ruff_hi
Live 4ever! Or die trying
I posted an updated pic above
BUG Espionage Screen
- Thread starter ruff_hi
- Start date
ruff_hi
Live 4ever! Or die trying
I've started to work on the left panel. I'm going to leave the first part unchanged (icon, weights, leader name) but change the rest ...
top row is active player against target player
bottom row is target player against active player
The first number is the espionage multiple
The second number is the counter espionage turns left counter
The third number is the current EPs
The fourth number is the EPs per turn
I'm also going to add a two little icons if you can see demo (chart) and research (beaker).
The AIs espionage multiple against you isn't available in the vanilla game but it is equal to 1 over your multiplier against them.
The AIs EP spend against you isn't available, but you can work it out by keeping track of their EP points ... well - technically, it is the change per turn, not the spend per turn.
EmperorFool
Deity
Very nice, clean look. I have one tiny recommendation: 99% of the game everyone will have zero turns remaining on the counter espionage counter, so don't display a number if it's zero. This will make it easier to spot the non-zeros.
ruff_hi
Live 4ever! Or die trying
Q: How do I calculate the AIs EP?
My answer would be to use the 'end of turn' event and record the AI's EPs for this turn and last turn then just subtract one from the other. I could use the SDToolkit to bury the information in the save and then extract it when I need it.
The other option is that I push the numbers to the espionage screen (again, using an event) but that would mean that they wouldn't be available when you reload.
My answer would be to use the 'end of turn' event and record the AI's EPs for this turn and last turn then just subtract one from the other. I could use the SDToolkit to bury the information in the save and then extract it when I need it.
The other option is that I push the numbers to the espionage screen (again, using an event) but that would mean that they wouldn't be available when you reload.
ruff_hi
Live 4ever! Or die trying
Here is the final screen for your review ...
I am thinking of adding a new Espionage Option tab option ("Show Calculated Information") that would be disabled by default. If this is checked, then the following would be shown:
- Target Multiplier v Player
- Target player 'Can See Demographics' indicator
- Target player 'Can See Research' indicator
I am thinking of adding a new Espionage Option tab option ("Show Calculated Information") that would be disabled by default. If this is checked, then the following would be shown:
- Target Multiplier v Player
- Target player 'Can See Demographics' indicator
- Target player 'Can See Research' indicator
dirtyparrot
Upholding Brannigan's Law
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Nevermind
ruff_hi
Live 4ever! Or die trying
update ... here is the second tab that shows the delta in the Espionage Points broken down by team v team. If a team runs an expensive espionage mission (steal tech, etc) then it is easy to identify.
ruff_hi
Live 4ever! Or die trying
Well - all of those little boxes looked nice and pretty but they slowed down the screen draw too much. Reformatted version shown below. I don't plan to play with it any more so treat this as final.
Note that the cell width and height are dynamic depending on how many other players you know.
Oops - seems we have some altered game play information leaking out ... you can see that Korea is spending 6 EPs against someone, but not who they are spending it against. I'll check the code.
Note that the cell width and height are dynamic depending on how many other players you know.
Oops - seems we have some altered game play information leaking out ... you can see that Korea is spending 6 EPs against someone, but not who they are spending it against. I'll check the code.
ruff_hi
Live 4ever! Or die trying
Spending by AI on unknown player fixed. Espionage Advisor enhancements finished (for now 
)
)
ruff_hi
Live 4ever! Or die trying
I was thinking about alerts (and logging) regarding EPs while I was working on the espionage screen.
Alerts ...
you have 'demographics' / 'reveal tech' on ?
you have lost 'demographics' / 'reveal tech' on ?
The other missions require city input and would generate too many alerts.
Logging ...
as above plus EP missions against and by you
_alphaBeta_
King
I love the idea of tracking the EP deltas to see who ran the latest spy mission against you. Where do I go again to download the latest BUG build that has this screen? I usually only download and install the major releases, but this feature is something I've long wanted. I was always too lazy to track the numbers every round manually.
Can you guys take this a step further? How about if you incorporate a negative delta into civAlerts? The game will popup saying that the water supply of Paris has been poisoned and civAlerts would chime right in and say that Monte's EPs against you decreased by X. This would save me from checking the screen every turn after there's espionage committed against me to see who it was. Just a thought.
Can you guys take this a step further? How about if you incorporate a negative delta into civAlerts? The game will popup saying that the water supply of Paris has been poisoned and civAlerts would chime right in and say that Monte's EPs against you decreased by X. This would save me from checking the screen every turn after there's espionage committed against me to see who it was. Just a thought.
ruff_hi
Live 4ever! Or die trying
Check our FAQ on our wiki for some answers to BUG questions. For you, check the SVN comment. All of that might be a bit much for 1 file so I will upload it tonight when I get home (if I remember
).I have adding espionage alerts on my plate and yours sounds like a good addition. I'll include it.
