I had the exact same problem a few days ago. No clue so far, it seems like a bug either in the editor itself or Bnet not including the variant correctly in the lobby. I tried setting the speed to anything but Faster and it never worked. Each time you lock it, it sets Faster as default.
I also had trouble uploading a map with races modified (locked or not, changed nothing), whatever I tried didn't work and the map won't even upload. Not sure if it's another bug or not, but these variants are a real pain anyway... Might be a "side effect" from a patch, let's wait and see how it goes.
I'm wondering if it's possible to get a similar effect with the editor as you did with photoshop
Lighting and fog modifications would give something close to it. As far as I know you can't force light sources to saturate though (tweaking with HDR might fake it though), so you may give a darker ambience but the lights will lose their brightness/intensity somehow.
Anyway, the map looks awesome. I don't think it's your first try ever at mapping, or at least you know how to place your props and cameras to make a scenery looks really good (did you study in a film school or something similar? or did you work with a shot from the movies as a reference?). As soon as I saw the screenshot I remembered the Jedi Knights games, I remember a level on Coruscant with this layout so your screenshot did its purpose perfectly! I wonder how epic it would be to control a few units in this map... :)
Actually, You could have the basic cliff level be negative. That would allow 4 levels I think.
It won't. The 4th level (the deepest one) is only here for visuals. Even by removing the placement requirements of units and placing them on the lowest cliff level, as soon as they'll reach a cliff they will climb up and stay on the usual 3 levels allowed. You can place units on the lowest level but there's no way to make them stay on it. Well, maybe there is one option: removing the placement requirements of units, and adding path blockers everywhere to prevent these units to reach any cliff. This way, they'll move freely without reaching any cliff. But anyway, they will stay on the lowest level because you can't make ramps to access the lowest level. The lowest level is always placed at least 2 heights under the base level, whatever base height you choose. I just tried.
I would make a "combine" validator that combines 2 checks:
-check unit type of caster
-check unit type of target
If they match, it would apply the effects. I haven't done much with the validators yet but I'm pretty sure it's a start. Maybe it will need a "condition" validator in the process as well, to check that the caster and target actually match.
You can easily share a nydus worm with your allies. You just need to modify the load/unload ability of the worm, so that it will accept allies. It works for any unit with a "cargo" ability, so you can also share a tank or an overlord or whatever you'd like as long as the cargo ability allows more than just the player's units.
Unfortunately, I don't know of any way to enter a nydus worm from player A, and exit through a worm from player B. Even if these players are allies, the ability to enter/leave a nydus worm is limited to the same player. Maybe, just maybe, tweaking with the validators (if there are any) would help you override this, and allow nydus worms to be connected all together, but a nydus worm from an enemy player would probably be able to use your own nydus worms as an exit to theirs...
I want to add an event to a trigger using triggers. I can't seem to find an action for it.
I only know of the "Trigger - Add actions to action queue", but I'm not sure how to use it correctly. Maybe you'll need a separate trigger (with or without conditions, doesn't matter) that will run a "add actions" with whatever actions you want in it. Execute this separate trigger using a "Run trigger" inside your initial trigger, wait for this separate trigger to finish its actions with a "wait for trigger", then it should be fine. I'm not sure if I made myself clear but it's not the case, just ask and I'll make a screenshot.
I'm not happy with the sound issue. The solution of enabling sounds at long range may be even worse though, as the amount of weapons fire over a large distance may just be plain noise.
Actually, maybe the "Dupe Maximum Method" field in the sounds data might help. I remember when I added custom sounds in my own project, this field can either prevent from playing a sound twice from the same source, or replace the old sound by the new iteration. If you change the "Dupe History Count" to a low number (like 1 or 2) you can't have more than 2 sounds coming from the same unit at the same time (or so I guess it's what it does). I'm not sure how it will work when there are many players on the field shooting at each other, but it's worth a try.
