Combat Simulator Released!

[UNIVAC]

Originally posted by Saber Cherry:
Ok, I've emailed Version 32 to Univac!

[...]
-Cherry

Uploaded!

[UNIVAC]

Originally posted by Saber Cherry:
The Combat Simulator is now at Version 37! New features:

Pangaea Units added
Vanheim Units and Leaders added
Mirror Image / Glamour supported
Decay supported

-Cherry

Uploaded!!

[PDF]

Still can't make the sim work on my W98 rig..
Everything looks like it's installed correctly though, has someone managed to use the proggie on a 98 machine ?

[Graeme Dice]

Originally posted by PDF:
Still can't make the sim work on my W98 rig..
Everything looks like it's installed correctly though, has someone managed to use the proggie on a 98 machine?

I have. You do have the Java virtual machine installed?

[Arryn]

Originally posted by Graeme Dice:
You do have the Java virtual machine installed?

In case anyone needs the link for the JRE: J2SE 1.3.1

[Saber Cherry]

PDF,

From a DOS prompt in the directory you installed the sim, type java. If it says "bad command or filename", then Java is not correctly installed. The readme.txt file (in the data subdirectory) gives some information on how to install Java and set the path variable, but setting the path is a little different in Win98 than WinXP. It may happen automatically with the latest Java installer; I'm not sure.

[PDF]

The Java thingies are installed correctly -or so it seems, I can launch .java files for example...-, and when I launch the simulator Java IS found but I have a "thread error in main" (or stg close to that)...

[Saber Cherry]

Well - First off, you should have no .java files, only .class files. I assume you meant .class?

Second, Java is case sensitive. So typing
"java Fight militia wolf" is not the same as
"java fight militia wolf".

But if you actually get the "exception in main: noClassDefFoundError" type message, it means the file you tried to run does not exist, or is not runnable.

I can only imagine that you are not in the correct directory when you try to run the simulator... if you unzipped all the files to a directory, open a dos prompt, navigate to the directory, and type "dir *.class". You should see a bunch of .class files, including Fight.class and Matrix.class. Then "type java Fight blah blah" or "java Matrix blah blah blah blah", with the "blah"s replaced by unit names, and it will work if java is installed.

-Cherry

[Saber Cherry]

New combat simulator Version 39!

The only changes are in improving mod importation, so unless you want to import mods, it is the same as Version 38.

Mod importation is pretty ugly; sorry about that. But, if you want to test your mod, you might find it useful. It is much less complicated than the directions make it seem but I'm a bit loquacious.

-Cherry


Version 39 notes:

Improved mod importation. Imports data like regeneration, magic skills, ethereality, and so forth. The importation is essentially complete except for leadership values (which have no effect in the simulator) and equipment, which must be specified by name. In other words, equipment will be imported from .dm files, but the combat sim does not yet understand item numbers, so if you specified your equipment by ID number (like 'weapon 56' instead of 'weapon "hoof"') you will have to change it in the converter output to use the name, rather than the number. I know this makes it a little confusing, but perhaps I will add numeric support in the future.

How to import a mod:

The command is (assuming your mod is in my_mod.dm):

java Converter my_mod.dm
PLEASE NOTE: The filename must contain no spaces.

The output is creatures_my_mod.dm.txt and unittypes_my_mod.dm.txt.
Copy the contents of those two files into creatures.txt and unittypes.txt in the data folder.

In order to balance-test a mod:

Do the steps above, and when you copy the contents of unittypes_my_mod.dm.txt to unittypes.txt, put them at the very top of the file.

Next, run this command:

java DataOut

This will generate some .bat files. Running "full.bat" will show the relative melee strength of your new units to all other units included in the simulator, though it takes a long time... you can shorten the time by changing the Last number in the file (2000) to something smaller like 100 - that is the number of iterations.

Alternately, you can just fight your units against the extant units, which takes much less time. To do this, modify "full.bat" in this manner:

1) Change the second word, "Matrix", to "RectMatrix", so it reads "java RectMatrix blah blah..."

2) Your units should be listed before all the other units. So, between the Last of your new units and the first old unit, add the term " vs ", so it reads "... My_Last_Unit vs Blood_Slave Militia ...". Then run full.bat and it will fight your units versus the others, and give their relative melee strengths.



[ February 25, 2004, 02:43: Message edited by: Saber Cherry ]

[Saber Cherry]

Version 40 notes:

25% speedup. Details:

Boolean dice rolls are no longer simulated; they have been tableized. You can see the table in the Data\StatTable.txt. What does this mean? To check all "yes-or-no" rolls like att vs def, MR vs penetration, morale vs morale penalty, I no longer roll 4 open-ended d6's, but generate a single random number and consult the table to see if it succeded. This gives virtually identical results and is much faster.

Bug in v39 fixed (all units were listed as having elemental magic).

Random magic is calculated at runtime. So if you simulate combat using units with random magic or random elemental picks, they will do slightly better, as they will sometimes get fire (+att), earth (+tprot), and air (+mirror images for units with glamour). All 8 randoms are simulated, but only those 3 affect the simulator combat.

Neverheals is now supported. Before, it did nothing; now, neverheals units will not regain HP when fighting in "Gauntlet" mode. This is not very noticable with low-HP undead hordes, but it is for large neverhealing constructs and undead jotuns.