View Full Version : Multiplayer Campaign in the works!
Swoosh and I have been playing against each other using the multiplayer campaign and going online to fight our battles. It has some problems, but it's well worth the wait and very fun to play.
you can check out some of our gameplay on our 2nd campaign we played against each other by using this link Campaign Progress (http://forums.grey-wolves.net/viewtopic.php?t=1621&sid=7bea0df22ac8359c862972be593ae362)
hmm...i thought there was no campaign in multiplayer...? how did you make this happen?
Hunsik26
02-20-2005, 14:32
Yea, I'm really curious as to how you are able to create a multiplayer (PvP; Co-op) campaign. If you actually have done it, then will you post the link to the program.... if there's such thing as a program.
Anyway, I looked into the campaign 2 of the Egyptians versus Selucied and it kind of gave me a PBEM feeling as well some doubts as to the credibility of an existing multiplayer campaign.
Please do post in reply as we all would love to hear about it. Thank you.
The Stranger
02-20-2005, 15:34
yes i want to know.
I think you should understand that this is in test mode with some quite tricky manipulation of RTW going on in the background.
The aim really is to simplify these required modifications so that the campaign becomes more accessible and can support up to 8 people.
All credit to AMP and Swoosh for making this happen.
Hunsik26
02-20-2005, 15:50
I certainly would thank AMP and Swoosh for presenting this topic to the ever-curious RTW player. In fact, everyone is probably anxious to get their hands on this program, in respect to Swoosh and AMP, and would really love to play against people online.... The only question that I could think up for the creators of this multiplayer mod is about the release date. Is there a release date that everyone should expect or is it TBA?
Keep on posting those campaigns on the Grey Wolves Forum and thank you.
Hunsik26
02-20-2005, 15:51
Also.... would the modification program work in respect to the new RTW patch? Or will it require the original RTW to function? Please keep us updated on everything about this wondrous idea.
Swoosh So
02-20-2005, 19:40
As for release date its hard to say the project has only been running 3 days, although its an accumulation of ideas from over 3 years of community chit chat. At the moment testing is going really well with only a few nuances in the campaign section of the game im hoping to find a solution to them sometime in the week coming (fingers crossed), i may post some more story boards tonight in the third campaign if i have more time.
Hunsik26
02-20-2005, 19:43
keep us posted on the storyboard... we'd love to hear about it.
PROMETHEUS
02-20-2005, 19:47
But this is a automated thing or someone manually has to update the events?
Swoosh So
02-20-2005, 22:23
automated
so does it work the same as regular campaign but you have people controlling the factions? sorry if thats a dumb question.
Swoosh So
02-21-2005, 00:46
Yes the same as the normal campaign with players controlling factions, there are some cmpromises that will have to be made and im currently trying to reduce them to as little as possible.
COOL! it sounds like your about to make everyones Totalwar dreams come true mate.
Hunsik26
02-21-2005, 02:29
one more question and I'll vanish into the darkness...
Is this program mod-available? Let me rephrase it. Will the program work with the mods that are released to the public? Give us the general outlook of the program's longevity with RTW.
~D ~D ~D
Swoosh So
02-21-2005, 05:38
I dont see any reason why the mp campaign wont work with any user created mod, im actually hoping once i release it some of the talented mod makers may make smaller campaign maps designed with pvp (player vs player in mind).
The_Mark
02-21-2005, 15:20
Now here's something to look forward to. ~:)
Just.. how it works? I mean, will it run like "just select MP campaign in menu and connect to your friend" or will it need some special adjustments per game?
It's not built into the game, if it was that easy to make playable just using a few steps and no speical adjustments i think the developers would've made one back in stw days. ~;)
It's rather easy to get setup, but dose take time to play with the extra steps you have to do each turn. The credit for the project goes to swoosh it was all her idea. I'm just helping her by play testing with her. It's a lot of fun to play though and finally it's against a human player and no crappy ai. ~D
GAH!
