CA propositions thread

**Ashdnazg** · 04-10-2007, 19:18

Any chance they reveal how the engine works? - 5
(how attack, defence, morale, dead soldiers and routing units fit together)

**SigniferOne** · 04-10-2007, 22:55

I think by far the most important little addition to be had is the ability to generate battle_models.modelDB from XML files. Those XML files don't exist, and there's no tool to generate the modelDB file from them. I suppose hypothetically we could create all our own XML files for our units and attachment sets, and then create our own parser, but if CA released the tool they already created, along with the XML files for vanilla models, it would help immensely. It would be nice if the game itself generated the modeldb file whenever that file wasn't found (same as with .rwm), but if that's out of the question, then a tool generating the file from XMLs would be nice. It's far better than editing the modeldb file by hand. See this thread about how CA themselves generated the modelDB file. I'll go ahead and give this a (9) or even a (10) in desirability...

(5) - It would be nice to know how "e_" commands (in docudemon_commands.txt) work, i.e. "e_select_character" as opposed to "select_character". They've been there since RTW, and I can guess in theory how it could work, but it'd be nice to have some actual examples, to know how it's supposed to be used, what the command was intended for, etc.

(6) - Same goes for the intriguing "ai_gta_" commands (also in docudemon_commands.txt). Do these work on the stratmap level, or on the battlemap level? Do they allow us to affect AI targets and priorities?

**Casuir** · 04-11-2007, 07:34

Originally Posted by SigniferOne

I think by far the most important little addition to be had is the ability to generate battle_models.modelDB from XML files. Those XML files don't exist, and there's no tool to generate the modelDB file from them. I suppose hypothetically we could create all our own XML files for our units and attachment sets, and then create our own parser, but if CA released the tool they already created, along with the XML files for vanilla models, it would help immensely. It would be nice if the game itself generated the modeldb file whenever that file wasn't found (same as with .rwm), but if that's out of the question, then a tool generating the file from XMLs would be nice. It's far better than editing the modeldb file by hand. See this thread about how CA themselves generated the modelDB file. I'll go ahead and give this a (9) or even a (10) in desirability...

The xmls look to do a bit more than just generate the modelsdb, they seem to compile the actual models themselves from the base files, I doubt the tool they used would be any good to us.

**adembroski** · 04-11-2007, 02:30

Originally Posted by Ashdnazg

Any chance they reveal how the engine works? - 5
(how attack, defence, morale, dead soldiers and routing units fit together)

Doubtful... that's giving out their 'formula', like giving out the reciple for the secret sauce. It will likely remain internal only.

**Ashdnazg** · 04-11-2007, 11:55

Originally Posted by adembroski

Doubtful... that's giving out their 'formula', like giving out the reciple for the secret sauce. It will likely remain internal only.

The real recipe is the code, don't see what reason is there for keeping the formula secret.
They actually revealed it several games back IIRC. (Or was it only guesses?)

**alpaca** · 04-11-2007, 12:38

As for the e_ commands: They work, but aren't very useful since you can't select a character on CharacterTurnStart or CharacterTurnEnd for example.
What works is using it with stuff like LeaderOrderedSpyingMission. It selects the leader fine, but it still isn't very useful.

**Teleklos Archelaou** · 04-13-2007, 17:05

Increase Number of Possible Culture Groups (from 7 to maybe 10 or more)

Since it seems like the number of possible cultures is still seven (same as RTW), is there a way to beg for a couple more at least to be added?

For modders, this really would open up big doors. More difference can be created between the ones that are there, for example if the map is expanded a little more to include some other areas, or if the mod is set in RTW-period. Here is how it would greatly help a mod like EB:

We already use all seven cultures, and we **really** get our money's worth from it. Different GUI's for all seven, different town plans, different building types, different sets of family portraits, different types of building graphics that can be used (each culture has its own set). These are extremely important for us - I can't emphasize it enough. They have allowed us to make an eastern greek set that has palms and a mix of eastern and greek portraits and buildings and its own music also, as well as a very innovative nomadic set that is quite different from playing as all other factions in RTW.

If we have an increase in the number of possible factions, we definitely would like to think about options like a Bosphoran kingdom (and nearby rebel sub factions of the same culture) where you have a mix of greek and nomadic elements resulting in their own culture. We would like to think about making our own Indian culture type as well. And a split of the generic barbarian culture type into one of celts vs. germanic/getic. Different music, portraits, GUI's, buildings, and town sets. We would desperately want at least 3 more culture possibilities. We make all of this ourselves though - we just want the door opened for three more. This is very important to us. Something like an 8 or 9 maybe out of 10. It's not do-or-die for us, but it will really make our work a lot more restricted and we might have to throw out a lot of ideas we have.

That's just how it would affect us. I'm sure other modders can use it too, it's just that we seem to push the limits of what is available. Thanks for any consideration of this.

**paullus** · 04-16-2007, 20:09

Indeed, with the faction and model limits raised, we have a lot of new possibilities for modding. However, we can't really make a good use of the increased space in those areas if we can't get things like a few more culture groups (TA said 10, that would be sufficient I think), or even--if it all possible--some more unit and region slots. Now, even those last two, we can get by without those if we have to!

But we simply won't be able to do the increased faction possibilities justice without some more culture slots.

**wilddog** · 04-16-2007, 21:40

Sorry but another item from me. Opening up the models-strat so at least the textures can be used via a mymod type set up (which seems to be the same for the launcher) would help a lot.

My main one after that is tied to the Jehad set up to allow that to be more open and/or allow more than one pope (truly) as it can be modded to mean a culture head.