When viewing the units in your mod, I noticed that the Dire Penguin, Polar Bear and Snow Troll don't have the Snow Wanderer ability, and I think they should have it

Yep, you're right about the Dire penguin. Forgot about it =)

Speaking about uPatch units... We didn't touch them at all, since they don't affect our usual test environment. So you should probably take a closer look at them, because there's probably more stuff that conceptually should have been implemented, but wasn't.

Yeah, some units should probably get higher levels of Forestry or Mountaineering or something like that, we'll look into it.

Another thing I found while playing around with MPE:

Quoted from changelog:

Surrender is disabled by default

Unfortunately this change works only with RMG scenarios. If you can make it disabled for custom maps too...

[This message has been edited by PawelS (edited 05-26-2011 @ 04:24 PM).]

Unfortunately this change works only with RMG scenarios. If you can make it disabled for custom maps too...

Nice catch, we'll fix it.

This is awesome.

Well, this is great work, and very exciting for me

Thank you for your efforts, and thank you for sharing them!

I've got a couple of questions:

1. I searched for a response to Pawels' Invoke Death ability but couldn't find it. Is it possible? I.e. a touch ability that kills the unit immediately, to be used by the Reaper?

2. "Endurance" ability available as an upgrade. It would give the unit more retaliation strikes. So, Endurance 1 would give 5 retaliation strikes, etc.

Thanks again!

Brad

I have no idea how feasible any of this would be, but you said we could ask for the priorly impossible, so...

1. An easy way for modders to create custom movement abilities--variants on sailing/swimming. So I could make mountain-dwelling giants with religious taboos against leaving the mountains, or drill-tanks that can only maneuver underground, or a giant serpent that lives in the border or a ship that sails the Shadow Void. Awesome stuff like that.

2. A way to move large areas of terrain in the editor. Say I make an island, then realize I put my island in the wrong place. But I just spent three hours getting the island just right, and I don't want to start over. Could there be a way to copy-paste it? Add it as an item on the palette? Select the whole thing and click-and-drag it? Anything? That'd be *incredible*.

3. Custom tactical combat maps. I especially want a way to do shipboard combat--it feels silly having the ship act as a unit in the fight, and the only way for the crew to affect the battle is for them to be capable of water travel on their own, which makes boats kind of obsolete. Also, a fix to the bug on the tactical combat map that makes water passable to non-water-capable units in fights on bridges would be very nice. But other custom TC maps would be sweet as well, especially if it could be opened up to modding. You could do map-specific maps--say have a magic vault with walls, or a haunted crypt with a death-type Enchanted Walls effect, or have tactical combat in an underground labyrinth actually happen in a section of labyrinth.

4. Fixed Transportation ability for heroes. For a map I never actually finished designing, I wanted to make a haunted ship as a hero, but putting transportation on heroes doesn't work properly.

5. User-modifiable building properties--so for example, the ability for a modder to set up a watchtower with True Seeing or a node that also grants a gold income. (I think you might already be able to do something like that, but damned if I know how.)

@ The_Stranger

I searched for a response to Pawels' Invoke Death ability but couldn't find it. Is it possible? I.e. a touch ability that kills the unit immediately, to be used by the Reaper?

If we succeed in adding completely new abilities, this shouldn't be a problem. If we don't - well, this still shouldn't be a problem, it's just we don't have a lot unused abilities lying around, so we will need to choose carefully which ideas to implement and which not to.

"Endurance" ability available as an upgrade. It would give the unit more retaliation strikes. So, Endurance 1 would give 5 retaliation strikes, etc.

That's a very nice idea! Should be doable (of course, the same condition about adding abilities is applied).

---

@ Witty Username

An easy way for modders to create custom movement abilities--variants on sailing/swimming. So I could make mountain-dwelling giants with religious taboos against leaving the mountains, or drill-tanks that can only maneuver underground, or a giant serpent that lives in the border or a ship that sails the Shadow Void. Awesome stuff like that.

Some of the things you mentioned are already possible. Mountain-dwelling giants are just units with Mountaineering, but w/o Walking. Similar thing about underground only units: Cave crawling but no Walking. (A giant snake that lives where?..)

But anyway, it is planned to add movement customizing to abilities editing, along with another features (adjusting Atk/Def/etc. bonuses, elemental protections/weaknesses/immunities, concealments and anything else we can come up with).

A way to move large areas of terrain in the editor. Say I make an island, then realize I put my island in the wrong place. But I just spent three hours getting the island just right, and I don't want to start over. Could there be a way to copy-paste it? Add it as an item on the palette? Select the whole thing and click-and-drag it? Anything? That'd be *incredible*.

