Modding Chat?

[GrimTerror]

Hey! I don't know how this will turn out, but i thought it might be a good idea to make a thread where us modders could just gather and chat. Sharing modding ideas kinda thing, and also somewhere where MG can safely go off on a tangent:P What do ya think?:)

[Case_in_point]

Sharing modding ideas

That's kind of what the board is for. Just get someone's screen name if you have nothing specific about modding to say to them.

[GrimTerror]

What do you mean screen name?

[Case_in_point]

For instant messenger programs, like AIM or Yahoo messenger. The board is generally structured, people ask a question, someone answers it (or attempts to). Chat sections on the board would more than likely get spammed sooner or later, and questions might not be answered because so many people would be posting different things, so most people just use instant messengers or e-mails if they want to chat.

[GrimTerror]

I was actually thinking more along the lines of the small modding community as a whole, as opposed to sharing ideas with one other person.

Like, if i was just wondering about something that you could mod (like The message system in in-game StarCraft) as opposed to actually asking if it's possible or not, i could just post it here and see what the others here think. Keeping the subject as flexible as possible as opposed to having one dead-set topic is what i have in mind.

[Holocaust]

This isn't a half bad idea Grim =)
Do we just discuss modding ideas here?

[GrimTerror]

Sure do! Ideas, possibilites, discoveries. Just general things that we modders enjoy!

Right now i'm just loving IceCC! Especially the turncwise command! You'll see why in my next mod!:)

[MidnightGladius]

Is this something to do with a certain flying friend of ours, Grim?

/me coughs discreetly

Okay, since I can't do any actual work, I'm just brainstorming like crazy.

Here is my plan:

Starcraft Generals:

- no regular units modified
- Terrans (because everyone likes to OP Terrans for some reason) can build a special building called the "Strategic Initiation Center" for some absurdly high cost

There will be nine Generals that can be purchased, each of them with unique properties and abilities:

1. Black Ops General: Stealthy and capable of doing great damage to the enemy, but physically fragile and vulnerable. Abilities will be Anthrax Bomb, which does heavy, lingering damage to biological units over a wide area; and Paralytic Toxin, which both slows down and deals damage to all biological units in an area.

2. Sniper General: Stealthy and capable of killing any biological unit instantly from very long range, but cannot target vehicles or buildings. He is also slow and physically weak. Abilities will be Vehicle Snipe, which kills the driver inside a vehicle and summarily causes the rest of the vehicle to explode for unknown reasons; and Uranium Munitions, which fires a small tactical nuke that deals a large amount of damage and then does radiation damage to a small area over a small period of time, damaging anything that walks through it.

3. Forward Deployment General: Stealthy and quick, capable of passing through enemy territory and relaying valuable recon. Moderately weak, but able to escape most situations. Abilities are EMP Grenade, which disables any targetted building/vehicle; Recon Drone, a small drone that burrows into the ground and provides continuous intelligence; and Discharge, which disables and heavily damages a target building and may jump to nearby buildings.

4. Bombardment General: Slow, but powerful and strong, and is capable of pounding enemy emplacements into the ground. Does not fare well against a horde of enemies, though. Abilities are Artillery Strike, which lays a beacon for off-map artillery to lay down a steady stream of fire over an area for a period of time; and Nuclear Cannon, which fires a radioactive shell that deals damage over time.

5. Heavy Weapons General: Slow flier that can provide devastating supporting fire, but is easily killed by hordes of enemies by itself. Abilities are Pinpoint Missile Strike, which reveals an area of the map and launches a flurry of missiles towards it; and Carpet Bombing, which moves the General through an area, dropping powerful HE Bombs on its path.

6. Hacker General: Quick unit that specializes in causing confusion and dissention in enemy ranks, but is physically weak and easy to die. Abilities are Capture Building, which makes the Hacker vulnerable to attack and immobile for a period of time while capturing the building; Vehicle Hack, which makes him vulnerable for a shorter time and captures an enemy vehicle; and Telecommunications Hack, which reveals enemy locations for a brief period of time.

7. Psionics General: Slow unit that specializes in dealing massive damage at melee range, but is very vulnerable to ranged foes. Abilities are Mindcrush, which destroys any nearby organic unit and feeds back energy to the General; Disillusionment, which creates 2 copies of the General, covers them all in a smokescreen, and randomly shifts their positions; and Seize Mind, which acts like Mind Control but deals damage to the target due to lack of delicate handling.

8. Superweapon General: Slow flier that has no attack but can set up beacons for devastating Superweapons. Abilities are Orbital Quad-Cannon, Nuclear Strike, and Firestorm. They should be somewhat self-explanatory :/

9. Gladius General: Last, but certainly not least, is the Gladius General, who costs the most but is strong against anything and everything. Has a ground attack consisting of rapid sword slashes with a random leaping swing, along with a fireball attack for ranged or air enemies. Abilities are Frenzy, which causes the General to use a beserker-type attack in a 3x3 grid, dealing heavy damage to all ground units in the area; Reality Shift, which bends reality around the target, destroying it instantly along with anything near it; and Tornado, which creates a whirlwind that moves randomly, dealing heavy damage to anything in its path.

