Scenario Design Contest

[Zechnophobe]

Notepad++ isn't bad, but it won't catch syntax errors for you. I haven't tried it, but the eclipse plugin for python is suposed to be good.

 

[Switchblock]

Hmmm, time to figure out this thing known as "Python", without being eaten by a snake (or I guess a Naga would be more appropriate (off-topic, but wasn't there supposed to be differant units for the Kuriotate magic line?))

Perhaps my best friend for the scenario with be the little XML I know, let's see now...

Edit: As I break into the Python, yes Kael, people do read those comments!

 

[Kael]

Edit: As I break into the Python, yes Kael, people do read those comments!

 

[Zechnophobe]

So... the way that the scenario functions works is by checking for a game option with the same name as the scenario.

How do you want us to integrate that with our scenarios. I'm fairly certain adding a new game option is a bit outside the scope of this, so should we just like include calls to our functions in the events manager? (Edit: Except not all calls come from the event manager, which adds a bit more work to this, hmm).

 

[Kael]

So... the way that the scenario functions works is by checking for a game option with the same name as the scenario.

How do you want us to integrate that with our scenarios. I'm fairly certain adding a new game option is a bit outside the scope of this, so should we just like include calls to our functions in the events manager? (Edit: Except not all calls come from the event manager, which adds a bit more work to this, hmm).

GAMEOPTION_WB_EXTRA is left open for the scenario design contest.

 

[loocas]

How's this going for people? Anyone making progress yet? I'm working on one, and once I get a testable version I'll ask for feedback/collaboration. Would the best place for that be in a new thread in the mods subforum or here?

 

[cyther]

I'm thinking of a scenario called the tower of eyes. The goal will be to save Perpentach from the tower of eyes as the Momus and his army of carnies. It will be part dungeon adventure and part FfH trivia.

 

[loocas]

I'm thinking of a scenario called the tower of eyes. The goal will be to save Perpentach from the tower of eyes as the Momus and his army of carnies. It will be part dungeon adventure and part FfH trivia.

Lol, that's what I'm working on. I'm not doing a dungeon though. We can share ideas and work together. I'm interested to know what you are planning for the dungeon.

 

[Grey Fox]

I haven't started or decided what to do as a scenario yet. Not sure if I will have time to make one.

 

[Avahz Darkwood]

Let me just toss an idea out, I don't have the time to do one of these, but I would like to see an alternative world in the underhome. This would be dwarfs, Living Shrooms, etc. Maybe something about the Kazad and the why/how they left...

 

[cyther]

Lol, that's what I'm working on. I'm not doing a dungeon though. We can share ideas and work together. I'm interested to know what you are planning for the dungeon.

That is awesome. I really haven't fleshed out the idea yet but mine will be a dungeon adventure that takes palce on seperate levels. The goal will be to keep The Momus and once obtained Perpentach alive while you journey through the levels of the tower. Once Perpentach is recovered you have to make your way down (through a seperate dungeon with different challenges but it will be a mirror of the first one) untill you escape the tower into The Momus' base camp.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

So, will you have to keep 2 seperate units alive, both Perpentach and the Momus? I was under the impression that Perpentach just let his body die when The Momus got close enough for him to transfer his mind completely. Maybe Perpentach should be represented by a Great Commander that you must attach to the Momus (also triggering him to gain magic promotions, at the very least Mind I-III) and get a Momus with said commander attached back out again.

I don't think it would really matter what host Perpentach took, so it might be appropriate to just require a single living unit to survive with Perpentach attached.


It might be nice for all the Balseraph units but the Momus to stat Crazed, so they would go mad and break away from following Perpentach's/the player's commands every once in a while.

From what we know about the Tower of Eyes, I expect it should be a large maze filled with various types of Golems, probably of increasing strength as you near Perpentach's cell. I imagine that most would just be Iron Golems, but I could see having a couple Clockwork golems show up too and having plenty of Gargoyles swoop down unexpected. (If it weren't for the name being displayed over it I'd say it might be nice to reuse the Guardians of the Pristin Pass.) On higher levels, I expect you'd see lots of Golems with Fire II, Perfect Sight, and Hidden. I tend to think that Golems left by Kyorlin to guard such a powerful mage would pretty much all be Magic Resistant.