I doubt this is possible - we can't do such heavy adjustments in GUI.

Custom tactical combat maps.

Well, they already can be edited. But you want a lot more than it's currently possible, so let's move to these things =)

I especially want a way to do shipboard combat--it feels silly having the ship act as a unit in the fight, and the only way for the crew to affect the battle is for them to be capable of water travel on their own, which makes boats kind of obsolete.

Impossible.

Also, a fix to the bug on the tactical combat map that makes water passable to non-water-capable units in fights on bridges would be very nice.

Yes, it really looks kinda stupid. We'll see what we can do.

But other custom TC maps would be sweet as well, especially if it could be opened up to modding. You could do map-specific maps--say have a magic vault with walls, or a haunted crypt with a death-type Enchanted Walls effect, or have tactical combat in an underground labyrinth actually happen in a section of labyrinth.

It's impossible to create map-specific TC maps, but it may be possible to attach select structure's TC map(s) in a mod.

Fixed Transportation ability for heroes. For a map I never actually finished designing, I wanted to make a haunted ship as a hero, but putting transportation on heroes doesn't work properly.

What exactly "doesn't work properly" means?

User-modifiable building properties--so for example, the ability for a modder to set up a watchtower with True Seeing or a node that also grants a gold income. (I think you might already be able to do something like that, but damned if I know how.)

Structures aren't units, therefor they can't have abilities, and I don't think we can change it. Ability to mix different types of structures... I don't know, sounds a bit more realistic, but just a little bit.

[This message has been edited by HellBrick (edited 05-29-2011 @ 02:35 AM).]

Hello Hellbrick,

And many thanks for the replies!

I've used "Strangle" to create the "Invoke Death" ability in a mod of my own, and it works ok (damage set to 99) but it doesn't always kill the unit! Personally, we have so many paralyzing abilities right now, it would be nice to have something different.

Regarding Endurance, it would be pretty cool! I can already think of things I would replace.... :-o

You've already fulfilled one of my wishes: domain of mud. Now, when you cast the wetlands spell, it functions like muddy domain for non swimmers (as long as there is swamp), could swamp concealment be next??? And what about Draconians and Orcs growing crops on the swamp?

You've opened up a whole new world for me, thanks!

could swamp concealment be next???

As I already mentioned, it's planned to add possibility to add terrain-concealment features to any (passive) abilities. So even if we won't be able to add new abilities after all, it will be possible to easily create Swamp concealment from something else.

And what about Draconians and Orcs growing crops on the swamp?

Translating to generic interpretation: customizable crops terrain lists for races =) This should be easy. Makes sense to add possibility to change friendly/unfriendly terrains as well.

[This message has been edited by HellBrick (edited 05-29-2011 @ 06:12 AM).]

Some of the things you mentioned are already possible. Mountain-dwelling giants are just units with Mountaineering, but w/o Walking. Similar thing about underground only units: Cave crawling but no Walking. (A giant snake that lives where?..)

Unfortunately this doesn't work, I remember I tried to make a unit with Forestry and no Walking, but it crashed the game in tactical combat. I don't remember if I tried it with Mountaineering and Cave Crawling, but I suppose they can cause the crash as well.

As I already mentioned, it's planned to add possibility to add terrain-concealment features to any (passive) abilities. So even if we won't be able to add new abilities after all, it will be possible to easily create Swamp concealment from something else.

Yeah, adding Swamp Concealment, Lava Concealment and Shadowland Concealment would be a good idea. Also, perhaps units with Desert Concealment should be also concealed on Beach, and Units with Snow Concealment on Ice (or make it Snow Concealment II that gives concealment on Ice).

Translating to generic interpretation: customizable crops terrain lists for races =) This should be easy. Makes sense to add possibility to change friendly/unfriendly terrains as well.

This would be great.

Unfortunately this doesn't work, I remember I tried to make a unit with Forestry and no Walking, but it crashed the game in tactical combat.

Whoops, forgot they need something to stand on in TC... Lava and dirt will still work, problem is with mountains and forests. Don't know a way around this...

[This message has been edited by HellBrick (edited 05-29-2011 @ 01:01 PM).]

hey hellbrick. I was just wondering, since this patch has its own executables, does that mean it's possible to use it with other mods? For example, could we play brace new world 3.2 resources with this patch? the reason i'm asking is because I love the artwork on some of the changes in BNW but your patch makes the game so much more balanced.

Yes, it's possible to port mods to MPE. I wouldn't recommend doing it yourself though, better ask the author of the mod you're interested in - it's much less likely he will miss something important.

