Map Dialogue - Start Location Info - Type: AI Mission

posted on July 18th, 2007, 5:26 am

Hello

Supposing i wanted to do a map with four players, but i wanted to add NPC's, in fairly large forces. I'm hoping to learn how to make these NPC's fairly challenging; i don't expect to make them have detailed, complex bases, of course, but i'm also not satasfied by putting Ferengi and Breen ships in random spots... Is there any way of "scripting" them, to move in a tactically sound manner?

So far, i can get them to delay attacking the PC's en masse, but eventually they do swarm the PC's bases at seemingly random moments... which leaves the points i intended them to guard, unguarded.

My short term solution has been to set the groups of NPC's into different fleets, so that certain groups will fire on other groups of NPCs; thus giving the PC's a small edge in early-game battles, but this isn't really the long-term plan i hoped for...

Now, i've noticed that under the "Map Dialogue" screen, there's an option to name a "Start Location" as a "Type: AI Mission."

Does anyone know what AI Mission means? I'll be doing some experimenting to try and figure it out myself, but if anyone has some insights or advice and such, i'd appreciate some more knowledgable assistance Thanks for your time.

posted on July 18th, 2007, 12:58 pm

This would indeed be so cool! Imagine a 2on2 and in the middle of the map there's aways a battle going on cos NPC Fleets appear from outside the map to fight in your way ( e.g. Borg vs Species) and you must pass through to reach your enemy...with more or less losses. ^^

posted on August 17th, 2007, 4:24 pm

there was map idea like this in Command and Conquer red alert 2, the players who are fighting each other also have to fight there way through a section of the map swamped with AI thus leading to 2 enemies working together to kill the ai and then kill each other also.

posted on August 18th, 2007, 4:10 am

Hey, I remember that map!

....and off topic, did you ever play the one of the world?

...and on topic... I can't help cuz I'm incompetent when it comes to armada programming

posted on August 18th, 2007, 7:27 am

Oh, i did figure something out, by the way.

I figured out that if you set an AI Team to "Type: AI Mission" they will function as regular NPC's, same as if you played an Instant Action game against AI's.

So, there's no real advantage i can see... They don't fight any differently, whether they are "Player NPC's" or "Map NPC's."

Tho, on the up-side, you can at least personally lay out their base for them, if you are for any reason unsatasfied with the way NPC's will build their own bases - this does mean, of course, that NPC's then start out with a large advantage over PC's (unless you leave PC's Derelict stations and Ships to help them start quicker and balance things... but now i'm just getting overly complex...)

posted on August 19th, 2007, 2:52 pm

Cool, so when do we get our first maps

There's a quota to fill ya know! (jk)
Happy mapping