The way I suggest to protect your map (in addition to the regular protectors) is to enmesh triggers that completely screw up the map if a particular system is changed. In order to outsmart a clever mapstealer who has access to notepad and its handy dandy search function, the enmeshed triggers need to be disguised as other triggers. If they are disguised properly, the mapstealer would have to know as much or more about the map than the mapmaker does, as well as go through every single trigger and try to understand if, for example, setting a death count to a certain value will wreck a system or is actually a necessary part of the system. If done properly and in enough places, it could take hundreds of hours for the mapstealer to unprotect a system and very likely he will give up.
Inscribing the Mapmaker's Name
One example of how to protect a system.
Putting a name on a map is important, for fame and recognition cannot be achieved without it. Unfortunately, there is a little program called Notepad. Using me as an example, all a person has to do is search for the name "madroc" and replace all instances of it with "xXxmapstealer1333337XxX" and suddenly he created the map, not me.
The foolproof way that I suggest here would be to inscribe your name into the map using zerglings, and then enmesh defeat triggers and other horrible death counts and things if there zerglings are not in their right places. Here is how (i'll give specifics but really you need to try to think of how this works for YOUR map).
Let's say you have a death count timer that the map must have to operate correctly. Let's say it counts down from 20 to 0 and starts over. Many intricate maps have this, and if yours doesn't, don't worry, read on (you undoubtedly have many many things that would work besides this). Now here is where your name is inscribed (try to make it a place that players have to look at at some point in the game):
Let's also say that the 3x3 movable location is also being used elsewhere in the map, for example always being centered on a unit or something of that nature. Many maps have these to save locations. But if yours doesn't, it's not a big deal; all this does is make it harder for the mapstealer to steal. Read on.
Then, all throughout your existing triggers, hidden, have triggers (traps) that, if the death count timer is at a certain number (so that it doesn't do this every cycle which could cause lag), cycles through a certain number of zerglings using "give units," (lets say three, but it should be a different number for each trap) and then centers the 3x3 location on the next one (locations and give units always affect the leftmost unit in a location). Check to see how many zerglings are there by testing before you actually implement this trigger into your map, and then implement a trigger that sees if there are that many zerglings there. If there are, then you know the mapstealer did not move or remove any of the zerglings close to that zergling and you can set a death count (disguised as an action that actually you need for the map) or something else (also disguised) and then later on, set a death count (also disguised) in your map to something nasty that will screw up something if the death count is not at the right number, or something similar. It's important that you set something awry that will not arouse suspicion from a mapstealer, but it could be anything from a death count, to killing a specific unit, to creating a unit.. it all depends on what really screws up your map. Just make it disguised as something that the map actually needs.
Doing just that might not work because the mapstealer could easily use the search function in notepad to find "zergling" and replace all those conditions with "always" and then be able to remove your name and the condition will always happen, and thus no consequence will happen. So have a third or so of the traps be fake traps, disguised the same way as the other triggers. For fake traps, detect if there are the WRONG number of zerglings there (like 5 when there are actually 4), and if there are, set a (disguised) death count (or something), and if the death count IS at the right number, do something horrible. That way, if the mapstealer just replaces it with always, something will be ruined (in fact the trigger does nothing at all because the conditions are NEVER met, but when they are met, something horrible happens).
Also, if the mapstealer tries to delete the 3x3 location, not only will some of the fake traps be set off, but whatever the 3x3 location was being used for no longer functions.
Try to do as many as you can of traps an fake traps. If you do 30 total, there should be an extremely slim chance that the mapmaker could figure out how to take off your name. Simple maps with less than 250 triggers should probably do about 50 total of each of these, enmeshing the triggers with each other and just making a huge mess of the place. Just remember that the more enmeshing you have, the less chance all your work will have been for nothing. Just spend one day making those zerglings be the cross stitches in the pants of your map.
This should be the last thing to be done to a map, so as to avoid falling into your own trap. If you want, write down where you set your traps, so if you want to change the map later, you can. Just no one else.
Another note, try to vary the things that screw up your map, because the notepad's search function could find them much more easily if they were all "set death count x to 10." Try to have lots of different doom actions.
You can also extend this protection system to other systems besides your name.
Questions, comments, babbles of confusion welcome
Other methods of double protection from responses:
• Use SC Character Swap, which is a program that swaps out characters a-o (unconfirmed) for characters that look the same in starcraft, but not in editors. (Falkoner)
• Make a trigger with a comment "11 1 9 1 19". Each number corresponds with a letter, (in this case it obviously makes K A I A S). (Kaias)
• Post the original map with a topic on staredit.net
• Release demo versions so that there is more of a chance people will know it's yours
• Add your name and other information in multiple places about the map (Ahli)
• Don't even bother protecting because your it's not the product that counts, it's the process of getting there (Kaias) and you don't need to care about the risk of it getting stolen anyways. (Pariah + others)
Post has been edited 5 time(s), last time on Aug 6 2009, 6:38 am by Madroc. Reason: Finally figured out how not to flame
None.