Is ability to adjust building height still in development?

RightDeve · #1 February 19th, 2016, 11:33 PM

Quote from the Game Guide:

"We had planned to allow adjustment to building height ( to block LOS ) but the house code is more deeply entwined with other aspects of the code than trees or grass and we ran out of time this year to make and test the changes properly. We hope to have it implemented next year along with the ability to adjust the building code to allow the ground under buildings to be raised up so troops in them have the ability to overlook the surrounding terrain."

Ah... that dream feature, simulating high-rise & multi-story buildings, especially important in modern warfare. I am still looking forward for this feature to be implemented.

Well, I don't care "when" it's going to happen. It pleases me enough to know that Don & Andy haven't abandoned on working this feature. Have you guys?

DRG · #2 February 20th, 2016, 12:10 AM

It keeps getting put on the back burners because other things are more important and as noted the issue is complex

Mobhack · #3 February 20th, 2016, 12:18 AM

One day we may fix it, but it would need a bodge to fix a kludge...

The change height code works, and then the inbuilt code to ensure that certain things are the right height (including buildings) then does its thing, sees buildings that aren't the right height and promptly sets them back to what they should be.

So it would need something like a new layer of map save data for "Buildings that some human has decided should not be checked" to be added to it. And then the fixing code would need to check if hex X,Y is now "special".

Then what happens if the map designer removes or puts another building on one of these special hexes?. So we need extra checking on all the building removal and placement code, including replacing by another terrain type like say lakes..

It is not simple at all, and may end up never being done. But some day that I feel like having a nervous breakdown, I may have a go at it.

RightDeve · #4 February 20th, 2016, 06:04 AM

I have never thought that it IS that deeply entwined, with some "police code" deciding what's the right height and sets everything back to normal (if I assume correctly this is the main culprit). This police code needs to be eradicated! Haha..

Other serious tactical wargames have this feature, Close Combat, Combat Mission, to name a few, and it's even more relevant in modern era post WW2 game. I firmly believe it's going to change radically how people play the urban combat (if anything, in PBEM at least). But you guys have done a great job maintaining & improving this game, if it's a bodge to fix this and a greater chance at imbalancing (and bugging) other aspects of the game, I'd rather have the status quo.

Cheers guys!

Steves308 · #5 February 22nd, 2016, 11:48 AM

There is a scenario I've come across, I think it's in SPWW2, that has a single building that is much higher than the surrounding buildings. The scenario description even mentions it, says the enemy is using it as an observation post. It's probably an Italian or Yugoslavian based scenario. I wonder how this scenario designer got around the problem? I'll have to look for the scenario again and post it here.

Steves308 · #6 February 22nd, 2016, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steves308

There is a scenario I've come across, I think it's in SPWW2, that has a single building that is much higher than the surrounding buildings. The scenario description even mentions it, says the enemy is using it as an observation post. It's probably an Italian or Yugoslavian based scenario. I wonder how this scenario designer got around the problem? I'll have to look for the scenario again and post it here.

Couldn't figure out how to edit my previous message. In SPWW2, scenarios 331/332, look at hexes 24,74 and 23,75. Looks like the scenario creator set the terrain of the two hexes much higher than the surrounding terrain, that's how he achieved the higher buildings. So that might work for someone that wants to model very high buildings.

DRG · #7 February 22nd, 2016, 04:30 PM

That can work with luck and a large building like that.....note that under the central dome it's 0........that's the code clearing down the terrain at the central point but in cases like this it doesn't drop off like a cliff and you can get the effect you noted but as noted......there is an element of luck involved.......poke around with the map editor and you'll see it's tricky and unpredictable and sometimes you think you have it nailed.......then you save the map and the code gives you a little surprise when you open it again later and everything you thought you'd done has been undone

MarkSheppard · #8 February 28th, 2016, 10:30 PM

Since this seems to be the thread to ask about the map editor...

Is it possible to at some point, be able to 'paint' smoke and fires onto the map in the editor?

Right now, if you want smoke and fires, AFAIK, you can do it by:

1.) Building your map.

2.) Loading a "blank" scenario using that map with nothing but artillery units firing smoke and / or flame units near places that you want to set on fire.

3.) Start scenario and let artillery fire smoke, and manually Z-Fire the flame units onto the target hexes.

4.) Save the game.

5.) Load the saved game file in the Map editor; and work with the smoke/flame on the map.

This is a bit clunky vs 'painting' it in the editor, but eh.