Zephyr Challenge #4 POLL

[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 distributes some of the damage they take across other Spirit Linked units.

As stated in the submissions thread, 50% of your spell's judging points will be given through a public poll. Despite the fact that you have followed the rules of spell submission, you must know that you cannot vote for yourself and if you vote in any way against the site rules, you WILL BE DISQUALIFIED from the contest.

Here are the nine participants along with their final submissions:

• I Am Spam's Bonds of Thanatos
• XieLong's Hive Mind
• Bobo_the_Kodo's Battle Fury
• Just_Spectating's Lightning Chain
• BoneBreaker's Unholy Mirror Link
• hvo-busterkomo's Sonic Infection
• xXMephistoXx's Inner Strength
• Volvox's Mana share
• Jazradel's Spell Inflection

PS: Please add detailed comments and/or reasons as to why you voted for a spell. This is not obligatory, but I'm sure all participants (and I, for that matter) would like your opinion and your constructive criticism.

EDIT: Bobo_the_Kodo forgot to update his post with a renamed version of his spell. I've replaced the obsolete line of code with a working one. You can download Bobo's spell attached to this post.

---

Judging Dates and Deadline

Each submission's points will be compiled 2 weeks from the end of Zephyr Challenge #4. Your vote must be in before the deadline.
The points will be given on

March 23 2008 0:00, GMT

 

[BoneBreaker]

Good luck to all contestants that are participating.

EDIT: My thoughts of your spells:

Lightning Chain:

Pros: Pretty good idea. Good Test Map.
Cons: I don't see it as a 'link', its more of a 'chain'. Also, it got bugged when I casted it for the second time, it wasn't dealing damage anymore. Done in GUI.

Hive Mind:

Pros: Very good idea. Done in JASS, follows the JESP standard. You spent alot of time perfecting it.
Cons: The script is very large, there are easier ways to the same thing that you did. The test map was laggy.

Battle Fury:

Pros: Done in vJASS. Good idea. Works well.
Cons: It's not really a link, its more of a 'roar'.

Inner Stregnth:

Pros: Pretty good for GUI.
Cons: Name of spell is already a Wc3 spell. Done in GUI.

Mana Share:

Pros: Good idea.
Cons: Used GUI, looks like a 10 minute job.

Sonic Infection:

Pros: Very advanced idea, a very good one. Good effects.
Cons: Very Minor Cons: Uses a generated global trigger variable. Major: Lags alot. Double free of location in Trig_Nova_Chance_Actions.

Spell Inflication:

Pros: Very good idea. Uses vJASS.
Cons: Did not work as said it would.

 

[I Am Spam]

Bonds not getting reviewed... well, I guess I understand why, heh.

I already gave my thoughts in the other topic.
As far as which I like best, it boils down to three stellar entries:

-Lightning Chain: For its wonderful concept and good execution (I didn't notice the repeated instances problem that Bonebreaker had, though I would like ot know if it works on two units simultaneously.,.. hmm, didn't check that) wins big points in my book. Thematically, it's kind of weak, unfortunately.

-Hive mind: Excellent concept backed up by superbly competent execution of technical work. I do declare, some stunning stuff here. However, it's not quite as easy-to-use for a player some other spells. That is, It doesn't naturally fit into the average made-for-B.net map.

-Unholy Mirror Link: Lousy name, brilliant spell. Not only is the concept useful and intriguing, it works flawlessly (when it finally works, that is). This spell is PURE BEAUTY, and I can hardly overstate that fact!

So, really, while I liked the first two, Unholy Mirror Link blew me away in both artistic and technical aspects. Thus, my vote goes to Bonebreaker.

 

[BoneBreaker]

Thanks =), the reason I didn't review bonds is because you said it didn't work. =P

 

[gedugg]

hektik

Bonds not getting reviewed... well, I guess I understand why, heh.

I already gave my thoughts in the other topic.
As far as which I like best, it boils down to three stellar entries:

-Lightning Chain: For its wonderful concept and good execution (I didn't notice the repeated instances problem that Bonebreaker had, though I would like ot know if it works on two units simultaneously.,.. hmm, didn't check that) wins big points in my book. Thematically, it's kind of weak, unfortunately.

