Zephyr Challenge #4 - Link

[HINDYhat]

Zephyr Challenge #4

Contest Theme: Link [rainbow]Each contestant must create a custom ability that links two or more units to share a property. [/rainbow] Example: Spirit Link: Links units together in a chain and distrubutes some of the damage they take across other Spirit Linked units.

Contest Rules And Conditions

1. No submission may violate any Hive Workshop site rules.
   
2. Your submitted spell must follow the theme description. If the judging moderator feels that your spell does not follow the selected theme, then it is his decision to disqualify you.
   
3. You may use any amount of imported resources in your spell as long as you give proper credit to the creator of the resource.
   
4. Either GUI or Jass may be used to create your spell; you will not be penalized if you use GUI over Jass.
   
5. Third party editors may be used in the creation of your spell, but you must clearly state which editor you used to create the map. If a third party editor is necessary to use your spell, add a link, along with your spell submission, to download the editor. Examples of third party editors are:
   • World Editor Unlimited
   • JassNewGenPack (or Grimoire)
   • WE Helper
   • WEWarlock
6. Each spell submission must be created during the contest and must be submitted before the contest deadline (noted at the end of this post).
   
7. You may use utilities that do small jobs for you, but you may not use large systems that do everything.
   
   Example of utilities
   • CSCache
   • Armor Detection System
   • Local Handle Vars
   • Vector System
   
   Example of large systems
   • Caster System
   • Particle/Object Engine
   • Knockback Functions
   • Jump System
8. An infraction of any of the rules stated above may result in a disqualification.
   
9. Judges may not participate in the contest as contestants.
   
10. Your submission must be created only by you : No team submissions.
    
11. Completed submissions must be physically attached to this thread in a post. Your last submission will be the considered the final submission, unless if you are previously disqualified from this contest.
    

Prizes And Winnings

First Place: 45 reputation points and a special award icon Second Place: 25 reputation points Third Place: 15 reputation points

Contest Judging And Voting

• 50 % of the winner shall be determined by the contest's appointed judge. The judge will evaluate the spell using this criteria:
  (40 points total)
  15 points - Overall Aspect : Overall, how does this spell fit in the Warcraft III universe? Balance, visuals and usefulness are all counted in this aspect: Cinematic spells will get less marks in this category than actual real-time spells.
  10 points - Coding : This counts as coding efficiency, amount of memory leaks, speed.
  5 points - Originality : Is the spell unique, or is it a DotA spell remake?
  5 points - Visuals : How nice does the spell look? Are there any effects, and if so, are they excessive?
  5 points - Polish : How well does the tooltip describe your spell? Does the chosen icon nicely fit the spell? Is map's 'trigger' section neatly organized? Does the spell have an implementation tutorial?
  
• 50 % of the winner shall be determined by the results of a public poll.

---

Contest Dates And Deadline

All submissions must be complete and submitted 4 weeks after the contest begins.
The contest shall begin on February 10 2008 and conclude on

March 9 2008 0:00 AM, GMT

 

[UchihaSasuke.gr]

I am not good spell maker but I might try this.I shall do it in GUI though because I can't JASS a tad.

 

[kingofJasons]

I can't say I like the theme, its... meh.

But I like the due date.
Smash bros is out March 9, so who can't remember it!!!?!!

 

[Pyritie]

Hmm... this shall be a good opportunity to practice my newfound JASS skills.

 

[DesKaladA]

I'm going to try this hindy and I will hopefull win

 

[Fulla]

Ok looks interesting,

Query on systems>
Damage Detection System
Doesnt actually do anything for a spell, just allows me/you to detect damage on units. Is that allowed?

 

[PurplePoot]

It's HINDY's call, but I would say it should be perfectly alright. The intent of those rules was to prevent you from using things (like the Caster System) that basically do the spell for you. (I wrote those rules anyways )

 

[HINDYhat]

I think that a Damage Detection system is okay to use.

By the way, Poot, are you going to participate?

 

[Dil999]

I'm in.
Can I pleeeeeeeze use my chain lightning system for once?

 

[HINDYhat]

Well I honestly don't think that using your chain lightning system would be a problem, since you made it. So yeah, only you can use it because you developed it and all.

Nevermind, you can't since it was created before the contest began.

 

[DesKaladA]

Umm good luck to everone who enters?

 

[Mini-Me]

I might enter this one. The theme is ok and I think I have a good idea for a spell.

 

[Fulla]

Ok, think Ive got a spell in mind.
Will get working on it tomorrow !

