World Editor?

[Just_Spectating]

its already 30 by 30.

they should add more events and conditions.

 

[Jaakko]

Free-hand regions lol (in starcraft they're Locations)

lol they could really come in handy sometimes

 

[Just_Spectating]

Connectible regions.

 

[Steel_Stallion]

Whats the Map file size gonna be?

Im wondering, its probebly going to be bigger but then.. Wont it be annoying downloading an 8 MB map? 4 MB takes long enough

 

[redmarine]

Whats the Map file size gonna be?

Im wondering, its probebly going to be bigger but then.. Wont it be annoying downloading an 8 MB map? 4 MB takes long enough

Considering the battle.net going to be a lot more efficient and new features it probably won't be such a big deal.

 

[Serbianbeast]

I hope that battle net will have a feature to store maps so that we can upload it there and they let people download it from b-net, and not seed it ourselves

 

[redmarine]

I hope that battle net will have a feature to store maps so that we can upload it there and they let people download it from b-net, and not seed it ourselves

That would require an very dedicated server. Probably two or more to handle the constant flow of data and just in case one of them fail.

This could make the game ptp(Pay to play) but considering Battle.net has never been charging it probably won't be.

 

[Just_Spectating]

i hope that every download of newer versions of maps will replace the older versions.

 

[Dark.Revenant]

Oh my fucking God no that would be the worst thing in the world, especially for a map developer.

 

[Just_Spectating]

that makes no sense. are you telling me that map makers open old versions of games and rip off of them?

 

[PurplePoot]

J_S, what if you don't want to play the newest version?

 

[redmarine]

Then you're doomed lol...

 

[Volvox]

Then you rename it lol. But no, that would be annoying and what if someone releases a hacked version and it overrides your original map? Now that would be a fail.

 

[Serbianbeast]

Overriding old version would suck, unless the system could check IP, or ask a password or something like that

 

[bobmanone]

change tooltips

ex: fireball does (2 + x) x = your int

but it would show : Fireball does 4

that would kick ass

also moar custom ability of units abilities and upgrades (for us who arnt masters at jass)

 

[Serbianbeast]

change tooltips

ex: fireball does (2 + x) x = your int

but it would show : Fireball does 4

that would kick ass

also moar custom ability of units abilities and upgrades (for us who arnt masters at jass)

O ye, I totally forgot that. Very useful stuff

 

[Angry_Bovine]

Adaptable tooltips would be lovely.

How about an independent turret system? What I mean by this, is, like how a tank can move its turret separately from its body, so it can fire behind itself while it is even moving. That kind of thing. However, this request sort of hinges on a unit in game having a similar type of ability to fire and move at the same time.

 

[Callahan]

Lock camera parameter without periodic event.

 

[Element of Water]

Will the language be OOP? I assume it will because it's based on c++... But will they make it more like c? I really hope it is OOP. I don't want to have to wait for Grimoire for SCII or something...

 

[Eleandor]

It's not based on c++. It's based on C.
In other words, it's a procedural language like jass. It probably will not support object oriented programming or generic programming. Well, unless someone makes a preprocessor and extends the language like jass was expanded.

 

[Element of Water]

bah that sucks. I'm gonna have to wait for ScumNewGenPack or something?

 

[Serbianbeast]

don't be so sure about it. they said that the WE's power will be much more significant than it was back in wc3 so oop doesn't look as such an op idea afterall

 

[PurplePoot]

It's either procedural, or Karune has no understanding of the difference between C++ and C, both of which are highly likely possibilities.

 

[Volvox]

I say they should base it off fortran or assembler. That way nobody could complain about the lack of possibilities ^^

 

[Angry_Bovine]

OOP would be nice. Maybe that way I can actually get some damned linked lists up and running?

 

[Volvox]

OOP hmm. If not made very nicely, it can be noob-unfriendly.

 

[Eleandor]

OOP would be nice. Maybe that way I can actually get some damned linked lists up and running?

You don't need OOP to make linked lists, at all.

