I've gotten to the point in my project where I would really appreciate some feedback from other people about how things are going so far. Other than the dumb ARES which does nothing, I have the rest of the first quarter or third of the map pretty much set up how I want them to be although I am considering adding or changing things, depending on the feedback I get. The unfinished part of the map is deliberately blocked off; it is currently impossible to win, so don't worry about that. (Well, a win condition IS set, but it's impossible to achieve at the moment.)
The map is not published (long story short my account got locked and I haven't been able to get it fixed yet) so you'll have to DL it and use Testing Mode. Thanks very much for any feedback you may want to offer!
In essence this is a single player mission map where you play a unique psionic Zerg unit, the Garmling, as it tries to reclaim/rebuild its Brood and destroy the Terran interlopers on its planet following the mysterious disappearance (from the non-Char-living Zerg perspective) of the Queen of Blades. (Storyline set pre-HotS as I don't own it yet.)
At first that didn't seem to make sense, but I get how that works now. Just had to think about it a moment. Much appreciated! :)
Now, last question. As I mentioned before, I've gotten this stuff to work, but in a tedious half-assy way going one baneling at a time. I KNOW there's a way to make these triggers work on ALL the Banelings without having to write a separate action within the trigger for each bane. Unit groups would seem to be the solution, but whenever I try to use them in what seems to be the correct way, it all breaks. So obviously I am doing something wrong. Would it in fact be better to use unit groups, or with just three units, is it okay to just keep doing them as separate actions within a single trigger? It gets the job done, but I feel like it's probably sloppy code or at least inefficient. On the other hand part of me just wants to go, "It gets the job done, let's move on to other parts of the map now." LOL
EDIT: I was clicking the wrong damn parenthesis. XD All of a sudden I looked very closely and noticed that I did have a clickable one after all. I think this'll probably do it for me. Thank you very much!
Now if I can just figure out how the hell to use attack waves and unit groups I'll be set for this map. XD
EDIT II: All righty, now that I've gotten to this point, I've got another one. If I just tell them to 'move', will they actually attack once they get within combat range of enemy units, or will they simply complete the move order and then aggro if the enemy units are within range, but just sit there if not? I can't seem to find an 'attack move' function, unless that's what 'scan move' means. What's the best way to handle this? Another trigger maybe saying 'when baneling is within x radius of units belonging to y player, issue order (explode)'?
Well yeah I found that, like I said, but I can't find a relevant command to issue. The only movement related option I could find was Hold Position, which is the precise opposite of what I want them to do, LOL!
I'm working on a fairly simple single player mission/storymode type map at the moment, as much to occupy myself as for any other reason, and I've run into a snag. I've been able to figure out my other problems thus far on my own but this one is really stumping me so I've decided to come ask for help regardless of how dumb it makes me feel that I can't decipher this on my own.
In short, I want to have a trap involving burrowed Banelings. The 'hero' unit has Mind Control a la the Hive Mind Emulator. The idea is, basically, that the Banelings are supposed to jump out of the ground when any unit enters the 'danger zone', and then run at the unit which triggered them to unburrow. The player is supposed to Mind Control one of the Banelings, which I expect will cause the Banelings to attack each other and self destruct. If not, the player will have to micro real fast to Mind Control all three before they hit. XD Either way is fine honestly. It's getting the damn Banelings to run at the player's units that I'm having trouble with. Of course if the units get close enough the Banelings aggro like normal, but it's possible to aggro only one or two at a time and I want them to instantly start moving, all three, toward the triggering unit immediately after unburrowing rather than sitting there and waiting to be aggro'd.
Now, the Banelings are unburrowing on cue as proper, although I'm quite certain there's a more efficient way to do that than how I got it to work, but anyway. XD What I can't figure out is how to get them to move. I haven't figured out how to use attack waves yet so I'm hoping the solution doesn't require them. x.x
I was assuming there'd be something in Issue Order but I can't find anything applicable. And I did try searching around online but all the answers I found seem to refer to an older version of the map editor. I can't find the options referred to there in my editor. So a bit of help would be greatly appreciated!
