Oudy

Thanks rofl I had to make my map form my Yanovo mission from scratch. I took screen shots from the editor and then imported them to Illustrator. It took a lot of time, but it looked good. I would have hated to do this for every map...now I won't, hehe. Just to show how obsessive I can be, I also made the flags from scratch. :eek: Thanks Oudy [ June 04, 2007, 04:58 PM: Message edited by: Oudy ]

Just as a test, I made a mission with a Pz. IVF1 with the short 75mm KwK37 L/24 gun. I was able to add the tank with the new gun and it worked perfectly in the mission. I wasn't able to change the look of the 3d object, so it still looked like it had a long 75mm gun, but all the stats had changed. Pretty cool. Oudy

G.Mooyman I was just thinking about how you could script an advance. Start with the squad split like you said into the machine gun section and the rifle section. Move, attack, or storm towards your objective then when enemy in that area is sighted drop everyone to the ground in the squad and crawl the machine gun section forward to begin covering fire. Then move the rifle section forward. When the machine gunner has no more targets, move hiim forward again. The only problem is that we don't have an IsVisibleInRect command. We need to be able to tell what units are visible in the rectangle area that is being attacked. Otherwise the unit seen may be halfway across the battlefield. I'm not sure how you could get around this. It would be nice to have the squad split for the players, however. It will be interesting to see how infantry acts in the new patch. Anyways just thinking off of the top of my head. Oudy

Thanks SlapHappy I'll take a look at it. Oudy

I have finally uploaded my mission to CMMods.com. This mission takes place during the German advance on Smolensk. The player has to hold the village of Yanovo against a German attack. I have included a .pdf file in the Document directory that includes historical information about the mission as well as designer notes as to what I was attempting to accomplish. When you read the .pdf, only read the first page until after you have played the mission so you don't get any of the spoilers. I tried to make the mission as historical as possible given the constraints of TOW and the units included with the game. I had to make one substitution in the German tanks, but that won't have any effect on the mission. This is my first scripting attempt, and while it has been tested, I cannot guarantee that it is 100% error free. If you find any issues let me know. I hope you enjoy it...next mission on the list is Guderian's crossing of the Dnepr River. Oudy

I finally figured out the problem (that's what I get for trying to write code at 2:00a.m. Ironically, this code works. What I had mistakenly done with the previous version is had the SetWorkArmy ( ARMY , 2 ) before the label, so after looping through once, the army was still set to Army 1 and it jumped out of the loop. I'm about to upload the mission. Thanks for all of the advice. Oudy

Very good suggestions PFMM. I generally will try to test it in isolation, but I was rushing to finish and didn't take the time. I guess I will now. My only question is how do you output variables to the console? I don't see any way to do it with the code we have available. Back to the mines. Oudy

I thought that I would have my mission finished, but like a fool, I added one more section that for some reason won't work. </font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">//continues attack on hill if Russian Troops are still present Label Check_RTroops_Hill SetWorkArmy ( ARMY , 2 ) Set @num_MainAttack_1_exist1 = GetNUnits ( GROUP , @@MainAttack_1 , ALL ) Set @num_MainAttack_2_exist1 = GetNUnits ( GROUP , @@MainAttack_2 , ALL ) Set @num_AC_exist1 = GetNUnits ( GROUP , @Recon1 , ARMOREDCAR , OK_ENGINE , OK_WEAPON ) Delay ( 1000 ) ADD ( @num_MainAttack_1_exist1 , @num_MainAttack_2_exist1 ) SetWorkArmy ( ARMY , 1 ) Set @num_Runits = GetNUnitsInArea ( Army , 1 , HUMAN , "Right" , NO_PANIC ) Set @num_RArt = GetNUnitsInArea ( Army , 1 , ARTILLERY , "Right" , NOT_EMPTY ) If ( @num_Runits > 4 OR @num_RArt > 0 ) then Delay ( 100 ) if ( @num_MainAttack_1_exist1 < 5 AND @num_AC_exist1 = 0 ) then Delay ( 100 ) goto Attack_Town endif Delay ( 5000 ) goto Check_RTroops_Hill endif //once hill is secure, Recon units attack town Label Attack_Town</pre>

