Illusion System v1.1

[Daffa]

Well, I am back!

Before people jump the gun and questions me what's the main difference with Flux' system, I will answer that:
1. Flux' is written in vJass. Mine is in GUI.
2. Flux' supports a wider range of patches since it uses the old method of illusion detection, registering them, and then modifying the damage values via DDS (from 1.26 to 1.32+, I think). Mine is focused on 1.32+ by directly manipulating the illusion ability via new natives (should be possible in 1.31, but I didn't check)
3. Flux' requires several additional libraries. Mine does not require any additional extension.

In short, this is a very lightweight illusions system that utilizes the new natives' power. This alone should be a good differentiation for consideration.

 

[Elprede]

You might also want to consider GUI Custom Illusion in your assessment.

 

[Daffa]

You might also want to consider GUI Custom Illusion in your assessment.

GUI Custom Illusion requires a specific Damage Engine (DDD) that does not have compatibility support from Damage Engine or other DDS. I provided the link for cross-compatibility for Damage Engine and one can see that his DDD is not listed at the moment of this post. @Bribe might want to consider, perhaps?

DamageEngine/Cross-Compatibility at master · BribeFromTheHive/DamageEngine

Contribute to BribeFromTheHive/DamageEngine development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

I am interested in the part GUI CI mentions working with building, I will need to check that later. I also find that GUI CI uses item slots, while mine uses the ability directly.

I'll also add that Illusion System - v1.00e is another system in this matter and that one requires ListModule and is written in vJass. I also recall there's another one before Flux, but I also recall Flux' is by far the most superior in the vJass variant.

The strongest point of this system, in comparison to the rest, is the fact it has zero additional requirements. The second point is it is all written in GUI with no vJass flavor except to call the necessary order and clean up of leaks. Weakness? 1.32 only.

 

[KitsuneTailsPrower]

A small suggestion for you: Use a dummy recycler instead of creating a new dummy each time you want to make an illusion. It will save memory and improve performance.

 

[Daffa]

A small suggestion for you: Use a dummy recycler instead of creating a new dummy each time you want to make an illusion. It will save memory and improve performance.

I'm not sure if the casting is instant enough, but I will try this one.

 

[KitsuneTailsPrower]

I'd recommend this one Dummy Recycler v1.25

 

[Daffa]

I'd recommend this one Dummy Recycler v1.25

It's sort of antithesis and will nullify part of the advantage of this system over others in the field. I will still consider it.

 

[MyPad]

I think a single dummy caster will suffice for this system if the dummy caster's movement is "disabled" (via setting prop window to 0, or disabling the move ability directly, or rooting the unit). From what I recall, upon (the dummy) casting the illusion ability, the illusion is made immediately available before the next action. The illusion is available for use before it even enters the map!

The creation of the illusion can be intercepted with the unit summon event, though the generic version of the event has to be used instead.
Unfortunately, the base illusion spell cannot be made to work with spell immune targets. A shame, really. From the setup of the trigger itself, I think
this can be ported over to 1.31.

 

[Kakerate]

One thing that is missing from the Illusion Systems is the following

GetIllusionDuration(u)
SetIllusionDuration(u,r)

 

[Daffa]

One thing that is missing from the Illusion Systems is the following

GetIllusionDuration(u)
SetIllusionDuration(u,r)

Will add this along with other fixes I have planned.

 

[MyPad]

Will add this along with other fixes I have planned.

Have those functions been added already? It would be nice if I can review an updated version of this.

 

[Daffa]

No updates yet. Maybe put it in Awaiting Update?

 

[MyPad]

Placed on Awaiting Update by request

 

[Daffa]

I'll be blunt I underestimated the complexity of such a system like this. I have made some minor tweaks, but numerous challenges are highly complicated for this particular system. Setting a duration at start is already available, but extending it's capability to be dynamic is apparently very complicated, not to mention that there are UI challenges for it.

Not that I've given up, but I think I'll slowly advance this resource instead of putting everything at once.

 

[Daffa]

v1.1.1

• Downpatched to v1.31
• Fixes a glaring bug where the dummy is not removed after casting the illusion spell

I found that Cancel Timed Life instantly obliterates the unit if they already have a timed life. I also analyzed Flux' illusion and concluded that having a dynamic duration beyond what currently is offered is beyond current limitations. So, this is mostly a major bugfix that is long overdue that I just noticed today.