[DEPRECIATED] Campaign 4 (Old thread)

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

A great exercise in logic mapping too. Very interesting stuff indeed.

Funny thing is that this work is also preparatory for the conversion to the new API. It'll act as a template to make the process much smoother.

Wish I could do includes *now*, hehe. Well I *could* but it's far more tricky with wzscript.

[Rman Virgil]

A great exercise in logic mapping too. Very interesting stuff indeed.

Funny thing is that this work is also preparatory for the conversion to the new API. It'll act as a template to make the process much smoother.

Wish I could do includes *now*, hehe. Well I *could* but it's far more tricky with wzscript.

I use "The Brain" software to organize and visualize logical, hierarchical, associative and non-linear relationships in complex projects. Multi-platform and a powerful free version that doesn't expire. Might find it interesting. Projects are called "Brains".

http://www.thebrain.com/products/thebra ... -mind-map/

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[Goth Zagog-Thou]

Little status update: The "Worst-case scenario" mission line is done, minus the map loading for the next level. I may have to do that as a private variable on-the-fly, as I'm running into an issue where trying to load more than one map after the current one results in a crash. Could be just how I'm scripting it. I'll keep working on this.

All that's left (aside from fixing the map loading) is to script out the M3ThreadB mission line. The M4 one was more difficult to do, this one will be much easier. Then I'll rough-script the new map (4-11), make sure 4-12 loads, and that'll be Release-16.

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

I should note that I've begun adding the in-game voice clips. The entire opening sequence of events now has audio to go with the text. Yay! If / When I get bored of scripting and need a break, I'll work on audio.

[aubergine]

Do you have any info on how data from previous maps flows to subsequent maps, eg. on away missions?

EDIT: And looking forward to hearing more of the awesome audio! I tried doing some myself but my voice is heinous, even with crackly radio effects applied lol.

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

To be honest, I'm not sure. I haven't had to unload a Transport to a new level yet. (I will SOON, however!) I'll def. report how it goes and any problem(s) I encounter.

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

Well that was a rough patch of code. It seems that the Pumpkins had a problem they couldn't solve, so they did a workaround by loading the "between" levels when they needed a Transporter on the main map for player use. They'd load up the between level with a Transporter already on it, then send it off to drive the player's forces once it was loaded.

What I did to get around this was a bit of "brute force". When the time requires it, I plonk a Transport at the edge, set the Landing Zone and Limbo Landing area, and finally drive it there using orderDroidLoc(DORDER_MOVE) to simulate a "flyTransporterIn()".

That's not the part I ran into problems with. Getting the Transport to cooperate with the setTransporterExit() was dodgy. Unlike most other things, it requires one to use tile coords in order to work, and the conventions in use for that function are abnormal.

Code: Select all

setTransporterExit(player, 105, 0);

is how it's supposed to be, rather than setTransporterExit(x, y, player); .

I had to look to up to get it right.

Once you load up the Transport, your units are in the limbo list.

So we load the new map we want them on. Here's the procedure to get them where they are supposed to be.

- add your Transport using addDroid(). To be safe, use the same name you used in the previous script. It might even need to be the same. Putting the Transport on the map using FlaME ahead of time will NOT work.
- setLandingZone(x1, y1, x2, y2); and setLimboLanding(x1, y1, x2, y2); like normal.
- flyTransporterIn(player, x, y, false); . Note the abnormal function parameters again. The 'false' is a bool for whether we follow the Transporter in with the camera. 'true' seems to do nothing.

So, that's the misadventure with using a Transport. Dodgy to say the least.

Took me all night to get that sorted.

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

Oh, and I'll note here that multi map loading works just fine. Make sure you declare them separately in the .vlo ahead of time is all, and with different names.

I'll push it to see HOW far it can go one day when I'm feeling experimental.

[aubergine]

So does loadLevel() load additional map and switch to it? If so, how do you get back to previous map?