The thing I'd prefer most is a hybrid between a procedural and an object oriented language

 

[The_Silent]

That should not be that hard, its in the NWN2 Editor.

 

[bobmanone]

On the terrain editor have diff shapes, more then just circle and squares, like lines and triangles, but some of the screen shots have amazing clifs.

 

[Element of Water]

You don't need different shapes at all... You can make those shapes in the wc3 editor easily enough anyway...

 

[bobmanone]

you can make them but that takes longer, simplifying is what they needs to do imo as well as improve advanced features.

 

[Element of Water]

Improve adbanced features: yes. Simplify simple features: erm... no.

 

[Eleandor]

On the terrain editor have diff shapes, more then just circle and squares, like lines and triangles, but some of the screen shots have amazing clifs.

In my experience, the ugliest terrain is terrain made of those shapes. I always use the 1x1 shape.

 

[Volvox]

Well, when it comes to raising or lowering land, 1x1 fails, but for cliffs, yes, 1x1 is the best tool. Tho we could use some terrain markers such as middle, mirror around x and/or y, diagonals or side midpoints, just so that we don't have to use guessing methods.

 

[Angry_Bovine]

Oh, did we also mention that better cliffs are in order?

 

[Eleandor]

Oh, did we also mention that better cliffs are in order?

They look perfectly fine to me.

 

[Element of Water]

A better scripting API! I want to be able to change anything with triggers. Like unit names, real cliffs, etc... basically everything you can't do in Jass (within reason)

 

[PurplePoot]

Unit names etc would be nice. Items as well, but I can see why if they don't do abilities.

 

[BoneBreaker]

I actually have stored information from random battle.net question batches!


What type of scripting language is being used? Aspiring map/mod makers would like to know.

StarCraft IIs editor features a proprietary scripting language that is based largely on C with some special parameters specific to the game. Of course, for most users, they will have access to the more user friendly Trigger Editor which will allow beginner and intermediate map designers to make advanced maps without having to learn the particular details of the scripting language. Well release further information about the world editor as we move forward.


Will the StarCraft II Editor be easy or hard to use?

Blizzard game editors have always been aimed at empowering the community to create a huge variety of fun game modes and maps. This editor will be no different.

The editor for StarCraft II will be very easy to use for new players to create their own custom maps and games. Furthermore, this editor will have many more scripting options available to players, to allow for even more player creativity in their maps beyond that seen in prior RTS titles such as Warcraft III.


Will there be some old units from StarCraft be included in the Map Editor for StarCraft II?

There will be units included in the Map Editor which will not be in the standard multiplayer skirmish mode. These will include various units from the original StarCraft, such as the Protoss Dragoon.


Will map sizes in StarCraft II be similar or larger than the maps in the original StarCraft?

Map sizes can fluctuate on a per-map basis, but generally the playable area on maps are about the same. The terrain cells were converted over into the new editor to proportionally match the original StarCraft (i.e. 128x128 SC1 is about the same as 128x128 in SC2).


Will you be able to use custom army colors in the game?

In custom maps created through the Map Editor, players will be able to select any color for their factions. In multiplayer games, players will be able to choose between approximately 12-18 colors.


Will doodad placement values increase? (ie, more than 25)

[Brett Wood] We expect the doodad placement value will be on the same order as Warcraft III, which I believe was something like 10,000, so definitely way more than 25.


Will the number of available locations/triggers increase? The current limit on locations really cramps some ideas.

[Brett Wood] Any limits on both regions and triggers will be at least in the thousands.


Will the new map editor include ALL the triggers in the program unlike Staredit?

[Brett Wood] Yes, even moreso than Warcraft IIIs WorldEdit. Weve been making a point of ensuring that ALL script functionality is also exposed in the Trigger Editor UI.


Will max unit limits increase? The current unit limit on maps is quite a crimper, and nobody likes CCMU (cannot create more units).

[Brett Wood] I dont recall the exact unit limit in the original StarCraft, but the StarCraft II limit will likely be a healthy boost over the limit in Warcraft III. The exact value hasnt been nailed down yet and will depend on optimizations near the end of the project (i.e. shortly before release).


