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Taiga Survival

1-7 Player Survival Map

Build structures, craft items, and hunt animals to survive. A rescue helicopter comes in 30 minutes.

Features:
- Physics-based skiing (jumps and skids)
- Procedurally-generated terrain and forests
- Emergent animal behavior and AI

Known Issues:
- Wolf Lichen has one extra charge, but oh well.

To Do:
- Stable Release. I mean it this time =P

Recent Notes:
- Improved predator and prey AI.
- Added Wolf Lichen (a poison) that can be dragged onto either meat or arrows
- Fixed game-ruining bug >.> whoops!

Discoveries while making this map (they're new to me):
- Powerup items, when consumed, don't get removed from the map. So if your AI has "get xxx item from the ground", it will keep trying to grab the same item even after it's been consumed. Have to remove powerups manually w/ the Unit Acquires Item Event.
- The Event Unit Loses Item needs to have a small delay inside it because the item isn't immediately dropped upon calling.
- Destroying a group that has been declared but not created will stop further execution of code following the destroy call. That means your code will not work and be hard to debug.
- You have to set handles = null even if you remove them. So call removelocation(loc) doesn't cut it. Have to set loc = null afterwards. Otherwise the map will leak.
- Units cannot rapidly change facing direction. This means you can't accurately depict rotational velocity/spins.
- Terrain generated with the "setterraintype()" function does not update to the minimap. This means my map looks blank even after I add the terrain.
- Trees generated with the "createdestructable()" function do not update to the minimap. This means you can't see trees on the minimap in this map.
- Increasing the number of trees in a map can cause stuttering with war3's built-in pathfinding.
- Fly height isn't affected by terrain height, but it does show up on the map. So a helicopter flying over hill will rise up as it flies over and fall back down as it clears it. The fly height will remain the same.
- Changing terrain height in-game causes desynchs somehow.
- Changed terrain height in-game looks flat in the fog of war.


Version 2009.12.10 (Fourth Release)

Title: Taiga Survival Description: Warcraft III Custom Map
Copyright (C) 2009 Daniel Griffing

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.


Keywords:
survival, ski, proceduralgeneration, ai, yeti
Contents

Taiga Survival (Map)

Reviews
22:34, 18th Oct 2009 ap0calypse: Approved A pretty fun game to play for a few times, it has a few good systems and is pretty realistic. Once you know what to do, it's way too easy though.

Moderator

M

Moderator

22:34, 18th Oct 2009
ap0calypse: Approved

A pretty fun game to play for a few times, it has a few good systems and is pretty realistic.
Once you know what to do, it's way too easy though.
 
Level 12
Joined
May 30, 2009
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829
Quick Review:
Yeah, it's quite enjoyable. I love all the realism put into it. But really, I can freeze from hunger? Strange.

Also, reduce the difficulty, it's so hard! Everyone does poorly on BNet. Maybe add difficulty selectors?

+REP
 
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Level 22
Joined
Feb 3, 2009
Messages
3,292
Very job well done, maybe could use some work on terrain and of course add some more items and such but good overall. 4/5!

I don't think i agree... a 4/5 for a almost without terrain is pretty impossible... I'd give it a 2/5 because terrain is something very important in a map no matter how good the rest is...

To creator: Please fix terrain so then it might really be 4/5...
 

N.O

N.O

Level 6
Joined
Feb 20, 2009
Messages
200
I don't think i agree... a 4/5 for a almost without terrain is pretty impossible... I'd give it a 2/5 because terrain is something very important in a map no matter how good the rest is...

To creator: Please fix terrain so then it might really be 4/5...

I think you are horribly wrong since i gave it a epic 4.8/5 being better then most maps i see... I am not sure if he removed building your own mountains or something but if so he still deserves 4+ when I played it I created my own terrain with the two abilities he had given the unit and plus its randomly generated trees.

Terrain isn't that important in a map like this also...
 
Level 4
Joined
Dec 9, 2008
Messages
52
I don't think i agree... a 4/5 for a almost without terrain is pretty impossible... I'd give it a 2/5 because terrain is something very important in a map no matter how good the rest is...

To creator: Please fix terrain so then it might really be 4/5...

Please play the map before you review it. Don't just look at the picture.

The trees are generated at runtime w/ a recursive genetic algorithm. The terrain tile type is generated dynamically based on use. For example, if you walk in an area a lot, it turns from snow to grass to dirt. Bears also do this so you can track large animals based on the terrain. Again, don't just judge this on the minimap picture, actually *play* it.

