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Submerged Units

As of 11-03-2012, this tutorial will show you how to submerge units underwater.

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Resources Required:

http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/skins-552/transparentgroundtilev01-blp-225013/

OR:

http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/...rtistic-style-using-mighty-alpha-tile-176544/

WHICH EVER YOU PREFER!! mine is 1.5 kb smaller but rejected. not that the size difference matters. both skins can work to this trick. today I am using my version.

Today I will: cover how to deal with an annoying problem in WarCraft 3, to do with Water, 3-dimensional trajectory triggering, while remaining as shallow water, while still having the water realistic looking, and deep looking so that naval units may be 100% submerged.

NOTE: I am not going to teach you how to build a 3-Dimensional Trajectory trigger, only how to remove a bug to due with all or most of them. GUI and jass too I believe. maybe not Vjass, don't know.

Beginning: If you are using a trigger such as:

http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/...-157856/?prev=search=Arc%20System&d=list&r=20

or other variations of 3-Dimensional Trajectory Triggering, you will find that none of them can operate without bugs in deep water. this is because of some issue I do not under stand trigger wise, but this is a less time consuming way to get around it and to remove this bug!

Step 1. Create you're new map from scratch. you should know how to do this as is, but the trick is to make sure you do this right by: picking you're terrain type to Sunken Ruins (you can pick other terrains, this one is just easier, il Explain why later) Select Shallow Water (this is important if you don't want to spend a half hour destroying all you're terrain to make it all shallow water) and lastly but most importantly select Cliff Height ''2'' or higher (but 2 is required, 1 will not work)

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Step 2. Using the world Editor, Create you're desired land masses and islands around and about the map using the terrain deformation function ''Apply Height: Raise'' the reasoning for this is because creating land masses using the ''Apply cliff increase'' function will not allow this trick of mine to work. not for the non trigger buggy water aspect. on land it doesn't matter as much, you can use it to you're hearts content, just don't use it to create fresh land masses out of you're shallow water.


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Step 3. Now go to the top bar of the editor and select: ''Advanced'', ''Modify Tile Set...'' this is the window that shows you're maps terrain tiles. Check the box that says ''Use Custom Tile Set'' and then down underneath you will find beneath ''Additional textures'' a list of terrain land scape selections. search for ''Icecrown Glacier'' (any terrain type works, just use this as an example if you've never done this before) and pick the terrain tile: ''Dark Ice'' for example. then use the function: ''Add Tile''


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Step 4. now find the terrain tile: ''Dark Grass'' this tile is located under ''Sunken Ruins'' this is why you chose the terrain type ''Sunken Ruins'' to base you're map off of, if you did not choose this terrain type, thats ok just find it and replace one of you're maps terrain tiles you do not want, if you cannot choose one of you're maps tiles to depart with, id suggest: using the ''NewGen Editor'' to add a higher number of tile count to you're map, this tool is useful but not required for this tutorial. Once you have found ''Sunken Ruins Dark Grass'' add it to you're terrain tile list to you're maps list of terrain types. Next, place it to the RIGHT--> of you're freshly added ''Dark Ice'' Terrain Tile:


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Step 5. Now, Open You're map and place in some part of you're shallow water, some kind (any kind) of unit that has ''Amphibious'' Animations. This includes: Any Kind of Mur'gul (but not a ''Mur'loc), Naga Myrmidon, Naga Royal Gaurd, Naga Siren, Naga Summoner, Ancient Hydra, Any kind of Sea Giant, or the Naga Snap Dragon. any of these work, but the Mur'guls are smallest and are most useful, my example is the Mur'gul slave.


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Step 6. Now once you've placed you're Amphibious unit, set you're maps function ''Grid'' turned on by pressing the ''G'' key twice, to get at least the medium grid. move you're unit onto the grid into the middle of the gold medium + shape to be most precise, Next, go to the Terrain tool pallet, and choose the ''Apply height: Decrease'' Function. Click Directly underneath you're Unit as few times as possible to activate the ''Amphibious'' Animations. Remember, the less you decrease the terrain, the less buggy trajectory triggers are, hence doing this as little as possible, the optimal number of left clicks appears for me to be 3. Do this til you're unit's water rings appear, or until the unit sinks into the water. Remember, do not worry about other larger units such as the Hydra disappearing into the ground under the water, this will be fixed later.


