Allright people, this post is for now reserved for what I'd like to call scripting challenges.
I'll issue these from time to time to instigate research and thoughts about certain scripting problems, or simply to show off when I found out something cool and want to tell everyone how good a scripter I am
Anyways, here we go with the first challenge:
Scripting Challenge #1: Re-Emergent factions
issued on May, 20th 2007
The task is simple: Create re-emergent factions similar to those you know from the original MTW. I didn't try to do that myself, yet, so I'm not sure if it's possible. If you have a proposition, simply post it in this here thread.
The best one will be put into the script-o-rama, and I will participate, too.
Solution:
alpaca
The solution to this problem involves two basic steps. The first is to make the would-be emergent faction horde, and the second is to spawn it an army.
1. Hording
To make a faction horde, all you have to do is open descr_sm_factions and add some entries that look like those of the Mongols or Timurids:
Code:
horde_min_units 10
horde_max_units 20
horde_max_units_reduction_every_horde 10
horde_unit_per_settlement_population 250
horde_min_named_characters 2
horde_max_percent_army_stack 80
horde_disband_percent_on_settlement_capture 0
horde_unit Mongol Infantry
horde_unit Mongol Foot Archers
horde_unit Mongol Heavy Archers
horde_unit Mongol Heavy Lancers
horde_unit Mongol Light Lancers
horde_unit Mongol Horse Archers
These determine what happens after your faction loses their last settlement, and more importantly, allows it to remain in the code after it died. These are pretty self-explanatory, so let's get to step 2:
2. Army Spawning
First of all, you'll find a how-to about spawning above, so I won't explain the code here. What you have to do to have a re-emergent faction is to spawn it an army somewhere on the map with a family member which will re-introduce them to the game. You can see a good example of that by looking at how the guys at CA OZ did it for the Mongols and Tims:
Code:
spawn_army
faction mongols
character Jebe, named character, age 30, x 292, y 166, family ;command 8, dread 9, loyalty 7, piety 1
traits EasternWarlord 3 , GoodCommander 2 , Bloodthirsty 2 , BattleDread 4 , StrategyDread 2 , PublicFaith 1 , Loyal 2 , ContentGeneral 3 ;command 8, dread 9, loyalty 7, piety 1
unit Mongol Bodyguard exp 6 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0
...
end
Notice the bolded "family" keyword which will allow you to set up a faction tree again.
Ok, that's basically it. Easy, huh?
There are two main problems with this: Firstly, you will somehow have to determine where to spawn (or move) the faction, unless you want to always spawn them in the same place and secondly, the family members will always have the same names. You can add a bit of randomization which will of course increase the complexity of the code by a fair margin.
Well, have fun with your newly re-emerging factions
Scripting Challenge #2: Attrition
issued on August, 30th 2007
This one is a very open challenge. I think a large part of the community is looking for the best way to simulate the effect that prolonged campaigns and diseases have on an army (especially a medieval one which would certainly live off the land in a very ruinous fashion). So, let's hear your suggestions! The best propositions will be put in here and if it makes sense I'll write a how-to or an article about it, combining them in some way.
just an easy thing to do to crank up the early game difficulty a bit. remove stuff from the descr_strat file like buildings and units and then add them back in the campaign_script but AI only e.g
Code:
; ---------------------
; start up
freeze_faction_ai aztecs
if not I_LocalFaction spain
console_command create_building Leon, farms+1
console_command create_building Leon, port
console_command create_building Castille, garrison_quarters
console_command create_building Castille, bowyer
create_unit Castille, Peasant Archers, num 2, exp 0, arm 0, wep 0
create_unit Vaasco, Javelinmen, num 2, exp 0, arm 0, wep 0
create_unit Vaasco, Peasant Archers, num 2, exp 0, arm 0, wep 0
console_command add_money spain, 6000
end_if
similarly add some extra rebel garrison units in the nearest cities for the player faction e.g
Code:
if I_LocalFaction spain
create_unit Toledo, Peasant Archers, num 2, exp 0, arm 0, wep 0
create_unit Extramaduras, Javelinmen, num 2, exp 0, arm 0, wep 0
end_if
pretty quick and easy.
edit: just noticed on my test/mod version that adding the ports this way doesn't seem to work. the building is built in the settlement but no port on the map and no trade. i think this used to work in RTW but it must be different in MTW2. the recruitment buildings work though.
i'll add a bit here that i use a lot when i get home :)
Great, I'll start working on it after I tested 1.2 a bit more thoroughly. Actually primarily wanted to get some comments about the idea while I was doing that ;)
This is the classic spawn_army hint, considering the fact that the docudemon explanation always stumps newbies:
Code:
spawn_army
faction romans_julii
character Foedus Chaerea, general, command 0, influence 0, management 0, subterfuge 0, age 20, , x 54, y 124
unit roman generals guard cavalry, soldiers 20 exp 9 armour 1 weapon_lvl 0
unit roman legionary first cohort ii, soldiers 40 exp 0 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0
unit roman legionary cohort ii, soldiers 60 exp 0 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0
unit roman praetorian cohort i, soldiers 60 exp 0 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0
end
What's changed is that there is a comma after every unit name. This comma is absent in docudemon example of spawn_army, thus causing endless crashes and headaches for those starting out.
Great idea Alpaca, I should have a few more examples soon.
Re: alpaca's Script-O-Rama
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Originally Posted by nikolai1962
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