By now, covert operations is a fairly old feature. My original idea was that the player can use this to do a bit more in their games than just kill & loot sector after sector. Do more roleplay. Sabotage things. Spy on the enemy.
Sadly, the game is still limited in that regard. Frankly, there isn't that much spywork to do. Sure, we can nowadays disable SAMs by blowing them up or hacking, or try to give us a slight edge by killing of enemy generals. But overall, it's not much. More often than not spies are used in combat, which given the underlying mechanics, can even work too well (sevenfm has done quite a lot in his releases in order to make covert killing a bit harder, among other things).
At the same time, there isn't that much intelligence work to be done, honestly.
This feature aims to begin to correct that. I have quite a lot of ideas in that regard. Coding them will take a lot of time, which is why I've decided to split some of the easier-to-implement ideas into this feature.
Anyway, this feature introduced a new resource: Intel. Think of intel as some sort of measure on all the spying and information gathering your forces have done.
You can gain intel in several ways:
interactive actions, like reading classified documents in a military base or hacking computers, can give you intel. For examples, see function HandleInteractiveActionResult(...) in Overhead.lua for examples (warning, spoilers!).
Mercs can now hide in disguise and gather intel in enemy-occupied territory. There is some depth to this mechanic (of which I am somewhat proud), so the second post of this thread deals with it in more detail.
Mercs can take a camera and take photograps of important NPCs or locations of special interest, which you can then trade for intel. For more info, see the third post in this thread.
Some NPCs give you some intel upon recruitment.
Now, what do you do with all that intel? Well, once you've gained your first bit, you will receive an email from Enrico. He will essentially give you two clues:
He sends you a link to the Recon Intelligence Services website. This organisation wrote the Recon Report you've probably forgotten of by now. One of their pages allows you to buy things for intel:
The dropdown menu allows purchasing info on enemy positions for a 4x4 part of the map. For a higher price you will also get the exact troop counts and enemy movement directions. Note that just as the page states, this will only last a limited amount of time.
Sometimes special information is available - this can unlock the permanent flight plans of an enemy helicopter, the position of an enemy general, or the location of an imprisoned merc. It is likely I will add more options to this over time.
He also makes you aware that the Black market - a new civilian group - that sells high-tech items exclusively for intel. They are based in San Mona and sell only for intel. What they sell can be set in function AddArmsDealerAdditionalIntelData() in Overhead.lua. By default their prices also depend on progress - as your progress, prices are somewhat lowered (due to the benefit of these items being gradually lowered).
The placement of the merchant etc. is all defined in Overhead.lua:
-- In this function we can define what and how many items a intel-based dealer should trade with, and how much an item is worth in intel
-- AddArmsDealerAdditionalIntelData takes 4 arguments:
-- usDealer: shopkeeper this is intended for
-- usItem: number of item
-- sIntelPrice: price of item in intel
-- sOptimalNumber: how many items the trader should have at maximum
function AddArmsDealerAdditionalIntelData()
-- price is affected by player progress - on higher progress items get cheaper (as they are less useful at that point)
progress = CurrentPlayerProgressPercentage()
ratio = (200.0 - progress) / 100.0
-- black market:
-- guns
AddArmsDealerAdditionalIntelDataItem(68, 337, 10 * ratio, 2) -- Five-Seven
...
The merchant needs a special flag in Merchants.xml to set him up to deal with intel:
<MERCHANT>
<uiIndex>68</uiIndex>
<szName>Black Market dealer San Mona (C6)</szName>
<dBuyModifier>1.0</dBuyModifier>
<dSellModifier>1.0</dSellModifier>
<ubShopKeeperID>200</ubShopKeeperID> <!-- no profile -->
<ubTypeOfArmsDealer>1</ubTypeOfArmsDealer>
<iInitialCash>400</iInitialCash>
<uiFlags>16777216</uiFlags> <!-- Important: accepts only intel, no money -->
<dailyIncrement>400</dailyIncrement>
<dailyMaximum>800</dailyMaximum>
<dailyRetained>400</dailyRetained>
<minCoolness>1</minCoolness>
<maxCoolness>10</maxCoolness>
<addToCoolness>10</addToCoolness>
<coolnessProgressRate>100</coolnessProgressRate>
<daysDelayMin>1</daysDelayMin>
<daysDelayMax>2</daysDelayMax>
<useBRSetting>0</useBRSetting>
<allInventoryAlwaysAvailable>1</allInventoryAlwaysAvailable>
<nonprofile_loyaltyrequired>0</nonprofile_loyaltyrequired>
</MERCHANT>
This includes the black market no longer showing up after you've attacked them (duh).
