[BtS] Special Forces

[Ekmek]

I am actually working on that right now; I wanted to get it done before I put it up

oh man. cant wait!

 

[surdanis]

oh man. cant wait!

Putting my suggestions aside... what I think he's going to do is make the included Guerilla (from the latest version) a spawnabe unit that appears when you click on the action button for the upcoming Train Unit mission that you're talking about.

I, too, can't wait.

Haven't tested much since I think your mod works now (except for that one missing button bug). Have been working on trying to make custom sounds for my AC-130. Thinking of making a stealth Transport Helicopter to go with your unit for those quick insertions... Here is some reference for that:

Night Stalkers

 

[surdanis]

I wasn't able to reproduce the effect :\ I passed the first raid, failed the second; but I didn't lose. What do you mean when you say that you got damage? Was it the automatic damage, or getting attacked by a unit?

If you took random damage, then you have the wrong DLL version. If you took damage from an attacking unit, then you do have the right version. I will look at those suggestions, though.

Wrong DLL version? Which one do I need. I have BTS 3.13. Maybe you should send me what you think I should have. If you mean from your Mod, I alway update the entire folder.

The link to the saved game I uploaded was where my action buttons disappeared. If you clicked on my Special Operations unit, he should have been damaged and was healing. Also, his action buttons should have been missing. Lemme double check to see if I'm outta my mind.

UPDATE: Just checked it to prove my sanity. If you loaded it, it should have had "89 turns left" in the upper right corner. Also, it centers automatically on the affected unit--with missing action buttons.

As for taking damage... I believe you coded it so that the unit takes damage when a Raid is failed. I forget the actual text. I'll be happy to test some more in a bit.

 

[esemjay]

The most recent version of the DLL doesn't cause the unit to take damage automatically from failing the Raid mission anymore. Now it makes the unit available for attack for one turn. I didn't have any mission action buttons.

:Update:
The Train Guerrilla mission is almost done, but I'm having difficulty regulating how often it can be used.

 

[esemjay]

Somehow, I missed these:

...
Notice the "++" in your code. I'm not programmer, but something tells me you have the symbol placed backwards. Instead of "++iI" or "++i", it should be "iI++" and "i++". Just looking at the code, there is no other instance of "++" anywhere before the variable that's similar to this particular function... Pretty sure, anyways. I mean, the tutorial has it backwards, anyhow.

Still learning, so be nice!

I used ++i because it's very minutely faster than i++, because ++i returns the value first, and i++ returns the original value then increments. In this situation, it doesn't matter which one you use.

BTW, where the hell are the other ppl? Am I the only showing interest in this mod comp??? If anybody else reads this, you should really tell your friends about it, cuz this HAS to be the best damn single modded unit I've seen. Maybe it doesn't have a fancy new skin or animations, but damn, look at what else has been put into it?

It does have a new skin... Sort of...

1. Sink Ship: Can set cause damage and set Moves to 0 until repaired to full strength.

I like this.

2. Airstrike: Call in an airstrike (Ideally, this would give one Air Unit, to include Missiles and Nukes AND Helicopters, within range one extra Move just for him to IMMEDIATELY execute; damage may be increased to reflect the target being lasered in on)*

This one will take a little ironing out. First, it'd have to be only against a civ that you are at war with. In that circumstance; if the unit is already in range, and you are already at war with them; the SpecOps unit is basically eliminating the need for Recon before attacking a tile.

Also, you should enable the old "Steal Plans." Yes, Spec Ops units can steal enemy plans on troop movements. I would modify it to only reveal the one tile each enemy unit is on.

I'll look into this one.

Because you can do so much with this unit, this really needs to be expensive (I set mine to like 250). Definitely lower the National Limit to static 3, IMHO, regardless of map size.

I plan to raising the hammers required to reflect the +50% you get from the Mil Academy

 

[surdanis]

:Update:
The Train Guerrilla mission is almost done, but I'm having difficulty regulating how often it can be used.

Ok, then may I make a suggestion--assuming you are speaking of gameplay mechanics and not actual code--you should probably consider limiting Guerillas simply b/c they aren't in the business of raising entire armies! LOL, imagine continuously spawning Guerillas each turn without end. They should not be buildable otherwise for the purposes of this mod (Maybe a new mod can include Guerillas as part of the examples I gave in an earlier post): only through the unit. The mechanic I would use is this:

# of Guerillas can never exceed number of unhappy citizens
# of Guerillas can never exceed 3 per Spec Ops unit

or something similar to avoid breaking the game. The Spec Ops unit by itself without the Guerilla training mission, is just mind blowing already, and changes the way you play the game once you get to the Modern Era, if you play your cards right. You can now cause some massive hate and discontent among your rivals and prevent them from gaining the upper hand on you. But with Train Guerilla... man, you can simulate proxy wars! Seen Charlie Wilson's War yet? You could make a whole Cold War mod around this unit alone!

