GENERAL: E-Cafe III

[Ekmek]

Fixed EitherPrerequisites (optional prerequisites) in advance.txt. A maximum of 4 (prerequisites + eitherprerequisites) can be used per advance. e.g. Writing can lead to 4 other advances, as a prerequisite or eitherprerequisite. And e.g. Trade can only have 4 required advances (prerequities + eitherprerequisites). As far as I know this is just a limitation of the great library tech tree tab height, so could possibly be increased.
modified trunk/ctp2_code/gs/gameobj/Advances.cpp

nice. i recall the advances.cpp being so confusing. it just wasnt structured like the more straight forward like units or buildings. i have code on resource prerequisite advances too that only 'half" worked.

[Maquiladora]

nice. i recall the advances.cpp being so confusing. it just wasnt structured like the more straight forward like units or buildings. i have code on resource prerequisite advances too that only 'half" worked.

It is quite confusing. I only fixed it in Advances::ResetCanResearch, I'm wondering if anywhere else needs to be fixed or added too? It's working on every test I've thrown at it though.

The GL tech tree is annoying but I'm about to post another fix for that now, hopefully the last.

[EPW]

Added roll over AI. Now the AI will now pick a path that goes over enemy units if there is a war and the roll over army is strong enough. This removes the problem the AI has with ZOCs and clears the room around an enemy city that is to be conquered.

That is awesome.

[Ekmek]

Changed occurances of UnitRecord::GetMaxHP to UnitData::CalculateTotalHP, some to fix the unit healthbar overflowing when you get a hp bonus, and some for consistency in calculations:

for code consistency you might want to check what I did when the hp went below 0 after a bomvard. I recall that if I bombarded a unit I'd get a huge red bar to the left. I eventually got it to kill, but in the case of non lethal bombardment I had to make it stop at 1 hp instead of keeping a unit alive with negative hp.

[Maquiladora]

for code consistency you might want to check what I did when the hp went below 0 after a bomvard. I recall that if I bombarded a unit I'd get a huge red bar to the left. I eventually got it to kill, but in the case of non lethal bombardment I had to make it stop at 1 hp instead of keeping a unit alive with negative hp.

I tested NonLethalBombard and it works fine, perhaps it can be expanded to allow different levels of maximum bombard damage.

And actually while I was checking the bombard method I noticed that not all the bonuses were being added to ranged attack rating when bombarding, so it was good I did check it.

[EPW]

I'd like to see all the bombard stuff put together in a bombard ability for better organization, but it would ruin compatibility with mods.

[EPW]

nm

[Maquiladora]

nice. i recall the advances.cpp being so confusing. it just wasnt structured like the more straight forward like units or buildings. i have code on resource prerequisite advances too that only 'half" worked.

I'm having a real nightmare with the goody hut advance selection regarding eitherprerequisites. It looks like you gave up and just left the comment:

//remove this and use advances->m_researching ??? EMOD

I don't blame you. In my opinion it's far too complicated a process for choosing an advance (or unit type) from a ruin to search all the advances and their prerequisites. A simple flag with the unit and advance would be enough, but I'm afraid that Martin might revert my changes straight back if I did it.

[Maquiladora]

Added roll over AI. Now the AI will now pick a path that goes over enemy units if there is a war and the roll over army is strong enough. This removes the problem the AI has with ZOCs and clears the room around an enemy city that is to be conquered.

That is awesome.

I ran a couple of test games on regular maps and both ended before turn 200 because of one rampaging AI. It seems to be doing something.

[Maquiladora]

the AI does not build ships in cities that are just at a puddle than at an ocean

This was on my TODO list before my PC died. It should help the AI a lot in the early stages.

I can't view the code at the moment (need to reinstall everything still), but does it check that the water that is next to the city is not only one water tile, or does it check if that water is connected to a water "continent", or something else?

