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    posted a message on Modifying Terrain Background - i.e. Planets and Skygeirr

    Thanks. I'll have a look.

    Posted in: Terrain
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    posted a message on Modifying Terrain Background - i.e. Planets and Skygeirr

    Mozared - I am almost certain its a modified version of Skygeirr's background. It looks exactly the same, only its grey instead of orange (and the map has different fog / lighting settings).

    Scorp - How would I go about doing that? I know I can open Battlenet maps and such through the Editor, but how would I go about extracting that specific file to use?

    Posted in: Terrain
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    posted a message on Modifying Terrain Background - i.e. Planets and Skygeirr

    Hi folks

    I wasnt sure whether to post this in the Data Editor section or here in Terrain, since its almost the same thing.

    Recently we've seen some more maps added to SC2. In particular there is Nimbus LE, a map that uses the Skygeirr Platform as its base terrain type. What I am interested in is that the "planetary background" that you see behind / below the level, such as the orange sky-clouds from Skygeirr, have been recolored to a nice stormy dark-grey.

    For instance, its also like playing on a Space Platform level and you see the planets in the background, like Braxis Alpha.

    I'd like to know how they were able to modify the background's color.

    I know you can put in colored fog, but I am talking about the actual background itself that can clearly be edited but I have not been able to work out how.

    I have looked and looked and looked through the Data Editor to try and find where to do this. I've since discovered how to change the actual model that the background is using, but that is not my aim. Like Nimbus LE, I wish to change the COLOR of the existing background model, similar to how you can select any Doodad in the Editor and apply a custom color to it.

    Here is Nimbus LE Nimbus LE

    You can see that the 'background' is a deep stormy grey.

    Here is Sky Harvester, a default Skygeirr Platform map with the 'orange' sky clouds. Sky Harvester

    The clouds are the default orange. Yet in Nimbus, they've clearly been recolored. That is what I wish to do.

    Posted in: Terrain
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    posted a message on Ability Triggers Sound to all Players - Purifier

    Thanks for the response.

    But that is unfortunately meaningless to me. You posted some code I assume you inject into the Trigger Editor but I have absolutely no idea regarding any of that. I've learned quite a bit over time in making my mod using the Data Editor, but its all relatively simple stuff like changing unit numericals and whatnot. But whenever it comes to scripting / triggers, my brain just melts.

    Its like another language. When something is written like SetEventTriggerCreate > Or > Constant > CountEffect > 1 > And > Show > CreateEventActorUnitAbility > Constant > Set > 1.

    I just end up going 'whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?'.

    If I stare at it long enough I can vaguely work out how pre-built scripting works for stuff that is already there. But making anything on my own in this regard is just beyond me. Its why its so frustrating. I just dont comprehend the sort of scripting language with how its written.

    I apologize for the gruff tone in my post but ugh, its so frustrating when it is something relatively simple (play X sound when Y ability is used) but its proving inordinately difficult to do.

    Posted in: Data
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    posted a message on Ability Triggers Sound to all Players - Purifier

    Hi folks.

    Simply put, I wish for when the Purifier's Planet-Cracker ability is activated for a sound to be played to all players. Preferably with a minimap alert too, like how we see a warning (!) on the Minimap in the campaign.

    But I've no idea how to do it.

    The sound is most important though.

    I've looked at tutorials. I've googled. I've googled a million different ways of 'Ability plays Sound' or Actor or trigger or whatever. It is all vague and unhelpful. I am at my wits end because looking at the 'Events' parameter of an Actor is basically a foreign language to me. Triggers and Scripting has always been an enormous bane of my existence because I simply do not understand the "Mathematical" way in which it works and is written.

    Like having a seperate line for Event > Create > Actor > And > Or > DisplayEvent > CreateSound > Actor > Timer > Event > Destroy Actor. Ugh. Its infuriating.

    It was damn hard enough to get Upgrades to go away after being clicked on via the Command Card. Now this has stumped me.

    I already know what sound I wish to use for it. I already know how to create said Sound and apply the sound file to it. I simply dont know how to get the game to play the sound when the Ability is used.

