Quote:
Originally Posted by atheniandp
I'd like to clarify that when I say PSF models I mean the models on the battle map, not on the campaign map.
Pretty much all I'm concerned with is the battle map, none of my questions have anything to do with campaign map models.
Sorry for any confusion.
I understand, that is no problem. I am talking about battlefield models which are independent from the strat models.
To sum it up, the PSF models are defined in descr_strat.txt. Strat map models are limited to one per faction per culture and are assigned using culture names and mdels placed in faction_variants sub-folder of strat models.
The battlemodels are completely independent and are not limited at all meaning in theory each PSF can have a unique battlefield.
What you are confused about are settlements that are completely different thing and are auto-hard-coded-generated. They cannot be modded much beyond setting specific battlefield for them (which don't change...) replacing the generator. That is generally undesirable unless for settlements already at their last level and not to be developed further. Even then though things like damaged walls etc. won't transfer to next battle.
PSFs do NOT have these restrictions. They are not generated at all. They use pre-created battlefields such as the stone_fort_a battlefield from Britannia campaign. These are assigned by the name of the battlefield hence the unlimited options here. Again, they have nothing to do with the strat map at all. The PSF might be on Iceland but have desert like castle as battlefield.
Maybe a bit confusingly, these are stored in /data/ under /settlements/culture_name/ambient_settlements/battlefield_name/ where culture_name is one of the defined cultures and battlefield_name is the name of your battlefield and its files. The name of the battlefield's folder is then assigned in descr_strat.txt as the name of the battlefield for given PSF. So if the PSF is defined as northern_european the battlefiled must be under that culture but there is no stopping us in copying all battlefield to all cultures bypassing this easily.
For more concrete matters. The PSFs in DotS are using all sorts of appearances on the strat map using the cultures/factions specific models. Most are towns, some are castles or fortresses, some cities, Cuman yurtas etc. Although we have all the vanilla Kingdoms' PSF battle models as placeholders we use only that stone_fort_a because none of them are appropriate. They are all just small stone castles after all...
So the set of generic battlefields is needed to fill in the basic battlefields for variou stypes of PSFs. Our aim is to make Town/City like PSFs as close to field battles as possible while castles/fortresses regular siege battles (can even be used the standard vanilla fort for some of them). Naturally these will need to be done in culture variants as well as the northern_european town cannot be used for middle_eastern PSFs... Out of top of my head:
euro_wooden_town
Either the wooden town in the background or the wooden town with destroyed wall for easy access of the enemy to the city. Ideally making the streets wide enough so they don't obstruct the movement so much.
Used for most of European PSFs as they are typically wooden towns including Russia (all wooden throughout the timeframe 1080-1453...).
south/greek_city
Stone city basically used by Southern European factions and ERE (Byzantium). Typically of Roman descent so they are similar enough to have just one for all the instances as placeholder from Iberia to Anatolia.
Again, either with destroyed walls and gate for easy access without the need to actually siege the place or have off walkable map and keep it siege battle with "city square" near the off map gate for example. Or perhaps having the square moved just beyond the broken walls to give defenders only slight advantage...? It's really up to your creative genius!
euro_castle
This is a tough one because we all know how varied European castles were and still are. But we need a placeholder. I expect we could use some of the existing Kingdoms' fort models though so no need to create a new one if you don't have any super ideas or so. :-)
middle_eastern_city
Like the greek cities basically but using middle_eastern buildings and textures.
Used in most of Africa and Middle East (minus Anatolia and Caucasus where greek cities will be used for placeholding).
middel_eastern_fortress
They are few but still significant enough to warrant an own placeholder. Again, like the castle but for middle_eastern culture. Possibly we could use one of the Crusade fort models.
Used in Africa and Middle East.
cuman/mongol_yurtas
Very distinct from everything else. The yurta villages. We know that some of the Steppe towns were stone and permanent but for the placeholding this will do. Since it is a village either make it centre of the map or just off_map and basically a field battle.
Used in steppe only so from Ukraine to the edge of the map.
So that's the overview of what would the basic set could possibly look like, it's still quite a few battlefields even for placeholding though! Remember that the PSF battlefield are completely independent from anything and pretty much unlimited in all regards. They can be anything set to any PSF (or number of PSFs). No limits of settlements apply for them neither does geography from the strat map apply either.