But see, that's the entire point. It's a supreme irony. There's no point in doing it versus Terran... I'd just be re-creating all the Infected Terran focused maps.
Also, at this point in the timeline, the Overmind is long dead and the Queen of Blades has just been taken down. I'm presuming for the sake of this AU plotline that Kerrigan retains no ability to command the Zerg after being turned back into a Terran.
Plus you're overestimating the similarities between Flood and Zerg. The Zerg build structures and mine - the Flood infect, kill, and conquer. The Flood will have very few structures and, if I can get the custom resource thing working right, they won't be mining for minerals/gas either. They may have similarities, but the feel of play will be totally different. Also, the infected versions of the Zerg units will be different than the original versions, and not just in stats. I plan to twist their standard abilities to make them no less powerful, but different. I haven't decided exactly how yet, but it'll happen. The most dramatic example is the Infected Drone... it can only build the central Flood structure, the Infection Chamber. It also loses the ability to gather resources, but has better combat stats (allowing it to "gather" by killing weaker Zerg units to get the Biomass resource. I plan to have bigger units provide more Biomass when killed or infected.)
There are only a few Flood buildings. Compare this to the list of Zerg buildings, including their upgrades:
Infection Chamber (central building; contains upgrades for infected Zerg units)
Proto-Gravemind (precursor unit to Gravemind; treated as a structure, similar to Nydus worms)
Gravemind (again, treated as a structure; spawns larvae.)
Incubation Pit (spawns extra larvae, like a Queen, but doesn't have the creep tumor or healing abilities.)
Research Pit (upgrades for Pure Forms)
Gravemind Orifice (Nydus Network equivalent)
That's it. Everything else is a unit. Not only that, but I intend to make the Pure Forms quite different from the second and third tier Zerg units in ability even though by necessity I'll be recycling their models.
In short: Give me a chance! ;p It might sound like exactly the same as the Zerg in the end, but if it turns out that way I did it wrong. .
So I should set two conditions - one checking to see if it's an Infection Form and one checking to see if it's a Drone? Okay, I'll try that. But that means I'll probably have to do the same trigger for all infectable unit types... grah. Oh well, I knew what I was getting into. XD
I decided to go with the Trigger solution to my Infection Form problem for Outbreak, but I've run into an issue. Long story short, when I go to set up the trigger, I can't figure out how to get it to activate when a Drone comes within range of an Infection Form. The best I can get is "any unit" comes within range of a specific Infection Form already spawned on the map. I'm guessing that the trigger will only work in conjunction with that specific IF and if more are built it won't activate.
I'm probably missing something extremely obvious but some guidance would be appreciated here. ;
Well, mine's technically not solved yet, but only because I now have a few different ways to tackle the problem and I haven't decided which to experiment with first yet! XD Thank you so much, all of you. You've been exceedingly helpful. Rest assured you will be hearing from me again next time I get stuck on Outbreak. ;p
I suppose that answers that question! :p I'll just treat both sides as Zerg and control who can build what through unit access. If I just make sure the AI never gets control of units it needs to build "Flood-only" stuff and that the player never gets ahold of a normal Drone to build "normal Zerg only" stuff, the problem is moot.
Well if you can get it to deal damage, it seems like the way to make it kill any target is by making it deal the max amount of damage possible, like 999 or something. That should be enough to one-shot anything that'll appear on my map. And honestly you're further ahead than I am anyway. If you can show me what you've got, maybe I can fine-tune it by tinkering with it? Thanks a lot for taking the time!
@Alterlisk:
Well, here, I gotta give you some context for this. The unit is being made for a specific custom scenario map. Here's a link to the thread where I described my plans for the map in detail:
Long story short, it's a pseudo-Halo-crossover in which there's a Flood outbreak on a Zerg-controlled planet. The player starts with a single Infection Form as their only unit, and they have to use it to "steal" a Drone from the uninfected Zerg. The Infection Form should only infect one target at a time, die upon successful use of the ability, kill the target instantly, and spawn a permanent infected version of the same type of unit targeted which takes up the same amount of supply as the targeted unit type would. Say I'm starting a new game on this map and I target the Drone. The result would be an "Infected Drone" taking up 1 supply just like a normal Drone because for all intents and purposes it's the same unit, except changed to reflect the state of being Flood-infected.
