great work, inspiring, led to getting some work done!

[wazoodle]

I am slowly poking my nose into the xml and the amazing expandability of this game! great work!

I have already created a couple of things, well, at least I have hacked together a couple of things without doing much modeling, with much still to be done with them..
a. castle siege improvement -- I have even been able to make a castle type that can defend itself, both with arrows (like the defensive tower) and magic to create an albeit 2nd rate but effective flaming coal attack just at the walls of the castle! I figured, what kind of castle can't defend itself? So I put a weaker version on the regular castle and a stronger version for improvment.
b. two defence barricades --  basically walls to be built up to create a fortress, built to slow an enemy charge, used the model of a half built defense tower but put a full stone texture on it. The level up on it gives the walls a chance to defend themselves with both types of projectiles like the castle level improvement but only weaker.

c. trebuchet --  a large catapult, slow firing, long range with good damage, built by technicians, unable to move. Defensive tower model utilizing the airship projectile. I actually did a quick model of this for fun, but I did it in blender before I realized the converter was only to xml :S .. nonetheless, it is still quite rough looking and needs some work (lots!) before it will be finished. The scale is about two characters in height (4 when in action!).

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[url=http://imageshack.us][img]http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/2189/trebuchetpa27ec.gif[/img][/url]
another idea I hopefully will work out.. is some type of siege worker .. high armored worker for building nearby the enemy, like an army corps of engineers :)

ok, but all this has got me to wondering some things. So, on to some questions! I appologize if these have already been covered somewhere ..

0. is there some documentation I haven't found yet that explains what all the xml values do, a guidebook of sorts? (which would answer most of my questions below!) Trial and error just takes such a long time! If not, I wonder if anyone else would be interested in creating a wiki for this type of stuff?

1. is there some way to award loot (gold?) for each unit destroyed? It bums me out that I can be left with a building, but no way to make units after the last worker has been slaughtered. :)

2. is there any way to allow an object to project two items at once? It would be nice to be able to upgrade the castle siege further to allow for multiple attacks, as if there are multiple archers inside.

3. is there a setting for moving the starting position of the projectile? It looks a bit weird the projectiles coming from the middle of the castle.

4. Is there a reason for the function on the defensive tower for being able to turn off the attack? I copied it into the siege castle, but I don't really understand its tactical purpose.

5. is there any way to use a unit to perform land transformations? this is leading into a desire to have the workers dig moats, something that unlike the fortifications, the enemy wouldn't attack.

[Mangudai]

Those are great ideas.  I want to add castle defense to my copy as well.

Would you please post the changes you made?  Copies of the .xml files would be perfect.  

Thanks,

[tucho]

Looks cool, great work

another idea I hopefully will work out.. is some type of siege worker .. high armored worker for building nearby the enemy, like an army corps of engineers

You will can make it with the stuff that I am prepairing for Glest modders:

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[url=http://glest.jackie3d.org/board/viewtopic.php?t=1128&sid=2d84f5492847d028daacfa9eb4059008]Glest modder survival kit[/url]
If you wish when you have finished your work send us for add it to aditional downloads

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[url=http://glest.jackie3d.org/board/viewtopic.php?t=1109&sid=2d84f5492847d028daacfa9eb4059008]Submitting materials[/url]

[wazoodle]

Those are great ideas.  I want to add castle defense to my copy as well.

Would you please post the changes you made?  Copies of the .xml files would be perfect. ..

will do, but it is *really* hacked together, so I need to clean it up a bit to be able to be useful :). give me the weekend.


tucho.. thanks! also, it is no big deal if those things aren't available, there seems to be simply so much possible, it is hard to know!

As for documentation. Since it doesn't seem to exist. I was thinking that maybe it would help to make it a community effort via wiki. One way, if you don't want to host the wiki yourselves, is that it could be hosted by wikibooks, where in addition to the modeling techniques the xml syntax could be placed and expanded on by the developers and the community. This would allow everyone with limited time to give a little while spreading the word and allowing people to be able to understand more of the possibliites and limitations, learning from eachother! Do you think the community would be interested?