-Hive mind: Excellent concept backed up by superbly competent execution of technical work. I do declare, some stunning stuff here. However, it's not quite as easy-to-use for a player some other spells. That is, It doesn't naturally fit into the average made-for-B.net map.

-Unholy Mirror Link: Lousy name, brilliant spell. Not only is the concept useful and intriguing, it works flawlessly (when it finally works, that is). This spell is PURE BEAUTY, and I can hardly overstate that fact!

So, really, while I liked the first two, Unholy Mirror Link blew me away in both artistic and technical aspects. Thus, my vote goes to Bonebreaker.

i agree entirely with you..."Unholy Mirror Link" was really awesome...good work Bonebreaker...keep at it XD

 

[HINDYhat]

*BUMP*

More reviews/votes pl0z?

 

[Pyritie]

I'll play these on the bus ride home after school. Then I'll review them.

 

[Volvox]

People don't seem to be interested in voting anymore...

 

[Pyritie]

Okay, a bunch of reviews. A few I couldn't play because they have vJass and JNG isn't working for me right now.

I don't really see how it "links" the units together, but meh. Also, when, for example, a grunt attacked, sometimes the blademaster image showed up. Is this a bug?

Uhh... what was it supposed to do? The tooltip was missing. Also it made a bunch of ugly text appear everywhere.

Nice and simple, although the lightning timer could've been a little shorter.

uhh... where's the spell?

 

[Volvox]

I grow tired of repeating this... Spellbreakers have the spell! Once again i advise you not to cast it on your heroes until their mana is below pool average, the reasons are clear i hope.

 

[Just_Spectating]

i wish i could see those Vjass things macs cant really do that.

 

[HINDYhat]

-.-' Just don't open the map in the World Editor then... open it up using a Wc3 custom game (if the spell makers adjusted player slots and stuff, it should work fine).

 

[Earth-Fury]

I Am Spam's Bonds of Thanatos
-20 points for GUI
-50 points for lack of polish
+2 points for cleaning leaks
-3 points for causing a "Double free" error.

XieLong's Hive Mind
-5 points for not using vJASS
+10 points for JESP
+10 points for a decent level of polish
-10 points for not really impressing or enthralling me at all.
-10 points for what I believe is not that good a spell concept.

Bobo_the_Kodo's Battle Fury
-10 points for having a lot of unrelated code to your submission alongside it
-20 points for using the custom script header
-30 points for not using librarys or scopes
-40 points for ... are you using 2 triggers for the same spell?!
+10 points for being a somewhat decent idea for a spell

Just_Spectating's Lightning Chain
-20 points for GUI
+15 points for a decent spell idea
-30 for a lack of MUI or even PUI...

BoneBreaker's Unholy Mirror Link
-10 points for no JESP
-10 points for having the dummy aura icon visible
-5 points for not using enough constant variables for easy configuration
+2000 points for a good spell idea
-2001 points for using my idea
+10 point for decent implementation
+5 points for polish

hvo-busterkomo's Sonic Infection
-5 points for no vJASS
-10 points for massive SFX spam
-20 points for causing "Double free" errors when a sonic wave happens
-10 points for no JESP
-10 points for no configuration
+1 point for not crashing WC3

xXMephistoXx's Inner Strength
-20 points for GUI
-10 points for a not too awesome spell idea
-10 points for a tooltip that size

Volvox's Mana share
-20 points for GUI
-50 points for a Divide by 0 error every second
-10 extra points for a divide by 0 error before the spell is even cast
-10 points for turning on a trigger which is on
-10 points for designing a spell which can cause my 800 mana spellbreaker to instantly loose 600 mana...

Jazradel's Spell Inflection
-10 points for vJASS yet no JESP...
-20 points for not telling people to remove an object merger line after the first save
+10 points for a decent spell idea

The Results
I'm going to vote for BoneBreaker. His spell is rather polished (In relativity to some of the others) and the idea is good. However, its not the best implementation on earth.

I hope you have all learned something from this contest! Maybe for the next spell contest, someone can score a 0 on my arbitrary scale of hate!

