PAC maps: theory and practical

[Linden]

I just want to echo the shout-out to Stewbasic for the original idea, and to all of you for picking it up and running with it. PAC maps are absolutely great to play - they have so much replayability (if that's a word :D) and give me hours of fun. Thank you all for the hard work.

[RrR]

A gravity well might act as a very efficient bertha-bait. This might be useful, but might not be what you wanted.

[teknotiss]

hmm a reverse singularity could be very useful, perhaps as a creeper powered artifact or something?

[stewbasic]

I made a few tweaks to the template (attached) to make finalization even smoother:
* PAC conversion is triggered by clicking the help text and confirming a dialog. This means you can play in "human mode" without removing the temp core.
* Nullifier placeholders can be placed by pressing 'J', removing the need to edit Abraxis.crpl (and can be changed in edit mode to other unit types)
* All conversation text is near the top of GameFlow.crpl to make it easier to edit.
* Starting conversation shows at map start instead of after 1 frame.

I updated README.crpl to reflect these changes.

I'm still working on improving unit selection (mainly supporting selection of multiple units). I'll merge my changes in with the template once that's done.

[teknotiss]

I made a few tweaks to the template (attached) to make finalization even smoother:
* PAC conversion is triggered by clicking the help text and confirming a dialog. This means you can play in "human mode" without removing the temp core.
* Nullifier placeholders can be placed by pressing 'J', removing the need to edit Abraxis.crpl (and can be changed in edit mode to other unit types)
* All conversation text is near the top of GameFlow.crpl to make it easier to edit.
* Starting conversation shows at map start instead of after 1 frame.

I updated README.crpl to reflect these changes.

I'm still working on improving unit selection (mainly supporting selection of multiple units). I'll merge my changes in with the template once that's done.

oh cool, cheers dude, maybe worth holding off a bit on my next one til you've added those unit selection changes? good job man 8)

[stewbasic]

oh cool, cheers dude, maybe worth holding off a bit on my next one til you've added those unit selection changes? good job man 8)

Sure, I should have it ready sometime this weekend.

[stdout]

Christmas really is coming early this year.

Hey stewbasic, how hard would it be so that when you press J it shows the nullifier but then doesn't let you place it if you're out of range of a PZ? One thing I've found when making these maps is I often create the nullifier just outside of the range of the PZ.

In the regular gameplay (non PAC) it shows the circle radius so you can easily see where the nullifier can legally be placed. A similar functionality sure would be helpful. But it doesn't seem like it would be an easy fix... I figured it doesn't hurt to at least mention this as a wishlist item. :)

[stewbasic]

Christmas really is coming early this year.

Hey stewbasic, how hard would it be so that when you press J it shows the nullifier but then doesn't let you place it if you're out of range of a PZ? One thing I've found when making these maps is I often create the nullifier just outside of the range of the PZ.

In the regular gameplay (non PAC) it shows the circle radius so you can easily see where the nullifier can legally be placed. A similar functionality sure would be helpful. But it doesn't seem like it would be an easy fix... I figured it doesn't hurt to at least mention this as a wishlist item. :)

I usually select the nullifier from the "vanilla" build menu to see the circle radius before pressing J. But it should be possible to do something in CRPL. I wouldn't want to completely prevent placing them out of range in case someone wants a different unit placeholder (or just places PZ's afterwards).

[stdout]

I usually select the nullifier from the "vanilla" build menu to see the circle radius before pressing J.

Smacking my head. Of course, that's the perfect solution. I'll do that from now on and will retract my request. :)

[stdout]

I just released a new map based on the latest template. What a pleasure that was! Thanks to both of you (stewbasic and Hubs) for your great work on this. What used to be a hugely painful process is now smooth and enjoyable. I'm already thinking of ideas for future maps.

[J]

Creating a PAC map is so easy now that I might even upload one soon ;D
(however I need to come up with a good name first)

[stdout]

What's the right way to handle forge upgrades now?

I can build the forge but how do I give it the numbers so I can upgrade items? Do I have to connect totems to his network and let it run for a while, then go back and erase the timer? That's the only solution I can currently come up with.

Edited to add: the above idea works fine but if you already have a map with lots of emitters and spore towers it can be hassle to run the map for a while to build up forge strength. If there was a good solution it would be more convenient for later, but this is not a priority item.

[Hubs]

What's the right way to handle forge upgrades now?

I can build the forge but how do I give it the numbers so I can upgrade items? Do I have to connect totems to his network and let it run for a while, then go back and erase the timer? That's the only solution I can currently come up with.

Edited to add: the above idea works fine but if you already have a map with lots of emitters and spore towers it can be hassle to run the map for a while to build up forge strength. If there was a good solution it would be more convenient for later, but this is not a priority item.

This isn't a full solution, but it's what i did for a recent PAC map. Just add resource packs with a few thousand aether and plop siphons on them. Siphons work way faster than totems, so you can get 1,000 aether pretty quickly with a handful of siphons going - then when you have enough, just remove the siphons and resource packs. I've scoured the wiki for a way to set upgrade levels or aether level, but i haven't found anything yet. As far as dealing with a map that already has emitters and spore towers, i would just remove them, then add 'em back - it's simple to add them with U and I in the PAC template.

[stdout]

Great idea on the siphon. :)

[J]

Regarding the thumbnails, I'd recommend fully zooming in and moving the camera to the bottom of the map (so that the panels are below the map). This also minimizes the text on the spore towers.