In order to allow to better showcase, minor alterations were done: Beth now has a camera in one of her gearkits, as she seems the most reporter-like of the bunch. Mouse is now a full spy. And taking yet another inspiration from edmortimer, and considering that Raffi is so bad at anything nobody would believe he is a merc, he now get the covert trait. So he can be at least of some use as of this feature apart from cleaning minefields and carrying gear around.
You can set this feature off via RESOURCE_INTEL in JA2_Options.ini.
If the balancing is right (of which I'm not sure), intel will be a spare resource, unless you really go all the way with several spies. It is intended to be somewhat rare - the player should really have to decide where to invest his intel.
I plan to build upon and expand these features at some point, but... that might be quite a while.
As of r8560, we can buy information on planned creature raids and on the location of terrorists, both can be seen here.
The website logo and the idea to have the black market be a merchant instead of yet another website was made by AllisonIsLivid.
Camera picture was done by smeagol.
A lot of feedback and enduring my usual ranting about the code was done by our Discord channel.
This is fully savegame compatible.
This has been added to the trunk in r8522 & GameDir r2402. Using the new exe without the new GameDir will cause all supermarkets near you to switch to a Lootbox-only system of food distribution.
[Updated on: Tue, 15 May 2018 22:18]
I know now that it could never work between us, as much as we wanted to, it could never be! Not because you're a rabbit, but because you're black.
If you want, you can donate to me. This will not affect how and what I code, and I will not code specific features in return. I will be thankful though.
As this game mechanic is non-trivial, this separate post deals with the Hide & Get Intel assignments.
Mercs can now hide in disguise and gather intel in enemy-occupied territory. It is very strongly recommended that any mercs attempting to do so have the covert trait.
To set this up, the following conditions must be true:
The merc must be in tactical.
The merc must be disguised. Note that this does not require that the merc has the covert trait, as anyone can disguise. However only those with that trait will be any good at this.
The sector must be enemy-occupied.
The enemy must not be aware of the merc (so no, this won't work once combat has been initiated).
And the merc must be alone, no other mercs of militia allowed.
If all of these conditions apply, you can use the $ menu to assign the merc to the Hide or Get Intel assignment.
Once we assign the merc, we will leave the sector, and the merc will now be on assignment in that sector. At that point we can switch between Hide and Get Intel freely. On those assignments, there is the constant risk that the enemy eventually discovers the hidden merc.
This can cause us to receive a 1-3 hour time penalty. During penalty we won't gain any intel.
The risk depends on
how advanced the sector is (taken from CoolnessBySector.xml). Hiding in Meduna is a lot riskier than hiding in Drassen.
15% level + 15% stealth + 70% covert trait (stealth - takes into account the stealth trait, background boni and worn stealth gear boni, but not agility or other stats)
personality - slight bonus for sociable (better at blending in), slight malus for cowards and nervous disability
If we are actively trying to get intel, the risk is doubled compared to hiding. If we do so disguised as a soldier, the risk is increased by factor 5. If we sleep or are on a penalty, we count as hiding (in order not to force the player to re-assign by hand).
In extreme cases, we not only receive a penalty, but be exposed - we will drop into combat at the exact position we were in when we got on that assignment... with our disguise removed. And the alarm raised, the enemy will be aware of you and actively search for you. Depending on where you left your merc, this can be extremely deadly, so plan accordingly.
As the alert is raised, this also means that even if the enemy does not find you and you re-disguise, you will still have to get out of there. Unless your spy is also a radio operator and uses the (probably not widely known) sideeffect of jamming preventing red alert being raised.
While the spy is hiding in a sector, they take note of the enemy even if they are not actively out for intel - we get a precise reading of enemy troop counts. This also works with the scout trait - a concealed scout with CAN_DETECT_ENEMY_PRESENSE_IN_SECTORS_AROUND set to TRUE will also detect troops in adjacent sectors. Depending on your positioning, this can be a valuable source of intel on its own.
While no other assignments are possible (no, you cannot train militia under the enemies eyes), you can simple get out of this assignment by setting your merc on duty. You will drop into 'combat' in the sector, but thankfully your disguise will be active, and the alert will not be raised.