So the kind of balance issues you're worrying about won't be relevant, at least not in the beginning. The Zerg CPUs will start out with fully established home bases and a few fledgling expansions, very well settled in, while the player begins with a single Infection Form with the above traits. They have to steal a Drone, then establish a base and work their way up through the techtree as described in the above link. Actually I'm trying to make the map quite challenging. :p If anyone wants to read the above link and offer advice in context with that information it would be HUGELY appreciated, but I understand if you don't want to take the time. Thanks for the time you've spent! :)
I just finally finished typing up the overall gameplay structure for my newest map project, "Flood Outbreak!" I'm posting it here so I can get comments, critique, and ideas about how to execute specific parts of this.
You start out controlling a single Infection Form unit, far away from the CPU Zerg's bases. I haven't done terrain yet, but there will be a path leading to an unused expansion point with a Drone sitting in it, preparing to expand into that base. The player will then use the Infection Form's Infect ability, causing the Infection Form and the Drone to both die. After that, however, the game will spawn a new unit, an Infected Drone, under the player's control. Infected Drones can build only a handful of structures, unlike normal Drones. Specifically, they can morph into Infected Extractors (exactly like normal ones except green LOL) and the Floodzerg central structure.
Anyhow, the player can then take this Infected Drone and use it to build their central structure, called an Infection Chamber. The Infection Chamber will work like a normal central building except for the following:
- It can build only two kinds of unit: Infection Forms and, if one does not already exist, a Proto-Gravemind.
- It cannot be upgraded itself.
- It contains all upgrades for infected units.
Infection Forms are permanently cloaked and can detect, but they are incapable of attacking in any manner or of gathering resources. The player must use their Infection Forms to capture more Drones for resource collection. This is the time to start infecting other unit types as well; there will be an Infected version of all the most important Zerg units (Zergling, Hydralisk, Mutalisk, et cetera) though I might decide that some Zerg units are immune to infection for whatever reason. Infected units will be similar but not identical to the original unit. They can be distinguished from the uninfected by their deep green tint.
Once the player has collected enough resources, they can create a Proto-Gravemind. In and of itself, a Proto-Gravemind does nothing. However, every time your infected combat units slay an uninfected Zerg unit, it grows a little bit. After you have slain 50 uninfected Zerg units in combat, your Proto will morph into a full-blown Gravemind!
The Gravemind will spawn green larvae which can be morphed directly into Pure Form units. Now you can finally build units the normal way, without having to rely on infection! Of course, you can't build a given type of Pure Form until the Gravemind has access to the right Zerg biomass to base the Pure Form off of. Therefore, to unlock given Pure Forms, you have to kill a certain number of uninfected Zerg of specific types. For example, if you want to be able to build Ranged Pure Forms, you have to use your existing Flood units to kill 5 uninfected Hydralisks in combat. If you want Tank Forms, you have to kill three Ultralisks. And so on. These kill counters don't start working until -after- you have a Gravemind, so you can't kill a bunch of stuff before you get a Gravemind and then be able to build all kinds of Pure Forms the instant your Gravemind comes into being. Killing 10 Drones allows you to produce Worker Forms, which can morph into many more structures than an infected Drone can. Examples:
- Research Pit (upgrades for Pure Forms)
- Incubation Chamber (spawns larvae; replaces the Queen basically)
- Gravemind Tendril (acts like a Sensor Tower equivalent)
- Gravemind Tentacle (Spine Crawler equivalent)
- Gravemind Pore (Spore Crawler equivalent)
- Gravemind Orifice (Nydus Network equivalent)
Once you've got a Gravemind, your goal is to build an army of Pure Forms, Infection Forms, and infected Zerg units that's strong enough to wipe out the uninfected Zerg on the map and infect the three Cerebrates. You infect a Cerebrate by sneaking an Infection Form into its central base somehow. There will be a unit or structure that represents a Cerebrate. If the Infection Form can successfully use Infect on the Cerebrate without being destroyed by the uninfected Zerg first, the Cerebrate instantly becomes an Infected Cerebrate and allies with you. Zerg controlled by that Cerebrate (meaning that CPU player) will immediately stop attacking Flood forces and turn on the other uninfected Zerg. You can still infect its units and take them for your own, though!
