Dummy governors to prevent AI bug

[AlphaDelta]

In my mod I have around 40 regions divided among 2 factions. 20 regions each. Each faction has about 11 or 12 generals. I wish them to be active in the field attacking enemy forces. Grandviz informed me that the first rule that campaign AI follows is that it must put a commander into every settlement. So what happens is that the general from each stack exits the stack and moves to the nearest town to become a governor. This leaves captains in command of every stack.

To combat this I came up with a plan; Create 'dummy governors' that represent 'local government'. Each government would be added as a named character in the descr_strat to a settlement. The dummy governor would have 0 movement points so that he will live in settlement for as long as he is alive. They should help to prevent generals leaving stacks to become governors and also I presume that having them will stop the AI adopting so many generals.

Now as far as I can see there should be no problem implementing this. The problem is that I would like the dummy governors to be given only to the AI faction.

So my question is, is there a way to kill-off a list of named characters at turn 0 before the player starts to play?

Cheers

[Monkwarrior]

So my question is, is there a way to kill-off a list of named characters at turn 0 before the player starts to play?

There are at least two ways to do that: kill_character, and send_character_off_map (I think only for kingdoms).

It is very easy at the beginning of the campaign, as in such case you completely control the names of the characters.

However, in any of those methods the problem is that only the character is killed, not the units (not sure about the bodyguards). Perhaps this is what you want and then the method is perfect.

[Caesar Clivus]

Does the kill_character command still work?

edit: I see Monkwarrrior is on the same page

Actually if spawning dummy governors with high chivalry and no movement points works, it could be a good way to stop settlements rebelling from the AI just because the AI doesn't know the meaning of the word garrison. But then again I guess high chivalry would cause unwanted population growth..perhaps the trait that reduced movement points to zero could also give a +law bonus :hmmm:

[Monkwarrior]

Does the kill_character command still work?

Yes with names with only one word.
I must test the advice of GrnEyedDvl about putting the two-words names inside quotes.

[Augustus Lucifer]

Yes with names with only one word.
I must test the advice of GrnEyedDvl about putting the two-words names inside quotes.

Well what GrnEyedDvl said about quotes is right, keep in mind you have to do the same thing for adding traits/ancs in console command when a general has two names.

Cheers,
Augustus

[AlphaDelta]

Thanks for the quick replies. I implemented the dummy governors on one side and played as the other. So far the result is perfect. I haven't seen a single case of a General leaving his men and only one case of a general and stack entering a friendly settlement. The reason for that I think was that the settlement is almost surrounded by enemy settlements and the garrison is weak.

Does anyone have any example code for killing off characters at turn 0? I presume it would into campaign script?

Cheers

[Monkwarrior]

Thanks for the quick replies. I implemented the dummy governors on one side and played as the other. So far the result is perfect. I haven't seen a single case of a General leaving his men and only one case of a general and stack entering a friendly settlement. The reason for that I think was that the settlement is almost surrounded by enemy settlements and the garrison is weak.

Would you mind to share this method with us?

I'm also interested in such kind of system, as my own campaign is also two-factions campaign with focus on military tactics, not on building and recruiting.

[Caesar Clivus]

I'm a noob when it comees to scripting (but I'm learning ) but I'm guessing it would go something like:

monitor_event FactionTurnStart FactionType factionname1
and I_TurnNumber = 0

kill_character "character name 1"
kill_character "character name 2"
etc etc
terminate_monitor
end_monitor

Rinse and repeat for all factions.

I'm sure there's a better way of doing it though

[Augustus Lucifer]

I'm a noob when it comees to scripting (but I'm learning ) but I'm guessing it would go something like:

monitor_event FactionTurnStart FactionType factionname1
and I_TurnNumber = 0

kill_character "character name 1"
kill_character "character name 2"
etc etc
terminate_monitor
end_monitor

Rinse and repeat for all factions.

I'm sure there's a better way of doing it though

That should work but you also need to use "FactionIsLocal" condition or it will kill the AI as well, which he isn't looking to do.