Will the new map editor include unused units such as the crashed scouts, turrets, eggs, nukes, scarabs, crash command center, etc? Third party programs were needed to use these.

[Brett Wood] All units defined in the data files will be usable in the editor. I believe this was true in Warcraft III as well.


Chat with Devs: One of the most popular questions we get when it comes to creating UMS (User Map Settings) games or mods is: Will there be a DotA for StarCraft II? For those who are not familiar, DotA (Defense of the Ancients), is a popular UMS game created for Warcraft III. StarCraft compared to Warcraft III, does not focus on heroes as much, and heroes or units do not have the same experience gaining mechanic as Warcraft III, making it difficult to imagine how a game like DotA could be reproduced for StarCraft. Nonetheless, after chatting it up with our devs, we found out the ability to allow heroes and units to gain experience is built into the Map Editor, though it will not likely be in single player or standard multiplayer. In addition, those units can also be toggled to have the ability to carry an inventory, which is also a characteristic needed in UMS maps such as DotA. With those two additions, we can rest assured that our clever community modders can handle the rest in creating some awesome custom games.


Will you finally be able to mix and match terrain types instead of being stuck on jungle, twilight, etc?

[Dustin Browder] Yes terrain texture is mixable now. Also tilesets are also mixable. [Brett Wood] Essentially, you can define your own tileset in the editor, something that wasnt really supported even in Warcraft III.


Will the new StarCraft II Map Editor support text coloring, unit coloring, player "12" (i.e. neutral player) units?

[Dustin Browder] Yes, all of these features will be supported.


Will maps be larger than 256x256?

[Brett Wood] The maximum map size will still be 256x256, and we have no plans to increase that.


Will the new map editor support locking maps? People hate losing credit for a map.

[Dustin Browder] Yes, we are planning to support this feature. We hope that this feature will give the modding community more incentive to create their own original maps.


Will the new map editor support "square" terrain building as well?

[Dustin Browder] Yes. In the editor, users can adjust the footprint of buildings to whatever shape and size they like.


Will there be some sort of wall structure in StarCraft, for any of the races?

Aside from building current structures close to each other to form walls, such as a line of Terran Supply Depots, no, there will not be walls that can be built. On the other hand, there will be some new wall structures in the single player mode and these doodads can also be accessed in the map editor.


If you plan to include it will it be usable on melee maps or UMS only?

[Dustin Browder] Our data editor allows the creation of this type of terrain. You could easily put this type of terrain on melee maps. We have not finalized our feature set for terrain yet so I dont know what will make the final cut for the default Blizzard maps.


Will it be possible to code the game so map makers can make maps where people can stop incoming spell/missile?

This should be possible through customized ability data and/or triggers.


Will you guys link multiplayer maps, so mapmakers can make multiplayer campaigns?

Yes, we do plan to support multiplayer campaigns and linked maps.


Is the Tauren Marine going to be included in the StarCraft II map editor?

Yes.


Will the Map Editor support letters from non-English alphabets (ó, ű, ő, ú, á, é, etc.)?

Yes, these characters will be supported.


Chat with Devs: Batch 39 focuses on the development of StarCraft IIs Map Editor and I got a chance to chat with our Map Editor Designer, Brett Wood. Brett was able to answer quite a few of our community map editors below. Furthermore, he wanted to also add that the StarCraft II Map Editor will improve upon the World Editor from Warcraft III in every way, with several new features such as having all abilities in the game being data driven. Brett Wood elaborates here on what it means for all data in the game to be data driven:


[Brett Wood] Lets say you have a cool idea for an implosion type of ability that will rapidly shrink down a targeting unit, then cause an energy shockwave that damages all nearby units within a certain area. Since there is no standard ability with a shrink-down effect, in Warcraft III youd have to resort to some fancy trigger work to achieve this effect. In StarCraft II, this kind of effect can be set up completely in the data files, and you could make the entire ability without having to use any triggers or scripting at all. Generally speaking, setting up abilities and effects will be easier through data customization than using triggers, although there will definitely be a learning curve there as well.


