[Solved] Questions about Upgrading Units with Ability Attachments

[UmbraUnda]

I'm working on a series of tiered units using ability attachments. Better + more gear with each tier. I want to have each unit upgrade like a building. Problem is its really tedious to have a unit for each tier, when there's 3-5 tiers per unit type + Heroes revert to level 1 after the upgrade.

A few questions,

How do I keep a heroes level and chosen hero abilities when it upgrades?

Is there a better, more efficient way to change/swap a unit's abilities in-game when it upgrades?
Instead of having the unit upgrade, maybe an upgradable ability which changes the armor/weapons?
If there isn't, I'm ok with having hundreds of units for each tier and unit type, as tedious as it is.

Also, can I add conditions to the upgrade? Example, unit has to be near the blacksmith to upgrade armor.

I imagine this could be done with triggers or a custom upgradeable ability, but I have no idea which one I'd use- if someone can give me a sample, tutorial, or knows of a better way to do this, please leave a reply.

Thanks, appreciate the help!

 

[apsyll]

For your hero problem you could use the chaos ability and give them a upgrade condition to swap to the next hero that shoul prevent that the hero became lvl 1 again and keeps his abilities. But you will need a hero for each tier again.
With the attack and armor increase there is alredy upgrades that increase this and when this is not wat you want try to use ability like the orb effects(fire, ice, poisen orbs) or auras with self as target something like this and then set the level to the upgrade level when they come close to your blacksmith.

 

[UmbraUnda]

Awesome, I'll try using the chaos ability. No worries, I already have most of the tiered units made.

Not sure what you mean in your second sentence. You mean attack and armor upgrades come with art targets? That'd be nice, I didn't check that.
Next, I get the use the orb effects but I'm not sure what you mean about the blacksmith, or rather how to implement coming close the blacksmith being a condition.

It's cool though, if the chaos ability works for upgrading heroes then I'll be pretty much set, except for the upgrade condition part.

I'll post again in a few hours after I try to implement it and let you know if it worked.

Thanks!

 

[UmbraUnda]

Having some trouble with the chaos ability. It works, however it's automatic upon game starting up. Is there a way to have it as a clickable button?
Also the hero seems to get cloned as an effect. There's an extra unit created that spawns nearby...

 

[Dehua_Darbuya]

I recommend using LordShinjo's Passive Transformation method to achieve what you want because Chaos can get quite buggy.

From the Warcraft 3 Ability Guide:

Sca1 (Chaos): Adding a chaos ability to a unit transforms it into the unit type specified in the target unit id field of the ability. This can be used to change any aspect like the proper name or the model of a unit in the game or simply in combination with channel to implement morphing spells. Don't forget to remove the tech requirements from custom chaos abilities. One problem of Chaos is that it adds the morphed unit's current armor, damage, health and mana bonus received from items, auras and srength, agility, intelligence to the stats of the resulting unit. That means it's not a very good idea to morph heroes using chaos until Blizzard fixes those bugs. Ordinary units can't be affected by items and hero stats, so the only problem are buffs received from auras. Those buffs can easily be removed before the conversion and are automatically added again afterwards so that's not a real issue.

 

[UmbraUnda]

Thanks for the tutorial and info!

I'll try using this and will post results soon.

 

[UmbraUnda]

Awesome, it works! Just one issue though- unit dies when transforming. Anyway to avoid the death animation?

Also is there a way to make the ability cost resources?

And is there a way to add a condition/requirement of being close to a certain building to be able to activate?

 

[apsyll]

The cost and the near condition must be triggert. Do you familia with triggers?

 

[UmbraUnda]

Ok. Kinda familiar but not that much. Can you give me a sample/example/tutorial link?

 

[apsyll]

Ok for the cost you need a trigger like
This is really rough and basic when you need it more to the point just post it here i will try when im home.

A unit cast an abillity
Abillity being cast == your abillity
If ressource owners of triggering unit < abillity_cost then issiue order stop

And for the upgrade
I would go with abillities too like

Every second
Set temp_group = units in range(600, udg_blacksmith)
Pick every unit in te and do mult. actions
If integer level of armor_skill of picked < armor upgrade_integer then
Set unit armor_skill level to armor_integer
...same with damage


When unit complets upgrade
Upgrade == armor up
Set armor_integer += 1

Like I sayed it's really rough I would go with arrays for more than one blacksmiths and abilities... And there is no clearing of memory leaks too.

