This is a section of the manual that you will find quite useful to your editing endeavors. Here I will discuss a number of ways that you can use the quirks in the A.I. to your advantage, putting actual traps into your missions that will add the extra something that you've been looking for. By all means, this is not the definitive guide to WarCraft II traps, so as you cover the material, run your own missions through your mind. I hope to jump-start your creative process so that you can find even more ways to manipulate the game.
In WarCraft II one of the most important things you can place in your missions are barriers, or more correctly, separations. Introducing separation allows you to prevent the player from either seeing an opponent, or attacking an opponent. This is mostly useful when trying to protect a particular color group from being destroyed early in a mission when it is still weak.
Separation in a WarCraft II mission comes in many forms. A basic form is water. For example, let's say you give the green computer-controlled group a number of barracks and military units on the mainland area of a map, but you do not want the playing audience to be able to stop its gold flow. Using geographic separation you can position a gold mine, town hall, and some peasants in small area in the corner of the map, surrounded by a strip of water. When the player walks along the mainland coastline, the water will look like the beginning of a lake or ocean. Little will he or she know that just beyond visual range of the units, is a mining operation that is allowing green to launch attacks.
But let's assume that water games are not appealing. After all, placing units across bodies of water requires the player to build a naval force or an aerial force, both of which are expensive, time consuming, and will probably be irritating for such a small target. So let's take a look at the options that are involved with a land-based separation.
Land based separations using the rocky land is a shaky proposition. The primary problem here is that a 100% separation is nearly impossible, unless the separating string of rocks stretches from one edge of the map to another edge. Anytime a rock formation stops somewhere on the map, away from the edges, it leaves a one-unit sized gap that a determined computer-controlled color group can still make use of.
Perfectly enclosing a color group in rock presents its own problems as well. Think back to a previous section regarding information on how a computer uses a bombing unit (demolition team or sappers). That's correct, it doesn't use them at all! Because of this, if you place a color group behind rocks, the human player will first have to discover that an enemy is hiding within the rocky area, and then manually bomb his or her way through before an attack can take place. Therefore, if players do not build a single air unit and scout the area, they may never figure out why they've killed every unit they've seen, but still can't win your mission.
Separation by use of trees is a much more interesting and applicable option. When placing a patch of trees in the map editor, you are able to position this patch right up against most other items, except for rocks, or water. This fact allows you to make forest enclosures by combining trees, walls, buildings, and of course the edge of the map. Better still, because you have direct control over the width of the enclosure "walls", you can determine when, or even if a computer-controlled color group is going to break free of its forest cell and get into the game!
Forest separation tactics can really liven up a mission. For example, let's say you start players on the upper left corner of the map and make them run down a forest path to the bottom of the screen where a number of large battles can take place. Why not place another enemy color group on the opposite side of the forest, right near the starting position? What you can cause to happen (after plenty of playtesting for timing) is that about fifteen minutes after the mission starts, when the players' forces are at the bottom of the screen under heavy assault, the separated color group will chop through the barrier and hit the players' city areas while no one is paying attention.
Playing around with the separation factors in your mission is an excellent way to set the playing tempo. If you want to keep players from using defend and horde tactics and ruining the play, setting multiple computer-controlled color groups to suddenly come chopping through the trees will make them spring into action. If they do not, well, then they get what they deserve. Tricks such as this add infinitely more excitement to your missions.
The trap of blind involves the placement of enemy units on the map in a position where the player has no real hope of seeing the danger before it has already hit him or her. Another major factor of blind traps, is that they are solely placed by the editor. You cannot expect a blind trap to "develop" during game play because it simply will not happen.
Water based blind traps will almost universally involve an underwater craft, either the gnomish submarine or the giant turtle. This is a trap that is used by the computer in protecting oil patches that it intends to use in the future, or even currently built oil platforms. This trap gives a false sense of security to players when they see an unguarded oil-rich area. When they move their fleet to secure and defend this area, the submerged enemy ships begin to wipe out the players' ships. Players are "blind" to the trap. Another use of blind traps in water is to place underwater craft off the coastline so that when players attempt to build a shipyard or other such structure, the computer destroys it before it even gets off the ground.
On land, blind traps are primarily used in breaking an offensive strike. Of course, this is usable only once, since the player will be alerted to the trap's presence. Then again, how many traps in real life can be sprung twice? The best blind traps on land will be positioned along narrow corridors or in places that the player must go through to continue searching the map or to reach targets.