If youz can gerry-rig da code to do it, there is no real reason to have not included it in the original app...
Perhaps if your mod is successful, the next TW game (or RTW expansion) will have something like it included.
It's the fabled "If you make, they will come" argument.
Just curious... how does it communicate?
Vanya gives the effort two enthusiastic thumbs up. (Vanya thinks they're up, but He cannot see since He have no head...)
:bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:
GAH!
Voigtkampf
03-04-2005, 07:43
Greetings! :bow:
Are you two making any progress? I have been watching the thread Amp provided us with a link and was most…aroused? ~D Damn, this is so good! If you could only make the AI factions active as well, so that they may engage in their own affairs and wars along with the two players, that would be incredible!
Please quench my thirst for info and tell me how is this coming on? Any progress? And will it be possible to play with more than just two players?
Keep up the good work! :bow:
Swoosh So
03-05-2005, 08:13
You can have as many players as their are available factions, the mod has made some good progress no longer will the ai be disabled, so if there are ai factions on the map you will fight them also as normal, coop mode also possible. Im in the final phase of this i thought id have to crack 1.2 exe but this can be done using scripts as soon as i get the script written (have to learn scripting) you can expect a release, or if anyone who can do scripting can write it for me all the better as im busy with many things, should be an easy script to write id imagine.
This is extraordinarily good news, Swoosh :2thumbsup:
Voigtkampf
03-05-2005, 21:40
Great achievement Swoosh, I am at your feet, adoring you! Please do proceed and make this unique contribution to the TW community. :bow:
Zalmoxis
03-05-2005, 22:32
One question from me: How exactly will battles be fought? Will it pause campaign and take you online, forming a new game, or will you have to do that manually?
Divinus Arma
03-06-2005, 21:06
WOW!
If this is what I think it is...
WOW!
Swoosh, you must get some organization behind this for the community. I just discovered this post. I think this thread may soon get flooded if more people here about it.
When you have the time, you should put a large information page together with the details. If nothing else, get a couple of organizers on board who can help you disseminate information and coordinate development. I have a feeling this will generate a ton of interest in the community, and thus you should feel proud of your accomplishment and eager to share more!
This could be big...
Regards and very best wishes to you!
Swoosh So
03-06-2005, 23:42
When a battle is to be fought you minimise the battle window on campaign map, save the game and load up multiplayer to play the battle vs your opponent. then fight the battle use the logfile calculator to work out what units were lost, then load up campaign and disband the units lost in the online battle.
Swoosh So
03-06-2005, 23:43
Ill make a thread in the mods forum and yes ill probably need some help on this now especially with the scripting side of things. Havent been able to contact amp in some time now so trying to get this finished on my own which isent an easy task and is burning me out.
Zalmoxis
03-10-2005, 00:29
BTW, what do you have to do to join the test for this(if there'll be any)?
Swoosh So
03-10-2005, 04:00
Im waiting on two things before the final test phase, one is confirmed the other isent, i will post here then in a seperate thread when these things are available.
dont wanna sound stupid or anything but once this is complete will anyone wanna join a game with me so i can learn how to do these battles properly :) also how does map selection work for the battles.
Zalmoxis
03-11-2005, 02:19
Hey, I have an idea, why not have Iluvatar make one map for every perceivable terain, to use for MP.
Rodion Romanovich
03-15-2005, 20:42
I don't know exactly how the thing you suggested will work, but a safe method that can be combined with any other mods and doesn't involve affecting your R:TW installation is the method I suggested over here yesterday: http://www.forumplanet.com/strategyplanet/totalwar/topic.asp?fid=6522&tid=1619501
Apparently the people in that forum aren't interested, so if there's any interest in this forum I'll post a topic for that and I'll set up an mp game. I'll write a small C++ program that stores all campaign data in a txt-file and whenever someone makes a decision I type in those moves in the program and it'll do all the calculations and determine things like rebels, how much income the turn gives etc. etc. This system is IMO better than modding R:TW because it can allow you to form a campaign better adapted for multiplayer. For example it can be shorter - consist of maybe 10 battles per player on average instead of 150 like in R:TW singleplayer. I can also make changes so that there are fewer rebel/brigand armies than in singleplayer but when there is a rebellion it'll be larger in number of soldiers (but still mostly consist of crappy troops though).
