Zephyr Challenge #4 - Link

[dumai]

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.)

Both Pascal and QBasic are defunct languages. I'd be surprised if you can even find a good IDE for them anymore that runs on a 32bit+ OS without the use of an emulator. If you want to start out programming learn C or better yet C++. They are not that complex and will help you a lot more in the long run. Or if you want to invest some money (which you probably don't) then grab a copy of a .NET framework IDE and learn VB. Visual Studio is very easy to use for beginners.

 

[Volvox]

I have visual studio .NET 2.0 and it's great but sometimes it just complicates too much. Dev pascal is a bit weird sometimes but serves well, qbasic 1.1 can be run up to windows XP and still work good, just can't be closed normally, you have to press end now. Dough they are ultimately simple and stupid, the programming logic they have is fundamental. Without it, it's a lot harder to learn new languages.
I read your feedback but i can't seem to find any leaks(and map performance remains the same) and the division by 0 does not seem to bother w3 when encountered. The spell seems to be working fine, dough a bit rough, i'll leave it the way it is. That is my final submission.

 

[Just_Spectating]

yeh, the chained unit isnt supposed to get hit, but its hard to fix that. i updated the map but ill post it later after a little more updates

 

[XieLong]

Very nice made spells here, indeed.
Now, there is my creation... and I hope it fits to the theme: My linked units share - - - commands
Feedback would be very nice, because I'm fairly new to contests (and challenges).
The spell effect turned out very nice, but it was also a hard piece of work and now there are more than six-hundred lines of code. With comments ^^

-Jass New Gen Pack 4a (not necessary to save/play the map)

 

[Blue_Jeans]

Wow... XieLong... wow... you my friend are one of the people who needs to learn structs. You could do so much with more knowledge... I'm amazed at what you can do with what you know. I added a review along with the others.

Mephisto, just open up the object editor and lower the hero's hp regen. He's the only one casting it, so he's really the only one affected.

 

[xXMephistoXx]

You mean remove it permanetly, so that the caster won't have a HP regen at all, not even when casting the spell?
I suppose I could do that for this testing map, but it wouldn't be much good if someone is to use my spell, I think...

You could just make an "If/Then/Else" trigger. If the unit is {Variable}Targeted_Unit{Variable}, then don't deal damage to it.

The spell is looking great! It has lovely Eye-Candy! What I don't understand is what this spell may be used for. When might this spell be useful?

 

[XieLong]

Wow... XieLong... wow... you my friend are one of the people who needs to learn structs. You could do so much with more knowledge... I'm amazed at what you can do with what you know. I added a review along with the others.

Thank you very much I already read much about structs, but I'm not that good with them at this point. So I used my well-engineered skills instead of unperfected knowledge

You're hint regarding the filter would be true, but this is for the user of the spell (because of this it's in the 'settings section'). And I found this kind of listing much clearer than a very long line with endless conjunctions.

The spell is looking great! It has lovely Eye-Candy! What I don't understand is what this spell may be used for. When might this spell be useful?

Umm, I think the spell is very usefull, indeed. Cause you can get particular control over some units (friendly but also foes). And with these controled units you can do nearly everything: Kill some enemies (also the controled units' friends), use there spell effects (if they cast some) or reflect your spells with them into a wide area. The posibilties are multitudinous ^^

Thank you both very much for the feedback =^_^=

 

[PurplePoot]

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

That argument fails because doctors are paid more due to their education requirements, and since Jass is a step above GUI in that aspect, if anything your argument supports the Jass bias argument.

On the other hand, I don't agree with putting so much weight towards Jass for two reasons:

• It really narrows the competition
• Jass already has such side-effects such as easy MUI that basically have to be counted anyways

 

[Volvox]

Good thing my spell is not meant to be mui Because of the global mana pool.

 

[Blue_Jeans]

That argument fails because doctors are paid more due to their education requirements, and since Jass is a step above GUI in that aspect, if anything your argument supports the Jass bias argument.

Ding-Ding-Ding! We have a winner!

 

[Just_Spectating]

You could just make an "If/Then/Else" trigger. If the unit is {Variable}Targeted_Unit{Variable}, then don't deal damage to it.

the thing is, its not getting triggered damage

 

[xXMephistoXx]

Oh, Well that makes it alot harder, yes...

@XieLong: I didn't think of all the ways that spell might be used! The fact that they will attack a friend(your foe) makes it much wider. I'm imbaressed I missed that one...

 

[busterkomo]

I guess I can make a spell. Are there any penalties for lag?

 

[XieLong]

Yea, there's unfortunately a penalty: Your spell would'nt be evaluated and you have no chance to win. With other words: YOu would'nt be in.
But no worry, there are 7 days left, a whole week!

