Mecha Protectors

This bundle is marked as high quality. It exceeds standards and is highly desirable.

Entry for the 20th Mini-Mapping Contest



Mecha CL has attacked the installation. Zombie virus has escaped. In a desperate move, the marines manages to push through to the control room for the experimental Mecha Protectors and power them on...
You are a Mecha Protector, defeat zombies, gain "Cores" to empower yourself by exploring and defeating enemies (unsure about the latter, it seemed bugged my last playthrough). You click in the UI to spend the cores. Hopefully there are several different viable "builds" (although the lack of abilities and augments on abilities makes it less so).
Cores are both "right on your path" and "hidden".

Plasma Bolt [Q] - Fires a plasma bolt towards targeted unit or mouse pointer, colliding with walls and hits first target in its path.
Energy Bomb [E] - (unlocked after boss) - Places a bomb at your current location (towards the mouse pointer) that explodes after 2 seconds, damageing and slowing enemies as well as destroys some obstacles.
Dash [D] to avoid damage.
Interact [F] to open doors or interact with terminals.

If you die, don't worry, you'll soon respawn so you can try again...
Boss entrances are locked during the fight and are reset if you die.

Some minor things that have worked before suddenly seemed bugged last second but hey, I managed to play through it all and (with taking all cores), it took me about 25 minutes or so (including failed fight or two).

TileSet:
Tile: Orbital Cliff, Orbital Tile (Cliff + hexagon ground)
Author: inhuman89

FuturisticTileset (Multi-tile)
Author: Stanakin

Space Station tile (White Tile)
Author: Horn

Road Tileset (gray with lines), Bunker Tileste (white tiles), Dungeon Abyss (Alpha Tile)
Author: The Silent

Starcraft 1 Tiles (Installation: floor, subfloor, space platform low platform
Author: Strydhaizer

New Snow
Author: Fingolfin

Doodads:
Bunker Walls, Installation Computer, Icy Caves
Author: The Silent

Futuristic Doodads Pack 01, 02, 03
Author: Jab1z

Futuristic Doodad Pack Alarm adjustments
Author: Jab1z, adjustments by:Twilac

Halo-style doodads, debris, and more
Space Radiator, Server Box, Rubble Pile, PoA Navigation Depot, Pine (Snow), Halo Tree (Snowy 1 and 2), Covenant Supply Case, Console, Autumn Wall Section, Rubble Pile
Author: Fingolfin

Zombie Experiment, Animated Computer pack
Author: Grey Knight

Urban Prop Pack, including bench, sink, table, locker, Oil Barrel
Author: HerrDave

Ice Spike, IceSpike1, IceStump1
Author: Zwiebelchen, Additional Credits: XiaolianhuaStudio, LongbowMan

Science Fiction Television (SFT)
Author: Strydhaizer

Ventilator
Author: purparisien

AirConditioning Unit
Author: JB_McKnight

Web, Web Animated
Author: Lender
Web Animated edit with 4 sides, edited by twilac

Futuristic Buildings
Author: biridius, psychosis (snorthcall2t)

Frozen Cliff, Snow Pile
Author: Blood Raven

Wagons and Train, pushed down through ground so "train" is not as apparent
Author: Kofi_Banan, purparisien

Prism Tower, Tiberium Crystals - Green/blue
Author: Illidan(Evil)X

Cables, Computer Panel, and many edits
Author: twilac


UI/Icons:
UI
---
Health/Energybar
Author: macrovector / Freepik

Button and "Cards" (backgrounds)
Author: Wenrexa

Health/Energy Icons
Author: Mark Krukowski (from itch.io)
---
ICONS
Modified with Color: 200, 240, 0 overlay in Krita and custom Border
---
Dash:
BTNBlinkV2 by The_Silent

Bomb:
BTNShockOrb by The Panda

Plasma Bolt:
Jab1z for making the effect, Icon by ThompZon

Triggers/Systems/Tools:
Imported Systems:
---
Damage Engine, Knockback System, Unit Indexer, UnitEvent, Table, Special Thanks to many other systems.
Author: Bribe