    Sound Actors Problem

    This bloody abomination is where I am stuck.

    (Enlarged Image) : http://www.4shared.com/download/fHrTtTLlba/BloodySoundActors.png?lgfp=1000

    Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

    Posted in: Data
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    posted a message on Severe Data Issues - Missing / Morphing Data

    Hmm, well okay. It seems some of this fuss could've been avoided if the tooltips describing the contents of the Dependencies were a little better.

    After enabling Swarm Multi (Mod) and Swarm (Campaign), in that order, the Oracle's Pulsar Laser ability has finally decided to appear in the Data Editor. Sheesh. Its such a strange coding bug that having two sets of Dependencies (WoL and HotS) somehow cause a completely unrelated ability to disappear.

    Still, means I can finally fiddle with it and other things that have "disappeared", like how the Armory has decided all on its own to only have the Vehicle Weapons and Starship armor upgrades, as opposed to WoL having 4 choices (Vehicle Weps, Armor, Starship Weps, Armor) and HotS combining it into (Vehicle and Starship Weps, Armor).

    Still yet to figure out why Mercs made from the Merc Garrison are not displaying their resource costs when you browse over the button. I know about setting the Unit cost, the ability, "displaying" resource costs and all that when its activated, etc. Done it for plenty of other new units and it worked perfectly fine in WoL. But now in HotS for example, if you summon 4 Elite Marines, it does so - but the button doesnt display the cost, even though it has everything set up correctly to do so.

    It still costs 400 minerals (100 per Marine) but it doesnt list it. Weird.

    Thanks for all the help thus far. Certainly has been a learning experience creating my mod from scratch over the past few months with no prior experience.

    Posted in: Data
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    posted a message on Severe Data Issues - Missing / Morphing Data

    Hmm, I wish they'd make the tooltip info for the Dependencies a bit more clear.

    Its really strange to see Swarm (Campaign) that describes : "Data and Assets for the Heart of the Swarm Singleplayer Campaign"

    and

    Swarm Story (Campaign) that describes : "Data and Assets specific to Story mode in the Heart of the Swarm Singleplayer Campaign".

    Since Swarm (Campaign) seems to entail entities specific to the campaign and are otherwise not affecting the Swarm (Multi) Dependency, so that Blizz can change the Singleplayer or Online balance without one affecting the other - why make a third entry that seems to be the same, yet not, of the aforementioned Singleplayer one? Story = / = Campaign. Its weird.

    Liberty has the same thing going for it. There's Liberty (Multi). Liberty (Mod), Liberty (Story Campaign) and Liberty (Campaign).

    The last two for example, as far as the tooltips say, seem to be exactly the same thing.

    - - -

    Still, I've made a backup and Im going to try removing all the WoL Dependencies as suggested and rearrange stuff in the order of :

    1. 1 Swarm Multi (Mod)
    2. 2 Swarm (Campaign) and maybe... not sure...
    3. 3 Swarm Story (Campaign)

    (Important Edit) Hmm, Soul - you say you're using Swarm Multi, then Swarm Campaign? I've tried that and it warns they cant be used together else significant data problems may occur.

    Posted in: Data
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    posted a message on Severe Data Issues - Missing / Morphing Data

    Hmm, well its an ongoing work and Im happy to keep fiddling with it over time until and after LotV is released. Its just hugely problematic when some stuff is missing altogether (like certain upgrades, such as the Phoenix range upgrade at the Fleet Beacon) or stuff seemingly changes on its own without any input from me. Its absolutely bizzare.

    Another (minor) issue that seems to be along this tangent is that I've simply enabled the Camera to zoom out further than you can in normal SC2. But weirdly, on SOME maps, it doesnt let you. But for most, it works as intended.

    So as Cacho said, there definitely seems to be something map-specific that is deliberately conflicting with the Mod Extension(s).

    Starting over completely for HotS is out of the question at this point. I've sunk so much time into making my Mod as a sort of personal project that isnt available to the public and thus I see no real community-obligation to do so. Ontop of the fact that I am quite new to all this and most of what I've accomplished has been through learning as I go.

