The Bound Making Tutorial

[PiNk PeOn]

Moderator Notes: I have received permission from Pink Peon to put this into the Map Making Faq Sticky Thread.


Since I've seen alot of people asking questions about bounds I decided to start this bound tutorial topic... now after I submit my help list, you can add stuff if you wish well here's my tutorial... more will be added with more posts

Starsoft's Tutorial:

Switch's:
Switch's are very important in bound making... as you see in most bounds when you enter a certain location it turns off the previous trap and sets the next here is how you use switch's.

Players:
Force 1
Conditions :
'Force 1' brings 'atleast 1'/ 'exactly 1'(exactly 1 would be used if you use lives) 'unit(the bounder guy)' to 'location(ex.setswitch1)'
Actions:
(Now if you have any other switch's before this you would put Clear 'Switch' here aswell)
Clear 'Switch'(if needed)
Set Switch 'NextSwitch'

Explosions:
Now once you've done your switch's it's time to make the explosions I will give you an example explosion. Now for the explosions you have to have the players for the computers.
Ex.
Players:
Player 7(or whatever the computer is)
Conditions:
Always
'Switch' is 'set'
Actions:
Create '1' 'Terran Firebat' at 'firebat1' for 'player7'
Kill all 'men' for 'all players' at 'firebat1'
Wait 100 milleseconds
Create '1' 'Terran Firebat' at 'firebat2' for 'player7'
Kill all 'men' for 'all players' at 'firebat2'
Wait 100 milliseconds
Create '1' 'Terran Firebat' at 'firebat3' for 'player7'
Kill all 'men' for 'all players' at 'firebat3'
Wait 200 milliseconds
Preserve Trigger

Now let's say you wanted to make a building instead of a unit then you would do:
Kill all 'any unit' for 'all players' at 'firebat1' ect. Also let's say you run out of triggers and can't fit anymore space... then all you would change would be...

Players:
Player 7(or whatever the computer is)
Conditions:
Always
'Switch' is 'set'
Actions:
Create '1' 'Terran Firebat' at 'firebat1' for 'player7'
Kill all 'men' for 'all players' at 'firebat1'
Wait 100 milleseconds
Create '1' 'Terran Firebat' at 'firebat2' for 'player7'
Kill all 'men' for 'all players' at 'firebat2'
Wait 100 milliseconds
Create '1' 'Terran Firebat' at 'firebat3' for 'player7'
Kill all 'men' for 'all players' at 'firebat3'
Wait 100 milliseconds
[glow=red]Clear 'Switch'<-----
Set 'ContinuedSwitch'<--------[/glow]
Preserve Trigger

and then...

Conditions:
Always
'ContinuedSwitch' is 'set'
Actions:
Create '1' 'Terran Firebat' at 'firebat4' for 'player7'
Kill all 'men' for 'all players' at 'firebat3'
Wait 100 milliseconds
Clear 'ContinuedSwitch'
Set 'Switch'
Preserve Trigger

For more tutorials look in the map making faq or at www.boundheaven.tk

If anybody wishes to add anything pm me and I'll add it.

 

[ArchnTagHardCPU]

Starcraft: Brood War Bound Map Making FAQ
Written by Zzyzzyxx
E-mail: Kobe_5@hotmail.com
MSN Messenger: Same as E-mail
Version 1.2

Table Of Contents

Version History
Introduction
Map Editors
Setting It Up
Sounds
Briefing
Basic Triggers
Explosion Triggers
Tips
FAQs
Credits
Legal Information

Version History

Version 1.2: Fixed many minor errors

Version 1.1: Fixed the formatting errors
Date: 6-16-03

Version 1.0: Released version, much of the FAQ is complete
Date: 6-5-03

Introduction

Starcraft was made back in 1998 and the expansion, Brood War, in 1999. Even
after all these years, it's still one of the most popular games on the PC.
Bound maps have long been popular map setting games for Starcraft, so I think
it's time someone writes a guide on how to create them.

