IWTE - World editing - (General Discussion)

[wilddog]

Sorry if this is off topic:

I want ballista towers for the first tier of stone walls in castles and settlements.

Is this the place? The tool? Or am I barking up the wrong tree?

Woof

If you want to change the shape you can use the tool. How you enforce it in the game is down to you.

[Taiji]

Oops sorry, I explained my issue badly.

The problem is that despite having set up descr_walls and EDB for this feature, as correctly as the final 2 tiers of wall are set up. Stone walls can now have ballista towers built on the campaign map, but they still fire arrows on the battle map.

So I am wondering if stone walls need some kind of object description thingamabob changing, in the model, to allow them to use ballista towers (tower_level 2).

Any ideas on what I might try, or what I might have already done wrong, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time

[wilddog]

walls and towers are two different things in the game. Trying to mix them won't help. There are files associated with them on what they can do. This tool is only really around the models themselves it doesn't alter the attributes of walls etc as controlled by their attribute files.

[makanyane]

Oops sorry, I explained my issue badly.

The problem is that despite having set up descr_walls and EDB for this feature, as correctly as the final 2 tiers of wall are set up. Stone walls can now have ballista towers built on the campaign map, but they still fire arrows on the battle map.

So I am wondering if stone walls need some kind of object description thingamabob changing, in the model, to allow them to use ballista towers (tower_level 2).

Any ideas on what I might try, or what I might have already done wrong, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time

The .world files don't have anything that directly controls the firing level versus object description. Upgradable towers have 3 levels of object that they upgrade through to change the texture, but there is nothing we've found in the world file / game object section that says which one fires which projectile.
The 'game object' section for them has only one entry as ArrowTower with ArrowSlots... so I think it works on a default basis - of first version (arrow) called - second version (balista) called on upgrade - so what you'd need to do if you wanted to start with ballista is find and amend the arrow projectile section which should be elsewhere in the data/ ... .txt files

EDIT: unfortunately some controls from EDB don't seem to actually work - I'd tried changing the wall level in hope of changing ladder height for castles independently of descr_walls but that doesn't seem to have any effect.

[Taiji]

Turns out I have no problem afterall. I was relying on feedback, and I should have tested it myself.

Thanks for your responses and apologees for wasting your time

[King Kong]

Hey wilddog and makanyane,

first of all, a big thanks again for all the new IWTE versions and that you share all this work with the community!
Now that I finally have some more space to breath I tried again to play around with the IWTE and I must say the options are just incredible, though I actually understand almost nothing so far. Of course, I know it all comes from testing and trying and that is what I'm currently doing...

Unfortunately I have already encountered a frustrating problem, where I'm not sure if it was my own fault or if it is an issue with the IWTE:
I loaded the aztec city and just wanted to save it again without any changes, only to see if the tool "repacks" the aztec city correctly, but as soon as it loads the battle map, it crashes.
I tried it with other settlements, i.e a wooden castle or a huge city and this worked. So, can it be that the IWTE doesn't support the aztec city?

I wanted to test this settlement because I thought it would fit best for some further modifications, because it's construction is pretty simple and I thought it would be the best base for editing settlements, especially those who I would love to make in a far, far future.

[wilddog]

Unfortunately I have already encountered a frustrating problem, where I'm not sure if it was my own fault or if it is an issue with the IWTE:
I loaded the aztec city and just wanted to save it again without any changes, only to see if the tool "repacks" the aztec city correctly, but as soon as it loads the battle map, it crashes.
I tried it with other settlements, i.e a wooden castle or a huge city and this worked. So, can it be that the IWTE doesn't support the aztec city?

Hi King Kong - feedback always appreciated. Can you confirm which version you are using - I tend to release in the same thread as it simpler? Its the Aztec city right? No alterations at all just open and then save? Most likely error is the value of the last set of table headers as its based on what has been used previously and the exact calculation is a bit of a mystery so I keep tampering with it. If that header has changed that will cause the crash. Most things we are testing and coding against are the Northern European cities. Venture away from that and things like docking points are set only for those (I haven't checked if others are different).