 

[Bobo_The_Kodo]

I'm in.

E: Is VJass allowed?

E2: Is MUIability judged?

E3: More marks for JESP?

E4: Efficiency > Spamming Locals?

 

[PurplePoot]

Does an aura count as a link?

Think Spirit Link.

EDIT: Is VJass allowed?

Of course.

EDIT2: Is MUIability judged?

Generally, but I don't know if HINDY will.

EDIT3: More marks for JESP?

I think that's implied in "Polish"

@HINDY; maybe.

PS. Visuals is redundant, due to the Overall Aspect description.

 

[HINDYhat]

EDIT2: Is MUIability judged?

Will definitely be considered in the coding category. MPI and MUI spells will get better grades in this section.

EDIT3: More marks for JESP?

Not necessarily. If you are able to make a good presentation with a good implementation tutorial, then there is no need for the JESP.

PS. Visuals is redundant, due to the Overall Aspect description.

Overall aspect is kind of like a general description of the spell, as in. If I found your spell was good, then Overall Aspect will get more points, but the seperate categories could get a bit less. On the other hand, let's say your coding is great, but balance/usefulness is poor, then your Overall Aspect won't be so great... kinda got it?

Anyway, I copied those two aspects from your Zephyr 3

 

[PurplePoot]

Anyway, I copied those two aspects from your Zephyr 3

I guess I fail then

EDIT: Nah, they are worded differently, and end up meaning a completely different thing (Try rereading them)

Either visuals should be removed, or Overall Aspect should be fixed?

Not necessarily. If you are able to make a good presentation with a good implementation tutorial, then there is no need for the JESP.

Or private globals, but JESP has advantages over that.

 

[xXMephistoXx]

I've decided to join! I haven't been active for some time now, so I think it's time for me to try something! It's gonna be called: Inner Strength(Wohoo! Ain't that original?).

I would really appreciate any suggestions on how to improve my spell. Something to add or something to modify.

And here's a screenshot of the Spell Tooltip (ERROR in tooltip; 100 HP on random is 200 on lvl 2 and 300 on lvl 3):

 

[Jazradel]

I'm in.

My trigger causes any unit with my spell buff that has a single target spell cast on it to cast the spell to all nearby units with the buff.

Finished map attached. This is probably the final, but I may bug test it some more.

Map requires vJass (http://www.wc3campaigns.net/showthread.php?t=88142) and ObjectMerger (included in Jass NewGen http://www.wc3campaigns.net/showthread.php?t=90999).

 

[Bobo_The_Kodo]

Jazradel, you need to include the libraries with your spell, or you can be disqualified.

Also, your spell will recast the same spell on the target

 

[Jazradel]

@Bobo: I know, I said I'd include the scripts tomorrow (which is today, and I'm about to do that), and yes, recasting the spell is deliberate at this point. I may change that for balance reasons, but I like how it is right now.

Edit: Oh, I finally see what you mean about recasting. I misunderstood. Fixing it now.

Edit2: Okay, maps complete.

 

[Volvox]

My spell is ready. Nothing special, it's called Mana share and here is what it does:
It connects up to 6 units to a global mana pool. All the units connected to the global mana pool will distribute the mana along themselves equaly and will recieve 2 bonus mana for each unit connected to the pool. Spell is completely in GUI, i think it leaks some locations but i'm not sure how i can fix that, maybe you can tell me after the competition. Anyway, here is the map.

 

[HINDYhat]

Both are interesting submissions. Volvox, there are tutorials on memory leaks on this site's GUI tutorial section. Those should help you out. As for Jazradel, looks good d(^_^d).

Anyone else working on a spell? Post WiP's!

 

[UchihaSasuke.gr]

I won't make a spell.


It would be better if those who made spell posted a picture!(For bored users)

 

[Volvox]

Yeah, you can really see memory leaks in a picture, not to mention the code and triggers. That would mean a lot.

 

[Wizardum]

Hi! I might enter on this spell contest, since my contest idea was misunderstood and disapproved.
In progress... Washing brain... loading ideas... application in the format IDEA as been found... scanning for viruses... no virus, checking application... application fits!

 

[Volvox]

(off topic) did i just see a pirate sever commercial in the bottom of the page?(eurobattle.net)

 

[wd40bomber7]

I'm going to try and get something into this contest. *Walks away to think*

 

[Just_Spectating]

ill do it.
__________________

 

[wd40bomber7]

Will definitely be considered in the coding category. MPI and MUI spells will get better grades in this section.


Not necessarily. If you are able to make a good presentation with a good implementation tutorial, then there is no need for the JESP.


