Other Experimental Creep Revival System

[Accname]

About this project:
This is a new kind of creep revive system developed by me. Actually the idea just came in my mind when i was bored and walked home from school but i think i like it.

why am i posting it here as a members project and not in the resource forum? because this is, as said in the title, still experimental and definitly not finished.

now let show you some information:

What is a creep revival system?
well a creep revival system (not an official name) is a system used to revive creeps or units some time after they got killed. i think the most important use for them is in RPG's as mobs but they can also be used in siege style maps or tower defences.

What is different in this system?
my system is entirely useable without the need of any triggers/scripts.
pure use of object editor data. However some kinds of triggers will be providden by me for more possibilitys when used.

what do i need for this system to run in my map?
You will need 2 dummy units and several (depending on the amount of different creep types) custom abilitys.

This sounds strange Oo ...How is it working?
well this is the most interesting part. listen (or rather read) carefully.
the most important in this system is, that its not using triggers for revival of creeps but a dummy unit and custom abilitys.
you create a dummy structure (copy and paste a human farm for example) at first. you make it entirely invisible and invulnerable (remove model, shadow, pathing map, minimap appearance, etc) and place this dummy unit everywhere on your map where you want creeps to spawn/respawn.
now you go to the ability editor and search for the ability create corpses (i dont have an english version of warcraft, i hope the name is right) raw code Agyd. copy paste this ability and change following data:
*cooldown = 0.01
*range of corpses = 1.00
*max amount of corpses = 1
*Graphic - Special = _
*Corpse unit-type = (some dummy unit without model. NO LOCUST!!!)
that was the first custom ability. (maybe you already got what i gonna do next xD)
the next custom ability is again one of the undeads. search for Undead -> Hero -> Scarabs with the rawcode AUcb. copy paste this ability as well and make it and uncheck the "is hero ability" data.
if you still dont got it. this ability is spawning scarabs at the position of nearby corpses. in this case we wont spawn scarabs, no, we will use these to create our own creeps.
how you set the data of this ability is up to you, i will explain on certain fields later on.
add both abilitys to our custom structure dummy created at the very beginning.

so what exactly do i need?
*only 1 dummy unit to spawn the units
*1 dummy unit as a summoned corpse (invisible of course)
*1 ability to summon those dummy units corpses (Agyd)
*1 ability to summon (revive) our creeps (AUcb)

what are the vantages of this system compared to others?
*its noob friendly because there is no need of triggers/scripts. only object editor editing.
*it is easyly customizeable.
*it cannot leak no matter how dumb you are.
*no variables needed

and what are its cons?
*the need of those 2 dummy units
*the need of dummy abilitys
*the fact that the summoned corpses may glitch with raise dead abilitys of players
*to use the system for neutral hostile creeps (contrary to creeps by a computer player 1-12) you will need a little bit of triggering
*respawned creeps are treathen as summoned therefor taking damage by banish >_<

how can i customate this system?
you have high potential of possibilitys to customize the creep revival. you can change many factors just by setting some object editor data. i ll give some examples:
*you can set the max amount of creeps to summon (scarab ability AUcb)
*you can set how many creeps spawn at once (scarab ability AUcb)
*you can set how fast creeps can be summoned after each other (cooldown scarab ability AUcb)
*you can set up to 2 different types of creeps per spawning dummy (to spawn more then 2 different creep types at one place you just place several dummys)
*you can use the mana of the dummy and mana cost of the skill to limit the amount of respawns a creep can do (set the mana cost of the skill to 1.00 and the dummys mana to 50 and mana regeneration to 0.00 and the creep can only revive 50 times.)
*you can furthermore change the respawn time with mana + mana regeneration + mana cost

you said something about triggers to advance this system didnt you?
yeah! using very simple (or maybe even complex) triggers/scripts you can manipulate this system even more. for example you can:
*activate/deactivate creep spawning by adding/removing the ability of the dummy
*activate/deactivate the spawning for ALL creeps of the same type by deactivating the spawn ability for a player
*change respawn time by manipulating the dummys mana (in case you use the mana and not the cooldown as respawn timer)
*you can set many different levels of the respawn ability (scarab AUcb) and increase/decrease the abilitys level for the dummy via triggers. this way you can change the max amount of creeps summoned, creep type, and much more...
*you can pick all respawned (not preplaced) creeps by picking all units with the "scarab" buff (you might want to create a custom buff based on scarab so it wont glitch with real scarabs)
*you can do various other things i just cant get in mind right now... maybe i ll write them down someday

will i need another dummy structure for each creep type?
no.
of course you can have another dummy structure for each creep type and create a dummy ability for each as well you can also use triggers (aha again triggers, didnt i say you wont need them? argh dont mind) to add the specific abilitys to the different dummy structures. i ll explain it with some demo map.

you got some demo map or screenshots for this?
no screenshots sorry (would be pretty retarded for a respawn system wouldnt it?) but i got a demo map attached to this post where, at least, some features are used.