Map Editors

Before you do anything, you should download a better map editor than StarEdit,
which is what comes with Starcraft when you install it. One that I recommend is
SC X-tra Editor. It can be found at http://www.stormcoast-fortress.net/. Scroll
down to the bottom of the page and it should be there. There are many things
that can be done with SC X-tra Editor that can't be done with StarEdit, such as
easy access to text colors and making it easy to overlap words.

Next, you need a program that will make square terrain for your bound map. It's
pretty hard to make a good bound without using square terrain. There are three
programs that I know of that will get you square terrain.

The best but most time consuming program is GUEdit. You can download GUEdit and
the Java Runtime files that are required to open up GUEdit at
http://goldenurg.tripod.com/files.html. Once downloaded and unzipped, click the
"Load" button and then browse for your map. Then click the "Edit Terrain"
button. It will probably take a few minutes to load the terrain and mega tiles.
When it is loaded, simply click on the mega tile that you would like and then
click on your map where you want it. It might delay a few seconds before it
shows up, but it will eventually. What makes this program so good is that there
are thousands of mega tiles to choose from. It allows you to do things such as
putting creep everywhere. Once your map is looking how you want it, click
"Store Terrain" and save your map. You will have to rename it since it doesn't
let you save over the original. There's also a number of different things you
can do on GUEdit, such as protecting your map so nobody else can open it up in
StarEdit or any other program. Just make sure that you don't protect your map
when you're editing the terrain so that you can still open it up to change the
triggers.

The best program for people that are kind of computer illiterate would be
SCMDraft. This, along with any of the other editors for that matter, can be
found at http://www.geocities.com/ubolt_head/Downloads.htm. This is the easiest
of the three programs to use. Make sure you have "Terrain" selected for the
current mode towards the top. Where it says "Brush Shape", select "Square" or
"Rectangle". Just to warn you, squares will not appear on the screen when you
try to make them but rectangles will. To get the squares that you made show up,
simply make a rectangle anywhere on the screen and the squares will then
appear. There are a lot of different brush sizes to choose from. Make sure to
save when you're done.

The most difficult of the three to use is called ISOM. It can be found at
http://www.supremestarcraft.com/do/staredit.php. Once you have the program
opened, open up the map that you want to have square terrain. Type in 0 where
it says "ISOM Filler". Then click the "Write" button at the bottom. Make sure
to put .scx at the end of whatever you name it so it can be opened up in
StarEdit or any other program. Open up your map with your map-editing program
and you will then have square terrain. The only problem is that you can't get a
1x1 block square and it can get quite frustrating trying to get the terrain how
you want it most of the time.

Setting it Up

The next thing that you should after you have made your terrain is to make all
of the locations. To make a location, click on "Layer" in the top toolbar and
click "Location". You'll need to put a location on every single spot you want
an explosion to occur and any spot where any unit will be or appear. There is a
limit to 255 locations, so don't make your bound too big.

Next, you should decide how many players you want to be able to play your bound
and put them on a team in the forces. To do this, click on "Scenario" in the
top toolbar and click "Forces". Usually player 8 is the computer player that
makes all of the explosions happen, but you can choose a different one if you
like. Drag the player you want to be the computer over to Force 2. If there's
players that you don't want in the bound, just put them in Force 3. Leave the
allies, allied victory, and shared vision boxes checked, but uncheck the random
start location boxes.

To change a player to computer, click on "Player" in the top toolbar, then
click on "Settings". Click on Player 8, (or whatever player you want to be the
computer) and select computer where it says "Control". You can also change the
race of each player. If you think that Terran has the best music, then go ahead
and make everybody Terran. If you have SC-X-tra Editor it won't matter, but if
you're using StarEdit you'll have to make everybody Zerg since you most likely
will be using Zerglings as the bound running units. With SC X-tra Editor you
can select any unit for any race for any player, which is another reason why I
recommend getting SC X-tra Editor.

Now place a start location for every player that will be in the bound. For
example, if you're going to have five players and a computer, you would place a
start location for those five players and the computer. To place start
locations in SC X-tra Editor, double click on a player on the left hand side,
go to "Special", and then "Start Location". In StarEdit, you'll see "Start
Location" right after you double click on any player.