I think you are horribly wrong since i gave it a epic 4.8/5 being better then most maps i see... I am not sure if he removed building your own mountains or something but if so he still deserves 4+ when I played it I created my own terrain with the two abilities he had given the unit and plus its randomly generated trees.

Terrain isn't that important in a map like this also...

I had to remove the ground-raising function because it was causing desyncs. I want to add it back. It's fun. You can build your own ski jumps. But I'll have to figure out the exact bug first. The skiing physics uses "GetLocationZ()" a lot which I *think* can return different values on the same location for different players causing a desync. Any info would be appreciated.
 
Level 28
Joined
Jan 26, 2007
Messages
4,789
I've seen another survival-map, which resembles this a lot - with the difference that it was more realistic and it was in a forest.
Either way, it's not bad.

You don't need to find the house, you can just follow the minimap ping (I think it's an attack-ping), so it was pretty easy.
Once you know what to do, it's not challenging, so it's good to play 1-2 times, but after that it's pretty hard to lose.

3/5, approved.
 
Level 9
Joined
Jun 20, 2008
Messages
476
Please play the map before you review it. Don't just look at the picture.

The trees are generated at runtime w/ a recursive genetic algorithm. The terrain tile type is generated dynamically based on use. For example, if you walk in an area a lot, it turns from snow to grass to dirt. Bears also do this so you can track large animals based on the terrain. Again, don't just judge this on the minimap picture, actually *play* it..

Could someone realese some system wich leaves treacks behind for bears or some like he aid above ?
 
Level 4
Joined
Dec 9, 2008
Messages
52
Well, here's the basic idea. Every second you cycle through all the units you want to keep track of. Then for each unit you find out the terrain type they're on. So the bear might be on terrain called 'Nsnw' or 'Ngrs' (northrend snow or northrend grass). After that you set the terrain to a new type based on the old one. So snow would turn into grass, grass into dirt, etc.

Also, this map is unprotected so anyone can dig through it and learn all they can.

Hope this helps!
 
Level 12
Joined
May 30, 2009
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829
Alright, now I tried playing again after the update, and I got mauled by a yeti and wolves after a couple minutes. Seriously? :ugly:

EDIT: Finally I beat Taiga Survival, me and 2 other people. So it is possible to beat now. Thanks for providing updates. :thumbs_up:
 
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Level 3
Joined
Jun 25, 2006
Messages
34
Me and my friend last to 3 minuts till end then freezes started cuz my bad pc when all animals attack!Its easy to kill bear when you have arrows upgraded to max!Make map more interesting like colorfull terrain put diffrent kinds of meat for every animal its bad that racoon meat heals same as wolfs and you get only 1 from both animals when you kill it!Think there is no need for more items cuz its only 30 mins its not troll tribes!
 
Level 12
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May 30, 2009
Messages
829
Me and my friend last to 3 minuts till end then freezes started cuz my bad pc when all animals attack!Its easy to kill bear when you have arrows upgraded to max!Make map more interesting like colorfull terrain put diffrent kinds of meat for every animal its bad that racoon meat heals same as wolfs and you get only 1 from both animals when you kill it!Think there is no need for more items cuz its only 30 mins its not troll tribes!
I couldn't really understand what you were saying.

Also, DGriff, I was wondering if you would add different survivor types (E.G. Intelligent, Agile, Strong).

EDIT: The ski system is an ass while trying to stop. I keep slowly sliding after I tried to stop.
 
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Level 3
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Jun 25, 2006
Messages
34
Me and my friend survived 27 minutes,we lost because my fps(frames per second) got very low when all animals attack!
Make map more interesting:Make terrain colorful, put different kinds of meat for every animal(its bad that racoon meat heals same as wolf meat)!Think there is no need for more items because inventory become overloaded with arrows at late game mb you should put some backpack for arrows only!
Also there is big memory leak when animal get caught in trap!
 
Level 4
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Dec 9, 2008
Messages
52
@aesthetics: Different survivor types is a good suggestion, but it's not high on my list. Once I get the game in working order stuff like that can happen. Currently I'm just trying to fix all the leaks. For skiing, use X to break or right click behind him to make him stop quickly.

@Djole: Different animals do indeed drop the same type of meat. However, smaller animals only drop one piece; large animals drop many pieces - so I think the system is fine. I am going to add more item capacity. However, I think it's a bad idea to carry 120 arrows late game as you implied you were doing, so perhaps it's your strategy not being optimal that's causing problems.