Note that if any combat is initiated in this sector, like from other mercs or militia arriving, this merc will join combat from their location, too. This also means that the Retreat option will not be available (how would we retreat from inside the sector?).
Hiding is its own reward, as this allows your mercs to stay hidden in enemy territory. Previously this was not possible, which meant that a spy infiltrating a city had to either shelter in a mine or leave territory to sleep. Now you can actually deploy your spies long-time. Which seems pretty much what I'd expect spies to do. This alone should make spy roleplay a lot more viable.
If you are on the Get Intel assignment, you will also get intel (who'd have thought?). The amount depends on
how advanced the sector is (taken from CoolnessBySector.xml). Hiding in Meduna is a lot riskier than hiding in Drassen.
personality - bonus for sociable or assertive, malus for primitive and loner. Penalty for forgetful of psycho.
If we are disguised as a soldier, the gains are doubled.
It thus follows that the safest way to do this is in an 'uncool' place (like some swamp in the north-east or Chitzena), while the biggest gains can be made in Meduna itself.
It is not necessary to have the covert trait to try this, but... I really, really recommend it. It might also be better to try to go for small but constant rewards in small towns rather than constantly facing constant mouse-and-cat games with the enemy in high-level installations.
I know now that it could never work between us, as much as we wanted to, it could never be! Not because you're a rabbit, but because you're black.
If you want, you can donate to me. This will not affect how and what I code, and I will not code specific features in return. I will be thankful though.
Another mechanic needing a bit os explanation is acquiring and selling photographs. Your mercs can now equip a camera (new item #1751, but the old video camera will also do), and take photograps with it.
If you have taken a shot of something that could be worth something to outside forces, you can now sell this on the R.I.S. website on the 'Information Verification' page.
On the top, you can toggle through all the shots taken that you can sell, and upload them.
After R.I.S. has verified the photo, you will receive a small message on what has been verified, and get intel for this.
There is, however, a catch: the conditions on the person or area you took a photo took of at the time verification is done determines what reward you get. This is justified - outside forces might be interest in identifying Kingpin, for example, and give you a significant amount of intel for that. That reward will be significantly lowered if Kingpin is dead, however - what would they do with a photo of a dead man?
Similar, if you take images that prove the regime is comitting warcrimes, that is worth something. That reward is lowered if you have already taken over that sector... after all, the regime can now deny any culpability and accuse you of fabricating whatever proof you have of their crimes.
Verifying these images takes time - about 2-4 hours. So in order to get the most out of this, it won't suffice to just have one dude take photos on your regular attacks. You could, you know, send someone in to scout the area and take photos before you take a city. You know... do stuff a spy would do.
After a photo has been verified, the details will also appear on the website.
Note that the contents of this part of the feature - which images can be taken, what conditions apply, what texts to show, how much intel to get - are all defined in lua. This means that a modder can easily add more images. This is all set up in Overhead.lua:
and get and set them via GetModderLUAFact() and SetModderLUAFact(). In case you weren't aware, this allows a modder to define and store their own variables in savegames, useable by our lua scripts.
We can set the state of a phot via function SetPhotoState( aIndex, aState )
We evaluate what we photograph in
-- sSectorX, sSectorY, bSectorZ: sector coordinates
-- sGridNo: tile that we photographed. When we take a photo this function is run on all tiles we see in a 2-tile radius around where we clicked
-- bLevel: height level (floor or roof)
-- ubPhotographerProfile: profile of the merc taking the photo
-- room: if > 0, this tile is inside this room
-- usTargetProfile: if we photographed a NPC, this will be their profile number, otherwise NO_PROFILE
function AddPhotoData( sSectorX, sSectorY, bSectorZ, sGridNo, bLevel, ubPhotographerProfile, room, usTargetProfile )
if ( usTargetProfile ~= NO_PROFILE ) then
if ( usTargetProfile == Profil.GENERAL ) then
if ( GetModderLUAFact(ModSpecificActions.PHOTO_FLAGS_GENERAL) < PhotoFlag.TAKEN ) then
SetScreenMsg(FontColour.FONT_MCOLOR_DKWHITE, "Took a photo of the general.")
SetPhotoState( ModSpecificActions.PHOTO_FLAGS_GENERAL, PhotoFlag.TAKEN )
end
...
