Messages

I set up a visitor 'barracks' just outside my colony's main gate filled with about eight guest beds,electricity and an industrial cooler set to -200 degrees Fahrenheit for my 'guests'. Mind you, I'm playing on an ice sheet map and was very annoyed to find out that there was no longer a way for me to lock out 'friendly visitors' who were on the verge of mental breakdowns by the time that they made it to my base. The worst part is I've kind of taken to using it as a corpse farm as most visitors live just long enough to appraise my...er...hospitality before kindly dying of hypothermia and/or frostbite. Needless to say most of my colonists diets shifted from survival rations to an absurdly weird mix of soylent green, elephant meat(Randy was being a funny guy and triggered a manhunter event that sent elephants on the icesheet in the dead middle of December) and sea snake fillets from drop pods. The best part is my colonists are purposely eating their allies and their allies love them all the more for it.... All because in a12 there's no way for me to lock them out or tell them to come back later. 

So can the darkness-sk mod be used separately apart from the rest of the modpack like the zombie apocalypse_sk mod or does it require other mods within the sk modpack in order to function?

I have a question for those more versed and experienced in .dll modification than I am currently. Over the last few days I've been trying to find what segment of code makes the boomrats explode on death and while after scouring the games main .dll I've found the main segments:

Code Select Expand

// Verse.RaceProperties
public void PostLoadSpecial()
{
if (this.deathActionType == DeathActionType.ExplodeFlame)
{
this.deathAction = delegate(Pawn p)
{
GenExplosion.DoExplosion(p.Position, 1.9f, DamageTypeDefOf.Flame, p, null, null);
};
}
}


Here is where I start to have questions. Should I assume that with the boomrats' death blast radius being to the adjacent squares around it is due to the segment[p.Position, 1.9f] and if modified that that would increase or decrease the explosion radius according?
Second, While I know how to change the damage type of the explosion triggered would there be a way to add in a second damage type without altering the first? If not is there a way to dummy code( like maybe recreating the second half of the code to match everything but the damage type) to trigger both types of damage?  Thank you in advance for any advice, tip or hints you could possibly give me. Any assistance is appreciated as I'm currently still trying to learn the basics as I go and could use whatever helpful information and guidance people would be willing to offer. 

Now i dont mean to be a downer, but i was thinking for those people who want to amp up the difficulty maybe a suicide bot that explodes much like a turret. Except it hunts walls and your defenses

I think to be able to do something like this for a pawn you would have to set up a custom death type action based off the boomrat(at least if you want it to blow up when the pawn dies) but if you wanted it to have a suicide attack that the bot activates I imagine you could set up a weapon in the weapondef.xml that the bot triggers when it gets in the weapons target range(, though if you set the death action type to so that the bots explodes and  give them a suicide 'weapon' when they blow themselves up with the weapon they would likely trigger the death action and explode again.) then you could try making a slightly modified the subthintree_duty code here for the suicide bots as seen here:

Code Select Expand

<!-- Assault colony -->
                <li>
                  <key>AssaultColony</key>
                  <value Class="ThinkNode_Priority">
                    <subNodes>
                      <li Class="Decorator_UpdateEnemyTarget">
                        <targetAcquireRadius>65</targetAcquireRadius>
                        <targetKeepRadius>72</targetKeepRadius>
                      </li>
                      <li Class="JobGiver_AIAttackTarget" />
                      <li Class="JobGiver_AITrashCloseBuildings" />
                      <li Class="JobGiver_AITrashBuildings" />
                    </subNodes>
                  </value>
                </li>

                <!-- Hunt enemies individual -->
                <li>
                  <key>HuntEnemiesIndividual</key>
                  <value Class="ThinkNode_Priority">
                    <subNodes>
                      <li Class="Decorator_UpdateEnemyTarget">
                        <targetAcquireRadius>9999</targetAcquireRadius>
                        <targetKeepRadius>9999</targetKeepRadius>
                      </li>
                      <li Class="JobGiver_AIAttackTarget" />
                      <li Class="JobGiver_AITrashCloseBuildings" />
                      <li Class="JobGiver_AITrashBuildings" />
                    </subNodes>
                  </value>
                </li>


so that they look like this:

