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Topic: Complete list of terrain types, do we have one?  (Read 3296 times)

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FPF_TraceyG

  • Guest
Complete list of terrain types, do we have one?
« on: January 20, 2004, 12:24:49 pm »
In EAW, the definitions file for the Artifex map editor contained 6 different Blackhole types, 4 Asteroid types, 3 Nebula types and a Shipping Lane hex. In Op, the definitions file only shows one Blackhole terrain type.

Terrain types are often used by mission scripts of course to select from an array of maps which one is most appropriate (as created by the scriptor) to use in that mission. When I created missions for EAW, I also created a test map with an example of each terrain type so I could then run a mission there (in single player) just to check that the maps were working. When I ported over those missions to OP, I made no changes whatsoever to the maps or how they were selected ie. I left the 6 Blachole types in hte mission scripts. The maps work just fine in OP.

This begs the question then, is the definitions file for OP as is currently being used with the Artifex map editor complete? Does it contain all the possible terrain types or will the game engine actually recognise others that are simply not being used and therefore possibly hidden within the game? Is there any way we can find this out?
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FPF_TraceyG

  • Guest
Re: Complete list of terrain types, do we have one?
« Reply #1 on: January 20, 2004, 01:43:43 pm »
I just took a look at two OP mvm (metaverse map) files using a binary editor. The first map was created by me using the Artifex map editor for OP which I just downloaded from the Xenocorps website. The second map file I looked at was an original map that came with the game.
At the the beginnng of each mvm file is an area where the map definitions are stored, followed by the map data itself, each map hex is stored in 32 hexadecimal pairs.
The definitions data for the original map from the game does not match the data in the Artifex map editor. The original maps do in fact contain 6 types of Blackhole hexes, unlike the Artifex editor definitions which only contain one. Clearly then, OP does support these terrain types.
I recommend all people using the Artifex map editor, edit their definitions file to include these types.
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FPF_TraceyG

  • Guest
Re: Complete list of terrain types, do we have one?
« Reply #2 on: January 20, 2004, 02:00:59 pm »
Taking the mvm map definitions directly from an original map that came with the game, the definitions.txt file for the Artifex map editor should look as follows:


[Classes/Regions]
type="string"
range="array"
0="Neutral"
1="Federation"
2="Klingon"
3="Romulan"
4="Gorn"
5="Lyran"
6="Hydran"
7="Mirak"
8="ISC"
[Classes/Regions/UI/Color]
0=0xdcdcdc
1=0x0066f5
2=0xcf3300
3=0x40ff60
4=0xa06612
5=0xdf9f00
6=0x8762ba
7=0x11dccb
8=0xce65e6
[Classes/CartelRegions]
type="string"
range="array"
0="Neutral"
1="OrionOrion"
2="OrionKorgath"
3="OrionPrime"
4="OrionTigerHeart"
5="OrionBeastRaiders"
6="OrionSyndicate"
7="OrionWyldeFire"
8="OrionCamboro"
[Classes/CartelRegions/UI/Color]
0=0xdcdcdc
1=0xef0000
2=0x0066f5
3=0x60c060
4=0xffc040
5=0xa720ba
6=0xc02612
7=0xee251e
8=0x319ccb
[Classes/Terrain]
type="string"
range="array"
0="(none)"
1="Blackhole1"
2="Blackhole2"
3="Blackhole3"
4="Blackhole4"
5="Blackhole5"
6="Blackhole6"
7="Asteroid 1"
8="Asteroid 2"
9="Asteroid 3"
10="Asteroid 4"
11="Asteroid 5"
12="Nebula 1"
13="Nebula 2"
14="Nebula 3"
15="Shipping Lane"
[Classes/Planets]
type="string"
range="array"
0="(none)"
1="Homeworld 1"
2="Homeworld 2"
3="Homeworld 3"
4="Core World 1"
5="Core World 2"
6="Core World 3"
7="Colony 1"
8="Colony 2"
9="Colony 3"
10="Asteroid Base 1"
11="Asteroid Base 2"
12="Asteroid Base 3"
[Classes/Bases]
type="string"
range="array"
0="(none)"
1="Starbase"
2="Battle Station"
3="Base Station"
4="Weapons Platform"
5="Listening Post"
[Classes/Cell]
type="class"
[Classes/Cell/Economic]
type="int"
range="0<5<35"
[Classes/Cell/Impedence]
type="float"
range="0.01<1.0<100.0"
[Classes/Cell/Strength]
type="int"
range="0<50<100"
[Classes/Cell/Region]
type="index"
range="Regions"
[Classes/Cell/CartelRegion]
type="index"
range="CartelRegions"
[Classes/Cell/Terrain]
type="index"
range="Terrain"
[Classes/Cell/Planet]
type="index"
range="Planets"
[Classes/Cell/Base]
type="index"
range="Bases"
[Classes/Map]
type="class"
[Classes/Map/Width]
type="int"
range="10<10<1000"
[Classes/Map/Height]
type="int"
range="10<10<1000"
[Classes/Map/Cells]
type="Cell"
range="array"
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FPF_TraceyG

