[turtles]

Hi,

I have created a Starcraft2 mod which allows a players to be able to save the game and then later load back to the previous point in a multiplayer game. The mod is called SALT (Save And Load Tool).

The idea being that I think this will be a great training tool to streamline practice with a buddy for everyone from bronze players to masters+.

Some examples of ways in which this mod can be used are:
Practice a build order
If you are not sure if you are vulnerable at a certain point in a build order you can go through it with a friend and test it against different responses without having to start a new game each time
If you are having trouble with a certain BO you can go back and practice that part of it without having to start a new game every time.

Practice holding timing attacks
have a friend do a marine SCV all in or 1-1-1 on you and save the game just before it hits, practice holding it off and then load the game back and practice it again and again.

redo battles
Have an epic 200vs200 fight? relive it and see which one of you can tip the battle in their favour better than the other person.
Lose 15 zerglings to a single baneling in ZvZ? Just load to before it happens and do better this time.

spawn positions
Some maps have advantages to races in different spawn locations. This map lets you chose both race and spawn location, then load back to the start and chose again.


I created a thread when the project was still in its Alpha stage of development asking people what they thought about it and it recieved a lot of very positive feedback.
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/view...opic_id=297534
Thank you people who were kind enough to test it out

I have released 5 maps so far with this mod
Blizzard maps:
SALT Antiga Shipyards
SALT Xel'Naga Caverns
SALT Shattered Temple

GSL maps:
SALT Crevasse

one of my own (NOTE: has not been balance tested, just one of my early attempts at map making):
SALT Bel'Shir swamp

If there is a map you would like to see have this mod then feel free to request it in the replies section.


HOW TO USE IT:
It is very simple to use.
1) In the "multiplayer" tab under "custom games" click on the button "create game".
Search for "SALT" and there will be a number of maps with the "SALT" prefix.

2) set the game speed to what you are comfortable with.

3) Get another player to join or add an AI opponent and start the game

4) Once in the game there will be icons at each spawn location on the map. Chose your
race and starting location by clicking on one of the race symbols or Xel'naga tower to
chose random. (AI location is chosen automatically)

5) You are now free to play a normal game

6) Type "save" any time to save the game state and select which slot to save to. Unfortunately control groups cannot be saved automatically but you can press the keyboard keys '0-9' to manually select which control groups to save. Click the button that says "done" and your game will resume as normal.

7) Type "load" any time you want and you can chose which saved game slot to load to. You and your opponent will now be back at the exact point as when you saved the game earlier!

Short comings / Where is this mod going in the future?
Please keep in mind that this is only the first publicly announced release of this mod. I will continue to work on it fixing problems that may arise and making it better.

Some spells with a duration or effects are not saved (psi storm, fungal growth, nukes, neural parasite, concussive shell slowness effect, corruption and probably a few others). So loading a game to mid way through a large, hi tech battle may not be 100% accurate to when the game was saved. For this reason it is better to save/load games before large engagements. This may be fixed later in patches. Note that summoned units/abilities ARE saved correctly, so force fields, point defense drones, broodlings etc all save/load correctly.

While you can play this mod against the computer, when you load back to an earlier point in the game this can sometimes confuse the heck out of the AI (such as loading back to the start of the game and the computer doing the infamous and deadly build of "6 assimilator, 6 assimilator, 8 macro nexus in main base")

I will be looking into custom AI's that people have created to see which of the custom AI's can better handle the disruption of jumping around in time.

Currently the game is not saved onto a users hard drive but kept in memory. This means that if a player leaves the game that data is erased. Now that I have the save/load functionality to the point where I am happy with it I will begin working to enable players to store their game state as a file and share it with others to play. I think this would be very good for coaches/streamers/casters to be able to share a file with their viewers that they can load up midway through a game against an opponent and try out different possibilities or as a challenge to try and turn the tides of a battle.

I sincerely hope that people find this to be a useful training tool. I do not have the connections to know if top players would find this to be useful as I would like to know how they would improve it. But whether you are a bronze or GM player and either love or hate it (as long as you can give constructive reasons as to why you hate it) then I look forward to hearing your responses.

Thank you for your time,
Turtles.
character code = 734 (US) / 601 (SEA)

Quick Comments

	Mayo:
	Flamga:	Pretty awesome man good job!
	Mox:
	Rockstar:	Good job mate ;)
	Nadir:	So amazing! Please keep this up!
	mGGDaedalus:	awesome
	nirvAnA:
	lolwut:	EPICCCCCDC
	syfChadMann:	I like Turtles