Quote[/b] (Wellington @ Jan. 23 2003,16:47)]

Originally Posted by
[b
Quote[/b] (King David @ Jan. 23 2003,14:37)]Wellington, would it be possible to display a Roman Turtle formation given those number position relationships?
Very interesting idea KD A short answer would be 'yes and no' with a lot more emphasis on the yes In other words, you CAN do this but you have to consider carefully the implications.
First, think in terms of the various ACTIONS a unit can perform on the MTW battlefield. Do you want your unit to perform such a 'turtle formation' every time they perform the action with which you've associated the shield positioning for that action.
Second, think in terms of the work involved in changing 8 numbers (4 pairs of x/y co-ordinates for a shield) for every frame (12 of) for a single action (4 camera angles).
You have to change around 400 numbers, both positive and negative, relative to the x/y-origin of the unit (that you CAN'T visualise).
It would'nt be so complicated. However it WOULD be quite confusing and VERY time consuming (trust me - I've done this) and you'd have to think hard about which units (images) would be suitable, which MTW action would be suitable for your unit performing a turtle formation, and whether or not you wish to 'live with' the fact that any unit so defined (via weapon/shield positioning parameters) will ALWAYS have either ...
- the full unit
- some figure images within that unit
... performing a turtle formation (shields over heads) if either YOU or the MTW engine has decided that an action should/must be performed by any specific unit.
The key to all of this is thinking in terms of ACTION
Think in terms of the action a unit is capable of performing. You CAN'T add new actions - they are predefined in MTW - and all the weapons/shields positions are directly related to a units action. Therefore if you wanted a unit to have 'shields over heads' it CAN be done - but such shield positioning MUST be associated with an action and the unit may, at times (eg: when they rout) perform actions that you dont always have control over.
Having said that, it's a great idea KD - bu it's an idea that would take some consideration and a LOT of frustrating shield positioning.
If you wish you progress further in this direction I'll put a few quick thoughts onto paper regarding specifics ( a write up in a bit more detail regarding your ideas) and post it to this thread.
(BTW: your mod is excellent and I can see why you would wish to incorporate such an 'action' for your units. However - it can be done - its a LOT of work - do you really want to do it?)
Bookmarks