FFA Masters League

wow normalice where have you been? How may I reach you?

oh. I got a job, and they kinda monitor internet activity there, so I can't really do much like I could on my college computer..

also, I started playing HotS, which necessitated a new computer. And when they announced the starcraft remake, I knew WCIII was probably in the pipes. So, I didn't really want to reinstall WCIII until they came out with the remake. Still looks like it'll be a year, but I saw that grubby played a random hero game and wanted to share..

the only 'release to third party' thing that I'm aware of is done through datamining. That's not really a release to a third party - that's just someone sorting through the patch to kind of 'reverse engineer' the patch notes. The official patch notes are usually released somewhere on the blizzard forums when the PTR goes live. But there is no patch here to datamine, so I have to wonder where the information is coming from.

Not saying it's impossible, but I don't find it likely..

It just occurred to me that I've never actually 'made public' an easy way to do this. So, I'll post it here.

First you'll want to create a new (empty) folder and extract all of the attached files to that folder. They are in a compressed folder, so you'll need to uncompressed them.

Second, copy (don't move) the map you wish to convert to that folder as well. I like to change the file name just so there's no risk of accidentally modifying the original. My standard way to do this is to add a "[original name]RH.w3x" at the end, but before the extension. You can also change the name completely, of course, but that's up to you..

Here's the strangest part: you actually need a third party program: an MPQ editor that you can download here: http://www.zezula.net/en/mpq/download.html

There are probably other MPQ editors, but these instructions are based on using this one. Now the following steps must be done in order or there could be errors.

1) Sound.
1.a)Run the MPQ editor. The first time you run it you'll get a bunch of dialog about initial settings. Ignore them and just click "ok".
1.b) Go to your newly created folder and drag the copy of the map you wish to convert to the right column of the MPQ editor. You'll see a bunch of files show up. Ignore them.
1.c) In the newly created folder, you should have extracted from the attached a .w3s file. Drag that to the right column of the MPQ editor.
1.d) Close the MPQ editor (no need to save or anything, just close it and you're done with this step.) If you wish to confirm this step was done correctly, just look for the .w3s file in the right column.

2) Objects.
2.a) Open the map you wish to convert in the Warcraft III World Editor that comes installed with warcraft III.
2.b) Go to the "Object Editor" (F6).
2.c) Go to File->Import all object data...
2.d) Open the .w3o file you have extracted from the attached. It may take a few second to import the data... just wait for it.
2.e) Close out the Object editor
2.f) Go to Scenario->map options.
2.g) At the bottom there will be a field that says 'Game Data Set'. Change it to "Melee (Latest Patch)". Note that if you skip this step your map will not get any run-time errors, but the units stats will be different. If you notice that after playing all your prices and build times seem way off, it's because you skipped this step.

3) Triggers.
3.a) Open the "Trigger Editor" (F4).
3.b) Go to File-> Import Triggers.
3.c) There should be a .wtg file you extracted from the attached. Import that. Again, it could take a few seconds. Just wait for it...
3.d) Close out the trigger editor as you are done.

4) Save the map and it's ready for random hero play. You may get a warning that it is no longer a melee map. Ignore it and just save.

Unfortunately, a max of 16 players has been hard-coded into the game - that's 12 active players, plus one neutral passive (shops, gold mines..), one neutral hostile (creeps), one neutral victim (recoverable), and one 'extra'. Of course, I've tried turning the 'extra' into observers, with no success - all the code is as right as I can figure and works for any live player, but it does not add an extra player slot in the replay or the game. It's hard coded.

There is some slightly good news, though. Blizzard is apparently adding Warcraft III to the new battle.net platform. This suggests the possibility of them, quite specifically, working on the way custom games are hosted and implemented. I'm sure they've heard this complaint, so if it is at all convenient, we may see that in the future.

But until then, the only way to work around it is to play on 11-player maps. I've stopped making 12-player FFA maps for this reason, in fact, and only make maps for a max of 10 players.

If anyone has a specific map they'd like changed and random heroes added, just let me know. Or, if you don't want to wait on me to get around to it, you can do it yourself as outlined here: http://ffamasters.net/index.php?topic=2145.0

For kicks, I went ahead modified 12 rivers. Basically, I removed the dark green starting location and replaced the mine and creeps with trees. It's attached, if anyone is interested..

chemical rage is being removed - or possibly revised, if I can get it to work. At present, it actually does a morph, which means anyone who uses it would turn into an alchemist. I may be able to emulate it with a modified form of bloodlust, if I can make it undispellable..

i'm "morally opposed" to banning anyone better than me, which obviously includes goodbeast. But he is kind of a prick. Yes, just about everyone is a prick in the 'heat of the moment,' especially when losing, however goodbeast defines a whole new dimension in which to measure the extent of jackassery, to the point where the existence of threads like this actually make sense. Indeed, it only underscores his abilities that anyone is even mildly willing to debate this: if it was someone of my skill level behaving that way, they would be banned from everything pertaining to FFA without question or appeal.

If he can grow up I think he'd turn out to be quite the entertaining top competitor, so sure, if he can demonstrate any sign that he is maturing, keep him in the game. I have my doubts, but am rooting for him nontheless.

if i have the time, i'd like to play..

hey, i looked at the map and found that there was a creep missing at one of the camps. my bad. Anyway I added it back in..