[DEVELOPMENT] Campaign 4 Development Thread

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

Scroll limits issue fixed. Dunno what *I* was thinking, putting it like that. Heh. Think I understand the nomenclature now. It's MinX MaxX, then MinY MaxY.

Repair borgs aren't able to repair due to unresearched Repair Tech. I'll add that where appropriate.

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

Fixing the scroll limits and updating the overviews. Will have updates tomorrow for those who need them.

Mission 9 is progressing, the map still isn't something I'm happy with but it's steadily improving. Mission 13 has a couple of prototype maps (restarted.. I'll explain the reasons another time!) and I'm still deciding the 5 'W''s for this one.

Couple of addendum (this is for Milo and Flail): The player needs to start off with *some* power for repair units to function. I"m going to add some oil drums in the Mission 1 area for this purpose, in "strategic" locations.

I also need to move mission 2 to later on, for scroll limit purposes. I'm not reworking the main map again (ugh!). Mission 3 will now take place in Mission 2. I've removed some of the stuff for Mission 6 that is west of tile 83 so that we aren't blown up. Slightly updated main map to reflect this as well.

Mission 4 likewise needs to be done later. I'm likely going to combine that with Mission 6. It'll give the player something to do actually, so that works.

More to come. Bit of shuffling to do.

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

Egads, it's worse than I thought. Shuffling only made things worse. I now have to proceed on the basis of NOT reducing scroll limits. I tried it and the results weren't pretty.

So I need to rework the missions to avoid that. Bit of a problem as it means I have to rework a couple of things on the map to accommodate. I need to add a filler mission to close some gaps, from the looks of things.

This appears to be the crux and plight of game development. I wouldn't have it any other way.

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

Whew, that was stressful but productive. I've streamlined some things nicely. Mission 2 now happens in conjunction with Mission 5. I have to come up with a new mission somewhere (after all, I promised 13 missions!), but the pace of the campaign is improved.

All I had to do was move one pesky Scavenger Base northwest a bit.

Scroll limits are all fixed up now. That should make Flail and Milo happy.

Changelog (now at version 0.5):

- Oil Drums have been added to various pre-building locations on the mission map to cover player repair costs.
- Scavenger Base for (now) Mission 3 moved northwest to settle scroll limit issues.
- NODE Base for (now) Mission 5 cleared of all factories, defenses and VTOL Pads. NODE Oil defenses removed entirely.
- Major reshuffling of missions. Overall pace of the campaign improved significantly. Gains will continue to be made in this regard.

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

Ok guys. Updated files sent via PM to those who need them. Scroll limits SHOULD be all fixed now.

Overviews and missions have changed -- I suggest you read them again, especially if you are doing voice work (Rman... ).

[Rman Virgil]

Goth: Will do for sure this evening - looking over the latest revisions. However... I will send the files of what I have come to prior to this latest set of text changes because we need a tangible frame of reference for a conversation: baically, for feedback from you on any course corrections I need to make going forward beyond re-doing the recording because of substantive informational revisions. Once we have this squared away based on the M-1 Brief then I can proceed to lay down the rest of the basic vocal tracks through the M-13 Brief (leaving any enhanced audio processing & SFX intermixing in your able hands).

I would also like to compose, play, record one more original music track because I have some new ideas I wanna make tangible.

If it turns-out that there are no volunteers to work on Machinima cut-scenes I can probably do a couple. I just cannot do all 13 - too many other commitments & not enough hours in the day and I'm sure that in this predicament I am no different than most peeps in our active WZ community.

- Regards, RV
.

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

Sweet! I'm sure between the two of us (and our collective 20 or so functioning neurons) we can come up with something passable.

I'm digging into the scripting end of things, trying to expand my understanding (and waiting for any good ideas for Mission 9's map to hit me .... ugh.). I think I understand enough of the scripting to at least help out. The info on the scripting stuff here on the site is TOP notch. I'm already declaring events, templates, and other general .slo work. Gotta start somewhere, huh?

I'll need to run this stuff by you guys for input and (most likely) correction.