 

[busterkomo]

Of course I didn't mean unbearable laaaaagggg. I was considering a small delay(.10 sec. maybe) on older computers.

 

[wd40bomber7]

That depends. If it lags because your triggers suck, then you'll be deducted a bit. If it lags the first time you cast it, then its still your fault because you should preload everything you use. If it lags because of effects, its still your fault, because you should scale it down.

If the lag is totally unavoidable, because your triggers are all 100% natives and every leak and optimization is made, yet they're so advanced and powerful it still lags a bit. Then it'll probably be excused. Finally, if it lags because of an effect you just had to have, but looks cool, it'll also be excused.

A .1 second lag will definitely be excused, because its below human perception to see that small of a freeze. (Unless it happens repeatedly)
One half second, is an annoyance, and slightly disrupts gameplay. One second of lag can be aggravating if it happens on every cast. Two seconds is unacceptable. (by my standards)

The only triggers I've seen that actually had a good excuse to lag everytime they ran, was Save/Load triggers.

 

[XieLong]

Of course I didn't mean unbearable laaaaagggg. I was considering a small delay(.10 sec. maybe) on older computers.

Omg, sorry, I realized just now what you mean with lag... I thougth you mean "hand in too late"; but you mean "freeze of the game". Damn ... I should thing and than post, not the other way around

I agree with wd40bomber7, but in one point, there's a little mistake: > 0.04 is below human perception, 0.1 is remarkable, also it won't heckle anyone

 

[wd40bomber7]

I agree with wd40bomber7, but in one point, there's a little mistake: > 0.04 is below human perception, 0.1 is remarkable, also it won't heckle anyone

Thats debatable, but lets not go there.

Damn, I still can't think of a good idea..... Everything I think of seems too simple, not original enough, or too complicated.

 

[busterkomo]

Here's my current spell(WIP)- Sonic Infection

Links all enemies in a 350 aoe together. The linked units share 75% of the damage they receive, have their armour reduced by 5, and when attacked, will have a 33% chance to release a sonic nova. The sonic nova will damage all nearby friendly units for 50 per second for 12 seconds. Due to the nature of the nova, it is unable to fully kill units.

EDIT: This is the final spell version 03/08/08

 

[Blue_Jeans]

hv0-busterkomo, I cannot even test the map, I get memory errors when I obtain sight of a footman in the group located directly north of starting position...

I hope this is a problem on my part, not with your map...

 

[busterkomo]

Odd, I've never received an error while testing(except a double free of location which isn't exactly an error, under certain circumstances leaks could appear without the second removal). Provide a screen shot if you're able to.

 

[wd40bomber7]

There is no circumstance where a double free will stop a leak while a single free won't. This is because a double free is when you attempt to remove a null location. If the location is null you have no reason to free it.

Its not called a double free if you have to free the variable twice. Only if you free it while its null.

 

[busterkomo]

Yes there is: If a location is set and is removed both during a loop(which is what normally would happen), but if the the loop fails to start, the location will not be removed.

 

[wd40bomber7]

Yes there is: If a location is set and is removed both during a loop(which is what normally would happen), but if the the loop fails to start, the location will not be removed.

I'm having trouble picturing this. Code example please?

Now I think I might understand what your talking about, but I'm waiting to see the example to tell you. Unfortunitly I'm going away and won't be back for three days. I'll look it over when I get back here.

 

[HINDYhat]

What the heck? If the location is set and removed during a loop, and the loop fails to start, it will leak?...

local location l
local real r
loop
    set r=1./0. // This will crash the thread.
    set l = Location(0., 0.)
    call RemoveLocation(l)
endloop

If the loop fails to start, then we'd only get local location l. Declaring a local and not initializing a value does NOT create a leak.

 

[busterkomo]

If location l is initialized:

local location l = GetUnitLoc(GetTriggerUnit())

 

[HINDYhat]

Then you shouldn't be giving it a value in the loop anyway, because the initliazed value will be lost in memory.

 

[Blue_Jeans]

I had a problem with my WE. I got it fixed and tested your map, hvo, but it lagged a bit when I had 3 sonic whatevers out, which was not all that hard to do. And my comp isn't great, but there are plenty of people who lag online when I do not. So I'd see what you could do about that.

 

[busterkomo]

I receive lag as well. I can probably reduce it.

Edit: I was able to reduce the lag significantly.

 

[BoneBreaker]

My entry into Zephyr Challenge #4, Unholy Mirror Link!. The Drunken Blademaster creates illusions of himself, each illusion is linked. When the real Drunken Blademaster is DAMAGED, he is moved to the position of a random unit in the link.

