Quicky: Battle of foy (single player - 128x128)

[nevux]

After watching BOB's episode featuring the assault on Foy, I couldn't resist attempting to create a nice little sp-mission covering this battle.

The map is still under construction but i consider it to be almost finished... took me about 30 minutes.

I really feel that the winter sheme of the editor is FAR to simple/limited in terms of terrain texuteres available. It's nearly impossible to create a vivid, atmospheric winter scene...
I'd love to see a more elaborate winter scheme featuring a more diverse set of free and horizontal objects being made available with future releases, but I think I already saw some nice new snow covered trees and ruines.

anway..

It's a tiny map (128x128), which shouldnt be much of a prob considering that it is an infantry based mission centered around a single objective, the capture of Foy.

I have no sp-scriping experience, so even a simple mission like this will probably prove to be quite a challenge for me. I figure starting with something easy like this is the best way to learn how to edit anway.

[nevux]

Man, I'm really enjoying this scripting business! So far I have been able to set up a small, simple, yet exciting little mission.


I have been able to get enemy troops to enter buildings and have 3 german howitzers fire away as soon as the player starts to advance towards the town. I set up 3 juxtaposed zones (locations) so that the arty will keep track of the player as he approaches the town, causing the guns to always prefer the zone that has the most player-troops in it. The funny thing is that the player HAS to pass through these zones to break out of the starting location.

The mission will not involve a lot of reinforcements... the player will have to complete the mission with the bunch of troops that are available from the start. Since taking out fortified positions is quite difficult with regular firearms, the player will have to make effective use of the sparse amount of special units (mortars, snipers and heavy mg troops) that are deployed.

As said in the opening post, this mission was to a large extend inspired by band of brothers. I will try to mimic this battle as accurately as possible (with a few amendments, including arty) in terms of enemy forces to be encountered. This means that the AI will have a stug40, TigerI and Flak36.

[nevux]

I've got a question...actually i have several, but I'll keep it to just this one for now

How can I set enemy units to enter buildings WITHOUT hiding. I want the german troops to take positions in the village houses and engage me troops as soon as they enter their line of sight. I seem to be able to have them hide or ambush only (difference?). In both cases they will just sit still and not attack unless the house is cleared out by my troops.

[Mojo]

Hey Nevux,

good work! Looks really awesome and I'm looking forward to play this Map soon.

Greets by Mojo

[Matttheoz]

How can I set enemy units to enter buildings WITHOUT hiding. I want the german troops to take positions in the village houses and engage me troops as soon as they enter their line of sight. I seem to be able to have them hide or ambush only (difference?). In both cases they will just sit still and not attack unless the house is cleared out by my troops.

Hi nevux. Set behaviour to "Occupy Howitzer". Sounds odd, but trust me, they will open fire immediately. Its actually the best infantry behaviour for general defence. I can't remember exactly what they're called in english cos i use the german editor but basically there are 3 infantry behaviours:

1.Hide- units will hide in a building on "hold fire" - best for observers - they will not shoot until an enemy enters their building and discovers them.
2.Ambush- units within a small area (ie in a number of adjacent houses) will hold fire until the enemy is in a good kill zone when they will all open fire at once (ambush). Sometimes this is a bit flukey and they don't open fire at all.
3.Occupy Howitzer- units will occupy houses and open fire immediately the enemy comes into range. best for general defence. they will also crew and fire any artillery in their zone.

[nevux]

Many thanks for that piece of valuable info Matt!

Maybe you could help me with the following prob:

How do I cause infantry (or any unit) to return to their original location after having been triggered to move to another location.

The idea I had in mind was to have a platoon of German troops move to another location upon enemy (player) presence in that location as to intercept them. This I have been able to implement in the script flawlessly but I can't seem to have these same troops move back to their original location afterwards.

I've tried various constructs incl the activation of a timer upon triggering of troop movement that would dictate reverse direction movement upon elapse. It looked something like this:

[Matttheoz]

hmmm. i can't see your attachment nevux.

without further info all i can suggest is to make sure you added "exclude this condition" to the original script otherwise it may remain valid indefinately (depending on the trigger) and override the later script.

[nevux]

The map is finished. I'm still working on the script part. I've already set up a near complete mission but I'm still contemplating small additions (sub missions) and alterations to improve it.

[-Barbarossa-]

Nice, even out of the meagre RWM 6.71 winter-scheme, you are able to make a proper cool looking map!
I hope you will update this map for the upcoming updated RWM 6.8 winter-scheme.
Looking forward to the map and maybe you tasted the blood of scripting SP-missions!
Would be a huge benefit for the community if you would make SP-missions with your beautifull map-creations.
Keep it going mate!

[nevux]

I have another scripting related problem.

The battle of Foy sp mission is almost finished and is currently being tested to hunt down possible scripting errors.

In the meanwhile I've already initiated another project which was also inspired by a particular ww2 movie.

The scenario of the battle I'd like to cover with this mission requires that, after a certain amount of time has elapsed, the enemy proceeds to destroy a particular object. The script entry that I think is best suited to imitate such a demolition is by having the enemy launch a v2 rocket at the object.

However, When I tell the enemy to launch a v2 upon the start of the mission, nothing happens.

The script I used:

Condition : Mission start
Action: Turn of this trigger / launch v2 of team a0 (enemy) to location 1 (object)

Does the enemy group that is responsible for the launch require particular settings with respect to AI behavior in order to be able to execute the lauch?
Or does the group perhaps have to include a V2?


I have another question:

How do I get player ''ally'' to drop paratroopers at a specified location on the map?

[Matttheoz]

However, When I tell the enemy to launch a v2 upon the start of the mission, nothing happens.

The script I used:

Condition : Mission start
Action: Turn of this trigger / launch v2 of team a0 (enemy) to location 1 (object)

Does the enemy group that is responsible for the launch require particular settings with respect to AI behavior in order to be able to execute the lauch?
Or does the group perhaps have to include a V2?

the v2 needs to have its own group. doesn't need any special behaviour. so long as your map is big enough (min 256er) and the target is far enough away from the launcher, the script you used will work.

if you are trying to demolish something right at the start of the mission, why not try a heap of timebombs?

I have another question:

How do I get player ''ally'' to drop paratroopers at a specified location on the map?

Trigger of your choice
------------------
Send "x" "transports" of player "ally" to location "y" and land at airfield "0" (to leave map after dropping)



Cheers

[nevux]

Thanks again Matt for your skillful help!

The airfield part is what confused me...

About the demolition; I intend to have the enemy destroy a bridge after x minutes (probably 15:00+). Timebombs therefore aren't an option because to my knowledge detonation delay cannot be specified?

The map is 128x128, rendering usage of a V2 for this purpose impossible.

Demolition could be achieved by directing howitzer fire at the bridge but in this scenario a clean, instant detruction of the bridge is very unlikely due to the notorious inaccuracy of artillery barrages.

[Matttheoz]

the only way i know to drop bridges reliably with AI is with a combination of springers and ammo crates. have a look at the example attached. theres also a "defuse" script for if the player's jeep arrives in the brown square near the bridge before the countdown expires. don't know, maybe it suits what you had in mind.

cheers

[nevux]

Thanks!

Unfortunately this solution does not apply to the stone bridge since it's too small to deposit sufficient amounts of explosives on.

[Matttheoz]

should work. make sure to set the bridge to 3/4 strength when you place it on the map. optically you can't really tell the the difference, but its easier to drop. 4 springers and a couple of crates bracketing them should do the trick.