Now you can place bound running unit(s) for each player where you want them to
start. Most people use Zerglings, but it's up to you what unit you want. You
can also choose whether or not you want Zerglings to have the speed upgrade. To
get them the speed upgrade, go to "Player" and "Settings" and click on the
"Upgrades" tab. Click "Zerg Upgrades" and then click "Metabolic Boost". Uncheck
"Use defaults and player" and put in the number 1 for all four of the boxes you
see. Click "OK" and your Zerglings will have the speed upgrade.

Sounds

If you have a 56K modem and it takes a long time to download a map, it's most
likely because the map has many sounds. Usually it's best to have few sounds
that are pretty short, or no sounds at all, to avoid having a map that will
take a long time to download. Remember, people often get banned for not having
a map, but if the download is short, the host is more likely to wait for the
person to download it, which means that your map will get spread more if it is
a relatively small download.

The only sounds that can be used are .wavs. To import a sound, go to "Scenario"
and click on "Sounds". Click the "Import" button and browse for your sound. It
is best to have 16-bit .wav files since it doesn't like any other type very
much. To find out whether or not your .wav is 16-bit, you can browse for it in
My Computer and simply right click on it and select properties. It will tell
you there. If your .wav is not 16-bit, don't worry because it's very easy to
change. To change it, click on your Start button and click Run. Type in
"sndrec32" and push enter. Your sound recorder will then come up. Open up your
.wav file. Go to "File" and "Properties" and click the "Convert Now" button.
You can then select 16-bit. Also make sure that it's mono. Now save it as a
different file name, but remember to put .wav at the end of what you name it.
You can then delete your previous sounds that weren't 16-bit and import the new
ones that are.

Briefing

The mission briefing is what you see in every map setting game while you wait
for everyone to press start. Some people like to be creative and make really
cool briefings, while others will just write something like the name of their
map and who made it. However, a lot of people probably won't even watch the
briefing, so maybe it's not worth the time to make a nice one.

Anyways, making a briefing isn't very hard at all. You can start making it by
going to "Scenario" and "Mission Briefings". You'll notice that there's not
very many briefing triggers compared to normal ones. Mission’s objectives are
what will appear in the lower left corner of the bound while a text message is
what will appear in the larger area. If you're going to be creative in making a
briefing, your triggers should look something like this.

Players:
-All players

Actions:
-Set Mission Objectives for current player to: 'your text'
-Pause for 'number' milliseconds
-Set Mission Objectives for current player to: 'your text'
-Pause for 'number' milliseconds
-Set Mission Objectives for current player to: 'your text'

And you'd just keep making more stuff happen by doing that. Usually the pauses
aren't very long. You could also choose to make all of the cool stuff happen in
your text message instead of mission objectives, or even both, if you choose
so.

You should also put some units up in the portrait boxes by using the 'Show
portrait' action. Just put some units that would be common in your bound in
those boxes, such as Zerglings.

 

[ArchnTagHardCPU]

Basic Triggers

The triggers are what make the bound and they are probably the most confusing
part of making the bound for a lot of people. First of all, to access the
triggers, go to "Scenario" and "Triggers". Just delete the three triggers you
see there as they are pretty useless. Now start off by making some of the basic
triggers. If you want everyone's units to be invincible so they can't be
attacked and killed by other players, the trigger would look something like
this.

Players:
-'Bound team'

Conditions:
-Always

Actions:
-Enable invincibility for any unit owned by 'bound team' at 'anywhere'
-Preserve trigger
-Comment: 'Invincibility'

Comments just make it so it's less of a pain to scroll through and identify all
of your triggers. You should also be allied to the computer player to avoid
having a red attack symbol every time you scroll over something of the
computer's. To do that, just add the following action to the trigger above.

-Set 'Player 8' to Ally

It's always good to have a trigger that ends the game when everyone's bound
units are dead. That would like something like this.

Players:
-'Bound team'

Conditions:
-'Bound team' commands exactly 0 'Zerglings'

Actions:
-Display message for current player: (optional)
-Wait for 'number' milliseconds (optional)
-End scenario in defeat for current player
-Comment: 'Defeat'

If you don't feel like making map revealers for every player around the whole
map, just make the map revealers for the computer player and create this
trigger.

