Bunch of Questions

[PogoDaMonkey]

For those who didn't feel obliged to answer my longer post, I've summarized it:

I'm working on a map, with only previous experience in Starcraft mapping, and that was a while ago. I have previous programming skills, and am willing to spend a while on this, because of my love for the game. I've dabbled in C++, but have a (somewhat) solid foundation in Java and Alice.

My questions are regarding the game Netstorm, where you could create towers that would fire in specific directions, units that would automatically go perform some function, among other things. You would get bridge pieces like Tetris, and have to connect them to get to an opponents Island or to resources.


1)Would it be more efficient to use AI or Triggers to control the towers/units?

2)How would I implement a system where you could build things on air, and walk over them?

3)How would I implement a system where towers would only fire in one direction/straight directions/one area?

4)Would it be better to use JASS or the "language" in World Editor?

5)If I were to use an AI, how would I go about coding one? (lol)

6)Would it be more viable to use an attack or a spell for the towers?

7)How could I make the map check if a bridge was correctly connected to another, end to end, not side to side. --- not | | |

8)And finally, how would I make it so a spell damages a building (or unit), but stops at that building (and passes through the unit).

*)Specifically, how would I implement the straight firing/region firing for towers? Could you perhaps post an example for me to go off of? Same goes for AI.

 

[Eleandor]

You were right, I didn't feel like reading your first post

1) Triggers in this case, I think
2) Hmm... Tough question. Do you mean building a structure in the air instead on the ground, allowing you to walk below it, or do you actually mean making some sort of "platform" in the air, allowing a ground unit to walk "in the air"?
3) hmm...
I can see a few possibilities here. Some of them might even not be worth considering, but meh
A) Make a trigger that whenever a tower starts attacking (unit - a unit is attacked), you check whether the angle between the attacked / attacking unit is between -10 and 10 ° (or 80 and 100 ° and so on), and if this is false, you order the tower to stop.
The event "a unit is attacked" fires before the attacker damages the target. This means that you can prevent a tower from damaging a unit that isn't right in front of the tower
B) You create a spell and make the tower only use the spell in a certain direction. For example: order your tower to cast "shockwave" in a predefined direction whenever you want it to attack
C) ...

4) Jass is the language of World Edit. But I can see what you mean: the Graphical User Interface? Basically, when you save a map, the GUI is converted into jass, because it's the only scripting language wc3 understands. So it's up to you to decide whether you go for GUI or Jass. GUI has its flaws, but overall it's easier to use if you know not much of scripting.
If you have experience in e.g. c++, I think you better go for jass, and stay away from gui as much as possible

5) I hardly have any experience with the wc3 AI, so I'd go for triggered AI anyway

6) Check question 3. How you implement something is up to you.

7) hmm...
Are you using the normal bridges of wc3? If you are, you'll see that there are different bridges for horizontal and vertical.
You could make a trigger that checks whether a bridge is horizontal or vertical. Once you know that, you can check whether a horizontal bridge is left / right from another bridge OR up/down another bridge. As Horizontal bridges only "connect" with other bridges left/right of them, you know that 2 bridges are connected when they're left / right of each others, and not up / down.
(Ok, this explanation is a bit complicated, but that's thanks to the limitations of my english :/)

8) Er... what do you mean?

 

[Steel_Stallion]

This is very advanced for someone just starting out in Wc3 Mapping. I dont even know how to do most of the things your saying,

For 3, you could create a custom spell, using a dummy unity, where it is triggered "when a unit attacks" attacking unit equal to your tower. you can order it to create the dummy unit, at the nearest offset towards the angle which the attacked unit is located. You would need to make it so that the tower doesnt do any damage, its attack is only for triggering the event, and you would need a projectile system. Arg... Then you would need to the angle of the unit that is attacked, and make a dummy unit at the closest of the 4 sides. So if it is at 65, the dummy unit is created at 90 etc.

Then you have to trigger the projectile system so the dummy unit or the "Projectile" of the tower fires in that direction. Either all this, or im missing a small simple solution. And i could do all that but it would take me painfully long and the leaks would be nasty.

Try making something else simpler before trying something complicated...


For 8, you also need a projectile system. You mean where the spell projectile stops and damages when it hits something right? Like for example in elimination?

 

[PogoDaMonkey]

Yeah, I know. But I like to go big or not at all. xD

Hm...What I meant was a platform in the air, that can be built (in the air) and allow units to cross over it. The game takes place on floating islands, so thats the only land there is, and bridges were the only way to invade your opponents island (or build towers close to it).

For example, you could either connect a bridge piece to the open end of another, or build something at that open end. I vaguely remember Genesis of Empires 2 using something like this...where you needed x number of units to build a structure at indefinite distance from the main building...

I wouldn't use the normal Warcraft 3 bridges, maybe just squares put together for the moment. They have to be like tetris pieces (the T, L, Z, kind of thing)...I'll get the connection thing sorted out later. For now I just want that part to be semi viable. I've imported a plain square mesh...just can't get it to work the way I want it. xD

And on 8, I want it to be like the Shockwave (on the normal Warcraft 3 Tauren Chieftain) effect that would pass through any units, but would stop at a building, damaging the units passed through, and the one building it hits.

Thanks for your help, guys.

 

[Eleandor]

Wait... I vaguely remember an old 2D game that sounds like this...

For creating the platforms: How about you create a building (just make the building have no paths so it can be build "in the air") and when the building is "finished" constructing, it's replaced by a doodad (such as the elevator doodad) that "floats" in the air and is walkable?

I'm not sure how to do the shockwave thing...
You could make a dummy ability that, whenever the ability is cast, a dummy unit (no collision size, no food used, invulnerable, etc) with the shockwave model is created and "moves" towards the targetted point. Every 0,25 seconds you check whether there's a building in front of the dummy unit, and if so, you remove it. Else, you make it damage every unit near it...

 

[Steel_Stallion]

You could do what Eleandor said, but to stop it at buildings, you could give all buildings an immolation ability with no effect thats hidden (Through the spell book way, by putting the immolation into a spell book ability then giving the tower the spell book ability and disabling it through triggers so its hidden... i think thats how its done i forgot) so that when the dummy unit gets near a tower it just dies.

Har har.

 

[PogoDaMonkey]

Yeah, the game I'm trying to "port" into a Warcraft 3 map is Netstorm... I explained alot in my big post. Heres the link to their official website:

http://www.netstormhq.com/

And I was thinking of having flying units created, at random, with the tetris pieces look, and each unit would have a build option with that specific piece as its build. (does that make sense?) They would eventually gain full health (representing a non cracked bridge that can be walked over,) But are invulnerable to enemy attack.

Would the units being turned into doodads allow their destruction? Bridges would fall apart if not connected to land or a resource...

I may just use a normal attack, until I can figure out the editor better.

 

[Eleandor]

Yes, netstorm was the game I was thinking about

You can always turn the units into destructibles. As the name tells you, a destructible can be destroyed