Please help! Added "Reconsat", freezes game

[ww2steel]

Hello,

I have made a heavily modified (very old version) of Rev DCM. I have always found what I needed in searches, but this time no luck. I think this is my first thread started on here.

A new unit I made freezes the game, and in a weird way (to me). In past experience, when I messed up art it would CTD, this is much more difficult. I always test a unit using worldbuilder, it works. After having problems with the unit I played around with the artdefines and built one in a city in WB, still worked 100%. When I play an actual game, 10 hours into the I build one, no errors, turn plays just fine, can begin and play the turn just fine, but when the unit comes up in it's order in the turn the map begins to scroll to it and the second it appears on the map (it does appear)... freeze. Have to Ctl-Alt-Del to get out.

I have created a new unit, a recon satellite called Reconsat in the xml. It's purpose was to reveal the map once building a single national unit. It could do recon missions, but on normal smaller maps I played I can just leave it fortified and the increased vis can see the entire map. As I couldn't find a satellite I used Dual's Tie Interceptor I found on here (it's really nice, BTW!). For it I created (I have done all of the major components before):

New UNITCLASS_RECONSAT (with air range of 99, what's the max on this anyway?)
New UNITCOMBAT_RECONSAT with additions to Unit Naming.xml
modified CIV4UnitCombatInfos.xml
Made a new promotion: PROMOTION_RECONSAT with +99 visibility (max?)
Modified CIV4UnitClassInfos.xml
Modified multiple text files, they all show correctly in the pedia
made a new file Reconsat.dds, which I pulled from Final Frontier into a single button
Modified CIV4ArtDefines_Unit.xml, as I think this is the problem- here is that addition:

Spoiler :

<UnitArtInfo> <Type>ART_DEF_UNIT_TIE_INTERCEPTOR_TEAMCOLORS</Type>
<Button>Art/Interface/Buttons/Units/Reconsat.dds</Button>
<fScale>0.6</fScale>
<fInterfaceScale>1.0</fInterfaceScale>
<bActAsLand>0</bActAsLand>
<bActAsAir>0</bActAsAir>
<NIF>Art/Units/TIE_INTERCEPTOR_TEAMCOLORS/TIE_INTERCEPTOR.nif</NIF>
<KFM>Art/Units/JetFighter/JetFighter.kfm</KFM>
<SHADERNIF>Art/Units/TIE_INTERCEPTOR_TEAMCOLORS/TIE_INTERCEPTOR_FX.nif</SHADERNIF>
<ShadowDef>
<ShadowNIF>Art/Units/01_UnitShadows/JetFighterShadow.nif</ShadowNIF>
<ShadowAttachNode>BIP Pelvis</ShadowAttachNode>
<fShadowScale>0.75</fShadowScale>
</ShadowDef>
<iDamageStates>4</iDamageStates>
<fBattleDistance>0.35</fBattleDistance>
<fRangedDeathTime>0.31</fRangedDeathTime>
<bSmoothMove>1</bSmoothMove>
<fBankRate>0.35</fBankRate>
<bActAsRanged>1</bActAsRanged>
<TrainSound>AS2D_UNIT_BUILD_UNIT</TrainSound>
<AudioRunSounds>
<AudioRunTypeLoop/>
<AudioRunTypeEnd/>
</AudioRunSounds>
<PatrolSound>AS3D_UN_ICBM_SELECT</PatrolSound>
<SelectionSound>AS3D_UN_ICBM_SELECT</SelectionSound>
<ActionSound>AS3D_UN_ICBM_SELECT</ActionSound>
</UnitArtInfo>

The Tie Interceptor page, if it helps:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=164984

Also, is there a better way to reveal all non-submarine units on the map?

Thanks!!!
Mike

 

[isenchine]

Not sure, but I would try to change the value in air range from 99 to a reasonable amount first, to see if the game has a problem with this value (or your graphical card).

Edit: plus that new promotion: PROMOTION_RECONSAT with +99 visibility.

 

[Horatius]

It should freeze or crash even with just +33 visibility.

 

[ww2steel]

It builds and tests fine in a city made with WB, I am guessing that either +99 is the problem that in a fully developed real game there is just far more to see. Conversely, it seems that it would just be partially turning Fog Of War off, and the game runs just fine with FOW completely turned off, though obviously this is more selective (stealth, etc). Also, if it crashes due to this, wouldn't it crash when it compiles the entirely revealed map (it doesn't, you can play through other units just fine after the map is fully revealed), not when the map scrolls to the unit and the unit first appears?

If that is the case, do we have any idea of a better way to do this using a unit; or what the max is?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[isenchine]

As I said, test it. The Air Range comes with a yellow overlay that does not appear in WB and that overlay might become problematic with such a value. Many parts of the code are not triggered while in WB. I think that Fog of War and full visibility might even be two different notions. If Horatius tells you that it will crash with even +33 visibility, he should know it from experience, no?

If you can see your unit in WB, if you can start to build it in game in a city, then you have no problem with your Art Define. If the game freezes when it comes to the unit, I think it should have something to do with its statistics.

 

[ww2steel]

and that's the problem, it only screws up in a fully developed game; as in played from the stone age. I made a modern city and gave myself all techs in WB, exited WB, built the satellite, works fine. I can fly it around, do recon missions, the entire map is revealed, no problems- on a map with all settings identical to the games that have errored. So, each test (in a fully developed game) takes like ten hours to get to- which I have done twice after thinking it was fixed. Worst of all I keep giving the wife updates to the mod and having to tell her hours later while she's just as far along in her game that it's still busted.

Yes, I understand he knows what he's doing. I am just discussing/ clarifying, not doubting. Also hoping for "it can be set to X for a max". I wasn't sure if +33 was a breaking point, a tested fail point but maybe 32 breaks also, or just a randomly chosen number.

Thanks again.

 

[Horatius]

To clarify:

The 99 air range or even higher should work. How much it is revealed by the recon mission, though, is a number in global defines if I recall correctly.

The normal unit visibility affected by the promo should be the problem. A weak computer should slow down considerably if you just set that tag to 10 and the unit is in game.

You're probably forgetting that normal unit visibility follows plot visibility rules. It doesn't matter if you have it at 99 and the unit is surrounded by mountains.
So, whats the point? Assuming it works you would get in a normal situation something like: one direction you see 20 tiles, another just 1, etc, etc. Basically, such a high number for plot visibility creates weird lines and "pseudo-pockets" of vision, which, I guess, the program is not ready to set up. I don't know.

Recon mode works without such rules, revealing always a block of plots, so it should work. Then again, I don't know your mod.

 

[ww2steel]

Now that makes sense. I wasn't getting any blocked spaces, but was playing on smallish maps. I probably wasn't getting any (noticed) unblocked tiles bc it was wrapping the map in every direction. That would still cause holes, but I didn't notice them.

So, eliminating my ultra visibility and turning it into a basically unlimited range recon unit (with base recon vis only) seems to be the best compromise I can make.

BTW, my wife is looking forward to me downloading your Dune mod. Looks fun, she played the original a lot and now is telling me all about it.

 

[platyping]

Recon mode works without such rules, revealing always a block of plots, so it should work. Then again, I don't know your mod.

Recon is based on same rules.
It is just that BTS only air units can recon, and air units are unaffected by these mountains and hills.
If recon is performed by land units, it will be affected.

 

[Horatius]

BTW, my wife is looking forward to me downloading your Dune mod. Looks fun, she played the original a lot and now is telling me all about it.

Your wife has good taste
The current version works fine, but the future one should be better