Cerebrates -can- be destroyed instead of infected, but this is much more difficult. If a Cerebrate dies, all the Zerg units it controls become rogue, allied neither to the other Cerebrates' Zerg nor to the Flood. They will attack anything that gets near them, period. They can still be infected and destroyed one by one, but they can no longer be gained as an ally. And if you destroy all three Cerebrates, you cannot win, because without them the Gravemind cannot extend its dominion to the entire Zerg species. The more Cerebrates you manage to infect rather than destroy, the better your score in the end.
Endgame beyond this is very simple. You have to infect or destroy the Cerebrates and their uninfected Zerg. Once you have at least one infected Cerebrate on your side and the others are either infected or dead, you must infect or destroy all the remaining uninfected Zerg. (This can be done with certain Pure Forms, which can infect several ALLIED targets simultaneously.) You beat the map when there are no uninfected Zerg units left alive. If you carelessly destroy all three Cerebrates, or if the uninfected Zerg destroy both your Gravemind and all your Infection Chambers while you have no ability to build more (all your Infection Forms, Infected Drones, and Worker Forms are dead) you lose. This is true even if you have many other structures and units left alive because they are helpless without a Gravemind to direct them, and they cannot reproduce without at least one Infection Form.
*
This is the writeup of my plans, anyhow. So far, all I've done with the actual map is to start creating the Infection Form unit. The unit itself exists, but I still have to get the Infect ability working. After that, I'll have to figure out how to make everything I described above - all the structures and units and such. Advice and help with making ANY of these ideas (such as the Infection Chamber with upgrades for infected units only) would be HUGELY appreciated. Also, does this sound like the kind of map you would play? Does it sound enjoyable or just overly convoluted and pain-in-the-butt-y? Conceptual feedback is also desired! Thank you very much for your time. :)
Okay, here's an ability I'm working on that I'd love some guidance on. Basically, here's how it works. Unit A targets Unit B and activates the ability. Both units die instantly. Then a new unit spawns under the control of the player who controlled Unit A.
Any suggestions of how to pull this off? I'm calling it "Infection."
Actually, killing the unit and spawning a new one would be the most accurate reflection of what's happening biologically anyway. According to Halo canon, when a Flood spore comes into contact with the exposed flesh of a vulnerable organism, it instantly begins growing into the organism's flesh, threading Flood cells between the native cells to form a hybrid tissue. Within milliseconds, newly-sprouted neuronal "myceliae" follow chemical signals to the organism's spinal column or equivalent, killing it more or less instantly. However, long before the organism's cells run out of oxygen and begin to die, the Flood cells spread throughout its anatomy, supplying nutrients and energy to keep them alive until the Flood superstructure finishes growing. The unneeded parts of the original organism are allowed to die and decay, while the necessary portions are symbiotically merged with/enhanced by Flood biomass. (This can cause observers to mistake the Flood-infected for zombies.)
So having a kill-then-spawn thing might actually be the best way to go about this if only because it's literally the way Flood infection works! How would I disguise the switch? And, indeed, is it even desirable to do so? If I do it right it will seem like the Zerg unit dies, only to get back up again different.
Now here's a question - should I treat both sides as being the "Zerg" race? Or should I make a new "Flood" race and assign all the new stuff (infected units, structures, and so forth) to it? It would be simple enough to keep the uninfected Zerg from getting the Flood stuff; only Infected Drones can build Infected Hatcheries can build Flood structures can build Flood units. And the only way to get an Infected Drone is to have a Spore Cloud. Which only the player will start with. So I'm not worried about the computer building stuff it's not supposed to have. But maybe it'd be easier to just have them be different races. Or would that be harder? Advice from more experienced players would be awesome.
