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    posted a message on Optional/Race-Specific Victory Conditions

    Okay. I know how to set up primary victory conditions. But I'm having trouble figuring out how to make a given victory condition optional/secondary. Like, for example, on the campaign maps, you might have to kill a Brutalisk to get a Zerg research point, or you might have to destroy the Protoss' three Doom Fleets or whatever they were called. And if at all possible, I want to give different races different victory conditions.

    The basic premise of the map is that there's this volcanic moon called Erebus. The Terrans are interested in it for its abundant rich resource deposits, similar to Redstone. However, there is also a McGuffin of some sort (nature currently undecided) hidden somewhere in the same maze of ancient lava tunnels in which the mineral and gas deposits are found. The Zerg have come to Erebus to capture the McGuffin for their own purposes. Meanwhile, the Protoss are trying to stop the Zerg from getting the McGuffin for fear of what it might empower them to do. The Terrans don't know what the Protoss and the Zerg are after, but if they happen to find it first, they'll certainly take it.

    So to boil it down, I want each race to have one primary victory condition and one secondary victory condition.

    Terran Primary: Collect x quantity of both types of standard resource. Terran Secondary: Find the McGuffin before anyone else does.

    Protoss Primary: Find the McGuffin and destroy it so neither Terran nor Zerg can take it for their own uses. Protoss Secondary: Destroy the Zerg trying to find the McGuffin.

    Zerg Primary: Find the McGuffin before the Protoss destroy it or the Terrans steal it. Zerg Secondary: Destroy the Protoss trying to stop them.

    However, the map will have more than three starting locations and I want to leave the assignment of race random. So you could conceivably have three Terran players competing for the resources, leaving the last player, who happens to be Zerg, to sneak around looking for the artifact.

    Also, is there still no way to link two maps? I want the map I'm working on right now to be the smaller 'upper level' to a larger level beneath it (it's a subterranean volcanic maze of old semi-active lava tunnels.) The larger map is the one on which the above victory conditions will be applied (if there's a way to do that, of course.) The current map is a more simple melee map, but I'll be scattering clues throughout it that something more is going on than straight up combat. For example, I'm going to create a hole in the ground with a ramp leading downward. If there's no way to link two maps then obviously it won't go anywhere, but I'll have a text popup which says, "This hole seems to open onto another section of the lava tunnels, much larger than this one. What could be down there...?"

    Like I said, I already know how to create primary victory conditions. What I'm having trouble with is making different victory conditions for each race, and creating secondary (as opposed to primary) victory conditions.

    Posted in: Miscellaneous Development
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    posted a message on Deadfall Traps

    Fen1: When I posted, I hadn't looked at your map yet, that's all. I should've checked first before asking. Thank you so much for your help! I really appreciate you taking the time to show me how to make that function properly.

    Reaper: The problem is getting the units to come into contact with the lava, is the thing. Since my lava is stationary (that is, no rising and falling like in the campaign) just having the units and the lava on the same height didn't help. I don't want the lava to cover all the lowlands, just the places where I've made pit hazards in the terrain. And I couldn't get the pathing to allow units to walk onto lava even if it was the same height.

    Now that I've discovered how to link regions, though, and thanks to Fen1's help, the problem is now pretty much solved. When I first made this thread, I didn't know that I could link regions that weren't in contact with each other. Since I now know how to make every region on the map "region 001" the problem is basically solved. However, I'm going to leave this thread active for a while in case anyone else is trying to solve a similar problem.

    Posted in: Triggers
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    posted a message on Deadfall Traps

    @Fen1kz: Go

    Enh, my solution is pretty lazy too. :p Just paint the terrain, add the region, throw on doodads to make it look right, then a simple kill on contact trigger and there you go. Yours is more elegant in a way because it doesn't require so much localization of the hazard. And would work better with maps where the lava moves, unlike mine, which is stationary.

    I do have a question, though. Would I use the same trigger set to make units at a certain height (that is, air units) take damage per second rather than dying immediately? Or would I make an entirely new trigger event for the same region?

    Posted in: Triggers
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    posted a message on Deadfall Traps

    @Fen1kz: Go

    That's an interesting way to go about it. I hadn't considered it that way. It doesn't spare me the problem of shaping the regions, though, which has been the major roadblock.

    With that said I came up with another way to do it. I'll replace my existing lava with flat land. Then I'll draw regions to represent where I want lava. Then, within those regions, I'll use a red-hued texture that can make a convincing lava base. Then I'll use the Lava Flare and related doodads to make it look like a patch of old, half-cooled lava into which fresh lava is flowing. Then I can simply use the trigger pattern I worked out on my own, which works perfectly. It's very simple:

    Event - (triggering unit) enters region 01

    Action - Kill triggering unit

    Action - Cause Small Terran Explosion at point

    This makes the unit seem to go up in flames regardless of its normal death animation - works especially well visually with Zerg and 'toss.

