I'm wanting to detect when a hallucination enters a location, but they're not triggering like a normal unit.

Is there anyway to detect this?

I think I've read about this before, and the answer is no. Sorry

However, there may be some sort of unconventional work around, like you have a hostile unit that moves off a location when the hallucinated unit comes to the location it's supposed to be in, and you detect it like that. Could that work in your map?

Not really, but I'll take all the workarounds into consideration, see if I can come up with something workable. This isn't a deal breaker for the map, just rather a sweet feature I'd like to incorporate.

Hmm I read that you cant move hallucinations via triggers, I wonder if that could be triggered into some sort of detection method. What else can hallucinations NOT do, that possibly we could detect?

Can you center a location on a hallucination? If so, then you could try moving a small location onto the hallucuinated unit. Then try to move another gorund unit into that location. Then detect if the unit you moved is actually in the small location (if the hallucination is there, it should displace the moved unit).

Yes, you can center a location on a hallunication. Though the simplest way seems to be constantly keeping a location on some special isolated unit, and detecting when the location is NOT on that special unit (because it got moved on the hallunication).

When the units are in weird states such as hallucinated (or morphing or whatever), the trigger actions usuallly work with the generic unit types, specially any unit...

Hallucinations cannot be detected in conditions, they can be affected by actions, however.

I guess you could try something similar to burrow detection methods. The centering location method seems like a good one, though, but only if there is a specific unit you know the hallucination will be. Actually, you might put a dark templar (for aesthetic value) on the right side of the location, center a small location on [men] in at location and if there is no dark templar in the location anymore, you know a unit is there.

If you want to delineate between a real and a hallucinated unit, if the location centering is moved but there is no unit there, it would be a hallucination.

You can center locations on hallucinated units so center a location on that hallucination at "Anywhere" and put a unit at the middle of the map. If the location is on the unit in the middle of the map then there is no hallucination, but if it's not that means its on the hallucination.

Yeah, but he might have some real units too. The used method to detect hallucinations is to center a location on the unit, then check if there is a unit in the location, if there is, it's a real unit, if not, then you are centered on a hallucination. Make sure to put a unit in the center of the map so that the location will be on top of it if there are no real or hallucinated units.

Of course we don't know the specifics of this map or the hallucination. And the only way that would be of real use is if you know exactly what the hallucination will be and only if there aren't any real ones more left than it. And if your looking for a general approach ([men]), that would cut off the right side of the map. Not to mention there definitely would be real units if they were made via an Ht. He did say he wanted to detect it in a specific location
But this is designed for a more 'option' type of entering a location, not knowing if a hallucination was made in a general area.

Ultimately, we can't make an accurate system without knowing the nature of his map or the circumstances.

However, you should be able to come up with something similar using these ideas.

Edited for a typo

I think you misinterpreted what Falkoner said Kaias. I think what he meant was have a trigger that always centers a location on any Men at the location you want to detect if a hallucination is inside, then another trigger bellow that to check if there is a unit in the location. If there is no unit detected then it has to be a hallucination. Now if there are no men in the location when you try to center the location, the centered location will go to the middle of the map, and since there will most likely be no units there it will falsely think there is a hallucination in our location, so too stop that you just make sure there is a unit in the middle of the map.

I understand that the reason of a unit being in the middle of the map is for it to not think there is a hallucination there. You aren't correct, however, in that if you center a location on men in a location and there aren't any to detect it won't to the middle of the map. It will go to the middle of the location the location is centering in. Knowing this, I was assuming Falkoner meant to check the entire map. (Because the middle of the map is where it would go if you were doing the whole map and there weren't any units to center on.

Really? I always just thought centering went to the center of the map if it doesn't find a matching unit. But then again i cant remember ever testing it outside of "center on units Anywhere" so... ignore me.

Yes, if it doesn't have anything to center on, it will center in the middle of whatever its centering in.

Here's my hallucination gunner system I made a while ago. Not sure if it will be able to help but it shows the general idea of detecting them.

http://www.staredit.net/files/511/

Thanks for the replies

Here's some more specifics, my original idea was 1 level of my defence map would be a whole bunch of hallucinated dark templar, and 1 real dark templar. They'd flow single file around a path, then die (and lose lives) at the end point of the path. So you'd be encouraged to storm/plague/ensnare to easily kill the decoys etc.

And what was getting me was that I have a system where the unit enters the path 'corner' location, then a death counter counts up to 4 (in this case) and then is ordered to the next path corner. But since they're not being detected like real units, I have this problem.

I'm having a look at Urmom's map now, seeing if i can adapt something to fit this purpose.

Might have to change my idea >_< but thanks for the help everyone!

Help me understand what you mean. You want to count up 4 dt hallucs before ordering them to the next relay point?

No the dc are just to time the movement of the units, so they don't cut corners.

If i have a 1x1 square locations for the path corners and have a trigger something like:

Player 8 brings atleast 1 Dark Templar to path01

Order all Dark Templar at path01 to move to path02
Preserve Trigger

Then as soon as the unit enters the location, it'll head to the next corner. But my path is 1 square wide and the units will go off the path, so it really doesn't look pro. Plus it messes with the build space for the player.

I've set up a macro to make triggers that count a specified amount of dc (just as a timer) before it gives the move order, so it'll count 4 dc (enough time to reach the center of the 1x1 location) then order, then reset to 0 ready to count up again. Make sense?

So basically, I just need to be able to detect when the hallucinations are in the corner location, count 4 dc, then order them to the next location, detect they're gone, and reset the dc timer to 0.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Jun 21 2008, 12:52 am by jandii.

Ah, so there aren't any boundaries just set location paths. Well what you could do, is make the corner locations not extend out to be 1x1, but rather 1x0 or 0x1 (0 as in 1 pixel) depending on which direction the unit is going. So if the unit is going up to a corner, your location would be 1 tile wide and 1 pixel tall, so that the unit would only hit it once he's fully up into the tile, thus not cutting the corner and not needing you to dc up to 4 before ordering (and also unit speed wouldn't need to be differentiated in the dc)

Of course, looking at your map features (reversed, air units from left) You have to do locations according to that direction as well, which would probably be a pain not worth it.

If you don't have the area detected, you could use the previously suggested method in this thread:
Burrowed unit at right side of corner location (edge of unit barely within range of location) and center location at men in the corner. If there is no longer the burrowed unit in this centered location, make the order (and if necessary the dc to 4)

Ultimately, your preference.