However, potentially you could do something similar to what djimii suggested, or alternative place units with its model actor replaced with scaled down plant doodads.
If you want to want to know where a unit will be, at say every 0.15sec, while the unit is moving to its destination point then:
x = vtcosA
y = vtsinA
(where x and y is the x and y-ordinate relative to the origin (0,0), v = movement speed of the unit, t is time (i.e. starts at 0.15s and increases with increments of 0.15s), and A is the angle between the starting point and end point.)
This assumes a constant velocity however, and doesn't take the acceleration of the unit into account. Also, you have to know the exact path the unit will be taking (i.e. take obstacles into consideration) otherwise it is impossible to predicate where the unit will be at, at a given time.
if you were gonna do these in the normal game you would prolly have to shrink it down and spawn it in a spot on the screen relative to the players camera position.
You would then also want to activate your "spell grid" by the means of a hot key (dummy ability on hero, key events, dialog button,)
What id like to know is how he recognizes partial matches..... because it didnt look like people had to draw the letters perfectly because the "N" was the crappiest drawn N ever.
Thanks :P The N is back to front, like: "|/|". No particular reason for this, except to look like more runic or something. Matching was achieved in the first version by determining whether the angle between the start and end point of each line of the symbol was within a tolerance limit built into the processing trigger, rather than have a rigid shape to match the symbol to. The inverted V (i.e. /\) I think was a very good example of the matching system in action, cos I didn't draw it particularly well at all :P
I've found first processing system to be a bit limiting (it was throwing up miscasts more often then I would like) and an overhaul is in the works. I expect the newest version to be complete within a few days. I'll update this post with a new video too.
The supply depots are just placeholders. In the released version, there will invisible 'trigger' units at each grid position on the screen, much like the cursor tracers which have been previously developed. As the units are highlighted some sort of lighting or glow effect will be placed on top of the trigger unit, lending the appearance that the cursor is tracing out a mystic symbol.
@dra6o0n:
Unfortunately there's no real support for cursor detection atm, hence the major work around. See OneTwoSC's thread for details on the detection system: http://forums.sc2mapster.com/resources/tutorials/11010-video-diablo-camera-movement/. TehWildCard seems to have also created a cursor detection system, but I don't have any details on how it works.
@AzothHyjal:
All will be reveled with time ;) Basically I have the game break the drawn symbol into its component parts. It then proceeds to search through the spell list and if it manages to match each listed part (in order) to a listed spell, in all particulars, that spell is selected and the search ceases.
In its current form, implementing a new symbol that the computer recognises is actually quite simple (about one, short trigger command per component of the symbol) though this could potentially increase depending on the complexity of the symbol. But I want to design the system it so that a user can implement a new symbol and the associated spell quite easily. The spell effects will be the real challenge, however :D
I'd like to introduce you to my gesture based casting system for SC2 which is, as far as I'm aware, the first of its kind.
For those who have played the game 'Black and White' before, the concept of gesture based casting should be very familiar! For those who aren't, gesture based casting involves the player drawing a particular symbol on the screen using their cursor. If the symbol drawn matches a spell in the players spell book, the associated spell is cast.
Here's a short demonstration video to show the prototype I've developed thus far, in which a High Templar (in the bottom right hand side of the screen) casts a variety of spells upon some hapless marines. Each spell used has a unique symbol which triggers it (unfortunately the video recorder I was using hides the cursor, but you can use the raised supply depots as an indicator of the cursor path and the symbol used as the trigger).
Each spell was cast in a single pass. All I needed to do was to click and hold down a mouse button, draw the shape I wanted and then release the mouse button to signal that the drawing was complete.
If you're curious in using this system, it will be released as a public asset in the future, once I have it working to my satisfaction. I'll post new updates as I continue to refine the system :D
23/10/10 V2.0
v2.0 of the gesture based casting system is done! I've included a video of the new system here. Enjoy!
Once you have a basic understanding of the trigger editor and the purpose of its various parts (like events, conditions, actions) and how they work together, think of an event in the SC2 campaign that you liked (like the rising and falling lava on Redstone, for example), open up the mission in the editor and see what triggers the Blizzard team used. A lot of trigger editing can be self taught through playing around with various trigger actions, and seeing where they lead.
As you become more confident, have a look at the trigger section on the forums and see what problems people have having. See if you can solve the problem as a challenge of your skills, or if someone has come up with an answer have a look to see how it works, and see if you can follow the programming logic. It's all about the logic! :D
If you have a particular question about something, or are struggling with a trigger, post it in the forums and someone should be able to help. Good luck!
There have been quite a few people (myself included) who have been annoyed by the lack of editor support for turrets. Usually a work around is suggested, such as placing an invisible dummy unit and getting the turreted unit to attack it. If anyone knows a better way, let me know! :D
If Blizzard come good on this, I'll be very pleased! I had actually shelved a project (a multiplayer top down shooter) because the lag issues with WASD control.
For each A from 0 to Total Day.
+1 to Day Name Changer.
If that's the trigger you used, this explains it. Say that its day 5. The trigger will cycle through the action list for the "For then" 5 times, so the TotalDay value will go up +5 instead of +1.
0
There isn't much in the way of support for dynamic terraining, including texturing. See: http://forums.sc2mapster.com/development/triggers/12177-changing-terrain-with-triggers/
However, potentially you could do something similar to what djimii suggested, or alternative place units with its model actor replaced with scaled down plant doodads.
0
If you want to want to know where a unit will be, at say every 0.15sec, while the unit is moving to its destination point then:
x = vtcosA y = vtsinA
(where x and y is the x and y-ordinate relative to the origin (0,0), v = movement speed of the unit, t is time (i.e. starts at 0.15s and increases with increments of 0.15s), and A is the angle between the starting point and end point.)
