Home » MODDING HQ 1.13 » Flugente's Magika Workshop » New feature: enemy generals
New feature: enemy generals[message #332042]
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Thu, 01 May 2014 19:29
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Flugente |
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Messages:3507
Registered:April 2009 Location: Germany |
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New feature: enemy generals
Story first, feature description later.
In the first two months, the rebels had seemed unstoppable. They had taken the north-east of Arulco by storm. Cambria fell next. They then focused on the military bulwark of Alma. This had been the first point of resurgence for the battled royal army - while they ultimately couldn't keep the city, the insurgents paid a heavy price for it. Huge losses had forced them into a defensive position for a change. Only their elite core of foreign mercenaries kept the lines in the bombed out surburbs of Cambria from falling back to the royalists. As the conflict entered its fourth month, the rebels were faced with a long, dragged-out conflict they could ill afford.
The situation in these days was dire for the rebels. The royalists had seized the initiative, and were playing their numerical superiority. Something had to be done.
Day 131, 15:30, former military correctional facility, Alma.
The infamous military prison of Alma had been a special kind of hell. The rebels hadn't spared the guards, but the building was mostly still intact. It now housed those royalists that had surrendered. Many of the low-rank soldiers had switched sides in the beginning. The captured officers were a different breed though. Most were just to stubborn and gambled upon the army. True enough, the army had reached the outer fences of the prison twice. In those days, it seemed only a matter of time before the prison would be retaken.
A few officers, however, were Arulcans. One of them, a second Lieutnant Ibanez, actually wanted to end the bloodshed. He had joined the army eagerly in his young years, in a mixture of juvenile sense for adventure an ill-placed patriotism. He decided to make an offer to the rebels. Luckily for him, Miguel's right-hand man, a veteran called Carlos, was inspecting the prison this day.
"So, Lieutnant Ibanzes, eh? The guards tell me you wanted to talk to me. What does a traitor like you have to offer the revolution?"
"I... I was expecting Miguel Cordona..."
"He's too busy to waste his time with lowlifes like you. Talk to me, or never talk again, scum."
"Sigh... alright, I guess you'll do as well. Let me be straight about this. This could put me into trouble, but... guess I'm already deep in. Just don'T let the other prisoners in, or I'm done for."
"Go on..."
"you've put a huge strain on the army. The queen has been mercilessly punishing those that failed her in the first months. The only one of the old guard still alive of the old cadre is General Matis. But he's been transferred to Chitzena for dsiciplinary reasons."
"So Matis is still alive... but perhaps not for long. Is that what you are saying?"
"Yes. I figured... you know... he might actually be willing to join you if you mae him a good offer."
"Is that so? And I guess you are doing this out of the kindness of your heart?"
"Pleas, sir, believe me. I never wanted this war, I was just following orders. I dont want this... bloodshed anymore."
"Hmpf. We'll see about that. For now, give me the location of the general. I'll have someone contact him."
Carlos wasted no time. Using special radio channels that even most of the rebels did not know of, he contacted one the rebels' more unorthodox assets in San Mona.
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Re: New feature: enemy generals[message #332043]
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Thu, 01 May 2014 19:30
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Flugente |
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Messages:3507
Registered:April 2009 Location: Germany |
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Day 131, 22:30, somewhere in San Mona.
In an uneasy peace, the city of San Mona had largely been spared from the conflict. That didn't make it a peaceful place though. Royal soldiers used the city to let off steam away from the front line, while the cities outskirts had swollen with refugees from all over the country. Orphans and beggars roamed the streets.
In a ramshackle noodle shop, a youth hungrily stared at the food display. He had fled the fighting in Cambria weeks ago. He was so hungry.
"Hey, there boy, you seem hungry. Here, have some of this."
The boy startled. A beautiful woman smiled at him. She offered him bread. Who was this woman? He didn't remember her.
"I... I... thank you lady! But... but.. why are you helping me?"
She smiled back at him. "No problem. You just remind me of my baby brother."
The boy got tense. Was she mocking him? "I'm not a baby! I'm a man! I know my way around here!"
"Oh, apologies. You do?"
"Yeah. I know all of Arulco!"
