Knowledge Base

This is the section of the page that will contain basic information on Starcraft and StarEdit.  This is probably where you need to be if you are a beginner.   It will also be the home of our FAQ, in which we will answer StarEdit Qs to the best of our ability.

1  General Information

2  StarEdit Basics

3  Triggers

4  FAQ

1...General Information

Starcraft is a RTS developed by Blizzard software that was realeased around March 31, 1998.  It shipped on Windows 95/NT 4.0 CD-ROM, and came with a map editor, StarEdit.  StarEdit surpasses all other RTS mission makers because of the unique trigger system that allows people to make modification just not possible before Starcraft.  Modifications can range from making a custom hero unit to making a whole new type of game (King of the Hill, Steal the Bacon, Hockey, Capture the Zergling, etc...)

2...StarEdit Basics

I want to give a HUGE amount of thanks to Arcon of the Anti-Cheaters Guild (and member of §CDC) for writing this section for me.

2.1 OverView:
The Starcraft campaign editor allows for people to create scenarios,
maps and campaigns. Users can create different kind of challenges to
play over the internet or by against a computer opponent. Not only
can you create your own map and put in that maps special doodads to
make it convey the atmosphere you want to create , you are also able
to set specific conditions that will effect the outcome of the
scenario, and even decide the fate of your opponent.

2.2 Terrain:
In the Layer menu, select Terrain to make sure you are in the Terrain
layer.
In the main window, you can click to place individual terrain tiles
on the map or click and drag to fill in large areas with the selected
terrain type. If you hold the cursor over a particular location, you
can click multiple times to cycle through the diffent types of terrain.
There are two types of Terrain, Passable and Impassable.
Passable: You can place units on this terrain, and units can cross
this terrain in the game. This includes terrain such as dirt, grass
and concrete.
Impassable: You cannot place units on this terrain, and units cannot
cross this terrain in the game. This includes terrain such as cliffs,
walls and water.
Terrain is also buildable or unbuildable:
Buildable: You can place buildings on this terrain, and players can
build on this terrain in the game.
Unbuildable: You cannot place buildings on this terrain, and players
cannot build on this terrain in the game.

2.3 Units:
When you place units in the main window, they belong to the current
player. There are three ways to change the current player:
~~Go to the Player menu and select a Player to make it the
current player.
~~Select a brush from one of the player folders of the Tool Tree.
That player is now the current player.
~~Press a number key corresponding to a player number. That
player is now the current player, and the
Brush Palette changes to display units for that particular player. To
select a unit brush, you can use either the Tool Tree or the Brush
Palette. When using the Tool Tree, select a unit brush from the folder
of the appropriate player. When using the Brush Palette, select a unit
category in the pull-down at the top of the Brush Palette and then
click on a unit brush button. The Brush Palette will only allow you
to place units for the current player. Once you select a unit brush,
you can click or click and drag in the main window to place units for
the current player. You can only place units on terrain marked as
passable. A green outline appears around the unit brush if you can
place a unit; a red outline appears if you cannot. You can select any
units visible in the main window. You must be in the unit layer and
have an empty selection cursor:

~~To select the unit layer
In the Layer menu, select Unit.
~~To clear a brush
Right-click or press the [ESC] key. This leaves an empty selection
cursor.
~~To select a unit
Click on the unit you want to select.
~~To select multiple units
Click and drag a selection rectangle around the units you want to
select.
~~To add to a selection
Hold [SHIFT] and click on or drag a selection rectangle around the
units you want to select.
~~To remove from a selection
Hold [SHIFT] and click on or drag a selection rectangle around the
units you want to deselect.

Every unit on the map can be customized using the Unit Properties
dialog. You can alter ownership, hit points, resources and other
settings relevant to a given unit. Each unit may have different
settings assigned to it. There are three ways to access a selected
unit’s properties:
~~Double-click on a single unit, or hold down [SHIFT] while
double clicking on a group selection.
~~Right-click in the main window to bring up the pop-up menu
and select Properties.
~~Go to the Edit menu and select Properties.
The Unit Properties dialog contains several options:

Owner: If the unit may be assigned to a player, you can use this
field to select the owner from this pull-down control.

