
My map has a custom ability called "GatherFood", which units use to "Eat" meat units and red berry bush units.
For some RANDOM reason I can see the ability button, BUT NO ONE ELSE CAN.
I have done tests and found out that it is not the host who can see buttons, but me specifically. If I play as the host only I can see the ability button, if I don't play as host, I am still the only player who can see the button for the "GatherFood" ability.
I really need to have the players see the button (So that they may toggle it for autocast). What is wrong with my setup that it hides the "GatherFood" ability button on the command card?
(My Map is posted in my first reply to this thread, all my data entries have the "Monster-" prefix for easy locating on the search bar.
0
I actually do have a lot of paths in the map. The reason why I have a lot of them is that I wanted to make a layout I could follow when making the terrain so I know where a corridor continues and where there are walls (Yellow paths for low ground and blue paths for high ground as well as green paths for starting areas.
They are basically placeholders so I don't make a mistake in the terrain in the future when I get around to editing the terrain (If that is the case I can remove a major portion of it while I'm still working on it). So should I remove these placeholder paths?
I also have a consistent perimeter of red pathing (No walking on it) around the whole map about 16 units wide (To avoid having a player wander off the map), would that be the reason why my map might be reducing frame rate around the edges? (That would make sense if it is true since it is the only thing I have on the edges) Would having downward/upward cliffs around the edges be less laggy or would those lag the map too?
I actually feel the map is pretty small for what I want, can't imagine working with anything smaller than that (Is 256 X 256 too large for a lag free map?, that would stink if its true XD).
0
I had no idea handicap lowered HP. I learned something new as well ;p.
0
Judging from the Zergling/Hydralisk HP change, somethign is possibly changing the HP field of a category of units to 2/5 of their original HP, have you tried checking the HP of other Zerg units and units of other races?
0
@Mille25, I actually have around 60 doodads around the center of the map (None at the edges), 1 lighting, and around 30 squares of water.
__
I have read your replies, thanks for the advice. Whenever I playtest the map in the editor, no problems show up.
I feel that the possible problem might be in the triggers (Specifically the periodic events being too short).
Since I want to make sure what the problem is (If there is any) I'd like to ask you to check the map if you have the time (I worked hard on it but there is not much content to analyze).
I'd try to playtest it online a few more times, but finding people in chats willing to help me fill the player 2 spot is really hard.