  • Guest
Re: Complete list of terrain types, do we have one?
« Reply #3 on: January 20, 2004, 02:21:25 pm »
It appears this is not the end of the story though. From the Taldren OP API, we find the following enumerated types actually listed in the game code:



   kTerrainSpace1         
   kTerrainSpace2         
   kTerrainSpace3         
   kTerrainSpace4         
   kTerrainSpace5         
   kTerrainSpace6         
   kTerrainAsteroids1      
   kTerrainAsteroids2      
   kTerrainAsteroids3      
   kTerrainAsteroids4      
   kTerrainAsteroids5
   kTerrainAsteroids6   
   kTerrainNebula1         
   kTerrainNebula2         
   kTerrainNebula3         
   kTerrainNebula4         
   kTerrainNebula5         
   kTerrainNebula6         
   kTerrainBlackHole1      
   kTerrainBlackHole2      
   kTerrainBlackHole3      
   kTerrainBlackHole4      
   kTerrainBlackHole5      
   kTerrainBlackHole6      
   kTerrainDustclouds      
   kTerrainShippingLane   
   kTerrainNone         
   

Notice here there is a new terrain type not used in the map at all, Dustclouds. I wonder if its possible to add this in to the definitions.txt file and create a map with dustclouds and see if it works.
 
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FPF_TraceyG

  • Guest
Re: Complete list of terrain types, do we have one?
« Reply #4 on: January 20, 2004, 02:47:27 pm »
Ok, so I made I new definitions.txt file for the Artifex map editor including the above terrain types, made a map with it with some of those terrain types, made a single player campaign file, loaded up the game and ran that campaign and....
it works. All the blachole hexes have unique icons, shipping lane and dustcloud hexes look like normal space though.
The advantage however, is that we now have another terrain type from which to trigger missions from, as missions can be coded to trigger in dustcloud hexes.
The complete list of terrain types that a mission can be specifically set to trigger are as follows:

   kAsteroidHex            
   kNebulaHex               
   kBlackHoleHex            
   kShippingLaneHex         
   kDustCloudsHex            
   kEmptySpaceHex            
   kAnyTerrainHex                  
   
   kBaseStationHex            
   kBattleStationHex         
   kStarbaseHex            
   kBaseWeaponsPlatformHex      
   kBaseListeningPostHex      
   kAnyBaseHex               

   kHomeworldHex            
   kCoreworldHex            
   kAsteroidBaseHex         
   kColonyHex               
   kAnyPlanetHex


As you can see, the only one on this list which hadn't made sense up until now were the dustcloud hexes.
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NuclearWessels

  • Guest
Re: Complete list of terrain types, do we have one?
« Reply #5 on: January 20, 2004, 04:21:08 pm »

Just as a heads-up, in the past I've found the dust clouds setting and the asteroid base hex setting somewhat unpredictable/unreliable from the scripting side.  The rest seem to function perfectly

dave
 
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Lepton1

  • Guest
Re: Complete list of terrain types, do we have one?
« Reply #6 on: January 20, 2004, 10:06:46 pm »
Is there some way to create a unique shipping lane icon for the map??  This might be quite helpful if SQL ever gets off the ground and more sophisticated economy is supplied by scripting external to the D2.
Logged

FPF_TraceyG

  • Guest
Re: Complete list of terrain types, do we have one?
« Reply #7 on: January 21, 2004, 03:30:04 am »
Quote:


Just as a heads-up, in the past I've found the dust clouds setting and the asteroid base hex setting somewhat unpredictable/unreliable from the scripting side.  The rest seem to function perfectly

dave
   



Thanks for that Dave, I wonder if that unreliability is a coding problem or a map problem.
Logged

FPF_TraceyG

  • Guest
Re: Complete list of terrain types, do we have one?
« Reply #8 on: January 21, 2004, 06:32:46 am »
Quote:

Is there some way to create a unique shipping lane icon for the map??  This might be quite helpful if SQL ever gets off the ground and more sophisticated economy is supplied by scripting external to the D2.  