Overall aspect is kind of like a general description of the spell, as in. If I found your spell was good, then Overall Aspect will get more points, but the seperate categories could get a bit less. On the other hand, let's say your coding is great, but balance/usefulness is poor, then your Overall Aspect won't be so great... kinda got it?

Anyway, I copied those two aspects from your Zephyr 3

MUI spells better get a better grade then non-mui. Its a massive difference between an ability, and the same ability MUI. (Most of the time)

 

[HINDYhat]

Definitely. I was just saying that that will be graded in the Coding category.

 

[I Am Spam]

Can I get any sort of outside help? For instance I only know GUI, and spells I've created in the past have been memory-leaky, sometimes. I may want someone to give me advice on dealing with that. Is that acceptable?

 

[Volvox]

I think advices are acceptable but letting some1 write your code, that would not be nice.

 

[HINDYhat]

Asking for advice is fine: it's just like looking something up on the trigger/code section of the site.

On the other hand, making someone else write your code is NOT.

I'd suggest you ask questions about leaks in general instead of pasting your code and saying "lul hauw bout u fix dis". Better yet look around our tutorial section and I'm sure you'll find everything you need. This tutorial might tell you what you want to know.

 

[Volvox]

I learned jass now, but i don't really have enough time for everything cuz of astronomy contest this Friday so maybe the spell will remain a bit leaky and rough

 

[xXMephistoXx]

1. submission

As the post-title says, this is my first submission, but there may be improvements, which I mainly hope you guys/girls could give me.

ME NEEDZ FEEDBACK!

You'll find all the necessary info inside the map!

 

[Blue_Jeans]

I think that since we are getting credits for coding, then, let's be honest, JASS should get more points if used properly. GUI can NEVER be as good of code as JASS, not in a spell at least. That doesn't mean JASS is automatically better, I've seen some pretty lousy JASS.

I just barely found this (where have I been?), so I'm not sure I'll enter, but I might.

Edit: I'm pretty confident I won't be entering this contest, so I thought I'd add a little bit of feedback for each submitted map so far. Even if I do enter, I ought to help a friend out, eh?

I couldn't really find much wrong with your spell's functioning. However, your coding is wrong, wrong, wrong. Your conditions do actions? That's a general programming no-no. Use your conditions to test conditions, and use actions to do actions. They are separate for a reason.

You have a divide by zero error in Trig_Mana_distribution_Actions() on the load of the map. It's because your second trigger is Initially On, just turn it off. While the spell works, rather than set each unit by an average, I would grab the current mana total, on the next iteration, get the next mana total and minus that from the original. Then divide by the number of units in the pool, and then adjust each units' pool by that number. The way it is now, linking the archmage with the sorcs will set him to 150 mana in moments. Which would be fine, except the sorcs also have 150 mana, but only have a max of 200 mana... Also, you do leak a little bit, which you already know.

Am I supposed to see the dummy caster? Also... the buff icons do not always disappear when the duration ends. In fact, quite often they do not. The timers at the top stop at the correct time, but are not removed when they finish. Also, setting the hero's default HP regen to nothing will help see the effects.

If the caster dies while the chain is on, the chain does not stop. It seems to be fine other than that. Perhaps add a max range that you can go apart? Otherwise, just cast on a unit and run... and it will do full damage and they can't do much about it.

Can't seem to find much wrong with it aside from what you already know. However, you have a good spot for
optimization with your filter:

function Hive_Mind_UnitFilter takes nothing returns boolean
    // Unit have to be alive
    if GetUnitState(GetFilterUnit(), UNIT_STATE_LIFE) < 0.405 then
        return false
        
    // Unit have to be not a hero
    elseif IsUnitType(GetFilterUnit(), UNIT_TYPE_HERO) == true then
        return false
        
    // Unit have to be organic
    elseif IsUnitType(GetFilterUnit(), UNIT_TYPE_MECHANICAL) == true then
        return false
    elseif IsUnitType(GetFilterUnit(), UNIT_TYPE_STRUCTURE) == true then
        return false
        
    // Unit have to be not magic immune
    elseif IsUnitType(GetFilterUnit(), UNIT_TYPE_MAGIC_IMMUNE) == true then
        return false
    endif
    return true
endfunction

with:

function Hive_Mind_UnitFilter takes nothing returns boolean
    return GetUnitState(GetFilterUnit(), UNIT_STATE_LIFE) > 0.405 and IsUnitType(GetFilterUnit(), UNIT_TYPE_HERO) == false and IsUnitType(GetFilterUnit(), UNIT_TYPE_MECHANICAL) == false and IsUnitType(GetFilterUnit(), UNIT_TYPE_STRUCTURE) == false and IsUnitType(GetFilterUnit(), UNIT_TYPE_MAGIC_IMMUNE) == false
endfunction

However, the line is long enough you may not be able to see the whole list, depending on your resolution, so it is
up to you. I don't have much else to suggest regarding the spell, it lasted a bit short, I thought, but wasn't bad.

