ATTENTION MAP AUTHORS: Changes for the upcoming release

[Lewin]

Hi map authors,
This post contains important information to ensure your map works properly in the upcoming release. There have been a number of changes that you need to be aware of, and may require changes to your maps. We have released a nightly build so you can test your map, download it here: (updated 08/06/2014)
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/930 ... Nightly.7z
We plan to start start beta testing in several weeks (which means sending a release candidate to our large number of beta testers who will thoroughly test it), although this will depend on how long it takes to update all the maps. We would like to have most maps/campaigns updated so our beta testers can test them. There will be more information about which maps will be added/removed in the coming weeks, but if you post your map on the forum it will be looked at and considered.

List of changes you should be aware of:

AI: AI attack changes - Please read this topic if your map uses AI attacks:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2228

AI: Auto attack range - We added a feature from the original game: If you stand within 4 tiles of an enemy AI soldier it will attack you (this prevents you from sneaking into the AI's village in the campaigns). In some scripted maps this might cause problems, so you can adjust it in the map editor ("auto attack range" slider on the AI defence tab)

SCRIPTING: There is now a button to hide the scripted overlay, so please remove any code you had to hide it (f.e. by clicking repair in storehouse) because that means the overlay won't be visible for replays/spectators.

CHANGES TO DYNAMIC SCRIPTING COMMANDS: See andreus' post below this one for more information.

MULTIPLAYER BUILDING MAPS: We will be applying AI builder settings to all multiplayer building maps to make the AI competitive. You can do this yourself on the "mission" tab of the map editor under "Apply AI defaults" by clicking "Multiplayer builder". You can try tweaking these settings for your specific map if you like, but the defaults should work fine for most maps. Suggested tweaks:
- Lower (faster) equip rates so the AI will make more weapons producing houses (but test that they don't run out of space and try to build into enemy territory!)
- Change the leather/iron equip rates separately based on the location (once again test that it works well)
- Set the army type to iron only or leather only (usually not necessary, a mixed army seems to work the best)
- Set AI start positions to guide auto attacks (they are targeted at the closest house from start position, the default start position is the storehouse)
- Disable AutoDefence and place defence positions manually (test that they don't build their village past the defence line, and place enough backline defence positions so they will attack)
- If you placed defence positions manually you could also disable "auto attacks" and configure AI attacks manually
- Set the number of workers (labourers) higher or lower
If you tweak the settings for your map please let us know so we don't overwrite them! (we will be applying default settings to all non-tweaked maps)

READMES: You may now include a PDF readme with your multiplayer map (Map Name.pdf). A button will appear in the lobby to open it. Please convert any TXT or HTML readmes to PDFs.

TRANSLATED MAP DESCRIPTIONS: Map descriptions can now be loaded from LIBX files. In the TXT file for the map instead of:

BigDesc
My fun map!

Use:

BigDescLIBX
1

Then in your LIBX files text 1 should be the description (can be any number of course).

Any questions please ask

[andreus]

Nice

A small addition to Lewin's post:
Please check Dynamic Scripting Wiki: https://code.google.com/p/castlesand/wi ... ptsDynamic
A lot of new scripts were added, and some old script commands were changed (now have new parameters or just renamed) and fixed (f.e dynamic scripts should not allow to give houses/units to disabled player or use any state/action for disabled player), so make sure your dynamic scripts work in the new release!

Especially, check script commands listed below:

  Code:

6216 OnMarketTrade 6216 Actions.MarketTradeSet 6216 States.MarketValue 6217 States.MarketLossFactor 6216 States.ClosestHouseMultipleTypes 6216 States.ClosestUnitMultipleTypes 6216 States.ClosestGroupMultipleTypes 6220 Allow high volume boost for positional script sounds since they are much quieter than non-positional sounds 6220 Actions.PlayWAVFadeMusic 6220 States.HouseUnlocked 6220 OnGroupHungry 6222 Actions.PlayWAVLooped 6222 Actions.PlayWAVAtLocationLooped 6222 Actions.StopLoopedWAV 6251 More options for AI: Actions.AIDefendAllies, Actions.AIAutoAttackRange, Actions.AIStartPosition 6277 Actions.GroupBlockOrders 6284 States.HouseTypeMaxHealth 6285 States.HouseBuildingProgress 6287 HouseMarketFromWare, HouseMarketToWare, HouseMarketOrderAmount (query what the player has ordered at a market) 6288 Actions.GiveHouseSite 6297 Actions.HouseAddBuildingProgress 6298 OnHousePlanRemoved 6301 OnPlanRoadFieldWinefieldRemoved; OnPlanRoadWineField ---> OnPlanRoadWineFieldPlaced 6303 Actions.PlanConnectRoad(aPlayer, X1, Y1, X2, Y2): Boolean - Connects road plans between two points (similar to AI builder) 6309 Actions.AIDefensePositionRemove(PlayerID, X, Y) 6311 Actions.GiveRoad(aPlayer, X, Y: integer); - add finished road 6311 Actions.GiveWinefield(aPlayer, X, Y: integer); - add finished winefield 6311 Actions.GiveField(aPlayer, X, Y: integer); - add finished field 6313 Allow to query count of placed house plans 6323 Actions.AIDefencePositionRemoveAll(aPlayer) 6323 States.StatAIDefencePositionsCount(aPlayer) 6328 MultipleTypes for StatHouseTypeCount, StatUnitTypeCount 6331 MultipleTypes for killed, lost units and produced wares 6338 Split a specific warrior out of a group

[Skypper]

If you have updated a map for the remake, where should I post it?