[wazoodle]

ok, for the more powerful siege castle, here is the main xml I called castle_level_1.xml which I put in a folder that is of course called castle_level_1

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<?xml version="1.0" standalone="no" ?>
<unit>
<!-- *** parameters *** -->
<parameters>
<size value="5" />
<height value="2" />
<max-hp value="10000" regeneration="0"/>
<max-ep value="0" />
<armor value="0" />
<armor-type value="stone"/>
<sight value="22" />
<time value="300" />
<multi-selection value="false" />
<cellmap value="true">
<row value="11011"/>
<row value="00011"/>
<row value="11000"/>
<row value="11011"/>
<row value="01010"/>
</cellmap>
<levels/>
<fields>
<field value="land" />
</fields>
<properties>
<property value="burnable"/>
</properties>
<light enabled="true" red="0.8" green="0.8" blue="0.5"/>
<unit-requirements/>
<upgrade-requirements />
<resource-requirements>
<resource name="gold" amount="350" />
<resource name="stone" amount="500" />
<resource name="wood" amount="200" />
</resource-requirements>
<resources-stored>
<resource name= "gold" amount="2000"/>
<resource name= "wood" amount="1200"/>
<resource name= "stone" amount="1500"/>
<resource name= "food" amount="150"/>
</resources-stored>
<image path="../castle/images/castle.bmp" />
<image-cancel path="../archer/images/tech_cancel.bmp"/>
<meeting-point value="true" image-path="../barracks/images/meeting_point.bmp"/>
<selection-sounds enabled="true">
<sound path="../barracks/sounds/tech_click.wav" />
</selection-sounds>
<command-sounds enabled="true">
<sound path="../barracks/sounds/tech_click.wav" />
</command-sounds>
</parameters>

<!-- *** skills *** -->
<skills>

<skill>
<type value="stop" />
<name value="stop_skill"/>
<ep-cost value="0" />
<speed value="300" />
<anim-speed value="100" />
<animation path="../castle/models/castle.g3d" />
<sound enabled="false" />
</skill>

<skill>
<type value="be_built" />
<name value="be_built_skill"/>
<ep-cost value="0" />
<speed value="300" />
<anim-speed value="300" />
<animation path="../castle/construction_models/castle_construction.g3d" />
<sound enabled="false" />
</skill>

<skill>
<type value="produce" />
<name value="produce_skill"/>
<ep-cost value="0" />
<speed value="300" />
<anim-speed value="300" />
<animation path="../castle/models/castle.g3d" />
<sound enabled="false" />
</skill>

<skill>
<type value="attack"/>
<name value="attack_skill"/>
<ep-cost value="0"/>
<speed value="135"/>
<anim-speed value="135"/>
<animation path="../castle/models/castle.g3d"/>
<sound enabled="true" start-time="0">
<sound-file path="../defense_tower/sounds/defense_tower_attack1.wav"/>
<sound-file path="../defense_tower/sounds/defense_tower_attack2.wav"/>
</sound>
<attack-strenght value="130"/>
<attack-var value="50"/>
<attack-range value="20"/>
<attack-type value="arrow"/>
<attack-start-time value="0.2"/>
<attack-fields>
<field value="land"/>
<field value="air"/>
</attack-fields>
<projectile value="true">
<particle value="true" path="particle_proj.xml"/>
<sound enabled="true">
<sound-file path="../archer/sounds/arrow_hit1.wav"/>
<sound-file path="../archer/sounds/arrow_hit2.wav"/>
<sound-file path="../archer/sounds/arrow_hit3.wav"/>
<sound-file path="../archer/sounds/arrow_hit4.wav"/>
<sound-file path="../archer/sounds/arrow_hit5.wav"/>
</sound>
</projectile>
<splash value="false"/>
</skill>

                <skill>
<type value="attack"/>
<name value="arrow_skill"/>
<ep-cost value="0"/>
<speed value="55"/>
<anim-speed value="65"/>
<animation path="../castle/models/castle.g3d"/>
<sound enabled="true" start-time="0.1">
<sound-file path="../airship/sounds/airship_attack1.wav"/>
</sound>
<attack-strenght value="175"/>
<attack-var value="50"/>
<attack-range value="2"/>
<attack-type value="magic"/>
<attack-start-time value="0.2"/>
<attack-fields>
<field value="land"/>
</attack-fields>
<projectile value="true">
<particle value="true" path="particle_proj2.xml"/>
<sound enabled="true">
<sound-file path="../airship/sounds/airship_hit.wav"/>
</sound>
</projectile>
<splash value="true">
<radius value="1"/>
<damage-all value="true"/>
<particle value="true" path="../airship/particle_splash.xml"/>
</splash>
</skill>