"Oh my. What a coincidence. You see, I am rather new in this town. And then this war started, and I am afraid to travel." She looked at him with big eyes. "I feel I can trust you, You are a smart man, aren't you?"
"Yeah. I can do anything I want!"
"Hmm. I am afraid to travel, with all these unruly men around. But you seem capable." She cleared her throat. "Say, would you like to earn some cash? I have this medicine that my uncle in Chitzena desperately needs. I am afraid to travel myself, but would you help me? I can offer you a few dollars, of course." Seh indicated at a nondescript, small bundle by her side.
The boy was wideeyed. Those were several hundered dollars!. With that, he could eat for weeks!
"No problem, lady. That is an easy job for me. Uhm. To whom exactly?"
"Very good. Deliver this to my uncle Matis. Just ask the locals, they should tell you where he is. Tell him his niece Clara send you, and he'll understand."
That day, a careful observer might have noticed a lone boy on the paths to Chitzena. An even more careful observer might have noticed a blonde woman following him a few minutes later, but nobody kept any attention to that these days.
Day 133, 10:45, the old ruins of Chitzena.
Chitzena was a sleepy town. It's biggest attractions were the old ruins, but tourism had all but died even before the civil war started.
This morning, brigadier general Lorne Matis, regional commander of her royal majesties northern army district, inspected the ruins. He was feeling unwell. The last months hadn't been kind to his health. Deidranna had spared him... for the moment at least. Not by his on doing, he mused. He had simply not been commanding any of the forces that the rebels had initially obliterated, so there was little reason to make an example of him. Others hadn't been that lucky.
How long would it take before the queen would grow tired of him as well? No, he had to escape somehow. It was only a matter of time until the rebel offensive would gain strength again. With luck, they would face southwards. If they would encircle Alma, his forces would be isolated from the main army in Meduna. Perhaps... he didn't dare to hope. Perhaps, if he somehow reached out to the rebels... a deal could be made.
"General, there is a... messenger that wants to see you."
Matis turned around. "Who is it?." Next to the sergeant that adressed was a boy, not older than 16 years. He wore ragged clothes and clung to a bag.
"What is the meaning of this? Who are you?"
"I... um... Clara send me to give you your medicine."
"Clara? who? What? Sergeant, what is the meaning of this?"
The general's bodyguards immediately fell into a threatening pose. The boy felt sweat forming on his forehead. What was happening? Had the woman duped him? There was no way, she had paid him upfront, several hundred dollars, just to deliver this very package!
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Re: New feature: enemy generals[message #332044]
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Thu, 01 May 2014 19:31
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Flugente |
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Messages:3507
Registered:April 2009 Location: Germany |
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"Uhm. Your niece Clara. You know, about my size, blond hair. She met me in San Mona and asked me to give you this..." He stretched the arm with the bundle to the general.
The general turned around, but it was too late. An immense blast tore through the eerie silence of the ancient ruins. The boy, the general, the sergeant and most of his retinue were ripped to shreds. The 'medicine' had been several kilos of C4 mixed with nails and marbles.
Behind a hut, the woman only designated as 'Mouse' smiled. She let the remote control slip into the ravine. She adjusted her features and then disappeared among the panicked population that fled the scene.
Day 134, 12:00, former military correctional facility, Alma.
"I guess I have to thank you, Mr. Ibanez."
"Have... have you been successful in contacting the general?"
"Oh yes, we were."
"That... that is wonderful. Then this means that this war will be over soon. I can go home."
"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure of that. You see, it seems the queen got to him first."
"The... the queen? I don't understand."
"I am sorry I have to tell you this, but the queen send an assassin that blew up the general. Nasty stuff. I didn't know the queen used suicide bombers."
"That... that is impossible. It must be..." Ibanez became frantic. "You! It was you! You set me up! You used me. You never wanted the general to join you". Carlos only smiled. "But you are fighting against the army. Why would you resist peace? There are many among the army that would join you."
Carlos smile disappeared.
"Join us? Do you think it is so easy? That you can just flip sides, jut like that?" He shaked his head. "I've been in this shit for ten years. For ten years, you bombed our villages. You raped our women, killed our children and stole our land. You hunted us until only a handful of us were left."