Too bad there isn't any demo available yet... I checked the official website and their forums, but no dice. The video doesn't really show anything from the actual game, and what we can see is a bit lame. I sure hope the released game will be better, and I'm pretty sure every DK fan wants the same. The studio behind the project have a lot of work to do if they want to please both early fans of DK and gamers who never heard of it before. It's more than risky for them, it's almost suicide. Judging by the quality of their models and the animations, I fear the worst... They have 3-4 months to do something decent out of it, I don't expect this game to look better when it's out... Doesn't mean the gameplay will suck, but a nice appealing game is way more pleasant to play. Especially with the PC gamers configurations nowadays.
Actually, after reading a bit in their forum, here is an interesting quote from one of the team members:
Sorry, but Dungeons will be Dungeons and Dungeon Keeper will be Dungeon Keeper.
A total rip-off would
a) be total boring for us to make
b) possibly cause legal action if we use essential creatures like Horny
c) never satisfy the fans, because they'd expect much more than a graphics update
So don't expect it to be a DK3, or even a DK2+... :(
things on the internet spread really, really fast, and everybody can get a hold of the map if they want and steal it.
Locking your map won't really prevent someone from stealing it if they really want to, though... And it won't prevent liars to claim it's their own either. I just saw yesterday that a website was blogging videos of my Ikari Warriors project. They embedded one directly from my Youtube profile and copy/pasted the content of the description as an article. They never asked my consent, and since the description in my videos are pretty confusing (using first person to talk about my projects), they could almost have claimed the map is their own. Still, I dare them to try... :D From now on I'll be very careful when uploading content, making sure that people can see a link to the original file...
But if people can help me once I finish designing the map, then I can start making triggers, and maybe with some help too.
Quoted just to tell you the usual way is to start with triggers and data (at least to define the basic gameplay rules) before actually designing the map. You shouldn't do the terrain unless 60-70% of the triggers and datas to include are done and working properly. I would also advice NOT to do triggers+terrain+data at the same time, because it's pretty confusing and you will forget what you've already done.
About the uploaded screenshots, I'd say the short fences are better: They have almost the same height as the fences on the lower cliff level, and as Yukaboy said it won't mess with the tanks cannons. I'd also suggest removing the streetlight(s) in the middle of the road. Put 2 streetlights on each side if you want, but not a single one in the middle... It's not coherent. I'd remove (or move elsewhere) the supply depots and houses too, because they make the passage a bit too narrow. I wouldn't let the 2 barracks with tech lab where they are, so I'd suggest moving them up to avoid blocking the ramps. I would raise the cliff level to put the 2 bunkers behind the electric walls on the same level as the tanks. Either that, or remove them and place the 2 other bunkers closer to the walls, on a better spot. Basically the whole gate seems odd to me, because the path is narrowed for no logical reason... The " > < " shape of the cliffs does not fit, in my opinion. Because of the shape it has, you're forced to place buildings on the corners and angles, and in the end it makes the passage too narrow, especially around the ramps.
These are just suggestions, try them and see if it fits. I also agree with Zeldarules, you should make less ambitious projects to handle things in the editor (especially data), and once it's done you should come back to this map. You'll gain much time if you know the editor better when doing complicated stuff.
you probably shouldent just mimick everything from Dungeon keeper... maybe add something of your own aswell?
Blasphemy! Burn the witches! :D
Oh, wait.
Actually, getting DK to look like SC2 is probably the biggest improvement DK could have... I can't think of anything that could be added as far as I'm concerned, because the DK gameplay works fine as it is. Adding something might just ruin the balance, I personally would focus on improving the visual effects and general appearance rather than adding my little touch in the gameplay.
Baaaaah, I'll play DK again, just to be sure I'm not saying shit...
I played about 10 games tonight and most of the time, people just liked to slug it out with some other cruiser until one of them died.
It also happens most of the time in Star Battle, and this is precisely why I don't play it anymore. Who could seriously stand against 4-5 battlecruisers chasing him over the map? It ruins the gameplay because basically, the first team to kill a enemy ship is the team that wins the game. Pretty much pointless if it's played that way, in my opinion... If you find a way to avoid massive rush against one target (ex: suicide ability that becomes stronger and/or increase radius when taking damage from battlecruisers), it will probably add some balance.
