Author Topic: Project Green: gameplay mod for GAE -- new release 18 Sep 2011 (Read 31682 times)

John.d.h · « **on:** 20 February 2011, 08:41:36 »

I'm happy to present Project Green (working title), a quick and simple gameplay mod made over the past couple days, a total of only a few hours work. The idea was not to create new factions, but merely to create a new style of gameplay. Whereas traditional Glest gameplay involves building a base and gathering resources, PG involves only recruiting a squad and destroying the enemy with it. Instead of slowly climbing up the tech tree, jump right into the action! Each faction has only one building, which serves to store their starting resources and to recruit units. Each faction also has a leader unit. Magic's White Mage boosts the EP and HP regeneration of nearby friendly units, while Tech's Inquisitor has an aura of fear that weakens enemies. This mod is designed for GAE 0.3.2 or later, and the very small addon file mostly uses existing Magitech assets. Just drop it into your addons folder and you're good to go.

Note: I recommend playing with fog and shroud turned off, but that's just my preference.

Objectives: Destroy your enemy's base and kill their leader. Both are required for victory.

Find more information and images on
ModDB: http://www.moddb.com/mods/project-green
Glest Wiki: https://docs.megaglest.org/Project_Green

New features:

Faster build times -- Deploy your army in seconds!
No upkeep -- Food and energy are now tech resources, so you can't just destroy the enemy base and wait for them to starve.
Leader units -- Each faction has a leader who must be killed (no victory otherwise!)
Near-instant gratification -- Why spend time chopping wood when you could be killing things!?
A fresh gameplay style -- It's nothing like traditional Glest!
Tiny file size -- It's smaller than a typical song!
PhysFS-friendly -- Just put it in your addons folder, no extraction necessary.

(click to show/hide)

Version 0.3, released on 18 Sep 2011.

New features in this version:

The mod now occupies its own tech tree so it won't override standard Magitech. The XMLs now link to your normal Magitech installation, so the file size is still tiny.
The Aether resource now appears properly.
Mercenaries are now available -- instead of spending on your Aether on upgrades, purchase a squad of Dwarven Gunners (Tech) or Woodsmen Marauders (Magic).
Icons for the Banner and Nexus.

Known issues with this version:

Some strings may be missing.
Balance could probably still use work. Please test and give feedback!

Download this version from the following links:

ChupaReaper · « **Reply #1 on:** 20 February 2011, 08:50:01 »

This sounds very interesting, it's a very light yet fun mod. If multiple lists starting resources/units/upgrades could be set in a faction xml then chosen when creating a game this mod could sort of be built into the engine except for the leader units.

ultifd · « **Reply #2 on:** 20 February 2011, 08:51:10 »

Looks and sounds interesting. Anyone up for a windows to windows test?

Psychedelic_hands · « **Reply #3 on:** 21 February 2011, 05:52:40 »

Sounds excellent!
I wonder how the AI will handle this as Constellus will have a hero unit aswell.
Whats the plans for the future work regarding this?

Edit: Just play a quick game then, I love the death animation for the Nexus.

Suggestions:(Note:these will most likely need future GAE features)
-Resources being given over time.
-Resources coming from a building built by the Hero.

Hopefully once the AI is re-done, they'll know how to handle this

Because it could be really fun!

John.d.h · « **Reply #4 on:** 21 February 2011, 07:05:04 »

Quote from: Psychedelic_hands on 21 February 2011, 05:52:40

Whats the plans for the future work regarding this?

I'm currently working on putting some technology upgrades into the mod. I'm not sure if I want to have those use the same pool of resources as units, or if I want to just give the player X number of upgrades to choose. Also a few icons are missing, particles need work, blah blah blah. I don't really have much of a plan for where the mod needs to go, but I may incorporate more factions into it, like Woodsmen. Balancing is also something that will need to be sorted out. More GAE features may be included in the future, in order to add more variety and strategy to the fight.

Quote

I love the death animation for the Nexus.

Thanks, but it's actually bugged. It looks like an actual shattering explosion in Blender.

Quote

Suggestions:(Note:these will most likely need future GAE features)
-Resources being given over time.
-Resources coming from a building built by the Hero.

Maybe these can go in another project, but the focus of Project Green is to make the players do their best with what they have, rather than relying on reinforcements.

