Escort balancing

To make that level of customizability map specific without a script file... you would need a shitload of keyvalues... or use flags on an entity... providing there are enough flags available for all the different research options

 

Some suggestions for possible tech levels:

Tech 0 - Plain tanks/APCs/Jeeps with paper armor and engines.
Tech 1 - Medium Tanks with paper armor and engines, with some weapons available.
Tech 2 - Medium Tanks with all armor and engines available, and a moderate amount of weapons.
Tech 3 - Heavies with all armor and engines available and nearly all weapons available.
Tech 4 - Arty tanks.
Tech 5 - Nukes.

I haven't decided what weapons could be available at what tech level, but the more powerful ones would need a higher tech level, so for example: plasma weapons would need Tech level 3, or maybe they could be tech level 4, and arty and nukes would be bumped a level up.

 

Can't bit-based keyvalues be used? It's used in TFC to allow combined settings. So you could enable medium tank chassis and arty tank, but not heavy tank chassis.

 

It should also be able to distinguish between NF and BE imo, so you can have BE with only heavy tanks and NF with APC's and arty if you wish.

 

Thats how the flags on entities work. And you would still need several keyvalues to avoid extremely huge numbers. IMO if there's enough space in the flag settings, use that. It would be much less confusing to those who have never worked with bit based keyvalues.

 

Code:

Goal Activation Bitfields (g_a) Determines how the item will be activated, dropped and removed/restored. Possible values include: 
0 - None
No special activation effects.


1 - Player Glows
When the player is given the item, they will gain a glowing "aura". (this appears to be unimplemented)


2 - Move at Half Speed
As long as the player is carrying the item, they will only be able to move at half the maximum normal speed for their class.


4 - Drop Item on Death
If the player is killed while carrying the item, it will be Dropped.


8 - Return upon Death-Drop
As soon as the item is Dropped (either because the player died or because they threw the item), it will be returned to its starting location instantly.


16 - Return if Removed by Goal
If a goal removes the item (as specified by the Remove Item from AP property), it will be returned to its starting location instantly.


32 - Return if (128) is Set
If the item has a Pause time, and the item is removed after that time, it will be instantly returned to its starting location.


64 - If AP Fails Criteria
The player will only be able to pick up the item if they fail the criteria (team, class, etc.), rather than meeting it.


128 - Remove after Pause
If the item is dropped, it will stay on the ground a number of seconds (as specified by Pause), and then be removed from the game.


256 - Keep Item when Player Dies
The player carrying the item keeps it even if they die.


512 - Glows when Not Carried
If the item is not being carried and is not Removed (it is Dropped or at its starting place), it will glow with a colored "aura". The color is controlled by the Owned By or Owned By Teamcheck property.


1024 - Player Keeps Effects
Normally, when a player throws an item, they lose its effects. (being slowed to half-speed, glowing, etc.) If this is set, the player will keep those effects even after losing the item, and will only lose the effects after respawning.


2048 - Drop to Ground at Spawn
If the player was allowed to keep the item after respawning, as soon as they spawn they will automatically throw the item.


4096 - Is Droppable
Unless this bit is set, the player will not be able to intentionally throw the item.


8192 - Is Solid
The item will be literally "solid" (not be able to be walked through) to player who do not meet the criteria of the item, and thusly cannot pick it up.


This is a toggleflag-style property, so the numeric values listed above can be added to create any combonation of these activation criteria. For more information on using toggleflag-style properties, see Using ToggleFlag Properties in TFC. 

The bitbased system for item_tfgoal in TFC. Combining them allows multiple things to be active, except with -1 and 1.
I believe there is a limit to flags, i remember seeing a list of flags in the hl2 source code which also had a comment stating the limit.

 

Now imagine that same thing with every empires research listed instead. I (quickly) counted all the research items, theres 49.

So, for the bit-based keyvalues, you may need to use numbers in the range of 562,949,953,421,312. That's a bit excessive IMO

 

You have a limit of 32 flags.

 

Then I guess we would have to split up the researches into multiple keyvalues. Like all the biology researches in one keyvalue, all the mechanical engineering researches in another, and so on.

 

Or you could just do it by research level like I originally suggested.

 

That was kinda my point. I'm showing how complicated it would be to have any combination of research already done on a per map basis. While what you suggest doesn't allow for full customization, its more feasible.