Agreed, ive looked quickly, there is defo alot of work onvolved and alot of mechanics to work out.. i could prolly do it.. "in time" but maybe the outcome is not worth the work,
ill think about it later when i have a proper look.. for now i have other things to concentrate on.. lots to do

On another note..

asdrubaelvect, pointed out that the enhancement ordering would be better suited if we could specify the order of the custom enhancement slots.. in the last 2 hours i made this happen.. the default slots WILL stay in there original slots.. however any custom slots the unit has can be placed in the order you want them.. if your unit doesnt use any default slots.. you have full control on what slot goes where.. if a unit is modded by 2 different modders whom put 2 different enhancements on the same slot then the mod load order is used.. if no preferred slot is used.. then the slot number is incremented total number of slots + 1 this odering is then used in the end result.

so thanks to asdrubaelvect for that and making me do it.

np

an other question

Can we force an extratoggle to be set or clear on the script ? ( without clicking )

Thanks

Hi,

Indeed you can,

in the Toggles table set



for it to be initailly set off.. setting it false is on..
i know they are backwards but this is how GPG did it..

there is also



this lets you set it on/off via code.. the param is true/false

and also..



to return the state of a extra toggle

thanks

And now a new question :p

can we change this icon ( not for all units )

and, if it is possible, how to do plze

thanks

Hi,

No Sadly i hard coded those 3 icons on that panel, its difficult BUT NOT impossible to
have those icons switch on the current unit selection.. it would need a total rewrite of that panels layout code..

you can however change it globally for all units.. by replacing the texture..

the texture is in '/game/construct-tab_btn/bot_tab_btn_'
for each faction..

you can put a new texture in your mods /younmodname/textures/ui/faction/game/construct-tab_btn/bot_tab_btn_...

obviously doing this WILL replace this texture for ALL units.. in that faction..
i am at some point going to change that icon.. to something more fitting to enhancements, because its not just the commander that has enhancements now..
so it looks a little silly having that commander outline icon on say an engineer..

just for future ref, the tecniqueue shown above works for any ui texture that is contained with in the factions textures folder.. you can easly replace any of those textures this way.

Hi,

Something new for DMS,

resizable shields with range rings that resize with the dome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmCt9HHOVqg

Comments?

Apart from the fact that the e-cost should scale with the shields size, I love it !

Resin

Hi,

It does pal, i just disabled it for that video as it had a lil bug, however all is well now, my partner in crime it works for enahancements and all our new shield types



^^ new consumption code.. rather easy

You know we could make the shield weaker as it grows rather then increase it's cost....

Or

We can increase it's cost as the size increases till the point is reached that the economy can not support that cost. At that time keep increasing the size but diminish the shields strength. (I.E. the shield is being stretched thin)

Or

Increase the shields size but it increases the chance that projectiles can punch through the shield.

Resin

Hi,

Indeed all good points pal..

i like the increase the cost + make it so there are off chance a projectile will penetrate the shield.. like a 1 in X chance dependant on how much bigger the shield is from its original size

ive amended the E-cost a little..



this gives correct values... if the original cost was 150E and the shield is made 100% bigger the Extra cost is 150E making the total 300.. it also resizes the hitbox and changes the offset to match the new size.. so it stays exactly like the original only bigger or smaller..

we could add all 3, make it use more energy the larger it goes + the shields hp is decreased, chance of projectiles pentrating the shield, the smaller it goes the more hp it gets for less energy, the shield behaves as normal, however the shield coverage is not as wide.. this sounds good..


just as a side note.. the shield is not being turned off to resize it.. its on constantly..
so resizing it while its under attack, it still behaves as normal..

another side note... using this... decreasing shields are also possible.. really easly..
decreasing shields are shields.. that decrease in size the more damage they take..

these could be done rather easy..

Sounds good!

Resin

Impressive as always ! But doesn't this kinda eliminate the need to upgrade shields ?

Are you gonna release soon ? I really wanna test all these novelties by myself, I feel a bit overteased by DMS right now...

soon mate

Hi,

Work in now complete on the new shield stuff..
here is a quick video of what we went with..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyirtandLrw

when a shield structure is selected the slider auto appears.. on the right.
and goes away when the unit is unselected..
i didnt show it in the video but you can also resize the shield while its turned off..
when it comes back on it will be the size you set.

we have decided that all default shield structures are going to get this slider
**added to the next release of 4DC**

Domino,

Considering the original intent on your mod to be a support mod that adds features that modders can take advantage of, could you make that so a special flag (modder added) is needed to activate it on units?

