[SDK] Dale's Combat Mod!

Dale said:

I'll expect your cheque in the mail?

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Me and my big mouth...




C'mon! An hour left to go until works over...

Normally, I just play at work but I forgot the disk at home today...

So you were actually able to generate a virtual map separately? I was under the impression we didn't have access to that kind of graphics modification in the SDK?

For all wondering, yes just pop it into your custom assets folder. The reason I didn't think it necessary is with this beta you'll probably only use it a couple of times, report the bugs and suggestions here, then go back to the original dll. From the next beta (which will be stable and just lacking polish) there will be a proper mod folder created for it.

To clarify with the virtual map:
It is an "under the hood" map. It doesn't exist within the graphics engine, nor will you see a seperate combat screen like call to power had. The array is all processed out of sight with the results simulated by the normal combat animations and reported into the combat logs.

Oh, if you don't see the animations check your user options and turn on "Stack Attack".

Dale

I know this is *really* off topic, but I thought I'd throw it in. Has anyone given any additional thought to allowing helicopters to travel on coastal squares? I've given the SDK a peak and I can't see how to create a new domain ('helicopter') nor how to change what tiles units of a certain domain can travel on. If it's already in another mod, and I've missed it, but if not, for some reason, I think it'd fit well with this one...

Air units defend their stack:

Some more screenies. I've finished implementing the full combined arms attacks in a stack (air, ranged, flanks, melee):


Beginning combo (list on left is the enemy, icons me) musket-cannon battle between two stacks......


During combat of above stacks.....





Naval stacks face off, including carriers with fighters......


During naval battle (notice fighter event notifications on left)......


After combat. Navys are now even more useful!

Dale

god damn this looks sooooooo good can't wait for this mod (any chance of coding cruise missiles into this? smitty has done a tomhawk missile that looks mean

You could do cruise missiles through xml and python. No need for an SDK hack. I don't 100% know, as this is just a guess but:

- Setup the cruise as a fighter plane
- Capture the airBomb() event in python
- Kill cruise missile after the airBomb

Dale

Hey Dale. Two quick-and closely related-questions.

1) Can fighters be ordered to escort your bombers in your mod?

2) Are aerial dog-fights now a possibility in your mod?

Any answers you can give will be appreciated.

Aussie_Lurker.

Hey Aussie.

1. Not at this point. Well, to be honest I don't know. I'll have to test if stacking a fighter and a bomber will work. I'll get back to you.

2. Definitely! In the naval battle above where both stacks had fighters on the carriers, a dog fight ensued first, then the remainder of the fighters starting air strikes against the other stack. That's a fighter's priorities in this mod: air supremecy then air strikes.

Hey Dale, thanks for the reply. Everything I hear from you about this mod makes me want to use this as my default combat system from now on !! I just wish that Firaxis would SEE SENSE, and make this combat system as-at the very least-an option during start-up.

Aussie_Lurker.

Aussie_Lurker said:

Hey Dale, thanks for the reply. Everything I hear from you about this mod makes me want to use this as my default combat system from now on !! I just wish that Firaxis would SEE SENSE, and make this combat system as-at the very least-an option during start-up.

Aussie_Lurker.

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I second that I WILL be using this mod as my default combat system tho

Thanks guys for the support.

I'll have a very stable version ready soon, in the next few days.

Dale

Hey Dale. I downloaded your .dll, but unfortunately I don't seem to be getting 'stacked' combat . Any idea what I might be doing wrong? I have the file in the assets folder, where it belongs, and have moved my normal .dll into the 'CustomAssets' folder. Is there anything special you have to do-in game-to get combat working in Stacked Mode? Any advice would be appreciated .

Aussie_Lurker.

In options, have you got stacked combat turned on?

Can you say: D'Oh? Needless to say I DIDN'T. Where do you set it? Thanks for the info Dale .

Aussie_Lurker.

Hi Dale.

Well, this time I DID have stack attack selected, and there was still no indication that your combat system was in operation. In particular, when I moved my stack against his, all the results were rapidly calculated-and I never got to see all of those cool animations you have shown screenshots of.
I guess my issue is that there is nothing I can see to indicate that units are having their combat resolved in any particular order. Is there still something I might be doing wrong?
Oh, of particular confusion to me is that, when I have my units all stacked together, only the 'strongest' unit shows up-I am not getting that nice mixture of unit types which your screenshots show.
Oh, while I have you here Dale, a couple of extra questions. Firstly, do you have to 'field bombard' as a seperate action, or do siege weapons do it automatically if they are part of an attacking stack? Also, do other ranged units give any kind of 'defensive bombard' effect like in Civ3? Lastly, does the AI know how to use this properly, or is that still down the line?

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

Aussie:

Also make sure you haven't got any of the "quick battle" options turned on either. The easiest way to tell if the mod is working, is go into worldbuilder and place an arty next to a unit you're at war with (not in a city, in the field). Select the arty and the bombard button should allow you to bombard the enemy unit in the field.

But the "only see one unit" thing has me concerned. You double-click the stack to select all units? Note: can only select 10 units. If you select three spears, you should see 9 spearman on the tile (3 for each unit).

On bombard: Yes, field bombard is a seperate feature. If a unit can bombard a tile next to it (whether it's land OR sea OR coastal) the bombard button will work. NOTE: auto-selection of the tile will mean you bombard the tile with the most enemy units in it. I haven't added the tile selection bit yet.

On ranged: Yes, ranged units in stack attack go on the second row of the army. EG: archers will lob arrows at enemy units "in front of it".

On the AI: The AI will fully utilise all of these features. In fact, I've been bombarded by the AI on many occasions. Its programmed that "if the arty can win in frontal battle, attack" ELSE "bombard, if it can" ELSE "move away". The only thing is, does the AI use stacks? If it doesn't, then it needs to. That's one of the things you guys are looking for.

Dale

Dale,

Awesome Mod. I finally have real artillery and this is going to be included in the Realism Mod when it is fully functioning. I have been testing it myself to see how it is coming and it works great except for a few CTD and such but hey it is still beta. One thing I have noticed is that you can't capture workes with this combat system even with stack attack turned off. Is this a Feature or a bug?

Anyways thanks again and keep up the good work.

OK Dale, I know for certain that-for some reason-your Combat mod is NOT effecting my game in any way . For a start I can put more than 10 units in a single square. Second, I am not getting a bombard option when I highlight my catapult. PLEASE DALE, you gotta help me . I soooo wanna play your mod and can't understand what I am doing wrong. I have 'Stack Attack' selected, and none of the quick combat options selected. The only thing I can think of is that I still have the original Civ4 Gamecore.dll file sitting in custom assets-do you think the game is still running off that file? I am sooo confused!!!

Aussie_Lurker.

Aussie_Lurker said:

OK Dale, I know for certain that-for some reason-your Combat mod is NOT effecting my game in any way . For a start I can put more than 10 units in a single square. Second, I am not getting a bombard option when I highlight my catapult. PLEASE DALE, you gotta help me . I soooo wanna play your mod and can't understand what I am doing wrong. I have 'Stack Attack' selected, and none of the quick combat options selected. The only thing I can think of is that I still have the original Civ4 Gamecore.dll file sitting in custom assets-do you think the game is still running off that file? I am sooo confused!!!

Aussie_Lurker.

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It's running the original file. Customassets override assets.