-- Alma
elseif ( (sSectorY == SectorY.MAP_ROW_H) and (sSectorX == 13) ) then
if ((room == 12) ) then
if ( GetModderLUAFact(ModSpecificActions.PHOTO_FLAGS_ALMA_HQ_CONTROLROOM) < PhotoFlag.TAKEN ) then
SetScreenMsg(FontColour.FONT_MCOLOR_DKWHITE, "Took a photo of the command center.")
SetPhotoState( ModSpecificActions.PHOTO_FLAGS_ALMA_HQ_CONTROLROOM, PhotoFlag.TAKEN )
end
end
...
We set the texts that appear in
function GetPhotoData( aType )
if ( aType == PhotoFlag.TAKEN ) then
if ( GetModderLUAFact(ModSpecificActions.PHOTO_FLAGS_GENERAL) == PhotoFlag.TAKEN ) then SetPhotoFactLaptopData(aType, ModSpecificActions.PHOTO_FLAGS_GENERAL, "Positive identification of the commanding officer of the Alma military base.") end
...
elseif ( aType == PhotoFlag.VERIFIED ) then
if ( GetModderLUAFact(ModSpecificActions.PHOTO_FLAGS_GENERAL) == PhotoFlag.VERIFIED ) then SetPhotoFactLaptopData(aType, ModSpecificActions.PHOTO_FLAGS_GENERAL, "General Theo Humphey is a former US officer. He is in charge of the Alma training facility. His intimate knowledge of the military could be valuable.")
elseif ( GetModderLUAFact(ModSpecificActions.PHOTO_FLAGS_GENERAL) == PhotoFlag.VERIFIED_RESULT_2 ) then SetPhotoFactLaptopData(aType, ModSpecificActions.PHOTO_FLAGS_GENERAL, "General Theo Humphey was a former US officer. He was in charge of the Alma training facility. KIA.")
end
....
We verify the photo and set the reward in
function VerifyPhotoState(aIndex)
if ( (aIndex >= ModSpecificActions.PHOTO_FLAGS_BEGIN) and (aIndex <= ModSpecificActions.PHOTO_FLAGS_END) and (GetModderLUAFact(aIndex) == PhotoFlag.UPLOADED) ) then
if (aIndex == ModSpecificActions.PHOTO_FLAGS_GENERAL) then
if ( MercIsDead(Profil.GENERAL) ) then
SetPhotoState( aIndex, PhotoFlag.VERIFIED_RESULT_2 )
AddIntel( 15 )
SetScreenMsg(FontColour.FONT_MCOLOR_LTGREEN, "Received RIS compensation for identifying General Theo Humphey. Amount lowered due to death.")
else
SetPhotoState( aIndex, PhotoFlag.VERIFIED )
AddIntel( 30 )
SetScreenMsg(FontColour.FONT_MCOLOR_LTGREEN, "Received RIS compensation for identifying General Theo Humphey.")
end
...
I know now that it could never work between us, as much as we wanted to, it could never be! Not because you're a rabbit, but because you're black.
If you want, you can donate to me. This will not affect how and what I code, and I will not code specific features in return. I will be thankful though.
Wow! Awesome work! As soon as Spying was introduced I wanted hide in enemy territory feature and now it's done.
Suggestions: Flugente What about taking photos, selling info of known terrorists( T Rex l, Slay, etc) ?
Wow! Awesome work! As soon as Spying was introduced I wanted hide in enemy territory feature and now it's done.
Suggestions: Flugente What about taking photos, selling info of known terrorists( T Rex l, Slay, etc) ?
Well, anyone can easily do that themselves - open Overhead.lua, copy and edit existing entries for profiles (Mike, Kingpin etc.). I didn't do these mainly because I plan to sell the info of where the terrorists are to the player at some point... and having both would seem somewhat odd. This would, however, require some way to permanently mark their location on the map for the player, and as you yourself found out, our current way of marking VIPs... could be improved.
I know now that it could never work between us, as much as we wanted to, it could never be! Not because you're a rabbit, but because you're black.
If you want, you can donate to me. This will not affect how and what I code, and I will not code specific features in return. I will be thankful though.
Question about the feature, where exactly is the intel merchant? I've went to San Mona looking for them, and found a few "Black Market" NPCs in C6 (It's displayed the same way KingPin's mobsters are) but nobody seems to want to do anything. Clicking enough times on them sometimes prompts a little thing of text like "We are always open for business" "Welcome back" etc. but that's all I can get out of them.