Hit Point %: If the unit has hit points, you can reduce its starting
hit points by specifying a percentage of the maximum for the unit.
For example, if you set the Hit Point % for a Marine to 75%, the
Marine would begin the game with 30 of 40 hit points.

Shield Point %: If the unit has shields, you can reduce its starting
shield points by specifying a percentage of the maximum for the unit.

Energy %: If the unit has an energy bar, you can reduce its starting
energy by specifying a percentage of the maximum for the unit.

Resources: If the unit is a Mineral Field, Vespene Geyser or refinery,
you can use this field to set the total resources it contains.

In Hanger: If the unit holds Interceptors or Scarabs, you can use this
field to set how many it starts with. (Values higher than 4 for
Interceptors will be ignored unless the Carrier Capacity upgrade has
been developed. Values higher than 5 for Scarabs will be ignored
unless the Reaver Capacity upgrade has been developed

Burrowed: If the unit can burrow, you can use this checkbox to set
whether or not it starts the game burrowed. (Only Zerg ground units
can burrow, and they can only do so once Burrowing has been developed. If you want to start a unit burrowed, you must set the Burrowing special ability to researched.

In Transit: If the unit is a Terran building that can fly, you can
use this checkbox to set whether it starts in the air or on the
ground.

Cloaked: If the unit can cloak, you can use this checkbox to set
whether or not it starts the game cloaked. (Only the Terran Wraith
and Terran Ghost can cloak, and they can only do so once cloaking
has been developed. If you want to start a unit cloaked, you must
set the appropriate cloaking special ability to research.

Invincible: You can use this checkbox to make the unit invincible.
In addition to being immune to damage, units set to Invincible cannot
be the target of attacks or spells and are ignored by computer
controlled units.

Hallucinated: You can use this checkbox to make a unit a Hallucination.
Hallucinations set in this way are identical to those created using
the High Templar hallucination spell: They have a limited life span
and take double-damage from attacks.

In Starcraft, each unit is assigned to a particular player by color.
For example, all units with blue team colors belong to the blue
player. When placing units in the Campaign Editor, you can use
either the Tool Tree or the Brush Palette:

~~If you are using the Tool Tree, you can place units for a
different player by selecting a brush under that player’s folder.
~~If you are using the Brush Palette, you must first change
the selected player. You can do this by selecting a player in the
Player menu or by pressing the corresponding number key.

To change a unit’s owner, select the unit or units you want to
reassign and press a number key corresponding to a player. The
units will change ownership to that player. Alternatively, you can
use the Player menu instead of a number key. You can also change
unit ownership in the Unit Properties dialog. You cannot assign a
unit of one race to a player of a different race ( but with certain
triggers you can override this rule) You cannot assign a unit to a
player if it would cause that player to use more than 200 Unit Slots.

2.4 Doodads
Trees, craters, ramps and other unique terrain features are Doodads.
While working in the Doodad layer, you can place, select and delete
doodads. In the Layer menu, selecting Doodad brings up a Doodad
palette. The Doodad Palette contains all of the doodads that are
available for the map’s tileset. Doodads are associated with various
terrain types, and can only be placed on that type of terrain. For
instance, in the Badlands tileset, ramps can only be placed on Cliffs.
The Doodad palette organizes the Doodads according to their terrain
types. The pull-down at the top of the Doodad Palette lets you select
a Terrain Type and display its associated Doodads. Using the slider
bar on the right, you can scroll through the different doodads for
the current terrain type. Click on the image of the doodad to select
it as your brush. Doodads have restrictions on where they can be
placed on the map. Your cursor will indicate if you can place a
doodad at the current location by highlighting itself in green or
red. A solid green highlight means you can place the doodad in the
current location. A red, or partially red, highlight indicates that
the terrain in the red location is inappropriate for the doodad.
You will need to experiment when placing doodads. Some doodads, such
as stairs and bridges, have very specific requirements. If you have
trouble placing a doodad, change the terrain underneath it, or find
another location.
~~To clear a doodad brush and return to the normal selection cursor,
press [ESC] or right-click.
~~To delete a doodad from the map, select it, then press [DELETE].
There are three levels of Fog of War available in Starcraft:

