The first question you probably have is, "this guy's crazy!" The second question you probably have is, "I thought exclamation marks denoted excitement, not questions?" Well my friends, in this thread they do.

My friend is borrowing my StarCraft, and I forgot about it when I uninstalled Brood War, so I need one of you to test this out for me.
1. Place three of your sieged tanks in a vertical line.
2. Place someone else's three dark templars spread out within firing range of the tanks, all to the right or left.
3. Make the DTs have 9999 life and shields and 255 armor.
4. Make the alliances so you are not allied with the DTs, but they are allied with you.
5. Play the game and let me know if it looks like random artillery fire.

so essentially you would have tanks shooting at dt's. The only way this would work under these circumstances is if the templars had a move/patrol/ junkyard dog command, or else the tanks would be shooting at the same spot constantly. However, the only one that wouldn't create a pattern would be junkyard dog, but this would mean the area where you can have the dt's move is within tank range, which is a pretty damn small area.

Well I was thinking having two teams each with say four DTs. There would be a trigger that would constantly change the alliances every four seconds maybe so that the tanks were firing at different areas. But I do see the logic of using a patrol command. I agree with your idea, it would be more efficient and simpler. Thank you.

since what's important is the AoE damage of the tank, the DTs should belong to computers not players.

Also here's another way to get random fire, I have no idea if it would work well but here it is anyway :

lets say that the area you want to have random artilley fire is a small square area, you could divice it into 9 square locations and have a dt randomly spawn in one of those squares, up to you to have many spawning at a same time, with a chance of some spawning on the same square for bigger damage(perfectly random) or with a restriction of one at a time in a square.. you could also have some 9999 hp 255 armor dts in a holding location (a box outside the arena) and teleport them in the arena enought time for them to be shot at then bring them back to the box. Again with that method you can send as many as you like a time.

you can of course make the grid way larger.

Benefits from this method :
- Truly random, because if using patrolling DTs the movement would be predictable, if you use junkyard dogged DTs the artillery fire will still be "following" the dt wherever it goes, so you could stay relatively safe by staying away from the last artillery fire.
- Total control over the damage you want to have in certain areas at a certain time
- DTs arent actually on the map so they dont disturb it

The main problem of this method is that it will be way longuer to code


If you want to go in that way I'll go in detail with the triggers you need

the biggest problem im seeing with both these systems is the range limitation on a tank cannon. It's puny if you're talking about an overall map experience.

... just have several burrowed units. then sequence their invincibility. that way the terrain will be walkable and the invisibility distortion will be at a minimal.

Sie's idea sounds like the best, although I believe burrowed computer units automatically unburrow when attacked. Perhaps giving the burrowed units to player 9-11(player 12's burrowed units are visible if IRC) would be the best idea, although I'm not entirely sure whether they will unburrow or not after being attacked. Of course you would need to have the tanks be unallied to players 9-11 as well as some detectors so the tanks could see the burrowed lings.

they will not unburrow if an ally attacks them. OR you could just use mines.

Hm...Using mines should work as long as the player with the mines is allied to everyone.

Using mines would defeat the purpose of having tank fire. I do like Aoe's plan, although I think I could tweak it somewhat. He's right the code does involve much work and the squares would have to be tremendously small for random fire. If I could use a left-right artillery system which including not blocking the passing units or have any cloak field distortion that would be my ultimate goal. Actually my ultimate goal is to finish the map. BTW cloak field distortion is when there are so many cloaked units in one area that its noticeably blurry. People use dozens of observers with this method to create a blurred arena effect.

how would it defeat the purpose? just have p12 mines using invisibility sequences.

Sie's idea would work the best, because it won't have much distortion (if at all), and won't block pathing. It's also extremely easy to implement.
Just randomize switches.

Oh I see now the mines are targets good idea! The only fault I see is if I need to use the mines for a different purpose, and there ARE three DTs to use, so I'll have to decide based on the situation. I appreciate the idea and I will use it if not with this map then for different purposes. Thanks everyone. Problem solved. Someone want to test it out and let me know how it goes? (I don't have my SC)

Note to Killer2121. Is it really you man?

yes XD

What happenned to Mp? Is Blu still around?

Nope, Clan Mp is Dead Forever!!

But u Should really log in to starcraft whenever u can XD

just wondering , how small, or what kind of map are you making. Because even if you use spidermines or burrowed units, tank range will still affect the firing.

Well I haven't decided yet but I just know I need random artillery fire. The tank range is going to be a collosal setback, but I think I can work with it. I estimate the range is just about two Barracks' worth, so it'll be tough but its doable. I was thinking say, two interlocking artillery lines elevated from the ground. The ranges would then be doubled and troops could move through the center area taking heavy fire. Also, a wall would be possible but COMP units might not take that route, which would be good.