I think all the map hex isons are stored in the sprites file, which is inaccessible currently. It would be nice though.
Logged

FPF_TraceyG

  • Guest
Complete list of terrain types, do we have one?
« Reply #9 on: January 20, 2004, 12:24:49 pm »
In EAW, the definitions file for the Artifex map editor contained 6 different Blackhole types, 4 Asteroid types, 3 Nebula types and a Shipping Lane hex. In Op, the definitions file only shows one Blackhole terrain type.

Terrain types are often used by mission scripts of course to select from an array of maps which one is most appropriate (as created by the scriptor) to use in that mission. When I created missions for EAW, I also created a test map with an example of each terrain type so I could then run a mission there (in single player) just to check that the maps were working. When I ported over those missions to OP, I made no changes whatsoever to the maps or how they were selected ie. I left the 6 Blachole types in hte mission scripts. The maps work just fine in OP.

This begs the question then, is the definitions file for OP as is currently being used with the Artifex map editor complete? Does it contain all the possible terrain types or will the game engine actually recognise others that are simply not being used and therefore possibly hidden within the game? Is there any way we can find this out?
Logged

FPF_TraceyG

  • Guest
Re: Complete list of terrain types, do we have one?
« Reply #10 on: January 20, 2004, 01:43:43 pm »
I just took a look at two OP mvm (metaverse map) files using a binary editor. The first map was created by me using the Artifex map editor for OP which I just downloaded from the Xenocorps website. The second map file I looked at was an original map that came with the game.
At the the beginnng of each mvm file is an area where the map definitions are stored, followed by the map data itself, each map hex is stored in 32 hexadecimal pairs.
The definitions data for the original map from the game does not match the data in the Artifex map editor. The original maps do in fact contain 6 types of Blackhole hexes, unlike the Artifex editor definitions which only contain one. Clearly then, OP does support these terrain types.
I recommend all people using the Artifex map editor, edit their definitions file to include these types.
Logged

FPF_TraceyG

  • Guest
Re: Complete list of terrain types, do we have one?
« Reply #11 on: January 20, 2004, 02:00:59 pm »
Taking the mvm map definitions directly from an original map that came with the game, the definitions.txt file for the Artifex map editor should look as follows:


[Classes/Regions]
type="string"
range="array"
0="Neutral"
1="Federation"
2="Klingon"
3="Romulan"
4="Gorn"
5="Lyran"
6="Hydran"
7="Mirak"
8="ISC"
[Classes/Regions/UI/Color]
0=0xdcdcdc
1=0x0066f5
2=0xcf3300
3=0x40ff60
4=0xa06612
5=0xdf9f00
6=0x8762ba
7=0x11dccb
8=0xce65e6
[Classes/CartelRegions]
type="string"
range="array"
0="Neutral"
1="OrionOrion"
2="OrionKorgath"
3="OrionPrime"
4="OrionTigerHeart"
5="OrionBeastRaiders"
6="OrionSyndicate"
7="OrionWyldeFire"
8="OrionCamboro"
[Classes/CartelRegions/UI/Color]
0=0xdcdcdc
1=0xef0000
2=0x0066f5
3=0x60c060
4=0xffc040
5=0xa720ba
6=0xc02612
7=0xee251e
8=0x319ccb
[Classes/Terrain]
type="string"
range="array"
0="(none)"
1="Blackhole1"
2="Blackhole2"
3="Blackhole3"
4="Blackhole4"
5="Blackhole5"
6="Blackhole6"
7="Asteroid 1"
8="Asteroid 2"
9="Asteroid 3"
10="Asteroid 4"
11="Asteroid 5"
12="Nebula 1"
13="Nebula 2"
14="Nebula 3"
15="Shipping Lane"
[Classes/Planets]
type="string"
range="array"
0="(none)"
1="Homeworld 1"
2="Homeworld 2"
3="Homeworld 3"
4="Core World 1"
5="Core World 2"
6="Core World 3"
7="Colony 1"
8="Colony 2"
9="Colony 3"
10="Asteroid Base 1"
11="Asteroid Base 2"
12="Asteroid Base 3"
[Classes/Bases]
type="string"
range="array"
0="(none)"
1="Starbase"
2="Battle Station"
3="Base Station"
4="Weapons Platform"
5="Listening Post"
[Classes/Cell]
type="class"
[Classes/Cell/Economic]
type="int"
range="0<5<35"
[Classes/Cell/Impedence]
type="float"
range="0.01<1.0<100.0"
[Classes/Cell/Strength]
type="int"
range="0<50<100"
[Classes/Cell/Region]
type="index"
range="Regions"
[Classes/Cell/CartelRegion]
type="index"
range="CartelRegions"
[Classes/Cell/Terrain]
type="index"
range="Terrain"
[Classes/Cell/Planet]
type="index"
range="Planets"
[Classes/Cell/Base]
type="index"
range="Bases"
[Classes/Map]
type="class"
[Classes/Map/Width]
type="int"
range="10<10<1000"
[Classes/Map/Height]
type="int"
range="10<10<1000"
[Classes/Map/Cells]
type="Cell"
range="array"
Logged