BTW, more on the Sink Ship Mission... I was thinking it should be done under two conditions:

1) When the ship is in port (i.e. City/Fort)
2) When ship is at sea

Thus, it should be similar to Bombard or the Airstrike I suggested in that you your cursor must highlight a plot adjacent to the unit (that is, no more than one square away as per regular Bombard).

You could do the Airstrike Mission as part of an umbrella to include: 1) NGF (Naval gunfire), 2) CAS (Close-Air Support from either fixed wing or rotary aircraft), 3) Artillery fire, 4) Missile fire. This one mission would include all 4 supporting fire mission types, and it would be called simply "Call for Fire." That way, you don't have to figure out how to do that one thing I suggested with the giving of an extra attack to a unit the player chooses--much more complex, that one. In this version, you simply code in the animation for each of the 4 types of fire, with each being able to call up a random animation of a unit that the player can build but doesn't necessarily have built. Obviously, if the unit selected isn't next to coastal waters, he can't get NGF. Calling for fire is an essential tool for every ground unit's survival...

Last thoughts on this post...

The Raid mission should also allow the destruction of enemy buildings--specifically ones that affect production. Also, I still think it's too powerful to destroy more than one improvement per turn with a unit. To differentiate it from regular pillage and to make the cost of doing it more reasonable, you should be able to CHOOSE which one you want to take out. Improvements on the hit list should only include those that affect hammer yield. Anything else is just silly. No Spec Ops unit is going to attack my Banana Farm. But they will destroy Roads and Rail, along with hammer producers like Mines.

Phew, sry, long post. Back to work on 3ds Max...

 

[surdanis]

This one will take a little ironing out. First, it'd have to be only against a civ that you are at war with. In that circumstance; if the unit is already in range, and you are already at war with them; the SpecOps unit is basically eliminating the need for Recon before attacking a tile.

Sorry, I didn't address this before ranting on possibilities. You suggest that the original mechanic would basically send an Air Unit in and reveal the map, correct? I'm not quite sure what you are saying here. Obviously, you should be at war with the Civ with whom you have called for fire. As such, the action button should not appear. In real life, a Spec Ops a) may have already engaged the enemy or b) is not engaged and has spotted either a TOO (Target of Opportunity) or the actual TOI (Target of Interest). For example, the SAS and our own Force Recon went behind enemy lines in to take out Iraqi SCUDS, which were basically mobile missile launchers (Why don't we those in the game...? That gives me an idea...). Maybe the Spec Ops unit is just there and is reconning the area and sees a target he needs to take out, and so bam! He calls for fire to take it out.

In game terms, the Spec Ops unit, during a war, gets an "extra attack". However, you know that this extra attack does not kill the enemy unit in the regular game. This gives the Spec Ops unit an opportunity to either destroy the enemy unit or disengage and get the hell outta Dodge. I would code it to allow for the unit to make a complete kill by either making a regular attack followed by a Call for Fire mission or the other way around. Thus, the Call for Fire would have to have the ability to destroy a unit (whereas regular Bombards cannot). Besides unit kills, the Call for Fire mission would up the chance of successfully performing a follow on Extract Unit mission. A damaged unit is also not likely to engage the Spec Ops unit so he can just move away.

 

[esemjay]

What I meant was that, in the abstract the possibility for that mission already exists as a pseudomission. I may, rather than making it a mission that directly damages the target, make it a mission that increases the airstrike damage the unit takes; and not make it count as an offensive strike.

 

[surdanis]

What I meant was that, in the abstract the possibility for that mission already exists as a pseudomission. I may, rather than making it a mission that directly damages the target, make it a mission that increases the airstrike damage the unit takes; and not make it count as an offensive strike.

Ok, I get it. So, basically, if the Spec Ops unit adjacent to the target of any Bombard type, the unit struck takes more damage. Good idea. Less code.

 

[esemjay]

Guerrilla Mission is in, along with a pre-nerf. MP might be annoying at first; but it is mostly there to keep the unit from becoming overpowered.

 

[surdanis]

Guerrilla Mission is in, along with a pre-nerf. MP might be annoying at first; but it is mostly there to keep the unit from becoming overpowered.

Great. MP as in mission points? I'll test it asap.

Also, is there any chance you have 3ds Max 7? Do you know where I can get it? Without, I can't do animations, or anything, so that Civ 4 can read my exported files. Been working on getting new sounds for a while, and have had no success changing combat sounds. I wanted to do sounds to go with new animations, but obviously, need the plugins for my version of 3ds Max (as I have 2008, which is the only one that appears available).

Plz if you can help!!!

 

[esemjay]

No, I don't have it unfortunately I don't think it's possible to get a legal version of pre-'08 anymore. Unless you get a used one.

