[Help]Editor questions.

[Ason]

Hey, I recently bought Panzer corps and also discovered the lovely scenario editor:) I've made a couple of scenarios and I feel like I understand most of it, but I have a couple of questions which I hope somebody can answer.

1.This will be two question: Lets say I make an AI trigger/action like this:
I have an AI unit(soviet) in Zone 1, and I have an empty zone 2 which is 10 hexes away (both zones are 1 hex in size)
[If less than 1 Axis units in zone 2 hold position zone 1]
[if more than 0 Axis units in zone 2 Attacker zone 2]

1.Will this make the AI move to and attack the Axis in zone 2? Basically what does the AI "Attacker" action mean?
2. And since the two zones are 10 hexes away, is it possible that the AI will simply move one turn out of zone 1 and then just stay between the two zones? Do the zones need to be connected to eachother to make the AI move the entire way?

2. I don't really understand the run count/skip count. Lets take the example above only now the zones are connected to eachother. if the AI unit needs 3 turns to get to zone 2, does that mean I need to set "run count" to 3? Because if set it to 1 the script will only run the first time and then the AI won't move further?

3. Is there a way of editing the names of the units directly inside the editor?

4. In one of the dropdown menus in the editor there is a [Options] "button" at the bottom of the list, but when I click it, nothing happens.. Does someone know how to fix that?

5. Is there no way to spawn units for the AI? Like [On turn 20, spawn unit X in hex X] ?

6. Btw I have the panzer Corps Wehrmacht edition aswell as grand campaign east 42'. If I buy Afrika Korps( or any other expansion) will there be more options, features and units in the editor?

I hope there is still someone around here who can help me

[captainjack]

Hi Ason,

I'm still learning how to use the editor so I can only answer a small part of this.

Say you deploy a unit in a hex (Zone 1) with initial orders to Hold (fire). It stays there but fires at anything in range.
You also deploy a counter attack force in Zone 2 (10 hexes away).

Set a trigger in the scripts along the lines of when there are no allied units in Zone 1, all units in Zone 2 change orders move to Zone 1. This isn't the actual wording, as you have to follow the editor command structure.

When the enemy destroys or drives out your unit from Zone 1, the trigger is activated. Your reserve force in Zone 2 then gets instructed to Move to Zone 1. It then proceeds to Zone 1 and fights anyone on the way and in Zone 2. The tricky bit (for me) is that once it gets to Zone 2, it stays there. With Random Move to Zone 1, it heads that direction but maybe a bit less directly.

I think that Tags allow you to toggle behaviour according to the Tag setting - eg when "Paris occupied" is on your troops attack Paris, and when it's off (ie Paris is not occupied) they defend. However, I have only just worked out that that Tags can probably do this, and haven't yet made it work, so I'm hoping one of the more experienced modders will provide an explanation.

For random spawning, if you have empty core or auxiliary slots and spare prestige, the AI will spawn units where it feels like. You could trigger a spawn by giving a prestige boost and at the same time increasing the core or aux slots. The AI then decides where to place its usual random mix of cheap units so this tends to be more annoying than useful. It will keep doing this while it has spare prestige and empty slots. To stop the AI spawning, you can either remove its prestige after a turn or two or set the core or aux units back to a low number.

You can trigger more controlled spawning in a couple of ways. Place units on the map, script them to arrive when it suits you (at random, on a specific turn or when some trigger is activated). This makes them appear exactly where you want them to (this is usually the way captured units appear). You can place them on the map (or in the borders) with an instruction to appear in a zone or in or around a specific hex. This is good where you want units to appear at random within a larger region (eg partisans) or in an area, but with a bit of unpredictability.

[BiteNibbleChomp]

Hope this helps:

1/ The only times the 2nd entry for zones are active are move/patrol and disembark missions. Attack/Defend are missions where it will blindly attack anything near it. If you want to guide a unit to attack a general region I usually set them to random patrol the zone.

1b/ It will keep following the same command until given a new one.

2/ Just leave run count to 1 unless you want the same command to fire every turn (such as centre on hex) in which case set to 99. I have no idea what skip count does, but it isn't really important.

3/ Shift-click on a unit. A menu with heaps of extra commands will appear.