Is there a certain specific NPC I have to talk to? I've tried almost all of them. (A few leave the building and head around the back, but talking them there does not give me a different result.)
EDIT: I am talking at night currently if that has anything to do with it.
Hmm. It might be that ALLOW_EXTRA_CIVILIANS and ALLOW_EXTRA_MERCHANTS from JA2_Options.ini also need to be true. After setting those to TRUE, you might need to unload and re-enter the sector to spawn the merchant.
[Updated on: Thu, 10 May 2018 02:34]
I know now that it could never work between us, as much as we wanted to, it could never be! Not because you're a rabbit, but because you're black.
If you want, you can donate to me. This will not affect how and what I code, and I will not code specific features in return. I will be thankful though.
As of r8560, we can buy information on planned creature raids and on the location of terrorists with intel, both can be seen here.
I know now that it could never work between us, as much as we wanted to, it could never be! Not because you're a rabbit, but because you're black.
If you want, you can donate to me. This will not affect how and what I code, and I will not code specific features in return. I will be thankful though.
This feature is AWESOME. Makes some of those odd characters like Gumpy necessary...couple thoughts while testing it....
- I too, as noted above, was having issues with the San Mona merchants not allowing you to trade. Will try the suggested fix.
- I hired Speck to do some hacking, and he was the only Merc you listed with the hacking trait, that couldnt hack for me. He has a Red C:\
- I need a Hint as to where the "really hard to reach Computer is"
Well... does your Speck have that background ability?
Without knowing what that citation refers to, no idea.
I know now that it could never work between us, as much as we wanted to, it could never be! Not because you're a rabbit, but because you're black.
If you want, you can donate to me. This will not affect how and what I code, and I will not code specific features in return. I will be thankful though.
I meant 'does hacking show up in his background when you look at the laptop personnel page?'
Well... computers can only be hacked if they exist and aren't, say, blown up. Where can you find a computer with a high chance of being blown up?
I know now that it could never work between us, as much as we wanted to, it could never be! Not because you're a rabbit, but because you're black.
If you want, you can donate to me. This will not affect how and what I code, and I will not code specific features in return. I will be thankful though.
Hmm. It might be that ALLOW_EXTRA_CIVILIANS and ALLOW_EXTRA_MERCHANTS from JA2_Options.ini also need to be true. After setting those to TRUE, you might need to unload and re-enter the sector to spawn the merchant.
That fixed it for me.
I really think there's more and more settings that should default to on.
Extra Civs and Merchants (Otherwise Intel Vendor just won't work.)
Weapon Overheating (Hardly seems to have a big impact. Even in prolonged conflicts with fast firing weapons like the FAMAS I hardly heat up enough for it to be a big deal.)
Strategic Militia Movement (Since old mobile militia has gone the way of the dodo.)
On a side note how do I update my JA2 1.13 installation while keeping my saves and ini settings? (Not like I changed the settings too much. If I need to start a fresh ini because the newer one has more options and re-set my settings that's fine too.) Especially confusing because while there's a "savedgames" folder in my installation, it's empty.
EDIT: Saves are in profiles: Userprofile_JA2133 but I'm still curious how to update my installation.
I'm using the 8555 build and I'm a bit OCD with having the latest build. Especially like the new shotgun damage display (I.E. damage per pellet times number of pellets) and quest thing on map.
Is it just as easy as download the latest SCI, and extract it over my existing JA2 1.13 installation and overwrite all files?
To set this up, the following conditions must be true:
The merc must be in tactical.
The merc must be disguised. Note that this does not require that the merc has the covert trait, as anyone can disguise. However only those with that trait will be any good at this.
The sector must be enemy-occupied.
The enemy must not be aware of the merc (so no, this won't work once combat has been initiated).
And the merc must be alone, no other mercs of militia allowed.
If all of these conditions apply, you can use the $ menu to assign the merc to the Hide or Get Intel assignment.
hi thanks for this great feature. but i couldnt understand what you mean with "$ menu" and that conditions are true for me i am disguised as soldier in enemy sector and i don't know how you open that radio operator: intel & various menu.
Messages:214
Registered:February 2005 Location: USA
Flugente wrote on Mon, 19 February 2018 01:09
To set this up, the following conditions must be true:
The merc must be in tactical.
The merc must be disguised. Note that this does not require that the merc has the covert trait, as anyone can disguise. However only those with that trait will be any good at this.
