• 🏆 Texturing Contest #33 is OPEN! Contestants must re-texture a SD unit model found in-game (Warcraft 3 Classic), recreating the unit into a peaceful NPC version. 🔗Click here to enter!
  • It's time for the first HD Modeling Contest of 2024. Join the theme discussion for Hive's HD Modeling Contest #6! Click here to post your idea!

Tower Turning Tutorial

Tower Turning Tutorial
by DragoonZombie
screen1.jpg


Introductions:
In this tutorial I will show you how to make (non-)custom towers turn to his target when attacking.​

Requirements:
WarCraft 3 World Editor​

Step I:
Go to the Object Editor and create/edit the Root (Ancients) ability (Abilities -> Nightelf -> Units -> Root (Ancients)) like this:
screen2.jpg

Step II:
Now create a new Spell Book ability (Abilities -> Special -> Items -> Spellbook) and add our modified Root ability to it. Make sure that the Spellbook is a Unit ability by unchecking 'Stats - Item Ability'
screen3.jpg

Step III:
Now its time for the Tower.
I recommend using a UNIT as Tower (NOT Building). We will convert the unit to a building later. Because when we use a unit we have the standard settings optimized for the tower model and we can change the height of the tower.

Pick a random Unit you want to have as tower and give the tower the spell book ability we created. You also have to change the towers movement speed and turn rate (IMPORTANT). I set the movement speed to 1, so that the Tower is able to turn (if movement speed is 0, WE thinks that the unit/building/whatever is unable to move and disable its turning).
And the turn rate should at least be greater than 0, so it is able to turn (no wai!)
screen5.jpg
Now its time to convert the unit to a building.
screen4.jpg
That was the conversion. Simple eh?
You now have to give the tower the 'Spellbook' ability we made, via Triggers or in the object editor.

Since its a building now, you can change the Ground Texture and Pathing Map of the Tower.

In order to hide the Spell Book go to the Trigger Editor and disable the Spell Book ability for the owner of the tower:
  • Melee Initialization
    • Events
      • Map initialization
    • Conditions
    • Actions
      • Player - Disable Turning Tower for Player 1 (Red)

Step IV (optional):
To change the towers height you simply change the Movement - Type to Hover and fly height to the height you want.
Now edit Art - Elevation - Sample Points and set it to 0 and you're set.
screen7.jpg
screen6.jpg

Done.
Happy Mapping

final.gif
 
Last edited:
Level 16
Joined
Oct 30, 2004
Messages
1,277
Nifty trick that works.

-You should explain where you find those abilities. Example: Root --> Night Elf ---> Units
Spellbook --> Special ---> Items
-You also leave out some details, like you need to turn the Spellbook to an unit ability.
-The pictures in step III are bad. You cant make out much.

The trick itself is simple, people just need to know about it and I think this tutorial does its job well. Make those small improvements I mentioned and I would aprove this.
 
Level 6
Joined
Feb 25, 2005
Messages
230
Great turorial DragoonZombie!

All i can find is (what i think) two minor grammar flaws;

DragoonZombie said:
I set the movement speed to 1, that the Tower is able to turn (if movement speed is 0, WE things that the unit/building/whatever is unable to move and disable its turning).

What i guess it should read is:

DragoonZombie said:
I set the movement speed to 1, so that the Tower is able to turn (if movement speed is 0, WE thinks that the unit/building/whatever is unable to move and disable its turning).

... and one thing more. You say:
"You also have to change the towers movement speed and turn rate (IMPORTANT). "
... and say what you set the movement speed to, but not what you set the turn rate to. Guess all you have to say is that the turn rate should be > 0.

Since I'm working on a TD-wars and already had alot of towers using unitmodels this is just what i need!

Thanks for a great turorial!

EDIT-

Oh, forgot to mention... +rep!
 
Level 6
Joined
Feb 25, 2005
Messages
230
That it should have > 0 is self-explanatory, indeed :), but if you have the tower based on a unit it already has a turning rate. And then you say "you must change the turn rate (IMPORTANT)". It clearly doesnt have to be changed, just to be > 0.
 
Level 4
Joined
Aug 7, 2007
Messages
75
I really liked this idea, so I went ahead and tried it out. The tower turning works great, however there is one problem I noticed, but it may be because of something I missed when turning my unit into a tower. You can stack the towers on top of each other, when building a new one, the square doesn't register a building there and allows you to build away.

Is there a way to prevent this?
 
Level 3
Joined
Apr 13, 2009
Messages
10
I also got a Problem: when i upgrade a tower (wuth the turning ability), it wont attack automatically any more. I have to give it the attack order once on a target, after that it will attack as normal every enemy that comes in range.
Does any1 have the same Prob?
 
Level 1
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
Messages
3
If your towers are stacking you have to do the following in the object editor
Art -> Ground Textures -> Arcane Tower, Cannon Tower, Guard Tower, Farm...
Pathing -> Pathing Map -> Arcane Tower, Cannon Tower, Guard Tower, Farm...
Pathing -> Placement requires -> Buildable

Your towers shouldn't stack anymore.
 
Level 4
Joined
Oct 31, 2013
Messages
55
I recommend using a UNIT as Tower (NOT Building)

Do you have to use a unit? I have 70 tower in my TD and it would be great to make them able to turn. When I follow the tutorial on a Guard Tower with a unit model, the game closes as soon I strat building the tower.
Have I done something wrong or do you have to use a unit and turn it into a building?
 
Level 4
Joined
Jul 19, 2018
Messages
5
Let's pop this 13 yo thread! Necroposting at its finest, wonder if anyone is going to answer.

Okay, so semirelated topic, (this is on Warcraft 1.30, because I don't trust newer versions) I'm attempting to make a ground submerged tower.

Looks fine in Editor:

edytor.png


but not so much when I run it in game:

gra.png


I've achieved the ground submergence by altering the "Movement - Height" stat of the building Unit in Object Editor. Any tips on how to achieve what I'm aiming for?
 
Level 2
Joined
Nov 16, 2019
Messages
12
Tried this little trick out on the TD Im making and it works like a charm!
It's a good fix for the "Reforged units bending i half" problem..

I did do one thing diiffrent, I did not go the spellbook route, instead just moved the Icon away like this:
4pEmAad.jpg

I guess it's pritty much the same.


Thanks!
 
Top