do i need to give credits if i gonna use it in my map?
nope. actually i dont see this system being even worth mentioned in credits.

i still got questions on how something works...
i ll answer ALL questions with pleasure and try hard to explain it the best i can (as you might already have noticed english is not my mother tongue making some things hard for me to express)
just post all your questions/suggestions/ideas in here and i ll answer as far as possible for me. most probably i ll post this system someday in the resource/turtorial forum.

why am i posting it here anyways?
i want to have some feedback and advice by you the helpful members of TheHelper.net about this my new idea. please dont hasitate to give criticism.

what will i do about this thread in future?
well i think i ll upload a better demo map because the one providen right now just shows the basics without any comments nor details.
but right now i havent got the time needed to do so.


thats it, i hope this little FAQ covers the most important points. try the demo map to see it in action and post post post as much as possible.

again please give feedback on the system! (and maybe even this post)
i wont work this over and post a turtorial in the resource/turtorial sub forum if i wont get any replies to this topic... (yeah its sad, i know)


greetings.
Accname.

 

[the_ideal]

It's a cool idea, but it's a lot of work because you have to create an ability for each creep type you have.

My personal favorite revive system is the one that, on Map Init, stores the position of each unit and each unit type into arrays, then when any unit dies, resurrects the same unit type at the given position.

 

[Furby]

Sounds too complicated for Revival System. Oo'

My personal favorite revive system is the one that, on Map Init, stores the position of each unit and each unit type into arrays, then when any unit dies, resurrects the same unit type at the given position.

I made one like that. You don't even have to save any units to variables manually.. not even set some configuration.. just place creeps on map.. import this system and start map.. it will respawn each camp when all units of it are dead..

Here's link: Creep Revival System :thup:

 

[Accname]

thank you for your feedback but i think you are missing the point furby.

of course i know how other revival systems are working and it is no difficulty for me to make one of those myself.
what i was trying to do here was to create a revival system which is highly customizeable and easy to use even by newbies who dont get Jass nor much of GUI.

I understand why you might think this is a little bit too much work for some simple creep revival system but you have to keep in mind that there are mappers out there who dont want to use codes they dont understand.

for example, what would happen if a newcommer to warcraft III mapping would use your system and thence decide to use player 12 (brown) as the owner of creeps and not neutral hostile? he would have to alter the code which he/she doesnt get.
using this my system he would just change the ownership of the revival dummys without having any trouble.

i will wait for some more comments (if there will come any) and maybe think about whether this might be shortened anyhow.

thank you for your time and feedback.
Accname.

 

[Accname]

-->Bump<--

seems as if this aint that interesting huh?

 

[Xienoph]

Well, the 3rd and the 5th cons are pretty big turn off for me. But good idea :thup:.

 

[Accname]

Point 3 and 5 of the cons can easily be fixed if needed.

you can simply add in some unit classifications and allowed targets to the regarding abilitys.

How to fix Con No 3?
This is just an example, you can use different classifications if needed!
Take the "dummy" unit used as a corpse. Add invulnerability (rawcode "Avul") to its abilitys.
Now change the "spawn monster" ability based on the Scarab ability and change the allowed targets to "Dead, Invulnerable".

Now abilitys like "raise dead" of necromancers, deathknights and such will, most likely, not target our dummy corpses anymore.
I suppose those abilitys do not target invulnerable units in your game because invulnerable units tend to stay alive instead of dying.

How to fix Con No 5?
This is just an example, you can use different classifications if needed!
You can change each creeps classification to something like "ancient" or "sapper" and the targets allowed for abilitys like banish to "non-ancient" or "non-sapper" or whatever you like.
This way your usual creeps wont take damage by banish abilitys.

If you really want i can add those features in another demo map but i think its quite easy to get the point of the fixes.

 

[Accname]

-->Bump<--

Ok, ok i got it...
This aint your favorite topic.

 

[Zack1996]

I have a tiny question about this, what if your Creep Camp has several types of creeps, like 2 Forest Trolls and a Ogre Warrior. Do you create 2 dummy units or do you give 2 of the Beetle skill to the dummy unit?

If you create 2 dummies, it would result in more dummies required and possibly other bugs. If you use the second way, I think the two abilities' ID will override and cause bugs, like casting the first one even though there are already the limit of creeps.

Its a good idea, really, and I know you put a lot of effort into this. The only thing is that there are certain loopholes that should be addressed first.

 

[Accname]

this is a good question, i am sorry for missing it.

well, of course you can go the way you posted above by creating 2 dummys with different spawn abilitys.

another possibility is the way i did it in the demo map where 2 melee and 1 ranged gnoll units are spawned. its set in the ability.
the con of this way is, that all same at once. it wouldnt work for creeps with different respawn timings.

but theres another way with some triggering.
you can give various levels to the spawn ability which will all spawn different monster types.
now each time this ability is used you increase/decrease/set the level of the ability to the one which will summon the monster type you wanna have next.

maybe this is a little hard to understand, if you dont, i ll make another demo map with some more features and upload it here.