How to save all creature's properties for future versions and expansions?

[WC3Wonderer]

1. I have Wisp. Wisp costs 100 gold an 0 lumber.
2. I change Wisp's "Gold Cost" in Object Editor from 60 to 100. "Gold Cost" changes color from standard to purple. It means that value has been modified. Modified values are saved inside map and will remain forever regardless of patches and expansions.
3. I can't change Wisp's "Lumber Cost" in Object Editor from 0 to 0 because it is already 0. I can't make "Lumber Cost" purple. In the next patch "Lumber cost" may change from 0 to 10 and my Wisp will cost 10 lumber instead of 0.

I want to save Wisp's "Lumber cost" inside my map so value will not change in new patch or expansion. How to do that?

 

[Astral_JG]

Best option is to clone the wisp from a unit that costs lumber like archer, then modify all necessary fields. Or go to Scenario Map Options and change Game Data Set from Melee Latest Patch this will prevent patch changes affecting your data fields

 

[Damage]

The value will only be overwritten by a patch if your map is using the "Use Latest Melee Patch Data" option, which is not set to by default. You don't have to worry about this.

However, this did happen once recently when the Art field of the Huntress Moon Glaive ability was changed, causing all defaulted fields to get that value. That was... annoying.

What Astral_JG said above about making a custom unit however will not work, as the custom unit inherits the base stats of the base unit. If anything about that base unit were to change, it would change your Wisp too - just kicking the issue down the road into a different alleyway without actually solving it.

 

[Ravager16829]

I really don't suggest using "Melee" for the Game Data Set option, unless you're going to create a non-melee map.

Dr Super Good pointed out that using "Melee" is only necessary if you're going for modifying a melee map and want to keep all of the melee balance changes from the latest patch, as doing this on your non-melee map could "break" certain parts of the map with those changes.

 

[IronBladeClan]

So, if you're making an altered melee, what's the solution?

 

[Damage]

You balance it yourself.
It's not really reasonable to think that base game races (Humans, Orcs, Undead, Night Elf) would be always balanced or make sense in all future patches with some custom races made by a user.

 

[IronBladeClan]

You balance it yourself.
It's not really reasonable to think that base game races (Humans, Orcs, Undead, Night Elf) would be always balanced or make sense in all future patches with some custom races made by a user.

I'm not asking how to balance, I'm asking how to make a map in e.g. 1.31.1 or 1.27b that uses "latest patch" melee settings, but fix something specific that was a certain way in that patch that wasn't changed until a later one - the assumption being that people might also play the map on, e.g., 2.04 melee.

For example, explicitly fixing Ultravision so that it's always Tier 1, without making a special version of your map in the Reforged editor, and without locking the melee to e.g. 1.31.1 - instead letting the rest of the melee settings be dictated by the patch the user is playing on.

 

[Ravager16829]

What Damage said (and my post above).

If your map is not based on the melee balance like TD or RPG, you generally should not use "Melee" option. Any custom object editor data might be subject to melee balance changes related by the future Blizzard updates.

Default: The map uses the stats from the original TFT if it contains a lot of custom data, so you have less heroes in Tavern (no Firelord, Tinker, Alchemist), Spirit Lodge still has Spirit Walker, no Sundering Blades and Orb of Slow for Human, no Ritual Dagger and Wand of Negation for Undead, etc.
Melee: The map uses the stats from the current patch, which means you have everything as mentioned above in your map. However, for me, it also led to unwanted issues. AI Necromancers can't use the AOE-based Unholy Frenzy (happened on 1.31; not sure about the latest patch) and the Gargoyles' Prioritize (for the latest patch) will make them only attack enemy air units.

 

[IronBladeClan]

But I am making an altered melee map, that I want to be subject to the whims of possibly evolving melee balance, with just a couple exceptions...

So, is there a good way to do what I (and it sounds like the OP) wrote that we're trying to do?