descr_walls.txt

[Kruniac]

Interesting find - to me at least. I know I dont really contribute to this forum

In descr_walls.txt we find that ALL arrow towers for the various castles ALL fire with the SAME damage, no matter the size. The SPEED varies, however, due to reload_ms (number). The number of milliseconds till reloaded?

Interesting bit - fire_rate small 6000 3250
fire_rate normal 6500 3250
fire_rate large 5500 3250
fire_rate huge 4550 3250

This means that the SMALL arrow towers fire at a rate of 6000 milliseconds between each shot.

The LARGE and HUGE are considerably faster. Why then, does the NORMAL one fire the SLOWEST? (Edit - Perhaps to "Balance" weak fortifications to the larger ones? Wooden ones fire the fastest, and bigger castles have better walls/gates/more towers? Total stupidity?)

Interesting - the SECOND column of numbers is for flaming_reload_ms

Meaning - how quickly the object reloads to fire another FLAMING shot, more than likely at seige equipment? They are all the same. Heh.

Ive modded my file to look more like this

; unit size reload_ms flaming_reload_ms
fire_rate small 4000 1250
fire_rate normal 4500 1250
fire_rate large 3500 1250
fire_rate huge 2550 1250

Should make seiges more deadly for the attackers, no?

Also, take a glance at the Ballista towers...

; unit size reload_ms flaming_reload_ms
fire_rate small 18500 19500
fire_rate normal 16000 18500
fire_rate large 14000 16500
fire_rate huge 13500 15000

Different than before. This one goes in the correct order of Small=Slow, Normal, Large, Huge=faster. CA forget to make the arrow tower the same way?

Simply shave off the first digit of the Ballista reload time, and you have...

; unit size reload_ms flaming_reload_ms
fire_rate small 8500 9500
fire_rate normal 6000 8500
fire_rate large 4000 6500
fire_rate huge 3500 5000

More in line with a deadly seige, eh? Consider that these are BALLISTA rounds.

Lets talk about ANGLES.

stat 40, 0, tower_ballista, 150, 10, siege_missile, artillery_mechanical, piercing, ballista_tower, 350, 1
stat_attr no
shot_sfx TOWER_BALLISTA_FIRING
fire_angle 45 <---Right here
; unit size reload_ms flaming_reload_ms
fire_rate small 8500 9500
fire_rate normal 6000 8500
fire_rate large 4000 6500
fire_rate huge 3500 5000

If we set the firing angle at more of ~20 degrees, wouldnt that cause the object to fire much CLOSER to itself? No more attacker's rams smashing the gate with no one to stop them!

Comments? Tests? Anything?

*Edit* Tested some values. setting arrow towers to 20 degrees makes them ALMOST fire on the surplus ram crew when they are at the gates. Setting it to 5 degrees prevents the arrow towers from working at all. Strange. Ill try different values and let you all know what I come out with.

*Edit* Perhaps I was wrong. Setting the value to 180 degrees got much better results. 360 degrees just disabled the towers altogether. On the matter of MY timers, the reload delay for the ballista towers forces the AI to use proper seige equipment to stand a chance of assaulting a Castle. Rams, towers, get obliterated, and ladders are an invitation to a killzone for any melee troops I may have. Going to test varying firing speeds at 180 degrees (Arrows only. The cannons destroy armies, and the ballistas are right where they should be.)

*Edit* Just played Scots vs Aztechs (for fun). Castle Defense Level 1 (No ballista towers, no cannons, no units firing on attackers. ONLY static defenses). Interesting. I increased the attack speed of the arrow towers, and realize that they are GOOD where I have them. If you charge a castle, you can expect a more MTW style hail of arrows coming at you, which is excellent for this game. It doesnt do that much damage, however the enemy was given ONE unit of Town Militia, and ONE Ram. The ram was set alight about six seconds from the gate, and the Town Militia were gradually getting picked off. I MIGHT up the damage on the arrow towers, but I really need feedback before I do so.

*Edit* Someone vs Scots (For fun). Crappy little wooden castle thingy. The second one. Level one defenses, of course. Musketeers firing on men for laughs. 1 Ram ~700 enemy troops. Interesting... On this test, three (!) towers were firing on the enemy ram AS IT RAMMED THE GATE! I think 180 degrees is perfect for now. Im seriously considering upping the damage of those arrows towers though. Far too many spearmen (no shield) took hits without falling. I guess thats okay, but if you are going to use a Ram, it might be wiser to send heavily armored/shielded units to push it in, right? Anyways, the ram caught fire when my gate was at 52% damage. Very interesting indeed. Ill raise the damage of the arrow towers, and try further tests.