Requires jassnewgen to open. Uses grim001's Data System.

 

[busterkomo]

I think my spell is ready(edited first post with final version).
Good luck everyone!

 

[Volvox]

Tomorrow is the deadline, right? How many contestants do we have?

 

[Just_Spectating]

i guess this will be my final

 

[HINDYhat]

Quick, this contest ends in only 1 hour and 18 minutes!!! Quickly post/update your submissions before the deadline

 

[XieLong]

Are you serious? Or have we still about 24 hours?

 

[HINDYhat]

The contest shall begin on February 10 2008 and conclude on

March 9 2008 0:00 AM, GMT

In approximately an hour, this contest ends.

 

[XieLong]

Hm, at the clock, you linked, there's only 12:00 am and 12:00 pm, never 0:00 am... but I now get it ^^

 

[Volvox]

56 minutes exactly. Hurry up and post!

 

[I Am Spam]

AH! What crazy time zone are you in! I thought I had 7 hours!

Crud crud crud

 

[HINDYhat]

ocrap, I meant 00:00:00 with no AM, but that was understandable, was it not?

 

[I Am Spam]

Ugh, I'm afraid I won't be entering this contest.

It has made me realize, however, that I REALLY need to learn JASS.

 

[Bobo_The_Kodo]

My contest spell, "Battle Fury"

 

[XieLong]

Here's my final spell, finaly And before the time is up ^^

 

[I Am Spam]

Here's my spell (it doesn't work), for what it's worth.

The intent was to create a spell that would cast a 'curse' on enemies in the targeted area. If a cursed unit died, its curse would 'jump' to another unit. It also refreshes duration and intensifies the curse on its linked brethren. Therefore, the curse could make its way through a whole army, decimating it. The only way to stop it would be for all the cursed units to avoid dying for a duration, letting it wear off. I thought the idea was pretty neat, but DAMN was it hard to implement!

 

[HINDYhat]

Ahh, I was away, eating.

This contest is now closed... as of March 9 00:00:00 GMT
~CLOSED~

Only submissions made prior to this post will be judged. Look at the first post for a more complete set of rules.

 

[I Am Spam]

Alright, some thoughts:

Lightning chain: clean, simple-to-use and a pretty neat concept. Seems to stretch the boundaries of the contest theme, but I still thoroughly approve of the job you did.

Mana Share: Neat if simple spell. It's not even close to multi-instancibility though, and your test map doesn't actually include a unit that can cast it (unless I missed something).

Hive Mind: Kind of hard to use, but very cool all the same. I wish duration was a little longer, so you could use it better in the test map.

Sonic Infection: Neat, if slightly simple effect and distinctly laggy map.

Unholy mirror link: Awesome concept, but the map doesn't even start - what gives?

Inner Strength: I don't think it does what you think it does... The test map, at any rate, doesn't seem to work in any designed way. Actually, upon looking at the triggers, I see how this is supposed to work. It's pretty neat, but your map doesn't display it very well.

Battle fury: I guess I see what you were trying to do here, but for whatever reason it never activated (at least not obviously) in the test map. Ah well... Strange.

Spell Inflection: Well, neat concept, but I don't see it working in the test map... Huh.

Now, note, it's possible that all this failure to work is something on my end. Maybe I'm not understanding your spells, or my WC3 copy is somehow corrupted, or some such thing. Those, however, are my earnest thoughts. Take or leave them as you please.

 

[Volvox]

In my test map, spellbreakers cast mana share. It is not meant to be mui, the user must think twice before sharing his mana to the global network. It is very good if you want to cast spells like heal really fast and with all units capable of casting it. However, spells that require larger amounts of mana can get disabled by using this because the average of the network becomes really low later on. I can only hope that my triggers are bugfree, i couldn't find any when i looked.

 

[BoneBreaker]

Unholy mirror link: Awesome concept, but the map doesn't even start - what gives?

Are you using the newest version of jassnewgen? If so, save the map TWICE then TEST it.

EDIT: If the map gets errors when you save it, you don't have the newest version.

 

[HINDYhat]

BoneBreaker's map works fine: I just tested it. It just requires JassNewGenPack, which he mentioned:

Requires jassnewgen to open. Uses grim001's Data System.

Please read up before saying something doesn't work.

 

[I Am Spam]

Ah, in the spellbreakers. I'll try that out.

As for requiring jassnewgen, I understand how that messes with my ability to open it in world editor, but why doesn't it work in Frozen Throne? I mean, is there any way this spell could be transferred to a Battle.net map?