Relativistic Missiles, Cooldown Reduction, New Bonus
Author: Chopinski

Line Segment Enumeration
Author: AGD, IcemanBo

DummyRecycler v1.25
Author: Flux

RegisterPlayerUnitEvent, SpellEffectEvent
Author: Magtheridon96, Special Thanks: Bribe, azlier and BBQ

MouseUtils
Author: MyPad

--- External Programs ---
Twilac's Pathing Painter (used to paint pathing textures)
Author: Twilac

Retera Model Studio
Author: Retera, Twilac

Krita

BlpLab
Author: Shadow Demon (aka Spec)

Unit Models:
Mecha-DH
Author: Jab1z

BlackOps Marines (MarineZOMBIE)
Author: Grey Knight
Zombie Marine with gun modifications by Twilac

ZombieDog
Author: Epsilon

Giant Spider Pack
Author: HerrDave

Spider Broodmother (Re-Classic)
Author: HerrDave, johnwar

Robot Factory, Robot
Author: Freddyk

Abilities, effects, vfx:
Bomb:
Effect Plasma Grenade by WILL THE ALMIGHTY
Pickup: The Chronosilentore (in Some Custom Items Pack) by Kenathorn

Core:
Pickup: The_Silent's Battery by Kenathorn

Lightning Effects, Final Boss Beams
Author: Spellbound

Ubershield, final boss
Author: Vinz
Version: 1.2.2 - 2023-04-07
  • Bugfix: Hopefully fixed desync caused by destroying target indicator from a local context. Now there is permanently 1 indicator that is used by local player only.
  • Enemy Despawning timer is increased from 1 second to 2 seconds.
  • Enemy Spawning tick is lowered from 3 seconds to 2.5 seconds.
Version: 1.2.1 - 2023-04-07
  • Bugfix: Hopefully fixed desync caused by setting up human-player-group during map initialization. Now setup after 0.01 seconds.
Known issue:
  • Killing a unit with target indicator probably causes desync
Version: 1.2.0 - 2023-03-20
  • Bugfix: Multiplayer mouse now works as expected
  • Target Indicator for current target
  • Custom music by https://www.hiveworkshop.com/members/melnefys.289446/ (thank you!)
  • Multiplayer difficulty
    • All enemies have hp dependent on number of players in the lobby.
      • It's not a perfect system, but it's simple and works. Player-count is "p"
    • Unarmed Zombie Marine hp from 54 to 32 + 20 * p
    • Zombie Dog hp from 40 to 25 + 15 * p
    • Spider hp from 68 to 48 + 20 * p
    • Spiderling hp from 38 to 28 + 10 * p
    • Broodmother hp from 825 to 750 * p + 75 * p * p
    • Mecha CL hp from 1000 to 900 * p + 100 * p * p
    • Saw Bot hp from 85 to 65 + 20 * players
  • Most enemies: Lowered Range Motion Buffer by another 5-25, to give more space for dodging incoming attacks with dashes.
  • Boss 1
    • Now opens if you die soon after the boss is dead (not 100% safe, but it's something)
    • Heals you slightly after boss kill to hopefully save you from small spiderlings
  • Boss 2
    • Increased conveyor lightning from 8 ticks off to 9 ticks off
    • Bugfix: Lightning during cinematic didn't follow as expected
Known Issues:
  • Map Initialization checks player-status, something that can cause desync
  • Killing a unit with target indicator probably causes desync
Version: 1.1.0 - 2023-02-25
  • Now works on patch 1.31 AND later
    • DamageEngine function that was required for 1.31 was in-lined in the system itself instead of redefined
    • Custom GUI-setup is delayed until after intro-cinematic, allowing to check if Reforged using localizedStrings
    • Changed some frameevents to be more stable on newer patches
  • Fixed bug causing doorways not to lower when going near
  • Fixed bug causing multiple "start game" to run, spawning multiple units and giving additional Cores
  • Skipping intro-cinematic now moved the surviving marine to where he would end up
  • QoL: Added hotkey-indicator on abilities
  • Lowered "Range Motion Buffer" on most enemies by 10-40 (making it easier to dodge damage, specially using dash)
  • Tweaked core dropsystem
    • From
      • Each unit-type has "drop every X units" and "drop at most X cores"
    • To
      • Each unit-type has "drop every X units" and "require X more kills per core dropped"
      • You can now get infinite cores from kills
      • Yes, this map has enemy spawning
  • Boss 1:
    • Increased time for eggs to actually spawn its units from 9 to 10 seconds
  • Boss 2
    • Increased conveyor lightning from 30 ticks on, 7 ticks of to 31 ticks on, 8 ticks off
    • Fixed bug causing conveyor lightning to get impossible if you died and respawned (dealing more and more damage, with more "random" timings)
Known Issues:
  • Multiplayer: Mouse location "collisions". Each player gets the mouse-location from the person who moved the mouse last, making it real hard to play at all.
  • Map-button/ability: Not yet implemented. It worked during early development and broke some time along the way.
Version: 1.0.0 - 2023-01-21
Initial Release.
Known issues:
  • Does not work on Warcraft 3 versions 1.32 or later due to redefine of Blizzard-function.
Previews
Contents

