Spell making session #7 voting

[Blade.dk]

Here's the entries for the 7th spell making session - Awesome as usual.

Table:

User/Download link

(Spell Making Session 7 Thread)

Please post a top 3 list of which spells you like most, and why you like them most. Even though the session has a poll, the poll won't decide the winner, if nobody posts good reasons. Reasons means more than the poll.

Last day to vote and post reasons is next friday.

Good luck, everybody!

[Rising_Dusk]

#1 - Moyack

I wasn't expecting this spell to really wow me like it did when I first loaded it up.
I was toying with it in WC3, and noticed 15 minutes went by really fast.
It was really fun to play with, and that's most of what a spell is supposed to be in game.

The code wasn't perfect, it had lots of room for improvement like adding constant functions.
However, it was still well made albeit all of that.
It was presented well, it was worked hard on, and it really looked like a spell I could see using in a multitude of maps. It was when I thought about just how usable it was in different maps, that I sealed it in as my personal favorite of the contestants.
I truly think this was worth my #1 slot.

#2 - Daelin

Superbly coded, I loved reading through the jass.
Did an excellent job there.

However, I felt the spell almost substituted quantity for quality.
It wasn't the most impressive visually (Save the triangle, that was cool),
and it didnt really scream "super fun". It also might be a challenge to be
usable in most maps.
Although all of that may be true, so much time and effort was put into making the spells compatible with everything and so on that I can't help but rate it high.
Dedication is something I don't see enough of this day, and motivation to do all of those spells took a lot.
I was impressed.

#3 - zeroXD

You know, it didn't have a screenshot, I'd never heard of the maker before in my life...
But this spell was cool, I must confess.

It looked really good for a gui spell.
And that said, it worked really well and was pretty cool looking.
I cant say much about the code, since it is in gui, but it seemed more or less alright. Also, wasnt a fan of the restoring mana when its cast,
it looked unprofessional to lose the mana and then regain it.
Also, since it appeared that cooldowns were reset if you cast on land/shallows, what would happen if other spells were on the hero?
I think that really makes it rather unusable.

Even though it was GUI, it was worth my top 3.
Excellent job, zero.

I also made a SS for it, so you wouldn't be the only one without one. :D

My Thoughts on the Other Spells
Sharingan - Leviathan
Laughed my arse off at this one. It was really funny.
"wtf halp I no swim!1" was the best part. I was actually quite
astounded by the flying Leviathan and how it ate people and spit them
into the water. The effect was very neat.
The coding was also pretty good.
It was rather hard to follow in places, but it didnt leak and it was still nice.
I didnt like the loads of globals though, they were pretty bad.
Anyways, really nicely done.

Mezzer - Torrent
It was an okay spell I suppose.
The simerror wasnt very descriptive, nor did it stop me from casting at
all if I wasnt on water. Also, because of how it works, it seems very
limited in its scope and use.
Lots of inefficiencies in the code, really wasnt optimized at all.
Pretty leaky to top it off.
Not the most impressive, but I could see a good amount of effort was put into it.
And effort says a lot about a person's intentions.

The)TideHunter( - Rapids
The spell itself was weird. >_>
I wasnt a huge fan of the spell in game, the visuals and the effects
themselves were sketchy and not the best thought out in their use.
The rapids themselves never seemed to spawn where I wanted them, that
sort of randomness also helped to kill it for me.
The code in the map was very well done, I must admit.
I thoroughly liked going through it.

[The)TideHunter(]

I cant really say much, the spells were great, and i have about 3 minutes to say my opinion then im off for a week.
Im also stealing Dusk's layout

#1 - zeroXD

Great spell, the timing was very accurate, when the blue projectiles fired back, it was asthough the units were stook in them, great idea, goodjob on it.
Although it was in GUI, it was definatly a top class spell.
Eyecandy was superb

#2 - moyack

To me, it seemed like a great spell, you could see that spell in a map one day.
The eyecandy was quite good, you placed the effects in the right places at the right times, it seemed like good coding too. GJ.

#3 - Rising_Dusk

Great idea, that seemed like a real good use of water, especially throughing the units after, seemed like a great idea xD.
I dident look at the code too much, but i cant doubt your abilities, and i saw no errors, so that would probally be a first class too.
Eyecandy was nice also, the effects you used were really gave the spell the extra zist.

Im sorry i cant judge the rest, but im on a flight in 3 hours, and i need some sleep.

I hope everybody is regonised, and goodluck to all!
Farewell.

[elementis90]

These were some very good entries this time. I've always played them in the past but never voted. Figured I should change that. My criteria for spells usually is visual, design, and funness, as even if you can code something it won't matter unless it is fun.

Anyway....

