Slitherine

Hi guys,

Over the last few weeks, I have been working on a new mod that adds a different kind of gameplay to the BA game. As of yet I do not know a proper name for the mod, and I do not know how far developed it will become. Progress won't be all that fast either, since I do not have a lot of time available at the moment. I mainly do this for fun and to get to know the engine.

The idea:
Creating a game that plays out on a macro scale. On a map witch several cities. To create this sense of scale, one infantry squad will represent an army with up to 8 steps. Movement has been slowed down and LOS will be lowered as well. Several squares have tiny villages depicted on them. These villages will supply the player with money( and food?). The player in turn will be able to use this money to recruit armies, which in turn will raise upkeep. The recruited armies can be used to capture enemy villages and eventually the enemy capital.

Want I want to do is to make this a war of attrition. You will have a certain amount of starting capital, but you will probably be only be able to have one or two armies standing without losing money. So on the one hand you want to outnumber your enemy to dominate him and to capture his villages, but on the other hand you don't want to use up more money then you absolutely need, because it is extremely limited.

I know this all sounds quite ambitious, and I cannot guarantee thas this mod will ever see the light of day in it's full form. But that is the great thing about modding in comparison to the development of real games: No money involved, so no deadlines. As we speak I have created a basic map with a capital and 3 villages on each side that generate money. Capturing the village will give you the income of your enemy. I have also modded in upkeep for armies and I have modded some unit stats. Currently I am working on getting the recruitment function to work.

Let me know what you think or whether or not you have any ideas.

Thanks,

Surtur

Hi Surtur

Sounds interesting and a pretty major work - moving it from tactical to operational scale. How much of the present scripting you planning on rewriting? But as you say, a good way to get to know the engine.

Good luck

Hi PJ,

At first the game will consist of a single map. Perhaps more maps will later be added and some sort of campaign can be created with a story and such. However, as of yet it will be kept small and restricted to a single map.
The goal is to only add code and not change existing code, I think this should be possible. By making sure no code will be edited from the original game, all vanilla modes of BA should work as normal (not sure about online multiplayer though).

Most of the code will be done within the scenario bsf itself. Only when it is to difficult/impossible to do so I will add new files to the core folder of the game. For recruitment for example, I will add a new type of bonus. So you can recruit infantry corps the same way you call in air strikes in a normal game. I am still thinking about how exactly the mod will turn out in terms of gameplay, so ideas are very welcome.

Surtur

It's worth bearing in mind that you can also add custom UI objects to trigger stuff too - rather than having to work through the bonus system for all things. E.g. you could create a popup which you use for any of the actions or building etc. I guess it depends on the kind of UI and flow you were thinking of.

As an example, the unit info popup is entirely scripted.

Cheers

Pip

Hmm, I should take a look at that, thanks Pip

I think that for me using the bonus system would be quite convienent. I am now trying to get it right. Is there a way to make a press of the button on the left enough to activate the bonus, without having to point on the field where it should be activated?

Hmmm - I don't think so - the system is designed to piggyback on the orders system.

Cheers

Pip

Alright then, thanks for the info