Now, four footmen and a pair of archers does not constitute a blind trap. That is more of an outpost force, or a roving guard. On the other hand, ten ogres that the player stumbles across is a good example of a blind trap. I will warn you now, however, not to get too excessive with the placement of normal ground troops. Ground forces are not as exciting as some of the other units in the game and the computer is going to be producing plenty of them as a mission progresses anyhow.
So what should compose a land based blind trap? Towers are the first thing, especially cannon towers. Positioning some of those along a narrow passage is sure to take out a number of the player's units before he or she can order a full retreat. Another good item to place in groups are mages or death knights. Upon entering these units' unusually large visual range, a rain of fireballs and death coil will wash over an invading platoon, decimating or weakening it severely.
One more range of items to consider placing on land are the air units. If the player is using a squad of grunts to scout out the terrain on your mission, a pair of griffins or even a pack of daemons will surely catch the player off guard. The best part of using the air units, is that they will chase the player's units until they have killed them all, or until enemy reinforcements arrive. Either way, the amount of damage that can be caused among several different units is very large. (Especially if the player is foolish enough not to have built any archers or ax throwers!)
The major problem with blind traps is that they are detectable by certain varieties of players. A cheap player using a cheat code to view your mission is going to be automatically alerted to the presence of any of your land based traps. On the other hand, carefully tactical players will quickly construct airships before extending their forces. Airships are capable of not only revealing the land traps, but also of spotting underwater traps when positioned properly. Regardless of this, don't let these problems keep you from using blind traps in your missions. Airships can always be shot down by placing more towers if need be, and who really cares if a cheating player enjoys your mission anyway?
Passive linking is a trap that is used to create an avalanche effect among a group of enemy units. The way to setup a passive linking trap depends on the visual range of the unit type that you are using in the trap. It is the visual range of the units that tells you how much space to put between each unit when placing them on the map. The way the trap works is as follows:
You place a small number of enemy units close together in an area that the player is almost guaranteed to enter. Behind those first units, you begin placing additional forces, at intervals approximately equivalent to their visual range. Continue placing units until you are satisfied with the number of troops involved in the trap. Finally, drag-select every unit involved in this trap and make sure that they are all set to the passive A.I. mode.
When players send their forces into this particular area and confront the initial enemy group, the trap will be sprung. Once the first group of units comes under attack by the player, the units directly behind the group (and out of the player's range of sight) will come forward to defend their allies. When these units move forward, the units behind them will detect the disturbance and come forward to help, and so on, and so forth. Provided that every unit is within the visual range of the unit in front of it, they will all become alerted to the danger and rush forward to help, thus overwhelming the unaware player.
This trap is primarily used at the very beginning of a mission where the editor places some of the main player's units right next to the main group of enemy units that will spring the trap. This ensures that the trap will in fact be used correctly, and also adds some action to the usual drab process of building a city without interference. Passive linking traps are highly recommended on defense missions to give the player an early taste of what is to come.
There are two problems associated with this trap that you will need to look out for. First, if the units in the trap are not spaced almost perfectly, then not every unit is going to join the battle. Playtesting repeatedly will help you find the perfect balance here and is definitely worth the effort for the results offered. The second major problem is that in passive linking, the units do not always return to their initial defending positions like passive units normally should. Occasionally, the trap causes those units to become active, and they will continue forward to the player's city and begin destroying things. If the trap occurs early in the mission and then malfunctions, you could very well accidentally wipe the player out!
The false gold mine trap is one that is most useful on players who emphasize the building aspects of the game above all else - defend and horde, or slow-aggressive. The trap plays on the fact that most experienced WarCraft II players begin to take gold mines for granted and will start to build their cities with no thought as to how much gold the mine has inside of it. The key here is to make the player waste time fumbling around with resource management, when in reality there is usually a large gold mine elsewhere on the map that he or she should have gone and taken over!
As an editor in this situation, you should provide the player with easy access to a gold mine, making sure that no other mines are nearby. This will cause the player to think that they are "stuck with it" even if they do look for a nearby alternative gold source. There really are no technical tricks to putting this trap in a mission, just make sure that there is another good building spot somewhere on the map that players will find if they take the initiative . Also, you will probably want to give the player some military units to start with because in searching for the mine, some people are undoubtedly going to stumble into the enemy.
A method of further spreading confusion is to start an opposing color group right near the same gold mine. You should probably set the peasant or peon in a place where it will begin to build a hall at least a few seconds before the player will find it. This will really give the player some issues to think about when he or she can't find a big gold mine and the only one around is being taken by the computer. Either way you choose to design this trap, the essence is to make the player waste time doing things that are futile in the position you've started him or her in. It will teach players to keep their heads up, eyes peeled, and to not just take what has been given to them.