FPF_TraceyG

  • Guest
Re: Complete list of terrain types, do we have one?
« Reply #12 on: January 20, 2004, 02:21:25 pm »
It appears this is not the end of the story though. From the Taldren OP API, we find the following enumerated types actually listed in the game code:



   kTerrainSpace1         
   kTerrainSpace2         
   kTerrainSpace3         
   kTerrainSpace4         
   kTerrainSpace5         
   kTerrainSpace6         
   kTerrainAsteroids1      
   kTerrainAsteroids2      
   kTerrainAsteroids3      
   kTerrainAsteroids4      
   kTerrainAsteroids5
   kTerrainAsteroids6   
   kTerrainNebula1         
   kTerrainNebula2         
   kTerrainNebula3         
   kTerrainNebula4         
   kTerrainNebula5         
   kTerrainNebula6         
   kTerrainBlackHole1      
   kTerrainBlackHole2      
   kTerrainBlackHole3      
   kTerrainBlackHole4      
   kTerrainBlackHole5      
   kTerrainBlackHole6      
   kTerrainDustclouds      
   kTerrainShippingLane   
   kTerrainNone         
   

Notice here there is a new terrain type not used in the map at all, Dustclouds. I wonder if its possible to add this in to the definitions.txt file and create a map with dustclouds and see if it works.
 
Logged

FPF_TraceyG

  • Guest
Re: Complete list of terrain types, do we have one?
« Reply #13 on: January 20, 2004, 02:47:27 pm »
Ok, so I made I new definitions.txt file for the Artifex map editor including the above terrain types, made a map with it with some of those terrain types, made a single player campaign file, loaded up the game and ran that campaign and....
it works. All the blachole hexes have unique icons, shipping lane and dustcloud hexes look like normal space though.
The advantage however, is that we now have another terrain type from which to trigger missions from, as missions can be coded to trigger in dustcloud hexes.
The complete list of terrain types that a mission can be specifically set to trigger are as follows:

   kAsteroidHex            
   kNebulaHex               
   kBlackHoleHex            
   kShippingLaneHex         
   kDustCloudsHex            
   kEmptySpaceHex            
   kAnyTerrainHex                  
   
   kBaseStationHex            
   kBattleStationHex         
   kStarbaseHex            
   kBaseWeaponsPlatformHex      
   kBaseListeningPostHex      
   kAnyBaseHex               

   kHomeworldHex            
   kCoreworldHex            
   kAsteroidBaseHex         
   kColonyHex               
   kAnyPlanetHex


As you can see, the only one on this list which hadn't made sense up until now were the dustcloud hexes.
Logged

NuclearWessels

  • Guest
Re: Complete list of terrain types, do we have one?
« Reply #14 on: January 20, 2004, 04:21:08 pm »

Just as a heads-up, in the past I've found the dust clouds setting and the asteroid base hex setting somewhat unpredictable/unreliable from the scripting side.  The rest seem to function perfectly

dave
 
Logged

Lepton1

  • Guest
Re: Complete list of terrain types, do we have one?
« Reply #15 on: January 20, 2004, 10:06:46 pm »
Is there some way to create a unique shipping lane icon for the map??  This might be quite helpful if SQL ever gets off the ground and more sophisticated economy is supplied by scripting external to the D2.
Logged

FPF_TraceyG

  • Guest
Re: Complete list of terrain types, do we have one?
« Reply #16 on: January 21, 2004, 03:30:04 am »
Quote:


Just as a heads-up, in the past I've found the dust clouds setting and the asteroid base hex setting somewhat unpredictable/unreliable from the scripting side.  The rest seem to function perfectly

dave
   



Thanks for that Dave, I wonder if that unreliability is a coding problem or a map problem.
Logged

FPF_TraceyG

  • Guest
Re: Complete list of terrain types, do we have one?
« Reply #17 on: January 21, 2004, 06:32:46 am »
Quote:

Is there some way to create a unique shipping lane icon for the map??  This might be quite helpful if SQL ever gets off the ground and more sophisticated economy is supplied by scripting external to the D2.  



I think all the map hex isons are stored in the sprites file, which is inaccessible currently. It would be nice though.
Logged
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