sounds cool, mate but i like the idea of playing a complete campaign with my clanmates. however im sure you`ll get some interest here, post a seperate thread for your idea mate :)
[seminoles]shadow
03-15-2005, 22:22
wow a multyplayer campain!!!!!! Thats awsome guys!!!But after u ended ure turn wouldn't u have to wait a whole lot of time for the others to go?? ~:confused:
Zalmoxis
03-16-2005, 00:23
I don't know exactly how the thing you suggested will work, but a safe method that can be combined with any other mods and doesn't involve affecting your R:TW installation is the method I suggested over here yesterday: http://www.forumplanet.com/strategyplanet/totalwar/topic.asp?fid=6522&tid=1619501
Apparently the people in that forum aren't interested, so if there's any interest in this forum I'll post a topic for that and I'll set up an mp game. I'll write a small C++ program that stores all campaign data in a txt-file and whenever someone makes a decision I type in those moves in the program and it'll do all the calculations and determine things like rebels, how much income the turn gives etc. etc. This system is IMO better than modding R:TW because it can allow you to form a campaign better adapted for multiplayer. For example it can be shorter - consist of maybe 10 battles per player on average instead of 150 like in R:TW singleplayer. I can also make changes so that there are fewer rebel/brigand armies than in singleplayer but when there is a rebellion it'll be larger in number of soldiers (but still mostly consist of crappy troops though).
Ok, have you started on it yet? Also, how will battles be fought?(I would hate to have to open multiplayer and then disband soldiers every time I fight)
AquaLurker
03-16-2005, 08:15
When a battle is to be fought you minimise the battle window on campaign map, save the game and load up multiplayer to play the battle vs your opponent. then fight the battle use the logfile calculator to work out what units were lost, then load up campaign and disband the units lost in the online battle.
Sorry but don't mind if I ask this of you, wouldn't the player lose all his campaign bonus if the battles are fought this way?
Just a thought and great work. ~;)
Swoosh So
03-16-2005, 08:58
What campaign bonus are you referring to?
Swoosh So
03-16-2005, 08:59
Legio xxxx are you any good at coding?
Rodion Romanovich
03-16-2005, 09:53
Ok, have you started on it yet? Also, how will battles be fought?(I would hate to have to open multiplayer and then disband soldiers every time I fight)
My system would just be that the game leader uses the .exe file I make. Those who take part in the game make their decisions and then the game leader types in those decisions and the .exe does all the calculations (which would be tedious to do by hand) and then tells what happened and which battles have to be fought. The players who are to fight a battle must then appoint some time when they will fight the battle as usual in multiplayer, then they both send in the results. I assume all players who take part in it will be serious and not send in stats that are wrong.
An alternative way of doing this could be by makes a website with ASP or PHP or something where people will type in what decisions they want to make during a turn then the server calculates everything. If so, no game leader would be necessary. But it unfortunately also requires some place to host the website, which I haven't got. Perhaps the C++ program will be the best idea but I'm open to suggestions.
I haven't started it yet so I'm still thinking about the best way of solving everything. At least I can guarantee it is possible to do this as the coding part is pretty easy. All that needs to be done is that rules etc. will have to be specified more in detail - something that I can do either alone or together with those that are interested in taking part in the campaign.
Rodion Romanovich
03-16-2005, 10:00
Legio xxxx are you any good at coding?
I know C/C++ etc. and can write standalone programs and usually produce bugfree, fast running code quickly. I'm however not good at modding ready programs, I've only just started learning stuff about dynamical linking and ways of making programs patchable/modable so I'm a newb at that.