Will the new map editor support extended upgrade values? (ie, 30 upgrades)

Yes, upgrades are arbitrarily extendable, as they were in Warcraft III. In addition, upgrades will now be downgradeable via triggers as well (by using a negative value), which was a very common request in Warcraft III.


Will the new editor still support all the other ideas currently implemented in StarEdit?

This question is a bit vague. As far as I know, everything the original StarCraft could do, StarCraft II can do.


What additional features will the new editor have?

How much time have you got? Very broadly speaking, the biggest improvements over Warcraft III will be found in the data editor, where literally every game database file is exposed for modification, and in the trigger dditor, which now features the ability to define custom functions and libraries. That said, virtually every aspect of the editor has at least some improvements over Warcraft III/StarCraft.


Do you plan to take ideas from third party programs and update the editor frequently to meet the demands of the map making community?

Absolutely. We are very much committed to supporting the map/mod community as much as possible, and well be keeping an eye on the forums and updating the editor as often as we can to incorporate new suggestions.


Is the new StarCraftII map editor able to make our own 4th race by combining 3 races different looking and ability etc. together? even more combining with some new units from the editor?

Yes, custom races are fully supported, including the ability to choose them from the game lobby while playing melee maps, as long as the mod defining the race is loaded.


Will it be possible to use the full 3D cinematics mechanic from the single player campaign in the map editor?

Yes, we are looking forward to seeing some awesome custom cut scenes from the community.


Most users know that even invisible units can be seen by experienced players since they cause this nice little blur effect while in Warcraft 3 invisible units are indeed invisible aside from leaving footprints on the ground. So what about transferring the 'real' invisibility into the World of Starcraft by allowing mapmakers to choose from those two different invisible modes for each unit?

Map makers will be able to remove the blur effect that is currently on StarCraft IIs invisible units.

 

[Volvox]

Those are some awesome news, i can't wait to see what's really gonna be done.

 

[Element of Water]

Disappointing that there will be no support for OOP though... I really don't like procedural coding...

 

[redmarine]

Disappointing that there will be no support for OOP though... I really don't like procedural coding...

How do you know that? They haven't denied the possibility or even mentioned about it.

 

[Element of Water]

StarCraft IIs editor features a proprietary scripting language that is based largely on C with some special parameters specific to the game. Of course, for most users, they will have access to the more user friendly Trigger Editor which will allow beginner and intermediate map designers to make advanced maps without having to learn the particular details of the scripting language. Well release further information about the world editor as we move forward.

Note: it's largely based on C. If it was OOP it would be largely based on C++.

 

[Volvox]

It's gonna be based off C they said. C is far from OOP.

edit: damn, posted right before me

 

[Eleandor]

It's not because Karune has said it's based on C, that they have denied the possibility it's OO. Granted, the chances are pretty minimal, but the possibility is still there.

And procedural programming is ok too.

 

[Element of Water]

struct/classes FTW! I hope we can at least declare globals in the code...

 

[Eleandor]

structs and globals are common for a procedural language. jass didn't have structs, but then again, it probably was never designed to be the ultimate modding tool.

 

[Element of Water]

Sorry, I've not looked at too many different programming languages, and most of the ones I've looked at have been OOP... I don't know about too many features of procedural programming. But, correct me if I'm wrong, procedural structs won't have methods will they? They'll just be to store values?

 

[Eleandor]

OO structs don't really exist. A struct is a collection of variables without methods, so basically it can't be considered a feature of an "object oriented" language, as those would simply have "classes" instead of structs". If a language has both structs and classes, chances are pretty high it's a hybrid language.

 

[Serbianbeast]

OO structs don't really exist. A struct is a collection of variables without methods, so basically it can't be considered a feature of an "object oriented" language, as those would simply have "classes" instead of structs". If a language has both structs and classes, chances are pretty high it's a hybrid language.

Besides, why would you need structs in oop?