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Step 7. Using the Terrain Pallet Function ''Apply Height: Plateau'' spread you're custom shallow water height you just rigged to be as optimally shallow as possible, across a larger area, this is going to be THE base height of you're entire ocean or sea or maps body of water. The Reasoning you Use ''Plateau'' is to keep this shallow water height universal, because in places where the shallow water height is any higher, amphibious animations will not activate, and any lower the trigger's will bug more in these areas. Plateau this water height across as much of you're map as you figure necessary.


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Step 8. Using more plateau function, cover all you're open seas in this universal height, and keep just off you're coast lines or beaches by what ever amount you see fit, id suggest between 2 and 3 inches. or 4 to 5.5 centimeters. keep away from being too close to you're land masses at all costs. and do not use the ''apply Height: Smooth'' function until you have all you're shallow water you want considered ''deep'' water all finished.


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Step 9. Next! Import either: my skin, which I am using because it is smaller in kb size and built to my needs, or the MAT (Mighty Alpha'ed Terrain) and set the File Texture of the import to: TerrainArt\Icecrown\Ice_DarkIce.blp or what ever texture you Added earlier in Step 3 to be you're ''deep water'' tile.


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Save close and Reopen you're map to check and see that the texture swap was successful and that the ground tile ''DarkIce'' has indeed been turned entirely black.


Step 10. now use you're ''DarkIce'' ground tile, or what ever tile you chose to have had alpha'ed out with either my skin or the MAT, and pick all or at least most the areas off you're coast you have used the ''universal height'' on. this is for the realism effect, you have already removed the bug to due with the triggering using shallow water and plateau, but at the cost of tons of naval units not being usable as they will all appear to be perpetually stuck in the ground. Use you're ''DarkIce'' tile, which should appear black, under all this shallow water to make it appear ''Deep'' do this across the entire map.


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Step 11. Now, you may notice a few things by this point, one being that setting you're unit to negative -555 flying height makes the unit very very deep in the water appearing, this is good, this is what we have been aiming for, not that you need the unit that deep, just that now no matter the units model size, model scale, what ever. it can always appear visible, while remaining ''submerged'' this looks especially freeking awesome on OlofMoleMans ''Mosasaur''
HOWEVER you also Notice the HIDEOUS black squares quite noticeably lining you're maps coast lines, this is where Sunken Ruins ''Dark Grass'' comes in.
find all the areas you want you're shallow water and ''deep'' water to merge, and use the dark grass texture all along side, next to, and even on top of the ''DarkIce'' ground tile where ever you see fit. Use the ''W'' key on you're key board to help you see these merge areas between the DarkGrass and Dark Ice tiles.


the Final Result without Water:

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the Final Result with water:

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this Concludes my tutorial on how to create 3-Dimensional Projectile Trigger Friendly Realistic Fully Submerge able Deep Shallow Water. Hope people find this knowledge useful in some way.

Additional Screen shot to see the Finished Realistic ''Deep'' Shallow Water Product: Credits to OlofMoleMan for the Mosasarus or ''Mosasaur'' model. Credits to me for the ''Murloc Survivalist'' about to be eaten. and Credit to NFWar for the base trigger I used as an example at the beginning of the tutorial as ''Bugged'' Trajectory System, which is actually not bugged, just not deep water friendly, just wanted to clear that up. his trigger works just fine.

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Last edited by a moderator:
Let me know if this Tutorial is not deemed worthy, I never found a tutorial that could teach you how to un bug complex trigger missile systems to due with 3-Dimensional Trajectory. but if there is one, then il gladly delete this.