Jeff I had a human logical bug in the code. I think I've gotten it fixed now. I added a few more refinements and it's about ready to go. If you ever want to see how AI units behave, script a mission. I've run this one dozens and dozens of times and each time the AI acts a little differently. It is really pretty cool. I've come to appreciate the unexpected behaviors in the AI; not the stupid ones, but the ones that make the AI seem a little more human. Tomorrow Oudy

Webwing Doing a few last minute changes to incorporate tester's comments and then I'll upload. How much I'll do before uploading depends on how much longer I can stand to look at it, hehe. Oudy

While I probably won't use the Line of Sight tool while playing, it will be very useful for making missions. The mission builder can then see what the line of sight is for placing units. It will make this aspect of mission building easier. Oudy

Jeff Make sure the infantry has moved past the jeep and machine gun before trying to limber; it can be a bit tricky, but it will limber. I wonder if there is an issue with the limbered guns if you move them within the setup area? I never move them during setup. Maybe I should take out the ActivateDispositionMode command. This is why having other people play test is important because everyone plays differently. Thanks Oudy

Buildings can be set as partially destroyed with scripts. You can also light them on fire...Looks pretty cool. However, apparently, you can't destroy bridges...Maybe with the Map editor. Oudy

Jeff The guns start the game limbered all you have to do is move them. It is one of the scripts I wrote. I would do the same for the machine gun but SoaN said there was a bug, so you have to limber that one manually. Thanks for the help. Oudy

Thanks Jeff Based on the response by SoaN to my scripting question, I have modified the script and the Germans will now retreat...Hurray. I have a couple other changes to make then I'll send out a corrected version. Again thanks to everyone Oudy

Thanks for your reply SoaN. Actually, I didn't forget the SetWorkArmy command...I didn't realize it was necessary when checking armies. Thanks for that clarification. The reason I used "AND" was that it is used in some of the code included with the mission. I've seen it used both with and without quotes. I'll use it without quotes from now on. Again thanks. Oudy

I have a rather stupid question. Is this a valid IF statement? </font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">If ( @check_GHumans < 20 "AND" @check_G_AC < 2 "AND" @check_GHumans < @check_RHumans "AND" @check_RArt > 0 ) then</pre>

Thanks all who offered to test. I'll see what comments I receive before posting to CMODS. Oudy

Jeff The Armored cars are reconnoitering towards the village until they see an enemy unit, then they go into defend until the rest of the troops are in place for an advance. Hmm, Germans are supposed to retreat after losing too many men, it shouldn't be a fight to the last man. Oudy

I guess it is time to let my baby go. I would like a couple of people to play test a mission called "Action at Yanovo" which takes place in July 1941 around Smolensk. It is from the Russian side and is primarily an infantry action. The OOB is as historically accurate as the game permits. Let me know how to contact you and I'll e-mail you the mission. In addition to testing that the triggers work and that nothing is broken, I would really like play testers is to comment on play balance (I think it may be too easy, but I've run it too many times to be objective). Balancing a mission is almost harder than coding it. This is a first attempt at scripting and there are probably bugs in my code and/or my logic. I primarily wanted to test some coding ideas. There are comments in the code in case you wanted to see what was going on, but please play it without cheats the first time. Also included is a .pdf file with some historical background. Based on tester's comments, I'll modify the mission and then upload it for everyone to try. Thanks Oudy

Very nice Dr. Jones Theoretically, could you also alter the characteristics for an added unit. For example, could you add a PzKpfw III Ausf H (with the long-barrel 50mm KwK 39 L/60) and modify its in-game stats? You would have to use the 3-d model of an existing PzKpfw III correct? This sounds potentially very interesting. Oudy

SlapHappy When I set up where the guns and trucks would respawn I made sure they were far enough away. I also had the guns unlimber where I thought they might be safe. The only problem with unlimbering them this way is that you have to know beforehand where they are going to be set up, so it isn't the most flexible piece of code. But it has its use. Oudy

Thank you very much Nikki. Oudy

Hejhog I couldn't agree more. We really need the Pz IIIH or Pz IIIG for early Eastern Front. We also need at least one early war Soviet Armored Car. I hope that 1C will begin to fill out the units, especially of mass produced units. Oudy

By the way sorry Webwing for hijacking this thread. It would be nice if we had a scripting forum or at least a sticky for scripting. Again, sorry Oudy