AquaLurker
03-17-2005, 02:30
What campaign bonus are you referring to?
Command Bonus(or penalties) you get from the generals and all the silver chervons. And if then general won the battle, he will not gain new traits for winning the battle. But I guess that can't be help. :charge:
Swoosh So
03-17-2005, 06:12
Yes aqua some things u must sacrafice in order to have a mp campaign, to make it simple we were going to use a system where troops get 1 valaour per 2 general stars to a max of 3 valour on a unit, this would at least take into account the good attacker good defender bonuses as these show before battle. Amp thought of a system wehre you could record a generals wins losses bt for me its too much admin for the players as i dont want any admin at all in the mp campaign.
Anyhow ive hit a major snag scripts dont work to take turns so unless i can get a coder to acitvate 4-5 commands in the rome console this project is doomed, if i cant get that done were looking at playing campaign in version 1.0 and battles in 1.2 which i wont release but if iit comes to that and people want to know how to do it ill tell them how...
So what i need is someone who can modify the 1.2 exe and flag these 4-5 commands active, anyone here know how to do it? ive tried everyone i know and none of them can do it.
cant you ask Creative Assembly?
That's shitty Swoosh..
I really thought it was going to work out, but now it seems fiction.. :(
Swoosh So
03-18-2005, 19:08
wellthe situation changes day by day apparently now scripting can run every turn but i wait on myradrall to make one, and hes busy with his own mods.
Swoosh So
03-18-2005, 19:10
Im not the programmer kind even this scripting is probably beyond me but i will get this done one way or the other.
Myrddraal
03-18-2005, 19:45
Sorry about this guys, I have been busy :embarrassed:
Swoosh, could you send me the script I sent you, I think I've lost it and I want to try correcting it....
~:cheers:
Light has fallen upon the world! :bow:
Swoosh So
03-19-2005, 02:10
Ok script sent check ur pm box.
Myrddraal
03-20-2005, 17:03
Thx Swoosh, I'll try to get it to work
Swoosh So
03-21-2005, 11:18
And thank you for taking hte time without your help id be stuck :)
Louis de la Ferte Ste Colombe
03-22-2005, 10:47
dont wanna sound stupid or anything but once this is complete will anyone wanna join a game with me so i can learn how to do these battles properly :) also how does map selection work for the battles.
Why not just editing the custom_location.txt and fight in the place as it is on the campaign map?
That's a 2 minutes mod process...
Louis,
Swoosh So
03-23-2005, 19:22
If you tel me how to do it ill be more than happy to add it.
Check out this thread (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=43186), Swoosh. All the info you need should be in there.
freakofnature
03-29-2005, 21:26
I googled Multiplayer Campaign and came accross this post, as well as rumors that the developers will or will not make multiplayer (depending on what you read).
I am fairly new to RTW, but not to the TW series. I am interested in what you are doing, and I might be willing to help out when I can. I am a software engineer, but I have never worked on games besides a little bit on Half Life and simple Java games like chess, checkers, etc.
If you are interested in some help, let me know, I'll see what time I can pull together to get some tasks done.
Myrddraal
03-29-2005, 23:10
Hi freakofnature, welcome to the forums.
At the moment, our work on the mutiplayer campaign is just starting to pick up. You might want to read the thread in the forge about the 'hot - seat' beta.
Basically the way it works is it uses an in game script to switch control between two or more players. At the moment, at the end of your turn you save and email it to the next player, who plays his turn using the script, who then emails it and so on...
But if you're a software engineer, then you might be able to help us elimiate this stage. If there was a program which ran in the background and checked for a file of a certain filename (the save game), detected it, automatically sent it and deleted it, and played a sound when the files arrived, this would cut out having to minimise the game etc.
This is really a long shot, and I have no idea if its possible, but can a program simulate mouse clicks on the screen? If it can, then a program in the background could run the script which would cut out that section too, which would completely automate the game....