Code Select Expand

<!-- Assault colony -->
                <li>
                  <key>AssaultColony</key>
                  <value Class="ThinkNode_Priority">
                    <subNodes>
                      <li Class="Decorator_UpdateEnemyTarget">
                        <targetAcquireRadius>65</targetAcquireRadius>
                        <targetKeepRadius>72</targetKeepRadius>
                      </li>
                      <li Class="JobGiver_AITrashCloseBuildings" />
                      <li Class="JobGiver_AITrashBuildings" />
                       <li Class="JobGiver_AIAttackTarget" />
                    </subNodes>
                  </value>
                </li>

                <!-- Hunt enemies individual -->
                <li>
                  <key>HuntEnemiesIndividual</key>
                  <value Class="ThinkNode_Priority">
                    <subNodes>
                      <li Class="Decorator_UpdateEnemyTarget">
                        <targetAcquireRadius>9999</targetAcquireRadius>
                        <targetKeepRadius>9999</targetKeepRadius>
                      </li>
                      <li Class="JobGiver_AITrashCloseBuildings" />
                      <li Class="JobGiver_AITrashBuildings" />
                      <li Class="JobGiver_AIAttackTarget" />
                    </subNodes>
                  </value>
                </li>


I may be wrong but a quick look at the jobgiver files in the .dlls seems to support the assumption I have that if you built a special subthinktree_duty.xml like for the suicide bots it would cause them to seek out building and utilities instead of the colonists, unless a colonist happens to be closer during the time that suicide bots are (re)determining their priority targets. Might be worth a try to see what happens at least. Worst comes  to worst you'll have a bunch of suicide bots attempting to burn down the walls of your fortified colony before they run after the colonists inside for that final blaze of glory-- or the AI's behavior doesn't change at all. I was going to attempt to see if this worked for the chaser bugs, but I still have to tweak and create other files before I get to that point.  Custom jobgivers and jobdriver entries might need to be created if this this doesn't work though, but this is all beyond my current level of expertise at the moment.Meh, food for thought.

As a suggestion, it might be a good idea to make the suicide bots either fast( maybe slower than the crawlers at least) but squishy and easy to kill or slightly slower than the scythers but with enough 'armor' to still pose a threat to fortified positions. In both cases it would be a good idea to make them rare enough that the colony doesn't get swamped with 100 of just these little monsters. Just food for thought because I think it would awesome to see something like this down the line for me to rage at.  I just thought I might give my two cents on the Derringer's interesting idea.

Either way, this mod is awesome  and I can't wait to see what new bots you come up with in the future. I salute you sir/madam/hivemind for creating the crawlers as well, they just feel like they should of been there all along. Keep up being awesome.

Doesn't JuliaEllies' 'your own motes' mod try to accomplish a similar effect compared to what you are trying to do with the desecration/dismemberment of caused by the arachnids? If you haven't already that might be something to look into in order to get a better idea of how you might go about creating the gore effects for humanoids in your mod.

You could try basing the bugs' think tree off of the mechaniods' own think tree which is very basic in it's set up and go from there, though I assume you already looked at that.  I imagine that it would be vastly easier in general, would help cut down on the tedium and leaves the coding of the AI to more add-in custom behaviors  and tweaks for more nuanced differences in the arachnids main and sub think-trees. That at least solves part of the problem of how to make them aggressive towards other unaffiliated factions(the correct xml tweaks) without them being psychotic  though it would also take tweaks across the other corresponding arachnid xmls to make sure they are actually hostile to all other factions or that they are not spawning during other faction incidents(like the mechanoid's ship part). It seems that the SquadbrainDuty</def> entity located in the SubTree_Duty is the leading function of the mechanoid's think-tree(it's listed as the last function in the humanoid think-tree) and set to already allow for kidnapping and fleeing as well as setting up attack objects and wandering. But you might have to add in a function for base circling so that it triggers a different,custom wander function to the wander commands within the Squadbrainduty's tree for the arachnids if how the other attacking faction don't function in the manner you want the arachnids to function. I think that may save you some effort for your trouble ai wise at the very least.... I hope that helps but I feel like what I've explained may come across as confusing without piecing in the segment of the codes from the xml files I'm referring to.
I'm not completely sure though if that helps as I've just started trying to mod myself.     

