First: Abilities.
Abilities basically end up attached to the unit and have the range and radius splat actors attached to them, set the cost and effects and all the final stuff the unit cares about.
Basically, you give your ability the effect, range and cost and you're done. You should still look over the other fields and make sure everything is right.
Behaviors:
Behaviors can modify unit stats (check the modifications + field), but also have a duration and periodic effects. You can set duration, what effect and period duration (time between "ticks") somewhere further down.
Effects is where most stuff happens. There are a large amount of different types.
"Damage" - Straightforward. Damage. All fields are straightforward as well i believe.
"Apply Behavior" - Applies a behavior to a unit (specified in the "target" fields, this counts for all effects)
These are basically the basic ones, but most of the time you'll be using chains of these ones:
"Set" - You place multiple effects in this, and can play around with fields to randomize what effect is used. if you keep everything as it is, you use the set effect if you want all the effects that are in it to be launched (lets say you want to apply a behavior to the caster, and damage the target. You make a set with apply behavior and damage effects, then make the ability link to the set)
"Persistent" - Probably the most useful effect. Persistents are effects that last. You can set duration, number of periods, period durations and periodic effects. It basically fires the periodic effect every period at the target location for X amount of periods. If you add more effects, it will cycle through them (i think it does, otherwise it'll stop after the last effect in the list). You can also add periodic offset, allowing you to move the effect target location somewhere else (you have to be very specific here, 1 offset for each period), this is how you make shockwave like spells. The possibilities with this are endless.
"Search Area" - Searches for all units matching the filters in an area and applies an effect to each of them. Used in most AoEs that aren't direct damage.
"Launch missile" - The name says it. I don't know too much about this since i only used it twice, and mostly copy pasted those anyway... Just check how other effects like this one work.
i THINK this is it with effects. There are other types, but i don't use them much and can't remember them :/
Actors:
These get kind of complicated, depending on what you do. Apart from setting model and scale, you'll be using the events field mostly.
Basically, modify the unit actor to display an animation using the event "ability.(ability name).(pick what sounds ok for the third one, never actually did this >.<)" Then set it's animation. As i said, i didn't do this yet so i'm not sure as to how... Just make the fields look the same as the attack fields maybe, and/or specify a different animation.
now, for special effects, you make a new actor (not sure about the types here, have to do some research).
Set the model and the scale.
Decide when the model appears and on what. If it appears when the unit has a buff/debuff, you'll use these events:
"Behavior.(behavior name).On.
- Create"
"Behavior.(behavior name).Off
- Destroy"
For effects you do
"Effect.(Effect name).Start/on/whatever" The third field is usually straightforward. The action its supposed to take should be either create or destroy, depending whether you want the actor to start or die at the point specified by the third field. IF you're using a damage effect or something that does not expire by itself but is more or less instant, add this:
"ActorOrphan
- Destroy"
So, i think i'm done, this is what I do for abilities. If you want examples, search for my map "Gates of Darkness". I think it's outdated here on mapster... And there'll be multiple level abilities together with single level abilities and learn abilities if you need those. The multiple level abilities basically clutters up absolutely everything. Also, effects with the prefix "Phase Assasin" were my first attempt, so those might be horrible screwed up and impossible to see through, but you can try.
Aight. Send me a PM after you post as well if possible, with a link to this topic. I might forget to check >.<
If i have the time, i'll get screenshot's of my own abilities actors. Also, specify what effect type the effect you're using in the events is.
use "Turn (current trigger) off" at the end of a trigger to stop it, or if you need it to run multiple times (an exact number, or one that can be calculated at a certain points in game), creata an integer variable that increases every time the trigger runs, then make an If/then/else action, If varible == X, then turn of trigger. Or if you want it turned off at a specific event, create a seperate trigger with that event, then add the action "Turn (trigger u want) off", and "Turn (current trigger) off" to stop that trigger from firing again.
2.)
Event -
-Unit X dies
Actions -
- Turn (current trigger) off
3.)
Event -
Any unit dies (don't know whether you can specify unit group in the event, if yes, do)
Condition -
(Number of Living units in (unit group)) == 0
Actions -
Insert your actions here.
the turn (current trigger) off action is called "Turn trigger on/off", or something like that.
p.s. anyone able to tell me how to make that code thing in this forum? I see people make it look similar to actual triggers, but don't know how myself >.<
Hive, and some other forums as well maybe, have a reputation system or something like that. Basically, for those who don't know, there's a little button under the avatar or somewhere there (like the post count, maps and teams currently) and if a person helped someone, that person that needed the help should click the button to add 1 reputation point to the guy who helped. Those reputation points accumulate, and somewhere under your avatar, or name, or whatever, there will be a kind of visual representation of your reputation (a number of stars, circles, some shiny stuff, banelings, whatever) and when you mouse over those, you see the exact points.