 

[Volvox]

Lol now i see i forgot to set that trigger to be initially off... I learned jass, next time i'll do better.

 

[xXMephistoXx]

This time, I didn't credit the coding and leaksso much, rather the idea of the spell. Therefore I voted for I Am Spam's spell. The spell may wipe out entire armies if used strategically, but it may be for no use at all!

 

[Bobo_The_Kodo]

bobo the kodo - battle fury
I don't really see how it "links" the units together, but meh. Also, when, for example, a grunt attacked, sometimes the blademaster image showed up. Is this a bug?

It has a chance of creating an image of each of the other units per attack.

That's why the blademaster image showed up, and how they are linked.

 

[Jazradel]

BoneBreaker: What do you mean Spell Inflection didn't work as it said it should?

Earth-Fury:

-10 points for vJASS yet no JESP..

How are the two related, and how isn't is JESP?

-20 points for not telling people to remove an object merger line after the first save

You don't have to?

 

[HINDYhat]

I have started to judge the entries and have to say that I'm quite disappointed concerning the coding category, for the few submissions I've already judged! Even though aspect and originality are both important factors in making a good spell, coding is another VERY important factor: people don't like spells that lag your computer to death or cause gamebreaking bugs.

Anyway, MOAR ACTIVITY IN DIS THRED!!!11

 

[kingofJasons]

Sure coding is important, sure polish is important, sure efficiency is important. However, I (and im sure many others) base my decision on if I would ever want to import the judged spell in my map.

Leaks/coding problems I can clean up myself, therefore I don't mind if there is a little in some spells, it is honestly not a big deal, I look for spells that I would bother to implement in my maps.

That being said I vote for Bobo's "Battle Fury" as it is the only spell here I could ever see myself taking the time to manipulate/implement.

 

[Earth-Fury]

Sure coding is important, sure polish is important, sure efficiency is important. However, I (and im sure many others) base my decision on if I would ever want to import the judged spell in my map.

Leaks/coding problems I can clean up myself, therefore I don't mind if there is a little in some spells, it is honestly not a big deal, I look for spells that I would bother to implement in my maps.

That being said I vote for Bobo's "Battle Fury" as it is the only spell here I could ever see myself taking the time to manipulate/implement.

The problem with thinking like that while voting is that this is a spell contest, not a spell concept contest. Its about who can make the best spell, not just the best spell concept.

 

[Just_Spectating]

that doesnt make special effects all the points. not that im saying anything

 

[BoneBreaker]

Jazradel, the units were linked, but when I cast a unit on a linked unit, it didn't do what was stated.

 

[Jazradel]

Jazradel, the units were linked, but when I cast a unit on a linked unit, it didn't do what was stated.

As in didn't cast it at all, it cast it twice, it cast it on half the units?

 

[HINDYhat]

BUMP

The submissions judging is done... but WE NEED MOAR VOTERS! The contest ends this Sunday, for god's sake!

 

[BoneBreaker]

As in didn't cast it at all, it cast it twice, it cast it on half the units?

I meant that the units got linked, and when I cast Storm Bolt on a linked unit, it didn't do anything...

 

[burnedevil]

Why there aint even descriptions in spells? I think they should have and some pics too. Im too lazy to dl all the spells if they dont seem promising. So not gona vote for this competition...

 

[HINDYhat]

The poll ends now! Any further votes will be disqualified.

Results will be posted shortly.

EDIT: Here are the final results!

First place goes to : BoneBreaker with his Unholy Mirror Link (57.5%)
Second place goes to : Jazradel with his Spell Inflection (47.5%)
Third place goes to : XieLong with his Hive Mind (45.6%)​

Each winning participant will receive their allocated prize shortly. Here's a detailed list of all participants and judging!