    Posted in: Triggers
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    posted a message on Basic Unit Recolors

    So, with doodads in the editor, one can do a very quick and simple recolor by going into selection mode, double-clicking on the doodad, and then using the "custom color" tool. I was hoping something similar existed for units and structures, but, alas, I can't seem to find such a thing. Am I just looking in the wrong place? Can one do this within the editor? Or do I actually need to edit the models with Blender or somesuch equivalent?

    All I want to do is take the regular Zerg units and layer green over them, just as you would with the simple doodad recolor. That's it. Nothing more. Green Zerg, quick and easy. CAN IT BE DONE? *hopes*

    (In case you're wondering why in shit's sake I'd want green Zerg units, it's because I'm working on a map where Flood-infected Zerg led by a hybrid Grave/Overmind are trying to infect and "convert" the non-Flood-infected Zerg, and the uninfected are trying to eradicate the "plagued ones" before they can infect all the Zerg. It's kind of like a zombie attack situation for Zerg. LOL. Later on, once I have the program(s) acquired and mastered, I'll make neat custom Flood!Zerg units with red sensory tendrils and suchlike to make it more clear exactly what happened to them. For now, turning them green will work fine to represent the infection.)

    Posted in: Artist Tavern
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    posted a message on Deadfall Traps

    I always start with terrain. When I did this one, though, I wasn't expecting to do regions; it was initially going to be a more straightforward melee map. But as I worked on it, I got ideas that I then wanted to implement. So I'm gathering that regions are probably about the only way to do this? I'm just going to have to reshape my nice naturalistic-shaped lava pits to make it work I suppose. Sigh. Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter that much compared to making the effect actually work.

    The height thing is something I'm still getting clear in my head. I only recently figured out how to get the lava to work at all, by having the land higher than the lava/water level. Previously the water/lava level kept being way above the land level and I had no idea what the problem was or why it was only appearing as big squares. :p Are air units always a certain height above the terrain? If so that would be relatively simple I think... if unit = x height and unit enters region 1, then effect = unit takes x damage; if unit leaves region 1, kill effect. Then for the ground units it would be, if unit = ground level (or x height where x is the same as the ground level) and unit enters region 1, then effect = destroy unit. Do I have the basic idea right?

    If you could do an example map that would be exceedingly helpful. I learn best seeing things done in the actual editor. I tried to use the campaign maps to learn this one, but it didn't help me because I don't want the lava to rise and fall. I want it to be a passive hazard, not an active one. Basically, people tend to carelessly click a place on the minimap to send their units long distances; I want that to be a bad idea on my map because if your units wander too close to a lava pit, they'll fall in and die or take damage.

    Posted in: Triggers
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    posted a message on Glory to the Hogs v1.2

    I've finally gotten my first published map, Glory to the Hogs, to a place where I'm starting to feel like it might actually soon be finished. Thanks to the help of wonderful people here I was able to get the "conquer the island to win" dynamic to work. The only thing I have left to do is set environmental hazards like units being able to fall into the river or being attacked by hungry plants/air sharks. That stuff I might do on this map or might save for others.

    In any event, this map is designed to encourage somewhat more complex strategies and tactics, including effective use of terrain and control of resources. There are two ways to win. First, like usual, you can annihilate all of your opponent's bases. Second, if you can take and hold the island (by building a CC/Nex/Hatch and defenses on it) for 20 uninterrupted minutes, you win. Essentially the major strategies of the map come down to the decision to either try to take and hold the island for yourself or simply try to prevent the other guy from getting it before you annihilate his mainland (non-island) base(s). It is possible to win without holding the island or using its resources, but it's much more difficult, and I find it hard to believe that both players would choose to ignore it. It has the most resources of any one spot on the map by FAR.

    The map is and will remain 1v1. I would love some feedback on the overall quality of this map. I have worried since the beginning that it's a better idea in concept than in reality. It is publicly published so you can start games with your friends and test it without needing me to be around for it. I'll gladly test your map(s) in return for some feedback on this one. Thank you all for your time.

    Posted in: Map Feedback
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    posted a message on Review: The Hungry Hungry Baneling

    Honestly my only problem with the map is that it's too easy. It might just be -my- personality but I found the entire premise extremely entertaining. I was just laughing continuously the whole time I played it . The first time I actually died because I got careless; marines shot me to death. The next two times though I made it through. Once you get to a certain size you're just unstoppable. I wish it were more of an actual threat when the other Zerg turn on you. Otherwise I really do like this map. If the creator ever reads this, beef up the other units on the map so they can actually threaten the thing after it can start consuming structures!

