Slitherine

Posted: **Sat Jul 02, 2011 11:16 pm**

Ok .... Here's something to play with ....
- for screenshots, see Mods page ...viewtopic.php?t=24605

Special THANKS to TIM1966 for his ParaTrooper model !!!

Multiplayer 30x30 map ... US vs Germans.
Can be setup for British ;
- change side(0) nationality to British in editor.
- change VP flags (R_map.BSF) to .... SetGlobal("gNation0", 0) ;
- If you do this, the ParaDrop units will be British! (is that a good thing?

)
- note .... only the side change in editor required, flags are optional.

INCLUDES

Random Map .... "Box-of-Chocolates" version.

Random Forces ... Slitherine style.

Reverse to cover.

Bonus Assets ... capture the asset to use bonus.

Recommend HOTSEAT MODE (for practice first!)
- Please play in hotseat mode to practice and understand how it works before venturing out against another player.

BONUS ASSET
- AID STATION ... capture to activate Revive (heal men).
- FO POST ... capture the Field Observation Post to activate Artillery Bonus.
- AIRFIELD ... capture to activate Airstrike & ParaDrop Bonus'.

NOTE ... If your artillery, airstrike, or paradrop bonus is "ON-THE-WAY" and your opponent captures your asset, your bonus will still arrive!
So, don't be surprised if you take his FO POST and next turn you get whacked by artillery ...
... have you ever heard the phrase "OVERRUN... FIRE-ON-MY-POSITION"

(hint,hint).

ParaDrop Bonus (bonus icon is work-in-progress, using unit_slot for now.)
- Must own the AIRFIELD.
- Total of 9 airborne units available (in 3 groups of 3). This is due to maximum 64 unit limit!
- Can drop 3 units anywhere on the map.
- 1 Turn arrival delay.
- No delay between drops, ie once the first drop arrives you can assign another drop (which, of course, takes 1 turn to arrive).
- There's a 50% chance that each unit is set for Reaction fire (op fire against the airborne unit), when unit deploys.

NEW TERRAIN
- Mud.
- Ford ... not new, but can ford a river/stream.
- Brush ... infantry can hide in brush (cover flag=1). Everyone can move through brush. Cover set @ 45% (between open and forest).

Scenario Parameters
- Supports only a 30x30 map ... Terrain cards set to 36 to have all 11 Victory Points active.
- Increase the number of cards to randomize terrain and to allow Asset's to be randomly available ... function DrawTerrain(cards).

.... FUNCTION PARAMETERS ....
- Play around with these a bit if you want ... in R_map.BSF
- current setting shown below.

Code: Select all

			RoadStream(Rand(0,4)) ; // 0=no stream, 1=one streamX, 2=two streamsX/Y, 3=riverX/streamY, 4=riverX/Y
			Tracks(3) ;	// higher values mean more chance of tracks X/Y
			TracksStagingArea(1) ;	// place one track on each side so units won't get trapped, allows access across staging area.		
			DrawTerrain(36) ;	// number of terrain cards to look at. 36=get all VPs, 56=all terrain cards(less chance of VP), >56 means extra woods.		
			PlaceFort(Rand(2,8)) ; // randomly drop fortifications near middle of map. Value is number of attempts to place, if fail, will not reattempt.
			PlaceBridge() ;	 // place a bridge where main roads cross water.
			Merr_Edging_Water(1) ; // edge the water.
			Merr_Edging_Marsh(1) ; // edge the marsh.
			Place_Ford2(1) ; // place ford where track crosses water and next to hedgerow cards.
			Woods2(Rand(2,3)) ; // add extra trees on outside of play area, and some on top of wood cards. Higher values mean LESS.
			LightWoods(Rand(2,3)) ; // add brush on play area. Higher values mean LESS.

Questions/Comments always welcome.

DOWNLOAD LINK ... http://www.gamefront.com/files/20507207 ... om_v87.zip
UNZIP to ... Documents\My Games\BBCBA\MULTIPLAYER

ENJOY!

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2011 4:48 am**

Started hotseat. US starts next to airfield and takes it. Germans start next to FO and aid station and take them. More tomorrow.

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2011 4:59 pm**

Finally got to use the paradrop. Works good and looks good. I still like the other one for mass invasions but this is great for insertions.

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2011 5:40 pm**

It is certainly fun to play hotseat with different force makeups and bonuses.

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2011 7:38 pm**

Thanks Paul for trying it out!