Anyway, the easiest way is to copy the target mod resource folder to %aowdir%\MP Evolution folder and then fix whatever needs to be fixed with MPE editor. The most important things to notice are ability changes: Crusader/Build watch tower are Snow wanderer/Dig an adit now, some units almost certainly are gonna be changed because of that. Levels of Block should be adjasted... And it's only what came to my mind while I was writing the post; the most accurate approach is to go through the change log and see how exactly patch changes are gonna affect the mod.

Last time I tried a hero with the Transportation ability, it just didn't do anything. The rest of the party didn't get carried. It had transport VII, so I don't know if the decrease in maximum stack size still applies, and I didn't try adding a regular transport unit to the stack, so I don't know if that applies, but I do know that none of the benefits of transport worked.

Also, one thing I forgot to mention: A lot of maps feature miscellaneous items that list an attribute bonus among their properties (e.g., Resistance +2), and as far as I can tell, that does nothing for an item in the backpack, similar to how you don't get the bonus for a sword that's not equipped. Could the way the game reads items be changed so that attribute bonuses on miscellaneous items are applied?

Yes, allowing Use items to change stats would be good. Having snow concealment work on ice, and desert concealment work on beach, would be excellent

Could the way the game reads items be changed so that attribute bonuses on miscellaneous items are applied?

Should be possible, I guess.

Having snow concealment work on ice, and desert concealment work on beach, would be excellent

Ok.

Not sure if it's just me, but there seem to be a few bugs with customised wizards in the editor, as the customisations don't always save, and they always set the wizard as owned by Player 0.

See here for an example.

[This message has been edited by hatstand (edited 05-31-2011 @ 04:40 AM).]

Yes, I see it. Gonna fix the bug ASAP - which is unfortunately not in the next few days, have a very tight schedule IRL these days... Probably will be able to work on this issue at this weekend.

Norton is automatically deleting this file for me, saying it's a threat, based on their WS.Reputation thing (first time it's popped up for me, wasn't sure what it was). Safe to ignore?

Also, how does this actually work? Do I select it like a mod from the AOW: Setup, or does it create a copy of the game elsewhere and leave my original installation untouched?

What is it 'based' on; patch 1.3, or upatch 1.4, or does it not contain changes/additions from these at all?

Looking forward to see this completed.

Also, how does this actually work? Do I select it like a mod from the AOW: Setup, or does it create a copy of the game elsewhere and leave my original installation untouched?

Patch has its own executables for the game, editor and settings; and MPE mods are stored separately from SM mods as well. So the patch doesn't affect original game and vice versa. It's like another installation in the same folder: MPE and SM share graphics, sounds, etc., but use own files/registry keys for mods and other stuff that work differently.

What is it 'based' on; patch 1.3, or upatch 1.4, or does it not contain changes/additions from these at all?

It's based on uPatch 1.4 (and a couple multiplayer mods for it).

Norton is automatically deleting this file for me, saying it's a threat, based on their WS.Reputation thing (first time it's popped up for me, wasn't sure what it was). Safe to ignore?

Sure. Norton is probably being paranoid about accessing registry or some of the techniques used in the new game exe.

[This message has been edited by HellBrick (edited 06-01-2011 @ 05:53 AM).]

Anyway, the easiest way is to copy the target mod resource folder to %aowdir%\MP Evolution folder and then fix whatever needs to be fixed with MPE editor.


Thanks for that tip!

Hi and, THANKS!!!!!

Suggestions:
1. Itīs possible add a -20 or -30 relationship by default with the another races? I donīt like that easily you can conquest another races and build creatures... and for example that a tigran hero joins to frostlings...

2.Itīs possible to pass the 20 limit of the attack or res stats?

3.Iīts posible to see teleporters in random maps? (like magic relays)

4.Itīs possible create in a city unique units or creat heros? In my mod, I would like that the tigrans could craete avatars of gods, for example Anubis, but I donīt want that you can create 2 or 5 Anubis...

Continue....

5.Itīs possible that in a group, can not be 2 times the same creature? I want can be 3 archers in the same group, but not 3 captains. I was triying with transport ability.....

6.Itīs posible morph a creature to a hero?

7.I read that itīs nice to reset xp to 0 when morph, I think so, but, what happens with a creature as a vampire that morphs into a bat and again into a vampire?

8.Itņs possible to see steppe in random maps?

9.Iīts posible to add in the editor more special animation fields?

10.I think that fire spread and frost blowing are too similar to breaths... itīs posible limit, as pawels editor suggest limit frost blowing to 3 times per day? Then 2 unused abilities to mod..