@Absent: Thanks! Glad I could help.

Overall I'm getting annoyed at the garbage collection of war3. It's really not fun to have the task manager open while running war3 at different points, checking each function for leaks. All the obvious leaks are gone from the map, too. =(
 
Level 12
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May 30, 2009
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Go for it; however, it might get obsolete as I change the map.
What if I updated it? :D

EDIT: You know that new blizzard event thing? It's really annoying, especially if the chopper just arrived and there's a blizzard to avoid. I've also noticed that the blizzard causes extreme lag.

EDIT 2: I made a preview for your map (bored). If you want to implement it, just import it and change the path to "war3mapPreview.tga" without the quotes. (ATTACHED)
 

Attachments

  • TSPreview.tga
    245.2 KB · Views: 92
Last edited:
Level 4
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Dec 9, 2008
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@aesthetics: I'm not going to use that screen, but thanks for the thought.

@everyone: I'm sick of my map. Testing it is really boring and I don't really like the gameplay; so this is the last version. I'll fix any reported bugs or whatever if they're easy, but other than that, I'm moving on to another project (starcraft AI contest if anyone's interested).

If someone feels adventurous enough to continue the map, go for it. Honestly it's probably too hard to figure out my spaghetti jass and random systems, so this map is likely to be at best some form of inspiration. But, if you are working on it and are wondering wtf I was doing anywhere in the code I'll probably answer emails about specific questions.

The most useful part of this code, at least for me, is the item stacking and drag-drop system I made if you're willing to figure it out. You can set how many items of whatever type a player can carry, etc. Also, the skiing was good practice for a particle system, but if I were to do it again I'd give all units the requisite properties (like mass, velocity vector, angular acceleration, etc) so different triggers could all interact in a kosher way if they're doing some particle physics effects. I basically had to hack into my ski code to make the yeti knock units through the air.
 
Level 12
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i though i made it clear but here.

only 1 out of the full game(everyone) get a survivor(peasanT)(the dude who get wood). (i pick normal)
Still no idea what you're talking about, but I'll try to explain:

Everyone is supposed to get a survivor, I never encountered people missing survivors. And gathering wood, everyone can.

P.S. Didn't test the new version, so there might be stuff that I don't know about, although there aren't much differences, is there?
 
Level 5
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May 12, 2009
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201
I love these kind of maps your is good but its in early stage right and what do you mean with AI(oh maybe the animals if thats it there behavior is realy interesting and they take meat nice)
you should realy add more buildings and omg the yeti trashed my base man and it was heavily protected by like 6 big traps and snowmen and there was a fire on purpose too
I hade to escape to my friends base where we were atacked non stop by bears and wolfs and barely escaped to the helicopter
 
Level 12
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I get a problem where i play with my brother on LAN and when i host my brothers W3 freezes and when he hosts I don't get a survivor.
I also had a bug where I got flamed/immolated by my own fire. Is that supposed to happen?
Yes, you are supposed to get immolated by your own fire.

And the new survivor spawning problem, I'm sure it's a bug, now that more than one person mentioned it.
 
Level 12
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829
I agree that the immolation idea sucks.

But I don't agree that playing alone is hard. Really, have you considered the IQ of people on BNet? They pull me down more than they support me. I have to feed them, first aid them, save them from wolves, manage them, etc.
 
Level 3
Joined
Apr 1, 2009
Messages
52
can some moderator reject this map..

not everyone can get a survivor... this map is now broken till fix. only one of the group randomly get a survivor
 
Level 4
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May 9, 2009
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45
Neeeeds to be fixed!!!

yes so i start the map, then the screen pops up for what mode u choose, then you pick any mode, once you pick everything seems fine......but if there is OTHER people playing once u pick the mode the other peoples screen for picking the mode gets glitched and they cant pick/type/click anything soo then u have to either reboot your system or alt-f4. everytime i tried to play this, the same thing happens.:cry:
 
Level 6
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Jun 14, 2008
Messages
191
heh, looks like I missed all the fun and glitches. Good stuff man, 4/5 for sure, I realize your not updating this any more (and it really is a shame). Been looking for another good survival map for a while and I already beat it :(

I just wish it was longer/had more things to do. OH well, I hope someone picks it up.
 
Level 4
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Jan 7, 2009
Messages
84
Was wondering this map could be good to make a map
"NOMADS"
were you a bunch of humans in ice age, building village and surviving.
could be team based or survival.
 
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