Let me know if you think the ParaDrop Bonus needs a seperate terrain card instead of being bundled with the Airfield. I was thinking adding an Airborne A/F and a Bomber Command A/F as seperate cards to help mix up the bonus' a bit. Frankly, anyone can add in their own stuff if they know how to read my hand writing.

Also, it get's kind of boring when using only the 36 terrain cards , try 56 or greater.
If you decide on making a change, look at the StartTurn function, you'll note I have map = 1;, with conditions for if(map==1), etc.
I recommend pasting the functions from map1 into if(map==2) and then tweaking, then change the other int to read map=2;.

I designed it so folks can add in changes and call seperate map building instructions. Or, they can create their own functions and play around with it.

Overall, it's pretty fun to play .... but, it still needs a lot more work to streamline the code, add in more goodies, etc.

Thanks!

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2011 7:55 pm**

Thinking of Ia Drang, securing the LZ is the precursor to dropping the troops. So rather than having or denying the airfield, I would like to see a drop zone/landing zone to activate the card. Of course what you have now allows the player to drop anywhere. I just depends on what type of battle you are setting up.

I dropped my troops in the village on the USA left. One of the squads was shot at right away by a German tank nearby. Playing hotseat I didn't expect it.

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2011 9:27 pm**

Just started my first battle with this, looks really good!

Two issues so far.

1. There is a huge slowdown on my pc with this map. I am using a Core i7 920 with 6gb ram and a GTX 275 gfx card. I know that I read somewhere that there is a fix for such slowdowns, but I was wondering whether others were having a similar experience, or whether it's something that has happened with the particular randomness of this battle.

2. Had a tank destroyer spawn on rough ground. I can move off it, but not back on to it. THis wouldn't be much of a problem but for the fact that the clear terrain that the TD is now parked on is surrounded by other similar rough terrain squares and buildings. I cannot move the TD in any direction at all. Is there a way to stop this happening in future?

Thanks for all of your efforts, this is a great addition to the game.

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2011 11:00 pm**

Amaz_Ed wrote:
1. There is a huge slowdown on my pc with this map. I am using a Core i7 920 with 6gb ram and a GTX 275 gfx card. I know that I read somewhere that there is a fix for such slowdowns, but I was wondering whether others were having a similar experience, or whether it's something that has happened with the particular randomness of this battle.

I was expecting low FPS on some cpu's (too many trees,brush) .... Here's what to do .... Remember the functions I mentioned above?

OK ... You probably want to start by making your own MP version, this way you can share it with your opponent and it won't be confused with my version. Remember, any change to the scenario needs to be shared with your opponent, otherwise you'll get that "mis-matched data" error warning. If you plan on just trying it in HOTSEAT it's OK.
Otherwise, copy/paste the Merr_MP_Random_v87 folder into the MULTIPLAYER folder (should see a "- Copy" of it).
Rename the folder, ie Amaz_MP_Random_v87 or whatever.
Open the text1 file and rename these to the same, or whatever you want ....(original code shown below) ;

Code: Select all

IDS_CAMPAIGN_NAME, "Merr Random Battles v87",
IDS_CAMPAIGN_TEXT, "Merr Random Battles v87",
IDS_SCENARIO_R_MAP, "Merr Random Battle/Map. v87",

Open the R_Map.BSF (in your new scenario folder) .... Under the StartTurn function ...
- You'll see the line Woods2(Rand2,3));
- This controls the "extra" tree objects, which are alot!.
- So, you can comment out the whole line by adding the // in front, or change the value to read 10 or greater. Higher values mean LESS trees.
- ie , Woods2(10) ;
- Also, you can do the same to the brush, either increase the value or comment (remove) it out ... LightWoods(Rand(2,3)) ;

2. Had a tank destroyer spawn on rough ground. I can move off it, but not back on to it. THis wouldn't be much of a problem but for the fact that the clear terrain that the TD is now parked on is surrounded by other similar rough terrain squares and buildings. I cannot move the TD in any direction at all. Is there a way to stop this happening in future?

Yes .... I've seen this and know how you feel

... My script that moves the vehicles needs more conditions, ie rubble.
The situation where you're surrounded by rubble/buildings is easily solved (for now) ...If the vehicles start the turn in the rubble, check the adjacent tiles and look for a path that get's you around it. Sometimes you have to go backwards out of the tile .... I figured you went into the center of the village (3x3 rubble/buildings) and got stuck in the middle.

