--edit--
New thread here (plus explanation why I made a new thread!): http://www.staredit.net/topic/8736/
so dont post here anymore
--end edit--
Well, first post (again) I forgot what my old username was on these forums (this was a VERY LONG time ago). Anyway, glad to be back I'm not sure if someone has already made an advanced wars map but I'm going to start on it now that I have Brood War again (cracked my cd in half because it was affecting my grades).

Anyway, I have seen advance war maps before (never played them) while browsing around. I thought, how cool would it be if I could make an advance wars ums for my next project.

For those of you that don't know what advance wars is, let me give you a short run down:

-Turn based strategy.
-Units rely on a grid to move and can only move certain spaces per turn depending on the unit and the terrain.
-Terrain affects how much damage units recieve (ex. if they are on asphalt they have say -1 protection, if they are in trees they have +3 protection, etc.)
-Fog of War option (can be turned on or off): sight is limited by units and units hidden in trees and mountains cannot be seen unless you are directly next to them.
-How to make units: capture factories, airports, etc. (1 unit can be made per round per factory)
-How to get $: capture cities ($ generated every round)
-How To Win: usually it's destory all enemy units or capture their main base.


I'm positive that I can make this ums happen. I just hope that I don't love interest.

Anway, lets talk about some triggering and stuff like that:

I could easlity copy a map from the game and turn it into a SC map or make my own for that matter. The time-consuming part would be the grid system that I would have to make.

Each plot of terrain (??x?? square) has to have its own location. Imagine a chess board its basically like that.

If anyone can give me an idea for aneasier way to do this that would be great.

Another aspect would be the optitonal fog of war. I'm not quite sure how I should do this since I will be utilizing a grid system where one square has to be visioned and the very next might have to be fogged.

Anyway, its 3:15 AM so I'll update this more later.
--edit--
Well I'm updating like I said I would

Had a good idea pop in my head for the battle system.

In advance wars you have single units on the map that consists of 10 units (IIRC) when fighting each other. The way the system works is that it takes terrain into effect (see earlier) and its reletively simple (ex. infantry<med. tanks, etc.)

I figured that when the units battle each other, I will set up a seperate battle system where each player gets 10 of their units (say its tanks vs infantry). I would then set up a series of triggers so that say: if 10 med tanks and 10 infantry are in location x -> kill 6 infantry (as a med. tank would sustain no damage to infantry).

As a result the hp of the infantry unit on the map will go from 10/10 -> 4/10


I also had an idea for a "targeting system" to select where the units can go and attack, etc. but more on that later...I gotta get started

--end edit--


Any advice/ideas would be helpful and appreciated.

Glad to be back,
-Rain

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Oct 7 2009, 1:06 am by Rain.

Ohhh, I love advanced wars, fun game.

Anyway, I attempted to make an Advanced Wars Map WAY back when my skills weren't even close to 1/4 they are now. I failed

Some Thoughts:
I like the grid idea, but it is impossible to measure a units movement on a grid without killing yourself.

That's why you use mobile grids

Oh yeah, didn't think of that. Man, well that makes it easier. On second thought maybe I'll finally make my own.... hmm...

added more info today


I like that moving grid idea. I WAS going to go kill myself making a standard grid lol. For now I think I will only make a 2 player map (I'm sure I can save the triggers and such so that I can make a 4 player map in the future).

Except you would have to use VHP to calculate all that fun stuff because you can't detect health sadly (pisses me off so badly too). So if an infantry with a hp of 6 fought with a md tank with a hp of 10, the infatry would sustain much greater damage than it would if it had a hp of 10.

SORRY it has already been made under the name "Advanced Wars"
However i think your map is completely different. but both maps (at least the one that's already made) is quite fun
The one that's already made is a Diplomacy format.. With Special attacks such as meteors and tsunamis (they sound more impressive than they actually are)...
it's by Siegemech..

=/ yeahhh... try to name urs smth different? .. maybe Advanced Grid wars or i donno..

ah. so the ones already out are deplomacy. Yeah I'll have to come up with a name to differenciate it from the other ums's.

I've hit a bit of a snag though. I'm one of those people who write out their triggers on paper before making them in the editor (so I cant really post the map yet). I will say that "map" that im making for my first advance wars ums is quite small (2 player map) and probably won't have fog of war on (due to my laziness).

Anyway, I'll explain the battle system before I explain the snag as that will clear up questions.

The battle system works like this (note: please dont make me explain all of the triggering this is just a brief overview):

ex. you have a tank and your opponent has infantry. it is your turn to attack

I will have an observer that can go x amount of spaces (on the grid) depending on variables (ex. mountains, road, what unit is being used, etc.) (note: players get 1 observer that works for each of their units. that observer is assigned to that unit).

When you decide that you want to move your unit you move a civ to a becon (there is only 1 civ and 1 becon for this. My triggerings will detect if more than one observer has moved spaces and will reset untill the player only moves one observer [this means you move one unit at a time like in the real game]). Your unit (ex. tank) will then move to the corresponding grid space that your observer is on.

For the tank to fire on the infantry unit, the tank needs to be next to it. Once the tank is next to the infantry unit(same turn) the player will move the observer over the grid space that the enemy unit is on then move the civ to the beacon.

