Zephyr Contest #9 ~ Assassination

[Pharaoh_]

Contestants must create a skill that would fit an assassin. While the term "assassin" refers to lethality, it doesn't have to insta(ntly)-kill a target; it can vary from a single camouflage skill to the use of daggers. Use your imagination and machinate the effect it would most likely fit with this particular theme.

Notice the use of "skill"; skill or talent would accompany the assassination theme. A spellcaster would hardly be called 'assassin' in the fantasy world. Based on this, the concept might be defective the other way around.

• No submission may violate any of the site rules.
• If a submission does not follow the spell submission rules, the creator will be disqualified.
• Your submission must be posted before the deadline. The post containing your final submission must also contain the following:
- An in game screenshot showing your submission in action.
- The file in the appropriate format.
• Your submission may not be started/made before the official launch of the contest.
• The spell can be of any type, active/passive/toggle/single target/area of effect (and any of the previous combined).
• Judges may not participate.
• Teamwork is not allowed; however, finding testers to help you with your submission is not considered teamwork.
• Imports may be used in the map, however they must all be credited.
• Any submission must follow a Work In Progress (WiP), before it is published and labelled as the final piece.
• The ability can be followed by a maximum of one (1) sub-ability, but the latter must not be more effective and/or powerful than the super-ability.
• Either GUI or JASS may be used to create your spell; you will not be penalized if you use GUI over JASS.
• Convenience over effort won't be an excuse to make use of third party programs (exception: Jass New Gen Pack). GUI actions that do not exist in the vanilla editor's database may lead to disqualification. WEU (World Editor Unlimited) and UMSWE fall into this category.
• All spells must have documentation, regarding the use of each variable and/or actions (if needed). This will ensure readability and easier configuration for testing purposes.
• You can use any enhancing system (xe, IsDestructableTree, Damage detection systems, etc.), as long as the judge(s) and/or host give(s) consent to its usage.

• First Place: 45 reputation points and a special award icon
  
• Second Place: 30 reputation points
  
• Third Place: 15 reputation points

Judge:

• Magtheridon96

Concept

Final Score/40

• 70% of the winner shall be determined by the contest's appointed judge(s).
• 30% of the winner shall be determined by the results of a public poll.



All submissions must be complete and submitted within 4 (four) weeks, after the launch of the contest, which begins on 5th of July, 2012 and concludes on 2nd of August, 11:59 PM, 2012 +3 (2012 Event) = 5th of August UTC.

[Wraithling]

I always find the term 'assassin' an interesting one, when it comes to the choice of weaponry that is. May I assume that the assassin's choice of weapon in this contest is free for imagination - from the sniper or crossbow, to the poison, or even one that uses mental attacks?

The end result must still befit a character that would immediately identified as an assassin of course.

[Pharaoh_]

Your assumption is correct :)

[-Derp-]

Eh, I might join.

[Daelin]

I might consider joining myself. I have an idea, but I haven't coded in Warcraft III in 4 years now, and since much has changed since then, I'll see what I can do ;)

[mckill2009]

Another contest?, hmmm, I may join if I submit my WIP since Im going for vacation and be gone for a month...

[Vladadamm]

I'll join this contest.

[Lord_Earthfire]

i would love to join this contest, when its going to start. I've got a nasty spell idea in my mind :). Althougt, there is a chance that i won't join, since my final exams are in some months, it is depending on my free time then ^^

[Freyleyes]

This would be so awesome, but i guess we are waiting for the hero contest to "end"

[Magtheridon96]

Can I judge this contest?
This time, I actually agree with how the score is computed.
Good coding is a very high priority.

Oh and here are a few tips for JASS-men (=D) if you want a high score:

• Use average-length variable names to assure readability. Something like playerId is much better than something like i .
• Use comments and line-breaks every now and then. You don't really need to do this for every single line, but if you divide the code up into tiny
  blocks consisting of 2-5 lines each and add a comment above the block to explain your code, you'd be doing me a favor, and I would definitely
  give you bonus points.
• Try to use the simplest and cleanest algorithms for your spells. Just because something has more code, doesn't mean it's better.
• Make the spell configurable. Use a combination of functions and globals for decent configuration (Example: Use a function for damage/level
  configuration and a global for the ability raw code).
• Use FirstOfGroup loops with null boolexprs instead of GroupEnumUnitsInRange calls with boolexprs and ForGroup calls.
  Meaning this:
  
  Jass:

  call GroupEnumUnitsInRange(bj_lastCreatedGroup, 0, 0, 500, Filter(function filter))
  call ForGroup(bj_lastCreatedGroup, function actions)
  Should be turned into this:
  
  Jass:

  call GroupEnumUnitsInRange(bj_lastCreatedGroup, 0, 0, 500, null)
  loop
      set tempUnit = FirstOfGroup(bj_lastCreatedGroup)
      exitwhen tempUnit == null
      call GroupRemoveUnit(bj_lastCreatedGroup, tempUnit)
  
      if filter(tempUnit, ...) then
          // actions here
      endif
  endloop
  
  This is about 3x more efficient and it will cause noticeable differences in an actual map.
• If you want to destroy trees, tree detection could be a one-liner. I out-lined a trick for that:
  local boolean isTree = IssueTargetOrder(peasantDummy, "harvest", myDestructable) and IssueImmediateOrder(peasantDummy, "stop", myDestructable)
  It would be better if you were to use the order id's though. This would be much faster. (I only used the strings so you could understand what's going on.
• Use bj_lastCreatedGroup instead of creating your own group for group enumeration. DON'T DO THIS. EVER.
• Don't create handles like groups and locations dynamically.
• Don't use locations at all unless you need to find the Z of a certain point on the terrain. You should be using coordinates for pretty much anything else.
• Always null all agents and handles, even players and triggers (even though some people say those don't cause leaks)
• Use comment delimiters ( /* Comment */ ) for your documentation so you could avoid spamming double-slashes.
• Keep your code clean and organized, and follow Jass convention. (GLOBAL_CONSTANTS, localVariables, StructDefinitions, ModuleDefinitions, TextMacros, globalVariables, structMembers, etc...)

I could go on and on about other speed quirks and GPPs, but I don't have time at the moment :P
(By the way, GPPs = Good Programming Practices)

edit
Oh, and for GUIers, just cache variables so you're not repeating function calls redundantly all the time, and use
dynamic indexing. Using hashtables will not decrease your score in any way, but if you have a spell that creates
a lot of special effects and starts lagging on the second cast, then dynamic indexing is the answer my friend ;)
Arrays reads are much faster than hashtable reads (Same for the writes).

Oh and don't use waits, don't leak locations, effects and groups, and if you need a loop within a loop, use custom
integers D:

That's pretty much all there is for excellent GUI.

[Pharaoh_]

Yes, you can :)

Edit: Well, those are the Spells' rules, but thanks for mentioning them :>

[Magtheridon96]

Not only are they spell rules, I included a lot of speed quirks and bro-tips. :p

[Vladadamm]

And so, when will the contest start ?

[MaTiJa97]

Will join, from the start. But I have an important question, sorry for the caps lock:

IS ONLY ONE SPELL ALLOWED? WOULDN'T IT BE BETTER IF WE WOULD MAKE A SPELL PACK?

[Pharaoh_]

No, because this is Zephyr Contest. If you wish to create a spell pack, you might want to join in the next Hero Contest. ;]