I don't know if thats possible though, and you may not want to put so much work into it, but anything at all would be very welcome..
freakofnature
03-30-2005, 00:52
Most of the stuff you have described I could do in my sleep with java. I would avoid using emails though, since you rely on an email server to deliver the email in a timely manner. For 2 players, you could directly connect to each other and transfer the files directly between each other. You just have to worry about firewalls and routers, things like that. For more than 2, you would need a completely different approach. You could have one person host and everyone connect to that person, and act as a server to pass files between all of the other players. This could also be done with some sort of stand alone server. Another option would be to use some third party server to communicate between each player, like IRC or something.
That stuff I could get something simple running in an hour or so. Performing mouse clicks, or using Keyboard shortcuts to save and load, would more than likely require C++, which would take me slightly longer than doing it in Java. I have used a program called WinBatch which is more of a scripting program that will allow you to click on things with a script, but I don't think it is free.
In the long run, you would probably want to hack their exe's and dll's and alter the code to do everything automatically for you. That would take a lot of work. If you could find enough engineers and programmers willing to work on it, you probably could get a smooth system working well.
Another suggestion, you might want to look into some sort of source control so people working on this don't have to constantly be asking for the lastest changes other people have made. www.sourceforge.net is a nice place to set up a project like this. It comes with free source control, web space, and download servers (needed if this became very popular).
Swoosh So
03-30-2005, 12:51
Freakofnature could you contact me on msn? susiebrydon03@hotmail.com
Myrddraal
03-30-2005, 13:42
awsome, and swoosh or FON, you can contact me on msn at mad_toad@hotmail.com.
Zalmoxis
04-03-2005, 21:53
So, is it to be released anytime soon?
Myrddraal
04-03-2005, 23:24
Patience ~:)
If you want a taster, check out the beta hot seat mod thread...
Iron-Chef
04-05-2005, 10:04
Man this is looking awesom, I havnt been around these parts for a while so its great to see that quality development is still going on... my only coplaint is that it all seems too complex to be able to play out any significant part of a campaign at any one time, all this sending of files etc, there has to be a simpler way... just my view but other than that the idea of multiplayer campaign is GREAT, hope to see it woking out in the near future! Keep up the good work ~:cool:
Myrddraal
04-05-2005, 11:49
We're hoping to automate as much of it as possible, but we'll have to wait and see how much we can do.
von Gompolz
04-07-2005, 17:49
Personally, I am not worried about automating all the things. I dont mind e.g. sending save games via e-mail. In fact I would welcome it, for I would appreciate playing my turns off line(i am a dial-up). I know instantly that I received e-mail no matter where I am. I receive message to my cell phone from which I can see who sends it and what it is about. I am used to PBM games and see no problem in it.
I would appreciate if you were able to incorporate AI factions in proper manner, so that when AI faction attacks or diplomatically interacts with any human player the game would stop and get saved so that battles can be played not just auto-calc. It would be also nice to be able to incorporate real-time battles without compromises as to the battlefield locations, general's traits etc...
I wish you all the luck, it is the greatest RTW project ever.
Greetings from Czechia-home of Galic Boii in RTW
Myrddraal
04-07-2005, 22:01
Hi, and welcome to the forums, thanks for your support :smile:
Swoosh So
04-15-2005, 12:07
von gom battles will be fought vs the ai in the normal way and vs the human opponents online, the turn script is now working, were hoping to automate mst of the game. the camapaign is fully playable in rtw version 1.0, using console commands have a look here to find out the times that this basic version takes for turns, the descriptions of turns were posted during player 2s turns although we were discussing rules and stuff in between http://forums.grey-wolves.net/viewtopic.php?t=1621. getting the whole ting running in 1.2 is a different kettle of fish and its going to take time guys because ca took out the use of console commands unless you use scripts :\
bummer :( but im willing to wait for it. theres plenty of sp mods knocking about to keep me occupied untill this baby is ready :)
did this project move to another site? or did it encounter a problem that it cant get around?
