Slitherine

I'd also be tempted to add a Scenario Start trigger that sets all the merchant ships to 10 HP (so that they're not 1 shottable on lower difficulty levels)

Shards wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 12:32 pm FWIW, I've figured out the issue with my getting Dumkopff after I'd already completed the Montevideo docking.

Your trigger for testing whether I've shot up any of the gunboats or not doesn't use the Difficulty level compensation. As i was playing on diff 2, they were at 8HP, so as soon as I shot at a British Cargo ship, their trigger fired and they turned hostile.

gunboats.jpg

If you tick the Difficulty Bonus Compensation box here, then the game will automatically adjust this trigger to the right values for the difficulty levels in the game.

Excellent point, thanks. One of my major failings is that whenever I play (which is seldom, another fault, because I am too busy designing), it's always on middle difficulty in which everything is at strength 10. Hence I tend to overlook such nuances. I will take your suggestion on this, thanks. Before updating the version, let me look at your other suggestion.

Shards wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 12:37 pm I'd also be tempted to add a Scenario Start trigger that sets all the merchant ships to 10 HP (so that they're not 1 shottable on lower difficulty levels)

HP.jpg

Okay, so on this. First, doesn't the game override this anyway based on the difficulty setting? I ran a test, and I believe this to be so.

Also, in these triggers, I did remember to set the Difficulty bonus compensation:


Lastly, and maybe most important, I designed this so the merchant ships would be "1 shottable" in that they are supposed to surrender on the first shot, be evacuated according to prize rules then in effect, and subsequently sunk. That's what those sets of triggers are doing and all are set for Difficulty bonus compensation.

Please think about this and advise. I will hold off updating the scenario until I hear from you again. Thanks.

bru888 wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 3:29 pm

Shards wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 12:37 pm I'd also be tempted to add a Scenario Start trigger that sets all the merchant ships to 10 HP (so that they're not 1 shottable on lower difficulty levels)

HP.jpg

Okay, so on this. First, doesn't the game override this anyway based on the difficulty setting? I ran a test, and I believe this to be so.

You just need one more thing in the Trigger Effect. Specify the Nation.

bru888 wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 3:37 pm Lastly, and maybe most important, I designed this so the merchant ships would be "1 shottable" in that they are supposed to surrender on the first shot, be evacuated according to prize rules then in effect, and subsequently sunk. That's what those sets of triggers are doing and all are set for Difficulty bonus compensation.

Please think about this and advise. I will hold off updating the scenario until I hear from you again. Thanks.

The "one-shotable" thing is that on Diff 1, if those merchants are 6HP, you can truly sink them with just a single shot from the Graf Spee, which I don't think you want the player to do

But if you get the Strength 10 trigger working, then that's never possible, so you're fine.

If you do use the Strength 10 trigger, then untick the Diff Bonus Compensation as you'll know for sure that they're all set to 10HP as you've set it yourself.

I'm confused on this. Please look again a few posts up where I demonstrated that the game overrides the Strength 10 trigger and, on Difficulty 1, makes the merchant ship 6 regardless of that scenario start trigger. If that is the case, then blowing the merchant ship out of the water will have to be a hazard on Difficulty 1, I suppose. But I see the difficulty in that this may bypass the "Cargo Ship Destruction" module which is based on a scenario variable. Let me test and possibly come up with an alternative.

bru888 wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 5:17 pm But I see the difficulty in that this may bypass the "Cargo Ship Destruction" module which is based on a scenario variable. Let me test and possibly come up with an alternative.

Mercifully, the game randomized one of the merchant ships to be nearby for the test. Yes, there is a slight variation in that, if the player waits for the second opportunity at a merchant ship, increasing the damage odds, the Graf Spee will blow the ship out of the water with one shot. Which makes the "Cargo Ship Captured" popup look a bit odd, with the ship sinking in the background. Still, on the next turn, the "MV [ship name] Sunk" message appears and the player does get credit toward both objectives. I am comfortable with this.

See here where I did take the first shot available at a cargo ship at strength 6 (Difficulty 1) and everything operated normally. Besides, the player is ordered to NOT sink the ship in a previous popup. Why then would somebody maneuver closer and deliberately do so? In any case, he still gets credit for the kill if he wishes to act barbarously.

So, to sum up, I have made the change that you suggested to avoid the "Dummkopf" outcome in the "Montevideo by Stealth / Graf Spee not to interfere" trigger.


