Guild points mod

[Bladvak]

Hey guys,

Is there any mod or script that shows the guild points for each and possible guilds, in each and every city?

Basically, I'm tired of building stuff while altogether just "hoping" I've reached enough guild points. I want to know the real progress, I want to know that if I finish building a great market in 10 turns, I'll be offered the Merchant's Guild, I want to know that I only need to train one more elite swordsman until being offered a Swordsmith's Guild, etc. Don't even get me started on that Elven smith guild. I also don't want to ALT-TAB and look in the game files each time, even if that's possible.

If there is no such in-game mod/script/help, and if nobody is willing to produce such a thing, then help me out here and please point me to a tutorial/101 for modding/scripting M2TW. I've got some spare time and learning to mod might be something I'm willing to do.

I'm also thinking that if a Master guild is built in that city, then the info should also show the location of the rest of the Master Guilds or the location of that particular Guild's HQ. The city with the HQ should show the names of all the cities with that particular guild, along with its level.

TL;DR : I'm looking for a building in TATW that will offer updated info of guild points for each and every guild available. Any help on how to learn scripting/modding is welcome (I've got Computer Science background, no worry I don't start from zero).

[Kiliç Alì]

This is the most complete guikd guide here on TWC:
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...DATE-3-9-07%29

For general conding\scripting, you may want to take a look here:
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...rces-amp-Tools
And if you are a newcomer to the modding world, also here:
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forum...Class-Archives

[Bladvak]

Thanks Ali.

I see that some have voted no, would you care to elaborate? Maybe I'm missing a point here and I'm not aware of it.

[Kiliç Alì]

Oh, I did vote no for I like not to program guilds - I like their randomness and the fact you "don't know" when and how they happen... until you start messing up with the files

Just that really

[Bladvak]

Well, I'm very much intro micro-managing everything on the strategic and tactical map.

Since guilds offer some niiiiice bonuses, faction-wide, I'm very much interested in knowing more about their progress.

[Redgrave]

I voted no as I feel that it would be too 'gamey' and technical for my liking- that's just not the way I like to play my game. Seeing the raw numbers would just seem wrong to me- it would be like seeing exactly how many points of BattleDread your general had instead of just seeing their trait IMO. I'm sure that others would like it, and I can see why. But personally, I wouldn't. It's a cool idea though

[Withwnar]

I'm also thinking that if a Master guild is built in that city, then the info should also show the location of the rest of the Master Guilds or the location of that particular Guild's HQ. The city with the HQ should show the names of all the cities with that particular guild, along with its level.

M2TW is very static in a lot of respects. e.g. You cannot dynamically generate text for a scroll at runtime. You can't even write to the console, only a log file.

I've got Computer Science background

Prepare to be disappointed. The scripting language is very basic and has only one kind of variable: a numerical "counter". Sometimes huge amounts of script are needed to do what could have been done in three lines of a typical language. And some things, seemingly simple things, just can't be done at all. But when, despite all limitations, something comes together it is a sweet, sweet victory.

[Bladvak]

Nice insight, Withwnar, thank you for it. Will keep in mind for knowing what to expect.
Considering what you said, I might have these options :
-either script so that every time a save is loaded, the location will show in a building in the capital
-use the numerical counter to my advantage. 'tis a tricky thing and it will work only for a few cities. basically, if a guild is build somewhere, a certain number is added to an overall value. let's say 437 means that there is a HQ in Moria and a master guild in Harad. 692 would mean Master guilds in Erebor, Edoras, Dol Amroth and Pelargir.
-laziest way : each time a save is loaded, a script will pop-up showing the location of all master and hq guilds. still better than nothing, imho

[Withwnar]

You can fire scripts manually via a number of ways; a reload will not be necessary.

Guild points are not accessible from script. In fact, I don't think that they're available to anything at all except the internal (hardcoded) guild system. You can code triggers to add/subtract guild points and code the definitions of when buildings are offered based on those points, but that is all.

I would steer clear of using buildings as information devices: there is fairly low hardcoded limit for buildings.

Message scrolls (historic events) would be one possible solution. e.g. Use script to find Thieve's Guild HQ, show a scroll that says simply "Thieve's Guild HQ is here..." and set the scroll's zoom button so that clicking it will jump the player to that settlement. Do likewise for all Masters. And repeat all of that for other guilds. But it will be one scroll for each HQ and each Master of each guild.

Another solution might be to use traits: spawn a temporary character and give him custom-made traits whose text say things like "Thieve's Guild HQ: Minas Tirith".

Any solution will be a huge script.

Anyway, this isn't the place to discuss modding details. Better to start a thread in the Text & Scripting Workshop but you might want to familiarise yourself with coding and scripting first.

[Bladvak]

it seems that difficulties and restrictions arise.

Any solution will be a huge script.

i.e. a lot of work, time and energy, besides the actual long span of the script. but I'm fine with it, as long as it turns out to be an elegant solution.

thanks for the advice, will slowly start accommodating myself with coding and scripting.

[Withwnar]

I just had another idea...

Script finds Thieve's Guild HQ and spawns a character - belonging to your faction - named "Thieve's Guild HQ" outside of that settlement. Likewise for all Masters and other guilds. Script kills them all again when you have finished with them. Some kind of agent probably. And not necessarily limited to just HQ and Masters.

The in-game Agents List scroll will show you where they all are and let you jump to there on the map via clicking them. Probably better to name them like "Guild: Thieves HQ" for sorting purposes.

You don't want those names in any faction's name list otherwise you'll see random characters on the map named "Master Explorer's Guild" and such. This method will be needed.

[Gigantus]

I just had another idea...

Script finds Thieve's Guild HQ and spawns a character - belonging to your faction - named "Thieve's Guild HQ" outside of that settlement. Likewise for all Masters and other guilds. Script kills them all again when you have finished with them. Some kind of agent probably. And not necessarily limited to just HQ and Masters.

Make sure it's not a repetitive spawn - that's what got us into problems in 1648. It creates a massive save file (in excess of 60MB) in the later stages of the game that eventually will not load. Admittedly we were killing and re-spawning roughly 200 characters every round, but still...

[Bladvak]

I had a similar idea, that involved building an far-away island, making a table with rows and columns, first column showing the name of the city (only important cities) and second column showing the level of the guild. Spies from all factions would be placed nearby, in enclosed spaces so they don't get killed by failed spying attempts. I also considered using princesses instead of spies, but I'm not sure if all factions CAN get a princess.

[Bladvak]

Your advice is much appreciated Gigantus, but I'm currently stuck at finding the location where guild points are counted... And there is basically no reference about guild points' location , in no tutorial whatsoever.
I'm guessing you posted here after you first read http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...ts-help-needed ? In any case, I need some help for the issues raised there before I can do a repetitive or a non-repetitive spawn.

[Gigantus]

I share Withwnar's view hence my comment on the points issue would have been repetitive.

Guild points are not accessible from script. In fact, I don't think that they're available to anything at all except the internal (hardcoded) guild system.

The idea of him to use agents does have merit, using the SettlementBuildingFinished or SettlementBuildingExists condition and a historic event with co-ordinates should work just fine. Just as well GED did write his script replicator - this will require a mountain of script if you wish to cover all guilds and all settlements.