4/ Options doesn't do anything. Just ignore t.

5/ Place the unit on the map, then shift-click and go to triggers. Then set turn 20 (in your example)

6/ The editor changes with what version you own - 1.05, 1.14, 1.22 etc. Buying AK or GC39 etc. won't change anything.

- BNC

[Ason]

Thanks guys!:)

[Ason]

Got another question, I hope it's ok if I make this into a question thread:)

If I put a group of AI deep in their own territory and I want them to stay there until some condition is met, do I need to make actions telling them to stay there or will they stay there automatically as long as my units don't make contact with them?

[bebro]

You can try if setting them to "hold, active" in the editor is enough for your purpose. Units having this setup will usually hold their position, but can move out if they spot a suitable target.

If you want to change their behaviour in a specific situation you need a bit more work:

- define a zone to put them in, set those units to "hold pos. - passive" in the editor (or better "hold pos. - fire" so they'd fire back - "passive" units never do anything) so that they don't leave that zone.

- define an action to activate those, either by setting them "hold, active", "attack", or to "move to" another zone (that needs to exist of course)

- you can choose to trigger this action in a variety of situations, example: turn count, status of objectives (owner, occupier) or other predefined zones (are their own/enemy units in there?), self-defined tags active or not etc. etc. - lots of options here.

[Ason]

Alright thanks:)

[Ason]

Does someone know where to put scenario files if I have a mod installed with GME? I downloaded Battlefield Europe v1.5 and I found the huge Europe map and I tried to make some minor unit changes and stuff(for personal use only), but I can't figure out where to put the scenario files...
I tried both in User\My Games\Panzer corps\Scenarios and in the Panzer Corps\MODS\Battlefield Europe\Data folder, but none seems to work :/

EDIT: I also tried to make a new folder in My games like this
My Games\Panzer Corps\mods\Battlefield Europe v1.5\Data and then I put the Scenario in there but that also didn't work... Would really appreciate some help:)

[Ason]

I have a little problem with custom units..

I added new tank units to the equipment.pzeqp file and the icons to graphics. The problem is when I want to upgrade these units ingame, they mix with other tank units that were already in the game. How can I make these new units act as a separate "category" of tanks, like the SE tank units?
If you want to upgrade SE tank units in vanilla campaigns you can only upgrade them to other types of SE units, that's what I would like for my new tank units aswell..
Does somebody know which files to edit?

[bebro]

Well, you can put it into the "bonus" category with other SE units. You need to give him the bonus trait like other SE units have in the eqp.pzdat (check their trait column).

That means he will not be available for normal purchase anymore, but ony appear as random SE unit (if elite units are enabled in the scn params and you don't have that much already) like those in vanilla.

I don't think you can introduce a totally new category though (beyond normal and bonus), though I'm not fully sure here.

[Ason]

Thanks Bebro!
I'm sorry I was a bit unclear, but I don't want to make a totally new category, I would like them to use the same category as the SE units in vanilla.

Basically I have a mod that has disabled SE units, I have now put SE units back into the mod but just the last step of separating SE tanks from normal tanks in the "upgrade window" is what I need.

At the moment, if I try to upgrade a normal tank I can upgrade it to both normal tank and SE tank... So I want normal tanks to just show normal upgrades and SE tanks to just show SE upgrades.

Do you think adding "bonus" as a trait will do the trick?:)
I really appreciate the help:)

[bebro]

No prob I think they should work as "bonus" then. Adding the trait will work.

[Ason]

No prob I think they should work as "bonus" then. Adding the trait will work.

Hmm, I must be doing something wrong..

I added bonus to the SE units and set number of elite units to 10, and now the normal tanks work as they should, I can only upgrade them to other normal tanks, but I can't upgrade the SE tanks at all :/

The normal tanks have only "rott" as traits while I set the SE tanks to have both "rott" and "bonus".

Any idea what the problem might be?