 

[Just_Spectating]

Jass and Gui are not equally Graded?

 

[HINDYhat]

Quoteth thy rules:

Either GUI or Jass may be used to create your spell; you will not be penalized if you use GUI over Jass.

Of course, if you're making your spell in Jass, there are so many different things you could do compared to the GUI. Now, exploring these possibilities in your spell will give you the ability to make more complex and new spell structures, which would thus be more original, and could affect in many ways the overall aspect and visuals judging categories. On the other hand, if two spell structures ressemble eachother, and one is made by a Jasser and the other a GUIer, no points will be lost in the coding aspect (if both spells are as efficient as possible). Indirectly, though, Jass can help you alot in judging categories other than coding.

 

[Just_Spectating]

i hate not knowing jass -.-...

there is no time in the world to ever learn it

 

[Volvox]

Come on, it's easy, all you have to do is catch the programming logic. Try qbasic or pascal first, they're easier to get that logic(no handles, functions etc.)

 

[xXMephistoXx]

Am I supposed to see the dummy caster? Also... the buff icons do not always disappear when the duration ends. In fact, quite often they do not. The timers at the top stop at the correct time, but are not removed when they finish. Also, setting the hero's default HP regen to nothing will help see the effects.

So, I've fixed the faults with:

Am I supposed to see the dummy caster? Also... the buff icons do not always disappear when the duration ends. In fact, quite often they do not. The timers at the top stop at the correct time, but are not removed when they finish.

But this part I don't understand, what do you mean?

Also, setting the hero's default HP regen to nothing will help see the effects.

BTW: Thanks for the feedback!

 

[I Am Spam]

I think that since we are getting credits for coding, then, let's be honest, JASS should get more points if used properly. GUI can NEVER be as good of code as JASS, not in a spell at least. That doesn't mean JASS is automatically better, I've seen some pretty lousy JASS.

I just barely found this (where have I been?), so I'm not sure I'll enter, but I might.

Edit: I'm pretty confident I won't be entering this contest, so I thought I'd add a little bit of feedback for each submitted map so far. Even if I do enter, I ought to help a friend out, eh?

This is like saying that even if someone in the special olympics got a world record time, they wouldn't be as good as a regular olympian who did so just because they're still "special". Seriously, only knowing GUI already leaves you at a disadvantage next to someone with JASS, so don't penalize us further.

 

[Just_Spectating]

this isnt my final (unless i dont submit anything else) but i would like some feedback on it. i had too many ideas but i started with this one.

 

[XieLong]

This is like saying that even if someone in the special olympics got a world record time, they wouldn't be as good as a regular olympian who did so just because they're still "special". Seriously, only knowing GUI already leaves you at a disadvantage next to someone with JASS, so don't penalize us further.

Allways the same discussions... It's very boring... The JASSer got an advantage, cause the invested time to learn JASS. The GUIler didn't to so... and for that they get the disadvantage; Natural Balance, lovely +_+

 

[Blue_Jeans]

I supposed nurses should get more money than doctors because nurses do more work than the doctors do?

Anyways, Mephisto, I meant that you should remove the caster's base hp regen so that when you cast spells, you can more easily see the effects. It's just a suggestion, you don't have to do it.

I'll look at your map when I can, Just_Spectating.

 

[-Prodigy-]

I'm in on this one!

(My first competition! W00T)

 

[Just_Spectating]

ok thanks for that feed back jeans, i forgot about that hehe

updated:

still not final

 

[Blue_Jeans]

I updated the feedback. Prodigy, I'm looking to seeing your spell as well!

 

[xXMephistoXx]

Well, I now know what you mean, but I can't see a way of making that happen... I don't know a trigger which removes the default HP regen of a unit...

That spell is great, you could waste entire armies with it, but still it's not that overpowered. You should fix something, so that the target(The other end of the chain) doesn't loose HP when running after you. Or you shouldn't, I don't know if it's maybe a good thing, it nerfs the spell somehow, since you now have to re-cast it more often.

Looking forward to see your submission!