 In this tutorial we show how to create pyrotechnic shrubs - that is to say, shrubs that contain targetable pitch ditches. This simple technique can be used to catch out unsuspecting players and can also be used to give players "hidden pitch" that they will only see if they look carefully...
Submitted by Smeagol with a little added by Aubergine
Regardless of what type of pyro-shrub we want, we have to prepare our pitch first. First choose the appropriate player colour (either blue so the player can use it or another colour so the enemy can use it). Place a single tile of pitch on your map (it could be more, but the bigger the pitch area the harder it is to hide with shrubs):
Now, carefully paint around the pitch with the "land" tool so that the dirt is replaced with green grass (or whatever type of terrain you originally placed the pitch on):
Right, we're now ready to move on to the next step...
Enemy Owned Pitch Ditches NB: Make sure you choose the correct enemy colour before placing the pitch ditches on your map.
Once your pitch ditch is placed, simply plant a few shrubs around it (but not on top of it):
The yellow circles on the right hand side show the 8 locations where you can put shrubs. It's usually best not to completely surround the pitch with shrubs otherwise they might limit troop movements too much. Just place enough shrubs so that the dirty ground (that the player will see insread of the pitch) is not visible. If in doubt, don't place any shrubs on the corners of the "square" made of yellow circles above.
Next, place some sort of barrier to force the players troops to walk past the shrubs - be sure to leave at least one tile of passable land around the shrubs otherwise the player will not be able to access the area:
Finally, place an enemy location with an archer and a brazier nearby and when the players troops get too close to the pitch ditch they will find out why we call them pyro-shrubs!
When the pitch catches fire, it will burn any nearby shrubs so afterwards you will just be left with some charred earth.
Player Owned Pitch If you've ever played games where there are secret things on a map for the player to find and take advantage of, then you will like this trick. Simply place a shrub directly on top of the pitch!
The picture above shows a normal pitch ditch (left) and also a pitch ditch with a shrub on it (right). As you can see, the archer in the tower is not able to target the hidden pitch ditch on the right so initially it seems useless... However, if you flatten the map you can target this pitch and set fire to it.
If the player doesn't examine your map closely enough they will not find thier secret pitch ditches and be at a disadvantage.
Pitch Fuses Although enemy troops will not be able to target pitch ditches with shrubs placed directly on them (as shown above), you can use this type of pitch ditch to create a fuse as long as one end has a targetable pitch ditch.
First, make your fuse by placing a "dotted line" of pitch ditches with shrubs on top of them as shown below:
Then set fire to a targetable pitch ditch at one end:
You don't even need to use a dotted line - it could be that you place pyro-shrubs randomly around a single targetable pitch ditch - setting fire to the pitch ditch in the middle will then cause many of the pyro-shrubs to catch fire.
Well, we hope this has given you some ideas to play with in the editor! You may also like to take a look at our Hidden Pitch Ditches tutorial which shows some other way to hide your pyrotechnics!
Have fun!
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