This will allow people to show off how much they help ;)
You could also add reputation for maps made (if someone made a good map, and someone checks it and likes it, he clicks that button again)
Also, better to have people to write down a reason for the +rep when clicking the button, and the mods going over it sometime (to prevent someone from just spamming reputation on someone else), and maybe make a limit like +1 rep /24 or 48 hours per person giving rep (so that the same person can't give +5 billion rep by spamming that button)
This would probably be hard to implement, so take your time if you're going to do it ;)
And yea, i want that "posts by me" as fast as possible... I've posted in so many topics about some simple questions and can't remember the topic names to see whether i helped the guys or they are utterly confused :(
Same for the "follow topic" option.
Order unit to move to target point.
Use the X coordinate of the unit, and Y coordinate of the middle. (or the other way around if the map i vertical in the editor). Don't think there should be a problem with this. Just search through the functions for points untill you find this one, never had to use it so i don't know it's name, but it should be straighforward.
The popularity system seperates maps into game modes as well. If you have 4 game modes, the map can be on the list 4 times. You will always have the "custom" mode, and then the one you set yourself. The mode that became popular is probably the standard "custom" mode one, and not the FFA one... You either have to delete the map and reupload, or just not care about the lobby and make sure everything works right ingame using triggers...
Go to actors, open the actor you modified (still dont know whether you wanted an explosion or just a unit animation) and open the "events +" field, and screenshot it and attach it to your next post.
If you mean animation as some kind of fancy explosion or something, first you'll need a model. Use the previewer to find one that you like.
Then create an actor and set its model to the one you chose (if you cant find the model on the list, go to the models tab and create a new one with the correct model set)
Open the events.
Add event:
"Effect.[effects name].Start
- Create"
Add event:
"ActorOrphan
- Destroy"
EDIT: Don't forget to set the scale for your actor to actually be large enough :p trial and error is the only possibility here
This might not work though since you're using a damage effect. What i mean, is that the damage effect happens at the unit it hits probably and might make the actor spawn on every unit it hits. If that is what happens, just create a persistent effect (or maybe even a set effect) and make it's initial effect be the one you made before, and make the ability link to that effect as well (basically just extends your effect chain by 1 effect, which is just a dummy for the actor)
If you want the unit to actually have an animation, do what raydude said. You can also set different animations instead of attack, use the previewer to find their names and see how they look, and you can also instead of "effect.[effect name]" set it to "Ability.[ability name].[Not sure what these fields are called, but they are straightforward]" instead, because the same thing might happen again as with the special effect of the spell i mentioned in the previous thing (what i mean is that you might make the units hit by the effect play the animation, which is unlikely. Still, if it happens, you know what to do now)
If the "dude" spawned is always the same unit, you can even make an effect of type "create unit", set the fields (very straightforward), then make a behavior, set the duration to -1, the period effect to the one you just made, and the period to the amount of time between spawns, and then just add that behavior to the worm :p
Or do what SgtFailure (who's not living up to his name) said if it's different types of units (together with what wolflisk said, who posted while i was writing). But maybe you can get it to display animations using triggers? Never tried forcing a unit to do an animation with triggers.
Go to effects, create an effect of type damage and name it what you want, then click suggest on the field below.
Set the Amount to the damage you want it to do
Search for "Search - Area" (or something along those lines.), double click it
Click the green X to add a value
Change radius to whatever you want your radius to be, then set the fraction to 1. (you can also make multiple values with different fractions and radii if you want the AoE to be weaker the further away it gets)
Create an ability of type "Effect-Instant", possibly name it the same as your effect, and hit suggest. If you chose the same name, the "Effect - Effects +" should already have your effect in it, if not, change the default effect to what you made.
Set ability costs, make a button, add ability to unit, add the button to the command card and it should work.
screenshot please
Also, when making the terrain, did you create cliffs upwards for the tower areas, or lower cliffs for the path? Lowering the initial level cliff usually results in terrain that's covered in fog, and in some cases doesn't even exist (The "space" in scrap station for example) I don't know whether that's the problem, but it's the most likely guess. Unless you increased the height multiple times for your tower areas...
Try selecting all the movement fields and right click and "reset to parent", or something called like that. That usually resets everything to it's original.
Double click the value of "Info +" if you have all 5 buttons on the top pressed (which will give you my view), then follow his instructions in the last paragraph
create the dialog, and when a player chooses, hide the dialog for the player (or see if you can just disable it)
Basically:
Event:
Dialog item is used
Actions:
(Do everything you need about the choices, like setting variables)
Hide dialog (triggering dialog) for player ((triggering player)*)
.*use the function: "convert player to player group"
0
ground pathing blockers + air pathing blockers? Press "H" for pathing in the terrain editor.