Also, yes. MP = Mission Points.

 

[surdanis]

that's total crap. i'll never be able to change anything then... all i can do in terms of graphics would be to change textures, right? what program did you use for that?

now i'll never be able to add combat sounds... there must be a way!

i've been googling all over for it, but can't seem to find it

 

[esemjay]

I used GIMP for the textures, but it needs a DDS plugin.

 

[surdanis]

don't know how, but i crashed again. i didn't even get to pillage this time. got into combat and then i got promoted the next turn, but my buttons were missing. miffed, i tried going to an autosave, but it did a CTD. here is the autosave:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/82854/AutoSave_AD-2000.CivBeyondSwordSave


UPDATE:

It happened again with the disappearing buttons. This time I've uploaded a save where I did the following: The Hermitag is built and then I clicked on the SAM Infantry to get built next. Then I moved my Spec Ops unit one tile southwest onto a Worker. Next turn, you should see no buttons. I'm not sure what's going on, but it's pretty fishy.

Also, the Mission Points. How do they work? What are they for? There's no descriptive text. I clicked on it and nothing happens. Currently, all missions cost gold except Extract.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/82854/AutoSave_AD-2016.CivBeyondSwordSave

I suspect you wrote something in the C++ that makes the program check to see if some condition is met so it can decide whether or to display the action buttons. However, I think it's also not allowing the other basic buttons to appear: Fortify, GoTo, Sleep, etc.

 

[esemjay]

The MP button should have help text when you are both:

A: In a city that you control
B: Do not have maximum MP

If you meet both conditions, help text and a gold cost appear. All missions should have (keyword "should"; apparently it doesn't always happen @_@) a MP cost at the end of their tooltip if they require MP.

It should read
MP: <COST> (<Current>/<Maximum>) for things like Raid or Train Guerrillas.

The "Mission Points" button should either read:
###g
MP: ##/##
<HelpText>

or simply
MP: ##

If it is working properly.

The loss of buttons should be fixed now.

 

[surdanis]

I just want to make sure I'm installing this darn thing correctly. It says this in your first post here:

Download - (.rar)
The DLL and source come separately from the rest of the package. The Unit is still usable, but in order to get some of the better features (I.E. Capture a city with the Special Forces unit) you will need to download the SDK separately.)

What does that mean? I just move the entire "Special Warfare" folder into Mods. I guess what I'm asking is where do I put your "SDK" folder in relation to the actual mod... and where does your dll actually go? Do I just leave them where they are? If so, then I'm doing it right...


UPDATE:

Assert Failed

File: c:\program files\firaxis games\sid meier's civilization 4\beyond the sword\mods\special warfare\sdk\special warfare\source\cvglobals.cpp
Line: 1752
Expression: eImprovementNum > -1
Message:

As soon as I started a game and clicked on the unit, it froze the graphics. I heard sound though still, and then I hit my Windows key. That text popped up. Obviously, something is wrong. Not sure it is, but it's obviously in that C++ file. Will try reinstalling my game...

 

[surdanis]

The MP button should have help text when you are both:

A: In a city that you control
B: Do not have maximum MP

If you meet both conditions, help text and a gold cost appear. All missions should have (keyword "should"; apparently it doesn't always happen @_@) a MP cost at the end of their tooltip if they require MP.

It should read
MP: <COST> (<Current>/<Maximum>) for things like Raid or Train Guerrillas.

The "Mission Points" button should either read:
###g
MP: ##/##
<HelpText>

or simply
MP: ##

Ah, ok. Then you should have the button greyed out otherwise.

 

[esemjay]

I just want to make sure I'm installing this darn thing correctly. It says this in your first post here:

Download - (.rar)
The DLL and source come separately from the rest of the package. The Unit is still usable, but in order to get some of the better features (I.E. Capture a city with the Special Forces unit) you will need to download the SDK separately.)

What does that mean? I just move the entire "Special Warfare" folder into Mods. I guess what I'm asking is where do I put your "SDK" folder in relation to the actual mod... and where does your dll actually go? Do I just leave them where they are? If so, then I'm doing it right...


UPDATE:



As soon as I started a game and clicked on the unit, it froze the graphics. I heard sound though still, and then I hit my Windows key. That text popped up. Obviously, something is wrong. Not sure it is, but it's obviously in that C++ file. Will try reinstalling my game...

No, that's an Assert popup... I uploaded the Debug version of the DLL by mistake. I'll get that fixed later.

 

[surdanis]

btw, i'd like to get some help on how to compile code...

I have Code::Blocks, but I can't figure out what to do. There is no good tutorial for total noobs on how to use this thing. i changed my files and everything and i can kinda get an idea where i should be going. i even started a new dll project. but then where do i put the files? how do i get it to run? build? sorry for being such an idiot, but i there's no manual.