Enthusiasm with SC II mapmaking

[Doomhammer]

It's been some time, I've finally grown up and such, and well, looking back to this awesome forum after half a year (I haven't been gaming much neither dealt with map-making at all), I'd kind of like to get some impressions of how well of a reception the Galaxy editor is getting amongst mapmakers here.

My personal issues are/were
- scripting has been hindered compared to WE, instead of facilitated
- the Galaxy GUI is somewhat counter-intuitive compared to WE
- you have to be online to edit
- Blizzard is claiming intellectual property on anything you make :thdown: (corporate bastards! )

Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed playing the SC2 campaign; it was a pleasant journey, though not as much of an extraordinary one as I had expected; the multiplayer is well-done and well-balanced; yet I couldn't quite understand the hype made around SC II - maybe I've just grown out of the role of being a marketing-victim.

One of Blizzards big promises with SC II was boosting the map-making community. Now, half a year after release, would be a good point in time to take stock. Summing up, what's your feel about SC II mapmaking? Is it bigger and better than the days of WC3 mapmaking yet?

 

[Ioannes]

It's been some time, I've finally grown up and such, and well, looking back to this awesome forum after half a year (I haven't been gaming much neither dealt with map-making at all), I'd kind of like to get some impressions of how well of a reception the Galaxy editor is getting amongst mapmakers here.

- the Galaxy GUI is somewhat counter-intuitive compared to WE

Works fine for me, after you get the basics of navigating around the data editor.

- you have to be online to edit

No, you don't.

- Blizzard is claiming intellectual property on anything you make :thdown: (corporate bastards! )

Which means nothing has changed since WC3.

2 early to talk about mapmaking. Most of the people who make maps are the ones with solid programming skills and we are yet to see the regular player getting into the editor. Tutorials are yet to be made.


My only problem is the publishing system and the game lobby. The publishing system makes it time-consuming to test my map and any small change I have made. The game lobby is different from that of TFT. In TFT you could fix player settings and in the lobby you could navigate between player colors. In SC2 you can't and I am yet to find a way to play as different players in the team when testing.

Which is why I'm not bothering with any big projects for now.

 

[Doomhammer]

Thanks for your opinion, Ioannes.

No, you don't.

My Galaxy Editor bothered me about being offline. But maybe there's a secret switch or sth.

Which means nothing has changed since WC3.

I can't remember reading THAT in the WC3/TFT EULA. If so, Blizzard would have any reason to sue some of the companies that made a proper game out of popular WC3 mods.

2 early to talk about mapmaking. Most of the people who make maps are the ones with solid programming skills and we are yet to see the regular player getting into the editor. Tutorials are yet to be made.

It's prolly too early, given the WC3 map community started to flourish about after all the new features with the TFT mission pack were introduced. Though I don't agree on the most map makers equally being programming wizzes. It's a rather small percentage.

 

[Dave312]

My Galaxy Editor bothered me about being offline. But maybe there's a secret switch or sth.

You are required to authenticate the editor in order to use. Once authenticated, you should be able to use it without being online. I think you are also required to re-authenticate once a month or so.

It's prolly too early, given the WC3 map community started to flourish about after all the new features with the TFT mission pack were introduced. Though I don't agree on the most map makers equally being programming wizzes. It's a rather small percentage.

The SC2 Editor is just a lot more complicated. It has taken people a lot longer to work out how to do simple things. As such, this is discouraging most mappers from using it. However there are quite a few tutorials around, just not many on this site.

 

[13lade619]

well, it's barely a year.

It took Wc3 8 to get to this point of being 'advanced' enough to overcome its earlier limitations and to be easier to mod.

 

[Bloodcount]

The Wc3 editor was shit until TFT came out. Enjoy melee, when the time comes we will map, for now, chillax. =]

 

[Doomhammer]

Sounds like a solid résumé.

 

[Vestras]

And don't worry about scripting -- people are working on it, both editors and languages.

 

[Sevion]

Personally, I gave up on SC2 modding. Until something spectacular happens. I still probably won't be interested in it.

I've moved in to "real" game development.

 

[Ioannes]

The Wc3 editor was shit until TFT came out. Enjoy melee, when the time comes we will map, for now, chillax. =]

When would that time be, by the way?

 

[Doomhammer]

And don't worry about scripting -- people are working on it, both editors and languages.

After all the hype they made about it, I actually expected Blizz to make the Galaxy Editor ready for custom script as it comes, instead of having some mapmaker/programmers implement it in their free time.

 

[Sevion]

I agree. They got everyone all excited about the "C-like scripting language" only to shut us all down and fuck us over with their "superior GUI".

 

[Gwypaas]

I agree. They got everyone all excited about the "C-like scripting language" only to shut us all down and fuck us over with their "superior GUI".

The best part about Galaxy is that it's even worse than JASS2 ever was. That's what's amusing me the most, 8 years of development in the game industry and the language for the modders is worse than the previous iteration of the "game" if you can call it that, atleast I would have hoped that they actually had taken say JASS and implemented the features they saw us force down upon it with different mods instead of starting over and then making it even more limited.

 

[Bloodcount]

>When would that time be, by the way?

Honestly, most likely never. I doubt that I will be arround in SCII once DIII comes out. Don't get me wrong, every second of SCII is a fucking blast, but I have a thing for diablo (first game I played)

Still, I have plans for SCII that will be made somewhere in time. x)

 

[tommerbob]

I just got into the SC2 World editor a couple days ago. Maybe its just because I'm a GUI'er and not Jass, but I'm pretty pleased so far. It's A LOT more complicated than the WC3 WE, and it will likely take longer to learn stuff, but so far, I'm satisfied, and excited to keep going.