This assumes a constant velocity however, and doesn't take the acceleration of the unit into account. Also, you have to know the exact path the unit will be taking (i.e. take obstacles into consideration) otherwise it is impossible to predicate where the unit will be at, at a given time.
0
Both of these are already in the works ;)
Thanks :P The N is back to front, like: "|/|". No particular reason for this, except to look like more runic or something. Matching was achieved in the first version by determining whether the angle between the start and end point of each line of the symbol was within a tolerance limit built into the processing trigger, rather than have a rigid shape to match the symbol to. The inverted V (i.e. /\) I think was a very good example of the matching system in action, cos I didn't draw it particularly well at all :P
I've found first processing system to be a bit limiting (it was throwing up miscasts more often then I would like) and an overhaul is in the works. I expect the newest version to be complete within a few days. I'll update this post with a new video too.
0
The supply depots are just placeholders. In the released version, there will invisible 'trigger' units at each grid position on the screen, much like the cursor tracers which have been previously developed. As the units are highlighted some sort of lighting or glow effect will be placed on top of the trigger unit, lending the appearance that the cursor is tracing out a mystic symbol.
@dra6o0n:
Unfortunately there's no real support for cursor detection atm, hence the major work around. See OneTwoSC's thread for details on the detection system: http://forums.sc2mapster.com/resources/tutorials/11010-video-diablo-camera-movement/. TehWildCard seems to have also created a cursor detection system, but I don't have any details on how it works.
@AzothHyjal:
All will be reveled with time ;) Basically I have the game break the drawn symbol into its component parts. It then proceeds to search through the spell list and if it manages to match each listed part (in order) to a listed spell, in all particulars, that spell is selected and the search ceases.
In its current form, implementing a new symbol that the computer recognises is actually quite simple (about one, short trigger command per component of the symbol) though this could potentially increase depending on the complexity of the symbol. But I want to design the system it so that a user can implement a new symbol and the associated spell quite easily. The spell effects will be the real challenge, however :D
0
@Bibendus:
Yup, unit highlight events are the key, much like the Diablo movement system OneTwoSC made :)
0
Greetings all,
I'd like to introduce you to my gesture based casting system for SC2 which is, as far as I'm aware, the first of its kind.
For those who have played the game 'Black and White' before, the concept of gesture based casting should be very familiar! For those who aren't, gesture based casting involves the player drawing a particular symbol on the screen using their cursor. If the symbol drawn matches a spell in the players spell book, the associated spell is cast.
Here's a short demonstration video to show the prototype I've developed thus far, in which a High Templar (in the bottom right hand side of the screen) casts a variety of spells upon some hapless marines. Each spell used has a unique symbol which triggers it (unfortunately the video recorder I was using hides the cursor, but you can use the raised supply depots as an indicator of the cursor path and the symbol used as the trigger).
Each spell was cast in a single pass. All I needed to do was to click and hold down a mouse button, draw the shape I wanted and then release the mouse button to signal that the drawing was complete.
V1.0
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If you're curious in using this system, it will be released as a public asset in the future, once I have it working to my satisfaction. I'll post new updates as I continue to refine the system :D
23/10/10 V2.0
v2.0 of the gesture based casting system is done! I've included a video of the new system here. Enjoy!
<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lQy8SJBo_lI?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lQy8SJBo_lI?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
0
@AzothHyjal: Go
That looks really cool, I hope you get it working to your satisfaction :)
0
@Zinatic: Go
Or use:
0
Ahh, my young Padawan. To learn the ways of the trigger editor, you have come, hrmm?
</Yoda>
Well, the editor is quite vast. To start, I'd recommend checking some of the tutorials, here: http://wiki.sc2mapster.com/galaxy/tutorials/
After a quick skim through the list, I'd say the tutorials here: http://forums.sc2mapster.com/resources/tutorials/603-video-tutorial-tower-defence-more/ is probably a good place to start, particularly the four part series on basic trigger editing (here's the direct link to part 1 on YouTube: )
Once you have a basic understanding of the trigger editor and the purpose of its various parts (like events, conditions, actions) and how they work together, think of an event in the SC2 campaign that you liked (like the rising and falling lava on Redstone, for example), open up the mission in the editor and see what triggers the Blizzard team used. A lot of trigger editing can be self taught through playing around with various trigger actions, and seeing where they lead.
As you become more confident, have a look at the trigger section on the forums and see what problems people have having. See if you can solve the problem as a challenge of your skills, or if someone has come up with an answer have a look to see how it works, and see if you can follow the programming logic. It's all about the logic! :D
If you have a particular question about something, or are struggling with a trigger, post it in the forums and someone should be able to help. Good luck!
0
There have been quite a few people (myself included) who have been annoyed by the lack of editor support for turrets. Usually a work around is suggested, such as placing an invisible dummy unit and getting the turreted unit to attack it. If anyone knows a better way, let me know! :D
0
Event: Map initialisation
Event: unit dies "reaver"
(Pretty sure invulnerability is under unit behaviours, I can't quite remember off the top of my head. It's either there or under unit properties.)
0
At the start of a new day:
Modify TotalDayNumber +1
If DayNameNumber = 7, then set DayNameNumber = 1, else modify DayNameNumber +1
If DayNameNumber = 1, then DayName = "Monday", etc. Using a switch case action should work here too.
0
If Blizzard come good on this, I'll be very pleased! I had actually shelved a project (a multiplayer top down shooter) because the lag issues with WASD control.
0
I'd have it split up into smaller triggers / actions for the purposes of troubleshooting, if anything else.
0
If that's the trigger you used, this explains it. Say that its day 5. The trigger will cycle through the action list for the "For then" 5 times, so the TotalDay value will go up +5 instead of +1.