0
First: Abilities.
Abilities basically end up attached to the unit and have the range and radius splat actors attached to them, set the cost and effects and all the final stuff the unit cares about.
Basically, you give your ability the effect, range and cost and you're done. You should still look over the other fields and make sure everything is right.
Behaviors:
Behaviors can modify unit stats (check the modifications + field), but also have a duration and periodic effects. You can set duration, what effect and period duration (time between "ticks") somewhere further down.
Effects is where most stuff happens. There are a large amount of different types.
"Damage" - Straightforward. Damage. All fields are straightforward as well i believe.
"Apply Behavior" - Applies a behavior to a unit (specified in the "target" fields, this counts for all effects)
These are basically the basic ones, but most of the time you'll be using chains of these ones:
"Set" - You place multiple effects in this, and can play around with fields to randomize what effect is used. if you keep everything as it is, you use the set effect if you want all the effects that are in it to be launched (lets say you want to apply a behavior to the caster, and damage the target. You make a set with apply behavior and damage effects, then make the ability link to the set)
"Persistent" - Probably the most useful effect. Persistents are effects that last. You can set duration, number of periods, period durations and periodic effects. It basically fires the periodic effect every period at the target location for X amount of periods. If you add more effects, it will cycle through them (i think it does, otherwise it'll stop after the last effect in the list). You can also add periodic offset, allowing you to move the effect target location somewhere else (you have to be very specific here, 1 offset for each period), this is how you make shockwave like spells. The possibilities with this are endless.
"Search Area" - Searches for all units matching the filters in an area and applies an effect to each of them. Used in most AoEs that aren't direct damage.
"Launch missile" - The name says it. I don't know too much about this since i only used it twice, and mostly copy pasted those anyway... Just check how other effects like this one work.
i THINK this is it with effects. There are other types, but i don't use them much and can't remember them :/
Actors:
These get kind of complicated, depending on what you do. Apart from setting model and scale, you'll be using the events field mostly.
Basically, modify the unit actor to display an animation using the event "ability.(ability name).(pick what sounds ok for the third one, never actually did this >.<)" Then set it's animation. As i said, i didn't do this yet so i'm not sure as to how... Just make the fields look the same as the attack fields maybe, and/or specify a different animation.
now, for special effects, you make a new actor (not sure about the types here, have to do some research).
Set the model and the scale.
Decide when the model appears and on what. If it appears when the unit has a buff/debuff, you'll use these events:
"Behavior.(behavior name).On.
- Create"
"Behavior.(behavior name).Off
- Destroy"
For effects you do
"Effect.(Effect name).Start/on/whatever" The third field is usually straightforward. The action its supposed to take should be either create or destroy, depending whether you want the actor to start or die at the point specified by the third field. IF you're using a damage effect or something that does not expire by itself but is more or less instant, add this:
"ActorOrphan
- Destroy"
So, i think i'm done, this is what I do for abilities. If you want examples, search for my map "Gates of Darkness". I think it's outdated here on mapster... And there'll be multiple level abilities together with single level abilities and learn abilities if you need those. The multiple level abilities basically clutters up absolutely everything. Also, effects with the prefix "Phase Assasin" were my first attempt, so those might be horrible screwed up and impossible to see through, but you can try.
0
Aight. Send me a PM after you post as well if possible, with a link to this topic. I might forget to check >.<
If i have the time, i'll get screenshot's of my own abilities actors. Also, specify what effect type the effect you're using in the events is.
0
use "Turn (current trigger) off" at the end of a trigger to stop it, or if you need it to run multiple times (an exact number, or one that can be calculated at a certain points in game), creata an integer variable that increases every time the trigger runs, then make an If/then/else action, If varible == X, then turn of trigger. Or if you want it turned off at a specific event, create a seperate trigger with that event, then add the action "Turn (trigger u want) off", and "Turn (current trigger) off" to stop that trigger from firing again.
2.)
Event -
-Unit X dies
Actions -
- Turn (current trigger) off
3.)
Event -
Any unit dies (don't know whether you can specify unit group in the event, if yes, do)
Condition -
(Number of Living units in (unit group)) == 0
Actions -
Insert your actions here.
the turn (current trigger) off action is called "Turn trigger on/off", or something like that.
p.s. anyone able to tell me how to make that code thing in this forum? I see people make it look similar to actual triggers, but don't know how myself >.<
0
Hive, and some other forums as well maybe, have a reputation system or something like that. Basically, for those who don't know, there's a little button under the avatar or somewhere there (like the post count, maps and teams currently) and if a person helped someone, that person that needed the help should click the button to add 1 reputation point to the guy who helped. Those reputation points accumulate, and somewhere under your avatar, or name, or whatever, there will be a kind of visual representation of your reputation (a number of stars, circles, some shiny stuff, banelings, whatever) and when you mouse over those, you see the exact points.