    Fully Obscured - The area is completely hidden from the player.
    Partially Obscured The Player can see terrain but cannot see
any troops or activity in the area.
    Revealed The Player can observe both terrain and units in the
area.
To set the initial Fog of War settings for each player, you can use
the masking tools in the Fog of War Layer. These tools allow you to
set areas of the Fog of War to be either fully or partially obscured.
From the Layer menu, select Fog of War. Click or Click and Drag in the
main window to mark areas as partially obscured. Painting over these
areas again will change them back from partially obscure to fully
obscure. To reveal areas to players you will need to use map revealers.
Map revealers are treated as units, although players cannot see or
control them in the game. Map revealers can be found in the Tool Tree
or Brush Palette and are placed in the same way as units. Placing map
revealers in an area reveals that area of the map to the player at the
start of the game. Since map revealers are treated as units, they
belong to specific players. Only the map revealer’s owner benefits
from the sight granted by that unit. Areas can also be revealed on
a temporary basis. By using triggers to add or remove revealers from
the map, you can control when, where and how long areas are revealed
during the course of a game.

3...Triggers
I want to give special thanks to EvilCow for providing this information via his battle.net post.

3.1 General Trigger Information
Triggers allow you to set up conditions and actions which would let you do things that couldn't be done before Starcraft.  You can even do things such as King of The Hill, Steal the Bacon, Capture the Zergling, Hockey, and other type of things.

3.2 The Trigger Setup Interface
The initial interface after you enter the trigger button has 8 options: Close, Help, Copy, Delete, New..., Modify..., Load, and Save.  The other feature of this first dialog is a hierarchial view of your current triggers.  It shows the players and if you click on them it shows the triggers that are currently assigned to them.

3.3 Creating a New Trigger
To create a new trigger for you to work with, click on New...(duh) and it will bring you to a dialog box in which you select the player(s) that you want your trigger to affect.   The player options are: Player 1-8 (Player 1, Player 2, etc...), All Players, and Force 1-4.  The forces are groups of players that are set up in a different part of StarEdit.  Once you have selected the player(s) affected, you can move on to the conditions window.  In this section, you choose the conditions for the trigger, which must be met before the trigger is activated.  A complete listing of all the conditions is below.  After you choose the condition, you choose the action, which is what happens when the trigger is activated. A complete list of actions is also availible below.  That is how you create a trigger.

3.4 Complete Listing of Conditions
Always
This means the trigger is always active, regardless.

Bring
player brings (quantity) (units) to (location)
This condition means that the player has to bring (quantity) amounts of (units) type(s) to the (location) that you specify.

Command
player commands (quantity) (units)
This means that if player controls the (quantity) of the (units) type, then the trigger is activated.

Command the Least
player commands least (units)
This means that if player commands the least amount of (units) type, the trigger is activated.

Command the Least At
player commands least at (location)
Same as above, only with a location.

Command the Most
player commands most (units)
This means that if player commands the most amount of (units) type, the trigger is activated.

Command the Most At
player commands most at (location)
Same as above, only with a location.

Countdown Timer
countdown timer is (duration) game seconds
If the game time is equal to (duration) the trigger is activated.

Deaths
player has suffered (quantity) deaths of (unit)
If the player has suffered the (quantity) deaths of (unit) type, trigger is activated.

Elapsed Time
elapsed scenario time is (duration) game seconds
Same as a countdown timer, except you don't have to set it up, it keeps track by itself.

Highest Score
current player has highest score (points)
If player has lowest score of type (points), trigger is activated.

Kills
player kills (quantity) (units)
If player kills (quantity) of (units) unit type, trigger is activated

Least Kills
current player has least kills of (unit)
If player has the least kills of type (unit), trigger is activated.

Least Resources
current player has least (resources)
If player has the least resources of type (resources), trigger is activated.

Least Score
current player has least score (points)
If player has the least score of type (points), trigger is activated.

Most Kills
current player has most kills of (unit)
If player has the most kills of type (unit), trigger is activated.

Most Resources
current player has most (resources)
If player has the most resources of type (resources), trigger is activated.

Never
never
Trigger prevents you from doing something.

Opponents
player has (quantity) opponents remaining in the game
If player has (quantity) opponents left in the game, trigger is activated.

Score
player (score type) score is (quantity)
If player's (score type) is (quantity), trigger is activated.

That is ALL of the conditions in the beta version of StarEdit.

3.5 Complete List of Actions

***coming soon***

4... Frequently Asked Questions

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