Warfare Incorporated Editor FAQ - Take a look!

[Verdagon]

BASIC FAQ
What are all the conditions, and how do I use them?
What are all the actions, and how do I use them?
How do I make an Ecom?
How can I set objectives?
How can I make the enemy attack?
How do I make a bullpup mine?
How are countdown timers set?
How do I copy and paste?
Is there a limit on switches?
Is there a limit on triggers?
Is there a limit on areas?

ADVANCED FAQ
How can I make units guard areas?
How can I create a death trigger?
Why do weird things happen when I put a @ in an Ecom?
How do I string levels together into a campaign?
Is there a way to create structures in a unit group?
What are persistent variables?
How can I do an ‘OR’ operator?
What’s the difference in the difficulties?


BASIC FAQ
Question 1: What are all the conditions, and how do I use them?
There are many conditions, all doing different things. Here is a list of them.

Condition: Area contains units
Format: Area ‘area’ contains quantity unit types owned by side
Use: Most commonly used condition. Use this condition for when a unit goes into an area.

Condition: Comments
Format: Comments: text
Use: The text does not affect the gameplay and does not show up in the mission at all. Use this feature to make "progamming comments" that explain the intent of the preceeding code. This is similar to the "REM" or remarks that a good programmer provides in his or her code.

Condition: Countdown Timer
Format: Countdown Timer is quantity
Use: To set, show, modify, and hide the countdown timer. More explained in the countdown question.

Condition: Credits
Format: side has quantity credits
Use: This condition is for when a side has whatever number of galaxite.

Condition: Discovers Side
Format: side discovers side
Use: When players first see the others’ unit(s), use this condition to make something happen.

Condition: Elapsed Time
Format: Elapsed Time is quantity seconds
Use: Use this condition when you want something to happen at a certain time in the game.

Condition: Every NN Seconds
Format: Every quantity seconds
Use: This condition is used for when you want something to happen repeatedly. This is the same as this trigger:
Condition 1: Always
Action 1: (Do whatever you want here)
Action 2: Wait (However many seconds until it goes again)
Action 3: Preserve trigger.
You know. Just an alternative.

Condition: Galaxite Capacity Reached
Format: side’s galaxite Capacity is reached
Note: Used in the tutorial, but has possibilities!
Use: When a player can’t hold any more galaxite, use this.

Condition: GalaxMiner can’t Find Galaxite
Format: GalaxMiner owned by side can’t find Galaxite
Note: Used in the tutorial, but has possibilities!
Use: When bullpups can’t find/see any more galaxite, use this to make something happen.

Condition: Has Upgrades
Format: side has upgrade types upgrades
Use: For when a player has certain upgrades.

Condition: Mission Loaded
Note: Use this trigger to set up initial level conditions, such as switches, limits, allies, etc.
Use: Condition that makes the trigger fire at the very beginning.

Condition: Owns Units
Format: side owns quantity unit type
Use: If a player commands some units, use this condition to make something happen.

Condition: Place Structure Made Active
Note: Used in the tutorial, but has possibilities!
Use: For when the player is trying to place a building.

Condition: Switch On/Off
Format: Switch is OnOrOff
Use: Very useful! Self-explanatory too.

Condition: Test Persistent Variable
Format: Persistent variable ‘text’ is quantity
Use: Use this when you want to test a persistent variable.


Question 2: What are all the actions, and how do I use them?

There are a lot of actions, all doing different things. Here is a list of them.

Action: Allies
Format: side allies with side
Note: A allies to B. Use twice (A to B, B to A) to get reciprocal allies.
Allies can not be targeted/attacked. Allies don’t share sight. Don’t use virtual sides (i.e. Allies/Enemies)
Use: For allying one side with another

Action: Center View
Note:Use ‘Wait 0’ to force display refresh after using this
Use: To center a view for a player on a certain area.