This map is all about team play. You choose in the lobby which team you want to be in, and depending on the number of players you are against, your objectives will vary. It's basically a game of "hunt and be hunted".
Current progress (02-05-2011):
Beta v0.8b is available on Battlenet (EU server) under the name "Sand Worm Survival".
You can find other videos of my projects on my Youtube profile.
Version 0.8b update includes:
3 teams (one for each race) to a total of 8 players
longer game (changed from 5 minutes to 10)
The Sand Worm now has 250 life points and leeches 20% more health from damaging an enemy
Game now includes Sand Worm Pools and the Protoss race
increased map size
units training/warping automatically
The Sand Worms
(team 1 - Zerg)
The Sand Worms are voluntarily over-powered units that have 2 main objectives:
Eat a certain amount of units within the time limit
Protect the Sand Worm Pools, the building from which they respawn
Strengths:
really fast movement, moves up small cliffs at will
crushes anything on its path, leeches life from its victims
detects ground units with a radar
Weaknesses:
slow acceleration, fast deceleration
loses life each second, takes time to respawn
almost totally blind
The Hunters Team
(team 2 - Terran)
The Hunters are standard Terran units with 2 main objectives:
Kill a certain amount of Sand Worms within the time limit
Destroy all Sand Worm Pools
Strengths:
this is the only team that can count 4 players
their bases are protected against any intruder
they have Vikings and Medivacs to stay away from the Sand Worms
Weaknesses:
their units take time to be trained
despite their number, it's much harder to win without cooperation
The Riders Team
(team 3 - Protoss)
The Riders are almost standard Protoss units with 2 main objectives:
Capture a certain amount of Sand Worms within the time limit
Protect the Sand Worm Pools, the building from which Sand Worms are spawned
Strengths:
they have Worm Riders, Zealots units with the ability to mount and control Sand Worms
killed units are warped in their base instantly
their bases are protected against any intruder
they have better firepower than the Hunters
Weaknesses:
they have no anti-air units
they interfere with both enemy teams goals
Next improvements:
better terrain and textures (including better use of VFXs and more doodads)
balanced game (right now, winning with the Hunters is either too hard or too easy)
a few random players on BNet did not catch their goal without a detailed explanation from me, I'll add an intro to the game if need be
getting rid of this weird bug about Vikings (and dropships) landing ON the Sand Worm Pools and having their height screwed until dead
trailer when v1.0 comes out
How you can help:
testing and feedback
help and suggestions for improvements
balancing gameplay
recording a trailer
GL HF... mostly HF
"A very big thanks goes to...":
Wingednosering (for his "face hugger" and "execution" data assets)
BorgDragon and Uiasdnmb (for their help on the "ride worm" ability)
anyone who helps testing the map to improve the gameplay and balance
I found them but they are not zergish. I'm going to use the standard minerals that you can find in melee but I need a meaningfull texture that claims the tile as a treasury :|
"Zerg cliff" and "Zerg infested cliff" are quite good for that. If you use either the mineral cart or the melee minerals, it should fit. Some model variations in the "Zerg cliff" are not that good though, but you should definitely take a look at these.
About the casino now... Well, maybe mushrooms could fit here. If you make them large and flat, it's almost like a table to play on. (just thinking about zergs doing their best poker face in circle around a mushroom made me laugh :D )
So, it's pretty easy to add ammo to a magazine, both as an ability type CAbilArmMagazine and through triggers (Add Ammo to Magazine) but for the life of me I can't figure out how to consume or reduce the number of ammo in an object.
0
@Fullachain: Go
I had the exact same problem a few days ago. No clue so far, it seems like a bug either in the editor itself or Bnet not including the variant correctly in the lobby. I tried setting the speed to anything but Faster and it never worked. Each time you lock it, it sets Faster as default.
I also had trouble uploading a map with races modified (locked or not, changed nothing), whatever I tried didn't work and the map won't even upload. Not sure if it's another bug or not, but these variants are a real pain anyway... Might be a "side effect" from a patch, let's wait and see how it goes.
0
Lighting and fog modifications would give something close to it. As far as I know you can't force light sources to saturate though (tweaking with HDR might fake it though), so you may give a darker ambience but the lights will lose their brightness/intensity somehow.
