Flank attack broken.

In a game I started a while ago it seemed flank attack was not working. I had forgot about it until a friend was playing a game recently and basically was screwed by it. He had killed almost all the stack with cavalry and there sat like 4 units that were beat up a little and a couple that were untouched. (All non-seige) Along with all the seige that was there at the beginning of the assault at full strength. (All of his cavalry had flanking 1 and 2 and combat 1.)

Is this shut off for anyone else? Did 3.17 do this? Solver's?

3.13+Bhruics it still worked. I encountered this when I finally made the jump to 3.17. Now I do use a modded version but I have not touched flank attack or cavalry in general. The only thing I have changed in the promotion XML is allowing archey units a couple promotions they wrent allowed and changing commando's status. But haven't touched flanking. If it is not shut off through the patches, what could it be? (If anyone has any ideas)

If you're playing a mod, there was a line in the code that wasn't used in v3.13 that is used in v3.17... if you modded some v3.13 files and are trying to use it in v3.17, flanking will be broken unless you update that line.

Flanking DOES WORK in v3.17... it works in default and with XML properly modified in Mods.

Cool thanks Wolfshanze

Hmmm, anyone happen to know/remember what file this line is in? I can't find it.

I am assuming it is in PromotionInfos.xml but I don't see anything and I have checked a few times.

King Flevance said:

Hmmm, anyone happen to know/remember what file this line is in? I can't find it.

I am assuming it is in PromotionInfos.xml but I don't see anything and I have checked a few times.

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Been awhile since I changed it, but I think it's this:
<iCollateralDamageMaxUnits>6</iCollateralDamageMaxUnits>

It's in the Civ4UnitInfos.xml... in v3.13 and earlier, the value was "0"... it must now have a number for Flanking to work (they changed most of the mounted units to "6" in v3.17).

You'll need to ensure this for all flanking units like mounted units and gunships, or flanking won't work in v3.17.

OK cool thanks again Wolfshanze. I thought I would be able to locate it but that wasn't the case.

I noticed while playing a game last night that I was having the same problem -- flanking did not seem to work. I had knights attacking a few enemy stacks that included catapults, and although the knight killed a regular unit, the cats were untouched.

When I ran 3.13 I did use the unofficial patch (Bhruic's?) but was careful to restore the original files before I updated to 3.17, so I'm not sure how it got broken. I guess I will check the settings in that XML file.

There was a change in the Civ4UnitInfos.xml file between v3.13 and v3.17 that effects flanking. If you use a v3.13 Civ4UnitInfos.xml in v3.17 without changing the line I mentioned, flanking will not work in v31.7.

Wolfshanze said:

There was a change in the Civ4UnitInfos.xml file between v3.13 and v3.17 that effects flanking. If you use a v3.13 Civ4UnitInfos.xml in v3.17 without changing the line I mentioned, flanking will not work in v31.7.

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That's the weird thing, since I did not make any modifications to 3.13 other than Bhruic's unofficial patch, which I don't think touches that file. I'm wondering if perhaps Steam screwed it up when I used it to update my game to 3.17.

I think I may try to fix it manually, then just reinstall the whole thing after my current game. Though I guess I could also reinstall without harming my saves. Hmm.

Freezer-TPF- said:

That's the weird thing, since I did not make any modifications to 3.13 other than Bhruic's unofficial patch, which I don't think touches that file. I'm wondering if perhaps Steam screwed it up when I used it to update my game to 3.17.

I think I may try to fix it manually, then just reinstall the whole thing after my current game. Though I guess I could also reinstall without harming my saves. Hmm.

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You can manually fix it right now which would require less fuss then uninstalling and reinstalling everything... you just have to update all the "flanking" units in that one XML file... it's only the mounted units and the gunships you need to update.

Thanks for the pointer, Wolf. I looked at the XML file last night and the flanking values you indicated appeared to be fine, so perhaps it was just a glitch or by design that I did not score flanking damage in that particular instance.

Is flanking damage automatic as long as your flanker survived the fight and there was a flankable siege unit in the stack, or is there only a chance of scoring flanking damage? I thought it would be automatic, like collateral damage from a siege unit. For now, I'm just going to keep my eye out and see if it happens again.

Freezer-TPF- said:

Thanks for the pointer, Wolf. I looked at the XML file last night and the flanking values you indicated appeared to be fine, so perhaps it was just a glitch or by design that I did not score flanking damage in that particular instance.

Is flanking damage automatic as long as your flanker survived the fight and there was a flankable siege unit in the stack, or is there only a chance of scoring flanking damage? I thought it would be automatic, like collateral damage from a siege unit. For now, I'm just going to keep my eye out and see if it happens again.

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It's automatic in the field... if you attack and survive you WILL cause damange by flanking... but it has to be in the countryside... you can't flank when attacking into a city.

If you attacked a unit in a non-city square and survived, and there were eligible units, you should most definitely cause flanking damage... if you didn't, there is something wrong with your files.