 

[Dehua_Darbuya]

Awesome, it works! Just one issue though- unit dies when transforming. Anyway to avoid the death animation?

Also is there a way to make the ability cost resources?

And is there a way to add a condition/requirement of being close to a certain building to be able to activate?

I don't why that happened to you but the unit shouldn't be playing it's death animation using the passive transformation I linked in my previous post.

IIRC there's an ability called Charge Gold & Lumber somewhere in the Object Editor.

I had a different approach to what apsyll had and then realised I misunderstood what you wrote in the OP! Nevermind little ol' me.

 

[Bitchmoon]

@UmbraUnda : A simple way to make abilities cost ressources in to add a condition checking the ressources available to the player (integer comparison - player ressource - current gold/lumber, or something along these lines) , then take the whole trigger of the action the ability should perform, and paste it into the "then" part of if/then/else. If the player HAS the required ressources or more, the trigger will run (don't forget to reduce the ressource count of the player if the condition is fulfilled in your trigger, so as to simulate cost). Downsides are: ability will go on cooldown if it has one (easily fixed by removing and readding the ability in question, store the level in a variable if you need to re -set the ability to a certain level), and you won't have an automatically user-friendly interface around your system, which can be fixed by issuing error messages if the spell fails due to insufficient ressources (floating text or display text for player, your choice)

For your "activate when in range of unit" it's pretty much as apsyll said. You will probably need a trigger looping every x.xx time checking for units in range.

I hope you are familiar with leaks and how to remove them. Depending on the type of map you are making, this is very important.

http://world-editor-tutorials.thehelper.net/cat_usersubmit.php?view=27219

http://www.hiveworkshop.com/threads/basic-memory-leaks.5889/

Wishing you success!

 

[UmbraUnda]

Alright!-- I figured out how to upgrade heroes just like buildings in a tower defense, along with units.

I used the turn unit into a building, TECHTREE UPGRADE TO: new unit, set back to unit. Wouldn't work for heroes but I found a way around it.
I had to make the hero as a unit first, set the upgrade path and then copy it as a hero. Works perfectly and transfers experience and level after upgrade.


Now, just gotta figure out the trigger to allow that upgrade to happen within range of a certain building.
If anyone can screenshot a sample trigger for that, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks for the replies guys! You are very helpful.

 

[Bitchmoon]

@UmbraUnda Don't have the world editor at hand, but it goes like this: in the conditions for your upgrade to succeed, use AND (to check if multiple conditions are met at once) (Conditions - AND, multiple conditions) (Although simply having the conditions together in the conditions list is automatically considered as an AND for all those conditions), and add a Real - Distance between points, for the position of your triggering unit and the position of the building in question, to be less than or equal to desired range. If you want the units to be withing a certain range of a certain building TYPE, that's another story (doable as well).

Do not use Distance between position of Triggering unit and position of Whateverunit, rather, to avoid leaks, first set the locations of the units to variables.

Do

set TempPoint0 = Position of Triggering unit
set TempPoint1 = Position of WhateverUnit

Reference to the locations through the variable names, ex:

Distance between TempPoint0 and TempPoint1

Then clear the memory:

custom script: call RemoveLocation(udg_TempPoint0)
custom script: call RemoveLocation(udg_TempPoint1)

It may be tempting to not do this additional work, but do it! It makes your map actually playable after an hour of the many times your trigger is going to run.

How did you turn your unit into a hero by the way o_o I'm quite curious, it may come in handy someday

 

[UmbraUnda]

@Bitchmoon Okay, that'll help narrow things down for the trigger. Thanks.
Idk what you mean by building type- my buildings have 3-5 tiers, not just that one specific building. So the trigger will have to be for each tier of that building?

Wait is that script JASS? Idk how to use JASS yet...

I am willing to put in the work. I've already put so many hours into this, I'm all in. No half ass, full ass or no ass. lol


Copy the unit, Paste the unit- a box pops up with a code - example h29. Change the lower case h to upper case H. Press Enter, and that unit is now a hero.
Also I think it only works in NewGen WE, the box + code pop up is a new feature not in the standard World Editor.

