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Rob,
I'm trying to create datafiles for FASA's Renegade Legion Centurion game, and am starting with implementing the tank creation rules. However, I'm running into a few problems with the order in which calculations are performed. I'm doing the unit creation by constructing the vehicle out of items (although I could re-write it in an option model, if you think that might be easier). My problem is that most of the items add to various stats, and I occasionally need to perform calculations based on the stats, and most importantly, I need to know that the calculations are happening before or after certain modifications are made. As far as I can figure, for items, everything is processed from top to bottom of the item list. Is it possible to force this order? Maybe an auto-sort, which can sort things by their item category (my set-up works, if the items are placed in the right order). Or is there something else I can do to get things to happen in a certain order. Thanks for any help you can give me. Mathias Gehl mgehl@home.com P.S. Since the files for VOR are on the website, I presume FASA has given permission for datafiles to be published for any of their games, right? -------------------------- eGroups Sponsor -------------------------~-~> eGroups eLerts It's Easy. It's Fun. Best of All, it's Free! http://click.egroups.com/1/9698/1/_/36190/_/974716561/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------_-> To unsubscribe from this group, email armybuilder-unsubscribe@egroups.com |
#1 |
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Lone Wolf Staff
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 8,232
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First, I'm 99.9% certain that there should be no problems posting the data
files for this game. FASA has not given explicit permission for other games, although they have implied the permission. Given that AB is now an in-house standard within FASA for all the games it currently supports, I can't imagine there being any problems. :-) Once you've got the files ready, let me know and I'll get an official OK from FASA. Now, onto the problem you're trying to solve with the files..... There is no way to force the order of items that the user can select as items. The best solution here is to continue using items, but move all those items into an item category that is HIDDEN. Then, use options to select which items are added (via the "take" attribute on the options). Since the order of options has a controlled order, the corresponding items also appear in a controlled order. However, by using items this way, you can use TWEAKS to let the user custom-tailor the individual items. This is valuable in situations like having two instances of weapon X (e.g. missile launcher), but one instance uses HE warheads and the other uses army piercing warheads. In this case, the generic missile launcher is selected as an option, which then attaches the corresponding item to the vehicle. The item then displays the various warhead options to the user for selection. This was the quick-and-dirty description of how it all works. If you have questions about this, let me know and I'll do my best to answer them. Hope this helps, Rob At 02:42 AM 11/20/00 -0800, you wrote: >Rob, > I'm trying to create datafiles for FASA's Renegade Legion Centurion >game, and am starting with implementing the tank creation rules. >However, I'm running into a few problems with the order in which >calculations are performed. > I'm doing the unit creation by constructing the vehicle out of items >(although I could re-write it in an option model, if you think that >might be easier). My problem is that most of the items add to various >stats, and I occasionally need to perform calculations based on the >stats, and most importantly, I need to know that the calculations are >happening before or after certain modifications are made. > As far as I can figure, for items, everything is processed from > top to >bottom of the item list. Is it possible to force this order? Maybe an >auto-sort, which can sort things by their item category (my set-up >works, if the items are placed in the right order). Or is there >something else I can do to get things to happen in a certain order. > >Thanks for any help you can give me. >Mathias Gehl >mgehl@home.com > >P.S. Since the files for VOR are on the website, I presume FASA has >given permission for datafiles to be published for any of their games, >right? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rob Bowes (rob@wolflair.com) (650) 726-9689 Lone Wolf Development www.wolflair.com -------------------------- eGroups Sponsor -------------------------~-~> eLerts It's Easy. It's Fun. Best of All, it's Free! http://click.egroups.com/1/9699/1/_/36190/_/974757128/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------_-> To unsubscribe from this group, email armybuilder-unsubscribe@egroups.com |
#2 |
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Thanks. I hadn't thought about the fact that the weapons are nicely
categorized already. Can I allow more than one selection from each category with zrng? Or do I have to un-hide a new option when the old one is selected? Another question - Engine power in this system is purchased in multiples of 50 (min 50, max 2500). The cost is a simple multiple of the power, but the mass is looked up on a table. I've done some of the engine power levels using the ztbl attribute, but I was hoping there was something more efficient. I originally tried zrng, but needing to look up the masses for the engines stopped me on that. Actually, is there a way to create a couple of if-then style attributes? Studying the table, there are only 3 formulas used to compute the mass, depending on where in the range of engine powers you are (from 50-450, use this formula. from 500-1200, use that formula, from 1250-2500, use a third formula). -------------------------- eGroups Sponsor -------------------------~-~> eLerts It's Easy. It's Fun. Best of All, it's Free! http://click.egroups.com/1/9699/1/_/36190/_/974759119/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------_-> To unsubscribe from this group, email armybuilder-unsubscribe@egroups.com |
#3 |
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#4 |
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Rob Bowes wrote:
