Mission Editor question

[zcabjro]

Hi guys - I'm new to this forum so apologies if I'm posting in the wrong section, though I've tried to read all the appropriate guidelines..

I am also fairly new to Steel Beasts and was curious to know if the following options were within the reach of the control logic offered to designers:

- Move/teleport upon destruction/revival

- Enable/disable friendly fire

- Two player input (i.e. one player drives the tank while another controls the gunner, either on one machine or two)

- Enable/disable damage received from driving into things (not sure if this is implemented at all)

As mentioned above, I hope this is the right place and manner in which to ask.

Thanks!

[Hedgehog]

Hi guys - I'm new to this forum so apologies if I'm posting in the wrong section, though I've tried to read all the appropriate guidelines..

I am also fairly new to Steel Beasts and was curious to know if the following options were within the reach of the control logic offered to designers:

- Move/teleport upon destruction/revival

- Enable/disable friendly fire

- Two player input (i.e. one player drives the tank while another controls the gunner, either on one machine or two)

- Enable/disable damage received from driving into things (not sure if this is implemented at all)

As mentioned above, I hope this is the right place and manner in which to ask.

Thanks!

Answers in blue.

- Move/teleport upon destruction/revival - Upon Spawning, yes. ("Jump to end if....") And you can have "Remove when killed"

- Enable/disable friendly fire - No, friendly fire is always on. (You can have impotent units, but that applies to all targets)

- Two player input (i.e. one player drives the tank while another controls the gunner, either on one machine or two) - Yes

- Enable/disable damage received from driving into things (not sure if this is implemented at all) - Crash Damage is always on. But repair of damage is possible.

[zcabjro]

Thanks for the quick reply! When playing a network game though, I see it is possible to have 1 player per tank (or two in the case of the two-person control scheme mentioned above). What I meant by move/teleport is if the player(s) can re-spawn a certain distance away or at a specific location perhaps?

EDIT: Just to clarify, I've identified the deployment regions and spawn-time specific logic like Jump-to-end if... However, this does not occur when reviving unfortunately

As for collision damage, for my narrow simulation needs I could potentially enable kill-when-hit for 1-shot-kills and then have automatic repair all damage (not revive) to handle the remaining non-lethal collision damage.

[MDF]

Hi guys - I'm new to this forum so apologies if I'm posting in the wrong section, though I've tried to read all the appropriate guidelines..

...

- Two player input (i.e. one player drives the tank while another controls the gunner, either on one machine or two)

You can have three players in a vehicle -- vehicle commander, gunner, driver. For APCs, you can also have additional players controlling the infantry fireteams, both while embarked and disembarked. There's not much to do while a fireteam is embarked, as you cannot control their fire.

Also, for future reference, mission editor related questions are probably best suited for the SB Scenario and Maps subforum.

[zcabjro]

Ah! As you might have been able to tell - I had a bad feeling I would post in the wrong place :heu:

[Hedgehog]

Thanks for the quick reply! When playing a network game though, I see it is possible to have 1 player per tank (or two in the case of the two-person control scheme mentioned above). What I meant by move/teleport is if the player(s) can re-spawn a certain distance away or at a specific location perhaps? .

If you had a second unit at the location desired, you could "Jump" to that unit and abandon the first unit.

EDIT: Just to clarify, I've identified the deployment regions and spawn-time specific logic like Jump-to-end if... However, this does not occur when reviving unfortunately

But having units teleporting around the map would defeat SB's purpose as a training tool.

"Jump to end" is provided to supply multiple AI "Deployment Zone" options at the mission start.

E.G Unit 1 can be deployed to location A or B or C, not all three.

As for collision damage, for my narrow simulation needs I could potentially enable kill-when-hit for 1-shot-kills and then have automatic repair all damage (not revive) to handle the remaining non-lethal collision damage.

This is possible, use a map wide "repair if" condition.

[Ssnake]

I ... was curious to know if the following options were within the reach of the control logic offered to designers:

- Move/teleport upon destruction/revival

- Enable/disable friendly fire

- Two player input (i.e. one player drives the tank while another controls the gunner, either on one machine or two)

- Enable/disable damage received from driving into things (not sure if this is implemented at all)

No, No, Yes, No.