Strange is this a known bug? If so I will edit my files too so

I think it might just be a small compatibility or load order issue with project armory, though I'm not completely sure about that. I kept having the rebel trooplers in my game show up with no weapons so I simply changed the pawnkind weaponTags to gun or sniper rifle respectively. It worked in that they wield weapons now but they wield one of all the available weapons within the given tag.It's kind of funny to watch a battalion of stormtrooplers marching on my base colony armed with Ak-47's,plasma venters and other assorted weapons. It's really not a big issue.

Yeah, I noticed that the scyther generates the charge lance similar to how the raiders do, however the charge lance is the only weapon in the 'mechanoidmedium' listing and it destroys itself on drop.

Okay,I'm thinking I'll try setting up the creatures' body structure files to hopefully function in a similar manner to the how the centipedes function(Centipedes fire their equipped weapons from one of their rings) so that they carry a weapon that links back to a custom weapons.xml and I'll see if that'll work out in giving a similar effect to the creature being able to shoot fire, mortars, projectiles out of wherever on it's body not that unlike how the centipedes' are able to. I am also going try to build the pawnkind.xml similar to how the mechanoids pawnkind.xml is built with separate weapons files for each creature. It will hopefully work out okay due to the creatures being a non-humanoid faction.As, a side note, I'm sure there's a way to equip the regular animals by just modifying the pawnkinds.xml as long as the animals have at least one body part in the bodyparts.xml with the 'Manipulation_tool' entry list in the body part's <activities><activities> listing without having to code anything in C#. I wonder if that would work?

Thanks for your insight, I think I am going to try and see if I can get this to work after I finish my creatures' body .xmls. If the method above works well though it means that a lot of neat creature mods might be possible.  Unfortunately, I still haven't located the boomrat's death animation type within the defs so I think I'll have to dig through the assemblies for it if I want to make my own version of the explosion on death animation. This was really helpful though, thank you again.

edit: I'm not sure, I 'm currently working on the body.xml, bodyparts.xml, and bodypartsgroup.xml most melee attacks I noticed reference the bodypartsgroup.xml structured lists for humans,mechanoids and animals. Idon't think doing it that way is not possible, though without tweaking the code to do so due to how body parts seem to work.

Awesome, thank you. This means that I have to tweak the trooplers again so they don't leave their guns at home and bum rush my fortified turrets again ,though. Apparently their guns conflict with one of the other mods I have installed.

I just finished the main template for my standard Arachnid body. It's based off the anatomy Warrior Bug but I used the anatomy of the praying mantis to name the fore leg segments.  the .xml so if someone would be willing or wants to look over it and give me tips or hints on the structure if any of it is done correctly or out of order. Also, in regards to building the bodyparts.xml I noticed that the body parts for humans, animals and mechanoids function differently according to various<activities> input especially for legs and arms. For Body structure I've set up I'm setting the limbs up to function similarly to how humanoid bodies move and function as per the commands. I may have to post what I currently have of the bodypart.xml as well but does anyone know off the top of their head if I am correct in assuming that the creature will move and function correctly.   

Also just to make clear, if you like the body.xml please ask me if you can use, modify for mods beyond your own personal use.



[attachment deleted due to age]

Commenting on the poll. I use the industrial coolers and small fans a lot because I tend to play a lot in arid shrub-lands and hotter climate area. They are a life saver during the hot seasons and definitely during heatwaves. I also use the industrial coolers in my prison area either using the exhaust heat to cook rioting prisoners into submission(or just for torture purposes when they were previously destructive to my to my base/colonists) or freezing them out which is effective when harvesting certain organs that may kill the prisoner or when needing to freeze rioting prisoners out(or inflicting frostbite on prisoners who again were very destructive prior to imprisonment). I and my colonists by extension are not very forgiving to those who would attack my colonies.    Seriously though, the mod has helped out in my games so thank you for putting together such an awesome mod. Would it be possible or even applicable to make an industrial fan to act as the small fan's industrial component? Just a final thought and suggestion but as I think on it that may very well be unnecessary and easily could unbalance the mod as a whole but I'll leave that up to you to decide.

