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This tutorial assumes that the user has no previous knowledge of the Stracraft II Editor. It will cover these topics...
1. The Interface...
2. Placing Units on the Map...
3. Adjusting Unit Values (Life, Movement Speed, Etc.)...
4. Adding Custom Abilities to a Unit...
1. The Interface...
Open the Starcraft II Editor.
You'll notice that the editor is divided into 3 main sections: the terrain, the minimap, and the active layer...
The terrain is the largest of these sections (a new map begins as a flat canvas of sand by default). You can use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out of this view. It represents the physical in-game location of any units, doodads, or terrain you might place.
The minimap (upper left-hand corner) is a zoomed-out bird's eye view of the terrain. The yellow frame and cross-hair represent your current view in the terrain window. You can click anywhere on the minimap to instantly change your view to a specific point or you can click and drag to scroll your terrain view around.
The active layer (bottom-left) is used to add things to the map. If the terrain is a canvas then the active layer is essentially a palette used for painting it. You can adjust the type of palette you want to work with by clicking on "Layer" in the top navigation. This brings up a list of all the different palettes: Terrain, Units, Doodads, Points, Regions, Cameras, and Pathing.
2. Placing Units on the Map...
From the Layer menu in the top navigation, select Units. For this example we're going to use Marines and Zerglings. Type 'Marine' into the search box of the Unit Layer to find the unit quickly...
Searching for Marine has narrowed units with that name down to three. We want the last unit on the list, simply labeled "Marine" (the other two are fake/disguised marines created using a Zerg ability). With the Marine unit selected from that list put your mouse over the terrain and click to place the unit. Notice that the unit is colored red indicating that it belongs to Player 1. You can adjust the owner of units before placing them by selecting an owner from the drop down menu just above the search box in the unit layer. By default you assume the role of Player 1 when testing maps, so make sure any unit you want to control is owned by the red player.
Note: If you want to change the location of a unit you've already placed you can switch between placement and selection modes by pressing space bar. In selection mode you can click and drag individual units to move them. You can also double-click a unit in selection mode to adjust their owner, the position they're facing, etc.
Now lets place some hostile Zerglings. Select Player 2 from the drop down menu then type 'Zergling' into the search box and select it from the list (Once again we do not want the Changelings nor do we want burrowed Zerglings). Place several Zerglings next to our Marine...
Since this doesn't look like a fair fight, lets open the Data Editor and beef up our Marine.
3. Adjusting Unit Values (Life, Movement Speed, Etc.)...
You can open the Data Editor by pressing F7 or by selecting it under Modules in the top navigation. The Data Editor is used to manipulate all the values associated with a given unit. So let's begin by narrowing the "Data Type" to Units and searching for Marine...
Selecting Marine from this list brings up a larger window on the right, which contains all of the adjustable values for the Marine unit. The window containing these values is organized into several tabs which are relevant to various aspects of the unit: Ability, Behavior, Combat, Cost, Movement, Stats, UI, and Unit. I've renamed this one Super Marine (Unit tab - "Name"), changed his speed to 4 (Movement tab - "Speed"), and increased his Life to 250 (Stats tab - "Life Maximum" & "Life Starting Amount")...
To adjust the damage caused by this unit look to the window in the lower left-hand corner of the data editor. Scroll down to the effects folder and select "Marine - Gauss Rifle". From there you'll see a field labeled "Amount" which will modify the damage this unit deals. I'm setting this one to 18. So now we have a pretty formidable unit, but lets give him something a little more powerful to work with.
4. Adding Custom Abilities to a Unit...
Once again, select the Marine unit from within the data editor. You'll notice that his ability folder contains 4 items: Attack, Marine - Stimpack, Move, and Stop. You should recognize these from the regular game.
To add a new ability to this unit begin by referring to his ability tab. This view lists the abilities of the Marine 0-3. To add a new ability click the green X and a blank 4th ability will appear on the list...
Using the drop down menu below simply select the ability you want to add then press OK. For this example let's use the Raven - Seeker Missile.
Note: By adding this ability to the marine 2 effects have also been added to his effects folder "Raven - Seeker (Damage)" and "Raven - Seeker (Launch Missile)". These effects are tied to the ability and control several aspects of it. You can modify the "Amount" field within the combat tab of the damage effect to change how much damage the ability deals and/or you can modify the "Impact Location - Value" field within the target tab of the launch effect to change between targeting units, or points, or both, etc.
So now that the Marine has the Seeker Missile ability let's add it to his command card so it shows up in-game. Click on the Marine in the data editor then find the command card under his ability tab...
The command card mimics the unit's interface options within the game. You'll recognize commands like move, attack, stop, and patrol that he has by default. To add the Seeker Missile ability click an empty space on the card, then click the green X, search for the ability, and hit OK...
Set the "Command Type" to Ability Command, the "Ability" to Raven - Seeker Missile, AND "Ability Command" to Raven - Seeker Missile before moving on.
There are 2 things left to do to enable the marine to use the Seeker Missile ability in-game: removing the research requirement and removing the energy cost. Both constraints can be lifted by modifying fields within the "Raven - Seeker Missile" ability which is now in the Marine's ability folder. Click on the ability, refer to its ability tab, click on the "Execute" command listed there, and finally click on the red X further down the page to remove its research requirements...
To remove the energy cost refer to the ability's cost tab. Click the cost listed in the white box at the top of this window, scroll down to the very bottom, and double-click to change the energy cost listed under "Vitals" from 125 to 0.
Note: An alternative to removing the cost of the ability is giving the marine unit energy by adjusting the values under his "Stats" tab.
So you now have a Super Marine with increased life, damage, speed, and the Seeker Missile ability. He should be more than capable of handling those Zerglings now.
