Strange SP AI/Sprite behavior

[Taiaha]

I've just played the demo so far and really enjoyed it, but I noticed a few very strange things:

1) Every time I sent a Reb regiment packing they would leave several men standing at their former position, in parade rest, looking like a bunch of tools. After a minute or so, these men would finally wake up and join the rest of their fleeing brethren. This seemed to happen every time I forced an enemy unit to retreat as opposed simply to falling back.

2) I've noticed, like some other people, that some of the soldier seem to have trouble navigating the rocks of Devil's Den, producing a stuttering animation.

3) When my men were in combat there were a couple of occasions where a large percentage of them seemed to forget how to use their weapons. They would raise it as if to put on the firing cap, then lower it to the ground again. . .repeat ad nauseum for a couple of minutes. Then they finally fire. I don't know if this was an animation issue only or if it was connected to a reduced volume of fire coming from the regiment (this problem seemed to be affecting about a third of the unit).

4) When I ordered a line forward to a particular position they would arrive there. . .facing backward (sometimes you might not have noticed this unless you were zoomed in).

5) Sometimes lines arriving a position would do this completely pointless maneuver where the men would run to the opposite end of the line at full speed.

Anyone else noticed these things?

[Jim]

1 - True and designed that way. There are always a couple of people who just don't get the word.

2. Known issue, the sprites have just as hard a time as people do on that rough terrain.

3. This is an animation/rate of fire issue. We had to conserve on animation frames to keep the memory load to a point where the game would not crash and this is one of the places that got whittled down a bit.

4. This is new to me. If you can get a saved game where this happens reliably, please post back here.

5. This happens on occasion due to an internal issue with filling formations. It is on our list to try and fix for the patch.

-Jim

[ADukes]

Taiaha wrote:

3) When my men were in combat there were a couple of occasions where a large percentage of them seemed to forget how to use their weapons. They would raise it as if to put on the firing cap, then lower it to the ground again. . .repeat ad nauseum for a couple of minutes. Then they finally fire. I don't know if this was an animation issue only or if it was connected to a reduced volume of fire coming from the regiment (this problem seemed to be affecting about a third of the unit).

That's the case when the enemy is not in firing range of the specific sprite. So if you don't see any firing smoke for sprites, they did not fire at all.

[Taiaha]

Jim wrote:

1 - True and designed that way. There are always a couple of people who just don't get the word.

2. Known issue, the sprites have just as hard a time as people do on that rough terrain.

3. This is an animation/rate of fire issue. We had to conserve on animation frames to keep the memory load to a point where the game would not crash and this is one of the places that got whittled down a bit.

-Jim

Wow, quick response, thanks Jim. With regard to 1), in that case could I make a suggestion? I like the idea of simulating the fact that some people don't realize their unit is retreating, although I would say that it would probably be better if this were a more random occurrence (in some battle conditions I could see this happening; but all the time?). But in any case, would those guys left behind really just stand there? I want to go back and test this because it also seemed as if my unit would stop firing even though those left behind guys were still in range. Which doesn't seem fair.

Re: 3) I understand that logic. As long as it isn't connected with the real volume of fire then I can probably live with it.

[BOSTON]

Jim wrote:

1 - True and designed that way. There are always a couple of people who just don't get the word.

2. Known issue, the sprites have just as hard a time as people do on that rough terrain.

3. This is an animation/rate of fire issue. We had to conserve on animation frames to keep the memory load to a point where the game would not crash and this is one of the places that got whittled down a bit.

4. This is new to me. If you can get a saved game where this happens reliably, please post back here.

5. This happens on occasion due to an internal issue with filling formations. It is on our list to try and fix for the patch.

-Jim

Hi Jim

Added my post from the "Advance Button" thread in case you did not pick-up on the thread.

Is there any chance that the Advance Button can be improved/utilitized other than when engaged?

I'd like to make myself clear on a simple move by an infantry line to go a few yards in the present play; first you have click on the unit, second point to the new position, thirdly watch that unit flip flop end to end to go those few yards (I'm talking 1 to 2 yards in many cases). which to me does not seem normal, never mind time consuming. The flip flop from end to end is not necessary, it's not something you would see in an Advance Command.

BOSTON

[norb]

The command does exist to mod this.

Go to your keyboard.csv file and check out the movefwd command, that first parameter is the number of yards. So just make a new one with the number of yards that you want.