11.Same with Throw spear, fire crosbow and shot jabelin.... I think that using only one of these with diferent levels itīs posible to cover all needs... for example... a cosbow is fire crosbow level 1; to throw spear, fire crosbow level 3 but 1 shoot per day....

12.Itīs posible to create a breath of web? I would like to create a great spider that breaths a web.

13.In my mod, I want to change the Devour ability to Drain Soul and the Spawn larva to create a new ability that spawns another creature, (an undead) but, the creature generated with this ability is placed in 355, and itīs garrison unit of the shadow demons.... Itīs posible change the target creature of the spawn larva (and the same for dragon grouth, etc)? or itīs possible to change the default garrisons creatures of a race?


Excuse my english and....
THANKS again!!!

10.I think that fire spread and frost blowing are too similar to breaths... itīs posible limit, as pawels editor suggest limit frost blowing to 3 times per day? Then 2 unused abilities to mod..

This is what we're going to do in v1.5

1. Itīs possible add a -20 or -30 relationship by default with the another races? I donīt like that easily you can conquest another races and build creatures... and for example that a tigran hero joins to frostlings...

It probably is. Morals/relationship system needs some fixes anyway...

2.Itīs possible to pass the 20 limit of the attack or res stats?

I'm not sure, it can be pretty difficult to remove the limit from all the places it occurs. But it wouldn't hurt to try, I guess =)

3.Iīts posible to see teleporters in random maps? (like magic relays)

It's basically the same thing =) We'll try to deal with relays first and then we'll think about teleporters (to be honest, I'm not sure they fit well in RMG maps)

4.Itīs possible create in a city unique units or creat heros? In my mod, I would like that the tigrans could craete avatars of gods, for example Anubis, but I donīt want that you can create 2 or 5 Anubis...

Building heroes is impossible. Unique units, on the other hand... By using something similar to Pioneers' technique, it's probably possible to achieve this effect.

5.Itīs possible that in a group, can not be 2 times the same creature? I want can be 3 archers in the same group, but not 3 captains. I was triying with transport ability.....

If Transport can do this, then why wouldn't another ability =) But again, adding new abilities is just a plan at the moment, so no promises on this one.

6.Itīs posible morph a creature to a hero?

Nope, units only. And there's nothing we can do with it.

7.I read that itīs nice to reset xp to 0 when morph, I think so, but, what happens with a creature as a vampire that morphs into a bat and again into a vampire?

I guess the creature loses all the exp =)

8.Itņs possible to see steppe in random maps?

It's already possible =)

9.Iīts posible to add in the editor more special animation fields?

To add more what?

10.I think that fire spread and frost blowing are too similar to breaths... itīs posible limit, as pawels editor suggest limit frost blowing to 3 times per day? Then 2 unused abilities to mod..

It's possible, but only another breath-ability can be created from this stuff.

12.Itīs posible to create a breath of web? I would like to create a great spider that breaths a web.

Should be possible.

Itīs posible change the target creature of the spawn larva (and the same for dragon grouth, etc)?

Yes, it will be made editable.

[This message has been edited by HellBrick (edited 06-01-2011 @ 12:17 PM).]

Morals/relationship system needs some fixes anyway...

Hmm, what about decreasing the city morale depending on its growth level? Then the player would have to build some buildings to bring it back to reasonable levels or use an army to pacify it (like in Civilization games).

Also, I think it would be nice to display the numerical values of the racial relations and morale in the game...

To add more what?

I think he meant more Special animations of a unit body, now there is only one Special animation that can be used for selected abilities (SpecialAnimationAbilities), it would be better if there are different special animations for different abilities.

Hmm, what about decreasing the city morale depending on its growth level? Then the player would have to build some buildings to bring it back to reasonable levels or use an army to pacify it (like in Civilization games).

It's easy to implement, but not so easy to decide if it's a right thing to do.

Also, I think it would be nice to display the numerical values of the racial relations and morale in the game...

Yes, it would be cool... The main problem is adding new GUI elements is unlikely to happen.

I think he meant more Special animations of a unit body, now there is only one Special animation that can be used for selected abilities (SpecialAnimationAbilities), it would be better if there are different special animations for different abilities.

Impossible.

Yes, it would be cool... The main problem is adding new GUI elements is unlikely to happen.

Well, I think it doesn't need new GUI elements, just change the texts, for example "The Party is Cheerful" to "The Party is Cheerful (90)" or "Your relation with the Humans is Friendly because..." to "Your relation with the Humans is Friendly (80) because..." (the modifiers should also have the numerical values displayed).

That sounds more realistic. I remembered that we wanted to display spirits affinity, but didn't know where to put it - the similar topic made me jump to adding new controls immediately =)