Scripting

[Roosevelt45]

Will we be able to make our own scripts with the editor?

I know this has been discussed before but there was a lot of doubt about it then, so I just wanted to know how its development is going and how it will work.

[Edwin P.]

Guess we will have to wait for more information on how the scripting will work.

As for me I want to write scripts that will improve the game against the AI and make the game unpredictable.

Example:

If Russia Surrenders then

For the Allied Expert AI

70% Normal Game

15% US transfers part of Pacific Fleet to the Atlantic, 2 carriers and 3 Crusers appear in the Atlantic and US gains 2 Bomber Units also transferred from the Pacific.

15% US signs Peace treaty with Japan and transfers Most of Pacific fleet to the Atlantic -4 Carriers, 4 Battleships, 4 Cruisers, 4 Subs, 10 Amphibious Transports, 4 Bombers, 5 Air Fleets, 3 HQs - Now the Axis Player will have a real fight on his hands and the battle for the Atlantic will become a truly exciting naval battle and not a cakewalk against a weak American Navy and controlling AI.

Oh, yes and if this third variant is selected there is a small chance that Russian Partisans are activated, a large American Invasion force appears in the Red Sea and a liberated Cairo becomes a second supply/production center for the US, just something extra to make life more exiciting for the Axis Human player who becomes overconfident and generally bored with a game after Russia is conquered for there is no chance of an Allied comeback at this point in SC1 once Russia has surrendered.

With this variant the Axis player is faced with a new and exciting war with the potential for great land and naval battles in the East and West.

[ June 17, 2004, 01:44 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

[Hubert Cater]

Scripting will be available It is still under development as we've got most of the general game play items implemented but the full AI scripting is still in planning.

Expect more details down the road but here is a snapshot of an activation script to get a better idea of what to expect:

[KDG]

That looks simple enough to edit. You could add more randomness to it by increasing the range of % increases,

Handicapping one side or the other by changing the pct. increase would also be easy.

It will be interesting to see the number of different available scripts.

Also, can we add new scripts in case we are playing different wars/maps.

[Hubert Cater]

Yes, whenever you create a new map a set of blank scripts is created (only example notes will be included) that can then be edited to create your own custom events etc. Even with the existing maps/campaigns all the details of the scripts can also be edited, removed, changed, basically whatever you like.

Hubert

[Edwin P.]

Agreed, this system is easy to edit and I anxiously await the release of more details on the commands available for scripting.

I like the apparant ability to add pop-ups that this initial script shows (#POPUP=). Perhaps it allows for add date related (and event related) "chrome" pop-ups that appear only a certain percentage (say 25% on a specific historical date or event so each bit of chrome appears in just 1 of 4 games) of the time to ensure that these bits of chrome do not become too predictable and annoying - ie US Navy Defeats Japan at Battle of Midway, Singapore Surrenders to the Japanese, German Saboteurs Arrested in New York, Yalta Conference with Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt (only if US and USSR and UK have not surrendered).

Example - 25% for each popup (so you would see only 3 of 12 chrome pop-ups on average during each game):

Popup: 12/14/1939 - Soviet Union expelled from the League of Nations.

Popup: 11/5/1940 - Roosevelt re-elected as president of the United States.

Popup: 2/15/1942 - British forces in Singapore surrender to the Japanese.

Popup: 6/7/1942 - US Navy defeats Japanese Task Force in battle for the Pacific Island of Midway.

Popup: 6/20/1942 - New York Times reports that the American FBI arrested 3 German sabatours in New York City.

Popup: 12/7/1942 - British Foreign Secretary Eden informs the British House of Commons of mass executions of Jews by Nazis.

Popup: 12/14/1943 - The President of the United Stats, Franklin D. Roosevelt, announced that the Allies are fighting for the "unconditional surrender" of Germany, Italy and Japan.

Popup: 7/20/1944 - German assination attempt on Hitler fails.

Popup: 2/4/1945 - Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin meet at the Russian Port of Yalta on the Black Sea. (Condition: USA/USSR/UK are at War)

Popup: 4/12/1945 - Harry Truman assumes the Presidency of the United States after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Popup: 5/3/1945 - British Troops liberate Burma from the Japanese.

Popup: 8/6/1945 - Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.

[ June 21, 2004, 07:21 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

[Edwin P.]

I look forward to seeing if one could randomly trigger historically possible events if a country (Greece), region (Egypt) or city hex(Warsaw) is not occupied.

Example:

Trigger: 1% if No Axis Units in or adjacent to Warsaw and 4+ Soviet Units are within 6 Hexes after 1942.

Popup: Polish revolt in Warsaw

Effect: Partisan Unit appears in Warsaw

Rational: Recreates Warsaw Revolt that occured as Soviet Troops approached Warsaw.

The Warsaw Uprising was probably the largest single operation organized and executed by a partisan organization in WWII. It lasted two months, and when it was over, 200,000 people were dead, and the entire city was in ruins. In trying to achieve its goals, the uprising was a terrible failure.

The Warsaw Uprising lasted 63 days. It was the longest Polish battle for the sovereignty and independence of the state fought during WWII, it was also greatest military operation undertaken by any resistance movement in Europe during WWII. Twenty thousand insurgents were killed, 25,000 injured. About 16,000 were taken prisoners-of-war. Those POWs were granted, despite Soviet protests, the status and treatment of regular soldiers of the Allied Forces. The toll among civilians was over 150,000. Many of them were killed in the massacres staged in the first few days of the fighting. The Germans incurred serious losses: 10,000 killed, 7,000 missing, and about 9,000 severely injured.

