What would be the best, easiest way to have underground units move?

[Verdun]

It's a realtively basic feature in many games, the idea being that you order a unit to burrow underground, but instead of being static, you can still order it to move around, like it was digging a tunnel, and this could be used to avoid terrain obstacles and the like.

My initial idea was to simply set a unit's movement type to "fly" and give it a negative value, and that basically does what I wanted, except it looks mediocre when the unit moves up or down cliffs, into water or close to things with Fly-Over Height, because it will inevitably pop out of the ground like some mole-dolphin. For normal flying units it makes sense, because they looks best with a smooth gliding motion, but for the digging unit, it kinda totally ruins the suspension of disbelief.

I looked around and experimented a bit with triggers that would make sure the "deep flying" unit stays underground at all times, with changing movement height and the like when it approaches a cliff, but no success so far

 

[UreDe4D]

maybe this helps: [General] - Walking/Swimming underground

 

[Verdun]

maybe this helps: [General] - Walking/Swimming underground

informative, but sadly it doesn't help too much in this context

I suppose one work-around could be to treat it as a normal ground unit with collision turned off (and "crow form" turned on and off to allow custom movement height) as shown in the thread above, and give it a "blink" based ability to overcome obstacles such as cliffs. Still not very satisfying

 

[Wark]

Have you tried setting the pathing to zero? I think that works for something like the crypt fiends or beetles for their burrowed forms. I should try it out...

 

[Gamgee]

Cavadrillo (Wooly and Sand)

 

[Kyrbi0]

Wait, what kind of Burrowed Movement we talking here?

Because I'm 100% I did this years ago for a Contest... Ah, here we go

Yeah, since the standard "Burrow" ability does what it does by actually morphing the unit (i.e. Burrowing is not a spell effect but a function of being a different unit (with 'burrowed' stats, like a hole-in-the-ground model)), you just modify the Burrowed form of the unit so it can move. That's it.

 

[Verdun]

Cavadrillo (Wooly and Sand)

Wait, what kind of Burrowed Movement we talking here?

Because I'm 100% I did this years ago for a Contest... Ah, here we go

Yeah, since the standard "Burrow" ability does what it does by actually morphing the unit (i.e. Burrowing is not a spell effect but a function of being a different unit (with 'burrowed' stats, like a hole-in-the-ground model)), you just modify the Burrowed form of the unit so it can move. That's it.

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback, and I will definitely check this stuff out.
But yeah, I already figured you could just give the burrowed form movement, and that (plus blink) is what I'm gonna use for my project, I guess. The thing is, I really wanted it to be able to go over cliffs with no need for additional abilities, so that it would functionally play exactly like a flying unit (while looking like one of these cartoon molehills), but I suspect the way flying movement over cliffs is animated, it might not be possible.

 

[Kyrbi0]

... The thing is, I really wanted it to be able to go over cliffs with no need for additional abilities, so that it would functionally play exactly like a flying unit (while looking like one of these cartoon molehills), but I suspect the way flying movement over cliffs is animated, it might not be possible.

Ah! I didn't catch that bit... And yeah, I don't know how you'd do that (if "flying" move-type for the Burrowed form doesn't work (or Ghost (Visible), or trigger-removing Pathing/Collision size...). A "Tunneling" Blink-ability seems best.

 

[Death Adder]

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback, and I will definitely check this stuff out.
But yeah, I already figured you could just give the burrowed form movement, and that (plus blink) is what I'm gonna use for my project, I guess. The thing is, I really wanted it to be able to go over cliffs with no need for additional abilities, so that it would functionally play exactly like a flying unit (while looking like one of these cartoon molehills), but I suspect the way flying movement over cliffs is animated, it might not be possible.

Just make the unit have no collision.

I'm pretty sure I've seen ground unit walk straight through terrain, trees, cliffs, whatever without any kind of flying movement or the like.


Maybe you need to use a trigger to turn collision on/off or something, but at least I'm 99.99% confident that if you give a unit locust it can move straight through cliffs.

 

[Kyrbi0]

Well Locust is tricky, though. Once given it cannot be removed (not at all with GUI, and not without some nasty bugs (hehe) in JASS).