Help with scripting for my Alexandros mod

[Epistolary Richard]

Yes, they both sound possible.

If this is all you want then I would recommend using event scripts rather than a background script - as it would mean the player would only have to do anything when the event occurred rather than every time they reloaded the game.

First off read the Beginner Guide to Scripting.

For an event script you need three things-
- a Trigger – contained within export_descr_advice.txt
- an Advice Thread – also contained within export_descr_advice.txt
- a Script – a text file itself contained within data\scripts\show_me\ folder

For the Susa event this is the sort of thing you would start off with:

The script (Susa_event.txt) would be straightforward:

script
console_command add_money 1000 
end_script

The Advice thread would look something like this:

 ;------------------------------------------
AdviceThread Susa_event_Thread
    GameArea Campaign

    Item Susa_event_Text_01
        Uninhibitable
        Verbosity  0 
        Threshold  1 
        Attitude Normal
        Presentation Default
        Title Susa_event_Text_01_Title
        Script scripts\show_me\Susa_event.txt
        Text Susa_event_Text_01_Text1

Note that you would have add entries into text/export_advice.txt to make the new text appear. The text would read something like "Would you like to receive lots of money? Click the show me how button to accept."

And the trigger would look something like this:

;------------------------------------------
Trigger Susa_event_Trigger
    WhenToTest GeneralCaptureSettlement

    Condition CharacterIsLocal
and FactionType macedon
and SettlementName Susa

    AdviceThread Susa_event_Thread  0

Now, this will work so long as Susa is captured by an army led by a general and not a captain. There's a workaround for this which I can go into if you want.


The second one is more complicated:

Similar advice thread:

 ;------------------------------------------
AdviceThread Capture_Greece_Thread
    GameArea Campaign

    Item Capture_Greece_Text_01
        Uninhibitable
        Verbosity  0 
        Threshold  1 
        Attitude Normal
        Presentation Default
        Title Capture_Greece_Text_01_Title
        Script scripts\show_me\Capture_Greece.txt
        Text Capture_Greece_Text_01_Text1

You'd want two different triggers:

;------------------------------------------
Trigger Capture_Greece_Athens_Trigger
    WhenToTest GeneralCaptureSettlement

    Condition CharacterIsLocal
and FactionType macedon
and SettlementName Athens
and I_SettlementOwner Thebes = macedon

    AdviceThread Capture_Greece_Thread  0

;------------------------------------------
Trigger Capture_Greece_Thebes_Trigger
    WhenToTest GeneralCaptureSettlement

    Condition CharacterIsLocal
and FactionType macedon
and SettlementName Thebes
and I_SettlementOwner Athens = macedon

    AdviceThread Capture_Greece_Thread  0

And the script (Capture_Greece.txt) would be:

script
console_command add_money 1000
console_command create_unit Athens "greek hoplite" 2 
console_command create_unit Thebes "greek hoplite" 2 
console_command diplomatic_stance macedon greek_cities allied
end_script

This would be the basics and it should all work, it's not completely foolproof or polished though and savvy/goldfish brain players can either exploit it or miss the benefits completely and the AI can break the alliance - but there are ways to offset that and to do some of the alternate things you suggested if you want to get more complicated.