EPT![[image loading]](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/49867307/GAMEHEART/Blog/Images/header.jpg)
Previous updates:
GameHeart Project, Update #1
Update -
Hey everyone! First, let’s start with an update. In my first blog post I said that over these last two weeks I would be working mostly on the logo system and the strong team colors system. I am happy to say that both are coming along quite well. Please if you don't read anything else in this blog skip to the 'new discussion topic' section and read that, as I think it is an important topic to discuss as a community.
Interface file
Well let’s start with the bad news. The interface file I demonstrated a mockup for last week is not yet completed. We are working on it and hopefully we will be able to get it out this week. There have been some complications making my design into a reality, some we have resolved and others we have yet to find solutions for. I have been suffering from a problem where I cannot actually use interface files on my computer for some reason which has made testing them and assisting Ahli a challenge. It is an issue I only managed to fix a few hours ago as of my writing this so I am only just starting to actually test the work in progress interface myself.
For those of you who are interested in the specific issues we have been having, they are primarily related to the unit info panel. While working on the problem Ahli uncovered a new trick for working with this panel that may interest any other interface designers. He posted about it here on the battle.net forum.
I know this is probably a bit of a disappointment but there are some other issues we are hoping to overcome as well before releasing it so it is as strong an interface as we can make it. The next challenge is to get the colors to appear more vibrant. Right now the colors in most interfaces are tinted based on player colors, and this actually causes them to be quite dull, and reaching the level of color we have in my mock-up is not possible using this method without using a custom map. So we are trying to come up with another solution at the moment.
When we release this first interface I will also show off the mock-up for the next one. Again I hope (and expect) that will be this week.
Stronger team colors module
Alright, sorry about that let’s move onto the good news. The STC system is pretty much complete now, and it will provide broadcasters with three options in the lobby. The first and default option is ‘OFF’ which is pretty self explanatory. Basically it is just a normal game without any Stronger Team Colors. The second option is ‘On - Observers’ which basically means that Stronger Team Colors is on, but that only observers will see it. The players will be completely unaffected by the more colorful textures. The third option is ‘On - Everyone’ which means that Stronger Team Colors is on, and everyone in the game including the players will see it.
I say ‘pretty much’ complete because it still needs some work to set it up for integration into GHClassic. I am also hoping that the original creator of STC will make a brief return to the project to update some of the new HotS units with STC. I probably should have made that a request before giving him his money from the project but I didn’t think of it until after the fact! Anyways hopefully he will do it, we’ll see. If he doesn’t want to or cannot do it for whatever reason I may have some time later in the project to tackle it myself.
For those of you unfamiliar with stronger team colors, it was a modification create by "pzea469" designed to make player colors more vibrant and easier to identify in game. Unfortunately at some point Blizzard made it so mods of this fashion no longer functioned, and it essentially killed the project. Luckily using a custom map system like GameHeart we are able to revive his work and try to bring it to tournaments. I think it is of particular value to streaming Starcraft online because in low quality streams it makes unit allegiance easy to identify in mirror matches, but also because I think it just makes the game look better honestly. I have thrown together a quick comparison image showing the differences between units and structures in the normal game and their STC counterparts. This might be a good time to share whether there are any units you think are very negatively affected by STC so maybe we can weed them out or change how it looks on them.
![[image loading]](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/49867307/GAMEHEART/Blog/Images/STCcomparison_lrg.jpg)
If you would like to go see it in action yourself please hop onto the NA arcade and search for "GHTesting - STC" It is just a basic melee map but with the stronger team color options in the lobby. Remember it is off by default so you need to set it to on in the lobby before starting the game as an observer.
Logos module
Adapting STC was relatively easy. I only ran into minor complications so it went pretty smoothly. That means I have been working primarily on the logos system for the last two weeks. It has been completely redesigned so it is much easier for me to update, is modular, and will function for both GameHeart Classic and GameHeart Light. Just like STC, it still needs work to be integrated into GHClassic but the foundation is there now, and most of that work has to be done in GHClassic itself and not in the logos module.
I am also happy to report that the decal transparency issue I mentioned two weeks ago has been resolved. While we were never able to find a way to set the transparency of decals in the editor directly, Zolden from the SC2mapster forums helped me to create a model which has an animation that changes the decal from 100% to 0% opacity. Now whenever we want to change the opacity/transparency of a decal we just have to tell it to go to a specific point in that animation and pause there. This greater control will hopefully allow me to improve the look of the logos on the map, and possibly even give each team/league logo an individual transparency setting so those that currently barely show up can be made more apparent and those that are too in-your-face and obnoxious can be toned down without being forced to resort to modifying the images in photoshop.
I went ahead and took a screenshot of the Aposis Gaming logo (one of my favorites) running from completely opaque to completely transparent. To put this in perspective, previously I could only use four transparency settings on a logo and two of them were either completely opaque or completely invisible.
![[image loading]](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/49867307/GAMEHEART/Blog/Images/DecalTransparency_lrg.jpg)
Decals module
In addition to this redesign and transparency functionality I have created a separate mod which any map maker can add to their own maps to easily create custom ground decals. If you are a mod maker you can search for this dependency in the editor, it is currently called “GHDecals” and includes just about everything you could need to easily add new decals to your maps through triggers. Be aware that the name is likely to change when I finally figure out how I want to name and organize all of the GameHeart files online. I will post about it in this blog when I get all of that information resolved.