The sector must be enemy-occupied.
The enemy must not be aware of the merc (so no, this won't work once combat has been initiated).
And the merc must be alone, no other mercs of militia allowed.
If all of these conditions apply, you can use the $ menu to assign the merc to the Hide or Get Intel assignment.
When I open the $ menu (shift + 4), the assignments (i.e. Hide and Get Intel) are both grayed out. How can I get it to work?
I'm playing with Elroy. I'm in the tactical map, D13 (Drassen mine). He's disguised as a soldier and the the says "Elroy's disguise seems to be OK...." Combat has never been initiated here. Elroy is alone in this sector, except for the 12 enemies.
I'm using build 8675. Thanks!
EDIT: Same results in N5 (Meduna). Same results with a civilians disguise.
Messages:214
Registered:February 2005 Location: USA
Flugente wrote on Sun, 18 February 2018 23:09
If you have taken a shot of something that could be worth something to outside forces, you can now sell this on the R.I.S. website on the 'Information Verification' page.
I've taken many pics, but the website always says, "You have nothing to upload."
How do I know what to take a pic of please? Thanks.
Flugente respect! All these nice features you implement.. without words.
Question: I took a picture from the chalice, a message in the left bottom corner appeared "took a foto of chalice".. but when i open the laptop now, i have nothing to upload. (like the post above i just see) What i'm doing wrong? Is it because i fotografed a lot of nonsense after that?
Edit: Seems to be solved, after some time past, the picture was mentioned at RIS website and 20 Intel were given, even if i didn't upload anything manually.
This may help to answer a bit the questions of the last two posts in this thread.
First of all, Flugente mentions in the first initial post of this thread, that he had to use the next 2 posts in this thread (so posts 1-3) to explain further the entire feature.
So for the last post, the answer is in the 3rd post in this thread by Flugente. I'll quote the most germane part, but his post contains much more detailed info that this little excerpt:
<<
Verifying these images takes time - about 2-4 hours. So in order to get the most out of this, it won't suffice to just have one dude take photos on your regular attacks. You could, you know, send someone in to scout the area and take photos before you take a city. You know... do stuff a spy would do.
>>
As he says in more detail in the rest of the 3 posts, when you take a picture and what it shows (like the condition of the target NPC such as Kingpin, or any war-crimes, or whether you took over the site or this is before you took it over -- so you won't be blamed, all of that influences the value of the picture taken.
The other thing is that there is a delay between getting your Intel Submitted and then Verified by the Site, and then you get the reward, supposedly it is a 2-4 hour delay.
Some of the locations may show something when mousing over, I'm sure this is covered a bit somewhere on the various Spying, Intel, and Covert Operations threads, if not here. Also, it is possible that you may find something in a Quest Log, which I forget how you bring it up. But there is a special map overlay now, a button at the bottom probably of the old SAM site Map, which will show the Quests for each sector. Perhaps they show once you enter the site. I'm not sure. Again, I recommend reading all 3 posts, and checking out any other Flugente Magicka Workshop threads on Intel, Covert Ops, or Spying -- as they all have something on this as the feature was developed over a long period of time, much being added as he worked on it.
Don't forget some more info may be in the hidden Spoiler Text, and he usually previews what it may be just above in the text. Also , occasionally there is also a YouTube video which if you slow it down or watch it with occasional pausing, may answer things more vividly.
I've not used the feature much yet, so that's the best I can do for now, and I was away from my first campaign using it for the last 3-4 months at least, so I can't really say much with actual experience on it, just the basic mechanics of it. Hope that helps some.
I let Raffi gather intel in Balime and Mouse in Alma. First this worked liked I hoped for. But after a while they got spotted quite often. Sometimes I managed to put on the disguising clothes before being seen by any enemy on map and/or alarm has been raised. But when I failed (alarm), choosing intel in the menu was no longer an option (like said in description). I then moved them to neighbouring sector via map-border exit.
While this is working, it comes with a major downside I want to warn about. Leaving the sector counts as unsuccesful attack or lost battle in history. And when this happens to often, it affects the ability of hiring mercs from AIM, they all turned me down saying they doubt the way I handle things (simular to having to many causulties/dead mercs).
