Terrain Deformation Help

[Hannibal]

I am currently making a new LOTR map based on the first age that uses rather large armies and during the last alpha test it was resolutely decided to remove all terrain deformation for lag purposes. Nobody desync'd but even my solid computer shows a very minor pause with all the War Stomps/Shockwaves/Thunder Claps going off.

So what I've done so far is replace Shockwave with Carrion Swarm (made one with a 'Good guy' animation and icon for the good guys). For Thunder Clap and War Stomp, I am using Fan of Knives and got the idea from this thread (http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/...-remove-terrain-deformation-war-stomp-247259/) to trigger in the Stun/Slow effects. I have tried many combinations of googling the problem and have read everything that has been discussed on the matter and there is not much to work with.

https://www.google.com/#q=warcraft+3+terrain+deformation

The thread I referenced earlier was the most helpful but overall there are quite a few questions I still have left:

I'm fairly positive from my readings that Terrain Deformation is hardcoded to War Stomp/Shockwave/Thunder Clap so that even if I change so changing the animation model does nothing (correct me if im wrong). That being said is it also attached to the animation? That is if I give Carrion Swarm Shockwave's animation will it cause terrain deformation?

When I gave Fan of Knives War Stomp's animation I did see the ground cracking effect but didn't know if that was just a visual effect or actual Terrain Deformation?

Continuing on does Fan of Knives seem like the best ability to base Terrain Def-Free War Stomps and Thunder Claps on and then just triggering the stun/slow?

I read elsewhere about the Terrain Deformation stats in the Neutral Hostile War Stomps -- but again the linked thread mentions that it still causes Terrain Def even when set to 0? I have already gone with the alternative mentioned in said thread but are me and that original poster missing something in removing Terrain Def from the Neutral Hostile War Stomps?


Finally if everything is figured out I would be more than happy to put the terrain def free versions of the spells in a separate file if anyone would like to use. Does that seem like it would be a good resource?

Thanks for your help in advance!

 

[KILLCIDE]

That being said is it also attached to the animation?

They are not attached to the animation as far as I know. I use the thunder clap animation all the time, and I have never seen terrain deformation.

Continuing on does Fan of Knives seem like the best ability to base Terrain Def-Free War Stomps and Thunder Claps on and then just triggering the stun/slow?

That really depends on what you're going for. I always prefer just triggering a spell because it gives you way more freedom than what you see in the object editor. I also never favored using the default AoE stuns/slows. Instead, I use a dummy caster that uses single target slows + stuns.

Finally if everything is figured out I would be more than happy to put the terrain def free versions of the spells in a separate file if anyone would like to use. Does that seem like it would be a good resource?

Seems a bit too simple to be uploaded as a resource, but it can definitely be useful in the Tutorials section.

 

[Hannibal]

Thanks for the quick response! I was avoiding those animation because I wasn't sure but it would seem Carrion Swarm and Fan of Knives then can fill the same core function with only the stun/slow effect missing. I do in fact have those triggered in as single target spells Hurl Boulder and Slow. Once I'm a little further along and am 100% deleaking the map I'll just need some feedback on making them fully leak free.

I already have a friend that I'm going to port them in a separate file for him to just copy/paste over into our other map and it would be nice if anyone else ever had the same inclination to have something to just copy over. I will drop it by the tutorial section once I'm 100% on everything. Thanks man!

 

[KILLCIDE]

I'll just need some feedback on making them fully leak free.

If you need more information on leaks, check out IcemanBo's tutorial. You can also refer to Ralle's, but I prefer the former since IcemanBo goes waay more in depth about leaks.

If you just need some feedback on making sure you're doing them correctly, feel free to make a post in Triggers & Scripts!