<skill>
<type value="die" />
<name value="die_skill"/>
<ep-cost value="0" />
<speed value="300" />
<anim-speed value="300" />
<animation path="../castle/destruction_models/castle_destruction.g3d" />
<sound enabled="true" start-time="0">
<sound-file path="../barracks/sounds/tech_building_fall2.wav"/>
</sound>
<fade value="false"/>
</skill>

</skills>

<!-- *** commands *** -->
<commands>

<command>
<type value="produce"/>
<name value="produce_worker" />
<image path="../worker/images/worker.bmp" />
<unit-requirements />
<upgrade-requirements />
<produce-skill value="produce_skill"/>
<produced-unit name="worker"/>
</command>

<command>
<type value="stop"/>
<name value="attack_off"/>
<image path="../defense_tower/images/defense_tower_attack_off.bmp"/>
<unit-requirements/>
<upgrade-requirements/>
<stop-skill value="stop_skill"/>
</command>

<command>
<type value="attack_stopped"/>
<name value="attack_on"/>
<image path="../defense_tower/images/defense_tower_attack_on.bmp"/>
<unit-requirements/>
<upgrade-requirements/>
<attack-skill value="attack_skill"/>
                        <stop-skill value="stop_skill"/>
</command>

<command>
<type value="attack_stopped"/>
<name value="attack_on"/>
<image path="../airship/images/airship_attack.bmp"/>
<unit-requirements/>
<upgrade-requirements/>
<attack-skill value="arrow_skill"/>
                        <stop-skill value="stop_skill"/>
</command>

</commands>
</unit>
unfortunately, I was unable to get the path to the original particle_proj.xml files that are in the defensive tower and the airship directories to work correctly (error, for some reason it doesn't allow them to be a lower level :/ ) so I was forced to copy them into the same folder (the airship file I renamed to particle_proj2.xml).

particle_proj.xml

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<?xml version="1.0" standalone="yes"?>
<projectile-particle-system>
    <texture value="true" luminance="true" path="../archer/images/archer_particle.bmp"/>
    <model value="true" path="../defense_tower/models/defense_tower_arrow.g3d"/>
<primitive value="line"/>
<offset x="0" y="0" z="0"/>
<color red="1.0" green="1.0" blue="1.0" alpha="0.5" />
<color-no-energy red="0.5" green="0.5" blue="0.5" alpha="0.0" />
    <size value="2" />
    <size-no-energy value="1" />
    <speed value="0" />
<gravity value="0"/>
    <emission-rate value="1" />
    <energy-max value="20" />
    <energy-var value="0" />

<trajectory type="parabolic">
<speed value="18"/>
<scale value="1"/>
</trajectory>
</projectile-particle-system>
and particle_proj2.xml

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<?xml version="1.0" standalone="yes"?>
<projectile-particle-system>
    <texture value="true" path="../catapult/images/catapult_particle_splash.bmp" luminance="true"/>
    <model value="true" path="../airship/models/rocket.g3d"/>
<primitive value="quad"/>
<offset x="0" y="-0.5" z="1.5"/>
<color red="1.0" green="0.5" blue="0.0" alpha="0.5" />
<color-no-energy red="0.0" green="0.0" blue="0.0" alpha="0.0" />
    <size value="0.2" />
    <size-no-energy value="0.03" />
    <speed value="10.0" />
<gravity value="0"/>
    <emission-rate value="30" />
    <energy-max value="20" />
    <energy-var value="2" />

<trajectory type="linear">
<speed value="30.0"/>
</trajectory>
</projectile-particle-system>

I haven't had a chance to fix the positions of the projectiles yet, but it works quite ok. You must turn the defenses on and off and note that while the castle is under siege (attacking / defneding) it seems due to the program coding it is unable to build workers, which actually seems to me a pretty good trade off. I also boosted the strength of the castle. Honestly, I want to go further, I just want the destuction of a castle to be something major so I am actually thinking of doubling the max HP!

To enable this unit to be used, I made it a morph option from a regular castle so this could only be built after the regular was built, but you can set it up however you want but will have to make the appropriate xml changes where / how you want to implement the possiblity of building this. Have fun, let me know if you have any questions, if you make any changes or have any ideas for improvement!