On behalf of the staff, thank you for participating in Zephyr Contest #4, and happy modding!​

Bobo_the_Kodo

Battle Fury - 45%​

​

• POLL VOTES -4/16
• Overall Aspect - 11/15:
  • In concept, it would fit nicely in a Wc3 map. The ability isn't overpowered, although it's lacking in some aspects like visuals and polish.
• Coding - 6/10:
  • I'M LOST. lrn2add implementation tutorial, and STRUCTURE YOUR CODE LIBRARIES!!!
  • Redundant nulling of some variables.
  • Some handles aren't flushed.
  • Some rawcodes are hardcoded.
  • UnitData's are never destroyed!!
  • Multiple returned values that are equivalent should be saved in a temporary variable instead of calling twice!!
  • Unused locals.
• Originality - 4/5:
  • Not such a great idea, but I haven't seen it done before.
• Visuals - 3/5:
  • Really nothing special about the visuals. Just a bunch of alpha'd units playing their attack animation.
• Polish - 2/5:
  • The tooltip doesn't even say what changes happen per level, nor does it actually explain on which event the ability happens...

BoneBreaker

Unholy Mirror Link - 57.5%​

​

• POLL VOTES - 6/16
• Overall Aspect - 12/15:
  • I liked the idea of the spell and think it would fit nicely in a wc3 universe, although balance is questionable (cooldown VS spell duration).
• Coding - 8/10:
  • Why are you calling GetTriggerUnit() tons of times in the Actions function..?
  • You never remove the attached triggeraction. These triggeractions leak if not removed. Instead you could've attaced aswell, or used a triggercondition which cleans itself up upon trigger destruction.
  • Hardcoded dummy ability ('A001')
  • Dead units aren't even removed from the illusions group.
• Originality - 3/5:
  • I loved the idea, although it's not the best 'link' representation ever. And it isn't even your idea after all, it was Earth-Fury's.
• Visuals - 5/5:
  • The visuals were well balanced.
• Polish - 3/5:
  • What happens per level? And where's the implementation tutorial?

I Am Spam

Bonds of Thanatos - 15.6%​

​

• POLL VOTES - 1/16
• Overall Aspect - 4/15:
  • The concept fails, the spell doesn't work, and the whole structure is messy. Good effort though..
• Coding - 4/10:
  • Lots of messy coding, inefficient, leaks.
  • Oh my... group leaks!!
  • You have 4 triggers for ONE spell, not counting the other random stuff you included in the map.
  • Ineffective use of dummy units.
• Originality - 1/5:
  • Is there anything original in this? It's basically like an expanded and non-working version of blizzard.
• Visuals -0/5:
  • ... Are there any?
• Polish - 1/5:
  • The tooltip doesn't even say the correct thing, and what's up with the debugging messages everywhere? This also lacks an implementation tutorial.

Jazradel

Spell Inflection - 47.5%​

​

• POLL VOTES - 2/16
• Overall Aspect - 14/15:
  • Good idea, although seems kind of difficult to use in Warcraft III. Visuals really didn't complement the spell, but the concept was good.
• Coding - 9/10:
  • Pretty good coding. 9 because nobody's perfect, and the code leaks just a bit.
  • RemoveCaster leaks in events.
• Originality - 5/5:
  • Great idea, I haven't heard of anything like it before.
• Visuals - 2/5:
  • Extremely lacking in visual effects...
• Polish - 4/5:
  • The tooltip is informative, although it would be nice if you mentioned that cooldown was faster after each level.

Just_Spectating

Lightning Chain - 33.8%​

​

• POLL VOTES - 0/16
• Overall Aspect - 13/15:
  • Cool idea, pretty balanced, and quite useful in a Warcraft III scenario.
• Coding - 5/10:
  • This code fails. It's not even MPI and leaks everywhere.
  • This spell is not MUI nor MPI...
  • Leaks tons of locations.
• Originality - 4/5:
  • Cool idea with the chain damaging, kind of like a tripwire.
• Visuals - 2/5:
  • Nice try with the lightnings, but 0.2 seconds as a refresh rate is not enough. It looks very blocky.
• Polish - 3/5:
  • The tooltip is informative enough, although the "per second" part is kind of misleading. Also, where's the implementation tutorial?