    I might start over again for LotV, but until then I'll just keep banging at it until stuff half-works the way I want it to.

    @ SoulFilcher I havent replaced any of the currently existing buttons in SC2. I may have changed the icon they use, but its still the same entry in the Data Editor and all that.

    Im still completely baffled by some stuff missing altogether, like the Oracle laser or Phoenix upgrade as I keep mentioning. Even in WoL, the Phoenix range upgrade simply did not exist in any condition whatsoever at the Fleet Beacon. Wasnt in the command card. Nothing related to it in the research ability. No button for it. No effect. Nothing. Its bizzare.

    I'll try fiddling with the Dependencies. The issue here though is its quite unclear as to what the Dependencies actually contain when there are multiple entries of seemingly the same thing, like Swarm (Mod) and SwarmMulti (Mod).

    As I mentioned, all I want from adding such dependencies are the Campaign / Merc units, such as the Terran Mercs or Swarm Zerg evolutions.

    Since the later missions in Swarm's campaign have the Terran Mercs as Korhal units, does that mean the WoL campaign dependencies can be removed entirely? But then again, I might lose other stuff related to it, such as the Sigma Relay, Bunker Turrets or other WoL campaign upgrades.

    I know the order of Dependencies does have an effect, but Im really unclear as to what can be removed or reshuffled.

    I've posted a screenie (the last one, first post of this thread) of the Dependencies I have enabled. Advice on what I might be able to remove or do there would be appreciated.

    Some curious questions though, I am sorry if I seem to be repeating myself.

    I know Soul mentioned that I could remove the WoL Dependencies. However, since I originally made the Mod with only WoL (and thus changed the Merc units stats and stuff), does that mean if I remove the WoL Dependencies, it will remove all the changes I've made to those Merc units? It just seems particularly confusing because as I said, HotS also has the same Merc units in the last Korhal missions, but they're seperate entities in the Editor.

    Another point, is that I prefer some of the WoL equivalents of units. For example, the Void Ray in WoL had that passive charge-up-over-time ability to its weapon where it would do 1x, 2x then 4x damage. In HotS, it was changed to that annoyingly micromanagement temporary ability.

    If I remove the WoL dependencies, am I still somehow able to revert the Void Ray to its WoL state? I've already tried doing so, but HotS seems to overwrite any and all changes I make to the unit.

    All of these issues seem so straightforward, but then the Editor slaps me in the face by doing something seemingly completely unexpected and unfixable / illogical.

    Thanks for the help thus far though. Its really nice to see some community assistance.

    Posted in: Data
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    posted a message on Severe Data Issues - Missing / Morphing Data

    Still doesnt explain why the Phoenix Range upgrade at the Fleet Beacon for example simply does not exist in the Editor whatsoever. It never has. Not even back in WoL times with no other custom Dependencies added when editing a standard melee map or anything. Its not there in the Fleet Beacon command card. Or its research ability. Or upgrades. Anywhere whatsoever.

    Doesnt explain what the Dependencies bug is. I cant read your mind.

    Through the use of the Campaign dependencies, I've added Campaign units like the Goliath, the Terran Mercs and HotS evolutions (such as the different Hydralisks and Mutalisks, etc).

    If some of the Dependencies in my listed screenshot can be removed, maybe that'd help.

    Posted in: Data
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    posted a message on Severe Data Issues - Missing / Morphing Data

    Considering this is 5 or so months worth of working, starting over from scratch is out of the question.

    I have the Campaign dependencies enabled so that units like the Goliath and Medic are available.

    If some of the Dependencies can be removed though without it impacting anything too severely, I'll do so.

    The source of this problem seems to be that the Editor itself is reading between WoL and HotS, like either one exists or does not exist seemingly at random.

    This still doesnt explain why some things (Such as the Oracle laser or Phoenix upgrade at the Fleet Beacon) do not exist whatsoever in the Editor. I had this issue even back in WoL times.

    Posted in: Data
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    posted a message on Severe Data Issues - Missing / Morphing Data

    Hi Folks

    I've been running into quite a severe problem with my Mod Extension for quite some time now. Previously, I had been working on my mod with WoL since I did not own HotS. Now that I do and I have added the Dependencies for HotS assets, some rather frustrating issues have been appearing.

