SC2Mapster

You could also try to use the "Behavior" ability. It allows behaviors to be toggled. The cloaking abilities of the banshee or ghost work this way.

They apply a behavior when pressed and remove it when pressed again.

Looks awesome. Reminds me very much of Alien Breed (the new ones since it's 3D) or Shadowgrounds, only with mechs (which I like).

May I suggest a "dash" type ability, which increases movement speed for a short duration in a specific direction? Could be implemented as a "jetpack" style ability. This would make the movement much more important/interesting and would allow for enemies that are a lot faster than you without making them imbalanced. Think of enemies that jump at you. You could dash away do evade them. Could also act as a kind of "panic button" when enemies are suddenly appearing next to you.

Do you like the classic Terran vs. Zerg theme or do you think I should finish Protoss or Terran enemy units first?
I like it. Zerg are perfect for blood/splatter enemies. Also, it's classic for a good reason. Everyone already likes it. When using different units you run the risk that it's simply not "fun" to kill them/play them. Such enemies could be added later on to give more diversity.

Would you play a Singleplayer Top-View-Shooter for the SC2 engine or do you think the concept is bad (and why)?
I would definitely test it/play it.

Do you think the damage indicator for enemy units (they turn white/bright for a brief moment) is a good design idea or should it be removed?
Don't know. Would have to test it. Alternatively, you could use blood on impact.

I really hope to play this one day.

@joecab: Go

Yeah, I know your pain, making a map takes a really long time. Because of that I decided from the beginning that I won't do any items or a custom interface for example. I simply don't have that much time to get that right. The goal of this map is to be a fun short map without much complexity and it still requires too much development time.

Quote from Forge_User_26451472: Go

Do not forget about the abberation and vent zerg models.

Yeah, I already use some more models but they are not visible in the preview.

Quote from Forge_User_26451472: Go

Are those xerg combs just doodads ot buildings?

Just doodads.

Quote from Forge_User_26451472: Go

Consider adding the boss life bar at the top of the screen.

Good idea. Will be implemented in the release version.

Quote from DuckyTheDuck: Go

Aww, it's another project thread teasing us with something that we can't play, how sad ;/

Yeah sorry, I have do admit Diablo 3 was/is a big blocker... :(

Quote from DuckyTheDuck: Go

So far, based on video, my only gripe is that you decided to go against standard command panel layout (1st row - movement controls, 2nd/3rd - ability controls).

Yeah you're right. I thought it will make it simpler since the abilities lie on hotkeys Q-T but going with standards is probably better.

Quote from Fullachain: Go

ETA till public playability?

Sadly, I really don't know since I'm currently also doing my Master Thesis. I plan to release a public beta version before patch 1.5.

Pit of Infestation

This thread is about my upcoming map Pit of Infestation. It's a coop-ARPG map for 2-4 players. Every player chooses a hero with specialized abilities in order to stop the Zerg from infesting the planet.

The map is playable as a beta version under the name of "Pit of Infestation I: The Arrival". Only on EU and Arcade Beta right now (Arcade beta has some different dialog images).

Feedback is welcomed in any form.

Preview

Information

The map is currently in open-beta status, meaning it is open to everyone but the map is not completely finished yet. Whats missing until release are dialogs/quests, some tooltips, terrain/actor adjustments and better enemy AI (aside from some bugs and balancing). The longtime plan is to add more heroes to choose from (there are only 4 right now) and more maps to create a coop-campaign and tell a consistent story. I will probably release the map shortly after the time the 1.5 patch gets released as there are many features added with the patch.

Btw: the triggers of this map are 100% Galaxy++

Story

The story is still not complete but here's a preview:

Research station Molgen V, orbiting the planet Balcor Usoz, has been destroyed. The exact cause is unknown. Molgen V was specialized in genetic manipulation of the Zerg. Some of their experiments have survived and are landing on Balcor Usoz. We are giving you, the Sigma Squad, the task to free the planet of the Zerg infestation.

Screenshots

At the bottom.

Yeah, that makes sense... Wait what? Hopefully a bug, and with even more hope that gets fixed.

Wondering if there is something similar with structrefs/arrayrefs...

Cool, Thanks. The function references really look like a 1:1 replacement for delegates (they even have a similar syntax..). Btw is there some kind of null check for function references?

The struct references look kind of meh. The <> syntax is pretty verbose and typedef'ing every struct seems like double the work. I think I like the galaxy++ classes and pointers more.