There's no "respawn" of your unit in combat. If it's dead, it stays dead. You would usually have OTHER units with which to continue the fight, though. And yes, there's a Repair function, but that's not exactly the same as a respawn. Also, you can teleport a unit only when it first appears on the map (in combination with a spawn function). You can't un-spawn a unit.

Friendly fire is rare, but can occur, and there's nothing that you can do about it (it's not an optional thing, just like in real life). Good unit control/fire discipline will avoid much of the trouble, and most of the Blue on Blue incidents must be attributed to player actions anyway (usually a failure to properly identify the target).

You can have up to four people in the same vehicle (driver, gunner, commander, squad leader, if we're talking about a supported IFV), typically three or in some cases just two. Note that all vehicles listed in black color in the Mission Editio | New Unit... sub menus have crew positions; units in grey text allow you only the external observer's position. A handful of vehicles have only a single crew position, e.g. bridgelayer tanks.

Driving collisions can create damage, and you can't disable that. Of course the collision opponent must approximate or exceed your own vehicle's mass to make such damages likely, and the impact velocity will also play a role. You can't disable that (but there is a universal "repair" option).

[Captain_Colossus]

On 7/23/2015 at 7:19 AM, Hedgehog said:

Answers in blue.

- Move/teleport upon destruction/revival - Upon Spawning, yes. ("Jump to end if....") And you can have "Remove when killed"

 

is there an actual 'jump to end if..." condition (or is it a phrase you are using as a substitute for spawn if + a route chain attached) if there is 'a jump to end if...', where is it?

 

the context of my question is to conceptualize simulated water crossings- with the current engine as we all know, amphibious vehicles usually cannot climb out of water on their own as shorelines and river banks are too steep to climb. "jump if..." would allow a unit to teleport past an incline on a shore without getting hung up on it (that is, a swimming unit reaches a waypoint close to the shore, then jumps to a waypoint on land, bypassing the incline), thus abstracting a water crossing as best as can be done currently.
 

 

 

Edited July 4, 2018 by Captain_Colossus

[Gibsonm]

37 minutes ago, Captain_Colossus said:

is there an actual 'jump to end if..." condition (or is it a phrase you are using as a substitute for spawn if + a route chain attached) if there is 'a jump to end if...', where is it?

 

Yes. You can look for yourself in the Mission Editor (sorry I don't have access to it at the moment).

 

37 minutes ago, Captain_Colossus said:

...  with the current engine as we all know, amphibious vehicles usually cannot climb out of water on their own as shorelines and river banks are too steep to climb.

 

 

Actually its more a case of map designers using inappropriate traction and other variables.

 

Of course if there's a 20m contour change between the water and the bank, if doesn't help.

 

Edited July 4, 2018 by Gibsonm

[Ssnake]

32 minutes ago, Captain_Colossus said:

if there is 'a jump to end if...', where is it?

Right-click on a route originating directly from a unit. Only the very first route (any route originating from a unit) can have the jump option enabled.

[Captain_Colossus]

tanks. i set up a test route with an m113 to jump to the end of the route after 5 seconds from the start. i've tried with both a stay command with no orders at the starting point- and the unit didn't actually jump in either case. it's supposed to teleport, correct?

 

 

[Ssnake]

The unit can "jump" either before mission start (by random variable), or in the moment of spawning (that includes the mission start for all), but not with delays.

[Captain_Colossus]

understood. gibson gave me an idea- i changed the traction and drag properties not of the shoreline terrain, but the water- this seems to be the key right here and the units can pull themselves out of water much easier. the jump route is no longer necessary for what i intend.

 

tanks again-

[Hedgehog]

As Ssnake said:

 

Right click on route originating from unit.

"Jump to end if...."

 

And it only works when the unit first appears in the 3D world.

(It's primary use is to randomise starting locations / deployments of AI units.)

 

So for your purpose of simulating an "in the middle of the action phase" successful water crossing it is quite useless.

However if the units were to cross successfully at mission start you could use this feature.

(But then you may as well start them off on the "correct" side of the river/lake/sea anyway)

 

To get your desired effect you'll need to play with the map & theme editor.

I.E. turn up the traction of the water tiles and play with the map to get a lesser exit slope.

 

The theme editor lives in the top menu of the map editor.