Tides of War

Hey Guys,

Build 299 of ENIGMA:Missions, the graphical mission editor for ERT is up. See the sticky thread for the mission editor at the top of this section.

Build 299 will probably be the final for this program. Hope you all have enjoyed it.

-timetraveller

Thanks a ton from us all to you TT

Thanks Jesper and all.

-timetraveller

Truly nice work. We are using it in-house to test scenarios for an upcoming add-on.....

It's a great tool. Cheers for making it!

I wonder if somebody possibly knows the answer to this: in this Task Group Lineup area of the MB, when you select "RANDOM POSITON" for the type of lineup, what is the maximum distance from the Player Taskgroup at which the 2nd Taskgroup might be deployed/spawned?

I wonder if somebody possibly knows the answer to this: in this Task Group Lineup area of the MB, when you select "RANDOM POSITON" for the type of lineup, what is the maximum distance from the Player Taskgroup at which the 2nd Taskgroup might be deployed/spawned?

A good question Androo, and one which I would like to know the answer myself.

In the same line, I've never tested to see exactly the furthest distance away you could position a normal task group. I did one at 1800 seconds (30 minutes away) the other night. I'm sure the game will allow much more. I still wonder about the idea of positioning by "time in seconds" instead of kilometers. There must have been a reason for it.

Note that positioning by "Coordinates" is not usable in the mission editor. East told me that this option was scratched in the development phase.

timetraveller

I wonder...

I notice in the Task Group Orders section right above the Task Group Lineup section a maximum range of 60 000m! 60 km! An area of 11 300 sq. km!!! That kind of seems like an impractically (though impressively and realistically) large area for a random spawning function. You could have all kinds of interesting targets/allies spawning and never come across any of them in the course of an hour or two's play. Well, I will definitely be experimenting with it...

Yeah, I also wonder why they went for time instead of distance. Perhaps it worked better for the developers if they were building action-packed type missions. (I actually have no clue about the default missions. Whenever given the chance I will always build and play my own- so I haven't played more than 5 minutes of the first training mission. That is why I am so interested in the random spawn function- I want to build them myself, but I don't want to know what is going to happen.)

Right, I noticed you mentioned that about coordinates in your tute- but it's always very good to be reminded about possible major time wasters. Not a problem from my point of view. I always found coordinate postioning a pain in the neck in the CFS2 MB- much easier to range the object from the player I think.

I'm also wondering about what the maximum input number of random spawns might be. Given that your MB is so easy to use and that I want to build missions which keep me guessing and have incredible replayability, I am actually thinking of something like one or two hundred different random spawns, each with a 1 or 2% chance of happening. Well experimenting is half the fun...

Edit: Just noticed that the random spawn probablities are in increments of 5%- ok , so 50 random spawns with a 5% chance of happening...

Yes, the 60,000 meters is an amazing amount of territory to cover. Some of the game missions use that figure to send a ship off in a straight line for a long time, I think just to give it a course. I'm not sure that is a max amount, either, although I had to settle on something as a max for the editor.

The time vs. distance thing is indeed curious. I have a custom mission where the enemy task group is about 10 minutes out (600 seconds). However, they have 9 units of air cover, and the air unit arrives over my task force in just a couple of minutes. So, I have to assume that the timing thing applies only to ships. Now, where you have different types of ships with different maximum speeds, I'm not sure how the arrival time of an enemy is computed. By what ship speed? The fastest in the group, the average, the slowest, or none of the above.

We are much alike, Androo, in the mission interest. I love games with mission editors. I almost never play the campaigns. I do like experimenting with missions and what can be done. And tweaking the game itself. Maybe that more than anything.

About maximum number of random spawns - I also have no idea. I'd be very interested in your results though. That's a great idea, spawning numerous task groups at random and seeing what happens. Like you said, it would be particularly nice over a wide area. If the ETA is somewhat randomized manually, they could be anywhere. Fun stuff.

timetraveller

60,000 meters....I'm not sure that is a max amount, either

Wow!

I'm not sure how the arrival time of an enemy is computed.

Yes, a complete mystery to me as well, though from your findings we at least know it has nothing to do with the aircraft.

I'd be very interested in your results though

I will be building and playing a mission with 50 random spawns in the next couple of days- I will let you know what happens...

I do like experimenting with missions and what can be done. And tweaking the game itself. Maybe that more than anything.

Yeah, I keep having to remind myself to play and enjoy the game. I have enough ideas for 1)things I would like to check out in the game files; 2) missions linked in a non linear campaign* I would like to build and 3) little add-ons I would like to have a go at making to keep me going for months...
*Not using the game campaign system, which I believe is linear(?).

One of the first things I want to check out, is whether it is possible to add additional factions. It could be as simple as changing something like "FACTIONS 3" to "FACTIONS 4" somewhere and then assigning ships and a flag, etc. Or it might not be...