Detecting a spell critical

[Embrace_It]

I started making a spell critical detection system a while ago and after browsing through some forums/tuts and the like trying to understand how it more or less works, I started coding. However, I soon realized it was a bit more complicated than I assumed at the beginning.

Now I'm asking for ideas, links that'll help me!

My own ideas:

1. Based on the "normal" Damage Detection System (where units who enter the map add an event, where it takes damage, to another trigger), maybe you could somehow tell if the damage source was a spell and maybe if its AOE, unit target etc. This idea is probably not possible...

2. Simply adding a function to every single spell capable of doing a crit which checks if the casting unit has the "Spell Critical"-ability, does calculations and returns the result.

As always, thanks in advance

 

[Nexor]

the first idea is possible using orb effect based damage detection system.
you could check the AoE thing using a boolean condition:
set true when casting the ability, run dmg detection, at the end set to false

just search for it here

 

[BarzahdX]

Do you need to show the damage done? If yes, #1. If no, #2.

If I was in your position, I'd choose #2 regardless.

 

[averes]

In order to have a spell critical detection system your spells would need to be able to critical in the first place. I don't think WC3 spells can crit normally so you'd need to make yourself a custom spell system where the damage was dealt through triggers.

If you had that, you could make crits like the following. If a player casts a spell that should do some amount of damage then deal the damage to the unit, then random an integer to see if it crit, if it did, deal the damage again.

To detect this, whenever a unit takes damage you could store the damage on the unit, handle systems or custom value would work. Whenever a unit takes damage before you replace the value look at the previous value on the unit, if the values match you just got a crit.

Problems with this system? Theoretically you could do the same amount of damage twice in a row which would return as a crit. To fix this, you could make it so that every .1 seconds or something the value on unit would be reset.

EDIT: An easier way actually would be the store the damage that the spell would deal without a crit on the unit. Then check for the crit and deal the damage. If it crit the damage actually dealt to the unit should equal the value stored on the unit * 1+crit multiplier. This way gets rid of it doing two smaller damages twice and stops the issue with 2 consecutive attacks.

 

[eXirrah]

The type of Critical damage system I would have done is
Store every unit type that has the critical Strike spell in some array.
Store every unit's max dice in array(not necessary if the unit is not hero, in this case you store the max dmg of the unit)
then just make trigger a unit is damaged
Add all units the unit with critical strike attacks to the trigger.
When a unit takes damage and the damage dealer is a unit with critical strike.
Calculate the max damage of the unit unit that has critical strike, and if the damage deal to the attacked unit is bigger than the max dmg of the unit with critical strike - critical strike. If below than non-critical Strike
(note: by calculating the max dmg of the unit with critical strike I mean add the armor reduction of the other unit as well)

This system is not flawless ofc. If the unit that has critical strike can crit between it's min and max dmg ti will be possible to detect only the crits it did above it's max dmg.
For example if the unit has damage 1-5 and the crit multiplier is 3, then the critical damage this unit can do is 3-15, making it impossible to detect whenever the attacked unit got 3 dmg from normal attack or from critical strike.

 

[Embrace_It]

Very informative, thanks a lot. I'll keep on working then :thup:

 

[eXirrah]

Well I presume you can add another trigger that checks if the unit with crit start the effect of an ability or something like that and set it's custom value to some number
then in the trigger that checks the damage add condition the unit dealing damage's custom value is not equal to the value that you set when the unit casts an ability. and after the damage is done set the custom value of that unit to some other number.

EDIT: this is just an idea of how to check if the unit with critical strike does some spell dmg and not crits or something.