Community Campaign (Dow 1)

[KeNDaLL2000]

Anyway, it doesn't sound that hard to me, but will take some "secretarial" work keeping track of everything......start off small.....

I really want to create a self sufficient system if at all possible so that we do not have to keep policing each and every game. i was hoping i could achieve this in several ways:

-Only make cretin maps available for the specific meta map or campaign battle which i would do regardless
-Appoint people as moderators to try to enforce some laws if any.
-Try to create some sort of point counting system to keep score off and online. ETC

Also i want to try to attract people which will be a little harder seeing as most people ether have stopped playing, or have moved on to DOW 2....

[SteviEboY]

I like the idea of keeping it simple but making it different.

So if honour Guard is difficult to add then leave it out, from what you were saying Redeemed I thought it was going to be simple. Is it?

Have you decided which one of the four this is going to get played on? Is it going to be for Soulstorm? If that's the case maybe you should get a moderator to move it into that section. That might get some more people looking at it.

So Kendall, how can we help you in this.? You have some ideas, can you elaborate on them a bit more, I get the moderator one but I am not sure how you mean on the map front and with the counting system.

If you are restricting the number of maps how will the campaign be played - will it be played in the same was a Dark Crusade and Soulstorm?

[Redeemed74]

The only hard part would be keeping track of how many units need to be added each time. If you had a list of what needs to be there, the actual process of adding the honor guard and forward base with the map editor is as easy as eating cake! Anybody (that's at least a teenager) can learn to do it in a short bit of time, at least if we are talking about Dark Crusade. If it's for SS, we need to manage it with a scar script and there would be a lot more room for errors, unless we get a DC Mod set up that allows SoB and DE squads to be added or if some high powered programmer like Fuggles, Argonaut, TYoungls or someone comes along who can make it so that the scripts automatically get generated. For now I strongly suggest either keeping it in DC for simplicities sake.

For the fun of it I just spruced up a map with Honor Guard and Forward Bases for everyone. It took about 15 minutes to add the units, and another 20 to change the filename info, copy the mini and icon maps, run it up in DC to make sure there wasn't some weird problem, package it in a .zip and upload it. Here's a screenshot of how to add the units:



As long as whoever adds the units keeps some sense as to where they place them (so they are by the starting position for each player) and more particularly the structures (reasonably strategic locations) it really is quite simple. The standard honor units end with "sp" and normally don't take up squad cap, or take a reduced cap.

Here is the map if anyone wants to give it a go:

http://www.snapdrive.net/files/57328...ch_03_icon.zip

Player 1 is SM, 2 Eldar, 3 Orks and 4 Chaos.

[KeNDaLL2000]

I like the idea of keeping it simple but making it different.

So if honour Guard is difficult to add then leave it out, from what you were saying Redeemed I thought it was going to be simple. Is it?

Is it going to be for Soulstorm?

.....front and with the counting system.

If you are restricting the number of maps......

Well Yes this is going to Be for SS since there are more races that we can fiddle around with. Ill see if one of the mods will move it to that section

Now then when i was referring to restricting maps i was says that we won't release all the campaign maps at a time so that we won't have people jumping to the "final battle" and or "hq"

Since we are probably going to edit he maps anyways and force people to download them i thought y not just make new maps or use ones that fit...

i will type more later when i get home as I'm still at school and im not suppose to be typing this...Keep up the good work

[Redeemed74]

Ok, if Soulstorm is the best I'm sure we can still do the Honor Guard and/or forward bases with a script, if we want them. My goal will be to make it as easy as possible and create a tutorial so that most anyone could learn how to do it. I can make a basic system where every map will just need a series of markers for where things will be placed if/when they are going to be used. Then we will just need to make adjustments to a script that tells which units to put where with no more modifications to the map. What I can make with my limited abilities will still require manual work each time, but some genius out there might be able to nearly automate it based on a few values.

[SteviEboY]

If people are going to be expected to mod and stuff then I am out. It sounds like it's going to fall foul due to the nature of what you are trying to achieve. It's maybe a bit over ambitious.

I have no modding skills and the one and only time I tried to make a map I got so angry I nearly exploded.

The problem with creating new maps entirely is time. The longer this takes to get off the ground the longer you have for people to lose interest.

I see your point Kendall about the HQs and restricting maps. It could be a very short campaign otherwise.