[BureauBert]

This was on my TODO list

I did it ... via SLIC:

int_f mod_CanCityBuildUnit(city_t theCity, int_t theUnitType) {
	city_t tmpCity;
	int_t tmpUnitType;
	location_t tmpCityLoc;
	location_t tmpWaterLoc;
	int_t tmpPlayer;
	int_t i;
	int_t tmpIsOcean;

	tmpCity = theCity;
	tmpUnitType = theUnitType;
	tmpCityLoc = tmpCity.location;
	tmpPlayer = tmpCity.owner;
	tmpIsOcean = 0;

	if(CityIsValid(tmpCity)) {
		// make sure the AI doesn't build a navy at the lake
		if(!IsHumanPlayer(tmpPlayer)) {
			if(UnitDB(tmpUnitType).WoodenShip
			|| UnitDB(tmpUnitType).IsSubmarine
			|| UnitDB(tmpUnitType).ActiveDefenseOnlyWhenCarryingEnablers
			||(!UnitDB(tmpUnitType).CanEntrench
			&& !UnitDB(tmpUnitType).NoFuelThenCrash
			&& !UnitDB(tmpUnitType).CanBeExpelled
			&& !UnitDB(tmpUnitType).CanBeSued)
			&& !UnitDB(tmpUnitType).IsSubmarine) {
				for(i = 0; i <= 7 ; i = i + 1) {
					if(GetNeighbor(tmpCityLoc, i, tmpWaterLoc)) {
						if(IsWater(tmpWaterLoc)) {
							if(GetContinentSize(tmpWaterLoc) >= (GetMapWidth() / 2)) {
								tmpIsOcean = 1;
							}
						}
					}
				}
				if(tmpIsOcean == 0) {
					return 0;
				}
			}
		}
	}
	return 1;
}

Another obsolete workaround ...

[Martin Gühmann]

This was on my TODO list before my PC died. It should help the AI a lot in the early stages.

I can't view the code at the moment (need to reinstall everything still), but does it check that the water that is next to the city is not only one water tile, or does it check if that water is connected to a water "continent", or something else?

It checks the tiles around the city. If a tile is a water tile then it checks its continent size and if the continent has more then 25 tiles the city is at an ocean.

In fact, that is a function from the original code, and was partially used in the build list selection, therefore it just appeared occasionally on my map with one city at a puddle.

-Martin

[Ekmek]

why is it 25? could instead take the movement of the unit and double it?. just thinking in terms of mod possibilities.

[Martin Gühmann]

why is it 25? could instead take the movement of the unit and double it?. just thinking in terms of mod possibilities.

I don't know why 25, for that you have to ask Activision. In fact, this is just an estimation, what would give the real answer or a better approximation is the number of adjacent land continents that water area has. If that number is bigger than one you would have some reason to go over that ocean, but also if it is big enough, so that it is a shortcut.

If you make that number dependent on the unit movement then for faster units the length saving you get by the shortcut in percent is the same, so it doesn't make sense to make it dependent on unit movement. To make it dependent on the world size isn't a good solution either, since you could have two continents on the world separated by an ocean on the equator that is smaller then half the world size.

Probably, the map generator is supposed to generate either big oceans or small puddles. Big oceans have land continents inside them and always bigger then 25 tiles and puddles are always surrounded by land and smaller then 25 tiles.

-Martin

[Maquiladora]

I updated my post a bit on how to get the source to compile. I managed to do it all in under 2hrs this time (although I had already downloaded everything).

[Maquiladora]

We seem to have died slightly...

I'm still around but I haven't had the same amount of free time I used to. At the moment I'm learning C++ in a more organised way, while I've been making a few small games along the way. I've reinstalled Visual C++ and the source so I'm still able to go back to the source code project when I get the chance.

At the moment I'm not sure what to work on. I thought about fixing the map scrolling to be based on time rather than (seemingly) the frame rate, so it isn't insanely fast on newer PC's. Is there anything more important that needs fixing (besides the AI) ?

[BureauBert]

Well, I provided some crashes that could need some fixing I currently don't have much time for fun activities either -- but I am still willing to continue crashtesting.

[Maquiladora]

Well, I provided some crashes that could need some fixing I currently don't have much time for fun activities either -- but I am still willing to continue crashtesting.

Running your mod with the debug version and a save with a repeatable crash would be a start.

If you get these crashes consistently perhaps you can narrow it down by removing all slic and gradually adding parts back in.