Quote

Hopefully once the AI is re-done, they'll know how to handle this Because it could be really fun!

I hope so, or maybe I'm just missing some little thing that can make it all work together. Time (and more scrutiny) will tell.

Quote from: ChupaReaper on 20 February 2011, 08:50:01

This sounds very interesting, it's a very light yet fun mod. If multiple lists starting resources/units/upgrades could be set in a faction xml then chosen when creating a game this mod could sort of be built into the engine except for the leader units.

That would be quite nice. Maybe each faction could have a designated leader unit that's normally only used in that particular game mode? I know there was some talk of game modes on the GAE board not long ago, but I imagine new feature requests will have to wait a while, in light of recent developments.

Ishmaru · « **Reply #5 on:** 21 February 2011, 17:07:56 »

Sounds interesting. I would like to try it when I get home (i'm away for a week and half...)

ElimiNator · « **Reply #6 on:** 21 February 2011, 22:30:07 »

Looks interesting, I tried to make a baloon explode before and it won't work,

ultifd · « **Reply #7 on:** 22 February 2011, 08:51:30 »

This seems very fun, I just wish I could try it against someone! Another reason added to why I can't wait for the merge.

John.d.h · « **Reply #8 on:** 24 February 2011, 08:47:44 »

With the help of Cygal and Hailstone, I figured out what I needed to do to get the AI working!

Expect another release this weekend.

Edit:
Playing in a 4-way free for all, I took some heavy casualties but ultimately came out on top, proving that the AI works.

Omega · « **Reply #9 on:** 24 February 2011, 18:33:31 »

Quote from: John.d.h on 24 February 2011, 08:47:44

With the help of Cygal and Hailstone, I figured out what I needed to do to get the AI working!

Can you elaborate how? I'm curious.

ultifd · « **Reply #10 on:** 24 February 2011, 18:37:00 »

Well, the problem with the AI is that in GAE you can't set the resource multiplyer, so anything over a cpu normal wouldn't be fair or balanaced...I think a CPU ultra with only 1x would be balanced in this case. Then again I suppose it wouldn't really matter, they'd still have smarter AI but they won't harvest anyways.

Quote

<cygal> johndh: http://glestae.git.sourceforge.net/git/gitweb.cgi?p=glestae/glestae;a=blob;f=source/game/ai/ai.cpp;h=01e8dbed66db521cb8d681e0cbc15eea9755ff15;hb=HEAD#l135
<cygal> I have been looking recently at the forum links which had a few bugs
<johndh> cygal, so that's the order in which they do things?
<cygal> yes
<cygal> I think so.
<hailstone3> no, they are instances of rules
<hailstone3> its tasks that get executed
<cygal> hailstone3: that means the AI will try to harvest first
<hailstone3> from wat i can see
<cygal> I don't how this vector is exactly handled
<cygal> but it will probably first try to harvest
<hailstone3> look in Ai::update()
<cygal> yes, it executes rules
<cygal> the first rule being Harvest?
<hailstone3> ok maybe it does then but not neccessarily
<cygal> if it does not actually first harvest, it is worth investigating more indeed
<cygal> I don't have GAE locally
<hailstone3> ai->findAbleUnit needs to return true for it to harvest first
<cygal> yes
<cygal> ie. it needs a worker?
<johndh> Well, my problem is that the entire concept of my addon is that there is no building and no harvesting, but you start with plenty of resources for an army...
<johndh> so ideally, it would see "I can't harvest, nor can I build, so I'll move on to the seek and destroy part"
<hailstone3> if there are no harvesters it will attempt to execute the next rule
<cygal> johndh: what is the behavior?
<cygal> can I try the addon?
<johndh> cygal, the one starting unit will wander around and kill whatever it finds, but that's it
<johndh> sure, let me grab the link real quick
<cygal> ah
<cygal> that's scouting
<johndh> http://www.gamefront.com/files/20022673/project_green_20-feb-2011.zip
<cygal> the AI scouts at random possible bases first
<cygal> possibly your base, then an ally base, then an enemy base
<cygal> if it founds an enemy, every one will attack the enemy
<hailstone3> if (workerCount < 4) {
<hailstone3> ai->addPriorityTask(new ProduceTask(UnitClass::WORKER));
<hailstone3> }
<johndh> Ahhh....
<johndh> Damn.
<cygal> the AI does not plan
<cygal> it assumes it has to do certain things
<hailstone3> addPriorityTask removes all previous tasks, AiRuleProduce needs a task to pass test
<cygal> I can't test right now sorry
<johndh> So it gets stuck trying to produce more workers, so it can't do anything at all?
<hailstone3> possibly, try starting with 4 workers
<cygal> yes, that's a limitation silnarm already talked me about
<cygal> maybe modifying addPriorityTask to not remove everything could help
<johndh> Starting with four workers "fixes" it, in that they now produce units.
<johndh> I guess I could have the workers only able to mine stone or something, since that's useless here.
<hailstone3> "modifying addPriorityTask to not remove everything" would make it not priority, i think checking if they can actually be built would be better
<cygal> hailstone3: I mean, using push_front
<cygal> your option would work too, I don't know the one would work best (with other weird mods :p)
<johndh> What does it check for to see if a unit is a worker?
<johndh> Skills or commands?
<hailstone3> UnitClass::WORKER
<hailstone3> i forget what that goes off
<hailstone3> im guessing skills
<johndh> I guess I'll test and find out.
<johndh> Okay, so making a size 0 worker with skills but no commands seems to work.
<hailstone3> cygal: what happens if a task fails?
<cygal> let me see
<cygal> it depends
<cygal> in some cases it "retries" it: putting it back at the end with retryTask()
<cygal> when it works it gets removed()
<cygal> but that's specific to each rule it seems
<hailstone3> ok, it doesn't look like it will retry to produce harvesters until the next update so it should be ok to push_front
<johndh> Okay, it definitely works now.
<hailstone3> probably better not to have the tasks at all if we know they can't be executed though
<ultifd> Cool