Volvox

Mana share - 28.1%​

​

• POLL VOTES - 1/16
• Overall Aspect - 8/15:
  • Not very balanced, as it pretty much kills all good casters. I wouldn't like this ability in a scenario.
• Coding - 4/10:
  • Bad coding and leaks alot (2 groups per second).
  • Leaks groups periodically... that's not good.
  • Why are you use integers for mana when mana is naturally a real number?
  • Tons of divide by zero errors caused by Mana distribution being left on a map initialization.
  • Your averaging math is extremely bad.
• Originality - 3/5:
  • There's nothing special about this idea.. it's just a mana pool.
• Visuals - 3/5:
  • Nothing special here again.
• Polish - 2/5:
  • The tooltip has spelling errors. There also is no hightlited hotkey, but at least there's a small implementation tutorial.

xXMephistoXx

Inner Strength - 26.3%​

​

• POLL VOTES - 0/16
• Overall Aspect - 7/15:
  • In a Warcraft III scenario, this spell wouldn't be effective at all. I wouldn't like seeing 30 timer windows above my screen and my units randomly facing other units and casting gigantic effects on them.
• Coding - 4/10:
  • Bad coding and leaks alot.
  • 6 triggers for one ability?...
  • Hardcoded level upgrades.
  • Leaks alot of groups.
  • That dummy unit is never removed.
• Originality - 3/5:
  • Nothing too original with this spell. The idea wasn't impressive, and didn't follow the 'link' theme so well.
• Visuals - 3/5:
  • The visuals are okay, not great, but some of the effects are excessive.
• Polish - 4/5:
  • At least your tooltip is well described... maybe too well described. That's a longggggg tooltip. Try cutting down some of the useless stuff.

XieLong

Hive Mind - 45.6%​

​

• POLL VOTES - 1/16
• Overall Aspect - 13/15:
  • It's an okay spell that would fit well in a Warcraft III scenario, quite balanced and interesting if you mix up enemy and allied units in your link.
• Coding - 9/10:
  • Good coding, but don't you think it's kind of... alot?
  • Don't use handle vars + lightnings. If you've ever tried getting a lightning's handle ID, you'd understand what I mean.
  • A couple of null leaks laying around in that heap of code.
  • Stops working after two casters cast Hive Mind on the same units.
• Originality - 3/5:
  • Nothing too original with this spell. The idea wasn't impressive, and didn't follow the 'link' theme so well.
• Visuals - 4/5:
  • Okay visuals. Nothing spectacular and it wasn't excessive.
• Polish - 5/5:
  • Great polish. JESP + Implementation + Good tooltip = 5/5

hvo-busterkomo

Hive Mind - 36.9%​

​

• POLL VOTES - 1/16
• Overall Aspect - 12/15:
  • Not such a great spell. It's too excessive to be good in a Warcraft III scenario. Nonetheless, it's still useable..
• Coding - 6/10:
  • Not a good code. Leaky and inefficient.
  • Redundant function calling.
  • Hardcoded rawcodes.
  • Leaks in groups and locations.
  • Use timers instead of TriggerSleepAction. With time, in multiplayer, TriggerSleepAction will get slow and inaccurate.
• Originality - 3/5:
  • Not much of a great idea, and the connection to the link theme isn't so great.
• Visuals - 2/5:
  • Extremely excessive for the sonic nova.
• Polish - 4/5:
  • There is no implementation tutorial, but the triggers are well organized and the tooltip is well described.

 

[I Am Spam]

Dang, last place! I mean, I know it didn't work, but that's still harsh.

Edit: Well, maybe it's not specifically harsh since it didn't work, but I take issue with your statement that there's a derth of originality.

 

[HINDYhat]

Definitely lacking in the originality aspect. "It's basically like an expanded and non-working version of blizzard."

 

[Jazradel]

Hmm I guess I should have cared about effects after all.

Still, I'm happy with second place.

 

[I Am Spam]

HINDYthat, You don't seem to understand the intended effect.

Whatever, it doesn't really matter

 

[~Void~]

The winner got 57%... 0.o

 

[PurplePoot]

The winner got 57%... 0.o

Contest scores are not out of 100% in the same sense (Since every point you get in the poll, someone else loses).

Anyways, moved to poll archive since this is very dead.