[Redeemed74]

Before you bail out, let me give a better example of how this will be done, and keep in mind that not everyone needs to do this. Here is a sample of the code taken from Bloody Corner. I have highlighted in blue the only thing that anyone needs to pay any attention to:

if getval({"PlayerRace",0}) == "guard_race" then
print ("PlayerRace is guard_race")
DoItNow({ {"Squad","player1","start1_squad1","guard_squad_guardsmen_advance_sp","start1_squad1"},
{"Squad","player1","start1_squad2","guard_squad_commissar_advance_sp","start1_squad2"},
{"Squad","player1","start1_squad3","guard_squad_lemanruss_advance_sp","start1_squad3"},
{"Squad","player1","start1_squad4","guard_squad_sentinel_advance_sp","start1_squad4"},
{"Squad","player1","start1_squad5","guard_squad_guardsmen_advance_sp","start1_squad5"},
}) end

These lines simply say that at the start the player will receive as honor guard a squad of guardsmen, a commissar, a lemanruss tank, a sentinel and another guardsmen squad. The "advance sp" simply means that they are honor guard units that do not take squad or vehicle caps, but once they die in game they can not be replaced. I can generate all the code we will need and the maps they go with, but someone is going to need to modify them to fit each scenario. The only thing that will need to be done is to eliminate the Honor Guard units that should not appear, done by adding "--" before any line we don't want to use. Let's make it so that in this scenario the IG player does not get a Lemanruss tank or extra squad of guardsmen:

if getval({"PlayerRace",0}) == "guard_race" then
print ("PlayerRace is guard_race")
DoItNow({ {"Squad","player1","start1_squad1","guard_squad_guardsmen_advance_sp","start1_squad1"},
{"Squad","player1","start1_squad2","guard_squad_commissar_advance_sp","start1_squad2"},
-- {"Squad","player1","start1_squad3","guard_squad_lemanruss_advance_sp","start1_squad3"},
{"Squad","player1","start1_squad4","guard_squad_sentinel_advance_sp","start1_squad4"},
-- {"Squad","player1","start1_squad5","guard_squad_guardsmen_advance_sp","start1_squad5"},
}) end

The "--" before a line makes it so that that line is not read by the computer and it will be skipped. If it looks like I'm a programmer, really I'm not! TYoungLs set up this system in EZScar and I just learned how to do it! Whoever sets up the match just needs to go in and cancel out any lines that should not run. You save the script and email it or post it for everyone involved to be able to get. As long as they are bright enough to be able to put it in their "MP" folder where all downloaded maps go then it will work. If some smarty pants decides to go in and give himself double what he should have, the surprise will be on him as he will get a sync error and be kicked out by the game itself!

Ok, now that you know more about what I'm suggesting go ahead and decide if this is what you want or not. I really don't want to overcomplicate it but if this would do it then it is in everyone's best interest to drop my suggestion and go with what you feel most comfortable with. The way I see it, KenDaLL is first in command and should make the final decision, but StieviEboy has had a lot of experience in this area and his input should not be overlooked. I can make a contribution to help get this whole thing started but won't be able to be highly involved in the ongoing running of it (although I could for a while until things got up and going.) So I'm just making suggestions for consideration, you guys make the decisions.

[KeNDaLL2000]

If people are going to be expected to mod and stuff then I am out. It sounds like it's going to fall foul due to the nature of what you are trying to achieve. It's maybe a bit over ambitious.

That is what im concened about...i want to do enought to make it intresting but not do to much so that we don't over work ourselves. As you can see ive been very slow in responding here due to my school work and other life activities. I would like to implemnt scar and hounr guard an all that if it will be as simple as you says Redeemed.


Ok well if where going to be make this our own we might as well do it right. Frankly, it would be best if we made our own maps and scar. Another idea regarding each campaign maps we should have the different verisans of the map to fit the players style - 1v1, 2v2 3v3 - it will be pretty simple if we approach it the right way.

Now then regarding the actual "meta map" and the number of maps.... i want there to be at least 7 - 11 maps in this first run through

[Redeemed74]

7 or 8 Maps with just two opposing teams might be a good start. Why don't we split up the responsibilities where KeNDaLL makes the storyline and specifies what kind of maps he wants. I think we should not try to make the maps totally from scratch as that is a whole lot of work, but I do have a lot of half made ones we could draw from so that they would at least be unique but not take weeks to create. I can do all the scar programming as well for this first campaign, althouth at some time I would like to train up someone else for when I get really swamped with other things or need to travel. SteviEboy might be able to set up and moderate the actual gameplay and wouldn't need to do any modding, mapping or scar programing. This still leaves out the MetaMap and possibly a website - any takers?

[ForgeFather]

try freewebs.com, I have 2 websites on there and there not bad, simple to use and put up