[bebro]

Hm, difficult to say the traits sound ok. Things that can go wrong:

- when editing traits, check if they are in the correct column (tabs), both "rott" and "bonus" need to be in the same column/tab, separated only by space if there are several
- do YOUR customs units have correct country settings, availability dates?
- did you maybe reload on older save to test? eqp.pzdat changes do appear in PzC only after you start a new scn or proceed to the next within a campaign

[Ason]

Hm, difficult to say the traits sound ok. Things that can go wrong:

- when editing traits, check if they are in the correct column (tabs), both "rott" and "bonus" need to be in the same column/tab, separated only by space if there are several
- do YOUR customs units have correct country settings, availability dates?
- did you maybe reload on older save to test? eqp.pzdat changes do appear in PzC only after you start a new scn or proceed to the next within a campaign

-I'm using the campaign/equipment editor to modify the traits so Im pretty sure they are correct.

-I actully just copied the normal tanks from the equipment file and pasted them at the bottom then I changed the ID's,name and the unit icons so Im pretty sure that's also correct. and after that I used the equipment editor to make changes to the values so I wouldn't mess up the columns.

-I always try with new game only.

This is how two of the different tanks looks like,
1st line is the normal tank that was in the mod from the start
2nd line is my modified SE version

• 37 Tiger I 1 1230 6 15 5 2 0 11 9 19 0 1 22 14 5 1 0 Tiger_I.png 1.4.1943 1.1.1945 0 Panzer VI Ausf. E Tiger rott PzVI sea rail glider

• 37000 SS Tiger I 1 1230 6 15 5 2 0 11 9 19 0 1 22 14 5 1 0 Tiger_Ix.png 01.04.1943 01.01.1945 0 Panzer VI Ausf. E Tiger bonus rott sea rail glider

[bebro]

Is that the unit editor by MGarnett? Used it myself briefly long ago, a good tool, but I don't know whether it supports the most recent changes of PzC patches regarding to traits. Maybe someone who uses it regularly can tell.

Other than that the lines below look good, but of course we can't judge the tabs this way. If anything fails you could also attach your eqp file here, so that we could look into it.

[Ason]

Yes Mgarnetts editor :/ Is there a better one?
Altough I only changed that single trait and looking at the file, it seems to have only changed just that.

Ah I didn't think of attaching the file, Only problem is the forum won't let me attach .pzeqp files.. I tried to make a .txt file but that also didn't work...

EDIT: I managed to solve it by copying the SE units from the vanilla equipment file instead of copying the normal tanks from the mod.
Thanks for the help bebro:)

[Elpatriarche]

Hi Ason,

I'm still learning how to use the editor so I can only answer a small part of this.

Say you deploy a unit in a hex (Zone 1) with initial orders to Hold (fire). It stays there but fires at anything in range.
You also deploy a counter attack force in Zone 2 (10 hexes away).

Set a trigger in the scripts along the lines of when there are no allied units in Zone 1, all units in Zone 2 change orders move to Zone 1. This isn't the actual wording, as you have to follow the editor command structure.

When the enemy destroys or drives out your unit from Zone 1, the trigger is activated. Your reserve force in Zone 2 then gets instructed to Move to Zone 1. It then proceeds to Zone 1 and fights anyone on the way and in Zone 2. The tricky bit (for me) is that once it gets to Zone 2, it stays there. With Random Move to Zone 1, it heads that direction but maybe a bit less directly.

I think that Tags allow you to toggle behaviour according to the Tag setting - eg when "Paris occupied" is on your troops attack Paris, and when it's off (ie Paris is not occupied) they defend. However, I have only just worked out that that Tags can probably do this, and haven't yet made it work, so I'm hoping one of the more experienced modders will provide an explanation.

For random spawning, if you have empty core or auxiliary slots and spare prestige, the AI will spawn units where it feels like. You could trigger a spawn by giving a prestige boost and at the same time increasing the core or aux slots. The AI then decides where to place its usual random mix of cheap units so this tends to be more annoying than useful. It will keep doing this while it has spare prestige and empty slots. To stop the AI spawning, you can either remove its prestige after a turn or two or set the core or aux units back to a low number.

You can trigger more controlled spawning in a couple of ways. Place units on the map, script them to arrive when it suits you (at random, on a specific turn or when some trigger is activated). This makes them appear exactly where you want them to (this is usually the way captured units appear). You can place them on the map (or in the borders) with an instruction to appear in a zone or in or around a specific hex. This is good where you want units to appear at random within a larger region (eg partisans) or in an area, but with a bit of unpredictability.

Thx !