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07-20-10, 01:44 PM | #1 | |
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Dangerous Waters Random Mission Generator
Last update: version 0.2
You can find it in the Downloads section: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/down...o=file&id=4794 mirror: https://mega.nz/#!S0pURKxA!D_V3ith4Z...gkjzjnSS_R2qYc The news are: Quote:
It's almost completed. Remain a couple of details, but this is more or less similar to what I wanted to do. More mission types can be added, but in some areas I'm not good, as, for example, I've played very few times with air platforms, so I not dare to create air vs surf or surf vs surf missions. But if anybody makes one and send it to me, I gladly put it on the program. You can find it on the first thread here (server down). ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ok, guys, here I come again with another project. I'm pretty excited with this and hope you will like what I'm trying to do. For work reasons, I needed to create a small program and found one, called Game-Editor, which eases the process A LOT. Then I started to play a bit more with it... and finally I decided that it would be possible to create random generated missions and even a dynamic campaign for DW. Don't jump already. One thing is random missions and other very different is a dynamic campaign. I think I could create a random campaign, but dynamic... for the moment is beyond my abilities (and probably always be, since I don't believe I will learn programming in the next few... decades ). There are, still 2 ways of creating a dynamic campaign: -1: find somebody who knows programming. -2: making the player to enter the missions result “manually” so the campaign can continue at that point. However, as I said, it would be the future. The present is a random mission generator that I hope could replace the quick missions with better performance. I've played very few with quick missions, but most of that times the enemy sub was cavitating since the mission start. I'll paste here the read me: Code:
This is a small project with very high ambitions for Dangerous waters 1.4 with RA mod installed. It's made by me with a great program called Game Editor version 1.4. You can find the program on: http://game-editor.com/ (server down for the moment). It has a great comunity and pretty clear turorials... and no, you can star without knowing anything about programming (but it helps and is easy to learn the basics with the help of the comunity). This program is free, you can use it, distribute it, change it... but you CAN'T use it to make money. And, of course, you have to mention me as the original creator; just for the hours spent, no other ;-) If you want to contact me you can find me in the subsim.com forums. Any comment is welcome. Content: 1- Instructions. 2- What is this program about. 3- Version history. 4- TO DO. 5- The future. 6- Thanks to. ========== 1- INTRUCTIONS ============ ------- IMPORTANT! ------ The program generates missions for DW 1.4 with RA mod installed. Most surelly it will not work well with vanilla or LwAmi mods. ------------------------- 1- Extract the folder where you want. 2- Execute "DW_RM_v01.exe" and select your combat area. The blue dot is for blue (deep) waters battle. The brown dot is for brown (shallow) waters battle. 3- As the program asks you to, now execute the file called "missiongen.bat". If it asks you, select F. 4- Now push the blue button. That's it! A mission called mission.mu is ready for you. 5- Copy the file called "mission.mu" to the Scenario folder in your Dangerous Waters intallation folder. Overwrite if asked. 6- Now start your game as usual and, in the single mission menu, you will find a mission called --Random Mission--. You will see a Victor as controlable unit, but you can select your favourite platform. 7- Enjoy! ------------------------------------------------------- ======== 2- What is this program about ================ This program is intended to improve the naval sim Dangerous Waters game experience. One of the lacks of the original game is its poor quick mission generator. Based on the powerful in-game mission editor, DWRMG (Dangerous Waters Random Mission Generator)gives you the option of selecting the battle area. Then the program will generate randomly the weather conditions and gives you the mission. ------------------------------------------------------- ======= 3- Version history ============================ v0.1 - This is the first version of the program. You can: - Select battle area between 6 possibilities: 4 deep water, 2 shallow water. - Generates a mission in the selected area with random enviromental conditions. ------------------------------------------------------- ========= 4- TO DO ==================================== - In this version, you can only select ASW with sub vs sub missions. Also, the battle will be allways 1vs1. In next versions I plan to add also surface and air controlable platforms as well as ASuW. Maybe also other kind of missions, but I'm not sure about that. - As is based in RA mod, there's a wide variety of platforms both controllable or not, but at this version you will fight against modern submarines. In the future there will be the option of selecting "era". - Fell free to suggest other things. ------------------------------------------------------- ====== 5- The future =============================== - Honestly, DWRMG is noy my objetive. My real aim is set on creating a Campaign as more dynamic as possible, but I have no idea of programming and not much time, so I will do what I can. Bu I think I can Achieve my goal with the knowledge I've adquired, so I will try to do it. Of course, thanks to Game-Editor, which makes a lot of work for you. - I see this campaign very similar to the still great "Red Storm Rising" ones: the player will move around the scenario and will find objetives, and receive missions. A very early version is already in