"Now that we've finally have a chance of revenge, do you think I'll let scum like you join us? As if nothing happened? I'll use you and throw you away like the thrash you are."
With used motions, Carlos screwed a silencer on his pistol.
"There will be peace. Once all the traitors to the arulcan people are dead."
"This is madness! Miguel would never want this."
"No, he doesn't. He doesn't know this, and never should. He is the last beacon of hope for our people. And I'm the one doing the dirty work. And as for you... here is your reward."
In the next days, the army command structure in the north of the country broke down. General Matis had held the local brigades together. They now acted independently, wary of each other. Trust eroded. Who had assassinated the general? Had the queen disposed of him, as she had of so many others before? Had it been the rebels? Or had it been Kingpin? Investigation revelead the bombers origin in San Mona, which the crimelord strictly denied.
With the temporary turmoil on the northern front, the rebels were able to focus somewhere else for the moment.
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Re: New feature: enemy generals[message #332046]
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Thu, 01 May 2014 19:32
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Flugente |
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Messages:3507
Registered:April 2009 Location: Germany |
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Enemy generals is a new feature that builds on enemy roles.
The idea is that, as strategically inept as the arulcan army is, it is still lead by a few individuals (As the cutscenes indicate, Deidranna doesn't lead directly, Elliot is inept, and Joe is just a bodyguard). These are her generals.
The generals are distributed in several cities in the country... but you, the player does not know where. As generals are the ones organising the army, every general still alive gives a bonus to decision speed to the army. This speeds up how fast the army reevaluates the strategic situation - the army will send out patrols faster than normally. A second bonus is a global bonus to travel speed. Similar to the ranger trait's travel speed bonus, but for all enemy forces.
As a result, a player would be well advised to take out the generals. Taking out a general will help your forces everywhere.
But wait. You don't know where the generals are! How can you take them out?
Well, they will still be there among the enemy forces. You just won't know they are generals, but they die like everybody else. So you could just do what you always do, invade city by city an kill everybody... but the generals aren't that dumb. They know of their value.
A general has a few AI modifications. Notably, he will always flee from combat once he is aware of your forces. You might get lucky and still kill him, but most likely not. If a general flees, he is relocated to Meduna. You can still kill him there, but if you have forces there, then the game is almost over... to late for this kill to be of any meaning.
How do you know who is a general and who isn't? That's were prisoners come into play. If a prisoner interrogation gives you intel, there is a chance that they might tell you about a general you don't yet know about. This is indicated on the strategic map (see last picture in the first post of the story). You now know that a prisoner is there. If you now enter the sector, you can identify a general just like other enemy roles (a red '!' indicates a general).
A general is never alone. He has a loyal retinue of bodyguards that always stick around him. These elites have orders to stick close to him, making it much harder to get to him alone.
Hmm. But how to kill a general?. You have several options.
- You send in a huge assault, and hope to get him before he can flee. An approach form several directions is advisable.
- A covert operative is more discrete. If you know that a general is present, you can take your time to identify him, and then plan your kill.
- I didn't originally plan on suicide bombers as a viable tactic. But it works very fine. Covert Ops gives several EPCs, like, Joey, Maria and the Kulbas, the civilian disgusie (they are civilians after all). With Inventory arming, you can prepare remotely controlled bombs (use C4 or C1 as these have the 'covert' flag that makes it undetectable by enemy troops) and apply these items to the civilian. This won't work in sectors where the army is suspicious of all civilians though, but for the rest, you can go full taliban.
Special tip: almost all generals are unknown to the player... but there might also be an NPc who is one of them. 5 rubber points to the first person to pick out the obvious culprit.
Ini settings:
;******************************************************************************************************************************
; GENERALS
;******************************************************************************************************************************
; allow AI officers in the campaign. There is a finite number of generals in the game. On starting a new game (or loading an old
; savegame that didn't have this feature), generals are created in some enemy towns. The player does not know where they are -
; he has to interrogate prisoners he captured to learn of their location. He can then infiltrate the sector
; and try to assassinate the generals.