Hi,

It Is pal, everything in DMS is modder activated, that how i roll
this is why its added to 4dc, because its needs to be activated..

if you just have dms on without any mods that utilize it, you wont notice any changes
to units..or gameplay the only thing that you will notice is that the unitview detail panel is slightly higher than normal.. and the textures load faster for the ui.

DMS still remains a support mod.. when i say ive added this and added that.. i respectfully mean that ive added support for modders to achieve what i have done..
it does not mean just using DMS is presenting the illustrated function..

i show videos just as a presentation to the function in focus.. i also make mini mods for certain features to act as mini tutorials, so modders can see exactly how to impliment the thing they want.. without seeing all the other clutter in the mod, they are on the first page.. as extra's

so dont worry.. even with DMS loaded without any mods that use this shield type, normal operation of shields is there.. infact to use this new shield type, you simply need to enter an extra cat in the units categories 'SHIELDRESIZER', and for the slider you simply add shieldslider = true, in the shields spec everything else is automatic, you can also just add shieldslider to the spec which will give the structure the slider BUT with the old shields the range ring will not resize just the shielddome, thats why i added shieldresizer to the cats so i can add some other to the shield to make the range rings change size with the dome.

Cool.

BTW, is the shield resizing hard coded to also change the energy usage? A part of me wonders if that shouldn't be up to the modder as well....

Hi,

Seeing as you mentioned it, its easy enough for me to add this, you can specify it in the shield spec, if its a resizable shield.. ill do a check for another param.. in the spec to change energy.. something like, variableenergy or scaleenergy something of the sort..

any other ideas?

Not from me. Thank you.

Np,

euhm perhaps an idea

On a lot of science fiction movie ( with spaceships ) the commanders can attribute more energy on engines / shield / weapon ect ect

Imagine an additional ui in wich you can attribute the unused energy :p

In the " unused energy ui " you can attribute in what do you want
Exemple :
If you have 6000 energy unused :

50% ( 3000 ) on shield : all shield increase by 50%
25% ( 1500 ) on weapon : All weapon have 25% damages increased
25% ( 1500 ) on engine : All units have 25% move speed increased


I do not know if it was what did you mean when you said " any other idea " :p but it is an idea and because i'm not a coder i will never coding it

Could be a good idea.

But instead of x% increase for x% of energy redirected (where x is the same), how about something like:

T1 units require x energy per weapon per % point
T2 units require y energy per weapon per % point
T3 etc
T4 etc
Scenario:
20 combat units
3000 extra energy
50% redirected to weapons
50% of 3000 = 1500
If all combat units are T1, x = 10, and all units have 1 weapon then
1500/(10*20) = 7.5% increase in damage for all units
If we have a mix, 15 T1 (all 1 weapon), 3 T2 (1 with 2 weapons), and 2 T3 (energy req for T2 = 30, T3 = 90) then
1500 / ((15*10)+(2*30)+(1*30*2)+(2*90)) = 1500 / 450 = 3.33% increase

Also, to keep folks from putting full power to weapons then suddenly redirect to shield when they realize their offensive failed, have some sort of timer effect where it slowly redirects instead of instantly. Say, a % point per second? Or maybe even every 3-5 seconds? Hard to say.

Another thought, too, so that the lower tiers have a bit more of an edge, make the energy for each tier equal, but vary the % point. So:
T1 units require 50 energy per weapon per 18%
T2 units require 50 energy per weapon per 6%
T3 units require 50 energy per weapon per 2%
T4 units require 50 energy per weapon per .1%

Hi Guys,

some cool ideas there although i meant from observations of the shields..
not ideas for things for DMS

what you surgest is best suited to another mod.. and not mod support.. "although"
ive started work in DMS on an extra orders ability panel.. on this panel will be toggles
to do global things OR things that affect the unit.. i call it the specail abilities panel
i could (at a later date) add in a drop down toggle (like the retaliate toggle) that has the 3 toggles you desire, to divert extra power to either weps, engines or shields maybe buildrate.

OR someone else could do this mod.. it shouldnt be to difficult.. it would prolly take me 2-3 days to have a working beta version, right now though im way to busy with other things.. i have a lot to do, im already working flat out...

that is actually a really good idea.. atleast then all your surplus power is being used and not wasted.

Problem i see with this... All you'd need to to farm out P-gens or have a Paragon and your base / shielded commander is immune to all damage!

Resin