Action: Comment
Format: Comment: ‘text’
Use: No use really…

Action: Create Random Unit Group
Note: Create from unit group list with ‘Random’ box checked.
Use: Use this when you cannot decide which unit group to create.

Action: Create Unit At Area
Format: Build/Spawn unit type at ‘area’ for side with quanity percent health
Use: To create a single unit at a place. For multiple units, copy this many times or use unit groups.

Action: Create Unit Group
Format: Create Unit Group ‘unit group’
Use: Duh! To create a unit group. Specify unit groups in the settings.

Action: Cut Scene
Format: Cut scene “text”
Note: valid tag: <img image.rbm>
Use: I HAVE NO IDEA. ASK WIZARD.

Action: Defog Area
Format: Defog area over ‘area’
Use: To make a place visible to a player, as opposed to foggy black.

Action: Ecom
Format: Ecom(SmallOrLarge w/ MoreOrCloseButton) From character to character: “text”
Note: Use More if you use multiple Ecoms.
SmallOrLarge – refers to the window the ecom is shown in
Small Bottom, Large, Small Top
Character – Large screen shows a picture.
Andy, Jana, Olstrom, Fox, ACME_Security, OMNI_Security, Anonymous, Blank
Use: To display a message from someone to someone else. Use blanks to make it look like they are talking to nobody in particular or to themselves. See also the question on Ecoms.

Action: End Mission
Format: End Mission: WinOrLose
Use: Halt whatever’s going on and end the mission as a victory or defeat.

Action: Hunt
Format: Unit unit types of side hunt unit types of side
Use: To make all units of one player hunt certain units of any other side.

Action: Jump to Mission
Format: Jump to mission “text”
Note: Immediately jumps to level indicated. Use format “mission.lvl”
Use: Ends the current mission and goes to another one.

Action: Modify Countdown Timer
Format: Stop/Resume/Show/Hide the countdown timer
Note: Each Action must be called separately. Use Start Countdown Timer to set and start.
Use: Self Explanatory really…

Action: Modify Counter
Format: Counter ‘Counter’: Set/Add/Subtract quantity
Use: This was taken out of the editor. Sorry!

Action: Modify Credits
Format: sides Credits: Set/Add/Subtract quantity
Note: Use Side Properties to set starting amounts.
Use: To change the amount of credits a player has.

Action: Modify Persistent Variables
Format: Modify Persistent Variables ‘text’ Set/Add/Subtract quantity
Use: I DON’T KNOW! ASK WIZARD!

Action: Move Units In Area
Format: Move side‘s unit type from ‘area’ to ‘area’
Use: Very useful! Used to warp some units from on place to another.

Action: Preserve Trigger
Note: Triggers are all one-shots! To repeat a triggered action, use this. Can cause loops.
Use: Very, very useful. Without this, a trigger will only fire ONE time. Don’t forget this, unless that’s what you want.

Action: Repair
Set repairing for side OnOrOff
Use: Enable or disable repairing for a player.

Action: Replicator
Format: Turn side’s Replicator OnOrOff
Use: Used to turn a replicator on.

Action: Set Allowed Units
Format: Set side allowed units to unit type
Use: Enables the construction of certain units.

Action: Set Allowed Upgrade
Format: Set side allowed upgrade to upgrade types
Note: Default is all upgrades are active
Use: Enables the research of certain upgrades.

Action: Set Formal Objective Info
Format: Set formal objective info to ‘text’
Note: This is the summary below the objectives on the Objectives screen.
Use: Used to set the summary. See also the question about setting objectives.

Action: Set Formal Objective Status
Format: Set formal objective quantity status to ‘text’
Note: Quantity is the number of the objective (i.e. 1,2,3). You can use whatever language you want for then Status.
Use: Objectives that a person needs to accomplish. These don’t affect the outcome, they are just for the player’s information.

Action: Set Formal Objective Text
Format: Set formal objective quantity text to ‘text’
Note: Quantity is the number of the objective (i.e. 1,2,3) This is the actual Objective text.
Use: To set an objective to a string (like “completed”, “incomplete”, or anything you want.)