Myrddraal
04-26-2005, 20:35
No, its just that progress has been slow recently, mainly through lack of effort on my part I'm ashamed to say.... :sad:
MajorFreak
04-27-2005, 03:05
hell, i've been waiting YEARS for something like this. *puts a few more incense sticks on the totalwar.org shrine*
query: is there a way to modify the campaign files to update what happened in the multiplayer battle for logview stuff like unit experience and losses?
query: how do you folks keep the AI consistency between players, especially with the load/savegame bug?
funn3h observation: Oh, and wouldn't it be hilarious to have diplomatic wars where you'd be involved in mad espionage intrigues revolving around the bribing of juicy generals. even funnier if the dude switched allegiance every few turns. lol. jeeeeeezz...i wonder what the family tree would look like? lol
unfunn3h observation: what's to prevent someone saving/loading a naval battle till it came out in their favour?
Swoosh So
04-27-2005, 06:35
1. no you must develop a system for this which involves disbanding units and using the kill_character command to kill of any heirs lost.
2. not looked into yet.
3. Play a campaign with people u know is the easy answer most players distain cheating, i know many players i could trust not to cheat in a mp campaign. For a compeditive campaign a referee or gamamaster would be needed.
TBH ive stopped work on the campaign for now with the removal of the console commands (thanks ca :\) its alot of work to do something that was so simple in 1.0 im considering stopping the project untill the expansion pack where im praying that ca leave the campaign console commands in.
of course anyone is welcome to continue the work using what we hve worked out so far, ill make a decision soon, but unless god comes down and cracks the rome exe to flag the console commands active (in which case we would have a working mp campaign in a day or two) then it looks like the projext is at an end for me.
I never intended for this to be a time consuming project i saw the simplicity of how the mp campaign could work in 1.0 but the patch took away these possibilities.
Duke John
04-27-2005, 07:04
You could try using the show_me scripts. It's all new for me too, but look at the Beginners Guide covering scripts:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=46738
Therein is an example of how the perfect_spy command works with the show_me script. Since perfect_spy doesn't work when you just use the cheatconsole there might be hope that the other commands are working if you use the show_me scripts and that might save the MP campaign.
:bow:
Swoosh So
04-27-2005, 09:41
Thanks for the link duke john never sw that one before, myradrall has made a script to change turns in the campaign, i guess the only other one really needed is the kill_character command but i dont know how this script would be made as the name of the character would change every time. If we can get that command in somehow then we would be ready to release in a few days... :)
Duke John
04-27-2005, 10:04
Am I right to say that battles are fought seperately from the campaign? So while playing the campaign the engine has no idea whatsoever how a battle ended?
I think your idea was to get of units by expecting to have the player disband units who were killed during combat, right? Since you cannot disband characters you have the problem of unable to get rid of them, right?
Perhaps you could let the player edit the show_me script, which if you seperate it is only 3 lines and thus easily understandable. It would be something like:
script
console_command kill_character KILLED_CHARACTER
end_script
Which the player edits into for example:
script
console_command kill_character Julius Ceaser
end_script
If I understand the show_script concept then the player then loads his game disbands his killed units and presses the Show Me button in the Advisor interface part (you know the woman with the black hair) and voila, the character is killed.
So the process would be something like this:
1. [campaign] Player comes into contact with army
2. [campaign] player writes down character name and army composition
3. [mp battle] player plays mp battle with the right army and loses his entire army
4. [windows] player edits script so that the right name is used
5. [campaign] player disbands units and presses Show Me button.
I'm no expert on this so I'm not sure how to code, but it might work.
:bow:
SigniferOne
04-27-2005, 17:34
By the way, MikeB at the .com (Cap'n Fishpants here, I think) said that no one at CA sent any threatening letters to anyone working on the multiplayer campaign, and that it was a malicious hoax (my wording) by some idiots (my wording) to upset the community and put a black mark on CA (again, all my wording).
Am I right to say that battles are fought seperately from the campaign? So while playing the campaign the engine has no idea whatsoever how a battle ended?