This will allow people to show off how much they help ;)
You could also add reputation for maps made (if someone made a good map, and someone checks it and likes it, he clicks that button again)
Also, better to have people to write down a reason for the +rep when clicking the button, and the mods going over it sometime (to prevent someone from just spamming reputation on someone else), and maybe make a limit like +1 rep /24 or 48 hours per person giving rep (so that the same person can't give +5 billion rep by spamming that button)
This would probably be hard to implement, so take your time if you're going to do it ;)
And yea, i want that "posts by me" as fast as possible... I've posted in so many topics about some simple questions and can't remember the topic names to see whether i helped the guys or they are utterly confused :(
Same for the "follow topic" option.
0
Order unit to move to target point.
Use the X coordinate of the unit, and Y coordinate of the middle. (or the other way around if the map i vertical in the editor). Don't think there should be a problem with this. Just search through the functions for points untill you find this one, never had to use it so i don't know it's name, but it should be straighforward.
0
The popularity system seperates maps into game modes as well. If you have 4 game modes, the map can be on the list 4 times. You will always have the "custom" mode, and then the one you set yourself. The mode that became popular is probably the standard "custom" mode one, and not the FFA one... You either have to delete the map and reupload, or just not care about the lobby and make sure everything works right ingame using triggers...
0
Go to actors, open the actor you modified (still dont know whether you wanted an explosion or just a unit animation) and open the "events +" field, and screenshot it and attach it to your next post.
0
If you mean animation as some kind of fancy explosion or something, first you'll need a model. Use the previewer to find one that you like.
Then create an actor and set its model to the one you chose (if you cant find the model on the list, go to the models tab and create a new one with the correct model set)
Open the events.
Add event:
"Effect.[effects name].Start
- Create"
Add event:
"ActorOrphan
- Destroy"
EDIT: Don't forget to set the scale for your actor to actually be large enough :p trial and error is the only possibility here
This might not work though since you're using a damage effect. What i mean, is that the damage effect happens at the unit it hits probably and might make the actor spawn on every unit it hits. If that is what happens, just create a persistent effect (or maybe even a set effect) and make it's initial effect be the one you made before, and make the ability link to that effect as well (basically just extends your effect chain by 1 effect, which is just a dummy for the actor)
If you want the unit to actually have an animation, do what raydude said. You can also set different animations instead of attack, use the previewer to find their names and see how they look, and you can also instead of "effect.[effect name]" set it to "Ability.[ability name].[Not sure what these fields are called, but they are straightforward]" instead, because the same thing might happen again as with the special effect of the spell i mentioned in the previous thing (what i mean is that you might make the units hit by the effect play the animation, which is unlikely. Still, if it happens, you know what to do now)
0
If the "dude" spawned is always the same unit, you can even make an effect of type "create unit", set the fields (very straightforward), then make a behavior, set the duration to -1, the period effect to the one you just made, and the period to the amount of time between spawns, and then just add that behavior to the worm :p
Or do what SgtFailure (who's not living up to his name) said if it's different types of units (together with what wolflisk said, who posted while i was writing). But maybe you can get it to display animations using triggers? Never tried forcing a unit to do an animation with triggers.
0
Go to effects, create an effect of type damage and name it what you want, then click suggest on the field below.
Set the Amount to the damage you want it to do
Search for "Search - Area" (or something along those lines.), double click it
Click the green X to add a value
Change radius to whatever you want your radius to be, then set the fraction to 1. (you can also make multiple values with different fractions and radii if you want the AoE to be weaker the further away it gets)
Create an ability of type "Effect-Instant", possibly name it the same as your effect, and hit suggest. If you chose the same name, the "Effect - Effects +" should already have your effect in it, if not, change the default effect to what you made.
Set ability costs, make a button, add ability to unit, add the button to the command card and it should work.
0
screenshot please
Also, when making the terrain, did you create cliffs upwards for the tower areas, or lower cliffs for the path? Lowering the initial level cliff usually results in terrain that's covered in fog, and in some cases doesn't even exist (The "space" in scrap station for example) I don't know whether that's the problem, but it's the most likely guess. Unless you increased the height multiple times for your tower areas...
0
Try selecting all the movement fields and right click and "reset to parent", or something called like that. That usually resets everything to it's original.
0
Double click the value of "Info +" if you have all 5 buttons on the top pressed (which will give you my view), then follow his instructions in the last paragraph
0
create the dialog, and when a player chooses, hide the dialog for the player (or see if you can just disable it)
Basically:
Event:
Dialog item is used
Actions:
(Do everything you need about the choices, like setting variables)
Hide dialog (triggering dialog) for player ((triggering player)*)
.*use the function: "convert player to player group"