I've asked Mak to try and test the Aztec city with the tool.

[King Kong]

Thanks for your reply and for asking mak to look into it! (sorry mak )
Yes, it was the "aztec city" and no changes at all. Just read the "Binary files" and saved them again and put them in my mod folder (renamed to the original names of course).
The version I'm using is IWTE_1v3_6_beta which I guess is the latest one.

edit: I would really like to check this "header thing" has changed or not but I have no idea where or after what to look. I can't evn load these huge text files...

[makanyane]

suspect issue is that the aztec city is one of the very few (if only) things that has two separate reflective planes (water) and tool is not handling that correctly - one reflective plane bumps the sequence numbers around and that has been covered - adding second seems to be giving additional unwanted change to the sequence and is probably cause of crash WD will look at tomorrow - apologies for the inconvenience - but congrats on testing and finding problem !


(though this doesn't seem to be header issue - for advice as it's likely to crop up - if you watch the dos box
as it reads files you'll see stuff like:

1 Number of type 5 objects...
1 Number of nperimobjects...
4 Number of nfloatlines...
5 Number of nstringentries...
121 Estimated header value...

121 Actual six float Header

Read six float table...
Read bottom table1...
Read bottom table2...

if those values in bold mismatch it may mean the guestimate is wrong - also possibly if you've discovered some previously untested way of removing more things from .world than we tested and its not changed...
then that can be source of problem - the header value is quite weird and incorporates a load of possible things like if deployment blocks, reflective planes, road markers, arrow towers, perimeters etc, etc, are included and is not fully understood or resolved yet. WD's guestimate is working in most cases though.)

[King Kong]

Hey mak, also thanks for the reply!

suspect issue is that the aztec city is one of the very few (if only) things that has two separate reflective planes (water) and tool is not handling that correctly - one reflective plane bumps the sequence numbers around and that has been covered - adding second seems to be giving additional unwanted change to the sequence and is probably cause of crash WD will look at tomorrow

actually I was thinking about what the difference between the "normal" castles/settlements and the aztec city could be and only one thing came to my mind:
The aztec city has more water/lakes than the others, so it seems that my vague guess was even correct.

apologies for the inconvenience - but congrats on testing and finding problem !

thanks but I apologize for giving you even more work to do.

(though this doesn't seem to be header issue - for advice as it's likely to crop up - if you watch the dos box
as it reads files you'll see stuff like:
.........
if those values in bold mismatch it may mean the guestimate is wrong - also possibly if you've discovered some previously untested way of removing more things from .world than we tested and its not changed...
then that can be source of problem - the header value is quite weird and incorporates a load of possible things like if deployment blocks, reflective planes, road markers, arrow towers, perimeters etc, etc, are included and is not fully understood or resolved yet. WD's guestimate is working in most cases though.)

true, I have much trust in wd's guestimates and knowledge, he (obviously in collaboration with you) seems to solve every problem!

[wilddog]

Hi King Kong
Found the problem. Just needed a simple If to decide if a reflection plane had been encountered. I have a new version ready with it corrected and a couple of text editing features added. Will see if anyone reports any other bugs otherwise will post in the next couple of days.

[wilddog]

version 1_3_7 released to address above problem.

1) Added functionality to edit the terrain texture paths called by world terrain files. eg mud etc. This is really to help mods keep their bits of naming separate.
2) Added functionality to edit the paths of the terrain, pathfinding, vegetation and animinstances all called by the .world file. This is really to help mods keep their bits of naming separate.
Bug fix :
A) Corrected headers tied to adding more than one reflective plane (Aztec city uses this and was causing a crash as it was resetting headers part way through.
Cosmetic change :
i) This just bugged me a bit so the selection of the boundary lines for the deployment zone has been tightened up from a basic rectangle shape to a slight widening of the line. Makes selection of a particular line more precise when dealing with angled deployment zones.

[King Kong]

Thanks so much for the update! It's working!

Will report some experiences later...