> > At 02:31 PM 11/20/00 -0800, you wrote: > > > Thanks. I hadn't thought about the fact that the weapons are nicely > > categorized already. Can I allow more than one selection from each > > category with zrng? Or do I have to un-hide a new option when the > > old > > one is selected? > > Hmmm. I don't understand the question here. Which category? How do > categories pertain to "zrng"? I'm definitely confused on this, so a > more detailed explanation of what you're trying to accomplish would be > helpful. :-) Sorry. By categories I mean the categories the game has created, ex: Lasers Mass Drivers You are allowed a certain number of weapons per tank. Would it be possible to use zrng to, for example: select 3 laser weapons and 2 mass driver weapons, and have each of these 5 weapons be displayed as an item (and then I can select the specific version for each of the items)? -------------------------- eGroups Sponsor -------------------------~-~> eLerts It's Easy. It's Fun. Best of All, it's Free! http://click.egroups.com/1/9699/1/_/36190/_/974767743/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------_-> To unsubscribe from this group, email armybuilder-unsubscribe@egroups.com |
#5 |
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At 04:55 PM 11/20/00 -0800, you wrote:
> > > Thanks. I hadn't thought about the fact that the weapons are nicely > > > categorized already. Can I allow more than one selection from each > > > category with zrng? Or do I have to un-hide a new option when the > > > old > > > one is selected? > > > > Hmmm. I don't understand the question here. Which category? How do > > categories pertain to "zrng"? I'm definitely confused on this, so a > > more detailed explanation of what you're trying to accomplish would be > > helpful. :-) > >Sorry. >By categories I mean the categories the game has created, ex: >Lasers >Mass Drivers > >You are allowed a certain number of weapons per tank. >Would it be possible to use zrng to, for example: >select 3 laser weapons and 2 mass driver weapons, and have each of these >5 weapons be displayed as an item (and then I can select the specific >version for each of the items)? Hmmm. Neither the "rang" nor "zrng" attributes can be used for complex things like adding items. They can only be used for simple things like repeatedly modifying a stat or applying a cost increase. Since I'm still not 100% certain of how you are envisioning this working, I'll try to explain more fully and hope that this answers your question. :-) To start with, each separate item needs to be added via its own "take" attribute. That means you can't add 3 laser weapons with a single "take". You COULD use the "take" attribute 3 times on the same option, but that really doesn't allow for any user adjustment (e.g. the user wants to take 4 laser weapons). :-) You COULD work around this by using a "tabl" attribute that let the user pick from 0-N instances of a particular weapon category. Unfortunately, you would need a separate option for each table entry that attached a different number of instances of that weapon/item. That gets ugly if you have lots of weapon categories. There are three ways I can think of in which you can probably tackle this one. First, the objective. Let's say the user wants to have 5 laser weapons. He wants two with a normal penetration factor, 2 with a high penetration factor, and the fifth as a "point-defense" weapon (i.e. to take out enemy missiles on approach). Solution #1. Each weapon classification has its own option. That option uses "take" to attach the corresponding item. It also uses "more" to allow the user to select a second option for the weapon. Each individual weapon can then be configured appropriately. If the user wants 3 of the same thing, he needs to select 3 instances of the weapon and configure each one the same. This is the crudest and simplest way to implement this. Solution #2. You start with solution #1. The key difference is that the user can go into the special items window and modify the count for each item. This way, only one instance of item X must be configured and the 3 instances of it can be quickly adjusted by the user. The only down-side to this approach is that the number of items must be modified within the special items window, which isn't very intuitive (IMHO). Solution #3. Again you start with solution #1. However, to keep from forcing the user into the special items window, you attach various "zrng" tweaks to the item. Each of these tweaks must be mutually exclusive, and each represents a particular configuration of the weapon. Each tweak modifies a hidden stat value to represent the proper cost increase of the item for each instance of the item. Then you use another (lower priority) tweak with the "zcst:expr=" attribute. This tweak calculates the proper cost of the item based on the number of instances selected via the "zrng" tweak. Going back to the original example, the user would select the first laser weapon option. This would enable the selection of the second laser weapon option, which would enable the selection of the third. For the first laser weapon, the user selects the normal penetation tweak and increases it to 2. For the second laser weapon, the high penetration tweak is increased to 2. For the last one, the point-defense tweak is increased to one. Now that I think about it, you MIGHT be able to set things up where the user selects the proper number of different configurations all as different tweaks. This all depends on how complex the cost calculations are. For example, you could have the user select the "Laser Weapon" option, which attaches a Laser Weapon item. Then you have three tweaks that each use "zrng". The first is the number of "Normal Penetration" lasers, the second is the "High Penetration" lasers, and the third is the "Point Defense" lasers. The user can adjust all of these values to reflect the number of each laser weapon wanted on the vehicle. Whew! I hope this proves helpful. :-) Thanks, Rob --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rob Bowes (rob@wolflair.com) (650) 726-9689 Lone Wolf Development www.wolflair.com -------------------------- eGroups Sponsor -------------------------~-~> Introducing SegaNet, the first online multi-player console gaming network. Faster speeds and real-time chat let you humiliate any fools punk enough to try you. Register here. http://click.egroups.com/1/9571/1/_/36190/_/974790267/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------_-> To unsubscribe from this group, email armybuilder-unsubscribe@egroups.com |
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