Many custom maps already use custom decals but it was a huge pain in the ass for me to figure out how to do (and I even had to have special models made for it) so I thought I would make it easier for people in the future by making my own work on it available to everyone in a simple to use format.
I will make a short video showing map makers how to use this decal tool towards the end of the project once everything is more finalized. But it is available now on all regions if you would like to try to figure out yourself, it is quite simple. It is also open source so you can open it up and see how it works if you want.
New discussion topic -
Team sponsors
However, my work with logos is not complete. I still need to re-enter all of the logos that have been submitted to GameHeart using the new system. But before I do that I want to make sure the system accommodates all of our needs now and for the future so we can avoid any need to redesign it again later. For this purpose I want to have a discussion as a community about the topic of team sponsors and how we can display them in GameHeart or SC2 matches in general in a way that helps to promote teams and growth. I think it is a delicate topic because it is difficult to argue that putting sponsor logos on the map or in the game really enhances the viewing experience directly. Maybe it can help teams and players earn a livelihood in some small way which can enhance the scene overall but where do we draw the line?
For me I have resisted adding team sponsors to GameHeart for a few different reasons, including wanting to avoid any kind of conflict with Blizzard who I imagined might not like the idea of a bunch of corporate logos plastered all over their game, not wanting to undermine TotalBiscuit’s ‘virtual jersey’ project which has the same goal, and not wanting to try to organize and manage the sponsor logos for teams as it is a pretty significant undertaking. GameHeart currently supports more than 170 teams. Adding all of these logos was not an insignificant task and adding sponsor logos for all of them would not be either. To make this even more complicated team sponsors change quite often so it would require a lot of maintenance as well.
I have asked TotalBiscuit and he has expressed that for him he just wants to see teams and their sponsors gain more exposure, it doesn’t matter to him whether it is through virtual jersey or GameHeart. I have also asked for feedback from Blizzard on the idea, to see whether or not they are against it. I haven’t heard back on the topic yet but even if they come back and say that we can go ahead with it, that does not mean I will implement it.
First we need a plan. A good one. One that teams, tournaments, viewers and even Blizzard can all be reasonably satisfied with. This won’t be easy, there will always be people who do not want any change, and those who want to see things change dramatically. I think there may well be a place for sponsors in these matches and that we can add them responsibly. There will undoubtedly be a lot of people who will shoot down this idea immediately but I ask anyone considering doing that to read on and perhaps participate in trying to come up with your own ideas on how it could be done even if you would rather it was not done. Your input may be very important in helping me to find something as close to satisfying everyone as I can. If you just say you hate the idea and remove yourself from the discussion, we may end up doing it anyways and then you will have lost your chance to sway the direction it goes.
So to assist with this endeavor I have created a tool that YOU can use right now to demonstrate YOUR ideas on how to display team sponsor logos on the map. It is a custom map you can find on the NA arcade as “GHTesting - Sponsors 1.” In this map you can add decals to the map, move them around as well as change their size, rotation and transparency easily. For those of you unfamiliar with changing regions, there is an option to do so at the main Starcraft login on the left side of the screen.
Once you have used the tool to create some designs/ideas on how to display team sponsors on the map come and post your screenshots in the discussion here on this blog or in the reddit thread so the rest of the community can weigh in on them.
Here is a quick one that I created. I am not saying that this is what I want to do or that I think this is the best idea, it was just a quick idea. Remember that whatever you come up with it needs to be doable on all maps, not just Akilon Wastes.
![[image loading]](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/49867307/GAMEHEART/Blog/Images/SponsorDecalTesting_lrg.jpg)
So please use the map and post screenshots of your own ideas! Unfortunately once you add a decal to the map there is no way to delete it, so just move it off screen or make it completely transparent if you no longer want it.
If you manage or are part of a team I would love to hear your feedback on this idea. Is it even of any real value to you guys? It is easy to assume that this is a good thing for you but maybe you don't actually care, or it won't have enough of an effect on you to be worth the trouble. Or maybe you think it would be the best thing that could ever happen for promoting your team in Starcraft. I want to hear from you. If not in the comments on this blog then definitely by email at TeamGameHeart@gmail.com
Tournaments, how will this affect you? I would add an option for you to disable it in case sponsor conflicts are a major concern for you but do you think this is something you would leave on?
Lastly viewers I want to hear from you as well (this may get ugly). Try to include screenshots of your own ideas with your comments so we can see what you are talking about.
What I am working on now -
For the next two weeks
For the next couple of weeks I will be continuing to work on the logos and STC mods and preparing them for integration into GHClassic. I also hope to get an actual test map running that combines the completed features so far for GHLight.
Next I plan to begin work on the notifications system.
I am also going to be discussing with the MIT Game Lab gentlemen about possible integration of their work with GHClassic. If you are unfamiliar with the MIT Overseer project you should definitely go check it out. These guys are doing amazing things that could contribute a lot to the future of spectating Starcraft.
Okay thank you everyone! I know I can be long winded but I am trying to keep you guys as in the loop as I can! And hopefully we will have that interface file ready for you in a few days.
-Ryan