Another option is to try and trim down the slic, perhaps some of it can be hard coded now?

[BureauBert]

Running your mod with the debug version and a save with a repeatable crash would be a start.

I'd like to try with a debug version -- do you see any way to provide one for download? Otherwise I'd need to buy and install all this Visual C etc. stuff which I'd really rather avoid since I don't see any chance of actually working with the source code in this life.

If you get these crashes consistently perhaps you can narrow it down by removing all slic and gradually adding parts back in.

Another option is to try and trim down the slic, perhaps some of it can be hard coded now?

Well, if you take a closer look on my crashtest reports you will find that I tried several versions with and without SLIC, with and without textfile modifications etc., I also tried to include scripts step by step without gaining a hint on which parts of them (functions, event triggers) would cause/increase the probability of the crashes. It seems like any modified version on a 140 x 70 map leads to some sort of crash between turn 70 and 130. Of course I will try more variants as soon as I get some time, but anyway I think that even if the game has a problem with some pieces of SLIC, it shouldn't just crash but rather complain/give a poor modder some hint on what do do or not to do

But I also want to make clear that this is not meant as a "harsh" demand toward you or Martin G. -- I am very well aware of the fact that your resources are somewhat limited and you dont get paid for your work like anyone else in this place

[Maquiladora]

I'd like to try with a debug version -- do you see any way to provide one for download? Otherwise I'd need to buy and install all this Visual C etc. stuff which I'd really rather avoid since I don't see any chance of actually working with the source code in this life.

Read my post here on how to set up VC++ (free and legal ) yourself.

This would save you posting your mod and a crashable-saved game, but VC++ and the SDK's are a big download, and I don't know when I could have a look at the crashes myself.

[Tesreamb73]

Hi Kui,

Thanks for your help.

Would you tell more about the main modules of source
codes ? and show the related folders and php files.

Evan

[EPW]

whaaa?

[Martin Gühmann]

whaaa?

Just a bot, just copies the title of the thread, leaves out any punctuation, and adds some nonsense. I have no idea whether there is any meaning behind it, I haven't found any add link. Next time, I'll delete the post and any follow-ups. By the way, shall I do so with the "Hypothetically Speaking " thread?

-Martin

[EPW]

sure

[Martin Gühmann]

sure

Thread cleaned.

-Martin

[Maquiladora]

Fixed the Penicillin wonder, next time check what the original Great Library said:

Who added the line "Increases the food production of every city in the host empire by {WonderDB(Wonder[0]).IncreaseFoodAllCities} food units" to the new GL? "Units" is obviously not a percentage increase, so you should blame the person that edited the new GL instead of me.

[Martin Gühmann]

Who added the line "Increases the food production of every city in the host empire by {WonderDB(Wonder[0]).IncreaseFoodAllCities} food units" to the new GL?

Can't you figure it out yourself? Well, then it is difficult to check what was there in the original version. Anyway, what was the revision number when that modified GL was added?

-Martin

[Maquiladora]

Well, then it is difficult to check what was there in the original version. Anyway, what was the revision number when that modified GL was added?

I don't know. Why is that important? The wonder is working as it was before (if you reverted my changes), so just remove the new line from the Penicillin wonder in the GL.

[Martin Gühmann]

I don't know. Why is that important? The wonder is working as it was before (if you reverted my changes), so just remove the new line from the Penicillin wonder in the GL.

In fact, it is just a little exercise. If a problem shows up in one of the test versions than you would like to know, when it was introduced or was it always in. This way, you can narrow down the change that causes the problem.

In this case, it is not such a big deal to figure out, when it was introduced, probably it is a little bit more difficult to figure out what the original GL said, since the original GL is not in the repository. But of course it is strange that don't find it in the French GL for instance.

-Martin

[EPW]

I've recently updated to the latest revision[1039] from a revision newer than the current release(somewhere in the 1020's maybe) and have two semi-major problems.

1. This one is strange: the game doesn't recognize the "NoUnits" flag in strategies.txt file. I had to comment them out.
2. I get a crash when I quit the game(Is this new?). No crash.txt generated.

I'm using the final with logging executable.