Couple Questions

[rich12545]

I thought I'd give it a try instead of just complaining. Tried the template program and found you have to make a map in the editor. There's no way to open a map from one of the campaigns. So I copied over a scenario from the dday campaign.

First, how do you open a dds file.

There's no squads file. How do I get one for that campaign only without making one from scratch. And where do I put it.

What else do I need to do in order to make it work.

How do I edit an existing map from one of the campaigns or a multiplayer one.

[ostwind]

First, how do you open a dds file.

You can open it with photoshop or gimp, but you'll need a plugin for it. You can easily find it googling.

There's no squads file. How do I get one for that campaign only without making one from scratch. And where do I put it.

Copy the squads.csv file that is in the DATA directory in the main game folder, and paste it into your campaign folder into mydocs/BBCBA/campaigns/yourcampaign
This is only if you want to moddify or add new units to the game.

What else do I need to do in order to make it work.

How do I edit an existing map from one of the campaigns or a multiplayer one.

You'll need a text1 and a campaign text file.
The map is the BAM file, and you can load it in the editor.

If you haven't read the BA Template guide, it will help you a lot viewtopic.php?t=18286

[rich12545]

Thanks for the info. One more question (for now). What is the dds file that goes with each scenario in the scenario file. What does that have in it?

[junk2drive]

It is a graphics file. Like a bmp, png, jpeg. It is a DirectX compression format. I think, lol.

[rich12545]

Yeah but what kind of info or graphics is in it? Textures for that scenario?

Also, I looked for the gimp plugin and there are a ton of them. What is the name of the correct one?
EDIT: I found the gimp plugin.

[junk2drive]

If I open Campaigns/1Desert/Scenarios the dds in there are the background screens for each battle of the campaign. The ones for the battle selections before you see the briefing and map.

[adherbal]

Yes the DDS in the scenario folder are the scenario intro screens seen in the campaign menu. You don't have to include this, I think the game uses a default one if you don't.

[pipfromslitherine]

Correct - there are default campaign and scenario backdrops if it cannot find ones you make yourself.

I also recall someone saying that Paint .Net could also handle DDS files, if that helps.

I was thinking that it would be cool to be able to use existing maps as starting points for your own, I've added the ability to just grab the terrain of an existing map to my todo list.

Cheers

Pip

[rich12545]

I'm going to try paint net first. I've heard gimp is difficult.

Seems like it's now possible to start with a map from a campaign and modify it. I've played around with that a little. The map UI seems pretty user friendly.

Pip, what we're all talking about is to have the ability to make a whole scenario and/or campaign right in the editor with all the options that are in the scripts but user friendly the way the map UI is. Also, to be able to set some parameters and make a random map to use to make a scenario instead of having to place every tile. Right now doing the whole thing from scratch is, as I said in the matrix forum, an ordeal.

I'll ask this here also. How do you make a simple ai in the editor instead of doing it in the script?

Also, can you set it so the ai has the option to buy different units the way a human can? If so, can this be done in the editor?

Also number two, it looks like you can set it so the ai places its units randomly? If so, can this be done in the editor?

[IainMcNeil]

The depth of control you have cannot be replicated in the editor, it just is not possible unfortunately. If there are specific things you want to be able to do they may be possible but just doing scripting via an editor is totally impossible. It's like creating a tool for a programmer where they dont have to write any code, just tell the computer what they want to happen

[pipfromslitherine]

I'm going to try paint net first. I've heard gimp is difficult.

Seems like it's now possible to start with a map from a campaign and modify it. I've played around with that a little. The map UI seems pretty user friendly.

Pip, what we're all talking about is to have the ability to make a whole scenario and/or campaign right in the editor with all the options that are in the scripts but user friendly the way the map UI is. Also, to be able to set some parameters and make a random map to use to make a scenario instead of having to place every tile. Right now doing the whole thing from scratch is, as I said in the matrix forum, an ordeal.

I'll ask this here also. How do you make a simple ai in the editor instead of doing it in the script?

Also, can you set it so the ai has the option to buy different units the way a human can? If so, can this be done in the editor?

Also number two, it looks like you can set it so the ai places its units randomly? If so, can this be done in the editor?

I'm not sure that random maps (as in, random tiles and objects) can happen sensibly - how do you then end up with towns, sensible fortifications, etc? But adding the ability to place tiles and objects in a script is part of the ongoing plan, so perhaps I'll be proved wrong!

Random placement of AI units does require some scripting, but it might be a good example of something that could be added by us once I add in the ability to use templates directly from the editor.

I think the disconnect we have in the discussion is that things like victory points or reinforcements are not in any way a game mechanic, they are all just built from the basic scripting components. That said, having a way to avoid 'reinventing the wheel' does seem to be a good thing - it goes without saying I hope that we want nothing more than to make it as simple as possible for people to try stuff out.

Cheers

Pip

[rich12545]

For random maps parameters can be set with sliders to indicate the amount. For example:

Forest
Water
Farmland
Urban
Etc

Then the map can be edited and fortifications etc can be placed by the designer. Different sections can be made to sort of stick together like forest, towns etc. Pip, this is very standard for a lot of games so can't be exceptionally difficult to do. Again, I refer you to Combat Mission 1 as a reference.

I'm not trying to be difficult and if I didn't like the game so much I wouldn't care.