*Edit* English vs Scots (For fun). Castle. Level one defenses. All peasant army against ONE unit of town militia with ONE ram. I set the damage of the arrow towers to 14, and it seems good. The Ram burned, but that was more because all of the towers were shooting at it rather than the damage of the towers. In a larger battle, units would be all over the place, all being fired upon. The Town Militia were not taking a 100% hit/kill ratio, which is good because they have shields. Id say a 70% hit/kill ratio was occuring, which is FAR better than 2 men dying out of 15 arrows. Also discovered that towers have HORRIBLE accuracy. They frequently burned men alive rather than hit the ram. Effect caused by flaming arrows?

I might just make this a mod.

[Snipafist]

Sorry for the threadomancy, but I was wondering how this project had gone?

[Kruniac]

Necro to the maxipad.

I wanted to say that since last year, apparantly one of the patches changed descr_walls.txt values to mimic more of my modded values. I dont know why - perhaps the devs decided that seige defenses were indeed too slow to really matter.

New Descr_Walls.txt
---------------------
;
; Gates: model plus left and right gate models, offsets and sizes.
; Assumed the gates face outward along Z.
; NO double gates, please.
; Using none anywhere here means the items are simply ignored.
;
; Gate types: wooden; reinforced; iron.
; Short gate - wooden only
; Medium gate - all three
; Huge gate - all three
;
; Valid sounds are: none, knife, sword, spear, axe, mace, club, arrow_tower and ballista_tower
;

gates
{
gate short_wooden
{
full_health 1000
height 10.0 ; TODO -
pursuit_lockout_radius 80.0
blocked_lockout_radius 70.0
}

gate medium_wooden
{
full_health 1000
height 10.0 ; TODO -
pursuit_lockout_radius 80.0
blocked_lockout_radius 70.0
}


gate huge_wooden
{
full_health 1500
height 10.0 ; TODO -
pursuit_lockout_radius 80.0
blocked_lockout_radius 70.0
}

gate medium_reinforced
{
full_health 1500
height 10.0 ; TODO -
pursuit_lockout_radius 80.0
blocked_lockout_radius 70.0
}

gate huge_reinforced
{
full_health 2000
height 10.0 ; TODO -
pursuit_lockout_radius 80.0
blocked_lockout_radius 70.0
}


gate medium_iron
{
full_health 2000
height 10.0 ; TODO -
pursuit_lockout_radius 80.0
blocked_lockout_radius 70.0
}

gate huge_iron
{
full_health 2500
height 10.0 ; TODO -
pursuit_lockout_radius 80.0
blocked_lockout_radius 70.0
}

}

; SHORT WOODEN WALLS
wall
{
level 0
siege_tower_size too_small

wall
{
full_health 125
battle_stats flammability_medium impact_damage_high
localised_name wall
}

gateway
{
full_health 10
battle_stats flammability_medium impact_damage_high
localised_name gateway
projectile_impacts_all_hit_gate
short_wooden ; Just one type allowed!
}
tower
{
full_health 60
control_area_radius 30
manned 1
battle_stats flammability_medium impact_damage_high
localised_name tower

; as in descr_unit.txt
level
{
stat 12, 0, arrow, 100, 10, missile, missile_mechanical, piercing, arrow_tower, 10, 1
stat_attr no
shot_sfx TOWER_ARROW_FIRING
fire_angle 180

; unit size reload_ms flaming_reload_ms
fire_rate small 2000 1250
fire_rate normal 1500 1250
fire_rate large 1000 1250
fire_rate huge 750 1250
}
}
}

; TALL WOODEN WALLS
wall
{
level 1
siege_tower_size small

wall
{
full_health 250
battle_stats flammability_medium impact_damage_high
localised_name wall
}

gateway
{
full_health 10
battle_stats flammability_medium impact_damage_high
localised_name gateway
projectile_impacts_all_hit_gate
medium_wooden
medium_reinforced
medium_iron
}
tower
{
full_health 125
control_area_radius 30
manned 1
battle_stats flammability_medium impact_damage_high
localised_name tower

; as in descr_unit.txt
level
{
stat 12, 0, arrow, 120, 10, missile, missile_mechanical, piercing, arrow_tower, 10, 1
stat_attr no
shot_sfx TOWER_ARROW_FIRING
fire_angle 180

; unit size reload_ms flaming_reload_ms
fire_rate small 2000 1250
fire_rate normal 1500 1250
fire_rate large 1000 1250
fire_rate huge 750 1250
}
}
}

; SMALL STONE/TOWN WALLS
wall
{
level 2
siege_tower_size medium

wall
{
full_health 500
battle_stats flammability_none impact_damage_high
localised_name wall
}
gateway
{
full_health 500
battle_stats flammability_none impact_damage_high
localised_name gateway
medium_wooden
medium_reinforced
medium_iron
}
tower
{
full_health 250
control_area_radius 30
manned 1
battle_stats flammability_none impact_damage_high
localised_name tower

