World Editor to Galaxy Editor +rep for real help

[GFreak45]

Hi i am going to be making the switch from world editor to galaxy editor this month some time, and i wanted to get a head start on learning it.

Are there any major differences between starcraft and warcraft 3 appart from the era and units and gameplay? Have they fixxed the BJ overuse in If/then/else functions, the leaks from the editor, etc? Are there restrictions that are different, more or less strict? Is there a jass/vjass for it? Have people begun making advanced systems? any differences that can be brought to light about it would be welcome.

Thanks in advance.

 

[s3rius]

There are things like vJass, though not as established. The script editor has a built-in syntax highlighting - that's what I need most anyway.
Since there's no established format like vJass there's not many advanced system how you see them in WE. And only very few written in Script.

The data editor is better by far:
-There are hardly any hard-coded effects or restrictions.
-There are more possibilities like positioning of effects, models or sounds on units.
-You can do anything with everything.
-Effects, Behaviors, Upgrades, Units, etc are all nicely sorted.

However:
-It's hard. A simple spell like EMP consists of half-a-dozen sub-elements.
-It takes a long time to learn the ropes because of it's complexity. I've never gotten into the advanced stuff.
-There is a number of bugs that naturally come with such a complex system.



The trigger editor is a two-edged sword.

There are advantages:
-Much more efficient GUI-to-Script. No BJ functions anymore, no bloated script.
-Faster language overall.
-Powerful dialog-system.
-You can modify (some) data-editor data via triggers.
-More native support for Galaxy (structs, initializer functions)

And disadvantages:
-Still annoyingly bad language
-Memory limits sometimes screw you over (with very large projects)
-The compiler error checker is the most retarded thing in history
-No GetPlayerName or GetHandleId that you can use


In terms of general limits old ones are gone and new ones came to be:
-Much better map size requirements (Megabytes) than in Wc3.
-Built-in mod support.
-Native option to protect your map (bad, but existing).
-UI modding is now better with style files and stuff.
-You can play around with filters and lighting/saturation settings to create great environment.

But:
-Maps have to be uploaded to battle.net in order to be played.
-Map size limits (size of playable map area) are worse.
-You can only publish a limited number of maps (you have X mb of storage room on your bnet account)


It is now really hard to be good in all aspects of the editor. UI editing, Triggering, Data Editing, etc are all greatly different from each other and much more complex and comprehensive.

All in all:
The data editor is a big leap in the right direction.
The trigger editor is - all in all - better than in Warcraft 3, but there's still a lot that could be better.
Generally the editor got a nice bunch of new features, but it's a bit rugged, slow and/or buggy from time to time.

The newest patch brought a ton of changes which I haven't tested out yet.
But it's great to see that they're working heavily on the editor, too.

 

[GFreak45]

it sounds like they made a lot of improvements with a few disadvantages to it, I was also wondering mainly about leaks, with the GUI will i have to use all the annoying calldestroy/remove points/groups etc?

Also is there a way to purchase more room to use your map (on bnet)? and do all of the maps have to be downloaded before they are played or can they just be accessed from bnet? and are you capable of testing your map in single player before uploading it?

thanks for the help and really going in depth, i have a much better idea as to where i stand
+rep like promised

 

[Siretu]

I am quite sure the GUI in the SC2 editor does not leak so there's no need to destroy points and groups and stuff.

As Serius said, the data editor and trigger editor are better than before(especially the data editor. When you learn it, you will never want to go back to the object editor in the WC3 editor)

However, the whole part after your map is done is the part that could be way better.

- You can only publish a limited amount(measured in size) of maps on each account(Although this limit has been increased several times and is now big enough that it wont be a problem for most people)

- You can't test multiplayer without publishing the map to blizzard's servers(You still have a test map feature to test your map in single player)

- The popularity system is generally disliked since it sorts by popularity which means most new maps will never be played enough to get to the top since they're way back on page 19239.

Still, these things were worse in the early days of SC2 and they are getting better and better. Hopefully with the release of HotS we will see the marketplace that should bring a lot of new spirit to the mapping community and improve the current system by a lot.

Also, to correct s3rius. In the new patch you can now get a player's handle. You don't get the name though but a string like "2-S2-1-223434". This can be used for banks and such.

Oh right, banks. There is two trigger things I really like about the SC2 editor. The improved dialogs and banks. The new dialogs can be used for so much custom UI and such. I advice you to play some custom maps just to get the feel of what is possible now.

Banks are files stored locally on the player's computer that remains between sessions.

 

[GFreak45]

thanks a bunch that helps, do u know if there is a way to sort the maps based on gamestyle? ie: rpg/aos/survival/custom (creating your own hero) etc?
+rep siretu

 

[Siretu]

You can sort on game mode but as I recall it, there wasn't a ton of different game modes to sort by.

 

[Bloodcount]

Thread moved, because it was not in the correct forum. Please post any threads regarding the editor in this forum. Thank you.

 

[GFreak45]

i noticed that afterwards sorry about that

EDIT: all of the listed items with a \, next to them have already been linked to

I am also giving + rep out to tutorial or info links about the following:

• creating interactive multiboard/display systems (ie a talent system) \,

• Terraining

• heroes \,

• hero experience \,

• damage systems

• using the AI systems \,

• adjusting the UI \,

• floating text/game displays \,

• castbars (a bar that fills or drains as you cast showing time left) \,

• using the data editor \,

• trigger speed (using the trigger editor as efficiently as possible)

any other tutorials you might find usefull for someone switching to galaxy editor, i already have it so thats no longer an issue, thanks ahead of time

 

[Siretu]

• creating interactive multiboard/display systems (ie a talent system)

I think you want to do this with dialogs. I made a tutorial about it that you can find here: http://www.thehelper.net/forums/showthread.php/166817-Triggers-A-Beginner-s-Guide-to-Dialogs

• heroes

• hero experience

I think might be relevant: http://www.thehelper.net/forums/showthread.php/157291-General-Creating-A-Hero

• damage systems

Elaborate.

• using the AI systems

There's no AI editor in SC2 like there was in WC3. In my opinion, you should write your own AI and not use the AI actions(if you're not writing a map that is basically melee)

• adjusting the UI

There's 2 options. Hide the standard UI and make your own with dialogs or edit the layout files. I can't find a relevant tutorial on editing the layout files though, I haven't done it myself so I can't help you. I would do it with dialogs, but I don't know what you want to do specifically.

• floating text/game displays

Text tags maybe?

• castbars (a bar that fills or drains as you cast showing time left)

I think this is simply a option in the ability where you pick which ability steps that it should show a casting bar for. It is used in this tutorial I think: http://www.sc2mapster.com/forums/re...-data-multi-phase-spells-advanced-difficulty/

• using the data editor

I made a tutorial about that yesterday! Hopefully, it should get you started: http://www.thehelper.net/forums/showthread.php/167683-Data-Editor-Data-Editing-for-Dummies

 

[GFreak45]

lol ty, i owe u a rep