Once this happens the attack stage starts.

In the corner of themap I will have a space that spawns units. Each unit (on the map) is comprised of 10 actual fighting units of the same type (like in the game). (ex. so 10 tanks will spawn and 10 infantry men will spawn in the corner).

Using triggers I will then have the computer detect where the battle is taking place (ex. the tank was on the road [provides 0 extra cover/defense] and the infantry unit was in the forest [provides 3 extra cover/defense) and what units are battleing. The computer will then determine how many of each unit will be lost (ex. tanks lost 1 unit and infantry lost 6).

THe next time these units meet another force (ex. wounded infantry unit attacks another infantry unit) it will spawn with the corresponding number of units from its last battle (ex. 6 infantry vs 10 infantry).

^ that is where I hit a snag. How do I have a computer realize that the infantry unit has sustained damage in a previous battle?

So untill I can figure that out or figure out a different battle system this project is on halt for a bit.

hey, I skim read that it doesn't sound bad but let's say you made 20 infantries and 10 tanks on the battlefield how will you tell which tank has which HP therefore how many units to create in the 'battle mode'?

HP isn't measured by actual HP. It is measured on a scale of 1 to 10. So all you need is VHP, or virtual HP. Basically that is a system that detects how many units are left over from that unit value and comes up with a number, which then can be used again.

Yeah I figured that bit out, but each unit still its own virtual HP... how are you gona distinguish which unit has what virtual HP when you have like say 30 infantries on the battlefield. How are you going to assign individual virtual HPs to all these same units?

Thats the problem I see, that'll be hard to fix.

Maybe you could use a numbering system using burrowed zerg underneath the unit?

There are 7 Burrowable Z units (Three units, Hero, and the drone) and you only need 9 different intervals (since at 0 they'd be dead).

Roman Numerals?

I made my own Advance Wars sequel, but it was phail. I didn't have the time, resources, or manpower to finish it, so unfortunately it used to lay in the map graveyard. Anyway, I was thinking about it, I had the five factions, plus another which I added and called, "Red Solar Flare." I have a little idea for the units. If you can recall from the game, each country had its own specialties, further influenced by the COs that appeared. I used up pretty much every unit name, created one of each unit for each faction. For example, OS Infantry, BM Infantry, etc. If possible, I recommend using this stratagem, as it could enhance the gameplay and reduce redundancy on the map. Here's a little reminder, Orange Star was all-around good, but had excellent tanks and infantry. Blue Moon had artillery and could impede movement with snow. Green Earth used planes and ships. Yellow Comet was good with recon units and generally everything. Finally, Black Hole had everything good. I was thinking that the ability to add units on the field as the CO, say, spell-casting units, could improvise for the CO Power and Superpower system (using heroes of course). On top of that you'd have to consider the capturing element. Maybe mineral fields would be good, or actually if you really do establish a turn system, well you can figure out the money thing yourself, but if it doesn't work, you can always do something with mining. So now I feel that I'm rambling on, and I'll end my paragraph here, but I want to wish you the best of luck with your map.

By the way, are you adding any storyline into it?

Well, if you need help with capture stuff.
I was thinking, a trigger that detects whether a unit is still sitting in it over two turns.
It may mean you can only ever capture one thing at a time, but that's how it goes.
Anyway

Player Brings [required unit] to City
Cap0 is Cleared

Display Text: Capturing!
Set Switch Cap0
Wait 2000ms
Set Switch Cap1

If Cap1 is Set
Player Brings [units] to City

Display Text: Capturing 25% [or 50%, depending on how fast you want to capture it.]
Wait 2000ms
Set Switch Cap2

Rinse and repeat until you have the prefered amount of time between the %s.

When you're content to say "that's long enough"
add this:

If Switch Cap0 set
If Switch Cap1 set
If Switch Cap2 set
If Switch Cap3 set
Player Brings [Units] to City

Display Text: City Captured
Give all City at location City

Try that.

Heh, or a static grid >.>'' It would use less triggers i think, but requires unit pre-placement 0.o''. I personally think it would be easier... Ill give you an example... just wait.

that would be cool, but hard, and if you are a mapper at all like me i try to do stuf like this and get bored and stop. My friend SeigeMech made an advance wars map, but it wansnt turn based, but it owned major facage.

Instead of a grid system, how about have a 1px by 1px location on each unit. If the unit is no longer at the location, it's obviously been moved a step, then put the location on the unit again. You could easily limit that, and make it much easier than a grid. Also the player could manually move their units, much more fluid.

Say, Infantry can move 20 steps over grass, 10 steps over mountains. Air can always move 35 steps, etc. Pie to trigger, much more user friendly. Once the unit is done stepping, you obviously give it to a neutral player or something.

You'd have another, bigger location around the unit that detects if an enemy unit is nearby, for fighting.

now that im back...guess ill resurrect this project..from scratch

You could implement something like that Civil War map, where if you would meet another bad guy you'd be teleported to a different place with units, the computer too. You would use micro and leet hax strategies to beat the Ai controlled computer.. This would save you a lot of triggering, plus the actual combat adds a fun point to the map itself =)