 

[Bitchmoon]

@UmbraUnda ahhhhh, that explains it.

So, no need for JASS, no. Except for the small lines of custom script to remove leaks (which do not impede the FUNCTION of your triggers, only how much lag they cause, don't bother with them right just now I guess).


Alright, my question about what you wanted was:

1. Do you need the upgrade to work near a SPECIFIC unit, e.g a unit you place on the map beforehand (Blacksmith 002315 for example), or

2. Do you need the upgrade to work near all units of a UNIT-TYPE (e.g ALL Blacksmiths that come into the game at any point in time).


1: In this case we make a trigger with respect to just a specific unit. Place your blacksmith somewhere in your map, then open up the trigger you made for your unit upgrading.

Now, when your unit upgrades (uses the ability that is going to trigger its upgrade), you had added a condition for the ressources of the owner of the triggering unit, because you wanted your ability to cost ressources, right?

Something like: if Player Ressources - Player 1 Actual Gold greater than 800.

RIGHT NEXT to this condition, add this condition:

Condition - Compare Reals - Distance between (Position of (Triggering unit)) and (Position of (Blacksmith 002315)) less than or equal to 600

600 is just an example range. Set it to anything you like.

2: In this case it's a bit more complicated, but if this is the case you wanted, do tell.

Test if you can grasp the principles behind that, and don't hesitate to ask further questions, I would like to help.

 

[UmbraUnda]

@Bitchmoon Oo0o, I'll implement it eventually.

I'm using Case #2, although what you presented in Case #1 could be used.

Also, I'm no longer using the custom ability to upgrade, just the standard upgrade used by buildings. (which might be an ability? Not sure, but I'm sure its somewhere in the triggers.)


Alright, I'll start making the trigger. Will post results + screenshot of the trigger later tonight.

Thanks again! Wish I could give you +Rep again

 

[Bitchmoon]

@UmbraUnda looking forward to the progress, also, let me get this straight...

You have units moving around like footmen, and they have the default upgrade buttons on them like buildings. The upgrades are not triggered in any way, it's just the regular warcraft 3 unit upgrade system?

Anyways, GL!

 

[UmbraUnda]

@Bitchmoon Yeah, pretty much. Standard units with un-triggered (until I make the trigger) upgrade buttons. Yup, regular upgrade system- mostly utilized in tower defenses.

It makes the UI button space feel a little cluttered but it works. Maybe one day I'll make everything triggered and all you have to do is type -upgrade or give the building the ability to upgrade the unit. Unless I really need everything triggered due to memory leaks or other unforeseen problems? In that case, I'll really need to start working on triggers or start recruiting people for the project.

Thanks!

 

[Bitchmoon]

You can always PM me if there's an issue I can help with, but generally:

If you do things using triggers, you have much more control over whatever it is you're doing: your Unit can only upgrade near blacksmith idea will have to be implemented with triggers in the end as well: something like


When unit starts an upgrade

if unit-type of triggering unit equals Swordsman

if Distance between triggering unit and Blacksmith greater than 700
-order unit to cancel upgrade


However you also want to clean your triggers up: if you are using a system which, for example picks all units of a certain type in the map every 0.5 seconds, and moves them to their own location twice (yeah, its lame and useless, but practically this is example the type of leak that can kill a map), you'll be creating one group leak, and two location leaks for every unit in the unit group every half-second.

After about 10 minutes of playing, you will start losing FPS.

After 20 minutes, you'll be hovering 0-10FPS.

It's not really a story of ''maps with leaks are automatically unplayable" but rather, if you have certain types of maps (the more interactive ones, especially ones using lots of dummy units, unit groups, and triggered movement) you'll notice a very quick dip in performance if the leaks aren't properly cleaned. If you have something more classic, it might really not be an issue, even if you have leaks. Leaking one or two locations per second isn't that big a deal, it's all up to you to experiment with and decide.

However, if you look at your triggers really quick and see you're using unit groups, locations, and special effects a lot, or spawning lots of units, then go check up on leaks, because you don't want to be at 85% completion of your map just to realise: well damn now i have to clean everything.