Thanks for your time BTW, both of you!
EDIT: I also just discovered that I suck much worse at making units than I thought I did. Two specific questions; how exactly would I go about making the Infection ability so I can attach it to a unit? And how do I assign models to a unit without copying from an existing unit? I haven't been able to figure that one out. I know I ought to figure this out on my own, but links to some kind of Idiot's Guide to New Unit Making would be really appreciated. x.x
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I've gotten to the point in my project where I would really appreciate some feedback from other people about how things are going so far. Other than the dumb ARES which does nothing, I have the rest of the first quarter or third of the map pretty much set up how I want them to be although I am considering adding or changing things, depending on the feedback I get. The unfinished part of the map is deliberately blocked off; it is currently impossible to win, so don't worry about that. (Well, a win condition IS set, but it's impossible to achieve at the moment.)
The map is not published (long story short my account got locked and I haven't been able to get it fixed yet) so you'll have to DL it and use Testing Mode. Thanks very much for any feedback you may want to offer!
In essence this is a single player mission map where you play a unique psionic Zerg unit, the Garmling, as it tries to reclaim/rebuild its Brood and destroy the Terran interlopers on its planet following the mysterious disappearance (from the non-Char-living Zerg perspective) of the Queen of Blades. (Storyline set pre-HotS as I don't own it yet.)
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At first that didn't seem to make sense, but I get how that works now. Just had to think about it a moment. Much appreciated! :)
Now, last question. As I mentioned before, I've gotten this stuff to work, but in a tedious half-assy way going one baneling at a time. I KNOW there's a way to make these triggers work on ALL the Banelings without having to write a separate action within the trigger for each bane. Unit groups would seem to be the solution, but whenever I try to use them in what seems to be the correct way, it all breaks. So obviously I am doing something wrong. Would it in fact be better to use unit groups, or with just three units, is it okay to just keep doing them as separate actions within a single trigger? It gets the job done, but I feel like it's probably sloppy code or at least inefficient. On the other hand part of me just wants to go, "It gets the job done, let's move on to other parts of the map now." LOL
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EDIT: I was clicking the wrong damn parenthesis. XD All of a sudden I looked very closely and noticed that I did have a clickable one after all. I think this'll probably do it for me. Thank you very much!
Now if I can just figure out how the hell to use attack waves and unit groups I'll be set for this map. XD
EDIT II: All righty, now that I've gotten to this point, I've got another one. If I just tell them to 'move', will they actually attack once they get within combat range of enemy units, or will they simply complete the move order and then aggro if the enemy units are within range, but just sit there if not? I can't seem to find an 'attack move' function, unless that's what 'scan move' means. What's the best way to handle this? Another trigger maybe saying 'when baneling is within x radius of units belonging to y player, issue order (explode)'?
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Well yeah I found that, like I said, but I can't find a relevant command to issue. The only movement related option I could find was Hold Position, which is the precise opposite of what I want them to do, LOL!
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@DrSuperEvil: Go
But see, that's the entire point. It's a supreme irony. There's no point in doing it versus Terran... I'd just be re-creating all the Infected Terran focused maps.
Also, at this point in the timeline, the Overmind is long dead and the Queen of Blades has just been taken down. I'm presuming for the sake of this AU plotline that Kerrigan retains no ability to command the Zerg after being turned back into a Terran.
Plus you're overestimating the similarities between Flood and Zerg. The Zerg build structures and mine - the Flood infect, kill, and conquer. The Flood will have very few structures and, if I can get the custom resource thing working right, they won't be mining for minerals/gas either. They may have similarities, but the feel of play will be totally different. Also, the infected versions of the Zerg units will be different than the original versions, and not just in stats. I plan to twist their standard abilities to make them no less powerful, but different. I haven't decided exactly how yet, but it'll happen. The most dramatic example is the Infected Drone... it can only build the central Flood structure, the Infection Chamber. It also loses the ability to gather resources, but has better combat stats (allowing it to "gather" by killing weaker Zerg units to get the Biomass resource. I plan to have bigger units provide more Biomass when killed or infected.)