I shot my ideas over to his thread just in case he likes any of them and wants to use them. I think until he gets his Arachnid mod up and running for the current alpha though I'm going to at least take a shot at building my own and see how far I get with it as doing this will be good practice in crafting .xmls and maybe I'll try to make my own assemblies for it as well but I'll do that after I'm done building the xml files provided nobody comes forward before that point.

I already have the faction.xml built for the most part minus the special incident bugs, the race.xml is partially done though it looks like I do have to build xmls for the "standard" arachnid bodies(luckily there are the megascarabs that I can use as the body template for the Tanker,Plasma, and Chaser Bugs so that's three bodies down) and I'm currently looking over the mechanoids to get an idea of how to do the projectile type attacks for the bugs. I am having trouble locating the death action for the boomrats though in the core defs folder because I would like to modify it in order make a little more powerful on death version with a generally larger range(not by much of course) for the Chaser bugs without making their main attack essentially just run forward and explode(though maybe that would be more fun and fits how the chaser bug acts in the starship troopers universe). I guess I could add the boomrats' death action as is to give the chaser's a smaller explosion on death while giving them a 'weapon' that they trigger  for when they get in a certain range as well for the larger explosion on a successful...Duel explosions on a successful hit might be too much though.

Now I just need to figure out what to do about the textures but if I'm going to ultimately attempt to make those myself then they can wait for the time being until I finish most the other .xml work and maybe the assembly work when(if) I get there. When I get the .xmls built I'll set up a test game using the base muffalo textures for hilarity and fun ... to see how the mechanics as I set them up function and if the mod needs to be tweaked a little bit damage-wise so the bugs don't just overrun unsuspecting colonies.

Thanks for the suggestion mipen, I would've likely left this in the idea state after hearing about Evul's mod without your input.
Also, I apologize for any spelling errors in either my posts, I'm just really excited.

The first one I think I have solved after looking at the scyther charge lance but just to make sure and save myself some extra work. To make an animal breath fire/shot mortar type rounds/ or explode as part of their attack I would have to build a weaponsdef.xml to simulate those 'projectile' based abilities correctly in the same manner that the scyther and the charge lance are set up? Am I correct in that assumption? Also, does anyone know where I can locate the boomrat's deathactiontype so I can take and modify it for one of my creatures? I haven't been able to locate it within the def files folder.

I was going to attempt to make an arachnid mod before Skullywag pointed this w.i.p. mod out to me.
Some ideas for later down the road from the ideas I had in my original idea request for once you get the AI issues sorted out.
the various bugs beyond the warrior bugs:
- The Tanker Beetle as the slow moving, flamethrowing,heavy armored shock troops.
- The Plasma Bug as the mortar throwing,even slower moving but heaviest armored, super-long range bug troops.
- The Kamikaze Ripplers as the secondary melee/self destruction grenadier class, very squishy but fast and they explode like a grenade when they die.
- The Blister bugs as the mid range, mid armor gunner type bugs.
- The control bugs as a special incident type bug that while easy to kill are fast moving and attack in moderately large number. they could cause an infection( similar to the zombie mod infection) through a bite or scratch that effects those bitten play placing negative thought modifiers on afflicted colonists and if the infection is not stopped more control bugs burst forth from the dead colonists to infect more colonists(thank you starship troopers 2 for being a terrible movie with an otherwise awesome bug).
- the hopplers, which would take coding to be able to fly over walls.

For incidents:
-a special drop pod like incident using meteors or transport bugs as the carriers( if possible of course) and special siege like incident for the bugs.
-a mini-raid outpost akin to minami's mech cocoons and raider outposts.
-using the Brain bug as a skill stealing or morale/skill boosting unit that supplements the current invasion force until killed, perhaps akin to the .

If I may ask, what issues are you having with the AI specifically? I figured I would ask because I'm curious.

Is there already a bug mod? I must of missed it. I was hoping to be able to build my own mod or at least part of it though.