Action: Set Next Mission
Format: set next mission to ‘text’
Note: Use format “mission.lvl”
Use: Used to set the next mission in a campaign. See also the question about stringing levels together.

Action: Set Objective
Format: Set side’s mission objective to ‘text’
Note: Displayed upper-left of screen.
Use: Use this to display the main objective in the top of the screen. It stays there the whole time.

Action: Set Persistent Variable
Format: Set persistent variable ‘text’ to “text”
Use: Used to set a persistent variable to another value. See also the question on persistent variables.

Action: Set Switch
Format: Set ‘switch’ OnOrOff
Use: Very useful! Used to set a switch to on or off. See also the question about switches.

Action: Set Upgrades
Format: Set side upgrades to upgrade types
Note: This must be performed with a Mission Loaded Trigger
Use: To set a player to already have the upgrade when a level starts.

Action: Show Alert
Format: Show alert ‘text’
Note: Displayed lower-left of screen
Use: To display a small message in the bottom of the screen for some time.

Action: Show Formal Objectives
Note: Show Objectives Screen
Use: Self Explanatory.

Action: Start Countdown Timer
Format: Start countdown timer with quantity seconds and show this string: ‘text’
Note: Use ‘%s” in string for time. Displays in upper-right of screen in mm:ss format.
Use: Used to start a clock ticking. Very useful… See also the question on countdown timers.

Action: Wait
Format: Wait quantity seconds
Note: Waits before executing next action
Use: Very useful and self explanatory.

Question 3: How do I make an Ecom?
Ecoms are very simple. Just create a trigger with the conditions you want, and as an action select “Ecom”. It will ask you several things, like the size of it, if it goes on to another ecom or just closes, and the people involved in it. Fill all these in, and you’re done!

Question 4: How do I set objectives?
There are a few actions involved with objectives. They are:
Set Formal Objective Info
Set Formal Objective Status
Set Formal Objective Text
Set Objective
“Set Formal Objective Info” is the action where you can enter what the summary in the objectives screen says. Every good level should have this. Space is rather limited, so keep it concise. Use in the “Mission Loaded” action to fire it when the mission starts.
“Set Formal Objective Status” is used to set a specific objective to a string of text that you type in. Most common objective statuses are “Complete”, “Incomplete”, and “Optional”. Use at the start to set the initial string, and then whenever you want to modify it (like when an objective is completed) just use this action again.
“Set Formal Objective Text” is the action where you can name the objective. Some examples are “Rescue Jana’s Shuttle” or “Destroy OMNI Base”. Use this at the beginning of the mission.
“Set Objective” just puts a small message in the upper left corner of the screen. It stays there, so be careful about what you want to say. Sometimes it’s best not to have it because it obstructs the view a little.

Question 5: How can I make the enemy attack?
This is one of the more difficult things in the mission editor because there is no perfect way to make them attack. One thing you can do is create a unit group with all the units you want, and inside the unit group you can say where you want them to attack to. Sometimes people want an enemy to attack every 5 minutes or so. In this case they would make this trigger:
Condition 1: Every 300 Seconds (300 seconds = 5 minutes)
Action 1: Create Unit group ‘Attacker’
Action 2: Preserve Trigger
Another way to do it would be this trigger:
Condition 1: Always
Action 1: Create Unit group ‘Attacker’
Action 2: Wait 300 seconds
Action 3: Preserve Trigger
Or if you want to make them attack in waves that continually get stronger, just make this kind of trigger:
Condition 1: Elapsed time is 600 seconds (10 minutes)
Action 1: Create Unit group ‘Attacker 1’ (Which consists of weak units)

Question 6: How do I make a bullpup mine?
There is a really easy way to do this. Select the bullpup(s) you want to have mine, and in their properties, set their behavior to ‘mine’. Simple!