I was using this feature myself in a game - someone wrecked a spaceship part and I checked on the EP screen to see -2000 (or so) against Catherine (the female dog!). I ran an anti-EP against her which shut her up for a while.
_alphaBeta_
King
Nevermind, found it here. As a side note, it's rather hard to find unless you start off on the main BUG page: http://civ4bug.sourceforge.net/. Many links take you directly to http://sourceforge.net/projects/civ4bug, and there's no sign or mention of this daily build there. Rather confusing.
I'm looking at the "trunk" here:
https://civ4bug.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/civ4bug/trunk/
Can I just download the one file in question you're referring to from here? Just need to know which one. I take it merging this one file into my BUG 4.2 install will be okay? There's no other dependencies? Wouldn't the options screen also have to change in order to allow the second tab to show?
Thanks for the help, and nice job on this!
EmperorFool
Deity
The file is trunk/CustomAssets/Python/Screens/CvEspionageAdvisor.py, but you'll also need the latest version of trunk/CustomAssets/Config/Better Espionage.xml to go along with it and a new file trunk/CustomAssets/Python/BUG/SpyUtil.py. There may be others that I'm forgetting. It's far easier to grab the whole thing.
ruff_hi
Live 4ever! Or die trying
thx EF - you are correct. I seem to forget those extra little files. I think you also need to file that controls the option screen ... don't have civ pc in front of me so I cannot tell you which file that is ... might be Advisors.py or similar under BUG/TABS.
_alphaBeta_
King
Just gave the new espionage screen a whirl, very cool.
If you're still looking for some feedback, I had only one thing come to mind. Adjusting the weights has become cumbersome since it's hard to see the effects. With the other civs' EPs mixed in, it's hard to see the distribution of my EPs against other civs while I'm adjusting the weights. I'd suggest either removing the other civs' EPs from this screen or having an option to do so. It's very easy to get this information from the spy v. spy screen anyway by just looking down the player's column.
In fact, it's easy to see the player's distribution by looking across the players' row as well, but you can't adjust weights from the spy v. spy screen. I found myself jumping back and forth on account of there being a little too much info on the missions screen.
Just my two cents. Nice job again!
EDIT: Did some more thinking. I think the civs EPs against the player can stay. The problem is the delta value. I'm thinking the civs delta with respect to the player should only be on the spy v. spy table. This way the players EP distribution are the only green numbers displayed. Of course, additional colors could also be of use to help the player pick out their distribution among the sea of green numbers.
If you're still looking for some feedback, I had only one thing come to mind. Adjusting the weights has become cumbersome since it's hard to see the effects. With the other civs' EPs mixed in, it's hard to see the distribution of my EPs against other civs while I'm adjusting the weights. I'd suggest either removing the other civs' EPs from this screen or having an option to do so. It's very easy to get this information from the spy v. spy screen anyway by just looking down the player's column.
In fact, it's easy to see the player's distribution by looking across the players' row as well, but you can't adjust weights from the spy v. spy screen. I found myself jumping back and forth on account of there being a little too much info on the missions screen.
Just my two cents. Nice job again!
EDIT: Did some more thinking. I think the civs EPs against the player can stay. The problem is the delta value. I'm thinking the civs delta with respect to the player should only be on the spy v. spy table. This way the players EP distribution are the only green numbers displayed. Of course, additional colors could also be of use to help the player pick out their distribution among the sea of green numbers.
ruff_hi
Live 4ever! Or die trying
thx ab for your feedback. I do remember thinking that myself. Initial thoughts would be to temporarly hide the AIs spending against you if you change a weight ... with it coming back if you reopen the screen or swap tabs back and forth.
We could also color code them to make the AI spending a different color ... or a smaller size?
... or a text on the screen to hide / show the AI spending ... effectively a toggle on the screen (similar to the F5 expand units text).
We could also color code them to make the AI spending a different color ... or a smaller size?
... or a text on the screen to hide / show the AI spending ... effectively a toggle on the screen (similar to the F5 expand units text).
_alphaBeta_
King
This has my vote.
Automatic hiding when adjusting a weight doesn't help the initial examination. I'd find myself adjusting an arbitrary weight just to get the values to hide so I can see what I want to do. Getting them back would require an additional screen close/open cycle which seems unnecessary when I could just click a single toggle.
Colors/sizes could help train your eye, but it's still a lot of info packed together.
ruff_hi
Live 4ever! Or die trying
ok - it will not be an option that BUG remembers across games. But it will be remembered during a session.
_alphaBeta_
King
I can certainly live with that. Is that also how the military advisor works? I never really noticed. Either way, it's one mouse-click.
Please let me know when any changes make their way onto the nightly snapshot. No rush or anything.
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