The false opponent trap is the false gold mine trap geared for the attack-happy. It involves the placement of a color group in a suspicious part of the map so that players will believe that they must attack this group first. Meanwhile, the opponents that are meant to flourish can do so without being interfered with. No matter how this is actually accomplished, as long as players improperly focus their attention elsewhere, the trap will be a success.
The basic false opponent trap involves placing military units on the map in a position that infers the presence of a strong computer player. For example, if there is a narrow opening in an endless line of trees, you should place two cannon towers and a pair of footmen just outside the opening. Once the player becomes interested in what may lay behind the opening, he or she will attack with a strong force, so provide enough military units to repel this attack. Of course, you need to use the passive A.I. setting on all of these units, or else they may attack the player themselves, ruining the trap.
Behind the opening, should the player break through the defense, the inclusion of barracks, farms, lumber mills and the like will solidify the illusion that the player is fighting a good target. In this kind of setup, where the false opponents have to wait for the player to find and fight them, do not include peasants or peons because then the color group will become just another standard opponent.
If the player will typically find the color group quickly, you cannot merely place a peasant or peon near the player's starting position and call this the false opponent trap. In this situation the player can quickly overwhelm the enemy color group while it is building the basic structures. If you decide to let the color group that is acting as the false opponent have peasants or peons to build up, you will need to give them a barracks, a tower, perhaps a blacksmith, and of course, some farms. Anything that makes the group look like a real opponent is good to add into the mission. Whichever way you decide to go, the focus here is to let the real computer opponents expand enough to overwhelm the player. Only if the player ignores the false opponent will he or she have a chance of winning.
This trap rules. If there is only one item in this entire section that you decide to adopt, this should be it. The blitz is a trap that is triggered upon the destruction of the last of a color group's major structures: main halls, barracks, lumber mills, and the like. Once this last building falls, every single one of that color group's remaining military units will abandon their current positions, becoming an active unit, and attack the most important enemy area it can find. This area is usually the player's main city. I should warn you now that farms are usually not considered a major structure by the computer A.I.
This last ditch, suicidal, offensive surge can make any mission that much better. Used early in a mission, this can wipe out a starting offense that was supposed to make a siege later on. Used during a mission, it can break the spearhead off of an expanding offensive strike. The best use of the blitz trap is at the end of a mission, right when players thinks they have struck the final blow and have only to wait for victory. That's when dozens of previously unseen enemy units will fly across the map, engaging at random. This trap is the essence of planned chaos.
Land attack usage of the blitz trap is fairly simple. You should tuck some units away in a corner and hope the player does not stumble upon them during the course of the mission. Then, once that color group has been "destroyed", the troops will flood into the main part of the map, making their way toward the player's city. Unfortunately, if you put land units on the main part of the map, the player most likely will stumble across, and destroy them before the trap can come into play.
Using the blitz trap is easiest when using aerial units. Placing a half-dozen griffins or dragons over a thick patch of rocks that the player thinks goes off of the edge of the map and into nothing is perfect. The mission can be played all the way through toward the very end, without ever giving away the surprise hiding up in the corner. Just imagine the player's surprise when, out of gold and archers, they destroy the last enemy building and then find a horde of dragons burning up everything in sight.
When combining sea attack and the blitz trap you have to be a bit more careful. Gnomish submarines and giant turtles seem to have promise here because they can theoretically remain hidden for an entire mission. However, due to the limited number of unit types that they can hit, they are not as useful as, say, a fleet of hidden battleships would be. When setting a sea attack blitz, I suggest starting the player with a lot of sea power, and then placing the enemy "trap" building in a spot too tempting to pass up. Once the building falls, springing the trap early in the mission, the hidden units will wipe out the entire coastal fleet you started the player with, and do some heavy damage to coastal buildings. In reality, this may not do much in the long run, but it creates excitement and will add some flavor to your mission.
It should be said that the ultimate enemy of every trap listed above are the aerial units. Once the player knows where the enemy units are positioned around the map, your well-thought out traps become mere inconveniences. In the third chapter of this manual, I will review some ways to remove the aerial component of a mission for good, thus protecting your precious traps.
If you have any questions or curiosities on how these traps can be utilized in a WarCraft mission, be sure to check through the list of missions that were developed specifically for this manual. Among them are individual missions that demonstrate each and every one of these traps, and some of their possible uses. Use these missions to educate yourself and spark your thoughts of mission building.
Finally, be creative! The traps that are listed above are the products of careful observation during game play combined with a good dose of imagination. If you are constantly looking for a new way to improve the missions that you create, then you will be recognized, and eventually rewarded for your efforts.