Some interesting tidbits from the alpha 1.5 patch:

Quote:

- Added support for passing structure, array, and function references as function parameters

So there are going to be function references. I Guess this replaces the delegates. I would also be interested to know if the structs are passed by value or by reference when used as parameters (maybe pointers from the beta make a return?). They could make array-based classes/structs more efficient.

Using enums as array indices is still bugged:

text[1] enumToTextArray;

Initializer {
	enumToTextArray[(int) Enum.ENUMVALUE] = "ENUMVALUE Description";
	
	FooBar* f = new FooBar();
	TriggerDebugOutput(1, f->asText(), true);
}

enum Enum {
	ENUMVALUE
}

class FooBar {
	Enum e = Enum.ENUMVALUE;
	
	text asText() {return enumToTextArray[(int) e];}
}

Results in

    string f;
    enumToTextArray[0] = StringToText("ENUMVALUE Description");
    f = CreateNewObject();
    DataTableSetByte(true, f + ".e", 0);
    TriggerDebugOutput(1, enumToTextArray[DataTableGetInt(true, f + ".e")], true);

Save as byte <-> load as int

Bug: Backup folders are not removed in a relocated project with a component list as input map.

Today I learned something new about Galaxy Script. You can only use ints as array indices and no bytes/shorts. This results in errors with enum -> int conversions:

text[1] enumToTextArray;

Initializer {
	enumToTextArray[(int) Enum.ENUMVALUE] = "ENUMVALUE Description";
	
	// class only there so it does not get inlined
	FooBar* f = new FooBar();
	Enum e = f->e;
	TriggerDebugOutput(1, enumToTextArray[(int) e], true);
}

enum Enum {
	ENUMVALUE
}

class FooBar {
	Enum e = Enum.ENUMVALUE;
}

Turns into:

string f;
    enumToTextArray[0] = StringToText("ENUMVALUE Description");
    f = CreateNewObject();
    DataTableSetByte(true, f + ".e", 0);
    TriggerDebugOutput(1, enumToTextArray[DataTableGetByte(true, f + ".e")], true);
    return true;

This throws an error when starting sc2 "Array index require an integer value". I guess the easiest way to fix it would be to only use ints when converting from enums and no bytes/shorts... Sucks, but is not too bad.

Quote from SBeier: Go

@Slarti: Go Hmm.. wouldn't really call it a bug. It's meant to overload binary operators, and it's not syntactically correct to write 2*3; Still, I might be able to relax that for custom operators.

Yeah, you're right. My usecase is more like a "+=". Maybe I should wait for unary operator overloading. Also on the same note: do you have any plans for operator overloading via class methods? Problem is: I would like to overload an operator for a generic class but I don't think that's possible right now.

Also, a new Bug that throws an exception:

const int HEIGHT = 500;
const int OFFSET = 32;
const int BUGGEDVALUE = -(HEIGHT - (OFFSET + 32 - 5));

Initializer {
	TriggerDebugOutput(1, BUGGEDVALUE, true);
}

Operator overloading bug:

Initializer {
	playergroup pg = PlayerGroupEmpty();
	pg << 1; // ERROR here: <excpecting ";">
	pg = pg << 1; // does work
}

// changing this to void does not help
playergroup operator<<(playergroup pg, int player) {
	PlayerGroupAdd(pg, player);
	return pg;
}

Hey, I just noticed that the autocompletion in version 3.0.5 does not work for custom types anymore (atleast for me). Crazy thing as it works with some types but not for others. Autocompletion for the default sc2 types is still working. There were some exceptions when I started the editor, which I have sent with the build-in report method.

Wow, awesome. I'm just coming back from Easter holiday and what do I find? A whole lot of new features!

Also wanted to let you know that my map still compiles fine with the new version (3.0.2). As always, much appreciated.

Edit: The new version (3.0.5) has a bug with enrichments:

enrich unit {
	fixed hp {
		get {return UnitGetPropertyFixed(this, c_unitPropLife, true);}
		set {UnitSetPropertyFixed(this, c_unitPropLife, value);}
	}
}

Initializer {
	unit u; // null doesnt matter
	u.hp += 5;
}

generates:

    unit u;
    u = null;
    UnitGetPropertyFixed(u, c_unitPropLife, true);
    UnitSetPropertyFixed(u, c_unitPropLife, );
    return true;