    Posted in: Map Review
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    posted a message on Deadfall Traps

    I'm having a serious problem setting up deadfall traps on my Magmaze map. This time I'm fairly confident that I've got the triggers themselves right... at least to a minor degree. I'm fairly sure that I've set it up so that units which enter a given region or come too close to a given point will die instantly. But I can't test it because of the other problem.

    It's the issue of attaching them to the landscape I'm having trouble with.

    Basically, I want for any unit that contacts lava to die. Ground units die instantly, whereas air units simply take damage as long as they're over a lava pit. That said I'm content with having either just die instantly right now just so long as I can get it to work period. My problem is that I can't free-hand draw regions, and I'm having an insanely difficult time to get them into the shapes and locations I need them to be in order for this to work. I considered using points instead, but I've set up a few ledges with collectible resources on them and if I use points it will be extremely difficult to allow units to land on the ledge to collect the items without dying in the process.

    Anyone have any advice about how to pull this off? Also, how should I go about differentiating triggering ground units from triggering air units? An if-then logic clause?

    Posted in: Triggers
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    posted a message on Setting Custom Victory Conditions?

    @mihai14: Go

    Thank you VERY much for the time you spent in doing that! Honestly I'm more grateful for that kind of effort than if you'd just given me something to copy. I completely understand and appreciate the goal of teaching me how to fish rather than giving me a fish. :) I do want them to have to actually build there in order to get the achievement, so that's not a problem at all. Although if a Terran air-lifts a CC in that's acceptable as well. I hadn't thought of that possibility since I tend to favor Zerg or 'toss when I play. :p

    I'll download the map and take a look at it. Thank you so much again. I'll definitely PM you if I manage to screw something up on Glory. XD

    Posted in: Triggers
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    posted a message on Using Blender for Models

    Aha, so I'm using the wrong program to begin with. That explains a lot. I was really hoping I could do this without having to buy anything. Sigh. So much for that. Wish I had more disposable income.

    And it's been many years since I was a student. But thank you anyhow. :p At least now I know what I need to get in order to begin doing this. I'll just have to stick to my less complex mapmaking ideas for now.

    Thanks, both of you.

    Posted in: Artist Tavern
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    posted a message on Using Blender for Models

    Is there any good documentation out there specifically about making SCII models with Blender? I apparently suck tonight because I've been looking but I can't really find what I want. What I'm hoping to do is use the existing models as bases, then modify them as needed. But I can't seem to find where the models are stored, and moreover, even if I did find one, I'm not certain how to apply this program to it yet. I found a basic generic Blender tutorial but I doubt it'll help me much with making SCII models beyond the most basic of functions.

    If anyone can point me in the right direction it would be hugely appreciated.

    Posted in: Artist Tavern
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    posted a message on Worgen Marine

    What did you use to create that? I think I asked you this question on the other forum but I forgot to go back and check to see if you answered. Sorry about that. :p If you already answered just say so and I'll go find the thread there.

    Posted in: Artist Tavern
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    posted a message on Setting Custom Victory Conditions?

    Okay, I'm pretty sure this is the correct category, but I'm a very new mapmaker so I'm not entirely certain. If I'm wrong, my bad. Please tell me where it ought to be so I'll know for the future.

    In any event I'm working on a map I call Glory to the Hogs. Right now it's a basic melee map in which the capturing of the island in the middle of the river is just a really good idea strategically. However, I want to make it into an actual victory condition. I decided to try making the island a region, then setting a trigger to activate fulfillment of the condition. Then I realized that, not only am I not sure how to do that, it doesn't really achieve what I'm trying to do. That way, someone who just lands a unit on the island can get the victory condition, when I want them to have to really take and hold the island by establishing a secondary base and defenses there, and fending off the other player's attempts to take it from them. Maybe require them to hold it for a certain length of time after taking it?

    Say, when a player builds a Command Center/Nexus/Hatchery for the first time on the island, it triggers a timer. If they can successfully keep the island for, say, 20 minutes, they achieve that victory condition. If at any time their central building (CC/Nex/Hatch) is destroyed (or maybe if all of the holding player's units/structures on the island are destroyed) the counter disappears and the condition isn't met. Ideally I'd like them to be able to lose it if they're driven off the island after 20 minutes, but that might not be fair/balanced? I dunno, open to suggestions. Either way, if the other player drives the first player off the island, and then establishes a secondary base there, the timer would start over from the beginning and then the first player would have to try to unseat the second player. Et cetera until someone achieves dominance.

    Destroying the other player's base is still the other primary victory condition, but I'd like to have both of them need to be satisfied in order to beat the map, if that's possible. I'm sure it is, but I have no idea how to go about doing that.

    How/where should I go to learn how to do this? Alternatively, if it's not too much to ask, can someone walk me through the steps? It doesn't have to be uber-simplified, I just need to be pointed in the right direction.

    Thanks a lot for your time.

    Posted in: Triggers
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