John.d.h · « **Reply #11 on:** 24 February 2011, 20:43:13 »

To summarize, if the AI player has fewer than four worker units, it will forsake all actions that don't directly involve producing those workers, until that requirement is satisfied. Thus, I gave each player four Workers or Initiates with the standard skills (building and harvesting) but stripped of their commands, so they can't actually do those things. Also, each one is a single polygon of size 0, so they can't be seen, selected, or interacted with in any way. The absolute only function they have is tricking the AI, which they do quite well.

Omega · « **Reply #12 on:** 24 February 2011, 23:16:09 »

Quote from: John.d.h on 24 February 2011, 20:43:13

To summarize, if the AI player has fewer than four worker units, it will forsake all actions that don't directly involve producing those workers, until that requirement is satisfied. Thus, I gave each player four Workers or Initiates with the standard skills (building and harvesting) but stripped of their commands, so they can't actually do those things. Also, each one is a single polygon of size 0, so they can't be seen, selected, or interacted with in any way. The absolute only function they have is tricking the AI, which they do quite well.

Nice catch! Never knew about that before. Hopefully in the (near? distant?) future we will have an improved, or better yet, a Lua AI so we won't have to resort to such low hacks to make the AI behave.

Mr War · « **Reply #13 on:** 26 February 2011, 13:07:09 »

Fascinating mod and AI tricks

I'm actually preferring slower games not faster. My idea of fun is building a really massive base of fortifications but I cry if even one tower gets destroyed :-(

ultifd · « **Reply #14 on:** 27 February 2011, 08:00:09 »

So, I guess you're going to update this today? After all, it is Sunday.

Too bad I'll be busy.

John.d.h · « **Reply #15 on:** 28 February 2011, 06:35:43 »

Version 0.2, released on 28 Feb 2011.

New features in this version:

The AI is fixed, and actually can be quite challenging if playing in a free-for-all against multiple AI players.
Upgrades are now available -- pick two of three instant upgrades from your building.
The upgrade requirement for hold position, patrol, and guard commands have been eliminated.
White Mage's HP have been increased to 900 from 450, his splash has been reduced from 3 to 2, and his static fire attack was re-enabled, modified, and renamed to Banishment.
New particle effects for the White Mage.