    Upgrades appear to go "missing' for seemingly no reason even though they are perfectly correct in the Data Editor. For example, in WoL I had an upgrade I added to the Armory that worked perfectly fine. It had its own button added to the Armory command card. It linked to the research ability of the Armory. It had all the parameters for the upgrade itself. It worked. There was nothing wrong with it.

    Now, in numerous instances, upgrades disappear or reappear between versions for seemingly no reason. I change the statistics of the Medic, and Vehicle Weapons 1 disappears at the Armory. I change the health of the Battlecruiser and Vehicle Weapons 1 reappears, but Marine Combat Shields at the Barracks Tech lab disappears.

    Its utterly confusing.

    Here is a Screenshot of the Tech Lab (Factory).

    The top 3 upgrades seem to be influenced by HotS. The Flame upgrade remains unchanged. The top Siege-Tech button changes into the Widow Mine drilling claw upgrades and the 250mm Thor Cannons next to it change into the Hellbat Transformation Servos.

    Ontop of this, the 250mm Thor Cannons (Transformation Servos) has disappeared as of the last version for utterly no reason.

    Screen 1

    Here is a Screenshot of the Oracle

    The Oracle's Pulsar-Beam ability (The laser it uses) does not exist in the Editor. Anywhere. At all. I have looked everywhere. I have browsed each and every single entry in the Protoss Weapons, Upgrades, Abilities, Effects, Actors and Models. It simply does not exist.

    Yet magically ingame, the Entomb ability (shown in the Screenshot) transforms itself into the Pulsar-Beam ability. What? Why?

    Kerrigan's Crushing-Grip ability I added to the Oracle too also simply does not appear ingame. Its all there in the Editor. The ability. The button. The effects it links to. Its all there. But in-game the button simply is not there on the command card, yet I've checked it all a thousand times. Its all correct on my end.

    Screen 2

    Here is a Screenshot of the Infestation Pit

    The top-row buttons are the usual 2 upgrades there. To the right of them, normally there is the Swarm Host (Life duration) upgrade. In-game, the upgrade is mysteriously there and it works as it should. However, in the Editor, its like the damn thing does not exist ANYWHERE AT ALL like I previously described with the Oracle's Pulsar laser.

    Screen 3

    Here is a Screenshot of the Tech Lab (Starport)

    To the far right of the Command Card, shown in the picture, are 2 upgrades. One is a Cluster-Missile ability I have added way back in WoL and it works perfectly fine. The furthest-right button (the orange cloud / crosshair thingy) is an upgrade for Banshees that enables their Area-of-Effect missiles from the WoL campaign.

    Between updating versions of my Mod (such as changing stuff on other units) these 2 upgrades seem to magically appear or disappear. In my previous version where I had changed absolutely nothing relating to the Starport or its units, the Cluster-Missiles upgrade has disappeared and the Banshee upgrade is now available. In earlier versions, the Banshee upgrade for some reason had disappeared, but the Cluster-Missiles were available.

    Screen 4

    Here is a Screenshot of the Armory

    Huge issues here. In WoL, all of the upgrades worked 100% okay. However, as you may know, HotS combined Vehicle and Starship upgrades into the 1 upgrade, such as Vehicle Armor and Starship Armor becoming (Vehicle and Starship Armor 1).

    In the Editor here, it all looks 100% okay. However, in-game, the Vehicle Weapons and Starship Armor disappears. Yet the Vehicle Armor and Starship Weapons remain available and work as they should. What?

    The custom upgrades I have added on the right-side of the Command card also appear or disappear seemingly at random. I change the health for the Medic, for example, and update my Mod. One of these upgrades disappears from the Command card in-game. I change the damage of Marines and upload the new version. Now the previously missing upgrade from the Armory has reappeared, but another one has disappeared.

    Screen 5

    These issues are severely hampering my efforts and I do not understand why they are happening.