[BOSTON]

norb wrote:

The command does exist to mod this.

Go to your keyboard.csv file and check out the movefwd command, that first parameter is the number of yards. So just make a new one with the number of yards that you want.

OK! Where do I find this keyboard.csv file? I went to my start up menu entered the file in the search box, got no results. What's the correct method to do it?

Thank you

[norb]

Work folder, same folder as the ini file

[BOSTON]

norb wrote:

Work folder, same folder as the ini file

It's a first time for me finding those csv files through the SQW program, never knew they existed (it's amazing when ya right click something). ?, There is an unfamiliar program there to assist (recommened) opening the csv files, (found keyboard), is that the normal routine for everybody to open those files?

[BOSTON]

BOSTON wrote:

norb wrote:

Work folder, same folder as the ini file

It's a first time for me finding those csv files through the SQW program, never knew they existed (it's amazing when ya right click something). ?, There is an unfamiliar program there to assist (recommened) opening the csv files, (found keyboard), is that the normal routine for everybody to open those files?

This is what I found, but I don't know what to do with it?


Name,Key,Func,,,,,
,keycode,command,,,,,

,Name,"Not used, for designer only, but must be filled in for the row to be read by the code",,,,,
,Key,Keyboard character or special character string,,,,,
,Func,"Game command function script, see gui.csv for examples",,,,,
,Notes,"Keys are only active in game, some keys cannot be used, the list is below",,,,,
,,mousewheel,,,,,
,,mousebuttons,,,,,
,,Some keys require special character strings for this file to be used correctly,,,,,
,,ESC,CTRL,CAPS,NUMPAD0,GREYSTAR,END
,,MINUS,DQUOTE,F1,NUMPAD1,GREYMINUS,INSERT
,,EQUALS,RQUOTA,F2,NUMPAD2,GREYPLUS,DEL
,,BACKSPACE,LSHIFT,F3,NUMPAD3,GREYSLASH,
,,TAB,BSLASH,F4,NUMPAD4,GREYDOT,
,,LBRACE,COMMA,F5,NUMPAD5,ARROWUP,
,,RBRACE,DOT,F6,NUMPAD6,ARROWDOWN,
,,,SLASH,F7,NUMPAD7,ARROWLEFT,
,,,RSHIFT,F8,NUMPAD8,ARROWRIGHT,
,,,ALT,F9,NUMPAD9,PGUP,
,,,SPACE,F10,NUMLOCK,PGDN,
,,,,F11,SCRLOCK,HOME,
,,,,F12,,,


Help,F1,loadscreen:InGameHelp
Debug,F2,loadscreen:Debug
Highlights,F3,loadscreen:Highlights

Forward,W,moveforward
Backward,S,movebackward
SlideLeft,A,moveleft
SlideRight,D,moveright
RotateLeft,Q,rotateleft
RotateRight,E,rotateright
Up,SPACE,moveup
Down,LSHIFT,movedown

Leader,ARROWUP,rankup
Prev Sib,ARROWLEFT,rankprev
Next Sib,ARROWRIGHT,ranknext
Subordinate,ARROWDOWN,rankdown

Save,GREYPLUS,loadscreen:InGameSave
Load,GREYSLASH,loadscreen:InGameLoad
Speed Up,EQUALS,speedup
Slow,MINUS,speeddown

Menu,ESC,loadscreen:InGameMenu
Courier,C,loadscreen:SendCourier
Help,H,loadscreen:InGameHelp
Map,M,loadscreen:Map

Follow,F,camfollow
Goto,G,gotosel
Unit Locations,L,dumplocs
Dead,O,dumpdead
Pause,P,pause
Trees,T,toggletrees
Hud,U,togglehud
Chat,X,chat
Zoom,Z,zoom

Combat Grp,NUMPAD1,setgroup:0
Move Grp,NUMPAD2,setgroup:1
Orders Grp,NUMPAD3,setgroup:2

TC On,1,tcallon
TC Off,2,tcalloff
Advance,5,moveformfwd:300:0
All Advance,6,Amoveformfwd:300:0
Advance to Def,7,movefwd:300:1
All Advance to Def,8,Amovefwd:300:1

WheelLeft,COMMA,wheelleft:22.5
WheelRight,DOT,wheelright:22.5