There are only a few Flood buildings. Compare this to the list of Zerg buildings, including their upgrades:
Infection Chamber (central building; contains upgrades for infected Zerg units) Proto-Gravemind (precursor unit to Gravemind; treated as a structure, similar to Nydus worms) Gravemind (again, treated as a structure; spawns larvae.) Incubation Pit (spawns extra larvae, like a Queen, but doesn't have the creep tumor or healing abilities.) Research Pit (upgrades for Pure Forms) Gravemind Orifice (Nydus Network equivalent)
That's it. Everything else is a unit. Not only that, but I intend to make the Pure Forms quite different from the second and third tier Zerg units in ability even though by necessity I'll be recycling their models.
In short: Give me a chance! ;p It might sound like exactly the same as the Zerg in the end, but if it turns out that way I did it wrong. .
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@Circulation: Go
So I should set two conditions - one checking to see if it's an Infection Form and one checking to see if it's a Drone? Okay, I'll try that. But that means I'll probably have to do the same trigger for all infectable unit types... grah. Oh well, I knew what I was getting into. XD
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I decided to go with the Trigger solution to my Infection Form problem for Outbreak, but I've run into an issue. Long story short, when I go to set up the trigger, I can't figure out how to get it to activate when a Drone comes within range of an Infection Form. The best I can get is "any unit" comes within range of a specific Infection Form already spawned on the map. I'm guessing that the trigger will only work in conjunction with that specific IF and if more are built it won't activate.
I'm probably missing something extremely obvious but some guidance would be appreciated here. ;
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@TheAlmaity: Go
Well, mine's technically not solved yet, but only because I now have a few different ways to tackle the problem and I haven't decided which to experiment with first yet! XD Thank you so much, all of you. You've been exceedingly helpful. Rest assured you will be hearing from me again next time I get stuck on Outbreak. ;p
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@DrSuperEvil: Go
I suppose that answers that question! :p I'll just treat both sides as Zerg and control who can build what through unit access. If I just make sure the AI never gets control of units it needs to build "Flood-only" stuff and that the player never gets ahold of a normal Drone to build "normal Zerg only" stuff, the problem is moot.
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@Titanisdrb: Go
Well if you can get it to deal damage, it seems like the way to make it kill any target is by making it deal the max amount of damage possible, like 999 or something. That should be enough to one-shot anything that'll appear on my map. And honestly you're further ahead than I am anyway. If you can show me what you've got, maybe I can fine-tune it by tinkering with it? Thanks a lot for taking the time!
@Alterlisk:
Well, here, I gotta give you some context for this. The unit is being made for a specific custom scenario map. Here's a link to the thread where I described my plans for the map in detail:
http://forums.sc2mapster.com/development/map-development/18486-map-concept-help-feedback-flood-outbreak/
Long story short, it's a pseudo-Halo-crossover in which there's a Flood outbreak on a Zerg-controlled planet. The player starts with a single Infection Form as their only unit, and they have to use it to "steal" a Drone from the uninfected Zerg. The Infection Form should only infect one target at a time, die upon successful use of the ability, kill the target instantly, and spawn a permanent infected version of the same type of unit targeted which takes up the same amount of supply as the targeted unit type would. Say I'm starting a new game on this map and I target the Drone. The result would be an "Infected Drone" taking up 1 supply just like a normal Drone because for all intents and purposes it's the same unit, except changed to reflect the state of being Flood-infected.
So the kind of balance issues you're worrying about won't be relevant, at least not in the beginning. The Zerg CPUs will start out with fully established home bases and a few fledgling expansions, very well settled in, while the player begins with a single Infection Form with the above traits. They have to steal a Drone, then establish a base and work their way up through the techtree as described in the above link. Actually I'm trying to make the map quite challenging. :p If anyone wants to read the above link and offer advice in context with that information it would be HUGELY appreciated, but I understand if you don't want to take the time. Thanks for the time you've spent! :)
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I just finally finished typing up the overall gameplay structure for my newest map project, "Flood Outbreak!" I'm posting it here so I can get comments, critique, and ideas about how to execute specific parts of this.