; In tactical, generals will try to flee from the sector once they have learned of the player's presence. They also have a small
; retinue of elite bodyguards that keep close and defend them. If a bodyguard flees, he is relocated to Meduna.This way the player
; has a second chance to kill them if they botched the first attempt... but it's going to be more tricky.
; Generals are important targets, as long as they are alive, the enemy will get significant boni to
; - its decision speed
; - its travelling speed
ENEMY_GENERALS = TRUE
; how many generals can there be in the campaign? This setting is only used once, when the game is initialised, so choose wisely.
; Generals are only created in towns fully under enemy control of at least size 2, but not in Meduna (escaped generals move
; there later on). Apart from Meduna, there can only be one general per town max. Default 5, values between 1 and 10.
ENEMY_GENERALS_NUMBER = 5
; Number of bodyguards for a general. These elite troops stick close to their general, thus making it much harder to isolate them
; Default 4, values between 0 and 10.
ENEMY_GENERALS_BODYGUARDS_NUMBER = 4
; Strategic AI decision process is sped up for every general alive. This simply lowers the time period between AI decisions,
; making the game more difficult.
; Note that the combined reduction of all generals cannot exceed 50%. 0.05 is for 5%.
; Default 0.05, values between 0.0 and 0.1.
ENEMY_GENERALS_STRATEGIC_DECISION_SPEEDBONUS = 0.05
; Strategic AI travel time reduction. Similar to the Ranger trait's 'GROUP_TIME_SPENT_FOR_TRAVELLING_BY_FOOT_REDUCTION', this
; speeds up enemy AI travel times per general alive GLOBALLY.
; Note that the combined reduction of all generals cannot exceed 25%. 0.05 is for 5%.
; Default 0.03, values between 0.0 and 0.1.
ENEMY_GENERALS_STRATEGIC_MOVEMENT_SPEEDBONUS = 0.03
...
; points needed to interrogate prisoners of specific types. You can see your points on the merc's face in strategic: 145/7 means 145 points, 7 prisoners
; Interrogation first removes admin prisoners, then regulars then elites and then officers (see Tactical Enemy Role for an explanation on officers)
; If regulars and elites join your militia, there is a chance that they will be demoted, otherwise they will join as regular or veteran militia
PRISONER_INTERROGATION_POINTS_ADMIN = 80
PRISONER_INTERROGATION_POINTS_REGULAR = 100
PRISONER_INTERROGATION_POINTS_ELITE = 140
PRISONER_INTERROGATION_POINTS_OFFICER = 250
; if we get interrogate high-value prisoners, there is a chance that we learn about the locations of enemy generals.
; See also Tactical Enemy Role Settings for this
PRISONER_INTERROGATION_ENEMY_GENERAL_CHANCE_ADMIN = 0
PRISONER_INTERROGATION_ENEMY_GENERAL_CHANCE_REGULAR = 1
PRISONER_INTERROGATION_ENEMY_GENERAL_CHANCE_ELITE = 10
PRISONER_INTERROGATION_ENEMY_GENERAL_CHANCE_OFFICER = 60
This has been added to the trunk in r7179 and requires GameDir r2028. It is savegame compatible. Using a lower GameDir revision with this will cause your computer to leave you, your dog to explode and your girlfriend to pee all over your carpet.
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Re: New feature: enemy generals[message #332126]
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Sat, 03 May 2014 02:53
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Flugente |
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Messages:3507
Registered:April 2009 Location: Germany |
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Repeater1947A few questions about enemy generals:
- Do generals have profiles?
- Do generals have different traits or always SQUADLEADER trait?
- Do generals have the "OFFICER" role?
While having individual profiles for them would be cool, storywise, it would defeat the entire 'secrecy'-thing. So they do not get individual profiles. They still use the normal profiles - so anyone could be a general, even soldiers with profiles. They also get random gear and skills like normal soldiers, there is no difference there, as that would make it easier to identify them. Same for being an officer - it would make sense, but as there is only a finite number of officers allowed in each sector, this would make it much easier to identify a general. A general can also be an officer, but doesn't have to.