Question 7: How are countdown timers set?
Countdown timers seem hard, but they are actually very simple. It involves two actions: “Start Countdown Timer”, and “Modify Countdown Timer”. To start a countdown timer, then you make a trigger, select any players and conditions you want, and select the action “Start Countdown Timer”. It will ask for the seconds, just put it in, and then the name. The name is a little bit hard. Normally, one will think that the time is displayed on default right after the name, like this: “3:02 Until Wave Arrives”. But you must put “%s Until Wave Arrives”. The %s is the time. Don’t forget this. Then after that, make an action “Modify Countdown Timer” and set it to show it. Ok, we have our countdown timer, and its ticking, now what? Well, we somehow have to turn it off when it reaches zero. For this, after the action you just made, we put a wait in. How much was the countdown timer set for? Five minutes? Then we will wait 300 seconds. Or however long the countdown timer was set. Now, another action: “Modify Countdown Timer”. And just tell it to “hide” the countdown timer. You’re done!

Question 8: How do I copy and paste?
When you want to copy a unit, hold the mouse over that until and hold down control, and drag the unit somewhere. There’s your copy! Try it out.

Question 9: Is there a limit on switches?
Yes, you can have a maximum of 16 switches.

Question 10: Is there a limit on triggers?
Although the editor doesn’t stop you when you go over, the limit is 40 triggers per side. If you go over this, then it won’t work.

Question 11: Is there a limit on areas?
Yes, the limit is 32 areas.

ADVANCED FAQ
Question 1: How can I make units guard areas?
Simple. Make a unit group with the unit you want, and set it to guard right after it appears.

Question 2: How can I create a death trigger?
Death triggers are triggers that happen when something dies. Like Andy, for example. You want the game to end when Andy dies. You’ll need a trigger like this:
Condition 1: Side1 commands exactly 0 Andy.
Action 1: End mission with defeat.
Simple, isn’t it?

Question 3: Why do weird things happen when I put an @ in an ecom?
If you’ve ever put an @ in an ecom, it will make a new line and pause the game for a few milliseconds. This might have been fixed in the new release but here is what you do if something weird happens with it.
The @ sign was an escape code for the developers of WI. Nobody knows why it makes a new line, but if you put two of them next to eachother, it will come out as a regular @ with no problems.

Question 4: How do I string levels together in a campaign?
If your mission is part of a campaign (like the story missions in the game), you can have the game load the next mission in the campaign automatically when the current mission ends. You do this by including a "Set Next Mission" TriggerAction in your mission. If you want the game to load a different next mission depending on how the current mission ends, you should include the "Set Next Mission" TriggerAction in the trigger that has the "End Mission" TriggerAction. The name you use with "Set next mission to" is the title you have set in the LevelDoc settings for the next mission (Settings -> Level -> Title) followed by ".lvl". The TriggerAction should look like this:
Set next mission to "My Next Mission.lvl"
Another thing that was brought up by ScottLu was: "The "Set Next Mission" mission name is the first 22 characters of the mission to be linked to, followed by ".lvl". If your mission is less than 22 characters, it is the full name of the mission followed by ".lvl"."

Question 5: Is there a way to put structures into a unit group?
Yes in fact there is, but the editor wasn’t intended to so use this at your own risk. First select any trigger and add an action to it called “create units at location” and create whatever you building you want, at any location (it wont matter). Now try saving and compiling (you don’t have to play it). And when you re-open the editor, go to the unit groups and hopefully somewhere in there will be a cauu# group, with a structure in it. Rename it to something else if you want. Go back to the action you created and delete it. Repeat the process any amount of times.
Note: This may not work in some versions of the editor. The almighty demigods (developers) might fix it.