And I have saved the scenario in version 8.5.4 - you ought to be proud of me.

But I am passing on the "one-shotable" thing. I don't think the fix that you proposed works (see above, including test scenario link) and it doesn't matter to the outcome. Besides, what namby-pamby plays on Difficulty 1, anyway? ( )

Version 2.2 of the Battle of the River Plate is uploaded. See if you agree with what I did and did not do.

bru888 wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 5:17 pm I'm confused on this. Please look again a few posts up where I demonstrated that the game overrides the Strength 10 trigger and, on Difficulty 1, makes the merchant ship 6 regardless of that scenario start trigger. If that is the case, then blowing the merchant ship out of the water will have to be a hazard on Difficulty 1, I suppose. But I see the difficulty in that this may bypass the "Cargo Ship Destruction" module which is based on a scenario variable. Let me test and possibly come up with an alternative.

In your example, I couldn't see that you'd specified the target nation who's merchant ships you wanted to edit. Some triggers won't fire unless you're a bit more specific in your desired outcome (just saying "all merchant ships" isn't enough)

Shards wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 7:10 pm

bru888 wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 5:17 pm I'm confused on this. Please look again a few posts up where I demonstrated that the game overrides the Strength 10 trigger and, on Difficulty 1, makes the merchant ship 6 regardless of that scenario start trigger. If that is the case, then blowing the merchant ship out of the water will have to be a hazard on Difficulty 1, I suppose. But I see the difficulty in that this may bypass the "Cargo Ship Destruction" module which is based on a scenario variable. Let me test and possibly come up with an alternative.

In your example, I couldn't see that you'd specified the target nation who's merchant ships you wanted to edit. Some triggers won't fire unless you're a bit more specific in your desired outcome (just saying "all merchant ships" isn't enough)

Gotcha. Well, I tried it and it made no difference. See for yourself if you would like; the revised test is below.

Yeah, neither the "set unit status" nor the "spawn unit" triggers can set a strength value above the (selected) max. HP boundary.

And that is because "set unit status / strength" is not an absolute value setting but a percentage! Try it with level4 or 5 difficulty units...

Yep, Gabe is right!

(and by inference, I was wrong :$)

I wonder if the mines work on my multiplayer maps precisely because they are multiplayer and there's no enemy AI HP to limit?

Shards wrote: Thu Jul 23, 2020 4:29 pm Yep, Gabe is right!

Yes, he makes a habit of that.

So, if you want to use Battle of the River Plate for the Community Chest someday, I think version 2.2, up there now, will suffice given what I said about the "one-shot" business: it's only on the lower difficulty, only if the player disregards the order not to sink the merchant ship and maneuvers in for the kill, and he gets credit for it anyway. Once you have the dialog box sequencing problem fixed, the scenario would be good to go.

Thanks!

p.s. My one gameplay change would be to have the Graf Spee only gaining 1HP per turn whilst in Montevideo and/or maybe a cool-down between refits. Currently you can just play peekaboo and sink the Brits with near impunity

Shards wrote: Thu Jul 23, 2020 4:58 pm p.s. My one gameplay change would be to have the Graf Spee only gaining 1HP per turn whilst in Montevideo and/or maybe a cool-down between refits. Currently you can just play peekaboo and sink the Brits with near impunity

I agree, now that you pointed this out. Let me work on something. Your suggestion of "only gaining 1HP per turn whilst in Montevideo and/or maybe a cool-down between refits" is no good, however, for the same reason: gameplay. There are only three player units in the game, and the Altmark and the Arado plane don't do very much after a while. I don't want the player to be sitting in Montevideo, hitting "Next Turn" repeatedly, with nothing going on except waiting for the Graf Spee to be "resupplied." I would feel a compulsion to serve the player a virtual "Yerba Mate While You Wait"!

I'm intrigued as to what the reporters on the quayside in Montevideo at the time would have been drinking? I'm guessing not that many would have converted to Mate?

Shards wrote: Thu Jul 23, 2020 8:46 pm I'm intrigued as to what the reporters on the quayside in Montevideo at the time would have been drinking? I'm guessing not that many would have converted to Mate?

You got me, mate.

I'm working on version 2.4 which will be up there in a few minutes. If anybody downloaded version 2.3 in the last hour and a half, please go back and get version 2.4. Not a big deal, but what I describe in my next post will work better now.