EDIT: didn't see you're post, Because, trigger systems have problems with ''deep'' water (Dark Blue Terrain) but not the shallow water (Walkable by land units). this exploits that difference. the bug is you're missile will suddenly drop from the sky like 5 inches or something if you shoot the missile from land towards deep water, where as in shallow water it is a lot less, like less then half a centimeter. this way the bug is no longer even noticeable, its not fixed. just rigged hardly noticeable.

thats why I added so much emphasis on making the shallow water as shallow as humanly possible. using the least number of left clicks and plateau and what not. Because this fix allows you to have 3-d attack spells in a largely aquatic map if thats you're aim like mine was. but I abandoned my project when NFWar's trigger was so oddly broken in deep water. it wasn't til I found this fix did I even resume it.


plus you can fully submerge WW2 submarine vessels and what not =D
 
Because, trigger systems have problems with ''deep'' water (Dark Blue Terrain) but not the shallow water (Walkable by land units). this exploits that difference. the bug is you're missile will suddenly drop from the sky like 5 inches or something in deep water, where as in shallow water it is a lot less, like less then half a centimeter.

That is an object editor problem. Triggers don't care about water height, they only detect the water surface.

Change the projectile's movement type to "Float" and it will perform correctly.
 
but when ever I tried that it never worked! all they did was bug out and stop traveling all together! D= and start colliding with trees!!!
I Tried ''flying'' and ''none'' alot of object editor stuff man what did you do to fix that jump bug!??


!?!?!?!?
As I said, "Float".
Not "flying" (it bugs badly) and not "none" (it seems to dip in deep water).


Edit: Here's the projectile system you linked in the first post with the projectile movement type changed. Try shooting across the deep water.
Edit2: Apparently the projectile always explodes when leaving the water area (regardless of movement type). This seems to be a triggering problem.
 

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but float never worked for me! wtf

ok, I'll start trigger editing again to investigate what exactly you did.
EDIT: hmm. I haven't figured it out. but you must have. you wouldn't lie I don't believe.

very well, I suppose this, tutorial, probably just teaches you how to submerge naval units visibly.
hopefully thats a help? =D

uhg this tutorial took 3 hours of blah to make. might as well keep some of it =*(



EDIT: I STILL DONT know wtf is going on, im using NFWars spell again float seems to not appear sinking,
but the spell cannot target the shallow water, how strange.
 
but float never worked for me! wtf

ok, I'll start trigger editing again to investigate what exactly you did.

I didn't edit any triggers.
1) I downloaded that map system you linked
2) I modified some deep water to the terrain and tested it and saw that the projectile went like a roller coaster
4) I changed movement type from "None" to "Float" and tried again, projectile flew smoothly now.

Btw. did you remember to add and remove crow form when you tried it in your map?
 
I was editing this trigger, from this map of NFWars I linked, I was just trying to target the dragon hawk rider over both the deep and shallow water and it would never hit unless over shallow water. I downloaded his older one a long time ago so this ones newer. Im having problems rigging air unit targeting if its not over shallow water. always seems to miss no matter what
 
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i never know putting float would fix the bug instead of flying,

anyways,

having units below deep water to be visible are great i believe.

i dunno, i abandoned a map i did created from deep water,

because of the height bug o.o

just if i had known..

:goblin_cry:

anyways, i cant try this float thing right now, since i dont have a WE,

can anyone confirm?

does it work on everything? (deep water, shallow, and land)
 
anyways, i cant try this float thing right now, since i dont have a WE,

can anyone confirm?

does it work on everything? (deep water, shallow, and land)

I attached a testmap on my earlier post up there.
It performs identically to the original system linked in the first post, except this one does not bug out above deep water parts since the projectile movement type is switched to float instead of none in the object editor.
 
the Problem is you still can't target the spell against air units in deep water, or even the ground under deep water. but you can target the spell in the shallow water.

but you are indeed correct, setting the dummy to float dos indeed fix this jumping issue, so I guess I can remove this tutorial and replace it with one that just shows how to rig the realistic submerge water part. even if the bug to target the deep water ground or air units in deep water area still exists.
 
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