Question 6: What the heck are persistent variables?
This is a quote from crakerz on the forum explaining persistent variables:

Persistant variables, or pvars, are variables that can store numbers.
Use the Modify persistant variable action to "Set" or create them for the first time. After that, use modify to add to, subtract from or set to a value. To use in a trigger, Test the pvar for the value, or range of value. For example, if you want to have an action happen after the player has been through an area X times:

CONDITONS:
Mission Loaded
ACTIONS:
Comment: Create pvar myCount
Modify persistent variable 'myCount': Set 0

CONDITIONS:
Comment: Check area XING for Player
Area 'XING' contains AtLeast 1 AnyUnit owned by side1
ACTIONS:
Comment: Increment myCount
Modify persistent variable 'myCount': Add 1
Preserve Trigger

CONDITIONS:
Comment: See if player has been to XING ten times
Persistent variable 'myCount' is AtLeast 10
ACTIONS:
Create Unit Group 'AttackForce'

You could reset myCount to zero at this point, and add a Preserve Trigger to the above. Then every ten times (or whatever number you want) the trigger would activate.


Question 7: How can I do an ‘OR’ operator?
A very good answer to this question can be found at:
http://www.handmark.com/warfare/forum/viewtopic.php?t=486&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30

Question 8: What’s the difference between the difficulties?
Here is a quote from darrinm:
“I want to clarify the difficulty levels. Like you've learned you can test difficulty in a mission to trigger actions to make it easier and/or harder. BUT even if you don't do this, the player's difficulty choice influences a few factors of the game. Here's how it works:
Hard
- no special advantages or disadvantages (this was our internal default setting for most of the development of WI)
Normal bonuses
- decreased build time for player structures
- increased armor for player structures & units
- player can see if enemy is low on power or credits
Easy bonuses
- all Normal bonuses
- increased player unit firepower
- increased value for player's Bullpup Galaxite deliveries
The design concept for the easier difficulty settings was to crudely simulate the advantages that more skilled players have to give less skilled players a boost in ways that wouldn't throw the missions out of wack.”

[Verdagon]

Please tell me if you want anything else to go onto this FAQ!

Thanks

- Evan

Edit: and if someone can please explain to me what persistent variables are, thatd be cool too

[crakerz]

Persistant variables, or pvars, are variables that can store numbers.

Use the Modify persistant variable action to "Set" or create them for the first time. After that, use modify to add to, subtract from or set to a value. To use in a trigger, Test the pvar for the value, or range of value. For example, if you want to have an action happen after the player has been through an area X times:

CONDITONS:
Mission Loaded
ACTIONS:
Comment: Create pvar myCount
Modify persistent variable 'myCount': Set 0


CONDITIONS:
Comment: Check area XING for Player
Area 'XING' contains AtLeast 1 AnyUnit owned by side1
ACTIONS:
Comment: Increment myCount
Modify persistent variable 'myCount': Add 1
Preserve Trigger


CONDITIONS:
Comment: See if player has been to XING ten times
Persistent variable 'myCount' is AtLeast 10
ACTIONS:
Create Unit Group 'AttackForce'


You could reset myCount to zero at this point, and add a Preserve Trigger to the above. Then every ten times (or whatever number you want) the trigger would activate.

Hope this answers the questions

[Verdagon]

Aha! Okay I get it now. Anyway, its added. Thank you!

[scottlu]

Verdagon, thanks for the FAQ! I have another item concerning mission linking. The "Set Next Mission" mission name is the first 22 characters of the mission to be linked to, followed by ".lvl". If your mission is less than 22 characters, it is the full name of the mission followed by ".lvl".

[Verdagon]

ScottLu, your welcome for the FAQ! I hope it came out in time for the release...
And your explanation was added. Thanks!

[Wizard]

...of course there is the fantastic help file within the editor as well.!

[goblin_merchant]

The editor FAQ is so basic... I need an advanced FAQ, like what the available variables are, etc

[Wizard]

[quote="goblin_merchant"]The editor FAQ is so basic... I need an advanced FAQ, like what the available variables are, etc[/quote]

The available variables are what ever you want them to be.
Have a look at the three demo maps that ship with the editor.

W

[Palmloyal.com]

Great job on your missions and on this FAQ. I will "clip" it to my Palm and read it as I go along in the development of my 1st mission.