Known issues with this version:

The Aether resource (used for upgrades) won't show up and I don't know why. You start with a count of two.
I haven't touched the language files, so some strings are bound to be missing.
The Nexus and Banner still need icons.
Balance is still a crapshoot. Please test and give feedback!
I recommend playing with fog and shroud turned off, but that's just my preference.

Download this version from the following links:

Psychedelic_hands · « **Reply #16 on:** 8 March 2011, 11:09:31 »

Hmmm, maybe this could be done in Lua and turned into a gamemode for glest?

I've always wanted to see different gametypes in glest and this seems to go in the right direction.

charlieg · « **Reply #17 on:** 8 March 2011, 11:36:39 »

It would be a good way to implement a storyline for Glest.

wciow · « **Reply #18 on:** 8 March 2011, 11:52:07 »

Quote from: John.d.h on 28 February 2011, 06:35:43

The Aether resource (used for upgrades) won't show up and I don't know why.

Resources will not show up unless at least one unit (not upgrade) uses it.

Zoythrus · « **Reply #19 on:** 8 March 2011, 16:28:26 »

i played it for the first time a few minutes ago, and im wondering something: why dont the upgrades affect all of the units? i can understand things like range and melee upgrades, but armor, why are only a few units under its effect?

John.d.h · « **Reply #20 on:** 8 March 2011, 17:22:28 »

Quote from: wciow on 8 March 2011, 11:52:07

Resources will not show up unless at least one unit (not upgrade) uses it.

Cool, I've fixed it. Thanks.

Quote from: Zoythrus on 8 March 2011, 16:28:26

i played it for the first time a few minutes ago, and im wondering something: why dont the upgrades affect all of the units? i can understand things like range and melee upgrades, but armor, why are only a few units under its effect?

The idea is to make it an actual compromise. If it upgraded everyone's armor, I think it would be significantly better than the attack upgrades, in which case there would be no reason to not choose it. Plus, not all of the units wear much armor anyway. Of course, if the balance needs to be improved and you have an idea for doing that, I'd like to see it.

Quote from: Psychedelic_hands on 8 March 2011, 11:09:31

Hmmm, maybe this could be done in Lua and turned into a gamemode for glest?
I've always wanted to see different gametypes in glest and this seems to go in the right direction.

It would be nice, wouldn't it?

ultifd · « **Reply #21 on:** 9 March 2011, 04:57:24 »

Added the wiki link. Too bad this mod doesn't work well on 1 vs 1...has to be a real free for all, I guess.

John.d.h · « **Reply #22 on:** 9 March 2011, 05:44:47 »

Current to-do list for the next release:

~~Get Aether to show up.~~ Done!
Update language strings.
Create icons for the Nexus and Banner.
Test and tweak balance as necessary.
More upgrades, maybe?

Am I missing anything? I'll probably hold off for a little while just to get some balance reports. That's basically the bottleneck here.

Quote from: ultifd on 9 March 2011, 04:57:24

Added the wiki link. Too bad this mod doesn't work well on 1 vs 1...has to be a real free for all, I guess.

Thanks, and yeah it is kind of a bummer. Hopefully it will be polished enough to be a popular multiplayer match style after the merge.

Psychedelic_hands · « **Reply #23 on:** 9 March 2011, 11:13:11 »

I do really like this, it's real fun to play.
What about some Rock, Paper, Sirrors-like gameplay? You know; the traditional, Range beat infrantry, Infranty beat cavalry, Cavalry beat Range idea.

By the way the Inquisitor and White Mage need new models! I have some ideas, I'd be happy to do some concept art if you'd like. (I wouldn't mind if you say no).

Also to start a discussion about names, what about something along the lines of Glest Skirmish?... Glest Battalions?.... I'm not very good at names.

Zoythrus · « **Reply #24 on:** 9 March 2011, 16:14:15 »

Quote from: John.d.h on 9 March 2011, 05:44:47

Current to-do list for the next release:
More upgrades, maybe?

why dont you do some of the stuff we talked about before, like getting a small resource bonus or getting a squad of elite units? (but this would require more than 2 Aether points....)

News:

Author Topic: Project Green: gameplay mod for GAE -- new release 18 Sep 2011 (Read 31682 times)

ChupaReaper

Psychedelic_hands

Mr War

Psychedelic_hands

charlieg

Zoythrus

Psychedelic_hands

Zoythrus