 

[UmbraUnda]

Awesome, thanks again.

So here's the trigger I came up with. Doesn't work right now but its sort of roughed out.

Ugh, image won't show up... heres a direct link.

http://i.imgur.com/CeLJIOt.jpg

 

[Bitchmoon]

@UmbraUnda what exactly are you trying to do here? Your aim is still to only allow the unit to upgrade IF it's in range of the blacksmith, right?

If that's still what you are trying to do, i'll try to walk you through:

The event is fine.

For the first condition, I guess you are trying to check if the upgrading unit is not a building, so a regular unit, use
Condition - Boolean Comparison - (Triggering unit) is a building equals False

For the acquisition range, i guess you were trying to check how far the triggering unit is from the blacksmith, use
Condition - Compare Reals - Math - Distance between points
and check the distance between position of Triggering unit and position of Blacksmith
note: acquisition range is the range at which the unit automatically looks for targets to attack

For the third condition, here's a quick review about how conditions work:
For actions to be performed, the end result of EVERY condition you have for your trigger must equal the value TRUE in the end.
Your third condition is a boolean comparison. In a boolean comparison, you have
Boolean1 equals Boolean2
Your boolean2 is "Blacksmith is a structure", which is true, so your condition looks like
Boolean1 equals True
Your triggering unit is probably not a structure, so your condition1 becomes False, so now you have
False equals True every time, which is overall FALSE which makes the actions never run.

What you want to do is try to erase all these conditions, and instead have this condition:

Condition -Compare Reals - Math - Distance between (Position of (Triggering unit)) and (Position of (Blacksmith)) greater than 400

and this action:

Unit - Issue order targeting no point - Order triggering unit to cancel upgrade

This way, if the unit is too far from the smith, it will automatically cancel upgrade, which is, i guess, what you are wanting

 

[UmbraUnda]

Yeah, that's the goal.

Okay. O nice, you're pretty much spot on with the recommended triggers. There were a few parts that don't exactly match what you said but are similar.
Couldn't find how to include all blacksmiths into the trigger, just a specific one already placed on the map. Also couldn't fine cancel upgrade, so I used the closest thing I could find: stop.

At least the trigger is one step closer. Here's the new trigger.

http://i.imgur.com/gvDa1bX.jpg

Also tested this and it doesn't work oddly. Must be the action lacking cancel upgrade or something
+ Gonna have to remake the trigger for each type of unit - infantry, ranged, cavalry & spellcaster. Would I change the event to be more specific or add another condition for that?

 

[Bitchmoon]

@UmbraUnda I'm somewhat stuck with ubuntu as my computer crashed recently and won't be on windows until tomorrow, so I kind of have to remember the condition/action names, and that's why i can't really pop up the editor for testing and what not. Also that is already much better for the trigger.

If you are set on doing this with an upgrade, you will have to do a few things in the actions.

Remove issue Stop order, now

Go into VARIABLES (one of the squares on the top of the trigger editor), create a new empty unit variable called

UpUnit

now go into your trigger and add a new action, DO NOT scroll to an action category, just look at the 5th or 6th action in the list with all the actions which should be : set variable, do that as such:

set UpUnit = triggering unit
(this will be the first action of your trigger)

now look in the list with all the actions again, near set Variable, you should see an action (its one of the first ones as well) called Add Custom text, now do that and paste EXACTLY THIS:

call IssueImmediateOrderById (udg_UpUnit, 851976)

your finished action should look like this:

Custom script: call IssueImmediateOrderById (udg_UpUnit, 851976)

what is happening is that there is no order for canceling an upgrade (which is its own button if you notice, not a stop order) so we have to set our unit to a variable and order the unit to cancel upgrading through JASS code.

Your final actions should look like so:

set UpUnit = triggering unit
Custom script: call IssueImmediateOrderById (udg_UpUnit, 851976)

that's all!

edit: for your last question, unless you want your units working with different building types (example have Warriors upgrade only near blacksmith, have archers upgrade only near Bowyers, have Ballistas only upgrade near Siege workshops.....) you don't need different triggers. I'll show you how to do this with all units of type blacksmith in a bit as well, just make sure youve properly understood it with specific units before moving on to unit types

 

[UmbraUnda]

Ouch. Hope its repaired without any problems. Nice, you must have a lot of experience with triggers. Good


Idk, upgrades work well. If there's a more efficient way though, let me know.