If you said you wanted lots of FfH trivia in it, how about having events where you(Perpentach) have arguments with the voices in your head and must straighten things out by answering their riddles and by properly recalling how things went in order to retain control of your mental faculties. Answering wrongly could make the other voices take over your mind for a while, i.e., make the game auto-play a few turns. You could afford to get a question wrong every once in a while, but if as I assume this scenario would be one where you start out with a limited number of units and cannot build more having the AI use them rashly could be a big penalty.

 

[Tarquelne]

Hmmm, time to figure out this thing known as "Python", without being eaten by a snake

I found it surprisingly easy. (Thanks primarily to the language and Civ4's API, I think.) For the great majority of what I wanted to do there was an existing function that was close enough to use as a template. For almost everything else some trial and error sufficed. And for everything left there was the forum, esp. the Modders Guide thread.

 

[FireBlaze]

So, will you have to keep 2 seperate units alive, both Perpentach and the Momus? I was under the impression that Perpentach just let his body die when The Momus got close enough for him to transfer his mind completely. Maybe Perpentach should be represented by a Great Commander that you must attach to the Momus (also triggering him to gain magic promotions, at the very least Mind I-III) and get a Momus with said commander attached back out again.

I don't think it would really matter what host Perpentach took, so it might be appropriate to just require a single living unit to survive with Perpentach attached.


It might be nice for all the Balseraph units but the Momus to stat Crazed, so they would go mad and break away from following Perpentach's/the player's commands every once in a while.

From what we know about the Tower of Eyes, I expect it should be a large maze filled with various types of Golems, probably of increasing strength as you near Perpentach's cell. I imagine that most would just be Iron Golems, but I could see having a couple Clockwork golems show up too and having plenty of Gargoyles swoop down unexpected. (If it weren't for the name being displayed over it I'd say it might be nice to reuse the Guardians of the Pristin Pass.) On higher levels, I expect you'd see lots of Golems with Fire II, Perfect Sight, and Hidden. I tend to think that Golems left by Kyorlin to guard such a powerful mage would pretty much all be Magic Resistant.


If you said you wanted lots of FfH trivia in it, how about having events where you(Perpentach) have arguments with the voices in your head and must straighten things out by answering their riddles and by properly recalling how things went in order to retain control of your mental faculties. Answering wrongly could make the other voices take over your mind for a while, i.e., make the game auto-play a few turns. You could afford to get a question wrong every once in a while, but if as I assume this scenario would be one where you start out with a limited number of units and cannot build more having the AI use them rashly could be a big penalty.

Don't worry guys, Magister did all your brainstorming for you

 

[loocas]

I was under the impression that Perpentach just let his body die when The Momus got close enough for him to transfer his mind completely.

Agreed. I don't think the pedia is exactly clear, but I took it as the stress of battle weakening the villagers enough for Perp to escape fully and leave his body in the tower.

I'd love to see a fuller dungeon scenario than what the current scenarios have. Something really grueling, and riddles are always good. A great dungeon might be the Bannor in hell. You could have noncombat civilian units that you have to escort, and at some point Donal could split off from the rest. Lore-wise it could expound on the creation of demons and balors. Just an idea.

Here's what I've been playing with for Perpentach: The map has a sealed room with Perpentach in it, controlled by the player. Outside is a golem city. The player also controls some acrobats and harlequins (a gypsy wagon would be nice) far away. When they take a nearby town (via Loki or force) to raise an army to attack the golems, 5 held specters appear in Perp's cell--they represent Kylorin, Elder Kylorin, Gastrius, Sister Serisa, and Perp's mother. Moving the Perp unit onto any of their tiles initiates war with their corresponding civilization on the outside, which you have to conquer with the Momus's troops. Each specter needs to offer a unique challenge, which I've been trying to flesh out. For instance, Sister Serisa took Perp into the asylum when he was ill and he took over the minds of the sisters causing horrible neglect among the other inmates. Her civ will produce only lunatics during her challenge, and she will get a few Marys renamed as various sisters. I'm working on "nightmare versions" like that for each. The specters disappear when their civs are beaten. The point of this is to suggest that they are in reality separate civs whom Perp mistakes for people in his head, causing him to attack them. From their point of view they were suddenly attacked by murderous clowns. When all the challenges are completed the player can finally attack the golems. I haven't figured out how to incorporate Loki yet. I want to give him mind 3, chaos 3, and crazed and let him go wild. So far the AI just runs him around in circles.