    Some stuff, like the Pulsar Laser ability of the Oracle simply do not exist anywhere in the Editor whatsoever. Same thing with the Range-Upgrade for Phoenixes at the Fleet Beacon. In-game it is there, but in the Editor it simply does not exist.

    Abilities, Upgrades or other stuff disappears or reappears at random, despite being 100% correct in the Editor. It worked in WoL and I havent changed it since. All I have done is add the HotS dependencies.

    For those of you interested, here is a Screenshot of the Dependencies I have enabled.

    Screen 6

    Any help with this is greatly appreciated. I am seriously stuck and its screwing up so much of my stuff that previously used to work in WoL.

    Posted in: Data
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    posted a message on creating an AI harassment script

    Hey Turtles This AI concept sounds really good, as the default SC2 AI is... sadly... extremely lacking. Oddly enough, I've only ever seen the AI harass with Terran Banshees as you've stated. I have never, ever, not once, seen the AI build Reapers in a skirmish game. Adding to this is the fact that Zerg or Protoss never harass at all, when in fact they're more suited to it (tech wise) than Terrans are. Its baffling.

    Personally, I'd love an AI that simply built up regular amounts of units and sent them to attack you 'whilst' it steadily built up its own base and technology. So, for the course of the game, it would reliably and consistently send waves of Zerglings at you when it could afford them, whilst building stuff for Roaches and Hydras. Then, it'd send 'Lings, Roaches and Hydras. Then work up towards adding Mutalisks and Infestors, then working up to finally adding Ultralisks and Broodlords, for example.

    I just really dislike the fact that most SC2 games are where you expand to 2, 3 or 4 bases and sit around for 10 - 20 minutes, then there is one major battle between both sides with maximum tech and upgrades. Whoever wins the fight immediately goes on to steamroll the opposing base. There is no back-and-forth battles over terrain and nothing to stop people just sitting in their base and upgrading until its a blob-versus-blob fight.

    I've spent the past few months working on my own Mod Extension for SC2 that makes the game as a whole more like Red Alert 2 or CnC Generals, with fights lasting longer than 2 seconds, different upgrades, changed abilities and new units - but unfortunately the AI is outside of my ability.

    All of my SC2 gametime is spent in custom matches versus the AI on skirmish maps. I've no interest in playing versus players. So an improved AI is of great interest to me. I'd love to help out, combine it with my Mod Extension or even make my own AI, but I have zero idea whatsoever as to how AI programming works. I had a look at the AI tab in the Editor for example and I dont even know where to start.

    One possible suggestion I have for allowing Stealth units to 'sneak' past enemy forces is giving them a 'dummy' weapon. For example, in my Mod, I've got Overseers, Recon Drones and Observers, all unarmed purely scouting units. In order to prevent them moving into enemy forces like idiots when I A-move them with my army, I've given them a 0-damage weapon with the same range as their sight radius. In doing so, they will immediately stop and 'attack' the first enemy they see, preventing them from flying into AA turrets or sitting still in the middle of a fight in the line of fire.

    Perhaps some iteration of this could be used for the AI when it attempts to sneak Ghosts or Dark Templar past player forces? The AI does not seem to understand the 'Hold Fire' ability command, so this seems like a possible solution.

    Posted in: AI Development
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    posted a message on Custom Colors in Lobby

    Hmm, more annoyance.

    Editing the X, Y, Z and W numericals for each color, both Diffuse and Emissive, in Gameplay Data > Default SC2 Gameplay Settings > Team Colors doesnt actually seem to do anything at all.

    Also, colors such as Red, have a 'required players' count of 0. Since you can choose this color in any game. Colors like Light Grey or Light Green have a 'required players' count of 8, since you can only choose this color on 8 player maps. I tried setting all of these 'required players' numbers to 0, hoping that you would simply be able to select Light Green on a 1v1 map for example.

    Didnt work. Damnit Editor.

    All I want is additional colors to choose in the lobby. Blagh. I know this can be done, because other Mod Extensions have added stuff you can choose in the lobby screen, such as AI configurations, additional options on the left hand side of the screen and whatnot. Having more colors to choose from seems like something that should be so simple, but its proving enormously difficult.