Sorry for the trouble ... I'll probably move every vehicle (in the editor) to the tracks Axis ( 5 tiles inside the map) and turn off my Merr_Move until I can get it finished.

EDIT : Also, my extra buildings rubble script generates a random house/rubble placement .... You probably got a bad "roll" and it threw you into that rubble mess .
These darn Yankee Tanks! If it was a British tank you probably wouldn't have any trouble

.

Thanks for trying it out!

Posted: **Sun Jul 03, 2011 11:56 pm**

Amaz_Ed wrote:1. There is a huge slowdown on my pc with this map. I am using a Core i7 920 with 6gb ram and a GTX 275 gfx card. I know that I read somewhere that there is a fix for such slowdowns

Ed ....

Looking at your specs, you shouldn't have an FPS problem ....

You might want to look at your gfx settings, like ....

.... ANTI-ALIASING.
.... ANISOTROPIC FILTERING.

... sometimes if these are set too high (manual settings) it can cause fps slowdown.

Have you tried setting them to automatic ? If set to automatic, perhaps manually setting them to min values, ie 1x or 2x.

These are my specs .... (no slowdown at all, gfx set to automatic)

Core i7, 860 @ 2.8 GHz, 8 Gb RAM, 4 Cores, 8 Logical.
ATI Radeon 5700 series.

Posted: **Mon Jul 04, 2011 2:35 am**

My Germans surrendered to my Amis with 15 left. This would have been good for a US vs AI battle. The airfield was on the US side of the map. The Germans moved forward to take flags and didn't leave defenders behind. The US paras dropped on the enemy corner flags taking away aid and FO. Once the US had all the cards it was a matter of time.

It was a good battle and both sides lost units to op fire making it somewhat of a vs AI/human team match.

Posted: **Mon Jul 04, 2011 9:18 am**

Merr wrote:
Amaz_Ed wrote:1. There is a huge slowdown on my pc with this map. I am using a Core i7 920 with 6gb ram and a GTX 275 gfx card. I know that I read somewhere that there is a fix for such slowdowns
Ed ....

Looking at your specs, you shouldn't have an FPS problem ....

You might want to look at your gfx settings, like ....

.... ANTI-ALIASING.
.... ANISOTROPIC FILTERING.

... sometimes if these are set too high (manual settings) it can cause fps slowdown.

Have you tried setting them to automatic ? If set to automatic, perhaps manually setting them to min values, ie 1x or 2x.

These are my specs .... (no slowdown at all, gfx set to automatic)

Core i7, 860 @ 2.8 GHz, 8 Gb RAM, 4 Cores, 8 Logical.
ATI Radeon 5700 series.

I have the slider on the Nvidia control panel set to 'Quality', have now moved it to the default setting and will see what happens. Thanks for the responses.

Posted: **Tue Jul 05, 2011 11:06 am**

junk2drive wrote:Thinking of Ia Drang, securing the LZ is the precursor to dropping the troops. So rather than having or denying the airfield, I would like to see a drop zone/landing zone to activate the card. Of course what you have now allows the player to drop anywhere. I just depends on what type of battle you are setting up.

Junk,

Your last statement ... "It just depends on what type of battle you are setting up." ... sums up the whole issue. Unfortunately, the only way to setup a battle is to permantly change the scenario. If Slitherine had a pre-battle setup screen, like a QuickBattle screen, then the player can setup the conditions for the battle and go.

wrt LZ ... I'm thinking on the lines of Market Garden, and I can take your idea to another level.

The act of securing an LZ should be on the shoulders of the airborne units that get dropped in the 1st wave. At this point, the LZ "Victory Point" is generated at that location and subsequent ParaDrop raids must land there. This idea might help with any imbalance that occurs, but after reading your AAR I think the whole ParaDrop bonus really throws a monkey wrench into the balance issue. It's the only bonus that generates reinforcements.

Ok ... Let's go back to your idea about securing the LZ. The LZ card would have to be located in a logical position. We don't want the player's LZ to be on his side of the map, and we don't want the LZ to be deep in enemy territory because if the player has to infiltrate that far behind enemy lines to get the drop raid then it kind of defeats the purpose of having airborne troops. So, with that in mind, perhaps somewhere in the middle. The next debate is, whether each side should have their own LZ or share one, I think having their own is better.

Now ... Since the ParaDrop Raid is a reinforcement bonus, my next plan is to have a REINFOREMENT BONUS.
- This would be a free bonus that either player can use.
- It's the same logic as the ParaDrop Raid but under the following condition ;

can only arrive along MAIN ROAD entry/exit VP's, if the player owns that VP.

