Dummy Unit

[wml]

Ok, I dont quite understand this whole dummy unit thing. I read in a topic, I forgot which one but it was from dark echo I guess, and he said something about a skill that puts an AOE selection to sleep, and ryoko said you would need a AOE spell and a dummy unit to cast sleep on all the units in the facinity, and I figured if I figured out how this is possible it would let me expand ont he amount of abilities I can come up with. So please, explain this to me

 

[SD_Ryoko]

You make a dummy unit, and a dummy ability.

DUMMY ABILITY:
A new custom ability based on the effect you want, with the art you want, with ZERO mana cost and cooldown time.

DUMMY UNIT:

The base unit doesn't matter too much. I use a seal.
-Delete all existing abilities, if any
-Change the model to NONE
-Change shadow to NONE
-Change the pathing to NONE.
-Add the 'Locust ability' so it can't be selected.
-Change the collision size to zero.
-Change the attacks enabled to NONE.

Now give the dummy unit the dummy ability.

When the time comes, create the dummy ability on the map near the commotion, and order the dummy unit to cast the ability, or multiple times if you like. Then remove the dummy unit from the game.

 

[wml]

Could you give an example of the trigger to create and remove the dummy unit when the spell starts then when his job is done? I mean like where you cast a spell, it does what it does and when thats done its destroyed? I dont know how you would spawn a unit in the AOE region that you selected, or one where a spell you choose to cast on a unit to get the dummy to cast it on that unit and only that unit... Sorry for all the trouble just I dont know how that would work.

 

[wml]

Bump....I realy would like to know.

 

[SD_Ryoko]

I did mine in JASS so I don't know if it will help you much.

 

[wml]

Well, I dont realy understand what you mean, but if someone could explain to me how to get a dummy unit to cast on a specificly chosen unit, or units in a AOE circle would be great...Because I would REALY like to know.

 

[XXXconanXXX]

You'd order to it to cast the abiltiy to the unit you want to in the event. Ok so let's say your event is "Unit - A unit casts an ability" then you would make the dummy unit attack the (Target unit of abiltiy being cast). Do you get what I'm saying?

 

[wml]

So what I want is...

event
unit casts ability

condition
ability = what ever ability you want it to do something special with

action
-summon unit with the custom ability....no cool down if you use a AOE cursor like with monsoon
-Cast ___ on selected units


Or would I split that into another trigger?

 

[ThySpektre]

I think the dummy unit idea does not work well outside of JASS. There is no way to keep the abilities threadsafe.

ThySpektre

 

[salempc]

I believ you could do a triggerlike this:

Event:
A unit casts an ability
Conditions:
Ability being cast equals to (Ability you choose)
Actions:
Unit Summon (Dummy Unit)

Now the Dummy unit should have the ability and if for example you want it to cast someone that will affect a lot of targets in AOE then give it an autocast type.

There was a thread about autocast charm not long ago, better search for it

 

[ThySpektre]

I wasn't very clear as to what I meant by "threadsafe".

At the end of the Dummy unit tutorial above, the last step is to remove the dummy unit you created. I don't think there is a reliable way to do this if you have multiple dummy units being cast (if one is created while you are still casting a previous spell for example).

ThySpektre

 

[Sargon]

You really have to use local variables to make any triggered spell thread-safe (unless the trigger is absurdly simple). So yeah, you're correct about requiring JASS.

 

[ThySpektre]

Sargon,

Could you point me to a good JASS manual/tutorial. I have been looking at:
http://jass.sourceforge.net/doc/ , but I do not see much in the way of built in functions that I typically see in custom scripts.

For example, the hero revival trigger I am using (based on the tutoral to the left over there) uses many functions such as GetDyingUnit(), GetHeroLevel(), etc. Do you know of anywhere that documents these functions? PolledWait() looks very interesting.

ThySpektre

 

[Sargon]

I have no idea. All I know is vague stuff like "you need local variables for triggered spells to be thread-safe." Sorry.

Don't worry though, there are plenty of people here who can answer that.

 

[Prometheus]

i did this for my map

E: unit begins casting an ablility
C: ablility being cast = to (searing light)
A: set c_unit = casting unit
unit create 1 Dummy Unit for (owner of casting unit) at (c_unit)
set d_unit = last created unit
order d_unit to xxxx-slow target unit of ablility being cast
wait 2 seconds
remove d_unit
set c_unit = no unit
set d_unit = no unit


~WM

 

[phyrex1an]

You may want to read this thread: http://www.thehelper.net/forums/showthread.php?t=19406

ThySpektre: If you look at this sites tutorial section you will find a jass tutorial. If you want to look on how the functions works click here

 

[ThySpektre]

kc102, and other map makers....

Your method wrks well if only one unit can cast an ability at a time. It may even work relatively well with multiple units if the time it takes to complete the ability is short.

However if the ability is long or even occasionally when it is short you run the risk of the variable d_unit getting overwritten by the second caster.

Do you see the 2 second wait. Assume one caster starts the ability, followed 1 second later by another. Before the 1st caster is done, d_unit gets overwritten by the second caster.

This will definately result in the 1st caster never getting removed, and may cause the 2nd spell to fail.

ThySpektre

 

[Heptameron]

Sargon,

Could you point me to a good JASS manual/tutorial. I have been looking at:
http://jass.sourceforge.net/doc/ , but I do not see much in the way of built in functions that I typically see in custom scripts.

For example, the hero revival trigger I am using (based on the tutoral to the left over there) uses many functions such as GetDyingUnit(), GetHeroLevel(), etc. Do you know of anywhere that documents these functions? PolledWait() looks very interesting.

ThySpektre

There's no documentation, per se, but all the "native" functions (that are called by every other function) can be found here. That's GetDyingUnit, GetHeroLevel, etc.

PolledWait and co. can be found here. You can actually see the source code for these.

And you can make simple dummy caster triggers thread-safe if you just add expiration timers instead of using waits.

 

[dArKzEr0]

kc102, and other map makers....

Your method wrks well if only one unit can cast an ability at a time. It may even work relatively well with multiple units if the time it takes to complete the ability is short.

However if the ability is long or even occasionally when it is short you run the risk of the variable d_unit getting overwritten by the second caster.

Do you see the 2 second wait. Assume one caster starts the ability, followed 1 second later by another. Before the 1st caster is done, d_unit gets overwritten by the second caster.

This will definately result in the 1st caster never getting removed, and may cause the 2nd spell to fail.

ThySpektre

Can't you just say:

Actions:
- Create unit blah blah blah
- Add (x second) generic expiration timer to last created unit

What are the chances another unit will be created in the less-than-nanosecond it takes for the trigger to execute the next line?

(I'm asking, not explaining)

dArKz

 

[AceHart]

> What are the chances another unit will be created in the less-than-nanosecond it takes for the trigger to execute the next line?

And you can make simple dummy caster triggers thread-safe if you just add expiration timers instead of using waits.

So, none, basically...
Besides, triggers that don't "wait" definitely tend to finish their actions before running again.