Modifying units to “volley fire” by default

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Buford_119
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Modifying units to “volley fire” by default

Post by Buford_119 »

Would it be anyhow possible to make volley fire the default firing mode for battalions? My understanding is that volley fire was used extensively in the Napoleonic period, but the default behavior in SOWWL is “fire at will”.

If anyone can point me to where this behavior is determined, I would greatly appreciate it.
DarkRob
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Re: Modifying units to “volley fire” by default

Post by DarkRob »

Would it be anyhow possible to make volley fire the default firing mode for battalions? My understanding is that volley fire was used extensively in the Napoleonic period, but the default behavior in SOWWL is “fire at will”.

If anyone can point me to where this behavior is determined, I would greatly appreciate it.
While coding and programming is not my specialty, I can tell you that this is for sure something you wouldn't want to do even if you could. You would be putting yourself at a massive disadvantage.

Fire at will is infinitely better than volley fire in this game. In fact there really is no practical use for volley fire outside of the "La Garde Recule" brigade scenario where its scripted for you to use it right at the beginning. In all other cases fire at will is just better. That may not be the case historically, I don't know, but in this game, fire at will > volley fire, always.

Mitra may know how to do it, as he seems to be the head coder, at least, if anyone knows, it would be him. But again, I strongly suggest not doing this.
Last edited by DarkRob on Sun Dec 29, 2019 1:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
Buford_119
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Re: Modifying units to “volley fire” by default

Post by Buford_119 »

But if both the player and AI sides had this setting, wouldn’t this even out?
DarkRob
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Re: Modifying units to “volley fire” by default

Post by DarkRob »

But if both the player and AI sides had this setting, wouldn’t this even out?
No. In a vacuum where all you have is one of your line units shooting it out with an enemy line unit, then maybe. But combat in this game is multifaceted with each arm playing different and multiple roles. Change the way one arm functions, and it can drastically affect its role with all the others.

Just as an example, even if you made it so both sides only volley fire, the first thing I think of is that enemy line units are now total fodder for my skirmishers(as if they werent already lol.) Line units in general may as well be firing cotton puffs at skirmishers at anything over 100 yards anyway, and now they will only fire every 20-30 seconds? Sounds good to me. The AI however would not reach the same conclusion because AI's cant adapt the way a human can, they can only be programmed.

Honestly the only player your change probably wouldn't effect drastically is me, because infantry fire in general, whether volley or at will, is a pretty insignificant part of my tactics and strategies. The heart of this game is close range artillery fire and combined arms distance and engagement control. Formations are more important than firepower, almost always.

The first thing I would expect you to notice though, is that artillery, cavalry, and skirmishers would seem far more powerful than they should, because infantry just cannot respond the same way with nothing but volley fire. Not to mention volley fire is very much range dependent. Its very easy to stay out of its effective range, and very easy to keep those units trying to use it in effective range of everything else(skirmishers, artillery)
Last edited by DarkRob on Sun Dec 29, 2019 7:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
Buford_119
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Re: Modifying units to “volley fire” by default

Post by Buford_119 »

Thanks for the detailed explanation :)

As I understand it, you are saying that the AI routines are based on "fire-at-will" as the default mode of firing, and would underperform if this modification were to be made. But wouldn't that actually give the player an advantage, and not put them at a disadvantage relative to the AI? Since the player can adapt, but the AI cannot?

I understand the main point you are trying to make - that this change would drastically affect game behavior - but wanted to clarify the above point.
Last edited by Buford_119 on Sun Dec 29, 2019 10:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
DarkRob
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Re: Modifying units to “volley fire” by default

Post by DarkRob »

Thanks for the detailed explanation :)

As I understand it, you are saying that the AI routines are based on "fire-at-will" as the default mode of firing, and would underperform if this modification were to be made. But wouldn't that actually give the player an advantage, and not put them at a disadvantage relative to the AI? Since the player can adapt, but the AI cannot?

I understand the main point you are trying to make - that this change would drastically affect game behavior - but wanted to clarify the above point.
Correct. In your first post I thought you were only talking about units on your side being set to volley fire, not the AI to.
Buford_119
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Re: Modifying units to “volley fire” by default

Post by Buford_119 »

And in order to allow the AI to "realize" this as well, you would basically need to rewrite it from scratch, correct? Can this be done in the same way as the KS mod, or would it require access beyond what the KS group has been able to achieve?
DarkRob
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Re: Modifying units to “volley fire” by default

Post by DarkRob »

And in order to allow the AI to "realize" this as well, you would basically need to rewrite it from scratch, correct? Can this be done in the same way as the KS mod, or would it require access beyond what the KS group has been able to achieve?
That I dont know. That's a programming question and my expertise lies solely in playing the game. But it sounds like it would be a nightmare to balance. Everything from engagement distances to stance ranges, skirmishers effectiveness, cavalry charge ranges and a whole host of other stuff would probably need to be rebalanced in a game without fire at will. Sounds like designing a new game to me.
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