First place I would have to say Rising_Dusk deserves. His spell was superbly fun, just as Domino Theory was. I spent almost half an hour just playing around with it, tossing units around. I really like the addition of scaleable strength. He didn't just make it so you can cast and have it go, or have to wait the full 8 seconds. This allows alot of adaptation in the use of the spell and was very fun. Visually it was quite appealing too....though not quite as appealing as ZeroXD's entry. Hmm what else...good code....and little lag. My computer can barely run WC3, yet this thing worked almost perfectly on it. Barely any trace of lag. Also it fits perfectly in a map as a regular skill, or as an ultimate. Definitely the winner here I think.

Second I would say is Sharingan. His spell was superbly fun and good looking. I loved how it actually looked like they were swooping down and turning as a real leviathan might. However, and this is what killed the map for me, the spell lagged a good deal. I would find frames skipping all of the time. The lack of a good bite animation was annoying...but oh well....very good idea, and very fun. Would make a good ultimate in a map possibly. This was a very close second as far as I'm concerned.

And third is probably ZeroXD's spell. It was entertaining to use, and looked VERY nice, probably the best of the lot in that respect. I have to question usability in a map a bit. It might be good for an all water map in which you have a melee hero against melee foes...but otherwise I can't say I would find much use for it. Still it was fun, and looked good and definitely deserves 3rd place.

-Elementis

[vile]

Rising dusk's will be #1 for me, its so aweosme, the coding is great and the idea itself is fantastic.
#2 goes for daelin, i liked the effects and the spell.
#3 for moyack, its just an idea i wouldnt have thought of, very original.

[BertTheJasser]

1. Rising dusk - Very neat idea + tangential slid(e)(?)ing.
2. Dealin - very invative, but a see elemtal would fit better.
3. zeroXD - very cinemtaic spell, not my primary love, but not bad

Btw. There should be a rule that the contest maps must have the following shape:
ContestName - Author - SpellName

[Blade.dk]

I don't think I will add that rule, people wouldn't follow it anyways, and it would be a lame reason to disqualify a spell.

But it would be nice if people could name their maps like that.

[Rising_Dusk]

I always seem to do mine in "SpellSession#_Name_v1.X"
It's become a sort of habit.

And thanks for the happy votes everyone. :D

[BertTheJasser]

@Blade.dk: Why not add that to the contest thread, so everybody could read it?
@Rsising dust: Why the hell do you always use return bug exploiters like this:

JASS:

local integer j=H2I(GetExpiredTimer())
//...some more code
call TimerStart(Int2Timer(j)),//...

This way is damn(?) slow

[Archian]

1# Daelin
Many spells which i've seen through out the years of wc3 modding, many of them usually always had a great effect (visually) but not really any real "purpose" (like buffs, area of effect, description, summoning etc.) just a cool effect, this one which didn't really have an impressive visually, though i liked the triangle had what i've been looking for for some time.
A spell which didn't use an all-time-full-screen-super effect (im exaggerating a little here) but was great "scripted" and prepared thoroughly.
Plus, I knew your motivation in the creation of this spell, that itself is also worth a reward (however im sure that everybody worked hard on their spells).

In all, great idea, well motivated and a good spell.

2# Rising_Dusk
Great idea, and great/funny spell. And I know of your abilities in spell making.

3# moyack
Because his spells was really the only thing that got close to a sea monster, which i had thought would be the primary submission category to this contest. And because i liked the idea..

[zeroXD]

1# - Rising_Dusk
It was really nice made and also looked awsome, and it dont have too
many effects (witch mine have a lot of) and runs perfectly. It looks
like something that might be used in Vile's AoM. Vote for this one.

2# - moyack
Great spell, awsome work, but it sadly dont look too realistick in shallow
water. It would look very nice in a map like "Pirates".

3# - zeroXD (me)
It is a bit wierd rating your own spell, but i'll try. I'd say i have too much
SFX, and it is more like a cinematic spell, looks very nice, and timing is
great.

(Yes, my spell is in GUI, but that is because i dont "speak" JASS yet, but I'm trying to learn, I have just started.)

EDIT: to Rising_Dusk: if you can come up with another way to restore the mana, thats great. And just so that you know it, it only resets the spell you cast, not anything else.

[Naakaloh]

Originally Posted by BertTheJasser

@Rsising dust: Why the hell do you always use return bug exploiters like this:

JASS:

local integer j=H2I(GetExpiredTimer())
//...some more code
call TimerStart(Int2Timer(j)),//...

This way is damn(?) slow

It is slow, but it's is only two extra calls which eliminate any potential "timer set to null" issues.

[BertTheJasser]

just use a dummy func, which is still faster and a lot easier to read.

[Naakaloh]

Eh? The issue then would be calling it a lot more, so it's not really faster at all. Unless I misunderstood what you're saying.

[Rising_Dusk]

I've discussed this at length with a bunch of people, and the H2I(...) then I2Timer(...) is not incredibly slow at all.
When called hundreds of times, it is indeed slower than direct natives, but it also eliminates the need to nullify timers, which are a huge cause of bugs in game cache.

In my opinion, I think it is totally worth it.

To be fair, I didn't use to use it.
But I've discovered that it is a hell of a lot more efficient than NOT nulling timers.
Ask Blu, he convinced me to start it. :P