Players:
-'Bound team'

Conditions:
-Always

Actions:
-Execute AI script 'Turn ON shared vision for 'computer player'
-Preserve trigger
-Comment: 'Vision'

Explosion Triggers

Okay, now it's time to start the explosion triggers. To do this, you use these
things called switches. To start the first set of explosions, make this
trigger.

Players:
-'Bound team'

Conditions:
-'Bound team' brings at least 1 any unit to 'wherever you placed your units'
OR
-Elapsed scenario time is exactly 1 seconds

Actions:
-Set switch 1
-Center view for current player at 'wherever you placed your units'
-Comment: 'Set levels'

You have now set the first switch, which will in turn set off the explosions
once you make them. The next trigger is going to make the explosions.

Players:
-'Computer player'

Conditions:
-Switch 1 is set

Actions:
-Create 1 'exploding unit' at 'exploding spot' for 'computer player'
-Kill all any unit for all players at 'exploding spot'
-Wait for 'number' milliseconds
-Preserve trigger
-Comment: 'Level 1'

With that trigger, there will only be one continuously exploding unit until a
bounder reaches the desired location. Don't forget to preserve the trigger
because that is what makes the explosions continuous. You can add more create
and kill triggers after every wait command. There is a limit to 64 actions per
trigger, so you can't make obstacles too long. However, you can kill a bigger
area of explosions with one kill command by stretching out a location. This
would be a large explosion followed by a small explosion. The trigger would
look something like this.

Players:
-'Computer player'

Conditions:
-Switch 1 is set

Actions:
-Create 1 'exploding unit' at 'exploding spot 1' for 'computer player'
-Create 1 'exploding unit' at 'exploding spot 2' for 'computer player'
-Create 1 'exploding unit' at 'exploding spot 3' for 'computer player'
-Create 1 'exploding unit' at 'exploding spot 4' for 'computer player'
-Create 1 'exploding unit' at 'exploding spot 5' for 'computer player'
-Kill all any unit for all players at 'row 1'
-Wait for 'number' milliseconds
-Create 1 'exploding unit' at 'exploding spot 5' for 'computer player'
-Kill all any unit for all players at 'exploding spot 5'
-Preserver trigger
-Comment: 'Level 1'

You can't just create units in a row like you can with killing, however. If you
try it, it will just look like a big blob of units in the center.

Next, you'll need a trigger to start the next obstacle once a bounder makes it
across the explosions. This is how the trigger would look.

Players:
-'Bound team'

Conditions:
-Switch 1 is set
-Current player brings at least 1 any unit to 'obstacle 1 end'

Actions:
-Clear switch 1
-Set switch 2
-Comment: Level 2

For the rest of the levels in your bound, make more create and kill triggers
like shown above.

The victory trigger is very simple to make. Take a look below.

Players:
-'Bound team'

Conditions:
-'Switch final' is set
-'Bound team' brings at least 1 any unit to 'location win'

Actions:
-Display message for current player: (optional)
-Wait for 'number' milliseconds (optional)
-End scenario in victory for current player
-Comment: Victory

That's about all there is to it to making a bound map.

Tips

Try not to put too many sounds on your map. Like I said earlier, your map will
get spread more if it is a small download.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don't forget to download SC X-tra Editor for map making. There are so many
things that you can do with that editor that otherwise wouldn't be possible with
StarEdit.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Make sure to download a program that will make square terrain. Seriously, your
bound will suck without it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Always protect your map before you distribute it to the public. If you don't,
there are always people out there that will edit your map and put their name on
it instead of yours. You can easily protect your maps using GUEdit. Look up in
the "Map Editors" section to see where to download it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It might be a good idea to put a lag banner in your bound. If somebody lags, it
can really ruin the game for all of the other people. There are a lot of
different ways to make a lag banner, such as bringing units to a location, or a
unit dieing at a location. This is an example of how one might look.