Basically, each side can (in theory) bring in a reinforement on the first turn since they can capture their MAINROAD VP right away. Furthermore, if they capture the flanking exit/entry points they can use that point to bring in the extra units. And finally, if they wait long enough, they can use the enemies MAINROAD VP to really outflank their opponent.

I think the reinforcement bonus would definately counter-balance the ParaDrop bonus .... Using your AAR as an example, your Amis could have brought up reinforements when the airborne units struck hard. Of course, now the airborne units might have another task and that would be to capture the mainroad VP's to stop any counter-attack!

Hmmm .... this all sounds pretty cool.

Does anybody else like the idea? Come on YOU MP players ... speak up!

Posted: **Tue Jul 05, 2011 1:10 pm**

What I meant by "depends on..." is when you use the script in a single player campaign battle.

It can work in MP random, but the opponent needs to be aware of the danger of drops to his rear and prepare for it. I recall using the same feature in Steel Panthers and sometimes I got lucky and sometimes my troops dropped into a hornets nest.

Slitherine has scripts for reinf arriving after taking an achievement.

Posted: **Tue Jul 05, 2011 5:55 pm**

junk2drive wrote:What I meant by "depends on..." is when you use the script in a single player campaign battle.

It can work in MP random, but the opponent needs to be aware of the danger of drops to his rear and prepare for it. I recall using the same feature in Steel Panthers and sometimes I got lucky and sometimes my troops dropped into a hornets nest.

I'm lost now on your logic for a single player campaign ... Why does this work in MP and not in SP

junk2drive wrote:Slitherine has scripts for reinf arriving after taking an achievement.

Those scripts force a reinforcement automatically ... So, once the player take's the VP(or whatever), they arrive at a scripted X/Y .

Using a Bonus reinforement, the player decides where (selecting any currently owned entry/exit location) and when (anytime), up to the unit limit of 64, which is currently 9 units.

Posted: **Wed Jul 06, 2011 12:49 am**

The bonus works for both single player and MP.

What I mean is that the LZ style may work better in single player and the airfield capture style may work better in MP. Maybe it doesn't matter.

Hence my "It just depends on what type of battle you are setting up." comment. I have played both styles in single player with Steel Panthers.

Posted: **Thu Jul 07, 2011 12:54 pm**

Awesome map! I'm enjoying

Great job Merr!

Cheers!

Posted: **Thu Jul 07, 2011 3:31 pm**

junk2drive wrote: What I mean is that the LZ style may work better in single player and the airfield capture style may work better in MP. Maybe it doesn't matter.

I wrote an AI script based on Slith's Victory Points and it works but I need to write some Dynamic Bonus scripts for the AI. What I'm going to do is keep the airfield capture logic in place and let you guys have a SOLO run at the scenario against the AI. From that point, changing it to an LZ style capture is simple and we can see if it matters

. I think any idea is important and I hope variants will help expand the random maps.

schenker wrote: Awesome map! I'm enjoying
Great job Merr!

Great Schenker! Please post any ideas you might have and feel free to make changes on your own. It's not finished but it's my base line for the whole random map concept.

Posted: **Tue Jul 12, 2011 2:32 pm**

I'd like to play this vs the AI and see where the AI puts the paras. Hopefully it surprises me.

Posted: **Sun Aug 07, 2011 10:56 am**

Great scene ,best in folder makes the game interesting, something to aim for, have tried it in Camp folder against a/i works fine, you drop your para`s far side and watch the axis, go for them, now i hope there will be more scenes such as this,random map and units,

Posted: **Sun Aug 07, 2011 12:41 pm**

macnab wrote:Great scene ,best in folder makes the game interesting, something to aim for, have tried it in Camp folder against a/i works fine, you drop your para`s far side and watch the axis, go for them, now i hope there will be more scenes such as this,random map and units,

Thanks for trying it out. I wrote some scripts for the AI for a solo version but it still needs work. I also wrote a script for the AI to use Artillery.

I need to write more AI scripts for the para drop, revive (medic), and add a Supply Depot (supply apCharges) and an HQ for the Rally bonus.... Unfortunately I ran into the global limit so I need to cut back on the number of VP locations and look at a better approach to a more dynamic scenario.

Slitherine

Merr Random Battle/Map ... v87 (BETA)(MultiPlayer)

Merr Random Battle/Map ... v87 (BETA)(MultiPlayer)