You start out controlling a single Infection Form unit, far away from the CPU Zerg's bases. I haven't done terrain yet, but there will be a path leading to an unused expansion point with a Drone sitting in it, preparing to expand into that base. The player will then use the Infection Form's Infect ability, causing the Infection Form and the Drone to both die. After that, however, the game will spawn a new unit, an Infected Drone, under the player's control. Infected Drones can build only a handful of structures, unlike normal Drones. Specifically, they can morph into Infected Extractors (exactly like normal ones except green LOL) and the Floodzerg central structure.
Anyhow, the player can then take this Infected Drone and use it to build their central structure, called an Infection Chamber. The Infection Chamber will work like a normal central building except for the following:
- It can build only two kinds of unit: Infection Forms and, if one does not already exist, a Proto-Gravemind. - It cannot be upgraded itself. - It contains all upgrades for infected units.
Infection Forms are permanently cloaked and can detect, but they are incapable of attacking in any manner or of gathering resources. The player must use their Infection Forms to capture more Drones for resource collection. This is the time to start infecting other unit types as well; there will be an Infected version of all the most important Zerg units (Zergling, Hydralisk, Mutalisk, et cetera) though I might decide that some Zerg units are immune to infection for whatever reason. Infected units will be similar but not identical to the original unit. They can be distinguished from the uninfected by their deep green tint.
Once the player has collected enough resources, they can create a Proto-Gravemind. In and of itself, a Proto-Gravemind does nothing. However, every time your infected combat units slay an uninfected Zerg unit, it grows a little bit. After you have slain 50 uninfected Zerg units in combat, your Proto will morph into a full-blown Gravemind!
The Gravemind will spawn green larvae which can be morphed directly into Pure Form units. Now you can finally build units the normal way, without having to rely on infection! Of course, you can't build a given type of Pure Form until the Gravemind has access to the right Zerg biomass to base the Pure Form off of. Therefore, to unlock given Pure Forms, you have to kill a certain number of uninfected Zerg of specific types. For example, if you want to be able to build Ranged Pure Forms, you have to use your existing Flood units to kill 5 uninfected Hydralisks in combat. If you want Tank Forms, you have to kill three Ultralisks. And so on. These kill counters don't start working until -after- you have a Gravemind, so you can't kill a bunch of stuff before you get a Gravemind and then be able to build all kinds of Pure Forms the instant your Gravemind comes into being. Killing 10 Drones allows you to produce Worker Forms, which can morph into many more structures than an infected Drone can. Examples:
- Research Pit (upgrades for Pure Forms) - Incubation Chamber (spawns larvae; replaces the Queen basically) - Gravemind Tendril (acts like a Sensor Tower equivalent) - Gravemind Tentacle (Spine Crawler equivalent) - Gravemind Pore (Spore Crawler equivalent) - Gravemind Orifice (Nydus Network equivalent)
Once you've got a Gravemind, your goal is to build an army of Pure Forms, Infection Forms, and infected Zerg units that's strong enough to wipe out the uninfected Zerg on the map and infect the three Cerebrates. You infect a Cerebrate by sneaking an Infection Form into its central base somehow. There will be a unit or structure that represents a Cerebrate. If the Infection Form can successfully use Infect on the Cerebrate without being destroyed by the uninfected Zerg first, the Cerebrate instantly becomes an Infected Cerebrate and allies with you. Zerg controlled by that Cerebrate (meaning that CPU player) will immediately stop attacking Flood forces and turn on the other uninfected Zerg. You can still infect its units and take them for your own, though!