I think your idea was to get of units by expecting to have the player disband units who were killed during combat, right? Since you cannot disband characters you have the problem of unable to get rid of them, right?
Perhaps you could let the player edit the show_me script, which if you seperate it is only 3 lines and thus easily understandable. It would be something like:
script
console_command kill_character KILLED_CHARACTER
end_script
Which the player edits into for example:
script
console_command kill_character Julius Ceaser
end_script
If I understand the show_script concept then the player then loads his game disbands his killed units and presses the Show Me button in the Advisor interface part (you know the woman with the black hair) and voila, the character is killed.
So the process would be something like this:
1. [campaign] Player comes into contact with army
2. [campaign] player writes down character name and army composition
3. [mp battle] player plays mp battle with the right army and loses his entire army
4. [windows] player edits script so that the right name is used
5. [campaign] player disbands units and presses Show Me button.
I'm no expert on this so I'm not sure how to code, but it might work.
:bow:
i think that that would solve it, but then again with the units disbanding how do you deal with the not completely destroyed units? do you just count that you "merged" the weakened ones together and disband the completly destroyed ones?
Hey, all this sounds like very good progress. :2thumbsup:
As for killing off characters with the show_me command, even if you can't get this one to work, it should not be a show stopper. I myself could easily live with piling all my supposed-to-be-killed characters into one army stack and sending them off into the desert somewhere.
I could live with a system where human vs. human battles where all auto, i just wanna have a multi game :)
Swoosh So
04-28-2005, 17:00
Ok ill explain the battle losses when a battle is fought after the battle is finished you count up the casualties of each unit type so say u lose 300 egyptian archers in total in the battle, their unit size is 120 so u lose immediatly 2 units thats 240 men now u have 60 dead left over thats a 50% or above loss in unit strength so you would use the 3rd unit also. Eradosan was working on a logfile calculator that would tell u which units had to be disbanded automatically so that the players wouldent have to do any admin. but hes been inactive and i havent heard from him and i dont have the basic programming skills needed to make such a program.
The campaign needs 3 things to work smoothly in 1.2
1 a turn script (to change factions) already made by myradraal.
2 a kill_character (program?) script to kill of any heirs lost online.
3 a logfile calculator (optional to reduce any player admin).
The biggest problem facing people making a mp campaign for totalwar was always the inability to transfer results from online battle to the campaign, although this is still not possible if we work on a unit loss basis as oppoesed to a man loss basis we can disband the lost UNITS and suddenly this all becomes possible.
I cannot bring the above 3 things to the table so i must ask others to do that and wait.
There are other rules the players must follow pretty simple ones to be honest i should get them down on paper beore i end up forgetting them.
for example when i move my army piece to attack yours i would attack it in the normal way then the ATTACKER takes a screenshot of both armies involved to send to the other player, no battles pvp actually ever take place on the campaign map, the attacking army clicks withdraw on the campaign map their army wont move the battle is played then the players disband lost units and heirs using the kill character command.
Unit weapons valour and armour are not tranferred to the mp battle these will only have use in the battles vs the ai, the system we worked out was that mp units get 1 valour per 2 general stars, at least then we can use the good attacker virtues as these will show on the battle screen before battle and the good defender virtue good seige commander etc.
Mercenary units cannot be used in the basic campaign pvp unless we make a simple modification to add all mercenary units to the player factions army list to make them available online, the player could however use merc units v the ai no problems there....
Players will always control the first army on the battle screen with second or third arriving armies given control over to ai commanders or friends who may want to help you in your battle clan members etc.
So as u see its all fairly simple, CA could probably knock up a working MP campaign in a day by giving battle input and output files from the campaign map to the mp battles, but they havent :) despite us asking so this is the best i can come up with, if ANYONE feels they can contribute to the 3 things i said i need above then please feel free to contact me on msn and lets see what we can do...