Main.slo (for Mission 1):

Code: Select all

//Value declarations

// General Values
public		int			player;
public		int			enemy1;
public		int			enemy2;
public		LEVEL		NextLev;

// Coords
public		int			ViewCoords[2];

// Win/Lose Condition values
public		DROID		Commander;
public		DROID		TacSergeant;
public		int			ObjectiveCoords[2];
public		int			ScavBasePlayer;
public		int			BaseCenterCoords[2];
public		int			BaseRadius;
private		int			DroidCountArea;
private		int			DroidCountMap;

// Win/lose sounds and messages
public		INTMESSAGE	endMsg, winMsg;
public		SOUND		wonSnd, lostSnd;

/* Proximity: Enemy */
/*
public		STRUCTURE	enm1;
public		STRUCTUREID	enm1ID;
public		INTMESSAGE	enm1Msg;
public		SOUND		enm1Snd1;
public		SOUND		enm1Snd2;

public		STRUCTURE	enm2;
public		STRUCTUREID	enm2ID;
public		INTMESSAGE	enm2Msg;
public		SOUND		enm2Snd1;
public		SOUND		enm2Snd2;
*/

/* Enemy Tactics */
public		TEMPLATE	trike;
public		TEMPLATE	buggy;
public		TEMPLATE	bloke;
public		TEMPLATE	jeep;
private		GROUP		enemy1Surprise,enemy1Last,enemy1Rear1,playerForce1;
private		GROUP		enemy1Last1,enemy1Last2;
private		INT			playerX1, playerY1;
public		TEMPLATE	nexusrecon;

// Triggers
trigger ConditionsTrigger(every, 25);
trigger DoNow(wait, 1);
trigger ReconArrives(wait, 3000);

// Events
event GameInit;
event LoseEvent;
event WinEvent;
event CheckConditions;

//NEXUS Recon Force Events
event ReconSpawnsIn;
event ReconLeavesCrashSite;
event ReconSpawnsOut;
event ReconSeesPlayerUnits;
event ReconKillsTransport;
event ReconGoesToTransporter;
event ReconWaits;

//Scavenger Base Events
event ScavsAttack;
event ScavsRetreat;
event ScavsDoRecon;
event ScavsLikeBacon;

// Initalize mission
event GameInit(CALL_GAMEINIT)
{
	initAllNoGoAreas();
	
	centreViewPos(ViewCoords[0] * 128, ViewCoords[1] * 128);
	
	setEventTrigger(GameInit, inactive);
}

event LoseEvent(inactive)
{
	setEventTrigger(CheckConditions, inactive);
	gameOverMessage(endMsg, MISS_MSG, 0, FALSE);
	setEventTrigger(LoseEvent, inactive);
}

event WinEvent(inactive)
{
	setEventTrigger(CheckConditions, inactive);
	flushConsoleMessages();
	playSound(wonSnd,0);
	pause(20);

	// End mission
	startMission(CAMP_EXPAND, NextLev);
	setEventTrigger(WinEvent, inactive);
}

event CheckConditions(ConditionsTrigger)
{
	// Check win/lose conditions here
	
	if (Commander == NULLOBJECT)
	{
		setEventTrigger(LoseEvent, DoNow);
	}
	
	if (TacSergeant == NULLOBJECT)
	{
		setEventTrigger(LoseEvent, DoNow);
	}
	
	if (structButNoWallsInArea(ScavBasePlayer, (BaseCenterCoords[0] - BaseRadius) * 128, (BaseCenterCoords[1] - BaseRadius) * 128, (BaseCenterCoords[0] + BaseRadius) * 128, (BaseCenterCoords[1] + BaseRadius) * 128) == false)
	{
		setEventTrigger(WinEvent, DoNow);
	}

}

Main.vlo (Mission 1):

Code: Select all

script "Main.slo"
run
{
// Value file for cam 4-1:
// general cam game initalization and win conditions

// General Values
player				int			0
enemy1				int			7	//Scavenger base
enemy2				int			3	//NEXUS Recon Force
NextLev				LEVEL		"CAM_4-2"

// tile to center view on
ViewCoords[0]		int			34		//tile X
ViewCoords[1]		int			103		//tile Z