Cerebrates -can- be destroyed instead of infected, but this is much more difficult. If a Cerebrate dies, all the Zerg units it controls become rogue, allied neither to the other Cerebrates' Zerg nor to the Flood. They will attack anything that gets near them, period. They can still be infected and destroyed one by one, but they can no longer be gained as an ally. And if you destroy all three Cerebrates, you cannot win, because without them the Gravemind cannot extend its dominion to the entire Zerg species. The more Cerebrates you manage to infect rather than destroy, the better your score in the end.
Endgame beyond this is very simple. You have to infect or destroy the Cerebrates and their uninfected Zerg. Once you have at least one infected Cerebrate on your side and the others are either infected or dead, you must infect or destroy all the remaining uninfected Zerg. (This can be done with certain Pure Forms, which can infect several ALLIED targets simultaneously.) You beat the map when there are no uninfected Zerg units left alive. If you carelessly destroy all three Cerebrates, or if the uninfected Zerg destroy both your Gravemind and all your Infection Chambers while you have no ability to build more (all your Infection Forms, Infected Drones, and Worker Forms are dead) you lose. This is true even if you have many other structures and units left alive because they are helpless without a Gravemind to direct them, and they cannot reproduce without at least one Infection Form.
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This is the writeup of my plans, anyhow. So far, all I've done with the actual map is to start creating the Infection Form unit. The unit itself exists, but I still have to get the Infect ability working. After that, I'll have to figure out how to make everything I described above - all the structures and units and such. Advice and help with making ANY of these ideas (such as the Infection Chamber with upgrades for infected units only) would be HUGELY appreciated. Also, does this sound like the kind of map you would play? Does it sound enjoyable or just overly convoluted and pain-in-the-butt-y? Conceptual feedback is also desired! Thank you very much for your time. :)
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Okay, here's an ability I'm working on that I'd love some guidance on. Basically, here's how it works. Unit A targets Unit B and activates the ability. Both units die instantly. Then a new unit spawns under the control of the player who controlled Unit A.
Any suggestions of how to pull this off? I'm calling it "Infection."
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@DrSuperEvil: Go
Aha! I knew I was forgetting something. Thanks! Any advice about the race question?
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@DrSuperEvil: Go
Actually, killing the unit and spawning a new one would be the most accurate reflection of what's happening biologically anyway. According to Halo canon, when a Flood spore comes into contact with the exposed flesh of a vulnerable organism, it instantly begins growing into the organism's flesh, threading Flood cells between the native cells to form a hybrid tissue. Within milliseconds, newly-sprouted neuronal "myceliae" follow chemical signals to the organism's spinal column or equivalent, killing it more or less instantly. However, long before the organism's cells run out of oxygen and begin to die, the Flood cells spread throughout its anatomy, supplying nutrients and energy to keep them alive until the Flood superstructure finishes growing. The unneeded parts of the original organism are allowed to die and decay, while the necessary portions are symbiotically merged with/enhanced by Flood biomass. (This can cause observers to mistake the Flood-infected for zombies.)
So having a kill-then-spawn thing might actually be the best way to go about this if only because it's literally the way Flood infection works! How would I disguise the switch? And, indeed, is it even desirable to do so? If I do it right it will seem like the Zerg unit dies, only to get back up again different.
Now here's a question - should I treat both sides as being the "Zerg" race? Or should I make a new "Flood" race and assign all the new stuff (infected units, structures, and so forth) to it? It would be simple enough to keep the uninfected Zerg from getting the Flood stuff; only Infected Drones can build Infected Hatcheries can build Flood structures can build Flood units. And the only way to get an Infected Drone is to have a Spore Cloud. Which only the player will start with. So I'm not worried about the computer building stuff it's not supposed to have. But maybe it'd be easier to just have them be different races. Or would that be harder? Advice from more experienced players would be awesome.
Thanks for your time BTW, both of you!
EDIT: I also just discovered that I suck much worse at making units than I thought I did. Two specific questions; how exactly would I go about making the Infection ability so I can attach it to a unit? And how do I assign models to a unit without copying from an existing unit? I haven't been able to figure that one out. I know I ought to figure this out on my own, but links to some kind of Idiot's Guide to New Unit Making would be really appreciated. x.x