SWOOSH
Swoosh So
04-28-2005, 17:04
Btw i apologise for making people think this was almost ready for release on a few occasions, but at 1 stage i thought that the exe file for 1.2 was going to be cracked and the console commands activated, then all that would have been needed was the logfile calculator a pretty simple programming feat.
I think the logfile calulator is essentail i always disliked campaigns where u have lots of admin posting attacks on foums etc, if we have a logfile calculator which i believe is easy to make for anyone with programming skills then we have no admin whatsoever outside the game EVERYTHING runs in the game except the players writing down the involved forces before a battle.
von Gompolz
04-29-2005, 17:57
Anyway, I would be satisfied with 1.0 with realism 5.1, in case you were not successful with 1.2. It is still better than 1.2 singleplayer. When I have time I will start playing. Thanks guys
Your work is very much in my good graces! I'm impressed.
I remember the trouble Shadewolf and I had with our MTW MP campaign, and it was never as good.
The simple fact that you have managed to get a transfer from the moves each player makes to the other faction, that is impressive.
And I agree that CA undoubtedly could make an MP campaign, if 'we' can do this they could do far better and far faster. That is if they wanted to. And yet I think they do want to but something holds them back.
But it looks so promising that I can sit still really.
Same like von Gompolz, I don't really mind to play with 1.1/1.0 patch.
Any place to download the files that are needed to play Swoosh So's MP campaign with 1.1/1.0?
Would be great :)
yeah, if you can make a 1.1 version one i'd still give it a go :)
von Gompolz
05-02-2005, 21:33
How do I use kill_character command for multiplayer campaign battles?
I tried it in 1.0 and it seems not to work. when I put ? before the command, the romeshell does not reckognize the command and doesn't give me any help. The other cheats work properly. I don't know where I do a mistake.
von Gompolz
05-02-2005, 21:37
I forgot to add, I write in romeshell kill_character "name". it doesn't work for me
Myrddraal
05-03-2005, 12:48
Lots of romeshell commands were disables in 1.2 for some reason.
You can also just suicide your familiy member right? Why not just send him alone to a big army of the enemy. He'll die :P
Scorpion
05-04-2005, 15:07
I´m going to voice my support and anticipation for the success of this project as well.
Even if it´s not 1.2, I´d still play it.
Everyone please note there is already a downloadable and working script so that you can play the campaign with 2 players.
Go over here (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=45563&page=3&pp=30).
~:cheers:
Myrddraal
05-04-2005, 16:24
That script is the early version of this project, hence the beta...
dancingthemantaray
05-08-2005, 13:09
Is there anything like this for medieval/VI?...
von Gompolz
05-09-2005, 19:57
couldn't somebody create some sort of cheat unlocker for 1.2. it exists for 1.1, and it unlocks all the console commands
so can someone make this 3 or 4 players
Heinrich VI
05-20-2005, 15:33
wow i'm impressed. don't stop know ;)
hmmm, has this project stopped ?
Would be a shame, it seems to have so much potential.
M.T.Cicero
07-11-2005, 00:42
:jawdrop: :jawdrop: :jawdrop:
Indeed, I was reading these 3 pages for like half an hour with my eyes touching the screen and was wholeheartedly hoping for a big announcment at the end..... NVM that, any info would be just as great as long as progress is being made, is it? :thumbsup:
Swoosh So
07-20-2005, 09:27
Im sorry ive lost all interest in the totalwar series and moved onto WoW :\ I may start this project again if the expansion pack captures my imagination and CA leave the console commands in this time, Myradraal knows i think the whole system i had in mind for the campaign and hes more than welcome to continue the project if he has the desire to do so, ill pop back now and then if he needs any questions answered that i dident cover. The whole thing was becoming overly complex imo the best mp campaign in my eyes would be run thru version 1.0 or 1.1 using the console commands. For this u need a hacked exe file, search the org for something called cheat enabler and ur on the way then follow the guide lines in this thread and you should have a working campaign for 1.0 1.1
Cyas
Swooosh
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