Cool modding tricks

[Foodstamp]

I wanted to share a couple of cool modding tricks with the community, and I was thinking that other people may want to share some tricks as well to help the many new modders we have. If either of these tricks are already well known, I apologize for repeating them.

1st trick:

If you give a unit the #unique tag and set him recruitable from a magic site, you actually recruit the unique unit instead of a copy.

This means:

If you purchase him again from the site, he will be teleported there, experience/wounds to boot. If someone else conquers the site, they can steal him away from you by purchasing him. This could lead to some fun thematic sites with powerful summons that people fight over.

2nd trick:

Communicants! I read in another thread that the Communicant's "Communion Slave" ability is hard wired to the unit. So I did a bit of testing and it is hardwired to their index number which is 538.

You can #selectmonster 538,

Then set the stats/sprite to whatever you want. As was mentioned in the thread, the new monster will act like a communion slave, even if he is a basic unit with the exception of healing the master's endurance or incurring extra fatigue himself. But the unit will receive the self buffs from the communion master as if part of a reverse communion.

What this means is you can create cool themed units that get their power from their commanders by giving the commanders #onebattlespell "# for communion master".

For example, I used this trick to create the start of a nation of Slivers based off the monsters of the same name from Magic the Gathering.


I hope these tricks are helpful for other people. If I think of some more, I will be sure to share them. If you have any other cool tricks to share, please feel free to do so!

[Sombre]

I have a lot of ideas scribbled down for a thread like this. At home though.

For now:

What about a unit buildable/summonable only in the sea, which is amphibious and has #landshape of a non amphibious form - representing a larval underwater stage moving to an adult land only stage for instance, merfolk shedding their tails for good etc - it also works the other way around, with one way transformations when a unit goes in the water, or even the first time they go through a forest.

[Burnsaber]

Dude, I totally ninja'd you on this idea.

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=42570

But neat tricks anyway. I actually use the unique magic site recruitables in my Holy War mod.

[Foodstamp]

For some reason I totally missed that thread. I am going to add my tricks to it .

[NTJedi]

Originally Posted by Sombre

What about a unit buildable/summonable only in the sea, which is amphibious and has #landshape of a non amphibious form - representing a larval underwater stage moving to an adult land only stage for instance, merfolk shedding their tails for good etc - it also works the other way around, with one way transformations when a unit goes in the water, or even the first time they go through a forest.

Illwinter should want to use this idea so some of the land nations have a method of moving into water provinces. Currently the vast majority of AI land opponents never enter water provinces.