    I do not want to do this with triggers or scripts. The idea is that you choose a skirmish map, then select my mod Extension like you do normally when hosting a game. When in the match lobby and you pick your race / color, I simply want more colors available for selection.

    Posted in: Data
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    posted a message on Dependencies Issues - Missing Files

    So... what?

    Am I able to remove Swarm Story (Campaign) without it affecting any in-game units or abilities?

    I still wish for some of the upgrades and options from the HotS campaign, such as the alternative creature morphs (Like Zerglings > Raptorlings). Im fine with losing the cutscene models and whatnot though.

    Im also curious if I can remove the WoL dependencies entirely. Since in the final missions of HotS campaign Mengsk uses mercenary forces... would keeping the HotS dependencies and removing the WoL ones be 'safe' in regards to currently existing tech I've added to the Terran faction? For example, they've got Bunker Turrets, Mercenaries and Goliaths from Story Mode tech.

    But currently its having serious in-game issues considering Overlords cannot morph to Overseers, certain upgrades magically vanish or some abilities simply do not exist anywhere in the Editor whatsoever.

    Posted in: Data
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    posted a message on Dependencies Issues - Missing Files

    Hi folks

    In my Mod Extension, I've quite a few Dependencies enabled in order to access Campaign content and so forth. However, I've run into some extreme issues when converting my mod from Wings of Liberty to Heart of the Swarm.

    Some issues I have been able to fix, however, there are numerous others that are plaguing me and I am unsure what to do about it. For example, Overlords can no longer morph to Overseers, yet in the Editor, everything required of them to do so is correctly in place. Nothing has been changed in this regard when it previously worked fine in my WoL version of the Mod. When I added the HotS dependencies, this issue occured.

    Similarly, Mercenaries called down from the Mercenary building do not appear to cost any resources or supply whatsoever, yet everything in the Editor is as it should be when it was previously working in WoL. All I did was add the HotS dependencies. The units still have their cost. The training ability is still correctly set up (displaying resource costs, time, etc). Only it magically seems to screw itself up once ingame.

    Another issue I have run into is stuff seemingly not existing AT ALL anywhere in the Editor, yet in-game it does. This works both ways, with stuff either vanishing, or stuff appearing that I havent put there. Siege Tech, 250mm Thor Cannons and the Hellion fire upgrade for example at the Factory Tech lab simply does not exist on the command card of the Tech Lab when in-game, yet in the Editor, everything is as it should be, with the research ability down to buttons and costs and all.

    The Anion-Pulse crystals upgrade for Phoenixes (+ range) does not exist anywhere in the Editor whatsoever. I have systematically gone through every single Protoss upgrade and it does not appear anywhere. The Fleet Beacon itself does not have anything relating to the upgrade in its abilities, command card or anything either, yet in-game it is magically there. The same thing for the Laser-Weapon ability on the Oracle. Somehow the Oracle has it in-game yet it cannot be found anywhere whatsoever in the Editor.

    The Oracle issue here is of particular note. The Pulsar-Laser weapon does not exist in the Weapons category of the Data Editor. There is no ability on the Oracle relating to this either. There is nothing on the command card. There is no listed effect for the damage it deals. Nothing. It simply does not seem to exist in the Editor, yet it is there in-game.

    I apologize for the lengthy phrasing of this, but it is baffling and I dont know what to do. I have searched all of the relevant fields, such as Weapons, Upgrades, Abilities, Command Cards, you name it. I understand how Upgrades work and how they need to be tied to a button, to an ability, to the unit, to the command card and so forth. Yet these issues seem to occur all on their own.

    In order, my Mod has these Extensions enabled :

    • Swarm (Mod)
    • Swarm (Campaign)
    • Swarm Story (Campaign)
    • Liberty (Campaign)
    • Liberty (Mod)

    I can only think that these issues have something to do with these Dependencies or the order in which they are in. The tooltips describing what each of the Dependencies add is not clear either. What is the difference between Campaign and Story Campaign? Can any of these Dependencies be safely removed?

    Thanks in advance for any advice.

    Posted in: Data
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