Anyway, the map looks awesome. I don't think it's your first try ever at mapping, or at least you know how to place your props and cameras to make a scenery looks really good (did you study in a film school or something similar? or did you work with a shot from the movies as a reference?). As soon as I saw the screenshot I remembered the Jedi Knights games, I remember a level on Coruscant with this layout so your screenshot did its purpose perfectly! I wonder how epic it would be to control a few units in this map... :)
0
Seems like that actor you "weren't using" isn't THAT obsolete, after all...
0
It won't. The 4th level (the deepest one) is only here for visuals. Even by removing the placement requirements of units and placing them on the lowest cliff level, as soon as they'll reach a cliff they will climb up and stay on the usual 3 levels allowed. You can place units on the lowest level but there's no way to make them stay on it. Well, maybe there is one option: removing the placement requirements of units, and adding path blockers everywhere to prevent these units to reach any cliff. This way, they'll move freely without reaching any cliff. But anyway, they will stay on the lowest level because you can't make ramps to access the lowest level. The lowest level is always placed at least 2 heights under the base level, whatever base height you choose. I just tried.
0
I would make a "combine" validator that combines 2 checks:
-check unit type of caster
-check unit type of target
If they match, it would apply the effects. I haven't done much with the validators yet but I'm pretty sure it's a start. Maybe it will need a "condition" validator in the process as well, to check that the caster and target actually match.
0
@AgoutiByte: Go
You can easily share a nydus worm with your allies. You just need to modify the load/unload ability of the worm, so that it will accept allies. It works for any unit with a "cargo" ability, so you can also share a tank or an overlord or whatever you'd like as long as the cargo ability allows more than just the player's units.
Unfortunately, I don't know of any way to enter a nydus worm from player A, and exit through a worm from player B. Even if these players are allies, the ability to enter/leave a nydus worm is limited to the same player. Maybe, just maybe, tweaking with the validators (if there are any) would help you override this, and allow nydus worms to be connected all together, but a nydus worm from an enemy player would probably be able to use your own nydus worms as an exit to theirs...
0
I only know of the "Trigger - Add actions to action queue", but I'm not sure how to use it correctly. Maybe you'll need a separate trigger (with or without conditions, doesn't matter) that will run a "add actions" with whatever actions you want in it. Execute this separate trigger using a "Run trigger" inside your initial trigger, wait for this separate trigger to finish its actions with a "wait for trigger", then it should be fine. I'm not sure if I made myself clear but it's not the case, just ask and I'll make a screenshot.
0
Actually, maybe the "Dupe Maximum Method" field in the sounds data might help. I remember when I added custom sounds in my own project, this field can either prevent from playing a sound twice from the same source, or replace the old sound by the new iteration. If you change the "Dupe History Count" to a low number (like 1 or 2) you can't have more than 2 sounds coming from the same unit at the same time (or so I guess it's what it does). I'm not sure how it will work when there are many players on the field shooting at each other, but it's worth a try.
0
Too bad there isn't any demo available yet... I checked the official website and their forums, but no dice. The video doesn't really show anything from the actual game, and what we can see is a bit lame. I sure hope the released game will be better, and I'm pretty sure every DK fan wants the same. The studio behind the project have a lot of work to do if they want to please both early fans of DK and gamers who never heard of it before. It's more than risky for them, it's almost suicide. Judging by the quality of their models and the animations, I fear the worst... They have 3-4 months to do something decent out of it, I don't expect this game to look better when it's out... Doesn't mean the gameplay will suck, but a nice appealing game is way more pleasant to play. Especially with the PC gamers configurations nowadays.
Actually, after reading a bit in their forum, here is an interesting quote from one of the team members:
Sorry, but Dungeons will be Dungeons and Dungeon Keeper will be Dungeon Keeper.