I haven't found a way yet to avoid this. So, if being exposed and thrown into combat and not having the option to use hide (via intel menu) again, is there anything I can do to avoid leaving the sector (fleeing/retreat) ? I tried hiding in shadows, buildings, whatever place I thought nobody would see me, but intel-menu wasn't available anymore. Is there possibly a time I have to wait and if so, how long ?
With an imp-spy I was able to kill all enemies, but it's probably hard with Mouse and noway possible with Raffi.
When using 8684/2476 I also had no info about how much intel I have gathered in stratetc-view (bottom left in older versions, like in the pictures in the description), so I had to look it up on web-site.
Is this intented or is something wrong on my side?
8675
When you hide or start gathering intel loyalty starts dropping down in nearby city. I think game counts it as defeat in sector and corresponding music plays.
The other issue is traveling enemy squads that are passing by. Tactical screen show up and you have to press Shift 4 again. That happened to me a lot at Balime.
Messages:214
Registered:February 2005 Location: USA
Flugente wrote on Mon, 19 February 2018 01:09
To set this up, the following conditions must be true:
The merc must be in tactical.
The merc must be disguised. Note that this does not require that the merc has the covert trait, as anyone can disguise. However only those with that trait will be any good at this.
The sector must be enemy-occupied.
The enemy must not be aware of the merc (so no, this won't work once combat has been initiated).
And the merc must be alone, no other mercs of militia allowed.
If all of these conditions apply, you can use the $ menu to assign the merc to the Hide or Get Intel assignment.
Same results on a fresh installation with build 8776. When I open the $ menu (shift + 4), the assignments (i.e. Hide and Get Intel) are both grayed out. How can I get it to work?
I'm playing with Mouse. I'm in the tactical map, C5 (San Mona). She's disguised as a soldier and the game says "Mouse's disguise seems to be OK...." Combat has never been initiated here. Mouse is alone in this sector, except for the unknown number of enemies.
EDIT: we should add a condition to the list above. Forced Turn Mode (Ctrl + T) must be off.
Next visit on RIS-page "Information Verification", when checking "... allready received compensation for .." for chalice, the following happens:
The Text is wrong:
"Arulco's most important artifact, the ChalicA"
instead of
"Arulco's most important artifact, the Chalice of Chance, is on display in Balime. Dissidents protest against the sacrilege of removing it from the ruins of Chitzena in the first place."
When then trying to open up the laptop again after checking the "allready received" for Chalice, I get a Blackscreen.
Only happening for the Chalice, other photos seem to be fine.
Hmm. That works just fine for me. Are you sure you didn't somehow change something in Overhead.lua?
I know now that it could never work between us, as much as we wanted to, it could never be! Not because you're a rabbit, but because you're black.
If you want, you can donate to me. This will not affect how and what I code, and I will not code specific features in return. I will be thankful though.
I don't know what caused this. I used a compiled exe and the matching GameDir from SVN. Overhead.lua is just looking fine, unchanged. I can reproduce this.
But, when I tried with a later version I couldn't reproduce.
My assumption is, that I may messed the compile (although it hasn't shown errors). Only other thing I could imagine, is that maybe the Fact "Chalice is stolen" didn't trigger. But since I also wasn't able to upload the picture taken of Carmen (it just doesn't show up in upload-opportunities) and I couldn't reproduce this with another another compile, I guess i somehow managed to mess the compile.
Later on this compile also resulted in all sti having blue outlines, not only items, also walls and bushes. Strange.
But, this seems to be something messed up on my side.
Hmm. It might be that ALLOW_EXTRA_CIVILIANS and ALLOW_EXTRA_MERCHANTS from JA2_Options.ini also need to be true. After setting those to TRUE, you might need to unload and re-enter the sector to spawn the merchant.
Those have to be true, without "Allow Extra Civilians" the Blackmarket npc's won't show up on map and without "Allow Extra Merchants" the inventory may not work. It's under "Tactical Interface Settings" in ja2_options.ini
"Intel" itself must of course also be true.
Hire Rebels, take photos of places and people (and upload via R.I.S. webpage), hack PC's and Servers and some other fancy stuff gains Intel.
Camera available at BR or coming with Elroy and Beth.
Laptop and "hacking"-trait (should be part of some backgrounds, like harvard graduate, etc) increase chances for hacking stuff.
Laptop available at BR or coming with Grumpy and Speck.
If using a mod that changes map, look arround to find them. If mod hasn't adjusted lua-files dealing with placement, they will appear at places ment for 1.13-maps.
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