; as in descr_unit.txt
level
{
stat 12, 0, arrow, 120, 10, missile, missile_mechanical, piercing, arrow_tower, 10, 1
stat_attr no
shot_sfx TOWER_ARROW_FIRING
fire_angle 180

; unit size reload_ms flaming_reload_ms
fire_rate small 2000 1250
fire_rate normal 1500 1250
fire_rate large 1000 1250
fire_rate huge 750 1250
}
level
{
stat 40, 0, tower_ballista, 150, 10, siege_missile, artillery_mechanical, piercing, ballista_tower, 350, 1
stat_attr no
shot_sfx TOWER_BALLISTA_FIRING
fire_angle 45

; unit size reload_ms flaming_reload_ms
fire_rate small 4500 6500
fire_rate normal 3000 5500
fire_rate large 2000 4500
fire_rate huge 1500 3000
}
}
}

wall
{
level 3
siege_tower_size medium

wall
{
full_health 1500
battle_stats flammability_none impact_damage_high
localised_name wall
}
gateway
{
full_health 1500
battle_stats flammability_none impact_damage_high
localised_name gateway
medium_wooden
medium_reinforced
medium_iron
}
tower
{
full_health 750
control_area_radius 30
manned 1
battle_stats flammability_none impact_damage_high
localised_name tower

; as in descr_unit.txt
level
{
stat 12, 0, arrow, 120, 10, missile, missile_mechanical, piercing, arrow_tower, 10, 1
stat_attr no
shot_sfx TOWER_ARROW_FIRING
fire_angle 180

; unit size reload_ms flaming_reload_ms
fire_rate small 4000 1250
fire_rate normal 1500 1250
fire_rate large 1500 1250
fire_rate huge 1000 1250
}

level
{
stat 40, 0, tower_ballista, 150, 10, siege_missile, artillery_mechanical, piercing, ballista_tower, 350, 1
stat_attr no
shot_sfx TOWER_BALLISTA_FIRING
fire_angle 45

; unit size reload_ms flaming_reload_ms
fire_rate small 4500 6500
fire_rate normal 3000 5500
fire_rate large 2000 4500
fire_rate huge 1500 3000
}
level
{
stat 40, 0, bombard_shot, 290, 10, siege_missile, artillery_gunpowder, piercing, cannon_tower, 80, 1
stat_attr no
shot_sfx CANNON_FIRING
fire_angle 45

; unit size reload_ms flaming_reload_ms
fire_rate small 20000 16000
fire_rate normal 16000 16000
fire_rate large 14000 16000
fire_rate huge 12000 16000
}
}
}

wall
{
level 4
siege_tower_size large

wall
{
full_health 2000
battle_stats flammability_none impact_damage_high
localised_name wall
}
gateway
{
full_health 2000
battle_stats flammability_none impact_damage_high
localised_name gateway
huge_wooden
huge_reinforced
huge_iron
}
tower
{
full_health 1000
control_area_radius 30
manned 1
battle_stats flammability_none impact_damage_high
localised_name tower

; as in descr_unit.txt
level
{
stat 12, 0, arrow, 120, 10, missile, missile_mechanical, piercing, arrow_tower, 10, 1
stat_attr no
shot_sfx TOWER_ARROW_FIRING
fire_angle 180

; unit size reload_ms flaming_reload_ms
fire_rate small 4000 1250 <----See? They changed the values considerably it seems.
fire_rate normal 1500 1250
fire_rate large 1500 1250
fire_rate huge 1000 1250
}
level
{
stat 40, 0, tower_ballista, 150, 10, siege_missile, artillery_mechanical, piercing, ballista_tower, 350, 1
stat_attr no
shot_sfx TOWER_BALLISTA_FIRING
fire_angle 45

; unit size reload_ms flaming_reload_ms
fire_rate small 4500 6500
fire_rate normal 3000 5500
fire_rate large 2000 4500
fire_rate huge 1500 3000
}


level
{
stat 40, 0, bombard_shot, 290, 10, siege_missile, artillery_gunpowder, piercing, cannon_tower, 80, 1
stat_attr no
shot_sfx CANNON_FIRING
fire_angle 45

; unit size reload_ms flaming_reload_ms
fire_rate small 20000 16000
fire_rate normal 16000 16000
fire_rate large 14000 16000
fire_rate huge 12000 16000
}
}
}

---------------------------------------
These are with the changes to firing angle, of which I still use 180 degrees.

I thought someone might find it interesting.

[deadlyshadow187]

um sounds kinda dumb good luck if u have to actually siege something thanks for the info though at least i know were to go to Nerf the the towers cause there op as hell, so thanks for that.