A total rip-off would
a) be total boring for us to make
b) possibly cause legal action if we use essential creatures like Horny
c) never satisfy the fans, because they'd expect much more than a graphics update
So don't expect it to be a DK3, or even a DK2+... :(
Locking your map won't really prevent someone from stealing it if they really want to, though... And it won't prevent liars to claim it's their own either. I just saw yesterday that a website was blogging videos of my Ikari Warriors project. They embedded one directly from my Youtube profile and copy/pasted the content of the description as an article. They never asked my consent, and since the description in my videos are pretty confusing (using first person to talk about my projects), they could almost have claimed the map is their own. Still, I dare them to try... :D From now on I'll be very careful when uploading content, making sure that people can see a link to the original file...
0
Quoted just to tell you the usual way is to start with triggers and data (at least to define the basic gameplay rules) before actually designing the map. You shouldn't do the terrain unless 60-70% of the triggers and datas to include are done and working properly. I would also advice NOT to do triggers+terrain+data at the same time, because it's pretty confusing and you will forget what you've already done.
About the uploaded screenshots, I'd say the short fences are better: They have almost the same height as the fences on the lower cliff level, and as Yukaboy said it won't mess with the tanks cannons. I'd also suggest removing the streetlight(s) in the middle of the road. Put 2 streetlights on each side if you want, but not a single one in the middle... It's not coherent. I'd remove (or move elsewhere) the supply depots and houses too, because they make the passage a bit too narrow. I wouldn't let the 2 barracks with tech lab where they are, so I'd suggest moving them up to avoid blocking the ramps. I would raise the cliff level to put the 2 bunkers behind the electric walls on the same level as the tanks. Either that, or remove them and place the 2 other bunkers closer to the walls, on a better spot. Basically the whole gate seems odd to me, because the path is narrowed for no logical reason... The " > < " shape of the cliffs does not fit, in my opinion. Because of the shape it has, you're forced to place buildings on the corners and angles, and in the end it makes the passage too narrow, especially around the ramps.
These are just suggestions, try them and see if it fits. I also agree with Zeldarules, you should make less ambitious projects to handle things in the editor (especially data), and once it's done you should come back to this map. You'll gain much time if you know the editor better when doing complicated stuff.
0
Blasphemy! Burn the witches! :D Oh, wait.
Actually, getting DK to look like SC2 is probably the biggest improvement DK could have... I can't think of anything that could be added as far as I'm concerned, because the DK gameplay works fine as it is. Adding something might just ruin the balance, I personally would focus on improving the visual effects and general appearance rather than adding my little touch in the gameplay.
Baaaaah, I'll play DK again, just to be sure I'm not saying shit...
0
It also happens most of the time in Star Battle, and this is precisely why I don't play it anymore. Who could seriously stand against 4-5 battlecruisers chasing him over the map? It ruins the gameplay because basically, the first team to kill a enemy ship is the team that wins the game. Pretty much pointless if it's played that way, in my opinion... If you find a way to avoid massive rush against one target (ex: suicide ability that becomes stronger and/or increase radius when taking damage from battlecruisers), it will probably add some balance.
0
Sand Worm Survival - SC2 minigame
This map is all about team play. You choose in the lobby which team you want to be in, and depending on the number of players you are against, your objectives will vary. It's basically a game of "hunt and be hunted".
Current progress (02-05-2011):
Beta v0.8b is available on Battlenet (EU server) under the name "Sand Worm Survival".
You can find other videos of my projects on my Youtube profile.
Version 0.8b update includes:
The Sand Worms
(team 1 - Zerg)
The Sand Worms are voluntarily over-powered units that have 2 main objectives:
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
The Hunters Team
(team 2 - Terran)
The Hunters are standard Terran units with 2 main objectives:
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
The Riders Team
(team 3 - Protoss)
The Riders are almost standard Protoss units with 2 main objectives:
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Next improvements:
How you can help:
"A very big thanks goes to...":
0
"Zerg cliff" and "Zerg infested cliff" are quite good for that. If you use either the mineral cart or the melee minerals, it should fit. Some model variations in the "Zerg cliff" are not that good though, but you should definitely take a look at these.
About the casino now... Well, maybe mushrooms could fit here. If you make them large and flat, it's almost like a table to play on. (just thinking about zergs doing their best poker face in circle around a mushroom made me laugh :D )
0
Just add -1 ammo, it will remove one. ;)