[The Dark Lord]

6222 Actions.PlayWAVLooped

Ka-ching!


So now I can finally play the trololol song for eternity! Time for a new Warfare Scripted...

[andreus]

If you have updated a map for the remake, where should I post it?

This topic is good place for links I think

[Skypper]

updated Invasion

[RandomLyrics]

Great update! Lot of new scripts, AI. Thanks

[Lewin]

UPDATE: New nightly build r6378:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/930 ... Nightly.7z

The changes that map authors need to be aware of:
There is now an army type selector in the map editor that tells the AI what kind of army to make. Army types are explained on this wiki:
https://code.google.com/p/castlesand/wiki/AI#Army_types
This means that if you already started tweaking the AI settings for your map you will need to change it! (army type means equip rates will work differently too)

[The Dark Lord]

I was just comparing one of the missions in my campaign in TPR and the Remake; and I noticed that in the Remake, the AI kept recruiting iron soldiers only while in TPR the AI also made leather troops (I set the army type to 'first iron, then leather'). I'm trying to find out why that is. At first I thought it was the speed the armour smithy was working at. Although I did clock a 4 second difference (Remake: 43 seconds, TPR: 47 seconds (however, if there is a difference between shields and armours these tests are useless since I didn't take that into account)), that can't be the problem since the equip rate of TPR is >1 minute and I put the equip rate in the Remake on 60 seconds as well.
So I'm wondering - is 'first iron, then leather' really how it was in TPR? Or was it maybe 'mostly iron, now and then a bit leather'? Was it ever tested (barracks full of iron weapons and few leather/wooden weapons)? If not, I might do that tomorrow.

I guess I might just use 'train iron and leather', and I have a question about that too. Imagine I put the iron equip rate at 300 and the leather equip rate at 600, does that mean that the AI will train 2 iron units and 1 leather unit in 1 minute, or does that mean that the AI will train 1 iron unit and 'a half' leather unit in one minute? In other words, do they add up or not?

[Lewin]

I was just comparing one of the missions in my campaign in TPR and the Remake; and I noticed that in the Remake, the AI kept recruiting iron soldiers only while in TPR the AI also made leather troops (I set the army type to 'first iron, then leather'). I'm trying to find out why that is. At first I thought it was the speed the armour smithy was working at. Although I did clock a 4 second difference (Remake: 43 seconds, TPR: 47 seconds (however, if there is a difference between shields and armours these tests are useless since I didn't take that into account)), that can't be the problem since the equip rate of TPR is >1 minute and I put the equip rate in the Remake on 60 seconds as well.
So I'm wondering - is 'first iron, then leather' really how it was in TPR? Or was it maybe 'mostly iron, now and then a bit leather'? Was it ever tested (barracks full of iron weapons and few leather/wooden weapons)? If not, I might do that tomorrow.

No I don't think I test that, but I would like to know the results of it if you can test it.

I guess I might just use 'train iron and leather', and I have a question about that too. Imagine I put the iron equip rate at 300 and the leather equip rate at 600, does that mean that the AI will train 2 iron units and 1 leather unit in 1 minute, or does that mean that the AI will train 1 iron unit and 'a half' leather unit in one minute? In other words, do they add up or not?

In "iron and leather" mode it means they will make 2 iron units and 1 leather unit per minute. So in total 3 units per minute (assuming they have enough weapons).

In "iron then leather" mode it means they will make 2 iron units per minute, unless they can't make iron soldiers, in which case they will make 1 leather unit per minute (so either 2 or 1 soldiers per minute). However, the "iron then leather" mode is really only there for backwards compatibility with KaM (by default we want it to work like TPR). So if your test shows that KaM doesn't work like this I might change it.

On the other hand we could just throw about backwards compatibility, but then we will need to rebalance all the campaign missions...

[pawel95]

On the other hand we could just throw about backwards compatibility, but then we will need to rebalance all the campaign missions...

Noooooooooooooo Please don't do this :p I really don't want to rebalance the ai equip rates for like 30 missions of the campaign. If there is no other way, ok. However please try to keep the compatibility xd

[The Dark Lord]

No worries, first iron then leather is indeed how it works in TPR.

However, it seems that the time it takes the AI to train a soldier from the barracks is not determined by one factor; it turns out that the AI starts training a new recruit when the previous one has entered the barracks (sometimes later, but never sooner; this makes sense, since in TPR only one recruit at a time would go to the barracks). If the school is far away, it takes longer before a recruit has entered the barracks --> a new recruit will be trained later --> it takes longer to recruit troops. I had two AI players, one of which recruited about 1 soldier per minute (varying from ~45 seconds to ~90 seconds?); the other AI player trained a soldier about every 90 seconds (school was a lot further away).
Also, if an AI player is given infinite recruits, recruit time is decreased to 25-27 seconds.

[Lewin]

I added some additional information to the first post:

READMES: You may now include a PDF readme with your multiplayer map (Map Name.pdf). A button will appear in the lobby to open it. Please convert any TXT or HTML readmes to PDFs.

TRANSLATED MAP DESCRIPTIONS: Map descriptions can now be loaded from LIBX files. In the TXT file for the map instead of:

BigDesc
My fun map!

Use:

BigDescLIBX
1

Then in your LIBX files text 1 should be the description (can be any number of course).

[Vatrix]

So it should look like this?
In .txt
Title
Pursuit for Power

SmallDesc
A mission by Vatrix

BigDescLIBX
1
-----------------------------------
And in Libx
1:Nothing now
2:bldfklvsdv
3:sdssvds

[Lewin]

Yes that looks right. Isn't it working?