Duplicate Land Unit Targets for ViConds

[aotino]

Hi Herman,

I think you gave me this answer long ago when I was designing another scenario but I can't find the record of that conversation so I'll ask it again.

When I'm listing land units "To Damage" in ViConds, and let's say there are 3 of the same Class of unit, do I need to list all three individual "Units", as well a one "Class" of that unit? I think I remember you saying that I needed to, because each duplicate unit of a class still have individual tag numbers assigned to them, and if each one is not listed, even though they are duplicates, the ViConds won't tally them up to the correct number, even though you may have damaged them all sufficiently. Is this correct?

Sorry if the question is not well articulated, but its a tough one to describe.

Thanks,
Alan

[Herman Hum]

When I'm listing land units "To Damage" in ViConds, and let's say there are 3 of the same Class of unit, do I need to list all three individual "Units", as well a one "Class" of that unit? I think I remember you saying that I needed to, because each duplicate unit of a class still have individual tag numbers assigned to them, and if each one is not listed, even though they are duplicates, the ViConds won't tally them up to the correct number, even though you may have damaged them all sufficiently. Is this correct?

I'll try to use an example to illustrate the situation.
If you insert 10 identical "Buildings" and they all have the same name, "Building", the game engine assigns an ID number to each of them (that you cannot see.) For the purposes of this example, let's just say they are 0-9.

If the ViCond is "Destroy 3 Buildings [by Class]", then destruction of ANY three buildings of the same class (zero through 9) will satisfy the ViCond. However, if you want three of the 10 specific buildings destroyed (i.e. #1, 5, and 7), you must use the Unit category for the ViCond and then designate/select each of the three Buildings (#1, 5, and 7).

I think that our previous discussion over mixing the use of Class and Unit categories within a single ViCond was primarily a clarification issue. If you set a ViCond by the Class category, sometimes this does not convey sufficient information to the player. He might see the words "Class XXXX", but not know exactly which specific targets are eligible. That is why I sometimes use both the Class category and the Unit category at the same time within the same ViCond. I might duplicate the effort in order to clarify the specific targets.

To continue the previous example, the ViCond might be, "Destroy 10 Buildings [by Class]" and also have the ten separate buildings identified and listed by the Unit category. Sometimes, this helps clarify the ViCond and targets if the designer has re-named the ten "Buildings" to something else.

Remember, if you are making a scenario for either ANW or HUE game versions, land units are either destroyed outright or else they 'magically regenerate'. Therefore, either a land facility sustains 100% damage or else any damage inflicted is fully repaired within a few minutes.

If you require more specific details, it might be best to contact me via Skype so that we can walk through an example.

[aotino]

This is great, Herman. Yes I understand. I wasn't aware that the land targets regenerate, but that would explain why I've had difficulty in past testing, with trying to reach ViConds when targeting land units. I have one more question that takes this a bit further and I'll try to present it clearly.

Say I have 6 "Building" class, 5 "Naval Dock" class, and 9 "Barracks" class in the game. Those are the total that are in the game for those classes - and 20 if counted together. Say I make a ViCond where you must damage by 100% - 20 - listing those three classes; Building Class, Naval Dock Class, and Barracks Class. Will that require that the attacker must take out all 20 of those land units to satisfy the ViCond? And if that's the case, then I wouldn't have to list each individual unit of those classes at all, right?

[Herman Hum]

Say I have 6 "Building" class, 5 "Naval Dock" class, and 9 "Barracks" class in the game. Those are the total that are in the game for those classes - and 20 if counted together. Say I make a ViCond where you must damage by 100% - 20 - listing those three classes; Building Class, Naval Dock Class, and Barracks Class. Will that require that the attacker must take out all 20 of those land units to satisfy the ViCond? And if that's the case, then I wouldn't have to list each individual unit of those classes at all, right?

That is correct. If there is a single ViCond, the eligible categories for the list of parameters are each of the three Class names, and the number to be destroyed 100% is 20, then it should work. All twenty of the land facilities would need to be destroyed in order to satisfy the ViCond.

[aotino]

Cool! I now have a complete understanding of the land target ViConds and all the variations. I now need to make a few adjustments on a new scenario that is in the testing phase. Once I complete that, I have three scenarios ready to be released (spaced out over a period of time to be sure) and another three in the pipeline all built, and ready for testing! Thanks Herman!

[aotino]

Herman, just to clarify one thing. If I just list the "Class" of the all the land targets to be destroyed in the ViConds, all you see is a list of generic "Class: Facility", no matter what the type of unit it is. So, what I did was to add to the list one Unit from each Class represented in the ViCond so that when I went back to review or edit, I had a name of what each actual "Class: Facility was. My question is; as long as I have met all the requirements as laid down in our previous postings, I should be okay, right?

[Herman Hum]

Herman, just to clarify one thing. If I just list the "Class" of the all the land targets to be destroyed in the ViConds, all you see is a list of generic "Class: Facility", no matter what the type of unit it is. So, what I did was to add to the list one Unit from each Class represented in the ViCond so that when I went back to review or edit, I had a name of what each actual "Class: Facility was. My question is; as long as I have met all the requirements as laid down in our previous postings, I should be okay, right?

The process you describe is the exact reason why I sometimes include individual Units under the broader and more generic Class category. It makes clear exactly which Class is being evaluated in the ViCond. Otherwise, you might only see the generic "Class: Facility" category.

The individual Unit name should simply be a redundant subset of the larger Class category and thus have no additional effect on the ViCond.

[aotino]

The individual Unit name should simply be a redundant subset of the larger Class category and thus have no additional effect on the ViCond.

Cool. Exactly what I was hoping to think!