[General] what does dependency equivalents do

[andreasaspenberg]

i just want to know what it can be used for.

 

[Binsu]

http://world-editor-tutorials.thehelper.net/uniteditor.php

As stated by the link above:

Techtree - Dependency Equivalents (Unit List)
This field was originally the main method for getting custom heroes to count in the default "3 heroes per player" limit in melee-style games. This functionality has now been deprecated with the presence of the Gameplay Constants field "Techtree - Dependency Equivalents - Hero". The current method for achieving the objective of this field is as follows:

Use the trigger action "Player - Limit Training of Unit-Type", and limit training of the custom hero in question to 1 (for melee-style maps, but you can make the number higher if you are trying to do something else). Put the action in a trigger that has the event "Map Initialization".
Add the custom hero to the Gameplay Constants field "Techtree - Dependency Equivalents - Hero".
The custom hero will now contribute towards the "3 heroes per player" limit.

EXTRA NOTES:
The trigger action "Melee Game - Hero Limits" resides in the "Melee Initialization" trigger by default when creating a new map. This action causes the number of allowable trained heroes per player to be set to 3. To change this limit, delete that action and instead use the trigger action "Player - Limit Training of Heroes".

 

[Dr Super Good]

It is so that a unit counts as another unit type when it comes to evaluating requirements. The following example demonstrates what it should be used for.

A custom race consists of Tier 1 Townhall that can be upgraded to Tier 2. In order to upgrade the player needs to build a military building of sorts. However the race gives him two choices, a land production building and an air production building. Only 1 of them is required for upgrading the Townhall to Tier 2 (not both, just 1). The air production building has a dependency equivalent of the land production building so even if he makes the air production building, it will count as having a land production building which can be made the sole requirement of the Tier 2 Townhall.

In Warcraft III dependency equivalents are very bug prone. The slightest wrong value will cause a fatal error when a requirement is validated (unit which can reach it is selected). I could not find an example of this field being used so I am guessing it was not fully implemented and may not even work.
In StarCraft II it does what is on box. Many units use it since the game has a more logical requirements system that does not have custom dependency equivalents in constants and things.