[GrimTerror]

See, now wasn't that great, having MG's modding ranting safely in a confined area as opposed to your inbox? You guys are lucky you've never experienced a real life tangent direct from MG, it's basically that all above, but if you're very lucky you might be able to make him stop:P

Heh heh, it just shows MG's dedication to modding though, which is fine - in the right quantities. That MG is...well...passionate, to say the very least:)

Hmm, i remember most of that stuff but there's something missing! Grim General! How could you do this to me!:P

Either way, you will need one more General for the round number that everyone desires. Have you decided on giving cloaking to your hacking General? It'd be kinda like a virus then, you wont know what it is until it strikes!

Edit: And yes it is a cetain flying friend of ours. When you see it you will laugh your panties off!

[MidnightGladius]

Meh, there are only 9 button slots, remember? And there's a bit of the Grim General in several of the different abilities.

[GrimTerror]

When i just read that it was like rubbing my eyeballs with salt. What's a Gim General? Last i checked i was called Grim!:P

Just messin with ya, but i do have an idea. Maybe you could create some sort of teleportation field by messing around with the Arbiter's Recall and attaching it to the Terran. How you'd actually make it work is another thing. I kinda thought about a unit that doesnt attack but can teleport other units to any location on the map (providing it's not a ground unit over water etc.) Kinda like Recall but more reliable and precise. Like...You could load up a few dropships with some Golys, teleport them into the enemy air fields and release.

Do you also make maps MG? I mean Mods go hand and hand with maps in creating all new types of missions and feel to the game. Although there already is the official Starchitects team, i guess it wouldn't hurt to band a few of us together and make a few fun maps which combine the power of mapping and modding. Like...An extra cool RPG!

[MidnightGladius]

Hmm, I make melee maps, and used to do some extensive UMSing. In fact, I tried out for Starchitects back in my newb days here, but decided not to press the issue for lack of posts. I was also one of the brainstormers for EdvardMunch's CTF and the ONS-Torlan project.

So, do you mean making a mod and then making an RPG using that mod as the runner engine? If so, sounds cool to me. Only problem is that it seems a little bit complicated in terms of propagation.

[GrimTerror]

Ok MG. You're a mod, i'm not. Fancy words like "propagation" don't make sense to me!!!:P

But yeah, basically. Y'know those RPG's that have you as a Dark Templar with hit points in the red zone that increase as you kill more things. Instead of having a boring lameass single swipe, you can give the guy abilities! And with maps you can make it as a trigger for when in the game you want them to learn that ability (Say you can learn Psi storm with a high templar at level 5, or whatever.)

Map-making alone is great. Modding alone is great. But when you put 'em together you get something else. See, if you made Some maps to go with MDT it'd be something totally new, cept youd have to be good at map-making. Which i'm not, so lets not go there ok?:smirk:

[DemonicArchon]

yo..nice idea wit all da mods..i have a mod in the process(my first modbut w/e) im still not doen but im thinking of like...a future type starcraft were all the races are rly advanced. like marines with 2 machine guns on there shoulders(one on each) and a laser rifle in hand.Any ideas, comments, suggestions, and help would be appreiciated. Im new to modding so ill be back to ask for help wit graphics n stuff:cool:

[GrimTerror]

Well if it's your first mod then i doubt you'll know how to use the basic programs like Arsenal3 and tblPad, alone the more advanced thing Like Ice/CC, MemGraft or RetroGRP. Am I right?

[DemonicArchon]

Well if it's your first mod then i doubt you'll know how to use the basic programs like Arsenal3 and tblPad, alone the more advanced thing Like Ice/CC, MemGraft or RetroGRP. Am I right?

aresenal 3 is easy n tblpad is real easy, just a few bugs with damage in aresenal 3 for me etc. And for some reason icecc wont even load, it just does something and then shuts down, but i plan to start out easy, and then work my way up.

[Aqo]

for some reason icecc wont even load, it just does something and then shuts down
You need to save it at C:\IceCC, not at your Starcraft folder.

[MidnightGladius]

My latest idea is for replacing the Reaver with a Tank Bomb. It'd look like a regular Siege Tank, but with lower HP and higher speed. By itself, it does nothing, but you can Arm High Explosives (build Scarabs) on it. Then, you'd change the attack range to 0, make cooldown very low, so that all of the scarabs "detonated" at once, give it major radial splash, and ram the Tank Bomb into something. Then just give it a suicide-form attack, and there you go! Have fun with your acts of terror :D

Also, I think an interesting idea is to give the Zerg a "living land mine" type of unit. Kind of like a Lurker, you have to burrow it before attacking, and it'd have a 0 range suicide attack.

Another concept is for some units (Dragoon, Goliath, and all P/T air units come to mind) to get "locked on" to their targets if they've been attacking it for a longer period of time. I'm not exactly sure how you would do this, but it sounds cool to me.

Finally, a Zerg Behemoth that has an energy countdown (think Broodling), but has the ability to consume enemy biological units for energy. It'd be really slow, but perhaps fire at siege range, but a downside is that you have to get it near flesh every once in a while.

Ok, that's all for today.

[Frums-smurF]

Man if you actually can do that I will be so fricking amazed MG

[GrimTerror]

He CAN do it he just can't be arsed is all:P

He'll do it eventually, but we might need a new program. DoA's Hex Editing quest is our ray of hope.