The Art of War version 0.1

[Shwart!!]

I greatly appreciate that.

Upload complete.
Site is http://happyhrs.net/dar
Link is... http://happyhrs.net/dar/wp-uploads/shwart/TAoW0.1.zip

Most maps are in the initial testing phase, but two are ready for beta testing. These are Router937 and Primary_Core. In both, the objective is to eliminate your enemy, but Router937 also has the Capture Primary_Core objective and Primary_Core has the Master Image reprogram objective.
Shwart!!

[Testrie]

I greatly appreciate that.

Upload in under an hour.
Site is http://happyhrs.net/dar
Link is... unknown, for now.
Shwart!!

I hope I will be able to play it...

tes

[martin]

I greatly appreciate that.

Upload complete.
Site is http://happyhrs.net/dar
Link is... http://happyhrs.net/dar/wp-uploads/shwart/TAoW0.1.zip

Most maps are in the initial testing phase, but two are ready for beta testing. These are Router937 and Primary_Core. In both, the objective is to eliminate your enemy, but Router937 also has the Capture Primary_Core objective and Primary_Core has the Master Image reprogram objective.
Shwart!!

and thanks to my replacement graphics card that arrived yesterday I'll be able to test it! yay

[Shwart!!]

Next update around Friday- though it may take longer if nobody gives input on how to improve my maps.

[martin]

well I'll try to download it tonight, although my replacement seems to be just as broken as the original

[xander]

Next update around Friday- though it may take longer if nobody gives input on how to improve my maps.

I loaded it up, but didn't play too much. Comments:

• You should include a readme. Even though this is only an "alpha", people will want to know what they are supposed to do -- what levels are playable, what they are looking for, &c. This is especially important, because you have not put any mission objectives into your missions, and I have no idea what I am supposed to be doing.
• In game.txt, you should probably make the unfinished levels unplayable. Either make them unavailable, by setting the correct column to zero, or assign a mission of "null" (all lowercase letters). This will make it easier for people to find the missions that they are supposed to be testing.
• Personally, I don't much like the Uplink screenshots. They change in a disconcerting fashion (unlike Dr. S, who looks like he might be talking), and don't really scale well. However, that is just a personal opinion, and is the last time that I will mention it, whether it changes or not. Feel free to ignore me.
• It is trivial to get an engineer to the four ControlTowers in Router_937. Cross the water, and go around the fence, then take the control towers. Engineers are immune to lasers, and red DGs don't use 'nades enough to be a real threat. As I don't know what the mission objective is, I can't say if this is cheating or not, but it certainly felt like it.
• In Router_937, I feel that the distance between your start location and the first easily reachable SpawnPoint (where the level really begins) is too far. It takes forever and a day to get units across that, and, quite frankly, I lost patience. One of two suggestions -- put a capturable ControlTower near the far end of the map, and something for the player to fight through to get there, or move the ControlTower/Trunkport combination to the other side of the map.

M'kay, that is all for the moment.

xander

[Shwart!!]

I will include a readme in the next alpha. My real reason for having an alpha was for people to take a look at the maps, see what could be improved, etc. Mainly in coloring. Thus all maps are available.

There is a good reason for the Uplink screenshots-storyline related- though I'll work on getting them working right.

The objective in Router_937 is to wipe out the enemy and take the TP to Primary_Core. The 4 CTs give you 4 spawnpoints that spawn 10 DGs each every minute. They are not too helpful to your cause, but they are necessary to capture, else the red DGs will never die. I don't see outflanking Dr. S as a problem, as it does not make it significantly easier.
I'll move the start point somewhat.

And Martin, if both VCs are broken, it might be the motherboard. Just throwing out an idea.

EDIT: xander, any idea why the TP to Senate isn't yellow at the start in Router_937? It is set to be yellow in the editor.

Also, while Router_937 is now possible to complete, I cannot do it myself. I'm a noob When alpha 0.2 comes out, I would appreciate if some people could take a look, and see if they can beat it.

The reason the objectives aren't there is because I don't know how to set objectives.

[martin]

And Martin, if both VCs are broken, it might be the motherboard. Just throwing out an idea.

this had crossed my mind, um, no, i mean;

that's impossible! shut up! I don't need to take out my MB and go computerless for a month!



downloading the mod now...

[The GoldFish]

In Router I just ran engineers around the laserfence and took over the trunks and the control towers at the rocket arc thing, and put all my darwinians in an armour and ran around the water.

Then I had to commet ethnic cleansing to make sure I had green DGs instead of yellow ones, as you can't officer yellow DGs, and you can't select an officer in follow mode when it's surrounded by them.

Also, delete all your building info in game.txt, it doesn't need to be there - that'll be what's overriding your team settings.

All the spam cubes in that other mission made me just leave the location - I hate spam cubes.

[martin]

ahem, remember GRID fondly

[Testrie]

Shwart, your mod now has a page on the site.

It also has a very long and difficult to remember name: http://happyhrs.net/dar/the-art-of-war/. I hope you don't mind too much. (And don't forget to edit it when you have the time.

I downloaded your mod. Now only if that computer lab "teacher" would stop watching me...

EDIT: Oh, I almost forgot...
tes

[Shwart!!]

I don't know how much time I have- the powers been blinking here on the West Coast.

TGF, only one cube is hard to take. Three can be easily attacked by squads from nearby CTs, and the third is virtually defenseless. I also need more specifics as to the game.txt thing- I don't understand what you mean.

Tes, I don't know how to edit the new page, but thank you nonetheless.

Will try to continue work for now...

Shwart!!

[Testrie]

I don't know how much time I have- the powers been blinking here on the West Coast.

TGF, only one cube is hard to take. Three can be easily attacked by squads from nearby CTs, and the third is virtually defenseless. I also need more specifics as to the game.txt thing- I don't understand what you mean.

Tes, I don't know how to edit the new page, but thank you nonetheless.

Will try to continue work for now...

Shwart!!

1) game.txt: go to your mod folder. You should see a text file called game.txt. Find the lines Buildings_StartDefinition and Buildings_EndDefinition. You should see a long list between these two lines. These are your buildings. You don't need the ones whose line ends with 0. (basically, the section should look like this:

Code: Select all

Buildings_StartDefinition
   # Id  teamId  locId   type   link  online
   # =======================================
     14    1      3     39     -1      1
Buildings_EndDefinition

2) on the page, isn't there an edit button? (under the title, after posted by Shwart) ... but i'm not sure. Wordpress can be a bit wierd sometimes.

tes

[Shwart!!]

1. Huh? Wouldn't that just remove my buildings?

2. There is not.

Shwart!!

[xander]

1. Huh? Wouldn't that just remove my buildings?

No. The buildings are actually stored in the mission and map files. In game.txt, only the status of buildings is kept -- i.e. online vs offline. There are a few buildings that should be left in -- anything that you want online by default, and any dynamic building that is used as a mission objective (this is to work around the IsLinuxBust bug -- it may have been fixed, but I can't remember, right off). Any other buildings can be safely removed.

xander