How can I change a given map so that I can customize teams (set the mode to custom in the lobby) AND be able to make players observers in the lobby? I've been able to find very little on this topic so far.
For some background, it seems to be default that every melee map (even custom ones), in the normal game modes (1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4) allow for the host to make players observers/referees. However, the problem with this is that the teams are locked, and I can't make any matchup I want to (like a 2v4, 5v7, etc) since I cannot add players to teams. To do that I need to set the mode to custom, however doing that eliminates the option of making players observers/referees.
So we all know it is just a matter of time. Just like warcraft 3, eventually people will be making tons of maps with the maximum number of players that the game allows (16). I figure I'm ahead of the curve on this one.
Basically, the first 15 players (players 1-14 + hostile which is player 15) all work perfectly fine in a normal melee game. The difficulty comes with that 16th player, which is player 0 (or white). By annexing the last player, there is no place left for anything neutral - including resources. This means that by default, if you make a 16 player melee map and try to play it in FFA mode for example, the other 15 player's resources will have RED outlines instead of the normal neutral yellow when clicked on and be unharvestable since they are owned by an enemy.
So clearly, a workaround is needed. Somewhere in some form, the game defines what alliance configuration resources are harvestable under (allied, neutral, own, hostile) - it must since you CAN harvest resources when they are owned by neutral or yourself and CAN'T when they're owned by the enemy. My first idea was to try to hunt this down by looking in unit traits and abilities for anything related to this such as minerals, gas, scv, the SCV gather ability. But so far, I haven't been able to find it. If the editor organized abilities the way warcraft 3 did, I bet I could have found it pretty easily, but they reorganized the editor in starcraft 2 and now I can't find it. I'd assume it's in there somewhere though. Ideally everyone would be able to harvest normally, albeit with the strange caveat that their minerals and gas would be red, but that would just be an unavoidable side-effect.
I'm aware that changing this could also require some further changes to get everything working correctly, but as far as I know now it is possible.
I'm curious how much thought other mapmakers have put into this, maybe other people might be able to point me in the right direction.
Edit: By default you can have up to 14 players, with player 0 being neutral and player 15 being hostile. It's different from warcraft 3 where you could have up to 12 players + neutral hostile and neutral, because in starcraft 2, you have the option of making neutral+hostile into players, which brings the player count from 14 to 16. Replacing neutral hostile with a player is fine, the problem is with player 16.
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How can I change a given map so that I can customize teams (set the mode to custom in the lobby) AND be able to make players observers in the lobby? I've been able to find very little on this topic so far.
For some background, it seems to be default that every melee map (even custom ones), in the normal game modes (1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4) allow for the host to make players observers/referees. However, the problem with this is that the teams are locked, and I can't make any matchup I want to (like a 2v4, 5v7, etc) since I cannot add players to teams. To do that I need to set the mode to custom, however doing that eliminates the option of making players observers/referees.
0
So we all know it is just a matter of time. Just like warcraft 3, eventually people will be making tons of maps with the maximum number of players that the game allows (16). I figure I'm ahead of the curve on this one.
Basically, the first 15 players (players 1-14 + hostile which is player 15) all work perfectly fine in a normal melee game. The difficulty comes with that 16th player, which is player 0 (or white). By annexing the last player, there is no place left for anything neutral - including resources. This means that by default, if you make a 16 player melee map and try to play it in FFA mode for example, the other 15 player's resources will have RED outlines instead of the normal neutral yellow when clicked on and be unharvestable since they are owned by an enemy.
So clearly, a workaround is needed. Somewhere in some form, the game defines what alliance configuration resources are harvestable under (allied, neutral, own, hostile) - it must since you CAN harvest resources when they are owned by neutral or yourself and CAN'T when they're owned by the enemy. My first idea was to try to hunt this down by looking in unit traits and abilities for anything related to this such as minerals, gas, scv, the SCV gather ability. But so far, I haven't been able to find it. If the editor organized abilities the way warcraft 3 did, I bet I could have found it pretty easily, but they reorganized the editor in starcraft 2 and now I can't find it. I'd assume it's in there somewhere though. Ideally everyone would be able to harvest normally, albeit with the strange caveat that their minerals and gas would be red, but that would just be an unavoidable side-effect.
I'm aware that changing this could also require some further changes to get everything working correctly, but as far as I know now it is possible. I'm curious how much thought other mapmakers have put into this, maybe other people might be able to point me in the right direction.
Edit: By default you can have up to 14 players, with player 0 being neutral and player 15 being hostile. It's different from warcraft 3 where you could have up to 12 players + neutral hostile and neutral, because in starcraft 2, you have the option of making neutral+hostile into players, which brings the player count from 14 to 16. Replacing neutral hostile with a player is fine, the problem is with player 16.