Mecha Protectors 1.2.2 (Map)

Reviews
deepstrasz
Approved based on Mini Mapping Contest #20: Results If you want more reviews, you should participate in the The Grand Review Exchange! R U L E S Site Rules Map Submission Rules M A P - D E S C R I P T I O N BB CODES BB Codes | HIVE MELEE MAPS...
Well sad times, can't be played with 1.35 - the newest update.
Can't even get into lobby.
Damn, I hoped that it'd work. Maybe I'll get my "latest patch"-installation up and running to try it out and see if I can make it work...

Edit: Unsure if I can upload it while the contest is still ongoing though. I don't know the policy for updates after the competition window, but I'll at least give it a shot and maybe upload an "alternate version" if I can manage to make it work. I hoped to try it out during the competition-window, but I made a final boss instead xD
 
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Well sad times, can't be played with 1.35 - the newest update.
Can't even get into lobby.
So, I managed to get it to run on latest version, but it requires a minor edit in the map.
Due to this being a competition, I cannot do that, but if you open the map, Open trigger editor, enable JassHelper + VJass if you don't have it already, Look for the folder "ImportedSystems/Damage Engine/" and open the "Damage Engine"-trigger. Scroll down roughly one "page" where you see the a line of:
//===========================================================================

Slightly below that, I have the "Bribe" suggested solution to make Damage Engine work on 1.31-version, defineing "BlzGetEventIsAttack"-function.
If you remove these 3 lines, it will at least start on the latest version:
JASS:
function BlzGetEventIsAttack takes nothing returns boolean
   return BlzGetEventDamageType() == DAMAGE_TYPE_NORMAL
endfunction

I noticed that the intro was very... Pretty... and that you couldn't spend "cores" to upgrade (I.E. custom UI-buttons was not clickable for some reason). But you could move, attack, dash, open doors, kill enemies, gain cores... I only tested quickly and tried to at least make it run... I'll see if I can make it work 100% correctly...
 
@Archian I think it would be fair to allow the map to be patched for 1.35 by the author given that 1.35 was released so close to the contest end date
The thing is that I developed for 1.31 and if I'd tested in on latest (I didn't have a latest setup at the time) I'd notice it.
It is rather 1.31 vs 1.32+ that is making it not work.

I think I'll do some minor code adjustments to easier support both versions (1.31 and latest) as soon as I'm allowed to upload a new version (and I manage to get it to look decent enough on latest).
 