I've got a map made up, most of the text written, and am starting to add the events.

 

[Psychic_Llamas]

I'm thinking of a scenario called the tower of eyes. The goal will be to save Perpentach from the tower of eyes as the Momus and his army of carnies. It will be part dungeon adventure and part FfH trivia.

WOOOOOOOOOOT! this is one i really want to see!

Lol, that's what I'm working on. I'm not doing a dungeon though. We can share ideas and work together. I'm interested to know what you are planning for the dungeon.

collaboration is your friend and i vote DEFINATELY a big dungeon crawl. please make it more of a challenge than the cave of ancestors one if you do though, that scenario was a real anticlimax imho.

your progress on the tower of eyes is great so far but it could be awsome if every time you faced a spectre in perps room you were transported to different dungeons representing different memories of perpentach. pehaps these wars could occur in these dungeon-memories.

 

[loocas]

I'm having trouble getting any python from ScenarioFunctions to trigger at all. I've got Option=GAMEOPTION_WB_EXTRA enabled in my mapscript, and all the python I've added is dependent on

if gc.getGame().isOption(GameOptionTypes.GAMEOPTION_WB_EXTRA):

What am I missing?

 

[Zechnophobe]

I'm having trouble getting any python from ScenarioFunctions to trigger at all. I've got Option=GAMEOPTION_WB_EXTRA enabled in my mapscript, and all the python I've added is dependent on

if gc.getGame().isOption(GameOptionTypes.GAMEOPTION_WB_EXTRA):

What am I missing?

You'll have to post a bit more code than that, I think. Turn on Python popups too, so that you get relevant error messages, which can point you to where in the code you have a mistake.

 

[loocas]

You'll have to post a bit more code than that, I think. Turn on Python popups too, so that you get relevant error messages, which can point you to where in the code you have a mistake.

under cannotTrain
if gc.getGame().isOption(GameOptionTypes.GAMEOPTION_WB_EXTRA): 
	if eUnit == gc.getInfoTypeForString('UNIT_SETTLER'):
		if pPlayer.getLeaderType() == gc.getInfoTypeForString('LEADER_GARRIM'):
			return True
		if pPlayer.getLeaderType() == gc.getInfoTypeForString('LEADER_PERPENTACH'):
			return True

That's pretty much a copy-paste, and I can build settlers. I also added

under gameStart
if gc.getGame().isOption(GameOptionTypes.GAMEOPTION_WB_EXTRA): 
	self.addPopupWB(CyTranslator().getText("TXT_KEY_WB_PALUS_INTRO",()))

and get nothing. Those are really simple ones. I also have an onCityAcquired that does nothing. I have python popups on and there is no error message. It's like it's not even referring to the python.

 

[loocas]

your progress on the tower of eyes is great so far but it could be awsome if every time you faced a spectre in perps room you were transported to different dungeons representing different memories of perpentach. pehaps these wars could occur in these dungeon-memories.

That's the idea I started with. The reason I changed is because I feel that if things take place purely in Perp's head, then the act of the player overcoming the challenges suggests that Perp's defeating the voices. We know that's very much not the case. If there were a way for the scenario's mechanics to show that he still suffers from the people in his head after the player has won, then I'd be all for it. Having other local civs play the roles of the voices suggests that he's confronting them, but not exorcising them, at the expense of others. The "plot" of my scenario is that Perp influences the carnies to attack the golems, but is distracted by voices so uses the carnies to attack the locals whom he mistakes for the voices.