// Win/lose sounds and messages
endMsg				INTMESSAGE	"END"
winMsg				INTMESSAGE	"WIN"
wonSnd				SOUND		"pcv460.ogg"	//mission done
lostSnd				SOUND		"pcv470.ogg"	//mission failed

// Win/Lose Condition values
Commander			DROID		59
TacSergeant			DROID		60
ObjectiveCoords[0]	int			7		//tile X
ObjectiveCoords[1]	int			74		//tile Z
ScavBasePlayer		int			7
BaseCenterCoords[0]	int			57		//tile X
BaseCenterCoords[1]	int			82		//tile Z
BaseRadius			int			20

// Scavenger Base stuff (lifted from Cam1-1! Modded to work here :D)
enm1		STRUCTURE	69	//base1=factory1
enm1ID		STRUCTUREID	69
enm1Msg		INTMESSAGE	"C1-1_BASE1"
enm1Snd1	SOUND		"pcv375.ogg"
enm1Snd2	SOUND		"pcv391.ogg"

/* Enemy Tactics */
//build templates
trike		TEMPLATE	"BarbarianTrike"
buggy		TEMPLATE	"BarbarianBuggy"
bloke		TEMPLATE	"BaBaPeople"
jeep		TEMPLATE	"BabaJeep"
nexusrecon	TEMPLATE	"NX-L-Flash-Hover"

}

Any input is appreciated. It's not done yet, of course.

[milo christiansen]

I try to keep the scripts separated into as many independent parts as possible to make it easier to reuse parts later. Anything that pertains to a player other than player 0 should go in "AI - P<playernumber>.vlo" and "AI - P<playernumber>.slo" all player 0 stuff and other non AI things should go in "main.vlo" and "main.slo". Apart from needing to be split up, your scripts look fine, better than fine actually, You already did the part I like least, syncing the slo and vlo

A little copy/paste and implementing the events and mission 1 will be finished. Mission 2 will be a simple matter of copying the scripts and editing them to fit. I'll see about finishing mission 1 tonight.

ps. As for splitting the scripts, maybe I write a little too much C++ , but it's still a good thing to do.

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

Ah sweet, glad I was able to help out. I'll try to do as much on my own as possible to alleviate the load, if you want. It'll help me learn this stuff better. I noticed (looking at the campaign 1 scripts) that there was a separate AI file for each mission. I was going to ask about that.

Hope my naming convention is acceptable. I tried to keep the event declarations easy to follow. There's some procedural stuff that I need to learn too. I'm able to cause a runtime error VERY easily.

[milo christiansen]

Warzones scripting engine is VERY inflexible and is a pain in the but to use. If you think YOU make errors wait till you see me at work Great bugs take an "expert" to make properly

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

Yeah, but we like it like that.

Ok then, I'll start getting M2 and M3 flushed out. If I do well I'll keep going. Of course, I'm gonna be sure to run all my code by you, since you can read it way better than I can.

[EDIT] Oh , that reminds me: How much of the code should/can I re-use? Less work = less hassle, right?

[milo christiansen]

Oh , that reminds me: How much of the code should/can I re-use? Less work = less hassle, right?

As much as you can without making extra work

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

As much as you can without making extra work

I hear that. I can see in the code what I can and can't reuse, but I'll probably make some mistakes along the way. Hence the reason I'll be running all my code by ya for review.

[milo christiansen]

I made a start on the AI. They "should" spawn in and move to the transport, "should" because I didn't have time to test it The AI still needs to leave the site and be removed, pursue the player if spotted, and I need to redo it so it uses the mission timer.

I still forgot to add the beacons for the "safe area" and the scav base. Coming soon

Proximity messages and such will have to wait until the sound files and FMVs are done.

So other than the above mentioned things mission 1 is finished

cam4.wz

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

That works, Rman and I are working on preliminary voice set stuff for M1 as I type this.

You guys are going to (expletive) LOVE what we've come up with. M-1 *prototype* briefing audio is almost done, then will forward to Rman for review. If it's acceptable we'll go with that.