Example:

Trigger: 1% if No Allied or Axis Units are in Egypt

Popup: Military Coup in Egypt. New government declares neutrality and orders British citizens to leave Egypt.

Effect: Egypt becomes neutral country.

Rational: Egyptians despised the continued presence of British troops and advisors in their country.

Gameplay Effect: This event would be so rare, occuring only 1% of the turns when Egypt is not occupied, that it would certainly surprise any player that withdrew all forces from Egypt.

Example:

Trigger: 1% if Gibraltar and its associated port is not occupied.

Popup: Spanish Government reclaims Gibraltar in daring night time raid after local garrison was withdrawn.

Effect: Spain annexes Gibraltar and value of port hex is reduced to zero, allowing free transit to ships of both sides.

Rational: Spain has long argued for the UK to return soverignty over Gibraltar to them. If the British withdraw all military forces from the rock the Spanish government might haved decided to forcibly annex it while allowing Allied and Axis ships to freely traverse the straits.

The return of Gibraltar to Spain has remained a foreign policy goal for all Spanish rulers since the area was lost to Britain under the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Franco's fierce determination to regain Gibraltar culminated in his closing the frontier between Spain and Gibraltar in 1969. Governments that came to power after the regime was democratized engaged in calmer but equally persistent negotiations with the British and with the residents of Gibraltar over the future of the area.

Example:

Trigger: 1% IF Vichy France at war and no units are in Vichy Syria.

Popup: The Government of Turkey reclaims the territory of Syria.

Effect: Turkey annexes Syria

Rational: The government of Turkey wanted to reclaim the territory it lost for being being on the losing side during WWI.

[ June 20, 2004, 11:21 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

[Hubert Cater]

Edwin

Just wanted to pop in to answer some of your ideas, yes there will be a generic Popup event that can be #DATE triggered as well as a few other events that can be set to run based on a date and/or even a failsafe date

[Edwin P.]

Hubert

Does #Trigger stand for the chance (100 = 100%)of a script executing when the Condition is met (ie (21) Poland , Declared War On (0) AND Surrendered (1))?

---------------------------------------------

Will the script editor allow for creating simple interactive pop-ups - ie accept or decline - that give players a choice with a different effect for each option.

For example:

Trigger: 20%

Condition: Germany DOW Vichy France AND UK has 150MPP

Interactive Popup: Franco asks British Government for assistance to deter German attack.

Cost: Yes(150MPP)/No(0)

Effect_Yes: UK MPP balance reduced by 150MPP, Spain gains 2 Corps.

Effect_No: Random 1-10% Activation Towards Axis for Spain

Example2:

Trigger: 25%(1 in 4 games when conditions are met)

Condition: Norway surrenders to Axis AND UK has 250+MPP.

Interactive PopUp: Norwegian Partisans request assistance from the UK.

Cost: Yes(200MPP)/No(0)

Effect_Yes: Norwegian Partisans Activated

Example3:

Trigger: 25% (1 in 4 games when conditions are met)

Condition: Iraq Surrendered to Allies AND Germany has 300+MPP.

Interactive Pop_up: Iraqi Nationalists request assistance from Germany

Cost: Yes (300MPP)

Effect_Yes: Iraqi Partisans Activated

Note: It costs Germany more to support partisans in Iraq than the UK in Norway as the Turkish government demands compensation for allowing the shipment of weapons through their territory.

Example4:

Trigger: 2%

Condition: Axis Attacks Merchant Shipping

Interactive Pop_up: US Goverment demands compensation for attack on ocean liner.

Cost: Yes (20MPP)

Effect_Yes:

Effect_No: US War Readiness Increases 1-5%

[ June 22, 2004, 05:40 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

[Hubert Cater]

Edwin, that is correct wrt #trigger. As for interactive popups there is nothing currently planned but I would strongly suspect there will be many gamer inspired options (including this one) added in any future patches/extensions to SC2 after release

[Edwin P.]

Hubert, many thanks for the information. It will keep me on the right path as I brainstorm scripted events that will change gameplay; i.e. reduce reliance on a single cookie cutter strategy, but maintain play balance.

[ June 22, 2004, 12:58 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

[Edwin P.]

Question - Can an event be triggered based on whether there are no units; allied or axis, in an active country? or territory?

Why? Turkey would never consider annexing Syria if there were allied or axis units present. The Egyptian military or Algerian guerrllias might stage a revolt if no foreign troops were in country. Spain would never occupy Gibraltar if British Troops were present. Partisan units in Norway or Sweden or Finland would be more likely to rise up if there were no occupying forces present.

Example:

Trigger: 1%

Condition: Norway Surrendered, No Units in Norway and Norwegian Partisans Off.

Effect: Norwegian Partisans Activated

Trigger: 2%

Condition: Finland Surrendered, No Units in Finland and Finish Partisans Off.

Popup: Resistance fighters seize control of Helsinki.

Effect: Partisan Unit Appears in Helsinki.

Trigger: 1%

Condition: Ireland Surrendered, No Units in Ireland and Irish Partisans Off.

Popup: IRA seizes control of Dublin.

Effect: Irish Partisan Unit appears in Dublin (Tile XX,YY)

Note: In my opinion the chance for Irish partisans should be lower than the chance for partisans in countries like Yugoslavia or Russia.

Trigger: 1%

Condition: No Units in Egypt

Popup: Egyptian Military Coup, Foreigners ordered to leave Egypt.

Effect: Partisan Unit appears in Cairo

[ June 22, 2004, 10:36 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]