I have some time today, so I'll try to have a fix available so I can upload as soon as I'm allowed. My current idea is that I probably need 2 uploaded maps that have minor adjustments to text-size for the custom UI and damage engine in order to work on both latest and 1.31.

Reason for 1.31 is that there are some strong feelings about 1.32+ among my friends and I want to be able to play with them (although this is currently untested in multiplayer and probably is extremely easy).

Edit: I have something that solves the most critical issues with my Custom UI. Cinematic portraits cover the whole screen and I'm unable to hide them. I'll upload as soon as allowed, but probably this weekend.
 
Last edited:
Now that the contest is over, I have a new version with several bug fixes and a constant boolean to switch every major issue caused by latest patch (mostly text-size).
However, currently I have several debug-prints related to a multiplayer-bug, so I'll clean these up soon (this weekend?) and upload how it is then (including this non-resolved multiplayer bug that I can specify further later)
 
Last edited:

deepstrasz

Map Reviewer
Level 72
Joined
Jun 4, 2009
Messages
19,545
Approved based on Mini Mapping Contest #20: Results


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Now works on patch 1.31 AND later patches (only tested latest, 1.35).
See Change Log for more details.

Note: Known issue:
  • Multiplayer: Mouse location "collisions". Each player gets the mouse-location from the person who moved the mouse last, making it real hard to play at all. I hope to get a solution for it, but currently I'm confused as to why this happens.
 
Level 22
Joined
Dec 4, 2007
Messages
1,526
Yeah it works alright now!

Targeting was a bit rough (free aiming sometimes better) but manageable.
Got hardlocked out of progress after beating the Broodmother, but dying in the process - the blocking web wouldn't despawn.
Well done overall, could use some custom music (that custom soundset brings in good flair).
 
Targeting was a bit rough (free aiming sometimes better) but manageable.
Got hardlocked out of progress after beating the Broodmother, but dying in the process - the blocking web wouldn't despawn.
Well done overall, could use some custom music (that custom soundset brings in good flair).
I've thought about adding targeting indicator on "targeted unit" and more information that left-clicking a unit auto-targets that unit, but haven't had time to do that. You usually need to switch between free-aim and target-aim to get what you want. Target-aim is nice because it makes dashing and moving about while firing easier, but you lose the ability to... Aim :p

The hard-lockout is my bad, didn't experience it myself in any playthroughs and didn't think about it... Oops...

I agree about music. I have bought some DRM-free from some humble bundles that I could use, but haven't gotten around to find something suitable and put it in.



I have strongly considered adding at least 2 more "basic attacks" and allowing you to have 2 available at the time (something like a right-click to change one out, with an energy-cost and cooldown attached when swapping attacks)
The attacks would be a:
  • "shotgun" that fires 5 or 7 projectiles (depending on how it feels) in an arc with a higher cooldown (3 seconds?) and energy requirement. Damage per projectile would be lower than the existing attack, but hitting something between 3-4 of them on the same target would result in equal or higher damage. Of course, you can use other attacks and abilities during this cooldown.
  • "auto-fire" rapid-fire that should get more powerful when doing many attacks in a row (for example, each attack adds +X "Speed" (cooldown reduction) for this ability only, building up to higher and higher values that resets after 1.5 seconds of not attacking).
Probably these are found in the world and more can be added later. I like the idea of being able to adapt and try different "weapons" out.

Also, of course, I have like 4 "abilities" thought out, but we'll see if they ever get done (depends on inspiration etc.).
 
Hey tried this today with some friends, looked really fun and polished, but we encountered multiple desyncs, could never make it past the starting room :(
Thank you for reporting this.
I'll need to check a few details and try to reproduce it myself, but otherwise I'll ask if I can get a log or something.
 
Hey tried this today with some friends, looked really fun and polished, but we encountered multiple desyncs, could never make it past the starting room :(

With 1.2.2 I have now fixed 2 sources of desync that I could find. I couldn't make a desync happen in my testing, but then again, I didn't test with higher latency than my LAN.
 
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