AWESOME! It works!!! Now it just needs an error message pop up + including all tiers of blacksmiths instead of that one specific blacksmith.


Here's the new trigger.

I sort of comprehend what the trigger is doing. Its just that triggering is complicated and confuses me like advanced algebra. lol

Exactly, I want different units types to upgrade at different buildings appropriate to the unit type. Awesome, whats the next step?


Thanks again for all the help!

 

[Bitchmoon]

@UmbraUnda Error messages I'll leave to you, those are pretty simple and you can play around with them. You could use a Floating Text message, or a Display Text message. Both categories include options to convert for example unit names to text, so you could do something like

Display Text - Concatenate Strings:
(Unit name of (Triggering unit)) + " cannot upgrade. Too far from building."


For your trigger to work on all units of the type blacksmith, do:

Create an integer variable, for example we name it RangeCheck

Remove your distance condition (Distance between etc....) you have right now, leave the other ones be

trigger actions go like this:


set RangeCheck = 0

Unit Group - Pick all units matching (Unit-type of matching unit equals Blacksmith) and do Actions:
(put an if/then/else here)
if (Real Comparison - Distance between (Position of (PICKED UNIT)) and position of (TRIGGERING UNIT) less than or equal 400
then
set RangeCheck = 1
else ()

(now for another if/then/else, outside of the unit group actions this time)
if (Integer Comparison - RangeCheck == 0)
then (here put the actions you had in your trigger before hand, those that issued the cancel order)
else ()

IF your blacksmith has multiple tiers, then simply do

Unit Group - Pick all units matching (Unit-type of matching unit equals [ANOTHER TIER OF BLACKSMITH]) and do Actions:
(put an if/then/else here)
if (Real Comparison - Distance between (Position of (PICKED UNIT)) and position of (TRIGGERING UNIT) less than or equal 400
then
set RangeCheck = 1
else ()

For each tier of blacksmith, and put those group actions near the other group action (the one that looks the same, so after setting RangeCheck but before ordering the unit to cancel upgrade if needed)

What is happening: you instanciate RangeCheck to 0
then you loop through all the blacksmiths in your map and check if one of them is sufficiently close to your upgrading unit, if we have found such a blacksmith, we set RangeCheck to 1
We order our unit to cancel its upgrade ONLY if RangeCheck is still 0 (we have found no sufficiently close blacksmiths to the unit)

I do warn you though, the triggers in this form cause 1 group leak and the amount of blacksmiths you have in game times 2 location leaks every time they run, though it is clearer to understand the logic behind them in this form.

PS: For your different unit types upgrading near different buildings, make multiple triggers, and in the trigger conditions ass (Unit type of triggering unit equals [Footman, Archer, Ballista... whichever youre making the trigger for]), and then in the actions replace every (Pick all units of type blacksmith) into the matching building, like Bowyer, Siege Workshop, w/e

This might be a tad confusing. I'll be back after mowing and check if you have any inquiries c:

 

[UmbraUnda]

@Bitchmoon Sorry for the late reply. Some family issues arose and had to attend to them.

Ok, here's the new trigger. I don't think I did it correctly because it doesn't work.
Hopefully its something small that I messed up on and its a quick fix.

http://i.imgur.com/oSINRmu.jpg
Edit: I moved Blacksmith I above Blacksmith II for correct order + changed Blacksmith II's distance comparison to less than or equal to, instead of just less than.


It is a bit confusing but I get what's being done in the big picture.

Also I don't see an option for matching player or owner of unit in text message Action. Can only choose one player.
Tried looking for owner of units or something like that but I didn't find it. Maybe I missed another option? Or is there a custom script for owner?
Floating Text refers to the picked unit and can work but I'd prefer something closer to the standard error message. Do Text Messages work like standard error messages?