progress. ------------------------------------------------------- You can find the program on commanders-academy: It's at the end of the post. Please I beg you to give as more ideas as you can and, if you want to participate, even better. The program idea is pretty simple: - 1st I've created one (yes, only one) mission sub vs sub for blue waters and another for brown waters. Each mission has a dynamic group for the enemy subs and one for civilians and all of them have random boxes. - Then I used that mission as base for creating the others. Let's continue with the blue waters mission. The mission file is a simple txt file, so it can be read an modified. The lat and long positions on that file are only for the center of the map, so it's easy to change it. Besides, the positions of the platforms are relative to that center, so, when you change lat and long, the rest continues at their relative positions on the original mission. With this one must be careful because if not, your submarine can appear inland (it happened me on one test ). - The program I've created asks you to select one area (and changes the lat and long values). This makes easy porting blue water missions from area to area because there's little risk of grounding objects, but is risky on shallow waters or near to land. But this can be solved creating more specific mission for that areas. The program also randomize the environmental conditions: time, weather, clouds... so, even if you select always the same area, there will be pretty different conditions, both environmental and about enemies and neutral platforms. For now, as said on the read me, there are only 1vs1 sub missions and only with the modern ones. But it's not hard to add other missions and eras, only is a bit time-consuming. Once this part is finished and the method controlled, I then would like to try to create a campaign generator. I was thinking on creating a one similar to RSR... wait, I said similar: you select your submarine and wander around the map and receive mission orders. As I said before, it would be hard to make a very dynamic campaign to that level. But with your help... who knows, maybe we can do it... What do you think about it? Am I doing a good thing or wasting my time? Somebody wants to help?
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Hay dos tipos de buques: los submarinos... y los blancos. There are two types of ships: the subs... and the targets. Last edited by FERdeBOER; 10-09-15 at 12:26 PM. Reason: Add new link |
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07-20-10, 02:31 PM | #2 |
Silent Hunter
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Along the Watchtower
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I think it's a great idea. And I wouldn't be discouraged by having to manually enter some data. After all, right now if we want to do something like this it is 100% manual.
Quick question though... what can we expect from campaigns created like this? Right now it seems like it would be a campaign like we already have in DW--single player and consisting of scenarios strung together in a storyline. I'd love to find a way to generate DW missions as part of a multiplayer campaign without a scripted storyline. Is anything like that on your radar?
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07-20-10, 03:15 PM | #3 | ||
XO
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Spain
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Quote:
Quote:
It can be done for multiplayer without problems. Well, probably would be a little tricky, but nothing unbearable. What I've though is this: Let's think about two sides. Both of them start equal, 50%. Of course when one side wins a battle, gains points and the loser loss points. The sides are more or less aggressive depending on if they are winning or losing. To make it "dynamic" I thought on creating a list of the most important platforms (cruisers, Naval bases, SSN and specially CVs and SSBN...). Destroying them makes them out of the campaign. For doing so, once played the mission and restarted the campaign generator, we should go to "uncheck" the killed platform and so the program won't use it again. The "lesser" platforms and civil shipping should be considered "expendable", so destroying them gives you points but the platform may appear again in the future. Of course this is not magical. First one must decide the sides and the platforms involved and give that data to the program. But once done, it will be easier. What kind of campaign are you thinking about? Let's make a little brainstorming
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Hay dos tipos de buques: los submarinos... y los blancos. There are two types of ships: the subs... and the targets. |
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07-20-10, 05:11 PM | #4 |
Gunner
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Germany
Posts: 91
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I think it's a great idea,
do you think it would be possible to click anywhere on the map instea of being constrained to points? Also it would be great if once an area is selected the computer would select randomly a mission out of a mission pool. |
07-20-10, 05:12 PM | #5 |
Silent Hunter
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Along the Watchtower
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What I would really like to have in a dynamic campaign engine for DW is something that can keep an account of the platforms present in a campaign (and their status--loadout, fuel, damage, etc.), account for their movements that take place before/after a match is played, determines when/where a DW match is to take place, and can generate DW missions based on all of the information its been tracking. Something along the lines of the "2d world" in Falcon 4, if you're familiar with that. Or, imagine a server running Fleet Command, with Dangerous Waters players logging into it to control the playable platforms in the FC game.