I realize this might seem a bit odd, but the intention is that if you do not know for sure that an officer is there, you have to guess. Tip: Keep in mind that an officer has bodyguards that stick close to him... a careful observer might notice who leads an who follows . If it helps, think of them as... um... incognito generals.
TaroI have couple of ideas:
*generals dont give bonus to all troops, but to ones in his radius (something like SAM site).
*after being moved to Meduna he should only spend a random time there and return to the field placed in random location with large enemy concentration (another interrogation is needed to reveal new location) Both possible, perhaps something like that in the future. For now, I'll see how people deal with this first, but I'll keep it in mind.
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Re: New feature: enemy generals[message #332164]
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Sun, 04 May 2014 02:00
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Azure_Repeater |
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Messages:144
Registered:March 2014 Location: Philippines |
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Hmm. Generals seem to be much harder to catch on Bigmaps. With the huge, wide maps, the general would flee where you would least expect it.
EDIT: Another idea - all enemy troops in the sector gets demoralized to "Panic" morale when the general gets killed.
[Updated on: Sun, 04 May 2014 02:24] by Moderator Report message to a moderator
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Sergeant
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Re: New feature: enemy generals[message #340983 is a reply to message #340976]
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Thu, 14 May 2015 19:13
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Flugente |
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Messages:3507
Registered:April 2009 Location: Germany |
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Each prisoner class has its own chance to give info of a general's location once they give you info - see PRISONER_INTERROGATION_ENEMY_GENERAL_CHANCE_ADMIN etc., adjust as you see fit.
A general is visually indistinguishable from other soldiers. The aim of this feature is to give the player a target that has to be taken down by other methods than brute force (or extremely brute force from all sides that is). If you don't have confirmation from prisoners that a general is somewhere, the only way to identify a general is the behaviour of the troops (each general has several bodyguards that stick close to him, so you might find an odd pattern if you observe them).
Once a general has been identified however, observing him will show you his role. A soldier's role is uncovered if you have observed him ENEMYROLES_TURNSTOUNCOVER turns (turns also pass in realtime, so it works there too).
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.Report message to a moderator
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Re: New feature: enemy generals[message #342938 is a reply to message #341073]
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Tue, 20 October 2015 16:37
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Torres |
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Messages:171
Registered:June 2010 Location: Canary Islands |
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Jesus Christ I just learned of this, this is amazing, Flug dude are you even real? aren't you some kind of human-computer breed like the Master from Fallout? seriously amazing stuff man... now this game got Commandos style with the spies. 11/10.
[Updated on: Tue, 20 October 2015 16:37] Report message to a moderator
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Staff Sergeant
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Re: New feature: enemy generals[message #346407 is a reply to message #346404]
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Fri, 29 July 2016 13:41
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Flugente |
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Messages:3507
Registered:April 2009 Location: Germany |
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As edmortimer said, the death rate and reputation tolerance are the important tags that controls how harsh mercs react to deaths. Altering these values requires a new game though.
As suicide bombers were never a tactic of any serious use (until, well, this), the values were never altered.
Note that, technically, only the person that triggers the bomb needs to be one of your mercs - not necessarily the guy blown up. As you can attach items to others, it is possible to attach bombs to civilians, militia or even the enemy, and then blow them up once they are near their target.
Of course, given that generals will flee if any alarm is raised, you would have to be extremely stealthy when attempting to boobytrap a soldier. But it would work.
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.Report message to a moderator
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Re: New feature: enemy generals[message #346408 is a reply to message #346407]
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Fri, 29 July 2016 19:07
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SchmittLenin |
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Messages:30
Registered:August 2015 |
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Ah so you can modify the death and reputation tolerance; Thanks you guys, that's what I wanted to know! I'll go tweak the settings and start a new game to test them.
How can I attach stuff to civilians and soldiers?
EDIT: Just realized that all MERCs have a 101 reputation and death tolerance :"Apscott, you're now the official delivery man of our organization. Congratulation for this promotion! Now if you could deliver that package to a certain Peter Claus in San Mona, it would be great..."
[Updated on: Fri, 29 July 2016 19:50]
Lurking is niceReport message to a moderator
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Private 1st Class
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