[wilddog]

I'm currently working on the so called Table 1 .world to allow adding and deleting of complexes and reassigning to different table 1 blocks. That removes the need to stick with the set up from an existing .world. Basically you will simply assign the complex name to the right block. Deletion is already working though there are some constraints (tied to the type of settlement and whether effects are in the file a I haven't written anything to delete them (or add effects yet). If they are present then you need to assign at least one of them to one object or you will CTD! Similarly if you have fortified settlements with no gates that causes a CTD (I think I remember that correctly) and also if you don't have either an arrow tower or a road marker. So at the moment its best to leave a couple of the complexes in (by default you always need one anyway).

How much affect the above really has is a bit unknown as it doesn't normally really show. However Mak mentioned something which may be affected but we need to test. It also may mean amending the collisions table 1 also but that is likely to be more automatic.

[wilddog]

Progressing on the effects changes. Most is now set up for the read but still have to add in the write backs.
Also started on a basic user guide. This will be built up over time rather than as an immediate full guide (sorry) but may help people who are struggling to understand even basic bits on the tool.

Once I've completed with the effects bits I want to look at completing the Arrow Tower items including adding arrow slots and oil) as those are the two main bits I need to complete.

[wilddog]

Updated this section so people know what's being progressed. Hopefully Get the release out by/in early September or likely early October due to vacation.

*************************************************************
items for next release (1v4_0) - work in progress as I'm using and testing :
*************************************************************
1) Editing the worldpkgdesc file. Allows basic editing of the file rather than using binary (I needed it) - completed.
2) Deletion of complete complexes (thought it was about time I added this). You can delete all but one complex (i.e. there has to be something!) - completed.
3) viewing of table block positions (in 2D) - completed.
4) Addition of complete complex - completed
5) Resizing of table blocks - completed (not really sure how useful this is but in case its required its now added).
6) Deleting effects - completed for all tables - currently connected to object deletion but may be made optional depending on how I opt to handle the adding.
7) View collisions in 2D window - completed
8) Viewing effects data - completed.
9) Amending effects data - in progress basic set-up done.
10) some bug fixes and tidying up - in progress


later release items (or still to do list).
1) a start on a basic user guide - started.
2) Adding arrow slots/ oil slots.
3) Arrow towers.
4) Expand and check assigning of siege docking stations to other walls, gates etc (currently set up for standard NE castle walls ie not huge and not wooden and not looked at differences for other cultures).
5) assigning existing object attributes to a new object (i.e. where you are repeatedly using the same object eg an Arrow tower or gate house.)
6) Look at Tech Tree slots - sorry pretty much last on my list as less important for our mod.

[Amon Amarth 930]

Sounds nice, looking forward for this awesome pioneer-work

[wolfslayer]

I'm reinstalling and starting from scratch, basically after losing all my install, bad HD. Files I have here and mediafire can still be accessed..but still interested in world modding!! JUst keeping up with the latest ;-)

[johnwhile]

Hi, i need a information:
in the settlements world file i found this data that i think is utilized to put the external building found in the Tech-Tree folder.
Example in north_european_wooden_fort_a.world the basic castle:

12 TechTreeSlot  
 5            # characteristics count...  
 8 Category        7 generic  
 10 GameObject        1 1  
 14 GameObjectName        12 TechTreeSlot  
 14 GameObjectType        5 point  
 4 Size        5 64x32  
   -1.0000000   +0.0000000   -0.0000002  -32.0000076   
   +0.0000000   +1.0000000   +0.0000000   -2.1788828   
   +0.0000002   +0.0000000   -1.0000000  -24.0000076   
   +0.0000000   +0.0000000   +0.0000000   +1.0000000

In a custom battle in this position there is a Small_Barrack... but i don't understand this relations, in the Export_descr_bouilding.txt there aren't these information for building slots , can someone explain me please ?

[wilddog]

can someone explain me please ?

Looks pretty standard but as posted on things still to do

6) Look at Tech Tree slots - sorry pretty much last on my list as less important for our mod.