View attachment EditorBasics.SC2Map
1. The Interface...
2. Placing Units on the Map...
3. Adjusting Unit Values (Life, Movement Speed, Etc.)...
4. Adding Custom Abilities to a Unit...
1. The Interface...
Open the Starcraft II Editor.
You'll notice that the editor is divided into 3 main sections: the terrain, the minimap, and the active layer...
The terrain is the largest of these sections (a new map begins as a flat canvas of sand by default). You can use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out of this view. It represents the physical in-game location of any units, doodads, or terrain you might place.
The minimap (upper left-hand corner) is a zoomed-out bird's eye view of the terrain. The yellow frame and cross-hair represent your current view in the terrain window. You can click anywhere on the minimap to instantly change your view to a specific point or you can click and drag to scroll your terrain view around.
The active layer (bottom-left) is used to add things to the map. If the terrain is a canvas then the active layer is essentially a palette used for painting it. You can adjust the type of palette you want to work with by clicking on "Layer" in the top navigation. This brings up a list of all the different palettes: Terrain, Units, Doodads, Points, Regions, Cameras, and Pathing.
2. Placing Units on the Map...
From the Layer menu in the top navigation, select Units. For this example we're going to use Marines and Zerglings. Type 'Marine' into the search box of the Unit Layer to find the unit quickly...
Searching for Marine has narrowed units with that name down to three. We want the last unit on the list, simply labeled "Marine" (the other two are fake/disguised marines created using a Zerg ability). With the Marine unit selected from that list put your mouse over the terrain and click to place the unit. Notice that the unit is colored red indicating that it belongs to Player 1. You can adjust the owner of units before placing them by selecting an owner from the drop down menu just above the search box in the unit layer. By default you assume the role of Player 1 when testing maps, so make sure any unit you want to control is owned by the red player.
Note: If you want to change the location of a unit you've already placed you can switch between placement and selection modes by pressing space bar. In selection mode you can click and drag individual units to move them. You can also double-click a unit in selection mode to adjust their owner, the position they're facing, etc.
Now lets place some hostile Zerglings. Select Player 2 from the drop down menu then type 'Zergling' into the search box and select it from the list (Once again we do not want the Changelings nor do we want burrowed Zerglings). Place several Zerglings next to our Marine...
Since this doesn't look like a fair fight, lets open the Data Editor and beef up our Marine.
3. Adjusting Unit Values (Life, Movement Speed, Etc.)...
You can open the Data Editor by pressing F7 or by selecting it under Modules in the top navigation. The Data Editor is used to manipulate all the values associated with a given unit. So let's begin by narrowing the "Data Type" to Units and searching for Marine...
Selecting Marine from this list brings up a larger window on the right, which contains all of the adjustable values for the Marine unit. The window containing these values is organized into several tabs which are relevant to various aspects of the unit: Ability, Behavior, Combat, Cost, Movement, Stats, UI, and Unit. I've renamed this one Super Marine (Unit tab - "Name"), changed his speed to 4 (Movement tab - "Speed"), and increased his Life to 250 (Stats tab - "Life Maximum" & "Life Starting Amount")...
To adjust the damage caused by this unit look to the window in the lower left-hand corner of the data editor. Scroll down to the effects folder and select "Marine - Gauss Rifle". From there you'll see a field labeled "Amount" which will modify the damage this unit deals. I'm setting this one to 18. So now we have a pretty formidable unit, but lets give him something a little more powerful to work with.
4. Adding Custom Abilities to a Unit...
Once again, select the Marine unit from within the data editor. You'll notice that his ability folder contains 4 items: Attack, Marine - Stimpack, Move, and Stop. You should recognize these from the regular game.
To add a new ability to this unit begin by referring to his ability tab. This view lists the abilities of the Marine 0-3. To add a new ability click the green X and a blank 4th ability will appear on the list...
Using the drop down menu below simply select the ability you want to add then press OK. For this example let's use the Raven - Seeker Missile.
Note: By adding this ability to the marine 2 effects have also been added to his effects folder "Raven - Seeker (Damage)" and "Raven - Seeker (Launch Missile)". These effects are tied to the ability and control several aspects of it. You can modify the "Amount" field within the combat tab of the damage effect to change how much damage the ability deals and/or you can modify the "Impact Location - Value" field within the target tab of the launch effect to change between targeting units, or points, or both, etc.
So now that the Marine has the Seeker Missile ability let's add it to his command card so it shows up in-game. Click on the Marine in the data editor then find the command card under his ability tab...
The command card mimics the unit's interface options within the game. You'll recognize commands like move, attack, stop, and patrol that he has by default. To add the Seeker Missile ability click an empty space on the card, then click the green X, search for the ability, and hit OK...
Set the "Command Type" to Ability Command, the "Ability" to Raven - Seeker Missile, AND "Ability Command" to Raven - Seeker Missile before moving on.
There are 2 things left to do to enable the marine to use the Seeker Missile ability in-game: removing the research requirement and removing the energy cost. Both constraints can be lifted by modifying fields within the "Raven - Seeker Missile" ability which is now in the Marine's ability folder. Click on the ability, refer to its ability tab, click on the "Execute" command listed there, and finally click on the red X further down the page to remove its research requirements...
To remove the energy cost refer to the ability's cost tab. Click the cost listed in the white box at the top of this window, scroll down to the very bottom, and double-click to change the energy cost listed under "Vitals" from 125 to 0.
Note: An alternative to removing the cost of the ability is giving the marine unit energy by adjusting the values under his "Stats" tab.
So you now have a Super Marine with increased life, damage, speed, and the Seeker Missile ability. He should be more than capable of handling those Zerglings now.
View attachment EditorBasics.SC2Map
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