I expect that a full-blown professional campaign engine like F4's is beyond the limits of game-editor. But, if it can do most of the things I've listed above--even if a lot of the data is entered manually b/c it doesn't know how to interpret the results of a DW battle, it's still accomplishing a lot.
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07-20-10, 05:57 PM | #6 |
Navy Seal
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Isn't there a results file created when you end a mission. Could your generator read that and interpret the results?
BTW Definitely needs LWAMI compatibility with Pacific and Persian Gulf AOs... |
07-20-10, 06:48 PM | #7 | |||||
XO
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Spain
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Quote:
This random mission generator is somewhat like the quick mission generator, which is similar in concept: you choose the area amongst the ones prefixed. Quote:
Status, loadout, fuel... too complex, at least for now. But the other things are what I was thinking about. I will be hard to simulate an AI, but it can be done. Quote:
Quote:
As far as I know, it will be possible to interact with it, but at the moment I don't know how. I'm afraid I must to keep with the manual solution. Quote:
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Hay dos tipos de buques: los submarinos... y los blancos. There are two types of ships: the subs... and the targets. |
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07-20-10, 11:00 PM | #8 |
Silent Hunter
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Even if you could read the debrief file, a lot of times the information there is incorrect or missing. Plus there's no accounting of expended weapons/cms or damage.
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07-21-10, 05:04 AM | #9 | |
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Quote:
I'm curious... expended weapons and countermeasures? how are you thinking to manage that?
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Hay dos tipos de buques: los submarinos... y los blancos. There are two types of ships: the subs... and the targets. |
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07-21-10, 10:28 AM | #10 |
XO
Join Date: Mar 2002
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Hay dos tipos de buques: los submarinos... y los blancos. There are two types of ships: the subs... and the targets. |
07-21-10, 11:30 AM | #11 | |
Silent Hunter
Join Date: Jun 2004
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Quote:
As for tracking expenditures, I don't know how to use game-editor, so I don't have a clue. It is important, though, and I'm frustrated with SCS because Jane's 688I had it (in campaign mode), but SC and DW don't.
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07-21-10, 01:31 PM | #12 | ||
XO
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Quote:
Quote:
What I was asking for is how are you thinking it can be implemented in a campaign, to see if it's possible or not for me to do it.
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Hay dos tipos de buques: los submarinos... y los blancos. There are two types of ships: the subs... and the targets. |
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07-21-10, 07:18 PM | #13 |
Silent Hunter
Join Date: Jun 2004
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There is a file that saves the loadout (probably LOD) configuration when a player starts a mission. If you can get something that can overwrite that with data from the end of a mission, then the next time that platform is played by that player the end-state loadout will be loaded by default at the loadout screen. Unfortunately, the player can cheat and replenish, so Im not sure this is any better than just manually removing weapons/CMs at the loadout screen. It just doesn't require human memory.
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07-21-10, 07:41 PM | #14 | |
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Quote:
Do you know what file is this and how to read a .lod file?
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Hay dos tipos de buques: los submarinos... y los blancos. There are two types of ships: the subs... and the targets. |
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07-21-10, 08:32 PM | #15 |
Silent Hunter
Join Date: Jun 2004
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Nope.
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