Special effects on weird units

[Pender]

Hi,

Is there a way to attach a special effect to a unit that will work for all units? I have one unit with the graphics of the Reveal special effect (looks like a white globe with orbiting runes) and another with the graphics of an icy rock.

I want to attach permanent special effects to them, but I can't figure out how to do it. I've used abilities (like what makes the sphere orbit Kael in the TFT expansion campaign) and triggers (to attach a special effect directly to a unit) but neither seems to show up. Any idea what I'm doing wrong and how to do it right?

Is it a problem with the attachment points? I've tried overhead and origin, still to no avail.

Thanks!

 

[Hero]

Are you using a custom model to attach the effects to?

If you are does the models have attachment points?

If it is not a custom model I advise you read this

 

[Frozenwind]

It aren't models of units nor desctruteble, but of projectiles / spell effects.

There aren't attachment points attached to those models, you need to get a model editor and add attachment points yourself to let it work.

frozenwind.

 

[Hero]

It aren't models of units nor desctruteble, but of projectiles / spell effects.

There aren't attachment points attached to those models, you need to get a model editor and add attachment points yourself to let it work.

frozenwind.

And if you are willing to do this

You might want to use Mago's Model Edittor (I really don't know if you can add attachment points with this)

 

[Pender]

OK, so the consensus seems to be that it's a lack of attachment points that is the problem. Thanks all.

I use a mac, so I'm pretty sure none of the model editors will work for me.

One thought I have is that I could take my unit with the ice rock graphic and instead pick a normal unit model for it -- like a footman, say. Then I could find some way to make it invisible (tiny scaling, some sort of alpha value, I don't know, this is the part that I need help with). Then I could apply the original ice rock graphic to it as a special effect.

Any idea if this is possible? (I also need the unit to stay clickable.)

 

[Technomancer]

I'm sure the guys at TheHelper in the modelling section would have no trouble adding some attachment points for you if you just post up the models you want them added to.

 

[Pender]

Found out how to do this really well without editing models, for anyone who faces the same problem. Use any unit model -- a footman, for example. Use Animation - Vertex Shading to make the unit 99% transparent. This will make it effectively invisible. Then use a Special Effects trigger to add the primary unit appearance -- in my case, an icy rock -- to the Origin attachment point.

At this point, the unit looks the same as it would if it had the icy rock set to its base unit model, but now there are attachment points which you can use to add other effects as well -- in this case, the Wyrm icy contrail effect.

Two things to note: first, everything is more reliable if you put Wait 0.01 Seconds between Special Effects and Animation actions, such that no two execute simultaneously. And second, the unit's picture in the HUD may be strange. I don't know, I haven't looked.

But other than that, it works.