 

[apsyll]

This is easy to fix! just put all Unit type conditions in an Or multiple condition becaues how it is now the triggering unit has to be typ1 AND type2 AND type3 that will only returns true when every type is the same and the triggering unit is this type.
For the player issue is a easy walk around just use triggering player because this is atomaticly set to the owner of triggering unit

 

[UmbraUnda]

@apsyll Thanks for sticking around.

While adding Or multiple condition cleans it up a bit- still doesn't work for some reason...
Also triggering player is not an option for text message. Is there a custom script for that maybe?

 

[Bitchmoon]

While adding Or multiple condition cleans it up a bit- still doesn't work for some reason...
Also triggering player is not an option for text message. Is there a custom script for that maybe?

You forgot to initialize UpUnit to a variable.

Remember that in your previous trigger?

When we call IssueImmediateOrderById in your line of custom script, we reference a unit (UpUnit)

Of course you need to issue the cancel order to the triggering unit.

So simply add

Set UpUnit = Triggering Unit

in the beginning of your trigger.


Also, you do not need Triggering Player

Player - Owner of unit - Triggering unit


Cheers!

edit: also, your displayed message isn't nested in a condition, it will display whether you need it to or not

edit2: actually I just tried that, and there's an option Convert Player to player group in text messages, use that I guess.

There is a difference between error messages and displaying text, as error messages display in yellow on the bottom of your screen but.... I have no idea how one would go around creating custom error messages. I'll look into it but displaying text is usually ok for most purposes.

edit3: Creating Custom Error Messages

Here, if you want to look into it.

 

[UmbraUnda]

Awesome, it works!

It still wasn't working after the Set=UpUnit. Then, I figured out what the remaining issue was.
Having multiple unit type conditions which were not properly attached to the under OR ANY CONDITIONS.

Gonna do some tweaking for the tier system and then repost the working trigger.

Thanks for the support + that tutorial. I'll implement the custom error message soon.

 

[UmbraUnda]

Alright, the trigger is about 90% done now. Took a while getting all the units upgrading properly and such tedious things. Plus I have 200+ units so yeah, its time intensive.

Here's the finished trigger list and example with the infantry section.

Moving forward, now I have to implement the memory leak fix ?

Also check out my question on customized resources @ How to Harvest Stone like Lumber? .
I want to swap gold with stone and make stone harvest-able like lumber, except with gold animations.

Thanks again, appreciate the help!

 

[Bitchmoon]

@UmbraUnda Bit late on the reply, though here's the general guide:

Any time you use a location(point), you need to first allocate that point to a variable

set tempPoint = position of triggering unit

as an example, and when youre done using it, you need to

Custom Script: call RemoveLocation(udg_tempPoint)

the udg_ prefix means your variable is global (i can explain that if you would like me to)

same with unit groups, you can't just

pick every unit in (Units in playable map matching condition)

you need to set that group to a variable as well

set tempGroup = Units in playable map are matching Unit-type of matching unit equals blacksmith

pick every unit in tempGroup and do actions

when you're done

Custom Script: call DestroyGroup(udg_tempGroup)

note the difference between Remove for locations and Destroy for group

I'll check your other thread in a bit

I'm a bit preoccupied to detail out a reply on the forum right now, but you can always go into the Hiveworkshop chat (top of the screen on the hive site, you can see it from here), enter lobby, and double click my name. I will be happy to help from there.

Cheers!

 

[apsyll]

Ok I think you have to go with arrays or hashtables that are too much triggers not that you can't do it this way but when you know how I think you can do all this stuff in 2-3 trigger it's much easier to handle.
I can't give you a link to an tutorial but look for one. When you interested I could help you with arrays to improve your system.

-note every trigger where you do the same things can be merged in one i think that is 90% of you triggers how i see it.

PS: rightclick on the name in the window on the righthand side copy to text enter here in ["trigger"]["/trigger"] without quotes and you will not use any screenshot anymore...

 

[UmbraUnda]

Cheers! @Bitchmoon We finished the upgrade trigger!

@apsyll Idk how to use those. Could you give me an example?
No worries though, this trigger is done and I'm making it solved.
Maybe one day we'll optimize everything but I just want to release a playable beta version ASAP.

Please do check out my other post @ How to Harvest Stone like Lumber? .

Thanks again for all the support.