Tower Effects

[bluepuma38]

So I have my map where I need it AI and pathing wise, so now i'm beginning content creation - towers, builders, upgrades etc. Working with towers this morning, I tried making an ice tower but couldn't get anywhere =/ I did manage to blue screen my computer a few times trying though...

Just hoping someone who has already done a ice/fire tower might be able to give me some tips to get one working, so I can work off of that to finish the rest.

Thanks.

 

[Cheekything]

http://www.thehelper.net/forums/showthread.php?t=154671

Follow this (using something like the flame turret as a base) then you will want to change the model.

Also you will want to create a duplicate attack of your desired type.

 

[Flare]

What exactly are you looking for? "Ice tower" or "Fire tower" are, without any further description, very vague. Does the ice tower have an area-of-effect to its slowing attacks (I assume that's what you want from an ice tower), or is it single target? How is the fire tower supposed to work - would it be a ball of fire (splash, no splash?), a stream of fire similar to that of a Hellion/Firebat, or something else?

Aside from the above, some additional info would be nice - do you have a basic, functional weapon (without any special buffs/debuffs/whatever associated with the weapon) for either tower? If not, it might be a good idea to work with a pre-existing weapon (on a separate map, if you don't wish to disturb your map's settings) and apply your modifications there.

A single-target slow effect could be done by replacing the Impact Effect (which, by default, would be some sort of Damage effect) on your tower's weapon with a Set effect - this Set effect would then execute a Damage effect (to deal the damage, what else ) and an Apply Behavior effect, which would apply your (de)buff behaviour.

As regards doing it for an area-of-effect, you'd have to use a Search Area effect as the Impact Effect (rather than the Set effect outlined above) - this Search Area would then grab everything around the target unit and apply the Set effect described above so your linkage would end up as follows

Weapon's Effect - Impact
   |
   V
Search Area type effect - [B]required for AoE, not for single-target[/B]
   |
   V
Set type effect
   |
   V
Apply Behaviour type effect [B]AND[/B] Damage type effect
   |
   V
Buff type behavior (Modifications+ field set up to reduce movement speed)

I'm gonna play around with it myself for a while, and see what I can figure out and if any of what I said works correctly (you could add a bit of triggering into the mix to cut out the necessity for the intermediate Search Area and Set effects though)

EDIT: Hang on, I'm a tad confused now - are you looking to find out how to create the towers within the Data Editor, how to create their attacks, or both? o.o

 

[bluepuma38]

Sorry for vagueness, i'm creating multiple fire and ice towers so they will have single target and area effect attacks as necessary. I know how to make towers, but I'm just a bit confused on how to add effects to my damage attacks. I see options like "freeze" and "burn" but when selected, they don't seem to do anything. I'm going to try and copy the fire turret now and see if I can figure out what i'm missing.

 

[GooS]

Not even close to sure, but I think the options you are refering to only apply to death animation, as you would see a unit die from a collosus or planetary fortress in a burning flame.

 

[bluepuma38]

I figured out what I needed to do. I guess i was looking for some built in damage effects that they might have carried over from WC3 (i never played with that editor though) like adding a slow effect when an ice attack hit, or burning dot damage when a fire attack hit.

My solution was to just write triggers for them, so when my ice tower hits the enemy, it reduces it's movement speed for a time.

 

[bluepuma38]

A new question though, is there any reasonable way to change or tint the color of a model? Since i'm going to be making about 5 ice towers, i'm hoping I can tint some tower models blue to give them a more icy appearance. I'd also like to tint enemies hit by the ice attacks to blue for the duration they are slowed.

Thanks

 

[GooS]

Hope you made them MUI, so they can be used in a TD. Using Flare's example is exactly what you want.

Go to the Tower unit -> The weapon -> Effect = IceTowerMissileLaunch (Launch Projectile) -> Impact Effect = IceTowerSet (Set) -> Effects = IceTowerDamage (Damage) and IceTowerApplySlow (Apply Behavior)

Create a new behavior, IceTowerSlow, Modification+ -> Movement Tab -> Movement Speed Multiplier -> 0.7 (30% slow, 0.6 = 40% slow etc.), in the behavior there's also a duration field.

All these effects and behviors can also be found by basing the attack on the marauders punisher grenades.

 

[Flare]

A new question though, is there any reasonable way to change or tint the color of a model? Since i'm going to be making about 5 ice towers, i'm hoping I can tint some tower models blue to give them a more icy appearance. I'd also like to tint enemies hit by the ice attacks to blue for the duration they are slowed.

Thanks

For the towers, it should be doable with Actor Events

ActorCreation
+SetTintColour

As regards applying a blue tint to slowed targets, I haven't the slightest notion - you could add Actor Events for all your wave units which applies a tint, and a secondary Actor Event which returns the tint to normal. Then, you can make a trigger (using a Takes Damage event) which sends an Actor Message to the target unit (setting off the first colour change) and then sets a counter to SlowDuration[] - from there, simply decrease the variable index associated with that specific unit, and if SlowDuration[] reaches 0 for that particular unit, send another Actor Message to that unit, to trigger the reverting colour change.

I'll try and get a working example of what I mean sometime over the coming days (although, it may have to wait until Thursday)

 

[bluepuma38]

I'd be fine with setting up actors for each wave to change them blue and back, but you lost me a bit when talking about actor messages. There are a lot of different kinds of actors and I'm not seeing any tint color change properties in any of them. If you get time, a step by step would be great so I can get a sample one up and working.

I know how to do the unit getting damaged conditions and timers etc, but just a tutorial on creating the actor message would be perfect.

Thanks.

 

[Flare]

I'd be fine with setting up actors for each wave to change them blue and back, but you lost me a bit when talking about actor messages. There are a lot of different kinds of actors and I'm not seeing any tint color change properties in any of them. If you get time, a step by step would be great so I can get a sample one up and working.

I know how to do the unit getting damaged conditions and timers etc, but just a tutorial on creating the actor message would be perfect.

Thanks.

The SetTintColo(u)r is found within the Actor Events (field is specifically called Event - Events+ if I remember correctly)

As regards the Actor Messages, this tutorial gives a very brief description (under the Actor Basics section) - the Send Actor Message actions in the Trigger Editor, by my understanding, let you execute the Actor Events directly via triggers. Sadly, that's the only tutorial I've found from my very brief search. Starcraft@IncGamers might have some more but, right now, I'm absolutely knackered and need some sleep xD

The Actor Events are, IMO, quite a complex aspect of the Data Editor considering the sheer amount of Events and Actions at your disposal, but once you figure it out, that massive quantity of potential events and actions will give you an incredibly powerful tool so I'd recommend you dig through the Events, play around and do some testing, and see what you can figure out - it's pretty fun for applying graphical effects (and, at the moment, the only way I know of) to abilities and attacks