Players:
-Player '1'

Conditions:
-'Bound team' brings exactly 1 'unit' to 'Ban player 1'

Actions:
-Display message for current player: (optional)
-End scenario in defeat for current player
-Comment: 'Lag ban'

You would need to do this for every player in your map. Just copy and change
'Player 1' to 'Player 2' etc.

 

[ArchnTagHardCPU]

FAQs

Q. How do I get flashing beacons?

A. To get flashing beacons, you must have shared vision with the computer
player turned off. This means that you will need to put map revealers for every
player all around the map, instead of just the computer player. That trigger
would look something like this.

Players:
-'Bound team'

Conditions:
-Always

Actions:
-Execute AI script 'Turn ON shared vision for 'computer player'
-Preserve trigger
-Comment: 'Vision'

You then need to put an observer for each player, besides the computer player,
all around any beacons you want flashing. This would be the next trigger.

Players:
-'Bound team'

Conditions:
-Elapsed scenario time is exactly 1 seconds

Actions:
-Remove all Protoss Observer for 'Bound team' at Anywhere

Now you need to disable the doodad states for your beacons. Make locations that
are big enough so the beacons are inside them. Then make this trigger.

Players:
'Computer player'

Conditions:
-Always

Actions:
-Disable doodad state for 'Terran' Beacon for 'Computer player' at 'location
your beacon is in'

Remember to disable the doodad states for every beacon you want to flash. Once
that's done, you should have flashing beacons.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q. There is always a pause at the end of my set of explosions. Well, I don't
want it to pause at all. How would I go about doing this?

A. It can be pretty difficult doing this. First of all, at the end of your set
of explosions, you need to set another switch. It would look like this.

Players:
-'Computer player'

Conditions:
-Switch 1 is set

Actions:
-Create 1 'exploding unit' at 'exploding spot' for 'computer player'
-Kill all any unit for all players at 'exploding spot'
-Preserve trigger
-Set 'switch #'
-Wait for 'number' milliseconds
-Comment: 'Level 1'

Now, you need this trigger to make it continuous.

Players:
-'Computer player'

Conditions:
-'Switch continuous obstacle' is set
-'Switch #' is set

Actions:
-Clear 'continuous obstacle'
-Wait for 0 milliseconds
-Set 'continuous obstacle'
-Preserve trigger
-Comment: 'Continuous obstacle 1'

Make sure that the one above is for only the computer player to avoid problems.
You'll have to play around with that wait command after the action "Set 'switch
#'" until you get it perfect.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q. What is the best latency to use for bound maps?

A. Units will respond much faster when you tell them to move somewhere on low
latency than they would on high or extra high latency.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q. How come GUEdit won't open up?

A. You probably forgot to download the Java Runtime Files. You can get them at
the same site as mentioned in the "Map Editors" section.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q. Why won't GUEdit let me load the terrain of my map?

A. Instead of finding your map file after clicking "Load Terrain", double click
on starcraft.exe.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q. Have you made any bounds?

A. Yes, I made one called Archon Bound. It's a simple level up style bound game
with 100 levels. If you want to try it out, you can download it at
http://www.anycities.com/user/scmaps.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q. Are there any good map-making channels on Battle.net?

A. The best map-making clan in my opinion is (U). Their channel is Clan OpZ(U)
and it's on the USEast server.

Credits

Blizzard for making Starcraft: Brood War

All of the people in Clan OpZ(U) (Including Archn) for lots of map making information

Me for writing this FAQ

You for reading this FAQ

Legal Information

If you see any errors, have any questions, comments, or if you just think that
I'm missing something in my FAQ, E-mail me at Kobe_5@hotmail.com and I'll give
you credit for any information that you might have. If you have MSN Messenger,
feel free to add me. My messenger name is the same as my E-mail. If you'd like
this FAQ on your website, E-mail me along with the address of your site. You
must have my permission before posting this FAQ on any website. Be sure to put
something about Starcraft: Brood War in the topic of any E-mail that you send
me to make sure that they get read. The latest version of this FAQ can always
be found at www.GameFAQs.com. This Bound Map Making FAQ is Copyright ©2003
Zzyzzyxx.