Cheers,
Augustus

[AlphaDelta]

Thanks gents. I've got the killing working ok. There's only 2 problems. As soon as the campaign starts you hear:

"Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

No I'm not kidding!

And because the AI has 20 more generals they get a huge wage increase. I fixed this by scripting the AI money worth the same value.

However, in any of those methods the problem is that only the character is killed, not the units (not sure about the bodyguards). Perhaps this is what you want and then the method is perfect.

It's killing the unit assigned to the named character also.

Cheers

[Monkwarrior]

It's killing the unit assigned to the named character also.

Do you mean the unit working as bodyguard?
It's curious. When I killed admirals, the fleet (1 boat only) remained intact. Only the name changed (admiral chosen among the sailors present in the boat).

[SigniferOne]

Do two things:

Send_character_off_map will not cause any "Aaaargh!" sounds; and to prevent the off_map char from showing in your family_tree, create him as a general instead of family_member.

Or move the characters off to a far corner of the map when you kill them, and then the sounds will not be heard.

[Augustus Lucifer]

Do you mean the unit working as bodyguard?
It's curious. When I killed admirals, the fleet (1 boat only) remained intact. Only the name changed (admiral chosen among the sailors present in the boat).

Admirals function different than Generals, more like Captains. When you assassinate a Captain on the battle map, a new captain is put in place, the same works for admirals. This captain unit, and the admiral unit, are just any ol' boat/unit from the group that the captain is supposed to be in. The Bodyguard unit however doesn't exist without the General, which is where the difference lies, and why they go together.

Cheers,
Augustus

[Monkwarrior]

I've just remarked that it happens the same with any named character, even in case the bodyguard unit assigned is not a truly bodyguard. For example, I have some characters whose bodyguards are merchant cavalry militia, and the unit also disappears. This seems to be linked to the fact that the killed is a named character.

[GrnEyedDvl]

This is the second time I have posted similar advice, you guys are thinking about this from the wrong direction. I wish I knew what caused that so I could fix it. Dont start from the end and work backwards, start at the beginning and work forwards, just like you do everything else in life.

While doing it the way you are can be done, its MUCH easier to spawn new characters than to kill ones already in the game, and you wont get their death screams either.

Start every faction with only a few generals, whatever you would want the player to start with.

Then at FactionTurnStart FactionIsLocal check the faction ownership, and spawn new generals for all the other factions. You can stick them straight into the cities you want them in, and the code will be shorter. You dont have to know names, you can assign them random_name. Make sure you use the terminate_monitor so it only runs once.

[Monkwarrior]

Yes, you're right. But in my case I would like the kill_character command won't be used, because it is a sort of "punishment" for human player if he doesn't follow the instructions I'm giving him.

In the case of admirals I need to kill them to prevent the human to use them again once they have been used for the right purpose.

[GrnEyedDvl]

Right you are Monk. In that case doint something similar is the way to go. I just wanted to throw a few general logic principles in here.

[Caesar Clivus]

I just wanted to throw a few general logic principles in here.

Logic? What is this "logic" that you speak of?

Yeah spawning more makes a lot more sense than killing off existing ones. Got caught up in the whole stabby-stabby-kill-kill mentality of the game

[AlphaDelta]

I can live with the "aghhhh!" but I can't live without the custom portraits.

Send_character_off_map will not cause any "Aaaargh!" sounds; and to prevent the off_map char from showing in your family_tree, create him as a general instead of family_member.

Won't they still show up on the army scroll? I tried to create these governors as generals but they didn't show the custom portrait.

Then at FactionTurnStart FactionIsLocal check the faction ownership, and spawn new generals for all the other factions. You can stick them straight into the cities you want them in, and the code will be shorter. You dont have to know names, you can assign them random_name. Make sure you use the terminate_monitor so it only runs once.

I know all of the names, they are "GovernorSettlementX", "GovernorSettlementY" etc. Can a custom portrat be assigned when you create the character through the campaign script?

Cheers

[GrnEyedDvl]

I believe so. Just use the portrait line just like in descr_strat.