Mega New Elk WIP

[Black_Elk]

@wc_sumpton Sweet! Thanks dude

Aha that all makes sense!

In that case I think it'll be easier to just draft in edit mode via gamesaves for riffing around, and the xml produced can be used as just like a reference or to copy over just the parts with the starting units or whatever once it's dialed. I just didn't want to mess up the actual file while messing around. Edit mode is fun cause we can place and then immediately run mock combats, edit remove/change whatever more on the fly.

[wc_sumpton]

@black_elk

I've used the export function to find problems with "foreach" loops, so I done my digging through that file. LOL, if you are having any more issues, just give me a call.

Cheers...

[beelee]

@wc_sumpton

ahh yea now I remember what it was. Thanks for updating that

[beelee]

@wc_sumpton said in Mega New Elk:

The unitInitialize section can be sorted later by player, but this is just a quick fix.

that's right. I remember it just kinda through the new stuff in a blob. I always went through and organized by player as you said. Takes some time but well worth it obviously

[wc_sumpton]

@beelee

Why France? Nothing against the French but this is a WWII map. If the start date is middle to late '40s, Paris is already under German's control. Anything earlier and Germany should be able to sack France by the end of their first or second turn. France (Free France) should be given some territories in Africa and France, use purchaseNoPU, endTurnNoPU and play during Britain's turn like UK_Pacific.

The same can be said about China (again nothing against the Chinese), but their roll should be included with Russia.

Just some thoughts.

Cheers...

[wc_sumpton]

@beelee said in Mega New Elk:

that's right. I remember it just kinda through the new stuff in a blob. I always went through and organized by player as you said. Takes some time but well worth it obviously

Wouldn't attempt this until all the setup's been finalized. Otherwise you'll be driving it over and over again.

Cheers...

[beelee]

@wc_sumpton said in Mega New Elk:

again nothing against the Chinese

oh I have plenty against em

Yea, still early stages here. Originally this was gonna be G 40 on the mega map. Will see where we end up. Will nix those if needed and add a separate xml. Put it in a folder like the blends are now in for baseTiles.

Won't show up as a game that way but people can have a starting point if they wanna mod it. We'll see how much space that will all eat up. If need be, can always make a separate repo and throw it in there.

[beelee]

@wc_sumpton said in Mega New Elk:

Wouldn't attempt this until all the setup's been finalized. Otherwise you'll be driving it over and over again.

yes good point

[beelee]

@Black_Elk

I added the Blends in a separate folder. I don't remember what else is needed to change the oceans.

Blends baseTiles with Blends off

Blends on

You can see the extra horizontal line mid map. Thats at 30% 40 and it goes away. That's probably the display thing I'm using. Doesn't seem like it always does it.

[Black_Elk]

I would probably just remove that blends folder for now, as it was from last week using a different base and experimental. Attempting to tweak the baseTiles to create visual effects with blends in the final may prove kinda difficult if I do anything more complex than a single color edit, like trying to create a gradient of grays on land or stuff like that. Somehow I have this idea in my head, that if I can design the map to be more modular that people would have an easier time customizing it, but many of the tools are just not the simplest to use sometimes and I worry that my shortcuts may be sorta hard to parse and if I go all ham with it. Main goal in using the G40 was just to get something in there that would be familiar, using the same rules structure and to just sorta crib what's happening in global since people are somewhat used to seeing that one under the hood. So more as a starting point than an endpoint, or a templet to riff from with some of the basic nuts and bolts in place.

[beelee]

@black_elk

right arm

I'll 86 it and load what we have to git

Up to date at git

https://github.com/beelee1/mega_new_elk

I'll start dickin with some placements after I finish my chores

[beelee]

well that only took a hour to dial in Hamburg and Brittany. I thought they were already done too lol Take a few years to get it done at that rate

I am a little rusty. Spent 15 minutes on Brittany wondering why my last place wasn't showing. I swapped it out so it'd flow into the ocean and missed a parenthesis at the end on the copy :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

Well they can probably ultra crunch in the future. Name and PU isn't covered up anymore is the biggie.

Kinda weird though. Thought global went AB, NB, Fctry, AA, Inf, Arty, Mech, Armor, Ftr, Tac and Bmbr.