The only point I can make about the FAQ at this point is this. You should consider making this change. Everywhere you have these lines:

Condition: Comments
Format: Comments: text
Use: No use really…

It should read this:

Condition: Comments
Format: Comments: text
Use: The text does not affect the gameplay and does not show up in the mission at all. Use this feature to make "progamming comments" that explain the intent of the preceeding code. This is similar to the "REM" or remarks that a good programmer provides in his or her code.


Does this make sense? Keep up the great work (Everyone) on the missions and FAQ information.

Carl Brooks
http://www.palmloyal.com

[Verdagon]

Palmloyal.com wrote:

Great job on your missions and on this FAQ. I will "clip" it to my Palm and read it as I go along in the development of my 1st mission.

The only point I can make about the FAQ at this point is this. You should consider making this change. Everywhere you have these lines:

Condition: Comments
Format: Comments: text
Use: No use really…

It should read this:

Condition: Comments
Format: Comments: text
Use: The text does not affect the gameplay and does not show up in the mission at all. Use this feature to make "progamming comments" that explain the intent of the preceeding code. This is similar to the "REM" or remarks that a good programmer provides in his or her code.


Does this make sense? Keep up the great work (Everyone) on the missions and FAQ information.

Carl Brooks
http://www.palmloyal.com

Okay, I've changed the comments section. To tell you the truth, I'm new to the editor and still learning. If any of you want to put your knowledge and wisdom, tell me and I will put it in.

And carl, thanks for the compliments

[dws90]

Another thing to add would be

How do I modify a unit's health midgame?
You can't. You can, however, destroy the unit by creating a group of towers that the player is allied with, but not the other way around.

Condition: Area "Ugly Mofo" has at least 1 any unit owned by side 1
Action: Ally Side 1 with Side Neutral.

Then you could place a group of Side Neutral Towers around the area in which you want to kill the unit, and they would be unable to fight back.

[crakerz]

dws90 wrote:

You can't. You can, however, destroy the unit by creating a group of towers that the player is allied with, but not the other way around.

Yeah, this is a good idea that has been used in a number of the created levels out there.

[Verdagon]

I dont understand why this would be so good, because you would be left with a bunch of neutral towers.

[guitarist809]

You forgot to tell us how to make multiplayer mission maps!

[dancer402]

who cares this helps a lot

[guitarist809]

Actually I don't care anymore. I just figured out how to make multiplayer levels

[dancer402]

u already know

[guitarist809]

No duh, Thats what I said in the other post.

[dancer402]

stop posting junk

[White_Knight]

How a hell do i make multiplayer posts

[Verdagon]

Post in the mission sharing forum, upload your mission to the post.

[guitarist809]

Yep

[dancer402]

what are these "triggers" and "units" you speak of?

[Verdagon]

You're joking, right? lol

[dancer402]

no

[Guest]

moron.

[dancer402]

be gay somewhere else.

[palm101]

dancer402 wrote:

be gay somewhere else.

Agreed!!

[!HUDRA!]

OMG tyrigger is making somthing do somthing such as ecoms
encounters..... so learn. And give him a chance maybe he cant read lol.

[palm101]

lolol

[!HUDRA!]

Meow! Moo! ARRR! FUCK!! BARK!!!...

[Victrix]

I have opened the mission editor with both grassy.tc and desert.tc but when the mission editor opens, the field is black with a green border and white dots. Why?

[LawrenceA]

Victrix wrote:

I have opened the mission editor with both grassy.tc and desert.tc but when the mission editor opens, the field is black with a green border and white dots. Why?

When your in the editor you need to open one or both of grassy.tv or desert tc. So that's file|open

[DaJollyRoger]

There needs to be snowy.tc and beach.tc

[sam]

DaJollyRoger wrote:

There needs to beach.tc

The beach one would be like the desert one

[DaJollyRoger]

Different texture, and water tiles?