Patch 2.8 For Scenario Designers
Patch Overview
This patch introduces a wide range of fixes from performance to sync errors. It also brings a few new features and changes that I will highlight below. Please note that due to the patch being a BETA it is possible that things will change. This is especially true with the added functionality – don’t be surprised if a command is changed or removed before the BETA and your map will need to be updated.
General improvements/Bug Fixes
Render Updates
The renderer has been updated – in particular with particle effects. There are 4 main changes I have observed:
Multiplayer animation/rendering updates
Animations should now run a lot smoother in multiplayer due to changes and improvements in the rendering timings and animations. If you notice performance issues after updating I advise you toggle your vsync settings and try again. The internal game behaviour internally regarding this has changed and you may find one is a lot smoother than the other.
Restored missing graphics
A few remaining missing graphics such as birds flying around Gaia have been restored.
Camera improvements
The zFar distance for rendering has been increased. This means you can view objects further away. It also has the side effect of fixing Sky Boxes for a 4k display. In addition the terrain caching has been drastically increased - this means you can zoom much further out without getting the dreaded lag spike!
Scaling fixes
Units now scale correctly regarding attach points. No more head decapitation! In addition objects now appear correctly in fog of way and don't jump back to their original scale.
Scenario Lobby Settings fix
Changing a scenario as a game type allows lobby settings to be changed properly that were incorrectly disabled. This includes things like handicap, difficulty, titans, and day and night cycle.
Transform trigger crash fixes
Crashable units from the transform/mutate trigger no longer crash! They now work properly.
New Commands
Several new commands have been added to the game. From these I have produced a trigger pack adding some exciting new functionality for you to use! (
Changing Player’s Major God
You can now change the god a player has picked during a game. The main use for this is to override the chosen god at the game start to ensure that players pick a certain god for a map or change which god Mother Nature is. This may be to ensure players can use the Kronos time shift ability or allow players to build monuments with their priests. Additionally can be used to improve the aesthetics of a city by ensuring AI players are the right god. And I am sure there are plenty of interesting uses from allowing changing god part way through a game… The trigger also allows you to randomise between all gods, or gods within a culture, or even become the god Nature which is usually impossible. Another bizarre thing you can do is mix civs and cultures around so you can worship Kronos but be the civ Egyptian!
Better God Power Manipulation
There is now more control available regarding the managing of god powers. You can count how many god powers of a type you have, when a god power is last cast, or how long a power has left to recharge. More excitingly you can now mess with the recharge time of god powers. You can grant god powers without a recharge time, change the recharge time of an existing god powers, or even add recharge time for a god power that didn’t previously have it (Although the UI doesn’t handle this very well visually).
Ingame terrain and elevation manipulation
Terrain and elevation manipulation is now properly supported without the used of my hacky z triggers and fully works online. It is now possible to freely paint terrain and set the elevation during a game. Additionally, you can choose if the game should update the obstruction data or not – e.g. if newly painted cliff should block units from travelling. I have supported using both a rectangular or a circular brush. In addition I have also included support for terrain replacement – that is swapping one terrain type for another. There are lots of exciting use cases for this: You can have a map that randomises the theme, make secret areas using passable cliff, have lava terrain chasing you, have a god power create cliff to trap units, have an even changing maze, or have players create a map layout ingame!
Additionally there is now also support for terrain and elevation detection at a location. This allows you to apply for terrain based effects – e.g. make buildings on sand take damage slowly or burn up units that enter lava.
Individual Unit Mutation
You can now use the transform trigger for a single unit. This prevents bugs and interference e.g. attach trigger messed with existing relics on the map. Couple this with say y search and it is now possible to do previously impossible things such as having a different projectile unit for each player.
Cloud manipulation
As well as a better command for changing the sun inclination and rotation you can now freely control the cloud effect seen ingame. You can set the size, speed and intensity but you can also change the cloudd to another texture!
Advanced Unit Manipulation
You can now set the scale, stretch, and full orientation ingame. This also means there is now an online working trigger to set orientation. This also means that random map scripters can now create units of different scales and can rotate units properly hurray!
Other functionality
Don’t forget you are not restricted by what I have provided in this trigger pack specifically, you can use the newly added commands to build your own additional triggers. I have already done this with adding support for circular brush, terrain replace, and changing the elevation using relative heights. Below is a full list of added commands:
A note about a couple of commands:
Fixes to triggers not working in multiplayer
A few of the existing triggers that did not work at all in multiplayer have been changed to function.
Set animation
Bring on new exciting effects using the animations that were produced for the cinematic in your scenarios for the first time ever! This trigger is now fully working for multiplayer scenarios.
Unit Teleport
Units will now teleport rather than doing nothing. No more using immediate garrison workarounds to teleport units yippee!
Unit Heading (Kind of)
The Unit Heading trigger has been enabled for multiplayer but from testing does not have the intended effect. Instead of turning a unit it will make it invisible! Obviously not what was intended but I am sure there will be some interesting scenario use cases. Note now I have added a trigger to set the unit heading via an alternative command that DOES work in a multiplayer game.
DLC Prompt Checking Changes
For multiplayer games players who do not own the DLC they will no longer be prompted to purchase the DLC. This prevents issues where casting Traitor on a Chinese unit would cause a prompt. More importantly this means that people who own the DLC do not need to worry about making maps containing DLC units when playing multiplayer games!
Random Map transfer Fix
Random maps received from another player will now appear in your list allowing you to host them. Hurrah! This should hopefully allow exciting Random Maps to propagate easier online.
Workshop Scenario transfer Fix
Scenarios can now be hosted from the mods folder or a sub folder
Potential Breaking Changes
There are not many that I know of but one thing to note that the Hero Polyphemus unit has been changed how its special attack operates as it now only knocks myth units and does it essentially instant kill style. This means it will no longer knock soldiers of hero Atlantean villagers. If you have a map relying on this behaviour (I have a couple) they will break. You will need to replace them with equivalent functionality.
Summary
As you can see there are lots of exciting changes, additions, and fixes. Remember that all changes and added functionality will only work on the 2.8 patch BETA and beyond. Also be away that because the patch is a BETA commands may potentially change. Please let me know if you run into and issues and I will try and fix. Also feel free to ask me any question about the new functionality and triggers and I will do my best to answer.
Credits
I would like to thank the developers of the FE Team in particular: WarriorMario, MasterOfFreedom, and p2t5r for providing these fixes and additional functionality.
[This message has been edited by nottud (edited 06-08-2020 @ 06:34 PM).]