I'm getting Mech before Arty now. I think unitList determines it. Well, I'm not gonna overthink it. It does help to know what order stuff places in for adjusting it

@VictoryFirst yea, so as Wizard wc pointed out, do all the edit xml things and then we'll order them up in the proper teutonic way.
I know you busy but feel free to tweak set up as you want.

Elk's latest on git

Edit
Hey I got the Netherlands done ! lol

Ok I will stop posting every TTy update

[wc_sumpton]

@beelee

It's the little things that makes us...

Are we doing pictures?

Viva La... Well, you get the idea.

Cheers...

[beelee]

@wc_sumpton

yea France still chatting with St Peter

10 months since last time I looked at this so ... well yea

Elkstar will guide us to his vision of Mega Elk. He's legit. Not like when I was hitching through left coast in mid 80s.

Travelling partner goes "we ain't going to no communes. We show up and turn around to leave and there will be four BMFRs with ponytails while a Charles look alike goes "my children" lol

[Black_Elk]

@beelee haha yeah I mean I guess you can tell why I'm always trying to duck out on this part, cause the noodling takes forever and my backwards brain and penchant for mistyping is a particular struggle.

@wc_sumpton

Love it!

So one of the ideas I had, which I think still holds promise, is to develop a map that could service basically 6 standard WW2 scenarios by year/start date. Each of them would likely have some unique issues that may require some suspension of disbelief or re-balancing acts to get up off the ground, but basically 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944. I think these could be developed simultaneously, taking some pressure off the individuals scenarios, since we could develop them in tandem. 6 may be biting off more than I can chew, but it's a D6 game, and I kinda suggested a production spread from 1-6 PUs, so I liked the symmetry on that.

Then for a final scenario something more stand alone set in 1945, but which introduces fantastical or sci-fi elements for the X files treatment on WW2. So introducing Aliens with Flying Saucers, Mutant Zombies or Super Heroes, Giant Kaiju type monsters or things of that sort. The reason being that I think it would be very hard to create a compelling or satisfying game with a 1945 start date, since the war is nearly over and that's basically at the end of the tech tree. So instead of having a situation where we have everyone shooting Nukes at each other, or instantly into a Cold War WW3 game that lasts into the 1950, my thought was that when Trinity happens, that's what calls down the Aliens. Or opens the gates to Hell, sets off the crazy mutations or whatever, and we can basically get an A&A zombies style take on things, but with more freedom there to mad experiment. Or to rebalance the gameplay around novel mechanics, while being less beholden to history but which can play more into a War of the Worlds or Village of the Damned sorta vibe.

I don't know that I'm nearly as invested as I should be in any one given sort of game, I just really like the idea that we might have a nice skeleton with some sturdy bones to build on, which is also relatively simple to deconstruct or transform for other purposes like the idea mentioned above. Ever since AA50 came out with multiple start dates, I've been intrigued by the concept of multiple scenarios using a single catch-all map.

For China, I agree it can be a bit problematic, because they use different rules than all the other playable factions in A&A. I think an ideal handling would be, instead of creating specialty rules for just 1 nation, that the China rules or something similar might apply to any Nation that has their capital sacked. So like after they get robbed, that a nation might continue to be a factor that way, spawning infantry similar to the way China does. So in a G40 style, perhaps France works that way. Or perhaps if Moscow or London is captured, that faction could still spawn Inf units using the Chinese method. Something similar I think could work for say the 1917 Revolution, if adapting the map for a WW1 type game.

[beelee]

@black_elk said in Mega New Elk:

So introducing Aliens with Flying Saucers,

yea Turtledove "In the Balance" mode. Well, a few years off

https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-345-38241-2

[beelee]

@wc_sumpton

yea I get the why current setup shouldn't have china and France.
Slowly getting back up to speed .

Got Belgium done and were in Paris now !

:grinning_squinting_face:

[beelee]

@Black_Elk

That's right. You wanted a post Pearl Early 42 start date ? That's why we changed all the TTys from G 40 start.

Got Paris done wapita lol

Oh that's right, I wasn't gonna do pictures anymore lol

[wc_sumpton]

@black_elk

Yes, it's quite easy to change the starting setup, so multiple start dates would be no problem.

By the way here's the French xml, be careful as there are no unit placement.
mega_new_elk.xml

Cheers...

[beelee]

@wc_sumpton

oh yea I changed Prinsk to Pinsk. I've never heard of either one but Pinsk it is

I'll update your xml and check it out