Utility: Battle Simulator!

[Gandalf Parker]

Continuing in my never ending quest to not really fix things using stupid badly done maps, I now present BATTLE SIMULATOR for those who really really wanted one.

http://www.techno-mage.com/~dominion/Mini.tga
http://www.techno-mage.com/~dominion/Mini.map

You can "play" this map with 2 nations. You can have one great big battle with hundreds of commanders all equiped and thousands of units. Even ones that the game wouldnt normally let you have.

To change the battle, learn how to edit the .map file. Use any program you want; NotePad, WordPad, Word, Word Perfect, Edit, VI, whatever.
There are 1,010 units available in the game.

Part of the .map file reads like this...
#setland 2
#commander 1010
#bodyguards 15 1006
#units 100 1002
#additem "Ice Pebble Staff"

That sets the attention on Province 2, puts unit numbered 1010 into that province and makes him a commander, gives him 15 bodyguards of unit-number 1006, gives him 100 troops of unit-number 1002, and gives the commander an Ice Pebble Staff.

Things which still need to be done by others.........

A) make this map prettier, maybe even make a unique one instead of just a stolen part of the eye map.

B) come up with a really fun huge battle to use instead of the first one I stopped at

C) write a program that lets people select their armies and writes the .map file for it. maybe select magic items also? maybe even show them what they are selecting? (for now you can use the AllUnits games and Items spreadsheets done by others to look things up)

D) patiently explain to me how this doesnt really solve the problem in case I thought it did

E) give me a better rating on this board

[ November 07, 2003, 22:00: Message edited by: Gandalf Parker ]

[Sammual]

---Cut shorter so my reply is not 5 pages long---

Originally posted by Gandalf Parker:
I now present BATTLE SIMULATOR.

To change the battle, learn how to edit the .map file.

I am in the precess of writing a web-based senario editor so people don't have to know anything (And more importantly MP games can start with a province draft).

Originally posted by Gandalf Parker:
There are 1,010 units available in the game.

Part of the .map file reads like this...
#setland 2
#commander 1010
#bodyguards 15 1006
#units 100 1002
#additem "Ice Pebble Staff"

That sets the attention on Province 2, puts unit numbered 1010 into that province and makes him a commander, gives him 15 bodyguards of unit-number 1006, gives him 100 troops of unit-number 1002, and gives the commander an Ice Pebble Staff.

Things which still need to be done by others.........

A) make this map prettier, maybe even make a unique one instead of just a stolen part of the eye map.

I have the artistic talent of a rock so this is for someone else.

Originally posted by Gandalf Parker:
B) come up with a really fun huge battle to use instead of the first one I stopped at

C) write a program that lets people select their armies and writes the .map file for it. maybe select magic items also? maybe even show them what they are selecting? (for now you can use the AllUnits games and Items spreadsheets done by others to look things up)

I'm all over this one this.
I do however need a few things;
1) A speadsheet or MS Access DB of the Unit Numbers / Names / GP and Supply Cost / Default Nation
2) An updated Item Spreadsheet with Item Name / Cost / Level Requirements
3) An updated Site Spreadsheet.

Originally posted by Gandalf Parker:

D) patiently explain to me how this doesnt really solve the problem in case I thought it did

E) give me a better rating on this board

Don't feel bad about your rating. No one has even bothered to rate me yet.

Sammual

[Nagot Gick Fel]

Originally posted by Gandalf Parker:
E) give me a better rating on this board

Done.

[Nagot Gick Fel]

Originally posted by Sammual:
Don't feel bad about your rating. No one has even bothered to rate me yet.

Done.

[Sammual]

Originally posted by Nagot Gick Fel:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Sammual:
Don't feel bad about your rating. No one has even bothered to rate me yet.

Done.

---

Woot!

sammual

[Mortifer]

Actually the UBB rating system is very weird and I guess it is totally bugged. That is why I turned it off.
[Example: I have rated someone for 1 star, and he had 5 before, and after my vote, he still had 5!!!!!!! - This was a test, there is a thread about it]

[ November 08, 2003, 08:06: Message edited by: Mortifer ]

[Gandalf Parker]

A number of people have pulled this down. Is it working toward its intention? Whats lacking?

Should the .map file itself have more instructions and explanation in it about what the commands are doing?

Do people need easier access to the MapEdit docs?

Should I include an example of how to define a nation using the .map file such as what castle, how much defence, what god they have and what abilities that god would have? (which would allow you to setup the non-playable natins abit more)

[ November 10, 2003, 15:32: Message edited by: Gandalf Parker ]

[PhilD]

Originally posted by Gandalf Parker:
A number of people have pulled this down. Is it working toward its intention? Whats lacking?

Should the .map file itself have more instructions and explanation in it about what the commands are doing?

Do people need easier access to the MapEdit docs?

Should I include an example of how to define a nation using the .map file such as what castle, how much defence, what god they have and what abilities that god would have? (which would allow you to setup the non-playable natins abit more)

I admit I downloaded the files a few days ago, and only today did I try having a look and launching test games.

What's missing is more comments, both in the direction of "you can add this or that" and "here's how you set this up". I tried to find out what the land types are, but no luck... I also need a list of unit names to load into Emacs, but I guess I'll have to do this myself.

Can anyone from Illwinter or Shrapnel give us a better idea of what this "Map Editor" function will do in the full Version? (In other words - is it worth the trouble to learn how to edit the map by hand, or will the in-game function let us do it all, only by pointing and clicking?)

[PhilD]

Update:

I just started playing in my first PBEM game, and am using the minimap as a testing device for army setups and relative strengths. Now what's most likely to happen is that my scouting reports are wildly inaccurate (I'm playing Arcoscephale, so my dominion is supposed to give me accurate reports, whatever that means), and my armies will get slaughtered by some stupid independent army...

Anyway - adding the units and everything is not that hard, but it's rather tedious. I wish one could "export" an army from the game to a text file for later inclusion in a map - that would at least make it easy to copy armies. And the possibility to switch from one game to another without quitting completely wouldn't hurt, either...

[Edit: fixed typo]

[ November 10, 2003, 21:17: Message edited by: PhilD ]

[Joonie73]

Thanks for the tip!

However, if I wanted to add more than one commander, how do I do that?