 

[PiNk PeOn]

Erm? Okeyly dokely... I should've probably added a center location think for bounds as you usually see in maze's...

Maze's:
Making maze's are pretty simple all you need is one simple center location and then you place the map

Players:
Player 1
Conditions:
Always
Actions:
Center 'centeredlocation' on all 'unit' owned by 'player 1' at 'anywhere'
Preserve Trigger

Then for it to kill the person....

Players:
Player 1
Conditions:
'Force 2' brings 'atleast 1' 'anyunit' to 'centeredlocation'
Actions:
Kill all 'men' for 'player1' at 'centeredlocation'
Preserve Trigger

Now just do this for all the bounders//

 

[ArchnTagHardCPU]

Note: Should kill all men for player 1, not force 1. Please edit this.

 

[Jon_K]

I vote for this post to be stickied please. It seems pretty helpful!

Please sticky it? This post has too much information to let it just slip off into the archives.

 

[PiNk PeOn]

Actually force 1 would work anyways,giving that you just set everything else to force1 -_- .... but I guess I could change it.

 

[Da_BiG]

Aye Bud I work at Mac Donalds and ive hd 2 make and order like that b4, so u should refer it 2 something eles , good point but.

 

[(V)aster)V(ind]

yeah and thats totally relevant because...?

 

[PiNk PeOn]

Master Virus, would you please add this part to the faq as well?
I wish to also submit a fewl links that have good tutorials or that have bounders that are good friends of my:
www.fatalstarcraft.tk
www.scboundexpertz.cjb.net
www.starcraftjunktion.tk
www.boundheaven.tk

And that is all I wish to add to this...

 

[124SBD456]

ack. i hate bound games. to make them, people use hacked map edidtors, which makes lag no matter how fast your connection is. then in the game, they complain about the lag. its bogus.

but, when offline, there fun to master on your own. excluding ones which requir team work.

 

[desroches]

Hacked editors aren't the only reason it lags in a game... It could be because of the large triggers. Or the reapetitive explosions.

 

[Bolt Head]

Hacked editors . . . lag arg I'm staying out of this.

 

[PiNk PeOn]

It doesn't lag much more than any other map, just it lags a bit more because lot's of triggers are usually running at one time.

 

[ArchnTagHardCPU]

On the contrary, you newb, the more triggers running simutaneously, the less of a "lag" for the triggers there are. The only reason the game would lag is if either the players lagged (in which case, there would be no lag in SINGLE PLAYER), or if there are too many sprites.

Is there a certain number of sprites, in which you begin to notice the effect, in Single Player, I guess, since then you could know it was sprite number for sure?

And by "hacked editor" you mean "advanced editor", i.e more available features. Much like with hacking, where you get much more features, such as stacking, building off the creep, landing on water, viewing through shroud, clicking units not normally clickable due to shroud, staying in the game after defeat, etc.

 

[PiNk PeOn]

Was that directed to me or everybody? And even so I suddenly lost all my respect for archn...

 

[rune_warrior]

sounds like it... he was discussing more or less the same thing.

also, people don't have to use "hacked editors" they can use the original staredit or starforge. i think what you mean by hacked editors is like scxe which is modified staredit? if its like that then you can also use starforge from scratch or scmdraft obviously from scratch.

 

[-MatriX-]

If y[COLOR=99DD99]o[/COLOR][COLOR=77DD77]u [/COLOR][COLOR=55DD55]r[/COLOR][COLOR=33DD33]eally figure, since SCXE did not add anything to StarEdit, but only readded the unplaced units and special effects that Blizzard took out, and maybe reorganized it to make it easier to bring out. Therefor, technically it's not really changed, just moved around.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=004400]-[/COLOR][COLOR=006600]M[/COLOR][COLOR=008800]a[/COLOR][COLOR=00AA00]tr[/COLOR][COLOR=00CC00]i[/COLOR][COLOR=00EE00]x[/COLOR][COLOR=00FF00]-[/COLOR]​

 

[Bolt Head]

Actually units were added to the editor. They were however already in the game. Inserting them into the map cause no more lag than any other unit would.

I should really stay out of this conversation we already talked about it at Blizz forums.