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

I haven't worked that out yet, but I suspect you load the old map from an OFF_KEEP one and it goes to the state it was at when you left.

If that doesn't pan out then I'll see how Cam 1 does it.

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

Another status update.

M11 (the new one) is now draft-scripted (a step beyond rough-scripting). We now have two options where to go from this one -- the player can return to M1's map to finish the job or proceed to M12 and deal with Nexus Prime.

Which, by the way, I've been tinkering with ... it'll be one HELL of a fight. The player gets a taste of it on M11 (which I have YET to defeat without cheats). I'll continue to refine for balance, of course, but as the saying goes ...

One does not simply walk into Mordor.

[Rman Virgil]

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Have continued. No matter how I go about it can't get through M1. What follows are not complaints because I am enjoying how you have constructed the challenges but rather observations based on my basically fumbling around not quite sure of my necessary objectives in properly opening up the map. My mind-set is play-testing and this all comes with that territory along side the fun dynamic.

As already spoken to about the NW quad.... the SW quad poses like issues but with another added difficulty.

The far superior firepower in the SW quad really requires that self healing work, among other things. Constantly retreating to use repair units shaves a bunch of time off the clock. Like the NW quad, the SW quad doesn't open up while it's bombarding me with superior IF and I have no way to maneuver in to begin to neutralize with limited squad while trying to preserve my hero, retreating to heal constantly and stuck at the periphery. I can't seem to advance. I see nothing else on the map that represents a condition unmet. I'll wait till the next iteration, which represents much significant changes, to continue play-testing, I think. Unless you have suggestions on how to proceed with this one....

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[Goth Zagog-Thou]

The issues from the past few thread pages have indeed been fixed (and I apologize for how 15c has behaved on your end) for Release-16. It'll be available as soon as I have finished up with the "divergent paths" code and made sure there are no breakages. And that includes stress testing everything to their breaking points to see what results.

Trust me when I say it'll be worth the wait. I've got a MUCH better idea what I want to do for M12 (finally), and the events with the divergent paths all have to meet up cleanly -- so there's a lot of work involved. And remember that I'm a little dyslexic and it takes longer for me to do code than others with my skill-set.

The new M4 to M11 path has taken a bit longer to "get right" because I'm doing things that could be considered "experimental" by the standard Campaign scripting paradigms of Warzone. It's working out, but taking longer than planned is all. Plus I have a household to run, and I'm the only one who drives so it's up to me to do pretty much anything requiring travel.

It'll be worth the wait, and I again apologize for the frustration.

[Rman Virgil]

The issues from the past few thread pages have indeed been fixed (and I apologize for how 15c has behaved on your end) for Release-16. It'll be available as soon as I have finished up with the "divergent paths" code and made sure there are no breakages. And that includes stress testing everything to their breaking points to see what results.

Trust me when I say it'll be worth the wait. I've got a MUCH better idea what I want to do for M12 (finally), and the events with the divergent paths all have to meet up cleanly -- so there's a lot of work involved. And remember that I'm a little dyslexic and it takes longer for me to do code than others with my skill-set.

The new M4 to M11 path has taken a bit longer to "get right" because I'm doing things that could be considered "experimental" by the standard Campaign scripting paradigms of Warzone. It's working out, but taking longer than planned is all. Plus I have a household to run, and I'm the only one who drives so it's up to me to do pretty much anything requiring travel.

It'll be worth the wait, and I again apologize for the frustration.

No frustration here, really. It's the nature of the beast, beta play-testing. No apologies necessary. And, it will be done when it's done. In it's own time and i'm certain it will be worth it. So please don't rush. I was only wondering if I missed something that would enable me to keep testing the succeeding levels, is all. Honestly, can't imagine writing script code with dyslexia. Your designs would be challenging enough without having that on top of it all to contend with.

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

As usual Rman you're a fine example of humanity and understanding.

I've had a good nights' sleep (12 hours!) and I'm bright-eyed and bushy-tailed today. Let's see how much I can get done.